Zoning rice fields of Guilan province prone to frost damage under different rice growth stages using remote sensing

Loss of yield as a result of natural damages and its adverse effect on crop production is one of the important issues in agriculture (Barlow et al., 2015). Environmental stresses, particularly cold and frost stresses, affect the morphological and physiological characteristics of plants (Akhil et al., 2008). Identifying and determining spatial distributing of rice fields under frost damage is important for evaluating the food security and improving crop production management (Simaie et al., 2013). The objective of this study was to come up with zoning the frost damage using satellite imagery and cold degree days (CDD) index to evaluate the severity of frost damage in different growth stages of rice plant. In this research, climatic parameters including maximum, minimum and mean of temperature were obtained from Kiyashahr synoptic station. A number of 180 images with the MOD11A1 code related to the crop season, which covering the Guilan area, were taken from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) site. In order to create surface temperature maps in Rasht, land surface temperature product of MODIS sensor was pre-processed. By using the satellite images and Cold Degree Days indices in three growth stages of rice (seedling, panicle initiating to the end of booting, cluster to flowering), the influence of frost damage on different growth stages of rice in part of rice fields in Guilan province was evaluated. The severity of frost damage in rice fields was estimated at times when the plant was growing below the critical temperature. The obtained results indicated that the index of cold degree days (CDD) was 8.7 at seedling stage, 3.1 at panicle initiating to the end of booting stage and 11 in flowering stage. Also, investigating the trend of frost zones indicated that Kuchesfahan, Lashtnesha and Khoshbijar areas due to severe frost damage during rice plant growth period imposed to the most damage to plant growth and yield. The zones with the dark pixels (lower than the temperature threshold for growth) in the panicle initiating to the end of booting growth stage were more exposed to frost damage than other growth stages. The obtained results further indicated that integration of remote sensing data with ground information can be used under an improved pattern for interpreting satellite data for areas where low ground data is accessible. This method has a reasonable capability to determine the risk of rice cultivation at rice fields and at different times of year, and consequently can be used to determine the potential of rice fields for second cultivation. Knowledge of spatial and temporal distribution of rice farms temperature is essential for determining energy balance, meteorological studies and identification of rice fields under temperature stresses. Based on the obtained results, satellite images perform well in evaluating temperature stresses. Using satellite imagery, the temperature stresses (frost and heat damage) in different rice growth stages as well as for crop yield reduction can be investigated. The results of the prediction of the average air temperature and the zoning of frost damage can be used in environmental planning such as disease and pest control, optimal water resources management, estimation of damage to fields and environmental studies.