remotesensing-logo

Journal Browser

Journal Browser

UAV Based Vegetation Parameter Retrieval

A special issue of Remote Sensing (ISSN 2072-4292). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Remote Sensing".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2021) | Viewed by 6681

Special Issue Editor


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Geographical Sciences, Free University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Interests: UAV; OBIA; machine learning; tree mortality; ITCD; forest decline; point clouds; 3D structure

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

UAV sensors can provide data with unprecedented detail, both in terms of spatial and temporal resolution. On the mission planning side, we have new concepts for UAV data capturing, and progress has been made in data pre-processing using structure from motion algorithms. Scientists can now process 3D data types, together with RTK-level precision 2D spectral data. This has opened up new perspectives and has allowed the development of totally new fine-scale, change-oriented applications in vegetation monitoring and biophysical parametrization.

This Special Issue invites prospective authors to submit work that focus on UAV-based vegetation parameter retrieval. Focus could be on topics f.e. in the field of:

  • Applications for individual deciduous and/or coniferous tree crown damage classification;
  • Machine learning concepts for the classification of plant species, tree crown structure change, or deciduous tree crown species mapping;
  • Structural classification of plant communities at all possible scales using pixel and/or OBIA-based approaches;
  • Mapping of biodiversity in different biomes—2D and 3D descriptions based on point clouds and change detection based on point cloud datasets;
  • Multitemporal application of high-resolution RTK georeferenced data—change detection (also climate change-induced degradation) in plant communities and forest ecosystems;
  • Mapping of biomass using 3D point cloud descriptions and biomass volume estimation;
  • Growth height monitoring with multi-temporal data for various applications;

Combinations of OBIA-based analysis and machine learning concepts with fused 3D/2D datasets.

Dr. Sören Hese
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Remote Sensing is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

29 pages, 19956 KiB  
Article
Mapping the Groundwater Level and Soil Moisture of a Montane Peat Bog Using UAV Monitoring and Machine Learning
by Theodora Lendzioch, Jakub Langhammer, Lukáš Vlček and Robert Minařík
Remote Sens. 2021, 13(5), 907; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13050907 - 28 Feb 2021
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 6042
Abstract
One of the best preconditions for the sufficient monitoring of peat bog ecosystems is the collection, processing, and analysis of unique spatial data to understand peat bog dynamics. Over two seasons, we sampled groundwater level (GWL) and soil moisture (SM) ground truth data [...] Read more.
One of the best preconditions for the sufficient monitoring of peat bog ecosystems is the collection, processing, and analysis of unique spatial data to understand peat bog dynamics. Over two seasons, we sampled groundwater level (GWL) and soil moisture (SM) ground truth data at two diverse locations at the Rokytka Peat bog within the Sumava Mountains, Czechia. These data served as reference data and were modeled with a suite of potential variables derived from digital surface models (DSMs) and RGB, multispectral, and thermal orthoimages reflecting topomorphometry, vegetation, and surface temperature information generated from drone mapping. We used 34 predictors to feed the random forest (RF) algorithm. The predictor selection, hyperparameter tuning, and performance assessment were performed with the target-oriented leave-location-out (LLO) spatial cross-validation (CV) strategy combined with forward feature selection (FFS) to avoid overfitting and to predict on unknown locations. The spatial CV performance statistics showed low (R2 = 0.12) to high (R2 = 0.78) model predictions. The predictor importance was used for model interpretation, where temperature had strong impact on GWL and SM, and we found significant contributions of other predictors, such as Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Normalized Difference Index (NDI), Enhanced Red-Green-Blue Vegetation Index (ERGBVE), Shape Index (SHP), Green Leaf Index (GLI), Brightness Index (BI), Coloration Index (CI), Redness Index (RI), Primary Colours Hue Index (HI), Overall Hue Index (HUE), SAGA Wetness Index (TWI), Plan Curvature (PlnCurv), Topographic Position Index (TPI), and Vector Ruggedness Measure (VRM). Additionally, we estimated the area of applicability (AOA) by presenting maps where the prediction model yielded high-quality results and where predictions were highly uncertain because machine learning (ML) models make predictions far beyond sampling locations without sampling data with no knowledge about these environments. The AOA method is well suited and unique for planning and decision-making about the best sampling strategy, most notably with limited data. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue UAV Based Vegetation Parameter Retrieval)
Show Figures

Graphical abstract

Back to TopTop