Fire Danger Monitoring Using ERS-1 SAR Images in the Case of Northern Boreal Forests

Research was carried out to assess the potential of imaging radar systems formonitoring forest fire danger. In Canada, daily forest fire danger ratings are generated by the Canadian ForestFire Danger Rating System (CFFDRS), based on estimates of fire weather indices (FWI) and measured foliar moisturecontent (FMC). To evaluate the potential of imaging radar, an experiment was conducted using test sitesconsisting of jack pine, black spruce and white spruce stands located in the MacKenzie river basin, NorthwestTerritories, Canada. Radar image intensity values from ERS-1 SAR imagery collected over these stands in 1994 werecompared to FWI indices and FMC data. FWI indices were calculated using data from local weather stations.Seasonal trends in radar backscatter (⁰) were shown to correlate with temperature and precipitation. Significant relationships were found between ⁰ and FWI codes and indices, particularly in thecase of the black spruce stands, with slow-drying fuels, like duff moisture code (DMC), drought code (DC), and build-upindex (BUI). Rates of changes in ⁰were related to rates of changes in FMC, particularly in the case ofthe jack pine stands for old FMC and in the case of white spruce stands for composite FMC.     

Nutrients limiting the algal growth potential (AGP) in the Po River plume and an adjacent area, Northwest Adriatic Sea: Enrichment bioassays with the test algaeNitzschia closterium andThalassiosira pseudonana

From April 1993 to March 1994, 135 samples were collected at two sites in the coastal Adriatic Sea, both near (14.5 km) and far (63 km) from the Po River delta. The nutrient(s) limiting algal growth potential (AGP) were estimated by bioassay usingNitzshia closterium (local isolate) andThalassiosira pseudonama (strain 3-H). Estimates were also made by comparing the nutrient molar ratios, ΣN:P and ΣN:Si (whereΣN=NO₃ ^?+NO₂ ^?+NH₄ ⁺+urea), to the Redfield Ratio (16∶1, 1∶1). According to the bioassay results, phosphorus was the sole nutrient limiting AGP in 2% of the samples and was the most limiting nutrient in 69% of the samples; nitrogen was sole limiting nutrient in 18% of the samples. In 11% of samples, nitrogen and phosphorus were equally co-limiting. Omission of phosphorus from spike enrichments allowed, on average, only a 1.6-fold increase in biomass over that in the unenriched controls. Similar omission of nitrogen allowed a 4-fold increase, while silicon, iron, and micronutrients resulted in 14-fold, 18-fold, and >20-fold increases, respectively. In most of the samples, ΣN:P was much greater than 16, indicating a marked phosphorus deficiency, while ΣN:Si values suggested that silicon was the third most limiting nutrient in 35% of samples. In water collected for from the Po delta, the yield ofN. closterium was not limited by any nutrients other than the three major ones: P, N and Si. In these same waters,T. pseudonana was also potentially limited by iron and, to a lesser extent, by vitamins. The role of iron varied. In samples collected near the Po delta, iron acted as the third most limiting nutrient forN. closterium in June and September; it appeared 29 times out of 78 on the list of potentially limiting nutrients forT. pseudonana, including 5 times as the most limiting. Altogether, comparison with published results suggests that the roles of iron and silicon in AGP limitation have increased during the past three decades, and could become even more important if eutrophication in the Adriatic Sea continues to increase.     

Medium-scale maps after survey from space—The “Metric-Camera”—Experiment

Airphotos have been used for topographic survey since the Twenties. The “European Space Agency” (ESA), the “Deutsche Forschungs- und Versuchsanstalt für Luft- und Raumfahrt” (DFVLR) and “Carl Zeiss” have modified this successful technique for spacecraft and recently have tested the system over four continents. Each of these satellite photos covers a region of 189×189 km to the scale of 1∶800000 and may be enlarged to 1∶250000 or 1∶100000. Between the altitudes of 200 and 300 km, mapmaking or-revision seems to be economic in zones or in countries, where existing maps are of minor quality or outdated. In this paper, examples from deserts and semideserts in the Sudan are presented.     

La végétation macrophytique d'un lac hautement eutrophe du Plateau suisse: Le Baldegger See

The study of the qualitative and quantitative distribution of the Baldeggersee macrophytic vegetation is undertaken in 1980 with the help of colour aerial photographies and verification on the field. The comparison with old data allows then a short survey of the macrophytic evolution in relation to the eutrophication.      

Coesite in subducted continental crust: P-T history deduced from an elastic model

Coesite has been found in a metasedimentary rock in a continental unit of the Western Alps (Dora Maira massif). The rock preserves the high-pressure, low-temperature assemblage of nearly pure pyrope-talc-phengite-kyanite in a quartz matrix; coesite exclusively occurs as inclusions in pyrope and is partly inverted to quartz. Textural observations and mechanical considerations suggest that the rock crystallised in the coesite stability field. A simple elastic model for a coesite inclusion in pyrope explains why coesite has been exclusively preserved in the inclusions and not in the matrix. Combined with petrological data the model constrains the crystallisation conditions of the pyrope-coesite rock (P > 28kbar, 650 < T < 830°C) and possible uplift paths. The paths derived suggest a mechanism of rapid decompression without any temperature increase, which must be related to tectonic processes.

This finding has an important bearing on the significance of P-T conditions estimated from minerals occurring as inclusions and on the actual behaviour of continental crust in collision zones.     

Évolution temporelle et architecture interne d'un banc sableux estuarien : la Longe de Boyard (littoral atlantique,France)

The evolution and the internal architecture of an estuary type sand ridge has been studied with a set of bathymetric data recorded during the last two centuries and with a dense grid of recent very high resolution seismic profiles. Bathymetric data of the so-called, Longe de Boyard sand ridge, displays sand losts due to wave and tide erosion. Internal geometry, through seismic profile analysis, indicates two main phases of deposition recording both, a recent high energy environment and an older low energy one, respectively. Such an evolution is believed to record changes in sedimentation processes mainly related to the end of the Holocene transgression (8 000–5 000 yr BP). To cite this article: É. Chaumillon et al., C. R. Geoscience 334 (2002) 119–126.     

Aqueous alteration in the Northwest Africa 817 (NWA 817) Martian meteorite

Samples of a new Martian meteorite of the nakhlite family (NWA 817) contain traces of an iron-rich alteration product. Textural arguments indicate that this alteration product has been formed on the parent body of the meteorite (Mars). The chemical composition and structural data (X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and vibrational spectroscopy) show that the alteration mineral is a hydrous phase from the smectite family. Major elements and rare earth elements suggest that the formation of the alteration phase is related to the circulation of an aqueous fluid which composition is controlled by the dissolution of feldspars to account for a positive Eu anomaly, olivine and possibly apatite. Hydrogen isotope data display negative δD values ranging from −60 to −280‰ in olivine and pyroxenes and from −140 to −181‰ in the alteration phase. The values of δD for the alteration product show a small scatter with a mean value of −170±14‰. These values are lower than those previously obtained on other Martian meteorites, which give mainly positive δD values. These positive values have been interpreted as resulting from the interaction of the Martian meteorites with water from the Martian atmosphere. Ruling out the effect of terrestrial alteration, it is suggested that alteration in the NWA 817 meteorite was likely produced on Mars by the circulation of an aqueous fluid originating from a chemical reservoir, such as the Martian mantle, which has not equilibrated with a fractionated Martian atmosphere.     

Vertical accuracy evaluation of freely available latest high-resolution (30 m) global digital elevation models over Cameroon (Central Africa) with GPS/leveling ground control points.

Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) contain topographic relief data that are vital for many geoscience applications. This study relies on the vertical accuracy of publicly available latest high-resolution (30?m) global DEMs over Cameroon. These models are (1) the ALOS World 3D-30?m (AW3D30), (2) the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission 1 Arc-Second C-Band Global DEM (SRTM 1) and (3) the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Global DEM Version 2 (ASTER GDEM 2). After matching their coordinate systems and datums, the horizontal positional accuracy evaluation was carried out and it shows that geolocation errors significantly influence the vertical accuracy of global DEMs. After this, the three models are compared among them, in order to access random and systematic effects in the elevation data each of them contains. Further, heights from 555 GPS/leveling points distributed all over Cameroon are compared to each DEM, for their vertical accuracy determination. Traditional and robust statistical measures, normality test, outlier detection and removal were used to describe the vertical quality of the DEMs. The test of the normality rejected the hypothesis of normal distribution for all tested global DEMs. Overall vertical accuracies obtained for the three models after georeferencing and gross error removal in terms of Root Mean Square (RMS) and Normalized Median Absolute Deviation (NMAD) are: AW3D30 (13.06?m and 7.75?m), SRTM 1 (13.25?m and 7.41?m) and ASTER GDEM 2 (18.87?m and 13.30?m). Other accuracy measures (MED, 68.3% quantile, 95% quantile) supply some evidence of the good quality of AW3D30 over Cameroon. Further, the effect of land cover and slope on DEM vertical accuracy was also analyzed. All models have proved to be worse in the areas dominated by forests and shrubs areas. SRTM 1 and AW3D30 are more resilient to the effects of the scattering objects respectively in forests and cultivated areas. The dependency of DEMs accuracy on the terrain roughness is evident. In all slope intervals, AW3D30 is performing better than SRTM 1 and ASTER GDEM 2 over Cameroon. AW3D30 is more representative of the external topography over Cameroon in comparison with two others datasets and SRTM 1 can be a serious alternative to AW3D30 for a range of DEM applications in Cameroon.     

Monitoring Forest Fire Danger with Remote Sensing

Our paper presents a review of the use of remote sensing technologies for forest wildfire danger monitoring, with a particular emphasis on its applicability to fuel moisture monitoring. Remote sensing of fuel moisture was first done with NOAA-AVHRR NDVI images, but NDVI is more related to vegetation greenness rather than water stress. NOAA-AVHRR surface temperature images were also used, alone or in association with NDVI images. Both kinds of images have a limited image availability due to cloud cover. This is not the case for radar images, but their use in fuel moisture monitoring is still experimental, because of the noisy effects of several factors. Finally, the paper discusses the operational potentials and limitations of the use of each kind of satellite data for fire danger monitoring.