Assess the accuracy of the Globcover cultivated land data in Northeast China

This study aims to examine the suitability of Globcover land cover dataset for its accuracy in mapping and monitoring cropland in Northeast China three provinces. To do so, Globcover dataset was compared with the reference national land cover dataset 2000 (NLCD-2000) for assessing the aggregated area and spatial extent of cropland across the study area. The results showed that the accuracy in Jilin province is higher than the other two provinces. Regions with relatively higher accuracy are mainly distributed in the central and west part of the study area, whereas low accuracy mainly exists at the east and south coastal area. The coarse spatial resolution and per pixel classification approach, as well as landscape heterogeneity, are the main reasons for large discrepancies between Globcover cropland dataset and NLCD-2000.