Mapping National-Scale Croplands in Pakistan by Combining Dynamic Time Warping Algorithm and Density-Based Spatial Clustering of Applications with Noise

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Croplands are commonly mapped using time series of remotely sensed images. The dynamic time warping (DTW) algorithm is an effective method for realizing this. However, DTW algorithm faces the challenge of capturing complete and accurate representative cropland time series on a national scale, especially in Asian countries where climatic and topographic conditions, cropland types, and crop growth patterns vary significantly. This study proposes an automatic cropland extraction method based on the DTW algorithm and density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise (DBSCAN), hereinafter referred to as ACE-DTW, to map croplands in Pakistan in 2015. First, 422 frames of multispectral Landsat-8 satellite images were selected from the Google Earth Engine to construct monthly normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) time series. Next, a total of 2409 training samples of six land cover types were generated randomly and explained visually using high-resolution remotely sensed images. Then, a multi-layer DBSCAN was used to classify NDVI time series of training samples into different categories automatically based on their pairwise DTW distances, and the mean NDVI time series of each category was used as the standard time series to represent the characteristics of that category. These standard time series attempted to represent cropland information and maximally distinguished croplands from other possible interference land cover types. Finally, image pixels were classified as cropland or non-cropland based on their DTW distances to the standard time series of the six land cover types. The overall cropland extraction accuracy of ACE-DTW was 89.7%, which exceeded those of other supervised classifiers (classification and regression trees: 78.2%; support vector machines: 78.8%) and existing global cropland datasets (Finer Resolution Observation and Monitoring of Global Land Cover: 87.1%; Global Food Security Support Analysis Data: 83.1%). Further, ACE-DTW could produce relatively complete time series of variable cropland types, and thereby provide a significant advantage in mountain regions with small, fragmented croplands and plain regions with large, high-density patches of croplands.