Fusing MODIS with Landsat 8 data to downscale weekly normalized difference vegetation index estimates for central Great Basin rangelands,USA

Data fused from distinct but complementary satellite sensors mitigate tradeoffs that researchers make when selecting between spatial and temporal resolutions of remotely sensed data. We integrated data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor aboard the Terra satellite and the Operational Land Imager sensor aboard the Landsat 8 satellite into four regression-tree models and applied those data to a mapping application. This application produced downscaled maps that utilize the 30-m spatial resolution of Landsat in conjunction with daily acquisitions of MODIS normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) that are composited and temporally smoothed. We produced four weekly, atmospherically corrected, and nearly cloud-free, downscaled 30-m synthetic MODIS NDVI predictions (maps) built from these models. Model results were strong with R² values ranging from 0.74 to 0.85. The correlation coefficients (r ≥ 0.89) were strong for all predictions when compared to corresponding original MODIS NDVI data. Downscaled products incorporated into independently developed sagebrush ecosystem models yielded mixed results. The visual quality of the downscaled 30-m synthetic MODIS NDVI predictions were remarkable when compared to the original 250-m MODIS NDVI. These 30-m maps improve knowledge of dynamic rangeland seasonal processes in the central Great Basin, United States, and provide land managers improved resource maps.     

黄土丘陵沟壑区典型村域土地利用变化及对区域乡村转型发展的启示

深入开展乡村地域土地利用变化和聚落发展规律的研究对于探究乡村地域系统优化、推进城乡融合与乡村可持续发展具有重要意义。论文以延安市碾庄流域为例,基于ENVI和GIS等软件技术,结合Landsat卫星影像、马尔科夫链模型和实地调查,从土地利用转移与交换变化、建筑用地空间转移、社会响应等角度探讨了黄土丘陵沟壑区典型村域土地利用变化特征以及对区域乡村发展转型的影响。研究表明：① 在一系列生态工程措施作用下,碾庄流域生态覆被发生明显改观,主要表现为大量的坡耕地及稀疏生态用地转化为林地,其中,林地面积占比由32.34%(2009年)增加至50.88%(2018年);② 在社会经济发展和延安新城“边缘效应”的影响下,碾庄建设用地呈现向流域的东南和西南方向拓展的趋势,10 a间建设用地面积增加了近75%;③ 在人类活动的主导作用下,黄土丘陵沟壑区的乡村正在朝着生态化和集约化的方向转型发展。研究结果有望为深入理解黄土丘陵沟壑区乡村地域系统结构和优化提供新参考。     

Three Decades of Sea-Ice Variability in Jiaozhou Bay Revealed by Landsat Observations

In this study, we used Landsat images and meteorological data to examine the spatiotemporal distribution and variability of sea ice in Jiaozhou Bay(JZB) between 1986 and 2016. The results show that JZB is not always covered by sea ice in winter, but in some extreme cases, sea ice has covered more than one-third of the sea area of the bay. Sea ice in JZB has generally formed between January 1 and February 5, primarily along the coast, and gradually expanding to the central area of the bay. Both meteorological and artificial factors have played important roles in modulating the sea ice distribution. We found sea ice coverage to have been strongly correlated with the accumulated freezing-degree days nine days before the occurrence of sea ice(R2 = 0.767). North-northwest surface winds have dominated the freezing period of sea water in the JZB, and wind speed has exerted a more significant influence on the formation of sea ice when the sea ice coverage has been generally small. Additionally, artificial factors began to affect the expansion of sea ice in JZB since 2007. The construction of the Jiao-Zhou-Bay Bridge(JZBB) is believed to have retarded water flow and reduced the tidal prism, thereby leading to the formation of an ice bridge along the JZBB, which effectively prevents the southward expansion of sea ice.     

Mapping of moraine dammed glacial lakes and assessment of their areal changes in the central and eastern Himalayas using satellite data

The relatively rapid recession of glaciers in the Himalayas and formation of moraine dammed glacial lakes(MDGLs) in the recent past have increased the risk of glacier lake outburst floods(GLOF) in the countries of Nepal and Bhutan and in the mountainous territory of Sikkim in India. As a product of climate change and global warming, such a risk has not only raised the level of threats to the habitation and infrastructure of the region, but has also contributed to the worsening of the balance of the unique ecosystem that exists in this domain that sustains several of the highest mountain peaks of the world. This study attempts to present an up to date mapping of the MDGLs in the central and eastern Himalayan regions using remote sensing data, with an objective to analyse their surface area variations with time from 1990 through 2015, disaggregated over six episodes. The study also includes the evaluation for susceptibility of MDGLs to GLOF with the least criteria decision analysis(LCDA). Forty two major MDGLs, each having a lake surface area greater than 0.2 km2, that were identified in the Himalayan ranges of Nepal, Bhutan, and Sikkim, have been categorized according to their surface area expansion rates in space and time. The lakes have been identified as located within the elevation range of 3800 m and6800 m above mean sea level(a msl). With a total surface area of 37.9 km2, these MDGLs as a whole were observed to have expanded by an astonishing 43.6% in area over the 25 year period of this study. A factor is introduced to numerically sort the lakes in terms of their relative yearly expansion rates, based on their interpretation of their surface area extents from satellite imageries. Verification of predicted GLOF events in the past using this factor with the limited field data as reported in literature indicates that the present analysis may be considered a sufficiently reliable and rapid technique for assessing the potential bursting susceptibility of the MDGLs. The analysis also indicates that, as of now, there are eight MDGLs in the region which appear to be in highly vulnerable states and have high chances in causing potential GLOF events anytime in the recent future.     

Statistical analysis of surface urban heat island intensity variations: A case study of Babol city,Iran

The urban heat island is considered as one of the most important climate change phenomena in urban areas, which can result in remarkable negative effects on flora, concentration of pollutants, air quality, energy and water consumption, human health, ecological and economic impacts, and even on global warming. The variation analysis of the surface urban heat island intensity (SUHII) is important for understanding the effect of urbanization and urban planning. The objective of this study was to present a new strategy based on the Shannon’s entropy and Pearson chi-square statistic to investigate the spatial and temporal variations of the SUHII. In this study, Landsat TM, ETM+, OLI and TIRS images, MODIS products, meteorological data, topographic and population maps of the Babol city, Iran, from 1985 to 2017, and air temperature data recorded by ground recorder devices in 2017 were used. First, Single-Channel algorithm was used to estimate land surface temperature (LST), and the maximum likelihood classifier was employed to classify Landsat images. Then, based on LST maps, surface urban heat island ratio index was employed to calculate the SUHII. Further, several statistical methods, such as the degree-of-freedom, degree-of-sprawl and degree-of-goodness, were used to analyse the SUHII variation along different geographic directions and in various time periods. Finally, correlation between various parameters such as air temperature, SUHII, population variation and degree-of-goodness index values were investigated. The results indicated that the SUHII value increased by 24% in Babol over different time periods. The correlation coefficient yielded 0.82 between the values of the difference between the mean air temperature of the urban and suburbs and the SUHII values for the geographic directions. Furthermore, the correlation coefficient between the population variation and the degree-of-goodness index values reached 0.8. The results suggested that the SUHII variation of Babol city had a high degree-of-freedom, high degree-of-sprawl and negative degree-of-goodness.     

基于Landsat遥感数据武汉地区植被覆盖度动态变化监测分析

旨在研究受人类经济活动影响的植被资源及其动态变化趋势的程度,采用基于归一化植被指数的像素二分模型,利用2002—2010年(武汉市每年8月)的卫星遥感数据,对武汉地区6年间的植被覆盖变化进行监测分析。结果表明,植被覆盖度变化与武汉GDP增长率有着紧密联系:2002—2007年,武汉经济较缓慢上升,植被覆盖度基本维持在55%左右;而2007—2008年武汉GDP总值增长率高达26.06%,但随之而来的是植被覆盖度由高峰期的61.68%下降到49.18%,是历年来的最低水准; 2008—2010年经济发展放缓,植被指数有小幅度回升。人类经济活动是影响植被资源的重要因素。     

利用Sentinel-2A多光谱成像仪与Landsat8陆地成像仪影像进行普陀山岛植被分类效果比较

卫星遥感技术可用于海岛资源调查。Sentinel-2A与Landsat 8两颗卫星都可免费提供空间分辨率较高的多光谱遥感影像,在海岛调查中的应用潜力较大。本文以浙江舟山普陀山岛为例开展了针对这两种影像在海岛植被分类中的应用效果的研究,分别利用Sentinel-2A多光谱成像仪（MSI）和Landsat 8陆地成像仪（OLI）影像基于最大似然法分类获得了该岛阔叶林、针阔混交林、针叶林、灌丛、草丛等植被及其他地物的分布情况,并进行了精度检验,结果表明MSI的总体分类精度略高于OLI。     

机载WIDAS数据的Landsat卫星反照率初步验证

随着精细化监测的需求,中高空间分辨率的地表反照率产品逐渐成为气候模型的主要输入。目前,中高空间分辨率反照率产品的验证主要基于地表站点的通量塔观测数据,区域机载飞行数据的验证依然相对较少。因此,本文基于区域机载数据验证Landsat反照率产品。针对内蒙古自治区根河森林试验区所获取的机载红外广角双模式成像仪(WIDAS)多角度反射率数据,应用BRDF原型反演算法估算其反照率,分析了应用机载数据验证中高空间分辨率反照率产品的潜力。2016年内蒙古根河森林试验区机载WIDAS飞行多角度观测的可用多角度范围为25°,以前的研究表明BRDF原型反照率反演算法表现出对小观测角度的反照率反演结果的鲁棒性。因此,机载WIDAS反照率在一定程度可用于星载反照率的验证。首先,基于核驱动模型和各向异性平整指数(AFX)提取了试验区4种MODIS二向性反射分布函数(BRDF)原型;然后,将其作为先验知识应用到根河森林WIDAS机载数据的反照率反演中;最后,用WIDAS反照率和单个地面通量塔观测的反照率对Landsat卫星数据的反照率进行初步验证。验证结果表明Landsat反照率与WIDAS反照率结果较为一致,但略有低估,总体均方根误差(RMSE)约为0.02,偏差为0.0057。在多角度观测范围较小时,BRDF原型的反照率反演算法可为星载地表反照率的验证提供了一种有效的验证手段。     

Decumbent development: Urban sprawl in the Guwahati Metropolitan Area,India

Urban sprawl has become a global phenomenon as an outcome of growing population and rapid urbanization. Previous studies have addressed the rising incidence of uncontrollable urban development, particularly in peri-urban areas of cities, leading to chronic urban sprawl. The city of Guwahati, a million city in north east India, has expanded significantly in recent years. In this article, the links between population and growth of built-up areas were examined using geo-spatial techniques and remotely sensed datasets. The results indicate that the sprawl has accentuated in recent years. The intensity of land use remained uneven due to marked variations in the distribution of built-up areas, plausibly an outcome of unplanned urban growth. If current trends are anything to go by, future urban sprawl could pose serious threats to the vulnerable eco-sensitive and peri-urban areas of Guwahati. Secondary cities have unfortunately received scant attention in urban policy research, and Guwahati, epitomizes urban woes in a developing country.     

Wall-to-wall spatial prediction of growing stock volume based on Italian National Forest Inventory plots and remotely sensed data

Spatial predictions of forest variables are required for supporting modern national and sub-national forest planning strategies, especially in the framework of a climate change scenario. Nowadays methods for constructing wall-to-wall maps and calculating small-area estimates of forest parameters are becoming essential components of most advanced National Forest Inventory (NFI) programs. Such methods are based on the assumption of a relationship between the forest variables and predictor variables that are available for the entire forest area. Many commonly used predictors are based on data obtained from active or passive remote sensing technologies. Italy has almost 40% of its land area covered by forests. Because of the great diversity of Italian forests with respect to composition, structure and management and underlying climatic, morphological and soil conditions, a relevant question is whether methods successfully used in less complex temperate and boreal forests may be applied successfully at country level in Italy.For a study area of more than 48,657 km² in central Italy of which 43% is covered by forest, the study presents the results of a test regarding wall-to-wall, spatially explicit estimation of forest growing stock volume (GSV) based on field measurement of 1350 plots during the last Italian NFI. For the same area, we used potential predictor variables that are available across the whole of Italy: cloud-free mosaics of multispectral optical satellite imagery (Landsat 5 TM), microwave sensor data (JAXA PALSAR), a canopy height model (CHM) from satellite LiDAR, and auxiliary variables from climate, temperature and precipitation maps, soil maps, and a digital terrain model.Two non-parametric (random forests and k-NN) and two parametric (multiple linear regression and geographically weighted regression) prediction methods were tested to produce wall-to-wall map of growing stock volume at 23-m resolution. Pixel level predictions were used to produce small-area, province-level model-assisted estimates. The performances of all the methods were compared in terms of percent root mean-square error using a leave-one-out procedure and an independent dataset was used for validation. Results were comparable to those available for other ecological regions using similar predictors, but random forests produced the most accurate results with a pixel level R² = 0.69 and RMSE_% = 37.2% against the independent validation dataset. Model-assisted estimates were more precise than the original design-based estimates provided by the NFI.