Automated Image Registration for Hydrologic Change Detection in the Lake-Rich Arctic

Multitemporal remote sensing provides a unique tool to track lake dynamics at the pan-Arctic scale but requires precise registration of thousands of satellite images. This is a challenging task owing to a dearth of stable features to be used as tie points [(TPs), i.e., control points] in the dynamic landscapes. This letter develops an automated method to precisely register images in the lake-rich Arctic. The core premise of the method is that the centers of lakes are generally stable even if their shorelines are not. The proposed procedures first extract lakes in multitemporal satellite images, derive lake centroids and match them between images, and then use the centroids of stable lakes as TPs for image registration. The results show that this approach can achieve subpixel registration accuracy, outcompeting the conventional manual methods in both efficiency and accuracy. The proposed method is fully automated and represents a feasible way to register images for lake change detection at the pan-Arctic scale.      

(Re)surveying the uses of Geographical Information Systems in Health Authorities 1991–2001

This paper provides a comparative analysis of two separate national surveys of the uptake and use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) by Health Authorities (HAs) in England and Wales. The surveys were undertaken at two different time points (1991 and 2001), and the intervening period has been characterized by major (and continuing) health sector restructuring. The substantial number of HA mergers between 1991 and 2001 provide a methodological challenge in attempting to make comparisons. A pragmatic approach is adopted and the presentation of results has to be restricted solely to English and Welsh HA data. Our findings show that there has been a considerable increase in the use of GIS since the early 1990s, and there is some evidence of more sophisticated uses for a wider range of policy-related and application tasks. However, we conclude that there is still considerable scope for the wider uptake and use of GIS within the NHS. In addition, our findings provide a baseline with which to monitor the impacts of future organizational restructuring on the uses of GIS within the NHS. We suggest that this is important given the replacement of 95 English HAs with 28 new Strategic HAs (StHAs) from April 2002, and the repercussions of the anticipated shift in GIS responsibility to Primary Care Trusts.     

Performance analysis of the spaceborne laser ranging system

The Spaceborne Laser Ranging System is a proposed short pulse laser on board an orbiting spacecraft.^1,2,3,4 It measures the distance between the spacecraft and many laser retroreflectors (targets) deployed on the Earth’s surface. The precision of these range measurements is assumed to be about ±2 cm (M. W. Fitzmaurice, private communication). These measurements are then used together with the orbital dynamics of the spacecraft, to derive the relative position of the laser ground targets. Assuming a six day observing period with 50% cloud cover, uncertainties in the baseline for target separations of 50 km to 1200 km were estimated to be on the order of 1 to 3 cm and the corresponding values in the vertical direction, ranged from 1 cm to 12 cm. By redetermining the measurements of the relative target positions, the estimated precision in the baseline for a target separation of 50 km is less than 0.3 cm and for a separation of 1200 km is less than 1 cm. In the vertical direction, the estimated precision ranged from 0.4 cm to 4.0 cm respectively. As a result of the repeated estimation of the relative laser target positions, most of the non-temporal effects of error sources as exemplified by the errors in geopotential are reduced. The Spaceborne Laser Ranging System’s capability of determining baselines to a high degree of precision provides a measure of strain and strain rate as shown byCohen, 1979. These quantities are essential for crustal dynamic studies which include determination and monitoring of strain near seismic zones, land subsidence, and edifice building preceding volcanic eruptions. It is evident that such a system can also be used for geodetic surveys where such precisions are more than adquate.     

Deformation and patterns of sedimentation,South San Clemente Basin,California Borderland

Seismic reflection profiling in the South San Clemente Basin and the southern portion of the San Diego Trough has revealed at least six sedimentary units exhibiting varying stages of deformation. Four of the units are interpreted to be marine turbidites supplied by adjacent submarine canyons. Sediments comprising the Descanso Plain and correlative material within the South San Clemente Basin are attributed to a southerly source (Banda Canyon), while the more recent Quaternary turbidites from Coronado Canyon filled the southern San Diego Trough and then spilled over into South San Clemente Basin. The relatively high but intermittent rates of sedimentation, together with shifting sources and areas of deposition, have resulted in sedimentary units that were emplaced in comparatively short episodes but which were subjected to relatively continuous tectonic activity. Consequently, the sedimentary layers of each unit appear uniformly affected by deformation which increases in successively older units.     

Case study of Pampa,Texas, multicell storms

Analysis of the Pampa, Texas, multicell storms showed prestorm environmental conditions of a strong horizontal convergence of moisture, mixing ratio 12 g/kg at the 850 mb level in the Texas Panhandle areas and strong winds with shear veering with height. Rapid-scan satellite imagery showed that the clouds penetrated above the tropopause and cloud-top temperatures were at least 4 to 9° C colder than the temperature of the tropopause. This formation and collapsing of high-mass-density overshooting cloud tops above the tropopause is characteristic of tornadoes in the middle portion of the United States.