CropWatch Monitoring System

Description

CropWatch is one of the key contributors providing global agricultural information in the GEO/GEOSS Global Agricultural Monitoring (GeoGLAM) initiative set up by the G20 to improve access to global information about the worldwide availability of major cereals (maize, wheat and rice) and soybean. 

Since its inception in 1998, CropWatch has functioned as China's premier crop monitoring system, developed by the research team at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In 2013, CropWatch has been upgraded to CropWatch Cloud on the basis of the Alibaba Cloud. A hierarchical approach was adopted by CropWatch, in which a four tier monitoring strategy was developed: global (110 Crop Monitoring and Reporting Units, MRU), regional (seven Major Production Zones, MPZ), national (45 key countries) and sub-national (subdivisions of nine large countries). CropWatch indicators/matrix can be divided into four categories: CropWatch agro-climatic indicators (CWAIs), arable land use intensity indicators, crop condition indicators and crop production indicators. Four different temporal and spatial resolution of indicators adapted to each scale are used in CropWatch Bulletin. Using the outputs on the four levels, a synthesis of crop condition and crop production estimates for four major crops is published in the CropWatch bulletin. The platform provides real-time and near real-time information services by releasing quarterly CropWatch Bulletins and online service portals, including information on agro-climatic situations, natural disasters, crop conditions, crop yield and production at global, regional, national and sub-national levels to meet the demands of agricultural information from decision makers, market participants and farmers. 

CropWatch Cloud is the web-based platform and it consists four subsystems: CropWatch Processing, CropWatch Explorer, CropWatch Analysis, and CropWatch Bulletin. 

CropWatch Processing is the sub-component that provides you the functions and modules that convert satellite images into analysis-ready indicators and information. 

CropWatch Explorer, a WEBGIS-based website, serves as a comprehensive repository of crop-related indicators and agricultural information, allowing users to visualize, access, and download agro-climatic and agronomic indicators, early warning indicators, and production indices for various crop types at different spatial units.

CropWatch Analysis provides users with a platform for independent analysis, enabling the generation of customized crop reports based on individual interests.

CropWatch Bulletin releases quarterly reports in English and Chinese, offering the latest CropWatch forecasts on crop production and conditions worldwide and at national levels.

CropWatch is available in 8 languages in the interface: English, Chinese, Portuguese, Khmer, Lao, Thai, Vietnamese and Arabic. 

Registration and login is required to have an access to full functionality of CropWatch services. Users are required to register and log in to unlock the full functionality of CropWatch services. New users can utilize the demonstration account (username: Gates, password: Gatestest). It is important to note that the demonstration account provided is restricted to use on a single device at any given time. Concurrent login attempts by multiple users using the same account will result in the invalidation of the login token. 

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