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Perception and Use of Remote Sensing Products for Monitoring Agriculture by Targeted End Users: Evidence from State Field Offices of the United States Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service
Rick
Mueller, USDA/NASS, rick_mueller@nass.usda.gov
(Presenter)
Agriculture in the U.S. is mainly a large-scale, mechanized industry that has or is in the process of integrating many new geoinformatic technologies, such as GIS, GPS, and satellite-derived products, into standard management and observation of cropland conditions by both private and public entities. Much of the previous research focused on the adoption and/or evaluation of geoinformatics for agricultural production by private users, with an emphasis on precision agriculture, irrigation, and meteorological information. Less attention has been paid to the end user perception and adoption of remote sensing-based agricultural data as it is transferred intra- agency. This research focuses on the perception, integration, and adoption of remote sensing-derived agricultural products, specifically the Cropland Data Layer (CDL), by analysts within State Field Offices of the United Stated Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) for use when calculating state- and county-level crop acreages. The ‘CDL User Survey’ was sent to 19 NASS Field Offices in 2009 and 6 NASS Field Offices in 2010. In total, there were 30 responses from 25 different NASS Field Offices, representing 54% of all NASS Field Offices. Of the 30 offices surveyed, the majority (87%) reported using the CDL remote sensing acreage indicators when setting state and/or county estimates. The largest perceived weakness of the remote sensing indicators was the unfamiliarity with the remote sensing estimation process, with equal concern about the potential for classification error and/or cloud coverage in the satellite data resulting in inaccurate estimates and that the remote sensing product would not map non-commodity crops. Approximately 83% of the Field Offices wanted to implement a mapping utility to integrate CDL products and near-real time satellite-based rapid response products, like crop progress, flooding, and vegetative water stress and/or drought. Further results and recommendations from end users are presented in this poster. Presentation: 2011_Poster_Mueller_195_153.pdf (987k) Presentation Type: Poster Session: Science in Support of Decision Making (Wed 10:00 AM) Associated Project(s):
Poster Location ID: 195
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