scholarly journals Integration of UAV, Sentinel-1, and Sentinel-2 Data for Mangrove Plantation Aboveground Biomass Monitoring in Senegal

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 77 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Antonio Navarro ◽  
Nur Algeet ◽  
Alfredo Fernández-Landa ◽  
Jessica Esteban ◽  
Pablo Rodríguez-Noriega ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Aboveground Biomass ◽  
Auxiliary Information ◽  
Field Measurements ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Point Clouds ◽  
Support Vector ◽  
Monitoring Methods ◽  
Individual Tree ◽  
Entire Study ◽  
Sentinel 2

Due to the increasing importance of mangroves in climate change mitigation projects, more accurate and cost-effective aboveground biomass (AGB) monitoring methods are required. However, field measurements of AGB may be a challenge because of their remote location and the difficulty to walk in these areas. This study is based on the Livelihoods Fund Oceanium project that monitors 10,000 ha of mangrove plantations. In a first step, the possibility of replacing traditional field measurements of sample plots in a young mangrove plantation by a semiautomatic processing of UAV-based photogrammetric point clouds was assessed. In a second step, Sentinel-1 radar and Sentinel-2 optical imagery were used as auxiliary information to estimate AGB and its variance for the entire study area under a model-assisted framework. AGB was measured using UAV imagery in a total of 95 sample plots. UAV plot data was used in combination with non-parametric support vector regression (SVR) models for the estimation of the study area AGB using model-assisted estimators. Purely UAV-based AGB estimates and their associated standard error (SE) were compared with model-assisted estimates using (1) Sentinel-1, (2) Sentinel-2, and (3) a combination of Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 data as auxiliary information. The validation of the UAV-based individual tree height and crown diameter measurements showed a root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.21 m and 0.32 m, respectively. Relative efficiency of the three model-assisted scenarios ranged between 1.61 and 2.15. Although all SVR models improved the efficiency of the monitoring over UAV-based estimates, the best results were achieved when a combination of Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 data was used. Results indicated that the methodology used in this research can provide accurate and cost-effective estimates of AGB in young mangrove plantations.

scholarly journals Integration of UAV, Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 Data for Mangrove Plantations Aboveground Biomass Monitoring in Senegal

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Antonio Navarro ◽  
Nur Algeet ◽  
Alfredo Fernández-Landa ◽  
Jéssica Esteban ◽  
Pablo Rodríguez-Noriega ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Aboveground Biomass ◽  
Auxiliary Information ◽  
Tree Height ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Point Clouds ◽  
Support Vector ◽  
Monitoring Methods ◽  
Individual Tree ◽  
Entire Study ◽  
Sentinel 2

Due to the increasing importance of mangroves in climate change mitigation projects, more accurate and cost-effective aboveground biomass (AGB) monitoring methods are required. However, field measurement of AGB may be a challenge because of its remote location and the difficulty to walk in these areas. This study is based on the Livelihoods Fund’ Oceanium project of 10,000 hectare mangrove plantations monitoring. In a first step, the possibility of replacing traditional field measurements of sample plots in a young mangrove plantation by a semiautomatic processing of UAV-based photogrammetric point clouds was assessed. In a second step, Sentinel-1 radar and Sentinel-2 optical imagery were used as auxiliary information to estimate AGB and its variance for the entire study area under a model-assisted framework. AGB was measured using UAV imagery in a total of 95 sample plots. UAV plot data was used in combination with non-parametric Support Vector Regression (SVR) models for the estimation of the study area AGB using model-assisted estimators. Purely UAV-based AGB estimates and their associated standard error (SE) were compared with model-assisted estimates using (1) Sentinel-1, (2) Sentinel-2 and (3) a combination of Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 data as auxiliary information. The validation of the UAV-based individual tree height and crown diameter measurements showed a root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.21 m and 0.32 m respectively. Relative efficiency of the three model-assisted scenarios ranged between 1.61 and 2.15. Although all SVR models improved the efficiency of the monitoring over UAV-based estimates, the best results were achieved when a combination of Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 data was used. Results indicated that the methodology used in this research can provide accurate and cost-effective estimates of AGB in mangrove young plantations.

Evaluating the Persistence of Post-Wildfire Ash: A Multi-Platform Spatiotemporal Analysis

Fire ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 68
Author(s):  
Sarah A. Lewis ◽  
Peter R. Robichaud ◽  
Andrew T. Hudak ◽  
Eva K. Strand ◽  
Jan U. H. Eitel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽  
Field Measurements ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Spatiotemporal Analysis ◽  
Short Wave ◽  
Hydrologic Model ◽  
Landsat 8 ◽  
Data Volume ◽  
Sentinel 2

As wildland fires amplify in size in many regions in the western USA, land and water managers are increasingly concerned about the deleterious effects on drinking water supplies. Consequences of severe wildfires include disturbed soils and areas of thick ash cover, which raises the concern of the risk of water contamination via ash. The persistence of ash cover and depth were monitored for up to 90 days post-fire at nearly 100 plots distributed between two wildfires in Idaho and Washington, USA. Our goal was to determine the most ‘cost’ effective, operational method of mapping post-wildfire ash cover in terms of financial, data volume, time, and processing costs. Field measurements were coupled with multi-platform satellite and aerial imagery collected during the same time span. The image types spanned the spatial resolution of 30 m to sub-meter (Landsat-8, Sentinel-2, WorldView-2, and a drone), while the spectral resolution spanned visible through SWIR (short-wave infrared) bands, and they were all collected at various time scales. We that found several common vegetation and post-fire spectral indices were correlated with ash cover (r = 0.6–0.85); however, the blue normalized difference vegetation index (BNDVI) with monthly Sentinel-2 imagery was especially well-suited for monitoring the change in ash cover during its ephemeral period. A map of the ash cover can be used to estimate the ash load, which can then be used as an input into a hydrologic model predicting ash transport and fate, helping to ultimately improve our ability to predict impacts on downstream water resources.

scholarly journals Combination of Multi-Temporal Sentinel 2 Images and Aerial Image Based Canopy Height Models for Timber Volume Modelling

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 746 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes Schumacher ◽  
Margret Rattay ◽  
Melanie Kirchhöfer ◽  
Petra Adler ◽  
Gerald Kändler
Keyword(s):  
Forest Inventory ◽  
Point Clouds ◽  
Support Vector ◽  
Timber Volume ◽  
Volume Model ◽  
Broadleaf Tree ◽  
Multi Temporal ◽  
Conifer Trees ◽  
Volume Models ◽  
Sentinel 2

Multi-temporal Sentinel 2 optical images and 3D photogrammetric point clouds can be combined to enhance the accuracy of timber volume models on large spatial scale. Information on the proportion of broadleaf and conifer trees improves timber volume models obtained from 3D photogrammetric point clouds. However, the broadleaf-conifer information cannot be obtained from photogrammetric point clouds alone. Furthermore, spectral information of aerial images is too inconsistent to be used for automatic broadleaf-conifer classification over larger areas. In this study we combined multi-temporal Sentinel 2 optical satellite images, 3D photogrammetric point clouds from digital aerial stereo photographs, and forest inventory plots representing an area of 35,751 km2 in south-west Germany for (1) modelling the percentage of broadleaf tree volume (BL%) using Sentinel 2 time series and (2) modelling timber volume per hectare using 3D photogrammetric point clouds. Forest inventory plots were surveyed in the same years and regions as stereo photographs were acquired (2013–2017), resulting in 11,554 plots. Sentinel 2 images from 2016 and 2017 were corrected for topographic and atmospheric influences and combined with the same forest inventory plots. Spectral variables from corrected multi-temporal Sentinel 2 images were calculated, and Support Vector Machine (SVM) regressions were fitted for each Sentinel 2 scene estimating the BL% for corresponding inventory plots. Variables from the photogrammetric point clouds were calculated for each inventory plot and a non-linear regression model predicting timber volume per hectare was fitted. Each SVM regression and the timber volume model were evaluated using ten-fold cross-validation (CV). The SVM regression models estimating the BL% per Sentinel 2 scene achieved overall accuracies of 68%–75% and a Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) of 21.5–26.1. The timber volume model showed a RMSE% of 31.7%, a mean bias of 0.2%, and a pseudo-R2 of 0.64. Application of the SVM regressions on Sentinel 2 scenes covering the state of Baden-Württemberg resulted in predictions of broadleaf tree percentages for the entire state. These predicted values were used as additional predictor in the timber volume model, allowing for predictions of timber volume for the same area. Spatially high-resolution information about growing stock is of great practical relevance for forest management planning, especially when the timber volume of a smaller unit is of interest, for example of a forest stand or a forest district where not enough terrestrial inventory plots are available to make reliable estimations. Here, predictions from remote-sensing based models can be used. Furthermore, information about broadleaf and conifer trees improves timber volume models and reduces model errors and, thereby, prediction uncertainties.

scholarly journals Optimizing Field Data Collection for Individual Tree Attribute Predictions Using Active Learning Methods

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 949 ◽  
Author(s):  
Salim Malek ◽  
Franco Miglietta ◽  
Terje Gobakken ◽  
Erik Næsset ◽  
Damiano Gianelle ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Active Learning ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Aboveground Biomass ◽  
Field Data ◽  
Random Selection ◽  
Support Vector ◽  
Lidar Data ◽  
Individual Tree ◽  
Field Data Collection ◽  
Collection Cost

Light detection and ranging (lidar) data are nowadays a standard data source in studies related to forest ecology and environmental mapping. Medium/high point density lidar data allow to automatically detect individual tree crowns (ITCs), and they provide useful information to predict stem diameter and aboveground biomass of each tree represented by a detected ITC. However, acquisition of field data is necessary for the construction of prediction models that relate field data to lidar data and for validation of such models. When working at ITC level, field data collection is often expensive and time-consuming as accurate tree positions are needed. Active learning (AL) can be very useful in this context as it helps to select the optimal field trees to be measured, reducing the field data collection cost. In this study, we propose a new method of AL for regression based on the minimization of the field data collection cost in terms of distance to navigate between field sample trees, and accuracy in terms of root mean square error of the predictions. The developed method is applied to the prediction of diameter at breast heights (DBH) and aboveground biomass (AGB) of individual trees by using their height and crown diameter as independent variables and support vector regression. The proposed method was tested on two boreal forest datasets, and the obtained results show the effectiveness of the proposed selecting strategy to provide substantial improvements over the different iterations compared to a random selection. The obtained RMSE of DBH/AGB for the first dataset was 5.09 cm/95.5 kg with a cost equal to 8256/6173 m by using the proposed multi-objective method of selection. However, by using a random selection, the RMSE was 5.20 cm/102.1 kg with a cost equal to 28,391/30,086 m. The proposed approach can be efficient in order to get more accurate predictions with smaller costs, especially when a large forest area with no previous field data is subject to inventory and analysis.

scholarly journals Exploring the Suitability of UAS-Based Multispectral Images for Estimating Soil Organic Carbon: Comparison with Proximal Soil Sensing and Spaceborne Imagery

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 308
Author(s):  
James Kobina Mensah Biney ◽  
Mohammadmehdi Saberioon ◽  
Luboš Borůvka ◽  
Jakub Houška ◽  
Radim Vašát ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon ◽  
Prediction Models ◽  
Unmanned Aircraft ◽  
Support Vector ◽  
Spectral Indices ◽  
Entire Study ◽  
Proximal Soil Sensing ◽  
Sentinel 2

Soil organic carbon (SOC) is a variable of vital environmental significance in terms of soil quality and function, global food security, and climate change mitigation. Estimation of its content and prediction accuracy on a broader scale remain crucial. Although, spectroscopy under proximal sensing remains one of the best approaches to accurately predict SOC, however, spectroscopy limitation to estimate SOC on a larger spatial scale remains a concern. Therefore, for an efficient quantification of SOC content, faster and less costly techniques are needed, recent studies have suggested the use of remote sensing approaches. The primary aim of this research was to evaluate and compare the capabilities of small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) for monitoring and estimation of SOC with those obtained from spaceborne (Sentinel-2) and proximal soil sensing (field spectroscopy measurements) on an agricultural field low in SOC content. Nine calculated spectral indices were added to the remote sensing approaches (UAS and Sentinel-2) to enhance their predictive accuracy. Modeling was carried out using various bands/wavelength (UAS (6), Sentinel-2 (9)) and the calculated spectral indices were used as independent variables to generate soil prediction models using five-fold cross-validation built using random forest (RF) and support vector machine regression (SVMR). The correlation regarding SOC and the selected indices and bands/wavelengths was determined prior to the prediction. Our results revealed that the selected spectral indices slightly influenced the output of UAS compared to Sentinel-2 dataset as the latter had only one index correlated with SOC. For prediction, the models built on UAS data had a better accuracy with RF than the two other data used. However, using SVMR, the field spectral prediction models achieved a better overall result for the entire study (log(1/R), RPD = 1.40; R2CV = 0.48; RPIQ = 1.65; RMSEPCV = 0.24), followed by UAS and then Sentinel-2, respectively. This study has shown that UAS imagery can be exploited efficiently using spectral indices.

scholarly journals Estimating Aboveground Biomass in Dense Hyrcanian Forests by the Use of Sentinel-2 Data

Forests ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 104
Author(s):  
Fardin Moradi ◽  
Ali Asghar Darvishsefat ◽  
Manizheh Rajab Pourrahmati ◽  
Azade Deljouei ◽  
Stelian Alexandru Borz
Keyword(s):  
Aboveground Biomass ◽  
Nearest Neighbor ◽  
Vegetation Indices ◽  
Field Measurements ◽  
K Nearest Neighbor ◽  
Remotely Sensed Data ◽  
Northern Iran ◽  
Hyrcanian Forests ◽  
Sentinel 2

Due to the challenges brought by field measurements to estimate the aboveground biomass (AGB), such as the remote locations and difficulties in walking in these areas, more accurate and cost-effective methods are required, by the use of remote sensing. In this study, Sentinel-2 data were used for estimating the AGB in pure stands of Carpinus betulus (L., common hornbeam) located in the Hyrcanian forests, northern Iran. For this purpose, the diameter at breast height (DBH) of all trees thicker than 7.5 cm was measured in 55 square plots (45 × 45 m). In situ AGB was estimated using a local volume table and the specific density of wood. To estimate the AGB from remotely sensed data, parametric and nonparametric methods, including Multiple Regression (MR), Artificial Neural Network (ANN), k-Nearest Neighbor (kNN), and Random Forest (RF), were applied to a single image of the Sentinel-2, having as a reference the estimations produced by in situ measurements and their corresponding spectral values of the original spectral (B2, B3, B4, B5, B6, B7, B8, B8a, B11, and B12) and derived synthetic (IPVI, IRECI, GEMI, GNDVI, NDVI, DVI, PSSRA, and RVI) bands. Band 6 located in the red-edge region (0.740 nm) showed the highest correlation with AGB (r = −0.723). A comparison of the machine learning methods indicated that the ANN algorithm returned the best ABG-estimating performance (%RMSE = 19.9). This study demonstrates that simple vegetation indices extracted from Sentinel-2 multispectral imagery can provide good results in the AGB estimation of C. betulus trees of the Hyrcanian forests. The approach used in this study may be extended to similar areas located in temperate forests.

Application of Machine Learning Approaches for the Design and Study of Anticancer Drugs

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 488-500 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Hu ◽  
Yi Lu ◽  
Shuo Wang ◽  
Mengying Zhang ◽  
Xiaosheng Qu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Drug Design ◽  
Anticancer Drugs ◽  
Nearest Neighbor ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Support Vector ◽  
Learning Approaches ◽  
K Nearest Neighbor ◽  
Activity Prediction ◽  
Linear Discriminant

Background: Globally the number of cancer patients and deaths are continuing to increase yearly, and cancer has, therefore, become one of the world&#039;s highest causes of morbidity and mortality. In recent years, the study of anticancer drugs has become one of the most popular medical topics. </P><P> Objective: In this review, in order to study the application of machine learning in predicting anticancer drugs activity, some machine learning approaches such as Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA), Principal components analysis (PCA), Support Vector Machine (SVM), Random forest (RF), k-Nearest Neighbor (kNN), and Naïve Bayes (NB) were selected, and the examples of their applications in anticancer drugs design are listed. </P><P> Results: Machine learning contributes a lot to anticancer drugs design and helps researchers by saving time and is cost effective. However, it can only be an assisting tool for drug design. </P><P> Conclusion: This paper introduces the application of machine learning approaches in anticancer drug design. Many examples of success in identification and prediction in the area of anticancer drugs activity prediction are discussed, and the anticancer drugs research is still in active progress. Moreover, the merits of some web servers related to anticancer drugs are mentioned.

scholarly journals Individual Tree Extraction from Terrestrial LiDAR Point Clouds Based on Transfer Learning and Gaussian Mixture Model Separation

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 223
Author(s):  
Zhenyang Hui ◽  
Shuanggen Jin ◽  
Dajun Li ◽  
Yao Yevenyo Ziggah ◽  
Bo Liu
Keyword(s):  
Transfer Learning ◽  
Gaussian Mixture Model ◽  
Mixture Model ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Point Clouds ◽  
Gaussian Mixture ◽  
Individual Tree ◽  
Terrestrial Lidar ◽  
Initial Segmentation ◽  
Tree Extraction

Individual tree extraction is an important process for forest resource surveying and monitoring. To obtain more accurate individual tree extraction results, this paper proposed an individual tree extraction method based on transfer learning and Gaussian mixture model separation. In this study, transfer learning is first adopted in classifying trunk points, which can be used as clustering centers for tree initial segmentation. Subsequently, principal component analysis (PCA) transformation and kernel density estimation are proposed to determine the number of mixed components in the initial segmentation. Based on the number of mixed components, the Gaussian mixture model separation is proposed to separate canopies for each individual tree. Finally, the trunk stems corresponding to each canopy are extracted based on the vertical continuity principle. Six tree plots with different forest environments were used to test the performance of the proposed method. Experimental results show that the proposed method can achieve 87.68% average correctness, which is much higher than that of other two classical methods. In terms of completeness and mean accuracy, the proposed method also outperforms the other two methods.

scholarly journals New Forest Aboveground Biomass Maps of China Integrating Multiple Datasets

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 2892
Author(s):  
Zhongbing Chang ◽  
Sanaa Hobeichi ◽  
Ying-Ping Wang ◽  
Xuli Tang ◽  
Gab Abramowitz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Emissions ◽  
Aboveground Biomass ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Field Measurements ◽  
Random Forest Regression ◽  
Multiple Datasets ◽  
Optimal Weighting ◽  
Two Hybrid ◽  
Forest Aboveground Biomass

Mapping the spatial variation of forest aboveground biomass (AGB) at the national or regional scale is important for estimating carbon emissions and removals and contributing to global stocktake and balancing the carbon budget. Recently, several gridded forest AGB products have been produced for China by integrating remote sensing data and field measurements, yet significant discrepancies remain among these products in their estimated AGB carbon, varying from 5.04 to 9.81 Pg C. To reduce this uncertainty, here, we first compiled independent, high-quality field measurements of AGB using a systematic and consistent protocol across China from 2011 to 2015. We applied two different approaches, an optimal weighting technique (WT) and a random forest regression method (RF), to develop two observationally constrained hybrid forest AGB products in China by integrating five existing AGB products. The WT method uses a linear combination of the five existing AGB products with weightings that minimize biases with respect to the field measurements, and the RF method uses decision trees to predict a hybrid AGB map by minimizing the bias and variance with respect to the field measurements. The forest AGB stock in China was 7.73 Pg C for the WT estimates and 8.13 Pg C for the RF estimates. Evaluation with the field measurements showed that the two hybrid AGB products had a lower RMSE (29.6 and 24.3 Mg/ha) and bias (−4.6 and −3.8 Mg/ha) than all five participating AGB datasets. Our study demonstrated both the WT and RF methods can be used to harmonize existing AGB maps with field measurements to improve the spatial variability and reduce the uncertainty of carbon stocks. The new spatial AGB maps of China can be used to improve estimates of carbon emissions and removals at the national and subnational scales.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document