Kolloquium Geoinformatik Spectroscopy and hyperspectral imagery for applications in agriculture – from in-situ measurements to spatial assessment

Remote sensing is of essential importance in environmental monitoring and assessment. In this context, reflectance spectrometry is accepted as a cost-efficient and fast screening tool to assess soil- and vegetation parameters. However, even with reflectance spectroscopy a spatial assessment of surface properties exclusively by terrestrial investigation is not feasible for larger regions or areas with limited accessibility. Airborne- or spaceborne multi- and hyperspectral remote sensing systems provide objective and repetitive data which allow broad spatial coverage and hence, are especially useful for environmental monitoring. But without ground truthing these data only facilitate qualitative statements. Combining quantitative field measurements with remote sensing imagery offers the real potential of remote sensing: the quantitative assessment of parameters on regional scale. In this talk, the potential of lab- and field spectroscopy as well as remote sensing imagery will be presented by different examples for the quantitative assessment of surface properties. Empirical-statistical models to predict soil and crop properties from lab- and field spectra will be introduced and adopted to image data to assess the spatial variability. The derived information will be included in approaches for soil regionalization and yield estimation. Finally, the talk will be closed by an outlook for potential usage and extension of the presented approaches and future research questions.