GEE Code for Mapping High Resolution Cropland Distribution In Diverse Agroecological Zones

Having updated knowledge of cropland extent is essential for crop monitoring and food security early warning. Previous research has proposed different methods and adopted various datasets for mapping cropland areas at regional to global scales. However, most approaches did not consider the characteristics of farming systems and applied the same classification method in different agroecological zones (AEZs). Furthermore, the acquisition of in situ samples for classification training remains challenging. To address these knowledge gaps and challenges, this study applied a zone-specific classification by comparing four classifiers (random forest, the support vector machine (SVM), the classification and regression tree (CART) and minimum distance) for cropland mapping over four different AEZs in the Zambezi River basin (ZRB). Landsat-8 and Sentinel-2 data and derived indices were used and synthesized to generate thirty-five layers for classification on the Google Earth Engine platform. Training samples were derived from three existing landcover datasets to minimize the cost of sample acquisitions over the large area. The final cropland map was generated at a 10 m resolution.

The information here presented was imported from a published paper with the title ''Comparison of Different Cropland Classification Methods under Diversified Agroecological Conditions in the Zambezi River Basin'' which its reference is shown below. The dataset here presented was created based on the results of this study.

Bofana, J.; Zhang, M.; Nabil, M.; Wu, B.; Tian, F.; Liu, W.; Zeng, H.; Zhang, N.; Nangombe, S.S.; Cipriano, S.A.; Phiri, E.; Mushore, T.D.; Kaluba, P.; Mashonjowa, E.; Moyo, C. Comparison of Different Cropland Classification Methods under Diversified Agroecological Conditions in the Zambezi River Basin. Remote Sens. 2020, 12, 2096. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12132096