Over the reporting period, the main crops in Romania are maize (harvested in 2016) and early stages of winter wheat. Nationwide, rainfall exceeded average by 11% and CALF increased 2.19%, with other indicators mostly below average (RADPAR, -6%; TEMP, -2.2°C; and maximum VCI, 0.73, with a lot of spatial variability). The spatial distribution of NDVI profiles clearly shows the effect of snow that typically depresses NDVI: Early snow was sporadically recorded over the Transylvanian plateau (and the neighboring highlands) from mid-November, in an area that makes up about 16.5% of arable land and where NDVI decreased throughout the reporting period. This is, nevertheless, the area where most high VCIx values are concentrated. 

Snow eventually spread to the northern half of the country in December, which is when NDVI started dropping in the eastern Danube valley and the Delta (12.2% of arable lands). The Delta is also where most low VCIx values occur. From early January, the whole country was covered with snow, up until the end of the month and beyond. Most areas retained about average NDVI (53.5% of the territory), with moderate negative anomalies in the area west of Carpathians, as well as the Getic plateau in the west and the Budjak steppe in the east. Moderate positive departures, which varied during the season between 0 and 0.1 NDVI units, occur in 17.9% of the country, mostly concentrated between the eastern Carpathian and the Moldavian border. 

Due to the presence of snow, the interpretation of NDVI can be problematic. However, considering that temperature was not excessively low and that crops were protected by snow, there is no specific reason to consider that crops will not be fair. 

(a) Spatial NDVI patterns compared to 5YA

(b) Maximum VCI

(c) Crop condition development graph based on NDVI