Estimation of crop yield reduction due to drought effect using satellite information

Agricultural production in Poland is the main source of income for nearly 12% of population providing food for 40 million people of the on tire country and the main contribution to the gross national product through the export of live animals, animals and vegetable products and prepared foodstuffs. The production of basic consumer cereals is to considerable extent weather dependent and in some years is not sufficient for needs within the country. The investigation has been performed for cereals using NOAA/AVHRR data. NDVI, TCI and VCI indices have been applied for calculating cereals growth conditions and to assess the sensitivity of these indices in monitoring drought effect on yield. The effect of soil moisture conditions have been statistically compared to modeled values of evapotranspiration as well as to detailed ground observations of soil moisture and vegetation parameters, which are measured at special agricultural stations. It was proved that the applied methods give good results