Accuracy assessment of digital elevation models by means of robust statistical methods

Measures for the accuracy assessment of Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) are discussed and characteristics of DEMs derived from laser scanning and automated photogrammetry are presented. Such DEMs are very dense and relatively accurate in open terrain. Built-up and wooded areas, however, need automated filtering and classification in order to generate terrain (bare earth) data when Digital Terrain Models (DTMs) have to be produced. Automated processing of the raw data is not always successful. Systematic errors and many outliers at both methods (laser scanning and digital photogrammetry) may therefore be present in the data sets. We discuss requirements for the reference data with respect to accuracy and propose robust statistical methods as accuracy measures. Their use is illustrated by application at four practical examples. It is concluded that measures such as median, normalized median absolute deviation, and sample quantiles should be used in the accuracy assessment of such DEMs. Furthermore, the question is discussed how large a sample size is needed in order to obtain sufficiently precise estimates of the new accuracy measures and relevant formulae are presented.     

IMU/DGPS系统辅助ADS40三线阵影像的区域网平差

推导ADS40航带间外方位元素归一化处理的数学公式,设计一种描述IMU/DGPS系统误差的数学模型,采用改进的定向片内插模型实现ADS40影像的区域网平差.试验结果表明,仅需一个地面控制点,IMU/DGPS数据的定位精度就可显著提高,在四角布设地面控制点的情况下,IMU/DGPS数据与ADS40影像的联合平差可得到优于1.5个像素的3维定位精度;构架航线对平差结果的改善作用有限,在作业中采用的必要性不大.     

改进的P-SVM支持向量机与遥感数据分类

本文介绍了将P-SVM算法引入多光谱/高分辨率遥感数据的分类, 并且展示了卫星ASTER和航空ADS40数字影像分类的技术过程和结果验证。结果表明：P-SVM方法的分类精度不低于SVM, 并减少了时耗。     

UHV/VHF波段SAR对次地表层土壤湿度探测与反演

首先采用一层非球形粒子植被模型,计算各波段矢量辐射传输方程Mueller矩阵一阶散射解,对比微扰法所得各波段地表粗糙面直接后向散射解,结果证明L波段植被层的散射对观测结果仍有影响,与下垫土壤粗糙表面的散射不易分离.因此,宜采用更低频率的UHF和VHF波段,对地表和次地表层能有较大的渗透深度,并可忽略植被层影响.接着,运用矢量辐射传输的3层土壤全极化Mueller矩阵解,计算UHF/VHF波段分层土壤的散射与传输,分析该两波段探测深度的差异,证实UHF波段可探测大致10-60cm深处的土壤湿度,而VHF波段探测深度能更大一些.根据第3层中土壤体湿度变化0.1时能否引起土壤表面观测的后向散射系数变化0.1dB这一判据,分析VHF波段反演第3层土壤体湿度的必要条件,证实当第2层的体湿度较小时(<0.25)才能反演层3的体温度.基于UHF/VHF两波段探测深度的差异,耗散土壤层的贡献有不同的权重,先后采用UHF和VHF,迭代法实现3层土壤湿度廓线反演.误差分析表明,该方法是有意义的.     

Long-term stability of the fish assemblages in a warm-temperate South African estuary

Little is known about long-term changes in estuarine fish populations and related environmental variations. Fishes in the temporarily open/closed East Kleinemonde Estuary were sampled bi-annually, in summer and winter, using seine and gill nets between December 1994 and July 2005. A total of 18 families, represented by 33 species, were recorded. The 10 most abundant species caught were consistently recorded in catches each year, but CPUE of individual species varied on an annual basis and this can often be related to mouth state. Multivariate analyses of the annual marine fish community identified two distinct groups, with more species recorded during years that succeeded spring (September to November) mouth-opening events than in years following no mouth-opening events in spring. Interannual community stability (IMD) and seriation (IMS) also increased from the years following no opening events in spring to the years that succeeded spring opening events. These results highlight the importance of the timing of mouth opening to the marine fish community in a temporarily open/closed estuary. This study reinforces the importance of long-term studies to understanding community changes in estuaries caused by environmental variations over different time scales.     

Regional and temporal changes in bivalve diversity off the south coast of Portugal

From 2000 to 2006, a total of 75 bivalve species were identified, varying from 29 (spring 2001) to 54 species (spring 2005) per year. Seasonal tendencies in diversity varied according the year, thus the interpretation of long-term and regional scales is essential before drawing any conclusions in other studies. Richness and diversity consistently decreased with depth and increased with sediment grain size (from low in very coarse sand to high in coarse silt). Diversity decreased progressively from 3 to 16 m depth, thus the harsher shallower environments (due to waves and tidal air exposure) showed greater diversity than the most stable areas. Communities in finer sediments were more diverse than those in coarser sand. Evenness showed patterns opposite to diversity, overall.Diversity and evenness maps (produced with multivariate universal kriging), showed that most geographic areas with greater diversity were farer from river outflows and wastewater treatment plants. Two types of geographic pattern were observed: areas with persistently greater bivalve diversity through time and areas that changed locally from year to year. This spatial analysis can be used to establish priority conservation areas for management purposes, and to analyse the persistency of regional diversity patterns. The area with most habitat heterogeneity (Sotavento) corresponded to greatest diversity.There was a positive relationship between Spisula solida and Chamelea gallina landings and bivalve diversity 2 years and 1 year later, respectively. Possibly, local fisheries, by selectively withdrawing the commercial numerically dominant species from the ecosystem, increased diversity 1 to 2 years later, as the ecological niches of the dominants are quickly filled by several other species thereby creating a more even community. On regional scales, no significant impact was found on long-term bivalve diversity in local fisheries,     

Decline of Pseudodiaptomus hessei (Copepoda, Calanoida) in two water bodies located in the Senegal River hydrosystem (West Africa): Hypotheses and perspectives

Pseudodiaptomus hessei is a key species in many water bodies in the Senegal River hydrosystem but it became rare or completely disappeared from two ecosystems (Lake Guiers and Dakar Bango Reservoir; Senegal, West Africa) after major hydrological changes caused by human action, mainly impoundments on the river in 1985, and the opening of a new estuary mouth in 2003. Kâ et al. [Kâ, S., Pagano, M., Ba, N., Bouvy, M., Leboulanger, C., Arfi, R., Thiaw, O.T., Ndour, E.H.M., Corbin, D., Defaye, D., Cuoc, C., Kouassi, E., 2006. Zooplankton distribution related to environmental factors and phytoplankton in a shallow tropical lake (Lake Guiers, Senegal, West Africa). International Review of Hydrobiology 91(5), 389–405] put forward several hypotheses to explain the reasons for this decline: salinity and chemical changes in the water, predation by a cyclopid predator Mesocyclops ogunnus and/or the inhibiting effects of cyanobacteria and/or diatoms (allelopathy). This study assessed these hypotheses by studying the distribution of P. hessei in 13 stations (including the Dakar Bango reservoir and Lake Guiers) in relation to physical, chemical and biological (phyto- and zooplanktons) factors at each station. We produced a distribution pattern for this species in the Senegal River hydrosystem. Rank correlations and principal component analysis showed that P. hessei was not correlated with conductivity but was positively correlated with pH and alkalinity, suggesting chemical effects. The clear association with two filamentous cyanobacteria (Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii and Anabaena sp.) did not appear to support the hypothesis of cyanobacteria inhibition but blooming conditions were never encountered during the study. Negative correlation with diatoms (especially with Fragilaria sp.) suggested that aldehyde producing diatoms had a negative effect. Negative correlations with cyclopids such as Mesocyclops supported the hypothesis of cyclopid predation to explain the decline of P. hessei. This study proposes several lines of research for future studies to test these hypotheses.     

The infusion of sustainability into bilateral fisheries agreements with developing countries: The European Union example

The EU's bilateral fishing policy towards developing third countries has evolved over the years to increasingly emphasise sustainability, culminating in 2002 with the release of a ‘fisheries partnership approach’. The Community has begun to operationalise the policy in various West African coastal states, where its new fisheries partnership agreements are intended to function as ‘development vectors’. This paper introduces the EU's new policy, examines its potential implications for the role of sustainability in future bilateral fishing relations and highlights the impetus for it with reference to analysis of the EU's most recent agreement with Senegal based on empirical research.     

<Superscript>234</Superscript>Th/<Superscript>238</Superscript>U disequilibrium and particulate organic carbon export in the northern South China Sea

We utilized ²³⁴Th, a naturally occurring radionuclide, to quantify the particulate organic carbon (POC) export rates in the northern South China Sea (SCS) based on data collected in July 2000 (summer), May 2001 (spring) and November 2002 (autumn). Th-234 deficit was enhanced with depth in the euphotic zone, reaching a subsurface maximum at the Chl-a maximum in most cases, as commonly observed in many oceanic regimes. Th-234 was in general in equilibrium with ²³⁸U at a depth of ∼100 m, the bottom of the euphotic zone. In this study the ²³⁴Th deficit appeared to be less significant in November than in July and May. A surface excess of ²³⁴Th relative to ²³⁸U was found in the summer over the shelf of the northern SCS, most likely due to the accumulation of suspended particles entrapped by a salinity front. Comparison of the ²³⁴Th fluxes from the upper 10 m water column between 2-D and traditional 1-D models revealed agreement within the errors of estimation, suggesting the applicability of the 1-D model to this particular shelf region. 1-D model-based ²³⁴Th fluxes were converted to POC export rates using the ratios of bottle POC to ²³⁴Th. The values ranged from 5.3 to 26.6 mmol C m⁻²d⁻¹ and were slightly higher than those in the southern SCS and other oligotrophic areas. POC export overall showed larger values in spring and summer than in autumn, the seasonality of which was, however, not significant. The highest POC export rate (26.6 mmol C m⁻²d⁻¹) appeared at the shelf break in spring (May), when Chl-a increased and the community structure changed from pico-phytoplankton (<2 μm) dominated to nano-phytoplankton (2–20 μm) and micro-phytoplankton (20–200 μm) dominated.     

Perturbed solution of sea-air oscillator for the E1 Ni(n)o/La Ni(n)a-Southern Oscillation mechanism

A class of coupled system of the E1 Ni(n)o/La Ni(n)a-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) mechanism is studied. Using the perturbed theory, the asymptotic expansions of the solution for ENSO model are obtained and the asymptotic behavior of solution for corresponding problem is considered.