A model coupling radiative transfer models and crop growth models

Crop growth models are basically used to simulate the growth process of crops on different conditions, and are widely used in agricultural applications. The decision support system for agrotechnology, transfer (DSSAT) is developed to facilitate the application of crop models in it systems approach to agronomic research. It integrates knowledge about soil, climate, crops, and management for making better decisions about transferring production technology from one location to others where conditions (e.g., soils and climate) differed with step of one day in simulation. Daily satellite borne remote sensing data, as Well its high spectral resolution one, can't be acquired routinely. In order to get daily time-series remote sensing data, a model coupling radiative transfer (RT) models and crop growth models need to be developed. And then some important crop information can be inversed from the previous computed time-series data. The coupling strategy between crop growth models and radiative transfer models on wheat crops is introduced in this paper. With the help of radiative transfer models, the canopy spectral of crops can be simulated from crop physiological variables, e.g., leaf area index, leaf mesophyll structure and leaf chlorophyll content, which can be computed from crop growth models. The coupling model is tested with in-situ spectral of wheat crops measured by ASD spectrometer. The simulated reflectance data at top of canopy agree better with the measured ones.