Modelling high arctic percent vegetation cover using field digital images and high resolution satellite data

In this study, digital images collected at a study site in the Canadian High Arctic were processed and classified to examine the spatial-temporal patterns of percent vegetation cover (PVC). To obtain the PVC of different plant functional groups (i.e., forbs, graminoids/sedges and mosses), field near infrared-green-blue (NGB) digital images were classified using an object-based image analysis (OBIA) approach. The PVC analyses comparing different vegetation types confirmed: (i) the polar semi-desert exhibited the lowest PVC with a large proportion of bare soil/rock cover; (ii) the mesic tundra cover consisted of approximately 60% mosses; and (iii) the wet sedge consisted almost exclusively of graminoids and sedges. As expected, the PVC and green normalized difference vegetation index (GNDVI; (R_NIR − R_Green)/(R_NIR + R_Green)), derived from field NGB digital images, increased during the summer growing season for each vegetation type: i.e., ∼5% (0.01) for polar semi-desert; ∼10% (0.04) for mesic tundra; and ∼12% (0.03) for wet sedge respectively. PVC derived from field images was found to be strongly correlated with WorldView-2 derived normalized difference spectral indices (NDSI; (R_x − R_y)/(R_x + R_y)), where R_x is the reflectance of the red edge (724.1 nm) or near infrared (832.9 nm and 949.3 nm) bands; R_y is the reflectance of the yellow (607.7 nm) or red (658.8 nm) bands with R²’s ranging from 0.74 to 0.81. NDSIs that incorporated the yellow band (607.7 nm) performed slightly better than the NDSIs without, indicating that this band may be more useful for investigating Arctic vegetation that often includes large proportions of senescent vegetation throughout the growing season.     

利用端元光谱内插的青海植被覆盖度估算研究

针对利用像元二分模型估算植被覆盖度的精度不高的问题,该文基于OSAVI,提出了选定模型参数(OSAVIs和OSAVIv)的方法,并将该方法应用于青海省植被覆盖度估算。该方法通过高分辨率影像在研究区内选取纯裸地和纯植被样点,并将纯裸地样点的OSAVI作为纯裸地样点像元的OSAVIs,将纯植被样点的OSAVI作为纯植被样点像元的OSAVIv,利用样点像元的OSAVIs和OSAVIv值,通过普通克里金内插法,求得研究区每个像元对应的OSAVIs和OSAVIv。经精度验证结果表明:此方法较常规的参数选取方法,RMSE由0.170降至0.156,MAE由0.137降至0.124。经进一步分析表明,此方法对边缘验证点和非边缘验证点的估算精度都有所提高,由于配准误差和周围地表漫反射的影响,边缘验证点的估算精度低于对非边缘验证点的估算精度。     

Wheat crop inventory using high spectral resolution irs-p3 mos-b spectrometer data

Modular Optoelectronic Scanner (MOS-B) spectrometer data over parts of Northern India was evaluated for wheat crop monitoring involving (a) sub pixel wheat fractional area estimation using spectral unmixing approach and (b) growth assessment by red edge shift at different phenological stages. Red shift of 10 nm was observed between crown root initiation stage to flowering stage. Wheat fraction estimates using linear spectral unmixing on Feb. 13, 1999 acquisition of MOS-B data had high correlation (0.82) with estimates from Wide Field Sensor (WiFS) data acquired on same date by IRS-P3 platform. It was observed that five bands (4,5,8,12,13 MOS-B bands) are sufficient for signature separability of major land cover classes viz. wheat, urban, wasteland, and water based on purely spectral separability criterion using Transformed Divergence (T.D.) approach. Higher number of bands saturated the T.D. values. In contrast, performance of sub pixel fractional area estimation using unmixing decreased drastically for eight bands (4,5,6,7,8,9,12,13 MOS-B bands) chosen from optimal band selection criteria in comparison to full set of 13 bands. The relative deviation between area estimated from Wifs and MOS-B increased from 1.72 percent when all thirteen bands were used in unmixing to 26.10 percent for the above eight bands.     

线性/非线性光谱混合模型估算白刺灌丛植被覆盖度

及时监测干旱与半干旱区光合/非光合植被覆盖度时空变化,可以为指导荒漠化防治工程及植被衰退机制研究提供重要信息。本文以甘肃民勤典型植被白刺灌丛为研究对象,通过地面控制性光谱实验获取混合光谱、端元光谱与丰度信息,开展线性与非线性光谱混合模型(包括核函数非线性和双线性混合模型)估算光合和非光合植被覆盖度的对比研究,采用全限制最小二乘法进行模型解混,分别获取各样本数据中各类端元丰度及其精度信息,通过模型分解的均方根误差(RMSE)与地面验证精度确定用于光合和非光合植被覆盖度估算的最佳光谱混合模型,其中参考端元丰度采用神经网络(NNC)分类算法对数字影像进行分类获取。结果表明:(1)引入阴影端元的四端元模型相对于传统的三端元模型(光合/非光合植被与裸土)能有效提高光谱解混的精度,并提高光合和非光合植被覆盖度估算精度;(2)对白刺灌丛来说,光合植被、非光合植被、裸土及阴影间多重散射混合效应存在,但混合效应不够显著;考虑非线性参数的核函数非线性光谱混合模型表现略低于线性光谱混合模型,因此非线性光谱混合模型在估算白刺灌丛光合和非光合植被覆盖度时相对于线性光谱混合模型没有明显优势;(3)基于光合/非光合植被、裸土与阴影四端元的线性光谱混合模型可以实现白刺灌丛光合和非光合植被覆盖度的准确估算,光合植被覆盖度估算RMSE为0.11 77,非光合植被覆盖度估算RMSE为0.0835。     

Estimating fractional green vegetation cover of Mongolian grasslands using digital camera images and MODIS satellite vegetation indices

ABSTRACT

Fractional green vegetation cover (FVC) is a useful indicator for monitoring grassland status. Satellite imagery with coarse spatial but high temporal resolutions has been preferred to monitor seasonal and inter-annual FVC dynamics in wide geographic area such as Mongolian steppe. However, the coarse spatial resolution can cause a certain uncertainty in the satellite-based FVC estimation, which calls attention to develop a robust statistical test for the relationship between field FVC and satellite-derived vegetation indices. In the arid and semi-arid Mongolian steppe, nadir pointing digital camera images (DCI) were collected and used to produce a FVC dataset to support the evaluation of satellite-based FVC retrievals. An optimal DCI processing method was determined with respect to three color spaces (RGB, HIS, L*a*b*) and six green pixel classification algorithms, from which a country-wide dataset of DCI-FVC was produced and used for evaluating the accuracy of satellite-based FVC estimates from MODIS vegetation indices. We applied three empirical and three semi-empirical MODIS-FVC retrieval models. DCI data were collected from 96 sites across the Mongolian steppe from 2012 to 2014. The histogram algorithm using the hue (H) value of the HIS color space was the optimal DCI method (r² = 0.94, percent root-mean-square-error (RMSE) = 7.1%). For MODIS-FVC retrievals, semi-empirical Baret model was the best-performing model with the highest r² (0.69) and the lowest RMSE (49.7%), while the lowest MB (+1.1%) was found for the regression model with normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). The high RMSE (>50% or so) is an issue requiring further enhancement of satellite-based FVC retrievals accounting for key plant and soil parameters relevant to the Mongolian steppe and for scale mismatch between sampling and MODIS data.     

基于实测光谱和SRF的稀疏植被区MODIS积雪信息提取

以新疆准噶尔盆地古尔班通古特沙漠为研究区,以中等分辨率成像光谱仪(MODIS 1B)数据为例,辅以MODIS光谱响应函数(SRF)和全波段光谱仪(ASD)准同步采集的雪面反射光谱,运用线性光谱混合模型(LSMM)实现了稀疏植被区积雪遥感信息提取.结果表明:①利用SRF对雪面反射光谱进行端元光谱到像元光谱的转换,生成对应于MODIS1-7波段的离散光谱,将其与用最小噪声分离(MNF)变换和像元纯度指数(PPI)法获得的MODIS影像端元光谱进行对比,发现MODIS1波段光谱值远大于转换光谱值,MODIS2-7波段光谱值与转换光谱值接近;②MODIS2-7波段影像端元光谱值适用于LSMM估算稀疏植被区积雪分量,积雪分量估算值与归一化差分积雪指数(NDSI)拟合结果显示,剔除MODIS1波段后估算的积雪分量与NDSI的相关性显著提高,表明所提取的积雪分量可以作为估算积雪的典型指数.     

Multispectral sensor spectral resolution simulations for generation of hyperspectral vegetation indices from Hyperion data

The use of multispectral satellite sensors for generation of hyperspectral indices is restricted because of their coarse spectral resolutions. In this study, we attempted to synthesize a few of these hyperspectral indices, viz. RedEdge Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI₇₀₅), Plant Senescence Reflectance Index (PSRI) and Normalized-Difference-Infrared-Index (NDII), for crop stress monitoring at regional scale using multispectral images, simulated from Hyperion data. The Hyperion data were resampled and simulated to corresponding spatial and spectral resolutions of AWiFS, OCM-2 and MODIS sensors using their respective filter function. Different possible combinations of two bands (i.e. simple difference, simple ratio and normalized difference) were computed using synthetic spectral bands of each sensor, and were regressed with NDVI₇₀₅, PSRI and NDII. Models with highest correlation were selected and inverted on Hyperion data of another date to synthesize respective multispectral indices. Synthetic broad band indices of multispectral sensors with their respective narrow band indices of Hyperion were found to be in good agreement.     

Prediction of soil properties using imaging spectroscopy: Considering fractional vegetation cover to improve accuracy

Spectroscopic techniques have become attractive to assess soil properties because they are fast, require little labor and may reduce the amount of laboratory waste produced when compared to conventional methods. Imaging spectroscopy (IS) can have further advantages compared to laboratory or field proximal spectroscopic approaches such as providing spatially continuous information with a high density. However, the accuracy of IS derived predictions decreases when the spectral mixture of soil with other targets occurs. This paper evaluates the use of spectral data obtained by an airborne hyperspectral sensor (ProSpecTIR-VS – Aisa dual sensor) for prediction of physical and chemical properties of Brazilian highly weathered soils (i.e., Oxisols). A methodology to assess the soil spectral mixture is adapted and a progressive spectral dataset selection procedure, based on bare soil fractional cover, is proposed and tested. Satisfactory performances are obtained specially for the quantification of clay, sand and CEC using airborne sensor data (R² of 0.77, 0.79 and 0.54; RPD of 2.14, 2.22 and 1.50, respectively), after spectral data selection is performed; although results obtained for laboratory data are more accurate (R² of 0.92, 0.85 and 0.75; RPD of 3.52, 2.62 and 2.04, for clay, sand and CEC, respectively). Most importantly, predictions based on airborne-derived spectra for which the bare soil fractional cover is not taken into account show considerable lower accuracy, for example for clay, sand and CEC (RPD of 1.52, 1.64 and 1.16, respectively). Therefore, hyperspectral remotely sensed data can be used to predict topsoil properties of highly weathered soils, although spectral mixture of bare soil with vegetation must be considered in order to achieve an improved prediction accuracy.     

Exploiting spectral and spatial information in hyperspectral urban data with high resolution

Very high resolution hyperspectral data should be very useful to provide detailed maps of urban land cover. In order to provide such maps, both accurate and precise classification tools need, however, to be developed. In this letter, new methods for classification of hyperspectral remote sensing data are investigated, with the primary focus on multiple classifications and spatial analysis to improve mapping accuracy in urban areas. In particular, we compare spatial reclassification and mathematical morphology approaches. We show results for classification of DAIS data over the town of Pavia, in northern Italy. Classification maps of two test areas are given, and the overall and individual class accuracies are analyzed with respect to the parameters of the proposed classification procedures.     

考虑植被覆盖因子的地形辐射校正模型

针对传统的地形辐射校正模型无法适用复杂地表覆盖类型而导致的校正精度较低的问题,该文提出了一种考虑像元植被覆盖因子的模型。山区遥感影像像元大部分为植被与岩石、裸土的混合像元,针对混合像元中岩石、裸土部分应用太阳-地表-传感器模型,而对于植被覆盖区则采用考虑植被垂直生长特性的太阳-树冠-传感器模型,两模型用像元植被覆盖因子拟合为新的太阳-植被覆盖因子-传感器模型。利用覆盖江西实验区的Landsat-8陆地成像仪影像和数字高程模型数据进行了校正比对分析,结果表明该方法可有效地消除地形起伏对辐射亮度的影响。     

European forest cover mapping with high resolution satellite data: The Carpathians case study

The aim of the study was to elaborate a methodology for forest mapping based on high resolution satellite data, relevant for reporting on forest cover and spatial pattern changes in Europe. The Carpathians were selected as a case study area and mapped using 24 Landsat scenes, processed independently with a supervised approach combining image segmentation, knowledge-based rules to extract a training set and the maximum likelihood decision rule. Validation was done with available very high resolution imagery. Overall accuracies per scene ranged from 93 to 96%. The labelling disagreement in overlapping areas of adjacent scenes was 6.8% on average.     

Estimating fractional vegetation cover and the vegetation index of bare soil and highly dense vegetation with a physically based method

Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) of highly dense vegetation (NDVI_v) and bare soil (NDVI_s), identified as the key parameters for Fractional Vegetation Cover (FVC) estimation, are usually obtained with empirical statistical methods However, it is often difficult to obtain reasonable values of NDVI_v and NDVI_s at a coarse resolution (e.g., 1 km), or in arid, semiarid, and evergreen areas. The uncertainty of estimated NDVI_s and NDVI_v can cause substantial errors in FVC estimations when a simple linear mixture model is used. To address this problem, this paper proposes a physically based method. The leaf area index (LAI) and directional NDVI are introduced in a gap fraction model and a linear mixture model for FVC estimation to calculate NDVI_v and NDVI_s. The model incorporates the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF) model parameters product (MCD43B1) and LAI product, which are convenient to acquire. Two types of evaluation experiments are designed 1) with data simulated by a canopy radiative transfer model and 2) with satellite observations. The root-mean-square deviation (RMSD) for simulated data is less than 0.117, depending on the type of noise added on the data. In the real data experiment, the RMSD for cropland is 0.127, for grassland is 0.075, and for forest is 0.107. The experimental areas respectively lack fully vegetated and non-vegetated pixels at 1 km resolution. Consequently, a relatively large uncertainty is found while using the statistical methods and the RMSD ranges from 0.110 to 0.363 based on the real data. The proposed method is convenient to produce NDVI_v and NDVI_s maps for FVC estimation on regional and global scales.     

Urban cadastral mapping using very high resolution remote sensing data

With growing urban expanses, one of the pre-requisites for effective governance is Urban Information Systems (UIS) with content down to individual properties (and individuals). The basic input i.e., a map, in UIS should show individual property boundaries showing the plan outline of all structures existing within, at a scale of 1:1000 and larger with sub-metre to centimeters planimetric and geometric accuracy. With very high resolution remote sensing data of the order of 1m available in hand, it is possible to prepare maps with high resolution spatial content. The present exercise demonstrates a method of preparing a geometrically and planimetrically accurate urban cadastral map on very large scale for a small area of about 5 sq km. IKONOS merged data with 1m resolution is used for the purpose. Mapping was done in conjunction with on-site measurements and sketches. Guides are used to maintain shape symmetry and accuracy of buildings and other features. Working out cost of mapping per unit area is another objective in the present exercise. For want of fully or semi-automatic methods of information extraction from very high resolution remote sensing data, it is imperative that mapping should be carried out in conjunction with some on-site measurements wherever necessary.     

基于高分辨率TerraSAR-X影像的PSInSAR地表形变监测

利用2011年10月—2013年7月间获取的37景TerraSAR-X高分辨率条带模式SAR数据,采用干涉测量点目标分析(interferometric point target analysis,IPTA)技术得到常州地区因工厂集中开采地下水所引起的地表沉降信息,即常州市武进地区有多处地表沉降,在2011—2013年间最大沉降速率为31.494 mm/a。通过与Envisat ASAR数据获取的平均沉降速率对比,说明TerraSAR-X数据不仅可以提高永久散射体(permanment scatter,PS)的点密度,而且能更好地描述散射体的细节变化和微量位移情况,体现出TerraSAR-X数据监测地表形变的优势。沈海高速公路常州沿线地面沉降的监测结果表明:TerraSAR-X数据在人工线状地物形变监测中具有广阔的应用前景;IPTA监测结果与水准测量结果具有较好的一致性,表明将IPTA技术应用于城市地表形变监测的正确性。     

结合Sentinel-2光谱与纹理信息的冬小麦作物茬覆盖度估算

作物茬覆盖度的估算对于探究农业耕作方式对周围环境的影响具有十分重要的意义。目前,基于多光谱影像的作物茬指数是作物茬覆盖度估算的常用方法。然而,在作物茬高覆盖区域,指数法容易出现“饱和”现象。已有研究结果表明结合影像的光谱与纹理信息有助于改善指数法的“饱和”问题。Sentinel-2作为一颗多光谱卫星,空间分辨率可达10 m,与Landsat OLI相比,具有更丰富的纹理信息。因此,探究Sentinel-2光谱与纹理信息相结合在作物茬覆盖度估算上的潜力具有重要意义。本文以山东省禹城市为研究区,分析了Sentinel-2各波段反射率、归一化差值指数以及不同窗口大小下灰度共生矩阵统计量等遥感因子与野外实测作物茬覆盖度的相关性,并利用最优子集法对遥感因子进行筛选,构建作物茬覆盖度的最优估算模型。同时,使用留一法交叉验证对模型进行评价。结果表明在单因子分析中,归一化差异耕作指数NDTI（Normalized Difference Residue Index）与作物茬覆盖度的相关性最好,相关系数达0.735。使用NDTI、5×5窗口下Sentinel-2 8A波段的相关性统计量以及12波段的方差统计量构建的多元方程是作物茬覆盖度估算的最优模型,相关系数为0.869,均方根误差为11%。与仅使用光谱信息的最优模型相比,相关系数提高了0.094,均方根误差下降了3.5%。可见,结合Sentinel-2的纹理信息有助于提高作物茬覆盖度的估算精度。     

利用线性融合方法进行金花茶自然保护区植被覆盖度时空变化研究

在利用高空间分辨率影像研究小区域植被覆盖度（FVC）变化时,传感器、成像条件及云量的影响会导致连续的长时序影像数据缺失或数据质量较差,同时影像的低时间分辨率也限制了对小区域连续时序FVC变化的研究。针对该问题,本文采用线性融合方法融合出连续的长时序FVC影像,解决了在研究FVC时空变化时云量和条带影响导致的Landsat影像连续时序数据缺失和低时间分辨率问题;利用Sen+Mann-Kendall进行趋势分析发现,金花茶自然保护区的FVC在2000-2016年整体呈增加趋势,FVC显著增加的区域约占37.32%,不显著增加的区域约占58.56%。线性融合方法得到的FVC影像可以精细地表征地表FVC的变化,较好地解决了高空间分辨率影像FVC连续时序数据缺失的限制,有利于小区域FVC的长时序时空变化研究。     

基于光谱和纹理特征的山区高分辨率遥感影像分类

本文在只做阴影补偿而不做地形校正的情况下,使用光谱和纹理特征相结合的方法进行山区高分辨率遥感影像分类。实验取得了78%的分类精度,表明该方法合理可行,具有一定的实用性。     

机载Lidar数据的农作物覆盖度及LAI反演

虽然Lidar点云数据已被广泛应用于获取森林各项结构参数,但这些方法并不适合于低矮的灌丛、林地和农作物。本文以玉米为研究对象,提出利用机载Lidar点云数据的强度信息和全波形数据中的距离与扫描天顶角信息,反演农作物覆盖度和LAI的方法。在黑河进行的飞行实验和地面验证表明,该方法具有较高精度,也表明Lidar在低矮自然植被监测和农业应用上有较大潜力。     

Land cover classification of finer resolution remote sensing data integrating temporal features from time series coarser resolution data

Land cover classification of finer resolution remote sensing data is always difficult to acquire high-frequency time series data which contains temporal features for improving classification accuracy. This paper proposed a method of land cover classification with finer resolution remote sensing data integrating temporal features extracted from time series coarser resolution data. The coarser resolution vegetation index data is first fused with finer resolution data to obtain time series finer resolution data. Temporal features are extracted from the fused data and added to improve classification accuracy. The result indicates that temporal features extracted from coarser resolution data have significant effect on improving classification accuracy of finer resolution data, especially for vegetation types. The overall classification accuracy is significantly improved approximately 4% from 90.4% to 94.6% and 89.0% to 93.7% for using Landsat 8 and Landsat 5 data, respectively. The user and producer accuracies for all land cover types have been improved.     

南方丘陵区植被覆盖度遥感估算的地形效应评估

植被覆盖变化是生态环境领域的核心研究内容之一,但其估算精度常受到地形效应、土壤背景、大气效应等各种因素影响。以Landsat 8 OLI为遥感数据源,基于像元二分模型,分别利用归一化差值植被指数(NDVI)、经Cosine-C校正的归一化差值植被指数(NDVI)和归一化差值山地植被指数(NDMVI)建立植被覆盖度估算模型,以评估南方丘陵区植被覆盖度的地形效应。结果表明,3种植被覆盖度估算模型均能削弱地形效应,但消除或抑制地形效应影响的能力不同。比较而言,基于NDMVI指数构建的植被覆盖度估算模型的地形效应最小,更适合地形复杂区域的植被覆盖度遥感估算;基于Cosine-C校正的NDVI植被指数构建的植被覆盖度估算模型的地形效应次之,但存在一定的过度校正现象;基于NDVI植被指数构建的植被覆盖度估算模型的地形效应最大,尤其当坡度≥10°时,阴坡植被覆盖度比阳坡明显偏低。