A 10-meter resolution dataset of abandoned and reclaimed cropland from 2016 to 2023 in Inner Mongolia, China

Amid growing global food security concerns and frequent armed conflicts, real-time monitoring of abandoned cropland is essential for strategic planning and crisis management. This study develops a method to map abandoned cropland accurately, crucial for maintaining the food supply chain and ecological balance. Utilizing Sentinel-1/2 satellite data, we employed multi-feature stacking and machine learning to create the ARCC10-IM (Abandoned and Reclaimed Cropland Classification at 10-meter resolution in Inner Mongolia) dataset, which tracks annual cropland activity. A novel temporal segmentation algorithm was developed to extract cropland abandonment and reclamation patterns annually, using sliding time windows over several years. This research differentiates cropland states-active cultivation, unstable fallowing, continuous abandonment, and reclamation-providing continuous, regional-scale maps with 10-meter resolution. ARCC10-IM is crucial for land planning, environmental monitoring, and agricultural management in arid areas like Inner Mongolia, enhancing decision-making and technology in land use tracking.