Mapping fruit tree dynamics using phenological metrics from optimal Sentinel-2 data and Deep Neural Network

Accurate and up-to-date crop-type maps are essential for efficient management and well-informed decision-making, allowing accurate planning and execution of agricultural operations in the horticultural sector. The assessment of crop-related traits, such as the spatiotemporal variability of phenology, can improve decision-making. The study aimed to extract phenological information from Sentinel-2 data to identify and distinguish between fruit trees and co-existing land use types on subtropical farms in Levubu, South Africa. However, the heterogeneity and complexity of the study area—composed of smallholder mixed cropping systems with overlapping spectra—constituted an obstacle to the application of optical pixel-based classification using machine learning (ML) classifiers. Given the socio-economic importance of fruit tree crops, the research sought to map the phenological dynamics of these crops using deep neural network (DNN) and optical Sentinel-2 data. The models were optimized to determine the best hyperparameters to achieve the best classification results. The classification results showed the maximum overall accuracies of 86.96%, 88.64%, 86.76%, and 87.25% for the April, May, June, and July images, respectively. The results demonstrate the potential of temporal phenological optical-based data in mapping fruit tree crops under different management systems. The availability of remotely sensed data with high spatial and spectral resolutions makes it possible to use deep learning models to support decision-making in agriculture. This creates new possibilities for deep learning to revolutionize and facilitate innovation within smart horticulture.