idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

Nachrichten, Termine, Experten

Grafik: idw-Logo
Science Video Project
idw-Abo

idw-News App:

AppStore

Google Play Store



Instance:
Share on: 
06/09/2021 14:37

Remote sensing: Where is what grown?

Dr. Michael Welling Presse- und Öffentlichkeitsarbeit
Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institut, Bundesforschungsinstitut für Ländliche Räume, Wald und Fischerei

    Researchers at the Thünen Institute, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) have used satellite data to create detailed Germany-wide maps of agricultural land use over several years for the first time.

    Joint press release of Thünen Institute, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and ZALF

    For many environmental and agricultural policy issues, it would be good to know which crop types are grown on which agricultural land in which year. So far, however, there are only statistics on land use in Germany, which provide relatively rough and time-delayed information. Weekly satellite acquisitions can remedy this situation and serve as a data basis for a land-use map with a high degree of accuracy.

    Researchers from the Thünen Institute, the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) have combined their expertise to produce maps of agricultural land use for 2017, 2018 and 2019 from remote sensing data for the first time.

    To create the maps, the scientists used machine learning methods, available information on farmers' previous land use and data from the U.S. Landsat 8 satellite mission and the Copernicus program of the European Space Agency (ESA), whose satellites have been orbiting the Earth since 2016. In order to take into account regional characteristics as well as seasonal and annual fluctuations, weather data from the German Weather Service as well as the Germany-wide elevation model and the Digital Landscape Model of the Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy (BKG) were further included.

    Crop types and landscape elements mapped on a small scale

    The maps distinguish the dominant crop types and main land uses in arable land, i.e. all main cereals, root crops, vegetables, permanent crops and legumes. In addition, relevant landscape elements in the agricultural landscape, such as woody structures, are also recorded. Thus, for the first time, Germany's agricultural landscape is mapped on a 10 m x 10 m grid.

    "Although the maps already show a high degree of accuracy, there is still a need for further re-search," emphasizes Prof. Dr. Patrick Hostert from Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. For example, crop species such as rapeseed or sugar beet can be differentiated very well. On the other hand, species that are very similar in the course of their growth phases or in their appearance (e.g. win-ter wheat and triticale) or that differ only in terms of their type of use (e.g. silage maize and grain maize) cannot yet be mapped with sufficient accuracy.
    The consortium also sees a need for further research on special locations, for example in regularly flooded areas. Regardless, the maps are a milestone in the development of area-wide information on agricultural use. Building on this cooperation, the Thünen Institute plans to continuously improve the maps and to produce them on an annual basis.

    "The fact that these maps are not an end in themselves is shown by the wide range of applica-tions for other ongoing projects," says Dr. Stefan Erasmi, head of Thünen Earth Observation (ThEO). In addition to supplementing and refining agricultural statistics, they provide a basis for monitoring activities at the national level, for example, in assessing biodiversity, EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) measures, and land use change as a factor in greenhouse gas reporting. "The maps are also essential input parameters for simulations of agricultural yields and ecosystem services," explains Prof. Dr. Claas Nendel of ZALF.

    All in all, this means that a comprehensive set of maps is available for politicians, authorities, organizations and associations, as well as research and education in the field of agriculture and the environment. And the maps also provide interesting insights for those who practice agriculture themselves or would like to discover the diversity of the agricultural landscape in Germany.

    A first version of the interactive maps from 2017 to 2019 is available at:
    https://ows.geo.hu-berlin.de/webviewer/landwirtschaft/


    Contact for scientific information:

    Dr. Stefan Erasmi
    Thünen Institute of Farm Economics, 38116 Braunschweig
    Tel.: 0531 596-5157
    Mail: stefan.erasmi@thuenen.de

    Prof. Dr. Claas Nendel
    Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) e.V., 15374 Müncheberg
    Mail: claas.nendel@zalf.de

    Prof. Dr. Patrick Hostert
    Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Geography Department, Earth Observation Lab, 10099 Berlin
    Mail: patrick.hostert@geo.hu-berlin.de


    Images

    Zoomable map of agricultural use in Germany for the year 2019
    Zoomable map of agricultural use in Germany for the year 2019

    Thünen-Institut

    Map section showing an overview of agricultural land use east of Braunschweig 2019
    Map section showing an overview of agricultural land use east of Braunschweig 2019

    Thünen-Institut


    Criteria of this press release:
    Journalists, all interested persons
    Environment / ecology, Geosciences, Information technology, Zoology / agricultural and forest sciences
    transregional, national
    Research results, Transfer of Science or Research
    English


     

    Zoomable map of agricultural use in Germany for the year 2019


    For download

    x

    Map section showing an overview of agricultural land use east of Braunschweig 2019


    For download

    x

    Help

    Search / advanced search of the idw archives
    Combination of search terms

    You can combine search terms with and, or and/or not, e.g. Philo not logy.

    Brackets

    You can use brackets to separate combinations from each other, e.g. (Philo not logy) or (Psycho and logy).

    Phrases

    Coherent groups of words will be located as complete phrases if you put them into quotation marks, e.g. “Federal Republic of Germany”.

    Selection criteria

    You can also use the advanced search without entering search terms. It will then follow the criteria you have selected (e.g. country or subject area).

    If you have not selected any criteria in a given category, the entire category will be searched (e.g. all subject areas or all countries).