An Adaptive and Image-guided Fusion for Stereo Satellite Image Derived Digital Surface Models

The accuracy of Digital Surface Models(DSMs)generated using stereo matching methods varies due to the varying acquisition conditions and configuration parameters of stereo images.It has been a good practice to fuse these DSMs generated from various stereo pairs to achieve enhanced,in which multiple DSMs are combined through computational approaches into a single,more accurate,and complete DSM.However,accurately characterizing detailed objects and their boundaries still present a challenge since most boundary-ware fusion methods still struggle to achieve sharpened depth discontinuities due to the averaging effects of different DSMs.Therefore,we propose a simple and efficient adaptive image-guided DSM fusion method that applies k-means clustering on small patches of the orthophoto to guide the pixel-level fusion adapted to the most consistent and relevant elevation points.The experiment results show that our proposed method has outperformed comparing methods in accuracy and the ability to preserve sharpened depth edges.

Species Composition and Gear Characteristics of the Macrobrachium Fishery of the Cross River Estuary,Nigeria

The Cross River Estuary,Nigeria,is an important shrimping area for artisanal fishermen of the coastal communities.The multi-species Macrobrachium fishery is exploited with three main gears,namely beach seine,push net and trap.Studies on species composition of this fishery recorded thirteen shrimp species,one swimming crab (Callinectes amnicola) and two fish species (Eleotris sp.and Pellonula leonensis).The shrimp species identified included Macrobrachium macrobrachion (83.39% and 55.69% by number and weight,respectively),M.vollenhovenii (9.66% and 37.18%),M.equidens (3.8% and 2.87%),juveniles-sub-adults of Penaeus notialis (1.11% and 1.3%),M.dux,M.felicinum,Palaemonetes africanus,Palaemon maculatus,Palaemon elegans,Desmocaris sp.,Leander sp.,Nematopalaemon hastatus and Alpheus pontederiae.While the selectivity index for trap was 0.25,beach seine and push net had a lower index of 0.063.The results present the first comprehensive and representative report for the Estuary shrimp fishery and will assist in the management of the biodiversity of this ecosystem.

Spatio-temporal patterns and changes in environmental attitudes and place attachment in Gauteng, South Africa

In this study,we employed a number of geospatial techniques to examine the spatiotemporal patterns and changes of environmental attitudes and place attachment values in the Gauteng province of South Africa.The data were obtained from the Gauteng City Region Observatory’s Quality of Life Survey collected at three separate points in time,namely 2013,2015,and 2017.Results indicated that wards(smallest administrative and analysis units)located on the urban periphery of Gauteng,which are generally less affluent,largely held more negative environmental attitudes and place attachment values during the three time periods.In contrast,centrally located wards,which are generally more affluent,expressed more positive environmental attitudes but less place attachment values,especially in 2017.The findings of this research not only highlight the complex spatio-temporal distribution of environmental attitudes and place attachment values throughout Gauteng but also empha-size the need for spatially targeted state interventions for future environmental planning within the province.

Spread of common native and invasive grasses and ruderal trees following anthropogenic disturbances in a tropical dry forest

Introduction:A fundamental challenge to the integrity of tropical dry forest ecosystems is the invasion of nonnative grass species.These grasses compete for resources and fuel anthropogenic wildfires.In 2012,a bulldozer from the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority cleared a 570-m trail from a state road into a mature dry forest section of Guánica Forest to control a wildfire.We monitored colonization by a non-native invasive grass(Megathyrsus maximus),a highly invasive tree(Leucaena leucocephala),and a native grass(Uniola virgata),as well as natural regeneration,along the bulldozer trail.We determined whether bulldozing facilitated colonization by these species into the forest and the extent of spread.Results:Distance from propagule source and temporal variations strongly influenced colonization by our three focal species.Megathyrsus maximus invaded along the trail from source populations by the state road.The establishment of new colonies of M.maximus seedlings went as far as 570 m inside the forest(i.e.,at the end of the bulldozer trail),but we found most new colonies within 270 m of the road.Leucaena leucocephala exhibited a similar spreading pattern.Before disturbance,Uniola virgata was distributed widely across the forest,but the highest densities were found in areas near the latter portion(>401 m)of the bulldozer trail.Subsequently,the species formed new clumps along more than half of the trail(250 to 570 m),apparently colonizing from undisturbed patches nearby.Conclusions:Bulldozing facilitated the invasion of non-native vegetation.The projected community assemblage will be more fire-prone than before since M.maximus carries fire across the landscape better than U.virgata,emphasizing the capacity of invasive plant colonization to alter local ecological processes after only a single wildfire and bulldoze event.Our results provide a valuable baseline for short-term vegetation response to anthropogenic disturbances in tropical semi-deciduous dry forests.

A volumetric change detection framework using UAV oblique photogrammetry–a case study of ultra-high-resolution monitoring of progressive building collapse

In this paper,we present a case study that performs an unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV)based fine-scale 3D change detection and monitoring of progressive collapse performance of a building during a demolition event.Multi-temporal oblique photogrammetry images are collected with 3D point clouds generated at different stages of the demolition.The geometric accuracy of the generated point clouds has been evaluated against both airborne and terrestrial LiDAR point clouds,achieving an average distance of 12 cm and 16 cm for roof and façade respectively.We propose a hierarchical volumetric change detection framework that unifies multi-temporal UAV images for pose estimation(free of ground control points),reconstruction,and a coarse-to-fine 3D density change analysis.This work has provided a solution capable of addressing change detection on full 3D time-series datasets where dramatic scene content changes are presented progressively.Our change detection results on the building demolition event have been evaluated against the manually marked ground-truth changes and have achieved an F-1 score varying from 0.78 to 0.92,with consistently high precision(0.92–0.99).Volumetric changes through the demolition progress are derived from change detection and have been shown to favorably reflect the qualitative and quantitative building demolition progression.