Inversion modeling of japonica rice canopy chlorophyll content with UAV hyperspectral remote sensing

Chlorophyll content is an important indicator of the growth status of japonica rice. The objective of this paper is to develop an inversion model that can predict japonica rice chlorophyll content by using hyperspectral image of rice canopy collected with unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). UAV-based hyperspectral remote sensing can provide timely and cost-effective monitoring of chlorophyll content over a large region. The study was based on hyperspectral data collected at the Shenyang Agricultural College Academician Japonica Rice Experimental Base in 2018 and 2019. In order to extract the salient information embedded in the high-dimensional hyperspectral data, we first perform dimension reduction by using a successive projection algorithm (SPA). The SPA extracts the characteristic hyperspectral bands that are used as input to the inversion model. The characteristic bands extracted by SPA are 410 nm, 481 nm, 533 nm, 702 nm, and 798 nm, respectively. The inversion model is developed by using an extreme learning machine (ELM), the parameters of which are optimized by using particle swarm optimization (PSO). The PSO-ELM algorithm can accurately model the nonlinear relationship between hyperspectral data and chlorophyll content. The model achieves a coefficient of determination R2 = 0.791 and a root mean square error of RMSE = 8.215 mg/L. The model exhibits good predictive ability and can provide data support and model reference for research on nutrient diagnosis of japonica rice.