Sentinel-1 & Sentinel-2 Data for Soil Tillage Change Detection

In this paper, an algorithm using Sentinel-1 (S-1) and Sentinel-2 (S-2) data to identify changes of tillage over agricultural fields at approximately ~100m resolution is presented. The methodology implements a multiscale temporal change detection on S-1 VH backscatter in order to single out VH changes due to agricultural practices only. The algorithm can be applied over bare or scarcely vegetated agricultural fields, which are identified from S-2 NDVI measurements. An initial assessment at farm scale using in situ and S-1 and SPOT5-Take5 data, acquired over the Apulian Tavoliere in southern Italy in 2015, is illustrated. A full validation of the approach is in progress over three European agricultural areas located in Italy, Spain and France. Results will be further reported in the paper.