Jin et al. (2026) Early hyperspectral diagnosis of canopy water content for productivity-risk and water-management screening in rainfed winter oilseed rape

Identification

• Journal: Agricultural Water Management
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-08-04
• Authors: Ming Jin, Xiaolin Song, Yang Liu, Bohui Ma, Jiyan Wang, 郝爱妮, Zhiying Liu, Zijun Tang, Youzhen Xiang, Fucang Zhang
• DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2026.110676

Research Groups

• Key Laboratory of Agricultural Soil and Water Engineering in Arid and Semiarid Areas of Ministry of Education, Northwest A&F University
• College of Horticulture, Northwest A&F University
• Institute of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University

Short Summary

This study developed a hyperspectral framework to estimate canopy water-related traits and assess the management relevance of canopy water content (CWC) under mulching and nitrogen treatments in rainfed winter oilseed rape. The framework showed that CWC was strongly associated with measured EWT and final SY and WP, suggesting its potential as a candidate canopy-scale proxy for productivity-risk screening.

Objective

• To develop a hyperspectral framework to estimate canopy water-related traits (EWT, LAI, and CWC) in winter oilseed rape under mulching and nitrogen treatments.
• To evaluate the management relevance of CWC for productivity-risk screening and supplemental irrigation need assessment.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Field-scale measurements were conducted at a spatial scale of 6 m × 4 m plots.
• Temporal Scale: The study was conducted over three growing seasons (2020–2021, 2021–2022, and 2022–2023) with measurements taken at DAS 135, 160, and 175.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Gaussian Process Regression (GPR)
• Data sources: Field measurements of canopy water-related traits (EWT, LAI, CWC), hyperspectral reflectance data, and crop yield and water productivity data

Main Results

• The study showed that CWC was strongly associated with measured EWT and final SY and WP.
• GPR-derived CWC retained an association with measured EWT after accounting for LAI.
• Empirical thresholds of 0.113 and 0.131 kg m⁻² separated high-, moderate-, and low-risk classes.

Contributions

• The study provides a hyperspectral framework for early canopy water diagnosis in winter oilseed rape, which can be used to prioritize field water-status verification and supplemental irrigation need assessment.
• The results suggest that CWC is a potential candidate canopy-scale proxy for productivity-risk screening.

Funding

• This research was funded by the Key Laboratory of Agricultural Soil and Water Engineering in Arid and Semiarid Areas of Ministry of Education, Northwest A&F University.

Citation

@article{Jin2026Early,
  author = {Jin, Ming and Song, Xiaolin and Liu, Yang and Ma, Bohui and Wang, Jiyan and 郝爱妮 and Liu, Zhiying and Tang, Zijun and Xiang, Youzhen and Zhang, Fucang},
  title = {Early hyperspectral diagnosis of canopy water content for productivity-risk and water-management screening in rainfed winter oilseed rape},
  journal = {Agricultural Water Management},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1016/j.agwat.2026.110676},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2026.110676}
}