The goal of the project DroughtMAP is the development of indicators that allow a pre-visual identification of drought stress in agricultural ecosystems based on remote sensing satellite data. To achieve this goal, solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) measured by the ESA satellite Sentinel-5P will be combined with hyperspectral reflectance data provided by the DLR satellite EnMAP. In a first step, structural information about the plant canopies of agricultural areas will be derived from EnMAP data. This information will then be used to downscale the Sentinel-5P SIF product from the canopy to the leaf level to obtain more detailed information about the current plant status. The leaf level SIF product of consecutive days, weeks and months will be used to compose dense time-series, which will help to identify indicators for the early detection of drought stress. The developed methodology and achieved findings in DroughtMAP could support future decision-making processes in agriculture to initiate appropriate countermeasures in time and thus avoid irreversible plant damages and resulting yield losses.

Contacts IBG-2

Prof. Dr. Uwe Rascher

Dr. Bastian Siegmann

MSc. David Herrera