Mapping rubber tree plantations using a Landsat-based phenological algorithm in Xishuangbanna, southwest China

A simple and effective phenology-based algorithm was developed to detect and map rubber tree plantations in Xishuangbanna, a prefecture in southwest China’s Yunnan province. This algorithm highlighted the unique phenological characteristics of deciduous rubber tree plantations during the dry season. Phenology of rubber tree plantations and natural evergreen forests was delineated with Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Land Surface Water Index (LSWI) and Normalized Burn Ratio (NBR) derived from Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM), Enhanced Thematic Mapper plus (ETM+) and Operational Land Imager imagery during 2009–2014. The results showed that the differences of NBR were larger than those of NDVI and LSWI from defoliation stage to foliation stage. Then, the change rate of NBR derived between defoliation stage and foliation stage was used to map rubber tree plantations in 2014, by combining a Landsat-based forest mask and a Digital Elevation Model mask. Our study demonstrates that Landsat imagery holds great potential for rubber tree plantations mapping, as it not only improves the classification results but also reduces the data demand.

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