Remote Sensing

3629 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Estimating Wheat Yield in China at the Field and District Scale from the Assimilation of Satellite Data into the Aquacrop and Simple Algorithm for Yield (SAFY) Models

by Paolo Cosmo Silvestro, Stefano Pignatti, Simone Pascucci, Hao Yang, Zhenhai Li, Guijun Yang, Wenjiang Huang and Raffaele Casa

Remote Sens. 2017, 9(5), 509; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9050509 - 22 May 2017

Cited by 74 | Viewed by 8733

Abstract

Accurate yield estimation at the field scale is essential for the development of precision agriculture management, whereas at the district level it can provide valuable information for supply chain management. In this paper, Huan Jing (HJ) satellite HJ1A/B and Landsat 8 Operational Land [...] Read more.

Accurate yield estimation at the field scale is essential for the development of precision agriculture management, whereas at the district level it can provide valuable information for supply chain management. In this paper, Huan Jing (HJ) satellite HJ1A/B and Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) images were employed to retrieve leaf area index (LAI) and canopy cover (CC) in the Yangling area (Central China). These variables were then assimilated into two crop models, Aquacrop and simple algorithm for yield (SAFY), in order to compare their performances and practicalities. Due to the models’ specificities and computational constraints, different assimilation methods were used. For SAFY, the ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) was applied using LAI as the observed variable, while for Aquacrop, particle swarm optimization (PSO) was used, using canopy cover (CC). These techniques were applied and validated both at the field and at the district scale. In the field application, the lowest relative root-mean-square error (RRMSE) value of 18% was obtained using EnKF with SAFY. On a district scale, both methods were able to provide production estimates in agreement with data provided by the official statistical offices. From an operational point of view, SAFY with the EnKF method was more suitable than Aquacrop with PSO, in a data assimilation context. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Earth Observations for Precision Farming in China (EO4PFiC))

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

2678 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Hypergraph Embedding for Spatial-Spectral Joint Feature Extraction in Hyperspectral Images

by Yubao Sun, Sujuan Wang, Qingshan Liu, Renlong Hang and Guangcan Liu

Remote Sens. 2017, 9(5), 506; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9050506 - 22 May 2017

Cited by 30 | Viewed by 7748

Abstract

The fusion of spatial and spectral information in hyperspectral images (HSIs) is useful for improving the classification accuracy. However, this approach usually results in features of higher dimension and the curse of the dimensionality problem may arise resulting from the small ratio between [...] Read more.

The fusion of spatial and spectral information in hyperspectral images (HSIs) is useful for improving the classification accuracy. However, this approach usually results in features of higher dimension and the curse of the dimensionality problem may arise resulting from the small ratio between the number of training samples and the dimensionality of features. To ease this problem, we propose a novel algorithm for spatial-spectral feature extraction based on hypergraph embedding. Firstly, each HSI pixel is regarded as a vertex and the joint of extended morphological profiles (EMP) and spectral features is adopted as the feature associated with the vertex. A hypergraph is then constructed by the K-Nearest-Neighbor method, in which each pixel and its most K relevant pixels are linked as one hyperedge to represent the complex relationships between HSI pixels. Secondly, the hypergraph embedding model is designed to learn a low dimensional feature with the reservation of geometric structure of HSI. An adaptive hyperedge weight estimation scheme is also introduced to preserve the prominent hyperedges by the regularization constraint on the weight. Finally, the learned low-dimensional features are fed to the support vector machine (SVM) for classification. The experimental results on three benchmark hyperspectral databases are presented. They highlight the importance of spatial–spectral joint features embedding for the accurate classification of HSI data. The weight estimation is better for further improving the classification accuracy. These experimental results verify the proposed method. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Learning to Understand Remote Sensing Images)

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

19595 KiB

Open AccessArticle

3D Imaging of Greenhouse Plants with an Inexpensive Binocular Stereo Vision System

by Dawei Li, Lihong Xu, Xue-song Tang, Shaoyuan Sun, Xin Cai and Peng Zhang

Remote Sens. 2017, 9(5), 508; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9050508 - 21 May 2017

Cited by 41 | Viewed by 11396

Abstract

Nowadays, 3D imaging of plants not only contributes to monitoring and managing plant growth, but is also becoming an essential part of high-throughput plant phenotyping. In this paper, an inexpensive (less than 70 USD) and portable platform with binocular stereo vision is established, [...] Read more.

Nowadays, 3D imaging of plants not only contributes to monitoring and managing plant growth, but is also becoming an essential part of high-throughput plant phenotyping. In this paper, an inexpensive (less than 70 USD) and portable platform with binocular stereo vision is established, which can be controlled by a laptop. In the stereo matching step, an efficient cost calculating measure—AD-Census—is integrated with the adaptive support-weight (ASW) approach to improve the ASW’s performance on real plant images. In the quantitative assessment, our stereo algorithm reaches an average error rate of 6.63% on the Middlebury datasets, which is lower than the error rates of the original ASW approach and several other popular algorithms. The imaging experiments using the proposed stereo system are carried out in three different environments including an indoor lab, an open field with grass, and a multi-span glass greenhouse. Six types of greenhouse plants are used in experiments; half of them are ornamentals and the others are greenhouse crops. The imaging accuracy of the proposed method at different baseline settings is investigated, and the results show that the optimal length of the baseline (distance between the two cameras of the stereo system) is around 80 mm for reaching a good trade-off between the depth accuracy and the mismatch rate for a plant that is placed within 1 m of the cameras. Error analysis from both theoretical and experimental sides show that for an object that is approximately 800 mm away from the stereo platform, the measured depth error of a single point is no higher than 5 mm, which is tolerable considering the dimensions of greenhouse plants. By applying disparity refinement, the proposed methodology generates dense and accurate point clouds of crops in different environments including an indoor lab, an outdoor field, and a greenhouse. Our approach also shows invariance against changing illumination in a real greenhouse, as well as the capability of recovering 3D surfaces of highlighted leaf regions. The method not only works on a binocular stereo system, but is also potentially applicable to a SFM-MVS (structure-from-motion and multiple-view stereo) system or any multi-view imaging system that uses stereo matching. Full article

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

5933 KiB

Open AccessReview

Annual and Seasonal Glacier-Wide Surface Mass Balance Quantified from Changes in Glacier Surface State: A Review on Existing Methods Using Optical Satellite Imagery

by Antoine Rabatel, Pascal Sirguey, Vanessa Drolon, Philippe Maisongrande, Yves Arnaud, Etienne Berthier, Lucas Davaze, Jean-Pierre Dedieu and Marie Dumont

Remote Sens. 2017, 9(5), 507; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9050507 - 20 May 2017

Cited by 26 | Viewed by 9036

Abstract

Glaciers are one of the terrestrial essential climate variables (ECVs) as they respond very sensitively to climate change. A key driver of their response is the glacier surface mass balance that is typically derived from field measurements. It deserves to be quantified over [...] Read more.

Glaciers are one of the terrestrial essential climate variables (ECVs) as they respond very sensitively to climate change. A key driver of their response is the glacier surface mass balance that is typically derived from field measurements. It deserves to be quantified over long time scales to better understand the accumulation and ablation processes at the glacier surface and their relationships with inter-annual changes in meteorological conditions and long-term climate changes. Glaciers with in situ monitoring of surface mass balance are scarce at the global scale, and satellite remote sensing provides a powerful tool to increase the number of monitored glaciers. In this study, we present a review of three optical remote sensing methods developed to quantify seasonal and annual glacier surface mass balances. These methodologies rely on the multitemporal monitoring of the end-of-summer snow line for the equilibrium-line altitude (ELA) method, the annual cycle of glacier surface albedo for the albedo method and the mapping of the regional snow cover at the seasonal scale for the snow-map method. Together with a presentation of each method, an application is illustrated. The ELA method shows promising results to quantify annual surface mass balance and to reconstruct multi-decadal time series. The other two methods currently need a calibration on the basis of existing in situ data; however, a generalization of these methods (without calibration) could be achieved. The two latter methods show satisfying results at the annual and seasonal scales, particularly for the summer surface mass balance in the case of the albedo method and for the winter surface mass balance in the case of the snow-map method. The limits of each method (e.g., cloud coverage, debris-covered glaciers, monsoon-regime and cold glaciers), their complementarities and the future challenges (e.g., automating of the satellite images processing, generalization of the methods needing calibration) are also discussed. Full article

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

► Show Figures

Figure 1

3736 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Machine Learning Method for Co-Registration and Individual Tree Matching of Forest Inventory and Airborne Laser Scanning Data

by Sebastian Lamprecht, Andreas Hill, Johannes Stoffels and Thomas Udelhoven

Remote Sens. 2017, 9(5), 505; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9050505 - 19 May 2017

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 7642

Abstract

Determining the exact position of a forest inventory plot—and hence the position of the sampled trees—is often hampered by a poor Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signal quality beneath the forest canopy. Inaccurate geo-references hamper the performance of models that aim to retrieve [...] Read more.

Determining the exact position of a forest inventory plot—and hence the position of the sampled trees—is often hampered by a poor Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signal quality beneath the forest canopy. Inaccurate geo-references hamper the performance of models that aim to retrieve useful information from spatially high remote sensing data (e.g., species classification or timber volume estimation). This restriction is even more severe on the level of individual trees. The objective of this study was to develop a post-processing strategy to improve the positional accuracy of GNSS-measured sample-plot centers and to develop a method to automatically match trees within a terrestrial sample plot to aerial detected trees. We propose a new method which uses a random forest classifier to estimate the matching probability of each terrestrial-reference and aerial detected tree pair, which gives the opportunity to assess the reliability of the results. We investigated 133 sample plots of the Third German National Forest Inventory (BWI, 2011–2012) within the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. For training and objective validation, synthetic forest stands have been modeled using the Waldplaner 2.0 software. Our method has achieved an overall accuracy of 82.7% for co-registration and 89.1% for tree matching. With our method, 60% of the investigated plots could be successfully relocated. The probabilities provided by the algorithm are an objective indicator of the reliability of a specific result which could be incorporated into quantitative models to increase the performance of forest attribute estimations. Full article

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

8368 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Assessing Re-Composition of Xing’an Larch in Boreal Forests after the 1987 Fire, Northeast China

by Junjie Wang, Cuizhen Wang and Shuying Zang

Remote Sens. 2017, 9(5), 504; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9050504 - 19 May 2017

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 4582

Abstract

Xing’an larch, a deciduous coniferous species, is the zonal tree of the Greater Xing’an Mountains in Northeast China. In May 1987, a catastrophic fire broke out in the mountains and burned 1.3 million hectares of forests in 26 days. While studies have shown [...] Read more.

Xing’an larch, a deciduous coniferous species, is the zonal tree of the Greater Xing’an Mountains in Northeast China. In May 1987, a catastrophic fire broke out in the mountains and burned 1.3 million hectares of forests in 26 days. While studies have shown that forest greenness has come back to normal in certain years, the re-composition of this zonal species has not been studied after the 1987 fire. With a series of Landsat 8 OLI images acquired in 2013–2015, this study builds the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Green Vegetation Index (GVI) time series in a complete growing cycle. A decision tree is developed to classify tree species with an overall accuracy of 86.16% and Kappa coefficient of 0.80. The re-composition of Xing’an larch after the 1987 fire is extracted, and its variations in areas under different fire intensities are statistically analyzed. Results show that Xing’an larch comprises 17.52%, 26.20% and 33.19% of forests in burned areas with high, medium and low fire intensities, respectively. Even around 30 years after the 1987 fire, the composition of this zonal species in boreal forest has not been fully recovered in the Greater Xing’an Mountains. The Xing’an larch map extracted in this study could serve as base information for ecological and environmental studies in this south end of the boreal Eurasia. Full article

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

4573 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Evaluation of Error in IMERG Precipitation Estimates under Different Topographic Conditions and Temporal Scales over Mexico

by Yandy G. Mayor, Iryna Tereshchenko, Mariam Fonseca-Hernández, Diego A. Pantoja and Jorge M. Montes

Remote Sens. 2017, 9(5), 503; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9050503 - 19 May 2017

Cited by 53 | Viewed by 5867

Abstract

This study evaluates the precipitation product of the Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for Global Precipitation Measurement (IMERG) over the Mexican region during the period between April 2014 and October 2015 using three different time scales for cumulative precipitation (hourly, daily and seasonal). Also, the [...] Read more.

This study evaluates the precipitation product of the Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for Global Precipitation Measurement (IMERG) over the Mexican region during the period between April 2014 and October 2015 using three different time scales for cumulative precipitation (hourly, daily and seasonal). Also, the IMERG data have been analyzed as a function of elevation given the rain gauges from the automatic meteorological stations network, located within the area of study, which are used as a reference. In the present study, continuous and categorical statistics are used to evaluate IMERG. It was found that IMERG showed better performance at the daily and seasonal time scale resolutions. While hourly precipitation estimates reached a mean correlation coefficient of 0.35, the daily and seasonal precipitation estimates achieved correlations over 0.51. In addition, the IMERG precipitation product was able to reproduce the diurnal and daily cycles of the average precipitation with a trend towards overestimating rain gauges. However, extreme precipitation events were highly underestimated, as shown by relative biases of −61% and −46% for the hourly and daily precipitation analysis, respectively. It was also found that IMERG tends to improve precipitation detection and to decrease magnitude errors over the higher terrain elevations of Mexico. Full article

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

4382 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Characteristics of Evapotranspiration of Urban Lawns in a Sub-Tropical Megacity and Its Measurement by the ‘Three Temperature Model + Infrared Remote Sensing’ Method

by Guoyu Qiu, Shenglin Tan, Yue Wang, Xiaohui Yu and Chunhua Yan

Remote Sens. 2017, 9(5), 502; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9050502 - 19 May 2017

Cited by 40 | Viewed by 4897

Abstract

Evapotranspiration (ET) is one of the most important factors in urban water and energy regimes. Because of the extremely high spatial heterogeneity of urban area, accurately measuring ET using conventional methods remains a challenge due to their fetch requirements and low spatial resolution. [...] Read more.

Evapotranspiration (ET) is one of the most important factors in urban water and energy regimes. Because of the extremely high spatial heterogeneity of urban area, accurately measuring ET using conventional methods remains a challenge due to their fetch requirements and low spatial resolution. The goals of this study were to investigate the characteristics of urban ET and its main influencing factors and subsequently to improve a fetch-free, high spatial resolution method for urban ET estimation. The Bowen ratio and the ‘three-temperature model (3T model) + infrared remote sensing (RS)’ methods were used for these purposes. The results of this study are listed in the following lines. (1) Urban ET is mainly affected by solar radiation and the effects of air humidity, wind velocity, and air temperature are very weak; (2) The average daily, monthly, and annual ETs of the urban lawn are 2.70, 60–100, and 990 mm, respectively, which are obvious compared with other landscapes; (3) The ratio of ET to precipitation is 0.65 in the wet season and 2.6 in the dry season, indicating that most of the precipitation is evaporated; (4) The fetch-free approach of ‘3T model + infrared RS’ is verified to be an accurate method for measuring urban ET and it agrees well with the Bowen ratio method (R² is over 0.93 and the root mean square error is less than 0.04 mm h⁻¹); (5) The spatial heterogeneity of urban ET can also be accurately estimated by the proposed approach. These results are helpful for improving the accuracy of ET estimation in urban areas and are useful for urban water and environmental planning and management. Full article

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

1713 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Modulation Model of High Frequency Band Radar Backscatter by the Internal Wave Based on the Third-Order Statistics

by Pengzhen Chen, Lei Liu, Xiaoqing Wang, Jinsong Chong, Xin Zhang and Xiangzhen Yu

Remote Sens. 2017, 9(5), 501; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9050501 - 19 May 2017

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 5308

Abstract

Modulation model of radar backscatters is an important topic in the remote sensing of oceanic internal wave by synthetic aperture radar (SAR). Previous studies related with the modulation models were analyzed mainly based on the hypothesis that ocean surface waves are Gaussian distributed. [...] Read more.

Modulation model of radar backscatters is an important topic in the remote sensing of oceanic internal wave by synthetic aperture radar (SAR). Previous studies related with the modulation models were analyzed mainly based on the hypothesis that ocean surface waves are Gaussian distributed. However, this is not always true for the complicated ocean environment. Research has showed that the measurements are usually larger than the values predicted by modulation models for the high frequency radars (X-band and above). In this paper, a new modulation model was proposed which takes the third-order statistics of the ocean surface into account. It takes the situation into consideration that the surface waves are Non-Gaussian distributed under some conditions. The model can explain the discrepancy between the measurements and the values calculated by the traditional models in theory. Furthermore, it can accurately predict the modulation for the higher frequency band. The model was verified by the experimental measurements recorded in a wind wave tank. Further discussion was made about applicability of this model that it performs better in the prediction of radar backscatter modulation compared with the traditional modulation model for the high frequency band radar or under lager wind speeds. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ocean Remote Sensing with Synthetic Aperture Radar)

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

42450 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Learning Dual Multi-Scale Manifold Ranking for Semantic Segmentation of High-Resolution Images

by Mi Zhang, Xiangyun Hu, Like Zhao, Ye Lv, Min Luo and Shiyan Pang

Remote Sens. 2017, 9(5), 500; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9050500 - 19 May 2017

Cited by 43 | Viewed by 10208

Abstract

Semantic image segmentation has recently witnessed considerable progress by training deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs). The core issue of this technique is the limited capacity of CNNs to depict visual objects. Existing approaches tend to utilize approximate inference in a discrete domain or [...] Read more.

Semantic image segmentation has recently witnessed considerable progress by training deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs). The core issue of this technique is the limited capacity of CNNs to depict visual objects. Existing approaches tend to utilize approximate inference in a discrete domain or additional aides and do not have a global optimum guarantee. We propose the use of the multi-label manifold ranking (MR) method in solving the linear objective energy function in a continuous domain to delineate visual objects and solve these problems. We present a novel embedded single stream optimization method based on the MR model to avoid approximations without sacrificing expressive power. In addition, we propose a novel network, which we refer to as dual multi-scale manifold ranking (DMSMR) network, that combines the dilated, multi-scale strategies with the single stream MR optimization method in the deep learning architecture to further improve the performance. Experiments on high resolution images, including close-range and remote sensing datasets, demonstrate that the proposed approach can achieve competitive accuracy without additional aides in an end-to-end manner. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Learning to Understand Remote Sensing Images)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

35673 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Impacts of Thermal Time on Land Surface Phenology in Urban Areas

by Cole Krehbiel, Xiaoyang Zhang and Geoffrey M. Henebry

Remote Sens. 2017, 9(5), 499; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9050499 - 18 May 2017

Cited by 20 | Viewed by 7275

Abstract

Urban areas alter local atmospheric conditions by modifying surface albedo and consequently the surface radiation and energy balances, releasing waste heat from anthropogenic uses, and increasing atmospheric aerosols, all of which combine to increase temperatures in cities, especially overnight, compared with surrounding rural [...] Read more.

Urban areas alter local atmospheric conditions by modifying surface albedo and consequently the surface radiation and energy balances, releasing waste heat from anthropogenic uses, and increasing atmospheric aerosols, all of which combine to increase temperatures in cities, especially overnight, compared with surrounding rural areas, resulting in a phenomenon called the “urban heat island” effect. Recent rapid urbanization of the planet has generated calls for remote sensing research related to the impacts of urban areas and urbanization on the natural environment. Spatially extensive, high spatial resolution data products are needed to capture phenological patterns in regions with heterogeneous land cover and external drivers such as cities, which are comprised of a mixture of land cover/land uses and experience microclimatic influences. Here we use the 30 m normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) product from the Web-Enabled Landsat Data (WELD) project to analyze the impacts of urban areas and their surface heat islands on the seasonal development of the vegetated land surface along an urban–rural gradient for 19 cities located in the Upper Midwest of the United States. We fit NDVI observations from 2003–2012 as a quadratic function of thermal time as accumulated growing degree-days (AGDD) calculated from the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) 1 km land surface temperature product to model decadal land surface phenology metrics at 30 m spatial resolution. In general, duration of growing season (measured in AGDD) in green core areas is equivalent to duration of growing season in urban extent areas, but significantly longer than duration of growing season in areas outside of the urban extent. We found an exponential relationship in the difference of duration of growing season between urban and surrounding rural areas as a function of distance from urban core areas for perennial vegetation, with an average magnitude of 669 AGDD (base 0 °C) and the influence of urban areas extending greater than 11 km from urban core areas. At the regional scale, relative change in duration of growing season does not appear to be significantly related to total area of urban extent, population, or latitude. The distance and magnitude that urban areas exert influence on vegetation in and near cities is relatively uniform. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Land Surface Phenology and Seasonality: Novel Approaches and Applications)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

10169 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Classification for High Resolution Remote Sensing Imagery Using a Fully Convolutional Network

by Gang Fu, Changjun Liu, Rong Zhou, Tao Sun and Qijian Zhang

Remote Sens. 2017, 9(5), 498; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9050498 - 18 May 2017

Cited by 285 | Viewed by 18888

Abstract

As a variant of Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) in Deep Learning, the Fully Convolutional Network (FCN) model achieved state-of-the-art performance for natural image semantic segmentation. In this paper, an accurate classification approach for high resolution remote sensing imagery based on the improved FCN [...] Read more.

As a variant of Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) in Deep Learning, the Fully Convolutional Network (FCN) model achieved state-of-the-art performance for natural image semantic segmentation. In this paper, an accurate classification approach for high resolution remote sensing imagery based on the improved FCN model is proposed. Firstly, we improve the density of output class maps by introducing Atrous convolution, and secondly, we design a multi-scale network architecture by adding a skip-layer structure to make it capable for multi-resolution image classification. Finally, we further refine the output class map using Conditional Random Fields (CRFs) post-processing. Our classification model is trained on 70 GF-2 true color images, and tested on the other 4 GF-2 images and 3 IKONOS true color images. We also employ object-oriented classification, patch-based CNN classification, and the FCN-8s approach on the same images for comparison. The experiments show that compared with the existing approaches, our approach has an obvious improvement in accuracy. The average precision, recall, and Kappa coefficient of our approach are 0.81, 0.78, and 0.83, respectively. The experiments also prove that our approach has strong applicability for multi-resolution image classification. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Learning to Understand Remote Sensing Images)

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

7138 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Multi-Decadal Surface Water Dynamics in North American Tundra

by Mark L. Carroll and Tatiana V. Loboda

Remote Sens. 2017, 9(5), 497; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9050497 - 18 May 2017

Cited by 42 | Viewed by 6831

Abstract

Over the last several decades, warming in the Arctic has outpaced the already impressive increases in global mean temperatures. The impact of these increases in temperature has been observed in a multitude of ecological changes in North American tundra including changes in vegetative [...] Read more.

Over the last several decades, warming in the Arctic has outpaced the already impressive increases in global mean temperatures. The impact of these increases in temperature has been observed in a multitude of ecological changes in North American tundra including changes in vegetative cover, depth of active layer, and surface water extent. The low topographic relief and continuous permafrost create an ideal environment for the formation of small water bodies—a definitive feature of tundra surface. In this study, water bodies in Nunavut territory in northern Canada were mapped using a long-term record of remotely sensed observations at 30 m spatial resolution from the Landsat suite of instruments. The temporal trajectories of water extent between 1985 and 2015 were assessed. Over 675,000 water bodies have been identified over the 31-year study period with over 168,000 showing a significant (p < 0.05) trend in surface area. Approximately 55% of water bodies with a significant trend were increasing in size while the remaining 45% were decreasing in size. The overall net trend for water bodies with a significant trend is 0.009 ha year⁻¹ per water body. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Arctic Tundra)

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

6875 KiB

Open AccessTechnical Note

Performance of MODIS C6 Aerosol Product during Frequent Haze-Fog Events: A Case Study of Beijing

by Wei Chen, Aiping Fan and Lei Yan

Remote Sens. 2017, 9(5), 496; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9050496 - 18 May 2017

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 5308

Abstract

The newly released MODIS Collection 6 aerosol products have been widely used to evaluate fine particulate matter with a 10 km Dark Target aerosol optic depth (DT AOD) product, a new 3 km DT AOD product and an enhanced Deep Blue (DB) AOD [...] Read more.

The newly released MODIS Collection 6 aerosol products have been widely used to evaluate fine particulate matter with a 10 km Dark Target aerosol optic depth (DT AOD) product, a new 3 km DT AOD product and an enhanced Deep Blue (DB) AOD product. However, the representativeness of MODIS AOD products under different air quality conditions remains unclear. In this study, we obtained all three types of MODIS Terra AOD from 2001 to 2015 and Aqua AOD from 2003 to 2015 for the Beijing region to study the performance of the different AOD products (Collection 6) under different air quality situations. The validation of three MODIS AOD products suggests that DB AOD has the highest accuracy with an expected error (EE) envelope (containing at least 67% of the matchups on a scatter plot) of 0.05 + 0.15τ, followed by 10 km DT AOD (0.08 + 0.2τ) and 3 km DT AOD (0.35 + 0.15τ), specifically for Beijing. Near-surface PM_2.5 concentrations during the passage of MODIS from 2013 to 2015 were also obtained to categorize air quality as unpolluted, moderately, and heavily polluted, as well as to analyze the performance of the different AOD products under different air quality conditions. Very few MODIS 3 km DT retrievals appeared on heavily polluted days, making it almost impossible to play an effective role in air quality applications in Beijing. While the DB AOD allowed for considerable retrievals under all air quality conditions, it had a coarse spatial resolution. These results demonstrate that the MODIS 3 km DT AOD product may not be the appropriate proxy to be used in the satellite retrieval of surface PM_2.5, especially for those areas with frequent haze-fog events like Beijing. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Atmospheric Pollution)

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

10421 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Multi-Scale Analysis of Very High Resolution Satellite Images Using Unsupervised Techniques

by Jérémie Sublime, Andrés Troya-Galvis and Anne Puissant

Remote Sens. 2017, 9(5), 495; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9050495 - 18 May 2017

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 6960

Abstract

This article is concerned with the use of unsupervised methods to process very high resolution satellite images with minimal or little human intervention. In a context where more and more complex and very high resolution satellite images are available, it has become increasingly [...] Read more.

This article is concerned with the use of unsupervised methods to process very high resolution satellite images with minimal or little human intervention. In a context where more and more complex and very high resolution satellite images are available, it has become increasingly difficult to propose learning sets for supervised algorithms to process such data and even more complicated to process them manually. Within this context, in this article we propose a fully unsupervised step by step method to process very high resolution images, making it possible to link clusters to the land cover classes of interest. For each step, we discuss the various challenges and state of the art algorithms to make the full process as efficient as possible. In particular, one of the main contributions of this article comes in the form of a multi-scale analysis clustering algorithm that we use during the processing of the image segments. Our proposed methods are tested on a very high resolution image (Pléiades) of the urban area around the French city of Strasbourg and show relevant results at each step of the process. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Learning to Understand Remote Sensing Images)

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

4065 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Cost-Effective Class-Imbalance Aware CNN for Vehicle Localization and Categorization in High Resolution Aerial Images

by Feimo Li, Shuxiao Li, Chengfei Zhu, Xiaosong Lan and Hongxing Chang

Remote Sens. 2017, 9(5), 494; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9050494 - 18 May 2017

Cited by 21 | Viewed by 6935

Abstract

Joint vehicle localization and categorization in high resolution aerial images can provide useful information for applications such as traffic flow structure analysis. To maintain sufficient features to recognize small-scaled vehicles, a regions with convolutional neural network features (R-CNN) -like detection structure is employed. [...] Read more.

Joint vehicle localization and categorization in high resolution aerial images can provide useful information for applications such as traffic flow structure analysis. To maintain sufficient features to recognize small-scaled vehicles, a regions with convolutional neural network features (R-CNN) -like detection structure is employed. In this setting, cascaded localization error can be averted by equally treating the negatives and differently typed positives as a multi-class classification task, but the problem of class-imbalance remains. To address this issue, a cost-effective network extension scheme is proposed. In it, the correlated convolution and connection costs during extension are reduced by feature map selection and bi-partite main-side network construction, which are realized with the assistance of a novel feature map class-importance measurement and a new class-imbalance sensitive main-side loss function. By using an image classification dataset established from a set of traditional real-colored aerial images with 0.13 m ground sampling distance which are taken from the height of 1000 m by an imaging system composed of non-metric cameras, the effectiveness of the proposed network extension is verified by comparing with its similarly shaped strong counter-parts. Experiments show an equivalent or better performance, while requiring the least parameter and memory overheads are required. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Learning to Understand Remote Sensing Images)

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

9559 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Object-Based Detection of Linear Kinematic Features in Sea Ice

by Stefanie Linow and Wolfgang Dierking

Remote Sens. 2017, 9(5), 493; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9050493 - 18 May 2017

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 5848

Abstract

Inhomogenities in the sea ice motion field cause deformation zones, such as leads, cracks and pressure ridges. Due to their long and often narrow shape, those structures are referred to as Linear Kinematic Features (LKFs). In this paper we specifically address the identification [...] Read more.

Inhomogenities in the sea ice motion field cause deformation zones, such as leads, cracks and pressure ridges. Due to their long and often narrow shape, those structures are referred to as Linear Kinematic Features (LKFs). In this paper we specifically address the identification and characterization of variations and discontinuities in the spatial distribution of the total deformation, which appear as LKFs. The distribution of LKFs in the ice cover of the polar oceans is an important factor influencing the exchange of heat and matter at the ocean-atmosphere interface. Current analyses of the sea ice deformation field often ignore the spatial/geographical context of individual structures, e.g., their orientation relative to adjacent deformation zones. In this study, we adapt image processing techniques to develop a method for LKF detection which is able to resolve individual features. The data are vectorized to obtain results on an object-based level. We then apply a semantic postprocessing step to determine the angle of junctions and between crossing structures. The proposed object detection method is carefully validated. We found a localization uncertainty of 0.75 pixel and a length error of 12% in the identified LKFs. The detected features can be individually traced to their geographical position. Thus, a wide variety of new metrics for ice deformation can be easily derived, including spatial parameters as well as the temporal stability of individual features. Full article

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

4188 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Automatic Detection of Uprooted Orchards Based on Orthophoto Texture Analysis

by Raquel Ciriza, Ion Sola, Lourdes Albizua, Jesús Álvarez-Mozos and María González-Audícana

Remote Sens. 2017, 9(5), 492; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9050492 - 17 May 2017

Cited by 20 | Viewed by 5360

Abstract

Permanent crops, such as olive groves, vineyards and fruit trees, are important in European agriculture because of their spatial and economic relevance. Agricultural geographical databases (AGDBs) are commonly used by public bodies to gain knowledge of the extension covered by these crops and [...] Read more.

Permanent crops, such as olive groves, vineyards and fruit trees, are important in European agriculture because of their spatial and economic relevance. Agricultural geographical databases (AGDBs) are commonly used by public bodies to gain knowledge of the extension covered by these crops and to manage related agricultural subsidies and inspections. However, the updating of these databases is mostly based on photointerpretation, and thus keeping this information up-to-date is very costly in terms of time and money. This paper describes a methodology for automatic detection of uprooted orchards (parcels where fruit trees have been eliminated) based on the textural classification of orthophotos with a spatial resolution of 0.25 m. The textural features used for this classification were derived from the grey level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) and wavelet transform, and were selected through principal components (PCA) and separability analyses. Next, a Discriminant Analysis classification algorithm was used to detect uprooted orchards. Entropy, contrast and correlation were found to be the most informative textural features obtained from the co-occurrence matrix. The minimum and standard deviation in plane 3 were the selected features based on wavelet transform. The classification based on these features achieved a true positive rate (TPR) of over 80% and an accuracy (A) of over 88%. As a result, this methodology enabled reducing the number of fields to photointerpret by 60–85%, depending on the membership threshold value selected. The proposed approach could be easily adopted by different stakeholders and could increase significantly the efficiency of agricultural database updating tasks. Full article

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

12423 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Signal Processing for a Multiple-Input, Multiple-Output (MIMO) Video Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) with Beat Frequency Division Frequency-Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW)

by Seok Kim, Jiwoong Yu, Se-Yeon Jeon, Aulia Dewantari and Min-Ho Ka

Remote Sens. 2017, 9(5), 491; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9050491 - 17 May 2017

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 10105

Abstract

In this paper, we present a novel signal processing method for video synthetic aperture radar (ViSAR) systems, which are suitable for operation in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) environments. The technique improves aspects of the system’s performance, such as the frame rate and image [...] Read more.

In this paper, we present a novel signal processing method for video synthetic aperture radar (ViSAR) systems, which are suitable for operation in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) environments. The technique improves aspects of the system’s performance, such as the frame rate and image size of the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) video. The new ViSAR system is based on a frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) SAR structure that is combined with multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology, and multi-channel azimuth processing techniques. FMCW technology is advantageous for use in low cost, small size, and lightweight systems, like small UAVs. MIMO technology is utilized for increasing the equivalent number of receiving channels in the azimuthal direction, and reducing aperture size. This effective increase is achieved using a co-array concept by means of beat frequency division (BFD) FMCW. A multi-channel azimuth processing technique is used for improving the frame rate and image size of SAR video, by suppressing the azimuth ambiguities in the receiving channels. This paper also provides analyses of the frame rate and image size of SAR video of ViSAR systems. The performance of the proposed system is evaluated using an exemplary system. The results of analyses are presented, and their validity is verified using numerical simulations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in SAR: Sensors, Methodologies, and Applications)

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

20328 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Exploiting the Redundancy of Multiple Overlapping Aerial Images for Dense Image Matching Based Digital Surface Model Generation

by Wojciech A. Dominik

Remote Sens. 2017, 9(5), 490; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9050490 - 17 May 2017

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 4895

Abstract

In recent years, significant development in the domain of dense image matching (DIM) can be observed. Meanwhile, in most countries, aerial images are acquired countrywide on a regular basis with decreasing time intervals and increasing image overlaps. Therefore, aerial images represent a growing [...] Read more.

In recent years, significant development in the domain of dense image matching (DIM) can be observed. Meanwhile, in most countries, aerial images are acquired countrywide on a regular basis with decreasing time intervals and increasing image overlaps. Therefore, aerial images represent a growing potential for digital surface model (DSM) acquisition and updating. Surface reconstruction by image matching, in most cases, requires dealing with the redundancy caused by multiple overlapping images. Many approaches considering this redundancy in the surface reconstruction process have been developed. However, there is no commonly accepted procedure for this task. From the experience of the author, it can be stated that currently applied methods show some limitations regarding DSM generation from aerial images. Therefore, it is claimed that there is room for the development of new algorithms for integration of dense image matching results from multiple stereo pairs. Methods dedicated to aerial image based DSM generation that would exploit the specificity of this task are desirable. In this paper, an approach to compute the DSM elevations from redundant elevation hypotheses derived by pairwise dense image matching is presented. The proposed approach takes into account the base-to-height (b/h) ratio of stereo pairs, the distribution of elevation hypotheses from multiple stereo pairs and the neighboring elevations. An algorithm of selection of the elevation hypotheses used for the calculation of the final DSM elevation for each grid cell was developed. The algorithm was used to generate the DSM based on two sets of aerial images having significantly different acquisition parameters. The results were compared to the models obtained from several commonly used software packages for image based DSM generation. The quality assessment was carried out by visual inspection of terrain profiles and shaded surface display as well as by the planarity control of flat parts of the terrain. The assessment of the results showed that the application of the proposed algorithm can bring some advantages and it can contribute to improving the quality of the DSM. Full article

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

8391 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Learning Low Dimensional Convolutional Neural Networks for High-Resolution Remote Sensing Image Retrieval

by Weixun Zhou, Shawn Newsam, Congmin Li and Zhenfeng Shao

Remote Sens. 2017, 9(5), 489; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9050489 - 17 May 2017

Cited by 180 | Viewed by 10953

Abstract

Learning powerful feature representations for image retrieval has always been a challenging task in the field of remote sensing. Traditional methods focus on extracting low-level hand-crafted features which are not only time-consuming but also tend to achieve unsatisfactory performance due to the complexity [...] Read more.

Learning powerful feature representations for image retrieval has always been a challenging task in the field of remote sensing. Traditional methods focus on extracting low-level hand-crafted features which are not only time-consuming but also tend to achieve unsatisfactory performance due to the complexity of remote sensing images. In this paper, we investigate how to extract deep feature representations based on convolutional neural networks (CNNs) for high-resolution remote sensing image retrieval (HRRSIR). To this end, several effective schemes are proposed to generate powerful feature representations for HRRSIR. In the first scheme, a CNN pre-trained on a different problem is treated as a feature extractor since there are no sufficiently-sized remote sensing datasets to train a CNN from scratch. In the second scheme, we investigate learning features that are specific to our problem by first fine-tuning the pre-trained CNN on a remote sensing dataset and then proposing a novel CNN architecture based on convolutional layers and a three-layer perceptron. The novel CNN has fewer parameters than the pre-trained and fine-tuned CNNs and can learn low dimensional features from limited labelled images. The schemes are evaluated on several challenging, publicly available datasets. The results indicate that the proposed schemes, particularly the novel CNN, achieve state-of-the-art performance. Full article

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

5054 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Estimation and Mapping of Winter Oilseed Rape LAI from High Spatial Resolution Satellite Data Based on a Hybrid Method

by Chuanwen Wei, Jingfeng Huang, Lamin R. Mansaray, Zhenhai Li, Weiwei Liu and Jiahui Han

Remote Sens. 2017, 9(5), 488; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9050488 - 16 May 2017

Cited by 48 | Viewed by 6900

Abstract

Leaf area index (LAI) is a key input in models describing biosphere processes and has widely been used in monitoring crop growth and in yield estimation. In this study, a hybrid inversion method is developed to estimate LAI values of winter oilseed rape [...] Read more.

Leaf area index (LAI) is a key input in models describing biosphere processes and has widely been used in monitoring crop growth and in yield estimation. In this study, a hybrid inversion method is developed to estimate LAI values of winter oilseed rape during growth using high spatial resolution optical satellite data covering a test site located in southeast China. Based on PROSAIL (coupling of PROSPECT and SAIL) simulation datasets, nine vegetation indices (VIs) were analyzed to identify the optimal independent variables for estimating LAI values. The optimal VIs were selected using curve fitting methods and the random forest algorithm. Hybrid inversion models were then built to determine the relationships between optimal simulated VIs and LAI values (generated by the PROSAIL model) using modeling methods, including curve fitting, k-nearest neighbor (kNN), and random forest regression (RFR). Finally, the mapping and estimation of winter oilseed rape LAI using reflectance obtained from Pleiades-1A, WorldView-3, SPOT-6, and WorldView-2 were implemented using the inversion method and the LAI estimation accuracy was validated using ground-measured datasets acquired during the 2014–2015 growing season. Our study indicates that based on the estimation results derived from different datasets, RFR is the optimal modeling algorithm amidst curve fitting and kNN with R² > 0.954 and RMSE <0.218. Using the optimal VIs, the remote sensing-based mapping of winter oilseed rape LAI yielded an accuracy of R² = 0.520 and RMSE = 0.923 (RRMSE = 93.7%). These results have demonstrated the potential operational applicability of the hybrid method proposed in this study for the mapping and retrieval of winter oilseed rape LAI values at field scales using multi-source and high spatial resolution optical remote sensing datasets. Details provided by this high resolution mapping cannot be easily discerned at coarser mapping scales and over larger spatial extents that usually employ lower resolution satellite images. Our study therefore has significant implications for field crop monitoring at local scales, providing relevant data for agronomic practices and precision agriculture. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Earth Observations for Precision Farming in China (EO4PFiC))

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

18576 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Physically Based Susceptibility Assessment of Rainfall-Induced Shallow Landslides Using a Fuzzy Point Estimate Method

by Hyuck-Jin Park, Jung-Yoon Jang and Jung-Hyun Lee

Remote Sens. 2017, 9(5), 487; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9050487 - 16 May 2017

Cited by 24 | Viewed by 6758

Abstract

The physically based model has been widely used in rainfall-induced shallow landslide susceptibility analysis because of its capacity to reproduce the physical processes governing landslide occurrence and a higher predictive capability. However, one of the difficulties in applying the physically based model is [...] Read more.

The physically based model has been widely used in rainfall-induced shallow landslide susceptibility analysis because of its capacity to reproduce the physical processes governing landslide occurrence and a higher predictive capability. However, one of the difficulties in applying the physically based model is that uncertainties arising from spatial variability, measurement errors, and incomplete information apply to the input parameters and analysis procedure. Uncertainties have been recognized as an important cause of mismatch between predicted and observed distributions of landslide occurrence. Therefore, probabilistic analysis has been used to quantify the uncertainties. However, some uncertainties, because of incomplete information, cannot be managed satisfactorily using a probabilistic approach. Fuzzy set theory is applicable in this case. In this study, in order to handle uncertainty propagation through a physical model, fuzzy set theory, coupled with the vertex method and the point estimate method, was adopted for regional landslide susceptibility assessment. The proposed approach was used to evaluate susceptibility to rainfall-induced shallow landslides for a regional study area, and the analysis results were compared with landslide inventory to evaluate the performance of the proposed approach. The AUC values arising from the landslide susceptibility analyses using the proposed approach and probabilistic analysis were 0.734 and 0.736, respectively. However, when the COV values of the input parameters were reduced, the AUC values of the proposed approach and the probabilistic analysis were reduced to 0.722 and 0.688, respectively. It means that the performance of the fuzzy approach is similar to that of probabilistic analysis but is more robust against variation of input parameters. Thus, at catchment scale, the fuzzy approach can respond appropriately to the uncertainties inherent in physically based landslide susceptibility analysis, and is especially advantageous when the amount of quality data is very limited. Full article

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

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

14148 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Rural Settlement Subdivision by Using Landscape Metrics as Spatial Contextual Information

by Xinyu Zheng, Bowen Wu, Melanie Valerie Weston, Jing Zhang, Muye Gan, Jinxia Zhu, Jinsong Deng, Ke Wang and Longmei Teng

Remote Sens. 2017, 9(5), 486; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9050486 - 16 May 2017

Cited by 29 | Viewed by 8350

Abstract

Multiple policy projects have changed land use and land cover (LULC) in China’s rural regions over the past years, resulting in two types of rural settlements: new-fashioned and old-fashioned. Precise extraction of and discrimination between these two settlement types are vital for sustainable [...] Read more.

Multiple policy projects have changed land use and land cover (LULC) in China’s rural regions over the past years, resulting in two types of rural settlements: new-fashioned and old-fashioned. Precise extraction of and discrimination between these two settlement types are vital for sustainable land use development. It is difficult to identify these two types via remote sensing images due to their similarities in spectrum, texture, and geometry. This study attempts to discriminate different types of rural settlements by using a spatial contextual information extraction method based on Gaofen 2 (GF-2) images, which integrate hierarchical multi-scale segmentation and landscape analysis. A preliminary LULC map was derived by using only traditional spectral and geometrical features from a finer scale. Subsequently, a vertical connection was built between superobjects and subobjects, and landscape metrics were computed. The vertical connection was used for assigning landscape contextual information to subobjects. Finally, a classification phase was conducted, in which only multi-scale contextual information was adopted, to discriminate between new-fashioned and old-fashioned rural settlements. Compared with previous studies on multi-scale contextual information, this paper employs landscape metrics to quantify contextual characteristics, rather than traditional spectral, textural, and topological relationship information, from superobjects. Our findings indicate that this approach effectively identified and discriminated two types of rural settlements, with accuracies over 80% for both producers and users. A comparison with a conventional top-down hierarchical classification scheme showed that this novel approach improved accuracy, precision, and recall. Our results confirm that multi-scale contextual information with landscape metrics provides valuable spatial information for classification, and indicates the practicability, applicability, and effectiveness of this synthesized approach in distinguishing different types of rural settlements. Full article

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

10240 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Evaluation of the Plant Phenology Index (PPI), NDVI and EVI for Start-of-Season Trend Analysis of the Northern Hemisphere Boreal Zone

by Paulina Karkauskaite, Torbern Tagesson and Rasmus Fensholt

Remote Sens. 2017, 9(5), 485; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9050485 - 16 May 2017

Cited by 92 | Viewed by 10617

Abstract

Satellite remote sensing of plant phenology provides an important indicator of climate change. However, start of the growing season (SOS) estimates in Northern Hemisphere boreal forest areas are known to be challenged by the presence of seasonal snow cover and limited seasonality in [...] Read more.

Satellite remote sensing of plant phenology provides an important indicator of climate change. However, start of the growing season (SOS) estimates in Northern Hemisphere boreal forest areas are known to be challenged by the presence of seasonal snow cover and limited seasonality in the greenness signal for evergreen needleleaf forests, which can both bias and impede trend estimates of SOS. The newly developed Plant Phenology Index (PPI) was specifically designed to overcome both problems. Here we use Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data (2000–2014) to analyze the ability of PPI for estimating start of season (SOS) in boreal regions of the Northern Hemisphere, in comparison to two other widely applied indices for SOS retrieval: the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI). Satellite-based SOS is evaluated against gross primary production (GPP)-retrieved SOS derived from a network of flux tower observations in boreal areas (a total of 81 site-years analyzed). Spatiotemporal relationships between SOS derived from PPI, EVI and NDVI are furthermore studied for different boreal land cover types and regions. The overall correlation between SOS derived from VIs and ground measurements was rather low, but PPI performed significantly better (r = 0.50, p < 0.01) than EVI and NDVI which both showed a very poor correlation (r = 0.11, p = 0. 16 and r = 0.08, p = 0.24). PPI, EVI and NDVI overall produce similar trends in SOS for the Northern Hemisphere showing an advance in SOS towards earlier dates (0.28, 0.23 and 0.26 days/year), but a pronounced difference in trend estimates between PPI and EVI/NDVI is observed for different land cover types. Deciduous needleleaf forest is characterized by the largest advance in SOS when considering all indices, yet PPI showed less dramatic changes as compared to EVI/NDVI (0.47 days/year as compared to 0.62 and 0.74). PPI SOS trends were found to be higher for deciduous broadleaf forests and savannas (0.54 and 0.56 days/year). Taken together, the findings of this study suggest improved performance of PPI over NDVI and EVI in retrieval of SOS in boreal regions and precautions must be taken when interpreting spatio-temporal patterns of SOS from the latter two indices. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Land Surface Phenology and Seasonality: Novel Approaches and Applications)

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

4043 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Machine Learning Based Reconstruction Method for Satellite Remote Sensing of Soil Moisture Images with In Situ Observations

by Chenjie Xing, Nengcheng Chen, Xiang Zhang and Jianya Gong

Remote Sens. 2017, 9(5), 484; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9050484 - 16 May 2017

Cited by 32 | Viewed by 7314

Abstract

Surface soil moisture is an important environment variable that is dominant in a variety of research and application areas. Acquiring spatiotemporal continuous soil moisture observations is therefore of great importance. Weather conditions can contaminate optical remote sensing observations on soil moisture, and the [...] Read more.

Surface soil moisture is an important environment variable that is dominant in a variety of research and application areas. Acquiring spatiotemporal continuous soil moisture observations is therefore of great importance. Weather conditions can contaminate optical remote sensing observations on soil moisture, and the absence of remote sensors causes gaps in regional soil moisture observation time series. Therefore, reconstruction is highly motivated to overcome such contamination and to fill in such gaps. In this paper, we propose a novel image reconstruction algorithm that improved upon the Satellite and In situ sensor Collaborated Reconstruction (SICR) algorithm provided by our previous publication. Taking artificial neural networks as a model, complex and highly variable relationships between in situ observations and remote sensing soil moisture is better projected. With historical data for the network training, feedforward neural networks (FNNs) project in situ soil moisture to remote sensing soil moisture at better performances than conventional models. Consequently, regional soil moisture observations can be reconstructed under full cloud contamination or under a total absence of remote sensors. Experiments confirmed better reconstruction accuracy and precision with this improvement than with SICR. The new algorithm enhances the temporal resolution of high spatial resolution remote sensing regional soil moisture observations with good quality and can benefit multiple soil moisture-based applications and research. Full article

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

6973 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Automatic Color Correction for Multisource Remote Sensing Images with Wasserstein CNN

by Jiayi Guo, Zongxu Pan, Bin Lei and Chibiao Ding

Remote Sens. 2017, 9(5), 483; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9050483 - 15 May 2017

Cited by 19 | Viewed by 7337

Abstract

In this paper a non-parametric model based on Wasserstein CNN is proposed for color correction. It is suitable for large-scale remote sensing image preprocessing from multiple sources under various viewing conditions, including illumination variances, atmosphere disturbances, and sensor and aspect angles. Color correction [...] Read more.

In this paper a non-parametric model based on Wasserstein CNN is proposed for color correction. It is suitable for large-scale remote sensing image preprocessing from multiple sources under various viewing conditions, including illumination variances, atmosphere disturbances, and sensor and aspect angles. Color correction aims to alter the color palette of an input image to a standard reference which does not suffer from the mentioned disturbances. Most of current methods highly depend on the similarity between the inputs and the references, with respect to both the contents and the conditions, such as illumination and atmosphere condition. Segmentation is usually necessary to alleviate the color leakage effect on the edges. Different from the previous studies, the proposed method matches the color distribution of the input dataset with the references in a probabilistic optimal transportation framework. Multi-scale features are extracted from the intermediate layers of the lightweight CNN model and are utilized to infer the undisturbed distribution. The Wasserstein distance is utilized to calculate the cost function to measure the discrepancy between two color distributions. The advantage of the method is that no registration or segmentation processes are needed, benefiting from the local texture processing potential of the CNN models. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method is effective when the input and reference images are of different sources, resolutions, and under different illumination and atmosphere conditions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Learning to Understand Remote Sensing Images)

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

14035 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Ground Ammonia Concentrations over China Derived from Satellite and Atmospheric Transport Modeling

by Lei Liu, Xiuying Zhang, Wen Xu, Xuejun Liu, Xuehe Lu, Shanqian Wang, Wuting Zhang and Limin Zhao

Remote Sens. 2017, 9(5), 467; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9050467 - 15 May 2017

Cited by 32 | Viewed by 8595

Abstract

As a primary basic gas in the atmosphere, atmospheric ammonia (NH₃) plays an important role in determining air quality, environmental degradation, and climate change. However, the limited ground observation currently presents a barrier to estimating ground NH₃ concentrations on a [...] Read more.

As a primary basic gas in the atmosphere, atmospheric ammonia (NH₃) plays an important role in determining air quality, environmental degradation, and climate change. However, the limited ground observation currently presents a barrier to estimating ground NH₃ concentrations on a regional scale, thus preventing a full understanding of the atmospheric processes in which this trace gas is involved. This study estimated the ground NH₃ concentrations over China, combining the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) satellite NH₃ columns and NH₃ profiles from an atmospheric chemistry transport model (CTM). The estimated ground NH₃ concentrations showed agreement with the variability in annual ground NH₃ measurements from the Chinese Nationwide Nitrogen Deposition Monitoring Network (NNDMN). Great spatial heterogeneity of ground NH₃ concentrations was found across China, and high ground NH₃ concentrations were found in Northern China, Southeastern China, and some areas in Xinjiang Province. The maximum ground NH₃ concentrations over China occurred in summer, followed by spring, autumn, and winter seasons, which were in agreement with the seasonal patterns of NH₃ emissions in China. This study suggested that a combination of NH₃ profiles from CTMs and NH₃ columns from satellite obtained reliable ground NH₃ concentrations over China. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Atmospheric Pollution)

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

5825 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Hyperspectral Target Detection via Adaptive Joint Sparse Representation and Multi-Task Learning with Locality Information

by Yuxiang Zhang, Ke Wu, Bo Du, Liangpei Zhang and Xiangyun Hu

Remote Sens. 2017, 9(5), 482; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9050482 - 14 May 2017

Cited by 22 | Viewed by 6811

Abstract

Target detection from hyperspectral images is an important problem but encounters a critical challenge of simultaneously reducing spectral redundancy and preserving the discriminative information. Recently, the joint sparse representation and multi-task learning (JSR-MTL) approach was proposed to address the challenge. However, it does [...] Read more.

Target detection from hyperspectral images is an important problem but encounters a critical challenge of simultaneously reducing spectral redundancy and preserving the discriminative information. Recently, the joint sparse representation and multi-task learning (JSR-MTL) approach was proposed to address the challenge. However, it does not fully explore the prior class label information of the training samples and the difference between the target dictionary and background dictionary when constructing the model. Besides, there may exist estimation bias for the unknown coefficient matrix with the use of minimization which is usually inconsistent in variable selection. To address these problems, this paper proposes an adaptive joint sparse representation and multi-task learning detector with locality information (JSRMTL-ALI). The proposed method has the following capabilities: (1) it takes full advantage of the prior class label information to construct an adaptive joint sparse representation and multi-task learning model; (2) it explores the great difference between the target dictionary and background dictionary with different regularization strategies in order to better encode the task relatedness; (3) it applies locality information by imposing an iterative weight on the coefficient matrix in order to reduce the estimation bias. Extensive experiments were carried out on three hyperspectral images, and it was found that JSRMTL-ALI generally shows a better detection performance than the other target detection methods. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Learning to Understand Remote Sensing Images)

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

6719 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Identifying the Lambertian Property of Ground Surfaces in the Thermal Infrared Region via Field Experiments

by Lili Tu, Zhihao Qin, Lechan Yang, Fei Wang, Jun Geng and Shuhe Zhao

Remote Sens. 2017, 9(5), 481; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9050481 - 14 May 2017

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 6041

Abstract

Lambertian surfaces represent an important assumption when constructing thermal radiance transfer equations for remote sensing observations of ground surface temperatures. We identify the properties of ground surfaces in thermal infrared regions as Lambertian surfaces via field experiments. Because Lambertian surfaces present homogeneous thermal [...] Read more.

Lambertian surfaces represent an important assumption when constructing thermal radiance transfer equations for remote sensing observations of ground surface temperatures. We identify the properties of ground surfaces in thermal infrared regions as Lambertian surfaces via field experiments. Because Lambertian surfaces present homogeneous thermal emissions levels in hemispheric directions for a specific ground surface under specific kinetic temperatures and emissions, we conducted a series of field experiments to illustrate the properties of such ground surfaces. Four typical ground surfaces were selected for the experiments to observe thermal emissions: bare soil, grass, water, and concrete. Radiance thermometers were used to observe ground emissions from seven directions: 30°, 45°, 60°, 90°, 120°, 135°, and 150°. Solar zenith angles were considered for the observation of ground emissions. Experiments were conducted in five different regions of China (Beijing, Nanjing, Xilinguole, Yongzhou, and Jiangmen) during both daytime and nighttime. To determine whether different observation angles have significantly different effects on radiance, statistical analyses (ANOVA and Friedman test) were conducted. Post hoc multiple comparison tests and pairwise multiple comparisons were also conducted to examine the various pairings of observation angles and to measure the radiance differences. Roughly half of the radiance groups of all observed sites were tested via an ANOVA, and the remaining groups with unequal variances were subjected to the Friedman test. The results indicate that statistically significant differences in the radiance levels occurred among the seven angles for almost all of the sites (39 of the 40 groups). The results of our experiments indicate that the selected ground surfaces, especially the grass and the bare soil, may not behave with Lambertian properties in the thermal infrared region. This is probably attributed to the roughness of the selected surface, because we found that roughness is an important factor affecting the observed magnitude of thermal emission from different directions of the ground surface under study. Therefore, whether or not a terrestrial surface can be assumed to be a Lambertian surface should be based on their geometric structure. When the surface is relatively smooth, we can say that it is close to the Lambertian property in thermal emission. Full article

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

Remote Sens., Volume 9, Issue 5 (May 2017) – 112 articles

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI