Mapping and monitoring of Rann (tidal) ingress in Banni Plains,Kachchh, Gujarat using multi-temporal satellite data

The Rann ingress into the ‘Banni Plains’ of Kachchh district, Gujarat which is famous for the sprawling grasslands supporting significant cattle population is taking place at an alarming rate. This has resulted in the desertion of many villages due to intrusion of Rann waters. In the present investigation multi-date satellite data has been analysed to map and monitor the Rann ingress during the period 1975 to 1989. Detailed analysis has brought out that the inundation is quite rapid affecting about 244 sq. km area during 1960–1989 period. Mapping of the creeks has also been done to understand the possible mechanism of ‘Rann ingress’.     

Burned area mapping and post-fire impact assessment in the Kassandra peninsula (Greece) using Landsat TM and Quickbird data

The purpose of this study was to assess the environmental impacts of forest fires on part of the Mediterranean basin. The study area is on the Kassandra peninsula, prefecture of Halkidiki, Greece. A maximum likelihood supervised classification was applied to a post-fire Landsat TM image for mapping the exact burned area. Land-cover types that had been affected by fire were identified with the aid of a CORINE land-cover type layer. Results showed an overall classification accuracy of 95%, and 83% of the total burned area was ‘forest areas’. A normalized difference vegetation index threshold technique was applied to a post-fire Quickbird image which had been recorded six years after the fire event to assess the vegetation recovery and to identify the vegetation species that were dominant in burned areas. Four classes were identified: ‘bare soil’, ‘sparse shrubs’, ‘dense shrubs’ and ‘tree and shrub communities’. Results showed that ‘shrublands’ is the main vegetation type which has prevailed (65%) and that vegetation recovery is homogeneous in burned areas.     

Soil-Physiography relationship in Mahanadi Delta (Part) using Landsat Imagery

Visual Interpretation of Landsat Imagery (TM-FCC) on 1∶250,000 scale covering 2410 sq km in a part of Mahandi Delta, Kataka district, Orissa was carried out for delineating the physiographic units. The major physiographic units identified and delineated were ‘Delta plain’ and ‘Coastal plain’. These units were further subdivided on the basis of image elements. The abstraction level attained was ‘Family’ based on Soil Taxonomy. The soils of the beach were classified as Typic Ustipsamments; old coastal plain as fine, Typic Haplaquept and coarse loamy Aquic Ustifluvent; Tidal flat as fine Typic Haplaquept and fine loamy Aquic Ustifluvent; mud flat as fine Typic Haplaquept; Levee-plain complex as Typic Ustipsamment and fine loamy Typic Ustorthent; old Delta plain as fine Udic Ustochrept and Aeric Haplaquept and recent delta plain as fine loamy and coarse loamy Typic Ustorthent. The soils are mixed in mineralogy and Isohyperthermic in temperature regime.     

Forest cover classification using Landsat ETM+ data and time series MODIS NDVI data

Forest cover plays a key role in climate change by influencing the carbon stocks, the hydrological cycle and the energy balance. Forest cover information can be determined from fine-resolution data, such as Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+). However, forest cover classification with fine-resolution data usually uses only one temporal data because successive data acquirement is difficult. It may achieve mis-classification result without involving vegetation growth information, because different vegetation types may have the similar spectral features in the fine-resolution data. To overcome these issues, a forest cover classification method using Landsat ETM+ data appending with time series Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data was proposed. The objective was to investigate the potential of temporal features extracted from coarse-resolution time series vegetation index data on improving the forest cover classification accuracy using fine-resolution remote sensing data. This method firstly fused Landsat ETM+ NDVI and MODIS NDVI data to obtain time series fine-resolution NDVI data, and then the temporal features were extracted from the fused NDVI data. Finally, temporal features combined with Landsat ETM+ spectral data was used to improve forest cover classification accuracy using supervised classifier. The study in North China region confirmed that time series NDVI features had significant effects on improving forest cover classification accuracy of fine resolution remote sensing data. The NDVI features extracted from time series fused NDVI data could improve the overall classification accuracy approximately 5% from 88.99% to 93.88% compared to only using single Landsat ETM+ data.     

Estimating sagebrush cover in semi-arid environments using Landsat Thematic Mapper data

Sagebrush ecosystems of the western US provide important habitat for several ungulate and vertebrate species. As a consequence of energy development, these ecosystems in Wyoming have been subjected to a variety of anthropogenic disturbances. Land managers require methodology that will allow them to consistently catalog sagebrush ecosystems and evaluate potential impact of proposed anthropogenic activities. This study addresses the utility of remotely sensed and ancillary geospatial data to estimate sagebrush cover using ordinal logistic regression. We demonstrate statistically significant prediction of ordinal sagebrush cover categories using spectral (χ² = 113; p < 0.0001) and transformed indices (χ² = 117; p < 0.0001). Both Landsat spectral bands (c-value = 0.88) and transformed indices (c-value = 0.89) can distinguish sites with closed, moderate and open cover sagebrush cover categories from no cover. The techniques described in this study can be used for estimating categories of sagebrush cover in arid ecosystems.     

Towards decadal soil salinity mapping using Landsat time series data

Salinization is one of the major soil problems around the world. However, decadal variation in soil salinization has not yet been extensively reported. This study exploited thirty years (1985–2015) of Landsat sensor data, including Landsat-4/5 TM (Thematic Mapper), Landsat-7 ETM+ (Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus) and Landsat-8 OLI (Operational Land Imager), for monitoring soil salinity of the Yellow River Delta, China. The data were initially corrected for atmospheric effects, and then matched the spectral bands of EO-1 (Earth Observing One) ALI (Advanced Land Imager). Subsequently, soil salinity maps were derived with a previously developed PLSR (Partial Least Square Regression) model. On intra-annual scale, the retrievals showed that soil salinity increased in February, stabilized in March, and decreased in April. On inter-annual scale, soil salinity decreased within 1985–2000 (−0.74 g kg⁻¹/10a, p < 0.001), and increased within 2000–2015 (0.79 g kg⁻¹/10a, p < 0.001). Our study presents a new perspective for use of multiple Landsat data in soil salinity retrieval, and further the understanding of soil salinization development over the Yellow River Delta.     

Generation and evaluation of gross primary productivity using Landsat data through blending with MODIS data

Spatial and Temporal Adaptive Reflectance Fusion Model (STARFM) has been used for the blending of Landsat and MODIS data. Specifically, the 30 m Landsat-7 ETM+ (Enhanced Thematic Mapper plus) surface reflectance was predicted for a period of 10 years (2000–2009) as the product of observed ETM+ and MODIS surface reflectance (MOD09A1) on the predicted and observed ETM+ dates. A pixel based analysis for six observed ETM+ dates covering winter and summer crops showed that the prediction method was more accurate for NIR band (mean r² = 0.71, p ≤ 0.01) compared to green band (mean r² = 0.53; p ≤ 0.01). A recently proposed chlorophyll index (CI), which involves NIR and green spectral bands, was used to retrieve gross primary productivity (GPP) as the product of CI and photosynthetic active radiation (PAR). The regression analysis of GPP derived from closet observed and synthetic ETM+ showed a good agreement (r² = 0.85, p ≤ 0.01 and r² = 0.86, p ≤ 0.01) for wheat and sugarcane crops, respectively. The difference between the GPP derived from synthetic and observed ETM+ (prediction residual) was compared with the difference in GPP values from observed ETM+ on the two dates (temporal residual). The prediction residuals (mean value of 1.97 g C/m² in 8 days) was found to be significantly lower than the temporal residuals (mean value of 4.46 g C/m² in 8 days) that correspondence to 12% and 27%, respectively, of GPP values (mean value of 16.53 g C/m² in 8 days) from observed ETM+ data, implying that the prediction method was better than temporal pixel substitution. Investigating the trend in synthetic ETM+ GPP values over a growing season revealed that phenological patterns were well captured for wheat and sugarcane crops. A direct comparison between the GPP values derived from MODIS and synthetic ETM+ data showed a good consistency of the temporal dynamics but a systematic error that can be read as bias (MODIS GPP over estimation). Further, the regression analysis between observed evapotranspiration and synthetic ETM+ GPP showed good agreement (r² = 0.66, p ≤ 0.01).     

利用天宫一号和Landsat7对地观测数据的森林变化检测

由于自然演替和一些干扰因素的影响,森林覆盖处在不断的变化中.结合云南省西双版纳地区的天宫一号高光谱数据以及Landsat影像,研究了热带森林覆盖制图与变化检测的自动化识别方法.首先分析了每景影像中红光波段的光谱属性,依据直方图提取出纯净森林像元,然后计算影像中各像元与纯净森林像元之间的光谱相似性,从而得到森林指数并以此为依据提取出每景影像对应的森林覆盖图,将多期的森林覆盖专题图进行叠加分析即可得到森林变化专题图.结果表明:(1)使用天宫一号高光谱影像可以进行森林覆盖自动化提取,生成的森林覆盖图合理地反映了森林分布状况;(2)与多期遥感影像结合进行森林变化信息提取,提取结果很好地体现了森林减少和森林恢复情况,对新恢复的未郁闭森林也可以进行有效检测.     

Methane emission modelling using MODIS thermal and optical data: A case study on Gujarat

Wetlands are one of the most important sources of atmospheric methane (CH₄) contributing about 22% to the global methane budget. But to improve estimates of CH₄ emission at regional and global scales there is a need to observe the sources such as wetlands frequently and develop process-based models. In this regard, wetland inventory using satellite remote sensing data has conventionally been carried out by analysis of optical data. Due to thermal inertia differences emittive thermal channels data has shown promise to provide highly critical information about wetlands such as water spread, aquatic vegetation and mud flats etc. Thermal channels data of MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) sensor with a spatial resolution of 1km and swath of 2330 km is emerging as the key source of remote sensing data for global/ regional wetland estimation and assessment of green house gas emission. In the present study MODIS thermal channels (31 and 32) and optical channels (1,2, and 3) data have been used for evaluating methane emission from wetlands in Gujarat. An empirical model based on temperature and productivity has been used to investigate the response of methane emission from different sources. Model has the potential to estimate country level methane emission based on satellite remote sensing in conjunction with collateral data/information. In this study. MODIS data of two dates pertaining to Gujarat have been analyzed and results compared with respect to methane emission.     

Coastal landform mapping around the Gulf of Khambhat using Landsat TM data

Landsat TM data was utilised for coastal geomorphic mapping around the Gulf of Khambhat. Various landforms like shoreline, estuaries, mudflats, islands, mangroves, relict aluvium, cliffs, dunes, flood plains, paleochannel, paleomeanders, oxbow lake, etc. were delineated. The estuaries were divided into salt-wedge estuary, fully mixed estuary and partially mixed estuary based on amount of freshwater discharge and nature of tidal currents. The mudflats were classified into high tide flats, intertidal slopes and subtidal zones. These classes were further classified based on their composition. It was concluded that TM data has broughtout many new features and improved the classification of coastal landforms. The presence of coastal features like drowned river valleys, paleomudflats, relict alluvium, dunes, paleomeanders, oxbow lake and terraces clearly indicate the sea-level changes of the Quarternary period.     

Land irrigability studies for watershed management in Kanhar sub-basin (Sone Basin) using airborne data

Assessment of irrigability potential of an area is the basic need for watershed management. Land irrigability potential of Kanhar sub-basin of Sone Basin has been evaluated using systematic interpretation of aerial photographs followed by semi detailed soil survey. It is 1.51 lakh hectares where 1.2%, 17.2% and 78.7% areas fall under moderately, marginally and unsuitable categories for substained used under irrigation respectively.     

Land cover classification using Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager data in Beijing,China

The successful launch of Landsat 8 provides a new data source for monitoring land cover, which has the potential to significantly improve the characterization of the earth’s surface. To assess data performance, Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) data were first compared with Landsat 7 ETM + data using texture features as the indicators. Furthermore, the OLI data were investigated for land cover classification using the maximum likelihood and support vector machine classifiers in Beijing. The results indicated that (1) the OLI data quality was slightly better than the ETM + data quality in the visible bands, especially the near-infrared band of OLI the data, which had a clear improvement; clear improvement was not founded in the shortwave-infrared bands. Moreover, (2) OLI data had a satisfactory performance in terms of land cover classification. In summary, OLI data were a reliable data source for monitoring land cover and provided the continuity in the Landsat earth observation.     

Land cover mapping in the Upper Shire River catchment in Malawi using Landsat satellite data

Land cover mapping forms a reference base for resource managers in their decision-making processes to guide rural/urban growth and management of natural resources. The aim of this study was to map land cover dynamics within the Upper Shire River catchment, Malawi. The article promotes innovation of automated land cover mapping based on remote sensing information to generate data products that are both appropriate to, and usable within different scientific applications in developing countries such as Malawi. To determine land cover dynamics, 1989 and 2002 Landsat images were used. Image bands were combined in transformations and indices with physical meaning; together with spatial data, to enhance classification accuracy. A maximum likelihood classification for each image was computed for identification of land cover variables. The results showed that the combination of spatial and digital data enhanced classification accuracy and the ability to categorise land cover features, which are relatively inhomogeneous.     

Application of Landsat data in determining the range biomass in Jodhpur district,Westren Rajasthan (India)

The range biomass in three different soil types of Jodhpur district has been estimated from the computer print out of Landsat imagery. The total biomass in the younger alluvial soil varies from 36.1 to 35910.0 kg; in pipar soils it ranges between 23.2 to 21541.2 kg, and in Chirai soils total biomass varies from 26.6 to 6852.7 kg.     

Monitoring Intraurban temperature patterns and associated land cover in phoenix,Arizona using Landsat thermal data

Abstract

This study investigates urban climatologic modification associated with development and changing land use in the relatively arid urban environment of Phoenix, Arizona. An analysis of surface temperatures, as portrayed on Landsat thermal remotely sensed data, were compared to current land use patterns in regions of the rapidly expanding urban landscape. A second focus of this study involved investigation of the surface temperatures of this environment, as extracted from the radiometric data of the Landsat thermal band, to provide insights into the complexities of the relationship to the near‐surface atmospheric temperature, a parameter used extensively in climate change analyses and in models for energy and water demand in this desert region. The near surface air temperature is usually measured approximately two meters above the ground surface. In general, spatial temperature patterns of the metropolitan region were strongly correlated with the presence of open water or biomass which provide an evapotranspirative heat sink.     

单窗算法结合Landsat8热红外数据反演地表温度

Landsat热红外系列数据一直是地表温度反演重要的遥感数据源,目前用于地表温度反演的单窗算法主要针对Landsat TM/ETM+第6波段数据(TM 6)建立的,Landsat 8热红外传感器(TIRS)与TM 6相比有很多变化,因而其单窗算法也需要改进。本文以Landsat 8 TIRS第10波段(TIRS 10)为数据源,提出了针对TIRS 10的单窗算法(TIRS10_SC),并对研究区地表温度进行反演研究,确定了研究区不同类型地表的温度值。研究结果表明:(1)TIRS10_SC算法可以较好地应用于Landsat 8数据的地表温度反演,平均反演误差为0.83℃,相关系数为0.805,反演温度与模拟数据和实测数据都具有较好的一致性;(2)通过对单窗算法中的地表发射率、大气水汽含量和大气平均作用温度等参数敏感性分析发现,TIRS10 SC算法能够获得较为可靠的反演结果;同时,TIRS10 SC算法对大气水汽含量和地表发射率敏感性较高,对大气平均作用温度敏感性稍弱。该算法对于利用Landsat 8 TIRS数据快速反演地表温度具有应用价值。     

Estimating tree canopy cover using harmonic regression coefficients derived from multitemporal Landsat data

The goal of this study was to evaluate whether harmonic regression coefficients derived using all available cloud-free observations in a given Landsat pixel for a three-year period can be used to estimate tree canopy cover (TCC), and whether models developed using harmonic regression coefficients as predictor variables are better than models developed using median composite predictor variables, the previous operational standard for the National Land Cover Database (NLCD). The two study areas in the conterminous USA were as follows: West (Oregon), bounded by Landsat Worldwide Reference System 2 (WRS-2) paths/rows 43/30, 44/30, and 45/30; and South (Georgia/South Carolina), bounded by WRS-2 paths/rows 16/37, 17/37, and 18/37. Plot-specific tree canopy cover (the response variable) was collected by experienced interpreters using a dot grid overlaid on 1 m spatial resolution National Agricultural Imagery Program (NAIP) images at two different times per region, circa 2010 and circa 2014. Random forest model comparisons (using 500 independent model runs for each comparison) revealed the following (1) harmonic regression coefficients (one harmonic) are better predictors for every time/region of TCC than median composite focal means and standard deviations (across times/regions, mean increase in pseudo R² of 6.7% and mean decrease in RMSE of 1.7% TCC) and (2) harmonic regression coefficients (one harmonic, from NDVI, SWIR1, and SWIR2), when added to the full suite of median composite and terrain variables used for the NLCD 2011 product, improve the quality of TCC models for every time/region (mean increase in pseudo R² of 3.6% and mean decrease in RMSE of 1.0% TCC). The harmonic regression NDVI constant was always one of the top four most important predictors across times/regions, and is more correlated with TCC than the NDVI median composite focal mean. Eigen analysis revealed that there is little to no additional information in the full suite of predictor variables (47 bands) when compared to the harmonic regression coefficients alone (using NDVI, SWIR1, and SWIR2; 9 bands), a finding echoed by both model fit statistics and the resulting maps. We conclude that harmonic regression coefficients derived from Landsat (or, by extension, other comparable earth resource satellite data) can be used to map TCC, either alone or in combination with other TCC-related variables.     

北京地区Landsat 8 OLI高空间分辨率气溶胶光学厚度反演

卫星气溶胶光学厚度(AOD)反演中,传统暗目标方法在反射率较低的水体、浓密植被覆盖区域取得了较好效果,在反射率较高且结构复杂的高反射地表上空目前多采用深蓝算法,但存在空间分辨率较低,对细节分布描述性较差等问题。为解决这一问题,本文首先以5年(2008年—2012年)长时间序列MODIS地表反射率产品为基础,采用最小值合成法建立500 m分辨率逐月地表反射率产品数据集,然后利用地物波谱库中典型地物波谱数据,分析建立MODIS与Landsat 8 OLI传感器蓝光波段反射率转换模型,最后北京地区AERONET地基观测数据确定了气溶胶光学物理参数,并反演获取了北京地区上空500 m分辨率的AOD分布。为验证反演算法的精度,分别将反演结果同AERONET及MODIS/Terra气溶胶产品(MOD04)进行交叉对比,同时利用相关系数R,均方根误差RMSE,平均绝对误差MAE以及MODIS AOD产品预期误差EE共4个指标进行衡量。结果表明:算法反演获取的AOD与AERONET观测值具有较高的一致性,各指标分别为R=0.963,RMSE=0.156,MAE=0.097,EE=85.3%,稍优于MOD04产品(R=0.962,RMSE=0.158,MAE=0.101,EE=75.8%),并且有效的对比点数也高于MOD04。通过与地基观测相比,卫星遥感获取的高分辨率城市地区AOD精度可作为定量评估城市空气质量的有效依据。     

Landsat TM遥感影像中厚云和阴影去除

提出了一种新的利用多时相Landsat TM影像数据进行的厚云及其阴影去除的方法。该方法通过分析厚云及其阴影的光谱特征, 设计了厚云和云阴影识别模型。该算法的实现是采用图像配准技术、非监督分类、像元替换等运算, 计算出厚云和云阴影区域的TM影像替换数据, 进而得到消除或者减少云影响的TM遥感影像。试验结果表明本文提出的厚云及其阴影去除方法效果很好, 能消除或者弱化云对TM影像数据的影响。     

Monitoring aboveground forest biomass dynamics over three decades using Landsat time-series and single-date inventory data

Understanding forest biomass dynamics is crucial for carbon and environmental monitoring, especially in the context of climate change. In this study, we propose a robust approach for monitoring aboveground forest biomass (AGB) dynamics by combining Landsat time-series with single-date inventory data. We developed a Random Forest (RF) based kNN model to produce annual maps of AGB from 1988 to 2017 over 7.2 million ha of forests in Victoria, Australia. The model was internally evaluated using a bootstrapping technique. Predictions of AGB and its change were then independently evaluated using multi-temporal Lidar data (2008 and 2016). To understand how natural and anthropogenic processes impact forest AGB, we analysed trends in relation to the history of disturbance and recovery. Specifically, change metrics (e.g., AGB loss and gain, Years to Recovery - Y2R) were calculated at the pixel level to characterise the patterns of AGB change resulting from forest dynamics. The imputation model achieved a RMSE value of 132.9 Mg ha⁻¹ (RMSE% = 46.3%) and R² value of 0.56. Independent assessments of prediction maps in 2008 and 2016 using Lidar-based AGB data achieved relatively high accuracies, with a RMSE of 108.6 Mg ha⁻¹ and 135.9 Mg ha⁻¹ for 2008 and 2016, respectively. Annual validations of AGB maps using un-changed, homogenous Lidar plots suggest that our model is transferable through time (RMSE ranging from 109.65 Mg ha⁻¹ to 112.27 Mg ha⁻¹ and RMSE% ranging from 25.38% to 25.99%). In addition, changes in AGB values associated with forest disturbance and recovery (decrease and increase, respectively) were captured by predicted maps. AGB change metrics indicate that AGB loss and Y2R varied across bioregions and were highly dependent on levels of disturbance severity (i.e., a greater loss and longer recovery time were associated with a higher severity disturbance). On average, high severity fire burnt from 200 Mg ha⁻¹ to 550 Mg ha⁻¹ of AGB and required up to 15 years to recover while clear-fell logging caused a reduction in 250 Mg ha⁻¹ to 600 Mg ha⁻¹ of AGB and required nearly 20 years to recover. In addition, AGB within un-disturbed forests showed statistically significant but monotonic trends, suggesting a mild gradual drop over time across most bioregions. Our methods are designed to support forest managers and researchers in developing forest monitoring systems, especially in developing regions, where only a single date forestry inventory exists.