CARTOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS OF GAME ANIMAL RESOURCES IN THE MIDLANDS REGION OF THE USSR

The authors describe the principles and method used in compiling a map of game animal resources for the Midlands region, the name given to the middle segment of the Soviet Union comprising West Siberia, Kazakhstan and Central Asia. The results make it possible to recommend the optimal use of game resources and to identify future prospects of the trapping and hunting economy. Translated from: Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta, geografiya, 1982, No. 5, pp. 17-23.     

AN EXPERIMENT IN AUTOMATED INTERPRETATION OF REMOTE SENSING IMAGERY

Algorithms, designed for digital image processing in standard mainframe computers and representing sequential stages in a land-use classification procedure, are used to produce maps of agricultural crop types from multispectral satellite imagery. Pixel reflectance values are first grouped according to an unsupervised “rapid classification algorithm,” or data compression procedure. Mean reflectance values of the resulting classes then go into a supervised “sequential clustering algorithm” where classes are refined according to training value and other parameter inputs. The objective is to increase the accessibility of automated image interpretation while balancing classification accuracy and processing time. Translated from: Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta, geografiya, 1984, No. 4, pp. 63-69.     

MAPPING ANIMAL HABITATS

The authors propose a series of general methodological guidelines for animal habitat mapping. These include the use of “summary” indicators (of aggregate effects of environmental conditions on animal populations) as indices for mapping, the combination of laboratory and field work at all but the smallest scales of mapping, and explicit recognition (based on extensive studies of ecological characteristics and life cycles of species being mapped) that habitat boundaries in many cases vary dramatically from vegetation and landscape-geological boundaries. Habitat maps of two study areas are compared with vegetation and landscape maps at identical scales to demonstrate these differences. Translated from: Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta, geografiya, 1985, No. 3, pp. 95-101.     

THE STUDY OF DEFORESTATION PROCESSES WITH SPACE IMAGES OF THE SOUTHWESTERN GDR

The use of intermediate-scale space imagery in the analysis of current and ancient deforestation is exemplified by a case study in the southwestern quarter of East Germany, an area heavily deforested as a result of mining and agricultural activities. More specifically a mosaic of 1:1,000,000-scale Landsat imagery was used to compile a series of maps (of modern landscapes, forests, land use), the comparison of which provided an inventory of the causes and extent of deforestation over the study area. This in turn permitted linkages between losses of forest cover and other environmental problems to be identified. Translated by Jay K. Mitchell, PlanEcon Inc., Washington, DC 20005 from: Geografiya i prirodnyye resursy, 1988, No. 1, pp. 165-173.     

Computerized database on salt affected soils in western and central India using GIS

Salt affected soils occupy significant areas in western and central India manifested by the arid and semiarid climate, sandy/clayey soil texture, absence of natural drainage, and inadequate infrastructure and irrigation development. These soils are productive following reclamation and appropriate management. The National Remote Sensing Agency, Hyderabad (India) published state-wise maps of salt affected soils in India on 1:250,000 scale using a legend that includes physiography, soil characteristics, and the aerial extent of the mapping units. In the analogue form, voluminous data contained in such maps were difficult to handle by users of varied backgrounds. An attempt was made to prepare a computerized database of salt affected soils for easy access, retrieval, and manipulation of spatial and attribute data useful for management of salt affected soils. The salt affected soils maps were prepared, for Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra states, overlaying digitized layers of SAS polygons and the Survey of India basemap using the ILWIS (Integrated Land and Water Information System) software. GIS was used to prepare a composite (master) database of western and central India that showed the extent and distribution of salt affected soils. A relational database was prepared combining the digitized polygons with soil characteristics such as nature and degree of salinity (presence of higher concentration of neutral salts and neutral soil reaction), sodicity (presence of higher concentration of basic salts and alkaline reaction) and ground coverage. The regional and zonal databases of salt affected soils were prepared at a suitable scale overlaying agro-climatic regions agro-climatic zones. Spatial relation of salt affected soils with physiography, climate, geology, and agro-eco-sub-regions were evaluated employing map calculations in GIS. Saline soils were prevalent in Gujarat, and Rajasthan while sodic soils were dominant in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. These were distributed primarily in the arid (B) plain of Rajasthan, alluvial (A) and coastal (D) plains of Gujarat, and peninsular plain (F) of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. It occupied 2,596,942 ha (78%) in the western (Rajasthan and Gujarat) and 733,608 ha (22%) in the central (Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra) regions. The SAS occupied 3.3 million ha in the western and central region constituting 50% of the total salt affected soils in India. The saline and sodic soils occupied 2,069,285 ha (62%) and 1,261,266 ha (38%), respectively.     

Hydrological and hydrodynamic modeling for flood damage mitigation in Brahmani–Baitarani River Basin,India

Stream flow forecast and its inundation simulations prior to the event are an effective and non-structural method of flood damage mitigation. In this paper, a continuous simulation hydrological and hydrodynamic model was developed for stream flow forecast and for spatial inundation simulation in Brahmani–Baitarani river basin, India. The hydrologic modelling approach includes rainfall-run-off modelling, flow routing, calibration and validation of the model with the field discharge data. CARTOSAT Digital Elevation Model of 30 m resolution, land use/land cover derived from the Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS-P6) AWiFS and soil textural data of the study area were used in the modelling to compute topographic and hydraulic parameters. The hydrological model was calibrated with the help of field observed discharge data of 2006 and 2009 and validated with the data of 2008 and 2011. From the results, it is found that computed discharges are very well matching well with the observed discharges. The developed model can provide the stream flow forecast with more than 30 h lead time. Possible flood inundations were simulated using hydrodynamic modelling approach. CARTO Digital Elevation Model of 10 m resolution, landuse and the computed flood hydrographs were used in inundation simulations.     

A comparative analysis of pansharpening techniques on QuickBird and WorldView-3 images

Nowadays, different image pansharpening methods are available, which combine the strengths of different satellite images that have different spectral and spatial resolutions. These different image fusion methods, however, add spectral and spatial distortions to the resultant images depending on the required context. Therefore, a careful selection of the fusion method is required. Simultaneously, it is also essential that the fusion technique should be efficient to cope with the large data. In this paper, we investigated how different pansharpening algorithms perform, when applied to very high-resolution WorldView-3 and QuickBird satellite images effectively and efficiently. We compared these 27 pansharpening techniques in terms of quantitative analysis, visual inspection and computational complexity, which has not previously been formally tested. In addition, 12 different image quality metrics available in literature are used for quantitative analysis purpose.     

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.     

Microwave response of seasonal snow-cover measured by using a ground-based radiometer at 6.93 and 18.7 ghz frequencies and at dual polarization

Snow cover is an important variable for climatic and hydrologic models due to its effects on surface albedo, energy, and moisture budgets. Passive microwave sensors can be used to monitor temporal and spatial variations in large-scale snow cover parameters, avoiding problems of cloud cover and polar nights. In the present study, brightness temperature values were estimated (using calibration curves) for moist snow on natural and blackbody/metal surface. T_B response on snow depth, density, SWE and angular variation from nadir were measured and found that T_B decreases with increase of snow depth and with increase of angle from nadir. Empirical relations were used to estimate emissivity, dielectric constant and dielectric loss factor. It was observed that emissivity decreases with the increase of dielectric constant. The dielectric constant and dielectric loss factor both increases with the increase of density. Experiments were performed during winter of year 2005 at Dhundi and Solang (H.P.), India, using ground based passive microwave radiometer having 6.9 and 18.7 GHz antenna frequencies at dual polarization.