This map combines Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellite observations and in-situ LUCAS 2018 Copernicus data using machine learning and cloud computing.

An EU-wide crop-type map

For the first time we have a map that allows us to zoom down to cultivated parcels for the entire European Union (EU) territory. On these parcels, we can see what crops were grown in 2018.

The EU crop map covers 91 million hectares of cropland and consists of more than 9 billion 10-m pixels!

The map is based on Eurostat LUCAS in-situ data and Sentinel-1 (S1) Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) observations.

JRC scientists used machine learning and cloud computing infrastructures to bring these datasets together and develop accurate mapping algorithms.

Algorithms trained on time series of S1 data from the main growing season (January to end of July) capture the crop growing during that period on any agricultural area.

As a result, every field in the EU cropped with wheat, maize, rapeseed, barley, potatoes, sugar beets, and other types of crops (19 types in total) is mapped for the first time at a very fine spatial scale.

...

Full article available via the link below.