During the monitoring period from July to October 2024, the main crop types in the Loess region were summer maize and winter wheat. The maize in the Loess region was harvested at the end of September to the beginning of October, and the sowing of winter wheat was completed in late October.

The CropWatch Agroclimatic Indicators (CWAIs) show that the photosynthetically active radiation (RADPAR) did no change . The temperature and accumulated precipitation were 1.6℃ and 14% higher than the 15YA, respectively. Compared with the 15YA, abundant precipitation and suitable temperature led to a significant 9% increase in potential biomass. According to the regional NDVI development map, the overall crop condition in this region was far below the 5YA in July and then recovered to the 5YA in August.

Due to insufficient precipitation before July, the NDVI clusters and profiles reveal that the crop conditions throughout the whole area in early July were below the average. The dry conditions in June had delayed the establishment of the maize crops. Hence, the growth cycle of maize got shifted by 2-3 weeks, which explains the relatively high NDVI values observed in October. They are mainly distributed in the central, western and northern parts of the Loess Region. However, there are still 17.4% of the areas below the average from mid-August to late October, mainly concentrated in south-central Shaanxi Province, southern Shanxi Province, and western Henan Province.

The fraction of cropped arable land (CALF) was 97%, and VCIx was 0.89. The CPIx in the region stood at 0.99,the value of this parameter is close to 1. In general, the crop conditions in the Loess region are expected to be normal.

(a) Crop condition development graph based on NDVI

(b) Spatial NDVI patterns compared to 5YA (c) NDVI profiles

(d) Time series rainfall pofile

(e) Time series temperature pofile

(f)  Maximum VCI

(g)  Potential biomass departure from 5YA