Evaluation of crop water status using UAV-based images data with a model updating strategy

This study aims to evaluate crop water status by fusing multiple features from the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-based canopy images with model updating strategy. A UAV platform carrying multispectral and thermal infrared cameras was used to collect high spatial resolution images of winter wheat and...

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Main Authors: Ning Yang, Zhitao Zhang, Xiaofei Yang, Ning Dong, Qi Xu, Junying Chen, Shikun Sun, Ningbo Cui, Jifeng Ning
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-05-01
Series:Agricultural Water Management
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378377425001593
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author Ning Yang
Zhitao Zhang
Xiaofei Yang
Ning Dong
Qi Xu
Junying Chen
Shikun Sun
Ningbo Cui
Jifeng Ning
author_facet Ning Yang
Zhitao Zhang
Xiaofei Yang
Ning Dong
Qi Xu
Junying Chen
Shikun Sun
Ningbo Cui
Jifeng Ning
author_sort Ning Yang
collection DOAJ
description This study aims to evaluate crop water status by fusing multiple features from the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-based canopy images with model updating strategy. A UAV platform carrying multispectral and thermal infrared cameras was used to collect high spatial resolution images of winter wheat and summer maize under different water treatments over two years. The plant water content (PWC) and above-ground biomass (AGB), which represent crop water status, were collected simultaneously. The vegetation indices (VIs), texture features, and canopy thermal indicators were extracted from UAV-based images to estimate PWC and AGB based on CNN-LSTM-Attention (CLA) model. The results showed that combining spectral, textural, and thermal features with the CLA model significantly improved estimation accuracy. Specifically, multi-feature fusion achieved the best performance in winter wheat, with MAE of 1.80 % and 1.23 %, and RMSE of 2.13 % and 1.57 % for PWC in 2022 and 2023, respectively. For AGB, the corresponding MAE values were 1.12 t/hm² and 1.04 t/hm², and RMSE values were 1.41 t/hm² and 1.31 t/hm². In addition, the model updating strategy successfully verified the robustness of the estimation model for winter wheat across different years, and the application of the CLA model to summer maize demonstrated its effective transferability. In summary, this method can improve the estimation accuracy of PWC and AGB, thereby achieving efficient evaluation of crop water status.
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spelling doaj-art-c744b21f79f74fc68dfb35b095d84f8e2025-08-20T03:10:34ZengElsevierAgricultural Water Management1873-22832025-05-0131210944510.1016/j.agwat.2025.109445Evaluation of crop water status using UAV-based images data with a model updating strategyNing Yang0Zhitao Zhang1Xiaofei Yang2Ning Dong3Qi Xu4Junying Chen5Shikun Sun6Ningbo Cui7Jifeng Ning8College of Water Resources and Architectural Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China; Key Laboratory of Agricultural Soil and Water Engineering in Arid and Semiarid Areas, Ministry of Education, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, ChinaCollege of Water Resources and Architectural Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China; Key Laboratory of Agricultural Soil and Water Engineering in Arid and Semiarid Areas, Ministry of Education, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China; Corresponding author at: College of Water Resources and Architectural Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China.College of Water Resources and Architectural Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China; Key Laboratory of Agricultural Soil and Water Engineering in Arid and Semiarid Areas, Ministry of Education, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, ChinaCollege of Water Resources and Architectural Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China; Key Laboratory of Agricultural Soil and Water Engineering in Arid and Semiarid Areas, Ministry of Education, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, ChinaCollege of Water Resources and Architectural Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China; Key Laboratory of Agricultural Soil and Water Engineering in Arid and Semiarid Areas, Ministry of Education, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, ChinaCollege of Water Resources and Architectural Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China; Key Laboratory of Agricultural Soil and Water Engineering in Arid and Semiarid Areas, Ministry of Education, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, ChinaCollege of Water Resources and Architectural Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China; Key Laboratory of Agricultural Soil and Water Engineering in Arid and Semiarid Areas, Ministry of Education, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Hydraulics and Mountain River Engineering & College of Water Resource and Hydropower, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, ChinaCollege of Information Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, ChinaThis study aims to evaluate crop water status by fusing multiple features from the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-based canopy images with model updating strategy. A UAV platform carrying multispectral and thermal infrared cameras was used to collect high spatial resolution images of winter wheat and summer maize under different water treatments over two years. The plant water content (PWC) and above-ground biomass (AGB), which represent crop water status, were collected simultaneously. The vegetation indices (VIs), texture features, and canopy thermal indicators were extracted from UAV-based images to estimate PWC and AGB based on CNN-LSTM-Attention (CLA) model. The results showed that combining spectral, textural, and thermal features with the CLA model significantly improved estimation accuracy. Specifically, multi-feature fusion achieved the best performance in winter wheat, with MAE of 1.80 % and 1.23 %, and RMSE of 2.13 % and 1.57 % for PWC in 2022 and 2023, respectively. For AGB, the corresponding MAE values were 1.12 t/hm² and 1.04 t/hm², and RMSE values were 1.41 t/hm² and 1.31 t/hm². In addition, the model updating strategy successfully verified the robustness of the estimation model for winter wheat across different years, and the application of the CLA model to summer maize demonstrated its effective transferability. In summary, this method can improve the estimation accuracy of PWC and AGB, thereby achieving efficient evaluation of crop water status.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378377425001593Crop water statusUAVFeature fusionModel updating strategyDeep learningModel transferability
spellingShingle Ning Yang
Zhitao Zhang
Xiaofei Yang
Ning Dong
Qi Xu
Junying Chen
Shikun Sun
Ningbo Cui
Jifeng Ning
Evaluation of crop water status using UAV-based images data with a model updating strategy
Agricultural Water Management
Crop water status
UAV
Feature fusion
Model updating strategy
Deep learning
Model transferability
title Evaluation of crop water status using UAV-based images data with a model updating strategy
title_full Evaluation of crop water status using UAV-based images data with a model updating strategy
title_fullStr Evaluation of crop water status using UAV-based images data with a model updating strategy
title_full_unstemmed Evaluation of crop water status using UAV-based images data with a model updating strategy
title_short Evaluation of crop water status using UAV-based images data with a model updating strategy
title_sort evaluation of crop water status using uav based images data with a model updating strategy
topic Crop water status
UAV
Feature fusion
Model updating strategy
Deep learning
Model transferability
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378377425001593
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