Brazil: Research reveals advances in monitoring carbon and water balances in sugarcane

A study carried out by research teams from the United States and Brazil brought significant news to the field of agriculture and remote sensing. Using Landsat and Sentinel-2 satellite images, scientists were able to improve the modeling of gross primary production and transpiration in sugarcane crops. This advance represents an important step in more accurately representing carbon and water absorption by vegetation. The study, which included the collaboration of researchers from the University of Oklahoma, the USDA-ARS Sugarcane Research Unit in Louisiana, USA; from Embrapa Meio Ambiente and Universidade Estadual Paulista, highlighted the potential of high spatial resolution images. Despite the challenges posed by tropical climates, the combined analysis of Landsat and Sentinel-2 imagery has proven to be more effective than previous methods using the enhanced MODIS vegetation index in capturing carbon uptake dynamics. Jorge Celis, a researcher at the University of Oklahoma, ...