LAI Modeling in Degraded Mediterranean Rainfed Cultivated Crop Linked with Soil Erosion Stages Based on VNIR-SWIR Hyperspectral Data

Soils are an essential factor contributing to agricultural production of rainfed crops such as barley and triticale cereals. Inadequate land management is endangering soil quality and productivity, and in turn crop quality and productivity are affected. In this paper, hyperspectral VNIR-SWIR airborne data (0.4-2.5 µm) is used to analyze spatial differences in vegetation vitality related to soil degradation status in a Mediterranean agricultural area of central Spain. Specifically, biophysical indices such as the leaf area index (LAI) are spatially derived from the remote sensing data and discussed regarding the land degradation status. The results of this study illustrated the potential of hyperspectral remote sensing in the context of crop and land resource monitoring.