scholarly journals A Machine Learning Approach to Map Tropical Selective Logging

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
MG Hethcoat ◽  
DP Edwards ◽  
JMB Carreiras ◽  
RG Bryant ◽  
FM França ◽  
...  

AbstractHundreds of millions of hectares of tropical forest have been selectively logged, either legally or illegally. Methods for detecting and monitoring tropical selective logging using satellite data are at an early stage, with current methods only able to detect more intensive timber harvest (>20 m3 ha−1). The spatial resolution of widely available datasets, like Landsat, have previously been considered too coarse to measure the subtle changes in forests associated with less intensive selective logging, yet most present-day logging is at low intensity. We utilized a detailed selective logging dataset from over 11,000 ha of forest in Rondônia, southern Brazilian Amazon, to develop a Random Forest machine-learning algorithm for detecting low-intensity selective logging (< 15 m3 ha−1). We show that Landsat imagery acquired before the cessation of logging activities (i.e. the final cloud-free image of the dry season during logging) was better at detecting selective logging than imagery acquired at the start of the following dry season (i.e. the first cloud-free image of the next dry season). Within our study area the detection rate of logged pixels was approximately 90% (with roughly 20% commission and 8% omission error rates) and approximately 40% of the area inside low-intensity selective logging tracts were labelled as logged. Application of the algorithm to 6152 ha of selectively logged forest at a second site in Pará, northeast Brazilian Amazon, resulted in the detection of 2316 ha (38%) of selective logging (with 20% commission and 7% omission error rates). This suggests that our method can detect low-intensity selective logging across large areas of the Amazon. It is thus an important step forward in developing systems for detecting selective logging pan-tropically with freely available data sets, and has key implications for monitoring logging and implementing carbon-based payments for ecosystem service schemes.

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (17) ◽  
pp. 3341
Author(s):  
Tahisa Neitzel Kuck ◽  
Edson Eyji Sano ◽  
Polyanna da Conceição Bispo ◽  
Elcio Hideiti Shiguemori ◽  
Paulo Fernando Ferreira Silva Filho ◽  
...  

The near-real-time detection of selective logging in tropical forests is essential to support actions for reducing CO2 emissions and for monitoring timber extraction from forest concessions in tropical regions. Current operating systems rely on optical data that are constrained by persistent cloud-cover conditions in tropical regions. Synthetic aperture radar data represent an alternative to this technical constraint. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of three machine learning algorithms applied to multitemporal pairs of COSMO-SkyMed images to detect timber exploitation in a forest concession located in the Jamari National Forest, Rondônia State, Brazilian Amazon. The studied algorithms included random forest (RF), AdaBoost (AB), and multilayer perceptron artificial neural network (MLP-ANN). The geographical coordinates (latitude and longitude) of logged trees and the LiDAR point clouds before and after selective logging were used as ground truths. The best results were obtained when the MLP-ANN was applied with 50 neurons in the hidden layer, using the ReLu activation function and SGD weight optimizer, presenting 88% accuracy both for the pair of images used for training (images acquired in June and October) of the network and in the generalization test, applied on a second dataset (images acquired in January and June). This study showed that X-band SAR images processed by applying machine learning techniques can be accurately used for detecting selective logging activities in the Brazilian Amazon.


2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 236-247
Author(s):  
Divya Srivastava ◽  
Rajitha B. ◽  
Suneeta Agarwal

Diseases in leaves can cause the significant reduction in both quality and quantity of agricultural production. If early and accurate detection of disease/diseases in leaves can be automated, then the proper remedy can be taken timely. A simple and computationally efficient approach is presented in this paper for disease/diseases detection on leaves. Only detecting the disease is not beneficial without knowing the stage of disease thus the paper also determine the stage of disease/diseases by quantizing the affected of the leaves by using digital image processing and machine learning. Though there exists a variety of diseases on leaves, but the bacterial and fungal spots (Early Scorch, Late Scorch, and Leaf Spot) are the most prominent diseases found on leaves. Keeping this in mind the paper deals with the detection of Bacterial Blight and Fungal Spot both at an early stage (Early Scorch) and late stage (Late Scorch) on the variety of leaves. The proposed approach is divided into two phases, in the first phase, it identifies one or more disease/diseases existing on leaves. In the second phase, amount of area affected by the disease/diseases is calculated. The experimental results obtained showed 97% accuracy using the proposed approach.


Author(s):  
Timnit Gebru

This chapter discusses the role of race and gender in artificial intelligence (AI). The rapid permeation of AI into society has not been accompanied by a thorough investigation of the sociopolitical issues that cause certain groups of people to be harmed rather than advantaged by it. For instance, recent studies have shown that commercial automated facial analysis systems have much higher error rates for dark-skinned women, while having minimal errors on light-skinned men. Moreover, a 2016 ProPublica investigation uncovered that machine learning–based tools that assess crime recidivism rates in the United States are biased against African Americans. Other studies show that natural language–processing tools trained on news articles exhibit societal biases. While many technical solutions have been proposed to alleviate bias in machine learning systems, a holistic and multifaceted approach must be taken. This includes standardization bodies determining what types of systems can be used in which scenarios, making sure that automated decision tools are created by people from diverse backgrounds, and understanding the historical and political factors that disadvantage certain groups who are subjected to these tools.


Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 617
Author(s):  
Umer Saeed ◽  
Young-Doo Lee ◽  
Sana Ullah Jan ◽  
Insoo Koo

Sensors’ existence as a key component of Cyber-Physical Systems makes it susceptible to failures due to complex environments, low-quality production, and aging. When defective, sensors either stop communicating or convey incorrect information. These unsteady situations threaten the safety, economy, and reliability of a system. The objective of this study is to construct a lightweight machine learning-based fault detection and diagnostic system within the limited energy resources, memory, and computation of a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN). In this paper, a Context-Aware Fault Diagnostic (CAFD) scheme is proposed based on an ensemble learning algorithm called Extra-Trees. To evaluate the performance of the proposed scheme, a realistic WSN scenario composed of humidity and temperature sensor observations is replicated with extreme low-intensity faults. Six commonly occurring types of sensor fault are considered: drift, hard-over/bias, spike, erratic/precision degradation, stuck, and data-loss. The proposed CAFD scheme reveals the ability to accurately detect and diagnose low-intensity sensor faults in a timely manner. Moreover, the efficiency of the Extra-Trees algorithm in terms of diagnostic accuracy, F1-score, ROC-AUC, and training time is demonstrated by comparison with cutting-edge machine learning algorithms: a Support Vector Machine and a Neural Network.


2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (10) ◽  
pp. 030006052095880
Author(s):  
Jianping Wu ◽  
Sulai Liu ◽  
Xiaoming Chen ◽  
Hongfei Xu ◽  
Yaoping Tang

Objective Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the most common cancer worldwide. Patient outcomes following recurrence of CRC are very poor. Therefore, identifying the risk of CRC recurrence at an early stage would improve patient care. Accumulating evidence shows that autophagy plays an active role in tumorigenesis, recurrence, and metastasis. Methods We used machine learning algorithms and two regression models, univariable Cox proportion and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO), to identify 26 autophagy-related genes (ARGs) related to CRC recurrence. Results By functional annotation, these ARGs were shown to be enriched in necroptosis and apoptosis pathways. Protein–protein interactions identified SQSTM1, CASP8, HSP80AB1, FADD, and MAPK9 as core genes in CRC autophagy. Of 26 ARGs, BAX and PARP1 were regarded as having the most significant predictive ability of CRC recurrence, with prediction accuracy of 71.1%. Conclusion These results shed light on prediction of CRC recurrence by ARGs. Stratification of patients into recurrence risk groups by testing ARGs would be a valuable tool for early detection of CRC recurrence.


2012 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Owen F. Price ◽  
Jeremy Russell-Smith ◽  
Felicity Watt

Fire regimes in many north Australian savanna regions are today characterised by frequent wildfires occurring in the latter part of the 7-month dry season. A fire management program instigated from 2005 over 24 000 km2 of biodiversity-rich Western Arnhem Land aims to reduce the area and severity of late dry-season fires, and associated greenhouse gas emissions, through targeted early dry-season prescribed burning. This study used fire history mapping derived mostly from Landsat imagery over the period 1990–2009 and statistical modelling to quantify the mitigation of late dry-season wildfire through prescribed burning. From 2005, there has been a reduction in mean annual total proportion burnt (from 38 to 30%), and particularly of late dry-season fires (from 29 to 12.5%). The slope of the relationship between the proportion of early-season prescribed fire and subsequent late dry-season wildfire was ~–1. This means that imposing prescribed early dry-season burning can substantially reduce late dry-season fire area, by direct one-to-one replacement. There is some evidence that the spatially strategic program has achieved even better mitigation than this. The observed reduction in late dry-season fire without concomitant increase in overall area burnt has important ecological and greenhouse gas emissions implications. This efficient mitigation of wildfire contrasts markedly with observations reported from temperate fire-prone forested systems.


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