Landsat系列卫星对地观测40年回顾及LDCM前瞻

Landsat系列卫星数据凭借其长期连续、全球覆盖、适中的时间空间分辨率和科学的数据存档与分发策略等优势,逐渐成为地表特征和地球系统科学研究中最有效的遥感数据之一,并广泛应用于生态环境、农林地矿、能源资源、教育科研和政府管理等领域。而第8代陆地卫星--陆地卫星数据连续任务卫星(LDCM)于2013年2月发射升空,该卫星携带了运行性陆地成像仪(OLI)和热红外传感器(TIRS)两种传感器。与Landsat 7/ETM+相比,OLI/TIRS在波段设置、辐射分辨性能和扫描方式上都得到很大改进,其中OLI共包括9个波段,新增海岸带(coastal)监测和卷云(cirrus)识别波段,TIRS则设置了两个热红外波段。如果LDCM能够成功升空运行,它将继续承担起长期连续对地观测的使命。     

Field based spectral reflectance studies to develop NDSI method for snow cover monitoring

Snow is highly reflective in the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum making it possible to easily distinguish on a satellite image. However, cloud cover and mountain shadows pose a serious problem in the identification of snow in a mountainous region. Therefore, to identify snow in such an environment, a Normalized Difference Snow Index (NDSI) has been applied. The NDSI is based on the high reflectance of snow in the visible region and its low reflectance in the SWIR region, whereas, reflectance of cloud remains high compared to snow in the SWIR region. Efforts have been made to carry out field observations on reflectance of various land features near Manali in Himachal Pradesh (HP) to develop NDSI values for identifying snow. Field data have been collected using three field radiometers, viz., Multi-band Ground Truth Radiometer (GTR) operating in the 12 spectral bands ranging from visible to near-infrared wavelengths, Near-Infrared Ground Truth Radiometer (NIGTR) operating in the SWIR range, and Ratio-Radiometer (RR) operating in two spectral bands, one in the visible range, and another band in the SWIR range. All these three field radiometers have been designed and developed indigenously at the Space Applications Centre (ISRO), Ahmedabad. NDSI values for all types of snow, such as, fresh, clear, patchy and wet, have been found to be in the range 0.9 to 0.96. In addition, the NDSI value for snow under mountain shadow is found to be more than 0.9. This suggests the use of NDSI method for snow cover monitoring under mountain shadow. NDSI values for other land features such as soil, vegetation, and rock were substantially different than snow. However, water bodies have NDSI values close to snow and they need to be masked during snow cover delineation using NIR band.     

Mapping alteration mineral zones and lithological units in Antarctic regions using spectral bands of ASTER remote sensing data

Abstract

Geological mapping is one of the primary tasks of remote sensing. Remote sensing applications are especially useful when extreme environmental conditions inhibit direct survey such as in Antarctica. In this investigation, a satellite-based remote sensing approach was used for mapping alteration mineral zones and lithological units using Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) data in the Oscar II coast area, north-eastern Graham Land, Antarctic Peninsula. Specialized band ratios and band combinations were developed using visible and near infrared, shortwave infrared (SWIR) and thermal infrared spectral bands of ASTER for detecting alteration mineral assemblages and lithological units in Antarctic environments. Constrained Energy Minimization, Orthogonal Subspace Projection and Adaptive Coherence Estimator algorithms were tested to ASTER SWIR bands for detecting sub-pixels’ abundance of spectral features related to muscovite, kaolinite, illite, montmorillonite, epidote, chlorite and biotite. Results indicate valuable applicability of ASTER data for Antarctic geological mapping.     

Calibration of ASTER and ETM + imagery using empirical line method—A case study of north-east of Hajjah, Yemen

This study is aimed at using the Empirical Line Method (ELM) to eliminate atmospheric effects with respect to visible and near infrared bands of advanced spaceborne thermal emission and reflection radiometer (ASTER) and enhanced thematic mapper plus (ETM+) data. Two targets (Amran limestone as light target and quartz-biotite-sericite-graphite schists as dark target), which were widely exposed and easy to identify in the imagery were selected. The accuracy of the atmospheric correction method was evaluated from three targets (vegetation cover, Amran limestone and Akbra shale) of the surface reflectance. Analytical spectral devices (ASD) FieldSpec3 was used to measure the spectra of target samples. ETM+ data were less influenced by the atmospheric effect when compared to ASTER data. Normalized differences vegetation indices (NDVI) displayed good results with reflectance data when compared with digital number (DN) data because it is highly sensitive to ground truth reflectance (GTR). Most of the differences observed before and after calibration of satellite images (ASTER and ETM+) were absorbed in the SWIR region.      

Sensitivity of spectral reflectance values to different burn and vegetation ratios: A multi-scale approach applied in a fire affected area

The aim of our study was to explore the spectral properties of fire-scorched (burned) and non fire-scorched (vegetation) areas, as well as areas with different burn/vegetation ratios, using a multisource multiresolution satellite data set. A case study was undertaken following a very destructive wildfire that occurred in Parnitha, Greece, July 2007, for which we acquired satellite images from LANDSAT, ASTER, and IKONOS. Additionally, we created spatially degraded satellite data over a range of coarser resolutions using resampling techniques. The panchromatic (1 m) and multispectral component (4 m) of IKONOS were merged using the Gram-Schmidt spectral sharpening method. This very high-resolution imagery served as the basis to estimate the cover percentage of burned areas, bare land and vegetation at pixel level, by applying the maximum likelihood classification algorithm. Finally, multiple linear regression models were fit to estimate each land-cover fraction as a function of surface reflectance values of the original and the spatially degraded satellite images.The main findings of our research were: (a) the Near Infrared (NIR) and Short-wave Infrared (SWIR) are the most important channels to estimate the percentage of burned area, whereas the NIR and red channels are the most important to estimate the percentage of vegetation in fire-affected areas; (b) when the bi-spectral space consists only of NIR and SWIR, then the NIR ground reflectance value plays a more significant role in estimating the percent of burned areas, and the SWIR appears to be more important in estimating the percent of vegetation; and (c) semi-burned areas comprising 45–55% burned area and 45–55% vegetation are spectrally closer to burned areas in the NIR channel, whereas those areas are spectrally closer to vegetation in the SWIR channel. These findings, at least partially, are attributed to the fact that: (i) completely burned pixels present low variance in the NIR and high variance in the SWIR, whereas the opposite is observed in completely vegetated areas where higher variance is observed in the NIR and lower variance in the SWIR, and (ii) bare land modifies the spectral signal of burned areas more than the spectral signal of vegetated areas in the NIR, while the opposite is observed in SWIR region of the spectrum where the bare land modifies the spectral signal of vegetation more than the burned areas because the bare land and the vegetation are spectrally more similar in the NIR, and the bare land and burned areas are spectrally more similar in the SWIR.     

Evaluating metrics derived from Landsat 8 OLI imagery to map crop cover

Developing techniques are required to generate agricultural land cover maps to monitor agricultural fields. Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) offers reflectance data over the visible to shortwave-infrared range. OLI offers several advantages, such as adequate spatial and spectral resolution, and 16 day repeat coverage, furthermore, spectral indices derived from Landsat 8 OLI possess great potential for evaluating the status of vegetation. Additionally, classification algorithms are essential for generating accurate maps. Recently, multi-Grained Cascade Forest, which is also called deep forest, was proposed, and it was shown to give highly competitive performance for classification. However, the ability of this algorithm to generate crop maps with satellite data had not yet been evaluated. In this study, the reflectance at 7 bands and 57 spectral indices calculated from Landsat 8 OLI data were evaluated for its potential for crop type identification.     

Contribution of Landsat 8 data for the estimation of land surface temperature in Batna city,Eastern Algeria

In this study, we presented a mono-window (MW) algorithm for land surface temperature retrieval from Landsat 8 TIRS. MW needs spectral radiance and emissivity of thermal infrared bands as input for deriving LST. The spectral radiance was estimated using band 10, and the surface emissivity value was derived with the help of NDVI and vegetation proportion parameters for which OLI bands 5 and 4 were used. The results in comparison with MODIS (MOD11A1) products indicated that the proposed algorithm is capable of retrieving accurate LST values, with a correlation coefficient of 0.850. The industrial area, public facilities and military area show higher surface temperature (more than 37 °C) in comparison with adjoining areas, while the green spaces in urban areas (34 °C) and forests (29 °C) were the cooler part of the city. These successful results obtained in the study could be used as an efficient method for the environmental impact assessment.     

A Birds Eye View of Debris-Avalanche on Miyar Glacier,Chenab Basin,India

The importance of mass wasting in glacier environments and its impacts on glacier dynamics is not fully understood. This is the first occurrence of a debris avalanche event onto a Himalayan glacier through satellite data analysis. The analysis of various factors indicates the slide was a climate-driven hill-slope event activated in 2009 masking the Miyar glacier surface up to ~1.5% including its both lateral moraines and medial moraines. Due to this addition the glacier had neither advance nor retreat from 2009 to 2014. Eventually the debris will contribute to the supraglacial and englacial debris of the glacier. This showcases the way of mass wasting an important contribution to the debris budget of the Himalayan glaciers.     

A Hybrid CNN + Random Forest Approach to Delineate Debris Covered Glaciers Using Deep Features

The main aim of this study is to propose a novel hybrid deep learning framework approach for accurate mapping of debris covered glaciers. The framework comprises of integration of several CNNs architecture, in which different combinations of Landsat 8 multispectral bands (including thermal band), topographic and texture parameters are passed as input for feature extraction. The output of an ensemble of these CNNs is hybrid with random forest model for classification. The major pillars of the framework include: (1) technique for implementing topographic and atmospheric corrections (preprocessing), (2) the proposed hybrid of ensemble of CNNs and random forest classifier, and (3) procedures to determine whether a pixel predicted as snow is a cloud edge/shadow (post-processing). The proposed approach was implemented on the multispectral Landsat 8 OLI (operational land imager)/TIRS (thermal infrared sensor) data and Shuttle Radar Topography Mission Digital Elevation Model for the part of the region situated in Alaknanda basin, Uttarakhand, Himalaya. The proposed framework was observed to outperform (accuracy 96.79%) the current state-of-art machine learning algorithms such as artificial neural network, support vector machine, and random forest. Accuracy assessment was performed by means of several statistics measures (precision, accuracy, recall, and specificity).     

An experimental comparison between KELM and CART for crop classification using Landsat-8 OLI data

The operational land imager (OLI) is the latest instrument in the Landsat series of satellite imagery, which officially began normal operations on 30 May 2013. The OLI includes two bands that are not on the thematic mapper series of sensors aboard Landsat-5 and 7; a cirrus band and a coastal/aerosol band. This paper compares the classification and regression tree and the kernel-based extreme learning machine (KELM) for mapping crops in Hokkaido, Japan, using OLI data, except the cirrus band and the pan band. The OLI data acquired on 8 July 2013 was used for crop classification of beans, beets, grassland, maize, potatoes and winter wheat. The KELM algorithm performed better in this study and achieved overall accuracies of 90.1%. According to the Jeffries–Matusita (J–M) distances, the short wavelength infrared band provides the greater contribution (the highest value was observed for band 6 in OLI data).     

利用融合方法提升WorldVeiw短波红外影像分辨率

WorldView卫星在8个可见光-近红外多光谱波段的基础上,新增加的8个短波红外(简称SWIR)影像,大大提高了地物信息提取能力.但短波红外影像分辨率与多光谱影像相比分辨率过低,影响应用效果.本文提出了一种结合主分量变换和非下采样小波变换的影像融合方法来提升WorldView短波红外影像的空间分辨率.定量指标和目视评价证明本文提出的融合方法具有较好的融合效果,能够在显著提升短波红外影像空间分辨率的同时很好地保持原始光谱特性.     

Evaluation of multisource data for glacier terrain mapping: a neural net approach

Spectrally similar nature of land covers in a glacierized terrain hampers their automated mapping from multispectral satellite data, which may be overcome by using multisource data. In the present study, an artificial neural network (ANN)-based information extraction approach was applied for mapping the Kolahoi glacier and adjoining areas, using Landsat TM (Thematic Mapper) data and several ancillary layers such as image transformations and topographic attributes. Results reveal that ANN (highest overall accuracy (OA): 83.74%) outperforms maximum likelihood classifier (highest OA: 66.90%) and the incorporation of ancillary data into the classification process significantly enhances the mapping accuracy (>9%), particularly the addition of Near Infrared Red/Short Wave Infrared (NIR/SWIR) data to the spectral data. A nine-band combination dataset (spectral data, slope, Red/NIR and decorrelation stretch) was found to be the best multisource dataset. Results of the Z-tests (at 95% confidence level) also corroborate and statistically validate the above findings.     

SPOT multispectral analysis for producing supraglacial debris‐load estimates for Batura glacier,Pakistan

Abstract

SPOT multispectral and panchromatic data were evaluated to determine their utility to detect debris‐load characteristics of the Batura Glacier located in the Karakoram Himalaya. Debris‐depth measurements, surface samples, and ground photography were obtained and used with satellite‐derived information to produce supraglacial debris‐load and discharge estimates. Visual analysis of panchromatic data indicated that structural characteristics of the glacier exhibited unique textures associated with surface structure characteristics. Multispectral analysis revealed that stratified unsupervised classification of principal components can be used to produce classifications depicting supraglacial lithology and shallow debris‐load variability. Debris‐load discharge estimates ranged from 48–97 x 103 m3 yr1. These results indicate that SPOT multispectral data may be used to produce reasonable quantitative estimates of debris‐load characteristics for glacier mass balance and regional denudation studies.     

Day-1 INSAT-3DR Vicarious Calibration Using Reflectance-Based Approach Over Great Rann of Kutch

This study describes the post-launch calibration for visible (VIS) and shortwave infrared (SWIR) bands of Indian National Satellite System (INSAT)-3DR imager over Great Rann of Kutch (GROK) on Day-1 (15th September 2016), when the first time INSAT-3DR Imager camera was switched on. In order to account the characterization of errors and undetermined post-launch changes in sensor spectral response, this calibration activity was performed and extended for its monitoring to Day-56 (since the Day-1; 09th November 2016). A reflectance based technique is used in the present study. The surface reflectance and atmospheric variables were measured over the site as per solar and viewing geometry of the INSAT-3D scan. Top of atmosphere (TOA) spectral radiances were computed using 6SV (second simulation of the satellite signal in the solar spectrum) radiative transfer code with the in situ measurements as well as spectral response function of each channel. Preliminary results of the Day-1 vicarious calibration yield gain coefficients of 0.974 and 0.820 for VIS and SWIR channels respectively despite the inhomogeneity of the ground target caused by sufficient sub-surface soil moisture. In extension of the present study, the obtained gain coefficients were 1.001 and 0.9887 for VIS and SWIR, respectively, during Day-56 which indicates the performance of sensor is within the range of pre-launch laboratory calibration.     

Spatially Explicit Estimation of Leaf Area Index Using EO-1 Hyperion and Landsat ETM+ Data: Implications of Spectral Bandwidth and Shortwave Infrared Data on Prediction Accuracy in a Tropical Montane Environment

This study evaluated the utility of narrowband (EO-1 Hyperion) and broadband (Landsat ETM+) remote sensing data for the estimation of leaf area index (LAI) in a tropical environment in Sulawesi, Indonesia. LAI was inferred from canopy gap fraction measurements taken in natural tropical forest and cocoa plantations. Single and multiple spectral bands and spectral indices were used as predictor variables in reduced major axis (RMA) and ordinary least squares (OLS) regression models. The predictive power of most regression models was notably higher when employing narrowband data instead of broadband data. Highly significant relationships between LAI and spectral reflectance were observed near the red-edge region and in most shortwave infrared (SWIR) bands. In contrast to most near-infrared (NIR) narrow bands, the correlation between SWIR reflectance and LAI was not confounded when including both vegetation types and did not suffer from saturation. The results demonstrate that leaf area index of a challenging tropical environment can be estimated with satisfactory accuracy from hyperspectral remote sensing data.     

Remote sensing of alpine glaciers in visible and infrared wavelengths: a survey of advances and prospects

Remote sensing is an efficient tool for temporal monitoring of inaccessible alpine glacial terrain. This study discusses the methods of remote sensing in visible and infrared (IR) wavelengths, which are helpful in providing important information about alpine glaciers. The scope of this study covers recent advances and prospects in optical and thermal remote sensing of glacier facies, glacier velocity, mass balance, glacial hazards and automated mapping techniques. The technology is ever evolving with the advent of new remote sensors capturing data in visible/IR wavelengths and better digital computing technology. An extensive list of significant studies further helps the reader to explore a particular topic of interest. We survey recent advances in this field and additionally highlight the emerging prospects.     

Normalised difference spectral indices and urban land cover as indicators of land surface temperature (LST)

Land cover changes associated with urbanisation modify microclimate, leading to urban heat islands, whereby cities are warmer than the surrounding countryside. Understanding the factors causing this phenomenon could help urban areas adapt to climate change and improve living conditions of inhabitants. In this study, land surface temperatures (LST) of Aarhus, a city in the high latitudes, are estimated from the reflectance of a thermal band (TIRS1; Band 10; 10.60–11.19 μm) of Landsat 8 on five dates in the summer months (one in 2015, and four in 2018). Spectral indices, modelled on the normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI), using all combinations of the first seven bands of Landsat 8 are calculated and their relationships with LST, analysed. Land cover characteristics, in terms of the percentages of tree cover, building cover and overall vegetation cover are estimated from airborne LiDAR data, building footprints and 4-band aerial imagery, respectively. The correlations between LST, the spectral indices and land cover are estimated.The difference in mean temperature between the rural and urban parts of Aarhus is up to 3.96 °C, while the difference between the warmer and colder zones (based on the mean and SD of LST) is up to 13.26 °C. The spectral index using the near infrared band (NIR; Band 5; 0.85-0.88 μm) and a short-wave infrared band (SWIR2; Band 7; 2.11–2.29 μm) has the strongest correlations (r: 0.62 to 0.89) with LST for the whole study area. This index is the inverse of normalised burn ratio (NBR), which has been used for mapping burnt areas. Spectral indices using different combinations of the infrared bands have stronger correlations with LST than the more widely used vegetation indices such as NDVI. The percentage of tree cover has a higher negative correlation (Pearson’s r: -0.68 to -0.75) with LST than overall vegetation cover (r: -0.45 to -0.63). Tree cover and building cover (r: 0.53 to 0.71) together explain up to 68 % of the variation in LST. Modification of tree and building cover may therefore have the potential to regulate urban LST.     

利用融合方法提升WorldView短波红外影像分辨率

WorldView卫星在8个可见光-近红外多光谱波段的基础上,新增加的8个短波红外（简称SWIR）影像,大大提高了地物信息提取能力。但短波红外影像分辨率与多光谱影像相比分辨率过低,影响应用效果。本文提出了一种结合主分量变换和非下采样小波变换的影像融合方法来提升WorldView短波红外影像的空间分辨率。定量指标和目视评价证明本文提出的融合方法具有较好的融合效果,能够在显著提升短波红外影像空间分辨率的同时很好地保持原始光谱特性。     

Assessment of Landsat atmospheric correction methods for water color applications using global AERONET-OC data

With the longest archive of satellite remote sensing images, the Landsat series of satellites have demonstrated their great potential in aquatic environmental studies. However, although various atmospheric correction (AC) methods have been developed for Landsat observations in water color applications, a comprehensive assessment of their accuracies across different AC methods and instruments has yet to be performed. Using in situ spectral data collected by Aerosol Robotic Network-Ocean Color (AERONET-OC) sites, the performances of five types of AC methods over three different Landsat missions (i.e., Landsat 5/7/8) were evaluated. The Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) showed more accurate AC retrievals than the other two instruments, and the results for its green and red bands appeared more reliable than those for the other wavelengths (uncertainty levels of ∼30 %). The iterative NIR algorithm with 2-bands (NIR-SWIR2) model selection embedded in SeaDAS showed the best performances for OLI in two blue bands. Moreover, larger residual errors were found for most Landsat 5/7 bands regardless of the AC methods and spectral bands employed with an uncertainty of >50 %. Interestingly, a simple aerosol subtraction method over the Rayleigh-corrected reflectance (Rrc) outperformed the exponential extrapolation (EXP) algorithms, especially for Landsat 5/7. Neither the image-based AC algorithm nor the surface reflectance (SR) products provided by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) showed acceptable performances over coastal environments. The uncertainties in the various Landsat reflectance products over water surfaces could be associated with a relatively poor signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in addition to radiometric calibration uncertainties, imperfect aerosol removal methods. Future research is required to collect in situ data across a wider range of water optical properties (particularly more turbid inland waters) to examine the corresponding applicability of Landsat-series observations.     

Assessment of Late Blight Induced Diseased Potato Crops: A Case Study for West Bengal District Using Temporal AWiFS and MODIS Data

Remote sensing technology becomes an effective and inexpensive technique for detecting disease in vegetation. In this study, an attempt has been done to discriminate healthy and late blight affected crop using remote sensing based indices such as NDVI and LSWI. NDVI and LSWI spectral profiles between healthy and late blight affected crop shows large difference. Mean difference in reflectance between two acquired dates Jan. 10 and 29, 2009 crop clusters varied from 31.28 % in red band, 7.7 % in NIR band and 6.23 % in SWIR bands in healthy crops while in late blight affected crops it is ?15.5 % in red, 44.4 % in NIR and ?14.61 % in SWIR bands. Negative percentage differences in reflectance indicate reflectance increases from Jan. 10, 2009 to Jan. 29, 2009, while positive difference indicate decrease in reflectance between the two dates. Since potato is an irrigated crop, these differences in reflectance are attributed to prevalent disease at that time. It is found that severely affected areas are Bardhman, Arambag, Bishnupur, Ghatal and Hugli taluka with crop damage areas are 4036.66, 1138.68, 2025.23, 469.15, and 380.08 ha, respectively.