Detecting Agricultural Operations Combining SAR and Optical Data

Detecting agricultural field operations is a critical step for monitoring and optimizing crop management practices. Remote sensing data, especially radar and optical sensors, provide crucial insights into land surface dynamics. Sentinel-1, with its C-band SAR, enables the detection of structural changes in the soil and vegetation through its allweather, day-and-night observation capabilities, meanwhile Sentinel-2 allows for vegetation status assessment with his high spatial and temporal resolution optical data. The integration of these complementary datasets enhances the ability to monitor key agricultural activities, including tillage, sowing, and harvesting. This study conducted in Umbria, Italy, between August 2023 and August 2024 aims to detect agricultural operations using both Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 time series, combined with field observations. The peculiar trends of the time series underline the synergy of coupled radar and optical data in monitoring agricultural scenarios.