Abstract:Agricultural land use and management is one of the most direct means by which humans impact the earth system, with significant negative environmental effects at local to global scales due to altered ecosystem processes, patterns and resource use. Multiple cropping is of particular interest because agricultural intensification has increased pressure on water resources, ecosystems, and biodiversity due to increased water withdrawals for irrigation and higher energy inputs due to mechanization and the production of chemical fertilizer. The Poyang Lake region is one of the most intensified agricultural regions in southern China, and the spatial and temporal pattern of cropping systems is determined not only by climate and water availability. Population pressure, social and economic conditions and policies, flood risks, and individual farmers′ management decisions also have profound impacts. Therefore, the spatial pattern and temporal process of multiple cropping is quite complex. In this paper, we combined agro-meteorological observation data and MODIS data with a resolution of 500m at 8-day intervals to explore a novel and robust method to examine spatial and temporal dynamics of multiple cropping and crop calendar using a MODIS/EVI time series curve. The results indicate that a cropping intensity algorithm based on this data is potentially applicable for monitoring agricultural intensification. Spatial and temporal variability of multiple cropping may be the result of farmers′ dynamic adaptation to local climate, socio-economic conditions, and food security. An explicit spatial and temporal analysis of the complex dynamics of multiple cropping in the context of coupled human and natural systems is necessary for modeling and evaluating the impacts of human activity on global environmental change and food security.