Google Earth Engine is a powerful tool for analyzing and displaying satellite imagery and other geospatial layers. CropGrower has developed multiple apps for Google Earth Engine including land cover, land use analysis, cover crop analysis and crop health and yield among others. Check out a couple of our apps here:
CropGrower has been developing cover crop and buffer maps for the Nature Conservancy and the Illinois Corn Growers Association for the state of Illinois for five years using satellite imagery. The data is used by the agencies to track and encourage cover crop adoption in the state and better understand the relationship between in-field buffers and larger waterway networks. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency is going to include the buffer acreages in their nutrient loss strategy data.
CropGrower has performed research to help groups like the US Environmental Protection Agency, the US Soybean Export Council and state and national corn grower associations better understand the relationship between natural land and cropland. CropGrower has published two recent peer-reviewed journal articles on the subject:
Combining Tabular and Satellite-Based Datasets to Better Understand Cropland Change