Identification of winter wheat from ERTS-1 imagery

Continuing interpretation of the test area in Finney County, Kansas, has revealed that winter wheat can be successfully identified. This successful identification is based on human recognition of tonal signatures on MSS images. Several different but highly successful interpretation strategies have been employed. These strategies involve the use of both spectral and temporal inputs. Good results have been obtained from a single MSS-5 image acquired at a critical time in the crop cycle (planting). On a test sample of 54,612 acres, 89 percent of the acreage was correctly classified as wheat or non-wheat and the estimated wheat acreage (19,516 acres) was 99 percent of the actual acreage of wheat in the sample area.