PRICOS: A Robust Paddy Rice Index Combining Optical and Synthetic Aperture Radar Features for Improved Mapping Efficiency

Paddy rice mapping is critical for food security and environmental management, yet existing methods face challenges such as cloud obstruction in optical data and speckle noise in synthetic aperture radar (SAR). To address these limitations, this study introduces PRICOS, a novel paddy rice index that...

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Main Authors: Yifeng Lou, Gang Yang, Weiwei Sun, Ke Huang, Jingfeng Huang, Lihua Wang, Weiwei Liu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-02-01
Series:Remote Sensing
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/4/692
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author Yifeng Lou
Gang Yang
Weiwei Sun
Ke Huang
Jingfeng Huang
Lihua Wang
Weiwei Liu
author_facet Yifeng Lou
Gang Yang
Weiwei Sun
Ke Huang
Jingfeng Huang
Lihua Wang
Weiwei Liu
author_sort Yifeng Lou
collection DOAJ
description Paddy rice mapping is critical for food security and environmental management, yet existing methods face challenges such as cloud obstruction in optical data and speckle noise in synthetic aperture radar (SAR). To address these limitations, this study introduces PRICOS, a novel paddy rice index that systematically combines time series Sentinel-2 optical features (NDVI for bare soil/peak growth, MNDWI for the submerged stages) and Sentinel-1 SAR backscatter (VH polarization for structural dynamics). PRICOS automates key phenological stage detection through harmonic fitting and dynamic thresholding, requiring only 10–20 samples per region to define rice growth cycles. Validated across six agroclimatic regions, PRICOS achieved overall accuracy (OA) and F1 scores of 0.90–0.98, outperforming existing indices like SPRI (OA: 0.79–0.95) and TWDTW (OA: 0.85–0.92). By integrating multi-sensor data with minimal sample dependency, PRICOS provides a robust, adaptable solution for large-scale paddy rice mapping, advancing precision agriculture and climate change mitigation efforts.
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series Remote Sensing
spelling doaj-art-ec720aa8d9bd47c9bfb0b77dfa9307a32025-08-20T02:44:47ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922025-02-0117469210.3390/rs17040692PRICOS: A Robust Paddy Rice Index Combining Optical and Synthetic Aperture Radar Features for Improved Mapping EfficiencyYifeng Lou0Gang Yang1Weiwei Sun2Ke Huang3Jingfeng Huang4Lihua Wang5Weiwei Liu6Department of Geography and Spatial Information Techniques, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, ChinaDepartment of Geography and Spatial Information Techniques, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, ChinaDepartment of Geography and Spatial Information Techniques, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, ChinaFaculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, ChinaInstitute of Applied Remote Sensing and Information Technology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, ChinaDepartment of Geography and Spatial Information Techniques, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, ChinaDepartment of Geography and Spatial Information Techniques, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, ChinaPaddy rice mapping is critical for food security and environmental management, yet existing methods face challenges such as cloud obstruction in optical data and speckle noise in synthetic aperture radar (SAR). To address these limitations, this study introduces PRICOS, a novel paddy rice index that systematically combines time series Sentinel-2 optical features (NDVI for bare soil/peak growth, MNDWI for the submerged stages) and Sentinel-1 SAR backscatter (VH polarization for structural dynamics). PRICOS automates key phenological stage detection through harmonic fitting and dynamic thresholding, requiring only 10–20 samples per region to define rice growth cycles. Validated across six agroclimatic regions, PRICOS achieved overall accuracy (OA) and F1 scores of 0.90–0.98, outperforming existing indices like SPRI (OA: 0.79–0.95) and TWDTW (OA: 0.85–0.92). By integrating multi-sensor data with minimal sample dependency, PRICOS provides a robust, adaptable solution for large-scale paddy rice mapping, advancing precision agriculture and climate change mitigation efforts.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/4/692paddy ricesentinel seriestime seriesfeature fusionpaddy rice indexSAR
spellingShingle Yifeng Lou
Gang Yang
Weiwei Sun
Ke Huang
Jingfeng Huang
Lihua Wang
Weiwei Liu
PRICOS: A Robust Paddy Rice Index Combining Optical and Synthetic Aperture Radar Features for Improved Mapping Efficiency
Remote Sensing
paddy rice
sentinel series
time series
feature fusion
paddy rice index
SAR
title PRICOS: A Robust Paddy Rice Index Combining Optical and Synthetic Aperture Radar Features for Improved Mapping Efficiency
title_full PRICOS: A Robust Paddy Rice Index Combining Optical and Synthetic Aperture Radar Features for Improved Mapping Efficiency
title_fullStr PRICOS: A Robust Paddy Rice Index Combining Optical and Synthetic Aperture Radar Features for Improved Mapping Efficiency
title_full_unstemmed PRICOS: A Robust Paddy Rice Index Combining Optical and Synthetic Aperture Radar Features for Improved Mapping Efficiency
title_short PRICOS: A Robust Paddy Rice Index Combining Optical and Synthetic Aperture Radar Features for Improved Mapping Efficiency
title_sort pricos a robust paddy rice index combining optical and synthetic aperture radar features for improved mapping efficiency
topic paddy rice
sentinel series
time series
feature fusion
paddy rice index
SAR
url https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/4/692
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