Modeling Environmental Concern for Urban Tree Protection Using Biophysical and Social Psychological Indicators

Urban forest management is being increasingly recognized as a viable policy vehicle for improving community health, sustainable development, and well-being for city dwellers. To improve our understanding of public concern for the local urban forest, a theoretical framework employing concepts traditionally explored in social–psychological and environmental concern studies was tested using data from a public opinion survey of 800 homeowners living in a major urban area in Southern Appalachia, USA. Publicly available geographic information system (GIS) data were analyzed to measure tree canopy density around survey respondents’ properties. Structural equation modeling was used to test the validity of the hypothesized relationships among the survey-derived constructs and the spatial data as predictors of public support for urban forest protection policy. The results suggest that homeowners living around urban trees place greater importance on various attributes of trees, and that tree knowledge and experience are indirectly and positively related to support for urban forest protection.     

Multi-level filtering segmentation to measure individual tree parameters based on Lidar data: Application to a mountainous forest with heterogeneous stands

This paper presents a method for individual tree crown extraction and characterisation from a canopy surface model (CSM). The method is based on a conventional algorithm used for localising LM on a smoothed version of the CSM and subsequently for modelling the tree crowns around each maximum at the plot level. The novelty of the approach lies in the introduction of controls on both the degree of CSM filtering and the shape of elliptic crowns, in addition to a multi-filtering level crown fusion approach to balance omission and commission errors. The algorithm derives the total tree height and the mean crown diameter from the elliptic tree crowns generated. The method was tested and validated on a mountainous forested area mainly covered by mature and even-aged black pine (Pinus nigra ssp. nigra [Arn.]) stands. Mean stem detection per plot, using this method, was 73.97%. Algorithm performance was affected slightly by both stand density and heterogeneity (i.e. tree diameter classes’ distribution). The total tree height and the mean crown diameter were estimated with root mean squared error values of 1.83 m and 1.48 m respectively. Tree heights were slightly underestimated in flat areas and overestimated on slopes. The average crown diameter was underestimated by 17.46% on average.     

Assessment of Sentinel-1A data for rice crop classification using random forests and support vector machines

This study developed an approach to map rice-cropping systems in An Giang and Dong Thap provinces, South Vietnam using multi-temporal Sentinel-1A (S1A) data. The data were processed through four steps: (1) data pre-processing, (2) constructing smooth time series VH backscatter data, (3) rice crop classification using random forests (RF) and support vector machines (SVM) and (4) accuracy assessment. The results indicated that the smooth VH backscatter profiles reflected the temporal characteristics of rice-cropping patterns in the study region. The comparisons between the classification results and the ground reference data indicated that the overall accuracy and Kappa coefficient achieved from RF were 86.1% and 0.72, respectively, which were slightly more accurate than SVM (overall accuracy of 83.4% and Kappa coefficient of 0.67). These results were reaffirmed by the government’s rice area statistics with the relative error in area (REA) values of 0.2 and 2.2% for RF and SVM, respectively.     

不同林龄人促更新林枯枝落叶层碳及养分贮量

对福建南平顺昌县不同林龄米槠(Castanopsis carlesii)人促更新林枯枝落叶层和主要营养元素现存量进行测定,探究其随林龄的变化趋势。结果表明:不同林龄米槠人促更新林枯枝落叶层现存量为3.94~4.95 t·hm-2,其中49 a生人促林枯枝落叶层现存量最小,31 a生的最大。不同林龄枯枝落叶层C、N、P、K的浓度分别为44.09%~47.46%,11.9~13.8 g·kg-1,0.5~0.9 g·kg-1,1.4~5.1 g·kg-1。21 a生和49 a生人促更新林枯枝落叶层C浓度明显高于31 a生林分。49 a生人促更新林枯枝落叶层N和P浓度均高于21 a生和31 a生林分,但该林分枯枝落叶层K浓度却最低。21 a生米槠人促更新林枯枝落叶层C贮量分别是31 a生和49 a生林分的1.03倍和1.23倍,49 a生米槠人促更新林K贮量远低于21 a生和31 a生。不同林龄枯枝落叶层碳和养分贮量差异与林分特征、各林分枯枝落叶层现存量及养分浓度等有关。     

Mapping salt diapirs and salt diapir-affected areas using MLP neural network model and ASTER data

Abstract

This study employs visible-near infrared and short wave infrared datasets of Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) to map salt diapirs and salt diapir-affected areas using Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) in the Zagros Folded Belt, Iran, and introduces the role of earth observation technology and a type of digital earth processing in lithological mapping and geo-environmental impact assessment. MLP neural network model with several learning rates between 0.01 and 0.1 was carried out on ASTER L1B data, and the results were compared using confusion matrices. The most appropriate classification image for L1B input to MLP was produced by learning rate of 0.01 with Kappa coefficient of 0.90 and overall accuracy of 92.54%. The MLP result of input data set mapped lithological units of salt diapirs and demonstrated affected areas at the southern and western parts of the Konarsiah and Jahani diapirs, respectively. Field observations and X-ray diffraction analyses of field samples confirmed the dominant mineral phases identified remotely. It is concluded that MLP is an efficient approach for mapping salt diapirs and salt-affected areas.     

粤港澳大湾区红树林长时间序列遥感监测

随着遥感数据量的爆发式增长,对变化过程分析的精细化要求与本地算力不足之间的矛盾日益突出。GEE（Google Earth Engine）地理云平台的出现,解决了用户算力紧张的行业痛点。本文以粤港澳大湾区为研究区,在GEE的支持下,构建1987年—2020年年度湿地分类数据集,分析大湾区红树林的时间阶段性特征和空间扩张过程,结合连续长历时分析对变化时间点的准确识别,揭示了保护区设立与滩涂造林等工程在红树林保护与修复中的积极成效。主要结论有：（1）截止到2020年,大湾区共有红树林2174 ha,81%的红树林集中在深圳湾、淇澳岛和镇海湾;（2）大湾区的红树林经历了由平稳发展（1987年—2003年）到快速增长（2003年—2020年）的变化过程,其主要增量来源于镇海湾（40%）和淇澳岛（28%）;（3）淇澳岛和镇海湾的红树林仍处于快速增长期,但淇澳岛增速最快,从2002年至今面积翻了30倍,深圳湾则在早期的快速增长（1987年—2009年）后进入平稳期（2009年—2020年）;（4）由于保护区设立时间较早,深圳湾成为大湾区唯一一个形成稳定核心区的红树林分布区,镇海湾虽然拥有最大的红树林面积,但林道狭窄,景观破碎,生态系统反而更加脆弱;（5）设立自然保护区和滩涂造林都对红树林面积增长起到了积极作用。本研究为大湾区海岸带湿地生态系统保护与修复提供科学的证据支持,对沿海生态屏障建设具有一定的指导作用。     

“山水林田湖草沙生命共同体”理念下的科尔沁沙地生态治理

“山水林田湖草沙生命共同体”理念为沙地生态环境治理指明了新方向,但是在沙区开展什么研究却是新课题。本文基于生态建设面临的挑战,从山水林田湖草沙一体化治理的角度,探析了科尔沁沙地生态治理的研究方向及应重点关注的问题。     

Using Maximum Likelihood (ML) and Maximum A Prior Probability (MAP) in Iterative Self‐Organizing Data (ISODATA)

Abstract

With the availability of high‐resolution satellite imagery featuring as high as 1 meter resolution in the panchromatic mode and 3‐meter resolution in the multispectral mode, there is an interest by many new commercial and public service applications such as cellular telephones coverage area design, urban/land cover planning, and real estate marketing to extract features from images automatically. To that end, the demand for unsupervised classification techniques is growing. In this paper, the Maximum Likelihood (ML) and Maximum A prior Probability (MAP) algorithms are used as decision rules to find boundaries of classes computed by the Iterative Self‐Organizing Data (ISOADATA) algorithm. Different satellite images with different resolutions were used to experiment with these algorithms. The results of comparing and analyzing the algorithms revealed that MAP‐ISODATA performed better than ML‐ISODATA even when the same initial matrix was used. It was shown that there was no significant difference between ML‐ISODATA and MAP‐ISODATA in terms of accuracy. It was also realized that better results could be obtained if homogenous initialization strategies were used.     

WINTER LAND BREEZE IN A HIGH LATITUDE COMPLEX COASTAL AREA

The winter land breeze (WLB) was studied in an area with complex topography on the Swedish West Coast (58°N). Methods used were mapping directions of smoke plumes, temperature soundings by tethered balloon and helicopter, three years of monitoring temperature and wind at three levels on a suspension bridge and on a mast, and meteorological observations from three stations located at different distances from the coast. To initiate the development of the WLB, the necessary temperature difference between sea and land was 5°C, but the magnitude of the difference appeared to have little influence. The direction of the typical WLB was at an oblique angle to the coast. The WLB started with a sudden wind shift as a result of frictional decoupling from the prevailing synoptic wind caused by increased stability. The flow, with a depth of about 100 m, developed within the nocturnal inversion at the level of the plateau-shaped mountains and overrode the cold air in the valleys and followed the uplifted inversion over the city of Göteborg. The different layers in the inversion were tilted toward the sea with an inclination similar to the slope of the terrain. In a layer above the WLB but also within the inversion, there was an onshore wind that might be the return flow to the WLB. [Key words: winter land breeze (WLB), decoupling, overriding, urban heat island circulation (UHIC), high latitude, Sweden.]     

Geomorphologic assessment of relative tectonic activity in the Maharlou Lake Basin,Zagros Mountains of Iran

Spatial differences of Quaternary deformation and intensity of tectonic activity are assessed through a detailed quantitative geomorphic study of the fault‐generated mountain fronts and alluvial/fluvial systems around the Maharlou Lake Basin in the Zagros Fold–Thrust Belt of Iran. The Maharlou Lake Basin is defined as an approximately northwest–southeast trending, linear, topographic depression located in the central Zagros Mountains of Iran. The lake is located in a tectonically active area delineated by the Ghareh and Maharlou faults. Combined geomorphic and morphometric data reveal differences between the Ghareh and Maharlou mountain front faults indicating different levels of tectonic activity along each mountain front. Geomorphic indices show a relatively high degree of tectonic activity along the Ghareh Mountain Front in the southwest, in contrast with less tectonic activity along the Ahmadi Mountain Front northeast of the lake which is consistent with field evidence and seismotectonic data for the study area. A ramp valley tectonic setting is proposed to explain the tectonosedimentary evolution of the lake. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.