How does the Vegetation Index work?

Granular Insights uses the Wide Dynamic Range Vegetation Index (WDRVI) to measure crop progression in a given field.

Growing plants absorb blue and red light and reflect green light, which is why they appear green to the human eye. Plants also reflect near-infrared (NIR) light which is invisible to the naked eye. The healthier the plant, the more NIR is reflected. When a plant becomes stressed, its leaves reflect less NIR light.  WDRVI measures the difference between red and near-infrared light bands reflecting off vegetation in the field to assess the amount of chlorophyll that is present and active in the plant at any given time. This analysis is the basis of the Vegetation Index in Granular Insights.

WDRVI picks up on subtle differences in the crop canopy, and is at least three times more accurate than the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), which is used by other satellite imagery providers.

 

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