The average NDVI profileindicates that crop condition in the Loess region is not as good as last year'sand also below the five-year average. The main crops are spring wheat andwinter wheat. Winter wheat was sowed in October and will be harvested in earlyJune. During the monitoring period, rainfall exceeded average by 61 percent andtemperature was average. Radiation dropped by 1 percent, in line with theexcess precipitation. The additional detail provided by the NDVI clusters andprofiles shows that crop condition was close to average in most parts of theregion until early April. However, at the end of the monitoring period, cropcondition was worse than the average, especially in the northwest of Henanprovince. The fraction of cropped arable land (CALF) increased 3 percentagepoints when compared with the five-year average, which indicates more land iscropped. The potential biomass indicator was 44 percent above average,especially in the north of Shanxi and central Shaanxi province. Crop conditionin the region is generally good, except in the southeast.

Figure4.12. Crop condition China Loess region, January-April 2016

(a) Crop condition development graph based on NDVI

(b)Spatial NDVI patterns compared to 5YA                       (d)  NDVI profile

(d)Maximum VCI                                                           (e) Biomass