Investigating the relationship between the inter-annual variability of satellite-derived vegetation phenology and a proxy of biomass production in the Sahel

In the Sahel region, moderate to coarse spatial resolution remote sensing time series are used in early warning monitoring systems with the aim of detecting unfavorable crop and pasture conditions and informing stakeholders about impending food security risks. Despite growing evidence that vegetation productivity is directly related to phenology, most approaches to estimate such risks do not explicitly take into account the actual timing of vegetation growth and development. The date of the start of the season (SOS) or of the peak canopy density can be assessed by remote sensing techniques in a timely manner during the growing season. However, there is limited knowledge about the relationship between vegetation biomass production and these variables at regional scale. This study describes a first attempt to increase our understanding of such a relationship through the analysis of phenological variables retrieved from SPOT-VEGETATION time series of the Fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FAPAR). Two key phenological variables (growing season length, GSL; timing of SOS) and the maximum value of FAPAR attained during the growing season (Peak) are analyzed as potentially related to a proxy of biomass production (CFAPAR, the cumulative value of FAPAR during the growing season). GSL, SOS and Peak all show different spatial patterns of correlation with CFAPAR. In particular, GSL shows a high and positive correlation with CFAPAR over the whole Sahel (mean r = 0.78). The negative correlation between delays in SOS and CFAPAR is stronger (mean r = -0.71) in the southern agricultural band of the Sahel, while the positive correlation between Peak FAPAR and CFAPAR is higher in the northern and more arid grassland region (mean r = 0.75). The consistency of the results and the actual link between remote-sensing derived phenological parameters and biomass production were evaluated using field measurements of aboveground herbaceous biomass of rangelands in Senegal. This study demonstrates the potential of phenological variables as indicators of biomass production. Nevertheless, the strength of the relation between phenological variables and biomass production is not universal and indeed quite variable geographically, with large scattered areas not showing a statistically significant relationship.JRC.H.4-Monitoring Agricultural Resource

Agrometeorological forecasting

Agrometeorological forecasting covers all aspects of forecasting in agrometeorology. Therefore, the scope of agrometeorological forecasting very largely coincides with the scope of agrometeorology itself. All on-farm and regional agrometeorological planning implies some form of impact forecasting, at least implicitly, so that decision-support tools and forecasting tools largely overlap. In the current chapter, the focus is on crops, but attention is also be paid to sectors that are often neglected by the agrometeorologist, such as those occurring in plant and animal protection. In addition, the borders between meteorological forecasts for agriculture and agrometeorological forecasts are not always clear. Examples include the use of weather forecasts for farm operations such as spraying pesticides or deciding on trafficability in relation to adverse weather. Many forecast issues by various national institutions (weather, but also commodity prices or flood warnings) are vital to the farming community, but they do not constitute agrometeorological forecasts. (Modified From the introduction of the chapter: Scope of agrometeorological forecasting)JRC.H.4-Monitoring Agricultural Resource

The Challenges of index-based insurance for food security in developing countries

A technical workshop on "The Challenges of Index-Based Insurance For Food Security in Developing Countries", organized by the JRC and the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI), was held in Ispra, Italy May 2-3, 2012. Attendants from a wide spectrum of technical areas (remote sensing to crop modelling and economics), types of business (insurance and reinsurance companies to government and international organizations) and levels of involvement with the farming community (from research to actual insurance implementation on a commercial basis) were well represented at the conference. This document is a collection of extended abstracts of the papers presented at the workshop.JRC.H.4-Monitoring Agricultural Resource

Climate science in support of sustainable agriculture

Agriculture is deeply interconnected with weather and climate, the main driver of agriculture production but also the dominant source of the overall variability of food production. Agriculture constitutes the principal livelihood of 70% of the world¿s poor; many of the world¿s poor and hungry are smallholder farmers, herders, fisherfolk, forest-dwellers, including indigenous people living in climate sensitive vulnerable areas. As the silent hunger crisis has already reached a historic high with 1.02 billion people going hungry every day, raising food production by some 70% to meet needs of the world population of 9.1 billion people in 2050 in light of impact of climate change may be one of the biggest challenges of the century. Climate science has offered a depth of knowledge to systematically characterize the agroclimatic resources and develop climate responsive agriculture policies, programmes and practices. However, as the food systems are expanding more and more into marginal and vulnerable areas, a renewed and holistic focus is now indispensable taking into account ecological, economic and social perspectives. National agriculture policies must therefore consider ¿climate as a resource¿ and develop synergies and embrace innovation and ideas of climate science to support land use planning, agro-ecological zoning, identify emerging areas of concern (AoC) and facilitate climate change adaptation and mitigation planning at a time when agriculture has an increased role to play to supply food, fodder, fibre and energy. In order to meet the needs of food system communities, a number of existing gaps in climate based agriculture services related to content, lead-time and communication must be addressed. Nonetheless, the emerging ability to translate timely, skilful climate information to optimize sustainable agriculture practices and communicate to the farmers through cost effective means provide opportunities for managing current ¿climate risks¿ and move towards strategic ¿climate resilient¿ adaptation and mitigation. The approach combining historical climate data, modern climate information products and communication technologies for real-time analysis of impacts; and delivery of optimal management practices at farm level is needed for farm adaptive dynamic optimization (FADO). The action-oriented climate advice should contain seasonal (climate and crop yield forecasts, crop-weather insurance indices), intra-seasonal (information on rainfall, dry and wet spells, hot and cold waves, land slides, floods, pest and diseases, and agronomic management practices) for risk reduction and long term (changing vulnerability and risk profiles, environmental services, biodiversity conservation etc.,) strategies for optimal and sustainable use of land, water and genetic resources. Strong partnership and collaboration among international institutions, national focal agencies, community based organizations and social networks are precondition. All these efforts present key challenges, but offers immense opportunities for both climate science and agriculture services to support sustainable agriculture.JRC.DDG.H.4-Monitoring agricultural resource

There Is No Such Thing as an Average: How Farmers Manage Uncertainty Related to Climate and Other Factors

Managing uncertainty related to climate variability has always been at the core of all agricultural activities. For farmers across the world, the concept of average rainfall is often less important than its dispersion and distribution during the cropping season. In most developing countries, farming practices are based on risk-mitigation strategies that do not allow for the development of highly productive agriculture, but mitigate the risks associated with the variability of climate and of other factors like markets or freshwater availability. The paper reviews the concept of average precipitation and discusses the stochastic nature of climate variables. It addresses the relationship between climate and crop production and related farmers¿ behaviour, and discusses the different tools and approaches that are available to anticipate, mitigate or compensate for the negative effects of climate variability in agricultural production.JRC.DDG.H.4-Monitoring agricultural resource

Proceedings of the International Workshop on Crop and Rangeland Monitoring in Eastern Africa, 28-30 January 2003, Nairobi, Kenya.

Abstract not availableJRC.G-Institute for the Protection and the Security of the Citizen (Ispra

Investigating the Relationship between the Inter-Annual Variability of Satellite-Derived Vegetation Phenology and a Proxy of Biomass Production in the Sahel

In the Sahel region, moderate to coarse spatial resolution remote sensing time series are used in early warning monitoring systems with the aim of detecting unfavorable crop and pasture conditions and informing stakeholders about impending food security risks. Despite growing evidence that vegetation productivity is directly related to phenology, most approaches to estimate such risks do not explicitly take into account the actual timing of vegetation growth and development. The date of the start of the season (SOS) or of the peak canopy density can be assessed by remote sensing techniques in a timely manner during the growing season. However, there is limited knowledge about the relationship between vegetation biomass production and these variables at the regional scale. This study describes the first attempt to increase our understanding of such a relationship through the analysis of phenological variables retrieved from SPOT-VEGETATION time series of the Fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FAPAR). Two key phenological variables (growing season length (GSL); timing of SOS) and the maximum value of FAPAR attained during the growing season (Peak) are analyzed as potentially related to a proxy of biomass production (CFAPAR, the cumulative value of FAPAR during the growing season). GSL, SOS and Peak all show different spatial patterns of correlation with CFAPAR. In particular, GSL shows a high and positive correlation with CFAPAR over the whole Sahel (mean r = 0.78). The negative correlation between delays in SOS and CFAPAR is stronger (mean r = −0.71) in the southern agricultural band of the Sahel, while the positive correlation between Peak FAPAR and CFAPAR is higher in the northern and more arid grassland region (mean r = 0.75). The consistency of the results and the actual link between remote sensing-derived phenological parameters and biomass production were evaluated using field measurements of aboveground herbaceous biomass of rangelands in Senegal. This study demonstrates the potential of phenological variables as indicators of biomass production. Nevertheless, the strength of the relation between phenological variables and biomass production is not universal and indeed quite variable geographically, with large scattered areas not showing a statistically significant relationship