An investigation into robust spectral indices for leaf chlorophyll estimation

Quantifying photosynthetic activity at the regional scale can provide important information to resource managers, planners and global ecosystem modelling efforts. With increasing availability of both hyperspectral and narrow band multispectral remote sensing data, new users are faced with a plethora of options when choosing an optical index to relate to their chosen or canopy parameter. The literature base regarding optical indices (particularly chlorophyll indices) is wide ranging and extensive, however it is without much consensus regarding robust indices. The wider spectral community could benefit from studies that apply a variety of published indices to differing sets of species data. The consistency and robustness of 73 published chlorophyll spectral indices have been assessed, using leaf level hyperspectral data collected from three crop species and a variety of savanna tree species. Linear regression between total leaf chlorophyll content and bootstrapping were used to determine the leafpredictive capabilities of the various indices. The indices were then ranked based on the prediction error (the average root mean square error (RMSE)) derived from the bootstrapping process involving 1000 iterative resampling with replacement. The results show two red-edge derivative based indices (red-edge position via linear extrapolation index and the modified red-edge inflection point index) as the most consistent and robust, and that the majority of the top performing indices (in spite of species variability) were simple ratio or normalised difference indices that are based on off-chlorophyll absorption centre wavebands (690–730 nm).     

Response of submersed aquatic vegetation (SAV) in Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana to the 1997–2001 El Niño Southern Oscillation shifts

Lake Pontchartrain is a large, shallow, low salinity estuary north of New Orleans, Louisiana. It is a water quality impaired system with restoration efforts in progress. One restoration goal is the reestablishment of historic submersed aquatic vegetation (SAV;Vallisneria americana Michx. andRuppia maritima L.), which has been in a state of decline since first studied in 1953. Annual SAV surveys and monthly water quality monitoring were conducted at four to five sites from 1996 through 2003 to evaluate trends and determine the causes of SAV change. We found a rapid increase in the distribution and abundance ofR. maritima in 1999 that persisted through 2002. An El Niño Southern Oscillation shift occurred between 1997 and 2001, which produced a drought in southern Louisiana as an ancillary effect of La Niña. This study was conducted to investigate causal links between the El Niño to La Niña climate phase shift and SAV change. We found that salinity and water clarity increased during La Niña. Increased water clarity produced a rapid increase in the euryhaline speciesR. maritima in deeper water and at historic sites where SAV had not been found since 1953. As salinity increased, the freshwater speciesV. americana andMyriophyllum spicatum L. declined, andNajas guadalupensis (Spreng.) Magnus andPotamogeton perfoliatus L. disappeared. In 2003, after the La Niña phase, salinity and water clarity decreased,R. maritima decreased, and the freshwater species increased, butP. perfoliatus was still absent. We found that salinity controlled SAV species composition, and water clarity controlled SAV colonization depth (Z_col=2.3/K_d). Our study demonstrated that climatic shifts cause cyclic changes in Lake Pontchartrain SAV and that restoration could be accomplished by improving water clarity. Due to the sensitivity of SAV to environmental change, similar responses to short-term and long-term climate changes should occur in other estuarine systems.     

A preliminary study of natural environmental change and its impact on early Late Paleolithic people in the northeast central Korean Peninsula during Marine Istope Stage 3 (40–30k cal a bp)

We comprehensively analyzed sediments obtained from an archeological excavation. A trench sediment profile of Maedun Cave (MC), South Korea, was analyzed geoarchaeologically. Multi-proxy analyses (palynomorphs, grain size, magnetic susceptibility, animal bones and artifacts) reflected the vegetation, hydroclimate and lives of prehistoric people at Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3 (ca. 40–30k cal a bp ) in the early Late Paleolithic. The palynoflora consisted of pollen and non-pollen palynomorphs. Under the air-circulation system in the cave, anemophilous pollen flowed in during the day, whereas waterborne pollen and spores, and freshwater algae, were transported by flooding during the summer monsoon rainy season. Mixed conifer and deciduous broad-leaved forest with an understory of pteridophytes flourished around the north-east central Korean Peninsula during MIS 3. Freshwater algae and grass pollen records may reflect precipitation intensity. It is assumed that they had flowed in during flooding caused by high precipitation during the enhanced East Asian summer monsoon, corresponding to Dansgaard–Oeschger (D/O) events 5 and 8 of δ¹⁸O GISP2 and Hulu Cave. The prehistoric people hunted herbivorous animals in the area around MC and sheltered inside it seasonally. They also used the grains of oats growing near the dwelling as a source of food.     

Estimation of the PAR irradiance ratio and its variability under clear-sky conditions at ieodo in the east china sea

Determining ‘photosynthetically active radiation’ (PAR) is a key part of calculating phytoplankton productivity in a biogeochemical model. We explore the daily and seasonal variability in the ratio of PAR irradiance to total irradiance that occurred at Ieodo Ocean Research Station (IORS) in the East China Sea under clear-sky conditions in 2004 using a simple radiative transfer model (RTM). Meteorological data observed at IORS and aerosol optical properties derived from Aerosol Robotic Network observations at Gosan are used for the RTM. Preliminary results suggest that the use of simple PA R irradianceratio values is appropriate in calculating phytoplankton productivity as follows: an average of 0.44 (±0.01) in January to an average of 0.48 (±0.01) in July, with average daily variabilities over these periods of about 0.016 (±0.008) and 0.025 (±0.008), respectively. The model experiments demonstrate that variations in the major controlling input parameters (i.e. solar zenith angle, precipitable water vapor and aerosol optical thickness) cause PAR irradiance ratio variation at daily and seasonal timescales. Further, increases (>0.012) in the PAR irradiance ratio just below the sea-surface are positively correlated with high solar zenith angles and strong wind stresses relative to those just above the sea-surface.     

Bragg reflection of sinusoidal waves due to trapezoidal submerged breakwaters

Numerical and laboratory experiments are performed to investigate characteristics of the Bragg reflection due to multi-arrayed trapezoidal submerged breakwaters. The numerical model is based on the Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes equations with the VOF method and the k–ε turbulence closure model. As expected, the reflection coefficients increase as the array of submerged breakwaters increases in both laboratory measurements and numerical results. The resonant periods provide similar relative wave numbers regardless of the permeability and the number of arrays. The reflection coefficients due to porous breakwaters are smaller than those due to non-porous breakwaters. The velocity contours for two and three arrays are also described.     

Ultimate load capacities of mooring bollards and hull foundation structures

CSRs (Common Structural Rules for bulker and tanker), which came into effect in 2006, invoke the concept of the ultimate strength of hull girders. While numerous studies associated with the ultimate capacities regarding global hull girders and stiffened panels have been carried out, there are few application cases of the ultimate strengths for deck machineries and their supporting structures. In the present study, nonlinear finite element analyses have been performed to obtain ultimate capacities for a size 450 DIN type bollard including hull foundation structures for which elastic strength assessments based on allowable stress analyses were jointly carried out by a Mooring Fitting SWL Standardization Committee consisting of four major Korean shipbuilders (DSME, HHI, HHIC, and SHI) in 2003. The plastic hardening property is identified from a comparison of the results of ultimate strength simulations and a bollard tension tests performed by the committee. It is assumed that the ultimate load is the corresponding load point when the deformation slope of the bollard column reaches the critical slip angle. It is concluded that the reinforcements appear to be effective with respect to the allowable stress criterion, but are not substantially effective from the point of view of ultimate capacities. In other words, structural reinforcements based on allowable stress analyses may noticeably increase production costs, but do not remarkably raise the ultimate capacities.     

Impact test simulations of stiffened plates using the micromechanical porous plasticity model

This paper first reviews the physical meanings and the expressions of two representative strain rate models: CSM (Cowper–Symonds model) and JCM (Johnson–Cook model). Since it is known that the CSM and JCM are suitable for low-intermediate and intermediate-high rate ranges, many studies regarding marine accidents such as ship-to-ship collisions, ship-to-rock groundings, and explosions in FPSO have employed the former in particular. A formula to predict the material constant of the CSM is introduced from a literature survey. The validity of the formula is proved by comparing with strain rate test results of high strength marine structural steels of DH-36. Numerical simulations with two different material constitutive equations, the classical metal plasticity model based on the von Mises yield function and the micromechanical porous plasticity model based on the Gurson yield function, have been carried out for stiffened plates under impact loading. It is concluded that the porous plasticity model with the porosity fracture criterion can quantitatively predict plastic deformation process and final fracture under impact loading if the material constants are properly chosen.     

Geotechnical parameter estimation in tunnelling using relative convergence measurement

Accurate estimation of geotechnical parameters is an important and difficult task in tunnel design and construction. Optimum evaluation of the geotechnical parameters have been carried out by the back‐analysis method based on estimated absolute convergence data. In this study, a back‐analysis technique using measured relative convergence in tunnelling is proposed. The extended Bayesian method (EBM), which combines the prior information with the field measurement data, is adopted and combined with the 3‐dimensional finite element analysis to predict ground motion. By directly using the relative convergence as observation data in the EBM, we can exclude errors that arise in the estimation of absolute displacement from measured convergence, and can evaluate the geotechnical parameters with sufficient reliability. The proposed back‐analysis technique is applied and validated by using the measured data from two tunnel sites in Korea. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Application of CASI Hyperspectral Image to Analysis of the Distribution of Hydrogen-Fluoride-Damaged Vegetation in Gumi,Korea

On the night of 27th Sept 2012, a hydrogen fluoride (HF) storage tank exploded in the industrial area of Gumi, Korea. In this study, an attempt was made to detect the damaged vegetation using a hyperspectral image. Assuming that HF was the most significant stressor of vegetation near the blast site, our results indicated that the difference in reflectance values between the 786 and 801 nm wavelengths became negative (?) and fluctuated from ?5 to ?160 in the affected vegetation. On the other hand, positive (+) values were found in the non-affected vegetation. The combination of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and simple ratio (SR) was used [named combined vegetation index (CVI) in this study] to assess the accuracy of these measurements. Among 150,965 pixels that were defined as damaged vegetation, about 2.8 % were analyzed incorrectly in this study. As a result, factors such as wind direction, distance from the accident spot, elevation, and aspect were shown to affect damage distribution.