Snowmelt Flood Mapping and Land Surface Short-Term Dynamics Assessment in a “Before-During-After” Scenario Based on Radar and Optical Satellite Imagery: Case Study Around the Lewisville Lake (Dallas/Fort Worth Metropolitan, Texas, USA)

The main goal of this study has been to map flood and assess land surface short-term dynamics in relation with snowy weather. The two recent snowfall events, which happened in, February 14th and 15th, of year 2021, and February 3rd and 4th, of year 2022, were chosen. A pre-analysis correlation was assumed between, the snow events, recurrency of floods, and changes in the land surface characteristics (i.e., wetness, energy, temperature), in a “Before-During-After” scenario. Active and passive microwave satellites data such as, Sentinel-1 synthetic aperture radar (SAR), Sentinel-2 multispectral instrument (MSI) and Landsat-9 Operation Land Imager-2/Thermal Infrared Sensors-2 (OLI-2/TIRS-2), as well as cloud databased global models for water and urban layers were used. The first step of processing was thresholding of SAR image, at 0.25 cutoff, based on bimodal histogram distribution, followed by the change analysis. The following processing consisted in the images transformation, by computing the tasseled cap transformation wetness (TCTw) and the surface albedo on MSI image. In addition, the land surface temperature (LST) was modeled from OLI-2/TIRS-2 image. Then, a 5th order polynomial regression was computed, between TCTw as dependent variable and, albedo and LST as independent variables. As a first result, an area of 5.6 km2 has been mapped as recurrently flooded from the two years assessment. The other output highlighted a constant increase of wetness (TCTw), considered most influential on land surface dynamics, comparatively to energy exchange (albedo) and temperature (LST). The “After” event dependency between the three indicators was highest, with a correlation coefficient, R2 = 0.682, confirming the persistence of wetness after-snowmelt. Validation over topographic layers confirmed that, recurrently flooded areas are mostly distributed on, lowest valley depth points, farthest distances from channel network (i.e., from perennial waters), and lowest relative slope position areas. Whereas, 88.9% of the validation sampling were confirmed in the laboratory, and 86.7% of urban validation points were assessed as recurrently flooded when combining pre-/post-field-work campaign.

Application of X-band Polarimetric Phased-array Radars in Quantitative Precipitation Estimation

The performance of different quantitative precipitation estimation(QPE) relationships is examined using the polarimetric variables from the X-band polarimetric phased-array radars in Guangzhou,China.Three QPE approaches,namely,R(ZH),R(ZH,ZDR) and R(KDP),are developed for horizontal reflectivity,differential reflectivity and specific phase shift rate,respectively.The estimation parameters are determined by fitting the relationships to the observed radar variables using the T-matrix method.The QPE relationships were examined using the data of four heavy precipitation events in southern China.The examination shows that the R(ZH) approach performs better for the precipitation rate less than 5 mm h-1, and R(KDP) is better for the rate higher than 5 mm h-1, while R(ZH,ZDR) has the worst performance.An adaptive approach is developed by taking the advantages of both R(ZH) and R(KDP) approaches to improve the QPE accuracy.

Doppler radar by using single multicarrier pulse based on optical fibre delay lines

The proposed Doppler measurement technique shows that the Doppler measurements can be accomplished by a single pulse with multiple frequency components through optical fibre delay lines.Range and velocity ambiguity can be removed,and the velocity resolution can be improved dramatically by using long optical fibre delay lines.Furthermore,the velocity resolution can be modified by adjusting the length of optical fibre delay lines.In addition,the proposed radar can achieve high range resolution by using a single wideband pulse.As a result,the new approach can improve radar performance significantly.

Design and Realization of Phased Array Radar Optical Fiber Transmission System

One optical fiber transmission system is designed. The modularization optical fiber transmission adapters were utilized in the system, so the system structure could be flexibly sealable. The sub-array adapter and signal processor adapter were designed and realized utilizing the new field programmable gate array （FP- GA） which could drive the optical transceiver. The transmission agreement was designed based on the data stream. In order to solve the signal synchronization problem of the optical fiber transmitted phased array radar, a method named synchronous clock was designed. The fiber transmission error code rate of the system was zero with an experimental transmission velocity of 800 Mbit/s. The phased array radar system has detected the airplane target, thus validated the feasibility of the design method.

Classification of vegetative types in Changbai Mountain based on optical and microwave remote sensing data

Highly accurate vegetative type distribution information is of great significance for forestry resource monitoring and management.In order to improve the classification accuracy of forest types,Sentinel-1 and 2 data of Changbai Mountain protection development zone were selected,and combined with DEM to construct a multi-featured random forest type classification model incorporating fusing intensity,texture,spectral,vegetation index and topography information and using random forest Gini index(GI)for optimization.The overall accuracy of classification was 94.60%and the Kappa coefficient was 0.933.Comparing the classification results before and after feature optimization,it shows that feature optimization has a greater impact on the classification accuracy.Comparing the classification results of random forest,maximum likelihood method and CART decision tree under the same conditions,it shows that the random forest has a higher performance and can be applied to forestry research work such as forest resource survey and monitoring.

A novel algorithm for ocean wave direction inversion from X-band radar images based on optical flow method

As one of the important sea state parameters for navigation safety and coastal resource management, the ocean wave direction represents the propagation direction of the wave. A novel algorithm based on an optical flow method is developed for the ocean wave direction inversion of the ocean wave fields imaged by the X-band radar continuously. The proposed algorithm utilizes the echo images received by the X-band wave monitoring radar to estimate the optical flow motion, and then the actual wave propagation direction can be obtained by taking a weighted average of the motion vector for each pixel. Compared with the traditional ocean wave direction inversion method based on frequency-domain, the novel algorithm is fully using a time-domain signal processing method without determination of a current velocity and a modulation transfer function（MTF）. In the meantime,the novel algorithm is simple, efficient and there is no need to do something more complicated here. Compared with traditional ocean wave direction inversion method, the ocean wave direction of derived by using this proposed method matches well with that measured by an in situ buoy nearby and the simulation data. These promising results demonstrate the efficiency and accuracy of the algorithm proposed in the paper.

Optical flow-based method to estimate internal wave parameters from X-band marine radar images

The velocity and direction of internal waves(IWs) are important parameters of the ocean,however,traditional observation methods can only obtain the average parameters of IWs for a single location or large area.Herein,a new method based on optical flow is proposed to derive the phase velocity vectors of IWs from X-band marine radar images.First,the X-band marine radar image sequence is averaged,and ramp correction is used to reduce the attenuation of gray values with increasing radial range.Second,the average propagation direction of the IWs is determined using the two-dimensional Fourier transform of the radar images;two radial profiles along this direction are selected from two adjacent radar images;and then,the average phase velocity of the IWs is estimated from these radial profiles.Third,the averaged radar images are processed via histogram equalization and binarization to reduce the influence of noise on the radar images.Fourth,a weighting factor is determined using the average phase velocity of a reference point;the phase velocities on the wave crest of the IWs are subsequently estimated via the optical flow method.Finally,the proposed method is validated using X-band marine radar image sequences observed on an oil platform in the South China Sea,and the error of the phase velocity is calculated to be 0.000 3–0.073 8 m/s.The application conditions of the proposed method are also discussed using two different types of IW packets.

Rapid-Scan and Polarimetric Phased-Array Radar Observations of a Tornado in the Pearl River Estuary

The strong destructive winds during tornadoes can greatly threaten human life and destroy property.The increasing availability of visual and remote observations,especially by Doppler weather radars,is of great value in understanding tornado formation and issuing warnings to the public.In this study,we present the first documented tornado over water detected by a state-of-the-art dual-polarization phased-array radar(dual-PAR)in China.In contrast to new-generation weather radars,the dual-PAR shows great advantages in tornado detection for its high spatial resolution,reliable polarimetric variables,and rapid-scan strategy.The polarimetric signature of copolar cross-correlation coefficient with anomalously low magnitude appears to be effective for verifying a tornado and thus is helpful for issuing tornado warnings.The Guangdong Meteorological Service has been developing an experimental X-band dual-PAR network in the Pearl River Delta with the goal of deploying at least 40 advanced dual-PARs and other dual-polarization weather radars before 2035.This network is the first quasi-operational X-band dual-PAR network with unprecedented high coverage in the globe.With such high-performance close-range PARs,efficient operational nowcasting and warning services for small-scale,rapidly evolving,and damaging weather(e.g.,tornadoes,localized heavy rainfall,microbursts,and hail)can be expected.

Comparison of the Observation Capability of an X-band Phased-array Radar with an X-band Doppler Radar and S-band Operational Radar

An X-band phased-array meteorological radar （XPAR） was developed in China and will be installed in an airplane to observe precipitation systems for research purposes.In order to examine the observational capability of the XPAR and to test the operating mode and calibration before installation in the airplane,a mobile X-band Doppler radar （XDR） and XPAR were installed at the same site to observe convective precipitation events.Nearby S-band operational radar （SA） data were also collected to examine the reflectivity bias of XPAR.An algorithm for quantitative analysis of reflectivity and velocity differences and radar sensitivity of XPAR is presented.The reflectivity and velocity biases of XPAR are examined with SA and XDR.Reflectivity sensitivities,the horizontal and vertical structures of reflectivity by the three radars are compared and analyzed.The results indicated that while the XPRA with different operating modes can capture the main characteristic of 3D structures of precipitation,and the averaged reflectivity differences between XPAR and XDR,and XDR and SA,were 0.4 dB and 6.6 dB on 13 July and-4.5 dB and 5.1 dB on 2 August 2012,respectively.The minimum observed reflectivities at a range of 50 km for XPAR,XDR and SA were about 15.4 dBZ,13.5 dBZ and-3.5 dBZ,respectively.The bias of velocity between XPAR and XDR was negligible.This study provides a possible method for the quantitative comparison of the XPAR data,as well as the sensitivity of reflectivity,calibration,gain and bias introduced by pulse compression.

Multiple-target tracking with adaptive sampling intervals for phased-array radar

A novel adaptive sampling interval algorithm for multitarget tracking is presented. This algorithm which is based on interacting multiple models incorporates the grey relational grade （GRG） into the particle swarm optimization （PSO）. Firstly, the desired tracking accuracy is set for each target. Secondly, sampling intervals are selected as particles, and then the advantage of the GRG is taken as the measurement function for resource management. Meanwhile, the fitness value of the PSO is used to measure the difference between desired tracking accuracy and estimated tracking accuracy. Finally, it is suggested that the radar should track the target whose prediction value of the next sampling interval is the smallest. Simulations show that the proposed method improves both the tracking accuracy and tracking efficiency of the phased-array radar.

Wigner Frequency Point Slice Analysis of Superposition Data for Phased-Array Ground Penetrating Radar

According to the frequency property of Phasedarray ground penetrating radar (PGPR), this paper gives a frequency point slice method based on Wigner time-frequency analysis. This method solves the problem of analysis for the PGPR's superposition data and makes detecting outcome simpler and detecting target more recognizable. At last, the analytical results of road test data of the Three Gorges prove the analytical method efficient. Key words phased-array ground penetrating radar - wigner time-frequency analysis - superposition data - object identification CLC number TN 715.7 Foundation item: Supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (50099620) and 863 Program Foundation of China (2001AA132050-03)Biography: ZOU Lian (1975-), male, Ph. D candidate, research direction: signal processing.

Research on Data Combination for Phased-Array Ground Penetrating Radar

To resolve the data combination of Phased-array Ground Penetrating Radar (PAGPR), we first build a model of PAGPR and a layered model, and then a new data combination algorithm is presented based on it. This method calculates time delay of multi-receivers, basing on the signal of the nearest receiver, then shifts other signals and adds them up, and gets one signal at last. It has been proved that this method can restrain noise, multiple waves, clutter waves and improve the precision of time location. In the end, an example is given to prove the method's efficiency.

A New X-band Weather Radar System with Distributed Phased-Array Front-ends: Development and Preliminary Observation Results

A novel weather radar system with distributed phased-array front-ends was developed. The specifications and preliminary data synthesis of this system are presented, which comprises one back-end and three or more front-ends. Each front-end, which utilizes a phased-array digital beamforming technology, sequentially transmits four 22.5°-width beams to cover the 0°–90° elevational scan within about 0.05 s. The azimuthal detection is completed by one mechanical scan of0°–360° azimuths within about 12 s volume-scan update time. In the case of three front-ends, they are deployed according to an acute triangle to form a fine detection area(FDA). Because of the triangular deployment of multiple phased-array front-ends and a unique synchronized azimuthal scanning(SAS) rule, this new radar system is named Array Weather Radar(AWR). The back-end controls the front-ends to scan strictly in accordance with the SAS rule that assures the data time differences(DTD) among the three front-ends are less than 2 s for the same detection point in the FDA. The SAS can maintain DTD < 2 s for an expanded seven-front-end AWR. With the smallest DTD, gridded wind fields are derived from AWR data, by sampling of the interpolated grid, onto a rectangular grid of 100 m ×100 m ×100 m at a 12 s temporal resolution in the FDA. The first X-band single-polarized three-front-end AWR was deployed in field experiments in 2018 at Huanghua International Airport, China. Having completed the data synthesis and processing, the preliminary observation results of the first AWR are described herein.

Design of Laser Radar Fiber Optic Liquid Level Sensor System

A novel fiber optic liquid level sensor based on laser radar (ladar) is reported here. Using the perfect technique of ladar in which the phase of amplitude modulated light wave reflected from the liquid surface is compared with that of original modulation signal, the distance can be measured precisely. A special symmetric compensating coaxial optical system is proposed to eliminate many adverse effects. It realized the one-time electronic-free optical measurement on a simulated oil tank and achieves an accuracy of 0.3%, within a temperature range of -10 ℃～+40 ℃ over a measuring of 0～10 m.

多域特征引导的无监督SAR图像舰船检测方法

如何在合成孔径雷达(SAR)图像标注样本有限的条件下,提升舰船检测性能一直是SAR图像处理中的热点问题。本文提出一种多域特征引导的无监督域适应方法,将知识从有标注的源域(光学图像)转移到未标注的目标域(SAR图像),降低对标记SAR图像数据依赖。同时,设计了频域转换模块、注意力区域增强模块和自适应权重模块来缩小光学、SAR图像域之间的域差距,提高源域与目标域特征对齐效率,增强网络在挑战性样本下的特征迁移能力。在公开发布的数据集上进行了大量实验。结果表明:所提的模块较基础模型AP50提升10%,总体性能优于其他先进的方法。

基于HRNet和自注意力机制的多源遥感影像水稻提取

为了提高协同光学和雷达影像提取水稻的精度,该研究通过改进深度学习网络HRNet,提出一种多级特征融合的框架方法,改进后的MSATT-HRNet模型综合利用欧空局哥白尼项目哨兵1号(Sentinel-1)的双极化合成孔径雷达(synthetic aperture radar,SAR)影像和哨兵2号(Sentinel-2)多光谱光学影像,提取了湖南省长沙市望城区水稻种植区域。针对HRNet网络的改进主要包括两部分:1)设计了通道注意力机制与最大池化组成的卷积组用于提取SAR特征,同时将自注意力模块嵌入HRNet基础特征提取模块中用于提取多光谱光学影像的特征;2)为了探索双模态特征之间的内在互补关系,设计了由通道注意力与空间注意力组成的特征融合模块。研究针对改进模型进行了消融试验,并将MSATT-HRNet与其他常用深度学习方法(MCANet、Deeplabv3、Unet)进行了比较。结果表明,该研究提出的多源数据融合方法能够利用不同数据源的互补优势。水稻种植区域提取结果的总体精度、Kappa系数分别达到97.04%和0.961,与MCANet、Deeplabv3、Unet相比,总体精度分别提高6.90、2.67和2.98个百分点,Kappa系数分别提高0.055、0.025和0.030。证实了该方法可以有效提高水稻的判别精度。研究通过深度学习技术与遥感影像的耦合,为南方多云雨地区水稻制图提供了一种可行的选择。

层积云背景下量子干涉雷达最优平均光子数自适应策略

量子干涉雷达(Quantum Interference Radar,QIR)是以量子力学为基础,利用量子纠缠效应进行目标探测的一种新型雷达体制,QIR探测光子数的变化会对雷达分辨率和系统生存函数产生影响。为了降低层积云液态水含量对QIR探测性能的影响,提出了基于诱骗态量子密钥协议的最优平均光子数自适应(Photon Number Adaptive,PNA)调整策略。建立了层积云液态水含量、传输距离与最优平均光子数之间的关系,对自适应调整前后的QIR分辨率和信道生存函数进行了比较。理论分析和仿真结果表明,当脉冲信号波长一定,层积云粒子浓度为1.579×10^(4)cm^(-3),层积云液态水含量为0.5 g/cm3时,采用PNA策略之后,QIR角度分辨率值由1.289下降至1.028,QIR系统角度分辨率和空间分辨率均得到有效提高;当层积云液态水含量为0.1034 g/cm^(3)时,采用PNA策略之后,信道生存函数由0.2292提高到0.4167。因此,通过PNA策略自适应地调整系统发送端信号脉冲所含的平均光子数,能够提高QIR在层积云背景下探测的可靠性。

光流法雷达外推产品在突发强降水预报中的应用

地形条件复杂的山丘区中小河流洪水突发性强、汇流时间短,高准确率和长时效性降水短时临近预报产品对提高突发洪水预报精度尤为关键。以2021年9月河南省鸭河口水库出现的千年一遇特大洪水为例,利用国家气象信息中心提供的三源融合格点实况降水资料,检验基于改进光流法的雷达外推降水预报产品在本次洪水过程中0~1 h和0~3 h降水预报的TS评分和预报偏差。结果表明:(1)改进光流法在0~1 h的逐小时降水预报上较为精准,累计雨量在50 mm以下时,TS评分在0.45~0.85之间;雨量在50~70 mm之间时,TS评分在0.35~0.70之间;雨量在70 mm以上时,TS评分在0.25~0.35之间。50 mm以上雨量有较高TS评分表现出改进光流法在极端强降水预报中的优势性。(2)改进光流法在0~3 h的降水预报上,累计雨量在50 mm以下时,TS评分在0.55~0.85之间;在50 mm以上时,TS评分在0.35~0.75之间。该降水预报产品不仅对极端性降水预报效果较好,且预报时效长达3 h,可为防洪调度提供更长的决策时间。(3)改进光流法在0~3 h的降水预报产品与融合实况格点降水相比,雨量在20 mm以下的预报结果比较接近,平均绝对误差在10 mm以内;雨量在20 mm以上时,随雨量增大,平均误差、平均绝对误差、均方根误差均逐渐增大。(4)改进光流法在0~3 h的降水预报产品对影响范围小、降水强度大、维持时间长、累计雨量大的极端强降水有较好的预报表现。研究成果可为洪水预报模型提供一种较为可靠的降水输入预报。

基于邻域显著性的可见光和SAR遥感图像海面舰船协同检测方法

在遥感图像舰船检测任务中,可见光图像细节和纹理信息丰富,但成像质量易受云雾干扰,合成孔径雷达(SAR)图像具有全天时和全天候的特点,但图像质量易受复杂海杂波影响。结合可见光和SAR图像优势的协同检测方法可以提高舰船目标的检测性能。针对在前后时相图像中,舰船目标在极小邻域范围内发生轻微偏移的场景,该文提出一种基于邻域显著性的可见光和SAR多源异质遥感图像舰船协同检测方法。首先,通过可见光和SAR的协同海陆分割降低陆地区域的干扰,并通过RetinaNet和YOLOv5s分别进行可见光和SAR图像的单源目标初步检测;其次,提出了基于单源检测结果对遥感图像邻域开窗进行邻域显著性目标二次检测的多源协同舰船目标检测策略,实现可见光和SAR异质图像的优势互补,减少舰船目标漏检、虚警以提升检测性能。在2022年烟台地区拍摄的可见光和SAR遥感图像数据上,该方法的检测精度AP50相比现有舰船检测方法提升了1.9%以上,验证了所提方法的有效性和先进性。

基于快速异源配准的高分辨率SAR影像海岛区域正射校正

随着高分辨率合成孔径雷达(SAR)卫星的陆续发射,对天气条件多变的海岛区域进行全天候、全时段的高精度观测已变得可行。作为多种遥感应用的关键前置步骤正射校正,依赖于高精度控制点来纠正SAR影像的几何定位误差。然而,在海岛区域获取符合SAR校正要求的人工控制点不仅成本高,且风险大。为了应对这一挑战,该文首先提出了一种光学与SAR异源影像的快速配准算法,然后基于光学参考底图自动提取控制点,实现了海岛区域SAR影像的正射校正。所提出的配准算法分为两个阶段:首先构建异源影像的共性密集特征,然后在降采样后的特征上进行逐像素匹配,避免了异源影像特征点重复性低的问题。为了降低匹配复杂度,引入了海陆分割掩模以限定搜索范围。接着,对初步匹配点进行局部精细匹配,以减少降采样带来的不准确性。同时,引入海岸线均匀采样点以提升匹配结果的均匀性,并通过分段线性变换模型生成正射影像,确保了稀疏岛屿区域的整体校正精度。该算法在多景海岛区域的高分辨率SAR影像上表现出色,平均定位误差为3.2 m,整景校正时间仅需17.3 s,均优于现有多种先进的异源配准与校正算法,显示出其在工程应用中的巨大潜力。