High-resolution mapping of protected agriculture in Mexico, through remote sensing data cloud geoprocessing

Abstract

ABSTRACT In recent years, plasticulture, which is broadly defined as the use of plastics in agriculture, including greenhouse, tunnels and plastic mulch has become a fast-growing production system. While in the 1970s, the system was used on 2.8 M ha worldwide, the area had grown to 38 M ha in 1996/97 and is still increasing at a rapid rate: In Asia and Africa, the use of plastic greenhouses is growing by 15-30% per year. Therefore, plasticulture is expected to rise in many agrarian countries such as Mexico. Nonetheless, there are negative effects of plasticulture, that need to be correctly addressed in order to have responsible rural landscape management. Ergo our study attempts, through cloud geoprocessing of Sentinel-2 imagery, to rapidly provide a reliable and updated high-resolution map of protected agriculture that employs plastics (mostly tunnels and greenhouses). This map can be used as a basis for a protected agriculture monitoring system in Mexico, and eventually help to effectively plan the upcoming rural development, e.g. by providing input for territorial planning, showing the municipal rural practice trends, and monitoring the markets and its economic impacts.