Relative performance of landsat MSS,TM and IRS LISS-I data for acreage estimation of Rabi sorghum

Acreage estimation of Rabi sorghum crop in Ahmadnagar, Pune and Solapur districts of central Maharashtra has been attempted using synchronously acquired Landsat MSS and TM data of 1987–88 season and IRS LISS-I data of 1988–89 season; in conjuction with near-synchronous ground truth data. The remote-sensing-based acreage estimations for the districts were compared with the respective estimates by Bureau of Economics and Statistics (BES). As the acreages were underestimated with the classification of standard four-band MSS data, the atmospheric correction of fourband MSS data and normalised differencing (ND) of the atmospheric-corrected MSS data were attempted. The main observations are: (1) the use of Landsat MSS data results in underestimation of sorghum acreage in comparison with BES estimation, (2) the atmospheric correction and ND transformation of MSS data are necessary for bringing acreage estimates in agreement with BES estimates, (3) Mid-IR data in band 1.55 to 1.75 μm are useful in improving the separability of land-use classes, and (4) remote sensing data with radiometric sensitivity comparable to LISS-I or Landsat TM and Signal-to-Noise ratios comparable to LISS-I data are suitable for accurate acreage estimation of sorghum.