Correlations of Rice Grain Yields to Radiometric Estimates of Canopy Biomass as a Function of Growth Stage, : Hand-Held Radiometric Measurements of Two of the Thematic Mapper's Spectral Bands Indicate that the Forecasting of Rice Grain Yields is Feasible at Early to Mid Canopy Development Stages

Considerable experience has been reported on the use of spectral data to measure the canopy biomass of dryland grain crops and the use of these estimates to forecast subsequent grain yield. These basic procedures were retested to assess the use of the general process to forecasting grain yield for paddy rice. The use of the ratio of a multiband radiometer simulation of Thematic Mapper band 4(.76 to .90 .mu.m) divided by band 3 (.63 to .69 .mu.m) was tested to estimate the canopy biomass of paddy rice as a function of the stage of development of the rice. The correlation was found to be greatest (R = .94) at panicle differentiation about midway through the development cycle of the rice canopy. The use of this ratio of two spectral bands as a surrogate for canopy biomass was then tested for its correlation against final grain yield. These spectral estimates of canopy biomass produced the highest correlations with final grain yield (R = .87) when measured at the canopy development stages of panicle differentiation and heading. The impact of varying the amounts of supplemental nitrogen on the use of spectral measuremants of canopy biomass to estimate grain yield was also determined. The effect of the development of a significant amount of weed biomass in the rice canopy was also clearly detected.