On Urban Heat Island of Beijng Based on Landsat TM Data

IntroductionThe scientists have begun to retrieve land sur-face temperature (LST) fromsatellite data sincethe launch of TIROS-Ⅱin 60s of the 20th centu-ry . With the development of remote sensingtechnology and its application, more and moreLST retrieval …     

Analysis of Trophic State Index of Nainital Lake from Landsat −7 ETM Data

Trophic State Index (TSI) of Nainital lake has been determined using secchi disk transparency as well as using Landsat 7 ETM bands. The insitu water quality parameters like pH and dissolved oxygen (DO) have been measured using multiparameter water quality instrument TROLL 9500. Various interpolation techniques have been tested and the best one has been applied to prepare the water quality images of Nainital lake. The analysis of Landsat images have shown that the lake water is in eutrophic condition from the year 2000 to 2010. However, the trophic state index values are found to be relatively less during the year 2006 to 2008. This may be due to the lake restoration programmes undertaken by the Lake Development Authorities.     

Verification of Net Primary Production Estimation Method in the Mongolian Plateau Using Landsat ETM＋ Data

We plan to estimate global net primary production (NPP) of vegetation using the Advanced Earth Observing Satellite-Ⅱ (ADEOS-Ⅱ) Global Imager (GLI) multi-spectral data. We derive an NPP estimation algorithm from ground measurement data on temperate plants in Japan. By the algorithm, we estimate NPP using a vegetation index based on pattern decomposition (VIPD) for the Mongolian Plateau. The VIPD is derived from Landsat ETM multi-spectral data, and the resulting NPP estimation is compared with ground data measured in a semi-arid area of Mongolia. The NPP estimation derived from satellite remote sensing data agrees with the ground measurement data within the error range of 15% when all above-ground vegetation NPP is calculated for different vegetation classifications.     

Using Landsat Thematic Mapper records to map land cover change and the impacts of reforestation programmes in the borderlands of southeast Yunnan,China: 1990–2010

At the beginning of the new millennium, after a severe drought and destructive floods along the Yangtze River, the Chinese government implemented two large ecological rehabilitation and reforestation projects: the Natural Forest Protection Programme and the Sloping Land Conversion Programme. Using Landsat data from a decade before, during and after the inception of these programmes, we analyze their impacts along with other policies on land use, land cover change (LULCC) in southwest China. Our goal is to quantify the predominant land cover changes in four borderland counties, home to tens of thousands of ethnic minority individuals. We do this in three time stages (1990, 2000 and 2010). We use support vector machines as well as a transition matrix to monitor the land cover changes. The land cover classifications resulted in an overall accuracy and Kappa coefficient for forested area and cropland of respectively 91% (2% confidence interval) and 0.87. Our results suggest that the total forested area observed increased 3% over this 20-year period, while cropland decreased slightly (0.1%). However, these changes varied over specific time periods: forested area decreased between 1990 and 2000 and then increased between 2000 and 2010. In contrast, cropland increased and then decreased. These results suggest the important impacts of reforestation programmes that have accelerated a land cover transition in this region. We also found large changes in LULC occurring around fast growing urban areas, with changes in these peri-urban zones occurring faster to the east than west. This suggests that differences in socioeconomic conditions and specific local and regional policies have influenced the rates of forest, cropland and urban net changes, disturbances and net transitions. While it appears that a combination of economic growth and forest protection in this region over the past 20 years has been fairly successful, threats like drought, other extreme weather events and land degradation remain.     

Classification from Landsat TM of Indurated Volcanic Materials (tepetates) of the Mexican Neo‐volcanique Belt

Abstract

Tepetates, altered indurated and sterile volcanic tuffs, are located among the neo‐volcanic belt in central Mexico. They are divided into three classes according to the erosion level: outcrop tepetates, discontinuous tepetates (in process of erosion), and underlying tepetates (related to fragile areas with high erosion risk). For local communities and peasants, the existence of tepetates is a heavy constraint, with the impossibility to cultivate the land as it is. In order to know the localization and extension of tepetates, we experimented with various classification techniques of a Landsat Thematic Mapper satellite image. Masking techniques were used, assisted both by a DEM and photo interpretation, in addition to radiometric segmentation to obtain a map of tepetates in a study area. The resulting map showed the location of outcrop tepetates well, in agreement with existing soil maps, but underestimated underlying tepetates and high‐risk erosion localities, due mainly to the heterogeneity of the classes at the scale used (30 m pixel).