Mapping photovoltaic power plants in China using Landsat, random forest, and Google Earth Engine
<p>Photovoltaic (PV) technology, an efficient solution for mitigating the impacts of climate change, has been increasingly used across the world to replace fossil fuel power to minimize greenhouse gas emissions. With the world's highest cumulative and fastest built PV capacity, China need...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Copernicus Publications
2022-08-01
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| Series: | Earth System Science Data |
| Online Access: | https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/14/3743/2022/essd-14-3743-2022.pdf |
| _version_ | 1811320015993962496 |
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| author | X. Zhang X. Zhang X. Zhang M. Xu M. Xu S. Wang Y. Huang Z. Xie Z. Xie |
| author_facet | X. Zhang X. Zhang X. Zhang M. Xu M. Xu S. Wang Y. Huang Z. Xie Z. Xie |
| author_sort | X. Zhang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <p>Photovoltaic (PV) technology, an efficient solution for mitigating the impacts of climate change, has been increasingly used across the world to
replace fossil fuel power to minimize greenhouse gas emissions. With the world's highest cumulative and fastest built PV capacity, China needs to
assess the environmental and social impacts of these established PV power plants. However, a comprehensive map regarding the PV power plants' locations and extent remains scarce on the country scale. This study developed a workflow, combining machine learning and visual interpretation methods with big satellite data, to map PV power plants across China. We applied a pixel-based random forest (RF) model to classify the PV power plants from composite images in 2020 with a 30 <span class="inline-formula">m</span> spatial resolution on the Google Earth Engine (GEE). The resulting classification map was further improved by a visual interpretation approach. Eventually, we established a map of PV power plants in China by 2020, covering a total area of 2917 <span class="inline-formula">km<sup>2</sup></span>. We found that most PV power plants were situated on cropland, followed by barren land and grassland, based on the derived national PV map. In addition, the installation of PV power plants has generally decreased the vegetation cover. This new dataset is expected to be conducive to policy management, environmental assessment, and further classification of PV power plants. The dataset of photovoltaic power plant distribution in China by 2020 is available to the public at <a href="https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6849477">https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6849477</a> (Zhang et al., 2022).</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T12:53:04Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-70c3ca6425dc40da9337519a4e7f03b6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1866-3508 1866-3516 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T12:53:04Z |
| publishDate | 2022-08-01 |
| publisher | Copernicus Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Earth System Science Data |
| spelling | doaj.art-70c3ca6425dc40da9337519a4e7f03b62022-12-22T02:46:09ZengCopernicus PublicationsEarth System Science Data1866-35081866-35162022-08-01143743375510.5194/essd-14-3743-2022Mapping photovoltaic power plants in China using Landsat, random forest, and Google Earth EngineX. Zhang0X. Zhang1X. Zhang2M. Xu3M. Xu4S. Wang5Y. Huang6Z. Xie7Z. Xie8College of Geography and Environmental Science, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, ChinaKey Laboratory of Geospatial Technology for the Middle and Lower Yellow River Regions (Henan University), Ministry of Education, Kaifeng 475004, ChinaHenan Key Laboratory of Earth System Observation and Modeling, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, ChinaCollege of Geography and Environmental Science, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, ChinaBNU-HKUST Laboratory for Green Innovation, Advanced Institute of Natural Sciences, Beijing Normal University at Zhuhai, Zhuhai 519087, ChinaCollege of Geography and Environmental Science, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, ChinaCollege of Geography and Environmental Science, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, ChinaCollege of Geography and Environmental Science, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, ChinaKey Laboratory of Geospatial Technology for the Middle and Lower Yellow River Regions (Henan University), Ministry of Education, Kaifeng 475004, China<p>Photovoltaic (PV) technology, an efficient solution for mitigating the impacts of climate change, has been increasingly used across the world to replace fossil fuel power to minimize greenhouse gas emissions. With the world's highest cumulative and fastest built PV capacity, China needs to assess the environmental and social impacts of these established PV power plants. However, a comprehensive map regarding the PV power plants' locations and extent remains scarce on the country scale. This study developed a workflow, combining machine learning and visual interpretation methods with big satellite data, to map PV power plants across China. We applied a pixel-based random forest (RF) model to classify the PV power plants from composite images in 2020 with a 30 <span class="inline-formula">m</span> spatial resolution on the Google Earth Engine (GEE). The resulting classification map was further improved by a visual interpretation approach. Eventually, we established a map of PV power plants in China by 2020, covering a total area of 2917 <span class="inline-formula">km<sup>2</sup></span>. We found that most PV power plants were situated on cropland, followed by barren land and grassland, based on the derived national PV map. In addition, the installation of PV power plants has generally decreased the vegetation cover. This new dataset is expected to be conducive to policy management, environmental assessment, and further classification of PV power plants. The dataset of photovoltaic power plant distribution in China by 2020 is available to the public at <a href="https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6849477">https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6849477</a> (Zhang et al., 2022).</p>https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/14/3743/2022/essd-14-3743-2022.pdf |
| spellingShingle | X. Zhang X. Zhang X. Zhang M. Xu M. Xu S. Wang Y. Huang Z. Xie Z. Xie Mapping photovoltaic power plants in China using Landsat, random forest, and Google Earth Engine Earth System Science Data |
| title | Mapping photovoltaic power plants in China using Landsat, random forest, and Google Earth Engine |
| title_full | Mapping photovoltaic power plants in China using Landsat, random forest, and Google Earth Engine |
| title_fullStr | Mapping photovoltaic power plants in China using Landsat, random forest, and Google Earth Engine |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mapping photovoltaic power plants in China using Landsat, random forest, and Google Earth Engine |
| title_short | Mapping photovoltaic power plants in China using Landsat, random forest, and Google Earth Engine |
| title_sort | mapping photovoltaic power plants in china using landsat random forest and google earth engine |
| url | https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/14/3743/2022/essd-14-3743-2022.pdf |
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