Evaluating the environmental flows of China's Wolonghu wetland and land use changes using a hydrological model, a water balance model, and remote sensing

Environmental flows are critical to sustaining a variety of plant and animal communities in wetlands. However, evaluation of environmental flows is hampered by the problem of hydrological and ecological data shortage, especially in many developing countries such as China. Based on a hydrological model, a water balance model and remote sensing data, we assessed the environmental flows of China's Wolonghu wetland with limited data. The hydrological model provides input data for the water balance model of the wetland, and the remote sensing data can be used to assess land use changes. Integration of these two models with the remote sensing data revealed both the environmental flows of the Wolonghu wetland and the relationships between these environmental flows and land use changes. The results demonstrate that environmental flows have direct and indirect influences on the wetland ecosystem and should be linked to sustainable wetland management.     

基于MODIS模拟的辽东湾叶绿素a的遥感反演模型

叶绿素a浓度对于水质和富营养化评价、赤潮探测及海洋生产力研究有重要意义.利用卫星遥感反演获取叶绿素a浓度弥补了传统采样方法的数据离散化、耗时长且费用高的缺陷,可以实时和全面地观测大尺度海洋叶绿索a分布.通过实测光谱模拟卫星波段,可以在一定程度上削除大气干扰,有助于准确地确定特征波段和建立遥感反演模型.本文以辽东湾为研究区,利用现场实测光谱模拟了MODIS波段,并在光谱特征分析基础上进行叶绿素a的特征波段选择,通过比较单波段和波段比值法等算法,建立了2个具有区域特色的叶绿素a遥感反演模型,并进行了模型验证.结果表明:在辽东湾海域,运用红光附近特征波段667和678 nm来反映叶绿素特征比传统蓝绿光波段(440和550nm)似乎更能削弱其它水体组分的干扰,突出辽东湾水体的特点.利用667、678和551nm的三波段模型要比单纯考虑667和678nm波段比值的模型要好一些,该模型r为0.856,标准差为0.190.模型验证预测值和实测值的相关系数为0.93(p<0.01),表明了模型良好的预测能力.模型具有明显的区域特色,结果是否具有普适性,还需进一步验证.     

基于决策树的辽宁省北部沙漠化信息提取研究

以沙漠化问题较突出的辽宁省北部地区为例,选取2007年Landsat 5 TM遥感影像作为基本数据源,通过对影像中耕地、林地、草地、水域等常见地物及典型沙漠化土地进行光谱特征分析和波段间的相互运算,将修改型土壤调整植被指数（MSAVI）、归一化差异水体指数（NDWI）和遥感图像缨帽变换后的土壤亮度指数（SBI）、绿度植被指数（GVI）及湿度指数（WVI）等特征变量融入决策树分类模型后进行分层分离,从而实现对沙漠化信息的高精度提取。结果显示,决策树分类法可排除提取地物时的干扰信息,是保证沙漠化土地信息快速自动提取的方法之一。     

辽东湾双台子河口湿地翅碱蓬（Suaeda salsa）生物量遥感反演研究

通过现场采集辽东湾双台子河口翅碱蓬（Suaeda salsa）光谱数据,收集标准样方（1 m×1 m）的翅碱蓬生物量（Biomass）,建立相关植被指数与翅碱蓬生物量的遥感反演回归算法,发现辽宁双台子河口湿地翅碱蓬生物量与植被指数PVI、SAVI和MSAVI的相关系数R2较高,直线回归方程相关系数分别达到0.626、0.698和0.679。同时,利用得到的估算模型,结合1990—2005年的双台子河口的TM影像数据,反演该区域翅碱蓬分布面积和生物量。结果发现：辽东湾双台子河口湿地翅碱蓬面积变化呈先降后升的趋势。通过植被指数（NDVI、RVI、PVI和MSAVI）和生物量的算法反演,发现翅碱蓬生物量曲线与分布面积曲线的变化趋势一致。     

Crustacean habitat potential mapping in a tidal flat using remote sensing and GIS

To make a macrofaunal (crustacean) habitat potential map, the spatial distribution of ecological variables in the Hwangdo tidal flat, Korea, was explored. Spatial variables were mapped using remote sensing and a geographic information system (GIS) combined with field observations. A frequency ratio (FR) and logistic regression (LR) model were employed to map the macrofauna potential area for the Ilyoplax dentimerosa, a crustacean species. Spatial variables affecting the tidal macrofauna distribution were selected based on abundance and biomass and used within a spatial database derived from remotely sensed data of various types of sensors. The spatial variables included the intertidal digital elevation model (DEM), slope, distance from a tidal channel, tidal channel density, surface sediment facies, spectral reflectance of the near infrared (NIR) bands and the tidal exposure duration. The relation between the I. dentimerosa and each spatial variable was calculated using the FR and LR. The species was randomly divided into a training set (70%) to analyse habitat potential using FR and LR and a test set (30%) to validate the predicted habitat potential map. The relations were overlaid to produce a habitat potential map with the species potential index (SPI) value for each pixel. The potential habitat maps were compared with the surveyed habitat locations such as validation data set. The comparison results showed that the LR model (accuracy is 85.28%) is better in prediction than the FR (accuracy is 78.96%) model. The performance of models gave satisfactory accuracies. The LR provides the quantitative influence of variables on a potential habitat of species; otherwise, the FR shows the quantitative influence of a class in each variable. The combination of a GIS-based frequency ratio and logistic regression models and remote sensing with field observations is an effective method to determine locations favorable for macrofaunal species occurrences in a tidal flat.     

基于PSR模型的松嫩平原西部湿地生态环境评价

以1986年和2000年遥感影像作为信息源，在GIS技术的支持下建立了松嫩平原西部湿地空间信息数据库。以压力一状态一响应(PSR)模型作为研究方法，建立了一套湿地生态环境评价指标体系。通过选取反映压力、状态及响应等的指标，对该区湿地生态环境的动态变化进行了分析。得出基本结论，(1)15年来该区人为干扰压力不断加强，造成人工湿地增加，天然湿地减少，湿地生态环境服务功能下降。(2)15年来该区湿地内部结构和状态发生显著变化，湿地景观异质性在不断增加，湿地破碎化及退化严重。(3)15年来湿地对人类活动干扰的响应是湿地面积在不断减少，人类对湿地变化的响应是建立湿地保护区，保护区的面积在不断增加。     

Global burned-land estimation in Latin America using MODIS composite data.

This paper presents results of the AQL2004 project, which has been develope within the GOFC-GOLD Latin American network of remote sensing and forest fires (RedLatif). The project intended to obtain monthly burned-land maps of the entire region, from Mexico to Patagonia, using MODIS (moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer) reflectance data. The project has been organized in three different phases: acquisition and preprocessing of satellite data; discrimination of burned pixels; and validation of results. In the first phase, input data consisting of 32-day composites of MODIS 500-m reflectance data generated by the Global Land Cover Facility (GLCF) of the University of Maryland (College Park, Maryland, U.S.A.) were collected and processed. The discrimination of burned areas was addressed in two steps: searching for "burned core" pixels using postfire spectral indices and multitemporal change detection and mapping of burned scars using contextual techniques. The validation phase was based on visual analysis of Landsat and CBERS (China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellite) images. Validation of the burned-land category showed an agreement ranging from 30% to 60%, depending on the ecosystem and vegetation species present. The total burned area for the entire year was estimated to be 153 215 km2. The most affected countries in relation to their territory were Cuba, Colombia, Bolivia, and Venezuela. Burned areas were found in most land covers; herbaceous vegetation (savannas and grasslands) presented the highest proportions of burned area, while perennial forest had the lowest proportions. The importance of croplands in the total burned area should be taken with reserve, since this cover presented the highest commission errors. The importance of generating systematic products of burned land areas for different ecological processes is emphasized.     

Land cover changes in the Caroni Swamp Ramsar Site, Trinidad (1942 and 2007): implications for management

Caroni Swamp Ramsar Site, the largest mangrove dominated wetland in Trinidad and Tobago, continues to be impacted by human activities. This study examines changes in land cover and land use from 1942 to 2007 using remote sensing technology, geographic information systems (GIS) and extensive field surveys. Land cover maps were produced for 1942, 1957, 1986, 1994, 2003 and 2007 from aerial photos and high resolution satellite imagery. Caroni Swamp’s hydrology was altered in the 1920’s to facilitate rice cultivation. This resulted in the formation of large tracts of freshwater marsh. From 1942 to 1957, freshwater marsh and agriculture lands increased, but after this period there was a steady decline in both, as freshwater was diverted away from the wetland and salt water intruded further inland. Although mangrove forest was cleared for built development, its coverage has consistently increased in the Swamp from 1957, with the exception of 2003 when there was a decrease by less than 100 ha. This is in contrast to most areas in the tropics where mangrove coverage continue to decline. In this case, the mangrove trees are out-competing/shading marsh vegetation, causing shift in the wetland communities. In the Caroni Ramsar Site, the natural wetland communities generally increased from 1942 to 2003, but declined in 2007, as built development more than doubled. The paper provides spatial coverage, and quantifies land cover from 1942 to 2007. It also identifies reasons for the changes in land cover and uses, and the implications for management.     

土地利用/覆被变化对土地生态系统有机碳库的影响——以吉林省通榆县为例

土地利用/覆被变化对陆地碳循环影响显著.文章基于实地采集的土壤、植物样品的测试数据和1989、2004两年8月陆地卫星TM遥感影像数据,采用生态系统类型法分析吉林省通榆县1989-2004年耕地、林地、草地、盐碱地、沙地等11 种地类之间土地利用变化对土地生态系统有机碳库的影响.计算结果表明1989-2004年通榆县土地生态系统有机碳库共损失了3.18 TgC(1Tg=106t),年均损失约为0.265 Tgc.其中,湿地、草地有机碳库分别损失5.54 TgC和3.71 TgC,盐碱地面积的增加导致有机碳库损失4.75 TgC.林地面积增加和沙地面积减少分别使有机碳库增加了4.58 TgC和3.75 TgC.研究区总体上为一个碳失汇,草地退化、湿地萎缩、土地沙化和盐碱化造成了有机碳库的碳损失,而植树造林、草地植被的恢复和重建等活动则可以显著增加土壤有机碳储量.该研究对于评估自然环境与人为活动影响下,特别是大规模土地整治与生态修复对土壤有机碳的增汇潜力和固碳效应的影响具有重要的理论意义和应用价值.     

Ecological modelling of nitrate pollution in small river basins by spreadsheets and GIS

With the increasing importance and awareness of water quality in the small basins, the modelling system is developed for monitoring and predictions of surface water pollution. The compartment model deals with basin characteristics extended by land cover attributes. The parameters of the model are estimated by experimental data of water quality together with land cover types that serve as nutrient detention media or transformers. The study examines methodology to determine the potential areas of nitrate pollution from point and non-point sources by remote sensing techniques. Classification of water, agricultural, forest and urban areas is processed with satellite images (LANDSAT 7). Whereas the agricultural and urban areas act as sources of pollution, forest zones operate as sinks. The nitrate levels are decreased downstream, if the proportion of the forest inside contribution zones increases. The modelling system is used to simulate amounts of nitrates in each compartment of the stream during the monitored period of one year. The number of compartments and their lengths are estimated on the basis of morphology of the basin. Simulation of the dynamic model is carried out with the TabSim. Geographic information system (GIS) and remote sensing tools are used to manage and estimate nitrate inflows from point and non-point sources of pollution. The article presents the spatial and time variation of the nitrate (NO₃⁻) within the basin of the stream Rakovnický (the west part of Bohemia, the whole area of 368 km²). It is shown that the model approach extended by the GIS and remote sensing can support decision-making process for better management practices in the basins.     

临策铁路沿线土地沙漠化敏感性评价

以临河至策克铁路为研究对象,选择土壤、地貌、植被类型作为沙漠化敏感性评价因子,根据TM遥感影像,参考铁路沿线有关资料,并结合现场调查,编制了铁路沿线地貌、土壤和植被图.采用图层权重 - 级别打分叠加模型,对铁路沿线土地沙漠化敏感性进行评价.结果表明,临策铁路大部分位于沙漠化高度敏感区,占全线长度的54.5%;极度敏感区占4.4%.这些区域也是风沙流主要分布地区,在铁路工程施工期及运营期应该采取有效保护措施,防止沙漠化土地的扩大与蔓延以及风沙流的加剧.     

Modeled historical land use and land cover for the conterminous United States

The landscape of the conterminous United States has changed dramatically over the last 200 years, with agricultural land use, urban expansion, forestry, and other anthropogenic activities altering land cover across vast swaths of the country. While land use and land cover (LULC) models have been developed to model potential future LULC change, few efforts have focused on recreating historical landscapes. Researchers at the US Geological Survey have used a wide range of historical data sources and a spatially explicit modeling framework to model spatially explicit historical LULC change in the conterminous United States from 1992 back to 1938. Annual LULC maps were produced at 250-m resolution, with 14 LULC classes. Assessment of model results showed good agreement with trends and spatial patterns in historical data sources such as the Census of Agriculture and historical housing density data, although comparison with historical data is complicated by definitional and methodological differences. The completion of this dataset allows researchers to assess historical LULC impacts on a range of ecological processes.     

Water quality monitoring in a slightly-polluted inland water body through remote sensing — Case study of the Guanting Reservoir in Beijing, China

This study focused on the water quality of the Guanting Reservoir, a possible auxiliary drinking water source for Beijing. Through a remote sensing (RS) approach and using Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM) data, water quality retrieval models were established and analyzed for eight common water quality variables, including algae content, turbidity, and concentrations of chemical oxygen demand, total nitrogen, ammonia nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen, total phosphorus, and dissolved phosphorus. The results show that there exists a statistically significant correlation between each water quality variable and remote sensing data in a slightly-polluted inland water body with fairly weak spectral radiation. With an appropriate method of sampling pixel digital numbers and multiple regression algorithms, retrieval of the algae content, turbidity, and nitrate nitrogen concentration was achieved within 10% mean relative error, concentrations of total nitrogen and dissolved phosphorus within 20%, and concentrations of ammonia nitrogen and total phosphorus within 30%. On the other hand, no effective retrieval method for chemical oxygen demand was found. These accuracies were acceptable for the practical application of routine monitoring and early warning on water quality safety with the support of precise traditional monitoring. The results show that performing the most traditional routine monitoring of water quality by RS in relatively clean inland water bodies is possible and effective.     

Improving land use inference by factorizing mobile phone call activity matrix

Land use is shaped by human activities. Traditional methods of measuring land uses (e.g. surveys and remote sensing techniques) often have difficulties in capturing human activities. The near-ubiquitous coverage of mobile phones opens up a new way to investigate land use through human activities. We propose to analyze land use by characterizing human activity patterns based on the aggregated call volume, and apply non-negative matrix factorization to identify fundamental behavioral classes. Using tower-based call data from Dakar, Senegal, we discover two fundamental land use patterns: commercial/business/industrial (C/B/I) and residential. Then, the land use of the reception area of each cell tower can be inferred based on the weights obtained for each basis vector. To evaluate the proposed approach, the results are compared with two points-of-interest (POI) data sets obtained from OpenStreetMap and Facebook’s Graph API. We have found that a majority of POIs like embassies, offices, and hotels are located in the predicted C/B/I areas; specifically, there is a strong positive correlation between estimated land use weights and the number of related POIs. Furthermore, we have shown analyzing 24-h call pattern matrix can track daily land use changes.     

Comparison between remote-sensed data and in situ measurements in coastal waters: The taranto sea case

Monitoring and managing small coastal ecosystems requires a considerable understanding of the temporal dynamics of biophysical factors describing the coastal water systems. For this reason, daily observation from space could be a very efficient tool. The objective of the work described in this paper is to evaluate the contribution of remote sensing to the continuous monitoring of coastal areas. It is well known that in coastal areas, the presence of inorganic suspended sediments and coloured dissolved organic matter can make chlorophyll-concentration measurements from remote sensing difficult. To overcome these difficulties, an alternative approach to the SeaWiFS standard chlorophyll algorithm is presented, based on a semi-analytic model for sea water and on the use of MODIS data as input in a model for atmospheric effects removal. Moreover, land contamination (mixed sea–land pixels) can introduce ambiguities in sea-surface temperature measurements from remote sensing. This paper proposes the use of a hydrodynamic model as a time–space interpolator of in situ campaign data, to extensively validate the temperature values extracted from AVHRR sensor. We validated the proposed approach, using experimental field data collected over a two-year campaign in the Taranto Gulf. The results seem to indicate a good agreement between remote-sensed and in situ data.     

Soil landscape constraint mapping for coastal land use planning using geographic information system

The aim of the study was to delineate soil landscape constraints to various land uses for urban and regional planning in the coastal areas of New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Soil landscape units mapped at 1:100,000 or coarser were sub-divided into component facets using advanced terrain modelling techniques in a geographic information system (GIS). The output facet grids were further overlain and linked with relevant GIS layers and soil databases to derive soil landscape constraint ratings for various land use purposes such as residential development, cropping and grazing. The constraint ratings for a specific land use were calculated based on objective and rule-based assessments of soil and landscape features such as engineering hazards, intrinsic fertility, drainage and other parameters. A series of soil landscape constraint maps which portray specific land use capability have been produced for the NSW coast. The methodology developed in this study has been demonstrated to be efficient in delineating soil landscape constraints and there is over 90% agreement between the model outputs and the assessment by soil surveyors with local knowledge. The output maps show levels of unprecedented detail of soil and landscape constraint for the coast of NSW and can be readily interpreted by land use planners and land managers for sustainable land use decision making practices.     

农业土地利用变化及原因、效应分析

利用航空遥感影像结合野外调查方法 ,获取了研究区域 1 979年和 1 999年土地利用类型图 ,并分析了该时段土地利用变化情况。通过农户调查 ,探讨了土地利用变化的原因。分析表明 ,技术水平提高和投入增加是耕地产量提高的重要因素 ,提高土地经济收益是旱地土地利用结构变化的直接动力。     

基于MODIS数据的河南省冬小麦产量遥感估算模型

小麦是世界上最重要的粮食作物,小麦生产对中国的粮食保障起着十分重要的作用,及时、准确、大范围对小麦产量进行监测预报,对于农学经济发展和粮食政策制定具有极为重要的现实意义。对作物产量进行遥感监测的原理是建立在其遥感特征基础之上的,通过建立作物长势指标与遥感信息的定量关系,可实现对作物产量的监测预报。文章基于2009年MODIS遥感数据和气象数据,利用Arcgis和ENVI提取纯小麦像元,并提取纯小麦像元对应的NDVI、NPP和LAI,获取分县NDVI、NPP和LAI均值,利用统计软件对产量数据和分县遥感参数均值进行数据整理和分析,建立了河南省冬小麦产量估算模型。以往研究多采用遥感图像上某像元和地面调查点进行研究,具有很大的不确定性,文章以县为单位,对冬小麦平均单产和县域内冬小麦种植像元遥感参数的均值进行相关研究,提高了模型模拟精度。同时文章选用多种遥感参数和多项气象因子建立估产模型,避免了针对一个参数进行估产的局限性。在最佳时相的选择上,根据冯美辰（2010）以往的研究结果,从4月以后,5月8日和4月20Et植被指数和产量相关性最大,4月份之前冬小麦处于返青到拔节期,对产量来说还有很多不确定闪素,因此文章选用5月8El和4月20日进行冬小麦估产研究。结果表明,5月8日的估产模型优于4月20日,加入气象冈子的遥感气象估产模型优于只采用遥感参数进行估产的遥感模型。利用2010年产量数据对模型精度进行检验,遥感气象模型预测精度在70．2％N99．7％之间,平均精度为90．7％;遥感模型预测精度在68．1％到95．5％之间,平均精度为83．9％。表明遥感气象模型模拟精度更高,其精度可以满足大面积估产要求,可以对产量预报提供科学参考。     

Survey methods for assessing land cover map accuracy

The increasing availability of digital photographic materials has fueled efforts by agencies and organizations to generate land cover maps for states, regions, and the United States as a whole. Regardless of the information sources and classification methods used, land cover maps are subject to numerous sources of error. In order to understand the quality of the information contained in these maps, it is desirable to generate statistically valid estimates of accuracy rates describing misclassification errors. We explored a full sample survey framework for creating accuracy assessment study designs that balance statistical and operational considerations in relation to study objectives for a regional assessment of GAP land cover maps. We focused not only on appropriate sample designs and estimation approaches, but on aspects of the data collection process, such as gaining cooperation of land owners and using pixel clusters as an observation unit. The approach was tested in a pilot study to assess the accuracy of Iowa GAP land cover maps. A stratified two-stage cluster sampling design addressed sample size requirements for land covers and the need for geographic spread while minimizing operational effort. Recruitment methods used for private land owners yielded high response rates, minimizing a source of nonresponse error. Collecting data for a 9-pixel cluster centered on the sampled pixel was simple to implement, and provided better information on rarer vegetation classes as well as substantial gains in precision relative to observing data at a single-pixel.