Global Seasonal Active Cropland Maps from WorldCereal

Binary maps of active cropland for all growing seasons defined by the WorldCereal global crop calendars. The products detect where a full crop growth cycle occurred within designated seasonal time periods, generated within annual temporary crops masks by the FEDEO organization.

Use Cases

• Classify land cover as active cropland versus non-cropland using seasonal binary maps.
• Analyze crop seasonality and cultivation timing based on pixel-level detection of sowing, growing, and harvesting cycles.
• Validate or refine global crop calendar models by comparing detected active periods against predefined growing seasons.
• Assess agricultural land use intensity by identifying pixels flagged as active across multiple seasonal products.

Strengths

• Global spatial coverage aligned with agro-ecological zones.
• Seasonally specific detection based on full crop growth cycles.
• Products are generated within annual temporary crop masks for focus.

Limitations

• Product is not crop-type specific, only indicating general seasonal activity.
• Crops grown outside predefined growing seasons will not be detected, potentially missing atypical cultivation.
• The binary classification may not capture partial or failed growth cycles within a season.

Provenance

Source

FEDEO, via NASA Earthdata.

Collection Method

Generated from satellite data within the WorldCereal system, using defined global crop calendars and annual temporary crop masks.

Time Range

Covers all growing seasons as defined by WorldCereal crop calendars.

Geography

Global coverage, organized per agro-ecological zone.