The assimilation of spectral sensing and the WOFOST model for the dynamic simulation of cadmium accumulation in rice tissues

The accurate detection of heavy metal-induced stress on crop growth is important for food security and agricultural, ecological and environmental protection. Spectral sensing offers an efficient and undamaged observation tool to monitor soil and vegetation contamination. This study proposed a methodology for dynamically estimating the total cadmium (Cd) accumulation in rice tissues by assimilating spectral information into WOFOST (World Food Study) model. Based on the differences among ground hyperspectral data of rice in three experiments fields under different Cd concentration levels, the spectral indices MCARI1, NREP and RH were selected to reflect the rice stress condition and dry matter production of rice. With assimilating these sensitive spectral indices into the WOFOST + PROSPECT + SAIL model to optimize the Cd pollution stress factor fwi, the dynamic dry matter production processes of rice were adjusted. Based on the relation between dry matter production and Cd accumulation, we dynamically simulating the Cd accumulation in rice tissues. The results showed that the method performed well in dynamically estimating the total amount of Cd accumulation in rice tissues with R2 over 85%. This study suggests that the proposed method of integrating the spectral information and the crop growth model could successfully dynamically simulate the Cd accumulation in rice tissues.