Spatial and temporal dust source variability in northern China identified using advanced remote sensing analysis

The aim of this research is to provide a detailed characterization of spatial patterns and temporal trends in the regional and local dust source areas within the desert of the Alashan Prefecture (Inner Mongolia, China). This problem was approached through multi‐scale remote sensing analysis of vegetation changes. The primary requirements for this regional analysis are high spatial and spectral resolution data, accurate spectral calibration and good temporal resolution with a suitable temporal baseline. Landsat analysis and field validation along with the low spatial resolution classifications from MODIS and AVHRR are combined to provide a reliable characterization of the different potential dust‐producing sources. The representation of intra‐annual and inter‐annual Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) trend to assess land cover discrimination for mapping potential dust source using MODIS and AVHRR at larger scale is enhanced by Landsat Spectral Mixing Analysis (SMA). The combined methodology is to determine the extent to which Landsat can distinguish important soils types in order to better understand how soil reflectance behaves at seasonal and inter‐annual timescales. As a final result mapping soil surface properties using SMA is representative of responses of different land and soil cover previously identified by NDVI trend. The results could be used in dust emission models even if they are not reflecting aggregate formation, soil stability or particle coatings showing to be critical for accurately represent dust source over different regional and local emitting areas. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

基于MODIS影像多特征的CART决策树分类

以山东省为研究区域,利用2009年9月MODIS的8 d合成波段反射率产品MOD09,选择特征变量植被指数(NDVI、EVI)、NDWI、NDMI、NDSI及辅助信息DEM,通过选取其中的影像特征组合来确定分类方案,构建各波段组合的CART决策树,对MODIS影像进行分类,得到CART决策树的最优波段组合。结果表明,特征变量DEM、NDVI、EVI对分类结果贡献较大;将CART决策树的分类结果与其相对应的最大似然分类结果进行比较可知,基于影像多特征的CART决策树分类方法能明显提高分类精度。     

Snow effects on alpine vegetation in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Understanding the relationships between snow and vegetation is important for interpretation of the responses of alpine ecosystems to climate changes. The Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau is regarded as an ideal area due to its undisturbed features with low population and relatively high snow cover. We used 500 m Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) datasets during 2001–2010 to examine the snow–vegetation relationships, specifically, (1) the influence of snow melting date on vegetation green-up date and (2) the effects of snow cover duration on vegetation greenness. The results showed that the alpine vegetation responded strongly to snow phenology (i.e., snow melting date and snow cover duration) over large areas of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Snow melting date and vegetation green-up date were significantly correlated (p < 0.1) in 39.9% of meadow areas (accounting for 26.2% of vegetated areas) and 36.7% of steppe areas (28.1% of vegetated areas). Vegetation growth was influenced by different seasonal snow cover durations (SCDs) in different regions. Generally, the December–February and March–May SCDs played a significantly role in vegetation growth, both positively and negatively, depending on different water source regions. Snow's positive impact on vegetation was larger than the negative impact.     

Generation of high spatial and temporal resolution NDVI and its application in crop biomass estimation

Abstract

While data like HJ-1 CCD images have advantageous spatial characteristics for describing crop properties, the temporal resolution of the data is rather low, which can be easily made worse by cloud contamination. In contrast, although Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) can only achieve a spatial resolution of 250 m in its normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI) product, it has a high temporal resolution, covering the Earth up to multiple times per day. To combine the high spatial resolution and high temporal resolution of different data sources, a new method (Spatial and Temporal Adaptive Vegetation index Fusion Model [STAVFM]) for blending NDVI of different spatial and temporal resolutions to produce high spatial–temporal resolution NDVI datasets was developed based on Spatial and Temporal Adaptive Reflectance Fusion Model (STARFM). STAVFM defines a time window according to the temporal variation of crops, takes crop phenophase into consideration and improves the temporal weighting algorithm. The result showed that the new method can combine the temporal information of MODIS NDVI and spatial difference information of HJ-1 CCD NDVI to generate an NDVI dataset with both high spatial and high temporal resolution. An application of the generated NDVI dataset in crop biomass estimation was provided. An average absolute error of 17.2% was achieved. The estimated winter wheat biomass correlated well with observed biomass (R ² of 0.876). We conclude that the new dataset will improve the application of crop biomass estimation by describing the crop biomass accumulation in detail. There is potential to apply the approach in many other studies, including crop production estimation, crop growth monitoring and agricultural ecosystem carbon cycle research, which will contribute to the implementation of Digital Earth by describing land surface processes in detail.     

Autumn NDVI contributes more and more to vegetation improvement in the growing season across the Tibetan Plateau

ABSTRACT

Detecting changes in vegetation, distinguishing the persistence of changes, and seeking their causes during multiple periods are important to gaining a deeper understanding of vegetation dynamics. Using the Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) version NDVI_3g dataset in the Tibetan Plateau, the trends in the seasonal components of NDVI and their linkage with climatic factors were analyzed over 14 asymptotic periods of 18–31 years since 1982. Dynamic trends in vegetation experienced an obvious increase at regional scale, but the increases of vegetation activity mostly tended to stall or slow down as the studied time period was extended. At pixel scale, areas with significant browning significantly expanded over 14 periods for all seasons, but for significant greening significantly increased only in autumn. The changes of vegetation activity in spring were the most drastic among three seasons. Increased increments of NDVI in summer, spring, and autumn took turns being the main reason for the enhanced vegetation activity in the growing season in the nested 14 periods. Vegetation activity was mainly regulated by a thermal factor, and the dominant climatic drivers of vegetation growth varied across different seasons and regions. We speculate that the increase of NDVI will continue but the increments will decline in all seasons except autumn.     

Predicting agricultural drought in eastern Rajasthan of India using NDVI and standardized precipitation index

In the present study, prediction of agricultural drought has been addressed through prediction of agricultural yield using a model based on NDVI-SPI. It has been observed that the meteorological drought index SPI with different timescale is correlated with NDVI at different lag. Also NDVI of current fortnight is correlated with NDVI of previous lags. Based on the correlation coefficients, the Multiple Regression Model was developed to predict NDVI. The NDVI of current fortnight was found highly correlated with SPI of previous fortnight in semi-arid and transitional zones. The correlation between NDVI and crop yield was observed highest in first fortnight of August. The RMSE of predicted yield in drought year was found to be about 17.07 kg/ha which was about 6.02 per cent of average yield. In normal year, it was 24 kg/Ha denoting about 2.1 per cent of average yield.     

Hyperspectral remote sensing analysis of short rotation woody crops grown with controlled nutrient and irrigation treatments

Hyperspectral remote sensing research was conducted to document the biophysical and biochemical characteristics of controlled forest plots subjected to various nutrient and irrigation treatments. The experimental plots were located on the Savannah River Site near Aiken, SC. AISA hyperspectral imagery were analysed using three approaches, including: (1) normalized difference vegetation index based simple linear regression (NSLR), (2) partial least squares regression (PLSR) and (3) machine-learning regression trees (MLRT) to predict the biophysical and biochemical characteristics of the crops (leaf area index, stem biomass and five leaf nutrients concentrations). The calibration and cross-validation results were compared between the three techniques. The PLSR approach generally resulted in good predictive performance. The MLRT approach appeared to be a useful method to predict characteristics in a complex environment (i.e. many tree species and numerous fertilization and/or irrigation treatments) due to its powerful adaptability.     

内蒙古煤炭能源基地植被时空变化

利用Modis数据集250m分辨率植被指数数据分析了鄂尔多斯内蒙古能源基地植被的时空变化特征及其影响因子。研究表明：内蒙古能源基地的植被空间分布从东南至西北递减,其中东北部的准格尔旗、伊金霍洛旗及东胜区植被生长最好。内蒙古能源基地全区总体上植被指数NDVI值不高,植被指数值较低的地区占全区总面积的60％。时间演变上从2000～2008年整体上呈现变好的趋势。植被变好的区域可以占全区总面积的83．7％,植被变差的区域仅占1.39％,主要集中在东北部的准格尔旗、伊金霍洛旗、东胜区,以及局域地势低洼的沟谷地区及湖泊的周边区域。对其影响因子地形、地下水及降水的分析表明,大气降水是影响植被变化的最主要的因素。通过对鄂尔多斯盆地植被演变趋势及影响因子分析,能为能源基地的生态环境保护提供依据,促进人类,以及资源与环境的和谐发展。     

东北三省城市扩展及植被覆盖状况

基于三期遥感影像数据( MSS、ETM、CBERS) 对城市建成区的面积进行了调查,研究30 多年来东北三省城市的扩展情况,并且结合NDVI 数据,对研究区范围内的植被覆盖情况进行了研究。结果表明: 1976-2000 年、2000-2007 年两个阶段,城市建成区的面积持续增加,年均扩展率由 5. 10%增加至6. 32%,扩展强度比较显著的区域主要分布在哈大交通经济带上; 研究区范围内东部的植被覆盖情况明显好于西部,NDVI 均值随与城市距离的增加而提高。     

基于ASTER数据的城市热环境遥感监测研究

以ASTER数据为数据源,采用同一颗卫星上的MODIS数据得到大气透过率;利用可见光和近红外波段对下垫面类型进行分类和利用JPL(Jet Propulsion Lab)提供的光谱库计算地表比辐射率,进而采用劈窗算法进行地表温度(Land Surface Temperature,LST)的反演。在此基础上,利用反演的LST、分类结果和归一化差值植被指数(NDVI),对沧州地区的城市热环境进行了定量分析,研究结果可为进一步深入探讨城市热岛的发生发展规律以及城市热环境的模拟调控、优化布局提供一定的科学依据。