Mapping impervious surfaces with the integrated use of Landsat Thematic Mapper and radar data: A case study in an urban–rural landscape in the Brazilian Amazon

This research explored the integrated use of Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) and radar (i.e., ALOS PALSAR L-band and RADARSAT-2 C-band) data for mapping impervious surface distribution to examine the roles of radar data with different spatial resolutions and wavelengths. The wavelet-merging technique was used to merge TM and radar data to generate a new dataset. A constrained least-squares solution was used to unmix TM multispectral data and multisensor fusion images to four fraction images (high-albedo, low-albedo, vegetation, and soil). The impervious surface image was then extracted from the high-albedo and low-albedo fraction images. QuickBird imagery was used to develop an impervious surface image for use as reference data to evaluate the results from TM and fusion images. This research indicated that increasing spatial resolution by multisensor fusion improved spatial patterns of impervious surface distribution, but cannot significantly improve the statistical area accuracy. This research also indicated that the fusion image with 10-m spatial resolution was suitable for mapping impervious surface spatial distribution, but TM multispectral image with 30 m was too coarse in a complex urban–rural landscape. On the other hand, this research showed that no significant difference in improving impervious surface mapping performance by using either PALSAR L-band or RADARSAT C-band data with the same spatial resolution when they were used for multi-sensor fusion with the wavelet-based method.     

Radar speckle reduction and derived texture measures for land cover/use classification: a case study

This study examined the appropriateness of radar speckle reduction for deriving texture measures for land cover/use classifications. Radarsat-2 C-band quad-polarised data were obtained for Washington, DC, USA. Polarisation signatures were extracted for multiple image components, classified with a maximum-likelihood decision rule and thematic accuracies determined. Initial classifications using original and despeckled scenes showed despeckled radar to have better overall thematic accuracies. However, when variance texture measures were extracted for several window sizes from the original and despeckled imagery and classified, the accuracy for the radar data was decreased when despeckled prior to texture extraction. The highest classification accuracy obtained for the extracted variance texture measure from the original radar was 72%, which was reduced to 69% when this measure was extracted from a 5 × 5 despeckled image. These results suggest that it may be better to use despeckled radar as original data and extract texture measures from the original imagery.     

Ocean Internal Wave Observations Using Space Shuttle and Satellite Imagery

Abstract

Space shuttle photographs and satellite radar (SAR) images provide an excellent view of high‐contrast ocean features such as internal waves, fronts, eddies, oil slicks, and cloud patterns which contain the signatures of atmospheric processes. Since ocean internal waves generate local currents which modulate surface wavelets and slicks, we have been able to detect packets of internal waves in space shuttle photographs and radar imagery of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. A global database on internal waves has been developed at our center with support from ONR and NASA, and is accessible on the Internet. The database includes visible and radar imagery. To test the database, digitally orthorectified images were used for dynamic and statistical analysis of internal waves. In the deep ocean we found the wavelength distribution to be Gaussian while in the coastal ocean it is Rayleigh. Results have also been applied to non‐linear evolution studies of ocean internal waves, atmospheric solitary waves and to estimate ocean currents.     

反射率因子和径向速度共同约束反演多普勒雷达风场

多普勒雷达可以提供降水回波区的风场信息。为了充分运用雷达资料分析中小尺度天气过程,本文假设反射率因子在短时间内的运动满足拉格朗日守恒,提出了采用连续两次的反射率因子回波和径向速度数据共同约束的方法来反演风场,在反演过程中避免了对径向速度的分布进行假设。针对连续两个时次之间反射率回波运动中产生的不同程度的误差做了模拟风场试验,结果表明,当回波运动随机误差不超过40%时,反演结果较为可靠。另外,本文还利用此风场反演方法进行两次中尺度天气过程的实例分析。结果表明,该方法反演的风场与实际风场结构相符,具有一定的应用价值。     

Integration of Remote Sensing and GIS to Detect Pockets of Urban Poverty: The Case of Rosario, Argentina

The advent of high spatial resolution, multispectral satellite imagery has allowed analysis of remotely sensed images of urban land cover to become more useful to urban planning and decision making than in the past. The addition of radar imagery at relatively high spatial resolution (6 metres at best), with the advantages that it is not affected by cloud and diurnal light conditions and that it is sensitive to the target's geometric shape, surface roughness and moisture content offers additional capability in this regard. This paper incorporates analysis of Canadian RADARSAT-1 and American Landsat TM satellite imagery and ground-based GIS data to identify known pockets of urban poverty. Poverty is defined, based on a limited number of census variables related to dwelling construction materials and per household overcrowding. The objective is to provide a proof of concept that remote sensing data, especially from synthetic aperture radar, and ground-based GIS data can be successfully integrated for urban planning purposes. The results suggest that the approach used is reasonable and that, with future refinement, it offers planners and decision makers a timely and cost effective means to locate and monitor poverty pockets in urban areas. This is especially important in large, rapidly urbanising areas in the developing world.     

Identifying damage caused by the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake from VHR remote sensing data

Abstract

The paper discusses the potential of very high resolution (VHR) satellite imagery for post-earthquake damage assessment in comparison with the role of aerial photographs. Post-disaster optical and radar satellite data are assessed for their ability to resolve collapsed buildings, destroyed transportation infrastructure, and specific land cover changes. Optical VHR imagery has shown to be effective in quantifying building stock and for assessing damage at the building level. High-resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery requires further research to identify optimum information extraction procedures for rapid assessment of affected buildings. Based on current technical and operational capabilities increasing efforts should be devoted to the generation of spatial datasets for disaster preparedness.     

Impact of accounting for coloured noise in radar altimetry data on a regional quasi-geoid model

We study the impact of an accurate computation and incorporation of coloured noise in radar altimeter data when computing a regional quasi-geoid model using least-squares techniques. Our test area comprises the Southern North Sea including the Netherlands, Belgium, and parts of France, Germany, and the UK. We perform the study by modelling the disturbing potential with spherical radial base functions. To that end, we use the traditional remove-compute-restore procedure with a recent GRACE/GOCE static gravity field model. Apart from radar altimeter data, we use terrestrial, airborne, and shipboard gravity data. Radar altimeter sea surface heights are corrected for the instantaneous dynamic topography and used in the form of along-track quasi-geoid height differences. Noise in these data are estimated using repeat-track and post-fit residual analysis techniques and then modelled as an auto regressive moving average process. Quasi-geoid models are computed with and without taking the modelled coloured noise into account. The difference between them is used as a measure of the impact of coloured noise in radar altimeter along-track quasi-geoid height differences on the estimated quasi-geoid model. The impact strongly depends on the availability of shipboard gravity data. If no such data are available, the impact may attain values exceeding 10 centimetres in particular areas. In case shipboard gravity data are used, the impact is reduced, though it still attains values of several centimetres. We use geometric quasi-geoid heights from GPS/levelling data at height markers as control data to analyse the quality of the quasi-geoid models. The quasi-geoid model computed using a model of the coloured noise in radar altimeter along-track quasi-geoid height differences shows in some areas a significant improvement over a model that assumes white noise in these data. However, the interpretation in other areas remains a challenge due to the limited quality of the control data.     

基于TM/ETM和DEM数据的BRDF特征提取

巴丹吉林沙漠地区地物类型单一,地形起伏,形成了天然的二向反射数据集;因此,本研究利用巴丹吉林沙漠地区的ASTER GDEM产品提供的地面高程数据,计算出每个坡元所对应的太阳-观测几何信息(包括太阳天顶角与方位角和观测天顶角与方位角),假设沙丘上每个坡元的表面结构不随其坡度和坡向变化,加上Landsat-TM/ETM+对地观测的信息,就形成了对同一地物的多角度观测数据集,从而可以提取该地区的BRDF特征。为了检验该方法,利用该方法获取的BRDF特征信息模拟了25景Landsat-TM/ETM+数据,并与实际的Landsat-TM/ETM+图像进行对比分析。结果表明, Landsat-TM/ETM+前4个波段的模拟图像与真实图像地表平均反射率相比,平均误差分别为2.80%、1.92%、2.68%和2.32%,高于一般辐射定标中5%—7%的误差要求,因此本研究方法可为高分辨率数据的交叉辐射定标等应用提供参考。     

Recovery of Bennu’s orientation for the OSIRIS-REx mission: implications for the spin state accuracy and geolocation errors

The goal of the OSIRIS-REx mission is to return a sample of asteroid material from near-Earth asteroid (101955) Bennu. The role of the navigation and flight dynamics team is critical for the spacecraft to execute a precisely planned sampling maneuver over a specifically selected landing site. In particular, the orientation of Bennu needs to be recovered with good accuracy during orbital operations to contribute as small an error as possible to the landing error budget. Although Bennu is well characterized from Earth-based radar observations, its orientation dynamics are not sufficiently known to exclude the presence of a small wobble. To better understand this contingency and evaluate how well the orientation can be recovered in the presence of a large 1\(^{\circ }\) wobble, we conduct a comprehensive simulation with the NASA GSFC GEODYN orbit determination and geodetic parameter estimation software. We describe the dynamic orientation modeling implemented in GEODYN in support of OSIRIS-REx operations and show how both altimetry and imagery data can be used as either undifferenced (landmark, direct altimetry) or differenced (image crossover, altimetry crossover) measurements. We find that these two different types of data contribute differently to the recovery of instrument pointing or planetary orientation. When upweighted, the absolute measurements help reduce the geolocation errors, despite poorer astrometric (inertial) performance. We find that with no wobble present, all the geolocation requirements are met. While the presence of a large wobble is detrimental, the recovery is still reliable thanks to the combined use of altimetry and imagery data.     

Multi-sensor Space-Borne Earth Observation Data for Characterizing Fluvial-Geomorphic Provinces: A Case Study from Kosi River,India

The dynamism of geomorphic provinces in fluvial systems present considerable ambiguities in mapping by remote sensing. This necessitates use of multiple satellite data to characterize such depositional provinces. We use, an integrated dataset to characterize the geomorphic provinces (e.g. active flood plain, older food plain, fan etc.) of the Kosi River (Bihar), India. This is done using contrast in spectral signatures derived from multispectral bands (of IRS-P6 LISS III), radiant temperature (from ETM+) and radar-roughness (from radar brightness image RISAT-1). ASTER DEM has been used in deriving topographic profiles. The optical imagery, enables regional characterization through direct tonal changes (e.g. active flood plain is brighter than older flood plain). The radiant temperatures show variations across provinces. Geomorphic transitions are represented by topographic breaks. Radar backscatter imagery, show differences in radar-return from different sub-provinces. Observations made using specific sensor characterize each provinces and is supplementary/complimentary to the parameter(s) from other sensors.     

一种改进的CFAR船只探测方法

提出了一种改进的CFAR船只探测算法。该方法采用PNN模型来估计海面雷达后向散射的概率分布模型,利用CFAR技术来确定整体阈值,采用基于交叉验证技术的黄金分割搜索法估算高斯分布的形状参数,使用区域生长法去除虚警。使用Radarsat图像对该方法进行了检验,并与改进前的算法进行了比较,结果显示该文的探测算法在探测精度和探测速度上均明显优于改进前的算法。     

An evaluation of Radarsat-2 individual and combined image dates for land use/cover mapping

Various land use/cover types exhibit seasonal characteristics which can be captured in remotely sensed imagery. This study examined how different seasons of Radarsat-2 data influence land use/cover classification accuracies for two study sites. Two dates of Radarsat-2 C-band quad-polarised images were obtained for Washington, DC, USA and Wad Madani, Sudan. Spectral signatures were extracted and used with a maximum likelihood decision rule for classification and thematic accuracies were then determined. Both despeckled radar and derived texture measures were examined. Thematic accuracies for the two despeckled image dates were similar with a difference of 3% for Washington and 6% for Sudan. Merging the despeckled images for both seasons increased overall accuracy by 2% for Washington and 9% for Sudan. Further combining the original radar for both seasons with derived texture measures increased overall accuracies by 9% for Washington and 16% for Sudan for final overall accuracy values of 73 and 82%.     

A Low-Power High-Resolution Broad-Band Radar Using a Pulse Compression Technique for Meteorological Application

A new high-resolution Ku-band Doppler radar for meteorological applications has been developed. With the new system design, the radar can accurately measure the radar reflectivity factor with 4-m resolution over a range from 40 m to several kilometers for 100-mW power using a pulse compression technique. Details of the system design, signal processing algorithm, and data acquisition procedures are described. To demonstrate the accuracy of the system, the radar reflectivity measurements are compared with the Joss-Waldvogel disdrometer measurements, and fairly good agreement is shown. The ability of the system to capture the backscattered signal and Doppler spectrum from rain volume at low altitude with high resolution is demonstrated for both convective- and stratiform-type rain events.     

Sentinel-1 observations of the 2016 Menyuan earthquake: A buried reverse event linked to the left-lateral Haiyuan fault

Knowledge on the interaction of active structures is essential to understand mechanics of continental deformation and estimate the earthquake potential in complex tectonic settings. Here we use Sentinel-1A radar imagery to investigate coseismic deformation associated with the 2016 Menyuan (Qinghai) earthquake, which occurred in the vicinity of the left-lateral Haiyuan fault. The ascending and descending interferograms indicate thrust-dominated slip, with the maximum line-of-sight displacements of 58 and 68 mm, respectively. The InSAR observations fit well with the uniform-slip dislocation models except for a larger slip-to-width ratio than that predicted by the empirical scaling law. We suggest that geometric complexities near the Leng Long Ling restraining bend confine rupture propagation, resulting in high slip occurred within a small area and much higher stress drop than global estimates. Although InSAR observations cannot distinguish the primary plane, we prefer the west-dipping solution considering aftershocks distribution and the general tectonic context. Both InSAR modelling and aftershock locations indicate that the rupture plane linked to the Haiyuan fault at 10 km depth, a typical seismogenic depth in Tibet. We suggest that the earthquake more likely occurred on a secondary branch at a restraining bend of the Haiyuan fault, even though we cannot completely rule out the possibility of it being on a splay of the North Qilian Shan thrusts.     

Toward accountable land use mapping: Using geocomputation to improve classification accuracy and reveal uncertainty

The classification of satellite imagery into land use/cover maps is a major challenge in the field of remote sensing. This research aimed at improving the classification accuracy while also revealing uncertain areas by employing a geocomputational approach. We computed numerous land use maps by considering both image texture and band ratio information in the classification procedure. For each land use class, those classifications with the highest class-accuracy were selected and combined into class-probability maps. By selecting the land use class with highest probability for each pixel, we created a hard classification. We stored the corresponding class probabilities in a separate map, indicating the spatial uncertainty in the hard classification. By combining the uncertainty map and the hard classification we created a probability-based land use map, containing spatial estimates of the uncertainty. The technique was tested for both ASTER and Landsat 5 satellite imagery of Gorizia, Italy, and resulted in a 34% and 31% increase, respectively, in the kappa coefficient of classification accuracy. We believe that geocomputational classification methods can be used generally to improve land use and land cover classification from imagery, and to help incorporate classification uncertainty into the resultant map themes.     

Airborne SAR and Landsat MSS as complementary information source for geological hazard mapping

A comparative study has been made of the usefulness of Landsat and airborne radar images. The study area is situated in the Middle Magdalena Valley of Colombia. It consists of a folded sedimentary sequence of Upper Cretaceous to Lower Tertiary rocks, partially covered by extensive volcanic lahar and alluvial fan material.To obtain the full benefit of the spectral information from Landsat and the textual and pattern information from radar, a combined image was produced using the hue and saturation information from Landsat data and the intensity values from radar data.A clear differentiation between old lahar deposits and the recent one caused by the Nevada del Ruiz eruption of 1985 was possible on SAR images. The synergistic radar imagery, particularly used in stereo, is very useful for prediction of future lahar routes and volcanic risk evaluation.     

Landcover Classification in the Taieri River Catchment,New Zealand: A Focus on the Riparian Zone

Abstract

Riparian vegetation has a fundamental influence on the biological, chemical and physical nature of rivers. The quantification of riparian landcover is now recognised as being essential to the holistic study of the ecosystem characteristics of rivers. Medium resolution satellite imagery is now commonly used as an efficient and cost effective method for mapping vegetation cover; however such data often lack the resolution to provide accurate information about vegetation cover within riparian corridors. To assess this, we measure the accuracy of SPOT multispectral satellite imagery for classification of riparian vegetation along the Taieri River in New Zealand. In this paper, we discuss different sampling strategies for the classification of riparian zones. We conclude that SPOT multispectral imagery requires considerable interpretative analysis before being adequate to produce sufficiently detailed maps of riparian vegetation required for use in stream ecological research.     

High-Resolution Forecast Models of Water Vapor Over Mountains: Comparison With MERIS and Meteosat Data

Propagation delay due to variable tropospheric water vapor (WV) is one of the most intractable problems for radar interferometry, particularly over mountains. The WV field can be simulated by an atmospheric model, and the difference between the two fields is used to correct the radar interferogram. Here, we report our use of the U.K. Met Office Unified Model in a nested mode to produce high-resolution forecast fields for the 3-km-high Mount Etna volcano. The simulated precipitable-water field is validated against that retrieved from the Medium-Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) radiometer on the Envisat satellite, which has a resolution of 300 m. Two case studies, one from winter (November 24, 2004) and one from summer (June 25, 2005), show that the mismatch between the model and the MERIS fields ( rms = 1.1 and 1.6 mm, respectively) is small. One of the main potential sources of error in the models is the timing of the WV field simulation. We show that long-wavelength upper tropospheric troughs of low WV could be identified in both the model output and Meteosat WV imagery for the November 24, 2004 case and used to choose the best time of model output.     

Synergistic use of RADARSAT-2 Ultra Fine and Fine Quad-Pol data to map oilsands infrastructure land: Object-based approach

The landscape of Alberta’s oilsands regions is undergoing extensive change due to the creation of infrastructure associated with the exploration for and extraction of this resource. Since most oil sands mining activities take place in remote forests or wetlands, one of the challenges is to collect up-to date and reliable information about the current state of land. Compared to optical sensors, SAR sensors have the advantage of being able to routinely collect imagery for timely monitoring by regulatory agencies. This paper explores the capability of high resolution RADARSAT-2 Ultra Fine and Fine Quad-Pol imagery for mapping oilsands infrastructure land using an object-based classification approach. Texture measurements extracted from Ultra Fine data are used to support an Ultra Fine based classification. Moreover, a radar vegetation index (RVI) calculated from PolSAR data is introduced for improved classification performance. The RVI is helpful in reducing confusion between infrastructure land and low vegetation covered surfaces. When Ultra Fine and PolSAR data are used in combination, the kappa value of well pads and processing facilities detection reached 0.87. In this study, we also found that core hole sites can be identified from early spring Ultra Fine data. With single-date image, kappa value of core hole sites ranged from 0.61 to 0.69.     

SOME ASPECTS OF PHOTOGRAPHY IN AIRBORNE SENSING

The paper discusses aspects of air photography and electronic processes which produce imagery by infra-red radiation and by radar waves. After preliminary comments on lenses, laboratory techniques and colour photography, the author indicates certain advantages in simultaneous photography using black and white, infra-red and colour films. Moreover, information is given on simultaneous photography by satellite and the paper terminates with a resume of methods that are used to obtain imagery by infra-red radiation and by radar.