Mapping Crop Acreage and Growth Conditions Using An Integrated Optical and Radar Approach.

With the rapid advancement of Earth Observation (EO) technologies, many countries have introduced EO into their annual crop inventory work.  The use of remotely sensed images allows for the mapping of large areas efficiently and in a digital manner.  More recent years there is a growing trend in mapping crop growth conditions (using crop biophysical parameters such as leaf area index-LAI as indicators) in addition to crop type identification and acreage estimation.  While most of the activities rely on optical sensors as their main data source, more attempts have been made in using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data.  Compared with optical sensors, SAR is not affected by weather conditions and can penetrate through cloud, haze and light rain.  This capability has significantly increased the possibility of successful data acquisitions in a timely fashion.  In addition, given radar back scatter is strongly dependent upon crop canopy architectures, differences in canopy penetration due to radar frequencies offer added information on canopy profile which is dictated by crop phenological development stages.

This presentation provides an overview of the current status of EO-based agricultural land monitoring activities at the global scale.  Specifically Canadian examples will be given to showcase the synergy of using an integrated optical and radar approach for crop inventory mapping and crop growth condition assessment.