The crops showed generally unfavorable conditions during the reporting period from July to October. Currently, summer crops have been harvested. As shown by the NDVI profiles,national NDVI values were close to average in early July, after which they were all below average from mid-July to October. According to the crop condition map based on NDVI, more than 50% of the country’s spatial NDVI was lower than average from July to September, especially in southern and eastern England (Oxford, Cambridge, York, Birmingham, Edinburgh). This spatial pattern is also reflected by the maximum VCI in the different areas, with a VCIx of0.81 for the country overall. The CropWatch climatically and agronomic indices indicate total precipitation (RAIN, +4%), average temperature (TEMP, +0.9), and PAR (RADPAR, +3%) were above average, while BIOMSS decreased by 6%, reflecting the above-mentioned crop conditions in the country. Cropping intensity decreased by 13%compared to the five-year average. Overall, the agronomic indicators all indicate an unfavorable condition for most summer crop areas of the United Kingdom.

Figure3.14. United Kingdom crop condition, July-October2014

(a)  Crop condition development graph based on NDVI    (b) Maximum VCI

(c) Spatial NDVI patterns compared to 5YA   (d) NDVI Profile