Assessment of RapidEye vegetation indices for estimation of leaf area index and biomass in corn and soybean crops

Leaf area index (LAI) and biomass are important indicators of crop development and the availability of this information during the growing season can support farmer decision making processes. This study demonstrates the applicability of RapidEye multi-spectral data for estimation of LAI and biomass of two crop types (corn and soybean) with different canopy structure, leaf structure and photosynthetic pathways. The advantages of Rapid Eye in terms of increased temporal resolution (∼daily), high spatial resolution (∼5 m) and enhanced spectral information (includes red-edge band) are explored as an individual sensor and as part of a multi-sensor constellation. Seven vegetation indices based on combinations of reflectance in green, red, red-edge and near infrared bands were derived from RapidEye imagery between 2011 and 2013. LAI and biomass data were collected during the same period for calibration and validation of the relationships between vegetation indices and LAI and dry above-ground biomass. Most indices showed sensitivity to LAI from emergence to 8 m²/m². The normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), the red-edge NDVI and the green NDVI were insensitive to crop type and had coefficients of variations (CV) ranging between 19 and 27%; and coefficients of determination ranging between 86 and 88%. The NDVI performed best for the estimation of dry leaf biomass (CV = 27% and r² = 090) and was also insensitive to crop type. The red-edge indices did not show any significant improvement in LAI and biomass estimation over traditional multispectral indices. Cumulative vegetation indices showed strong performance for estimation of total dry above-ground biomass, especially for corn (CV ≤ 20%). This study demonstrated that continuous crop LAI monitoring over time and space at the field level can be achieved using a combination of RapidEye, Landsat and SPOT data and sensor-dependant best-fit functions. This approach eliminates/reduces the need for reflectance resampling, VIs inter-calibration and spatial resampling.     

Brown and green LAI mapping through spectral indices

When crops senescence, leaves remain until they fall off or are harvested. Hence, leaf area index (LAI) stays high even when chlorophyll content degrades to zero. Current LAI approaches from remote sensing techniques are not optimized for estimating LAI of senescent vegetation. In this paper a two-step approach has been proposed to realize simultaneous LAI mapping over green and senescent croplands. The first step separates green from brown LAI by means of a newly proposed index, ‘Green Brown Vegetation Index (GBVI)’. This index exploits two shortwave infrared (SWIR) spectral bands centred at 2100 and 2000 nm, which fall right in the dry matter absorption regions, thereby providing positive values for senescent vegetation and negative for green vegetation. The second step involves applying linear regression functions based on optimized vegetation indices to estimate green and brown LAI estimation respectively. While the green LAI index uses a band in the red and a band in the red-edge, the brown LAI index uses bands located in the same spectral region as GBVI, i.e. an absorption band located in the region of maximum absorption of cellulose and lignin at 2154 nm, and a reference band at 1635 nm where the absorption of both water and dry matter is low. The two-step approach was applied to a HyMap image acquired over an agroecosystem at the agricultural site Barrax, Spain.     

利用AMSR-E数据反演华北平原冬小麦单散射反照率

首先,基于冬小麦不同生育期的地面实测参数,构建了组成冬小麦冠层的、包括不同尺寸和含水量的介电散射体模拟数据库,并在此基础上建立冬小麦单散射反照率和光学厚度分别在C(6.925 GHz)和X(10.65 GHz)波段之间的依赖关系。然后,根据一阶参数化模型推导得到的微波植被指数MVIs(Microwave Vegetation Indices)的物理表达式,结合AMSR-E被动微波亮温数据,反演了华北平原地区冬小麦不同生育期的单散射反照率。与MODIS日归一化差异植被指数NDVI的对比结果显示:冬小麦单散射反照率与NDVI随时间的变化趋势大致相同,但在冬小麦的抽穗期到乳熟期,NDVI呈现饱和趋势,而单散射反照率对小麦的生长变化仍旧比较敏感,在指示冬小麦生长方面具有一定优势。     

Urban seagrass: status of Posidonia oceanica facing the Genoa city waterfront (Italy) and implications for management

A system of five adjacent Posidonia oceanica meadows facing the waterfront of Genoa city (Ligurian Sea, NW Mediterranean) was investigated over different spatial scales (meters-kilometers) using three environmental indices: conservation index (CI), substitution index (SI) and phase-shift index (PSI). CI revealed differences mostly at large spatial scale, distinguishing the poor condition of the meadows closest to Genoa centre and harbour from the comparatively healthy condition of the farthest meadows. SI showed differences mostly at small spatial scale (i.e., within meadows), suggesting the influence of local factors in the re-colonisation of regressed meadows by the seagrass Cymodocea nodosa and/or the invasive alga Caulerpa racemosa. Mapping of PSI showed that the meadows closest to Genoa centre and harbour have undergone a nearly total phase shift and have no real potential for recovery: attempts to re-establish P. oceanica there might be a waste of time and money. On the contrary, the meadows farthest from Genoa centre and harbour showed a comparatively low level of phase shift and could still fully recover given specific management actions.     

Performance comparison of two biotic indices measuring the ecological status of water bodies in the Southern Baltic and Gulf of Lions

Two biotic indices, ATZI Marine Biotic Index (AMBI) and Benthic Quality Index (BQI) have been recently introduced within the EC Water Framework Directive to assess the quality of marine habitats: both are based on sensitivity/tolerance classification and quantitative information on the composition of soft-bottom macrofauna. Their performance, especially with regard to sampling effort was assessed based on two data sets collected in Southern Baltic and one from the Gulf of Lions Mediterranean. AMBI was not affected by sampling effort but BQI was. Two modifications were proposed for BQI (i.e., BQI) (1) the removal of the scaling term (i.e., BQI(W)), and (2) the replacement of the scaling term by different scaling term (i.e., BQI(ES)). Both modified BQIs were largely independent of sampling effort. Variability was slightly lower for BQI(W) than for BQI(ES). BQI was highly correlated with BQI(W) and with BQI(ES) both in the Southern Baltic and in the Gulf of Lions. However, the proportions of stations, which were not attributed the same ecological quality status (EcoQ) when using BQI and its two modified forms were always high. Differences in ecological classification were mostly due to the scales used to infer EcoQ. Based on this study we recommend to use BQI(ES) in future studies because it apparently constitutes the best compromise in (1) being independent of sampling effort, (2) limiting the variability in computation in relation with sampling effort, (3) being correlated with BQI and corresponding EcoQ.     

Identification of estrogen-like alkylphenols in produced water from offshore oil installations

Produced water released into the sea from oil installations contains a vast number of organic compounds. This work focuses on the analysis and identification of phenols in produced water, in particular long-chain para-substituted alkylphenols, which act as endocrine disruptors for marine biota. Some alkylphenol standards, unavailable commercially, have been synthesised and some compounds of interest identified. However, a complete identification is not possible since conventional GC techniques cannot achieve the desired degree of separation. An overview of the levels of the 52 known alkylphenols in produced water from nine oil installations in the North and Norwegian Seas has been made. The previously unidentified alkylphenols in produced water have been characterised by means of alkylphenol retention indices (APRI) and mass spectrometry, and their total amounts estimated for the same nine locations. Our results confirm the presence of naphthols and other as yet unidentified compounds in produced water, while thiophenols were not detected by the used technique.     

The influence of relative sediment supply on riverine habitat heterogeneity

The diversity of aquatic habitats in streams is linked to physical processes that act at various spatial and temporal scales. Two components of many that contribute to creating habitat heterogeneity in streams are the interaction between sediment supply and transport capacity and the presence of local in-stream structures, such as large woody debris and boulders. Data from previously published flume and field studies and a new field study on tributaries to the South Yuba River in Nevada County, California, USA, were used to evaluate the relationship between habitat heterogeneity, local in-stream structural features and relative sediment supply. Habitat heterogeneity was quantified using spatial heterogeneity measures from the field of landscape ecology. Relative sediment supply, as expressed by the sediment supply/transport capacity ratio, which controls channel morphology and substrate textures, two key physical habitat characteristics, was quantified using a dimensionless bedload transport ratio, q. Calculated q values were plotted against an ecologically meaningful heterogeneity index, Shannon's Diversity Index, measured for each study reach, as well as the percent area of in-stream structural elements. The results indicate two potential mechanisms for how relative sediment supply may drive geomorphic diversity in natural river systems at the reach scale. When less mobile structural elements form a small proportion of the reach landscape, the supply/capacity ratio dictates the range of sediment textures and geomorphic features observed within the reach. In these settings, channels with a moderate relative sediment supply exhibit the highest textural and geomorphic diversity. In contrast, when less mobile structural elements are abundant, forced local scour and deposition creates high habitat heterogeneity, even in the presence of high relative sediment supply.     

火星Eberswalde撞击坑三角洲矿物丰度反演

矿物的种类与含量可限定其形成时特定的地质环境,因此火星表面矿物识别和丰度反演研究对了解火星的地质构造及历史演变过程具有重要意义。Eberswalde撞击坑具有复杂的水文系统,是火星探测的热点地区,而对该地区大范围矿物反演则鲜有研究。基于紧凑型侦查成像光谱仪(CRISM)目标探测模式数据和CRISM光谱库,首先,通过高光谱数据子空间识别算法(Hysime)分析CRISM数据信号子空间,并将光谱库所有矿物光谱投影到子空间上,保留投影误差较小的光谱作为约简后的端元光谱库;然后,使用协同稀疏解混对Eberswalde撞击坑西北部三角洲地区的矿物丰度进行定量反演,得到5种原生矿物:辉石、橄榄石、斜长石、菱铁矿、硬水铝石和1种蚀变矿物透闪石,并从矿物光谱、分布分别对反演结果进行验证;最后,从矿物学的角度对可能成因做出解释,推测该区域存在接触变质作用。     

基于GEOROC大数据分析地壳厚度地球化学指标

前人研究认为,火山岩中部分地球化学指标与岩浆弧地壳厚度之间存在一定的相关性,并通过统计主量元素K2O、Ca O和Na2O指标及微量元素Ce/Y、Sm/Yb、Dy/Yb、Sr/Y、La/Yb指标与地壳厚度之间关系,约束地质史上某些区域的地壳厚度发展和变化。本文基于GEOROC数据库,以Si O2含量57%和火山岩年龄23Ma为界,将全球火山岩数据分成年轻-壳源( 57%,23Ma)、年轻-幔源(57%,23Ma)、古老-壳源( 57%, 23Ma)和古老-幔源(57%, 23Ma)四个数据集,并通过核函数估计方法获得了各个地球化学指标与地壳厚度的归一化联合概率密度分布图。本文统计结果表明,年轻-幔源火山岩中的K2O含量分布与壳源火山岩呈现指数正相关关系、Ca O含量分布于地壳厚度呈现线性负相关关系,年轻-壳源火山岩中Ce/Y、La/Yb和Sm/Yb与现今地壳厚度有指数正相关关系。由以上5种地化指标建立的回归方程确定系数R2均大于0. 7,可以认为相关关系显著。本文认为幔源岩浆在穿透地壳到达地表过程中,地壳厚度控制了富K壳源物质进入地幔熔体和富Ca矿物结晶分异过程,导致了火山岩中K2O和Ca O含量的相关变化;而下地壳部分熔融形成的壳源岩浆,不同深度压力控制了残留相矿物比例,导致Ce/Y、La/Yb和Sm/Yb体现出与地壳厚度的相关性。本文建立的回归函数是基于大量数据概率密度分布的统计分析得出的,由于离群数据普遍存在,回溯历史地壳厚度变化需要大量数据统计支撑,否则难以获得可靠的结果。