Performance evaluation of NOAA-EPA developmental aerosol forecasts

To aid air quality model development and assess air quality forecasts, the Meteorological Development Laboratory (MDL) provided categorical verification metrics for developmental aerosol predictions. The National Air Quality Forecasting Capability (NAQFC) generated 48 h (of) gridded hourly developmental predictions for the lower 48 states (CONUS) domain in 12 km horizontal spacing. The NAQFC uses the North American Mesoscale (NAM) model with EPA’s Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model to produce predictions of ground level aerosol concentrations. We used bilinear interpolation to calculate predicted daily maximum values at the location of the observation sites. We compared these interpolated predicted values to the observed daily maximum to produce 2 × 2 contingency tables, with a threshold of 40 μg/m³ during the months of March–August, 2007. The model showed some degree of skill in predicting aerosol exceedances. These results are preliminary as the NAQFC model for aerosol prediction is in the developmental stage. A more comprehensive performance evaluation will be accomplished in 2008, when more data become available. Our verification metrics included categorical analyses for Fraction Correct (FC) or percent correct (FC × 100), Threat Score (TS) or Critical Success Index (CSI), Probability of Detection (POD), and the False Alarm Rate (FAR), Mean Absolute Error (MAE) and mean algebraic error or bias, where bias is forecast minus observation. Graphic products included weekly statistics for the CONUS displayed in the form of bar charts, scatterplots, and graphs. In addition, we split the CONUS into six geographic regions and provided regional statistics on a monthly basis. MDL produced spatial maps of daily 1-h maximum predicted aerosol values overlaid with the corresponding point observations. MDL also provided spatial maps of the daily maximum of the 24-h running average. We derived the 24-h running average from the 1-h average predicted aerosol values and observations.     

基于AVHRR和DEM的重庆城市热岛效应分析

为研究复杂地形上城市热岛(UHI)的特点和变化规律,给城市生态环境分析提供依据,使用重庆市2006年14个时相的NOAA/AVHRR（美国国家海洋大气局/改进的甚高分辨率辐射计）卫星遥感数据和数字高程模型（DEM）,得到研究区域的亮温场,并参照热力学概念和模型,根据当地高程,以海拔 300 m 为基准高度将亮温场计算成位温场。结果表明：（1）计算后山脉、河谷处的温度场普遍改变;山脉植被对下垫面的降温作用明显;白天UHI范围较大,长江和嘉陵江河谷对UHI的切隔作用显著;夜间嘉陵江两侧的UHI趋为一体,范围缩小;（2）7月 25～26日存在多个UHI中心,下午和凌晨最大强度分别为64℃和22℃,平均值分别为605℃和205℃,昼夜平均为405℃;（3）夏、秋季白天和夜间平均最大强度分别为523℃和329℃;（4）重庆UHI强度白天大于夜间,与成都的同类研究结果相同;但夏、秋季的平均最大强度为426℃,小于成都的650℃。     

利用AVHRR和MODIS数据测算海冰资源量——以渤海海冰资源测算为例

论文探讨了利用遥感数据测算海冰资源量的方法,提出了基于GIS技术和光谱特征的海冰信息分层提取法,并测算出2001-01-15的渤海海冰资源储量和可开采量分别为8.19×109m3和4×1010m3,表明渤海海冰作为淡水资源,其数量是相当可观的。论文认为,利用可见光、近红外和远红外波段对海冰资源量测算效果明显;MODIS数据在海冰资源量测算方面优于AVHRR数据。     

西南地区卫星林火监测系统的建立

本文对建立ＧＩＳ支持的ＮＯＡＡ卫星林火监测系统进行了分析．内容包括：监测区ＧＩＳ的形成；ＮＯＡＡ卫星图像叠加经纬度网格；ＧＩＳ与ＮＯＡＡ卫星图像的复合．１９９４年春天，我们对西南林区林火进行了１个多月的实时监测，证明了该系统具有林火分辨率高和定位准确的特点．是一个较为理想的林火监测系统。     

Satellite-Derived Mean Fire Return Intervals As Indicators Of Change In Siberia (1995–2002)

Under current climate change scenarios, temperatures in Siberia are expected to increase, and consequently, fire is also expected to increase. Potential climate-induced change is difficult to assess in Siberia because ground-based fire data are not complete. This investigation introduces a method by which potential climate-induced change can be remotely evaluated. Mean fire return intervals are established for 58 ecosystems across Siberia using eight years of satellite-based area burned data (1995 to 2002). Mean fire return intervals should decrease under current climate change scenarios, however the results do not currently demonstrate consistent evidence of fire-induced change. The overall boreal forest mean fire return interval is lower than the published mean, inferring increased fire. Most notably, using satellite data to calculate mean fire return intervals in individual ecosystems for the entire population of fire is shown to be a viable method by which potential climate-induced land cover change can be evaluated.     

美国气象卫星监测海洋溢油

ＮＯＡＡ卫星主要任务是探测全球大气，通过波段筛选和各种处理，可以监测海洋原油，重柴油，润滑油溢油污染。用该卫星不仅能发现油污，确定油污位置，计算油污面积、漂移扩散方向和速度，而且可以通过连续监测寻找污染源。通过交通部已建成的全国各海监局通信网络，可以建立全国各海域油污染监测网。为改善海洋环境，加大海洋污染执法力度服务。     

A CONSERVATION ASSESSMENT OF CENTRAL AMERICAN VEGETATION AND ECOREGIONS

Acomprehensive,standardized,andthematicallyappropriatemapofCentralAmericanvegetationandlandcovertypeswasdevelopedbyclassifyingtheremotesensedimagery(AVHRR)1km²     

Satellite Observations of Lava Lake Activity at Nyiragongo Volvano, Ex-Zaire, during the Rwandan Refugee Crisis

In June 1994 the summit crater of Nyiragongo volcano, located in the Great Lakes region of central Africa, began to fill with new lava, ending nearly 12 years of quiescence. An earlier eruption of the volcano in 1977 had culminated in the catastrophic draining of a lava lake through fissures in the crater wall, feeding highly mobile lava flows which reached the outskirts of Goma and killed more than 70 people. By July 1994, as many as 20,000 Hutu refugees were arriving in Goma every hour, only 18km south from the summit of Nyiragongo. The exodus brought more than one million people to the camps near the town raising fears of a repeat of the 1977 eruption. This paper examines the role that satellite remote sensing could have played in surveillance of the volcano during this time, and demonstrates the potential for monitoring this and other volcanoes in the future. Images recorded by the spaceborne Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) – freely available over the Internet – provide semi-quantitative information on the activity of the volcano. The aim of this paper is to promote the wider use of readily available technologies.     

湖面亮温对巢湖水华影响的遥感监测分析

利用2002～2007年NOAA气象卫星搭载的先进甚高光谱分辨率辐射计(NOAA/AVHRR)资料,对巢湖蓝藻水华发生频次和湖面亮温的时空分布规律进行统计分析,得到巢湖水体表面亮温的时空分布规律,并探讨其与气温、降水等气象因子以及水华之间的关系和可能存在的机制.从结果来看,湖面亮温与水华发生频次的空间分布规律相近,而在时间分布上存在着较大的差别.一方面,空间分布的相似性表明,湖面亮温高的区域容易发生水华现象;另一方面;时间分布的不一致性表明还有其它的因素会影响水华的发生.通过讨论,得出以下结论:①以5月为分界线,巢湖水华总体上可以分为春季和夏季两大暴发期,春季藻类在较低的水温条件下就能生长繁殖,并暴发水华,但难以形成较大的规模.②受降水量增加的影响,在气温达到最高值的7月不仅湖面亮温所有降低,而且水华发生频次也有所减少.     

Visual interpretation of satellite imagery for monitoring floods in Bangladesh

This article presents the methods and results of visual interpretation of NOAA AVHRR imagery for mapping flood areas in Bangladesh. Color composites of channels 1 and 2 for 18 August 1987 and 10, 15, and 24 September 1988 were interpreted visually for delineating flood boundaries. On such imagery flood areas appear in dark tones and are separated from land (light tones) owing to the absorption of near infrared by water and its reflectance by land and non-waterbodies. Visual interpretation was aided by the use of ground information, such as physiographic and river maps, previous flood maps, newspaper reports, and other published and unpublished documents on the 1987 and 1988 floods. Interpreted flood areas on selected images ranged from 31% to 43% of the total area of Bangladesh. Visual interpretation overestimated flood areas by 5%–10%, compared to the digitally analyzed data. The main advantage of visual analysis lies in the cost effectiveness of AVHRR photographic products, which make them more accessible than the digital image analysis of computer-compatible tapes.