%A Guo,Bin-Bin %A Zhu,Yun-Ji %A Feng,Wei %A He,Li %A Wu,Ya-Peng %A Zhou,Yi %A Ren,Xing-Xu %A Ma,Ying %D 2018 %J Frontiers in Plant Science %C %F %G English %K Winter wheat;,Multi-angular hyperspectral;,Vegetation indices;,Aerial N uptake;,Monitoring model %Q %R 10.3389/fpls.2018.00675 %W %L %M %P %7 %8 2018-May-25 %9 Original Research %# %! mRPA for N uptake estimation %* %< %T Remotely Estimating Aerial N Uptake in Winter Wheat Using Red-Edge Area Index From Multi-Angular Hyperspectral Data %U https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2018.00675 %V 9 %0 JOURNAL ARTICLE %@ 1664-462X %X Remote sensing techniques can be efficient for non-destructive, rapid detection of wheat nitrogen (N) nutrient status. In the paper, we examined the relationships of canopy multi-angular data with aerial N uptake of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) across different growing seasons, locations, years, wheat varieties, and N application rates. Seventeen vegetation indices (VIs) selected from the literature were measured for the stability in estimating aerial N uptake of wheat under 13 view zenith angles (VZAs) in the solar principal plane (SPP). In total, the back-scatter angles showed better VI behavior than the forward-scatter angles. The correlation coefficient of VIs with aerial N uptake increased with decreasing VZAs. The best linear relationship was integrated with the optimized common indices DIDA and DDn to examine dynamic changes in aerial N uptake; this led to coefficients of determination (R2) of 0.769 and 0.760 at the −10° viewing angle. Our novel area index, designed the modified right-side peak area index (mRPA), was developed in accordance with exploration of the spectral area calculation and red-edge feature using the equation: mRPA = (R760/R600)1/2 × (R760-R718). Investigating the predictive accuracy of mRPA for aerial N uptake across VZAs demonstrated that the best performance was at −10° [R2 = 0.804, p < 0.001, root mean square error (RMSE) = 3.615] and that the effect was relatively similar between −20° to +10° (R2 = 0.782, p < 0.001, RMSE = 3.805). This leads us to construct a simple model under wide-angle combinations so as to improve the field operation simplicity and applicability. Fitting independent datasets to the models resulted in relative error (RE, %) values of 12.6, 14.1, and 14.9% between estimated and measured aerial N uptake for mRPA, DIDA, and DDn across the range of −20° to +10°, respectively, further confirming the superior test performance of the mRPA index. These results illustrate that the novel index mRPA represents a more accurate assessment of plant N status, which is beneficial for guiding N management in winter wheat.