Multi-seasonal evaluation of hybrid poplar (P. Deltoides) plantations using Worldview-3 imagery and State-Of-The-Art ensemble learning algorithms

Forest resources are the primary components of the ecosystem environment. Poplars (Populus sp.), a member of the fast-growing trees, are one of the most productive forest tree species for industrial production thanks to their desirable traits comprising rapid growth, hybridization ability, and ease of propagation. Determining poplar cultivated areas and mapping their geographical distributions is critical for planners and decision-makers to increase the ecological and economic benefits of poplar trees. Due to the biodiversity of each geographical region and seasonal vegetation variations, classification based on remotely sensed imagery is essential for cropland monitoring. The main goal of this study is to evaluate the potential of high-resolution multi-temporal (growing season and end of the growing season) Worldview-3 imagery in mapping poplar plantations in the Akyaz? district of Sakarya, Turkey. For this purpose, pixel- and object-based image analysis with up-to-date ensemble learning algorithms, namely random forest (RF), categorical boosting (CB), and extreme gradient boosting tree (XGB), were employed for mapping poplar fields. Results indicated that the object-based classification approach provided statistically significant improvements in map-level (about 4%) and class-level accuracy (e.g., approximately 7% and %2 for poplar and young poplar classes, respectively) than pixel-based classification. While the CB performed superior classification performance for the object-based approach (92.56%), the highest classification performance was obtained with the XGB algorithm for the pixel-based approach (90.42%) for the end of the growing season data. McNemar’s statistical test also confirmed that the performances of CB and XGB algorithms were statistically similar in pixel-based classification. Finally, analysis of multi-season images revealed that sensitivity of the vegetation phenology and seasonal effects considerably affect the separability of poplar tree species.     

Experiment for mapping land cover and it’s change in southeastern Sri Lanka utilizing 250 m resolution MODIS imageries

Utilizing freely available MODIS NDVI and Natural color imageries of 250 m spatial resolution produced by NASA, an experiment was made to map land-cover and its change with an emphasis on vegetation cover in southeastern Sri Lanka, which plays a vital role for control of green house gas. For the change detection purpose, 1987 land cover map made by present authors from Landsat MSS image and extensive ground truth survey data was used as the base map. The result of the experiment shows that MODIS data are useful to make a land cover map of 250 m spatial resolution for tropical areas with high cloud coverage like Sri Lanka. It was found that the forest cover decrease amounted as large as 21% in 19 years time span in southeastern Sri Lanka, the prominent forest region of the country. On the other hand homestead/vegetation and mixed vegetation/scrub dominant categories increased by 13.7% and 7.1%, respectively. These changes are considered due to a large clearance of forest areas for agriculture and building houses to accommodate increasing inhabitants.     

Forest parameter estimation by means of Monte-Carlo simulations with experimental considerations – Estimation of multiple reflections among trees depending on forest parameters

A method for estimation of forest multiple light reflections depending on forest parameters is introduced, based on Monte-Carlo simulations of photon transport with experimental considerations. The model is verified through experiments with two miniature forests, in which two types of small-sized trees with ellipsoid- and cone-shaped crowns are arranged in a grid array. The introduced method was confronted with experimental measurements and showed small deviations from the measured values. It was found that the simulation of three-dimensional photon trajectories allowed a reliable evaluation of multiple light reflections among trees. In addition, the multiple reflections among trees due to the changes of tree inter-distance, crown type and crown shape were clarified with the proposed method.     

澳大利亚东南部森林山火HJ卫星遥感监测

以2009年2月发生在澳大利亚东南部的森林山火为研究对象,利用HJ-1B遥感影像识别森林山火,分析HJ-1B在林火灾害事故中的监测能力,通过对HJ-1B IRS B07设计参数及数据特点进行分析,提出适用于HJ-1B卫星林火监测的归一化火点指数(Ku)算法.研究表明:Ku值大于0.40为潜在可能的火点像元,云耀斑和地表虚假高温点是影响林火监测的主要噪声.由于HJ-1B没有获取到研究区域未着火前的影像数据,利用MODIS(Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer)空间分辨率为250 m的通道1和通道2计算植被指数,其结果能较好的应用于HJ-1B林火监测算法中.通过对比分析HJ-1B林火监测结果和MODIS林火产品MOD14认为,HJ-1B能更好的监测出澳大利亚东南部森林火灾,反映出火灾的局部空间分布和细节特征.     

Nonlinear mixture model of mixed pixels in remote sensing satellite images based on Monte Carlo simulation

A nonlinear mixture model for the interpretation of mixed pixels in remote sensing satellite images is proposed. The proposed model is a Monte Carlo ray-tracing model that takes into account interactions among the ground cover materials (multiple reflections among the materials on the surface). The proposed model also takes into account topographic features (slope) of the ground surface. As an example, Top of the Atmosphere (TOA) radiance of mixed pixels of forested areas which are composed of grasses and trees are simulated with the proposed model and compared to actual remote sensing satellite data of ASTER/VNIR over these forested areas. It was found that the influence due to multiple scattering interactions between trees depends on the tree distance and ranges from 8% to 10%. It is also found that the proposed model is useful to interpret mixed pixels. Namely, it is suggested that actual reflectance of the trees is higher than apparent reflectance that is calculated with the satellite data. Also it is suggested that it is possible to estimate forest parameters such as tree distance, tree shape.     

两相流气体种类灭B类火效果的实验

两相流灭火系统中,气相采用不同的气体,其灭火效果不同.研究了采用空气、氮气、二氧化碳、氩气4种不同种类气体条件下,两相流细水雾灭火系统在3.6 m×4.6 m×3.9 m的空间内,灭0.1 MW及0.61 MW方油盘火的灭火特性及规律.实验过程中采用热电偶树和西门子气体分析仪对火焰温度及火场氧体积分数进行了测量,得到了不同气体种类条件下的细水雾灭火特性包括火焰最高温度、温度下降速率、氧体积分数下降速率、灭火时间等参数的变化规律和灭火过程中火场温度场和氧体积分数值的变化规律.     

油盘火热释放率影响细水雾灭火特性试验

为了研究细水雾针对不同热释放率条件下的灭火特性及规律,采用7种不同尺寸油盘火模型和正庚烷燃料,在4.6m×3.2m×4m的空间内,进行了单喷头和四喷头灭火试验,试验过程中采用热电偶树和气体分析仪对火焰温度及火场氧浓度进行了测量,得到了不同热释放率条件下的细水雾灭火特性规律和灭火过程中火场温度场的变化规律,为细水雾灭火系统设计、检验标准制定及细水雾灭火产品开发提供了相应的试验依据.      

Solar activity and El-Niño signals observed in Brazil and Chile tree ring records

This work presents a review of the results obtained by research on solar–terrestrial relationships developed by analyzing tree growth rings from Southern Brazil and Chile. These studies were performed using harmonic spectral and wavelet analysis. The time interval covered by the samples is 200 yr for Brazil and 2500 yr for Chile. It was observed that sample trees from Southern Brazil are showing a ring growth response favorable to the increase of solar activity. Although periodicities associated to the 11 yr solar cycle were observed in sample trees from Chile, this relation was not so favorable as in Brazilian trees. However, Chile tree ring widths have a much better response to low period, which indicates that they are more adequate to study El Niño events environmental variations than those from Brazil.     

细水雾喷头喷射压力影响灭火性能的实验

为了研究细水雾喷头在不同喷射压力情况下针对油盘火的灭火效果,采用正庚烷为火灾燃料,在4.6m×3.3m×4m(长×宽×高)的空间内,针对同一型号的细水雾喷头在不同喷射压力下进行了灭火实验,在实验过程中采用热电偶树和气体分析仪对火焰温度及火场氧浓度进行了测量,得到了不同喷射压力下细水雾灭火的影响规律,为细水雾灭火设计、检验标准制定及细水雾灭火产品的开发提供了相应的实验依据.     

Fire risk assessment using satellite data

Forest fires are one of the most important sources of land degradation that lead to deforestation and desertification processes. Risk indexes obtained by means of satellite measurements have widely improved the forecasting and monitoring of fire and its impact over the global ecosystem in an operational manner. Using Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) data and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) as a key variable, we have defined a new risk index in which a static map of fire probability is modulated with the NDVI values. Its usefulness to study the dynamic of fire risk over a test area that has been affected by fire in the past years is tested. The potential application of these tools for fire management and its suitability to be provided as an end product to the forest services and cooperators aiding in that sense is also assessed.     

Is the phenology-based algorithm for mapping deciduous rubber plantations applicable in an emerging region of northern Laos?

Updated information of rubber plantations is essential for assessing socioeconomic and environmental impacts, especially in the emerging region of northern tropics. Here, a phenological method was modified to detect rubber plantations using Landsat Operational Land Imager (OLI) imagery in Phongsaly Province of northern Laos, where it begun a rubber boom in the mid-2000s due to geo-economic cooperation. It highlighted the landscape and pixel differences of deciduous rubber plantations in the tri-temporal phases (i.e., pre-defoliation, defoliation, and foliation) during the dry season due to phenological changes. Six commonly used vegetation indices (VIs), including the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Land Surface Water Index (LSWI), Atmospherically Resistant Vegetation Index (ARVI), Normalized Burn Ratio (NBR and NBR2) derived from OLI imagery during 2013–2016 were compared to determine the most suitable VI for discriminating the phenological differences of rubber plantations from natural forests. Then, the Differences of Normalized Burn Ratio (DNBR) was applied to generate the 30 m map of rubber plantations in 2016, by combining two masks of Landsat-derived forest and suitable elevation for rubber trees cultivation. The resultant map of rubber plantations had a classification accuracy of 93.7% and the Kappa coefficient of 0.848. Our study demonstrated the usefulness of the Landsat-derived tri-temporal phenological DNBR approach in an emerging region of northern Laos, despite requiring more scenes compared with single- and double temporal window methods.     

Vegetation cover mapping from NOAA/AVHRR

The visible and near infrared channels, Ch₁ and CH₂ respectively, on the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) provide daily information for monitoring changes in vegetation and crops. Data from these channels are used to create a normalized vegetation index (NVI) that is sensitive to changes in green leaf biomass and is represented mathematically by:

$\text{NVI =}\text{CH}{}_2\text{? CH}{}_1\text{CH}{}_2\text{+ CH}{}_1$

Operational products generated at NOAA include full-scale 1-km resolution images of the NVI covering areas viewed in a single swath of the polar-orbiting NOAA satellite. Global scale NVI images are also produced by compositing over a seven-day period, saving the maximum NVI created daily for each local array (resolution of 15 km at the equator to 30 km at the poles). Such seven-day mapping reduces the effect of cloud contamination. The global vegetation indices are used by foreign and U.S. government agencies for operational and experimental purposes such as assessment of crop conditions, monitoring potential desert locust breeding grounds, forest fire danger models, and monitoring range lands for forage availability. Examples include changes in the NVI in the Lake Chad vicinity, 1981–1982 and 1984; western United States NVI; and seasonal variations of the NVI in the Sahel using the global operational data base, 1982–1983.     

Degradation monitoring in Silvo-pastoral systems: A case study of the Mediterranean region of Turkey

To identify policies that will promote positive effects and mitigate negative ones of grazing is a major challenge in the Silvo-pastoral system. This paper presents the role of examining land-cover change trajectories by remote sensing imagery in grazing policy monitoring. The study was conducted for Duzlercami forest ecosystem located in the Mediterranean geographical region of Turkey and administrated by the General Directorate of Forestry (GDF) of the Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs. Time series land-cover datasets from Landsat images between 1988 and 2016 were collected and classified. To link the conversions among trajectories and grazing policy, class level landscape metrics derived from the classified images were used. To validate the approach, yearly grazing-plans managed by GDF and populations of livestock were used. Results of this research have indicated that even though there is a yearly grazing plan, overgrazing can happen on the pilot site, and it can be easily identified by the destruction of woody vegetation. The notable correlation (r²?=?0.89) between degraded woody vegetation and cattle population has occurred in the last 30?years in the landscape, and Landsat imagery can effectively support the grazing policy mapping and monitoring.     

Using vegetation indices and texture measures to estimate vegetation fractional coverage (VFC) of planted and natural forests in Nanjing city,China

Vegetation fractional coverage (VFC) is an important vegetation parameter affecting exchanges of carbon, water, energy between the atmosphere and surface. In this study, the applicability of tonal and texture measures calculated using an IKONOS_2 image in retrieving VFC of forests was investigated in the urban area of Nanjing city, China. Four spectral vegetation indices (VI) and six texture measures (TEX) were related to VFCs acquired from in situ measurements. Models for estimating VFC based on VIs or/and TEXs were established and validated for planted low broad-leaf forest plots (PLB), planted mature forest plots (PMF), natural broad-leaf forest plots (NBF), and all forest plots (ALLv), respectively. The results show that high spatial resolution remote sensing data is applicable to estimate VFC in urban areas, and TEXs may act as effective supplements of vegetation indices (VIs) for the retrieval of VFC. VIs are suitable for VFC estimation of mature forests (such as NBF and PMF) with high vegetation density, and TEXs can yield a more accurate estimate for planted forests (such as PLB and PMF) with regular spatial distribution if they are calculated with proper parameters, such as window size. The combination of VIs and TEXs improve the estimation of VFC if forest types are not previously differentiated. The results can be used as a reference for determining effective spectral or texture parameters in VFC estimation under similar environmental conditions according to vegetation maturity and regularity.     

Evaluation of MODIS GPP over a complex ecosystem in East Asia: A case study at Gwangneung flux tower in Korea

Moderate Resolution Imaging Radiometer (MODIS) gross primary productivity (GPP) has been used widely to study the global carbon cycle associated with terrestrial ecosystems. The retrieval of the current MODIS productivity with a 1 × 1 km² resolution has limitations when presenting subgrid scale processes in terrestrial ecosystems, specifically when forests are located in mountainous areas, and shows heterogeneity in vegetation type due to intensive land use. Here, we evaluate MODIS GPP (MOD17) at Gwangneung deciduous forest KoFlux tower (deciduous forest; GDK) for 2006–2010 in Korea, where the forests comprise heterogeneous vegetation cover over complex terrain. The monthly MODIS GPP data overestimated the GDK measurements in a range of +15% to +34% and was fairly well correlated (R = 0.88) with the monthly variability at GDK during the growing season. In addition, the MODIS data partly represented the sharp GPP reduction during the Asian summer monsoon (June–September) when intensive precipitation considerably reduces solar radiation and disturbs the forest ecosystem. To examine the influence of subgrid scale heterogeneity on GPP estimates over the MODIS scale, the individual vegetation type and its area within a corresponding MODIS pixel were identified using a national forest type map (∼71-m spatial resolution), and the annual GPP in the same area as the MODIS pixel was estimated. This resulted in a slight reduction in the positive MODIS bias by ∼10%, with a high degree of uncertainty in the estimation. The MODIS discrepancy for GDK suggests further investigation is necessary to determine the MODIS errors associated with the site-specific aerodynamic and hydrological characteristics that are closely related to the mountainous topography. The accuracy of meteorological variables and the impact of the very cloudy conditions in East Asia also need to be assessed.     

Seasonal,annual, and interannual variability in MLT quasi-two-day waves over the low-latitude region Kolhapur (16.8°N; 74.2°E)

This study presents the quasi-two-day wave (Q2DW) characteristics of the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) region obtained by taking hourly mean values of horizontal wind velocities for 4? years (August 2013–July 2017) through continuous measurements using a medium-frequency (MF) radar (operating frequency – 1.98?MHz) located at the low-latitude Indian station Kolhapur (16.8°N; 74.2°E). The MF radar located at Kolhapur was upgraded in 2013, and these results of Q2DW have been reported for the first time after upgrading. The present study investigated variability in seasonal, annual, interannual, and solar indices of Q2DWs traveling in zonal (EW) and meridional (NS) components in the MLT region. The Q2DW activity is observed to be stronger during austral summer (January–February) (EW?=?～5?m/s and NS?=?～8–10?m/s) than during boreal summer (June–July) (EW = ～5 m/s and NS = ～6–8?m/s). The Q2DW amplitudes are larger in the meridional component than in the zonal one. A strong semiannual oscillation (SAO) has been observed in Q2DWs, with peak during January–February and June–July. In addition, small enhancement is seen in meridional Q2DW in October (～5–6?m/s). It is observed that the entire spectrum (40–60?h) measured between 86 and 94?km contributes to the SAO amplitudes during January–February and June–July, whereas the waves measured between 42?h and 52?h contribute to enhancement in October similar to that reported elsewhere. In general, the Q2DW amplitude shows large interannual variability. The easterlies developed in the global circulation model in Northern hemisphere during May intensify up to around summer solstice. Q2DW activity peaks during westerly shear zone and intensifies with time at a lower thermospheric altitude (above 90?km). Small positive correlations (r?=?0.2 for sunspot number and r?=?0.1 for 10.7?cm solar flux) have been observed between Q2DW amplitudes and solar activity.     

Forest biomass monitoring with GNSS-R: Theoretical simulations

GNSS-Reflectometry (GNSS-R) is a remote sensing technique which performs bistatic measurements of the earth surface scattering. This paper presents some theoretical simulations of the specular scattering coefficient of a forested area, with the aim of demonstrating the potentiality of GNSS-R in monitoring forest biomass. The study is performed by means of an electromagnetic model developed in the past years and tested over several vegetation covered sites in its active and passive version. Here, after showing a comparison between model results and measurements over a forest site in the monostatic configuration, and after summarizing other previous validations, the extension to the specular configuration, typical of GNSS-R systems, will be presented. Namely, simulations are carried out at circular polarization and a sensitivity analysis of the received power in the specular configuration to some soil and forest parameters is shown.     

Towards a high spatial resolution limit for pixel-based interpretations of optical remote sensing data

The divergence of horizontal radiation in vegetation canopies is generally considered to be of negligible consequence in algorithms designed for the physically-based interpretation of space borne observations. However, non-zero horizontal radiation balances are likely to occur if the internal variability of a vegetation target and the typical distances that photons may travel horizontally within such three-dimensional (3-D) media extend to spatial scales that are similar to or larger than those of the nominal footprint of the measuring sensor. Detailed radiative transfer simulations in 3-D coniferous forest environments are presented to document the typical distances that photons may travel in such media, and to quantify the impact that the resulting net horizontal fluxes may have with respect to the local and domain-averaged canopy reflectance. Based on these simulations it is possible to identify a fine spatial resolution limit beyond which pixel-based interpretations of remote sensing data over tall forested areas should be avoided because the horizontal radiation transport at the surface may contribute to 10% or more of the measured reflectance signature of the target pixel.     

Laboratory simulation of the injection of energetic electron beams into the ionosphere—Ignition of the beam plasma discharge

Experiments, which somewhat simulate the injection of monoenergetic (several keV) electron beams into the ionosphere, have been performed in the very large (17 m × 26 m) vacuum chamber at Johnson Space Center. Typical operating ranges were: Beam current, I (0–130 mA), beam energy, E (0.5–3 kV), magnetic field, (0.3–2 G), path length, L (10–20 m), and injection pitch angle, α(0–80°). Measurements were carried out in both steady state and pulsed modes. In steady state and for constant V, B, p, L, α, the beam plasma discharge (BPD) is abruptly ignited when the beam current is increased above a critical value; at currents below critical, the beam configuration appears grossly consistent with single particle behavior. If it is assumed that each of the experiment parameters can be varied independently, the critical current required for ignition obeys the empirical relationship at p < 2 × 10^?5 torr:

$\text{I}\textcolor{red}{}\text{E}{}^{\mathrm{3/2}}\text{B}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>0.7</mtext><mtext>pL</mtext>}}$

The BPD is characterized by 1) a large increase in the plasma production rate manifested in corresponding increases in the 3914 Å light intensity and plasma density, 2) intense wave emissions in a broad band centered at the plasma frequency and a second band extending from a few kHz up to the electron cyclotron frequency, 3) scattering of the beam in velocity space and 4) radial expansion and pitch angle scattering of the primary beam leading to the disappearance of single particle trajectory features.Measurements of the BPD critical current have been carried out with an ion thruster (Kaufman engine) to provide a background plasma, and these indicate that the presence of an ambient plasma of typical ionospheric densities has little effect on the critical current relation.Measurements of wave amplitudes over a large frequency range show that the amplitude of waves near the plasma and electron cyclotron frequencies are too small to cause or sustain BPD, and that the important instabilities are at much lower frequency (～ 3 kHz in these measurements).     

Latitude gradients in the natural variance in stratospheric conductivity – Implications for studies of long-term changes

Stratospheric electrical conductivity measurements have been made from high altitude research balloons at various locations around the world for more than 40 years. In the stratosphere, conductivity changes may indicate changes in aerosol or water vapor content. In this paper, we will compare the short term variation amplitude in data taken at several latitudes from equatorial to polar cap. Short term variations that occur on time scales of weeks to months (10⁵–10⁷ s) can be attributed to Forbush decreases, geomagnetic storms, aerosol injections by volcanos and forest fires, etc. Variations with time scales of minutes to days (10³–10⁵ s) can have amplitudes of a factor of ∼2 or more at high magnetic latitude. The variance at equatorial latitude is much smaller. The sources of these fluctuations and the latitude gradient remain unknown. Variations of all origins completely obscure any long-term climatic trend in the data taken in the previous four decades at both mid and high latitude.