Predicting Barley Harvest Time in Dryland Conditions Using Satellite Images

Abstract

Barley has an important role in livestock feed. Therefore, an accurate estimation of harvesting time is necessary to minimize the loss in barley farming. The aim of this study is to determine barley harvest time using satellite images accurately. Field data were sampled from the farms in the Dezaj region of the west of Iran. In addition, satellite remote sensing technique was applied during barley growing season in 2019 using Landsat 8 images. The vegetation indexes were used as input in the prediction model in this study. The results showed that satellite imaging has enough potential to predict the harvesting time of barley accurately. R-squared and RMSE values of the best-structured stepwise regression model in this study were 0.791 as well, and 1.34 respectively. This method can be beneficially employed by farm managers to have an accurate estimation of the most appropriate harvesting time and be able to manage the process, which is an important challenge for them.

Keywords

• barley farming
• harvesting time
• satellite imagery