Integrating crop growth simulation and remote sensing to improve resource use efficiency in farming systems

This study investigated the scope and constraints for integrated use of mechanistic crop growth simulation models and earth observation techniques. Integration of high- quality crop growth models and information derived from earth observations can contribute to improved use of resources, reduced crop production risks, reduced environmental degradation, and increased farm income. In the past, both, simulation modelling and remote sensing have been shown to be valuable tools in separate applications in agriculture. Crop growth simulation has made valuable contributions to yield forecasting, proto-typing crop varieties, generation of input-output coefficients for improved agricultural production technologies and to management decision support systems at field level. Likewise, remote sensing techniques have been successfully applied in classification of arable crops and in quantification of vegetation characteristics at different spatial and temporal scales. The starting point of this study was the hypothesis that integration of both techniques would lead to improvements in the dynamic simulation of the crop-soil system and thus contribute to improvements in management decision support systems for environmentally sound agricultural production...