An Image Reconnaissance: Agricultural Patterns and Related Environmental Impacts Viewed From Space

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard W. Hazlett ◽  
Joshua Peck
Keyword(s):  
Comprehensive Evaluation ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Satellite Image ◽  
European Space Agency ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Human Interaction ◽  
Buffer Zones ◽  
Space Agency ◽  
Wilderness Areas

Satellite reconnaissance of the Earth’s surface provides critical information about the state of human interaction with the natural environment. The strongest impact is agricultural, reflecting land-use approaches to food production extending back to the dawn of civilization. To variable degrees, depending upon location, regional field patterns result from traditional farming practices, surveying methods, regional histories, policies, political agendas, environmental circumstances, and economic welfare. Satellite imaging in photographic true or false color is an important means of evaluating the nature and implications of agricultural practices and their impacts on the surrounding world. Important platforms with publicly accessible links to satellite image sets include those of the European Space Agency, U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Centre D’etudes Spatiales, Airbus, and various other governmental programs. Reprocessing of data worldwide in scope by commercial concerns including Digital Globe, Terrametrics, and GoogleEarth in the 21st century enable ready examination of most of the Earth’s surface in great detail and natural colors. The potential for monitoring and improving understanding of agriculture and its role in the Earth system is considerable thanks to these new ways of viewing the planet. Space reconnaissance starkly reveals the consequences of unique land surveys for the rapid development of agriculture and political control in wilderness areas, including the U.S. Public Land Survey and Tierras Bajas systems. Traditional approaches toward agriculture are clearly shown in ribbon farms, English enclosures and medieval field systems, and terracing in many parts of the world. Irrigation works, some thousands of years old, may be seen in floodplains and dryland areas, notably the Maghreb and the deep Sahara, where center-pivot fields have recently appeared in areas once considered too dry to cultivate. Approaches for controlling erosion, including buffer zones, shelter belts, strip and contour farming, can be easily identified. Also evident are features related to field erosion and soil alteration that have advanced to crisis stage, such as badland development and widespread salinization. Pollution related to farm runoff, and the piecemeal (if not rapid) loss of farmlands due to urbanization can be examined in ways favoring more comprehensive evaluation of human impacts on the planetary surface. Developments in space technologies and observational platforms will continue indefinitely, promising ever-increasing capacity to understand how humans relate to the environment.

scholarly journals On the Use of Tri-Stereo Pleiades Images for the Morphometric Measurement of Dolines in the Basaltic Plateau of Azrou (Middle Atlas, Morocco)

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (20) ◽  
pp. 4087
Author(s):  
Maria Teresa Melis ◽  
Luca Pisani ◽  
Jo De Waele
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Satellite Image ◽  
European Space Agency ◽  
Morphometric Study ◽  
Stereo Images ◽  
Space Agency ◽  
Middle Atlas ◽  
Mapping Techniques ◽  
Remote Sensing Techniques ◽  
Basaltic Plateau

Hundreds of large and deep collapse dolines dot the surface of the Quaternary basaltic plateau of Azrou, in the Middle Atlas of Morocco. In the absence of detailed topographic maps, the morphometric study of such a large number of features requires the use of remote sensing techniques. We present the processing, extraction, and validation of depth measurements of 89 dolines using tri-stereo Pleiades images acquired in 2018–2019 (the European Space Agency (ESA) © CNES 2018, distributed by Airbus DS). Satellite image-derived DEMs were field-verified using traditional mapping techniques, which showed a very good agreement between field and remote sensing measures. The high resolution of these tri-stereo images allowed to automatically generate accurate morphometric datasets not only regarding the planimetric parameters of the dolines (diameters, contours, orientation of long axes), but also for what concerns their depth and altimetric profiles. Our study demonstrates the potential of using these types of images on rugged morphologies and for the measurement of steep depressions, where traditional remote sensing techniques may be hindered by shadow zones and blind portions. Tri-stereo images might also be suitable for the measurement of deep and steep depressions (skylights and collapses) on Martian and Lunar lava flows, suitable targets for future planetary cave exploration.

scholarly journals Remote Sensing for Precision Agriculture: Sentinel-2 Improved Features and Applications

Agronomy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 641 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel Segarra ◽  
Maria Luisa Buchaillot ◽  
Jose Luis Araus ◽  
Shawn C. Kefauver
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Precision Agriculture ◽  
Satellite Image ◽  
European Space Agency ◽  
Stress Monitoring ◽  
Biotic Stresses ◽  
Space Agency ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Technical Features ◽  
Sentinel 2

The use of satellites to monitor crops and support their management is gathering increasing attention. The improved temporal, spatial, and spectral resolution of the European Space Agency (ESA) launched Sentinel-2 A + B twin platform is paving the way to their popularization in precision agriculture. Besides the Sentinel-2 A + B constellation technical features the open-access nature of the information they generate, and the available support software are a significant improvement for agricultural monitoring. This paper was motivated by the challenges faced by researchers and agrarian institutions entering this field; it aims to frame remote sensing principles and Sentinel-2 applications in agriculture. Thus, we reviewed the features and uses of Sentinel-2 in precision agriculture, including abiotic and biotic stress detection, and agricultural management. We also compared the panoply of satellites currently in use for land remote sensing that are relevant for agriculture to the Sentinel-2 A + B constellation features. Contrasted with previous satellite image systems, the Sentinel-2 A + B twin platform has dramatically increased the capabilities for agricultural monitoring and crop management worldwide. Regarding crop stress monitoring, Sentinel-2 capacities for abiotic and biotic stresses detection represent a great step forward in many ways though not without its limitations; therefore, combinations of field data and different remote sensing techniques may still be needed. We conclude that Sentinel-2 has a wide range of useful applications in agriculture, yet still with room for further improvements. Current and future ways that Sentinel-2 can be utilized are also discussed.

costeLAB, the Italian thematic platform for coastal and marine downstream applications of institutional and research users in the context of Copernicus data exploitation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deodato Tapete ◽  
Laura Candela ◽  
Alessandro Coletta ◽  
Maria Girolamo Daraio ◽  
Rocchina Guarini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Marine Ecosystem ◽  
Satellite Image ◽  
European Space Agency ◽  
National Research Council ◽  
Hyperspectral Data ◽  
Sensor Data ◽  
Temperature Cycle ◽  
User Needs ◽  
Synthetic Aperture Radar Data ◽  
Space Agency

<p>Coastal and marine environmental management is of vital importance in Italy.  Currently there is a growing interest in facilitating user uptake of satellite technologies and Copernicus ecosystem resources, also at non-technical local and regional governmental authorities, and a thematic working table dedicated to “Coastal” issues has been set up in the context of the Italian Copernicus User Forum (Geraldini et al., 2021).</p><p>The Italian Space Agency (ASI) has promoted the development of the thematic platform costeLAB as a tool dedicated to monitoring, management and study of coastal areas (sea and land). costeLAB hosts cutting edge tools for satellite image processing and geospatial integration with in-situ data, so as to allow an efficient access to archive data and facilitate direct engagement of users interested in deriving information according to their requirements. costeLAB is built in the framework of Progetto Premiale “Rischi Naturali Indotti dalle Attività Umana - COSTE”, n. 2017-I-E.0, funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR), coordinated by ASI and developed by e-GEOS and Planetek Italia, with the National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Meteorological Environmental Earth Observation (MEEO) and Geophysical Applications Processing (G.A.P.) s.r.l. as subcontractors.</p><p>Operating in systematic and on-demand modes, costeLAB provides users with validated algorithms and advanced data management resources to analyse multi-mission and multi-sensor data – particularly Copernicus Sentinels and ASI’s COSMO-SkyMed Synthetic Aperture Radar data – and to generate products based on user-selected input parameters, without the need for large data volume transfers. costeLAB aligns with the concept of the European Space Agency’s Thematic Exploitation Platforms, and represents a mean to exploit the Italian Sentinel Collaborative Ground Segment equipped with Sentinel-1/2/3 data archives and programmable computing resources. The platform aims to support downstream applications from a wider user community including the Civil Protection, environmental protection agencies and regulators, coastal scientists, academics, practitioners, and the general public.</p><p>costeLAB offers a portfolio of about 30 products among which: coastline, defence works, coastal habitat maps, flooding, hydrocarbon beaching, chlorophyll, wave and wind fields. These products can be generated as “state”, “change”, “damage”, “hazard” or “exposition” maps according to the operational scenarios “baseline knowledge”, “ordinary monitoring”, “extraordinary monitoring” and “post-event”.</p><p>We show some of the platform products and how they address specific user needs towards downstream applications, in support to national policies and directives. Examples include products of “Marine Ecosystem” (i.e. “sea level” and “day sea surface temperature cycle”). Thanks to ad hoc Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service (CMEMS) data integration function implemented in costeLAB, these products are generated from pre-processed input data made available in near real time through CMEMS.</p><p>costeLAB is also equipped with the “Virtual Laboratory” module, purposely designed as a collaborative environment allowing users (in particular, researchers and analysts) to access “Software as a Service” resources to test proprietary or shared processors, exploit costeLAB computing resources, generate and integrate products, publish results. An example of collaborative research including experiments with ASI’s PRISMA hyperspectral data is presented.</p><p> </p><p>Geraldini et al. (2021) User Needs Analysis for the Definition of Operational Coastal Services. Water 13(1):92.</p>

scholarly journals Sentinel-2 Image Scene Classification: A Comparison between Sen2Cor and a Machine Learning Approach

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 300
Author(s):  
Kashyap Raiyani ◽  
Teresa Gonçalves ◽  
Luís Rato ◽  
Pedro Salgueiro ◽  
José R. Marques da Silva
Keyword(s):  
Neural Network ◽  
Machine Learning ◽  
Satellite Image ◽  
European Space Agency ◽  
Scene Classification ◽  
Continuous Increase ◽  
Main Research ◽  
Space Agency ◽  
High Resolution Satellite Imagery ◽  
Sentinel 2

Given the continuous increase in the global population, the food manufacturers are advocated to either intensify the use of cropland or expand the farmland, making land cover and land usage dynamics mapping vital in the area of remote sensing. In this regard, identifying and classifying a high-resolution satellite imagery scene is a prime challenge. Several approaches have been proposed either by using static rule-based thresholds (with limitation of diversity) or neural network (with data-dependent limitations). This paper adopts the inductive approach to learning from surface reflectances. A manually labeled Sentinel-2 dataset was used to build a Machine Learning (ML) model for scene classification, distinguishing six classes (Water, Shadow, Cirrus, Cloud, Snow, and Other). This models was accessed and further compared to the European Space Agency (ESA) Sen2Cor package. The proposed ML model presents a Micro-F1 value of 0.84, a considerable improvement when compared to the Sen2Cor corresponding performance of 0.59. Focusing on the problem of optical satellite image scene classification, the main research contributions of this paper are: (a) an extended manually labeled Sentinel-2 database adding surface reflectance values to an existing dataset; (b) an ensemble-based and a Neural-Network-based ML models; (c) an evaluation of model sensitivity, biasness, and diverse ability in classifying multiple classes over different geographic Sentinel-2 imagery, and finally, (d) the benchmarking of the ML approach against the Sen2Cor package.

scholarly journals PENGENALAN CITRA SATELIT SENTINEL-2 UNTUK PEMETAAN KELAUTAN

OSEANA ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 40-55
Author(s):  
Nadya Oktaviani ◽  
Hollanda A Kusuma
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Resolution ◽  
Satellite Image ◽  
Atmospheric Correction ◽  
European Space Agency ◽  
Image Data ◽  
Processing Parameters ◽  
Cloud Detection ◽  
Space Agency ◽  
Thin Cloud ◽  
Sentinel 2

RECOGNITION AND UTILIZATION OF SATELLITE IMAGE SENTINEL-2 FOR MARINE MAPPING. Sentinel-2 is a satellite launched by a collaboration between The European Commission and the European Space Agency in the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) program. The satellite has a mission to scan the Earth’s surface simultaneously at an angle of 180 each satellite with a 5-day temporal resolution with the same appearance on the equator and has a spatial resolution of 10 m, 20 m, and 60 m. There are 13 multispectral channels including VNIR and SWIR. Four channels with 10 m spatial resolution adapt with SPOT 4/5 and user’s comply requirements for land cover classification. Six channels with 20 m spatial resolution becomes a requirement for other Level 2 processing parameters. Channels with 60 m spatial resolution are specified for atmospheric correction and cloud filtering (443 nm for aerosols, 940 nm for moisture, and 1375 for thin cloud detection). Based on these specifications, Sentinel-2 can be an alternative for users to obtain image data with spatial, temporal, radiometric, and spectral resolution is better than SPOT and Landsat. Sentinel-2 can be downloaded for free and easy by the general public. The existence of image by Sentinel-2 is expected to be used optimally, especially for remote sensing analysis in marine field.

Step-by-Step Processing of Sentinel-1 data for Estimation of Rice Area.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Awais Karamat ◽  
Muhammad Nawaz ◽  
Ali Imam Mirza ◽  
Muhammad Rahat Jamil ◽  
Ali Asghar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Satellite Image ◽  
European Space Agency ◽  
Kappa Statistics ◽  
Random Forest Classification ◽  
Rice Farmers ◽  
Space Agency ◽  
Forest Classification ◽  
Rice Area ◽  
Local Farmers ◽  
Strong Agreement

Rice has become an essential part of four pillars of food security, especially in Asia, where it is produced over large spatial extents and also consumed widely. About 89 % of the global rice production is targeted and achieved from Asian countries. We downloaded Sentinel-1 datasets from official website of European Space Agency (ESA) for identification of rice patterns in the study site. The data was selected in Ground Range Detection (GRD) format and applied the toolbox in Sentinel Application Platform (SNAP) for further processing. We applied the orbit file for geometric and radiometric corrections, LEE filter for removal of spackles, resampling to convert 20*20m2 to 10*10m2 pixel size and finally the Random Forest Classification (RFC) to classify the satellite image. The classification results of Sentinel image for the year 2018, show that the total area of the study site was 360021 ha, including 144991 ha as rice area, 130598 as other vegetation, 19339 ha as water body and the built-up area was estimated as 5693 ha. Kappa statistics resulted the overall accuracy of 85% which is in strong agreement to ground reality. We observed that the rice area was increased from 140403 ha in 2017 to 144991 ha in 2018. The main reason of this increase in rice area was observed as the preference of local farmers to grow rice in comparison to other crops because the local government was offering high subsidy to rice farmers. Moreover, district Nankana-Sahib produces rice of expert quality which is famous throughout the world therefore, it is considered as cash crop.

scholarly journals CASPA-ADM: a mission concept for observing thermospheric mass density

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Siemes ◽  
Stephen Maddox ◽  
Olivier Carraz ◽  
Trevor Cross ◽  
Steven George ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometer ◽  
Mass Density ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
European Space Agency ◽  
Cold Atom ◽  
Atmospheric Composition ◽  
Sensor Technology ◽  
Space Agency ◽  
Gas Surface Interactions ◽  
Spectrometer Data

AbstractCold Atom technology has undergone rapid development in recent years and has been demonstrated in space in the form of cold atom scientific experiments and technology demonstrators, but has so far not been used as the fundamental sensor technology in a science mission. The European Space Agency therefore funded a 7-month project to define the CASPA-ADM mission concept, which serves to demonstrate cold-atom interferometer (CAI) accelerometer technology in space. To make the mission concept useful beyond the technology demonstration, it aims at providing observations of thermosphere mass density in the altitude region of 300–400 km, which is presently not well covered with observations by other missions. The goal for the accuracy of the thermosphere density observations is 1% of the signal, which will enable the study of gas–surface interactions as well as the observation of atmospheric waves. To reach this accuracy, the CAI accelerometer is complemented with a neutral mass spectrometer, ram wind sensor, and a star sensor. The neutral mass spectrometer data is considered valuable on its own since the last measurements of atmospheric composition and temperature in the targeted altitude range date back to 1980s. A multi-frequency GNSS receiver provides not only precise positions, but also thermosphere density observations with a lower resolution along the orbit, which can be used to validate the CAI accelerometer measurements. In this paper, we provide an overview of the mission concept and its objectives, the orbit selection, and derive first requirements for the scientific payload.

scholarly journals European primary forest database v2.0

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Maria Sabatini ◽  
Hendrik Bluhm ◽  
Zoltan Kun ◽  
Dmitry Aksenov ◽  
José A. Atauri ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Conservation Planning ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Satellite Image ◽  
Primary Forest ◽  
Potential Natural Vegetation ◽  
Ecological Studies ◽  
Biogeographical Regions ◽  
Surrounding Landscape ◽  
Landsat Satellite ◽  
Primary Forests

AbstractPrimary forests, defined here as forests where the signs of human impacts, if any, are strongly blurred due to decades without forest management, are scarce in Europe and continue to disappear. Despite these losses, we know little about where these forests occur. Here, we present a comprehensive geodatabase and map of Europe’s known primary forests. Our geodatabase harmonizes 48 different, mostly field-based datasets of primary forests, and contains 18,411 individual patches (41.1 Mha) spread across 33 countries. When available, we provide information on each patch (name, location, naturalness, extent and dominant tree species) and the surrounding landscape (biogeographical regions, protection status, potential natural vegetation, current forest extent). Using Landsat satellite-image time series (1985–2018) we checked each patch for possible disturbance events since primary forests were identified, resulting in 94% of patches free of significant disturbances in the last 30 years. Although knowledge gaps remain, ours is the most comprehensive dataset on primary forests in Europe, and will be useful for ecological studies, and conservation planning to safeguard these unique forests.

scholarly journals Detailed Modeling of Cork-Phenolic Ablators in Preparation for the Post-flight Analysis of the QARMAN Re-entry CubeSat

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudio Miccoli ◽  
Alessandro Turchi ◽  
Pierre Schrooyen ◽  
Domenic D’Ambrosio ◽  
Thierry Magin
Keyword(s):  
Fluid Dynamics ◽  
Thermal Protection ◽  
A Priori ◽  
European Space Agency ◽  
Thermal Response ◽  
Accurate Method ◽  
Navier Stokes ◽  
Advection Equation ◽  
High Enthalpy ◽  
Space Agency

AbstractThis work deals with the analysis of the cork P50, an ablative thermal protection material (TPM) used for the heat shield of the qarman Re-entry CubeSat. Developed for the European Space Agency (ESA) at the von Karman Institute (VKI) for Fluid Dynamics, qarman is a scientific demonstrator for Aerothermodynamic Research. The ability to model and predict the atypical behavior of the new cork-based materials is considered a critical research topic. Therefore, this work is motivated by the need to develop a numerical model able to respond to this demand, in preparation to the post-flight analysis of qarman. This study is focused on the main thermal response phenomena of the cork P50: pyrolysis and swelling. Pyrolysis was analyzed by means of the multi-physics Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) code argo, developed at Cenaero. Based on a unified flow-material solver, the Volume Averaged Navier–Stokes (VANS) equations were numerically solved to describe the interaction between a multi-species high enthalpy flow and a reactive porous medium, by means of a high-order Discontinuous Galerkin Method (DGM). Specifically, an accurate method to compute the pyrolysis production rate was implemented. The modeling of swelling was the most ambitious task, requiring the development of a physical model accounting for this phenomenon, for the purpose of a future implementation within argo. A 1D model was proposed, mainly based on an a priori assumption on the swelling velocity and the resolution of a nonlinear advection equation, by means of a Finite Difference Method (FDM). Once developed, the model was successfully tested through a matlab code, showing that the approach is promising and thus opening the way to further developments.

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