Using information layers for mapping grassland habitat distribution at local to regional scales

The Natura 2000 network of protected sites is one of the means to enable biodiversity conservation in Europe. EU member states have to undertake surveillance of habitats and species of community interest protected under the Habitat Directive. Remote sensing techniques have been applied successfully to monitor biodiversity aspects according to Natura 2000, but many challenges remain in assessing dynamics and habitat changes outside protected sites. Grasslands are among the most threatened habitats in Europe. In this paper we tested the integration of expert knowledge into different standard classification approaches to map grassland habitats in Schleswig Holstein, Germany. Knowledge about habitat features is represented as raster information layers, and used in subsequent grassland classifications. Overall classification accuracies were highest for the maximum likelihood and support vector machine approaches using RapidEye time series, but results improved for specific grassland classes when information layers were included in the classification process.     

Fuzzy Based Approach for Moist Deciduous Forest Identification Using MODIS Temporal Data

Fuzzy based soft classification have been used immensely for handling the mixed pixel and hence to extract the single class of interest. The present research attempts to extract the moist deciduous forest from MODIS temporal data using the Possibilistic c-Means (PCM) soft classification approach. Temporal MODIS (7 dates) data were used to identify moist deciduous forest and temporal AWiFS (7 dates) data were used as reference data for testing. The Simple Ratio (SR), Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI), and Transformed Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (TNDVI) were used to generate the temporal vegetation indices for both the MODIS and the AWiFS datasets. It was observed from the research that the MODIS temporal NDVI data set1, which contain the minimum number of images and avoids the temporal images corresponding to the highest frequency stages of onset of greenness (OG) and end of senescence (ES) activity of moist deciduous forest have been found most suitable data set for identification of moist deciduous forest with the maximum fuzzy overall accuracy of 96.731 %.     

Classification of vegetation in an open landscape using full-waveform airborne laser scanner data

Airborne laser scanning (ALS) is increasingly being used for the mapping of vegetation, although the focus so far has been on woody vegetation, and ALS data have only rarely been used for the classification of grassland vegetation. In this study, we classified the vegetation of an open alkali landscape, characterized by two Natura 2000 habitat types: Pannonic salt steppes and salt marshes and Pannonic loess steppic grasslands. We generated 18 variables from an ALS dataset collected in the growing (leaf-on) season. Elevation is a key factor determining the patterns of vegetation types in the landscape, and hence 3 additional variables were based on a digital terrain model (DTM) generated from an ALS dataset collected in the dormant (leaf-off) season. We classified the vegetation into 24 classes based on these 21 variables, at a pixel size of 1 m. Two groups of variables with and without the DTM-based variables were used in a Random Forest classifier, to estimate the influence of elevation, on the accuracy of the classification. The resulting classes at Level 4, based on associations, were aggregated at three levels — Level 3 (11 classes), Level 2 (8 classes) and Level 1 (5 classes) — based on species pool, site conditions and structure, and the accuracies were assessed. The classes were also aggregated based on Natura 2000 habitat types to assess the accuracy of the classification, and its usefulness for the monitoring of habitat quality. The vegetation could be classified into dry grasslands, wetlands, weeds, woody species and man-made features, at Level 1, with an accuracy of 0.79 (Cohen’s kappa coefficient, κ). The accuracies at Levels 2–4 and the classification based on the Natura 2000 habitat types were κ: 0.76, 0.61, 0.51 and 0.69, respectively. Levels 1 and 2 provide suitable information for nature conservationists and land managers, while Levels 3 and 4 are especially useful for ecologists, geologists and soil scientists as they provide high resolution data on species distribution, vegetation patterns, soil properties and on their correlations. Including the DTM-based variables increased the accuracy (κ) from 0.73 to 0.79 for Level 1. These findings show that the structural and spectral attributes of ALS echoes can be used for the classification of open landscapes, especially those where vegetation is influenced by elevation, such as coastal salt marshes, sand dunes, karst or alluvial areas; in these cases, ALS has a distinct advantage over other remotely sensed data.     

An effective approach for gap-filling continental scale remotely sensed time-series

The archives of imagery and modeled data products derived from remote sensing programs with high temporal resolution provide powerful resources for characterizing inter- and intra-annual environmental dynamics. The impressive depth of available time-series from such missions (e.g., MODIS and AVHRR) affords new opportunities for improving data usability by leveraging spatial and temporal information inherent to longitudinal geospatial datasets. In this research we develop an approach for filling gaps in imagery time-series that result primarily from cloud cover, which is particularly problematic in forested equatorial regions. Our approach consists of two, complementary gap-filling algorithms and a variety of run-time options that allow users to balance competing demands of model accuracy and processing time. We applied the gap-filling methodology to MODIS Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) and daytime and nighttime Land Surface Temperature (LST) datasets for the African continent for 2000–2012, with a 1 km spatial resolution, and an 8-day temporal resolution. We validated the method by introducing and filling artificial gaps, and then comparing the original data with model predictions. Our approach achieved R² values above 0.87 even for pixels within 500 km wide introduced gaps. Furthermore, the structure of our approach allows estimation of the error associated with each gap-filled pixel based on the distance to the non-gap pixels used to model its fill value, thus providing a mechanism for including uncertainty associated with the gap-filling process in downstream applications of the resulting datasets.     

Decomposing Malaria Mosquito Aquatic Habitat Data into Spatial Autocorrelation Eigenvectors in a SAS/GIS® Module

We present a geostatistical approach that accounts for spatial autocorrelation in malaria mosquito aquatic habitats in two East African urban environments. QuickBird 0.61 m data, encompassing visible bands and the near infra‐red (NIR) bands, were selected to synthesize images of Anopheles gambiae s.l. aquatic habitats in Kisumu and Malindi, Kenya. Field sampled data of An. gambiae s.l. aquatic habitats were used to determine which ecological covariates were associated with An. gambiae s.l. larval habitat development. A SAS/GIS^® spatial database was used to calculate univariate statistics, correlations and perform Poisson regression analyses on the An. gambiae s.l. aquatic habitat datasets. Semivariograms and global autocorrelation statistics were generated in ArcGIS^®. The spatially dependent models indicate the distribution of An. gambiae s.l. aquatic habitats exhibits weak positive autocorrelation in both study sites, with aquatic habitats of similar log‐larval counts tending to cluster in space. Individual anopheline habitats were further evaluated in terms of their covariations with spatial autocorrelation by regressing them on candidate spatial filter eigenvectors. This involved the decomposition of Moran's I statistic into orthogonal and uncorrelated map pattern components using a negative binomial regression. The procedure generated synthetic map patterns of latent spatial correlation representing the geographic configuration of An. gambiae s.l. aquatic habitat locations in each study site. The Gaussian approximation spatial filter models accounted for approximately 13% to 32% redundant locational information in the ecological datasets. Spatial statistics generated in a SAS/GIS^® module can capture spatial dependency effects on the mean response term of a Poisson regression analysis of field and remotely sampled An. gambiae s.l. aquatic habitat data.     

Generation of high spatial and temporal resolution NDVI and its application in crop biomass estimation

Abstract

While data like HJ-1 CCD images have advantageous spatial characteristics for describing crop properties, the temporal resolution of the data is rather low, which can be easily made worse by cloud contamination. In contrast, although Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) can only achieve a spatial resolution of 250 m in its normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI) product, it has a high temporal resolution, covering the Earth up to multiple times per day. To combine the high spatial resolution and high temporal resolution of different data sources, a new method (Spatial and Temporal Adaptive Vegetation index Fusion Model [STAVFM]) for blending NDVI of different spatial and temporal resolutions to produce high spatial–temporal resolution NDVI datasets was developed based on Spatial and Temporal Adaptive Reflectance Fusion Model (STARFM). STAVFM defines a time window according to the temporal variation of crops, takes crop phenophase into consideration and improves the temporal weighting algorithm. The result showed that the new method can combine the temporal information of MODIS NDVI and spatial difference information of HJ-1 CCD NDVI to generate an NDVI dataset with both high spatial and high temporal resolution. An application of the generated NDVI dataset in crop biomass estimation was provided. An average absolute error of 17.2% was achieved. The estimated winter wheat biomass correlated well with observed biomass (R ² of 0.876). We conclude that the new dataset will improve the application of crop biomass estimation by describing the crop biomass accumulation in detail. There is potential to apply the approach in many other studies, including crop production estimation, crop growth monitoring and agricultural ecosystem carbon cycle research, which will contribute to the implementation of Digital Earth by describing land surface processes in detail.     

Topographic and spectral data resolve land cover misclassification to distinguish and monitor wetlands in western Uganda

Wetlands provide vital wildlife habitat and ecosystem services, but changes in human land use has made them one of the world’s most threatened ecosystems. Although wetlands are generally protected by law, growing human populations increasingly drain and clear them to provide agricultural land, especially in tropical Africa. Managing and conserving wetlands requires accurately monitoring their spatial and temporal extent, often using remote sensing, but distinguishing wetlands from other land covers can be difficult. Here, we report on a method to separate wetlands dominated by papyrus (Cyperus papyrus L.) from spectrally similar grasslands dominated by elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schumach.). We tested whether topographic, spectral, and temperature data improved land cover classification within and around Kibale National Park, a priority conservation area in densely populated western Uganda. Slope and reflectance in the mid-IR range best separated the combined papyrus/elephant grass pixels (average accuracy: 86%). Using a time series of satellite images, we quantified changes in six land covers across the landscape from 1984 to 2008 (papyrus, elephant grass, forest, mixed agriculture/bare soil/short grass, mixed tea/shrub, and water). We found stark differences in how land cover changed inside versus outside the park, with particularly sharp changes next to the park boundary. Inside the park, changes in land cover varied with location and management history: elephant grass areas decreased by 52% through forest regeneration but there was no net difference in papyrus areas. Outside the park, elephant grass and papyrus areas decreased by 61% and 39%, mostly converted to agriculture. Our method and findings are particularly relevant in light of social, biotic, and abiotic changes in western Uganda, as interactions between climate change, infectious disease, and changing human population demographics and distribution are predicted to intensify existing agricultural pressure on natural areas.     

Estimation of discharges at river mouth with MODIS image

The transport of the sediment, carried in suspension by water, is central to hydrology and the ecological functioning of river floodplains and deltas. River discharge estimation is useful for demonstrating this information. In this study, we extracted MODIS reflectance values from a pixel near the river mouth after carrying out the simple atmospheric correction method, then applied single regression analysis to reflectance values and the in situ discharge of Naka River in Tokushima prefecture and Monobe River in Kochi prefecture, Japan. MODIS images and in situ data were taken from January through December, 2004. As a result, both in Naka River and Monobe River, robustly positive relationships between the discharges observed in situ and remotely sensed MODIS reflectance data in the region of river mouth were found throughout the year. In addition, we estimated monthly and annual average discharge from the MODIS reflectance with the regression formula. As a result, in situ average discharge was well estimated.     

结合像元分解和STARFM模型的遥感数据融合

高空间、时间分辨率遥感数据在监测地表快速变化方面具有重要的作用。然而,对于特定传感器获取的遥感影像在空间分辨率和时间分辨率上存在不可调和的矛盾,遥感数据时空融合技术是解决这一矛盾的有效方法。本文利用像元分解降尺方法(Downscaling mixed pixel)和STARFM模型(Spatial and Temporal Adaptive Reflectance Fusion Model)相结合的CDSTARFM算法(Combination of Downscaling Mixed Pixel Algorithm and Spatial and Temporal Adaptive Reflectance Fusion Model)进行遥感数据融合。首先,利用像元分解降尺度方法对参与融合的MODIS数据进行分解降尺度处理;其次,利用分解降尺度的MODIS数据替代STARFM模型中直接重采样的MODIS数据进行数据融合;最后以Landsat 8和MODIS遥感影像数据对该方法进行了实验。结果表明:(1)CDSTARFM算法比STARFM和像元分解降尺度算法具有更高的融合精度;(2)CDSTARFM能够在较小的窗口下获得更高的融合精度,在相同的窗口下其融合精度也高于STARFM;(3)CDSTARFM融合的影像更接近真实影像,消除了像元分解降尺度影像中的"图斑"和STARFM模型融合影像中的"MODIS像元边界"。     

Investigating the impact of the temporal resolution of MODIS data on measured phenology in the prairie grasslands

ABSTRACT

The temporal resolution of vegetation indices (VIs) determines the details of seasonal variation in vegetation dynamics observed by remote sensing, but little has been known about how the temporal resolution of VIs affects the retrieval of land surface phenology (LSP) of grasslands. This study evaluated the impact of temporal resolution of MODIS NDVI, EVI, and per-pixel green chromatic coordinate (GCCpp) on the quality and accuracy of the estimated LSP metrics of prairie grasslands. The near-surface PheonoCam phenology data for grasslands centered over Lethbridge PhenoCam grassland site were used as the validation datasets due to the lack of in situ observations for grasslands in the Prairie Ecozone. MODIS Nadir Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF)-Adjusted Reflectance (NBAR) data from 2001 to 2017 were used to compute the time series of daily reference and to simulate 2–32 day MODIS VIs. The daily reference and simulated multi-day time series were fitted with the double logistic model, and the LSP metrics were then retrieved from the modeled daily time series separately. Comparison within satellite-based estimates showed no significant difference in the phenological metrics derived from daily reference and multi-day VIs resampled at a time step less than 18 days. Moreover, a significant decline in the ability of multi-day VIs to predict detailed temporal dynamics of daily reference VIs was revealed as the temporal resolution increased. Besides, there were a variety of trends for the onset of phenological transitions as the temporal resolution of VIs changed from 1 to 32 days. Comparison with PhenoCam phenology data presented small and insignificant differences in the mean bias error (MBE) and the mean absolute error (MAE) of grassland phenological metrics derived from daily, 8-, 10-, 14-, and 16-day MODIS VIs. Overall, this study suggested that the MODIS VIs resampled at a time step less than 18 days are favorable for the detection of grassland phenological transitions and detailed seasonal dynamics in the Prairie Ecozone.     

Detection and estimation of mixed paddy rice cropping patterns with MODIS data

In this paper, we developed a more sophisticated method for detection and estimation of mixed paddy rice agriculture from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite data. Previous research demonstrated that MODIS data can be used to map paddy rice fields and to distinguish rice from other crops at large, continental scales with combined Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) and Land Surface Water Index (LSWI) analysis during the flooding and rice transplanting stage. Our approach improves upon this methodology by incorporating mixed rice cropping patterns that include single-season rice crops, early-season rice, and late-season rice cropping systems. A variable EVI/LSWI threshold function, calibrated to more local rice management practices, was used to recognize rice fields at the flooding stage. We developed our approach with MODIS data in Hunan Province, China, an area with significant flooded paddy rice agriculture and mixed rice cropping patterns. We further mapped the aerial coverage and distribution of early, late, and single paddy rice crops for several years from 2000 to 2007 in order to quantify temporal trends in rice crop coverage, growth and management systems. Our results were validated with finer resolution (2.5 m) Satellite Pour l’Observation de la Terre 5 High Resolution Geometric (SPOT 5 HRG) data, land-use data at the scale of 1/10,000 and with county-level rice area statistical data. The results showed that all three paddy rice crop patterns could be discriminated and their spatial distribution quantified. We show the area of single crop rice to have increased annually and almost doubling in extent from 2000 to 2007, with simultaneous, but unique declines in the extent of early and late paddy rice. These results were significantly positive correlated and consistent with agricultural statistical data at the county level (P < 0.01).     

Temporal analysis of remotely sensed turbidity in a coastal archipelago

A topographically fragmental archipelago with dynamic waters set the preconditions for assessing coherent remotely sensed information. We generated a turbidity dataset for an archipelago coast in the Baltic Sea from MERIS data (FSG L1b), using CoastColour L1P, L2R and L2W processors. We excluded land and mixed pixels by masking the imagery with accurate (1:10 000) shoreline data. Using temporal linear averaging (TLA), we produced satellite-imagery datasets applicable to temporal composites for the summer seasons of three years. The turbidity assessments and temporally averaged data were compared to in situ observations obtained with coastal monitoring programs. The ability of TLA to estimate missing pixel values was further assessed by cross-validation with the leave-one-out method. The correspondence between L2W turbidity and in situ observations was good (r = 0.89), and even after applying TLA the correspondence remained acceptable (r = 0.78). The datasets revealed spatially divergent temporal water characteristics, which may be relevant to the management, design of monitoring and habitat models. Monitoring observations may be spatially biased if the temporal succession of water properties is not taken into account in coastal areas with anisotropic dispersion of waters and asynchronous annual cycles. Accordingly, areas of varying turbidity may offer a different habitat for aquatic biota than areas of static turbidity, even though they may appear similar if water properties are measured for short annual periods.     

NDVI dynamics as reflected in climatic variables: spatial and temporal trends – a case study of Hungary

Understanding climate change and revealing its future paths on a local level is a great challenge for the future. Beside the expanding sets of available climatic data, satellite images provide a valuable source of information. In our study we aimed to reveal whether satellite data are an appropriate way to identify global trends, given their shorter available time range. We used the CARPATCLIM (CC) database (1961–2010) and the MODIS NDVI images (2000–2016) and evaluated the time period covered by both (2000–2010). We performed a regression analysis between the NDVI and CC variables, and a time series analysis for the 1961–2008 and 2000–2008 periods at all data points. The results justified the belief that maximum temperature (TMAX), potential evapotranspiration and aridity all have a strong correlation with the NDVI; furthermore, the short period trend of TMAX can be described with a functional connection with its long period trend. Consequently, TMAX is an appropriate tool as an explanatory variable for NDVI spatial and temporal variance. Spatial pattern analysis revealed that with regression coefficients, macro-regions reflected topography (plains, hills and mountains), while in the case of time series regression slopes, it justified a decreasing trend from western areas (Transdanubia) to eastern ones (The Great Hungarian Plain). This is an important consideration for future agricultural and land use planning; i.e. that western areas have to allow for greater effects of climate change.     

Updating Landsat-based forest cover maps with MODIS images using multiscale spectral-spatial-temporal superresolution mapping

With the high deforestation rates of global forest covers during the past decades, there is an ever-increasing need to monitor forest covers at both fine spatial and temporal resolutions. Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Landsat series images have been used commonly for satellite-derived forest cover mapping. However, the spatial resolution of MODIS images and the temporal resolution of Landsat images are too coarse to observe forest cover at both fine spatial and temporal resolutions. In this paper, a novel multiscale spectral-spatial-temporal superresolution mapping (MSSTSRM) approach is proposed to update Landsat-based forest maps by integrating current MODIS images with the previous forest maps generated from Landsat image. Both the 240 m MODIS bands and 480 m MODIS bands were used as inputs of the spectral energy function of the MSSTSRM model. The principle of maximal spatial dependence was used as the spatial energy function to make the updated forest map spatially smooth. The temporal energy function was based on a multiscale spatial-temporal dependence model, and considers the land cover changes between the previous and current time. The novel MSSTSRM model was able to update Landsat-based forest maps more accurately, in terms of both visual and quantitative evaluation, than traditional pixel-based classification and the latest sub-pixel based super-resolution mapping methods The results demonstrate the great efficiency and potential of MSSTSRM for updating fine temporal resolution Landsat-based forest maps using MODIS images.     

Analysis of land degradation processes on a tiger bush plateau in South West Niger using MODIS and LANDSAT TM/ETM+ data

Remote sensing digital image analysis has been applied to monitor land clearing and degradation processes on a plateau covered by tiger bush near Niamey in South West Niger, where signs of severe landscape degradation due to fuelwood supply have been observed in the last decades. A MODIS NDVI dataset (2000–2015) and five LANDSAT images (1986–2012) were used to identify spatial and temporal dynamics and to emphasize areas of greater degradation. The study indicates that the land clearing found by previous investigations in the second part of the 20^th century is still ongoing, with a decreasing trend of MODIS NDVI values recorded in the period 2000–2015. This trend appeared to be linked to an increase in bare soil areas that was demonstrated by analysis of LANDSAT SAVI images. The investigation also indicated that rates of degradation are stronger in more deteriorated areas like those located nearer Niamey; degradation patterns also tend to increase from the inner areas to the edges of the plateau. These results attest to the urgency to develop effective environmental preservation policies and find alternative solutions for domestic energy supply.     

Monitoring growth of built-up areas in indo-gangetic plain using multi-sensor remote sensing data

This paper provides an approach for rapid and accurate estimation of built-up areas on a per pixel-basis using a integration of two coarse spatial resolution remote sensing data namely DMSP-OLS and MODIS NDVI. The DMSP-OLS data due to its free availability, high temporal resolution and wide swath was used for regional level mapping of built-up areas. However, due to its low radiometric resolution, the built-up areas cannot be estimated accurately from the DMSP-OLS data. In present study, the DMSP-OLS data was combined with MODIS NDVI data to develop an Human Settlement Index (HSI) image, which estimated the fraction of built-up area on a per pixel basis. The resultant HSI image conveys more information than both the individual datasets. These temporal HSI images were then used for monitoring urban growth in Indo-Gangetic plains during the 2001–2007 time period. Thus, the present research can be very useful for regional level monitoring of built-up areas from coarse resolution data within limited time and minimal cost.     

评估MODIS的BRDF角度指数产品

应用地表观测的二向性反射数据集和多种MODIS数据产品,通过统计分析,对MODIS的二向性反射角度指数产品进行综合评估,结果表明:(1)MODIS角度指数包含了地表三维结构信息,有望用来反演地表的物理结构参数;(2)MODIS角度指数是内在的三维关系,各向异性因子(Anisotropic Factor:ANIF)和各向异性指数(Anisotropic Index:ANIX)高相关,建议去掉ANIF以精炼MODIS角度指数产品;(3)各向异性平整指数(Anisotropic FlatIndex:AFX)较好地指示了地表基本散射类型的变化,且具有较小的类内方差,对改善特定地表分类精度可能会更有用.     

Comparing spatiotemporal patterns in Eurasian FPAR derived from two NDVI-based methods

Abstract

A long-term, consistent Fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FPAR) product is necessary to study the spatial and temporal patterns of vegetation dynamics associated with climatic changes and human activities. In this study, Eurasia was selected as the study area. The relationship between FPAR and simple infrared/red ratio relationship (SR FPAR), and that between Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) FPAR and a Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) look-up table (LUT FPAR) were employed to estimate FPAR from 1982 to 2006 by different land cover types, focusing on the comparisons of spatiotemporal FPAR patterns between the two FPAR datasets. The results showed high agreement between MODIS standard FPAR and estimated FPAR in seasonal dynamics with peak values in July. The LUT FPAR was close to MODIS standard FPAR and larger than SR FPAR. The SR and LUT FPAR showed the same spatial distribution and inter-annual variation patterns and were primarily determined by land cover types. An overall increasing trend in FPAR was observed from 1982 to 2006, with reductions from 1991 to 1994 and 2000 to 2002. The inter-annual dynamics in evergreen broadleaf forests showed a decreasing trend over 25 years, while non-forest vegetation FPAR values had slow, stable growth in inter-annual variation.     

Fusing MODIS with Landsat 8 data to downscale weekly normalized difference vegetation index estimates for central Great Basin rangelands,USA

Data fused from distinct but complementary satellite sensors mitigate tradeoffs that researchers make when selecting between spatial and temporal resolutions of remotely sensed data. We integrated data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor aboard the Terra satellite and the Operational Land Imager sensor aboard the Landsat 8 satellite into four regression-tree models and applied those data to a mapping application. This application produced downscaled maps that utilize the 30-m spatial resolution of Landsat in conjunction with daily acquisitions of MODIS normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) that are composited and temporally smoothed. We produced four weekly, atmospherically corrected, and nearly cloud-free, downscaled 30-m synthetic MODIS NDVI predictions (maps) built from these models. Model results were strong with R² values ranging from 0.74 to 0.85. The correlation coefficients (r ≥ 0.89) were strong for all predictions when compared to corresponding original MODIS NDVI data. Downscaled products incorporated into independently developed sagebrush ecosystem models yielded mixed results. The visual quality of the downscaled 30-m synthetic MODIS NDVI predictions were remarkable when compared to the original 250-m MODIS NDVI. These 30-m maps improve knowledge of dynamic rangeland seasonal processes in the central Great Basin, United States, and provide land managers improved resource maps.     

Improved maize cultivated area estimation over a large scale combining MODIS–EVI time series data and crop phenological information

The accurate and timely information of crop area is vital for crop production and food security. In this study, the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) data from MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) integrated crop phenological information was used to estimate the maize cultivated area over a large scale in Northeast China. The fine spatial resolution China’s Environment Satellite (HJ-1 satellite) images and the support vector machine (SVM) algorithm were employed to discriminate distribution of maize in the reference area. The mean MODIS–EVI time series curve of maize was extracted in the reference area by using multiple periods MODIS–EVI data. By analysing the temporal shift of crop calendars from northern to southern parts in Northeast China, the lag value was derived from phenological data of twenty-one agro-meteorological stations; here integrating with the mean MODIS–EVI time series image of maize, a standard MODIS–EVI time series image of maize was obtained in the whole study area. By calculating mean absolute distances (MAD) map between standard MODIS–EVI image and mean MODIS–EVI time series images, and setting appropriate thresholds in three provinces, the maize cultivated area was extracted in Northeast China. The results showed that the overall classification accuracy of maize cultivated area was approximately 79%. At the county level, the MODIS-derived maize cultivated area and statistical data were well correlated (R² = 0.82, RMSE = 283.98) over whole Northeast China. It demonstrated that MODIS–EVI time series data integrated with crop phenological information can be used to improve the extraction accuracy of crop cultivated area over a large scale.