Using Satellite Imagery to Assess Large-Scale Habitat Characteristics of Adirondack Park, New York, USA

Satellite imagery is a useful tool for large-scale habitat analysis; however, its limitations need to be tested. We tested these limitations by varying the methods of a habitat evaluation for white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in the Adirondack Park, New York, USA, utilizing harvest data to create and validate the assessment models. We used two classified images, one with a large minimum mapping unit but high accuracy and one with no minimum mapping unit but slightly lower accuracy, to test the sensitivity of the evaluation to these differences. We tested the utility of two methods of assessment, habitat suitability index modeling, and pattern recognition modeling. We varied the scale at which the models were applied by using five separate sizes of analysis windows. Results showed that the presence of a large minimum mapping unit eliminates important details of the habitat. Window size is relatively unimportant if the data are averaged to a large resolution (i.e., township), but if the data are used at the smaller resolution, then the window size is an important consideration. In the Adirondacks, the proportion of hardwood and softwood in an area is most important to the spatial dynamics of deer populations. The low occurrence of open area in all parts of the park either limits the effect of this cover type on the population or limits our ability to detect the effect. The arrangement and interspersion of cover types were not significant to deer populations.     

基于3S技术的震害快速评估

地震是人类面临的重大自然灾害之一，破坏性地震发生后，对震害的快速评估有利于政府及有关部门对灾情迅速做出应急反应，实施救援。地理信息系统（GIS）、遥感（RS）和全球定位系统（GPS）合称为3S技术。随着计算机技术和地球空间科学的发展。3S技术已逐渐应用于防灾减灾领域。探讨了应用3S技术替代传统的经验性估计决速评估震害的技术路线、方法和前景。首先，归纳了目前防震减灾信息及辅助决策系统建设取得的成绩和存在的问题。通过两个破坏性地震的震害实例，说明了应用基于GIS的系统快速评估震害的可能性和有待重点解决的问题。然后。通过新疆一次地震的遥感图像的变化检测，展示了震害快速评估中借助遥感数字图像处理技术的前景。在上述综合分析的基础上，讨论了三者结合的重要性、潜在功能和优点。     

浅谈水质在线监控中遥感技术的应用

空间信息技术以及计算机技术的发展，给环境监控提供了先进、快速和科学的方法。其中，遥感技术由于能够快速、宏观地获得所监控区域的数据，近年来已逐渐成为环境监控系统中的重要技术手段。遥感信息是被控区域的电磁辐射能量及其结构特征与时空状态在遥感图像上的表现。今后，遥感技术、在线监控系统和地理信息系统等多种信息处理工具的结合将是环境信息监控系统发展的主要方向。     

ACCURACY OF IMPERVIOUS AREA VALUES ESTIMATED USING REMOTELY SENSED DATA1

ABSTRACT: Remote sensing offers an attractive alternative to conventional data collection employed in the estimation of certain hydrologic model parameters. In this investigation, the standard error of parameters estimated from Landsat data are examined. Relationships between the standard error and the size of the spatial-modeling units are developed that allow extending results to larger areas. Based upon the investigations conducted, a generalized model of the error relationships could not be developed.     

ESTIMATION OF SOIL MOISTURE WITH API ALGORITHMS AND MICROWAVE EMISSION1

Large area soil moisture estimations are required to describe input to cloud prediction models, rainfall distribution models, and global crop yield models. Satellite mounted microwave sensor systems that as yet can only detect moisture at the surface have been suggested as a means of acquiring large area estimates. Relations previously discovered between microwave emission at the 1.55 cm wavelength and surface moisture as represented by an antecedent precipitation index were used to provide a pseudo infiltration estimation. Infiltration estimates based on surface wetness on a daily basis were then used to calculate the soil moisture in the surface 0–23 cm of the soil by use of a modified antecedent precipitation index. Reasonably good results were obtained (R²= 0.7162) when predicted soil moisture for the surface 23 cm was compared to measured moisture. Where the technique was modified to use only an estimate of surface moisture each three days an R² value of 0.7116 resulted for the same data set. Correlations between predicted and actual soil moisture fall off rapidly for repeat observations more than three days apart. The algorithms developed in this study may be used over relatively flat agricultural lands to provide improved estimates of soil moisture to a depth greater than the depth of penetration for the sensor.     

Satellites viewing our world: The NASA landsat and the NOAA SMS/GOES

Thousands of individuals throughout the world are now users of satellite data. Hundreds of satellites have been launched—military, navigation, communications, educational, weather, and earth resources. One of the weather satellites (the SMS/GOES) and the NASA earth resources mapping satellite (Landsat) are the subjects of this article. Data from these systems have been highly cost beneficial, not only in the United States, but in developed and developing nations all over the globe as well. There is an increasing demand both for data and for training in data use.Data samples are shown and applications are discussed. Strong reference is made to the value of the digital computer in natural and man-made features mapping and monitoring. Procedures for acquiring NASA data are explained so that the reader may order data for his home region, or for other regions throughout the world which are of interest for their agriculture, forestry, hydrology, marine resources, geology, or land use. The cost of data is incredibly low; some products cost as little as three dollars.Also discussed are the remotely based data-collection platforms that acquire ground or water data daily and relay results to the NASA Landsat or to the NOAA SMS/GOES.     

ESTIMATING THE SUSPENDED SEDIMENT LOAD IN RESERVOIRS1

ABSTRACT: The total suspended sediment loads of four north Mississippi reservoirs were determined from measurements of concentrations of suspended sediment in a vertical profile at several locations on each reservoir made during the year. These data were combined with the stage-height and known stage-volume relationships for each reservoir in a numerical integration to determine the total suspended sediment in the water body. Total suspended sediments were estimated using the product of the suspended sediment concentration in the surface water by the appropriate reservoir volume. The averaged ratios of the estimated to measured suspended sediment loads for each reservoir exceeded 0.90. Since the concentration of suspended sediments in surface waters of north Mississippi reservoirs has been shown as highly correlated with spectral reflectance, estimating the total suspended sediment of these reservoirs using remotely sensed spectral reflectance data is possible.     

FLOOD HAZARD STUDIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER BASIN USING REMOTE SENSING1

ABSTRACT. The Spring 1973 Mississippi River flood was investigated using remotely sensed data from ERTS-1. Both manual and automatic analyses of the data indicate that ERTS-I is extremely useful as a regional tool for flood management. Quantitative estimates of area flooded were made in St. Charles County, Missouri and Arkansas. Flood hazard mapping was conducted in three study areas along the Mississippi River using pre-flood ERTS-1 imagery enlarged to 1:250,000 and 1:100,000 scale. The flood prone areas delineated on these maps correspond to areas that would be inundated by significant flooding (approximately the 100 year flood). The flood prone area boundaries were generally in agreement with flood hazard maps produced by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers and U. S. Geological Survey although the latter are somewhat more detailed because of their larger scale. Initial results indicate that ERTS-1 digital mapping of flood prone areas can be performed at 1:62,500 which is comparable to some conventional flood hazard map scales.     

遥感在生态与环境监测中的主要应用领域

遥感是一种以物理手段、数学方法和地学分析为基础的综合应用技术 ,具有宏观、综合、动态和快速的特点。在解决宏观尺度的环境问题时 ,卫星遥感可重复获取多种空间、不同时相和不同波谱分辨率的地球信息 ,是适宜于调查和研究这些主题的唯一的、最有效的工具。本文通过对遥感在环境与生态监测的主要应用领域进行概要阐述 ,旨在抛砖引玉 ,推动遥感在环境与生态监测中的广泛应用。     

Monitoring Australian Rangeland Sites Using Landscape Function Indicators and Ground- and Remote-Based Techniques

If the goal for managing rangelands is to achieve a balance between production and conservation, then monitoring is essential to detect change and apply corrective action. In some range-land areas of northern Australia, monitoring has detected a tilt in the production-conservation balance towards excessive production. How big is this imbalance? Can it shift back? Robust monitoring is needed to answer these questions. The aim is to know what to monitor, and where. For example, to detect changes caused by livestock on rangeland forage production and soil erosion, indicators linking grazing disturbances to landscape function are needed, that is, indicators that signal how well landscapes are capturing, concentrating, and utilizing scarce water, nutrient, and organic resources. Studies in Australia and the USA document that simple vegetation and soil patch attributes can be measured as indicators of the 'state of health' of landscape function. For example, field and remote sensing-based grazing studies in Australia document that landscapes with a high cover of perennial plant patches function effectively to capture runoff water and nutrients in sediments, whereas landscapes with a low cover of these patches do not — they are dysfunctional — as indicated by large patches of bare soil. Aerial videography is proving to be a robust technique for measuring indicators of landscape function such as small patches of vegetation and the extent of bare soil. These indicators typically have a sigmoidal response to grazing impacts. We illustrate that if these indicators are measured on monitoring sites established near the sigmoidal 'point of inflection’ then small changes in these indicators can be detected.