Exploring Changes in the Agricultural Calendar as a Response …
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processing, and the products will be placed or marketed. Most of these operations
should be practiced in a specific order and a short period each of them. Therefore
a crop activity calendar can be constructed, indicating the most favorable timing of
the various activities and the type of operations required.
The rate of progress of planting influences the degree of the area planted in a
particular time interval and therefore describes the variations in the cropped area
from year to year in part. While attempts to demonstrate the global planting date
by climate have been made [24, 25], the large errors between the estimated and
reported planting dates reconfirm the fact that climate is an important, but not the
sole determinant of planting date [26]. The timing and number of plantings (and thus
harvesting) in a year relies significantly on both economic and climatic conditions
(i.e., availability of labor and fresh water and seasonal rainfall patterns) [27].
The delay of some operations (seedbed preparation, planting, harvesting, etc.)
could lead to cropping failure and decreased the number of harvests [28]. The timing
of operations, including planting and harvesting, is affected by that of the previous
operation in a work calendar [27] and needs to fulfill the field workability when
heavy machines are used.
5 Data, Geographical Domain, and Satellite-Derived
Phenology
The crop calendars for setting the dates for planting and harvesting specific crops
were acquired from three sources: (1) the United Nations Food and Agriculture
Organization [17]; (2) the United States Department of Agriculture [19]; and, (3) the
International Rice Research Institute [18]. The FAO crop calendar includes several
countries all over the world, with an emphasis on developing nations, especially in
Africa [26]. This database comprises the seeding and harvesting range for each of
the FAO, IRRI and USDA crop calendars. In the last column, named “Land Surface
Phenology” are presented the crop seasons derived from LSP and matched with a
crop type from the calendars. The empty space in this column indicates no match
with the corresponding crop type.
The use of satellite data with high temporal resolution has emerged as an effective
tool for examining crop phenology [29]. Remote sensors include a frequent, reliable
and consistent vegetation response measurement at different crop growth stages [16].
Land Surface Phenology (LSP) refers to the spatiotemporal development of the vegetated land surface as confirmed by satellite sensors. Usually, LSP metrics describe
[30]: (i) time of onset of greening, (ii) time of onset of senescence, (iii) timing of the
maximum development during the growing season, and (iv) growing season length.
Since the ASAP immediate warning classification system provides warnings
linked to all crop types which are in the growing phase at the time of analysis in
a given spatial unit, it is essential to include analysts with more detailed information
255
processing, and the products will be placed or marketed. Most of these operations
should be practiced in a specific order and a short period each of them. Therefore
a crop activity calendar can be constructed, indicating the most favorable timing of
the various activities and the type of operations required.
The rate of progress of planting influences the degree of the area planted in a
particular time interval and therefore describes the variations in the cropped area
from year to year in part. While attempts to demonstrate the global planting date
by climate have been made [24, 25], the large errors between the estimated and
reported planting dates reconfirm the fact that climate is an important, but not the
sole determinant of planting date [26]. The timing and number of plantings (and thus
harvesting) in a year relies significantly on both economic and climatic conditions
(i.e., availability of labor and fresh water and seasonal rainfall patterns) [27].
The delay of some operations (seedbed preparation, planting, harvesting, etc.)
could lead to cropping failure and decreased the number of harvests [28]. The timing
of operations, including planting and harvesting, is affected by that of the previous
operation in a work calendar [27] and needs to fulfill the field workability when
heavy machines are used.
5 Data, Geographical Domain, and Satellite-Derived
Phenology
The crop calendars for setting the dates for planting and harvesting specific crops
were acquired from three sources: (1) the United Nations Food and Agriculture
Organization [17]; (2) the United States Department of Agriculture [19]; and, (3) the
International Rice Research Institute [18]. The FAO crop calendar includes several
countries all over the world, with an emphasis on developing nations, especially in
Africa [26]. This database comprises the seeding and harvesting range for each of
the FAO, IRRI and USDA crop calendars. In the last column, named “Land Surface
Phenology” are presented the crop seasons derived from LSP and matched with a
crop type from the calendars. The empty space in this column indicates no match
with the corresponding crop type.
The use of satellite data with high temporal resolution has emerged as an effective
tool for examining crop phenology [29]. Remote sensors include a frequent, reliable
and consistent vegetation response measurement at different crop growth stages [16].
Land Surface Phenology (LSP) refers to the spatiotemporal development of the vegetated land surface as confirmed by satellite sensors. Usually, LSP metrics describe
[30]: (i) time of onset of greening, (ii) time of onset of senescence, (iii) timing of the
maximum development during the growing season, and (iv) growing season length.
Since the ASAP immediate warning classification system provides warnings
linked to all crop types which are in the growing phase at the time of analysis in
a given spatial unit, it is essential to include analysts with more detailed information