Land Cover Mapping for Namdapha National Park (Arunachal Pradesh), India Using Harmonized Land Cover Legends

Since last few decades RS-GIS is playing vital role in studying and mapping spatiotemporal responses of land cover, however, as a matter of fact, the mapping outputs largely depend on the expert's/user's preferences because location specific and people specific land cover classification systems are adopted autonomously for image classification in GIS. This may actually lead to an ambiguous definition of a particular land cover type when such different maps are compared at global level. In 1993, FAO and UNEP started efforts for development of a software tool know as LCCS which is a comprehensive standardized tool capable of providing land cover characterization to all possible land cover types in the world regardless of spatial relevance, mapping scale, data collection method etc. Adding to the global efforts of land cover legend harmonization and mapping, this study presents development of harmonized land cover legends for Namdapha National Park located in north-eastern Indian Himalayan region using LCCS and subsequent mapping. The potential of Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in forest/land cover mapping is very well recognized. Therefore, adopting the developed harmonized legends for the study area, land cover mapping was done using RS-GIS approach.     

Generation of Vegetation Fraction and Surface Albedo Products Over India from Ocean Colour Monitor (OCM) Data Onboard Oceansat-2

The use of Local Area Coverage (LAC) data from Ocean Color Monitor (OCM) sensor of Oceansat-2 with its high radiometric resolution (12 bits/pixel) and 2-day repeat cycle for rapid monitoring of vegetation growth and estimating surface albedo for the Indian region is demonstrated in this study. For the vegetation monitoring, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and vegetation fraction (VF) products were estimated by maximum value composite approach fortnightly and were resampled to 1 km. The surface albedo products were realized by converting narrow-band eight-band spectral reflectance OCM data to a) visible (300–700 nm) and b) broad band (300–3,000 nm) data. For validation, the derived products were compared with respective MODIS global products and found to be in good agreement.     

Earth observations during space shuttle flight STS‐41: Discovery's mission to planet earth

Abstract

Multi‐temporal ERS‐1 SAR data acquired over a large agricultural region in West Bengal was used to classify kharif crops like rice, jute and sugarcane. Rice crop grown under lowland management practice showed a temporal characteristic. The dynamic range of backscatter was highest for this crop in temporal SAR data. This was used to classify rice using temporal SAR data. Such temporal character was not observed for the other study crops, which may be due to the difference in cultivation practice and crop calendar. Significant increase in backscatter from the ploughed fields was used to derive information on onset and duration of land preparations. Synergistic use of optical remote sensing data and SAR data increased the separability of rice crop from homesteads and permanent vegetation classes.     

Surface description for urban climate studies: A gis based methodology

In order to understand the nature of the urban climate, predict the effects of urbanization, or attempt to ameliorate some of the negative hydroclimatic effects of urbanization, it is necessary to have a good understanding of the role and significance of the urban surface. This paper presents a methodology which uses GIS to represent the characteristics and morphology of the urban surface, which can be used to describe a site objectively, model fluxes, or ensure spatial consistency between measured and modelled data, all of which can vary through time. The methodology is illustrated with respect to Chicago, Illinois. Surface data collected at three spatial scales were used to construct a georeferenced database which was linked to an objective, dynamic accessing system. Spatial variability of surface cover, derived hydroclimatic attributes, and modelled fluxes associated with changes in the urban environment are used to illustrate potential applications of the approach.     

TEXTURE OF FOREST COMMUNITIES ON AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS

The authors discuss a method by which the image characteristics of forest vegetation can be used to determine various valuational characteristics of forest stands through the combination of air photo interpretation and ground surveys at selected training sites. Construction of curves showing changes in image texture and tone occurring at different stages in the growth cycle of a pine forest community are used to estimate the age of a forest stand, and through known relationships between age and other stand characteristics incorporated into yield tables, to approximate such valuational characteristics as mean diameter, mean height, and stand volume. Translated from: Distantsionnyye issledovaniya rel'yefa Sibiri, A. L. Yanshin and V. N. Sharanov, eds. Novosibirsk, Nauka, 1985, pp. 73-78.     

SEASONAL CHANGES IN THE SPECTRAL REFLECTANCE OF PASTURE GRASSES IN THE IDENTIFICATION OF AREAS OF VARIABLE DRAINAGE EFFICIENCY

Spectral reflectances of artificial pastures are examined at various wavelengths and stages in the grazing/field work cycle to identify inadequately drained, marginally productive sites. Mesophytic pasture grasses and crops on well-drained sites are replaced by more hygrophytic species on poorly drained sites (each group with distinctive brightness values). This relationship, plus less significant spectral differences reflecting grazing intensity and soil moisture content at particular points in time, provided a methodological basis for the study. Poorly drained pastures are most reliably identified in the infrared and visible green portions of the spectrum during the middle of the grazing season. Translated from: Geografiya I prirodnyye resursy, 1988, No. 1, pp. 134-139.     

THE READABILITY OF THE MAP: THEORETICAL PRINCIPLES

An effort is made at developing a theory of map readability, defined as the process of the user's representation of the information of the map in his/her own mind. This can be estimated quantitatively by surrogate measures, which include the speed of map comprehension and accuracy of map interpretation. Levels of psychological representation of map information are incorporated to determine at what stage particular aspects of map knowledge are understood. Thus what readability entails, and the approaches used to measure it (what types of things are comprehended, how fast, and how accurately) will depend upon the level of representation. Translated from: Vestnik Leningradskogo Universiteta, seriya 7 [geologiya, geografiya], 1988, No. 1, pp. 32-37.     

ECOLOGICAL-GEOGRAPHIC MAPPING: CONCEPTS,METHODS, AND TECHNOLOGY

Another paper in a series of articles on ecological-geographic mapping (see for example, Mapping Sciences and Remote Sensing, Vol. 31, No. 3, July-September 1994, pp. 185-220) focuses on outlining a concise typology of such maps and providing a brief history of their emergence during the 1970s and 1980s. A subsequent section is devoted to methods and technology used in the compilation of ecological-geographic maps, particularly the multiple variants of data organization, processing, and cartographic representation that can be factored into research design. Translated by Edward Torrey, Alexandria, VA 22308 from: Geografiya i prirodnyye resursy, 1995, No. 4, pp. 10-18.     

上海市不可移动文物管理信息系统的研究与实现

探讨了以上海市为例,在WebGIS技术、数据库技术等支持下,通过设计和实现不可移动文物管理信息系统,实现文物历史资料存档、综合档案信息数字化管理、文物点云数据存储及3维模型重建等,以改进文物管理工作的方法和手段,提高管理工作的效率和信息化水平。     

Field Measurements of Plant Emissivity Spectra: An Experimental Study on Remote Sensing of Vegetation in the Thermal Infrared Region

Spectral features of plant species in the visible to SWIR (0.4–2.5 μm) region have been studied extensively, but scanty attention has been given to plant thermal infrared (TIR: 4–14 μm) properties. This paper presents preliminary results of a study that was conducted first time in India to measure radiance and emissivity properties of eight plant species in TIR spectral region in the field conditions using a FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared) field spectroradiometer working in 4–14 μm at an agriculture experimental farm. Several spectral features in the emissivity spectra of plant species were observed that are probably related to the leaf chemical constituents, such as cellulose and xylan (hemicellulose) and structural aspects of leaf surface like abundance of trichomes and texture. Observations and results from the field measurements were supported by the laboratory measurements like biochemical analysis. These preliminary field emissivity measurements of leaves in TIR show that there is useful spectral information that may be detectable by field-based instrument. More detailed field and laboratory measurements are underway to explore this research theme.