Using a global reference sample set and a cropland map for area estimation in China

A technically transparent and freely available reference sample set for validation of global land cover mapping was recently established to assess the accuracies of land cover maps with multiple resolutions. This sample set can be used to estimate areas because of its equal-area hexagon-based sampling design. The capabilities of these sample set-based area estimates for cropland were investigated in this paper. A 30-m cropland map for China was consolidated using three thematic maps (cropland, forest and wetland maps) to reduce confusion between cropland and forest/wetland. We compared three area estimation methods using the sample set and the 30 m cropland map. The methods investigated were: (1) pixel counting from a complete coverage map, (2) direct estimation from reference samples, and (3) model-assisted estimation combining the map with samples. Our results indicated that all three methods produced generally consistent estimates which agreed with cropland area measured from an independent national land use dataset. Areas estimated from the reference sample set were less biased by comparing with a National Land Use Dataset of China (NLUD-C). This study indicates that the reference sample set can be used as an alternative source to estimate areas over large regions.