A landscape shape index-based sampling approach for land cover accuracy assessment

Spatial sampling design is one of the key steps in land cover accuracy assessment, and many traditional sampling approaches may not achieve credible spatial sampling due to the high spatial heterogeneity of land cover. This paper characterizes the spatial heterogeneity with three-level LSIs and determines the subsequent sample sizes and their spatial distributions. The three-level LSIs are rLSI in a region, cLSI for each land cover class and uLSI in each geographic sampling unit in the region. The rLSIs are used to derive appropriate sample sizes in the target regions. The cLSIs are used to assure that larger sample numbers are allocated to land cover classes with higher spatial heterogeneity. The uLSIs provide useful measures for selecting optimal geographic units in which sample sites will be located. This LSI-based sampling approach can derive the sample sizes and determine their distributions in an adaptive way according to the spatial heterogeneity. An experimental case study further demonstrates that the LSI-based sampling approach obtains more appropriate sample sizes for each region, sufficient sample numbers for rare classes, and optimal sample distributions in the geographical space.     

Optimal decision-making model of spatial sampling for survey of China’s land with remotely sensed data

In the remote sensing survey of the country land, cost and accuracy are a pair of conflicts, for which spatial sampling is a preferable solution with the aim of an optimal balance between economic input and accuracy of results, or in other words, acquirement of higher accuracy at less cost. Counter to drawbacks of previous application models, e.g. lack of comprehensive and quantitativecomparison, the optimal decision-making model of spatial sampling is proposed. This model first acquires the possible accuracy-cost diagrams of multiple schemes through initial spatial exploration, then regresses them and standardizes them into a unified reference frame, and finally produces the relatively optimal sampling scheme by using the discrete decision-making function (built by this paper) and comparing them in combination with the diagrams. According to the test result in the survey of the arable land using remotely sensed data, the Sandwich model, while applied in the survey of the thin-feature and cultivated land areas with aerial photos, can better realize the goal of the best balance between investment and accuracy. With this case and other cases, it is shown that the optimal decision-making model of spatial sampling is a good choice in the survey of the farm areas using remote sensing, with its distinguished benefit of higher precision at less cost or vice versa. In order to extensively apply the model in the surveys of natural resources, including arable farm areas, this paper proposes the prototype of development using the component technology, that could considerably improve the analysis efficiency by insetting program components within the software environment of GIS and RS.     

Optimal decision-making model of spatial sampling for survey of China’s land with remotely sensed data

For a long term,in the survey of the country land areas,how to balance the conflicts between survey cost and result accuracy,or in other words,how to acquire the highest accuracy within the capital limit or vice verse,is a major problem that couldn’t have well been solved[1].Spatial sampling,aiming this,is the preferable option and the important and the first stepin the survey of geo-analysis,including the survey of the country land resource as well in that whether the sampling scheme is good …     

太湖水体遥感反演参数的空间异质性

空间异质性的存在,会导致水质参数遥感反演中的尺度效应,影响反演精度,因此通过分析水质参数空间异质性,对于选择适当分辨率的遥感影像,提高反演精度具有重要意义.通过2008年10月在太湖布置的3个样方,利用GIS地统计学原理和分形维数的方法,对水质遥感反演中的三要素浓度,包括叶绿素a(Chl.a)、总悬浮物(TSM)和溶解有机碳(DOC)的空间异质性及其可能产生的尺度效应进行了研究.结果表明:太湖水体的三要素浓度在不同样方单元中变异系数相差较大,存在着明显的尺度效应;三个样方内Chl.a变异函数曲线斜率在变程范围内变化都较为剧烈,分形维数较高,说明太湖水体Chl.a受到某种起主导作用的生态过程的影响和控制;Chl.a和TSM的空间结构比例都在90%左右,有较强的空间相关性,表明其空间异质性的产生主要是由于结构性因素引起的,随机性因素作用微弱;DOC空间结构比例较小,说明随机性因素对其空间异质性的产生起了主导作用.三个样方中Chl.a的变程分别为147.3m、129.3m和115.0m,TSM的变程分别为1131.7m、130.6m、149.1m,因此在遥感反演中可选择TM影像,选择5×5窗口,以150m×150m作为基本单元;而DOC的变程分别为34.3m、38.5m、26.4m,表明其自相关距离较小,建议直接选择分辨率为30m的TM影像,使实际测量值与遥感影像最小单元相对应,消除反演过程中的尺度效应带来的误差.该研究也表明,MODIS的像元尺寸(250、500、1000m)明显偏大,在太湖水体三要素反演过程中,由于空间异质性引起的尺度效应,会造成一定的误差.     

A New Soil Sampling Design in Coastal Saline Region Using EM38 and VQT Method

Spatial sampling design based on the variability and distribution of soil properties is an important issue with the progress in precision agriculture and soil ecology. Electromagnetic induction (type EM38) and variance quad‐tree (VQT) method were both applied to optimize the sampling scheme of soil salinity in a coastal reclamation field in north Jiangsu Province, China. Apparent soil electrical conductivity (EC_a) measured with EM38 was used as an ancillary variable and the spatial distribution of EC_a was used as priori information. The process and result of VQT algorithm analysis was illustrated and the obtained sampling strategy was validated using observed soil salinity. Then the spatial precision and sampling efficiency were evaluated. The result indicated that the spatial distribution of soil salinity produced with the VQT scheme was quite similar to that produced with total sampling sites, while sampling quantity of the former was reduced to approximately 1/2 of the latter. The spatial precision of VQT scheme was considerably higher than that of traditional grid method with respect to the same sampling number, and fewer samples were required for VQT scheme to obtain the same precision level. A 17.3% increase in sampling efficiency was achieved by VQT over grid method at the precision level of 90%. The VQT method was proved to be more efficient and economical because it can sample intensively or sparsely according to variation status in local areas. The associated application of EM38 and VQT method provides efficient tools and theoretical basis for saving sampling cost and improving sampling efficiency in coastal saline region and enriching soil ecology.     

Factors controlling the spatial variability of surface soil particles using GLMs and GAMs

According to the soil particles data, DEM elevation, slope, distance to river, distance along river, land use, and soil type for 95 typical sampling profiles along the Tarim river mainstream, the generalized linear models (GLMs) and generalized additive models (GAMs) are used to identify the spatial variability pattern of soil particles on the watershed scale and associated driving forces. The results show that the drainage basin sand, silt and clay content along the Tarim river mainstream all present moderate variability. The spatial pattern of soil particles is mainly subjected to the influence of gravity, hydrodynamic force, soil parent material and human activities. Modeling results show that the GAMs performs better than GLMs in regard to the explanation of total deviation. The contribution degree of GAMs for total deviation is 44.19 % (sand), 38.68 % (silt) and 37.46 % (clay). This major influence factors of soil particles distribution are land use, hydrodynamic force, soil type and terrain. The study has provided a way to explore aspects of spatial heterogeneity and to discover how spatial pattern controls the distribution of the soil particles.     

Modelling the impacts of spatial heterogeneity in soil hydraulic properties on hydrological process in the upper reach of the Heihe River in the Qilian Mountains,Northwest China

Spatial heterogeneity of soil has great impacts on dynamic processes of the hydrological systems. However, it is challenging and expensive to obtain spatial distribution of soil hydraulic properties, which often requires extensive soil sampling and observations and intensive laboratory analyses, especially in high elevation, hard to access mountainous areas. This study evaluates the impacts of soil heterogeneity on hydrological process in a high elevation, topographically complex watershed in Northwest China. Two approaches were used to derive the spatial heterogeneity of soil properties in the study watershed: (1) the spatial clustering method, Full‐Order‐CLK was used to determine five soil heterogeneous clusters (configurations 97, 80, 60, 40 and 20) through large number of soil sampling and in situ observations, and (2) the average values of soil hydraulic properties for each soil type were derived from the coarse provincial soil data sets (Gansu Soil Handbook at 1 : 1 000 000 scale). Subsequently, Soil and Water Assessment Tool model was used to quantify the impact of the spatial heterogeneity of soil hydraulic properties on hydrological process in the study watershed. Results show the simulations by Soil and Water Assessment Tool with the spatially clustered soil hydraulic information from the field sampling data had much better representation of the soil heterogeneity and had more accurate performance than the model using the average soil property values for each soil type derived from the coarse soil data sets. Thus, incorporating detailed field sampling, soil heterogeneity data greatly improve performance in hydrological modelling. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Some experience in unraveling geochemical earthquake precursors

The discrimination of significant earthquake precursors from background noise is treated as a multistep problem of pattern recognition. Statistical characteristics of helium-content recorded in short time intervals are used as informative parameters. The set of calculated characteristics includes estimations of the mean, the variance, and the results of spectral analysis of the investigated time series. The selection of significant parameters and the rigorous estimations of time shifts between geochemical and seismic series are carried out by analyzing their cross-covariance function. It is established that the most informative characteristics of a hydrothermal system are related to the dynamic fluctuations of the geochemical parameters. The final phase of prediction is based on the application of a method of statistical discovery of images. A method of earthquake-time prediction is suggested. By using this method, we may determine the 10-day interval during which an earthquake may occur two months in advance. The prediction may be improved by increasing the frequency of sampling and by improving the precision of analytical measurements, both of which can be achieved by automation of monitoring devices. Deployment of uniform monitoring networks is needed in regions designated for special prediction tasks.     

Integrated spatial sampling modeling of geospatial data

Sampling is to, by efficient selection of samples, acquire the accurate information about the population (the research object) at less cost. Spatial sampling is a kind of sampling toward geospatial objects or features with spatial correlation. The differences between effi-cient sampling and completely universal survey lie in quality, time and cost. Sampling provides a kind of economical, prompt and accurate survey[13]. Efficient spatial sampling can be regarded as the optimization of the sampl…     

Simulation of eutrophication and associated occurrence of hypoxic and anoxic condition in a coastal bay in Japan

A probabilistic method of calculating the occurrence of oxygen-depleted water within a combined hydrothermal and water quality model was presented in this paper to investigate the environmental impact of eutrophication on the living resources. The method was applied to an eutrophicated shallow coastal bay in western Japan, where the occurrence of red tides at the water surface and the onset of bottom hypoxic waters are observed every summer. Both meteorology and freshwater inflow contribute to the development of stratification of the bay, thus limiting the dissolved oxygen supply to bottom waters. The resulting hydrodynamics enhances the development of oxygen-depleted bottom waters by transporting organic matter produced by algal blooms to the inner bay, where it decomposes and exerts high SOD. During August, about 60% of the inner bay is hypoxic for prolonged durations and as a result most of the benthic biota and fish die. The method used here is a very useful and informative way to evaluate the spatial and temporal damage and severity caused by hypoxia on living resources. Moreover, the model results agreed very well with the observed hydrodynamics, thermal structure and water quality data of the stratified bay. The model can be used for other lakes and bays where knowledge of temperature and density stratification is important for assessing water quality.     

Effects of sampling effort on the estimation of spatial gradients in a tropical reservoir impacted by an oil refinery

We investigated the effects of increase in sampling effort (30-1043 sampling points) on the accuracy of assessment of the spatial patterns of surface-water quality in a eutrophic tropical reservoir. The investigation was carried out during the dry season, when previous investigations showed that the spatial heterogeneity is more stable. A multi-parameter Yellow Springs Instruments probe coupled to a TechGeo D-GPS was used. This system is equipped to measure and store in a continuous recording mode, several physical and chemical parameters linked to geographical coordinates obtained with a precision of less than 1 m. We used different geostatistical approaches to determine the optimal number of sampling points required to reflect the real spatial patterns of water quality in the system. This approach was tested in a small tropical reservoir (Ibirité) that receives effluents from an oil refinery (the state-owned REGAP oil refinery, PETROBRAS) located near the city of Belo Horizonte. The study showed not only that the spatial patterns of water quality are significantly affected by sampling effort but also it was demonstrated that the establishment of an adequate sampling program is a critical point for the precise identification of source points of pollution. The results of this investigation enabled us to demonstrate the potential uses and limits of this method for rapid assessment of the water quality of lakes and reservoirs that receive external inputs of water contaminants or nutrients.     

A case study of spatial heterogeneity of soil moisture in the Loess Plateau, western China： A geostatistical approach

Soil moisture distribution shows highly variation both spatially and temporally. This study assesses the spatial heterogeneity of soil moisture on a hill-slope scale in the Loess Plateau in West China by using a geostatistical approach. Soil moisture was measured by time-domain reflectometry （TDR） in 313 samples. Two kinds of sampling scales were used （2 × 2 m and 20 ×20 m） at two soil layers （0-30 cm and 30-60 cm）. The general characteristics of soil moisture were analyzed by a classical statistics method, and the spatial heterogeneity of soil moisture was analyzed using a geostatistical approach. The results showed that the spherical model is the best-fit model to simulate soil moisture on the experimental hill-slope. The parameters of this model indicated that the spatial dependence of soil moisture in the selected hill-slope was moderate. Even the 2 × 2 m sampling scale was too coarse to show the detailed spatial variances of soil moisture in this area. The dependent distance increased from 27.4 m to 494.16 m as the sampling scale became coarse （from 2× 2 m to 20 ×20 m）. A map of soil moisture was generated by using original soil moisture data and interpolated values determined by the Kriging method. The average soil moisture （area weighted） in the different layers of soil was calculated on the basis of this map （10.94% for the 0-30 cm soil layer, 11.88% for the 30-60 cm soil layer）. This average soil moisture is lower than the corresponding average effective soil moisture, which suggests that the soil moisture is not sufficient to support vegetation in this area.     

Use of variograms for field magnetometry analysis in Upper Silesia Industrial Region

Measurements of topsoil magnetic susceptibility are often used for quick assessment of soil contamination of anthropogenic origin, with heavy metals or other pollutants. However, because of complicated correlations between low-field magnetic susceptibility (shortened to magnetic susceptibility) of topsoil and soil pollution, the outcome of a field magnetometry survey can not be related directly to soil pollution. For each case study, the results should be interpreted on their own taking into account not only the type of pollution but also pedogenic, biogenic and environmental factors. In practice, it is very difficult to measure and consider all these factors. Here we illustrate the merit of geostatistical methods, which are focused on the spatial variability of a phenomenon, in the interpretation of soil magnetometry results. This article presents the analysis of spatial variability of top soil layers magnetic susceptibility-within the Upper Silesia Industrial Region (USIR)-using semivariance analysis. It also explains how to adjust the sampling density of field magnetometry measurements to spatial variability of the soil pollution as well as to the spatial scale of the investigated area. For this purpose, the values of magnetic susceptibility have been measured by using various sampling densities at areas of different size located within USIR. This enabled to determine the main scales of magnetic susceptibility spatial variability of soils within USIR using semivariance. A few distinct scales of variability were found from the site scale to a more regional scale. Variability ranges of 30 km, 12 km, and 5 km refer to the large regional scale, whereas smaller ranges of few hundreds down to a few tens of meters, can be attributed to the local (site) scale. In addition, the precision of the measuring campaigns, performed within USIR with different sampling densities, was compared through the analysis of the spatial variability of the soil magnetic susceptibility signal by using ordinary kriging. jarek97@yahoo.com, piotr.fabijanczyk@is.pw.edu.pl     

Characterization of field scale soil variability using remotely and proximally sensed data and response surface method

Soil salinization of the reclaimed tidelands is problematic. Therefore, there is a need to characterize the spatial variability of soil salinity associated with soil moisture and other soil properties across the reclaimed tidelands. One approach is the use of easily-acquired ancillary data as surrogates for the arduous conventional soil sampling. In a reclaimed coastal tideland in the south of Hangzhou Gulf, backscattering coefficient (σ⁰) from remotely sensed ALOS/PALSAR radar imagery (HH polarization mode) and apparent soil electrical conductivity (ECa) from a proximally sensed EM38 were used to indicate the spatial distribution of soil moisture and salinity, respectively. After that, response surface methodology (RSM) was employed to determine an optimal set of 12 soil samples using spatially referenced σ⁰ and ECa data. Spatial distributions of three soil chemical properties [i.e. soil organic matter (SOM), available nitrogen (AN), and available potassium (AK)] were predicted using inverse distance weighted method based on the 12 samples and were then compared with the predictions generated using 42 samples obtained from a conventional grid sampling scheme. It was concluded that combination of radar imagery and EM induction data can delineate the spatial variability of two key soil properties (i.e. moisture and salinity) across the study area. Besides, RSM-based sampling using radar imagery and EM induction data was highly effective in characterizing the spatial variability of SOM, AN and AK, compared with the conventional grid sampling. This new approach may be used to assist site specific management in precision agriculture.     

Contributing sources to baseflow in pre‐alpine headwaters using spatial snapshot sampling

Mountainous headwaters consist of different landscape units including forests, meadows and wetlands. In these headwaters it is unclear which landscape units contribute what percentage to baseflow. In this study, we analysed spatiotemporal differences in baseflow isotope and hydrochemistry to identify catchment‐scale runoff contribution. Three baseflow snapshot sampling campaigns were performed in the Swiss pre‐alpine headwater catchment of the Zwäckentobel (4.25 km²) and six of its adjacent subcatchments. The spatial and temporal variability of δ²H, Ca, DOC, AT, pH, SO₄, Mg and H₄SiO₄ of streamflow, groundwater and spring water samples was analysed and related to catchment area and wetland percentage using bivariate and multivariate methods. Our study found that in the six subcatchments, with variable arrangements of landscape units, the inter‐ and intra catchment variability of isotopic and hydrochemical compositions was small and generally not significant. Stream samples were distinctly different from shallow groundwater. An upper spring zone located near the water divide above 1,400 m and a larger wetland were identified by their distinct spatial isotopic and hydrochemical composition. The upstream wetland percentage was not correlated to the hydrochemical streamflow composition, suggesting that wetlands were less connected and act as passive features with a negligible contribution to baseflow runoff. The isotopic and hydrochemical composition of baseflow changed slightly from the upper spring zone towards the subcatchment outlets and corresponded to the signature of deep groundwater. Our results confirm the need and benefits of spatially distributed snapshot sampling to derive process understanding of heterogeneous headwaters during baseflow. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

高密度空间采样地震数据特点分析

中国陆相沉积盆地的地质结构复杂,储层岩性的多变,需要有高精度的勘探方法。高密度空间采样是提高地震勘探精度的一项新技术。本文简要说明了点激发和点接收技术,分析高密度空间采样的野外工作方法,介绍了Gijs j．o．Vermeer提出的对称采样原理,从波场连续性的角度探讨了高密度空间采样技术。重点分析高密度空间采样数据的特点, 即:高密集的初至波有利于近地表结构的调查,可提高静校正的精度;小偏移距、小点距接收增加了浅层的有效覆盖次数,提高浅层反射的成像精度; 对规则噪声可实现无假频采样,室内的噪声分析和噪声压制的精度随着提高;高密度采集使波场连续性增强,使得各种数学变换的精度提高,有利于不同波场的分离。最后指出高密度空间采样地震勘探技术的难点在于室内数据处理,针对海量数据的分析和处理方法还需要进行深入细致的研究工作。     

Eutrophication and retention time affecting spatial heterogeneity in a tropical reservoir

Longitudinal heterogeneity in reservoirs is especially related to increase in sedimentation and water transparency along the river/dam axis. Consequently, primary production tends to reach higher values in intermediate regions where there is a balance between the availability of the main resources (light and nutrients) suitable for phytoplankton growth. Many factors such as reservoir morphometry, retention time, thermal stratification and geographical location can affect the boundaries between these regions. The tropical Funil Reservoir (Brazil), despite a low retention time, has experienced severe eutrophication in recent decades, with persistent cyanobacteria blooms. During the course of 1 year, samples were collected at four stations along the reservoir (fluvial, intermediate and lentic compartments) to evaluate if spatial heterogeneity could affect the occurrence and distribution of these blooms along the reservoir. Although the reservoir has a short annual retention time (mean 41.5 days), the typical zonation pattern was observed for the main abiotic variables and phytoplankton abundance. However, higher biomass occurred in the lentic compartment rather than in the intermediate zone. Despite the peculiar heterogeneity in total biomass, the phytoplankton composition and seasonal variability were very similar along the entire reservoir, with a few marked differences only in the fluvial zone. Phytoplankton total biomass in Funil Reservoir was high, even in periods of lower seasonal retention time (around 15 days), and was especially related to high input of nutrients. Moreover, retention time directly affects the spatial heterogeneity of phytoplankton biomass, since strong variability was only observed during the cold-dry season, corresponding to periods of longer retention time (around 80 days). While high availability of nutrients promoted high cyanobacterial biomass in the entire system, the few periods of heterogeneous spatiality seemed to be related to changes in retention time.     

Imaging Pathways in Fractured Rock Using Three‐Dimensional Electrical Resistivity Tomography

Major challenges exist in delineating bedrock fracture zones because these cause abrupt changes in geological and hydrogeological properties over small distances. Borehole observations cannot sufficiently capture heterogeneity in these systems. Geophysical techniques offer the potential to image properties and processes in between boreholes. We used three‐dimensional cross borehole electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) in a 9 m (diameter) × 15 m well field to capture high‐resolution flow and transport processes in a fractured mudstone contaminated by chlorinated solvents, primarily trichloroethylene. Conductive (sodium bromide) and resistive (deionized water) injections were monitored in seven boreholes. Electrode arrays with isolation packers and fluid sampling ports were designed to enable acquisition of ERT measurements during pulsed tracer injections. Fracture zone locations and hydraulic pathways inferred from hydraulic head drawdown data were compared with electrical conductivity distributions from ERT measurements. Static ERT imaging has limited resolution to decipher individual fractures; however, these images showed alternating conductive and resistive zones, consistent with alternating laminated and massive mudstone units at the site. Tracer evolution and migration was clearly revealed in time‐lapse ERT images and supported by in situ borehole vertical apparent conductivity profiles collected during the pulsed tracer test. While water samples provided important local information at the extraction borehole, ERT delineated tracer migration over spatial scales capturing the primary hydrogeological heterogeneity controlling flow and transport. The fate of these tracer injections at this scale could not have been quantified using borehole logging and/or borehole sampling methods alone.     

Geospatial-temporal analysis of land-use changes in the Yellow River Delta during the last 40 years

Research on land use/land cover changes (LUCC)has been the core project of the Global EnvironmentalChanges since the 1990s[1—6]. Scientists at home andabroad have been laying emphasis on integrationstudies on land-use change by “space and process”features[7—10] as researches on LUCC are in a greatdeal. It is of paramount important for us to studyLUCC at various spatial-temporal scales and build aquantitative assessment of land-use conversion by in-tegrated spatial-temporal features. …     

Validation of soft bottom benthic habitats identified by single-beam acoustics

Acoustic diversity charts were produced for a Portuguese soft bottom mid-shelf area, depth from 30 to 90 m, using a single-beam echo sounder coupled to the acoustic systems QTC VIEW Series IV and V. A similar acoustic pattern was identified by both systems, which, after ground-truth interpretation based in available sediment and biological data, established a preliminary spatial distribution model of the benthic habitats in this coastal area. However, some of the acoustic areas were interpreted using one or very few sediment and benthic samples. A specific validation survey was conducted a posteriori, in which the positioning of the sediment and benthic community sampling sites was based on the acoustic diversity previously identified. The results clearly confirm the benthic habitats distribution model suggested by the acoustic method, indicating a high potential for the use of such approach in the identification and mapping of large-scale soft bottom coastal shelf habitat diversity.