Extraction of information of cultivated land using time-series MODIS data in Thailand

The difference and the complementariness on the agriculture decide that there is a wide-ranging cooperation on agriculture between China and ASEAN. So the research on ASEAN's agriculture has important significance. In order to acquire the cultivated land related information in Thailand, time-series MODIS data were used in this paper. Firstly, the 250 m cultivated land map was generated by using time-series NDVI data. Then the cropping intensity map was acquired by determining how many peaks were detected in the smoothed NDVI pro?le on a pixel-by-pixel basis, which then served as a mask to extract crop types in different cropping intensity regions. The results showed that the main land use type in the study area was cultivated land, most of which were dominated by rice. Double or triple rice-cropping system was commonly employed in the Chao Phraya Basin. Upland crops were mainly distributed in the high alluvial terraces of the Chao Phraya Basin. Because Khorat Plateau in the northeast of Thailand often have water shortage problem, particularly in the dry season, which can just support only one crop in a year. However, some upland areas can be cultivated twice a year with crops which have short growing seasons. The crop information extracted from MODIS data sets were assessed by CBERS data, statistic data. It was shown that MODIS derived information related to cultivated land coincided well with the statistic data at the provincial level. At the same time, information extracted by MODIS data sets and CBERS were compared with each other which also showed similar spatial patterns.