Fusing MODIS with Landsat 8 data to downscale weekly normalized difference vegetation index estimates for central Great Basin rangelands,USA

Data fused from distinct but complementary satellite sensors mitigate tradeoffs that researchers make when selecting between spatial and temporal resolutions of remotely sensed data. We integrated data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor aboard the Terra satellite and the Operational Land Imager sensor aboard the Landsat 8 satellite into four regression-tree models and applied those data to a mapping application. This application produced downscaled maps that utilize the 30-m spatial resolution of Landsat in conjunction with daily acquisitions of MODIS normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) that are composited and temporally smoothed. We produced four weekly, atmospherically corrected, and nearly cloud-free, downscaled 30-m synthetic MODIS NDVI predictions (maps) built from these models. Model results were strong with R² values ranging from 0.74 to 0.85. The correlation coefficients (r ≥ 0.89) were strong for all predictions when compared to corresponding original MODIS NDVI data. Downscaled products incorporated into independently developed sagebrush ecosystem models yielded mixed results. The visual quality of the downscaled 30-m synthetic MODIS NDVI predictions were remarkable when compared to the original 250-m MODIS NDVI. These 30-m maps improve knowledge of dynamic rangeland seasonal processes in the central Great Basin, United States, and provide land managers improved resource maps.     

Pre-processing of a sample of multi-scene and multi-date Landsat imagery used to monitor forest cover changes over the tropics

In support to the Remote Sensing Survey of the global Forest Resource Assessment 2010, the TREES-3 project has processed more than 12,000 Landsat TM and ETM+ data subsets systematically distributed over the tropics. The project aims at deriving area estimates of tropical forest cover change for the periods 1990-2000-2005. The paper presents the pre-processing steps applied in an operational and robust manner to this large amount of multi-date and multi-scene imagery: conversion to top-of-atmosphere reflectance, cloud and cloud shadow detection, haze correction and image radiometric normalization. The results show that the haze correction algorithm has improved the visual appearance of the image and significantly corrected the digital numbers for Landsat visible bands, especially the red band. The impact of the normalization procedures (forest normalization and relative normalization) was assessed on 210 image pairs: in all cases the correlation between the spectral values of the same land cover in both images was improved. The developed automatic pre-processing chain provided a consistent multi-temporal data set across the tropics that will constitute the basis for an automatic object-based supervised classification.     

Quantifying local fire regimes using the Landsat data-archive: a conceptual framework to derive detailed fire pattern metrics from pixel-level information

Free and open access to the Landsat archive has enabled the detection and delineation of an unprecedented number of fire events across the globe. Despite the availability and potential of these data, few studies have analysed residual vegetation patterns and/or partial mortality of fire across the Canadian boreal forest, and those available, are either incomplete or inaccurate. Further, they all differ in the methods and spatial language, which makes it difficult for managers to interpret fire patterns over large areas. There is an urgent need for methods to help unify fire pattern observations across the Canadian boreal forest. This study explores the capacity of the Landsat data archive when coupled with a recently developed fire mapping approach and a robust spatial language to characterize and compare tree mortality patterns across the boreal plains ecozone, Canada. With 507 fires 2.5?Mha mapped, this study represents the most comprehensive analysis of mortality patterns for study area. Summaries from this demonstration generated an accurate characterization of the fire patterns the various ecoregions based on seven key fire metrics. The comparison between ecoregions revealed differences in the amount of residual vegetation, which in turn suggested various climate, topography and/or vegetation ecosystem drivers.     

Using a stochastic gradient boosting algorithm to analyse the effectiveness of Landsat 8 data for montado land cover mapping: Application in southern Portugal

This study aims to develop and propose a methodological approach for montado ecosystem mapping using Landsat 8 multi-spectral data, vegetation indices, and the Stochastic Gradient Boosting (SGB) algorithm. Two Landsat 8 scenes (images from spring and summer 2014) of the same area in southern Portugal were acquired. Six vegetation indices were calculated for each scene: the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), the Short-Wave Infrared Ratio (SWIR32), the Carotenoid Reflectance Index 1 (CRI1), the Green Chlorophyll Index (CI_green), the Normalised Multi-band Drought Index (NMDI), and the Soil-Adjusted Total Vegetation Index (SATVI). Based on this information, two datasets were prepared: (i) Dataset I only included multi-temporal Landsat 8 spectral bands (LS8), and (ii) Dataset II included the same information as Dataset I plus vegetation indices (LS8 + VIs). The integration of the vegetation indices into the classification scheme resulted in a significant improvement in the accuracy of Dataset II’s classifications when compared to Dataset I (McNemar test: Z-value = 4.50), leading to a difference of 4.90% in overall accuracy and 0.06 in the Kappa value. For the montado ecosystem, adding vegetation indices in the classification process showed a relevant increment in producer and user accuracies of 3.64% and 6.26%, respectively. By using the variable importance function from the SGB algorithm, it was found that the six most prominent variables (from a total of 24 tested variables) were the following: EVI_summer; CRI1_spring; SWIR32_spring; B6_summer; B5_summer; and CI_green_summer.     

Use of WorldView-2 time series to establish a wetland monitoring program for potential offsite impacts of mine site rehabilitation

The Ramsar-listed wetlands of the Magela Creek floodplain, situated in the World Heritage Kakadu National Park, in northern Australia are recognised for their biodiversity and cultural values. The floodplain is also a downstream receiving environment for Ranger uranium mine, which is entering closure and rehabilitation phases. Vegetation on the floodplain is spatially and temporally variable which is related to the hydrology of the region, primarily the extent and level of inundation and available soil moisture. Time-series mapping of the floodplain vegetation will provide a contemporary baseline of annual vegetation dynamics to assist with determining whether change is natural or a result of the potential impacts of mine closure activities such as increased suspended sediment moving downstream. The research described here used geographic object-based image analysis (GEOBIA) to classify the upper Magela Creek floodplain vegetation from WorldView-2 imagery captured over four years (2010–2013) and ancillary data including a canopy height model. A step-wise rule set was used to implement a decision tree classification. The resulting maps showed the 12 major vegetation communities that exist on the Magela Creek floodplain and their distribution for May 2010, May 2011, June 2012 and June 2013 with overall accuracies of over 80% for each map. Most of the error appears to be associated with confusion between vegetation classes that are spectrally similar such as the classes dominated by grasses. Object-based change detection was then applied to the maps to analyse change between dates. Results indicate that change between dates was detected for large areas of the floodplain. Most of the change is associated with the amount of surface water present, indicating that although imagery was captured at the same time of year, the imagery represents different stages of the seasonal cycle of the floodplain.     

Using satellite remote sensing to survey transport-related urban sustainability: Part II. Results of a Canadian urban assessment

The growing importance of urbanization in Canada highlights the need for nationally consistent information on major cities to support effective policy development. A spatially-explicit database, the Canadian Urban Land-Use Survey (CUrLUS), is described. It is a comprehensive source of integrated contemporary land-cover/land-use, demographic and socio-economic information as well as historic land use characterizations from earlier federal initiatives. Satellite remote sensing plays a key role in the form of provision of Landsat-based thematic classifications. The utilization of CUrLUS is illustrated in the quantification of transportation-related energy sustainability indicators, namely, density, urban compactness and land-use mix. The latter shows the greatest promise, being significantly correlated to both work-related median travel distance and percent private vehicle use. Urban transportation is complex and it is argued that indicators based solely on statistical and spatial analysis methodologies are limited in abilities to directly address specific components of this issue, for example, energy consumption. It is recommended that more sophisticated, model-enhanced indicators be developed. We also demonstrate that the land-use/urban-form information of CUrLUS will be a cornerstone in this endeavour.