Mapping Cashew Orchards in Cantanhez National Park (Guinea-Bissau)

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2022

Authors

Pereira, SC (Author) Other; Lopes, C (Author) Other; Joao Pedro Pedroso (Author) FCUP

Journal

Title: Remote Sensing Applications: Society and Environment

Vol. 26

Publisher: Elsevier

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 7 Citations

Scopus - 8 Citations

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-00W-C1J

DOI: 10.1016/j.rsase.2022.100746

Abstract (EN): The forests and woodlands of Guinea-Bissau are a biodiversity hotspot under threat, which are progressively being replaced by cashew tree orchards. While the exports of cashew nuts significantly contribute to the gross domestic product and support local livelihoods, the country's natural capital is under significant pressure due to unsustainable land use. In this context, official entities strive to counter deforestation, but the problem persists, and there are currently no systematic or automated means for objectively monitoring and reporting the situation. Furthermore, previous remote sensing approaches failed to distinguish cashew orchards from forests and woodlands due to the significant spectral overlap between the land cover types and the highly intertwined structure of the cashew tree patches. This work contributes to overcoming such difficulty. It develops an affordable, reliable, and easy-to-use procedure based on machine learning models and Sentinel-2 images, automatically detecting cashew orchards with a dice coefficient of 82.54%. The results of this case study designed for the Cantanhez National Park are proof of concept and demonstrate the viability of mapping cashew orchards. Therefore, the work is a stepping stone towards wall-to-wall operational monitoring in the region.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 13