Remote Sensing Prediction of Grain Protein Content in Medium and Weak Gluten Spring Wheat Using Satellite Image at Anthesie

The present study provides some references for wheat production in situation analysis and acquisition schedule through monitoring and predicting grain quality. We measured plant growth quality indexes, remote sensing parameters by Landsat-5 TM satellite data at elongation and anthesis stage and grain protein content at maturity stage in Jiangsu locating in middle and lower reaches of the Yangtse River. The relationships between/among these indexes were analyzed to establish remote sensing prediction model of grain protein content(GPC) in medium and weak gluten wheat. The correlations between GPC and plant growth quality indexes, including leaf SPAD reading, leaf nitrogen content and plant nitrogen content, were not significant at elongation. However, plant growth quality indexes at anthesis could be used to predict GPC because these indexes were significantly related with GPC(P0.01). Plant growth quality indexes could be better predicted by NDVI and DSW3 than other remote sensing parameters at anthesis. Therefore, two GPC models based on NDVI and DSW3 were established respectively. The correlations between GPC measured values and prediction values by above-mentioned models were very significant in experiments of 2007 and 2009(P0.01). NDVI model showed more accurate prediction than DSW3 model evidenced by lower RMSE. Furthermore, we produced thematic maps at anthesis for predicting GPC in medium and weak gluten spring wheat growing in Jiangsu some areas in 2009 by using NDVI model.