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Knowledge4Policy
Knowledge for policy
Supporting policy with scientific evidence

We mobilise people and resources to create, curate, make sense of and use knowledge to inform policymaking across Europe.

  • Publication | 2021
Estimating crop parameters using Sentinel-1 and 2 datasets and geospatial field data
Global Food and Nutrition Security

Crop monitoring is essential for ensuring food security in a global context of population growth and climate change. Satellite images are commonly used to estimate crop pa- rameters over large areas, and the freely available Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Sentinel-1 (S-1) and optical Sentinel- 2 (S-2) images are relevant for that purpose combining high temporal resolution and high spatial resolution. For this data article, field surveys were conducted from January to July 2017 in France to sample wheat and rapeseed crop pa- rameters during the entire crops cycle. Phenological stages were identified in 83 wheat fields and 32 rapeseed fields in Brittany and Picardy regions. Moreover, Leaf Area Index (LAI), wet biomass, dry biomass and water content were sampled in three wheat fields and three rapeseed fields in Brittany. We assigned to each field sample 10 spectral bands and 12 vegetation indices from S-2 images and two backscattering coefficients, one backscattering ratio and four polarimetric indicators from S-1 images. This dataset can be used for crop monitoring in other regions, as well as for modelling development.