Remote Sensing

24 pages, 24663 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Robust Multimodal Remote Sensing Image Registration Based on Local Statistical Frequency Information

by Xiangzeng Liu, Jiepeng Xue, Xueling Xu, Zixiang Lu, Ruyi Liu, Bocheng Zhao, Yunan Li and Qiguang Miao

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(4), 1051; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14041051 - 21 Feb 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3844

Abstract

Multimodal remote sensing image registration is a prerequisite for comprehensive application of remote sensing image data. However, inconsistent imaging environment and conditions often lead to obvious geometric deformations and significant contrast differences between multimodal remote sensing images, which makes the common feature extraction [...] Read more.

Multimodal remote sensing image registration is a prerequisite for comprehensive application of remote sensing image data. However, inconsistent imaging environment and conditions often lead to obvious geometric deformations and significant contrast differences between multimodal remote sensing images, which makes the common feature extraction extremely difficult, resulting in their registration still being a challenging task. To address this issue, a robust local statistics-based registration framework is proposed, and the constructed descriptors are invariant to contrast changes and geometric transformations induced by imaging conditions. Firstly, maximum phase congruency of local frequency information is performed by optimizing the control parameters. Then, salient feature points are located according to the phase congruency response map. Subsequently, the geometric and contrast invariant descriptors are constructed based on a joint local frequency information map that combines Log-Gabor filter responses over multiple scales and orientations. Finally, image matching is achieved by finding the corresponding descriptors; image registration is further completed by calculating the transformation between the corresponding feature points. The proposed registration framework was evaluated on four different multimodal image datasets with varying degrees of contrast differences and geometric deformations. Experimental results demonstrated that our method outperformed several state-of-the-art methods in terms of robustness and precision, confirming its effectiveness. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Image Processing and Analysis: Trends in Registration, Data Fusion, 3D Reconstruction, and Change Detection II)

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22 pages, 9297 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Global Spatiotemporal Variability of Integrated Water Vapor Derived from GPS, GOME/SCIAMACHY and ERA-Interim: Annual Cycle, Frequency Distribution and Linear Trends

by Roeland Van Malderen, Eric Pottiaux, Gintautas Stankunavicius, Steffen Beirle, Thomas Wagner, Hugues Brenot, Carine Bruyninx and Jonathan Jones

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(4), 1050; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14041050 - 21 Feb 2022

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2456

Abstract

Atmospheric water vapor plays a prominent role in climate change and atmospheric, meteorological, and hydrological processes. Because of its high spatiotemporal variability, precise quantification of water vapor is challenging. This study investigates Integrated Water Vapor (IWV) variability for the period 1995–2010 at 118 [...] Read more.

Atmospheric water vapor plays a prominent role in climate change and atmospheric, meteorological, and hydrological processes. Because of its high spatiotemporal variability, precise quantification of water vapor is challenging. This study investigates Integrated Water Vapor (IWV) variability for the period 1995–2010 at 118 globally distributed Global Positioning System (GPS) sites, using additional UV/VIS satellite retrievals by GOME, SCIAMACHY, and GOME-2 (denoted as GOMESCIA below), plus ERA-Interim reanalysis output. Apart from spatial representativeness differences, particularly at coastal and island sites, all three IWV datasets correlate well with the lowest mean correlation coefficient of 0.878 (averaged over all the sites) between GPS and GOMESCIA. We confirm the dominance of standard lognormal distribution of the IWV time series, which can be explained by the combination of a lower mode (dry season characterized by a standard lognormal distribution with a low median value) and an upper mode (wet season characterized by a reverse lognormal distribution with high median value) in European, Western American, and subtropical sites. Despite the relatively short length of the time series, we found a good consistency in the sign of the continental IWV trends, not only between the different datasets, but also compared to temperature and precipitation trends. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Climate Modelling and Monitoring Using GNSS)

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15 pages, 36345 KiB

Open AccessTechnical Note

A Remote Sensing Perspective on Mass Wasting in Contrasting Planetary Environments: Cases of the Moon and Ceres

by Lydia Sam and Anshuman Bhardwaj

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(4), 1049; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14041049 - 21 Feb 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2989

Abstract

Mass wasting, as one of the most significant geomorphological processes, contributes immensely to planetary landscape evolution. The frequency and diversity of mass wasting features on any planetary body also put engineering constraints on its robotic exploration. Mass wasting on other Solar System bodies [...] Read more.

Mass wasting, as one of the most significant geomorphological processes, contributes immensely to planetary landscape evolution. The frequency and diversity of mass wasting features on any planetary body also put engineering constraints on its robotic exploration. Mass wasting on other Solar System bodies shares similar, although not identical, morphological characteristics with its terrestrial counterpart, indicating a possible common nature for their formation. Thus, planetary bodies with contrasting environmental conditions might help reveal the effects of the atmosphere, subsurface fluids, mass accumulation/precipitation, and seismicity on mass wasting, and vice versa. Their relative positions within our Solar System and the environmental and geophysical conditions on the Moon and the dwarf planet Ceres are not only extremely different from Earth’s but from each other too. Their smaller sizes coupled with the availability of global-scale remote sensing datasets make them ideal candidates to understand mass wasting processes in widely contrasting planetary environments. Through this concept article, we highlight several recent advances in and prospects of using remote sensing datasets to reveal unprecedented details on lunar and Cerean mass wasting processes. We start with briefly discussing several recent studies on mass wasting using Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) data for the Moon and Dawn spacecraft data for Ceres. We further identify the prospects of available remote sensing data in advancing our understanding of mass wasting processes under reduced gravity and in a scant (or absent) atmosphere, and we conclude the article by suggesting future research directions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Planetary Exploration Using Remote Sensing)

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17 pages, 19021 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Using LiDAR System as a Data Source for Agricultural Land Boundaries

by Natalia Borowiec and Urszula Marmol

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(4), 1048; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14041048 - 21 Feb 2022

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3363

Abstract

In this study, LiDAR sensor data were used to identify agricultural land boundaries. This is a remote sensing method using a pulsating laser directed toward the ground. This study focuses on accurately determining the edges of parcels using only the point cloud, which [...] Read more.

In this study, LiDAR sensor data were used to identify agricultural land boundaries. This is a remote sensing method using a pulsating laser directed toward the ground. This study focuses on accurately determining the edges of parcels using only the point cloud, which is an original approach because the point cloud is a scattered set, which may complicate finding those points that define the course of a straight line defining the parcel boundary. The innovation of the approach is the fact that no data from other sources are supported. At the same time, a unique contribution of the research is the attempt to automate the complex process of detecting the edges of parcels. The first step was to classify the data, using intensity, and define land use boundaries. Two approaches were decided, for two test fields. The first test field was a rectangular shaped parcel of land. In this approach, pixels describing each edge of the plot separately were automatically grouped into four parts. The edge description was determined using principal component analysis. The second test area was the inner subdivision plot. Here, the Hough Transform was used to emerge the edges. Obtained boundaries, both for the first and the second test area, were compared with the boundaries from the Polish land registry database. Performed analyses show that proposed algorithms can define the correct course of land use boundaries. Analyses were conducted for the purpose of control in the system of direct payments for agriculture (Integrated Administration Control System—IACS). The aim of the control is to establish the borders and areas of croplands and to verify the declared group of crops on a given cadastral parcel. The proposed algorithm—based solely on free LiDAR data—allowed the detection of inconsistencies in farmers’ declarations. These mainly concerned areas of field roads that were misclassified by farmers as subsidized land, when in fact they should be excluded from subsidies. This is visible in both test areas with areas belonging to field roads with an average width of 1.26 and 3.01 m for test area no. 1 and 1.31, 1.15, 1.88, and 2.36 m for test area no. 2 were wrongly classified as subsidized by farmers. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing for Land Administration 2.0)

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17 pages, 706 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Preliminary Numerical Study to Compare the Physical Method and Machine Learning Methods Applied to GPR Data for Underground Utility Network Characterization

by Rakeeb Mohamed Jaufer, Amine Ihamouten, Yann Goyat, Shreedhar Savant Todkar, David Guilbert, Ali Assaf and Xavier Dérobert

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(4), 1047; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14041047 - 21 Feb 2022

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3356

Abstract

In the field of geophysics and civil engineering applications, ground penetrating radar (GPR) technology has become one of the emerging non-destructive testing (NDT) methods thanks to its ability to perform tests without damaging structures. However, NDT applications, such as concrete rebar assessments, utility [...] Read more.

In the field of geophysics and civil engineering applications, ground penetrating radar (GPR) technology has become one of the emerging non-destructive testing (NDT) methods thanks to its ability to perform tests without damaging structures. However, NDT applications, such as concrete rebar assessments, utility network surveys or the precise localization of embedded cylindrical pipes still remain challenging. The inversion of geometric parameters, such as depth and radius of embedded cylindrical pipes, as well as the dielectric parameters of its surrounding material, is of great importance for preventive measures and quality control. Furthermore, the precise localization is mandatory for critical underground utility networks, such as gas, power and water lines. In this context, innovative signal processing techniques associated with GPR are capable of performing physical and geometric characterization tasks. This paper evaluates the performance of a supervised machine learning and ray-based methods on GPR data. Support vector machines (SVM) classification, support vector machine regression (SVR) and ray-based methods are all used to correlate information about the radius and depth of embedded pipes with the velocity of stratified media in various numerical configurations. The approach is based on the hyperbola trace emerging in a set of B-scans, given that the shape of the hyperbola varies greatly with pipe depth and radius as well as with velocity of the medium. According to the ray-based method, an inversion of the wave velocity and pipe radius is performed by applying an appropriate nonlinear least mean squares inversion technique. Feature selection within machine learning models is also implemented on the information chosen from observed hyperbola travel times. Simulated data are obtained by means of the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method with the 2D numerical tool GprMax. The study is carried out on mono-static, ground-coupled GPR datasets. The preliminary study showed that the proposed machine learning methods outperforms the ray-based method for estimating radius, depth and velocity. SVR, for instance, calculates depth and radius values with mean absolute relative errors of 0.39% and 6.3%, respectively, with regard to the ground truth. A parametric comparison of the aforementioned methodologies is also included in the performance analysis in terms of relative error. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing for Infrastructure Assessment Using NDTs and Intelligent Data Analysis: New Trends and Challenges)

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30 pages, 21712 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Integrated Platform for Ground-Motion Mapping, Local to Regional Scale; Examples from SE Europe

by Valentin Poncoş, Irina Stanciu, Delia Teleagă, Liviu Maţenco, István Bozsó, Alexandru Szakács, Dan Birtas, Ştefan-Adrian Toma, Adrian Stănică and Vlad Rădulescu

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(4), 1046; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14041046 - 21 Feb 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2889

Abstract

Ground and infrastructure stability are important for our technologically based civilization. Infrastructure projects take into consideration the risk posed by ground displacement (e.g., seismicity, geological conditions and geomorphology). To address this risk, earth scientists and civil engineers employ a range of measurement technologies, [...] Read more.

Ground and infrastructure stability are important for our technologically based civilization. Infrastructure projects take into consideration the risk posed by ground displacement (e.g., seismicity, geological conditions and geomorphology). To address this risk, earth scientists and civil engineers employ a range of measurement technologies, such as optical/laser leveling, GNSS and, lately, SAR interferometry. Currently there is a rich source of measurement information provided in various formats that covers most of the industrialized world. Integration of this information becomes an issue that will only increase in importance in the future. This work describes a practical approach to address and validate integrated stability measurements through the development of a platform that could be easily used by a variety of groups, from geoscientists to civil engineers and also private citizens with no training in this field. The platform enables quick cross-validation between different data sources, easy detection of critical areas at all scales (from large-scale individual buildings to small-scale tectonics) and can be linked to end-users from various monitoring fields and countries for automated notifications. This work is closing the gap between the specialized monitoring work and the general public, delivering the full value of technology for societal benefits in a free and open manner. The platform is calibrated and validated by an application of SAR interferometry data to specific situations in the general area of the Romanian Carpathians and their foreland. The results demonstrate an interplay between anthropogenically induced changes and high-amplitude active tectono–sedimentary processes creating rapid regional and local topographic variations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic High-Resolution Earth Observation Systems, Technologies, and Applications)

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17 pages, 33579 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Application of Machine Learning for Simulation of Air Temperature at Dome A

by Xiaoping Pang, Chuang Liu, Xi Zhao, Bin He, Pei Fan, Yue Liu, Meng Qu and Minghu Ding

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(4), 1045; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14041045 - 21 Feb 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 4032

Abstract

Dome A is the summit of the Antarctic plateau, where the Chinese Kunlun inland station is located. Due to its unique location and high altitude, Dome A provides an important observatory site in analyzing global climate change. However, before the arrival of the [...] Read more.

Dome A is the summit of the Antarctic plateau, where the Chinese Kunlun inland station is located. Due to its unique location and high altitude, Dome A provides an important observatory site in analyzing global climate change. However, before the arrival of the Chinese Antarctic expedition in 2005, near-surface air temperatures had not been recorded in the region. In this study, we used meteorological parameters, such as ice surface temperature, radiation, wind speed, and cloud type, to build a reliable model for air temperature estimation. Three models (linear regression, random forest, and deep neural network) were developed based on various input datasets: seasonal factors, skin temperature, shortwave radiation, cloud type, longwave radiation from AVHRR-X products, and wind speed from MERRA-2 reanalysis data. In situ air temperatures from 2010 to 2015 were used for training, while 2005–2009 and 2016–2020 measurements were used for model validation. The results showed that random forest and deep neural network outperformed the linear regression model. In both methods, the 2005–2009 estimates (average bias = 0.86 °C and 1 °C) were more accurate than the 2016–2020 values (average bias = 1.04 °C and 1.26 °C). We conclude that the air temperature at Dome A can be accurately estimated (with an average bias less than 1.3 °C and RMSE around 3 °C) from meteorological parameters using random forest or a deep neural network. Full article

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

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24 pages, 11932 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Target Detection and DOA Estimation for Passive Bistatic Radar in the Presence of Residual Interference

by Haitao Wang, Jun Wang, Junzheng Jiang, Kefei Liao and Ningbo Xie

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(4), 1044; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14041044 - 21 Feb 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3050

Abstract

With the development of radio technology, passive bistatic radar (PBR) will suffer from interferences not only from the base station that is used as the illuminator of opportunity (BS-IoO), but also from the base station with co-frequency or adjacent frequency (BS-CF/AF). It is [...] Read more.

With the development of radio technology, passive bistatic radar (PBR) will suffer from interferences not only from the base station that is used as the illuminator of opportunity (BS-IoO), but also from the base station with co-frequency or adjacent frequency (BS-CF/AF). It is difficult for clutter cancellation algorithm to suppress all the interferences, especially the interferences from BS-CF/AF. The residual interferences will seriously affect target detection and DOA estimation. To solve this problem, a novel target detection and DOA estimation method for PBR based on compressed sensing sparse reconstruction is proposed. Firstly, clutter cancellation algorithm is used to suppress the interferences from BS-IoO. Secondly, the residual interferences and target echo are separated in spatial domain based on the azimuth sparse reconstruction. Finally, target detection and DOA estimation method are given. The proposed method can achieve not only target detection and DOA estimation in the presence of residual interferences, but also better anti-mainlobe interferences and high-resolution DOA estimation performance. Numerical simulation and experimental results verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Radar High-Speed Target Detection, Tracking, Imaging and Recognition)

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24 pages, 10737 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Multitemporal Change Detection Analysis in an Urbanized Environment Based upon Sentinel-1 Data

by Lars Gruenhagen and Carsten Juergens

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(4), 1043; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14041043 - 21 Feb 2022

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3328

Abstract

The German Ruhr area is a highly condensed urban area that experienced a tremendous structural change over recent decades with the replacement of the coal and steel industries by other sectors. Consequently, a lot of major land cover changes happened. To retrospectively quantify [...] Read more.

The German Ruhr area is a highly condensed urban area that experienced a tremendous structural change over recent decades with the replacement of the coal and steel industries by other sectors. Consequently, a lot of major land cover changes happened. To retrospectively quantify such land cover changes, this study analysed synthetic aperture radar images of the Sentinel-1 satellites by applying the Google Earth Engine. Three satellite images are analysed by the multitemporal difference-adjusted dispersion threshold approach to capture land cover changes such as demolished buildings and new buildings by applying a threshold. This approach uses synthetic aperture radar data that are rarely considered in previously existing land cover change services. Urbanization or urban sprawl leads to changes in the urban form globally. These can be caused, for example, by migration or regionally by structural change, etc., such as in the study area presented here. The results are validated with reference data sets, which are publicly available nationally (e.g., house contour lines, normalized digital terrain model, digital orthophotos) or which are publicly available globally like the Global Urban Footprint and the World Settlement Footprint. Based on this, land cover changes could be identified for 21 locations within the study area of the city of Bochum. Full article

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

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20 pages, 23831 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Novel Method for Hyperspectral Mineral Mapping Based on Clustering-Matching and Nonnegative Matrix Factorization

by Zhongliang Ren, Qiuping Zhai and Lin Sun

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(4), 1042; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14041042 - 21 Feb 2022

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3760

Abstract

The emergence of hyperspectral imagery paved a new way for rapid mineral mapping. As a classical hyperspectral classification method, spectral matching (SM) can automatically map the spatial distribution of minerals without the need for selecting training samples. However, due to the influence of [...] Read more.

The emergence of hyperspectral imagery paved a new way for rapid mineral mapping. As a classical hyperspectral classification method, spectral matching (SM) can automatically map the spatial distribution of minerals without the need for selecting training samples. However, due to the influence of noise, the mapping accuracy of SM is usually poor, and its per-pixel matching method is inefficient to some extent. To solve these problems, we propose an unsupervised clustering-matching mapping method, using a combination of k-means and SM (KSM). First, nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF) is used and combined with a simple and effective NMF initialization method (SMNMF) for feature extraction. Then, k-means is implemented to get the cluster centers of the extracted features and band depth, which are used for clustering and matching, respectively. Finally, dimensionless matching methods, including spectral angle mapper (SAM), spectral correlation angle (SCA), spectral gradient angle (SGA), and a combined matching method (SCGA) are used to match the cluster centers of band depth with a spectral library to obtain the mineral mapping results. A case study on the airborne hyperspectral image of Cuprite, Nevada, USA, demonstrated that the average overall accuracies of KSM based on SAM, SCA, SGA, and SCGA are approximately 22%, 22%, 35%, and 33% higher than those of SM, respectively, and KSM can save more than 95% of the mapping time. Moreover, the mapping accuracy and efficiency of SMNMF are about 15% and 38% higher than those of the widely used NMF initialization method. In addition, the proposed SCGA could achieve promising mapping results at both high and low signal-to-noise ratios compared with other matching methods. The mapping method proposed in this study provides a new solution for the rapid and autonomous identification of minerals and other fine objects. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hyperspectral and Multispectral Imaging in Geology)

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24 pages, 52501 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

A Suitable Retrieval Algorithm of Arctic Snow Depths with AMSR-2 and Its Application to Sea Ice Thicknesses of Cryosat-2 Data

by Zhaoqing Dong, Lijian Shi, Mingsen Lin and Tao Zeng

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(4), 1041; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14041041 - 21 Feb 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2999

Abstract

Arctic sea ice and snow affect the energy balance of the global climate system through the radiation budget. Accurate determination of the snow cover over Arctic sea ice is significant for the retrieval of the sea ice thickness (SIT). In this study, we [...] Read more.

Arctic sea ice and snow affect the energy balance of the global climate system through the radiation budget. Accurate determination of the snow cover over Arctic sea ice is significant for the retrieval of the sea ice thickness (SIT). In this study, we developed a new snow depth retrieval method over Arctic sea ice with a long short-term memory (LSTM) deep learning algorithm based on Operation IceBridge (OIB) snow depth data and brightness temperature data of AMSR-2 passive microwave radiometers. We compared climatology products (modified W99 and AWI), altimeter products (Kwok) and microwave radiometer products (Bremen, Neural Network and LSTM). The climatology products and altimeter products are completely independent of the OIB data used for training, while microwave radiometer products are not completely independent of the OIB data. We also compared the SITs retrieved from the above different snow depth products based on Cryosat-2 radar altimeter data. First, the snow depth spatial patterns for all products are in broad agreement, but the temporal evolution patterns are distinct. Snow products of microwave radiometers, such as Bremen, Neural Network and LSTM snow depth products, show thicker snow in early winter with respect to the climatology snow depth products and the altimeter snow depth product, especially in the multiyear ice (MYI) region. In addition, the differences in all snow depth products are relatively large in the early winter and relatively small in spring. Compared with the OIB and IceBird observation data (April 2019), the snow depth retrieved by the LSTM algorithm is better than that retrieved by the other algorithms in terms of accuracy, with a correlation of 0.55 (0.90), a root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.06 m (0.05 m) and a mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.05 m (0.04 m). The spatial pattern and seasonal variation of the SITs retrieved from different snow depths are basically consistent. The total sea ice decreases first and then thickens as the seasons change. Compared with the OIB SIT in April 2019, the SIT retrieved by the LSTM snow depth is superior to that retrieved by the other SIT products in terms of accuracy, with the highest correlation of 0.46, the lowest RMSE of 0.59 m and the lowest MAE of 0.44 m. In general, it is promising to retrieve Arctic snow depth using the LSTM algorithm, but the retrieval of snow depth over MYI still needs to be verified with more measured data, especially in early winter. Full article

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

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19 pages, 17943 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Integrated Fire Management as a Renewing Agent of Native Vegetation and Inhibitor of Invasive Plants in Vereda Habitats: Diagnosis by Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems

by Jéssika Cristina Nascente, Manuel Eduardo Ferreira and Gustavo Manzon Nunes

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(4), 1040; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14041040 - 21 Feb 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3575

Abstract

The Cerrado biome is being gradually reduced. Remote sensing has been widely used to investigate spatio-temporal changes in the landscape, which are frequently limited to mapping with orbital sensors, while the Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) proved to be advantageous in terms of [...] Read more.

The Cerrado biome is being gradually reduced. Remote sensing has been widely used to investigate spatio-temporal changes in the landscape, which are frequently limited to mapping with orbital sensors, while the Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) proved to be advantageous in terms of spatial resolution and the application of advanced digital processing techniques. In this study, we investigated a vereda (humid area) of a conservation unit in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. Object-Based Image Analysis (OBIA) was applied to images obtained by RPAS to distinguish the phytophysiognomies of plant strata from the vereda and to diagnose the recovery of native and invasive vegetation after prescribed burning. The study was carried out in the following five stages: biomass collection; quality analysis of the land cover; phytosociological survey; collection of control points using a GNSS receiver (type L1/L2); and the capture of aerial images with an RGB camera coupled to a DJI Phantom 4 Pro, which was performed through overflights in three different periods. Object–Based Image Analysis was subsequently performed using the Nearest Neighbor classifier combined with Feature Space Optimization, obtaining classifications with accuracy and Kappa indexes greater than 80% and 0.80, respectively. The results of image processing allowed us to infer that fire acted as a renewing agent for native vegetation and as an inhibiting agent for invasive vegetation. The classification analyses combined with the phytosociological analysis allowed us to infer that the vereda is in the process of maturation. Therefore, the study demonstrated the potential of data obtained by RPAS for the diagnosis and analysis of vegetation dynamics in small wetlands submitted to Integrated Fire Management (IFM). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Structure and Trend Monitoring of Forest Vegetation and Savanna Based on UAS Platform)

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17 pages, 3149 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Integrating Multi-Source Remote Sensing to Assess Forest Aboveground Biomass in the Khingan Mountains of North-Eastern China Using Machine-Learning Algorithms

by Xiaoyi Wang, Caixia Liu, Guanting Lv, Jinfeng Xu and Guishan Cui

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(4), 1039; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14041039 - 21 Feb 2022

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 4147

Abstract

Forest aboveground biomass (AGB) is of great significance since it represents large carbon storage and may reduce global climate change. However, there are still considerable uncertainties in forest AGB estimates, especially in rugged regions, due to the lack of effective algorithms to remove [...] Read more.

Forest aboveground biomass (AGB) is of great significance since it represents large carbon storage and may reduce global climate change. However, there are still considerable uncertainties in forest AGB estimates, especially in rugged regions, due to the lack of effective algorithms to remove the effects of topography and the lack of comprehensive comparisons of methods used for estimation. Here, we systematically compare the performance of three sources of remote sensing data used in forest AGB estimation, along with three machine-learning algorithms using extensive field measurements (N = 1058) made in the Khingan Mountains of north-eastern China in 2008. The datasets used were obtained from the LiDAR-based Geoscience Laser Altimeter System onboard the Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation satellite (ICESat/GLAS), the optical-based Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), and the SAR-based Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR). We show that terrain correction is effective for this mountainous study region and that the combination of terrain-corrected GLAS and PALSAR features with Random Forest regression produces the best results at the plot scale. Including further MODIS-based features added little power for prediction. Based upon the parsimonious data source combination, we created a map of AGB circa 2008 and its uncertainty, which yields a coefficient of determination (R²) of 0.82 and a root mean squared error of 16.84 Mg ha⁻¹ when validated with field data. Forest AGB values in our study area were within the range 79.81 ± 16.00 Mg ha⁻¹, ~25% larger than a previous, SAR-based, analysis. Our result provides a historic benchmark for regional carbon budget estimation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing Application for Promoting Ecosystem Services and Land Degradation Management in Mid-Latitude Ecotone (MLE))

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21 pages, 15231 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Meta-Learner Hybrid Models to Classify Hyperspectral Images

by Dalal AL-Alimi, Mohammed A. A. Al-qaness, Zhihua Cai, Abdelghani Dahou, Yuxiang Shao and Sakinatu Issaka

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(4), 1038; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14041038 - 21 Feb 2022

Cited by 24 | Viewed by 3622

Abstract

Hyperspectral (HS) images are adjacent band images that are generally used in remote-sensing applications. They have numerous spatial and spectral information bands that are extremely useful for material detection in various fields. However, their high dimensionality is a big challenge that affects their [...] Read more.

Hyperspectral (HS) images are adjacent band images that are generally used in remote-sensing applications. They have numerous spatial and spectral information bands that are extremely useful for material detection in various fields. However, their high dimensionality is a big challenge that affects their overall performance. A new data normalization method was developed to enhance the variations and data distribution using the output of principal component analysis (PCA) and quantile transformation, called QPCA. This paper also proposes a novel HS images classification framework using the meta-learner technique to train multi-class and multi-size datasets by concatenating and training the hybrid and multi-size kernel of convolutional neural networks (CNN). The high-level model works to combine the output of the lower-level models and train them with the new input data, called meta-learner hybrid models (MLHM). The proposed MLHM framework with our external normalization (QPCA) improves the accuracy and outperforms other approaches using three well-known benchmark datasets. Moreover, the evaluation outcomes showed that the QPCA enhanced the framework accuracy by 13% for most models and datasets and others by more than 25%, and MLHM provided the best performance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hyperspectral Images Processing and Classification Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) Techniques)

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19 pages, 10356 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

A Novel Workflow for Seasonal Wetland Identification Using Bi-Weekly Multiple Remote Sensing Data

by Liwei Xing, Zhenguo Niu, Cuicui Jiao, Jing Zhang, Shuqing Han, Guodong Cheng and Jianzhai Wu

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(4), 1037; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14041037 - 21 Feb 2022

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3234

Abstract

Accurate wetland mapping is essential for their protection and management; however, it is difficult to accurately identify seasonal wetlands because of irregular rainfall and the potential lack of water inundation. In this study, we propose a novel method to generate reliable seasonal wetland [...] Read more.

Accurate wetland mapping is essential for their protection and management; however, it is difficult to accurately identify seasonal wetlands because of irregular rainfall and the potential lack of water inundation. In this study, we propose a novel method to generate reliable seasonal wetland maps with a spatial resolution of 20 m using a seasonal-rule-based method in the Zhalong and Momoge National Nature Reserves. This study used Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 data, along with a bi-weekly composition method to generate a 15-day image time series. The random forest algorithm was used to classify the images into vegetation, waterbodies, bare land, and wet bare land during each time period. Several rules were incorporated based on the intra-annual changes in the seasonal wetlands and annual wetland maps of the study regions were generated. Validation processes showed that the overall accuracy and kappa coefficient were above 89.8% and 0.87, respectively. The seasonal-rule-based method was able to identify seasonal marshes, flooded wetlands, and artificial wetlands (e.g., paddy fields). Zonal analysis indicated that seasonal wetland types, including flooded wetlands and seasonal marshes, accounted for over 50% of the total wetland area in both Zhalong and Momoge National Nature Reserves; and permanent wetlands, including permanent water and permanent marsh, only accounted for 11% and 12% in the two reserves, respectively. This study proposes a new method to generate reliable annual wetland maps that include seasonal wetlands, providing an accurate dataset for interannual change analyses and wetland protection decision-making. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Wetlands and Biodiversity)

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18 pages, 1706 KiB

Open AccessArticle

AGNet: An Attention-Based Graph Network for Point Cloud Classification and Segmentation

by Weipeng Jing, Wenjun Zhang, Linhui Li, Donglin Di, Guangsheng Chen and Jian Wang

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(4), 1036; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14041036 - 21 Feb 2022

Cited by 26 | Viewed by 4333

Abstract

Classification and segmentation of point clouds have attracted increasing attention in recent years. On the one hand, it is difficult to extract local features with geometric information. On the other hand, how to select more important features correctly also brings challenges to the [...] Read more.

Classification and segmentation of point clouds have attracted increasing attention in recent years. On the one hand, it is difficult to extract local features with geometric information. On the other hand, how to select more important features correctly also brings challenges to the research. Therefore, the main challenge in classifying and segmenting the point clouds is how to locate the attentional region. To tackle this challenge, we propose a graph-based neural network with an attention pooling strategy (AGNet). In particular, local feature information can be extracted by constructing a topological structure. Compared to existing methods, AGNet can better extract the spatial information with different distances, and the attentional pooling strategy is capable of selecting the most important features of the topological structure. Therefore, our model can aggregate more information to better represent different point cloud features. We conducted extensive experiments on challenging benchmark datasets including ModelNet40 for object classification, as well as ShapeNet Part and S3DIS for segmentation. Both the quantitative and qualitative experiments demonstrated a consistent advantage for the tasks of point set classification and segmentation. Full article

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11 pages, 3260 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceTechnical Note

Characterization of Tropical Cyclone Intensity Using the HY-2B Scatterometer Wind Data

by Siqi Liu, Wenming Lin, Marcos Portabella and Zhixiong Wang

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(4), 1035; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14041035 - 21 Feb 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2702

Abstract

The estimation of tropical cyclone (TC) intensity using Ku-band scatterometer data is challenging due to rain perturbation and signal saturation in the radar backscatter measurements. In this paper, an alternative approach to directly taking the maximum scatterometer-derived wind speed is proposed to assess [...] Read more.

The estimation of tropical cyclone (TC) intensity using Ku-band scatterometer data is challenging due to rain perturbation and signal saturation in the radar backscatter measurements. In this paper, an alternative approach to directly taking the maximum scatterometer-derived wind speed is proposed to assess the TC intensity. First, the TC center location is identified based on the unique characteristics of wind stress divergence/curl near the TC core. Then the radial extent of 17-m/s winds (i.e., R17) is calculated using the wind field data from the Haiyang-2B (HY-2B) scatterometer (HSCAT). The feasibility of HSCAT wind radii in determining TC intensity is evaluated using the maximum sustained wind speed (MSW) in the China Meteorological Administration best-track database. It shows that the HSCAT R17 value generally better correlates with the best-track MSW than the HSCAT maximum wind speed, therefore indicating the potential of using the HSCAT data to improve the TC nowcasting capabilities. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Ocean Surface Winds)

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18 pages, 37044 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Global Mangrove Watch: Updated 2010 Mangrove Forest Extent (v2.5)

by Pete Bunting, Ake Rosenqvist, Lammert Hilarides, Richard M. Lucas and Nathan Thomas

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(4), 1034; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14041034 - 21 Feb 2022

Cited by 40 | Viewed by 7853

Abstract

This study presents an updated global mangrove forest baseline for 2010: Global Mangrove Watch (GMW) v2.5. The previous GMW maps (v2.0) of the mangrove extent are currently considered the most comprehensive available global products, however areas were identified as missing or poorly mapped. [...] Read more.

This study presents an updated global mangrove forest baseline for 2010: Global Mangrove Watch (GMW) v2.5. The previous GMW maps (v2.0) of the mangrove extent are currently considered the most comprehensive available global products, however areas were identified as missing or poorly mapped. Therefore, this study has updated the 2010 baseline map to increase the mapping quality and completeness of the mangrove extent. This revision resulted in an additional 2660 km² of mangroves being mapped yielding a revised global mangrove extent for 2010 of some 140,260 km². The overall map accuracy was estimated to be 95.1% with a 95th confidence interval of 93.8–96.5%, as assessed using 50,750 reference points located across 60 globally distributed sites. Of these 60 validation sites, 26 were located in areas that were remapped to produce the v2.5 map and the overall accuracy for these was found to have increased from 82.6% (95th confidence interval: 80.1–84.9) for the v2.0 map to 95.0% (95th confidence interval: 93.7–96.4) for the v2.5 map. Overall, the improved GMW v2.5 map provides a more robust product to support the conservation and sustainable use of mangroves globally. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing in Mangroves II)

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15 pages, 35551 KiB

Open AccessTechnical Note

A High-Precision Motion Errors Compensation Method Based on Sub-Image Reconstruction for HRWS SAR Imaging

by Liming Zhou, Xiaoling Zhang, Liming Pu, Tianwen Zhang, Jun Shi and Shunjun Wei

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(4), 1033; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14041033 - 21 Feb 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2131

Abstract

High-resolution wide-swath (HRWS) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) plays an important role in remote sensing observation. However, the motion errors caused by the carrier platform’s instability severely degrade the performance of the HRWS SAR imaging. Conventional motion errors compensation methods have two drawbacks, i.e., [...] Read more.

High-resolution wide-swath (HRWS) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) plays an important role in remote sensing observation. However, the motion errors caused by the carrier platform’s instability severely degrade the performance of the HRWS SAR imaging. Conventional motion errors compensation methods have two drawbacks, i.e., (1) ignoring the spatial variation of the phase errors of pixels along the range direction of the scene, which leads to lower compensation accuracy, and (2) performing compensation after echo reconstruction, which fails to consider the difference in motion errors between channels, resulting in poor imaging performance in the azimuth direction. In this paper, to overcome these two drawbacks, a high-precision motion errors compensation method based on sub-image reconstruction (SI-MEC) for high-precision HRWS SAR imaging is proposed. The proposed method consists of three steps. Firstly, the motion errors of the platform are estimated by maximizing the intensity of strong points in multiple regions. Secondly, combined with the multichannel geometry, the equivalent phase centers (EPCs) used for sub-images imaging are corrected and the sub-images imaging is performed before reconstruction. Thirdly, the reconstruction is performed by using the sub-images. The proposed method has two advantages, i.e., (1) compensating for the spatially varying phase errors in the range direction, by correcting EPCs, to improve the imaging quality, and (2) compensating for the motion errors of each channel in sub-image imaging before reconstruction, to enhance the imaging quality in the azimuth direction. Moreover, the experimental results are provided to demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms PGA and BP-FMSA. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Remote Sensing Communications)

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20 pages, 4901 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Decadal Lake Volume Changes (2003–2020) and Driving Forces at a Global Scale

by Yuhao Feng, Heng Zhang, Shengli Tao, Zurui Ao, Chunqiao Song, Jérôme Chave, Thuy Le Toan, Baolin Xue, Jiangling Zhu, Jiamin Pan, Shaopeng Wang, Zhiyao Tang and Jingyun Fang

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(4), 1032; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14041032 - 21 Feb 2022

Cited by 19 | Viewed by 4829

Abstract

Lakes play a key role in the global water cycle, providing essential water resources and ecosystem services for humans and wildlife. Quantifying long-term changes in lake volume at a global scale is therefore important to the sustainability of humanity and natural ecosystems. Yet, [...] Read more.

Lakes play a key role in the global water cycle, providing essential water resources and ecosystem services for humans and wildlife. Quantifying long-term changes in lake volume at a global scale is therefore important to the sustainability of humanity and natural ecosystems. Yet, such an estimate is still unavailable because, unlike lake area, lake volume is three-dimensional, challenging to be estimated consistently across space and time. Here, taking advantage of recent advances in remote sensing technology, especially NASA’s ICESat-2 satellite laser altimeter launched in 2018, we generated monthly volume series from 2003 to 2020 for 9065 lakes worldwide with an area ≥ 10 km². We found that the total volume of the 9065 lakes increased by 597 km³ (90% confidence interval 239–2618 km³). Validation against in situ measurements showed a correlation coefficient of 0.98, an RMSE (i.e., root mean square error) of 0.57 km³ and a normalized RMSE of 2.6%. In addition, 6753 (74.5%) of the lakes showed an increasing trend in lake volume and were spatially clustered into nine hot spots, most of which are located in sparsely populated high latitudes and the Tibetan Plateau; 2323 (25.5%) of the lakes showed a decreasing trend in lake volume and were clustered into six hot spots—most located in the world’s arid/semi-arid regions where lakes are scarce, but population density is high. Our results uncovered, from a three-dimensional volumetric perspective, spatially uneven lake changes that aggravate the conflict between human demands and lake resources. The situation is likely to intensify given projected higher temperatures in glacier-covered regions and drier climates in arid/semi-arid areas. The 15 hot spots could serve as a blueprint for prioritizing future lake research and conservation efforts. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Eco-Hydrology Processes under Ongoing Climate Change)

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27 pages, 515 KiB

Open AccessReview

Mapping of Urban Vegetation with High-Resolution Remote Sensing: A Review

by Robbe Neyns and Frank Canters

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(4), 1031; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14041031 - 21 Feb 2022

Cited by 66 | Viewed by 10379

Abstract

Green space is increasingly recognized as an important component of the urban environment. Adequate management and planning of urban green space is crucial to maximize its benefits for urban inhabitants and for the urban ecosystem in general. Inventorying urban vegetation is a costly [...] Read more.

Green space is increasingly recognized as an important component of the urban environment. Adequate management and planning of urban green space is crucial to maximize its benefits for urban inhabitants and for the urban ecosystem in general. Inventorying urban vegetation is a costly and time-consuming process. The development of new remote sensing techniques to map and monitor vegetation has therefore become an important topic of interest to many scholars. Based on a comprehensive survey of the literature, this review article provides an overview of the main approaches proposed to map urban vegetation from high-resolution remotely sensed data. Studies are reviewed from three perspectives: (a) the vegetation typology, (b) the remote sensing data used and (c) the mapping approach applied. With regard to vegetation typology, a distinction is made between studies focusing on the mapping of functional vegetation types and studies performing mapping of lower-level taxonomic ranks, with the latter mainly focusing on urban trees. A wide variety of high-resolution imagery has been used by researchers for both types of mapping. The fusion of various types of remote sensing data, as well as the inclusion of phenological information through the use of multi-temporal imagery, prove to be the most promising avenues to improve mapping accuracy. With regard to mapping approaches, the use of deep learning is becoming more established, mostly for the mapping of tree species. Through this survey, several research gaps could be identified. Interest in the mapping of non-tree species in urban environments is still limited. The same holds for the mapping of understory species. Most studies focus on the mapping of public green spaces, while interest in the mapping of private green space is less common. The use of imagery with a high spatial and temporal resolution, enabling the retrieval of phenological information for mapping and monitoring vegetation at the species level, still proves to be limited in urban contexts. Hence, mapping approaches specifically tailored towards time-series analysis and the use of new data sources seem to hold great promise for advancing the field. Finally, unsupervised learning techniques and active learning, so far rarely applied in urban vegetation mapping, are also areas where significant progress can be expected. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic High-Resolution Earth Observation Systems, Technologies, and Applications)

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20 pages, 5178 KiB

Open AccessArticle

In Situ Measuring Stem Diameters of Maize Crops with a High-Throughput Phenotyping Robot

by Zhengqiang Fan, Na Sun, Quan Qiu, Tao Li, Qingchun Feng and Chunjiang Zhao

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(4), 1030; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14041030 - 21 Feb 2022

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3468

Abstract

Robotic High-Throughput Phenotyping (HTP) technology has been a powerful tool for selecting high-quality crop varieties among large quantities of traits. Due to the advantages of multi-view observation and high accuracy, ground HTP robots have been widely studied in recent years. In this paper, [...] Read more.

Robotic High-Throughput Phenotyping (HTP) technology has been a powerful tool for selecting high-quality crop varieties among large quantities of traits. Due to the advantages of multi-view observation and high accuracy, ground HTP robots have been widely studied in recent years. In this paper, we study an ultra-narrow wheeled robot equipped with RGB-D cameras for inter-row maize HTP. The challenges of the narrow operating space, intensive light changes, and messy cross-leaf interference in rows of maize crops are considered. An in situ and inter-row stem diameter measurement method for HTP robots is proposed. To this end, we first introduce the stem diameter measurement pipeline, in which a convolutional neural network is employed to detect stems, and the point cloud is analyzed to estimate the stem diameters. Second, we present a clustering strategy based on DBSCAN for extracting stem point clouds under the condition that the stem is shaded by dense leaves. Third, we present a point cloud filling strategy to fill the stem region with missing depth values due to the occlusion by other organs. Finally, we employ convex hull and plane projection of the point cloud to estimate the stem diameters. The results show that the R² and RMSE of stem diameter measurement are up to 0.72 and 2.95 mm, demonstrating its effectiveness. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Imaging for Plant Phenotyping)

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20 pages, 4684 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Surface Characteristics, Elevation Change, and Velocity of High-Arctic Valley Glacier from Repeated High-Resolution UAV Photogrammetry

by Kristaps Lamsters, Jurijs Ješkins, Ireneusz Sobota, Jānis Karušs and Pēteris Džeriņš

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(4), 1029; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14041029 - 21 Feb 2022

Cited by 17 | Viewed by 4458

Abstract

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are being increasingly used in glaciology demonstrating their potential for the generation of high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) that can be further used for the evaluation of glacial processes in detail. Such investigations are especially important for the evaluation [...] Read more.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are being increasingly used in glaciology demonstrating their potential for the generation of high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) that can be further used for the evaluation of glacial processes in detail. Such investigations are especially important for the evaluation of surface changes of small valley glaciers, which are not well-represented in lower-resolution satellite-derived products. In this study, we performed two UAV surveys at the end of the ablation season in 2019 and 2021 on Waldemarbreen, a High-Arctic glacier in NW Svalbard. We derived the mean annual glacier surface velocity of 5.3 m. The estimated mean glacier surface elevation change from 2019 to 2021 was −1.46 m a⁻¹ which corresponds to the geodetic mass balance (MB) of −1.33 m w.e. a⁻¹. The glaciological MB for the same period was −1.61 m w.e. a⁻¹. Our survey includes all Waldemarbreen and demonstrates the efficiency of high-resolution DEMs produced from UAV photogrammetry for the reconstruction of changes in glacier surface elevation and velocity. We suggest that glaciological and geodetic MB methods should be used complementary to each other. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing in Snow and Glacier Hydrology)

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21 pages, 3005 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sentinel-2 Data and Unmanned Aerial System Products to Support Crop and Bare Soil Monitoring: Methodology Based on a Statistical Comparison between Remote Sensing Data with Identical Spectral Bands

by Marco Dubbini, Nicola Palumbo, Michaela De Giglio, Francesco Zucca, Maurizio Barbarella and Antonella Tornato

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(4), 1028; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14041028 - 20 Feb 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3062

Abstract

The growing need for sustainable management approaches of crops and bare soils requires measurements at a multiple scale (space and time) field system level, which have become increasingly accurate. In this context, proximal and satellite remote sensing data cooperation seems good practice for [...] Read more.

The growing need for sustainable management approaches of crops and bare soils requires measurements at a multiple scale (space and time) field system level, which have become increasingly accurate. In this context, proximal and satellite remote sensing data cooperation seems good practice for the present and future. The primary purpose of this work is the development of a sound protocol based on a statistical comparison between Copernicus Sentinel-2 MIS satellite data and a multispectral sensor mounted on an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), featuring spectral deployment identical to Sentinel-2. The experimental dataset, based on simultaneously acquired proximal and Sentinel-2 data, concerns an agricultural field in Pisa (Tuscany), cultivated with corn. To understand how the two systems, comparable but quite different in terms of spatial resolution and atmosphere impacts, can effectively cooperate to create a value-added product, statistical tests were applied on bands and the derived Vegetation and Soil index. Overall, as expected, due to the mentioned impacts, the outcomes show a heterogeneous behavior with a difference between the coincident bands as well for the derived indices, modulated in the same manner by the phenological status (e.g., during the canopy developments) or by vegetation absence. Instead, similar behavior between two sensors occurred during the maturity phase of crop plants. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing for Cropping Systems and Bare Soils Monitoring and Optimization)

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17 pages, 5632 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Robotic Mapping Approach under Illumination-Variant Environments at Planetary Construction Sites

by Sungchul Hong, Pranjay Shyam, Antyanta Bangunharcana and Hyuseoung Shin

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(4), 1027; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14041027 - 20 Feb 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2932

Abstract

In planetary construction, the semiautonomous teleoperation of robots is expected to perform complex tasks for site preparation and infrastructure emplacement. A highly detailed 3D map is essential for construction planning and management. However, the planetary surface imposes mapping restrictions due to rugged and [...] Read more.

In planetary construction, the semiautonomous teleoperation of robots is expected to perform complex tasks for site preparation and infrastructure emplacement. A highly detailed 3D map is essential for construction planning and management. However, the planetary surface imposes mapping restrictions due to rugged and homogeneous terrains. Additionally, changes in illumination conditions cause the mapping result (or 3D point-cloud map) to have inconsistent color properties that hamper the understanding of the topographic properties of a worksite. Therefore, this paper proposes a robotic construction mapping approach robust to illumination-variant environments. The proposed approach leverages a deep learning-based low-light image enhancement (LLIE) method to improve the mapping capabilities of the visual simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM)-based robotic mapping method. In the experiment, the robotic mapping system in the emulated planetary worksite collected terrain images during the daytime from noon to late afternoon. Two sets of point-cloud maps, which were created from original and enhanced terrain images, were examined for comparison purposes. The experiment results showed that the LLIE method in the robotic mapping method significantly enhanced the brightness, preserving the inherent colors of the original terrain images. The visibility and the overall accuracy of the point-cloud map were consequently increased. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Planetary Geologic Mapping and Remote Sensing)

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24 pages, 31979 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Efficient Identification and Monitoring of Landslides by Time-Series InSAR Combining Single- and Multi-Look Phases

by Zijing Liu, Haijun Qiu, Yaru Zhu, Ya Liu, Dongdong Yang, Shuyue Ma, Juanjuan Zhang, Yuyao Wang, Luyao Wang and Bingzhe Tang

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(4), 1026; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14041026 - 20 Feb 2022

Cited by 67 | Viewed by 4719

Abstract

Identification and monitoring of unstable slopes across wide regions using Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry (InSAR) can further help to prevent and mitigate geological hazards. However, the low spatial density of measurement points (MPs) extracted using the traditional time-series InSAR method in topographically complex [...] Read more.

Identification and monitoring of unstable slopes across wide regions using Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry (InSAR) can further help to prevent and mitigate geological hazards. However, the low spatial density of measurement points (MPs) extracted using the traditional time-series InSAR method in topographically complex mountains and vegetation-covered slopes makes the final result unreliable. In this study, a method of time-series InSAR analysis using single- and multi-look phases were adopted to solve this problem, which exploited single- and multi-look phases to increase the number of MPs in the natural environment. Archived ascending and descending Sentinel-1 datasets covering Zhouqu County were processed. The results revealed that nine landslides could be quickly identified from the average phase rate maps using the Stacking method. Then, the time-series InSAR analysis with single- and multi-look phases could be used to effectively monitor the deformation of these landslides and to quantitatively analyze the magnitude and dynamic evolution of the deformation in various parts of the landslides. The reliability of the InSAR results was further verified by field investigations and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) surveys. In addition, the precursory movements and causative factors of the recent Yahuokou landslide were analyzed in detail, and the application of the time-series InSAR method in landslide investigations was discussed and summarized. Therefore, this study has practical significance for early warning of landslides and risk mitigation. Full article

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18 pages, 4494 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Evaluation of the Emissions State of a Satellite Laser Altimeter Based on Laser Footprint Imaging

by Jiaqi Yao, Haoran Zhai, Shuqi Wu, Zhen Wen and Xinming Tang

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(4), 1025; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14041025 - 20 Feb 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2166

Abstract

The GaoFen-7(GF-7) satellite is equipped with China’s first laser altimeter for Earth observation; it has the capability of full waveform recording, which can obtain global high-precision three-dimensional coordinates over a wide range. The laser is inevitably affected by platform tremors, random errors in [...] Read more.

The GaoFen-7(GF-7) satellite is equipped with China’s first laser altimeter for Earth observation; it has the capability of full waveform recording, which can obtain global high-precision three-dimensional coordinates over a wide range. The laser is inevitably affected by platform tremors, random errors in the laser pointing angle, laser state, and other factors, which further affect the measurement accuracy of the laser footprint. Therefore, evaluation of the satellite laser launch state is an important process. This study contributes to laser emission state evaluations based on the laser footprint image in terms of two main two aspects: (1) Monitoring changes in the laser pointing angle—laser pointing is closely related to positioning accuracy, which mainly results from monitoring the change in the laser spot centroid. We propose a threshold constraint algorithm that extracts the centroid of an ellipse-fitting spot. (2) Analysis of the energy distribution state—directly obtaining the parameters used in the traditional evaluation method is a challenge for the satellite. Therefore, an index suitable for evaluating the laser emissions state of the GF-7 satellite was constructed according to the data characteristics. Based on these methods, long time-series data were evaluated and analyzed. The experimental results show that the proposed method can effectively evaluate the emissions state of the laser altimeter, during which the laser pointing angle changes monthly by 0.434″. During each continuous operation of the laser, the energy state decreased gradually, with a small variation range; however, both were generally in a stable state. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Laser Altimetry and 3D Mapping in Planetary Exploration: Methods and Applications)

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15 pages, 3563 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Assessing the Wall-to-Wall Spatial and Qualitative Dynamics of the Brazilian Pasturelands 2010–2018, Based on the Analysis of the Landsat Data Archive

by Claudinei Oliveira dos Santos, Vinícius Vieira Mesquita, Leandro Leal Parente, Alexandre de Siqueira Pinto and Laerte Guimaraes Ferreira, Jr.

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(4), 1024; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14041024 - 20 Feb 2022

Cited by 21 | Viewed by 5139

Abstract

Brazilian livestock is predominantly extensive, with approximately 90% of the production being sustained on pasture, which occupies around 20% of the territory. It is estimated that more than half of Brazilian pastures have some level of degradation. In this study, we mapped and [...] Read more.

Brazilian livestock is predominantly extensive, with approximately 90% of the production being sustained on pasture, which occupies around 20% of the territory. It is estimated that more than half of Brazilian pastures have some level of degradation. In this study, we mapped and evaluated the spatiotemporal dynamics of pasture quality in Brazil, between 2010 and 2018, considering three classes of degradation: Absent (D0), Intermediate (D1), and Severe (D2). There was no variation in the total area occupied by pastures in the evaluated period, in spite of the accentuated spatial dynamics. The percentage of non-degraded pastures increased by ~12%, due to the recovery of degraded areas and the emergence of new pasture areas. However, about 44 Mha of the pasture area is currently severely degraded. The dynamics in pasture quality were not homogeneous in property size classes. We observed that in the approximately 2.68 million properties with livestock activity, the proportion with quality gains was twice as low in small properties compared with large ones, and the proportion with losses was three times greater, showing an increase in inequality between properties with more and fewer resources (large and small properties, respectively). The areas occupied by pastures in Brazil present a unique opportunity to increase livestock production and make areas available for agriculture, without the need for new deforestation in the coming decades. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue State-of-the-Art Remote Sensing in South America)

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24 pages, 5141 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Prediction of Soil Water Content and Electrical Conductivity Using Random Forest Methods with UAV Multispectral and Ground-Coupled Geophysical Data

by Yunyi Guan, Katherine Grote, Joel Schott and Kelsi Leverett

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(4), 1023; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14041023 - 20 Feb 2022

Cited by 28 | Viewed by 5470

Abstract

The volumetric water content (VWC) of soil is a critical parameter in agriculture, as VWC strongly influences crop yield, provides nutrients to plants, and maintains the microbes that are needed for the biological health of the soil. Measuring VWC is difficult, as it [...] Read more.

The volumetric water content (VWC) of soil is a critical parameter in agriculture, as VWC strongly influences crop yield, provides nutrients to plants, and maintains the microbes that are needed for the biological health of the soil. Measuring VWC is difficult, as it is spatially and temporally heterogeneous, and most agricultural producers use point measurements that cannot fully capture this parameter. Electrical conductivity (EC) is another soil parameter that is useful in agriculture, since it can be used to indicate soil salinity, soil texture, and plant nutrient availability. Soil EC is also very heterogeneous; measuring EC using conventional soil sampling techniques is very time consuming and often fails to capture the variability in EC at a site. In contrast to the point-based methods used to measure VWC and EC, multispectral data acquired with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) can cover large areas with high resolution. In agriculture, multispectral data are often used to calculate vegetation indices (VIs). In this research UAV-acquired VIs and raw multispectral data were used to predict soil VWC and EC. High-resolution geophysical methods were used to acquire more than 41,000 measurements of VWC and 8000 measurements of EC in 18 traverses across a field that contained 56 experimental plots. The plots varied by crop type (corn, soybeans, and alfalfa) and drainage (no drainage, moderate drainage, high drainage). Machine learning was performed using the random forest method to predict VWC and EC using VIs and multispectral data. Prediction accuracy was determined for several scenarios that assumed different levels of knowledge about crop type or drainage. Results showed that multispectral data improved prediction of VWC and EC, and the best predictions occurred when both the crop type and degree of drainage were known, but drainage was a more important input than crop type. Predictions were most accurate in drier soil, which may be due to the lower overall variability of VWC and EC under these conditions. An analysis of which multispectral data were most important showed that NDRE, VARI, and blue band data improved predictions the most. The final conclusions of this study are that inexpensive UAV-based multispectral data can be used to improve estimation of heterogenous soil properties, such as VWC and EC in active agricultural fields. In this study, the best estimates of these properties were obtained when the agriculture parameters in a field were fairly homogeneous (one crop type and the same type of drainage throughout the field), although improvements were observed even when these conditions were not met. The multispectral data that were most useful for prediction were those that penetrated deeper into the soil canopy or were sensitive to bare soil. Full article

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17 pages, 4357 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The River–Sea Interaction off the Amazon Estuary

by Di Yu, Shidong Liu, Guangxue Li, Yi Zhong, Jun Liang, Jinghao Shi, Xue Liu and Xiangdong Wang

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(4), 1022; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14041022 - 20 Feb 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3173

Abstract

The Amazon River has the highest discharge in the world. Nevertheless, there is still a lack of the research on the interaction between river-diluted water and the ocean. This study used the remote sensing data (2008–2017) of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [...] Read more.

The Amazon River has the highest discharge in the world. Nevertheless, there is still a lack of the research on the interaction between river-diluted water and the ocean. This study used the remote sensing data (2008–2017) of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Aqua satellite, and data of the currents, wind fields, sea surface temperature, and water depth. The river–sea interaction off the Amazon estuary was studied by analyzing the diffusion of river-diluted water and the distribution of surface suspended particulate matter (SPM). The results revealed that the Amazon estuary has a “filter effect,” whereby the distribution of the surface SPM exhibited significant spatial characteristics of being high in the nearshore area and low in the offshore area. Most of the SPM accumulated within the estuary in a fan shape, although some was distributed in the shallow water region of the continental shelf along the coasts on both sides of the estuary. The currents were found to limit the diffusion range of SPM. The flow direction and velocity of the North Brazil Current and the North Equatorial Countercurrent, which are largely driven by the magnitude of the trade wind stress, are the main forces controlling the long-distance diffusion of diluted water, thus forming unique river–sea interaction patterns in the Amazon estuary. This research provides a supplement and reference for the study of the diffusion process of SPM and river-diluted water, and on the estuarine river–sea interactions of other large rivers worldwide. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Ocean Remote Sensing)

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Remote Sens., Volume 14, Issue 4 (February-2 2022) – 245 articles

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