Crop Early Warning Index: provides four alert levels based on the combination of VCI (Vegetation Condition Index) TAI (Temperature Anomaly Index) and PrI (Precipitation Index) anomalies. In particular: CREW = 1 if only VCI anomaly is present. CREW = 2 if VCI and TAI anomalies are present. CREW = 3 if VCI and PrI anomalies are present. CREW = 4 if VCI TAI and PrI anomalies are present.

LAI is defined as half the developed area of photosynthetically active elements of the vegetation per unit horizontal ground area. It determines the size of the interface for exchange of energy (including radiation) and mass between the canopy and the atmosphere. This is an intrinsic canopy primary variable that should not depend on observation conditions. LAI is strongly non linearly related to reflectance. Therefore its estimation from remote sensing observations will be strongly scale dependent (Garrigues et al. 2006a Weiss et al. 2000). Note that vegetation LAI as estimated from remote sensing will include all the green contributors i.e. including understory when existing under forests canopies.

The Red-Edge Inflection Point Index algorithm was developed for applications in biomass and nitrogen (N) uptake measurement/management in heterogeneous fields.- Guyot et al. (1988). Red edge as the inflection point of the strong red absorption to near infrared reflectance includes the information of both crop N and growth status. The reflectance around red edge is sensitive to wide range of crop chlorophyll content N content LAI and biomass (Hatfield et al. 2008 Mutanga and Skidmore 2007 Steele et al. 2008b). The REIP general formula is based on linear four-point interpolation technique and it uses four wavebands (670 700 740 and 780 nm) - Guyot and Baret (1988). The REIP results from the following (Sensor-dependent) equation: REIP = 700 + 40 * ((r670 + r780)/2 - r700) / (r740 - r700) - as general formula or: REIP = 700 + 40 * ( (red1_factor * red1 + IR_factor * near_IR)/2) - red2_factor * red2 ) / (red3_factor * red3 - red2_factor * red2) )

The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) is a measure of the amount and vigor of vegetation on the land surface and NDVI spatial composite images are developed to more easily distinguish green vegetation from bare soils. In general NDVI values range from -1.0 to 1.0 with negative values indicating clouds and water positive values near zero indicating bare soil and higher positive values of NDVI ranging from sparse vegetation (0.1 - 0.5) to dense green vegetation (0.6 and above).

The Pigment Specific Simple Ratio (chlorophyll index) algorithm was developed by Blackburn (1998). It investigates the potential of a range of spectral approaches for quantifying pigments at the scale of the whole plant canopy. When applying existing narrow-band pigment indices the PSSR algorithms have the strongest and most linear relationships with canopy concentration per unit area of Chl a (Chlorophyll a) Chl b (Chlorophyll b) and Cars (carotenoids). The PSSRa results from the following equation: PSSRa = (IR_factor * near_IR) / (red_factor * red)

The Pigment Specific Simple Ratio (chlorophyll index) algorithm was developed by Blackburn (1998). It investigates the potential of a range of spectral approaches for quantifying pigments at the scale of the whole plant canopy. When applying existing narrow-band pigment indices the PSSR algorithms have the strongest and most linear relationships with canopy concentration per unit area of Chl a (Chlorophyll a) Chl b (Chlorophyll b) and Cars (carotenoids). The PSSRa results from the following equation: PSSRa = (IR_factor * near_IR) / (red_factor * red)

The Pigment Specific Simple Ratio (chlorophyll index) algorithm was developed by Blackburn (1998). It investigates the potential of a range of spectral approaches for quantifying pigments at the scale of the whole plant canopy. When applying existing narrow-band pigment indices the PSSR algorithms have the strongest and most linear relationships with canopy concentration per unit area of Chl a (Chlorophyll a) Chl b (Chlorophyll b) and Cars (carotenoids). The PSSRa results from the following equation: PSSRa = (IR_factor * near_IR) / (red_factor * red)

The Pigment Specific Simple Ratio (chlorophyll index) algorithm was developed by Blackburn (1998). It investigates the potential of a range of spectral approaches for quantifying pigments at the scale of the whole plant canopy. When applying existing narrow-band pigment indices the PSSR algorithms have the strongest and most linear relationships with canopy concentration per unit area of Chl a (Chlorophyll a) Chl b (Chlorophyll b) and Cars (carotenoids). The PSSRa results from the following equation: PSSRa = (IR_factor * near_IR) / (red_factor * red)

The Normalized Burn Ratio Index (NBR) uses the NIR and SWIR bands to emphasize burned areas while mitigating illumination and atmospheric effects. NBR = (NIR - SWIR) / (NIR+ SWIR)

The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) is a measure of the amount and vigor of vegetation on the land surface and NDVI spatial composite images are developed to more easily distinguish green vegetation from bare soils. In general NDVI values range from -1.0 to 1.0 with negative values indicating clouds and water positive values near zero indicating bare soil and higher positive values of NDVI ranging from sparse vegetation (0.1 - 0.5) to dense green vegetation (0.6 and above).