Calculation of rice field embankment coefficient using high-resolution satellite imagery

Abstract

Estimating rice production is vital in ensuring economic stability. One of the critical element in the estimation is the information on the width of the rice field. The uncertainty on this aspect is exacerbated by which the rice field is calculated. The current method only considers the width of the fields, without taking into account the rice field embankment. The width of the embankment is usually between 25 cm to several meters. Neglecting the contribution of this embankment to the overall width of the rice fields can result in overestimation to the rice production. In this research, the coefficient of rice field embankment is calculated. The data used are from high-resolution satellite imagery of Pleades, SPOT-6, Worldview, and GeoEye. UAV data from rice fields in Yogyakarta was used as control data. The study area covers rice fields in Bengkulu, Jambi, Riau, Bangka Belitung, Sulawesi Tenggara, Sulawesi Barat, Sulawesi Tengah, Gorontalo, Maluku, Nusa Tenggara Timur, and Papua. Two types of digitization methods were used. The first one is a rice field without any embankment incorporated. Only road or irrigation channel wider than 2.5 meters were included. The second one is a rice field with embankment feature digitized. The coefficient of the embankment is calculated by dividing the width of the embankment with the width of rice fields without embankment. For a different location, the coefficient is different, between 1% - 3 %. Types of rice fields, satellite imagery being used, and topography affect the coefficient.