Detection of citrus crop plantations in Syria using Landsat‑8 OLI satellite data; [Детектирование насаждений цитрусовых культур в Сирии по спутниковым данным Landsat‑8 OLI]

Citrus cultivation is of great economic and social importance for the Mediterranean countries. Citrus production in the region varies considerably from year to year due to meteorological conditions and the dynamics of the plantation area. This predetermines high importance of monitoring of their condition, which is currently not carried out at all or is carried out on the basis of a statistical survey method with a large error. The aim of the research was to analyse the possibilities of estimating citrus plantation areas of a test plot in Syria based on normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) time series calculated from Landsat-8 OLI satellite data. Detection of citrus plantations was carried out using the NDVI curve similarity analysis method. Data from field surveys conducted in 2016 were used to assess the detection accuracy. It was found that the averaged NDVI curves of citrus plantations are reliably separated from those of other tree crops. The predominant species of citrus crops (orange, lemon, clementine) were also detected quite reliably. Separation of plantations within species by age and cultivar was not reliable. The proposed approach showed high potential for organizing a satellite-based monitoring system for citrus plantation acreage in Syria. © 2024 Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.