Benchmarking Optical/Thermal Satellite Imagery for Estimating Evapotranspiration and Soil Moisture in Decision Support Tools

Generally, one expects evapotranspiration (ET) maps derived from optical/thermal Landsat and MODIS satellite imagery to improve decision support tools and lead to superior decisions regarding water resources management. However, there is lack of supportive evidence to accept or reject this expectation. We “benchmark” three existing hydrologic decision support tools with the following benchmarks: annual ET for the ET Toolbox developed by the United States Bureau of Reclamation, predicted rainfall‐runoff hydrographs for the Gridded Surface/Subsurface Hydrologic Analysis model developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the average annual groundwater recharge for the Distributed Parameter Watershed Model used by Daniel B. Stephens & Associates. The conclusion of this benchmark study is that the use of NASA/USGS optical/thermal satellite imagery can considerably improve hydrologic decision support tools compared to their traditional implementations. The benefits of improved decision making, resulting from more accurate results of hydrologic support systems using optical/thermal satellite imagery, should substantially exceed the costs for acquiring such imagery and implementing the remote sensing algorithms. In fact, the value of reduced error in estimating average annual groundwater recharge in the San Gabriel Mountains, California alone, in terms of value of water, may be as large as $1 billion, more than sufficient to pay for one new Landsat satellite.     

近10 a武汉市城市热岛效应演变及其#br# 与土地利用变化的关系

城市化进程的加快，农村人口大量涌入城市，城市布局及局部气候改变等因素使得城市热岛效应问题日益突出，已成为当前城市环境研究热点之一。以武汉市为例，应用遥感技术与地理信息系统技术，选取2004~2015年5个时相Landsat系列影像数据，利用单窗算法反演地表温度，并以此为基础进行热岛强度分级，获取了近10 a武汉市城市热岛效应变化结果，并分析了武汉市11个辖区城市热岛效应动态变化特征及热岛效应与土地利用变化的关系。研究结果表明：（1）自2007年后，武汉市老城区热岛面积持续减少，而新城区热岛面积则持续增加，呈现出以老城区为中心向新城区扩张的趋势，至2015年，新老城区热岛面积仅相差20.74 km2；（2）东西湖区、蔡甸区、江夏区与洪山区是近些年城市热岛面积增长较为显著的辖区，其中江夏区的热岛面积年际变化最大，最高值达95.42 km2；（3）城市热岛效应与土地利用类型的面积年际平均值拟合关系显示，2004~2015年，城市热岛效应与建筑用地的R2值最大，为0.681 2，建筑用地面积的增加是城市热岛强度面积扩张的重要影响因素。     

Effectiveness of Africa's tropical protected areas for maintaining forest cover

The effectiveness of parks for forest conservation is widely debated in Africa, where increasing human pressure, insufficient funding, and lack of management capacity frequently place significant demands on forests. Tropical forests house a substantial portion of the world's remaining biodiversity and are heavily affected by anthropogenic activity. We analyzed park effectiveness at the individual (224 parks) and national (23 countries) level across Africa by comparing the extent of forest loss (as a proxy for deforestation) inside parks to matched unprotected control sites. Although significant geographical variation existed among parks, the majority of African parks had significantly less forest loss within their boundaries (e.g., Mahale Park had 34 times less forest loss within its boundary) than control sites. Accessibility was a significant driver of forest loss. Relatively inaccessible areas had a higher probability (odds ratio >1, p < 0.001) of forest loss but only in ineffective parks, and relatively accessible areas had a higher probability of forest loss but only in effective parks. Smaller parks less effectively prevented forest loss inside park boundaries than larger parks (T = ?2.32, p < 0.05), and older parks less effectively prevented forest loss inside park boundaries than younger parks (F_2,154 = ?4.11, p < 0.001). Our analyses, the first individual and national assessment of park effectiveness across Africa, demonstrated the complexity of factors (such as geographical variation, accessibility, and park size and age) influencing the ability of a park to curb forest loss within its boundaries.     

Applications of Very High‐Resolution Imagery in the Study and Conservation of Large Predators in the Southern Ocean

The Southern Ocean is one of the most rapidly changing ecosystems on the planet due to the effects of climate change and commercial fishing for ecologically important krill and fish. Because sea ice loss is expected to be accompanied by declines in krill and fish predators, decoupling the effects of climate and anthropogenic changes on these predator populations is crucial for ecosystem‐based management of the Southern Ocean. We reviewed research published from 2007 to 2014 that incorporated very high‐resolution satellite imagery to assess distribution, abundance, and effects of climate and other anthropogenic changes on populations of predators in polar regions. Very high‐resolution imagery has been used to study 7 species of polar animals in 13 papers, many of which provide methods through which further research can be conducted. Use of very high‐resolution imagery in the Southern Ocean can provide a broader understanding of climate and anthropogenic forces on populations and inform management and conservation recommendations. We recommend that conservation biologists continue to integrate high‐resolution remote sensing into broad‐scale biodiversity and population studies in remote areas, where it can provide much needed detail. Aplicaciones de Imágenes de Muy Alta Resolución en el Estudio y Conservación de Grandes Depredadores en el Océano Antártico     

Growth in urban extent and allometric analysis of West African cities

Urban area expansion is happening at much faster rates in Asian and African cities than elsewhere in the world. This study uses multi-temporal Landsat images to map the urban extent of six small to large cities in West Africa at four different time steps from the early 1970s–2010. The selected cities are Kumasi of Ghana, Daloa of Cote d’Ivoire, Abuja and Kano in Nigeria, Kindia of Guinea, and Ouagadougou of Burkina Faso. All cities revealed significant urban growth in both urban area and population; however, it was apparent that there was a lot of variability in urban area development. Exponential urban growth rates in the cities were measured as ranging between 0.026 and 0.077, with allometric scaling factors matching those of other countries.     

基于TM资料对上海区域热环境特征的分析

为了揭示城市热岛(UHI)形成机制,以TM卫星遥感资料为主要数据源,结合地面自动气象站(AWS)实测的气象资料,利用地表能量平衡参数化(SEBAL)的方法估算了净辐射通量和土壤热通量,分析了上海区域热环境特征.结果表明,TM地表温度与AWS实测地表温度具有较好的一致性；不同类型地表其地表温度差异明显,城市道路是城市中重要热量来源,绿地和水体面积的增加能有效地减轻城市热岛强度,同时也表明了卫星遥感资料在城市气候环境研究中的潜在价值.     

Beyond savanna: An evolutionary and environmental psychology approach to behavioral effects of nature scenery in green advertising

Evolutionary psychology has been proposed as an analytic framework for the behavioral effects of landscapes displayed in advertising. In this study, an evolutionary and environmental psychology approach is used to analyze affective reactions to advertising depicting specific natural environments or urban scenes, both prominent ingredients of contemporary advertising imagery. The experimental field study exposed 750 participants at random to one advert of a set of 13 experimental green energy advertisements, each displaying a different biome. Six basic emotional responses (pleasure, arousal, happiness, freedom, safety, and interest) as well as attitude toward the ad and brand attitude were assessed subsequently. Anova and structural equation analysis were used for data analysis. Results of the study confirm the leading opinion on generalized more positive behavioral effects toward visual stimuli representing nature scenes with biospheric contents as opposed to pictures of urban environments or desert settings. In line with earlier empirical research, further findings do not support the hypothesis on an innate preference for savanna landscapes in adults but confirm preferences for images of lush green landscapes with water and familiar biomes. Overall results give significant support to the application of environmental and evolutionary psychology to advertising.     

Landsat7 ETM+ SLC-OFF数据的修复及其在武汉东湖水质反演中的应用

自从2003年5月31日，从陆地卫星 7发回的ETM+图像数据就存在缺陷。这是由于增强专题制图仪的扫描线校正器发生故障引起的。这些称为SLC OF数据的图像有一些黑色的不存在任何数据的扫描行。丢失的数据约占全景数据的25％，使它们难以正常使用。但是，数据本身仍然保留了良好的辐射和几何性质，如加以妥善修复，仍可以在一些特殊领域中使用。首先介绍了如何使用自适应局部回归算法(ALR)恢复这些图像，然后使用修复后的图像反演武汉东湖的水质参数。结果表明：ALR算法可以对SLC OF图像进行较好的修复，而且利用修复后的图像和东湖的地面水质监测数据，通过多元逐步回归分析，可以建立很好的叶绿素a、透明度、总磷以及总氮等水质参数的经验遥感反演模型，模型的相关系数R²分别为0.86、0.75、0.73和0.71。反演得到的水质参数分布与实际情况符合。这些数据有许多优点，如空间分辨率高、存档数据非常丰富、可以从NASA的服务器免费下载等。在其他遥感数据不足或无法获得的情况下，这些数据经过适当的修复，可以作为补充或替代数据使用。〖     

基于Landsat TM遥感数据的沈阳市生态环境监测与评价

以近年Landsat TM 遥感图像为基础数据源,利用遥感与GIS技术对沈阳市生态环境状况进行了监测.结果表明,2009年间沈阳市生态环境质量处于一般水平,与2008年相比,生态环境质量指数上升,生态环境状况呈现变好的趋势.     

基于机器学习和卫星遥感的PM2.5/10 空间连续分布反演方法研究

在过去的几十年里,快速的经济发展以及工业化、城镇化进程加速使得中国的资源环境承担的压力不断加大。作为影响空气质量的首要污染物,PM_2.5和PM₁₀（记为PM_2.5/10）直接影响着广大人民群众的身体健康。因此,针对PM_2.5/10浓度进行遥感反演研究,对环境监测和控制改善全国空气环境质量具有重要的意义。近些年来,随着对近地面PM_2.5/10浓度研究的不断深入,基于遥感影像数据进行PM_2.5/10浓度的反演方法也日益增多。本文利用Google Earth engine（GEE）平台获取了海量的Landsat 8 OLI遥感影像数据,并结合气象信息、空间特征等参数,采用机器学习中常用的多层映射反向传播神经网络构建了波段反射率与PM_2.5/10浓度之间的反演模型,以获得PM_2.5/10在研究区域的连续分布。为了提高基础PM_2.5/10反演模型的反演精度,还从影响因素和前溯时间两个维度出发,探寻了模型的最优化输入参数组合,并最终实现了对PM_2.5/10浓度的精准反演。以北京市地区为例,模型的PM_2.5和PM₁₀的反演精度R²分别达到0.814和0.796,均方根误差RMSE分别为19.21 μg?m^?3和28.31 μg?m^?3。鉴于该反演结果具有较高的准确性和可靠性,本文所建立的方法模型为研究PM_2.5/10在空间上的连续分布特征提供了新的思路和方法,具有较为重要的科研意义与广泛的应用价值。