Improving impervious surface estimation: an integrated method of classification and regression trees (CART) and linear spectral mixture analysis (LSMA) based on error analysis

Classification and regression tree (CART) has been widely implemented to estimate impervious surface, an important indicator of urbanization and environmental quality. Although the CART algorithm gains higher overall accuracy than linear regression models, only very few studies have noticed that reliability of CART is affected by systematic errors. Especially, CART typically overestimates impervious surfaces in low-density urban areas and underestimates them in high-density urban areas. The primary objective of this study is to develop an improved integrated method to estimate impervious surface with higher accuracy by reducing the systematic errors of CART. This improved method was applied to three urban areas, Chicago (United States), Venice (Italy), and Guangzhou (China) to examine its effectiveness. When compared with the conventional CART, overall mean average error (MAE) and root mean square error (RMSE) of improved method are decreased by 22.64% and 20.93%, respectively, and R² rises from 0.9 to 0.96. In high-density impervious surfaces, where intensely developed urban area is located, the MAE and RMSE for the improved method are 0.066 and 0.088, respectively, largely improved from 0.100 to 0.130. Since accurate estimation of high-density impervious surfaces is the fundamental issue for monitoring and understanding the urban environment, the improved method demonstrated in this study is significant.     

Fast collocation

In this paper a new method to compute in a fast and reliable way the collocation solution is presented. In order to speed up the numerical procedures, some restrictions on input data are needed.The basic assumption is that data are gridded and homogeneous; this implies that the autocovariance matrix entering in the collocation formula is of Toeplitz type. In particular, if observations are placed on a two dimensional planar grid, the autocovariance matrix is a symmetric block Toeplitz matrix and each block is itself a symmetric Toeplitz matrix (Toeplitz/Toeplitz structure). The analysis can be extended to a regular geographical grid, considered as a generalization of the planar one, taking into account the distortions on the Toeplitz/Toeplitz structure induced by the convergence of the meridians. The devised method is based on a combined application of the Preconditioned Conjugate Gradient Method and of the Fast Fourier Transform. This allows a proper exploitation of the Toeplitz/Toeplitz structure of the autocovariance matrix in computing the collocation solution.The numerical tests proved that the application of this algorithm leads to a relevant decrease in CPU time if compared with standard methods used to solve a collocation problem (Cholesky, Levinson).     

On theJ-integrals associated with close binary systems: New recursion formulae

The integralsJ _, ^m were introduced by Kopal for the numerical evaluation of the light changes exhibited by eclipsing binaries when both the tidal and rotational distrotions are taken into account.This paper is a sequel to a previous one to appear in this journal and aims at ascertaining some recursion formulae for these integrals to alleviate the computational complexity of the problem.Using a relationship existing between theJ-integrals and the Appell hypergeometric series of the first kind, we have been able to obtain recursion formulae affecting all three parametersm , of these integrals. The present stage of development has also allowed for a complete enumeration of all independent recursion formulae applicable to the case of partial eclipses.Various recursion formulae, given here for the first time, generalize previous results by Kopal which were valid form=0 ory=0.     

Present activity and seismogenic potential of a low-angle normal fault system (Città di Castello,Italy): Constraints from surface geology,seismic reflection data and seismicity

We present new constraints on an active low-angle normal fault system in the Città di Castello–Sansepolcro basin (CSB) of the northern Apennines of Italy. New field data from the geological survey of the Carta Geologica d'Italia (CARG project) define the surface geometry of the normal fault system and lead to an interpretation of the CROP 03 deep-crust seismic reflection profile (Castiglion Fiorentino–Urbania segment), with particular attention paid to the geometry of the Plio-Quaternary extensional structures. Surface and sub-surface geological data are integrated with instrumental and historical seismicity in order to define the seismotectonics of the area.Low-angle east-dipping reflectors are the seismic expression of the well-known Altotiberina Fault (AF), a regional extensional detachment on which both east- and west-dipping high-angle faults, bounding the CSB, sole out. The AF breakaway zone is located ～ 10 km west of the CSB. Within the extensional allochthon, synthetic east-dipping planes prevail. Displacement along the AF is ～ 4.5 km, which agrees with the cumulative offset due to its synthetic splays. The evolution of the CSB has mainly been controlled by the east-dipping fault system, at least since Early Pleistocene time; this system is still active and responsible for the seismicity of the area. A low level of seismic activity was recorded instrumentally within the CSB, but several damaging earthquakes have occurred in historical times. The instrumental seismicity and the intensity data points of the largest historical earthquakes (5 events with maximum MCS intensity of IX to IX–X) allow us to propose two main seismogenic structures: the Monte Santa Maria Tiberina (Mmax = 5.9) and Città di Castello (Mmax up to 6.5) normal faults. Both are synthetic splays of the AF detachment, dipping to the NE at moderate (45–50°) to low (25–30°) angles and cutting the upper crust up to the surface. This study suggests that low-angle normal faults (at least with dips of 25–30°) may be seismogenic.     

Soil erosion assessment using geomorphological remote sensing techniques: an example from southern Italy

The aim of this study is to assess of the distribution and map the geomorphological effects of soil erosion at the basin scale identifying newly‐formed erosional landsurfaces (NeFELs), by means of an integration of Landsat ETM 7+ remotely sensed data and field‐surveyed geomorphological data. The study was performed on a 228·6 km²‐wide area, located in southern Italy. The study area was first characterized from a lithological, pedological, land‐use and morpho‐topographic point of view and thematic maps were created. Then, the georeferenced Landsat ETM 7+ satellite imagery was processed using the RSI ENVI 4.0 software. The processing consisted of contrast stretching, principal component analysis (PCA), decorrelation stretching and RGB false colour compositing. A field survey was conducted to characterize the features detected on the imagery. Particular attention was given to the NeFELs, which were located using a global positioning system (GPS). We then delimited the Regions of Interest (ROI) on the Landsat ETM 7+ imagery, i.e. polygons representing the ‘ground‐truth’, discriminating the NeFELs from the other features occurring in the imagery. A simple statistical analysis was conducted on the digital number (DN) values of the pixels enclosed in the ROI of the NeFELs, with the aim to determine the spectral response pattern of such landsurfaces. The NeFELs were then classified in the entire image using a maximum likelihood classification algorithm. The results of the classification process were checked in the field. Finally, a spatial analysis was performed by converting the detected landsurfaces into vectorial format and importing them into the ESRI ArcViewGIS 9.0 software. Application of these procedures, together with the results of the field survey, highlighted that some ‘objects’ in the classified imagery, even if displaying the same spectral response of NeFELs, were not landsurfaces subject to intense soil erosion, thus confirming the strategic importance of the field‐checking for the automatically produced data. During the production of the map of the NeFELs, which is the final result of the study, these ‘objects’ were eliminated by means of simple, geomorphologically‐coherent intersection procedures in a geographic information system (GIS) environment. The overall surface of the NeFELs had an area of 22·9 km², which was 10% of the total. The spatial analysis showed that the highest frequency of the NeFELs occurred on both south‐facing and southwest‐facing slopes, cut on clayey‐marly deposits, on which fine‐textured and carbonate‐rich Inceptisols were present and displaying slope angle values ranging from 12° to 20°. The comparison of two satellite imageries of different periods highlighted that the NeFELs were most clearly evident immediately after summer tillage operations and not so evident before them, suggesting that these practices could have played an important role in inducing the erosional processes. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An experimental comparison of silica gel and quartz sand grains as sediment media for growing vegetation at the laboratory scale

In this technical note we compare silica gel grains and quartz sand as sediment media for vegetation root growth in laboratory experiments for ecohydrology and ecohydraulics. Silica gel grains become quite transparent when saturated with water. This would be useful in order to non-invasively observe the rate of growth of plant roots and plan parallel laboratory experiments made in more typical sand sediments. In this work, we compare the results of preliminary tests conducted using quartz sand with the same grain size distribution of silica gel grains. We show that the complex microstructure of silica gel grains seems to influence the evaporation and, in turn, plant growth dynamics. The potential and limitations of the use of silica grains are accordingly discussed in light of more detailed experiments.     

Mass function of dormant black holes and the evolution of active galactic nuclei

Under the assumption that accretion on to massive black holes (BHs) powers active galactic nuclei (AGNs), the mass function (MF) of the BHs responsible for their past activity is estimated. For this, we take into account not only the activity related to the optically selected AGNs, but also that required to produce the hard X-ray background (HXRB). The MF of the massive dark objects (MDOs) in nearby quiescent galaxies is computed by means of the most recent results on their demography. The two mass functions match well under the assumption that the activity is concentrated in a single significant burst with λ L L _Edd being a weakly increasing function of luminosity. This behaviour may be indicative of some level of recurrence and/or of accretion rates insufficient to maintain the Eddington rates in low-luminosity/low-redshift objects. Our results support the scenario in which the early phase of intense nuclear activity occurred mainly in early-type galaxies (E/S0) during the relatively short period in which they still had an abundant interstellar medium. Only recently, with the decline of the quasi-stellar object (QSO) luminosities, did the activity in late‐type galaxies (Sa/Sab) become statistically significant.     

Formation of planetary systems: A simple synthetical approach

It is shown that by means of elementary assumptions it is possible to obtain models of planetary systems not too different from the observed case. Such assumptions are shown to be the bulk of more detailed models as those by Dole (1970) and Isaacman and Sagan (1977).An accurate fit with the features of the Solar System can be obtained only byad hoc assumptions on various physical quantities and depends also on the possibility of taking into account stochastic processes in the numerical code.We discuss various cases and attempt to derive best fit values for the free parameters of the model. The hypothesis of a moderate mass depletion in the region of outer planets is strongly supported by our results.