The ‘Stained Glass Procedure’, a new method to compare classification performance of images acquired with different pixel sizes

Objective comparison of classification performance of earth observation images, acquired at different spatial resolutions (e.g. NOAA-AVHRR, IRS-MOS, IRS-WiFS, Landsat-TM, IRS-LISS), is complicated because both class definition and training site selection are hampered by the inherent scale differences. This paper presents a new, generic method to compare the information content of such a set of images, the “Stained Glass Procedure”. It overcomes the stated problems by computing the scale-dependent, internal spectral variation in an image and by using this as an indicator for land cover information. The Stained Glass Procedure creates segments in the images and calculates the internal spectral variation in a high-spatial-resolution image for each segment. For each image from the set the average variance, weighted to area, is calculated. The Stained Glass Procedure can be used to predict the performance of sensors that are not available, yet, or to roughly determine the optimal spatial resolution for the classification of a specific area.The procedure was applied to images with pixel sizes ranging from 23 to 1100 m. Classification detail of Envisat-MERIS (300 m pixel size), not included in the image set, could be predicted accurately using the Stained Glass Procedure.The Stained Glass Procedure applies one procedure to all images, without any subjective decision during the analysis, thus offering a method to compare images with different pixel sizes in terms of classification detail that is truly objective.     

Characteristics of tephra in Holocene lake sediments on King George Island, West Antarctica: implications for deglaciation and paleoenvironment

Several reworked tephra layers in gravity-flow deposits are present in lacustrine core sediments collected from Hotel and Rudy Lakes on King George Island, South Shetland Islands, maritime sub-Antarctica. This study tests the values of tephra for establishing regional tephrochronologies for lakes in ice-covered landscapes in the vicinity of volcanoes. The tephra record is more abundant in a long Hotel Lake core (515 cm long). This study uses volcanic glass samples from five tephra layers of Hotel Lake and from one tephra layer of Rudy Lake. Morphologically, tephras are mixtures of basaltic and pumice shards, both having various degrees of vesicularity. Major element analyses of glass shards reveal that the majority of the glass fragments belong to basic glass (<60 wt% SiO₂), compositionally ranging from basalt to low-silica andesite and subalkaline series medium-K tholeiites, probably sourced from Deception Island located 130 km southwest of King George Island. Less than 20% of tephra belongs to silicic glass and occurs in three tephra horizons E of Hotel Lake. However, source volcano(es) for about 10% of basic tephra and silicic tephra are not readily identified from nearby volcanic centers. Except for the studied tephra in Rudy Lake, all tephra samples in Hotel Lake are not ashfall deposits but reworked and redeposited pyroclasts derived from retreating ice sheet, resulting in the occurrence of geochemically equivalent tephra samples in different tephra horizons. The dating of the studied tephra horizons represents the timing of deglaciation rather than that of volcanic eruptions. The result of this study implies that combined with sedimentological information more chemical criterion is necessary to study tephrochronology and regional correlation and to understand paleoenvironmental changes using tephra.     

Polymerization of silicate and aluminate tetrahedra in glasses,melts, and aqueous solutions—I. Electronic structure of H6Si2O7, H6AlSiO71−, and H6Al2O72−

As part of a study of the effect of geologically common network modifiers on polymerization in silicate melts, glasses, and silica-rich aqueous solutions, we have studied the energies, electronic structures, and inferred chemical properties of ^IVT-O-^IVT linkages in the tetrahedral dimers H₆,Si₂O₇, H₆AlSiO₇^1?, and H₆Al₂O₇^2? using semi-empirical molecular orbital theory (CNDO/2). Our results indicate that the electron donating character of the bridging oxygen, O(br), linking two tetrahedra increases with increasing T-O(br) bond length but decreases with decreasing T-O(br)-T angles and increasing O-T-O(br) angles. This increase or decrease of the donor character of O(br) coincides with an increase or decrease of the affinity of O(br) for hard acceptors. The calculated electronic structure for the H₆Si₂O₇ molecule is compared with the observed X-ray emission, absorption, and photoelectron spectra of quartz and vitreous silica; the reasonable match between calculated and observed oxygen Kα emission spectra of vitreous silica supports our assertion that non-bonded O(br) electron density energetically at the top of the valence band controls the chemical reactivity of ^IVT-O-^IVT linkages in polymerized tetrahedral environments.     

Collectorless flotation of chalcopyrite and sphalerite ores by using sodium sulfide

The flotation of chalcopyrite and sphalerite from copper and copper-zinc ores has been achieved without using thiol-type collectors. Typically, a sulfide ore sample is first treated with sodium sulfide either during grinding or during the preflotation conditioning period, and then the chalcopyrite is floated with frother alone. With a copper-zinc ore, sphalerite is subsequently floated from the chalcopyrite tailings by activating it with copper sulphate. Results of the collectorless flotation tests are comparable to those obtained by using thiol collectors. The mechanisms of selective collectorless flotation are discussed on the basis of differences in the solubilities of sulfide minerals.     

Resolving climate change in the period 15–23 ka in Greenland ice cores: a new application of spectral trend analysis

Northern Hemisphere climate history through and following the Last Glacial Maximum is recorded in detail in ice cores from Greenland. However, the period between Greenland Interstadials 1 and 2 (15–23 ka), i.e. the period of deglaciation following the last major glaciation, has been difficult to resolve in great detail. We here offer a new subdivision of this in the NGRIP, GRIP and GISP2 ice cores, by newly introducing spectral trend analysis to the study of climate-related data series from ice cores. This analysis reveals patterns of change and discontinuity in the waveform properties of a data series, relating to the environmental (including climatic) history of accumulation of the rock or ice record. The application allows high-resolution correlation between the ice cores, and a greatly improved subdivision of the study interval. Nine climatic phases are recognized, within which more identifiable events can also be correlated between the three locations.     

Molecular expression of opsin gene in growing juvenile mackerel (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Scomber japonicus</Emphasis> Houttuyn)

Fish have developed color vision that is closely adapted to their photic environments, where both spectral sensitivity and the number of visual opsins are influenced. The mackerel used in this study is one of the most important fishery stocks in Korea. The opsin gene of the mackerel juveniles after 20 days in hatching was isolated and characterized based on the molecular study of visual photoreceptor. The full-length mackerel opsin gene was obtained by PCR amplification of genomic DNA, as well as cDNA synthesis. Sequence analysis of the opsin gene showed that it contained a 1,080 bp open reading frame encoding 360 amino acids. Based on Schiff’s base formation (S114, K119), glycosylation (E3, F37) and palmitoylation (S281, 282), the deduced amino acid sequence had a typical rod opsin. The mackerel and Gempylus serpens showed 73.7% DNA homology on opsin gene, which was higher than any other of investigated species. In the analysis of phylogenetic relationship, the genetic placement of the mackerel is closer to that of Scombroidei than Labroidei, with supporting somewhat strong bootstrap value. In the analysis of Northern and RT-PCR, the probed products were observed only in rapidly growing juveniles. These findings indicate that in mackerel opsin mRNA expression can be detected in day-20 hatching larvae. It may play an important role in stimulating growth hormone.