Determination of the crop row orientations from Formosat-2 multi-temporal and panchromatic images

This paper presents a technique developed for the retrieval of the orientation of crop rows, over anthropic lands dedicated to agriculture in order to further improve estimate of crop production and soil erosion management. Five crop types are considered: wheat, barley, rapeseed, sunflower, corn and hemp. The study is part of the multi-sensor crop-monitoring experiment, conducted in 2010 throughout the agricultural season (MCM’10) over an area located in southwestern France, near Toulouse. The proposed methodology is based on the use of satellite images acquired by Formosat-2, at high spatial resolution in panchromatic and multispectral modes (with spatial resolution of 2 and 8 m, respectively). Orientations are derived and evaluated for each image and for each plot, using directional spatial filters (45° and 135°) and mathematical morphology algorithms. “Single-date” and “multi-temporal” approaches are considered. The single-date analyses confirm the good performances of the proposed method, but emphasize the limitation of the approach for estimating the crop row orientation over the whole landscape with only one date. The multi-date analyses allow (1) determining the most suitable agricultural period for the detection of the row orientations, and (2) extending the estimation to the entire footprint of the study area. For the winter crops (wheat, barley and rapeseed), best results are obtained with images acquired just after harvest, when surfaces are covered by stubbles or during the period of deep tillage (0.27 > R² > 0.99 and 7.15° > RMSE > 43.02°). For the summer crops (sunflower, corn and hemp), results are strongly crop and date dependents (0 > R² > 0.96, 10.22° > RMSE > 80°), with a well-marked impact of flowering, irrigation equipment and/or maximum crop development. Last, the extent of the method to the whole studied zone allows mapping 90% of the crop row orientations (more than 45,000 ha) with an error inferior to 40°, associated to a confidence index ranging from 1 to 5 for each agricultural plot.     

Determining crop acreage estimates for specific winter crops using shape attributes from sequential MODIS imagery

There are increasing societal and plant industry demands for more accurate, objective and near real-time crop production information to meet both economic and food security concerns. The advent of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite platform has augmented the capability of satellite-based applications to monitor large agricultural areas at acceptable pixel scale, cost and accuracy. Fitting parametric profiles to growing season vegetation index time series reduces the volume of data and provides simple quantitative parameters that relates to crop phenology (sowing date, flowering). In this study, we modelled various Gaussian profiles to time sequential MODIS enhanced vegetation index (EVI) images over winter crops in Queensland, Australia. Three simple Gaussian models were evaluated in their effectiveness to identify and classify various winter crop types and coverage at both pixel and regional scales across Queensland's main agricultural areas. Equal to or greater than 93% classification accuracies were obtained in determining crop acreage estimates at pixel scale for each of the Gaussian modelled approaches. Significant high to moderate correlations (log-linear transformation) were also obtained for determining total winter crop (R² = 0.93) areas as well as specific crop acreage for wheat (R² = 0.86) and barley (R² = 0.83). Conversely, it was much more difficult to predict chickpea acreage (R² ≤ 0.26), mainly due to very large uncertainties in survey data. The quantitative approach utilised here further had additional benefits of characterising crop phenology in terms of length of growing season and providing regression diagnostics of how well the fitted profiles matched the EVI time series. The Gaussian curve models utilised here are novel in application and therefore will enhance the use and adoption of remote sensing technologies in targeted agricultural application. With innate simplicity and accuracies comparable to other more convoluted multi-temporal approaches it is a good candidate in determining total and specific crop acreage estimates in future national and global food security frameworks.     

Winter wheat yield forecasting in Ukraine based on Earth observation,meteorological data and biophysical models

Ukraine is one of the most developed agriculture countries and one of the biggest crop producers in the world. Timely and accurate crop yield forecasts for Ukraine at regional level become a key element in providing support to policy makers in food security. In this paper, feasibility and relative efficiency of using moderate resolution satellite data to winter wheat forecasting in Ukraine at oblast level is assessed. Oblast is a sub-national administrative unit that corresponds to the NUTS2 level of the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS) of the European Union. NDVI values were derived from the MODIS sensor at the 250 m spatial resolution. For each oblast NDVI values were averaged for a cropland map (Rainfed croplands class) derived from the ESA GlobCover map, and were used as predictors in the regression models. Using a leave-one-out cross-validation procedure, the best time for making reliable yield forecasts in terms of root mean square error was identified. For most oblasts, NDVI values taken in April–May provided the minimum RMSE value when comparing to the official statistics, thus enabling forecasts 2–3 months prior to harvest. The NDVI-based approach was compared to the following approaches: empirical model based on meteorological observations (with forecasts in April–May that provide minimum RMSE value) and WOFOST crop growth simulation model implemented in the CGMS system (with forecasts in June that provide minimum RMSE value). All three approaches were run to produce winter wheat yield forecasts for independent datasets for 2010 and 2011, i.e. on data that were not used within model calibration process. The most accurate predictions for 2010 were achieved using the CGMS system with the RMSE value of 0.3 t ha⁻¹ in June and 0.4 t ha⁻¹ in April, while performance of three approaches for 2011 was almost the same (0.5–0.6 t ha⁻¹ in April). Both NDVI-based approach and CGMS system overestimated winter wheat yield comparing to official statistics in 2010, and underestimated it in 2011. Therefore, we can conclude that performance of empirical NDVI-based regression model was similar to meteorological and CGMS models when producing winter wheat yield forecasts at oblast level in Ukraine 2–3 months prior to harvest, while providing minimum requirements to input datasets.     

Understanding long-term (1982–2013) patterns and trends in winter wheat spring green-up date over the North China Plain

Monitoring the spring green-up date (GUD) has grown in importance for crop management and food security. However, most satellite-based GUD models are associated with a high degree of uncertainty when applied to croplands. In this study, we introduced an improved GUD algorithm to extract GUD data for 32 years (1982–2013) for the winter wheat croplands on the North China Plain (NCP), using the third-generation normalized difference vegetation index form Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies (GIMMS3g NDVI). The spatial and temporal variations in GUD with the effects of the pre-season climate and soil moisture conditions on GUD were comprehensively investigated. Our results showed that a higher correlation coefficient (r = 0.44, p < 0.01) and lower root mean square error (22 days) and bias (16 days) were observed in GUD from the improved algorithm relative to GUD from the MCD12Q2 phenology product. In spatial terms, GUD increased from the southwest (less than day of year (DOY) 60) to the northeast (more than DOY 90) of the NCP, which corresponded to spatial reductions in temperature and precipitation. GUD advanced in most (78%) of the winter wheat area on the NCP, with significant advances in 37.8% of the area (p < 0.05). GUD occurred later at high altitudes and in coastal areas than in inland areas. At the interannual scale, the average GUD advanced from DOY 76.9 in the 1980s (average 1982–1989) to DOY 73.2 in the 1990s (average 1991–1999), and to DOY 70.3 after 2000 (average 2000–2013), indicating an average advance of 1.8 days/decade (r = 0.35, p < 0.05). Although GUD is mainly controlled by the pre-season temperature, our findings underline that the effect of the pre-season soil moisture on GUD should also be considered. The improved GUD algorithm and satellite-based long-term GUD data are helpful for improving the representation of GUD in terrestrial ecosystem models and enhancing crop management efficiency.     

Quantifying winter wheat residue biomass with a spectral angle index derived from China Environmental Satellite data

Quantification of crop residue biomass on cultivated lands is essential for studies of carbon cycling of agroecosystems, soil-atmospheric carbon exchange and Earth systems modeling. Previous studies focus on estimating crop residue cover (CRC) while limited research exists on quantifying crop residue biomass. This study takes advantage of the high temporal resolution of the China Environmental Satellite (HJ-1) data and utilizes the band configuration features of HJ-1B data to establish spectral angle indices to estimate crop residue biomass. Angles formed at the NIR_IRS vertex by the three vertices at R, NIR_IRS, and SWIR (ANIR_IRS) of HJ-1B can effectively indicate winter wheat residue biomass. A coefficient of determination (R²) of 0.811 was obtained between measured winter wheat residue biomass and ANIR_IRS derived from simulated HJ-1B reflectance data. The ability of ANIR_IRS for quantifying winter wheat residue biomass using HJ-1B satellite data was also validated and evaluated. Results indicate that ANIR_IRS performed well in estimating winter wheat residue biomass with different residue treatments; the root mean square error (RMSE) between measured and estimated residue biomass was 0.038 kg/m². ANIR_IRS is a potential method for quantifying winter wheat residue biomass at a large scale due to wide swath width (350 km) and four-day revisit rate of the HJ-1 satellite. While ANIR_IRS can adequately estimate winter wheat residue biomass at different residue moisture conditions, the feasibility of ANIR_IRS for winter wheat residue biomass estimation at different fractional coverage of green vegetation and different environmental conditions (soil type, soil moisture content, and crop residue type) needs to be further explored.     

Evaluating the relationship between biomass,percent groundcover and remote sensing indices across six winter cover crop fields in Maryland,United States

Winter cover crops are an essential part of managing nutrient and sediment losses from agricultural lands. Cover crops lessen sedimentation by reducing erosion, and the accumulation of nitrogen in aboveground biomass results in reduced nutrient runoff. Winter cover crops are planted in the fall and are usually terminated in early spring, making them susceptible to senescence, frost burn, and leaf yellowing due to wintertime conditions. This study sought to determine to what extent remote sensing indices are capable of accurately estimating the percent groundcover and biomass of winter cover crops, and to analyze under what critical ranges these relationships are strong and under which conditions they break down. Cover crop growth on six fields planted to barley, rye, ryegrass, triticale or wheat was measured over the 2012–2013 winter growing season. Data collection included spectral reflectance measurements, aboveground biomass, and percent groundcover. Ten vegetation indices were evaluated using surface reflectance data from a 16-band CROPSCAN sensor. Restricting analysis to sampling dates before the onset of prolonged freezing temperatures and leaf yellowing resulted in increased estimation accuracy. There was a strong relationship between the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and percent groundcover (r² = 0.93) suggesting that date restrictions effectively eliminate yellowing vegetation from analysis. The triangular vegetation index (TVI) was most accurate in estimating high ranges of biomass (r² = 0.86), while NDVI did not experience a clustering of values in the low and medium biomass ranges but saturated in the higher range (>1500 kg/ha). The results of this study show that accounting for index saturation, senescence, and frost burn on leaves can greatly increase the accuracy of estimates of percent groundcover and biomass for winter cover crops.     

Winter cover crops in Dutch maize fields: Variability in quality and its drivers assessed from multi-temporal Sentinel-2 imagery

Planting a cover crop between the main cropping seasons is an agricultural management measure with multiple potential benefits for sustainable food production. In the maize production system of the Netherlands, an effective establishment of a winter cover crop is important for reducing nitrogen leaching to groundwater. Cover crop establishment after maize cultivation is obliged by law for sandy soils and consequently implemented on nearly all maize fields, but the winter-time vegetative ground cover varies significantly between fields. The objectives of this study are to assess the variability in winter vegetative cover and evaluate to what extent this variability can be explained by the timing of cover crop establishment and weather conditions in two growing seasons (2017–2018). We used Sentinel-2 satellite imagery to construct NDVI time series for fields known to be cultivated with maize within the province of Overijssel. We fitted piecewise logistic functions to the time series in order to estimate cover crop sowing date and retrieve the fitted NDVI value for 1 December (NDVI_Dec). We used NDVI_Dec to represent the quality of cover crop establishment at the start of the winter season. The Sentinel-2 estimated sowing dates compared reasonably with ground reference data for eight fields (RMSE = 6.6 days). The two analysed years differed considerably, with 2018 being much drier and warmer during summer. This drought resulted in an earlier estimated cover crop sowing date (on average 19 days) and an NDVI_Dec value that was 0.2 higher than in 2017. Combining both years and all fields, we found that Sentinel-2 retrieved sowing dates could explain 55% of the NDVI_Dec variability. This corresponded to a positive relationship (R² = 0.50) between NDVI_Dec and the cumulative growing degree days (GDD) between sowing date and 1 December until reaching 400 GDD. Based on cumulative GDD derived from two weather stations within Overijssel, we found that on average for the past three decades a sowing date of 19 September (± 7 days) allowed to attain these 400 GDD; this provides support for the current legislation that states that from 2019 onwards a cover crop should be sown before 1 October. To meet this deadline, while simultaneously ascertaining a harvest-ready main crop, in practice implies that undersowing of the cover crop during spring will gain importance. Our results show that Sentinel-2 NDVI time series can assess the effectiveness and timing of cover crop growth for small agricultural fields, and as such has potential to inform regulatory frameworks as well as farmers with actionable information that may help to reduce nitrogen leaching.     

Influence of neighbourhood information on ‘Local Climate Zone’ mapping in heterogeneous cities

Local climate zone (LCZ) mapping is an emerging field in urban climate research. LCZs potentially provide an objective framework to assess urban form and function worldwide. The scheme is currently being used to globally map LCZs as a part of the World Urban Database and Access Portal Tools (WUDAPT) initiative. So far, most of the LCZ maps lack proper quantitative assessment, challenging the generic character of the WUDAPT workflow. Using the standard method introduced by the WUDAPT community difficulties arose concerning the built zones due to high levels of heterogeneity. To overcome this problem a contextual classifier is adopted in the mapping process. This paper quantitatively assesses the influence of neighbourhood information on the LCZ mapping result of three cities in Belgium: Antwerp, Brussels and Ghent. Overall accuracies for the maps were respectively 85.7 ± 0.5, 79.6 ± 0.9, 90.2 ± 0.4%. The approach presented here results in overall accuracies of 93.6 ± 0.2, 92.6 ± 0.3 and 95.6 ± 0.3% for Antwerp, Brussels and Ghent. The results thus indicate a positive influence of neighbourhood information for all study areas with an increase in overall accuracies of 7.9, 13.0 and 5.4%. This paper reaches two main conclusions. Firstly, evidence was introduced on the relevance of a quantitative accuracy assessment in LCZ mapping, showing that the accuracies reported in previous papers are not easily achieved. Secondly, the method presented in this paper proves to be highly effective in Belgian cities, and given its open character shows promise for application in other heterogeneous cities worldwide.     

Upscaling plot-scale soil respiration in winter wheat and summer maize rotation croplands in Julu County,North China

Soil respiration (R_s) data from 45 plots were used to estimate the spatial patterns of R_s during the peak growing seasons of winter wheat and summer maize in Julu County, North China, by combining satellite remote sensing data, field-measured data, and a support vector regression (SVR) model. The observed R_s values were well reproduced by the model at the plot scale, with a root-mean-square error (RMSE) of 0.31 μmol CO₂ m⁻² s⁻¹ and a coefficient of determination (R²) of 0.73. No significant difference was detected between the prediction accuracy of the SVR model for winter wheat and summer maize. With forcing from satellite remote sensing data and gridded soil property data, we used the SVR model to predict the spatial distributions of R_s during the peak growing seasons of winter wheat and summer maize rotation croplands in Julu County. The SVR model captured the spatial variations of R_s at the county scale. The satellite-derived enhanced vegetation index was found to be the most important input used to predict R_s. Removal of this variable caused an RMSE increase from 0.31 μmol CO₂ m⁻² s⁻¹ to 0.42 μmol CO₂ m⁻² s⁻¹. Soil properties such as soil organic carbon (SOC) content and soil bulk density (SBD) were the second most important factors. Their removal led to an RMSE increase from 0.31 μmol CO₂ m⁻² s⁻¹ to 0.37 μmol CO₂ m⁻² s⁻¹. The SVR model performed better than multiple regression in predicting spatial variations of R_s in winter wheat and summer maize rotation croplands, as shown by the comparison of the R² and RMSE values of the two algorithms. The spatial patterns of R_s are better captured using the SVR model than performing multiple regression, particularly for the relatively high and relatively low R_s values at the center and northeast study areas. Therefore, SVR shows promise for predicting spatial variations of R_s values on the basis of remotely sensed data and gridded soil property data at the county scale.     

Estimating winter wheat biomass by assimilating leaf area index derived from fusion of Landsat-8 and MODIS data

A sufficient number of satellite acquisitions in a growing season are essential for deriving agronomic indicators, such as green leaf area index (GLAI), to be assimilated into crop models for crop productivity estimation. However, for most high resolution orbital optical satellites, it is often difficult to obtain images frequently due to their long revisit cycles and unfavorable weather conditions. Data fusion algorithms, such as the Spatial and Temporal Adaptive Reflectance Fusion Model (STARFM) and the Enhanced STARFM (ESTARFM), have been developed to generate synthetic data with high spatial and temporal resolution to address this issue. In this study, we evaluated the approach of assimilating GLAI into the Simple Algorithm for Yield Estimation model (SAFY) for winter wheat biomass estimation. GLAI was estimated using the two-band Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI2) derived from data acquired by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) onboard the Landsat-8 and a fusion dataset generated by blending the Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data and the OLI data using the STARFM and ESTARFM models. The fusion dataset had the temporal resolution of the MODIS data and the spatial resolution of the OLI data. Key parameters of the SAFY model were optimised through assimilation of the estimated GLAI into the crop model using the Shuffled Complex Evolution-University of Arizona (SCE-UA) algorithm. A good agreement was achieved between the estimated and field measured biomass by assimilating the GLAI derived from the OLI data (GLAI_L) alone (R² = 0.77 and RMSE = 231 g m⁻²). Assimilation of GLAI derived from the fusion dataset (GLAI_F) resulted in a R² of 0.71 and RMSE of 193 g m⁻² while assimilating the combination of GLAI_L and GLAI_F led to further improvements (R² = 0.76 and RMSE = 176 g m⁻²). Our results demonstrated the potential of using the fusion algorithms to improve crop growth monitoring and crop productivity estimation when the number of high resolution remote sensing data acquisitions is limited.     

Testing estimation of water surface in Italian rice district from MODIS satellite data

Recent changes in rice crop management within Northern Italy rice district led to a reduction of seeding in flooding condition, which may have an impact on reservoir water management and on the animal and plant communities that depend on the flooded paddies. Therefore, monitoring and quantifying the spatial and temporal variability of water presence in paddy fields is becoming important. In this study we present a method to estimate dynamics of presence of standing water (i.e. fraction of flooded area) in rice fields using MODIS data. First, we produced high resolution water presence maps from Landsat by thresholding the Normalised Difference Flood Index (NDFI) made: we made it by comparing five Landsat 8 images with field-obtained information about rice field status and water presence. Using these data we developed an empirical model to estimate the flooding fraction of each MODIS cell. Finally we validated the MODIS-based flooding maps with both Landsat and ground information. Results showed a good predictability of water surface from Landsat (OA = 92%) and a robust usability of MODIS data to predict water fraction (R² = 0.73, EF = 0.57, RMSE = 0.13 at 1 × 1 km resolution). Analysis showed that the predictive ability of the model decreases with the greening up of rice, so we used NDVI to automatically discriminate estimations for inaccurate cells in order to provide the water maps with a reliability flag. Results demonstrate that it is possible to monitor water dynamics in rice paddies using moderate resolution multispectral satellite data. The achievement is a proof of concept for the analysis of MODIS archives to investigate irrigation dynamics in the last 15 years to retrieve information for ecological and hydrological studies.     

Methodology for estimating availability of cloud-free image composites: A case study for southern Canada

Image composites are often used for earth surface phenomena studies at regional or national level. The compromise between residual clouds and the length of compositing period is a necessary corollary to the choice of satellite optical data for monitoring earth surface phenomena dynamics. This paper introduced a methodology for estimating availability of cloud-free image composites for optical sensors with various revisiting intervals, using MODIS MOD06 L2 cloud fraction product in the period of 2000–2008. The methodology starts with downscaling of the cloud fraction product to 1 km × 1 km cloud cover binary images. The binary images are then used for the exploration of spatial and temporal characteristics of cloud dynamics, and subsequently for the simulation of cloud-free composite availability with various revisiting intervals of optical sensors. Using Canada's southern provinces as an application case, the study explored several factors important for the design of environmental monitoring system using optical sensors of earth observation, in particular, cloud dynamics and its inter-annual variability, sensors’ revisiting intervals, and cloud-free threshold for targeting composites. While the cloud images used in the analysis are at 1 km × 1 km resolution, our analysis suggests that the simulated availabilities of cloud-free image composites may also provide reasonable estimates for optical sensors with higher than 1 km × 1 km resolution, though the closer to 1 km × 1 km resolution the optical sensor, the more pertinent the application. Also, the methodology can be parameterised to different temporal period and different spatial region, depending on applications.     

Integrating age in the detection and mapping of incongruous patches in coffee (Coffea arabica) plantations using multi-temporal Landsat 8 NDVI anomalies

The development of cost-effective, reliable and easy to implement crop condition monitoring methods is urgently required for perennial tree crops such as coffee (Coffea arabica), as they are grown over large areas and represent long term and higher levels of investment. These monitoring methods are useful in identifying farm areas that experience poor crop growth, pest infestation, diseases outbreaks and/or to monitor response to management interventions. This study compares field level coffee mean NDVI and LSWI anomalies and age-adjusted coffee mean NDVI and LSWI anomalies in identifying and mapping incongruous patches across perennial coffee plantations. To achieve this objective, we first derived deviation of coffee pixels from the global coffee mean NDVI and LSWI values of nine sequential Landsat 8 OLI image scenes. We then evaluated the influence of coffee age class (young, mature and old) on Landsat-scale NDVI and LSWI values using a one-way ANOVA and since results showed significant differences, we adjusted NDVI and LSWI anomalies for age-class. We then used the cumulative inverse distribution function (α ≤ 0.05) to identify fields and within field areas with excessive deviation of NDVI and LSWI from the global and the age-expected mean for each of the Landsat 8 OLI scene dates spanning three seasons. Results from accuracy assessment indicated that it was possible to separate incongruous and healthy patches using these anomalies and that using NDVI performed better than using LSWI for both global and age-adjusted mean anomalies. Using the age-adjusted anomalies performed better in separating incongruous and healthy patches than using the global mean for both NDVI (Overall accuracy = 80.9% and 68.1% respectively) and for LSWI (Overall accuracy = 68.1% and 48.9% respectively). When applied to other Landsat 8 OLI scenes, the results showed that the proportions of coffee fields that were modelled incongruent decreased with time for the young age category and while it increased for the mature and old age classes with time. We concluded that the method could be useful for the identification of anomalous patches using Landsat scale time series data to monitor large coffee plantations and provide an indication of areas requiring particular field attention.     

Using multi-polarization C- and L-band synthetic aperture radar to estimate biomass and soil moisture of wheat fields

Biomass and soil moisture are two important parameters for agricultural crop monitoring and yield estimation. In this study, the Water Cloud Model (WCM) was coupled with the Ulaby soil moisture model to estimate both biomass and soil moisture for spring wheat fields in a test site in western Canada. This study exploited both C-band (RADARSAT-2) and L-band (UAVSAR) Synthetic Aperture Radars (SARs) for this purpose. The WCM-Ulaby model was calibrated for three polarizations (HH, VV and HV). Subsequently two of these three polarizations were used as inputs to an inversion procedure, to retrieve either soil moisture or biomass without the need for any ancillary data. The model was calibrated for total canopy biomass, the biomass of only the wheat heads, as well as for different wheat growth stages. This resulted in a calibrated WCM-Ulaby model for each sensor-polarization-phenology-biomass combination. Validation of model retrievals led to promising results. RADARSAT-2 (HH-HV) estimated total wheat biomass with root mean square (RMSE) and mean average (MAE) errors of 78.834 g/m² and 58.438 g/m²; soil moisture with errors of 0.078 m³/m³ (RMSE) and 0.065 m³/m³ (MAE) are reported. During the period of crop ripening, L-band estimates of soil moisture had accuracies of 0.064 m³/m³ (RMSE) and 0.057 m³/m³ (MAE). RADARSAT-2 (VV-HV) produced interesting results for retrieval of the biomass of the wheat heads. In this particular case, the biomass of the heads was estimated with accuracies of 38.757 g/m² (RSME) and 33.152 g/m² (MAE). For wider implementation this model will require additional data to strengthen the model accuracy and confirm estimation performance. Nevertheless this study encourages further research given the importance of wheat as a global commodity, the challenge of cloud cover in optical monitoring and the potential of direct estimation of the weight of heads where wheat production lies.     

Optimising three-band spectral indices to assess aerial N concentration,N uptake and aboveground biomass of winter wheat remotely in China and Germany

Remotely and accurately quantifying the canopy nitrogen status in crops is essential for regional studies of N budgets and N balances. In this study, we optimised three-band spectral algorithms to estimate the N status of winter wheat. This study extends previous work to optimise the band combinations further and identifies the optimised central bands and suitable bandwidths of the three-band nitrogen planar domain index (NPDI) for estimating the aerial N uptake, N concentration and aboveground biomass. Analysis of the influence of bandwidth change on the accuracy of estimating the canopy N status and aboveground biomass indicated that the suitable bandwidths for optimised central bands were 37 nm at 846 nm, 13 nm at 738 nm and 57 nm at 560 nm for assessing the aerial N uptake and were 37 nm at 958 nm, 21 nm at 696 nm and 73 nm at 578 nm for the assessment of the aerial N concentration and were 49 nm at 806 nm, 17 nm at 738 nm and 57 nm at 560 nm for the estimation of aboveground biomass. The optimised three-band NPDI could consistently and stably estimate the aerial N uptake and aboveground biomass of winter wheat in the vegetative stage and the aerial N concentration in the reproductive stage compared to the fixed band combinations. With suitable bandwidths, the broadband NPDI demonstrated excellent performance in estimating the aerial N concentration, N uptake and biomass. We conclude that the band-optimised algorithm represents a promising tool to measure the improved performance of the NPDI in estimating the aerial N uptake and biomass in the vegetative stage and the aerial N concentration in the reproductive stage, which will be useful for designing improved nitrogen diagnosis systems and for enhancing the applications of ground- and satellite-based sensors.     

Synergy of in situ and space borne observation for snow depth mapping in the Swiss Alps

The Swiss Federal Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research in Davos (SLF) provides snow depth maps for Switzerland on a spatial resolution of 1 km × 1 km. These snow depth maps are derived from snow station measurements using a spatial interpolation method based on the dependency of snow depth and altitude. During a winter season the number of operating snow stations varies and the area-wide snow depth interpolation becomes increasingly difficult in spring. The objective of the study is to develop an operational and near-real time method to calculate snow depth maps using a combination of in situ snow depth measurements and the snow cover extent provided from space borne observations. The operational daily snow cover product obtained from the polar-orbiting NOAA-AVHRR satellite is used to gain an additional set of virtual snow stations to densify the in situ measurements for an improved spatial interpolation. The capacity of this method is demonstrated on selected days during winter 2005. Cross-validation tests are conducted to examine the quantitative accuracy of the synergetic interpolation method. The error estimators prove the decrease in error variance and increase of overall accuracy pointing out the high capacity of this new interpolation method that can be run in near real-time over a large horizontal domain at high horizontal resolution. A solid method for snow–no snow classification in the processing of the satellite data is essential to the quality of the snow depth maps.     

Comparative assessment of thematic accuracy of GLC maps for specific applications using existing reference data

Inputs to various applications and models, current global land cover (GLC) maps are based on different data sources and methods. Therefore, comparing GLC maps is challenging. Statistical comparison of GLC maps is further complicated by the lack of a reference dataset that is suitable for validating multiple maps. This study utilizes the existing Globcover-2005 reference dataset to compare thematic accuracies of three GLC maps for the year 2005 (Globcover, LC-CCI and MODIS). We translated and reinterpreted the LCCS (land cover classification system) classifier information of the reference dataset into the different map legends. The three maps were evaluated for a variety of applications, i.e., general circulation models, dynamic global vegetation models, agriculture assessments, carbon estimation and biodiversity assessments, using weighted accuracy assessment. Based on the impact of land cover confusions on the overall weighted accuracy of the GLC maps, we identified map improvement priorities. Overall accuracies were 70.8 ± 1.4%, 71.4 ± 1.3%, and 61.3 ± 1.5% for LC-CCI, MODIS, and Globcover, respectively. Weighted accuracy assessments produced increased overall accuracies (80–93%) since not all class confusion errors are important for specific applications. As a common denominator for all applications, the classes mixed trees, shrubs, grasses, and cropland were identified as improvement priorities. The results demonstrate the necessity of accounting for dissimilarities in the importance of map classification errors for different user application. To determine the fitness of use of GLC maps, accuracy of GLC maps should be assessed per application; there is no single-figure accuracy estimate expressing map fitness for all purposes.     

Detecting forest damage after a low-severity fire using remote sensing at multiple scales

Remote sensing technologies are an ideal platform to examine the extent and impact of fire on the landscape. In this study we assess that capacity of the RapidEye constellation and Landsat (Thematic Mapper and Operational Land Imager to map fine-scale burn attributes for a small, low severity prescribed fire in a dry Western Canadian forest. Estimates of burn severity from field data were collated into a simple burn index and correlated with a selected suite of common spectral vegetation indices. Burn severity classes were then derived to map fire impacts and estimate consumed woody surface fuels (diameter ≥2.6 cm). All correlations between the simple burn index and vegetation indices produced significant results (p < 0.01), but varied substantially in their overall accuracy. Although the Landsat Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index provided the best regression fit (R² = 0.56), results suggested that RapidEye provided much more spatially detailed estimates of tree damage (Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index, R² = 0.51). Consumption estimates of woody surface fuels ranged from 3.38 ± 1.03 Mg ha⁻¹ to 11.73 ± 1.84 Mg ha⁻¹, across four derived severity classes with uncertainties likely a result of changing foliage moisture between the before and after fire images. While not containing spectral information in the short wave infrared, the spatial variability provided by the RapidEye imagery has potential for mapping and monitoring fine scale forest attributes, as well as the potential to resolve fire damage at the individual tree level.     

Development and implementation of a multiscale biomass model using hyperspectral vegetation indices for winter wheat in the North China Plain

Crop monitoring during the growing season is important for regional management decisions and biomass prediction. The objectives of this study were to develop, improve and validate a scale independent biomass model. Field studies were conducted in Huimin County, Shandong Province of China, during the 2006–2007 growing season of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). The field design had a multiscale set-up with four levels which differed in their management, such as nitrogen fertilizer inputs and cultivars, to create different biomass conditions: small experimental fields (L1), large experimental fields (L2), small farm fields (L3), and large farm fields (L4). L4, planted with different winter wheat varieties, was managed according to farmers’ practice while L1 through L3 represented controlled field experiments. Multitemporal spectral measurements were taken in the fields, and biomass was sampled for each spectral campaign. In addition, multitemporal Hyperion data were obtained in 2006 and 2007. L1 field data were used to develop biomass models based on the relation between the winter wheat spectra and biomass: several published vegetation indices, including NRI, REP, OSAVI, TCI, and NDVI, were investigated. A new hyperspectral vegetation index, which uses a four-band combination in the NIR and SWIR domains, named GnyLi, was developed. Following the multiscale concept, the data of higher levels (L2 through L4) were used stepwise to validate and improve the models of the lower levels, and to transfer the improved models to the next level. Lastly, the models were transferred and validated at the regional scale using Hyperion images of 2006 and 2007. The results showed that the GnyLi and NRI models, which were based on the NIR and SWIR domains, performed best with R² > 0.74. All the other indices explained less than 60% model variability. Using the Hyperion data for regionalization, GnyLi and NRI explained 81–89% of the biomass variability. These results highlighted that GnyLi and NRI can be used together with hyperspectral images for both plot and regional level biomass estimation. Nevertheless, additional studies and analyses are needed to test its replicability in other environmental conditions.     

An approach of surface coal fire detection from ASTER and Landsat-8 thermal data: Jharia coal field,India

Radiant temperature images from thermal remote sensing sensors are used to delineate surface coal fires, by deriving a cut-off temperature to separate coal-fire from non-fire pixels. Temperature contrast of coal fire and background elements (rocks and vegetation etc.) controls this cut-off temperature. This contrast varies across the coal field, as it is influenced by variability of associated rock types, proportion of vegetation cover and intensity of coal fires etc. We have delineated coal fires from background, based on separation in data clusters in maximum v/s mean radiant temperature (13th band of ASTER and 10th band of Landsat-8) scatter-plot, derived using randomly distributed homogeneous pixel-blocks (9 × 9 pixels for ASTER and 27 × 27 pixels for Landsat-8), covering the entire coal bearing geological formation. It is seen that, for both the datasets, overall temperature variability of background and fires can be addressed using this regional cut-off. However, the summer time ASTER data could not delineate fire pixels for one specific mine (Bhulanbararee) as opposed to the winter time Landsat-8 data. The contrast of radiant temperature of fire and background terrain elements, specific to this mine, is different from the regional contrast of fire and background, during summer. This is due to the higher solar heating of background rocky outcrops, thus, reducing their temperature contrast with fire. The specific cut-off temperature determined for this mine, to extract this fire, differs from the regional cut-off. This is derived by reducing the pixel-block size of the temperature data. It is seen that, summer-time ASTER image is useful for fire detection but required additional processing to determine a local threshold, along with the regional threshold to capture all the fires. However, the winter Landsat-8 data was better for fire detection with a regional threshold.