Effects of RapidEye Imagery's Red-edge Band and Vegetation Indices on Land Cover Classification in an Arid Region

Land cover classification(LCC) in arid regions is of great significance to the assessment, prediction, and management of land desertification. Some studies have shown that the red-edge band of RapidE ye images was effective for vegetation identification and could improve LCC accuracy. However, there has been no investigation of the effects of RapidE ye images' red-edge band and vegetation indices on LCC in arid regions where there are spectrally similar land covers mixed with very high or low vegetation coverage information and bare land. This study focused on a typical inland arid desert region located in Dunhuang Basin of northwestern China. First, five feature sets including or excluding the red-edge band and vegetation indices were constructed. Then, a land cover classification system involving plant communities was developed. Finally, random forest algorithm-based models with different feature sets were utilized for LCC. The conclusions drawn were as follows: 1) the red-edge band showed slight contribution to LCC accuracy; 2) vegetation indices had a significant positive effect on LCC; 3) simultaneous addition of the red-edge band and vegetation indices achieved a significant overall accuracy improvement(3.46% from 86.67%). In general, vegetation indices had larger effect than the red-edge band, and simultaneous addition of them significantly increased the accuracy of LCC in arid regions.

Estimating aboveground biomass in Mu Us Sandy Land using Landsat spectral derived vegetation indices over the past 30 years

Remote sensing is a valuable and effective tool for monitoring and estimating aboveground biomass （AGB） in large areas.The current international research on biomass estimation by remote sensing technique mainly focused on forests,grasslands and crops,with relatively few applications for desert ecosystems.In this paper,Landsat Thematic Mapper （TM）/Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus （ETM＋） images from 1988 to 2007 and the data of 283 AGB samples in August 2007 were used to estimate the AGB for Mu Us Sandy Land over the past 30 years.Moreover,temporal and spatial distribution characteristics of AGB and influencing factors of climate and underlying surface were also studied.Results show that：（1） Differences of correlations exist in the fitted equations between AGB and different vegetation indices in desert areas.The modified soil adjusted vegetation index （MSAVI） and soil adjusted vegetation index （SAVI） show relatively higher correlations with AGB,while the correlation between normalized difference vegetation index （NDVI） and AGB is relatively lower.Error testing shows that the AGB-MSAVI model established can be used to accurately estimate AGB of Mu Us Sandy Land in August.（2） AGB in Mu Us Sandy Land shows the fluctuant characteristics over the past 30 years,which decreased from the 1980s to the 1990s,and increased from the 1990s to 2007.AGB in 2007 had the highest value,with a total AGB of 3.352×106 t.Moreover,in the 1990s,AGB had the lowest value with a total AGB of 2.328×106 t.（3） AGB with relatively higher values was mainly located in the middle and southern parts of Mu Us Sandy Land in the 1980s.AGB was low in the whole area in the1990s,and relatively higher AGB values were mainly located in the southern parts of Uxin.In 2007,AGB in the whole area was relatively higher than those of the last twenty years,and higher AGB values were mainly located in the northern,western and middle parts of Mu Us Sandy Land.

Deep neural network algorithm for estimating maize biomass based on simulated Sentinel 2A vegetation indices and leaf area index

Accurate estimation of biomass is necessary for evaluating crop growth and predicting crop yield.Biomass is also a key trait in increasing grain yield by crop breeding.The aims of this study were(i)to identify the best vegetation indices for estimating maize biomass,(ii)to investigate the relationship between biomass and leaf area index(LAI)at several growth stages,and(iii)to evaluate a biomass model using measured vegetation indices or simulated vegetation indices of Sentinel 2A and LAI using a deep neural network(DNN)algorithm.The results showed that biomass was associated with all vegetation indices.The three-band water index(TBWI)was the best vegetation index for estimating biomass and the corresponding R2,RMSE,and RRMSE were 0.76,2.84 t ha−1,and 38.22%respectively.LAI was highly correlated with biomass(R2=0.89,RMSE=2.27 t ha−1,and RRMSE=30.55%).Estimated biomass based on 15 hyperspectral vegetation indices was in a high agreement with measured biomass using the DNN algorithm(R2=0.83,RMSE=1.96 t ha−1,and RRMSE=26.43%).Biomass estimation accuracy was further increased when LAI was combined with the 15 vegetation indices(R2=0.91,RMSE=1.49 t ha−1,and RRMSE=20.05%).Relationships between the hyperspectral vegetation indices and biomass differed from relationships between simulated Sentinel 2A vegetation indices and biomass.Biomass estimation from the hyperspectral vegetation indices was more accurate than that from the simulated Sentinel 2A vegetation indices(R2=0.87,RMSE=1.84 t ha−1,and RRMSE=24.76%).The DNN algorithm was effective in improving the estimation accuracy of biomass.It provides a guideline for estimating biomass of maize using remote sensing technology and the DNN algorithm in this region.

Measuring cotton water status using water-related vegetation indices at leaf and canopy levels

Drought is one of the major environmental threats in the world. In recent years, the damage from droughts to the environment and economies of some countries has been extensive, and drought monitoring has caused widespread concerns. Remote sensing has a proven ability to provide spatial and temporal measurements of surface properties, and it offers an opportunity for the quantitative assessment of drought indicators such as the vegetation water content at different levels. In this study, sites of cotton field in Shihezi, Xinjiang, Northwest China were sampled. Four classical water content parameters, namely the leaf equivalent water thickness （EWT^e,f）, the fuel moisture content （FMC）, the canopy equivalent water thickness （EVVmcanopy） and vegetation water content （VWC） were evaluated against seven widely-used water-related vegetation indices, namely the NDII （normalized difference infrared index）, NDWI2130 （normalized difference water index）, NDVI （normalized difference vegetation index）, MSI （moisture stress index）, SRWI （simple ratio water index）, NOWI1240 （normalized difference water index） and WI （water index）, respectively. The results proved that the relationships between the water-related vegetation indices and EWTleaf were much better than that with FMC, and the relationships between vegetation indices and EWTcanopy were better than that with VWC. Furthermore, comparing the significance of all seven water-related vegetation in- dices, WI and NDII proved to be the best candidates for EWT detecting at leaf and canopy levels, with R2 of 0.262 and 0.306 for EWTlear-WI and EWTcanopy-NDII linear models, respectively. Besides, the prediction power of linear regression technique （LR） and artificial neural network （ANN） were compared using calibration and validation dataset, respectively. The results indicated that the performance of ANN as a predictive tool for water status meas- uring was as good as LR. The study should further our understanding of the relationships between water-related vegetation indices and water parameters.

Drought Impacts on Vegetation Indices and Productivity of Terrestrial Ecosystems in Southwestern China During 2001–2012

Drought, as a recurring extreme climate event, affects the structure, function, and process of terrestrial ecosystems. Despite the increasing occurrence and intensity of the drought in the past decade in Southwestern China, the impacts of continuous drought events on vegetation in this region remain unclear. During 2001–2012, Southwestern China experienced the severe drought events from 2009 to 2011. Our aim is to characterize drought conditions in the Southwestern China and explore the impacts on the vegetation condition and terrestrial ecosystem productivity. The Standardized Precipitation Index(SPI) was used to characterize drought area and intensity and a light-use efficiency model was used to explore the effect of drought on the terrestrial ecosystem productivity with Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer(MODIS) data. The SPI captured the major drought events in Southwestern China during the study period, indicated that the 12-year period of this study included both ‘normal' precipitation years and two severe drought events in 2009–2010 and 2011. Results showed that vegetation greenness(Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, NDVI and Enhanced Vegetation Index, EVI) both declined in 2009/2010 drought, but the 2011 drought resulted in less declines of vegetation greenness and productivity due to shorten drought duration and rising temperature. Meanwhile, it was about 5 months lapse between drought events and maximum declines in vegetation greenness for 2009/2010 drought events. In addition, forest, grassland and cropland revealed significant different ecosystem responses to drought. It indicated that grassland showed an early sensitivity to drought, while cropland was the most sensitive to water deficit and forest was more resilient to drought. This study suggests that it is necessary to detect the difference responses of ecosystem to drought in a regional area with satellite data and ecosystem model.

Assessment of forest dieback on the Moroccan Central Plateau using spectral vegetation indices

Cork oak forests in Morocco are rich in resources and services thanks to their great biological diversity,playing an important ecological and socioeconomic role.Considerable degradation of the forests has been accentuated in recent years by signifi cant human pressure and eff ects of climate change;hence,the health of the stands needs to be monitored.In this study,the Google Engine Earth platform was leveraged to extract the normalized diff erence vegetation index(NDVI)and soil-adjusted vegetation index,from Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS satellite images between 2015 and 2017 to assess the health of the Sibara Forest in Morocco.Our results highlight the importance of interannual variations in NDVI in forest monitoring;the variations had a signifi cantly high relationship(p<0.001)with dieback severity.NDVI was positively and negatively correlated with mean annual precipitation and mean annual temperature with respective coeffi cients of 0.49 and−0.67,highlighting its ability to predict phenotypic changes in forest species.Monthly interannual variation in NDVI between 2016 and 2017 seemed to confi rm fi eld observations of cork oak dieback in 2018,with the largest decreases in NDVI(up to−38%)in December in the most-aff ected plots.Analysis of the infl uence of ecological factors on dieback highlighted the role of substrate as a driver of dieback,with the most severely aff ected plots characterized by granite-granodiorite substrates.

Application of Vegetation Indices for Detection and Monitoring Oil Spills in Ahoada West Local Government Area of Rivers State,Nigeria

The study evaluated the environmental effects of an oil spill in Joinkrama 4 and Akimima Ahoada West LGA,Rivers State,Nigeria,using various vegetation indices.Location data for the spill were obtained from the Nigeria Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency,and Landsat imagery was acquired from the United States Geological Survey.Three soil samples were collected from the affected area,and their analysis included measuring total petroleum hydrocarbons(TPH),total hydrocarbons(THC),and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAH).The obtained data were processed with ArcGIS software,utilizing different vegetation indices such as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI),Atmospheric Resistant Vegetation Index(ARVI),Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index(SAVI),Green Short Wave Infrared(GSWIR),and Green Near Infrared(GNIR).Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS and Microsoft Excel.The results consistently indicated a negative impact on the environment resulting from the oil spill.A comparison of spectral reflectance values between the oil spill site and the non-oil spill site showed lower values at the oil spill site across all vegetation indices(NDVI 0.0665-0.2622,ARVI-0.0495-0.1268,SAVI 0.0333-0.1311,GSWIR-0.183-0.0517,GNIR-0.0104--0.1980),indicating damage to vegetation.Additionally,the study examined the correlation between vegetation indices and environmental parameters associated with the oil spill,revealing significant relationships with TPH,THC,and PAH.A t-test with a significance level of p<0.05 indicated significantly higher vegetation index values at the non-oil spill site compared to the oil spill site,suggesting a potential disparity in vegetation health between the two areas.Hence,this study emphasizes the harmful effect of oil spills on vegetation and highlights the importance of utilizing vegetation indices and spectral reflectance analysis to detect and monitor the impact of oil spills on vegetation.

Reclamation areas and their development studied by vegetation indices

Large areas in the Czech Republic were used for open casts of brown coal mining.Many of them have been already closed.Reclamation of them and of their dumps is the next step intheir development.It is possible to divide used reclamations into the forest,hydrologic,agricultural and other ones
roads,etc.Their age varies from 45 years to as yet unfinished.Reclaimed areas are documented in reclamation projects.Information about age and land use determined groups of these areas to be evaluated by vegetation indices.100 areas with forest type were evaluated.Eight vegetation indices(NDVI,DVI,RVI,PVI,SAVI,MSAVI,TSAVI and EVI)were calculated and their average value in each area in 1988,1992 and 1998 Thematic Mapper data were compared.Changes over years showed close relation to precipitations of previous periods.This relation was confirmed by evaluation of forest areas situated near reclamation areas.Positive/negative changes of vegetation indices were different for different groups and different vegetation indices.An overview of results of vegetation indices is presented for individual areas whose land use comprised at least partly forest stand.Results in a 4-year period(1988
1992)were in many areas by many indices negative,changes in 10 years were in most areas by most vegetation indices positive.Changes,minimum values and maximum values in groups were compared.Evaluation of vegetation indices brought again various results.One vegetation index is not sufficient to prove improvement/deterioration of vegetation changes.Precipitation state before measurement should be controlled.Temporary shortage of precipitation can cause vegetation cover deterioration,which is also only temporary.The best development derived from vegetation indices evaluation was found at forest reclamation with mixed tree stand that was 10
20 years old.The method was derived as a tool for post-finishing control of vegetation development of reclamations performed in several year periods.

Derivative vegetation indices as a new approach in remote sensing of vegetation

This paper focuses on the advantages of derivative vegetation indices over simple reflectance- based indices that are traditionally used for remote sensing of vegetation. The idea of using reflectance derivatives instead of simple reflectance spectra was proposed several decades ago. Despite this, it has not been widely used in monitoring systems because the derivatives lack reliable parameters. In addition, most satellite monitoring systems are not equipped with hyperspectral sensors, which are considered necessary for operating with the reflectance derivatives. Here, we present original data indicating that the chlorophyll-related derivative index D725/D702 we derived can be accurately estimated from a reflectance spectrum of 10 nm resolution that would be suitable for most satellite-based sensors. Furthermore, the index is not sensitive to soil reflectance and can therefore be used for testing of open crops. Presence of blanc reflectance is also unnecessary. Preliminary results of index testing are presented. Perspectives on using this and other derivative indices are discussed.

Vegetation Change Prediction with Geo-Information Techniques in the Three Gorges Area of China

A computerized parametric methodology was applied to monitor, map, and estimate vegetation change in combination with '3S' (RS-remote sensing, GIS-geographic information systems, and GPS-global positioning system) technology and change detection techniques at a 1:50000 mapping scale in the Letianxi Watershed of western Hubei Province, China. Satellite images (Landsat TM 1997 and Landsat ETM 2002) and thematic maps were used to provide comprehensive views of surface conditions such as vegetation cover and land use change. With ER Mapper and ERDAS software, the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) was computed and then classified into six vegetation density classes. ARC/INFO and ArcView software were used along with field observation data by GPS for analysis. Results obtained using spatial analysis methods showed that NDVI was a valuable first cut indicator for vegetation and land use systems. A regression analysis revealed that NDVI explained 94.5% of the variations for vegetation cover in the largest vegetation area, indicating that the relationship between vegetation and NDVI was not a simple linear process. Vegetation cover increased in four of areas. This meant 60.9% of land area had very slight to slight vegetation change, while 39.1% had moderate to severe vegetation change. Thus, the study area, in general, was exposed to a high risk of vegetation cover change.

Leaf area index retrieval based on canopy reflectance and vegetation index in eastern China

The aim of this paper is to investigate the feasibility of using Landsat TM data to retrieve leaf area index (LAI). To get a LAI retrieval model based ground reflectance and vegetation index, detailed field data were collected in the study area of eastern China, dominated by bamboo, tea plant and greengage. Plant canopy reflectance of Landsat TM wavelength bands has been inversed using software of 6S. LAI is an important ecological parameter. In this paper, atmospheric corrected Landsat TM imagery was utilized to calculate different vegetation indices (VI), such as simple ratio vegetation index (SR), shortwave infrared modified simple ratio (MSR), and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Data of 53 samples of LAI were measured by LAI-2000 (LI-COR) in the study area. LAI was modeled based on different reflectances of bands and different vegetation indices from Landsat TM and LAI samples data. There are certainly correlations between LAI and the reflectance of TM3, TM4, TM5 and TM7. The best model through analyzing the results is LAI = 1.2097*MSR + 0.4741 using the method of regression analysis. The result shows that the correlation coefficient R2 is 0.5157, and average accuracy is 85.75%. However, whether the model of this paper is suitable for application in subtropics needs to be verified in the future.

Advanced land observing satellite data to identify ground vegetation in a juniper forest,northeast Iran

Juniperus excelsa subsp.polycarpos,(Persian juniper),is found in northeast Iran.In this study,the relationship between ground cover and vegetation indices have been investigated using remote sensing data for a Persian juniper forest.Multispectral data were analyzed based on the Advanced Visible and Near Infrared Radiometer type 2 and panchromatic data obtained by the Panchromatic Remote-sensing Instrument for Stereo Mapping sensors,both on board the advanced land observing satellite(ALOS).The ground cover was calculated using field survey data from 25 sub-sample plots and the vegetation indices were derived with 595 maximum filtering algorithm from ALOS data.R2 values were calculated for the normalized difference vegetation index(NDVI)and various soil-adjusted vegetation indices(SAVI)with soilbrightness-dependent correction factors equal to 1 and 0.5,a modified SAVI(MSAVI)and an optimized SAVI(OSAVI).R2 values for the NDVI,MSAVI,OSAVI,SAVI(1),and SAVI(0.5)were 0.566,0.545,0.619,0.603,and 0.607,respectively.Total ratio vegetation index for arid and semi-arid regions based on spectral wavelengths of ALOS data with an R2 value 0.633 was considered.Results of the current study will be useful for forest inventories in arid and semi-arid regions in addition to assisting decisionmaking for natural resource managers.

Vegetation fractional coverage change in a typical oasis region in Tarim River Watershed based on remote sensing

Vegetation fractional coverage （VFC） is an important index to describe and evaluate the ecological system. The vegetation index is widely used to monitor vegetation coverage in the field of remote sensing （RS）. In this paper, the author conducted a case study of the delta oasis of Weigan and Kuqa rivers, which is a typical saline area in the Tarim River Watershed. The current study was based on the TM/ETM＋ images of 1989, 2001, and 2006, and supported by Geographic Information System （GIS） spatial analysis, vegetation index, and dimidiate pixel model. In addition, VBSl （vegetation, bare soil and shadow indices） suitable for TM/ETM＋ irrlages, constructed with FCD （forest canopy density） model principle and put forward by ITTO （International Tropical Timber Organization）, was used, and it was applied to estimate the VFC. The estimation accuracy was later prow^n to be up to 83.52%. Further, the study analyzed and appraised the changes in vegetation patterns and revealed a pattern of spatial change in the vegetation coverage of the study area by producing the map of VFC levels in the delta oasis. Forest, grassland, and farmland were the three main land-use types with high and extremely-high coverage, and they played an important role in maintaining the vegetation. The forest area determined the changes of the coverage area, whereas the other two land types affected the directions of change. Therefore, planting trees, protecting grasslands, reclaiming farmlands, and controlling unused lands should be included in a long-term program because of their importance in keeping regional vegetation coverage. Finally, the dynamic variation of VFC in the study area was evaluated according to the quantity and spatial distribution rendered by plant cover diigital images to deeply analyze the reason behind the variation.

Development of Spectral Features for Monitoring Rice Bacterial Leaf Blight Disease Using Broad-Band Remote Sensing Systems

As an important rice disease, rice bacterial leaf blight (RBLB, caused by the bacterium Xanthomonas oryzae pv.oryzae), has become widespread in east China in recent years. Significant losses in rice yield occurred as a result ofthe disease’s epidemic, making it imperative to monitor RBLB at a large scale. With the development of remotesensing technology, the broad-band sensors equipped with red-edge channels over multiple spatial resolutionsoffer numerous available data for large-scale monitoring of rice diseases. However, RBLB is characterized by rapiddispersal under suitable conditions, making it difficult to track the disease at a regional scale with a single sensorin practice. Therefore, it is necessary to identify or construct features that are effective across different sensors formonitoring RBLB. To achieve this goal, the spectral response of RBLB was first analyzed based on the canopyhyperspectral data. Using the relative spectral response (RSR) functions of four representative satellite or UAVsensors (i.e., Sentinel-2, GF-6, Planet, and Rededge-M) and the hyperspectral data, the corresponding broad-bandspectral data was simulated. According to a thorough band combination and sensitivity analysis, two novel spectralindices for monitoring RBLB that can be effective across multiple sensors (i.e., RBBRI and RBBDI) weredeveloped. An optimal feature set that includes the two novel indices and a classical vegetation index was formed.The capability of such a feature set in monitoring RBLB was assessed via FLDA and SVM algorithms. The resultdemonstrated that both constructed novel indices exhibited high sensitivity to the disease across multiple sensors.Meanwhile, the feature set yielded an overall accuracy above 90% for all sensors, which indicates its cross-sensorgenerality in monitoring RBLB. The outcome of this research permits disease monitoring with different remotesensing data over a large scale.

Mapping Air Quality Using Remote Sensing Technology: A Case Study of Nairobi County

Nairobi County experiences rapid industrialization and urbanization that contributes to the deteriorating state of air quality, posing a potential health risk to its growing population. Currently, in Nairobi County, most air quality monitoring stations use low-cost, inaccurate monitors prone to defects. The study’s objective was to map Nairobi County’s air quality using freely available remotely sensed imagery. The Air Pollution Index (API) formula was used to characterize the air quality from cloud-free Landsat satellite images i.e., Landsat 5 TM, Landsat 7 ETM+, and Landsat 8 OLI from Google Earth Engine. The API values were computed based on vegetation indices namely NDVI, TVI, DVI, and the SWIR1 and NIR bands on the QGIS platform. Qualitative accuracy assessment was done using sample points drawn from residential, industrial, green spaces, and traffic hotspot categories, based on a passive-random sampling technique. In this study, Landsat 5 API imagery for 2010 provided a reliable representation of local conditions but indicated significant pollution in green spaces, with recorded values ranging from -143 to 334. The study found that Landsat 7 API imagery in 2002 showed expected results with the range of values being -55 to 287, while Landsat 8 indicated high pollution levels in Nairobi. The results emphasized the importance of air quality factors in API calibration and the unmatched spatial coverage of satellite observations over ground-based monitoring techniques. The study recommends the recalibration of the API formula for characteristic regions, exploring newer satellite sensors like those onboard Landsat 9 and Sentinel 2, and involving key stakeholders in a discourse to develop a suitable Kenyan air quality index.

Comparative analysis of GF-1,HJ-1,and Landsat-8 data for estimating the leaf area index of winter wheat

Using simultaneously collected remote sensing data and field measurements, this study firstly assessed the consistency and applicability of China high-resolution earth observation system satellite 1 （GF-1） wide field of view （WFV） camera, environment and disaster monitoring and forecasting satellite （H J-l） charge coupled device （CCD）, and Landsat-8 opera- tional land imager （OLI） data for estimating the leaf area index （LAI） of winter wheat via reflectance and vegetation indices （VIs）. The accuracies of these LAI estimates were then assessed through comparison with an empirical model and the PROSAIL radiative transfer model. The effects of radiation calibration, spectral response functions, and spatial resolution on discrepancies in the LAI estimates between the different sensors were also analyzed. The results yielded the following observations： （1） The correlation between reflectance from different sensors is relative good, with the adjusted coefficients of determination （R2） between 0.375 to 0.818. The differences in reflectance are ranging from 0.002 to 0.054. The correlation between VIs from different sensors is high with the R2 between 0.729 and 0.933. The differences in the VIs are ranging from 0.07 to 0.156. These results show the three sensors＇ images can all be used for cross calibration of the reflectance and VIs. （2） The four VIs from the three sensors are all demonstrated to be highly correlated with LAI （R2 between 0.703 and 0.849）. The linear models associated with the 2-band enhanced vegetation index （EVI2）, which feature the highest R2 （higher than 0.746） and the lowest root mean square errors （RMSE） （less than 0.21）, were selected to estimate the winter wheat LAI. The accuracy of the estimated LAI from Landsat-8 was the highest, with the relative errors （RE） of 2.18% and an RMSE of 0.13, while the H J-1 was the lowest, with the RE of 2.43% and the RMSE of 0.15. （3） The inversion errors in the different sensors＇ LAI estimates using the PROSAIL model are small. The accuracy of the GF-1 is the highest with the RE of 3.44%, and the RMSE of 0.22, whereas that of the H J-1 is the lowest with the RE of 4.95%, and the RMSE of 0.26. （4） The effects of the spectral response function and radiation calibration for the different sensors are small and can be ignored, but the effects of spatial resolution are significant and must be taken into consideration in practical applications.

Predicting Nitrogen Status of Rice Using Multispectral Data at Canopy Scale

Two field experiments were conducted in Jiashan and Yuhang towns of Zhejiang Province, China, to study the feasibility of predicting N status of rice using canopy spectral reflectance. The canopy spectral reflectance of rice grown with different levels of N inputs was determined at several important growth stages. Statistical analyses showed that as a result of the different levels of N supply, there were significant differences in the N concentrations of canopy leaves at different growth stages. Since spectral reflectance measurements showed that the N status of rice was related to reflectance in the visible and NIR (near-infrared) ranges, observations for rice in 1 nm bandwidths were then converted to bandwidths in the visible and NIR spectral regions with IKONOS (space imaging) bandwidths and vegetation indices being used to predict the N status of rice. The results indicated that canopy reflectance measurements converted to ratio vegetation index (RVI) and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) for simulated IKONOS bands provided a better prediction of rice N status than the reflectance measurements in the simulated IKONOS bands themselves. The precision of the developed regression models using RVI and NDVI proved to be very high with R2 ranging from 0.82 to 0.94, and when validated with experimental data from a different site, the results were satisfactory with R2 ranging from 0.55 to 0.70. Thus, the results showed that theoretically it should be possible to monitor N status using remotely sensed data.

Spatial dynamics of aboveground carbon stock in urban green space:a case study of Xi'an,China

Greenhouse gas emission of carbon dioxide（CO2） is one of the major factors causing global climate change.Urban green space plays a key role in regulating the global carbon cycle and reducing atmospheric CO2.Quantifying the carbon stock,distribution and change of urban green space is vital to understanding the role of urban green space in the urban environment.Remote sensing is a valuable and effective tool for monitoring and estimating aboveground carbon（AGC） stock in large areas.In the present study,different remotely-sensed vegetation indices（VIs） were used to develop a regression equation between VI and AGC stock of urban green space,and the best fit model was then used to estimate the AGC stock of urban green space within the beltways of Xi＇an city for the years 2004 and 2010.A map of changes in the spatial distribution patterns of AGC stock was plotted and the possible causes of these changes were analyzed.Results showed that Normalized Difference Vegetation Index（NDVI） correlated moderately well with AGC stock in urban green space.The Difference Vegetation Index（DVI）,Ratio Vegetation Index（RVI）,Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index（SAVI）,Modified Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index（MSAVI） and Renormalized Difference Vegetative Index（RDVI） were lower correlation coefficients than NDVI.The AGC stock in the urban green space of Xi＇an in 2004 and 2010 was 73,843 and 126,621 t,respectively,with an average annual growth of 8,796 t and an average annual growth rate of 11.9%.The carbon densities in 2004 and 2010 were 1.62 and 2.77 t/hm2,respectively.Precipitation was not an important factor to influence the changes of AGC stock in the urban green space of Xi＇an.Policy orientation,major ecological greening projects such as ＂transplanting big trees into the city＂ and the World Horticultural Exposition were found to have an important impact on changes in the spatiotemporal patterns of AGC stock.

High-throughput phenotyping of two plant-size traits of Eucalyptus species using neural networks

In forest modeling to estimate the volume of wood,artificial intelligence has been shown to be quite effi-cient,especially using artificial neural networks(ANNs).Here we tested whether diameter at breast height(DBH)and the total plant height(Ht)of eucalyptus can be pre-dicted at the stand level using spectral bands measured by an unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV)multispectral sensor and vegetation indices.To do so,using the data obtained by the UAV as input variables,we tested different configurations(number of hidden layers and number of neurons in each layer)of ANNs for predicting DBH and Ht at stand level for different Eucalyptus species.The experimental design was randomized blocks with four replicates,with 20 trees in each experimental plot.The treatments comprised five Eucalyptus species(E.camaldulensis,E.uroplylla,E.saligna,E.gran-dis,and E.urograndis)and Corymbria citriodora.DBH and Ht for each plot at the stand level were measured seven times in separate overflights by the UAV,so that the multispectral sensor could obtain spectral bands to calculate vegetation indices(VIs).ANNs were then constructed using spectral bands and VIs as input layers,in addition to the categorical variable (species), to predict DBH and Ht at the stand level simultaneously. This report represents one of the first appli-cations of high-throughput phenotyping for plant size traits in Eucalyptus species. In general, ANNs containing three hidden layers gave better statistical performance (higher esti-mated r, lower estimated root mean squared error-RMSE) due to their greater capacity for self-learning. Among these ANNs, the best contained eight neurons in the first layer, seven in the second, and five in the third (8 − 7 − 5). The results reported here reveal the potential of using the gener-ated models to perform accurate forest inventories based on spectral bands and VIs obtained with a UAV multispectral sensor and ANNs, reducing labor and time.

Spatiotemporal patterns of burned areas,fire drivers,and fire probability across the equatorial Andes

Field-based fire studies in the equatorial Andes indicate that fires are strongly associated with biophysical and anthropogenic variables.However,fire controls and fire regimes at the regional scale remain undocumented.Therefore,this paper describes spatial and temporal burned-area patterns,identifies biophysical and anthropogenic fire drivers,and quantifies fire probability across 6°of latitude and 3°of longitude in the equatorial Andes.The spatial and temporal burned-area analysis was carried out based on 18 years(2001-2018)of the MCD64 A1 MODIS burned-area product.Climate,topography,vegetation,and anthropogenic variables were integrated in a logistic regression model to identify the significance of explanatory variables and determine fire occurrence probability.A total of 5779 fire events were registered during the 18 years of this study,located primarily along the western cordillera of the Andes and spreading from North to South.Eighty-eight percent of these fires took place within two fire hotspots located in the northwestern and southwestern corners of the study area.Ninety-nine percent occurred during the second part of the year,between June and December.The largest density of fires was primarily located on herbaceous vegetation and shrublands.Results show that mean monthly temperature,precipitation and NDVI during the prefire season,the location of land cover classes such as forest and agriculture,distance to roads and urban areas,slope,and aspect were the most important determinants of spatial and temporal fire distribution.The logistic regression model achieved a good accuracy in predicting fire probability(80%).Probability was higher in the southwestern and northern corners of the study area,and lower towards the north in the western and eastern piedmonts of the Andes.This analysis contributes to the understanding of fires in mountains within the tropics.The results here presented have the potential to contribute to fire management and control in the region.