Philippines: The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and DA-PhilRice in the Philippines has developed an automated system using multi-temporal MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) satellite images for mapping rain-fed lowland and irrigated rice areas.
The map has been validated following an extensive field campaign by DA-PhilRice and IRRI. The staff visited 24 provinces and collected field data in 2,770 locations. Based on this fieldwork, the overall accuracy of the map is found to be 78.8%. In remote sensing, the target for a high quality classification is 85%.
Other projects like RIICE and the new DA-supported Philippines Rice Information System (PRISM) are using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images that can detect and map rice production at greater detail regardless of cloud conditions. Maps based on SAR images will be developed and published over the next few years to build up an accurate and detailed map of rice growing areas for each region of the country.
Source: Irri
