Study on the urban heat island effects and its relationship with surface biophysical characteristics using MODIS imageries

This study assesses surface urban heat island (UHI) and its associated surface physical characteristics using remote sensing approaches. TERRA/MODIS images acquired in 2005 in three different seasons were selected to generate land surface tem-perature and surface characteristics for the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan metropolitan area in China. The intensity of urban heat is-land effects and its seasonal variations were examined. The result showed that UHI effects were significant both in the summer and the spri...     

Kinematic precise point positioning at remote marine platforms

Precise kinematic differential positioning using the global positioning system (GPS) at a marine platform usually requires a relatively short distance (e.g. <500 km) to a land-based reference station. As an alternative, precise point positioning (PPP) is normally considered free from this limiting requirement. However, due to the prerequisite of network-based satellite products, PPP at a remote marine platform may still be affected by its distance to the reference network. Hence, this paper investigates this scenario by configuring rings of reference stations with different radii centered on a to-be-positioned marine platform. Particularly, we applied ambiguity resolution at a single station to PPP by estimating uncalibrated phase delays (UPDs). We used three rings of reference stations centered on a vessel, with radii of roughly 900, 2,000 and 3,600 km, to determine satellite clocks and UPDs independently. For comparison, we also performed differential positioning based on a single reference station with baseline lengths of about 400, 1,700 and 2,800 km. We demonstrate that, despite the increasing ring-network radius to a few 1,000 km, the overall change in accuracy of the satellite clocks that are used at the vessel is smaller than 0.02 ns, and the RMS values of differences between the three sets of narrow-lane UPD estimates are around 0.05 cycles only. Moreover, the kinematic positioning accuracy of PPP is affected by the increasing ring-network radius, but can still achieve several centimeters after ambiguity resolution when the vessel is over a few 1,000 km away from the ring network, showing better performance than that of differential positioning. Therefore, we propose that ambiguity-fixed PPP can be used at remote marine platforms that support precise oceanographic and geophysical applications in open oceans.     

Automatic Change Detection in Very High Resolution Images With Pulse-Coupled Neural Networks

A novel approach based on pulse-coupled neural networks (PCNNs) for image change detection is presented. PCNNs are based on the implementation of the mechanisms underlying the visual cortex of small mammals, and, with respect to more traditional NNs architectures, such as multilayer perceptron, own interesting advantages. In particular, they are unsupervised and context sensitive. This latter property may be particularly useful when very high resolution images are considered as, in this case, an object analysis might be more suitable than a pixel-based one. The qualitative and more quantitative results are reported. The performance of the algorithm has been evaluated on a pair of QuickBird images taken over the test area of Tor Vergata University, Rome.      

Automated GPS Data Analysis Service

Automatic analysis of geodetic-quality GPS data is available with the use of e-mail and ftp (file transfer program) as an interface to a computer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where precise transmitter parameters – GPS ephemerides and clock errors – are computed regularly. The interface is such that e-mail from an external user causes the JPL computer to fetch the user's data. The computer than analyzes the data, and places the results in an area accessible to the user. An e-mail to the user gives information on the location of the analysis results, which the user can subsequently fetch. Operations on the JPL computer are entirely automatic, and require essentially no labor. ? 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

A GPS-Supported Gravity Survey in the Amazon of Ecuador

The growing importance and effectiveness of the Global Positioning System (GPS) in positioning geophysical surveys is now well established. In Ecuador's Amazon basin the use of GPS was the determining factor in the successful completion of a gravity survey carried out in 1994. Over 500 gravity stations, spaced from 1 to 5 km apart and positioned by GPS, were collected in the jungle environment in the country's southeast, where the preexisting data, of variable and unknown quality, were mostly confined to areas along the major rivers. This station densification, which includes the reoccupation of selected points, contributed to increase the gravity coverage; it also allowed us to evaluate and correct 1100 preexisting data points in the area, so that the different surveys can be merged. The composite data set is used for a geologic analysis of the study area, where previously unknown structures are discovered. ? 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

TWO STRUCTURAL MODELS FOR THE WESTERN FLANK OF THE BRABANT MASSIF*

This paper is concerned with an interpretation of the Bouguer anomaly on the Western flank of the Brabant Massif (Belgium). The position, shape, and density contrast of elementary bodies in the upper part of the earth's crust are determined in a purely numerical manner. A batholith-like body and a basin-type structure both adequately account for the observed surface field, at least from a one-sided geophysical and mathematical point of view. Since seismological control is lacking the two models are representative of the ambiguity and indeterminacy of the definitions of the geologic cause of the anomalous features, if the data are restricted to gravity information alone.     

Very faint blue objects in the Virgo Cluster Region

Für 95 sehr schwache blaue Objekte in der Nähe des Zentrums des Virgo-Galaxienhaufens werden Auffindungskarten, Koordinaten, Schätzungen des (U – B)-Farbenindexes und grobe B-Helligkeiten mitgeteilt. Die Objekte wurden durch Blinken einer Tautenburger U- und B-Schmidtplatte gefunden.     

A strip adjustment procedure to mitigate the impact of inaccurate mounting parameters in parallel lidar strips

Lidar (laser scanning) technology has been proven as a prominent technique for the acquisition of high-density and accurate topographic information. Because of systematic errors in the lidar measurements (drifts in the position and orientation information and biases in the mirror angles and ranges) and/or in the parameters relating the system components (mounting parameters), adjacent lidar strips may exhibit discrepancies. Although position and orientation drifts can have a more significant impact, these errors and their impact do not come as a surprise if the quality of the GPS/INS integration process is carefully examined. Therefore, the mounting errors are singled out in this work. The ideal solution for improving the compatibility of neighbouring strips in the presence of errors in the mounting parameters is the implementation of a rigorous calibration procedure. However, such a calibration requires the original observations, which may not be usually available. In this paper, a strip adjustment procedure to improve the compatibility between parallel lidar strips with moderate flight dynamics (for example, acquired by a fixed-wing aircraft) over an area with moderately varying elevation is proposed. The proposed method is similar to the photogrammetric block adjustment of independent models. Instead of point features, planar patches and linear features, which are represented by sets of non-conjugate points, are used for the strip adjustment. The feasibility and the performance of the proposed procedure together with its impact on subsequent activities are illustrated using experimental results from real data.     

Seismic hazard monitoring in Kamchatka and its applications to the M = 6.6 earthquake of 6 October 1987

The earthquake of 6 October 1987 (M = 6.6), which occurred near the Shipunsky Cape, Kamchatka, was the largest crustal event in the vicinity of the main city of Kamchatka — Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky — during the last three decades. It was followed by numerous aftershocks. This earthquake allowed us to test the effectiveness of the seismic hazard monitoring in Kamchatka, including the seismological, geodetic and hydrogeochemical surveys. The seismic survey provided the location and source nature of the main shock and aftershocks and the seismic environment of the main shock. The geodetic and hydrogeochemical surveys have yielded data on the response to earthquakes of the Earth's surface deformations, water level, and chemical elements concentration in the underground water. As a result, the following data were obtained:

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The earthquake of 6 October had a seismic moment 4–10 E18 Nm, thrust type of faulting and the source volume of 20 × 20 × 10 km³. The maximum intensity was VI–VII (MSK-64 scale) and maximum acceleration 88 cm/s².

Before this event, a relative increase in the number of the upper mantle (depth more than 100 km) moderate magnitude earthquakes during 5 years and a one-year period of seismic quiescence for small shallow earthquakes, were recognized. Significant anomalies in HCO₃ and H₃BO₃ concentrations in the underground waters were observed in the wells a week before the main shock.