Zhang et al. (2026) Field-Scale Estimation of Maize Leaf Area Index from UAV Multispectral Imagery Using Compact Spectral and Texture Predictors

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Identification

• Journal: Sensors
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-09-22
• Authors: Yu Zhang, Yanying Bai, Hongxin Li, Yang Xu, Zimao Chen, Jiahua Yan, Yongmei Wang
• DOI: 10.3390/s26196008

Research Groups

• Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences (ISSCAS)
• Key Laboratory of Land Surface Process and Climate Change in Cold Regions, ISSCAS
• University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS)

Short Summary

This study presents a UAV multispectral approach for estimating and mapping maize leaf area index (LAI) using vegetation indices and texture features. The method achieved high accuracy with R2 = 0.889 and RMSE = 0.249 in the single-split benchmark.

Objective

• Investigate the feasibility of using UAV multispectral data to estimate maize LAI at different growth stages

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Field-scale (13 fixed plots) in Tumed Right Banner, Inner Mongolia, China
• Temporal Scale: Four growth stages (repeated measurements)

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Random Forest (RF)
• Data sources: UAV multispectral data from green, red, red-edge, and near-infrared bands

Main Results

• The RF model achieved high accuracy with R2 = 0.889 and RMSE = 0.249 in the single-split benchmark.
• Across repeated splits, the corresponding values were R2 = 0.876 ± 0.016, RMSE = 0.258 ± 0.018, and RRMSE = 0.085 ± 0.006.

Contributions

• This study provides a novel approach for estimating maize LAI using UAV multispectral data, which can be used for site-specific canopy monitoring.
• The results highlight the importance of vegetation indices in predicting LAI, with texture features providing additional information.

Funding

• National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) - Project Code: 41877044
• Key Research and Development Program of Shaanxi Province - Project Code: 2020JM-045

Citation

@article{Zhang2026FieldScale,
  author = {Zhang, Yu and Bai, Yanying and Li, Hongxin and Xu, Yang and Chen, Zimao and Yan, Jiahua and Wang, Yongmei},
  title = {Field-Scale Estimation of Maize Leaf Area Index from UAV Multispectral Imagery Using Compact Spectral and Texture Predictors},
  journal = {Sensors},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.3390/s26196008},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.3390/s26196008}
}