Using in situ hyperspectral reflectance data to distinguish nine aquatic plant species

In situ hyperspectral reflectance data were studied at 50 bands (10 nm bandwidth) over the 400–900 nm spectral range to determine their potential for distinguishing among nine aquatic plant species: American lotus [Nelumbo lutea (Willd.) Pers.], American pondweed (Potamogeton nodusus Poir.), giant duckweed [Spirodela polyrrhiza (L.) Schleid.], Mexican waterlily (Nymphaea mexicana Zucc.), white waterlily (Nymphaea odorata Aiton), spatterdock [Nuphar lutea (L.) Sm.], giant salvinia (Salvinia molesta Mitchell), waterhyacinth [Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms] and waterlettuce (Pistia stratiotes L.). The species were studied on three dates: 30 May, 1 July and 3 August 2009. All nine species were studied in July and August, while only eight species were studied in May; giant duckweed was not studied in May due to insufficient availability. Two procedures were used to determine the optimum bands for discriminating among species: multiple comparison range tests and stepwise discriminant analysis. Multiple comparison range tests results for May showed that most separations among species occurred at bands 795–865 nm in the near-infrared (NIR) spectral region where up to six species could be distinguished. For July, few species could be distinguished amongthe 50 bands; most separations occurred at the 715 nm red-NIR edge band where four species could be differentiated. The optimum bands in August occurred in the green (525–595 nm), red (605–635 nm) and red-NIR edge (695–705 nm) spectral regions where up to six species could be distinguished. Stepwise discriminant analysis identified 11 bands in the blue, green, red-NIR edge and NIR spectral regions to be significant to discriminate among the eight species in May. For July and August, stepwise discriminant analysis identified 15bands and 13 bands, respectively, from the blue to NIR regions to be significant for discriminating among the nine species.     

Discrimination of Spectrally-Close Crops Using Ground-Based Hyperspectral Data

Hyperspectral remote sensing, because of its large number of narrow bands, has shown possibility of discriminating the crops. Current study was carried out to select the optimum bands for discrimination among pulses, cole crops and ornamental plants using the ground-based Hyperspectral data in Patha village, Lalitpur district, Uttar Pradesh state and Kolkata, West Bengal state. The field observations of reflectance were taken using a 512-channel spectroradiometer with a range of 325–1075 nm. The stepwise discriminant analysis was carried out and separability measures, such as Wilks’ lambda and F-Value were used as criteria for identifying the narrow bands. The analysis showed that, the best four bands for pulse crop discrimination lie mostly in NIR and early MIR regions i.e. 750, 800, 940 and 960 nm. Within cole crops discrimination is primarily determined by the green, red and NIR bands of 550, 690, 740, 770 and 980 nm. The separability study showed the bands 420,470,480,570,730,740, 940, 950, 970, 1030 nm are useful for discriminating flowers.     

Applying broadband spectra to assess biological control of saltcedar in west Texas

Broadband field spectra were assessed to discriminate invasive saltcedar (Tamarix spp.) trees exhibiting feeding damage caused by the saltcedar leaf beetle (Diorhadba spp.) from other land cover types. Data were collected at two study sites near Presidio, Texas in 2010 and 2011. Spectral bands evaluated were coastal blue (400–450?nm), blue (450–510?nm), green (510–580?nm), yellow (585–625?nm), red (630–690?nm), red-edge (705–745?nm), and near-infrared (770–895, 860–1040?nm). Data were evaluated with analysis of variance and Scheffe’s multiple comparison test (α?=?0.05). The red band generally separated severely damaged saltcedar trees from other land cover features. Near-infrared bands separated defoliated saltcedar trees. Broadband spectra has potential for distinguishing saltcedar trees exhibiting feeding damage caused by the saltcedar leaf beetle from other associated features, thus supporting future explorations of airborne and satellite-borne multispectral systems to monitor biological control of saltcedar within complex landscapes.     

Field hyperspectral data analysis for discriminating spectral behavior of tea plantations under various management practices

The quality and yield of tea depends upon management of tea plantations, which takes into account the factors like type, age of plantation, growth stage, pruning status, light conditions, and disease incidence. Recognizing the importance of hyperspectral data in detecting minute spectral variations in vegetation, the present study was conducted to explore applicability of such data in evaluating these factors. Also stepwise discriminant analysis and principal component analysis were conducted to identify the appropriate bands for accessing the above mentioned factors. The Green region followed by NIR region was found as most appropriate best band for discriminating different types of tea plants, and the tea in sunlit and shade condition. For discriminating age of plantation, growth stage of tea, and diseased and healthy bush, Blue region was most appropriate. The Red and NIR regions were best bands to discriminate pruned and unpruned tea. The study concluded that field hyperspectral data can be efficiently used to know the plantation that need special care and may be an indicator of tea productivity. The spectral signature of these characteristics of tea plantations may also be used to classify the hyperspectral satellite data to derive these parameters at regional scale.     

Is it possible to discern Striga weed (Striga hermonthica) infestation levels in maize agro-ecological systems using in-situ spectroscopy?

The invasion by Striga in most cereal crop fields in Africa has posed a significant threat to food security and has caused substantial socioeconomic losses. Hyperspectral remote sensing is an effective means to discriminate plant species, providing possibilities to track such weed invasions and improve precision agriculture. However, essential baseline information using remotely sensed data is missing, specifically for the Striga weed in Africa. In this study, we investigated the spectral uniqueness of Striga compared to other co-occurring maize crops and weeds. We used the in-situ FieldSpec® Handheld 2™ analytical spectral device (ASD), hyperspectral data and their respective narrow-band indices in the visible and near infrared (VNIR) region of the electromagnetic spectrum (EMS) and four machine learning discriminant algorithms (i.e. random forest: RF, linear discriminant analysis: LDA, gradient boosting: GB and support vector machines: SVM) to discriminate among different levels of Striga (Striga hermonthica) infestations in maize fields in western Kenya. We also tested the utility of Sentinel-2 waveband configurations to map and discriminate Striga infestation in heterogenous cereal crop fields. The in-situ hyperspectral reflectance data were resampled to the spectral waveband configurations of Sentinel-2 using published spectral response functions. We sampled and detected seven Striga infestation classes based on three flowering Striga classes (low, moderate and high) against two background endmembers (soil and a mixture of maize and other co-occurring weeds). A guided regularized random forest (GRRF) algorithm was used to select the most relevant hyperspectral wavebands and vegetation indices (VIs) as well as for the resampled Sentinel-2 multispectral wavebands for Striga infestation discrimination. The performance of the four discriminant algorithms was compared using classification accuracy assessment metrics. We were able to positively discriminate Striga from the two background endmembers i.e. soil and co-occurring vegetation (maize and co-occurring weeds) based on the few GRRF selected hyperspectral vegetation indices and the GRRF selected resampled Sentinel-2 multispectral bands. RF outperformed all the other discriminant methods and produced the highest overall accuracy of 91% and 85%, using the hyperspectral and resampled Sentinel-2 multispectral wavebands, respectively, across the four different discriminant models tested in this study. The class with the highest detection accuracy across all the four discriminant algorithms, was the “exclusively maize and other co-occurring weeds” (>70%). The GRRF reduced the dimensionality of the hyperspectral data and selected only 9 most relevant wavebands out of 750 wavebands, 6 VIs out of 15 and 6 out of 10 resampled Sentinel-2 multispectral wavebands for discriminating among the Striga and co-occurring classes. Resampled Sentinel-2 multispectral wavebands 3 (green) and 4 (red) were the most crucial for Striga detection. The use of the most relevant hyperspectral features (i.e. wavebands and VIs) significantly (p ≤ 0.05) increased the overall classification accuracy and Kappa scores (±5% and ±0.2, respectively) in all the machine learning discriminant models. Our results show the potential of hyperspectral, resampled Sentinel-2 multispectral datasets and machine learning discriminant algorithms as a tool to accurately discern Striga in heterogenous maize agro-ecological systems.     

Crop Residue Discrimination Using Ground-Based Hyperspectral Data

Crop residue has become an increasingly important factor in agriculture management. It assists in the reduction of soil erosion and is an important source of soil organic carbon (soil carbon sequestration). In recent past, remote sensing, especially narrowband, data have been explored for crop residue assessment. In this context, a study was carried out to identify different narrow-bands and evaluate the performance of SWIR region based spectral indices for crop residue discrimination. Ground based hyperspectral data collected for wheat crop residue was analyzed using Stepwise Discriminant Analysis (SDA) technique to select significant bands for discrimination. Out of the seven best bands selected to discriminate between matured crop, straw heap, combine-harvested field with stubbles and soil, four bands were from SWIR (1980, 2030, 2200, 2440 nm) region. Six spectral indices were computed, namely CAI, LCA, SINDRI, NDSVI, NDI5 and hSINDRI for crop residue discrimination. LCA and CAI showed to be best (F?>?115) in discriminating above classes, while LCA and SINDRI were best (F?>?100) among all indices in discriminating crop residue under different harvesting methods. Comparison of different spectral resolution (from 1 nm to 150 nm) showed that for crop residue discrimination a resolution of 100 nm at 2100–2300 m region would be sufficient to discriminate crop residue from other co-existing classes.     

基于神经网络的SPOT数据模拟真彩色非线性方法研究

在总结现有真彩色模拟方法的基础上,提出了一种基于神经网络非线性逼近机制的真彩色模拟方法.该方法充分利用神经网络强大的学习能力,建立波段之间复杂的非线性映射关系.在具体实现上,首先通过对具有真彩色波段TM/ETM+数据的学习训练,得到各个网络节点的权重参数; 然后将该组权重参数应用到SPOT影像,模拟出蓝光波段,实现SPOT真彩色合成.在新疆伊犁地区林地调查应用结果表明,非线性方法要明显优于传统的真彩色模拟方法.     

Assessment of Aphid Infestation in Mustard by Hyperspectral Remote Sensing

Field experiment was conducted during 2009–10 and 2010–11 rabi season at research farm of IARI, New Delhi for assessing the aphid infestation in mustard. In aphid infested plant the LAI was 67 to 94% lower than healthy plant. Chlorophyll concentration decreased to 50% in infested plant as compared to healthy plant. Infestation was more severe in late sown crop and due to aphid infestation the percentage oil content and yield was reduced significantly. The spectral reflectance of aphid infested canopy and healthy canopy taken in the laboratory had significant difference in NIR region. In the visible region, the reflectance peak occurred in healthy canopy at around 550–560 nm while this peak was lower by 31% in the aphid infested canopy. The reflectance for healthy crop was found to be more in visible as well as NIR region as compared to aphid infested canopy. The most significant spectral bands for the aphid infestation in mustard are in visible (550–560 nm) and near infrared regions (700–1250 nm and 1950–2450 nm). The different level of aphid infestation can be identified in 1950–2450 nm spectral regions. Spectral indices viz NDVI, RVI, AI and SIPI had significant correlation with aphid infestation. Hence these indices could be used for identifying aphid infestation in mustard.     

Multiple statistical approaches for the discrimination of mangrove species of Rhizophoraceae using transformed field and laboratory hyperspectral data

This study aims at discriminating eight mangrove species of Rhizophoraceae family of Indian east coast using field and laboratory spectra in spectral range (350–2500 nm). Parametric and non-parametric statistical analyses were applied on spectral data in four spectral modes: (i) reflectance (ii) continuum removed, (iii) additive inverse and (iv) continuum removed additive inverse. We introduced continuum removal of inverse spectra to utilize the advantage of continuum removal in reflectance region. Non-parametric test gave better separability than parametric test. Principal component analysis and stepwise discriminant analysis were applied for feature reduction and to identify optimal wavelengths for species discrimination. To quantify the separability, Jeffries–Matusita distance measure was derived. Green (550 nm), red edge (680–720 nm) and water absorption region (1470 and 1850 nm) were found to be optimal wavelengths for species discrimination. The continuum removal of additive inverse spectra gave better separability than the continuum removed spectra.     

Remotely detecting canopy nitrogen concentration and uptake of paddy rice in the Northeast China Plain

The influence of morphophysiological variation at different growth stages on the performance of vegetation indices for estimating plant N status has been confirmed. However, the underlying mechanisms explaining how this variation impacts hyperspectral measures and canopy N status are poorly understood. In this study, four field experiments involving different N rates were conducted to optimize the selection of sensitive bands and evaluate their performance for modeling canopy N status of rice at various growth stages in 2007 and 2008. The results indicate that growth stages negatively affect hyperspectral indices in different ways in modeling leaf N concentration (LNC), plant N concentration (PNC) and plant N uptake (PNU). Published hyperspectral indices showed serious limitations in estimating LNC, PNC and PNU. The newly proposed best 2-band indices significantly improved the accuracy for modeling PNU (R² = 0.75–0.85) by using the lambda by lambda band-optimized algorithm. However, the newly proposed 2-band indices still have limitations in modeling LNC and PNC because the use of only 2-band indices is not fully adequate to provide the maximum N-related information. The optimum multiple narrow band reflectance (OMNBR) models significantly increase the accuracy for estimating the LNC (R² = 0.67–0.71) and PNC (R² = 0.57–0.78) with six bands. Results suggest the combinations of center of red-edge (735 nm) with longer red-edge bands (730–760 nm) are very efficient for estimating PNC after heading, whereas the combinations of blue with green bands are more efficient for modeling PNC across all stages. The center of red-edge (730–735 nm) paired with early NIR bands (775–808 nm) are predominant in estimating PNU before heading, whereas the longer red-edge (750 nm) paired with the center of “NIR shoulder” (840–850 nm) are dominant in estimating PNU after heading and across all stages. The OMNBR models have the advantage of modeling canopy N status for the entire growth period. However, the best 2-band indices are much easier to use. Alternatively, it is also possible to use the best 2-band indices to monitor PNU before heading and PNC after heading. This study systematically explains the influences of N dilution effect on hyperspectral band combinations in relating to the different N variables and further recommends the best band combinations which may provide an insight for developing new hyperspectral vegetation indices.     

Potato varietal discrimination using ground based multiband radiometer

The potential usefulness of spectral properties and vegetation indices in varietal discrimination of potato genotypes was studied in the field experiment. Spectral measurements were recorded in different bands in blue (450–520 nm), green (520–590 nm), red (620–680 nm) and infrared (770–860 nm) of the electromagnetic spectrum at different stages during crop growth period. A ground based hand held multiband radiometer (Model/041) was used for the purpose. The mean per cent green reflectance value among different genotypes was lowest in genotype MS/86-89, while it was observed highest in genotype JX-216. Significant difference among these genotypes was found at all growth stages except 6 week after planting. Consequent to variation in spectral reflectance the vegetation indices like, NDVI, RVI, TVI and DVI showed significant difference among genotypes at all growth stages except at 8^th week after planting. The vegetation indices are good indicators of crop growth and condition. Similarly, fresh weight, dry weight, and leaf area index were also highest in MS/86-89, followed by KUFRI Bahar and KUFRI Sutlej while in case of leaf area index it was followed by Kufri Sutlej and Kufri Bahar. JX-23 was highest in chlorophyll content and tuber yield followed by MS/86-89 and JW-160, while lowest chlorophyll content was seen in MS/89-1095 and poorest tuber yield in MS/89-60. Most of the genotypes exhibited considerable variation in their spectral response and vegetation indices thereby indicating the possibility of their discrimination through remote sensing technique.     

Applicability of Landsat 8 data for characterizing glacier facies and supraglacial debris

The present work evaluates the applicability of operational land imager (OLI) and thermal infrared sensor (TIRS) on-board Landsat 8 satellite. We demonstrate an algorithm for automated mapping of glacier facies and supraglacial debris using data collected in blue, near infrared (NIR), short wave infrared (SWIR) and thermal infrared (TIR) bands. The reflectance properties in visible and NIR regions of OLI for various glacier facies are in contrast with those in SWIR region. Based on the premise that different surface types (snow, ice and debris) of a glacier should show distinct thermal regimes, the ‘at-satellite brightness temperature’ obtained using TIRS was used as a base layer for developing the algorithm. This base layer was enhanced and modified using contrasting reflectance properties of OLI bands. In addition to facies and debris cover characterization, another interesting outcome of this algorithm was extraction of crevasses on the glacier surface which were distinctly visible in output and classified images. The validity of this algorithm was checked using field data along a transect of the glacier acquired during the satellite pass over the study area. With slight scene-dependent threshold adjustments, this work can be replicated for mapping glacier facies and supraglacial debris in any alpine valley glacier.     

A six-camera digital video imaging system sensitive to visible,red edge,near-infrared,and mid-infrared wavelengths

This paper describes a six-camera multispectral digital video imaging system designed for natural resource assessment and shows its potential as a research tool. It has five visible to near-infrared light sensitive cameras, one near-infrared to mid-infrared light sensitive camera, a monitor, a computer with a multichannel digitizing board, a keyboard, a power distributor, an amplifier, and a mouse. Each camera is fitted with a narrowband interference filter, allowing the system to obtain imagery in the blue (447 – 455 nm), green (555 – 565 nm), red (625 – 635 nm), red edge (704 – 716 nm), near-infrared (814–826 nm), and mid-infrared (1631 – 1676 nm) regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Analogue video acquired by this system is converted to digital format. Radiometric resolution of the imagery is 8-bit (pixel values range 0 – 255). Images obtained by the system can be evaluated individually and/or in combination with each other to assess natural resources.     

Evaluation of linear discriminant and support vector machine classifiers for classification of nitrogen status in mature oil palm from SPOT-6 satellite images: analysis of raw spectral bands and spectral indices

Nitrogen (N) management is important in sustaining oil palm production. Remote sensing-based approaches via spectral index have promise in assessing the N nutrition content. The objectives of this study are; (i) to examine the N classification capability of three spectral indices (SI) such as visible (Vis), near infrared (NIR) and a combination of visible and NIR (Vis + NIR) from the SPOT-6 satellite, and (ii) to compare the performance of linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and support vector machine (SVM) in discriminating foliar N content of mature oil palms. Nitrogen treatments varied from 0 to 2 kg per palm. The N-sensitive SIs tested in this study were age-dependent. The Vis index (BGRI₁) (CVA = 79.55%) and Vis + NIR index (NDVI, NG, IPVI and GNDVI) (CVA = 81.82%) were the best indices to assess N status of young and prime mature palms through the SVM classifier.     

Wavelength selection and spectral discrimination for paddy rice, with laboratory measurements of hyperspectral leaf reflectance

The objective of this research is to select the most sensitive wavelengths for the discrimination of the imperceptible spectral variations of paddy rice under different cultivation conditions. The paddy rice was cultivated under four different nitrogen cultivation levels and three water irrigation levels. There are 2151 hyperspectral wavelengths available, both in hyperspectral reflectance and energy space transformed spectral data. Based on these two data sets, the principal component analysis (PCA) and band-band correlation methods were used to select significant wavelengths with no reference to leaf biochemical properties, while the partial least squares (PLS) method assessed the contribution of each narrow band to leaf biochemical content associated with each loading weight across the nitrogen and water stresses. Moreover, several significant narrow bands and other broad bands were selected to establish eight kinds of wavelength (broad-band) combinations, focusing on comparing the performance of the narrow-band combinations instead of broad-band combinations for rice supervising applications. Finally, to investigate the capability of the selected wavelengths to diagnose the stress conditions across the different cultivation levels, four selected narrow bands (552, 675, 705 and 776 nm) were calculated and compared between nitrogen-stressed and non-stressed rice leaves using linear discriminant analysis (LDA). Also, wavelengths of 1158, 1378 and 1965 nm were identified as the most useful bands to diagnose the stress condition across three irrigation levels. Results indicated that good discrimination was achieved. Overall, the narrow bands based on hyperspectral reflectance data appear to have great potential for discriminating rice of differing cultivation conditions and for detecting stress in rice vegetation; these selected wavelengths also have great potential use for the designing of future sensors.     

联合统计信息与散射模型的GF-5 AHSI可见光影像薄云校正

针对高分五号可见短波红外高光谱相机AHSI (visible-shortwave infrared Advanced HyperSpectral Imager)可见光波段存在的薄云干扰,本文提出了一种联合统计信息与散射模型的校正方法。利用AHSI影像邻近波段间地表与云雾辐射的统计差异,实现对不同场景下相对薄云辐射RCR (Relative Cloud Radiance)的准确估计。基于此,根据不同波段的散射特性,分别利用分级暗目标统计和散射模型约束策略,获取可见光波段的绝对云辐射强度,最终实现影像校正。通过设置模拟与真实实验对方法的有效性和鲁棒性进行目视和定量检验。模拟实验中,可见光波段内的薄云干扰均可被有效地去除,校正结果与真实地表十分一致;此外,RMSE (RootMean-Square Error),MAE (Mean Absolute Error)和SA (Spectral Angle) 3个评价指标的值分别为1.9891,1.6822和0.4901,远小于对比方法。真实实验中,不同场景内的薄云可被有效抑制,在较为准确恢复降质地表信息的同时保持晴空区光谱特征;Q指数,SSIM (Structural Similarity Index)和UQI (Universal Quality Index)的计算结果优于对比方法。综上,本文提出方法可用于不同场景下高分五号AHSI影像可见光波段的薄云校正,可得到目视效果良好且光谱保真度高的校正结果。     

Sensitivity of narrowband vegetation indices to boreal forest LAI,reflectance seasonality and species composition

There is growing evidence that imaging spectroscopy could improve the accuracy of satellite-based retrievals of vegetation attributes, such as leaf area index (LAI) and biomass. In this study, we evaluated narrowband vegetation indices (VIs) for estimating overstory effective LAI (LAI_eff) in a southern boreal forest area for the period between the end of snowmelt and maximum LAI using three Hyperion images and concurrent field measurements. We compared the performance of narrowband VIs with two SPOT HRVIR images, which closely corresponded to the imaging dates of the Hyperion data, and with synthetic broadband VIs computed from Hyperion images. According to the results, narrowband VIs based on near infrared (NIR) bands, and NIR and shortwave infrared (SWIR) bands showed the strongest linear relationships with LAI_eff over its typical range of variation and for the studied period of the snow-free season. The relationships were not dependent on dominant tree species (coniferous vs. broadleaved), which is an advantage in heterogeneous boreal forest landscapes. The best VIs, particularly those based on NIR spectral bands close to the 1200 nm liquid water absorption feature, provided a clear improvement over the best broadband VIs.     

Ground validation of an algorithm for estimating surface suspended sediment concentrations from multi-spectral reflectance data

Pollution of water resources by sediments eroded from degraded watersheds is a critical concern around the world. Current methods for locating these eroding areas and off-site damage to water resources through visual observations and field sampling with subsequent laboratory analysis are time consuming and expensive. There is thus, a justified interest in developing algorithms for quick estimation of suspended sediment concentrations in large water-bodies from remotely sensed data. This paper presents the results of a ground validation study on characterization and quantification of surface suspended sediment concentrations (SSC) in sediment laden water bodies through an n-waveband specific numerical index, total information content. A comparison of SSC-predictive potential of the proposed new index, derived from four broad (100–300 nm) Landsat MSS, five broad (40–300 nm) Landsat TM and eight narrow (20–40 nm) IRS-P4 OCM spectral bands, with that of the conventional (NIR-Red and NIR+Red) indices, computed from the same spectral band data, is also presented. The study reveaied that at SSCs 250 mg/1, the proposed index (derived from either broad / narrow landsat MSS/TM or IRS-P4 OCM spectral data) could lead to SSC predictions (with mean errors within 20%) comparable with those obtained with the conventional indices (derived from the same spectral band data). It could further be observed that, in general, lower sediment concentrations (i.e. SSCs 150 mg/1) were associated with higher prediction inaccuracies. A comparison of the mean errors of predictions associated with the proposed and the conventional (NIR-Red and NIR+Red) indices computed from broad and narrow band data for SSCs 150 mg/I, revealed that an increase in number of wavebands (from 4 MSS to 5 TM or 8 OCM bands) and a decrease in the bandwidth of these wavebands (from broad MSS/ TM bands to narrow OCM bands) led to a significant increase in the prediction accuracy of the proposed new index. These prediction accuracies were observed to be the highest with the proposed index calculated from narrow OCM-P4 spectral data. However this could not be observed with the conventional indices at any of the SSC ranges and with the proposed index at SSCs 250 mg/l. This shows that the lower SSC-predictive potential of proposed index was a significant function of both the number and the bandwidth of spectral bands used for its computation. In fact in one of the cases, lower SSC (150 mg/l) -predictive accuracy of the proposed index was found to be significantly higher than that of the conventional (NIR+R) index. The proposed algorithm could thus compress the information contained in the entire reflectance spectrum of the sediment laden water bodies to their sediment type and concentration specific characteristic values. This characteristic of the proposed index was not shared by any of the conventional indices, based on only two waveband data. In fact the proposed index appears to be the only mean of completely compressing and quantifying the information contained in all the information channels of a narrow band spectrometer (consisting of 200 wavebands) to be shortly launched by ISRO for satellite based inventory of natural resources.     

Evaluating the potential of the red edge channel for C3 (Festuca spp.) grass discrimination using Sentinel-2 and Rapid Eye satellite image data

Integrating the Red Edge channel in satellite sensors is valuable for plant species discrimination. Sentinel-2 MSI and Rapid Eye are some of the new generation satellite sensors that are characterized by finer spatial and spectral resolution, including the red edge band. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of the red edge band of Sentinel-2 and Rapid Eye, for mapping festuca C3 grass using discriminant analysis and maximum likelihood classification algorithms. Spectral bands, vegetation indices and spectral bands plus vegetation indices were analysed. Results show that the integration of the red edge band improved the festuca C3 grass mapping accuracy by 5.95 and 4.76% for Sentinel-2 and Rapid Eye when the red edge bands were included and excluded in the analysis, respectively. The results demonstrate that the use of sensors with strategically positioned red edge bands, could offer information that is critical for the sustainable rangeland management.     

Hyper-spectral data based investigations for snow wetness mapping

Spatial information on snow wetness content (SWC) is important for hydrology, climatology applications. Limited work is available on estimation of SWC using optical sensors. In present work, spectral signature characteristics of snow (~145 samples) acquired in winters of three years, using field spectral-radiometer (350–2500 nm) were correlated with synchronized SWC measurements. Correlation is found stronger in Near-Infra-Red (NIR) and Short-Wave-Infrared (SWIR) regions than Visible (VIS). Spectral peak width at 905 and 1240 nm is found negatively correlated with SWC, while positively correlated at 1025 nm. Asymmetry tends towards right as SWC increases and has stable positive correlations as compared to other characteristics. Sensitivity of widely used snow-related indices to SWC is also analyzed. Based on analysis, new ratio method at selected wavelengths is proposed to discriminate dry and wet snow zones using air/ground borne sensors. Proposed methodology is evaluated on air-borne hyper-spectral (AVIRIS-NG) data and 88% overall accuracy with kappa coefficient 77.6 observed after validation with reference observations.