A sun–crown–sensor model and adapted C-correction logic for topographic correction of high resolution forest imagery

Canopy shadowing mediated by topography is an important source of radiometric distortion on remote sensing images of rugged terrain. Topographic correction based on the sun–canopy–sensor (SCS) model significantly improved over those based on the sun–terrain–sensor (STS) model for surfaces with high forest canopy cover, because the SCS model considers and preserves the geotropic nature of trees. The SCS model accounts for sub-pixel canopy shadowing effects and normalizes the sunlit canopy area within a pixel. However, it does not account for mutual shadowing between neighboring pixels. Pixel-to-pixel shadowing is especially apparent for fine resolution satellite images in which individual tree crowns are resolved. This paper proposes a new topographic correction model: the sun–crown–sensor (SCnS) model based on high-resolution satellite imagery (IKONOS) and high-precision LiDAR digital elevation model. An improvement on the C-correction logic with a radiance partitioning method to address the effects of diffuse irradiance is also introduced (SCnS + C). In addition, we incorporate a weighting variable, based on pixel shadow fraction, on the direct and diffuse radiance portions to enhance the retrieval of at-sensor radiance and reflectance of highly shadowed tree pixels and form another variety of SCnS model (SCnS + W). Model evaluation with IKONOS test data showed that the new SCnS model outperformed the STS and SCS models in quantifying the correlation between terrain-regulated illumination factor and at-sensor radiance. Our adapted C-correction logic based on the sun–crown–sensor geometry and radiance partitioning better represented the general additive effects of diffuse radiation than C parameters derived from the STS or SCS models. The weighting factor W_t also significantly enhanced correction results by reducing within-class standard deviation and balancing the mean pixel radiance between sunlit and shaded slopes. We analyzed these improvements with model comparison on the red and near infrared bands. The advantages of SCnS + C and SCnS + W on both bands are expected to facilitate forest classification and change detection applications.     

A Review of the Policies on the Private Colleges of China

One of the most impor tant factors impacting the development of today‘s private higher education in China is that there are not enough policies to support in.Then,the history of private higher educationin Nanjing Nationalist Government(1927-1749)is focused on.     

Generalization of the Lambert–Lagrange projection

The Lagrange projection represents conformally the terrestrial globe within a circle. This is achieved by compressing the latitude and longitude and by applying the new coordinates into the equatorial stereographic projection. The same concept can be generalized to any conformal projection, although the application of this technique to other analytical functions is less known. In this work, the general Lambert–Lagrange projection formula is proposed and the application of the modified coordinates is discussed on projections: stereographic, conformal conic and Gauss–Schreiber. In general, the results are merely a curiosity, except for the case of Gauss–Schreiber, where the use of coordinates with altered scale can be applied in the optimization of conformal projections.     

A preliminary evaluation of the performance of multiple ionospheric models in low- and mid-latitude regions of China in 2010–2011

Ionospheric delay is a dominant error source in Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). Single-frequency GNSS applications require ionospheric correction of signal delay caused by the charged particles in the earth’s ionosphere. The Chinese Beidou system is developing its own ionospheric model for single-frequency users. The number of single-frequency GNSS users and applications is expected to grow fast in the next years in China. Thus, developing an appropriate ionospheric model is crucially important for the Chinese Beidou system and worldwide single-frequency Beidou users. We study the performance of five globally accessible ionospheric models Global Ionospheric Map (GIM), International Reference Ionosphere (IRI), Parameterized Ionospheric Model (PIM), Klobuchar and NeQuick in low- and mid-latitude regions of China under mid-solar activity condition. Generally, all ionospheric models can reproduce the trend of diurnal ionosphere variations. It is found that all the models have better performances in mid-latitude than in low-latitude regions. When all the models are compared to the observed total electron content (TEC) data derived from GIM model, the IRI model (2012 version) has the best agreement with GIM model and the NeQuick has the poorest agreement. The RMS errors of the IRI model using the GIM TEC as reference truth are about 3.0–10.0 TECU in low-latitude regions and 3.0–8.0 TECU in mid-latitude regions, as observed during a period of 1 year with medium level of solar activity. When all the ionospheric models are ingested into single-frequency precise point positioning (PPP) to correct the ionospheric delays in GPS observations, the PIM model performs the best in both low and mid-latitudes in China. In mid-latitude, the daily single-frequency PPP accuracy using PIM model is ~10 cm in horizontal and ~20 cm in up direction. At low-latitude regions, the PPP error using PIM model is 10–20 cm in north, 30–40 cm in east and ~60 cm in up component. The single-frequency PPP solutions indicate that NeQuick model has the lowest accuracy among all the models in both low- and mid-latitude regions of China. This study suggests that the PIM model may be considered for single-frequency GNSS users in China to achieve a good positioning accuracy in both low- and mid-latitude regions.     

A bootstrap based space–time surveillance model with an application to crime occurrences

This study proposes a bootstrap-based space–time surveillance model. Designed to find emerging hotspots in near-real time, the bootstrap based model is characterized by its use of past occurrence information and bootstrap permutations. Many existing space–time surveillance methods, using population at risk data to generate expected values, have resulting hotspots bounded by administrative area units and are of limited use for near-real time applications because of the population data needed. However, this study generates expected values for local hotspots from past occurrences rather than population at risk. Also, bootstrap permutations of previous occurrences are used for significant tests. Consequently, the bootstrap-based model, without the requirement of population at risk data, (1) is free from administrative area restriction, (2) enables more frequent surveillance for continuously updated registry database, and (3) is readily applicable to criminology and epidemiology surveillance. The bootstrap-based model performs better for space–time surveillance than the space–time scan statistic. This is shown by means of simulations and an application to residential crime occurrences in Columbus, OH, year 2000.     

Determination of the boundary values for the Stokes–Helmert problem

 The definition of the mean Helmert anomaly is reviewed and the theoretically correct procedure for computing this quantity on the Earth's surface and on the Helmert co-geoid is suggested. This includes a discussion of the role of the direct topographical and atmospherical effects, primary and secondary indirect topographical and atmospherical effects, ellipsoidal corrections to the gravity anomaly, its downward continuation and other effects. For the rigorous derivations it was found necessary to treat the gravity anomaly systematically as a point function, defined by means of the fundamental gravimetric equation. It is this treatment that allows one to formulate the corrections necessary for computing the `one-centimetre geoid'. Compared to the standard treatment, it is shown that a `correction for the quasigeoid-to-geoid separation', amounting to about 3 cm for our area of interest, has to be considered. It is also shown that the `secondary indirect effect' has to be evaluated at the topography rather than at the geoid level. This results in another difference of the order of several centimetres in the area of interest. An approach is then proposed for determining the mean Helmert anomalies from gravity data observed on the Earth's surface. This approach is based on the widely-held belief that complete Bouguer anomalies are generally fairly smooth and thus particularly useful for interpolation, approximation and averaging. Numerical results from the Canadian Rocky Mountains for all the corrections as well as the downward continuation are shown. Received: 9 March 1998 / Accepted: 16 November 1998     

Spatial–temporal variations of water vapor content over Ethiopia: a study using GPS observations and the ECMWF model

GPS Solutions - We characterize the spatial–temporal variability of integrated water vapor (IWV) in Ethiopia from a network of global positioning system (GPS) stations and the European Center...     

A space–time parallel framework for fine-scale visualization of pollen levels across the Eastern United States

ABSTRACT

Allergic rhinitis (hay fever) resulting from seasonal pollen affects 15–30% of the population in the United States, and can exacerbate several related conditions, including asthma, atopic eczema, and allergic conjunctivitis. Timely monitoring, accurate prediction, and visualization of pollen levels are critical for public health prevention purposes, such as limiting outdoor exposure or physical activity. The low density of pollen detecting stations and complex movement of pollen represent a challenge for accurate prediction and modeling. In this paper, we reconstruct the dynamics of pollen variation across the Eastern United States for 2016 using space–time interpolation. Pollen levels were extracted according to a stratified spatial sampling design, augmented by additional samples in densely populated areas. These measurements were then used to estimate the space–time cross-correlation, inferring optimal spatial and temporal ranges to calibrate the space–time interpolation. Given the computational requirements of the interpolation algorithm, we implement a spatiotemporal domain decomposition algorithm, and use parallel computing to reduce the computational burden. We visualize our results in a 3D environment to identify the seasonal dynamics of pollen levels. Our approach is also portable to analyze other large space–time explicit datasets, such as air pollution, ash clouds, and precipitation.     

On the indirect effect in the Stokes–Helmert method of geoid determination

The classical integral formula for determining the indirect effect in connection with the Stokes–Helmert method is related to a planar approximation of the sea level. A strict integral formula, as well as some approximations to it, are derived. It is concluded that the cap- size truncated integral formulas will suffer from the omission of some long-wavelength contributions, of the order of 50 cm in high mountains for the classical formula. This long-wavelength information can be represented by a set of spherical harmonic coefficients of the topography to, say, degree and order 360. Hence, for practical use, a combination of the classical formula and a set of spherical harmonics is recommended. Received: 10 March 1998 / Accepted: 16 November 1998     

Improvement of edge effect of the wavelet time–frequency spectrum: application to the length-of-day series

 The edge effect in the wavelet time–frequency spectrum of a time series is treated. The time series is first extended on both ends by applying a non-linear model, namely the leap-step time series analysis (LSTSA) model, prior to the wavelet transform. The results of a series of simulation experiments and an application to the observed length-of-day (LOD) series demonstrate that the edge effect is effectively reduced this way. Thus, the application of the LSTSA model improves the wavelet time–frequency spectrum, especially enhancing the ability to detect the low-frequency signals. Received: 15 September 1998 / Accepted: 4 October 1999     

The solution of the Korn–Lichtenstein equations of conformal mapping: the direct generation of ellipsoidal Gauß–Krüger conformal coordinates or the Transverse Mercator Projection

The differential equations which generate a general conformal mapping of a two-dimensional Riemann manifold found by Korn and Lichtenstein are reviewed. The Korn–Lichtenstein equations subject to the integrability conditions of type vectorial Laplace–Beltrami equations are solved for the geometry of an ellipsoid of revolution (International Reference Ellipsoid), specifically in the function space of bivariate polynomials in terms of surface normal ellipsoidal longitude and ellipsoidal latitude. The related coefficient constraints are collected in two corollaries. We present the constraints to the general solution of the Korn–Lichtenstein equations which directly generates Gau?–Krüger conformal coordinates as well as the Universal Transverse Mercator Projection (UTM) avoiding any intermediate isometric coordinate representation. Namely, the equidistant mapping of a meridian of reference generates the constraints in question. Finally, the detailed computation of the solution is given in terms of bivariate polynomials up to degree five with coefficients listed in closed form. Received: 3 June 1997 / Accepted: 17 November 1997     

A Cartographic Animation of Average Yearly Surface Temperatures for the 48 Contiguous United States: 1897–1986

Animation is an important method of communicating information that lends itself to cartographic display. Cartographers may be delinquent in their utilization of this technique. Meteorologists, medical researchers, and physical scientists, employing mini-, mainframe, and supercomputers, are creating today's most sophisticated animated maps and continue to develop high-quality systems for data display. Though today's cartographers are concerned with the geometric accuracy and computer automation of their map products, they may be overlooking current developments in spatiotemporal display within other disciplines. Creating a method to bridge the current animation gap between cartography and these disciplines has been the primary goal of this research. Since personal computers are the platforms most commonly available to cartographers, development of animated cartographic displays is feasible with this technology. As a result of this research, an interactive microcomputer-based animated map of U.S. surface temperatures was designed to help understand the rapid climatic change occurring during the 20th century.     

Temperature dependence of variations in the end of the growing season from 1982 to 2012 on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau

A growing number of studies have focused on variations in vegetation phenology and their correlations with climatic factors. However, there has been little research on changes in spatial heterogeneity with respect to the end of the growing season (EGS) and on responses to climate change for alpine vegetation on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau (QTP). In this study, the satellite-derived normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and the meteorological record from 1982 to 2012 were used to characterize the spatial pattern of variations in the EGS and their relationship to temperature and precipitation on the QTP. Over the entire study period, the EGS displayed no statistically significant trend; however, there was a strong spatial heterogeneity throughout the plateau. Those areas showing a delaying trend in the EGS were mainly distributed in the eastern part of the plateau, whereas those showing an advancing trend were mostly scattered throughout the western part. Our results also showed that change in the vegetation EGS was more closely correlated with air temperature than with precipitation. Nonetheless, the temperature sensitivity of the vegetation EGS became lower as aridity increased, suggesting that precipitation is an important regulator of the response of the vegetation EGS to climate warming. These results indicate spatial differences in key environmental influences on the vegetation EGS that must be taken into account in current phenological models, which are largely driven by temperature.     

Fuzzy–frequency ratio model for avalanche susceptibility mapping

Avalanche activities in the Indian Himalaya cause the majority of fatalities and responsible for heavy damage to the property. Avalanche susceptibility maps assist decision-makers and planners to execute suitable measures to reduce the avalanche risk. In the present study, a probabilistic data-driven geospatial fuzzy–frequency ratio (fuzzy–FR) model is proposed and developed for avalanche susceptibility mapping, especially for the large undocumented region. The fuzzy–FR model for avalanche susceptibility mapping is initially developed and applied for Lahaul-Spiti region. The fuzzy–FR model utilized the six avalanche occurrence factors (i.e. slope, aspect, curvature, elevation, terrain roughness and vegetation cover) and one referent avalanche inventory map to generate the avalanche susceptibility map. Amongst 292 documented avalanche locations from the avalanche inventory map, 233 (80%) were used for training the model and remaining 59 (20%) were used for validation of the map. The avalanche susceptibility map is validated by calculating the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC-AUC) technique. For validation of the results using ROC-AUC technique, the success rate and prediction rate were calculated. The values of success rate and prediction rate were 94.07% and 91.76%, respectively. The validation of results using ROC-AUC indicated the fuzzy–FR model is appropriate for avalanche susceptibility mapping.     

Fifty Years of the British Cartographic Society, 1963–2013

The British Cartographic Society has been in existence for 50 years. During that time it has sought to pursue its central aim of promoting the art and science of cartography through a variety of publications and events to its members and beyond. The Society has been on a journey of continual development in response to the way maps are created and used. In this short history we touch on some of the factors that have influenced its evolution and what the future may hold.     

Living Dinosaurs – A Pessimistic View of the Digital Future?

Abstract

A dealer in second-hand maps, mostly Ordnance Survey maps, looks to the future of map dealers in the light of technological advances and the digital age.     

Enriching the semantics of the directed polyline–polygon topological relationships: the $$\mathcal {}$$-intersection matrix

In this paper, we define an intersection matrix for enriching the semantics of the topological relationships between a directed polyline and a polygon. In particular, we propose the \(\mathcal {DLP}\)-intersection matrix which enables us to model the origin and destination points, as well as the right- and left-hand sides of the directed polyline. This matrix overcomes the limitation of the well-known DE-9IM, because it allows the representation of the different dimensions of the intersection results at the same time. Accordingly, the geo-operators have been revised and extended in order to address the notions of right- and left-hand sides of a directed polyline, as well as additional notions related to the orientation of the polyline. The \(\mathcal {DLP}\)-intersection matrix has been implemented by extending the Java Topology Suite methods in order to address the new geo-operators based on the notion of orientation.