Zhao et al. (2026) Mapping paddy rice distribution and cropping intensity in South and Southeast Asia (1995–2024) at 30 m resolution

Identification

• Journal: Earth system science data
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-07-29
• Authors: Zizhang Zhao, Geli Zhang, Jinwei Dong, Jilin Yang, Fan Chang, Ruoqi Liu, Xiangming Xiao
• DOI: 10.5194/essd-18-5583-2026

Research Groups

• College of Land Science and Technology, China Agricultural University
• Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences
• School of Biological Sciences, University of Oklahoma

Short Summary

This study presents a refined phenology-based algorithm to generate 30 m multi-year composite rice distribution and cropping-intensity products across South and Southeast Asia for four nominal reference years: 1995, 2005, 2015, and 2024.

Objective

• To develop long-term, large-scale solutions that jointly capture paddy rice distribution and cropping intensity in South and Southeast Asia.
• To address the gap in spatially explicit long-term datasets on paddy rice distribution and cropping intensity.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Regional (South and mainland Southeast Asia)
• Temporal Scale: 1995–2024

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Phenology-based algorithm, Landsat and Sentinel-2 archives
• Data sources: Satellite imagery (Landsat and Sentinel-2), cropland mask products (GLC_FCS30, GLAD 30, ESA WorldCover 2021, ESRI 2021)

Main Results

• The study achieved overall accuracies ranging from 83.74 % to 87.60 % for the four nominal reference-year composite products.
• The results showed that the mapped rice area across South and mainland Southeast Asian countries increased by approximately 22.5×10 6  ha since the 1990s, with the largest increases observed in India and Bangladesh.

Contributions

• This study provides critical data for balancing rice production expansion and intensification with sustainable development goals.
• The refined phenology-based algorithm addresses the challenge of detecting rice cropping intensity from long-term satellite time series.

Funding

• This research was supported by [insert funding projects, programs, and reference codes].

Citation

@article{Zhao2026Mapping,
  author = {Zhao, Zizhang and Zhang, Geli and Dong, Jinwei and Yang, Jilin and Chang, Fan and Liu, Ruoqi and Xiao, Xiangming},
  title = {Mapping paddy rice distribution and cropping intensity in South and Southeast Asia (1995–2024) at 30 m resolution},
  journal = {Earth system science data},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.5194/essd-18-5583-2026},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-5583-2026}
}