Satellite remote sensing of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) provides a means for characterizing landscape level patterns of net primary productivity (NPP). Within the Great Plains, landscapes are dominated by grassland and agricultural ecosystems. We demonstrated that NDVI integrated over time is an excellent measure of prevailing patterns of NPP, which can be measured as biomass production in local-scale native grasslands (tallgrass prairie), as well as landscape and regional

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... e yield of corn and wheat. Within the growing season, the temporal pattern of grassland biomass production covaries with NDVI, with a four-week lag time. Across years, grassland biomass production covaries with NDVI integrated over appropriate time intervals, which can range from part to all of the current growing season. For calculation of landscape patterns of crop production, regional maps (masks) for corn and wheat field identification can be constructed by analysis of temporal patterns of NDVI. Calculation windows that average NDVI for adjacent pixels can enhance the ability to predict local NPP.