Pixel‐oriented land use classification in energy balance modelling

Mass and energy transfer between soil, vegetation and atmosphere is the process that allows to maintain an adequate energy and water balance in the earth–atmosphere system. However, the evaluation of the energy balance components, such as the net radiation and the sensible and latent heat fluxes, is characterized by significant uncertainties related to both the dynamic nature of heat transfer processes and surfaces heterogeneity. Therefore, a detailed land use classification and an accurate evaluation of vegetation spatial distribution are required for an accurate estimation of these variables. For this purpose, in the present article, a pixel‐oriented supervised classification was applied to obtain land use maps of the Basilicata region in Southern Italy by processing three Landsat TM and ETM+ satellite images. An accuracy analysis based on the overall accuracy index and the agreement Khat of Cohen coefficient showed a good performance of the applied classification methodology and a good quality of the obtained maps. Subsequently, these maps were used in the application of a simplified two‐source energy balance model for estimating the actual evapotranspiration at a regional scale. The comparison between the simulations made by applying the simplified two‐source energy balance model and the measurements of evapotranspiration at a lysimetric station located in the study area showed the applicability and the validity of the proposed methodology. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Exploration of remotely sensed forest structure and ultrasonic range sensor metrics to improve empirical snow models

Current methods to estimate snow accumulation and ablation at the plot and watershed levels can be improved as new technologies offer alternative approaches to more accurately monitor snow dynamics and their drivers. Here we conduct a meta‐analysis of snow and vegetation data collected in British Columbia to explore the relationships between a wide range of forest structure variables – obtained from Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), hemispherical photography (HP) and Landsat Thematic Mapper – and several indicators of snow accumulation and ablation estimated from manual snow surveys and ultrasonic range sensors. By merging and standardizing all the ground plot information available in the study area, we demonstrate how LiDAR‐derived forest cover above 0.5 m was the variable explaining the highest percentage of absolute peak snow water equivalent (SWE) (33%), while HP‐derived leaf area index and gap fraction (45° angle of view) were the best potential predictors of snow ablation rate (explaining 57% of variance). This study reveals how continuous SWE data from ultrasonic sensors are fundamental to obtain statistically significant relationships between snow indicators and structural metrics by increasing mean r² by 20% when compared to manual surveys. The relationships between vegetation and spectral indices from Landsat and snow indicators, not explored before, were almost as high as those shown by LiDAR or HP and thus point towards a new line of research with important practical implications. While the use of different data sources from two snow seasons prevented us from developing models with predictive capacity, a large sample size helped to identify outliers that weakened the relationships and suggest improvements for future research. A concise overview of the limitations of this and previous studies is provided along with propositions to consistently improve experimental designs to take advantage of remote sensing technologies, and better represent spatial and temporal variations of snow. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Remote estimation of terrestrial evapotranspiration by Landsat 5 TM and the SEBAL model in cold and high‐altitude regions: a case study of the upper reach of the Shule River Basin,China

Evapotranspiration (ET) is an important expenditure in water and energy balances, especially on cold and high‐altitude land surfaces. Daily ET of the upper reach of the Shule River Basin was estimated using Landsat 5 TM data and the Surface Energy Balance Algorithm for Land (SEBAL) model. Based on observations made at the Suli station, the algorithms of land surface temperature and soil heat flux in SEBAL were modified. Land surface temperature was retrieved and compared with ground truth via three methods: the radiative transfer equation method, the mono‐window algorithm, and the single‐channel method. We selected the best of these methods, mono‐window algorithm, for estimating ET. The average error of daily ET estimated by the modified SEBAL model and measured by the eddy covariance system was 16.4%, with a root‐mean‐square error of 0.52 mm d^?1. The estimated ET means were 3.09, 2.48, and 1.48 mm d^?1 on June 9 (DOY 160), June 25 (DOY 176), and July 27 (DOY 208) of the year 2010, respectively. The average estimated ET on the glacier surface of all days was more than 3 mm d^?1, a measurement that is difficult to capture in‐situ and has rarely been reported. This study will improve the understanding of water balance in cold, high‐altitude regions. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

基于光谱角匹配算法的水体信息提取研究

针对水体信息提取时,传统算法不能较好地解决山体阴影被误提为水体的问题,引入多用于高光谱数据处理的光谱角匹配算法,以Land-sat8 OLI(band1-band7)为数据源,以黄河小浪底水库周边区域为实验区,开展水体信息提取研究,结果显示:水体指数法和波段关系提取的结果中有大量的山体阴影信息,提取精度不超过30%,而光谱角匹配法提取结果受阴影的影响较小,提取精度在99%以上。     

Pleiades高分辨率卫星影像道路提取技术

遥感影像上的道路提取是摄影测量与计算机视觉研究的一项重要内容,本文设计了一种高分辨率卫星影像道路提取方法,首先,利用Canny边缘提取算子提取左影像上的边缘,并利用霍夫变换对线特征进行检测,根据道路的几何特性检测平行直线,再基于影像匹配方法匹配立体像对上的道路;然后,利用卫星影像RPC参数前方交会原理实现道路的几何定位。利用Pleiades卫星影像开展试验,自动提取的道路与人工采集的道路几何定位误差在1个像素以内,试验结果验证了本文方法的有效性。     

迁移学习支持下的高分影像山地滑坡灾害解译模型

无人机低空遥感是近年来新兴的一种快速获取灾情信息的手段,如何利用无人机高分影像构建滑坡灾害解译模型是实现快速自动解译滑坡的关键。针对该问题,对比了多种影像特征提取方法,将迁移学习(TL)特征和支持向量机(SVM)引入到构建滑坡灾害自动解译模型中,提出了一种TL支持下的高分影像滑坡灾害解译模型。选取5·12汶川地震及4·20芦山地震系列无人机影像构建了滑坡灾害样本库并进行了实验,TL特征方法整体分类准确度ACC为95%,ROC达到0.98,识别准确率达到97%。结果表明,所提方法可用于高分影像滑坡自动解译,同时可用于大面积高分影像中快速山地滑坡灾害定位及检测。     

Selection and quality assessment of Landsat data for the North American forest dynamics forest history maps of the US

Using the NASA Earth Exchange platform, the North American Forest Dynamics (NAFD) project mapped forest history wall-to-wall, annually for the contiguous US (1986–2010) using the Vegetation Change Tracker algorithm. As with any effort to identify real changes in remotely sensed time-series, data gaps, shifts in seasonality, misregistration, inconsistent radiometry and cloud contamination can be sources of error. We discuss the NAFD image selection and processing stream (NISPS) that was designed to minimize these sources of error. The NISPS image quality assessments highlighted issues with the Landsat archive and metadata including inadequate georegistration, unreliability of the pre-2009 L5 cloud cover assessments algorithm, missing growing-season imagery and paucity of clear views. Assessment maps of Landsat 5–7 image quantities and qualities are presented that offer novel perspectives on the growing-season archive considered for this study. Over 150,000+ Landsat images were considered for the NAFD project. Optimally, one high quality cloud-free image in each year or a total of 12,152 images would be used. However, to accommodate data gaps and cloud/shadow contamination 23,338 images were needed. In 220 specific path-row image years no acceptable images were found resulting in data gaps in the annual national map products.     

多普勒雷达图像逆风区的自动监测识别

在多普勒雷达降水回波径向速度场中及时准确地发现逆风区,对灾害天气预报预警具有重要意义.根据逆风区在雷达径向速度图中的物理图像特征,采用数字图像处理和分析方法实现了逆风区自动监测识别.首先,以雷达图像色标为依据,采用阈值法分别获取正、负速度区域二值图像,再对2幅图像分别进行形态学运算,然后将上述4幅图像做交叉逻辑运算,得到逆风区监测识别结果和相关参数.通过在2005-2011年长沙雷达站47幅根据实况进行人工标注后的多普勒雷达径向速度图像上进行实验,表明该方法对逆风区可以进行快速准确识别,与人工标注结果比较准确率可达89%,满足实际应用需要.     

干侵入对我国东部一次强飑线过程的作用分析

利用NCEP/NCAR再分析资料、雷达资料、FY2E卫星资料等,对2014年7月30日至31日发生在我国东部的一次强飑线天气过程进行综合分析,并着重分析了干侵入对此次飑线过程的作用。结果表明：中层阶梯槽引导高层干冷空气向下入侵后叠加在低层暖湿气流之上,增强了大气不稳定,不稳定能量累积;低空切变线促使不稳定能量释放,是此次飑线的重要触发机制。对干侵入的分析结果表明：此次飑线过程中,干侵入来源于高空槽后下沉气流,干侵入底部风场调整使得飑线在移动过程中发生了转向。在飑线发展过程中,干侵入范围扩大、强度增强;干侵入使飑线发生区域上空空气变冷、变干,增强了大气不稳定。干侵入底部的低相当位温空气与飑线内部高相当位温空气混合是飑线长时间维持的重要原因。     

Evaluation of a rule-based compositing technique for Landsat-5 TM and Landsat-7 ETM+ images

Image compositing is a multi-objective optimization process. Its goal is to produce a seamless cloud and artefact-free artificial image. This is achieved by aggregating image observations and by replacing poor and cloudy data with good observations from imagery acquired within the timeframe of interest. This compositing process aims to minimise the visual artefacts which could result from different radiometric properties, caused by atmospheric conditions, phenologic patterns and land cover changes. It has the following requirements: (1) image compositing must be cloud free, which requires the detection of clouds and shadows, and (2) the image composite must be seamless, minimizing artefacts and visible across inter image seams. This study proposes a new rule-based compositing technique (RBC) that combines the strengths of several existing methods. A quantitative and qualitative evaluation is made of the RBC technique by comparing it to the maximum NDVI (MaxNDVI), minimum red (MinRed) and maximum ratio (MaxRatio) compositing techniques. A total of 174 Landsat TM and ETM+ images, covering three study sites and three different timeframes for each site, are used in the evaluation. A new set of quantitative/qualitative evaluation techniques for compositing quality measurement was developed and showed that the RBC technique outperformed all other techniques, with MaxRatio, MaxNDVI, and MinRed techniques in order of performance from best to worst.