For the Northeast region, the current monitoring period (August to October) covers the harvest of all spring crops, which was almost over in October in three provinces. “Single crops” (including maize, rice, and soybean) reached the grain-filling to maturity stages in August to late September. The overall condition of crops was very satisfactory before September but deteriorated below the five-year average since then. 

Rainfall exceeded the average by +15% in the whole Northeastern region. There was a 27%   increase of rainfall in Heilongjiang and 4% in Jilin province, but average condition in Liaoning. Rainy and cloudy (+0.1°C of TEMP and -3% PAR) weather combined with abundant water supply lead to a -13% drop in biomass in all three provinces, which could be explained by low sunshine and water logging, and probably poor quality of RS images. 

The NDVI profiles for the entire region turned below the five-year average from early September. According to the VCIx distribution map of Northeast China, almost all the area enjoyed a favorable VCIx (over 0.8), which indicates a promising crop. Only small part of cropland in central and west Liaoning (near Shenyang City) suffered a decrease in biomass caused by slight local drought. NDVI clusters also indicate satisfactory, close to average crop condition. The only exception is 1.8% of area which may be caused by poor quality of the satellite imagery. Overall, crop condition and yield in Northeast China in 2018 is satisfactory and slightly above average.

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