Downscaling Pesticide Use Data to the Crop Field Level in California Using Landsat Satellite Imagery Paraquat Case Study.docVIP

Remote Sens. 2011, 3, 1805-1816; doi:10.3390/rs3091805 OPEN ACCESS Remote Sensing ISSN 2072-4292 /journal/remotesensing Article Downscaling Pesticide Use Data to the Crop Field Level in California Using Landsat Satellite Imagery: Paraquat Case Study Susan K. Maxwell BioMedware, Inc., 3526 W. Liberty Rd., Suite 100, Ann Arbor, MI 48103, USA; E-Mail: maxwell@; Tel.: +1-734-913-1098; Fax: +1-734-913-2201 Received: 8 July 2011; in revised form: 16 August 2011 / Accepted: 18 August 2011 / Published: 25 August 2011 Abstract: Exposure to pesticides has been associated with increased risk of many adverse health effects. To understand the relationships between pesticide exposure and health outcomes, epidemiologists need information on where pesticides are applied in the environment. California maintains one of the most comprehensive pesticide use reporting systems in the world, yet the data are only recorded at a coarse geographic scale of approximately 2.6 km2 area. A method is presented that uses Landsat image time series to downscale California pesticide use data to the crop field-level. The approach is demonstrated using paraquat applied to vineyard and cotton fields. Keywords: Landsat; agriculture; pesticide exposure; California; paraquat 1. Introduction Exposure to pesticides has been associated with increased risk of adverse health effects such as cancer [1-5], birth defects [6], and Parkinson’s disease [7,8]. Populations living near agricultural fields are at higher risk of exposure due to their proximity to areas where pesticides are frequently applied [9-11]. To understand the relationships between exposure and health outcomes, epidemiologists need accurate, unbiased exposure estimates as study participants rarely, if ever, know what, when, or where pesticides were applied to crops grown near their residence. Direct measurement of pesticide exposures are often expensive, diffi