Ionospheric delay corrections for single-frequency GPS receivers over Europe using tomographic mapping

The majority of navigation satellites receivers operate on a single frequency and experience a positioning error due to the ionospheric delay. This can be compensated for using a variety of approaches that are compared in this paper. The study focuses on the last solar maximum. A 4D tomographic imaging technique is used to map the ionospheric electron density over the European region during 2002 and 2003. The electron density maps are then used to calculate the excess propagation delay on the L1 frequency experienced by GPS receivers at selected locations across Europe. The excess delay is applied to correct the pseudo-range single frequency observations at each location and the improvements to the resulting positioning are calculated. The real-time tomographic technique is shown to give navigation solutions that are better than empirical modelling methods and approach the accuracy of the full dual-frequency solution. The improvements in positioning accuracy vary from day to day depending on ionospheric conditions but can be up to 25 m during mid-day during these solar maximum conditions at European mid-latitudes.

欧洲地区IGS基准站坐标时间序列各分量方向最优噪声模型变化探讨

针对现有坐标时间序列研究中各分量方向间噪声特性对比研究较少,本文选取欧洲地区58个IGS基准站11年的坐标时间序列,采用不同的噪声模型组合对它们进行噪声分析并就各分量方向间的噪声特性进行对比。结果表明,各测站在NEU分量表现出不同的噪声特性,因此分析时间序列变化特征的物理解释时需对各分量区别对待;垂直分量的有色噪声、振幅等明显大于水平方向,与一般认为的垂直分量精度低于水平分量相一致。      

A comparison of ASCAT and SMOS soil moisture retrievals over Europe and Northern Africa from 2010 to 2013

A comparison between ASCAT/H-SAF and SMOS soil moisture products was performed in the frame of the EUMETSAT H-SAF project. The analysis was extended to the whole H-SAF region of interest, including Europe and North Africa, and the period between January 2010 and November 2013 was considered. Since SMOS and ASCAT soil moisture data are expressed in terms of absolute and relative values, respectively, different approaches were adopted to scale ASCAT data to use the same volumetric soil moisture unit. Effects of land cover, quality index filtering, season and geographical area on the matching between the two products were also analyzed. The two satellite retrievals were also compared with other independent datasets, namely the NCEP/NCAR volumetric soil moisture content reanalysis developed by NOAA and the ERA-Interim/Land soil moisture produced by ECMWF. In situ data, available through the International Soil Moisture Network, were also considered as benchmark. The results turned out to be influenced by the way ASCAT data was scaled. Correlation between the two products exceeded 0.6, while the root mean square difference did not decrease below 8%. ASCAT generally showed a fairly good degree of correlation with ERA, while, as expected considering the different kinds of measurement, the discrepancies with respect to local in situ data were large for both satellite products.     

Geographic information systems in Europe

Abstract

Electronic atlases possess certain advantages over their paper counterparts. However these are not achieved lightly because of the considerable differences between these media, particularly in terms of cartographic design. These problems, and the process of converting an existing atlas of marine information into an electronic version, are the subject of this paper.     

Area Change and Thickness Variation over Pensilungpa Glacier (J&;K) using Remote Sensing

Accurate representations of the Earth’s surface in the form of digital elevation models (DEMs) are essential for a variety of applications in glaciological and remote-sensing research. In the present study area change and thickness variation over Pensilungpa glacier was attempted using remote sensing approach. It can be remarked that a net loss of 9.23 sq. km. which is 38% of the glacier area mapped in 1962 indicate a drastic change over the glacier area during 1962–2007. Estimation of glacier thickness change on Pensilungpa glacier based on ASTER DEM (2003) and Survey of India (SOI) contour based DEM (1962) indicated increase in the glacier elevation in the accumulation zone mainly by 30 to 90 m and similar reduction by 30 to 90 m in the ablation zone.     

基于Landsat卫星的沈阳市土地覆盖变化研究

土地利用、土地覆盖变化(LUCC)是当今遥感领域的重要研究课题,也是地学界、生物学界、环境学界等关注的热点问题之一^[1]。特别是对大城市的土地类型变化研究,有利于揭示城市化进程中的空间变化规律。本文利用沈阳市1990、2000、2010年3期Landsat系列卫星数据,经过空间配准、相对辐射校正、图像增强等预处理,分别对3期遥感图像进行监督分类,提取土地类型转换信息并进行景观格局分析^[2]。结果表明,20年间沈阳市土地覆盖变化主要表现为耕地和建筑用地的转变,其中1990—2000年,耕地和建筑用地均有缓慢增加;而2000—2010年耕地面积明显减少,建筑用地显著增加,城市化进程大大加快。本文成果对沈阳市未来城市规划和可持续发展相关政策的制定有一定的参考价值。     

中国北方地区秋季植被变化及对气候变化的响应研究

基于1982~2006年的AVHRR GIMMS NDVI数据,使用一元线性回归和分段线性回归等方法,通过对中国北方地区植被变化及其与气候因子的关系研究,揭示该地区近25年来在不同时段的植被变化趋势及对气候变化的响应规律,从而为该地区的生态环境变化研究提供理论依据。研究结果表明:1)中国北方地区秋季植被在25年时间内整体呈上升趋势。秋季NDVI在秋季温度断点之前以上升趋势为主,秋季NDVI在秋季温度断点之后仍以上升趋势为主,但上升趋势有所放缓。2)通过分段线性回归方法和相关分析研究得出中国北方地区秋季温度是秋季NDVI变化的主要驱动力。在秋季温度断点之后,秋季温度仍呈上升趋势而降水呈显著减少的面积增多,从而在温度和降水双重影响下的干旱胁迫导致植被下降;当秋季温度下降而秋季降水增多时干旱发生概率变小,从而使秋季NDVI呈上升趋势。     

欧洲空间信息基础设施综述

欧洲空间信息基础设施(INSPIRE)是欧洲委员会于2007年提出的。介绍了INSPIRE的内容、目的、构成、基本原则、特点、涉及的标准、数据结构,以及相关的34个数据专题,指出了它在现阶段对欧洲各个国家的要求,以及目前的现状和未来的发展趋势。     

Income distribution dynamics and cross-region convergence in Europe

This paper presents a continuous version of the model of distribution dynamics to analyse the transition dynamics and implied long-run behaviour of the EU-27 NUTS-2 regions over the period 1995–2003. It departs from previous research in two respects: first, by introducing kernel estimation and three-dimensional stacked conditional density plots as well as highest density regions plots for the visualisation of the transition function, based on Hyndman et al. (J Comput Graph Stat 5(4):315–336, 1996), and second, by combining Getis’ spatial filtering view with kernel estimation to explicitly account for the spatial dimension of the growth process. The results of the analysis indicate a very slow catching-up of the poorest regions with the richer ones, a process of shifting away of a small group of very rich regions, and highlight the importance of geography in understanding regional income distribution dynamics.

Examining urban sprawl in Europe using spatial metrics

Urbanisation is a global phenomenon with an important impact on the quality of human life. Europe has been widely affected by urbanisation. One of the main characteristics of urban growth is sprawl, a negative form of urban expansion, which affects large cities and most types of urban landscapes. Spatial indicators are applied to CORINE Urban Morphological Zones (UMZ) changes in order to measure urban sprawl between 1990–2000 and 2000–2006 in 24 European countries. The indicators calculate urban morphological properties such as shape, aggregation, compactness and dispersion. The results revealed that the urban areas (UMZ) increased by 146% during 1990–2006 and the urbanisation becomes more circle-shaped and less complex where mostly sprawl occurs. Moreover, urban form becomes less clumped or aggregated. Therefore, due to accelerating rates of urban sprawl, European urban planning should intensify appropriate initiatives to avoid negative impacts on human life.     

Using OpenStreetMap to improve population grids in Europe

ABSTRACT

OpenStreetMap (OSM) database has previously been used to support spatial disaggregation of population data by partly masking out non-residential impervious areas in the European Copernicus imperviousness layer (IL). However, the exact procedure of OSM data incorporation is unknown, and its contribution to the improvement of estimation accuracy has never been studied. In this article, we present a sensitivity study to find out which road categories should be used for masking of IL and how the linear features might be transformed to raster representation. Using Austria and Slovenia as a study area, 2006 commune population counts are disaggregated into 100 m grid cells using 12 versions of modified IL. Further tuning of estimates is performed using CORINE Land Cover (CLC) data in an iterative algorithm. Disaggregated grids are then validated against reference 1 km census-based data. The results show that overall error was reduced thanks to OSM incorporation in all tested scenarios, although the relative improvement varies between as well as within the two countries. The best result (5.3% reduction) was achieved using railways and three major road categories (motorway, trunk, and primary) with double exaggeration of width.     

1877年欧洲讽刺地图

俄国沙皇亚历山大二世统治期间,开展农奴制改革,并进行了大规模的对外扩张。1877年俄国对土尔其发动战争,意在取得在巴尔干半岛的绝对优势。图中把俄国画成一只大章鱼,还没有从克里米亚战争的伤痛中缓过来,它就把触角伸向欧洲各地;土耳     

The last sunset on mainland Europe

Certain coastal localities attempt to attract tourists by claiming to have the earliest sunrise or latest sunset in their country or even continent. This article documents the places in mainland Europe where the sun sets latest during the year. In contradiction to the naïve assumption that the sun always sets latest at the westernmost point, the point of last sunset changes cyclically over the course of a year due to the changing orientation of the axis of the Earth with respect to the sun. On mainland Europe, the focus of this study, between the winter and summer solstices the last sunset shifts successively from Cabo de São Vicente (Portugal) to Cabo da Roca (Portugal) to Cabo Touriñán (Spain) to a site near Aglapsvik (Norway) to a location in the Norwegian municipality of Måsøy south of Havøysund; and it shifts back again between the summer and winter solstices. There are even 2 days of the year (24th April and 18th August) on which the last sunset of mainland Europe coincides with the last sunset of mainland Africa, at a site in Western Sahara near Cap Blanc. A similar analysis of the first sunrise in Spain is also done.     

基于变化向量分析（CVA）的土地利用／覆盖变化动态监测（Ⅱ）—变化类型的确定方法

以光谱直接比较为基础的变化向量分析法是一种非常有效的土地利用／覆盖变化动态监测方法，在双窗口变步长阈值搜寻方法确定变化和非变化像元的基础上，提出了参考图像分类并结合变化向量方向余弦最小距离分类的变化类型确定方法，同时应用该方法在北京市海淀区进行了实验研究，得到了较为理想的结果。变化类型的判断精度达到70％以上，显示了新方法的优越性和技术可行性。     

基于变化向量分析（CVA）的土地利用／覆盖变化动态监测（Ⅱ）—变化类型的确定方法

以光谱直接比较为基础的变化向量分析法是一种非常有效的土地利用／覆盖变化动态监测方法，在双窗口变步长阈值搜寻方法确定变化和非变化像元的基础上，提出了参考图像分类并结合变化向量方向余弦最小距离分类的变化类型确定方法，同时应用该方法在北京市海淀区进行了实验研究，得到了较为理想的结果。变化类型的判断精度达到70％以上，显示了新方法的优越性和技术可行性。