scholarly journals Evaluation of Sensor and Environmental Factors Impacting the Use of Multiple Sensor Data for Time-Series Applications

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1678 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajagopalan Rengarajan ◽  
John Schott

Many remote sensing sensors operate in similar spatial and spectral regions, which provides an opportunity to combine the data from different sensors to increase the temporal resolution for short and long-term trend analysis. However, combining the data requires understanding the characteristics of different sensors and presents additional challenges due to their variation in operational strategies, sensor differences and environmental conditions. These differences can introduce large variability in the time-series analysis, limiting the ability to model, predict and separate real change in signal from noise. Although the research community has identified the factors that cause variations, the magnitude or the effect of these factors have not been well explored and this is due to the limitations with the real-world data, where the effects of the factors cannot be separated. Our work mitigates these shortcomings by simulating the surface, atmosphere, and sensors in a virtual environment. We modeled and characterized a deciduous forest canopy and estimated its at-sensor response for the Landsat 8 (L8) and Sentinel 2 (S2) sensors using the MODerate resolution atmospheric TRANsmission (MODTRAN) modeled atmosphere. This paper presents the methods, analysis and the sensitivity of the factors that impacts multi-sensor observations for temporal analysis. Our study finds that atmospheric compensation is necessary as the variation due to the atmosphere can introduce an uncertainty as high as 40% in the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) products used in change detection and time-series applications. The effect due to the differences in the Relative Spectral Response (RSR) of the two sensors, if not compensated, can introduce uncertainty as high as 20% in the NDVI products. The view angle differences between the sensors can introduce uncertainty anywhere from 9% to 40% in NDVI depending on the atmospheric compensation methods. For a difference of 5 days in acquisition, the effect of solar zenith angle can vary between 4% to 10%, depending on whether the atmospheric attenuations are compensated or not for the NDVI products.

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Kamal ◽  
Hartono Hartono ◽  
Pramaditya Wicaksono ◽  
Novi Susetyo Adi ◽  
Sanjiwana Arjasakusuma

The Karimunjawa Islands mangrove forest has been subjected to various direct and indirect human disturbances in the recent years. If not properly managed, this disturbance will lead to the degradation of mangrove habitat health. Assessing forest canopy fractional cover (fc) using remote sensing data is one way of measuring mangrove forest degradation. This study aims to (1) estimate the forest canopy fc using a semi-empirical method, (2) assess the accuracy of the fc estimation and (3) create mangrove forest degradation from the canopy fc results. A sample set of in-situ fc was collected using the hemispherical camera for model development and accuracy assessment purposes. We developed semi-empirical relationship models between pixel values of ALOS AVNIR-2 image (10m pixel size) and field fc, using Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) as a proxy of the image spectral response. The results show that the EVI provides reasonable estimation accuracy of mangrove canopy fc in Karimunjawa Island with the values ranged from 0.17 to 0.96 (n = 69). The low fc values correspond to vegetation opening and gaps caused by human activities or mangrove dieback. The high fc values correspond to the healthy and dense mangrove stands, especially the Rhizophora sp formation at the seafront. The results of this research justify the use of simple canopy fractional cover model for assessing the mangrove forest degradation status in the study area. Further research is needed to test the applicability of this approach at different sites.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (18) ◽  
pp. 3038
Author(s):  
Dhahi Al-Shammari ◽  
Ignacio Fuentes ◽  
Brett M. Whelan ◽  
Patrick Filippi ◽  
Thomas F. A. Bishop

A phenology-based crop type mapping approach was carried out to map cotton fields throughout the cotton-growing areas of eastern Australia. The workflow was implemented in the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform, as it is time efficient and does not require processing in multiple platforms to complete the classification steps. A time series of Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) imagery were generated from Landsat 8 Surface Reflectance Tier 1 (L8SR) and processed using Fourier transformation. This was used to produce the harmonised-NDVI (H-NDVI) from the original NDVI, and then phase and amplitude values were generated from the H-NDVI to visualise active cotton in the targeted fields. Random Forest (RF) models were built to classify cotton at early, mid and late growth stages to assess the ability of the model to classify cotton as the season progresses, with phase, amplitude and other individual bands as predictors. Results obtained from leave-one-season-out cross validation (LOSOCV) indicated that Overall Accuracy (OA), Kappa, Producer’s Accuracies (PA) and User’s Accuracy (UA), increased significantly when adding amplitude and phase as predictor variables to the model, than prediction using H-NDVI or raw bands only. Commission and omission errors were reduced significantly as the season progressed and more in-season imagery was available. The methodology proposed in this study can map cotton crops accurately based on the reconstruction of the unique cotton reflectance trajectory through time. This study confirms the importance of phenological metrics in improving in-season cotton fields mapping across eastern Australia. This model can be used in conjunction with other datasets to forecast yield based on the mapped crop type for improved decision making related to supply chain logistics and seasonal outlooks for production.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kiwon Lee ◽  
Kwangseob Kim ◽  
Sun-Gu Lee ◽  
Yongseung Kim

Surface reflectance data obtained by the absolute atmospheric correction of satellite images are useful for land use applications. For Landsat and Sentinel-2 images, many radiometric processing methods exist, and the images are supported by most types of commercial and open-source software. However, multispectral KOMPSAT-3A images with a resolution of 2.2 m are currently lacking tools or open-source resources for obtaining top-of-canopy (TOC) reflectance data. In this study, an atmospheric correction module for KOMPSAT-3A images was newly implemented into the optical calibration algorithm in the Orfeo Toolbox (OTB), with a sensor model and spectral response data for KOMPSAT-3A. Using this module, named OTB extension for KOMPSAT-3A, experiments on the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) were conducted based on TOC reflectance data with or without aerosol properties from AERONET. The NDVI results for these atmospherically corrected data were compared with those from the dark object subtraction (DOS) scheme, a relative atmospheric correction method. The NDVI results obtained using TOC reflectance with or without the AERONET data were considerably different from the results obtained from the DOS scheme and the Landsat-8 surface reflectance of the Google Earth Engine (GEE). It was found that the utilization of the aerosol parameter of the AERONET data affects the NDVI results for KOMPSAT-3A images. The TOC reflectance of high-resolution satellite imagery ensures further precise analysis and the detailed interpretation of urban forestry or complex vegetation features.


2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (16) ◽  
pp. 4305-4320 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. T. Klosterman ◽  
K. Hufkens ◽  
J. M. Gray ◽  
E. Melaas ◽  
O. Sonnentag ◽  
...  

Abstract. Plant phenology regulates ecosystem services at local and global scales and is a sensitive indicator of global change. Estimates of phenophase transition dates, such as the start of spring or end of fall, can be derived from sensor-based time series, but must be interpreted in terms of biologically relevant events. We use the PhenoCam archive of digital repeat photography to implement a consistent protocol for visual assessment of canopy phenology at 13 temperate deciduous forest sites throughout eastern North America, and to perform digital image analysis for time-series-based estimation of phenophase transition dates. We then compare these results to remote sensing metrics of phenophase transition dates derived from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) sensors. We present a new type of curve fit that uses a generalized sigmoid function to estimate phenology dates, and we quantify the statistical uncertainty of phenophase transition dates estimated using this method. Results show that the generalized sigmoid provides estimates of dates with less statistical uncertainty than other curve-fitting methods. Additionally, we find that dates derived from analysis of high-frequency PhenoCam imagery have smaller uncertainties than satellite remote sensing metrics of phenology, and that dates derived from the remotely sensed enhanced vegetation index (EVI) have smaller uncertainty than those derived from the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Near-surface time-series estimates for the start of spring are found to closely match estimates derived from visual assessment of leaf-out, as well as satellite remote-sensing-derived estimates of the start of spring. However late spring and fall phenology metrics exhibit larger differences between near-surface and remote scales. Differences in late spring phenology between near-surface and remote scales are found to correlate with a landscape metric of deciduous forest cover. These results quantify the effect of landscape heterogeneity when aggregating to the coarser spatial scales of remote sensing, and demonstrate the importance of accurate curve fitting and vegetation index selection when analyzing and interpreting phenology time series.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 1550 ◽  
Author(s):  
Prakash Ghimire ◽  
Deng Lei ◽  
Nie Juan

In recent years, the use of image fusion method has received increasing attention in remote sensing, vegetation cover changes, vegetation indices (VIs) mapping, etc. For making high-resolution and good quality (with low-cost) VI mapping from a fused image, its quality and underlying factors need to be identified properly. For example, same-sensor image fusion generally has a higher spatial resolution ratio (SRR) (1:3 to 1:5) but multi-sensor fusion has a lower SRR (1:8 to 1:10). In addition to SRR, there might be other factors affecting the fused vegetation index (FVI) result which have not been investigated in detail before. In this research, we used a strategy on image fusion and quality assessment to find the effect of image fusion for VI quality using Gaofen-1 (GF1), Gaofen-2 (GF2), Gaofen-4 (GF4), Landsat-8 OLI, and MODIS imagery with their panchromatic (PAN) and multispectral (MS) bands in low SRR (1:6 to 1:15). For this research, we acquired a total of nine images (4 PAN+5 MS) on the same (almost) date (GF1, GF2, GF4 and MODIS images were acquired on 2017/07/13 and the Landsat-8 OLI image was acquired on 2017/07/17). The results show that image fusion has the least impact on Green Normalized Vegetation Index (GNDVI) and Atmospherically Resistant Vegetation Index (ARVI) compared to other VIs. The quality of VI is mostly insensitive with image fusion except for the high-pass filter (HPF) algorithm. The subjective and objective quality evaluation shows that Gram-Schmidt (GS) fusion has the least impact on FVI quality, and with decreasing SRR, the FVI quality is decreasing at a slow rate. FVI quality varies with types image fusion algorithms and SRR along with spectral response function (SRF) and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). However, the FVI quality seems good even for small SRR (1:6 to 1:15 or lower) as long as they have good SNR and minimum SRF effect. The findings of this study could be cost-effective and highly applicable for high-quality VI mapping even in small SRR (1:15 or even lower).


2019 ◽  
pp. 1456-1466
Author(s):  
Bernard S. de Oliveira ◽  
Manuel E. Ferreira ◽  
Alexandre C. Coutinho ◽  
Júlio C. D. M. Esquerdo

Agricultural expansion in Brazil is still intense for commodities (such soybeans and corn), mostly cultivated over large portions of the Cerrado biome. Therefore, the development and application of techniques based on remote sensing to map crop areas at a regional level, in a dynamic and more precise way is urgently necessary. In this context, the objective of this study is the improvement of techniques for mapping soybean crops in Brazil, through an analysis of the Centro Goiano mesoregion of Goiás state (a core area of Cerrado), using a time series of Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) images provided by TERRA/MODIS orbital sensor, in a test period between 2002 and 2010. Despite their proven quality, MODIS EVI images already contain atmospheric interferences inherent to the acquisition process, such as the presence of clouds. Thus, a set of methods to minimize such artifacts was applied to the data of this study. In general, the methodological procedures comprise of (1) the application of the pixel reliability band aiming to remove pixels contaminated by clouds; (2) the use of contaminated pixel estimates (excluded from the time series); (3) application of an interpolation filter to fill the void pixels in each scene, obtaining continuous and smoothed spectral-temporal profiles for each land use classes; and (4) the classification of agricultural areas using a specific algorithm for crops in the Cerrado region of Goiás. The areas reconstituted in the images matched neighboring pixels, maintaining good coherence with the original data. Likewise, areas mapped with soybeans had a high correlation with official IBGE census data, with a global accuracy value of 78%, and Pearson Correlation coefficient of 0.64. The application of this technique to other imagery sensors (such as RapidEye, Landsat 8 and Sentinel 2) is highly encouraged due a better spatial and temporal resolution (when applied together in a temporal image cube), ensuring more efficient crop monitoring in Brazil.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saurabh Kumar Gupta ◽  
Arvind Chandra Pandey

Abstract Background: Ongoing climate and Earth’s atmosphere changes create profound effect on distribution and composition of forest, as well as on the fauna that depends on forest. The Sentinel-2A satellite data eases the mapping of Leaf Chlorophyll Content (LCC) at higher spatial and temporal resolution. In the present study, the temporal dimension of LCC was evaluated as an indicator of plant stress. LCC was retrieved using the inversion of the radiative transfer model based on an artificial neural network. The data used for Spatio-temporal modelling of LCC was Landsat data.Result: From the Sentinel imagery derived vegetation indices, it was found that the narrowband indices having high correlation with LCC were pigment specific simple ratio and normalized difference index (45) (R2 > 0.7; p < 0.001) centred at 665 nm, 705 nm, and 740 nm. Landsat 8 infrared percentage vegetation index had a strong relationship with LCC (R2 =0.8). The Spatio-temporal (1997 to 2017) plant stress were detected using changes in LCC through an equation of correlation. The negative changes and deterioration of LCC were seen in the forest during the year 1997 to 20I7(rate = -1.2 µgcm-2year-1) showing higher rate of forest health decline. Conclusion: The 33% of plant stress increased currently in the protected forest mainly because of anthropogenic influences. These vast decline in the chlorophyll gives rise to various photosynthetic vulnerabilities in forest ecosystem and indirectly affects human including wildlife.


Author(s):  
H. Bendini ◽  
I. D. Sanches ◽  
T. S. Körting ◽  
L. M. G. Fonseca ◽  
A. J. B. Luiz ◽  
...  

The objective of this research is to classify agricultural land use in a region of the Cerrado (Brazilian Savanna) biome using a time series of Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) from Landsat 8 OLI. Phenological metrics extracted from EVI time series, a Random Forest algorithm and data mining techniques are used in the process of classification. The area of study is a region in the Cerrado in a region of the municipality of Casa Branca, São Paulo state, Brazil. The results are encouraging and demonstrate the potential of phenological parameters obtained from time series of OLI vegetation indices for agricultural land use classification.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roghayeh Ghasempour ◽  
Kiyoumars Roushangar ◽  
V. S. Ozgur Kirca ◽  
Mehmet Cüneyd Demirel

Abstract Beside in situ observations, satellite-based products can provide an ideal data source for spatiotemporal monitoring of drought. In this study, the spatiotemporal pattern of drought was investigated for the northwest part of Iran using ground- and satellite-based datasets. First, the Standardized Precipitation Index series were calculated via precipitation data of 29 sites located in the selected area and the CPC Merged Analysis of Precipitation satellite. The Maximal Overlap Discrete Wavelet Transform (MODWT) was used for obtaining the temporal features of time series, and further decomposition was performed using Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition (EEMD) to have more stationary time series. Then, multiscale zoning was done based on subseries energy values via two clustering methods, namely the self-organizing map and K-means. The results showed that the MODWT–EEMD–K-means method successfully identified homogenous drought areas. On the other hand, correlation between the satellite sensor data (i.e. the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, the Vegetation Condition Index, the Vegetation Healthy Index, and the Temperature Condition Index) was evaluated. The possible links between central stations of clusters and satellite-based indices were assessed via the wavelet coherence method. The results revealed that all applied satellite-based indices had significant statistical correlations with the ground-based drought index within a certain period.


Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yingying Yang ◽  
Taixia Wu ◽  
Shudong Wang ◽  
Jing Li ◽  
Farhan Muhanmmad

Evergreen trees play a significant role in urban ecological services, such as air purification, carbon and oxygen balance, and temperature and moisture regulation. Remote sensing represents an essential technology for obtaining spatiotemporal distribution data for evergreen trees in cities. However, highly developed subtropical cities, such as Nanjing, China, have serious land fragmentation problems, which greatly increase the difficulty of extracting evergreen trees information and reduce the extraction precision of remote-sensing methods. This paper introduces a normalized difference vegetation index coefficient of variation (NDVI-CV) method to extract evergreen trees from remote-sensing data by combining the annual minimum normalized difference vegetation index (NDVIann-min) with the CV of a Landsat 8 time-series NDVI. To obtain an intra-annual, high-resolution time-series dataset, Landsat 8 cloud-free and partially cloud-free images over a three-year period were collected and reconstructed for the study area. Considering that the characteristic growth of evergreen trees remained nearly unchanged during the phenology cycle, NDVIann-min is the optimal phenological node to separate this information from that of other vegetation types. Furthermore, the CV of time-series NDVI considers all of the phenologically critical phases; therefore, the NDVI-CV method had higher extraction accuracy. As such, the approach presented herein represents a more practical and promising method based on reasonable NDVIann-min and CV thresholds to obtain spatial distribution data for evergreen trees. The experimental verification results indicated a comparable performance since the extraction accuracy of the model was over 85%, which met the classification accuracy requirements. In a cross-validation comparison with other evergreen trees’ extraction methods, the NDVI-CV method showed higher sensitivity and stability.


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