TRACES silent error · EUDR
TRACES total area far smaller than my plot — the collapsed-polygon fix
Your polygon looks right, TRACES accepts it, but the Total Area comes back far smaller than the real plot — sometimes almost zero (e.g. 0.0100). The usual cause is a self-intersecting polygon: a boundary that crosses itself, so its two lobes cancel each other out.
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Why a self-intersecting polygon collapses
When a polygon's boundary crosses over itself (a "bow-tie"), the two loops wind in opposite directions and the area calculation subtracts one from the other. The result is a tiny or near-zero area, even though the outline drawn on a map still looks like a real field. TRACES computes the collapsed area and reports no error.
Why it matters
A plot accepted with an implausibly small area is a false declaration — the hectarage no longer matches the land. It passes import and submission, and the discrepancy only shows up under scrutiny.
Fix it in DDSpass
DDSpass un-kinks the self-intersection, rebuilding a clean polygon with an honest area — and it does this before the zero-area check, so a bow-tie is repaired rather than discarded. If your area is exactly 0.0000 instead of just small, that is a different cause — see Total Area shows 0.0000. Nothing is uploaded.
Questions
Why is my TRACES total area almost zero when the polygon looks fine?
The polygon boundary probably crosses itself. The self-intersection makes the two halves cancel in the area calculation, collapsing it toward zero, even though the shape still looks correct on a map.
Does TRACES reject a self-intersecting polygon?
No. It accepts it and reports the collapsed area with no warning. The error only becomes visible if someone checks the hectarage later.