Developing detailed age-specific thematic maps for coffee (Coffea arabica L.) in heterogeneous agricultural landscapes using random forests applied on Landsat 8 multispectral sensor

Coffee is a commodity of international trade significance, and its value chain can benefit from age-specific thematic maps. This study aimed to assess the potential of Landsat 8 OLI to develop these maps. Using field-collected samples with the random forest classifier, splitting coffee into three age classes (Scheme A) was compared with running the classification with one compound coffee class (Scheme B). Higher overall classification accuracy was obtained in Scheme B (90.3% for OLI and 86.8% for ETM+) than in Scheme A (86.2% for OLI and 81.0% for ETM+). The NIR band of OLI was the most important band in intra-class discrimination of coffee. Landsat 8 OLI mapped area closely matched farm records (R^2?=?0.88) compared to that of Landsat 7 ETM+ (R^2?=?0.78). It was concluded that Landsat 8 OLI data can be used to produce age-specific thematic maps in coffee production areas although disaggregating coffee classes reduces overall accuracy.     

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.     

Predicting the spatial distribution of hunted and non-hunted Sable antelope (Hippotragus niger niger) using remotely sensed woody cover in a Southern African savanna

From remotely sensed woody cover, we tested whether sables under hunting pressure preferred closed woodland habitats and whether those not under hunting preferred more open woodland habitats. We applied a two factorial logistic regression analysis to model the probability of occurrence of sable antelope in hunted and non-hunted areas of northwest Zimbabwe as a function of vegetation cover density (estimated by a normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI)). We validated the results by high-spatial resolution imagery derived tree canopy area. We subsequently compared the predictions from the two models in order to compare sable cover selection between hunted and non-hunted areas. Our results suggest that hunted sables are likely to select closed woodland, while non-hunted ones would prefer more open woodland habitats. We also established a significant positive relationship between NDVI and tree canopy cover, thus emphasizing the importance of remote sensing in studies that measure the impact of hunting on habitat selection of targeted species.     

Integrating environmental variables and WorldView-2 image data to improve the prediction and mapping of Thaumastocoris peregrinus (bronze bug) damage in plantation forests

This study integrated environmental variables together with high spectral resolution WorldView-2 imagery to detect and map Thaumastocoris peregrinus damage in Eucalypt plantation forests in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The WorldView-2 bands, vegetation indices and environmental variables were entered separately into PLS regression models to predict T. peregrinus damage. The datasets were then integrated to test the collective strength in predicting T. peregrinus damage. Important variables were identified by variable importance (VIP) scores and were re-entered into a PLS regression model. The VIP model was then extrapolated to map the severity of damage and predicted T. peregrinus damage with an R² value of 0.71 and a RMSE of 3.26% on an independent test dataset. The red edge and near-infrared bands of the WorldView-2 sensor together with the temperature dataset were identified as important variables in predicting T. peregrinus damage. The results indicate the potential of integrating WorldView-2 data and environmental variables to improve the mapping and monitoring of insect outbreaks in plantation forests. The result is critical for plantation health monitoring using a new sensor which contains important vegetation wavelengths.     

Development of an image based integrated method for determining and mapping aerosol optical thickness (AOT) over urban areas using the darkest pixel atmospheric correction method,RT equation and GIS: A case study of the Limassol area in Cyprus

This paper presents the development of an image-based integrated method for determining and mapping aerosol optical thickness (AOT). Using the radiative transfer (RT) equation, a methodology was developed to create a Geographical Information System (GIS) model that can visually display the AOT distribution over urban areas. In this paper, the model was applied to eleven Landsat Thematic Mapper/Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (TM/ETM+) satellite images of Limassol, Cyprus during 2010 and 2011 to determine the AOT levels in Limassol Cyprus during satellite overpass. The study is innovative and unique in that the RT equation, satellite images, the darkest pixel (DP) method of atmospheric correction and GIS were integrated to derive AOT from satellite images and display the AOT distribution over an urban area without the input of any meteorological or atmospheric parameters. The accuracy of the algorithm was verified through statistical analysis by the strong agreement between the AOT values derived using the algorithm and the in situ AOT values from the ground-based sensors.