Winter wheat is the predominant crop that is grown during this monitoring period. Sowing started in September and was completed in October.

The CropWatch Agroclimatic Indicators (CWAIs) in the Loess Region show that although radiation was below average (RADPAR -3%), accumulated rainfall and temperature were above average (RAIN +31%, TEMP +0.5℃), which resulted in above-average biomass production potential compared to the 15YA (BIOMSS +13%). During the monitoring period, rainfall was significantly above average in early October, but then returned to close to the 15YA in the subsequent periods. 

According to the regional NDVI development map, the overall crop condition in the Loess region was close to the 5YA, but below average in October. The NDVI departure cluster profiles indicate that about 53.2% of the areas were below average from October to mid-November, mainly distributed in most of the region. In addition, about 7.7% of the areas were above average by mid-November, mainly in central Henan, southwestern Shanxi, and southeastern Shaanxi Province. The majority of arable land had high VCIx values, with a regional average of 0.86, and the fraction of cropped arable land under cultivation is 78% , which is 1% above the 5YA. The CPIx in the region is greater than 1. 

In conclusion, the CropWatch indicators point to normal conditions for this region.

Figure.a Crop condition development graph based on NDVI

Figure.b Spatial distribution of NDVI profiles

Figure.c Time series rainfall pofile

Figure.d Time series temperature pofile

Figure.e Maximum VCI

Figure.f Potential biomass departure from 5YA

Figure.g Proportion of NDVI anomaly categories