scholarly journals UAV Assisted Spatiotemporal Analysis and Management of Bushfires: A Case Study of the 2020 Victorian Bushfires

Fire ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 40
Author(s):  
Hafiz Suliman Munawar ◽  
Fahim Ullah ◽  
Sara Imran Khan ◽  
Zakria Qadir ◽  
Siddra Qayyum

Australia is a regular recipient of devastating bushfires that severely impacts its economy, landscape, forests, and wild animals. These bushfires must be managed to save a fortune, wildlife, and vegetation and reduce fatalities and harmful environmental impacts. The current study proposes a holistic model that uses a mixed-method approach of Geographical Information System (GIS), remote sensing, and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)-based bushfire assessment and mitigation. The fire products of Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) and Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) are used for monitoring the burnt areas within the Victorian Region due to the 2020 bushfires. The results show that the aggregate of 1500 m produces the best output for estimating the burnt areas. The identified hotspots are in the eastern belt of the state that progressed north towards New South Wales. The R2 values between 0.91–0.99 indicate the fitness of methods used in the current study. A healthy z-value index between 0.03 to 2.9 shows the statistical significance of the hotspots. Additional analysis of the 2019–20 Victorian bushfires shows a widespread radius of the fires associated with the climate change and Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) phenomenon. The UAV paths are optimized using five algorithms: greedy, intra route, inter route, tabu, and particle swarm optimization (PSO), where PSO search surpassed all the tested methods in terms of faster run time and lesser costs to manage the bushfires disasters. The average improvement demonstrated by the PSO algorithm over the greedy method is approximately 2% and 1.2% as compared with the intra route. Further, the cost reduction is 1.5% compared with the inter-route scheme and 1.2% compared with the intra route algorithm. The local disaster management authorities can instantly adopt the proposed system to assess the bushfires disasters and instigate an immediate response plan.

2006 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 649-655 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas F. Lee ◽  
Steven D. Miller ◽  
Carl Schueler ◽  
Shawn Miller

Abstract The Visible/Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), scheduled to fly on the satellites of the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System, will combine the missions of the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR), which flies on current National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellites, and the Operational Linescan System aboard the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program satellites. VIIRS will offer a number of improvements to weather forecasters. First, because of a sophisticated downlink and relay system, VIIRS latencies will be 30 min or less around the globe, improving the timeliness and therefore the operational usefulness of the images. Second, with 22 channels, VIIRS will offer many more products than its predecessors. As an example, a true-color simulation is shown using data from the Earth Observing System’s Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), an application current geostationary imagers cannot produce because of a missing “green” wavelength channel. Third, VIIRS images will have improved quality. Through a unique pixel aggregation strategy, VIIRS pixels will not expand rapidly toward the edge of a scan like those of MODIS or AVHRR. Data will retain nearly the same resolution at the edge of the swath as at nadir. Graphs and image simulations depict the improvement in output image quality. Last, the NexSat Web site, which provides near-real-time simulations of VIIRS products, is introduced.


2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 174-185
Author(s):  
Sahima Nazneen ◽  
Mahdi Rezapour ◽  
Khaled Ksaibati

Background: Historically, Indian reservations have been struggling with higher crash rates than the rest of the United States. In an effort to improve roadway safety in these areas, different agencies are working to address this disparity. For any safety improvement program, identifying high risk crash locations is the first step to determine contributing factors of crashes and select corresponding countermeasures. Methods: This study proposes an approach to determine crash-prone areas using Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques through creating crash severity maps and Network Kernel Density Estimation (NetKDE). These two maps were assessed to determine the high-risk road segments having a high crash rate, and high injury severity. However, since the statistical significance of the hotspots cannot be evaluated in NetKDE, this study employed Getis-Ord Gi* (d) statistics to ascertain statistically significant crash hotspots. Finally, maps generated through these two methods were assessed to determine statistically significant high-risk road segments. Moreover, temporal analysis of the crash pattern was performed using spider graphs to explore the variance throughout the day. Results: Within the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, some parts of the US highway 13, BIA Route 1, and US highway 2 are among the many segments being identified as high-risk road segments in this analysis. Also, although some residential roads have PDO crashes, they have been detected as high priority areas due to high crash occurrence. The temporal analysis revealed that crash patterns were almost similar on the weekdays reaching the peak at traffic peak hours, but during the weekend, crashes mostly occurred at midnight. Conclusion: The study would provide tribes with the tool to identify locations demanding immediate safety concerns. This study can be used as a template for other tribes to perform spatial and temporal analysis of the crash patterns to identify high risk crash locations on their roadways.


Author(s):  
Lijuan Wang ◽  
Hongchao Zuo ◽  
Wei Wang

AbstractFY-4A is a geostationary meteorological satellite with four advanced payloads, which can be used to quantitatively detect the earth's atmospheric system with multi spectral and high spatial-temporal resolution. However, the applicable model limits the application of the FY-4A satellite data. In this paper, the empirical statistical model developed for the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor is extended for FY-4A Advanced Geosynchronous Radiation Imager (AGRI), and it is applied to observed data to evaluate the applicability of the model for AGRI measurements. To improve the accuracy of radiation estimation, the artificial intelligent particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm was used for model optimizing. Results show that the estimated radiation has diurnal variation, which accords with the characteristics of radiation variation. The estimated net surface shortwave radiation (Sn) and observed values show good correlation. However, large deviations from observations are found in the estimated values when the empirical model based on MODIS is directly used to process AGRI data. Thus, the empirical statistical model based on MODIS can be applied to AGRI data, but the empirical parameters need to be revised. Optimization of the empirical statistical model by the PSO algorithm can effectively improve the accuracy of radiation estimate. The Mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of Sn estimated by optimized models is reduced to 15%. The MAPE of the net surface long-wave radiation (Ln) estimated by optimized models is reduced to 31%, and the MAPE of the net radiation (Rn) estimated by optimized models is reduced to 27%. However, for the uncertainty caused by error accumulation effect, the influence of PSO optimization on Rn is not as obvious as that of Ln. However, from the analysis of error distribution, it shows that PSO optimization does improve the estimation results of Rn. Based on AGRI data, the surface radiation can be estimated simply, and the regional or larger scale surface radiation retrieval can quickly realize by this method which has large application potential and popularization value.


2008 ◽  
Vol 90 (2) ◽  
pp. 120-122
Author(s):  
J John ◽  
JH Kuiper ◽  
CP Kelly

INTRODUCTION Surgical skills courses are an important part of learning during surgical training. The assessments at these courses tend to be subjective and anecdotal. Objective assessment using multiple choice questions (MCQs) quantifies the learning experience for both the organisers and the participants. MATERIALS AND METHODS Participants of the open shoulder surgical skills course conducted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England in 2005 and 2006 underwent assessment using MCQs prior to and after the course. RESULTS The participants were grouped as non-consultants (14) and consultant orthopaedic surgeons (8). All participants improved after attending the course. The average improvement was 17% (range, 4–43%). We compared the two groups while adjusting for the association between pre-course score and score gain. We found a strong correlation between pre-course score and score gain (r = 0.734; P = 0.001). Adjusted for pre-course score, we found that the score gain (learning) for the non-consultants was slightly larger than for the consultants, but this did not reach statistical significance (P = 0.247). CONCLUSIONS All participants had a positive learning experience which did not have a significant correlation to the grade of surgeon.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1387-1412
Author(s):  
Jonas Witthuhn ◽  
Anja Hünerbein ◽  
Hartwig Deneke

Abstract. Reliable reference measurements over the ocean are essential for the evaluation and improvement of satellite- and model-based aerosol datasets. Within the framework of the Maritime Aerosol Network, shipborne reference datasets have been collected over the Atlantic Ocean since 2004 with Microtops Sun photometers. These were recently complemented by measurements with the multi-spectral GUVis-3511 shadowband radiometer during five cruises with the research vessel Polarstern. The aerosol optical depth (AOD) uncertainty estimate of both shipborne instruments of ±0.02 can be confirmed if the GUVis instrument is cross calibrated to the Microtops instrument to account for differences in calibration, and if an empirical correction to account for the broad shadowband as well as the effects of forward scattering is introduced. Based on these two datasets, a comprehensive evaluation of aerosol products from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) flown on NASA's Earth Observing System satellites, the Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI) aboard the geostationary Meteosat satellite, and the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service reanalysis (CAMS RA) is presented. For this purpose, focus is given to the accuracy of the AOD at 630 nm in combination with the Ångström exponent (AE), discussed in the context of the ambient aerosol type. In general, the evaluation of MODIS AOD from the official level-2 aerosol products of C6.1 against the Microtops AOD product confirms that 76 % of data points fall into the expected error limits given by previous validation studies. The SEVIRI-based AOD product exhibits a 25 % larger scatter than the MODIS AOD products at the instrument's native spectral channels. Further, the comparison of CAMS RA and MODIS AOD versus the shipborne reference shows similar performance for both datasets, with some differences arising from the assimilation and model assumptions. When considering aerosol conditions, an overestimation of AE is found for scenes dominated by desert dust for MODIS and SEVIRI products versus the shipborne reference dataset. As the composition of the mixture of aerosol in satellite products is constrained by model assumptions, this highlights the importance of considering the aerosol type in evaluation studies for identifying problematic aspects.


2000 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 255 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. L. Andrew ◽  
A. L. O'Neill

Aerial photography was used to estimate the representation of shallow subtidal habitats in New South Wales. Sixty sites, each between 4 and 5 hectares, were mapped with Geographical Information Systems software using ortho-rectified images digitized from 1:8000-scale photographs and ‘ground truthed’ in the field by divers. Barrens habitat covered an estimated 50% (s.e. = 3.9) of nearshore reefs between Port Stephens and Disaster Bay. Coverage of barrens habitat was greatest in Disaster Bay (68%, s.e. = 6.7) and least south of Disaster Bay (1%, s.e. = 0.3). There were clear differences among localities in the area of reef within the mapped sites; those at Cape Howe, Nadgee, and Turingal were significantly smaller in area than all others. There was no clear latitudinal trend in these differences but there was evidence of sand inundation at a site at Nadgee, where the reef was small. Differences in the densities and size-structure of the sea urchin Centrostephanus rodgersiiat 27 of the mapped sites provide a basis for testing relationships between the demography of this species and the persistence of the barrens habitat. The extensive coverage of the barrens habitat in New South Wales is likely to limit the productivity of the abalone industry. The development of a sea urchin fishery may have large impacts on habitat representation on nearshore reefs.


2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 3215-3247 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. F. Meirink ◽  
R. A. Roebeling ◽  
P. Stammes

Abstract. Accurate calibration of satellite imagers is a prerequisite for using their measurements in climate applications. Here we present a method for the inter-calibration of geostationary and polar-orbiting imager solar channels based on regressions of collocated near-nadir radiances. Specific attention is paid to correcting for differences in spectral response between instruments. The method is used to calibrate the solar channels of the Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI) on the geostationary Meteosat satellite with corresponding channels of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the polar-orbiting Aqua satellite. The SEVIRI operational calibration is found to be stable during the years 2004 to 2009 but off by −8, −6, and +3.5% for channels 1 (0.6 μm), 2 (0.8 μm), and 3 (1.6 μm), respectively. These results are robust for a range of choices that can be made regarding data collocation and selection, as long as the viewing and illumination geometries of the two instruments are matched. Uncertainties in the inter-calibration method are estimated to be 1% for channel 1 and 1.5% for channels 2 and 3. A specific application of the method is the inter-calibration of polar imagers using SEVIRI as a transfer instrument. This offers an alternative to direct inter-calibration, which in general has to rely on high-latitude collocations. Using this method we have tied MODIS-Terra and Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) instruments on National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellites 17 and 18 to MODIS-Aqua for the years 2007 to 2009. While reflectances of the two MODIS instruments differ less than 2% for all channels considered, deviations of an existing AVHRR calibration from MODIS-Aqua reach −3.5 and +2.5% for the 0.8 and 1.6 μm channels, respectively.


2009 ◽  
Vol 26 (7) ◽  
pp. 1388-1397 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith D. Hutchison ◽  
Robert L. Mahoney ◽  
Eric F. Vermote ◽  
Thomas J. Kopp ◽  
John M. Jackson ◽  
...  

Abstract A geometry-based approach is presented to identify cloud shadows using an automated cloud classification algorithm developed for the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) program. These new procedures exploit both the cloud confidence and cloud phase intermediate products generated by the Visible/Infrared Imager/Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) cloud mask (VCM) algorithm. The procedures have been tested and found to accurately detect cloud shadows in global datasets collected by NASA’s Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor and are applied over both land and ocean background conditions. These new procedures represent a marked departure from those used in the heritage MODIS cloud mask algorithm, which utilizes spectral signatures in an attempt to identify cloud shadows. However, they more closely follow those developed to identify cloud shadows in the MODIS Surface Reflectance (MOD09) data product. Significant differences were necessary in the implementation of the MOD09 procedures to meet NPOESS latency requirements in the VCM algorithm. In this paper, the geometry-based approach used to predict cloud shadows is presented, differences are highlighted between the heritage MOD09 algorithm and new VIIRS cloud shadow algorithm, and results are shown for both these algorithms plus cloud shadows generated by the spectral-based approach. The comparisons show that the geometry-based procedures produce cloud shadows far superior to those predicted with the spectral procedures. In addition, the new VCM procedures predict cloud shadows that agree well with those found in the MOD09 product while significantly reducing the execution time as required to meet the operational time constraints of the NPOESS system.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Radityo Haryo Putro

Abstract Background Diversifying food sources by including edible wild plants or weeds as food resources can help to combat the issues of simplified diets and food security in the modern world. The present study investigated the case of Sphenoclea zeylanica Gaertn. (gooseweed or wedgewort), an edible wild plant with traces of historical consumption in Indonesia. Because previous studies have failed to clarify its significance for consumption by society, the present study aimed to clarify the significance of S. zeylanica as a food resource in the 21st century.Methods Data were collected in Bali Province (Denpasar City and Timpag Village, Tabanan Regency) through interviews with a farmer, direct field visits to wet markets and supermarkets, and an online questionnaire. Supply distribution was analyzed using geographical information system mapping to visualize point data density, while statistical significance of consumption data was analyzed using the R software.Results The results showed that S. zeylanica was cultivated as a vegetable crop by local farmers in Timpag Village from 2014. Fresh S. zeylanica could be found mainly sold in wet markets within Denpasar City, while prepared or cooked versions of the plant were noted to be sold in several food and beverage establishments. The selling price of S. zeylanica was also found to be high among other similar vegetables. A majority of the study’s survey respondents have consumed S. zeylanica at least once in the past, with most of them tended to be older and were more often female. However, it was identified that factors such as low production, unequal distribution, and high market pricing were probable causes in limiting its use and consumption. Conclusions It was concluded that S. zeylanica has limited significance in 21st century urban Bali, Indonesia, despite high awareness of the plant as a food resource. However, commercialization and preservation of cultural plant knowledge surrounding S. zeylanica were thought to be potentially important actions for maintaining its use as a future food resource. Consequently, further research is necessary on potential marketing methods and strategies to generate greater interest or demand towards S. zeylanica as a vegetable crop.


2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 5577-5619 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. R. Naeger ◽  
S. A. Christopher

Abstract. In this paper, we develop an algorithm based on combining spectral, spatial, and temporal thresholds from the geostationary Spinning Enhanced Visible and InfraRed Imager (SEVIRI) daytime measurements to identify and track different aerosol types, primarily volcanic ash. Contemporary methods typically do not use temporal information to identify ash. We focus not only on the identification and tracking of volcanic ash during the Eyjafjallajökull volcanic eruption period beginning 14 April 2010 to May but a pixel level classification method for separating various classes in the SEVIRI images. Three case studies on 19 April, 16 May, and 17 May are analyzed in extensive detail with other satellite data including the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), Multi-angle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR), Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO), and Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurements (FAAM) BAe146 aircraft data to verify the aerosol spatial distribution maps generated by the SEVIRI algorithm. Our results indicate that the SEVIRI algorithm is able to track volcanic ash even at these high latitudes. Furthermore, the BAe146 aircraft data shows that the SEVIRI algorithm detects nearly all ash regions when AOD > 0.2. However, the algorithm has higher uncertainties when AOD is < 0.1 over water and AOD < 0.2 over land. The ash spatial distributions provided by this algorithm can be used as a critical input and validation for atmospheric dispersion models simulated by Volcanic Ash Advisory Centers (VAACs). Identifying volcanic ash is an important first step before quantitative retrievals of ash concentration can be made.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document