GEOGLAM Crop Monitor for AMIS

Project Description

The Group on Earth Observations (www.earthobservations.org) developed its Global Agricultural Monitoring (GEOGLAM) initiative in response to the growing calls for improved agricultural information. GEOGLAM was endorsed by the G20 Heads of States’ Declaration (Cannes, November, 2011), when GEOGLAM was tasked to "coordinate satellite monitoring observation systems in different regions of the world in order to enhance crop production projections and weather forecasting data." Within this framework, GEOGLAM developed the Crop Monitor reports, which provide monthly, qualitative global crop condition assessments agreed upon by agricultural monitoring experts from around the world. These Crop Monitor reports support the Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) market monitoring activities, which were also mandated by the G20 in November 2011. The Crop Monitor provides AMIS with an international and transparent multi-source, consensus assessment of crop growing conditions, status, and agro-climatic conditions, likely to impact global production.

Figure 1: AMIS countries as compared to the countries within the Crop Monitor for Early Warning.

This activity covers the four primary crop types (wheat, maize, rice, and soy) within the main agricultural producing regions of the AMIS countries. These assessments have been produced operationally since September 2013 and are published in the AMIS Market Monitor Bulletin with crop condition information current as of the 28th of each month. The approach has been to bring together international experts from national, regional, and global monitoring systems, space agencies, agriculture organizations and universities. Over 35 different agencies and organizations are currently partnered with the Crop Monitor for AMIS. These reports include a number of sections; an overview map of conditions, report highlights, a special text section to cover unique conditions such as El Nino events that might have larger effects on regional agricultural areas and crop specific text and chart sections for each of the four major crops.

Figure 2: Crop condition map synthesizing information for all four AMIS crops as of August 28th 2016. Crop conditions over the main growing areas for wheat, maize, rice, and soybean are based on a combination of national and regional crop analyst inputs along with earth observation data. Crops that are in other than favourable conditions are displayed on the map with their crop symbol. — Figure 2: Crop condition map synthesizing information for all four AMIS crops as of August 28th 2016. Crop conditions over the main growing areas for wheat, maize, rice, and soybean are based on a combination of national and regional crop analyst inputs along with earth observation data. **Crops that are in other than favourable conditions are displayed on the map with their crop symbol.**

Figure 3: Maize 1 crop conditions over main growing areas are based upon a combination of national and regional crop analyst inputs along with earth observation data. Condition information is based upon information as of August 28th 2016. Where crops are in less than favourable conditions the climatic drivers responsible for those conditions are displayed. The crop calendar is provided as a point of reference to provide information on what part of the life cycle the crops are currently in for each area.

Figure 4: Maize production chart where each slice represents a country's share of total AMIS production (5-year average). Main producing countries (representing 90 percent of production) are shown individually, with the remaining 10 percent grouped into the “Other AMIS Countries” category. The proportion within each national slice is colored according to the crop conditions within a specific growing area; grey indicates that the respective area is out of season. Sections within each slide are weighted by the sub-national production statistics (5-year average) of the respective country. The section within each national slice also accounts for multiple cropping seasons (i.e. spring and winter wheat). When conditions are other than’ favourable’, icons are added that provide information on the key climatic drivers affecting conditions.

Related Publications

GEO-Agriculture. 2012. GEOGLAM: The G-20 GEO Global Agricultural Monitoring Initiative submitted to the G-20 Agriculture Ministers on March 23, 2010. Geneva.
GEOGLAM. 2013. GEOGLAM Where Policy and Science Meet. G-8 UK Summit magazine, June 2013, pp. 28-29.http://www.newsdeskmedia.com/files/G8-UK-2013.pdf
FAO Food Outlook GEOGLAM Crop Monitor Feature Article. May 2014. pp. 68-75http://www.fao.org/docrep/019/i3751e/i3751e.pdf
Becker-Reshef I., Justice C., Sullivan M., Tucker CJ., Anyamba A., Small J., Pak E., Hansen M., Pittman K., Schmaltz J., Masouka E., Williams D., Reynolds C., and Doorn B. (2010). Monitoring Global Croplands with Coarse Resolution Earth Observations: The Global Agriculture Monitoring (GLAM) Project. Remote Sensing, 2, 1589-1609.

Project personnel

Inbal Becker-Reshef       PI
Chris Justice           Co-PI
Brian Barker            Implementation team
Mike Humber           Implementation team
Antonio Sanchez       Implementation team
Estefania Puricelli       Implementation team
Christina Justice       Collaborator
Alyssa Whitcraft       Collaborator
Patricia Oliva           Collaborator
Ritvik Sahajpal           Collaborator
Belen Franch           Collaborator
Eric Vermote           Collaborator
Sergii Skakun           Collaborator
Jan Dempewolf           Collaborator
Joanne Vanessa Hall       Graduate Student
Jie Zhang           Graduate Student