Remote Sensing Data and Methods for Identifying Urban and Peri-Urban Smallholder Agriculture in Developing Countries and in the United States

Author(s):  
M.E. Brown ◽  
J.L. McCarty
2016 ◽  
Vol 55 (9) ◽  
pp. 2021-2036
Author(s):  
Brian I. Magi ◽  
Thomas Winesett ◽  
Daniel. J. Cecil

AbstractThis study evaluates a method for estimating the cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning flash rate from microwave remote sensing data. Defense Meteorological Satellite Program satellites have been in operation since 1987 and include global-viewing microwave sensors that capture thunderstorms as brightness temperature depressions. The National Lightning Detection Network (NLDN) has monitored CG lightning in the United States since 1997. This study investigates the relationship between CG lightning and microwave brightness temperature fields for the contiguous United States from April to September for the years 2005–12. The findings suggest that an exponential function, empirically fit to the NLDN and SSM/I data, provides lightning count measurements that agree to within 60%–70% with NLDN lightning, but with substantial misses and false alarms in the predictions. The discrepancies seem to be attributable to regional differences in thunderstorm characteristics that require a detailed study at smaller spatial scales to truly resolve, but snow at higher elevations also produces some anomalous microwave temperature depressions similar to those of thunderstorms. The results for the contiguous United States in this study are a step toward potentially using SSM/I data to estimate CG lightning around the world, although the sensitivity of the results to regional differences related to meteorological regimes would need further study.


2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (11) ◽  
pp. 1777-1791 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Dawson ◽  
Patrick Broxton ◽  
Xubin Zeng

Abstract Global snow water equivalent (SWE) products derived at least in part from satellite remote sensing are widely used in weather, climate, and hydrometeorological studies. Here we evaluate three such products using our recently developed daily 4-km SWE dataset available from October 1981 to September 2017 over the conterminous United States. This SWE dataset is based on gridded precipitation and temperature data and thousands of in situ measurements of SWE and snow depth. It has a 0.98 correlation and 30% relative mean absolute deviation with Airborne Snow Observatory data and effectively bridges the gap between small-scale lidar surveys and large-scale remotely sensed data. We find that SWE products using remote sensing data have large differences (e.g., the mean absolute difference from our SWE data ranges from 45.8% to 59.3% of the mean SWE in our data), especially in forested areas (where this percentage increases up to 73.5%). Furthermore, they consistently underestimate average maximum SWE values and produce worse SWE (including spurious jumps) during snowmelt. Three additional higher-resolution satellite snow cover extent (SCE) products are used to compare the SCE values derived from these SWE products. There is an overall close agreement between these satellite SCE products and SCE generated from our SWE data, providing confidence in our consistent SWE, snow depth, and SCE products based on gridded climate and station data. This agreement is also stronger than that between satellite SCE and those derived from the three satellite SWE products, further confirming the deficiencies of the SWE products that utilize remote sensing data.


Soil Research ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 41 (7) ◽  
pp. 1243 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. M. Howari

The rapid growth of information technologies has provided exciting new sources of data, interpretation tools, and modelling techniques to soil research and education communities at all levels. This paper presents some examples of the capability of remote sensing data such as Landsat ETM+, airborne visible/infrared imaging spectrometer (AVIRIS), colour infrared aerial photos (CIR), and high-resolution field spectroradiometer (GER 3700) to extract surface information about soil salinity. The study used image processing techniques such as supervised classification, spectral extraction, and matching techniques to investigate types and occurrences of salts in the Rio Grande Valley on the United States–Mexico border. Soil salinity groups were established using soil physico-chemical properties and image elements (absorption-reflectivity profiles, band combinations, grey tones of the investigated images, and textures of soil and vegetation covers as they appear in images). The lack of vegetation or scattered vegetation on salt-affected soil (SAS) surfaces makes it possible to detect salt in several locations of the investigated area. The presented remote sensing datasets reveal the presence of gypsum and halite as the dominant salt crusts in the Rio Grande Valley. This information can help agricultural scientists and engineers to produce large-scale maps of salt-affected lands, which will help improve salinity management in watersheds and ecosystems.


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