An Estimation of Crop Planting Dates through the Use of Remotely Sensed Data

Planting dates are a key component to crop modeling efforts, as well as for agricultural analysis and forecasts. Yet, estimations of yearly planting dates on a larger spatial domain is still a challenging task. Using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) values from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), assisted with Growing Degree Days (GDD) calculated from North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR), methods for estimating planting dates are attempted for North Dakota. Mean statewide planting dates from the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) crop progress reports across North Dakota were used for calibration of the developed algorithm for 2012. The satellite-based planting date estimates were then further evaluated against NASS data for other years, up to 2018. This study suggests that remotely sensed data has the potential of being applied in estimating planting dates for agricultural evaluations and modeling efforts.