Enabling the Use of Sentinel-2 and LiDAR Data for Common Agriculture Policy Funds Assignment

A comprehensive strategy combining remote sensing and field data can be helpful for more effective agriculture management. Satellite data are suitable for monitoring large areas over time, while LiDAR provides specific and accurate data on height and relief. Both types of data can be used for calibration and validation purposes, avoiding field visits and saving useful resources. In this paper, we propose a process for objective and automated identification of agricultural parcel features based on processing and combining Sentinel-2 data (to sense different types of irrigation patterns) and LiDAR data (to detect landscape elements). The proposed process was validated in several use cases in Spain, yielding high accuracy rates in the identification of irrigated areas and landscape elements. An important application example of the work reported in this paper is the European Union (EU) Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) funds assignment service, which would significantly benefit from a more objective and automated process for the identification of irrigated areas and landscape elements, thereby enabling the possibility for the EU to save significant amounts of money yearly.