Leaf area index (LAI) and chlorophyll content, at leaf and canopy level, are important variables for agricultural applications because of their crucial role in photosynthesis and in plant functioning. The goal of this study was to test the hypothesis that LAI, leaf chlorophyll content (LCC), and canopy chlorophyll content (CCC) of a potato crop can be estimated by vegetation indices for the first time using Sentinel-2 satellite images. In 2016 ten plots of 30 × 30 m were designed in a potato field with different fertilization levels. During the growing season approximately 10 daily radiometric field measurements were used to determine LAI, LCC, and CCC. These radiometric determinations were extensively calibrated against LAI2000 and chlorophyll meter (SPAD, soil plant analysis development) measurements for potato crops grown in the years 2010–2014. Results for Sentinel-2 showed that the weighted difference vegetation index (WDVI) using bands at 10 m spatial resolution can be used for estimating the LAI (R² of 0.809; root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) of 0.36). The ratio of the transformed chlorophyll in reflectance index and the optimized soil-adjusted vegetation index (TCARI/OSAVI) showed to be a good linear estimator of LCC at 20 m (R² of 0.696; RMSEP of 0.062 g·m⁻²). The performance of the chlorophyll vegetation index (CVI) at 10 m spatial resolution was slightly worse (R² of 0.656; RMSEP of 0.066 g·m⁻²) compared to TCARI/OSAVI. Finally, results showed that the green chlorophyll index (CI_green) was an accurate and linear estimator of CCC at 10 m (R² of 0.818; RMSEP of 0.29 g·m⁻²). Results for CI_green were better than for the red-edge chlorophyll index (CI_red-edge, R² of 0.576, RMSE of 0.43 g·m⁻²). Our results show that Sentinel-2 bands at 10 m spatial resolution are suitable for estimating LAI, LCC, and CCC, avoiding the need for red-edge bands that are only available at 20 m. This is an important finding for applying Sentinel-2 data in precision agriculture.

Plant stress is often expressed as a reduction in amount of biomass or leaf area index (LAI). In addition, stress may affect the plant pigment system, influencing the photosynthetic capacity of plants. Chlorophyll content is the main driver for this primary production. The chlorophyll content is indirectly related to the nitrogen (N) content. In this paper emphasis is on estimation of canopy chlorophyll content and N content using remote sensing techniques. Hyperspectral reflectance data representing a range of canopies were simulated using the PROSAIL radiative transfer model at a 1 nm sampling interval. Various indices were tested for estimating canopy chlorophyll content. Subsequently, tests with field data were performed for sampling locations within an extensively grazed fen meadow using ASD FieldSpec measurements and within a potato field with a Cropscan radiometer for estimating canopy N content. PROSAIL simulations showed that the red-edge chlorophyll index (CI_{red edge}) was linearly related to the canopy chlorophyll content over the full range of potential values (R²=0.94) . In contrast, highly non-linear relationships of chlorophyll content with most traditional red-edge indices were found. At the study sites the CI² was found to be a good and linear estimator of canopy N content (no chlorophyll was measured) for both the grassland site (R²=0.77) and for the potato field (R²=0.88) . The latter number refers to plots showing no “luxury” N consumption. However, for the full potato data set, including highly fertilized plants, an exponential relationship yielded a better fit (R²=0.85) as compared to a linear fit (R²=0.65) . Currently, this approach can, e.g., be applied with MERIS and Hyperion data and with the upcoming Sentinel-2 and -3 systems.