Remote Sensing

30 pages, 5039 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Monitoring the Efficacy of Crested Floatingheart (Nymphoides cristata) Management with Object-Based Image Analysis of UAS Imagery

by Adam R. Benjamin, Amr Abd-Elrahman, Lyn A. Gettys, Hartwig H. Hochmair and Kyle Thayer

Remote Sens. 2021, 13(4), 830; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13040830 - 23 Feb 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2733

Abstract

This study investigates the use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) mapping for monitoring the efficacy of invasive aquatic vegetation (AV) management on a floating-leaved AV species, Nymphoides cristata (CFH). The study site consists of 48 treatment plots (TPs). Based on six unique flights [...] Read more.

This study investigates the use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) mapping for monitoring the efficacy of invasive aquatic vegetation (AV) management on a floating-leaved AV species, Nymphoides cristata (CFH). The study site consists of 48 treatment plots (TPs). Based on six unique flights over two days at three different flight altitudes while using both a multispectral and RGB sensor, accuracy assessment of the final object-based image analysis (OBIA)-derived classified images yielded overall accuracies ranging from 89.6% to 95.4%. The multispectral sensor was significantly more accurate than the RGB sensor at measuring CFH areal coverage within each TP only with the highest multispectral, spatial resolution (2.7 cm/pix at 40 m altitude). When measuring response in the AV community area between the day of treatment and two weeks after treatment, there was no significant difference between the temporal area change from the reference datasets and the area changes derived from either the RGB or multispectral sensor. Thus, water resource managers need to weigh small gains in accuracy from using multispectral sensors against other operational considerations such as the additional processing time due to increased file sizes, higher financial costs for equipment procurements, and longer flight durations in the field when operating multispectral sensors. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing in Aquatic Vegetation Monitoring)

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16 pages, 6822 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Tracking the Evolution of Riverbed Morphology on the Basis of UAV Photogrammetry

by Teresa Gracchi, Guglielmo Rossi, Carlo Tacconi Stefanelli, Luca Tanteri, Rolando Pozzani and Sandro Moretti

Remote Sens. 2021, 13(4), 829; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13040829 - 23 Feb 2021

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3703

Abstract

Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) photogrammetry has recently become a widespread technique to investigate and monitor the evolution of different types of natural processes. Fluvial geomorphology is one of such fields of application where UAV potentially assumes a key role, since it allows for [...] Read more.

Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) photogrammetry has recently become a widespread technique to investigate and monitor the evolution of different types of natural processes. Fluvial geomorphology is one of such fields of application where UAV potentially assumes a key role, since it allows for overcoming the intrinsic limits of satellite and airborne-based optical imagery on one side, and in situ traditional investigations on the other. The main purpose of this paper was to obtain extensive products (digital terrain models (DTMs), orthophotos, and 3D models) in a short time, with low costs and at a high resolution, in order to verify the capability of this technique to analyze the active geomorphic processes on a 12 km long stretch of the French–Italian Roia River at both large and small scales. Two surveys, one year apart from each other, were carried out over the study area and a change detection analysis was performed on the basis of the comparison of the obtained DTMs to point out and characterize both the possible morphologic variations related to fluvial dynamics and modifications in vegetation coverage. The results highlight how the understanding of different fluvial processes may be improved by appropriately exploiting UAV-based products, which can thus represent a low-cost and non-invasive tool to crucially support decisionmakers involved in land management practices. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Unmanned Aerial Systems and Digital Terrain Modeling)

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19 pages, 37891 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Factors Influencing the Accuracy of Shallow Snow Depth Measured Using UAV-Based Photogrammetry

by Sangku Lee, Jeongha Park, Eunsoo Choi and Dongkyun Kim

Remote Sens. 2021, 13(4), 828; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13040828 - 23 Feb 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2917

Abstract

Factors influencing the accuracy of UAV-photogrammetry-based snow depth distribution maps were investigated. First, UAV-based surveys were performed on the 0.04 km² snow-covered study site in South Korea for 37 times over the period of 13 days under 16 prescribed conditions composed of [...] Read more.

Factors influencing the accuracy of UAV-photogrammetry-based snow depth distribution maps were investigated. First, UAV-based surveys were performed on the 0.04 km² snow-covered study site in South Korea for 37 times over the period of 13 days under 16 prescribed conditions composed of various photographing times, flight altitudes, and photograph overlap ratios. Then, multi-temporal Digital Surface Models (DSMs) of the study area covered with shallow snow were obtained using digital photogrammetric techniques. Next, the multi-temporal snow depth distribution maps were created by subtracting the snow-free DSM from the multi-temporal DSMs of the study area. Then, snow depth in these UAV-Photogrammetry-based snow maps were compared to the in situ measurements at 21 locations. The accuracy of each of the multi-temporal snow maps were quantified in terms of bias (median of residuals,

Q_{Δ D}

) and precision (the Normalized Median Absolute Deviation, NMAD). Lastly, various factors influencing these performance metrics were investigated. The results are as follows: (1) the

Q_{Δ D}

and NMAD of the eight surveys performed at the optimal condition (50 m flight altitude and 80% overlap ratio) ranged from −2.30 cm to 5.90 cm and from 1.78 cm to 4.89 cm, respectively. The best survey case had −2.30 cm of

Q_{Δ D}

and 1.78 cm of NMAD; (2) Lower UAV flight altitude and greater photograph overlap lower the NMAD and

Q_{Δ D}

; (3) Greater number of Ground Control Points (GCPs) lowers the NMAD and

Q_{Δ D}

; (4) Spatial configuration and accuracy of GCP coordinates influenced the accuracy of the snow depth distribution map; (5) Greater number of tie-points leads to higher accuracy; (6) Smooth fresh snow cover did not provide many tie-points, either resulting in a significant error or making the entire photogrammetry process impossible. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Measurement of Hydrologic Variables with Remote Sensing)

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19 pages, 5086 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Hyperspectral Image Destriping and Denoising Using Stripe and Spectral Low-Rank Matrix Recovery and Global Spatial-Spectral Total Variation

by Fang Yang, Xin Chen and Li Chai

Remote Sens. 2021, 13(4), 827; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13040827 - 23 Feb 2021

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3119

Abstract

Hyperspectral image (HSI) is easily corrupted by different kinds of noise, such as stripes, dead pixels, impulse noise, Gaussian noise, etc. Due to less consideration of the structural specificity of stripes, many existing HSI denoising methods cannot effectively remove the heavy stripes in [...] Read more.

Hyperspectral image (HSI) is easily corrupted by different kinds of noise, such as stripes, dead pixels, impulse noise, Gaussian noise, etc. Due to less consideration of the structural specificity of stripes, many existing HSI denoising methods cannot effectively remove the heavy stripes in mixed noise. In this paper, we classify the noise on HSI into three types: sparse noise, stripe noise, and Gaussian noise. The clean image and different types of noise are treated as independent components. In this way, the image denoising task can be naturally regarded as an image decomposition problem. Thanks to the structural characteristic of stripes and the low-rank property of HSI, we propose to destripe and denoise the HSI by using stripe and spectral low-rank matrix recovery and combine it with the global spatial-spectral TV regularization (SSLR-SSTV). By considering different properties of different HSI ingredients, the proposed method separates the original image from the noise components perfectly. Both simulation and real image denoising experiments demonstrate that the proposed method can achieve a satisfactory denoising result compared with the state-of-the-art methods. Especially, it outperforms the other methods in the task of stripe noise removal visually and quantitatively. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Remote Sensing Image Processing)

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18 pages, 24376 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Assessing Near Real-Time Satellite Precipitation Products for Flood Simulations at Sub-Daily Scales in a Sparsely Gauged Watershed in Peruvian Andes

by Harold Llauca, Waldo Lavado-Casimiro, Karen León, Juan Jimenez, Kevin Traverso and Pedro Rau

Remote Sens. 2021, 13(4), 826; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13040826 - 23 Feb 2021

Cited by 25 | Viewed by 4618

Abstract

This study investigates the applicability of Satellite Precipitation Products (SPPs) in near real-time for the simulation of sub-daily runoff in the Vilcanota River basin, located in the southeastern Andes of Peru. The data from rain gauge stations are used to evaluate the quality [...] Read more.

This study investigates the applicability of Satellite Precipitation Products (SPPs) in near real-time for the simulation of sub-daily runoff in the Vilcanota River basin, located in the southeastern Andes of Peru. The data from rain gauge stations are used to evaluate the quality of Integrated Multi-satellite Retrievals for GPM–Early (IMERG-E), Global Satellite Mapping of Precipitation–Near Real-Time (GSMaP-NRT), Climate Prediction Center Morphing Method (CMORPH), and HydroEstimator (HE) at the pixel-station level; and these SPPs are used as meteorological inputs for the hourly hydrological modeling. The GR4H model is calibrated with the hydrometric station of the longest record, and model simulations are also verified at one station upstream and two stations downstream of the calibration point. Comparing the sub-daily precipitation data observed, the results show that the IMERG-E product generally presents higher quality, followed by GSMaP-NRT, CMORPH, and HE. Although the SPPs present positive and negative biases, ranging from mild to moderate, they do represent the diurnal and seasonal variability of the hourly precipitation in the study area. In terms of the average of Kling-Gupta metric (KGE), the GR4H_GSMaP-NRT’ yielded the best representation of hourly discharges (0.686), followed by GR4H_IMERG-E’ (0.623), GR4H_Ensemble-Mean (0.617) and GR4H_CMORPH’ (0.606), and GR4H_HE’ (0.516). Finally, the SPPs showed a high potential for monitoring floods in the Vilcanota basin in near real-time at the operational level. The results obtained in this research are very useful for implementing flood early warning systems in the Vilcanota basin and will allow the monitoring and short-term hydrological forecasting of floods by the Peruvian National Weather and Hydrological Service. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue South American Hydrology and Remote Sensing (South America Water from Space))

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29 pages, 7005 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The SARSense Campaign: Air- and Space-Borne C- and L-Band SAR for the Analysis of Soil and Plant Parameters in Agriculture

by David Mengen, Carsten Montzka, Thomas Jagdhuber, Anke Fluhrer, Cosimo Brogi, Stephani Baum, Dirk Schüttemeyer, Bagher Bayat, Heye Bogena, Alex Coccia, Gerard Masalias, Verena Trinkel, Jannis Jakobi, François Jonard, Yueling Ma, Francesco Mattia, Davide Palmisano, Uwe Rascher, Giuseppe Satalino, Maike Schumacher, Christian Koyama, Marius Schmidt and Harry Vereecken Show full author list Hide full author list

Remote Sens. 2021, 13(4), 825; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13040825 - 23 Feb 2021

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 4275

Abstract

With the upcoming L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite mission Radar Observing System for Europe L-band SAR (ROSE-L) and its integration into existing C-band satellite missions such as Sentinel-1, multi-frequency SAR observations with high temporal and spatial resolution will become available. The SARSense [...] Read more.

With the upcoming L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite mission Radar Observing System for Europe L-band SAR (ROSE-L) and its integration into existing C-band satellite missions such as Sentinel-1, multi-frequency SAR observations with high temporal and spatial resolution will become available. The SARSense campaign was conducted between June and August 2019 to investigate the potential for estimating soil and plant parameters at the agricultural test site in Selhausen (Germany). It included C- and L-band air- and space-borne observations accompanied by extensive in situ soil and plant sampling as well as unmanned aerial system (UAS) based multispectral and thermal infrared measurements. In this regard, we introduce a new publicly available SAR data set and present the first analysis of C- and L-band co- and cross-polarized backscattering signals regarding their sensitivity to soil and plant parameters. Results indicate that a multi-frequency approach is relevant to disentangle soil and plant contributions to the SAR signal and to identify specific scattering mechanisms associated with the characteristics of different crop type, especially for root crops and cereals. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Remote Sensing in Agriculture and Vegetation)

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14 pages, 2123 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Impact of Shale Oil and Gas Development on Rangelands in the Permian Basin Region: An Assessment Using High-Resolution Remote Sensing Data

by Haoying Wang

Remote Sens. 2021, 13(4), 824; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13040824 - 23 Feb 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3050

Abstract

The environmental impact of shale energy development is a growing concern in the US and worldwide. Although the topic is well-studied in general, shale development’s impact on drylands has received much less attention in the literature. This study focuses on the effect of [...] Read more.

The environmental impact of shale energy development is a growing concern in the US and worldwide. Although the topic is well-studied in general, shale development’s impact on drylands has received much less attention in the literature. This study focuses on the effect of shale development on land cover in the Permian Basin region—a unique arid/semi-arid landscape experiencing an unprecedented intensity of drilling and production activities. By taking advantage of the high-resolution remote sensing land cover data, we develop a fixed-effects panel (longitudinal) data regression model to control unobserved spatial heterogeneities and regionwide trends. The model allows us to understand the land cover’s dynamics over the past decade of shale development. The results show that shale development had moderate negative but statistically significant impacts on shrubland and grassland/pasture. The effect is more strongly associated with the hydrocarbon production volume and less with the number of oil and gas wells drilled. Between shrubland and grassland/pasture, the impact on shrubland is more pronounced in terms of magnitude. The dominance of shrubland in the region likely explains the result. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of Remote Sensing in Agroforestry)

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16 pages, 5040 KiB

Open AccessArticle

High-Accuracy Real-Time Kinematic Positioning with Multiple Rover Receivers Sharing Common Clock

by Lin Zhao, Jiachang Jiang, Liang Li, Chun Jia and Jianhua Cheng

Remote Sens. 2021, 13(4), 823; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13040823 - 23 Feb 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1891

Abstract

Since the traditional real-time kinematic positioning method is limited by the reduced satellite visibility from the deprived navigational environments, we, therefore, propose an improved RTK method with multiple rover receivers sharing a common clock. The proposed method can enhance observational redundancy by blending [...] Read more.

Since the traditional real-time kinematic positioning method is limited by the reduced satellite visibility from the deprived navigational environments, we, therefore, propose an improved RTK method with multiple rover receivers sharing a common clock. The proposed method can enhance observational redundancy by blending the observations from each rover receiver together so that the model strength will be improved. Integer ambiguity resolution of the proposed method is challenged in the presence of several inter-receiver biases (IRB). The IRB including inter-receiver code bias (IRCB) and inter-receiver phase bias (IRPB) is calibrated by the pre-estimation method because of their temporal stability. Multiple BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) dual-frequency datasets are collected to test the proposed method. The experimental results have shown that the IRCB and IRPB under the common clock mode are sufficiently stable for the ambiguity resolution. Compared with the traditional method, the ambiguity resolution success rate and positioning accuracy of the proposed method can be improved by 19.5% and 46.4% in the restricted satellite visibility environments. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Positioning and Navigation in Remote Sensing)

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27 pages, 32026 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Interdecadal Changes in Aerosol Optical Depth over Pakistan Based on the MERRA-2 Reanalysis Data during 1980–2018

by Rehana Khan, Kanike Raghavendra Kumar, Tianliang Zhao, Waheed Ullah and Gerrit de Leeuw

Remote Sens. 2021, 13(4), 822; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13040822 - 23 Feb 2021

Cited by 20 | Viewed by 3179

Abstract

The spatiotemporal evolution and trends in aerosol optical depth (AOD) over environmentally distinct regions in Pakistan are investigated for the period 1980–2018. The AOD data for this period was obtained from the Modern-era retrospective analysis for research and applications, version 2 (MERRA-2) reanalysis [...] Read more.

The spatiotemporal evolution and trends in aerosol optical depth (AOD) over environmentally distinct regions in Pakistan are investigated for the period 1980–2018. The AOD data for this period was obtained from the Modern-era retrospective analysis for research and applications, version 2 (MERRA-2) reanalysis atmospheric products, together with the Moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) retrievals. The climatology of AOD_MERRA-2 is analyzed in three different contexts: the entire study domain (Pakistan), six regions within the domain, and 12 cities chosen from the entire study domain. The time-series analysis of the MODIS and MERRA-2 AOD data shows similar patterns in individual cities. The AOD and its seasonality vary strongly across Pakistan, with the lowest (0.05 ± 0.04) and highest (0.40 ± 0.06) in the autumn and summer seasons over the desert and the coastal regions, respectively. During the study period, the annual AOD trend increased between 0.002 and 0.012 year⁻¹. The increase of AOD is attributed to an increase in population and emissions from natural and/or anthropogenic sources. A general increase in the annual AOD over the central to lower Indus Basin is ascribed to the large contribution of dust particles from the desert. During winter and spring, a significant decrease in the AOD was observed in the northern regions of Pakistan. The MERRA-2 and MODIS trends (2002–2018) were compared, and the results show visible differences between the AOD datasets due to theuseof different versions and collection methods. Overall, the present study provides insight into the regional differences of AOD and its trends with the pronounced seasonal behavior across Pakistan. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Atmospheric Aerosols over Asia: Methods and Applications)

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20 pages, 5271 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Improving the Selection of Vegetation Index Characteristic Wavelengths by Using the PROSPECT Model for Leaf Water Content Estimation

by Jian Yang, Yangyang Zhang, Lin Du, Xiuguo Liu, Shuo Shi and Biwu Chen

Remote Sens. 2021, 13(4), 821; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13040821 - 23 Feb 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2146

Abstract

Equivalent water thickness (EWT) is a major indicator for indirect monitoring of leaf water content in remote sensing. Many vegetation indices (VIs) have been proposed to estimate EWT based on passive or active reflectance spectra. However, the selection of the characteristics wavelengths of [...] Read more.

Equivalent water thickness (EWT) is a major indicator for indirect monitoring of leaf water content in remote sensing. Many vegetation indices (VIs) have been proposed to estimate EWT based on passive or active reflectance spectra. However, the selection of the characteristics wavelengths of VIs is mainly based on statistical analysis for specific vegetation species. In this study, a characteristic wavelength selection algorithm based on the PROSPECT-5 model was proposed to obtain characteristic wavelengths of leaf biochemical parameters (leaf structure parameter (N), chlorophyll a + b content (Cab), carotenoid content (Car), EWT, and dry matter content (LMA)). The effect of combined characteristic wavelengths of EWT and different biochemical parameters on the accuracy of EWT estimation is discussed. Results demonstrate that the characteristic wavelengths of leaf structure parameter N exhibited the greatest influence on EWT estimation. Then, two optimal characteristics wavelengths (1089 and 1398 nm) are selected to build a new ratio VI (nRVI = R1089/R1398) for EWT estimation. Subsequently, the performance of the built nRVI and four optimal published VIs for EWT estimation are discussed by using two simulation datasets and three in situ datasets. Results demonstrated that the built nRVI exhibited better performance (R² = 0.9284, 0.8938, 0.7766, and RMSE = 0.0013 cm, 0.0022 cm, 0.0030 cm for ANGERS, Leaf Optical Properties Experiment (LOPEX), and JR datasets, respectively.) than that the published VIs for EWT estimation. It is demonstrated that the built nRVI based on the characteristic wavelengths selected using the physical model exhibits desirable universality and stability in EWT estimation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Remote Sensing in Agriculture and Vegetation)

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16 pages, 6112 KiB

Open AccessTechnical Note

Multiscale Weighted Adjacent Superpixel-Based Composite Kernel for Hyperspectral Image Classification

by Yaokang Zhang and Yunjie Chen

Remote Sens. 2021, 13(4), 820; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13040820 - 23 Feb 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2061

Abstract

This paper presents a composite kernel method (MWASCK) based on multiscale weighted adjacent superpixels (ASs) to classify hyperspectral image (HSI). The MWASCK adequately exploits spatial-spectral features of weighted adjacent superpixels to guarantee that more accurate spectral features can be extracted. Firstly, we use [...] Read more.

This paper presents a composite kernel method (MWASCK) based on multiscale weighted adjacent superpixels (ASs) to classify hyperspectral image (HSI). The MWASCK adequately exploits spatial-spectral features of weighted adjacent superpixels to guarantee that more accurate spectral features can be extracted. Firstly, we use a superpixel segmentation algorithm to divide HSI into multiple superpixels. Secondly, the similarities between each target superpixel and its ASs are calculated to construct the spatial features. Finally, a weighted AS-based composite kernel (WASCK) method for HSI classification is proposed. In order to avoid seeking for the optimal superpixel scale and fuse the multiscale spatial features, the MWASCK method uses multiscale weighted superpixel neighbor information. Experiments from two real HSIs indicate that superior performance of the WASCK and MWASCK methods compared with some popular classification methods. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Semantic Segmentation of High-Resolution Images with Deep Learning)

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19 pages, 1762 KiB

Open AccessArticle

TNNG: Total Nuclear Norms of Gradients for Hyperspectral Image Prior

by Ryota Yuzuriha, Ryuji Kurihara, Ryo Matsuoka and Masahiro Okuda

Remote Sens. 2021, 13(4), 819; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13040819 - 23 Feb 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2058

Abstract

We introduce a novel regularization function for hyperspectral image (HSI), which is based on the nuclear norms of gradient images. Unlike conventional low-rank priors, we achieve a gradient-based low-rank approximation by minimizing the sum of nuclear norms associated with rotated planes in the [...] Read more.

We introduce a novel regularization function for hyperspectral image (HSI), which is based on the nuclear norms of gradient images. Unlike conventional low-rank priors, we achieve a gradient-based low-rank approximation by minimizing the sum of nuclear norms associated with rotated planes in the gradient of a HSI. Our method explicitly and simultaneously exploits the correlation in the spectral domain as well as the spatial domain. Our method exploits the low-rankness of a global region to enhance the dimensionality reduction by the prior. Since our method considers the low-rankness in the gradient domain, it more sensitively detects anomalous variations. Our method achieves high-fidelity image recovery using a single regularization function without the explicit use of any sparsity-inducing priors such as

ℓ_{0}

,

ℓ_{1}

and total variation (TV) norms. We also apply this regularization to a gradient-based robust principal component analysis and show its superiority in HSI decomposition. To demonstrate, the proposed regularization is validated on a variety of HSI reconstruction/decomposition problems with performance comparisons to state-of-the-art methods its superior performance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Remote Sensing Image Processing)

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23 pages, 4126 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Upscaling Northern Peatland CO₂ Fluxes Using Satellite Remote Sensing Data

by Sofia Junttila, Julia Kelly, Natascha Kljun, Mika Aurela, Leif Klemedtsson, Annalea Lohila, Mats B. Nilsson, Janne Rinne, Eeva-Stiina Tuittila, Patrik Vestin, Per Weslien and Lars Eklundh

Remote Sens. 2021, 13(4), 818; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13040818 - 23 Feb 2021

Cited by 19 | Viewed by 5112

Abstract

Peatlands play an important role in the global carbon cycle as they contain a large soil carbon stock. However, current climate change could potentially shift peatlands from being carbon sinks to carbon sources. Remote sensing methods provide an opportunity to monitor carbon dioxide [...] Read more.

Peatlands play an important role in the global carbon cycle as they contain a large soil carbon stock. However, current climate change could potentially shift peatlands from being carbon sinks to carbon sources. Remote sensing methods provide an opportunity to monitor carbon dioxide (CO₂) exchange in peatland ecosystems at large scales under these changing conditions. In this study, we developed empirical models of the CO₂ balance (net ecosystem exchange, NEE), gross primary production (GPP), and ecosystem respiration (ER) that could be used for upscaling CO₂ fluxes with remotely sensed data. Two to three years of eddy covariance (EC) data from five peatlands in Sweden and Finland were compared to modelled NEE, GPP and ER based on vegetation indices from 10 m resolution Sentinel-2 MSI and land surface temperature from 1 km resolution MODIS data. To ensure a precise match between the EC data and the Sentinel-2 observations, a footprint model was applied to derive footprint-weighted daily means of the vegetation indices. Average model parameters for all sites were acquired with a leave-one-out-cross-validation procedure. Both the GPP and the ER models gave high agreement with the EC-derived fluxes (R² = 0.70 and 0.56, NRMSE = 14% and 15%, respectively). The performance of the NEE model was weaker (average R² = 0.36 and NRMSE = 13%). Our findings demonstrate that using optical and thermal satellite sensor data is a feasible method for upscaling the GPP and ER of northern boreal peatlands, although further studies are needed to investigate the sources of the unexplained spatial and temporal variation of the CO₂ fluxes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Carbon Fluxes and Stocks)

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14 pages, 3004 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Diurnal Cycle of Passive Microwave Brightness Temperatures over Land at a Global Scale

by Zahra Sharifnezhad, Hamid Norouzi, Satya Prakash, Reginald Blake and Reza Khanbilvardi

Remote Sens. 2021, 13(4), 817; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13040817 - 23 Feb 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2934

Abstract

Satellite-borne passive microwave radiometers provide brightness temperature (TB) measurements in a large spectral range which includes a number of frequency channels and generally two polarizations: horizontal and vertical. These TBs are widely used to retrieve several atmospheric and surface variables and parameters such [...] Read more.

Satellite-borne passive microwave radiometers provide brightness temperature (TB) measurements in a large spectral range which includes a number of frequency channels and generally two polarizations: horizontal and vertical. These TBs are widely used to retrieve several atmospheric and surface variables and parameters such as precipitation, soil moisture, water vapor, air temperature profile, and land surface emissivity. Since TBs are measured at different microwave frequencies with various instruments and at various incidence angles, spatial resolutions, and radiometric characteristics, a mere direct integration of them from different microwave sensors would not necessarily provide consistency. However, when appropriately harmonized, they can provide a complete dataset to estimate the diurnal cycle. This study first constructs the diurnal cycle of land TBs using the non-sun-synchronous Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Microwave Imager (GMI) observations by utilizing a cubic spline fit. The acquisition times of GMI vary from day to day and, therefore, the shape (amplitude and phase) of the diurnal cycle for each month is obtained by merging several days of measurements. This diurnal pattern is used as a point of reference when intercalibrated TBs from other passive microwave sensors with daily fixed acquisition times (e.g., Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder, and Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2) are used to modify and tune the monthly diurnal cycle to daily diurnal cycle at a global scale. Since the GMI does not cover polar regions, the proposed method estimates a consistent diurnal cycle of land TBs at global scale. Results show that the shape and peak of the constructed TB diurnal cycle is approximately similar to the diurnal cycle of land surface temperature. The diurnal brightness temperature range for different land cover types has also been explored using the derived diurnal cycle of TBs. In general, a large diurnal TB range of more than 15 K has been observed for the grassland, shrubland, and tundra land cover types, whereas it is less than 5K over forests. Furthermore, seasonal variations in the diurnal TB range for different land cover types show a more consistent result over the Southern Hemisphere than over the Northern Hemisphere. The calibrated TB diurnal cycle may then be used to consistently estimate the diurnal cycle of land surface emissivity. Moreover, since changes in land surface emissivity are related to moisture change and freeze–thaw (FT) transitions in high-latitude regions, the results of this study enhance temporal detection of FT state, particularly during the transition times when multiple FT changes may occur within a day. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing Data Fusion as a Strategy to Add Value to Earth Observation Data)

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28 pages, 94494 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Landsat and Sentinel-2 Based Burned Area Mapping Tools in Google Earth Engine

by Ekhi Roteta, Aitor Bastarrika, Magí Franquesa and Emilio Chuvieco

Remote Sens. 2021, 13(4), 816; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13040816 - 23 Feb 2021

Cited by 36 | Viewed by 8778

Abstract

Four burned area tools were implemented in Google Earth Engine (GEE), to obtain regular processes related to burned area (BA) mapping, using medium spatial resolution sensors (Landsat and Sentinel-2). The four tools are (i) the BA Cartography tool for supervised burned area over [...] Read more.

Four burned area tools were implemented in Google Earth Engine (GEE), to obtain regular processes related to burned area (BA) mapping, using medium spatial resolution sensors (Landsat and Sentinel-2). The four tools are (i) the BA Cartography tool for supervised burned area over the user-selected extent and period, (ii) two tools implementing a BA stratified random sampling to select the scenes and dates for validation, and (iii) the BA Reference Perimeter tool to obtain highly accurate BA maps that focus on validating coarser BA products. Burned Area Mapping Tools (BAMTs) go beyond the previously implemented Burned Area Mapping Software (BAMS) because of GEE parallel processing capabilities and preloaded geospatial datasets. BAMT also allows temporal image composites to be exploited in order to obtain BA maps over a larger extent and longer temporal periods. The tools consist of four scripts executable from the GEE Code Editor. The tools’ performance was discussed in two case studies: in the 2019/2020 fire season in Southeast Australia, where the BA cartography detected more than 50,000 km², using Landsat data with commission and omission errors below 12% when compared to Sentinel-2 imagery; and in the 2018 summer wildfires in Canada, where it was found that around 16,000 km² had burned. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Burnt Area)

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19 pages, 6977 KiB

Open AccessArticle

InSAR Monitoring of Landslide Activity in Dominica

by Mary-Anne Fobert, Vern Singhroy and John G. Spray

Remote Sens. 2021, 13(4), 815; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13040815 - 23 Feb 2021

Cited by 24 | Viewed by 4706

Abstract

Dominica is a geologically young, volcanic island in the eastern Caribbean. Due to its rugged terrain, substantial rainfall, and distinct soil characteristics, it is highly vulnerable to landslides. The dominant triggers of these landslides are hurricanes, tropical storms, and heavy prolonged rainfall events. [...] Read more.

Dominica is a geologically young, volcanic island in the eastern Caribbean. Due to its rugged terrain, substantial rainfall, and distinct soil characteristics, it is highly vulnerable to landslides. The dominant triggers of these landslides are hurricanes, tropical storms, and heavy prolonged rainfall events. These events frequently lead to loss of life and the need for a growing portion of the island’s annual budget to cover the considerable cost of reconstruction and recovery. For disaster risk mitigation and landslide risk assessment, landslide inventory and susceptibility maps are essential. Landslide inventory maps record existing landslides and include details on their type, location, spatial extent, and time of occurrence. These data are integrated (when possible) with the landslide trigger and pre-failure slope conditions to generate or validate a susceptibility map. The susceptibility map is used to identify the level of potential landslide risk (low, moderate, or high). In Dominica, these maps are produced using optical satellite and aerial images, digital elevation models, and historic landslide inventory data. This study illustrates the benefits of using satellite Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) to refine these maps. Our study shows that when using continuous high-resolution InSAR data, active slopes can be identified and monitored. This information can be used to highlight areas most at risk (for use in validating and updating the susceptibility map), and can constrain the time of occurrence of when the landslide was initiated (for use in landslide inventory mapping). Our study shows that InSAR can be used to assist in the investigation of pre-failure slope conditions. For instance, our initial findings suggest there is more land motion prior to failure on clay soils with gentler slopes than on those with steeper slopes. A greater understanding of pre-failure slope conditions will support the generation of a more dependable susceptibility map. Our study also discusses the integration of InSAR deformation-rate maps and time-series analysis with rainfall data in support of the development of rainfall thresholds for different terrains. The information provided by InSAR can enhance inventory and susceptibility mapping, which will better assist with the island’s current disaster mitigation and resiliency efforts. Full article

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36 pages, 3939 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Fusion of Airborne LiDAR Point Clouds and Aerial Images for Heterogeneous Land-Use Urban Mapping

by Yasmine Megahed, Ahmed Shaker and Wai Yeung Yan

Remote Sens. 2021, 13(4), 814; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13040814 - 23 Feb 2021

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 3854

Abstract

The World Health Organization has reported that the number of worldwide urban residents is expected to reach 70% of the total world population by 2050. In the face of challenges brought about by the demographic transition, there is an urgent need to improve [...] Read more.

The World Health Organization has reported that the number of worldwide urban residents is expected to reach 70% of the total world population by 2050. In the face of challenges brought about by the demographic transition, there is an urgent need to improve the accuracy of urban land-use mappings to more efficiently inform about urban planning processes. Decision-makers rely on accurate urban mappings to properly assess current plans and to develop new ones. This study investigates the effects of including conventional spectral signatures acquired by different sensors on the classification of airborne LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) point clouds using multiple feature spaces. The proposed method applied three machine learning algorithms—ML (Maximum Likelihood), SVM (Support Vector Machines), and MLP (Multilayer Perceptron Neural Network)—to classify LiDAR point clouds of a residential urban area after being geo-registered to aerial photos. The overall classification accuracy passed 97%, with height as the only geometric feature in the classifying space. Misclassifications occurred among different classes due to independent acquisition of aerial and LiDAR data as well as shadow and orthorectification problems from aerial images. Nevertheless, the outcomes are promising as they surpassed those achieved with large geometric feature spaces and are encouraging since the approach is computationally reasonable and integrates radiometric properties from affordable sensors. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Aerial LiDAR Applications in Urban Environments)

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24 pages, 17600 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Rangeland Fractional Components Across the Western United States from 1985 to 2018

by Matthew Rigge, Collin Homer, Hua Shi, Debra Meyer, Brett Bunde, Brian Granneman, Kory Postma, Patrick Danielson, Adam Case and George Xian

Remote Sens. 2021, 13(4), 813; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13040813 - 23 Feb 2021

Cited by 25 | Viewed by 8562

Abstract

Monitoring temporal dynamics of rangelands to detect and understand change in vegetation cover and composition provides a wealth of information to improve management and sustainability. Remote sensing allows the evaluation of both abrupt and gradual rangeland change at unprecedented spatial and temporal extents. [...] Read more.

Monitoring temporal dynamics of rangelands to detect and understand change in vegetation cover and composition provides a wealth of information to improve management and sustainability. Remote sensing allows the evaluation of both abrupt and gradual rangeland change at unprecedented spatial and temporal extents. Here, we describe the production of the National Land Cover Database (NLCD) Back in Time (BIT) dataset which quantified the percent cover of rangeland components (bare ground, herbaceous, annual herbaceous, litter, shrub, and sagebrush (Artemisia spp. Nutt.) across the western United States using Landsat imagery from 1985 to 2018. We evaluate the relationships of component trends with climate drivers at an ecoregion scale, describe the nature of landscape change, and demonstrate several case studies related to changes in grazing management, prescribed burns, and vegetation treatments. Our results showed the net cover of shrub, sagebrush, and litter significantly (p < 0.01) decreased, bare ground and herbaceous cover had no significant change, and annual herbaceous cover significantly (p < 0.05) increased. Change was ubiquitous, with a mean of 92% of pixels with some change and 38% of pixels with significant change (p < 0.10). However, most change was gradual, well over half of pixels have a range of less than 10%, and most change occurred outside of known disturbances. The BIT data facilitate a comprehensive assessment of rangeland condition, evaluation of past management actions, understanding of system variability, and opportunities for future planning. Full article

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33 pages, 7883 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Multi-Feature Fusion for Weak Target Detection on Sea-Surface Based on FAR Controllable Deep Forest Model

by Jiahuan Zhang and Hongjun Song

Remote Sens. 2021, 13(4), 812; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13040812 - 23 Feb 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2362

Abstract

Target detection on the sea-surface has always been a high-profile problem, and the detection of weak targets is one of the most difficult problems and the key issue under this problem. Traditional techniques, such as imaging, cannot effectively detect these types of targets, [...] Read more.

Target detection on the sea-surface has always been a high-profile problem, and the detection of weak targets is one of the most difficult problems and the key issue under this problem. Traditional techniques, such as imaging, cannot effectively detect these types of targets, so researchers choose to start by mining the characteristics of the received echoes and other aspects for target detection. This paper proposes a false alarm rate (FAR) controllable deep forest model based on six-dimensional feature space for efficient and accurate detection of weak targets on the sea-surface. This is the first attempt at the deep forest model in this field. The validity of the model was verified on IPIX data, and the detection probability was compared with other proposed methods. Under the same FAR condition, the average detection accuracy rate of the proposed method could reach over 99.19%, which is 9.96% better than the results of the current most advanced method (K-NN FAR-controlled Detector). Experimental results show that multi-feature fusion and the use of a suitable detection framework have a positive effect on the detection of weak targets on the sea-surface. Full article

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28 pages, 11833 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Intercomparison of Global Sea Surface Salinity from Multiple Datasets over 2011–2018

by Hao Liu and Zexun Wei

Remote Sens. 2021, 13(4), 811; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13040811 - 23 Feb 2021

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2923

Abstract

The variability in sea surface salinity (SSS) on different time scales plays an important role in associated oceanic or climate processes. In this study, we compare the SSS on sub-annual, annual, and interannual time scales among ten datasets, including in situ-based and satellite-based [...] Read more.

The variability in sea surface salinity (SSS) on different time scales plays an important role in associated oceanic or climate processes. In this study, we compare the SSS on sub-annual, annual, and interannual time scales among ten datasets, including in situ-based and satellite-based SSS products over 2011–2018. Furthermore, the dominant mode on different time scales is compared using the empirical orthogonal function (EOF). Our results show that the largest spread of ten products occurs on the sub-annual time scale. High correlation coefficients (0.6~0.95) are found in the global mean annual and interannual SSSs between individual products and the ensemble mean. Furthermore, this study shows good agreement among the ten datasets in representing the dominant mode of SSS on the annual and interannual time scales. This analysis provides information on the consistency and discrepancy of datasets to guide future use, such as improvements to ocean data assimilation and the quality of satellite-based data. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Moving Forward on Remote Sensing of Sea Surface Salinity)

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24 pages, 10819 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Beamforming of LOFAR Radio-Telescope for Passive Radiolocation Purposes

by Aleksander Droszcz, Konrad Jędrzejewski, Julia Kłos, Krzysztof Kulpa and Mariusz Pożoga

Remote Sens. 2021, 13(4), 810; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13040810 - 23 Feb 2021

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2508

Abstract

This paper presents the results of investigations on the beamforming of a low-frequency radio-telescope LOFAR which can be used as a receiver in passive coherent location (PCL) radars for aerial and space object detection and tracking. The use of a LOFAR radio-telescope for [...] Read more.

This paper presents the results of investigations on the beamforming of a low-frequency radio-telescope LOFAR which can be used as a receiver in passive coherent location (PCL) radars for aerial and space object detection and tracking. The use of a LOFAR radio-telescope for the passive tracking of space objects can be a highly cost-effective solution due to the fact that most of the necessary equipment needed for passive radiolocation already exists in the form of LOFAR stations. The capability of the radiolocation of planes by a single LOFAR station in Borowiec is considered to be ‘proof of concept’ for future research focused on the localization of space objects. Beam patterns of single sets of LOFAR antennas (known as tiles), as well as for the entire LOFAR station, are presented and thoroughly discussed in the paper. Issues related to grating lobes in LOFAR beam patterns are also highlighted. A beamforming algorithm used for passive radiolocation purposes, exploiting data collected by a LOFAR station, is also discussed. The results of preliminary experiments carried out with real signals collected by the LOFAR station in Borowiec, Poland confirm that the appropriate beamforming can significantly increase the radar’s detection range, as well as the detection’s certainty. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Selected Papers of Microwave and Radar Week (MRW 2020))

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18 pages, 9708 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Mapping Woody Volume of Mediterranean Forests by Using SAR and Machine Learning: A Case Study in Central Italy

by Emanuele Santi, Marta Chiesi, Giacomo Fontanelli, Alessandro Lapini, Simonetta Paloscia, Simone Pettinato, Giuliano Ramat and Leonardo Santurri

Remote Sens. 2021, 13(4), 809; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13040809 - 23 Feb 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2180

Abstract

In this paper, multi-frequency synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data at L- and C-bands (ALOS PALSAR and Envisat/ASAR) were used to estimate forest biomass in Tuscany, in Central Italy. The ground measurements of woody volume (WV, in m³/ha), which can be considered [...] Read more.

In this paper, multi-frequency synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data at L- and C-bands (ALOS PALSAR and Envisat/ASAR) were used to estimate forest biomass in Tuscany, in Central Italy. The ground measurements of woody volume (WV, in m³/ha), which can be considered as a proxy of forest biomass, were retrieved from the Italian National Forest Inventory (NFI). After a preliminary investigation to assess the sensitivity of backscatter at C- and L-bands to forest biomass, an approach based on an artificial neural network (ANN) was implemented. The ANN was trained using the backscattering coefficient at L-band (ALOS PALSAR, HH and HV polarization) and C-band (Envisat ASAR in HH polarization) as inputs. Spatially distributed WV values for the entire test area were derived by the integration (fusion) of a canopy height map derived from the Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (ICESat GLAS) and the NFI data, in order to build a significant ground truth dataset for the training stage. The analysis of the backscattering sensitivity to WV showed a moderate correlation at L-band and was almost negligible at C-band. Despite this, the ANN algorithm was able to exploit the synergy of SAR frequencies and polarizations, estimating WV with average Pearson’s correlation coefficient (R) = 0.96 and root mean square error (RMSE) ≃ 39 m³/ha when applied to the test dataset and average R = 0.86 and RMSE ≃ 75 m³/ha when validated on the direct measurements from the NFI. Considering the heterogeneity of the scenario (Mediterranean mixed forests in hilly landscape) and the small amount of available ground measurements with respect to the spatial variability of different plots, the obtained results can be considered satisfactory. Moreover, the successful use of WV from global maps for implementing the algorithm suggests the possibility to apply the algorithm to wider areas or even to global scales. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mediterranean Forest Monitoring Using Optical and Microwave Remote Sensing)

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41 pages, 1773 KiB

Open AccessReview

Deep Learning-Based Semantic Segmentation of Urban Features in Satellite Images: A Review and Meta-Analysis

by Bipul Neupane, Teerayut Horanont and Jagannath Aryal

Remote Sens. 2021, 13(4), 808; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13040808 - 23 Feb 2021

Cited by 106 | Viewed by 14377

Abstract

Availability of very high-resolution remote sensing images and advancement of deep learning methods have shifted the paradigm of image classification from pixel-based and object-based methods to deep learning-based semantic segmentation. This shift demands a structured analysis and revision of the current status on [...] Read more.

Availability of very high-resolution remote sensing images and advancement of deep learning methods have shifted the paradigm of image classification from pixel-based and object-based methods to deep learning-based semantic segmentation. This shift demands a structured analysis and revision of the current status on the research domain of deep learning-based semantic segmentation. The focus of this paper is on urban remote sensing images. We review and perform a meta-analysis to juxtapose recent papers in terms of research problems, data source, data preparation methods including pre-processing and augmentation techniques, training details on architectures, backbones, frameworks, optimizers, loss functions and other hyper-parameters and performance comparison. Our detailed review and meta-analysis show that deep learning not only outperforms traditional methods in terms of accuracy, but also addresses several challenges previously faced. Further, we provide future directions of research in this domain. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Deep Learning in Remote Sensing: Sample Datasets, Algorithms and Applications)

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16 pages, 2973 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Uncertainty Assessment of the Vertically-Resolved Cloud Amount for Joint CloudSat–CALIPSO Radar–Lidar Observations

by Andrzej Z. Kotarba and Mateusz Solecki

Remote Sens. 2021, 13(4), 807; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13040807 - 23 Feb 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2161

Abstract

The joint CloudSat–Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) climatology remains the only dataset that provides a global, vertically-resolved cloud amount statistic. However, data are affected by uncertainty that is the result of a combination of infrequent sampling, and a very narrow, [...] Read more.

The joint CloudSat–Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) climatology remains the only dataset that provides a global, vertically-resolved cloud amount statistic. However, data are affected by uncertainty that is the result of a combination of infrequent sampling, and a very narrow, pencil-like swath. This study provides the first global assessment of these uncertainties, which are quantified using bootstrapped confidence intervals. Rather than focusing on a purely theoretical discussion, we investigate empirical data that span a five-year period between 2006 and 2011. We examine the 2B-Geometric Profiling (GEOPROF)-LIDAR cloud product, at typical spatial resolutions found in global grids (1.0°, 2.5°, 5.0°, and 10.0°), four confidence levels (0.85, 0.90, 0.95, and 0.99), and three time scales (annual, seasonal, and monthly). Our results demonstrate that it is impossible to estimate, for every location, a five-year mean cloud amount based on CloudSat–CALIPSO data, assuming an accuracy of 1% or 5%, a high confidence level (>0.95), and a fine spatial resolution (1°–2.5°). In fact, the 1% requirement was only met by ~6.5% of atmospheric volumes at 1° and 2.5°, while the more tolerant criterion (5%) was met by 22.5% volumes at 1°, or 48.9% at 2.5° resolution. In order for at least 99% of volumes to meet an accuracy criterion, the criterion itself would have to be lowered to ~20% for 1° data, or to ~8% for 2.5° data. Our study also showed that the average confidence interval: decreased four times when the spatial resolution increased from 1° to 10°; doubled when the confidence level increased from 0.85 to 0.99; and tripled when the number of data-months increased from one (monthly mean) to twelve (annual mean). The cloud regime arguably had the most impact on the width of the confidence interval (mean cloud amount and its standard deviation). Our findings suggest that existing uncertainties in the CloudSat–CALIPSO five-year climatology are primarily the result of climate-specific factors, rather than the sampling scheme. Results that are presented in the form of statistics or maps, as in this study, can help the scientific community to improve accuracy assessments (which are frequently omitted), when analyzing existing and future CloudSat–CALIPSO cloud climatologies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Active and Passive Remote Sensing of Aerosols and Clouds)

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23 pages, 4682 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Crop Biomass Mapping Based on Ecosystem Modeling at Regional Scale Using High Resolution Sentinel-2 Data

by Liming He, Rong Wang, Georgy Mostovoy, Jane Liu, Jing M. Chen, Jiali Shang, Jiangui Liu, Heather McNairn and Jarrett Powers

Remote Sens. 2021, 13(4), 806; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13040806 - 22 Feb 2021

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 4046

Abstract

We evaluate the potential of using a process-based ecosystem model (BEPS) for crop biomass mapping at 20 m resolution over the research site in Manitoba, western Canada driven by spatially explicit leaf area index (LAI) retrieved from Sentinel-2 spectral reflectance throughout the entire [...] Read more.

We evaluate the potential of using a process-based ecosystem model (BEPS) for crop biomass mapping at 20 m resolution over the research site in Manitoba, western Canada driven by spatially explicit leaf area index (LAI) retrieved from Sentinel-2 spectral reflectance throughout the entire growing season. We find that overall, the BEPS-simulated crop gross primary production (GPP), net primary production (NPP), and LAI time-series can explain 82%, 83%, and 85%, respectively, of the variation in the above-ground biomass (AGB) for six selected annual crops, while an application of individual crop LAI explains only 50% of the variation in AGB. The linear relationships between the AGB and these three indicators (GPP, NPP and LAI time-series) are rather high for the six crops, while the slopes of the regression models vary for individual crop type, indicating the need for calibration of key photosynthetic parameters and carbon allocation coefficients. This study demonstrates that accumulated GPP and NPP derived from an ecosystem model, driven by Sentinel-2 LAI data and abiotic data, can be effectively used for crop AGB mapping; the temporal information from LAI is also effective in AGB mapping for some crop types. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances for Crop Mapping and Monitoring Using Remote Sensing Data)

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25 pages, 18777 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Intraday Variation Mapping of Population Age Structure via Urban-Functional-Region-Based Scaling

by Yuncong Zhao, Yuan Zhang, Hongyan Wang, Xin Du, Qiangzi Li and Jiong Zhu

Remote Sens. 2021, 13(4), 805; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13040805 - 22 Feb 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2201

Abstract

The spatial distribution of the population is uneven for various reasons, such as urban-rural differences and geographical conditions differences. As the basic element of the natural structure of the population, the age structure composition of populations also varies considerably across the world. Obtaining [...] Read more.

The spatial distribution of the population is uneven for various reasons, such as urban-rural differences and geographical conditions differences. As the basic element of the natural structure of the population, the age structure composition of populations also varies considerably across the world. Obtaining accurate and spatiotemporal population age structure maps is crucial for calculating population size at risk, analyzing populations mobility patterns, or calculating health and development indicators. During the past decades, many population maps in the form of administrative units and grids have been produced. However, these population maps are limited by the lack of information on the change of population distribution within a day and the age structure of the population. Urban functional regions (UFRs) are closely related to population mobility patterns, which can provide information about population variation intraday. Focusing on the area within the Beijing Fifth Ring Road, the political and economic center of Beijing, we showed how to use the temporal scaling factors obtained by analyzing the population survey sampling data and population dasymetric maps in different categories of UFRs to realize the intraday variation mapping of elderly individuals and children. The population dasymetric maps were generated on the basis of covariates related to population. In this article, 50 covariates were calculated from remote sensing data and geospatial data. However, not all covariates are associate with population distribution. In order to improve the accuracy of dasymetric maps and reduce the cost of mapping, it is necessary to select the optimal subset for the dasymetric model of elderly and children. The random forest recursive feature elimination (RF-RFE) algorithm was introduced to obtain the optimal subset of different age groups of people and generate the population dasymetric model in this article, as well as to screen out the optimal subset with 38 covariates and 26 covariates for the dasymetric models of the elderly and children, respectively. An accurate UFR identification method combining point of interest (POI) data and OpenStreetMap (OSM) road network data is also introduced in this article. The overall accuracy of the identification results of UFRs was 70.97%, which is quite accurate. The intraday variation maps of population age structure on weekdays and weekends were made within the Beijing Fifth Ring Road. Accuracy evaluation based on sampling data found that the overall accuracy was relatively high—

R^{2}

for each time period was higher than 0.5 and root mean square error (RMSE) was less than 0.05. On weekdays in particular,

R^{2}

for each time period was higher than 0.61 and RMSE was less than 0.02. Full article

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13 pages, 2741 KiB

Open AccessCommunication

Modeling Transpiration with Sun-Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence Observations via Carbon-Water Coupling Methods

by Huaize Feng, Tongren Xu, Liangyun Liu, Sha Zhou, Jingxue Zhao, Shaomin Liu, Ziwei Xu, Kebiao Mao, Xinlei He, Zhongli Zhu and Linna Chai

Remote Sens. 2021, 13(4), 804; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13040804 - 22 Feb 2021

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 3316

Abstract

Successfully applied in the carbon research area, sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) has raised the interest of researchers from the water research domain. However, current works focused on the empirical relationship between SIF and plant transpiration (T), while the mechanistic linkage between them has [...] Read more.

Successfully applied in the carbon research area, sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) has raised the interest of researchers from the water research domain. However, current works focused on the empirical relationship between SIF and plant transpiration (T), while the mechanistic linkage between them has not been fully explored. Two mechanism methods were developed to estimate T via SIF, namely the water-use efficiency (WUE) method and conductance method based on the carbon–water coupling framework. The T estimated by these two methods was compared with T partitioned from eddy covariance instrument measured evapotranspiration at four different sites. Both methods showed good performance at the hourly (R² = 0.57 for the WUE method and 0.67 for the conductance method) and daily scales (R² = 0.67 for the WUE method and 0.78 for the conductance method). The developed mechanism methods provide theoretical support and have a great potential basis for deriving ecosystem T by satellite SIF observations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances on Quantitative Remote Sensing of Sun-Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence)

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16 pages, 5256 KiB

Open AccessArticle

UAV Based Estimation of Forest Leaf Area Index (LAI) through Oblique Photogrammetry

by Lingchen Lin, Kunyong Yu, Xiong Yao, Yangbo Deng, Zhenbang Hao, Yan Chen, Nankun Wu and Jian Liu

Remote Sens. 2021, 13(4), 803; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13040803 - 22 Feb 2021

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 3745

Abstract

As a key canopy structure parameter, the estimation method of the Leaf Area Index (LAI) has always attracted attention. To explore a potential method to estimate forest LAI from 3D point cloud at low cost, we took photos from different angles of the [...] Read more.

As a key canopy structure parameter, the estimation method of the Leaf Area Index (LAI) has always attracted attention. To explore a potential method to estimate forest LAI from 3D point cloud at low cost, we took photos from different angles of the drone and set five schemes (O (0°), T15 (15°), T30 (30°), OT15 (0° and 15°) and OT30 (0° and 30°)), which were used to reconstruct 3D point cloud of forest canopy based on photogrammetry. Subsequently, the LAI values and the leaf area distribution in the vertical direction derived from five schemes were calculated based on the voxelized model. Our results show that the serious lack of leaf area in the middle and lower layers determines that the LAI estimate of O is inaccurate. For oblique photogrammetry, schemes with 30° photos always provided better LAI estimates than schemes with 15° photos (T30 better than T15, OT30 better than OT15), mainly reflected in the lower part of the canopy, which is particularly obvious in low-LAI areas. The overall structure of the single-tilt angle scheme (T15, T30) was relatively complete, but the rough point cloud details could not reflect the actual situation of LAI well. Multi-angle schemes (OT15, OT30) provided excellent leaf area estimation (OT15: R² = 0.8225, RMSE = 0.3334 m²/m²; OT30: R² = 0.9119, RMSE = 0.1790 m²/m²). OT30 provided the best LAI estimation accuracy at a sub-voxel size of 0.09 m and the best checkpoint accuracy (OT30: RMSE [H] = 0.2917 m, RMSE [V] = 0.1797 m). The results highlight that coupling oblique photography and nadiral photography can be an effective solution to estimate forest LAI. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Forest Remote Sensing)

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17 pages, 12229 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Study and Evolution of the Dune Field of La Banya Spit in Ebro Delta (Spain) Using LiDAR Data and GPR

by Inmaculada Rodríguez-Santalla, David Gomez-Ortiz, Tomás Martín-Crespo, María José Sánchez-García, Isabel Montoya-Montes, Silvia Martín-Velázquez, Fernando Barrio, Jordi Serra, Juan Miguel Ramírez-Cuesta and Francisco Javier Gracia

Remote Sens. 2021, 13(4), 802; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13040802 - 22 Feb 2021

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2857

Abstract

La Banya spit, located at the south of the River Ebro Delta, is a sandy formation, developed by annexation of bars forming successive beach ridges, which are oriented and modeled by the eastern and southern waves. The initial ridges run parallel to the [...] Read more.

La Banya spit, located at the south of the River Ebro Delta, is a sandy formation, developed by annexation of bars forming successive beach ridges, which are oriented and modeled by the eastern and southern waves. The initial ridges run parallel to the coastline, and above them small dunes developed, the crests of which are oriented by dominant winds, forming foredune ridges and barchans. This study attempted to test a number of techniques in order to understand the dune dynamic on this coastal spit between 2004 and 2012: LiDAR data were used to reconstruct changes to the surface and volume of the barchan dunes and foredunes; ground-penetrating radar was applied to obtain an image of their internal structure, which would help to understand their recent evolution. GPS data taken on the field, together with application of GIS techniques, made possible the combination of results and their comparison. The results showed a different trend between the barchan dunes and the foredunes. While the barchan dunes increased in area and volume between 2004 and 2012, the foredunes lost thickness. This was also reflected in the radargrams: the barchan dunes showed reflectors related to the growth of the foresets while those associated with foredunes presented truncations associated with storm events. However, the global balance of dune occupation for the period 2004–2012 was positive. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Remote Sensing in Coastal Geomorphology)

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19 pages, 30340 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Identification of Abandoned Jujube Fields Using Multi-Temporal High-Resolution Imagery and Machine Learning

by Xingrong Li, Chenghai Yang, Hongri Zhang, Panpan Wang, Jia Tang, Yanqin Tian and Qing Zhang

Remote Sens. 2021, 13(4), 801; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13040801 - 22 Feb 2021

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2382

Abstract

The jujube industry plays a very important role in the agricultural industrial structure of Xinjiang, China. In recent years, the abandonment of jujube fields has gradually emerged. It is critical to inventory the abandoned land soon after it is generated to adjust agricultural [...] Read more.

The jujube industry plays a very important role in the agricultural industrial structure of Xinjiang, China. In recent years, the abandonment of jujube fields has gradually emerged. It is critical to inventory the abandoned land soon after it is generated to adjust agricultural production better and prevent the negative impacts from the abandonment (such as outbreaks of diseases, insect pests, and fires). High-resolution multi-temporal satellite remote sensing images can be used to identify subtle differences among crops and provide a good tool for solving this problem. In this research, both field-based and pixel-based classification approaches using field boundaries were used to estimate the percentage of abandoned jujube fields with multi-temporal high spatial resolution satellite images (Gaofen-1 and Gaofen-6) and the Random Forest algorithm. The results showed that both approaches produced good classification results and similar distributions of abandoned fields. The overall accuracy was 91.1% for the field-based classification and 90.0% for the pixel-based classification, and the Kappa was 0.866 and 0.848 for the respective classifications. The areas of abandoned land detected in the field-based and pixel-based classification maps were 806.09 ha and 828.21 ha, respectively, accounting for 8.97% and 9.11% of the study area. In addition, feature importance evaluations of the two approaches showed that the overall importance of texture features was higher than that of vegetation indices and that 31 October and 10 November were important dates for abandoned land detection. The methodology proposed in this study will be useful for identifying abandoned jujube fields and have the potential for large-scale application. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Deep Learning in Remote Sensing: Sample Datasets, Algorithms and Applications)

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