Comparison of MODIS and VIIRS NDVI Characteristics on Corn and Soybean Cultivation Areas in Illinois

We analyzed the potential for joint utilization of Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite considering the aging of MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellites. Over 11 years from 2012 to 2022, we examined the characteristics of NDVI changes in corn and soybean cultivation areas in Illinois, USA. VIIRS and MODIS satellite imagery NDVI exhibited a high correlation coefficient of over 0.98. However, during periods of rapid crop growth or decline, VIIRS NDVI showed values approximately 0.12 to 0.14 higher than MODIS. Estimating crop anomaly classes based on NDVI, we observed similar trends in corn and soybean crop anomaly classes in 2018 and 2019. However, in 2022, there appeared to be a significant divergence in crop anomaly classes, suggesting the need for further investigation. The correlation coefficients between MODIS and VIIRS satellite imagery NDVI and corn and soybean yields were consistently high, exceeding 0.8, indicating the potential for quantity estimation using both MODIS and VIIRS satellite imagery. Specifically, for VIIRS NDVI, excluding the increasing trend in crop quantity estimation for soybeans enhanced the correlation, and compared to MODIS, it showed a consistently high correlation with quantity from approximately 16 days earlier, indicating the potential for early estimation.