The zone map consists of the entire growing season’s NDVI and NDMI data, which have been downloaded from the Sentinel satellite over several years. With the help of zone maps, it is possible to see the growth of the crop in different years. An artificial intelligence algorithm has been used to search for the appropriate number of zones. There are usually 3-5 zones. If the field is flat in terms of growth, the number of zones in the field decreases and the differences between the zones are small. If the growth variation within the field is very large, then there are more growth zones and the difference between them is greater.
The following things can be interpreted from the zone maps:
- The growth variation within the field is distinguished: bad – average – good
- By comparing several growing seasons, development targets are found, i.e. areas that always grow poorly
- Appropriate soil sampling points are located, e.g. in the middle of the good and bad growth zone
- Suitable locations for sensor installations are determined
- With the help of maps, you can also try to find reasons why growth has not been successful in certain years. For example, in certain years, the early summer drought has prevented good plant growth due to the soil structure/soil types