Remote sensing, crop yield estimation and agricultural vulnerability assessment: A case of Southern Alberta

This research investigates the relationship between agricultural production and the occurrence of meteorological droughts over time. A remote sensing approach is developed to estimate the yield of cereal crops based on the remotely sensed data in the study area. The yield estimates from remotely sensed imageries provide a primary data source to measure agricultural well-being and quantify agricultural vulnerability to drought. The drought condition as the stressor to agricultural production systems is characterized using the standard precipitation index (SPI). The results of the study indicate that crop production system in Southern Alberta is very vulnerable to drought. About half of the study area is associated with a high to extremely high vulnerability. If the drought trend in the recent past repeats itself in the near further, it can be expected that crop production in these areas will be seriously threatened.