scholarly journals Identification of Micro-Scale Landforms of Landslides Using Precise Digital Elevation Models

Geosciences ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 117 ◽  
Author(s):  
František Chudý ◽  
Martina Slámová ◽  
Julián Tomaštík ◽  
Roberta Prokešová ◽  
Martin Mokroš

An active gully-related landslide system is located in a deep valley under forest canopy cover. Generally, point clouds from forested areas have a lack of data connectivity, and optical parameters of scanning cameras lead to different densities of point clouds. Data noise or systematic errors (missing data) make the automatic identification of landforms under tree canopy problematic or impossible. We processed, analyzed, and interpreted data from a large-scale landslide survey, which were acquired by the light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technology, remotely piloted aircraft system (RPAS), and close-range photogrammetry (CRP) using the ‘Structure-from-Motion’ (SfM) method. LAStools is a highly efficient Geographic Information System (GIS) tool for point clouds pre-processing and creating precise digital elevation models (DEMs). The main landslide body and its landforms indicating the landslide activity were detected and delineated in DEM-derivatives. Identification of micro-scale landforms in precise DEMs at large scales allow the monitoring and the assessment of these active parts of landslides that are invisible in digital terrain models at smaller scales (obtained from aerial LiDAR or from RPAS) due to insufficient data density or the presence of many data gaps.

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 433
Author(s):  
Xiaolan Huang ◽  
Weicheng Wu ◽  
Tingting Shen ◽  
Lifeng Xie ◽  
Yaozu Qin ◽  
...  

This research was focused on estimation of tree canopy cover (CC) by multiscale remote sensing in south China. The key aim is to establish the relationship between CC and woody NDVI (NDVIW) or to build a CC-NDVIW model taking northeast Jiangxi as an example. Based on field CC measurements, this research used Google Earth as a complementary source to measure CC. In total, 63 sample plots of CC were created, among which 45 were applied for modeling and the remaining 18 were employed for verification. In order to ascertain the ratio R of NDVIW to the satellite observed NDVI, a 20-year time-series MODIS NDVI dataset was utilized for decomposition to obtain the NDVIW component, and then the ratio R was calculated with the equation R = (NDVIW/NDVI) *100%, respectively, for forest (CC >60%), medium woodland (CC = 25–60%) and sparse woodland (CC 1–25%). Landsat TM and OLI images that had been orthorectified by the provider USGS were atmospherically corrected using the COST model and used to derive NDVIL. R was multiplied for the NDVIL image to extract the woody NDVI (NDVIWL) from Landsat data for each of these plots. The 45 plots of CC data were linearly fitted to the NDVIWL, and a model with CC = 103.843 NDVIW + 6.157 (R2 = 0.881) was obtained. This equation was applied to predict CC at the 18 verification plots and a good agreement was found (R2 = 0.897). This validated CC-NDVIW model was further applied to the woody NDVI of forest, medium woodland and sparse woodland derived from Landsat data for regional CC estimation. An independent group of 24 measured plots was utilized for validation of the results, and an accuracy of 83.0% was obtained. Thence, the developed model has high predictivity and is suitable for large-scale estimation of CC using high-resolution data.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yupan Zhang ◽  
Yuichi Onda ◽  
Hiroaki Kato ◽  
Xinchao Sun ◽  
Takashi Gomi

<p>Understory vegetation is an important part of evapotranspiration from forest floor. Forest management changes the forest structure and then affects the understory vegetation biomass (UVB). Quantitative measurement and estimation of  UVB is a step cannot be ignored in the study of forest ecology and forest evapotranspiration. However, large-scale biomass measurement and estimation is challenging. In this study, Structure from Motion (SfM) was adopted simultaneously at two different layers in a plantation forest made by Japanese cedar and Japanese cypress to reconstruct forest structure from understory to above canopy: i) understory drone survey in a 1.1h sub-catchment to generate canopy height model (CHM) based on dense point clouds data derived from a manual low-flying drone under the canopy; ii) Above-canopy drone survey in whole catchment (33.2 ha) to compute canopy openness data based on point clouds of canopy derived from an autonomous flying drone above the canopy. Combined with actual biomass data from field harvesting to develop regression models between the CHM and UVB, which was then used to map spatial distribution of  UVB in sub-catchment. The relationship between UVB and canopy openness data was then developed by overlap analysis. This approach yielded high resolution understory over catchment scale with a point cloud density of more than 20 points/cm<sup>2</sup>. Strong coefficients of determination (R-squared = 0.75) of the cubic model supported prediction of UVB from CHM, the average UVB was 0.82kg/m<sup>2</sup> and dominated by low ferns. The corresponding forest canopy openness in this area was 42.48% on average. Overlap analysis show no significant interactions between them in a cubic model with weak predictive power (R-squared < 0.46). Overall, we reconstructed the multi-layered structure of the forest and provided models of UVB. Understory survey has high accuracy for biomass measurement, but it’s inherently difficult to estimate UVB only based on canopy openness result.</p>


1985 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. D. Amiro ◽  
J. R. Dugle

A forest site in southeastern Manitoba has been irradiated by a point source of gamma rays continuously since 1973, and measurements have been made yearly to study the change in boreal forest canopy cover along the radiation gradient. After 10 years of chronic irradiation, a zone of total tree death has resulted from mean dose rates between 25 and 62 mGy h−1. Tree canopy cover was reduced at mean dose rates exceeding ~ 4.5 mGy h−1 and the largest reduction occurred in the first 2 years of irradiation. The temporal responses of seven woody species to gamma radiation are presented. Bebb's willow, trembling aspen, speckled alder, and paper birch were less sensitive to radiation than black spruce, balsam fir, and jack pine. The results confirm that gymnosperms are more sensitive to gamma rays than angiosperms.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 1238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Fletcher ◽  
Richard Mather

Small uncrewed aerial systems (UASs) generate imagery that can provide detailed information regarding condition and change if the products are reproducible through time. Densified point clouds form the basic information for digital surface models and orthorectified mosaics, so variable dense point reconstruction will introduce uncertainty. Eucalyptus trees typically have sparse and discontinuous canopies with pendulous leaves that present a difficult target for photogrammetry software. We examine how spectral band, season, solar azimuth, elevation, and some processing settings impact completeness and reproducibility of dense point clouds for shrub swamp and Eucalyptus forest canopy. At the study site near solar noon, selecting near infrared camera increased projected tree canopy fourfold, and dense point features more than 2 m above ground were increased sixfold compared to red spectral bands. Near infrared (NIR) imagery improved projected and total dense features two- and threefold, respectively, compared to default green band imagery. The lowest solar elevation captured (25°) consistently improved canopy feature reconstruction in all spectral bands. Although low solar elevations are typically avoided for radiometric reasons, we demonstrate that these conditions improve the detection and reconstruction of complex tree canopy features in natural Eucalyptus forests. Combining imagery sets captured at different solar elevations improved the reproducibility of dense point clouds between seasons. Total dense point cloud features reconstructed were increased by almost 10 million points (20%) when imagery used was NIR combining solar noon and low solar elevation imagery. It is possible to use agricultural multispectral camera rigs to reconstruct Eucalyptus tree canopy and shrub swamp by combining imagery and selecting appropriate spectral bands for processing.


2006 ◽  
Vol 42 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriano Rolim Paz ◽  
Walter Collischonn ◽  
André Luiz Lopes da Silveira

Author(s):  
Z. Uçar ◽  
R. Eker ◽  
A. Aydin

Abstract. Urban trees and forests are essential components of the urban environment. They can provide numerous ecosystem services and goods, including but not limited to recreational opportunities and aesthetic values, removal of air pollutants, improving air and water quality, providing shade and cooling effect, reducing energy use, and storage of atmospheric CO2. However, urban trees and forests have been in danger of being lost by dense housing resulting from population growth in the cities since the 1950s, leading to increased local temperature, pollution level, and flooding risk. Thus, determining the status of urban trees and forests is necessary for comprehensive understanding and quantifying the ecosystem services and goods. Tree canopy cover is a relatively quick, easy to obtain, and cost-effective urban forestry metric broadly used to estimate ecosystem services and goods of the urban forest. This study aimed to determine urban forest canopy cover areas and monitor the changes between 1984–2015 for the Great Plain Conservation area (GPCA) that has been declared as a conservation Area (GPCA) in 2017, located on the border of Düzce City (Western Black Sea Region of Turkey). Although GPCA is a conservation area for agricultural purposes, it consists of the city center with 250,000 population and most settlement areas. A random point sampling approach, the most common sampling approach, was applied to estimate urban tree canopy cover and their changes over time from historical aerial imageries. Tree canopy cover ranged from 16.0% to 27.4% within the study period. The changes in urban canopy cover between 1984–1999 and 1999–2015 were statistically significant, while there was no statistical difference compared to the changes in tree canopy cover between 1984–2015. The result of the study suggested that an accurate estimate of urban tree canopy cover and monitoring long-term canopy cover changes are essential to determine the current situation and the trends for the future. It will help city planners and policymakers in decision-making processes for the future of urban areas.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document