BUSINESS AND PLEASURE

Abstract

Mr. Surveyor A walked into the Club, his first visit after a four-months' field season. He entered the lounge, sank into one of the deep luxurious leather arm-chairs and called for his“sundowner“. In a little while he was joined by several other Government officers, glad to see him after his long absence and eager to hear of his bush experiences and to cap them with stories of their own.     

Analysis of urban built-up areas and surface urban heat island using downscaled MODIS derived land surface temperature data

Regional scale urban built-up areas and surface urban heat islands (SUHI) are important for urban planning and policy formation. Owing to coarse spatial resolution (1000 m), it is difficult to use Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Land surface temperature (LST) products for mapping urban areas and visualization, and SUHI-related studies. To overcome this problem, the present study downscaled MODIS (1000 m resolution)-derived LST to 250 m resolution to map and visualize the urban areas and identify the basic components of SUHI over 12 districts of Punjab, India. The results are compared through visual interpretation and statistical procedure based on similarity analysis. The increased entropy value in the downscaled LST signifies higher information content. The temperature variation within the built-up and its environs is due to difference in land use and is depicted better in the downscaled LST. The SUHI intensity analysis of four cities (Ludhiana, Patiala, Moga and Vatinda) indicates that mean temperature in urban built-up core is higher (38.87 °C) as compared to suburban (35.85 °C) and rural (32.41 °C) areas. The downscaling techniques demonstrated in this paper enhance the usage of open-source wide swath MODIS LST for continuous monitoring of SUHI and urban area mapping, visualisation and analysis at regional scale. Such initiatives are useful for the scientific community and the decision-makers.     

Measuring tree stem diameters using intensity profiles from ground-based scanning lidar from a fixed viewpoint

This paper presents a method for using the intensity of returns from a scanning light detection and ranging (lidar) system from a single viewing point to identify the location and measure the diameter of tree stems within a forest. Such instruments are being used for rapid forest inventory and to provide consistent supporting information for airborne lidars. The intensity transect across a tree stem is found to be consistent with a simple model parameterised by the range and diameter of the trunk. The stem diameter is calculated by fitting the model to transect data. The angular span of the stem can also be estimated by using a simple threshold where intensity values are tested against the expected intensity for a stem of given diameter. This is useful when data are insufficient to fit the model or the stem is partially obscured. The process of identifying tree positions and trunk diameters is fully automated and is shown to be successful in identifying a high proportion of trees, including some that are partially obscured from view. The range and bearing to trees are in excellent agreement with field data. Trunk angular span and diameter estimations are well correlated with field measurements at the plot scale. The accuracy of diameter estimation is found to decrease with range from the scanning position and is also reduced for stems subtending small angles (less than twice the scanning resolution) to the instrument. A method for adjusting survey results to compensate for trees missed due to obscuration from the scanning point and the use of angle count methods is found to improve basal area estimates and achieve agreement within 4% of field measurements.     

The Global Impact of Clouds on the Production of MODIS Bidirectional Reflectance Model-Based Composites for Terrestrial Monitoring

A global data set of cloud occurrence probability derived from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Terra and Aqua gridded daily data is analyzed to investigate the probability of obtaining at least a minimum number of cloud-free observations within various compositing periods. The probabilities derived from Terra and Aqua, with morning and afternoon overpass times, respectively, are similar and increase with compositing period. Compositing both Terra and Aqua observations results in considerably higher probabilities of obtaining a sufficient number of observations for bidirectional reflectance model-based compositing. Given that the only alternative to obtaining sufficient samples is to extend the observation period, which can cause significant problems when the surface state changes, it is concluded that using data from the two MODIS sensors provides the most effective way of generating composited products. Findings with respect to the availability of cloud-free composites when n-day composites are generated on a temporally overlapping daily rolling basis, i.e., every day, rather than every n-days, are also discussed for regional and global applications     

Orthorectification of IKONOS and impact of different resolution DEM

IKONOS image has been wildly used in city planning, precision agriculture and emergence response. However, the accuracy of IKONOS Geo product is limited due to distortion caused by terrain relief. Orthorectification was performed to remove the distortion and the impact of different DEM on orthorectification were evaluated. 38 ground control points （GCPs） and 25 independent check points （ICPs） were collected. DEMs were generated from 1 ： 10 000 and 1 ： 50 000 topographic maps. Results show that RMS error at the check points is 1. 554 0 m using DEM generated from 1 ： 10 000 topographic map, which can meet the accuracy requirement of IKONOS Precision product （1.9 m RMSE）. While RMS error is 2. 572 4 m using DEM generated from 1 ： 50 000 topographic map.     

Constructing geo-information sharing architecture

IntroductionAlong with the development of computer andInternet technology , GIS applications are be-coming broad increasingly ,geo-information sha-ring are of increasingi mportance ,and geo-infor-mationinteroperabilityis the trend in the futureGIS applica…     

Observation on height changes of chinese tide gauges by GPS

IntroductionBecause of global temperature rising and glacierthawing,the sea level has risen about 10-25 cmin the past century[1]. The sea level change isone of the main ai ms in global change monito-ring. Presently the basic tool used in sea levelmonitori…     

Photogrammetry Education for Multidisciplinary Geomatics in China

IntroductionThe word photogrammetry comes from Greekwords photos ( meaning “light”) , gramma( meaning that which is drawn or written) andmetron ( meaning“to measure”) . It originallysignifies measuring graphically by means oflight[1].The development o…     

Contribution of new AAM data source to δLOD excitation

Data sets of the changes of the length of day (ΔLOD) measured by space geodetic techniques and of the atmospheric angular momentum (AAM) derived from global meteorological data by the National Meteorological Center (NMC) and the National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) are used to reanalyze and study the excitations of ΔLOD, and to examine and compare the contribution of each AAM series to ΔLOD. The main results are as follows. 1. The AAM reanalyzed with the assimilated global meteorological data by NCEP/NCAR are more accurate and have lower noise than the original AAM derived by NMC. The NCEP/NCAR-based AAM is more consistent with the changes of the length-of-day series. 2. The NCEP reanalysed AAM data may better explain the non-tidal LOD variations on intraseasonal to interannual time scales, especially on the quasi-biennial time scale. The atmosphere cannot, however, explain all LOD variations; other excitation sources are possible. 3. The effects of atmosphere on the estimated values of tides for ΔLOD components up to a month are weak. The preliminary results of the annual and semiannual tides can be estimated after removing the effects of atmosphere from ΔLOD. Received: 27 May 1998 / Accepted: 22 March 1999     

Orthophotograph Production in Urban Areas

This paper investigates possible solutions to the problem of urban orthophotography. Extensive work has been carried out to attain the best possible results, using all the existing software in the Department of Geomatic Engineering, University College London. Two of the most promising methods, which yield the best results, are analysed further. New routines were written in C language, as additions to the existing software, to allow for the special problems that arise in urban areas. The final results overcome the problem of double mapping (or occlusions) and will potentially enable even greater success to be achieved. A simple accuracy assessment of the results has been made. Difficulties and current limitations are analysed and presented.