Improving the Estimation of Rice Crop Damage from Flooding Events Using Open-Source Satellite Data and UAV Image Data

Abstract

Having an additional tool for swiftly determining the extent of flood damage to crops with confidence is beneficial. This study focuses on estimating rice crop damage caused by flooding in Candaba, Pampanga, using open-source satellite data. By analyzing the correlation between Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) measurements from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and Sentinel-2 (S2) satellite data, a cost-effective and time-efficient alternative for agricultural monitoring is explored. This study comprises two stages: establishing a correlation between clear sky observations and NDVI measurements, and employing a combination of S2 NDVI and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) NDVI to estimate crop damage. The integration of SAR and optical satellite data overcomes cloud cover challenges during typhoon events. The accuracy of standing crop estimation reached up to 99.2%, while crop damage estimation reached up to 99.7%. UAVs equipped with multispectral cameras prove effective for small-scale monitoring, while satellite imagery offers a valuable alternative for larger areas. The strong correlation between UAV and satellite-derived NDVI measurements highlights the significance of open-source satellite data in accurately estimating rice crop damage, providing a swift and reliable tool for assessing flood damage in agricultural monitoring.