Using artificial neural networks and remotely sensed data to evaluate the relative importance of variables for prediction of within-field corn and soybean yields

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dc.contributor.author
Kross, Angela
Znoj, Evelyn
Callegari, Daihany
Kaur, Gurpreet
Sunohara, Mark
Lapen, David R.
McNairn, Heather
dc.date.accepted
2020-07-08
dc.date.accessioned
2025-12-03T18:25:12Z
dc.date.available
2025-12-03T18:25:12Z
dc.date.issued
2020-07-11
dc.date.submitted
2020-05-26
dc.description.abstract - en
Crop yield prediction prior to harvest is important for crop income and insurance projections, and for evaluating food security. Yet, modeling crop yield is challenging because of the complexity of the relationships between crop growth and predictor variables, especially at the field scale. In this study, an artificial neural network (ANN) method was used: (1) to evaluate the relative importance of predictor variables for the prediction of within-field corn and soybean end-of-season yield and (2) to evaluate the performance of the ANN models with a minimal optimized variable dataset for their capacity to predict corn and soybean yield over multiple years at the within-field level. Several satellite derived vegetation indices (normalized difference vegetation index—NDVI, red edge NDVI and simple ratio—SR) and elevation derived variables (slope, flow accumulation, aspect) were used as crop yield predictor variables, hypothesizing that the different variables reflect different crop and site conditions. The study identified the SR index and the slope as the most important predictor variables for both crop types during two training and testing years (2011, 2012). The dates of the most important SR images, however, were different for the two crop types and corresponded to their critical crop developmental stages (phenology). The relative mean absolute errors were overall smaller for corn compared to soybean: all of the 2011 corn study fields had errors below 10%; 75% of the fields had errors below 10% in 2012. The errors were more variable for soybean. In 2011, 37% of the fields had errors below 10%, while in 2012, 100% of the fields had errors below 20%. The results are promising and can provide yield estimates at the farm level, which could be useful in refining broader scale (e.g., county, region) yield projections.
dc.identifier.citation
Kross, A., Znoj, E., Callegari, D., Kaur, G., Sunohara, M., Lapen, D. R., & McNairn, H. (2020). Using artificial neural networks and remotely sensed data to evaluate the relative importance of variables for prediction of within-field corn and soybean yields. Remote Sensing, 12(14), 2230. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12142230
dc.identifier.doi
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12142230
dc.identifier.issn
2072-4292
dc.identifier.uri
https://open-science.canada.ca/handle/123456789/4053
dc.language.iso
en
dc.publisher - en
MDPI AG
dc.publisher - fr
MDPI AG
dc.rights - en
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
dc.rights - fr
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
dc.rights.uri - en
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.rights.uri - fr
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.fr
dc.subject - en
Agriculture
Crops
Corn
Legumes
Food security
Remote sensing
dc.subject - fr
Agriculture
Cultures
Maïs
Légumineuse
Sécurité alimentaire
Télédétection
dc.subject.en - en
Agriculture
Crops
Corn
Legumes
Food security
Remote sensing
dc.subject.fr - fr
Agriculture
Cultures
Maïs
Légumineuse
Sécurité alimentaire
Télédétection
dc.title - en
Using artificial neural networks and remotely sensed data to evaluate the relative importance of variables for prediction of within-field corn and soybean yields
dc.type - en
Article
dc.type - fr
Article
local.article.journalissue
14
local.article.journaltitle - en
Remote Sensing
local.article.journalvolume
12
local.pagination
2230
local.peerreview - en
Yes
local.peerreview - fr
Oui
local.requestdoi - en
No
local.requestdoi - fr
No
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