India Annual Winter Cropped Area, 2001-2016

The India Annual Winter Cropped Area, 2001 - 2016 consists of annual winter cropped areas for most of India (except the Northeastern states) from 2000-2001 to 2015-2016. This data set utilizes the NASA Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI; spatial resolution: 250m) for the winter growing season (October-March). The methodology uses an automated algorithm identifying the EVI peak in each pixel for each year and linearly scales the EVI value between 0% and 100% cropped area within that particular pixel. Maps were then resampled to 1 km and were validated using high-resolution QuickBird, RapidEye, SkySat, and WorldView-2 images spanning 2008 to 2016 across 11 different agricultural regions of India. The spatial resolution of the data set is 1 km, resampled from 250m. The data are distributed as GeoTIFF and NetCDF files and are in WGS 84 projection.
To provide data that can be used in land cover and land use change (LCLUC) studies, agricultural applications, and to assist with policy-making in regards to sustainable agricultural intensification.