IARRP team makes progress in remote sensing monitoring of conservation tillage
The Innovation Team of Smart Agriculture at the Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning (IARRP) of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) has made advances in the remote sensing monitoring of Conservation Tillage (CT).
The research findings, titled "Conservation tillage mapping and monitoring using remote sensing" and "A novel index for mapping crop residue covered cropland using remote sensing data," were published in the top-tier journal Computers and Electronics in Agriculture (IF = 7.7) in the field of agricultural and forestry sciences.
CT is a new tillage method to prevent soil erosion by retaining a certain crop residue amount on the soil surface, supplemented with other protective management measures. Remote sensing technology, due to its spatial and temporal coverage advantages, has become an effective tool for monitoring the distribution of CT. The team conducted a systematic review of the application of remote sensing technology in monitoring CT over the past decade, discussing in detail the basic principles, data sources, features, and methods of remote sensing monitoring. The study also analyzed the challenges faced in remote sensing monitoring of CT and provided insights into future development directions. This research provides a comprehensive scientific basis for the remote sensing monitoring of CT, contributing to the effective protection and sustainable utilization of agricultural resources.
Figure 1: Overview of Conservation Tillage Remote Sensing Mapping and Monitoring Research
Crop residue cover is a key measure in conservation tillage, protecting soil from erosion and enhancing fertility. Accurately and rapid mapping Crop Residue Covered Cropland (CRCC) is of significant importance for planning sustainable agricultural development. However, mapping CRCC remains challenging. Compared to classifier-based methods and methods based on crop residue coverage, index-based methods are faster, more convenient, and suitable for CRCC mapping. Most existing indices are limited by coarse resolution data, limited spectral information, and poor background differentiation. To address these issues, the team proposed a novel Crop Residue Covered Spectral Index (CRCSI) based on Sentinel-2A imagery, which can directly identify CRCC. This index, designed with three bands, enhances the differentiation between CRCC and the background, leading to better CRCC monitoring. Through comprehensive evaluations in three different seasons and regions, the team validated the superiority of CRCSI in terms of visual assessment, separability analysis, and CRCC mapping results. The results indicate that CRCSI can be used for high-resolution image mapping of CRCC across seasons and regions, providing an effective method with global application potential for CRCC and CT monitoring.
Figure 2: Example Results of CRCC Mapping for Three Research Cases
[Research Team and Funding]
Zhang Wenqian, a doctoral student from the Innovation Team of Smart Agriculture at the Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning (IARRP) of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), is the first author, with researchers Wu Wenbin and Li Wenjuan as corresponding authors. The research was supported by the State Key Laboratory of Efficient Utilization of Arable Land in China , the National Key Research and Development Program, and the National Natural Science Foundation of China.
[Citation Style and Original Links]
Zhang W, Yu Q, Tang H, et al. Conservation tillage mapping and monitoring using remote sensing[J]. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 2024, 218: 108705.
Zhang W, Li W, Wang C, et al. A novel index for mapping crop residue covered cropland using remote sensing data[J]. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 2025, 231: 109995.
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