Remote Sensing Monitoring of Tobacco Field Based on Phenological Characteristics and Time Series Image―A Case Study of Chengjiang County, Yunnan Province, China

Using three-phase remote sensing images of China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellite 02B (CBERS02B) and Landsat-5 TM, tobacco field was extracted by the analysis of time series image based on the different phenological characteristics between tobacco and other crops. The spectral characteristics of tobacco and corn in luxuriant growth stage are very similar, which makes them difficult to be distinguished using a single-phase remote sensing image. Field film after tobacco seedlings transplanting can be used as significant sign to identify tobacco. Remote sensing interpre- tation map based on the fusion image of TM and CBERS02B's High-Resolution (HR) camera image was used as stan- dard reference material to evaluate the classification accuracy of Spectral Angle Mapper (SAM) and Maximum Like- lihood Classifier (MLC) for time series image based on full samples test method. SAM has higher classification accu- racy and stability than MLC in dealing with time series image. The accuracy and Kappa of tobacco coverage extracted by SAM are 83.4% and 0.692 respectively, which can achieve the accuracy required by tobacco coverage measurement in a large area.

Study of coastal water zone ecosystem health in Zhejiang Province based on remote sensing data and GIS

The coastal ecosystem health assessment is a field of increasing importance.In this paper,a preliminary assessment of ecosystem health in Zhejiang coastal water zone was made,mainly based on remote sensing data and GIS technique.Its spatial and quantitative evaluation was facilitated by the progress of remote sensing and GIS technique development.Firstly,human activities,hydrology and ecosystem problems in the study area were discussed and analyzed.Secondly,from 4 aspects of human stress,physical,chemical and biological responses to anthropogenic activities and natural stress,several indicators such as water transparency（Secchi Disk Depth,SDD）,suspended substance concentration,dissolved inorganic nitrogen,active phosphate,chlorophyll,harmful algae bloom,as well as distribution of sewage,sea lanes and port were employed.Thirdly,the Analytic Hierarchical Process was used for indicator weight calculation,and the ecosystem health criteria were established according to the integrative analysis of national water quality criteria,similar coastal ecosystem health research in other places or data inherent properties.The results indicated that from 2005 to 2007 the coastal water ecosystem health value in Zhejiang Province was unhealthy and needs ecological restoration by human intervention.

Retrieval of canopy biophysical variables from remote sensing data using contextual information

In order to improve the accuracy of biophysical parameters retrieved from remotely sensing data, a new algorithm was presented by using spatial contextual to estimate canopy variables from high-resolution remote sensing images. The developed algorithm was used for inversion of leaf area index (LAI) from Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) data by combining with optimization method to minimize cost functions. The results show that the distribution of LAI is spatially consistent with the false composition imagery from ETM+ and the accuracy of LAI is significantly improved over the results retrieved by the conventional pixelwise retrieval methods, demonstrating that this method can be reliably used to integrate spatial contextual information for inverting LAI from high-resolution remote sensing images.

Vegetation NPP Distribution Based on MODIS Data and CASA Model——A Case Study of Northern Hebei Province

Net Primary Productivity (NPP) is one of the important biophysical variables of vegetation activity, and it plays an important role in studying global carbon cycle, carbon source and sink of ecosystem, and spatial and temporal distri- bution of CO2. Remote sensing can provide broad view quickly, timely and multi-temporally, which makes it an attractive and powerful tool for studying ecosystem primary productivity, at scales ranging from local to global. This paper aims to use Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data to estimate and analyze spatial and temporal dis- tribution of NPP of the northern Hebei Province in 2001 based on Carnegie-Ames-Stanford Approach (CASA) model. The spatial distribution of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (APAR) of vegetation and light use efficiency in three geographical subregions, that is, Bashang Plateau Region, Basin Region in the northwestern Hebei Province and Yanshan Mountainous Region in the Northern Hebei Province were analyzed, and total NPP spatial distribution of the study area in 2001 was discussed. Based on 16-day MODIS Fraction of Photosynthetically Active Radiation absorbed by vegetation (FPAR) product, 16-day composite NPP dynamics were calculated using CASA model; the seasonal dy- namics of vegetation NPP in three subregions were also analyzed. Result reveals that the total NPP of the study area in 2001 was 25.1877×106gC/(m2·a), and NPP in 2001 ranged from 2 to 608gC/(m2·a), with an average of 337.516gC/(m2·a). NPP of the study area in 2001 accumulated mainly from May to September (DOY 129–272), high NPP values appeared from June to August (DOY 177–204), and the maximum NPP appeared from late July to mid-August (DOY 209–224).

Monitoring Glacier and Supra-glacier Lakes from Space in Mt. Qomolangma Region of the Himalayas on the Tibetan Plateau in China

Because of the large number and remoteness, satellite data, including microwave data and optical imagery, have commonly been used in alpine glaciers surveys. Using remote sensing and Geographical Information System (GIS) techniques the paper presents the results of a multitempora satellite glacier extent mapping and glacier changes by glacier sizes in the Mt. Qomolangma region at the northern slopes of the middle Himalayas over the Tibetan Plateau. Glaciers in this region have both retreated and advanced in the past 35 years, with retreat dominating. The glacier retreat area was 3.23 km2 (or 0.75 km2 yr-1) during 1974 and 1976, 8.68 km2 (or 0.36 km2 yr-1) during 1976 and 1992, 1.44 km2 (or 0.12 km2 yr-1) during 1992-2000. 1.14 km2 (or 0.22 km2 yr-1) during 2000-2003, and 0.52 km2 (or 0.07 km2 yr-1) during 2003-2008, respectively. While supra-glacier lakes on the debris-terminus of the Rongbuk Glacier were enlarged dramatically at the same time, from 0.05 km2 in 1974 increased to 0.71 km2 in 2008, which was more than 13 times larger in the last 35 years. In addition, glacier changes also showed spatial differences, for example, glacier retreat rate was the fastest at glacier termini between 5400 and 5700 m a.s.l than at other elevations. The result also shows that glaciers in the middle Himalayas retreat almost at a same pace with those in the western Himalayas.

Assessing Reclamation Levels of Coastal Saline Lands with Integrated Stepwise Discriminant Analysis and Laboratory Hyperspectral Data

At different times over the past 30 years in Zhejiang Province, China, the coastal tidelands have been successively enclosed and reclaimed for agricultural land use. The purpose of this work was to evaluate whether laboratory hyperspectral data might be used to estimate the physicochemical characteristics of these reclaimed saline soils. A coastal region of Shangyu City (Zhejiang Province), which was grouped into four subzones according to reclamation history, was used as the study area, and soil samples were collected in each subzone. Physicochemical analyses showed that the soils were characterized by high electrical conductivity and sand content with low organic matter; the longer the saline lands had been reclaimed, the lower were the electrical conductivity and sand content and the higher the organic matter content. These changing trends of soil chemical and physical properties were found in laboratory reflectance spectra of soil samples and their first-order derivative curves. Stepwise discriminant analysis (SDA) identified six salient spectral bands at 488, 530, 670, 880, 1400, and 1900 nm. Using derived discriminant functions for saline lands with different historical years of reclamation, classification revealed an overall accuracy from a self-test of 86.6% and from cross-validation of 89.3%. Therefore, as opposed to time-consuming field investigations, this study suggested that remotely sensed hyperspectral data could serve as a promising measure to assess the reclamation levels of coastal saline lands.

Improvement of Mono-window Algorithm for Retrieving Land Surface Temperature from HJ-1B Satellite Data

The thermal infrared channel (IRS4) of HJ-1B satellite obtains view zenith angles (VZA) up to ±33°. The view angle should be taken into account when retrieving land surface temperature (LST) from IRS4 data. This study aims at improving the mono-window algorithm for retrieving LST from IRS4 data. Based on atmospheric radiative transfer simulations,a model for correcting the VZA effects on atmospheric transmittance is proposed. In addition,a generalized model for calculating the effective mean atmospheric temperature is developed. Validation with the simulated dataset based on standard atmospheric profiles reveals that the improved mono-window algorithm for IRS4 obtains high accuracy for LST retrieval,with the mean absolute error (MAE) and root mean square error (RMSE) being 1.0 K and 1.1 K,respectively. Numerical experiment with the radiosonde profile acquired in Beijing in winter demonstrates that the improved mono-window algorithm exhibits excellent ability for LST retrieval,with MAE and RMSE being 0.6 K and 0.6 K,respectively. Further application in Qinghai Lake and comparison with the Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) LST product suggest that the improved mono-window algorithm is applicable and feasible in actual conditions.

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

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is the world'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 autocorrelation input data were removed and 106 occurrence points and 9 environmental layers were determined as the model inputs.The thresholdindependent model performance was reasonable according to 10 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 accounted for 1.19%,moderately for 5.3% and marginally for 11.28%.These suitable areas totaled 418.79 km 2,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.

Some essential questions in remote sensing science and technology

In this paper,I propose a personal view on the general contents of remote sensing science and technology,which includes sensor research and manufacturing,remotely sensed data acquisition,data processing,information extraction and remote sensing applications.Serving as the basis for all these components is radiative transfer process modeling and inversion.Also of importance is the effective visualization of remotely sensed data and their efficient distribution to end users.In all these areas,there are critical research questions.In particular,I consider 4 fundamental areas for improved application of remote sensing.These include the scale and angular issues in remote sensing,removal of topographic effects on the radiance and geometry of remotely sensed imagery and the related question of multisource and multitemporal data registration,integrating knowledge and remotely sensed data into effective information extraction,and four dimensional data assimilation techniques.Strategies of information extraction can be broadly divided into manual visual analysis and computer-based analysis.The computer based information analysis include radiative transfer model inversion,image classification,regression analysis,three dimensional information extraction,shape analysis and change detection.Successful information extraction is the key to the success of remote sensing.There are many important issues that need to be solved including how to make better use of the spatial and temporal data present in remotely sensed data in information extraction.How to effectively combine the strength of both computer analysis and human interpretation? Finally,4D data assimilation is the new direction that allows for the integration of instantaneous observation with process-based climate,hydrological and ecological models.Further work along this direction will enhance the contribution of remote sensing in global change studies.In return,the quality of remotely sensed parameters can be improved.

A New Carbon and Oxygen Balance Model Based on Ecological Service of Urban Vegetation

The application of human induced oxygen consumption and carbon emission theory in urban region was summed up and on this base a new model of urban carbon and oxygen balance (UCOB) was constructed by calculating the carbon and oxygen fluxes. The purpose was to highlight the role of vegetation in urban ecosystems and evaluate the effects of various human activities on urban annual oxygen consumption and carbon emission. Hopefully,the model would be helpful in theory to keep the regional balance of carbon and oxygen,and provide guidance and support for urban vegetation planning in the future. To test the UCOB model,the Jimei District of Xiamen City,Fujian Province,China,a very typical urban region,was selected as a case study. The results turn out that Jimei′s vegetation service in oxygen emission and carbon sequestration could not meet the demand of the urban population,and more than 31.49 times of vegetation area should be added to meet the whole oxygen consumption in Jimei while 9.60 times of vegetation area are needed to meet the carbon sequestration targets. The results show that the new UCOB model is of a great potential to be applied to quantitative planning of urban vegetation and regional eco-compensation mechanisms.

Topographic Correction-Based Retrieval of Leaf Area Index in Mountain Areas

Leaf Area Index(LAI)is a key parameter in vegetation analysis and management,especially for mountain areas.The accurate retrieval of LAI based on remote sensing data is very necessary.In a study at the Dayekou forest center in Heihe watershed of Gansu Province,we determined the LAI based on topographic corrections of a SPOT-5.The large variation in the mountain terrain required preprocessing of the SPOT-5 image,except when orthorectification, radiation calibration and atmospheric correction were used.These required acquisition of surface reflectance and several vegetation indexes and linkage to field measured LAI values.Statistical regression models were used to link LAI and vegetation indexes.The quadratic polynomial model between LAI and SAVI (L=0.35)was determined as the optimal model considering the R and R2 value.A second group of LAI data were reserved to validate the retrieval result.The model was applied to create a distribution map of LAI in the area.Comparison with an uncorrected SPOT-5 image showed that topographic correction is necessary for determination of LAI in mountain areas.

Residues of organochlorine pesticides in surface soils from college school yards in Beijing, China

Organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) have been a major environmental issue, attracting much scientific concern because of their nature of toxicity, persistence, and endocrine disrupting effects. Soil samples were collected from ten college school yards in Beijing in 2006 and analyzed to determine fifteen OCPs. Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethanes (DDTs) were found to be the main pollutants, accounting for 93.70% of total OCPs, followed by hexachlorohexanes (HCHs) (2.25%) and hexachlorobenzene (HCB) (1.82%). Content...

Dynamic Monitoring of Soil Erosion for Upper Stream of Miyun Reservoir in the Last 30 Years

The Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation(RUSLE) was applied to assess the spatial distribution and dynamic properties of soil loss with geographic information system(GIS) and remote sensing(RS) technologies.To improve the accuracy of soil-erosion estimates,a new C-factor estimation model was developed based on land cover and time series normalized difference vegetation index(NDVI) datasets.The new C-factor was then applied in the RUSLE to integrate rainfall,soil,vegetation,and topography data of different periods,and thus monitor the distribution of soil erosion patterns and their dynamics during a 30-year period of the upstream watershed of Miyun Reservoir(UWMR),China.The results showed that the new C-factor estimation method,which considers land cover status and dynamics,and explicitly incorporates within-land cover variability,was more rational,quantitative,and reliable.An average annual soil loss in UWMR of 25.68,21.04,and 16.80 t ha-1a-1was estimated for 1990,2000 and 2010,respectively,corroborated by comparing spatial and temporal variation in sediment yield.Between 2000 and 2010,a 1.38% average annual increase was observed in the area of lands that lost less than 5 t ha-1a-1,while during 1990-2000 such lands only increased on average by 0.46%.Areas that classified as severe,very severe and extremely severe accounted for 5.68% of the total UWMR in 2010,and primarily occurred in dry areas or grasslands of sloping fields.The reason for the change in rate of soil loss is explained by an increased appreciation of soil conservation by developers and planners.Moreover,we recommend that UWMR watershed adopt further conservation measures such as terraced plowing of dry land,afforestation,or grassland enclosures as part of a concerted effort to reduce on-going soil erosion.

Pinpointing Source of Mekong and Measuring Its Length Through Analysis of Satellite Imagery and Field Investigations

For centuries, explorers and scientists from different countries had made their own conclusions on the source of the Mekong. However, the geographic source of the Mekong is still arguable because of the complexity of the Mekong source water system, inaccessible environment and the varied technologies used by those explorers and scientists. The satellite remote sensing technology has been used to pinpoint the source of the Mekong, associated with the on-the-spot investigations made by the authors in June 1999 and September 2002. The actual length of the Mekong has also been calculated.

Estimations of Net Primary Productivity and Evapotranspiration Based on HJ-1A/B Data in Jinggangshan City, China

Net primary productivity(NPP) and evapotranspiration(ET) are two key variables in the carbon and water cycles of terrestrial ecosystems.In this study,to test a newly developed NPP algorithm designed for HJ-1 A/B data and to evaluate the usage of HJ-1 A/B data in the quantitative assessment of environments,NPP and ET in Jinggangshan city,Jiangxi province,are calculated using HJ-1 A/B data.The results illustrate the following:(1) The NPP and ET in Jinggangshan city in 2010 both show obvious seasonal variation,with the highest values in summer and the lowest values in winter,and relatively higher values were observed in autumn than in spring.(2) The spatial pattern indicates that the annual NPP is high in the southern area in Jinggangshan city and low in the northern area.Additionally,high NPP is distributed in forests located in areas with high elevation,and low NPP is found in croplands at low elevations.ET has no significant north-south difference,with high values in the southeast and northwest and low values in the southwest,and high ET is distributed in forests at low elevations in contrast to low ET in forests in high-elevation areas and in cropland and shrub grassland in low-elevation areas.(3) Compared to the MODIS product,the range of HJ-1 NPP is larger,and the spatial pattern is more coincident with the topography.The range of HJ-1 ET is smaller than that of the MODIS product,and ET is underestimated to some extent but can reflect the effect of topography.This study suggests that the algorithm can be used to estimate NPP and ET in a subtropical monsoon climate if remotely sensed images with high spatial resolution are available.

Research on Development of Agricultural Geographic Information Ontology

This paper first analyzes the reason that agricultural geographic information gives rise to semantic heterogeneity and solution thereof. Although OWL （web ontology language） is the standard of ontology representation language in semantic web, it is insufficient in representing spatial characteristics, especially spatial relationship. Consequently it is pointed out to build geo-ontology by virtue of three theories such as mereology, location theory and topology in this paper. This paper introduces mereology, location theory and topology, and then discusses how to adopt these three theories to build geo-ontology. The outcome of experiment shows that solution put forward by this paper is feasible.

Improvement of Glacial Lakes Detection under Shadow Environment Using ASTER Data in Himalayas, Nepal

The detection of glacial lake change in the Himalayas, Nepal is extremely significant since the glacial lake change is one of the crucial indicators of global climate change in this area, where is the most sensitive area of the global climate changes. In the Himalayas, some of glacial lakes are covered by the dark mountains′ shadow because of their location. Therefore, these lakes can not be detected by conventional method such as Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI), because the reflectance feature of shadowed glacial lake is different comparing to the ones which are located in the open flat area. The shadow causes two major problems: 1) glacial lakes which are covered by shadow completely result in underestimation of the number of glacial lakes; 2) glacial lakes which are partly identified are considered to undervalue the area of glacial lakes. The aim of this study is to develop a new model, named Detection of Shadowed Glacial Lakes (DSGL) model, to identify glacial lakes under the shadow environment by using Advanced Space-borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) data in the Himalayas, Nepal. The DSGL model is based on integration of two different modifications of NDWI, namely NDWIs model and NDWI she model. NDWIs is defined as integration of the NDWI and slope analysis and used for detecting non-shadowed lake in the mountain area. The NDWIshe is proposed as a new methodology to overcome the weakness of NDWIs on identifying shadowed lakes in highly elevated mountainous area such as the Himalayas. The first step of the NDWIshe is to enhance the data from ASTER 1B using the histogram equalization (HE) method, and its outcome product is named ASTER he . We used the ASTER he for calculating the NDWI he and the NDWIshe . Integrated with terrain analysis using Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data, the NDWI she can be used to identify the shadowed glacial lakes in the Himalayas. NDWIs value of 0.41 is used to identify the glacier lake (NDWIs≥0.41), and 0.3 of NDWIshe is used to identify the shadowed glacier lake (NDWIshe≤0.3). The DSGL model was proved to be able to classify the glacial lakes more accurately, while the NDWI model had tendency to underestimate the presence of actual glacial lakes. Correct classification rate regarding the products from NDWI model and DSGL model were 57% and 99%, respectively. The results of this paper demonstrated that the DSGL model is promising to detect glacial lakes in the shadowed environment at high mountains.

A Synergic Algorithm for Retrieval of Aerosol Optical Depth over Land

In this paper, a novel algorithm for aerosol optical depth（AOD） retrieval with a 1 km spatial resolution over land is presented using the Advanced Along Track Scanning Radiometer （AATSR） dual-view capability at 0.55, 0.66 and 0.87μm, in combination with the Bi-directional Reflectance Distribution Function （BRDF） model, a product of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer （MODIS）. The BRDF characteristics of the land surface, i.e. prior input parameters for this algorithm, are computed by extracting the geometrical information from AATSR and reducing the kernels from the MODIS BRDF/Albedo Model Parameters Product. Finally, AOD, with a i km resolution at 0.55, 0.66 and 0.87 μm for the forward and nadir views of AATSR, can be simultaneously obtained. Extensive validations of AOD derived from AATSR during the period from August 2005 to July 2006 in Beijing and its surrounding area, against in-situ AErosol RObotic NETwork （AERONET） measurements, were performed. The AOD difference between the retrievals from the forward and nadir views of AATSR was less than 5.72%, 1.9% and 13.7%, respectively. Meanwhile, it was found that the AATSR retrievals using the synergic algorithm developed in this paper are more favorable than those by assuming a Lambert surface, for the coefficient of determination between AATSR derived AOD and AERONET mearured AOD, decreased by 15.5% and 18.5%, compared to those derived by the synergic algorithm. This further suggests that the synergic algorithm can be potentially used in climate change and air quality monitoring.

The Surface Rupture Zone and Coseismic Deformation Produced by the Yutian Ms7.3 Earthquake of 21 March 2008,Xinjiang

On 21 March 2008, a Ms7.3 earthquake occurred at Quickbird, Yutian County, Xinjiang. We attempt to reveal the features of the causative fault of this shock and its coseismic deformation field. Our work is based on analysis and interpretation to high-resolution satellite images as well as differential interferometric synthetic aperture radar （D-InSAR） data from the satellite Envisat SAR, coupled with seismicity, focal mechanism solutions and active tectonics in this region. The result shows that the 40 km-long, nearly NS trending surface rupture zone by this event lies on a range-front alluvial platform in Qira County. It is characterized by distinct linear traces and simple structure with 1-3-m-wide individual seams and maximum 6.5 m width of a collapse fracture. Along the rupture zone many secondary fractures and fault-bounded blocks are seen, exhibiting remarkable extension. The eoseismic deformation affected a large area 100~100 km2. D-InSAR analysis indicates that the interferometric deformation field is dominated by extensional faulting with a small strike-slip component. Along the causative fault, the western wall fell down and the eastern wall, that is the active unit, rose up, both with westerly vergence. Because of the big deformation gradients near the seismogenic fault, no interference fringes are seen on images, and what can be determined is a vertical displacement 70 cm or more between the two fault walls. According to the epicenter and differential occurrence times from the National Earthquake Information Center, China Earthquake Network Center, Harvard and USGS, it is suggested that the seismic fault ruptured from north to south.

Spatial Distribution of Land Cover and Vegetation Activity along Topographic Gradient in an Arid River Valley, SW China

Anthropogenic activities have become more and more important in characterizing the landscape, but their impacts are still restricted by natural environments. This paper discusses the interactions of anthropogenic activity, vegetation activity and topography through describing the spatial distribution of land cover and vegetation activity (represented by Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, NDVI) along topographic gradient in a mountainous area of southwestern China. Our results indicate that the existing landscape pattern is controlled by anthropogenic activities as well as topographic factors. Intensive anthropogenic activities mainly occur in areas with relatively low elevation, gentle and concave slopes, as these areas are easy and convenient to attain for human. Because of the destruction by human, some land cover types (mainly grassland and shrub) are only found in relatively harsher environments. This study also finds that topographic wetness index (W) used in other places only reflects runoff generation capacity, but not indicate the real spatial pattern of soil water content in this area. The relationships between NDVI and W, and NDVI and length slope factor (LSF) show that runoff and erosion have complex effects on vegetation activity. Greater values of W and LSF will lead to stronger capacity to produce runoff and transport sediment, and thereby increase soil water content and soil deposition, whereas beyond a certain threshold runoff and erosion are so strong that they would destruct vegetation growth. This study provides information needed to successfully restore native vegetation, improve land management, and promote sustainable development in mountainous areas, especially for developing regions.