A global map of rainfed cropland areas at the end of last millennium using remote sensing and geospatial techniques

C. M. Biradar; P. S. Thenkabail; H. Turral; P. Noojipady; Y. J. Li; M. Velpuri; V. Dheeravath; J. Vithanage; M. Schull; X. L. Cai; K. G. Murali; D. Rishiraj

doi:10.1117/12.713204

28 October 2006 A global map of rainfed cropland areas at the end of last millennium using remote sensing and geospatial techniques

C. M. Biradar, P. S. Thenkabail, H. Turral, P. Noojipady, Y. J. Li, M. Velpuri, V. Dheeravath, J. Vithanage, M. Schull, X. L. Cai, K. G. Murali, D. Rishiraj

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 6418, Geoinformatics 2006: GNSS and Integrated Geospatial Applications; 64181Q (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.713204
Event: Geoinformatics 2006: GNSS and Integrated Geospatial Applications, 2006, Wuhan, China

Abstract

Rainfed agriculture plays a critical role in most part of the tropics and subtropics of the world. Eighty percent of the agricultural land worldwide is under rainfed agriculture; and significant proportion of rural economy still depends on rainfed agriculture with characteristically low yield levels. In this context the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) produced the first satellite sensor based Global map of rainfed cropland areas at 10Km resolution (GMRCA10Km). The study used a mega-file of 159 global data layers involving the AVHRR and SPOT time-series, GTOPO30 DEM, mean monthly rainfall, and forest cover. A suite of innovative techniques were developed that begins with the image segmentation, quantitative spectral matching techniques (SMTs) and spectral correlation similarity (SCS R²). The SCS was found to be the most useful technique in grouping identical classes. Mixed classes were resolved using a decision trees, time series plots, and principal component analysis algorithms. A wide array of groundtruth data, and high-resolution images were used to identify and label classes. The outcome was the GMRCA10Km estimated to be 1.75 billion hectares for the main cropping period. The sub-pixel areas (SPAs) of GMRCA10Km provide more realistic estimates of the actual area cultivated unlike the full pixel areas (FPAs) often calculated from the raster datasets. Three distinct GMRCA10Km maps have been produced: viz., Aggregated 7-class, Dis-aggregated 18-class and Generic 255-class. The aggregated classes will suffice for broad range of users at global level. The GMRCA10Km product line consists of maps, images, area calculations, snap-shots, class characteristics, and animations.

Citation Download Citation

C. M. Biradar, P. S. Thenkabail, H. Turral, P. Noojipady, Y. J. Li, M. Velpuri, V. Dheeravath, J. Vithanage, M. Schull, X. L. Cai, K. G. Murali, and D. Rishiraj "A global map of rainfed cropland areas at the end of last millennium using remote sensing and geospatial techniques", Proc. SPIE 6418, Geoinformatics 2006: GNSS and Integrated Geospatial Applications, 64181Q (28 October 2006); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.713204

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available