Advancing methods for global crop area estimation
Abstract
Cropland area estimation is a challenge, made difficult by the variety of cropping systems, including crop types, management practices, and field sizes. A MODIS derived indicator mapping product (1) developed from 16-day MODIS composites has been used to target crop type at national scales for the stratified sampling (2) of higher spatial resolution data for a standardized approach to estimate cultivated area. A global prototype is being developed using soybean, a global commodity crop with recent LCLUC dynamic and a relatively unambiguous spectral signature, for the United States, Argentina, Brazil, and China representing nearly ninety percent of soybean production. Supervised classification of soy cultivated area is performed for 40 km2 sample blocks using time-series, Landsat imagery. This method, given appropriate data for representative sampling with higher spatial resolution, represents an efficient and accurate approach for large area crop type estimation. Results for the United States sample blocks have exhibited strong agreement with the National Agricultural Statistics Service's (NASS's) Cropland Data Layer (CDL). A confusion matrix showed a 91.56% agreement and a kappa of .67 between the two products. Field measurements and RapidEye imagery have been collected for the USA, Brazil and Argentina in further assessing product accuracies. The results of this research will demonstrate the value of MODIS crop type indicator products and Landsat sample data in estimating soybean cultivated area at national scales, enabling an internally consistent global assessment of annual soybean production.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2012
- Bibcode:
- 2012AGUFM.B43E0449K
- Keywords:
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- 0402 BIOGEOSCIENCES / Agricultural systems;
- 0466 BIOGEOSCIENCES / Modeling;
- 1640 GLOBAL CHANGE / Remote sensing