Estimation and mapping of water erosion and soil loss:Application of Gavrilovic erosion potential model(EPM)using GIS and remote sensing in the Assif el mal Watershed,Western high Atlas

Water erosion is a serious problem that leads to soil degradation,loss,and the destruction of structures.Assessing the risk of erosion and determining the affected areas has become crucial in order to understand the main factors influencing its evolution and to minimize its impacts.This study focuses on evaluating the risk of erosion in the Assif el mal watershed,which is located in the High Atlas Mountains.The Erosion Potential Model(EPM)is used to estimate soil losses depending on various parameters such as lithology,hydrology,topography,and morphometry.Geographic information systems and remote sensing techniques are employed to map areas with high erosive potential and their relationship with the distribution of factors involved.Different digital elevation models are also used in this study to highlight the impact of data quality on the accuracy of the results.The findings reveal that approximately 59%of the total area in the Assif el mal basin has low to very low potential for soil losses,while 22%is moderately affected and 19.9%is at high to very high risk.It is therefore crucial to implement soil conservation measures to mitigate and prevent erosion risks.

A REMOTE SENSING MODEL FOR DETERMINING CHLOROPHYLL CONTENT AND ITS DISTRIBUTION USING LANDSAT IMAGES

The uncertainty in the estimatation of chlorophyll content with the use of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) has been described. To determine the chlorophyll content, model 1 for LANDSAT and model 2 for NOAA AVHRR wavebands were presented and have been verified by field experiments. Model 1 was also validated by the distribution of chlorophyll content using LANDSAT images around the Yucheng remote sensing experimental station. Using these models to estimate the chlorophyll content in the vegetation community is benefitiated by the increased precision and decreased uncertainty.

Extensive identification of landslide boundaries using remote sensing images and deep learning method

The frequent occurrence of extreme weather events has rendered numerous landslides to a global natural disaster issue.It is crucial to rapidly and accurately determine the boundaries of landslides for geohazards evaluation and emergency response.Therefore,the Skip Connection DeepLab neural network(SCDnn),a deep learning model based on 770 optical remote sensing images of landslide,is proposed to improve the accuracy of landslide boundary detection.The SCDnn model is optimized for the over-segmentation issue which occurs in conventional deep learning models when there is a significant degree of similarity between topographical geomorphic features.SCDnn exhibits notable improvements in landslide feature extraction and semantic segmentation by combining an enhanced Atrous Spatial Pyramid Convolutional Block(ASPC)with a coding structure that reduces model complexity.The experimental results demonstrate that SCDnn can identify landslide boundaries in 119 images with MIoU values between 0.8and 0.9;while 52 images with MIoU values exceeding 0.9,which exceeds the identification accuracy of existing techniques.This work can offer a novel technique for the automatic extensive identification of landslide boundaries in remote sensing images in addition to establishing the groundwork for future inve stigations and applications in related domains.

Evaluation of the International Vehicle Emission (IVE) model with on-road remote sensing measurements

Intemational Vehicle Emissions （IVE） model funded by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency （USEPA） is designed to estimate emissions from motor vehicles in developing countries. In this study, the IVE model was evaluated by utilizing a dataset available from the remote sensing measurements on a large number of vehicles at five different sites in Hangzhou, China, in 2004 and 2005. Average fuel-based emission factors derived from the remote sensing measurements were compared with corresponding emission factors derived from IVE calculations for urban, hot stabilized condition. The results show a good agreement between the two methods for gasoline passenger cars＇ HC emission for all 1VE subsectors and technology classes. In the case of CO emissions, the modeled results were reasonably good, although systematically underestimate the emissions by almost 12%-50% for different technology classes. However, the model totally overestimated NOx emissions. The IVE NOx emission factors were 1.5-3.5 times of the remote sensing measured ones. The IVE model was also evaluated for light duty gasoline truck, heavy duty gasoline vehicles and motor cycles. A notable result was observed that the decrease in emissions from technology class State II to State I were overestimated by the IVE model compared to remote sensing measurements for all the three pollutants. Finally, in order to improve emission estimation, the adjusted base emission factors from local studies are strongly recommended to be used in the IVE model.

Rice Yield Estimation by Integrating Remote Sensing with Rice Growth Simulation Model

Since remote sensing can provide information on the actual status of an agricultural crop, the integration between remote sensing data and crop growth simulation models has become an important trend for yield estimation and prediction.The main objective of this research was to combine a rice growth simulation model with remote sensing data to estimate rice grain yield for different growing seasons leading to an assessment of rice yield at regional levels. Integration between NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) AVHRR (Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer) data and the rice growth simulation model ORYZA1 to develop a new software, which was named as Rice-SRS Model, resulted in accurate estimates for rice yield in Shaoxing, China, with an estimation error reduced to 1.03% and 0.79% over-estimation and 0.79% under-estimation for early, single and late season rice, respectively. Selecting suitable dates for remote sensing images was an important factor which could influence estimation accuracy. Thus, given the different growing periods for each rice season, four images were needed for early and late rice, while five images were preferable for single season rice.Estimating rice yield using two or three images was possible, however, if images were obtained during the panicle initiation and heading stages.

Comparison Between Radial Basis Function Neural Network and Regression Model for Estimation of Rice Biophysical Parameters Using Remote Sensing

The radial basis function （RBF） emerged as a variant of artificial neural network. Generalized regression neural network （GRNN） is one type of RBF, and its principal advantages are that it can quickly learn and rapidly converge to the optimal regression surface with large number of data sets. Hyperspectral reflectance （350 to 2500 nm） data were recorded at two different rice sites in two experiment fields with two cultivars, three nitrogen treatments and one plant density （45 plants m^-2）. Stepwise multivariable regression model （SMR） and RBF were used to compare their predictability for the leaf area index （LAI） and green leaf chlorophyll density （GLCD） of rice based on reflectance （R） and its three different transformations, the first derivative reflectance （D1）, the second derivative reflectance （D2） and the log-transformed reflectance （LOG）. GRNN based on D1 was the best model for the prediction of rice LAI and CLCD. The relationships between different transformations of reflectance and rice parameters could be further improved when RBF was employed. Owing to its strong capacity for nonlinear mapping and good robustness, GRNN could maximize the sensitivity to chlorophyll content using D1. It is concluded that RBF may provide a useful exploratory and predictive tool for the estimation of rice biophysical parameters.

Empirical-Statistical Models Based on Remote Sensing for Estimating the Volume of Landslides Induced by the Wenchuan Earthquake

The Wenchuan Ms 8.0 earthquake on May 12, 2008 induced a huge number of landslides. The distribution and volume of the landslides are very important for assessing risks and understanding the landslide - debris flow - barrier lake - bursts flood disaster chain. The number and the area of landslides in a wide region can be easily obtained by remote sensing technique, while the volume is relatively difficult to obtain because it requires some detailed geometric information of slope failure surface and sub-surface. Different empirical models for estimating landslide volume were discussed based on the data of 107 landslides in the earthquake-stricken area. The volume data of these landslides were collected by field survey. Their areas were obtained by interpreting remote sensing images while their apparent friction coefficients and height were extracted from the images unifying DEM (digital elevation model). By analyzing the relationships between the volume and the area, apparent friction coefficients, and the height, two models were established, one for the adaptation of a magnitude scale landslide events in a wide range of region, another for the adaptation in a small scope. The correlation coefficients (R2) are 0.7977 and 0.8913, respectively. The results estimated by the two models agree well with the measurement data.

Improving remote sensing-based net primary production estimation in the grazed land with defoliation formulation model

Remote sensing(RS) technologies provide robust techniques for quantifying net primary productivity(NPP) which is a key component of ecosystem production management. Applying RS, the confounding effects of carbon consumed by livestock grazing were neglected by previous studies, which created uncertainties and underestimation of NPP for the grazed lands. The grasslands in Xinjiang were selected as a case study to improve the RS based NPP estimation. A defoliation formulation model(DFM) based on RS is developed to evaluate the extent of underestimated NPP between 1982 and 2011. The estimates were then used to examine the spatiotemporal patterns of the calculated NPP. Results show that average annual underestimated NPP was 55.74 gC·m^(-2)yr^(-1) over the time period understudied, accounting for 29.06% of the total NPP for the Xinjiang grasslands. The spatial distribution of underestimated NPP is related to both grazing intensity and time. Data for the Xinjiang grasslands show that the average annual NPP was 179.41 gC·m^(-2)yr^(-1), the annual NPP with an increasing trend was observed at a rate of 1.04 gC·m^(-2)yr^(-1) between 1982 and 2011. The spatial distribution of NPP reveals distinct variations from high to low encompassing the geolocations of the Tianshan Mountains, northern and southern Xinjiang Province and corresponding with mid-mountain meadow, typical grassland, desert grassland, alpine meadow, and saline meadow grassland types. This study contributes to improving RS-based NPP estimations for grazed land and provides a more accurate data to support the scientific management of fragile grassland ecosystems in Xinjiang.

Human Settlement Evaluation in Mountain Areas Based on Remote Sensing,GIS and Ecological Niche Modeling

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is the word＇s highest and largest plateau. Due to increasing demands for environment exploration and tourism, a large transitional area is required for altitude adaptation. Hehuang valley, which locates in the transition zone between the Loess Plateau and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, has convenient transportation and relatively low elevation. Our question is whether the geographic conditions here are appropriate for adapted stay before going into the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Therefore, in this study, we examined the potential use of ecological niche modeling （ENM） for mapping current and potential distribution patterns of human settlements. We chose the Maximum Entropy Method （Maxent）, an ENM which integrates climate, remote sensing and geographical data, to model distributions and assess land suitability for transition areas. After preprocessing and selection, the correlation between variables and spatial auto- correlation input data were removed and 106 occurrence points and 9 environmental layers were determined as the model inputs. The threshold- independent model performance was reasonable according to lO times model running, with the area under the curve （AUC） values being 0.917± 0.01, and 0.923±0.002 for test data. Cohen＇s kappa coefficient of model performance was 0.848. Results showed that 82.22% of the study extent was not suitable for human settlement. Of the remaining areas, highly suitable areas aceounted for 1.19%, moderately for 5.3% and marginally for 11.28%. These suitable areas totaled 418.79 km2, and 86.25% of the sample data was identified in the different gradient of suitable area.The decisive environmental factors were slope and two climate variables： mean diurnal temperature range and temperature seasonality. Our model showed a good performance in mapping and assessing human settlements. This study provides the first predicted potential habitat distribution map for human settlement in Ledu County, which could also help in land use management.

A STUDY ON WETLAND CLASSIFICATION MODEL OF REMOTE SENSING IN THE SANGJIANG PLAIN

The Sanjiang Plain, where nearly 20 kinds of wetlands exist now, is one of the largest wetlands distributed area of wetlands in China. To identify each of them and pick up them separately by means of automatic interpretation of remote sensing from TM Landsat images is extremely important. However, most of the types of wetlands can not be divided each other due to the similarity and the illegibility of the wetland spectrum shown in TM images. Special disposals to remote sensing images include the spectrum enhancement of wetland information, the pseudo color composite of TM images of different bands and the algebra enhancement of TM images. By this way some kinds of wetlands such as Sparganium stoloniferum and Bolboschoenus maritimus can be identified. But in many cases, these methods are still insufficient because of the noise brought from the atmosphere transportation and so on. The physical features of wetlands reflecting the diversification of spectrum information of wetlands, which include the spatial temporal characteristics of the wetlands distribution, the landscape differences of wetlands from season to season, the growing environment and the vertical structure of wetlands vegetation and so on, must be taken into consideration. Besides these, the artificial alteration to spatial structure of wetlands such as the exploitation of some types of them can be also used as important symbols of wetlands identification from remote sensing images. On the basis of the above geographics analysis, a set of wetlands classification models of remote sensing could be established, and many types of wetlands such as paddy field, reed swamp, peat mire, meadow, CAREX marsh and paludification meadow and so on, will be distinguished consequently. All the ways of geographical analysis and model establishment will be given in detail in this article.

A Synoptic Review on Deriving Bathymetry Information Using Remote Sensing Technologies: Models, Methods and Comparisons

This paper discusses the bathymetric mapping technologies by means of satellite remote sensing (RS) with special emphasis on bathymetry derivation models, methods, accuracies, advantages, limitations, and comparisons. Traditionally, bathymetry can be mapped using echo sounding sounders. However, this method is constrained by its inefficiency in shallow waters and very high operating logistic costs. In comparison, RS technologies present efficient and cost-effective means of mapping bathymetry over remote and broad areas. RS of bathymetry can be categorised into two broad classes: active RS and passive RS. Active RS methods are based on active satellite sensors, which emit artificial radiation to study the earth surface or atmospheric features, e.g. light detection and ranging (LIDAR), polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (SAR), altimeters, etc. Passive RS methods are based on passive satellite sensors, which detect sunlight (natural source of light) radiation reflected from the earth and thermal radiation in the visible and infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, e.g. multispectral or optical satellite sensors. Bathymetric methods can also be categorised as imaging methods and non-imaging methods. The non-imaging method is elucidated by laser scanners or LIDAR, which measures the distance between the sensor and the water surface or the ocean floor using a single wave pulse or double waves. On the other hand, imaging methods approximate the water depth based on the pixel values or digital numbers (DN) (representing reflectance or backscatter) of an image. Imaging methods make use of the visible and/or near infrared (NIR) and microwave radiation. Imaging methods are implemented with either analytical modelling or empirical modelling, or by a blend of both. This paper presents the development of bathymetric mapping technology by using RS, and discusses the state-of-the-art bathymetry derivation methods/algorithms and their implications in practical applications.

The remote sensing composite information of Nansha reef's closed atoll and the model of its spatial structure evolution——Ⅰ

Based on the feature of the growth and the local limitation of the Nansha reef's closed atoll, also the related remote sensing information of it, the composite analysis is made. The closed atoll conception remote sensing system is constructed through the formation mechanism, development law and the space-time distribution of the closed atoll. Solution of the equation consisting of information function value and isostatic value of closed atoll and half-closed atoll using this system, and topologic analysis on the two kinds of atoll's morphologic growth are the basic foundation for the research of their evolutionary comparative model.

Modelling the crop yield gap with a remote sensing-based process model:A case study of winter wheat in the North China Plain

Understanding the spatial distribution of the crop yield gap(YG)is essential for improving crop yields.Recent studies have typically focused on the site scale,which may lead to considerable uncertainties when scaled to the regional scale.To mitigate this issue,this study used a process-based and remote sensing driven crop yield model for winter wheat(PRYM-Wheat),which was derived from the boreal ecosystem productivity simulator(BEPS),to simulate the YG of winter wheat in the North China Plain from 2015 to 2019.Yield validation based on statistical yield data revealed good performance of the PRYM-Wheat Model in simulating winter wheat actual yield(Ya).The distribution of Ya across the North China Plain showed great heterogeneity,decreasing from southeast to northwest.The remote sensing-estimated results show that the average YG of the study area was 6400.6 kg ha^(–1).The YG of Jiangsu Province was the largest,at7307.4 kg ha^(–1),while the YG of Anhui Province was the smallest,at 5842.1 kg ha^(–1).An analysis of the responses of YG to environmental factors showed no obvious correlation between YG and precipitation,but there was a weak negative correlation between YG and accumulated temperature.In addition,the YG was positively correlated with elevation.In general,studying the specific features of the YG can provide directions for increasing crop yields in the future.

STUDY ON FOREST FIRE DANGER MODEL WITH REMOTE SENSING BASED ON GIS

Forest fire is one of the main natural hazards because of its fierce destructiveness. Various researches on fire real time monitoring, behavior simulation and loss assessment have been carried out in many countries. As fire prevention is probably the most efficient means for protecting forests, suitable methods should be developed for estimating the fire danger. Fire danger is composed of ecological, human and climatic factors. Therefore, the systematic analysis of the factors including forest characteristics, meteorological status, topographic condition causing forest fire is made in this paper at first. The relationships between biophysical factors and fire danger are paid more attention to. Then the parameters derived from remote sensing data are used to estimate the fire danger variables, According to the analysis, not only PVI (Perpendicular Vegetation Index) can classify different vegetation but also crown density is captured with PVI. Vegetation moisture content has high correlation with the ratio of actual evapotranspiration (LE) to potential ecapotranspiration (LEp). SI (Structural Index), which is the combination of TM band 4 and 5 data, is a good indicator of forest age. Finally, a fire danger prediction model, in which relative importance of each fire factor is taken into account, is built based on GIS.

Towards a semi-empirical model of the sea ice thickness based on hyperspectral remote sensing in the Bohai Sea

Sea ice thickness is one of the most important input parameters for the prevention and mitigation of sea ice disasters and the prediction of local sea environments and climates. Estimating the sea ice thickness is currently the most important issue in the study of sea ice remote sensing. With the Bohai Sea as the study area, a semiempirical model of the sea ice thickness（SEMSIT） that can be used to estimate the thickness of first-year ice based on existing water depth estimation models and hyperspectral remote sensing data according to an optical radiative transfer process in sea ice is proposed. In the model, the absorption and scattering properties of sea ice in different bands（spectral dimension information） are utilized. An integrated attenuation coefficient at the pixel level is estimated using the height of the reflectance peak at 1 088 nm. In addition, the surface reflectance of sea ice at the pixel level is estimated using the 1 550–1 750 nm band reflectance. The model is used to estimate the sea ice thickness with Hyperion images. The first validation results suggest that the proposed model and parameterization scheme can effectively reduce the estimation error associated with the sea ice thickness that is caused by temporal and spatial heterogeneities in the integrated attenuation coefficient and sea ice surface. A practical semi-empirical model and parameterization scheme that may be feasible for the sea ice thickness estimation using hyperspectral remote sensing data are potentially provided.

RESEARCH ON THE LOCAL CORRECTION MODEL OF ATMOSPHERIC DRY DELAY IN GPS REMOTE SENSING WATER VAPOR

The precision of atmospheric dry delay model is closely correlated with the accuracy of GPS water vapor in the process of GPS (Global Position System) remote sensing. Radiosonde data (from 1996 to 2001) at Qingyuan are used to calculate the exact values of the atmospheric dry delay. Base on these calculations and the surface meteorological parameters, the local year and month correction models of dry delay at the zenith angle of 0° are established by statistical methods. The analysis result shows that the local model works better and is slight more sensitive to altitude angle than universal models and that it is not necessary to build models for each month due to the slight difference between year model and month model. Furthermore, when the altitude angle is less than 75°, the difference between curve path and straight path increases rapidly with altitude angle’s decrease.

Modeling and predicting dengue fever cases in key regions of the Philippines using remote sensing data

Objective: To correlate climatic and environmental factors such as land surface temperature, rainfall, humidity and normalized difference vegetation index with the incidence of dengue to develop prediction models for the Philippines using remote-sensing data.Methods: Timeseries analysis was performed using dengue cases in four regions of the Philippines and monthly climatic variables extracted from Global Satellite Mapping of Precipitation for rainfall, and MODIS for the land surface temperature and normalized difference vegetation index from 2008-2015.Consistent dataset during the period of study was utilized in Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average models to predict dengue incidence in the four regions being studied.Results: The best-fitting models were selected to characterize the relationship between dengue incidence and climate variables.The predicted cases of dengue for January to December 2015 period fitted well with the actual dengue cases of the same timeframe.It also showed significantly good linear regression with a square of correlation of 0.869 5 for the four regions combined.Conclusion: Climatic and environmental variables are positively associated with dengue incidence and suit best as predictor factors using Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average models.This finding could be a meaningful tool in developing an early warning model based on weather forecasts to deliver effective public health prevention and mitigation programs.

Rice yield estimation using remote sensing and simulation model

Remote sensing techniques have the potential to provide information on agricultural crops quantitatively , instantaneously and above all nondestructively over large areas . Crop simulation models describe the relationship between physiological processes in plants and environmental growing conditions. The integration between remote sensing data and crop growth simulation model is an important trend for yield estimation and prediction, since remote sensing can provide information on the actual status of the agricultural crop. In this study, a new model(Rice-SRS) was developed based mainly on ORYZA1 model and modified to accept remote sensing data as input from different sources. The model can accept three kinds of NDVI data: NOAA AVHRR(LAC)-NDVI,NOAA AVHRR(GAC)-NDVI and radiometric measurements-NDVI. The integration between NOAA AVHRR (LAC) data and simulation model as applied to Rice-SRS resulted in accurate estimates for rice yield in the Shaoxing area, reduced the estimating error to 1.027%,0.794% and (-0.787%) for early, single, and late season respectively. Utilizing NDVI data derived from NOAA AVHRR (GAC) as input in Rice-SRS can yield good estimation for rice yield with the average error (-7.43%). Testing the new model for radiometric measurements showed that the average estimation error for 10 varieties under early rice conditions was less than 1%.

The research on the remote sensing＇s information tree model of the Nansha coral islets and reef＇s spatial structure

Based on the Nansha coral islets and reef's time-space attributes,and the intension and extension of the remote sensing information, the concept model and concept system of coral islets and reef are proposed.Then twin-tree remote sensing information model for different kinds of reef is constructed by using abstracted islets and reef's primitive, and the structure recognition system for coral islets and reef type is developed.

Developing a process-based and remote sensing driven crop yield model for maize(PRYM–Maize) and its validation over the Northeast China Plain

Spatial dynamics of crop yield provide useful information for improving the production. High sensitivity of crop growth models to uncertainties in input factors and parameters and relatively coarse parameterizations in conventional remote sensing(RS) approaches limited their applications over broad regions. In this study, a process-based and remote sensing driven crop yield model for maize(PRYM–Maize) was developed to estimate regional maize yield, and it was implemented using eight data-model coupling strategies(DMCSs) over the Northeast China Plain(NECP). Simulations under eight DMCSs were validated against the prefecture-level statistics(2010–2012) reported by National Bureau of Statistics of China, and inter-compared. The 3-year averaged result could give more robust estimate than the yearly simulation for maize yield over space. A 3-year averaged validation showed that prefecture-level estimates by PRYM–Maize under DMCS8, which coupled with the development stage(DVS)-based grain-filling algorithm and RS phenology information and leaf area index(LAI), had higher correlation(R, 0.61) and smaller root mean standard error(RMSE, 1.33 t ha^(–1)) with the statistics than did PRYM–Maize under other DMCSs. The result also demonstrated that DVS-based grain-filling algorithm worked better for maize yield than did the harvest index(HI)-based method, and both RS phenology information and LAI worked for improving regional maize yield estimate. These results demonstrate that the developed PRYM–Maize under DMCS8 gives reasonable estimates for maize yield and provides scientific basis facilitating the understanding the spatial variations of maize yield over the NECP.