Estimation and monitoring of rice growth stages in northern part of Japan using constellation satellite and GIS

An operational processing and analysis system for rice growth monitoring has been developed at Japan Manned Space Systems Corporation and Tokyo University of Agriculture. The system processes DMC images having capability to multi-temporal observation during the growing season and generates image maps for rice growing status through satellite-derived NDVI-SPAD value. The monitoring was conducted in paddy fields of northern part of Japan. Mapping algorithm was established by correlation NDVI derived from DMC images and ground collected SPAD value. The correlation coefficient between the SPAD value of rice leaf and NDVI showed good agreement and R² was 0.79.