The Loess region includes Gansu, Ningxia, Shaanxi, Shanxi,and Henan provinces. The main crops in this area are spring wheat, winter wheat,and some vegetables. Winter wheat is sowed in October and will be harvested inJune; spring wheat in Ningxia is planted in late February and early March. Thepast four months are an important stage for the growth of the winter wheat. Theaverage NDVI profile indicates that crop condition is better than last year'sand also above the five-year average in this region. The NDVI cluster andprofiles also demonstrate this, though the crop condition fluctuated sharply overthe monitoring period. Crop condition is better than the five-year average,especially in northern Shanxi and the northeast of Henan province, in accordancewith maximum NDVI. Rainfall profiles show that rainfall varied smoothly overtime, contrary to temperature. In the past four months, rainfall, temperatureand PAR exceeded the thirteen-year average by 97%, 0.7 degrees, and 2%,respectively, which can promote the region’s crops growth. This year, more landis cropped (as shown by the fraction of arable land actually cropped), withCALF 16.2 percent above average; the uncropped arable land is mainly located inthe central parts of Shaanxi and Hebei provinces.

                           (e) Maximum VCI                          (f) Cropped arable land fraction

                     Biomass