scholarly journals Tree Cover Estimation in Global Drylands from Space Using Deep Learning

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 343 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emilio Guirado ◽  
Domingo Alcaraz-Segura ◽  
Javier Cabello ◽  
Sergio Puertas-Ruíz ◽  
Francisco Herrera ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Forest Cover ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Classification Model ◽  
Tree Cover ◽  
System Modelling ◽  
Earth System ◽  
Visual Interpretation ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
Food And Agriculture Organization ◽  
The Cost

Accurate tree cover mapping is of paramount importance in many fields, from biodiversity conservation to carbon stock estimation, ecohydrology, erosion control, or Earth system modelling. Despite this importance, there is still uncertainty about global forest cover, particularly in drylands. Recently, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) conducted a costly global assessment of dryland forest cover through the visual interpretation of orthoimages using the Collect Earth software, involving hundreds of operators from around the world. Our study proposes a new automatic method for estimating tree cover using artificial intelligence and free orthoimages. Our results show that our tree cover classification model, based on convolutional neural networks (CNN), is 23% more accurate than the manual visual interpretation used by FAO, reaching up to 79% overall accuracy. The smallest differences between the two methods occurred in the driest regions, but disagreement increased with the percentage of tree cover. The application of CNNs could be used to improve and reduce the cost of tree cover maps from the local to the global scale, with broad implications for research and management.

International Whaling Commission

1957 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 701-702 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
International Association ◽  
Substantial Reduction ◽  
The United States ◽  
International Whaling Commission ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
Food And Agriculture Organization ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Scientific Papers ◽  
The Cost

The eighth annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission took place in London July 16–20, 1956, under the chairmanship of Dr. G. J. Lienesch (Netherlands). All seventeen contracting governments, with the exception of Brazil, were represented, with observers from Italy, Portugal, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, and the International Association of Whaling Companies. During the deliberations the Commission 1) received from the Bureau of International Whaling Statistics data on the operations and the catch for the past season; 2) received various scientific papers concerning the stocks of whales, and almost unanimously favoring a substantial reduction in the catch in view of evidence that the stock was declining, recommended that the catch for future seasons should not exceed 15,000 blue whale units, and, with one dissentient, recommended that the limit should be reduced in the 1956–1957 season to 14,500 blue whales; 3) after examining the returns rendered in respect of infractions of the whaling regulations, noted that, in general, there had been a decrease over the previous year; 4) received further confirmation from the Commissioner of the Soviet Union of the use of fenders of porous rubber to replace the present use of whale carcases for this purpose; 5) allocated an equivalent of $1400 towards the cost of whale marking; and 6) requested the United States to prepare a protocol for the amendment of the convention requiring every factory ship to have on board two inspectors who were generally of the same nationality as the flag of the ship, to permit consideration of a scheme to appoint independent observers in addition to the national inspectors.

A MODIFIED CALIBRATION APPROACH FOR RATIO ESTIMATOR IN STRATIFIED SAMPLING

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 507-512
Author(s):  
O. M. Olayiwola ◽  
F. S. Apantaku ◽  
Kazeem A. Oyekunle ◽  
A. A. Akintunde ◽  
O. A. Wale-Orojo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Research Work ◽  
Geographical Location ◽  
Simple Random Sampling ◽  
Ratio Estimator ◽  
Original Design ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
Food And Agriculture Organization ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Calibration Approach

Calibration is a technique for the adjustment of the original design weight to improve the precision of the survey. There is a dearth of information on calibration approach adapted for survey such that the survey cost is put into consideration.  This research work developed a modified calibration approach for improving survey precision by considering the cost function. Data set on vegetable and tobacco productions (metric tonnes) were considered for this study. The data were obtained from the website of Food and Agriculture Organization. Data used was stratified based on geographical location. The population under study was divided into subpopulation of units, these subpopulations were non-overlapping homogenous sub- group. Observations were drawn within each stratum by simple random sampling with optimum allocation procedure. The proposed estimator was derived and used to determine the linear weight estimator of population parameters. The statistical properties of the derived estimator was examined. Using Lagrange multiplier, Mean Square Error and Relative Efficiency was obtained. The proposed estimator is found to be efficient

Aufbereitung meteorologischer Daten zur Unterstützung einer globalen agrarmeteorologischen Beratung

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joachim Namyslo
Keyword(s):  
Air Temperature ◽  
Cascade Model ◽  
Earth System ◽  
Crop Water ◽  
Water Requirements ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
Food And Agriculture Organization ◽  
Applied Meteorology ◽  
Hermite Spline ◽  
Agricultural Meteorology

<p>Im Rahmen einer agrarmeteorologischen Beratung ist die Berechnung der Verdunstung für spezifische Agrarkulturen mit geeigneten Modellen möglichst auf einer stündlichen Zeitskala erforderlich. Im DWD ist hierzu das Modell AMBAV (Agrarmeteorologisches Modell zur Berechnung der aktuellen Verdunstung) entwickelt worden und wird für die nationale agrarmeteorologische Beratung operationell mit Vorhersagedaten und für Wirkanalysen auch mit Klimadaten verwendet. Insbesondere hinsichtlich globaler Anwendungen liegen gemessene oder mit Klimamodellen berechnete meteorologische Datenzeitreihen häufig nur für eine tägliche Zeitskala, oder als Modelldaten für ausgewählte Elemente bestenfalls in einer 6-stündigen Zeitskala, vor. Dies sind Tagesmittel oder Tagessummen (z.B. Wind bzw. Globalstrahlung und Niederschlag) sowie gegebenenfalls tägliche Extremwerte (Minimum und Maximum der Lufttemperatur, stärkste Tagesböe).</p> <p>Zur Bereitstellung stündlicher Daten aus Tagesdaten wurde daher ein Präprozessor entwickelt, der gemessene Stationsdaten (Modus „Station“) oder modellierte Daten globaler Modelle (Modus „Gitter“) verwendet. Dabei wurde vorausgesetzt, dass im Vorfeld einer Erarbeitung von zeitlichen Disaggregierungsverfahren keine umfangreichen Klimaanalysen durchgeführt werden müssen sondern weitestgehend auf Erfahrung zurückgegriffen werden kann. Vorhandene Programme (z.B. MELODIST) konnten jedoch wegen teilweise anderer Zielstellung oder Datenanforderungen nicht ohne weiteres verwendet werden. So wurde z.B. für die Tagessumme der Globalstrahlung auf das Angström-Verfahren (FAO, 1998), für den Niederschlag auf das Kaskadenverfahren nach Olsson (1998), für die Lufttemperatur auf den „sin-exp-Ansatz“ nach Parton und Logan (1981) und für den Wind auf die „normierte Böen­geschwindigkeit“ (Verkaik, 2000) zurückgegriffen. Für erforderliche Interpolationen werden das Newton-Verfahren und das „cubic hermite spline“ verwendet.</p> <p>Die vorgestellten Verfahren werden mit Stationsdaten des ZAMF und beispielhaft mit Modelldaten des GFCS für Madagaskar angewendet.</p> <p><strong>Literatur</strong></p> <p>FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization), 1998: Crop evaporation – Guidelines for computing crop water requirements. Irrigation and Drainage Paper 56, 300 p.</p> <p>Olsson, J., 1998: Evaluation of a scaling cascade model for temporal rainfall disaggregation. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 2, p.19-30.</p> <p>Parton, W.J. and J.A. Logan, 1981: A model for diurnal variation in soil and air temperature. Agricultural Meteorology, 23, p.205-216.</p> <p>Verkaik, J.W., 2000: Evaluation of two gustiness models for exposure correction calculations. Journal of Applied Meteorology, 39, p.1613-1626.</p>

scholarly journals Towards decision-based global land use models for improved understanding of the Earth system

2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 875-925 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. D. A. Rounsevell ◽  
A. Arneth ◽  
P. Alexander ◽  
D. G. Brown ◽  
N. de Noblet-Ducoudré ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Climate System ◽  
System Modelling ◽  
Earth System ◽  
Global Networks ◽  
Global Circulation Models

Abstract. A primary goal of Earth system modelling is to improve understanding of the interactions and feedbacks between human decision making and biophysical processes. The nexus of land use and land cover change (LULCC) and the climate system is an important example. LULCC contributes to global and regional climate change, while climate affects the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems and LULCC. However, at present, LULCC is poorly represented in Global Circulation Models (GCMs). LULCC models that are explicit about human behaviour and decision making processes have been developed at local to regional scales, but the principles of these approaches have not yet been applied to the global scale level in ways that deal adequately with both direct and indirect feedbacks from the climate system. In this article, we explore current knowledge about LULCC modelling and the interactions between LULCC, GCMs and Dynamic Global Vegetation Models (DGVMs). In doing so, we propose new ways forward for improving LULCC representations in Earth System Models. We conclude that LULCC models need to better conceptualise the alternatives for up-scaling from the local to global. This involves better representation of human agency, including processes such as learning, adaptation and agent evolution, formalising the role and emergence of governance structures, institutional arrangements and policy as endogenous processes and better theorising about the role of tele-connections and connectivity across global networks. Our analysis underlines the importance of observational data in global scale assessments and the need for coordination in synthesising and assimilating available data.

scholarly journals EVALUATION OF ANNUAL MODIS PTC DATA FOR DEFORESTATION AND FOREST DEGRADATION ANALYSIS

2016 ◽  
Vol XLI-B2 ◽  
pp. 9-13
Author(s):  
Y. Gao ◽  
A. Ghilardi ◽  
J. F. Mas ◽  
J. Paneque-Galvez ◽  
M. Skutsch
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Forest Degradation ◽  
Tree Cover ◽  
Visual Interpretation ◽  
Forest Change ◽  
Validation Data ◽  
Degradation Analysis ◽  
Spot 5 ◽  
Quality Layer

Anthropogenic land-cover change, e.g. deforestation and forest degradation cause carbon emissions. To estimate deforestation and forest degradation, it is important to have reliable data on forest cover. In this analysis, we evaluated annual MODIS Percent Tree Cover (PTC) data for the detection of forest change including deforestation, forest degradation, reforestation and revegetation. The annual MODIS PTC data (2000 – 2010) were pre-processed by applying quality layer. Based on the PTC values of the annual MODIS data, forest change maps were produced and assessed by comparing with the data from visual interpretation of SPOT-5 images. The assessment was applied to two case-studies: Ayuquila Basin and Monarch Reserve. Results show that the detected deforestation patches by visual interpretation are roughly 4 times in quantity more than those by MODIS PTC data, which can be partially due to the much higher spatial resolution of SPOT-5, being able to pick up small deforestation patches. This analysis found poor spatial overlapping for both case-studies. Possible reasons for the discrepancy in quantity and spatial coincidence were provided. It is necessary to refine the methodology for forest change detection by PTC images; also to refine the validation data in terms of data periods and forest change categories to ensure a better assessment.

scholarly journals Estimating recent forest losses in Bosnia and Herzegovina by using the Copernicus and Corine land cover databases

2021 ◽  
Vol 145 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 581-589
Author(s):  
Branislav Drašković ◽  
Marko Gutalj ◽  
Stefan Stjepanović ◽  
Boban Miletić
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Bosnia And Herzegovina ◽  
Forest Type ◽  
Monitoring Program ◽  
Tree Cover ◽  
Satellite Monitoring ◽  
Corine Land Cover ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
Food And Agriculture Organization ◽  
The Status

The analysis of data from the first two decades of the 21st century shows that the area under forests in Bosnia and Herzegovina is gradually decreasing. In order to gain a detailed insight into this process, the paper will analyse the forest databases of the European satellite monitoring program Copernicus. This program, among other things, monitors the condition of forests in 39 European countries by using the High Resolution Layer (HRL). The HRL Forests database consists of 3 types of (status) products, and additional change products. The status products are available for the reference years 2012, 2015, and 2018. The status layers provide information on the Dominant Leaf Type and the Tree Cover Density at pixel level for the reference year 2018 in 10 m resolution. The Forest Type layer largely follows the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) forest definition. Also, the paper will use the data on forests from the CORINE Land Cover project for 2000, 2006, 2012 and 2018. The time-series includes a land change layer, highlighting changes in land cover and land use. The CLC Changes database will be analysed separately for three periods: 2000-2006, 2006-2012 and 2012-2018, due to more accurate data on forest losses. The results of the research show that forests in Bosnia and Herzegovina were reduced by 2.95%, in the period 2012-2018, where 2.55% of them were coniferous. Forests are primarily endangered by the process of conversion to transitional forest / shrub and fires.

scholarly journals The Impact of Felling Method, Bunch Size, Slope Degree and Skidding Area on Productivity and Costs of Skidding in a Eucalyptus Plantation

2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ricardo Hideaki Miyajima ◽  
Danilo Simões ◽  
Paulo Torres Fenner ◽  
Gislaine Cristina Batistela
Keyword(s):  
Operating Cycle ◽  
Operator Experience ◽  
Eucalyptus Plantation ◽  
Technical Performance ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
Food And Agriculture Organization ◽  
Machine Cost ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Cost Components

Grapple skidder is a machine designed for the extraction of tree bunches after felling. Several factors influence its technical performance and costs such as terrain slope, operator experience time, machine type, and the size of tree bunches for each operating cycle, among others. Thus, it becomes necessary to weigh the variables that most influence the productivity and costs of the grapple skidder. So, the main objective was evaluated according to the influence of bunch size using two feller bunchers with distinct technical characteristics, two slope classes and two skidding areas on the productivity and machine production cost in a Eucalyptus plantation. For the analysis of the productivity, the study of time and method was applied and the scheduled machine cost per hour was based on the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations methods. When analyzing the results, it was found that the operational elements moving without load (MWoL) and moving with load (MWL) were the ones that spend the most time in the operational cycle of the grapple skidder. Among the cost components, monetary expenditure on fuel and operator labor were the most influential in the scheduled machine cost per hour. In conclusion, the tree bunches and slope class influenced the productivity and, consequently, the cost of the skidding operation.

Miriam Makeba

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Omotayo Jolaosho
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Civil Rights Movement ◽  
The United States ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
Food And Agriculture Organization ◽  
Return Home ◽  
Apartheid Regime

Miriam Makeba (March 4, 1932–November 9, 2008) was among the first to popularize African music on a global scale. Nelson Mandela named her South Africa’s first lady of song; she was also nicknamed Mama Africa. Makeba has been credited with inaugurating the “world music” movement, a designation that she did not like as it marginalized music from a so-called Third World. Already renowned in her native South Africa as a sophisticated and highly sought-after performer in her own right, Makeba’s arrival in the United States in 1959 transformed that country’s music scene. She was a contemporary of Nina Simone and Odetta, with the three women credited for a resurgence of folk music in the United States as they drew songs of everyday life onto the concert stage. South Africa’s apartheid government revoked Makeba’s passport in 1960, when she sought to return home to bury her mother. She was a vocal critic of apartheid in exile, appearing before the United Nations (UN) on at least four occasions (including twice as a delegate of Guinea) to urge sanctions against the apartheid regime and mobilize support for Black South Africans caught under apartheid’s yoke. She supported US civil rights movement organizations and activists, and through her activism embedded US struggles for civil rights within a continuum of African liberation struggles, including anti-apartheid and anti-colonial liberation movements on the continent. She was a cultural ambassador who bore witness to the independence of many African countries through song, with countries for which her performances contributed to the ushering in of independent regimes including Kenya, Tanzania, and Mozambique. She was the only performer at the inaugural conference of the Organization for African Unity. As South Africa’s apartheid government began transitioning power, Makeba was able to return home in 1992 for a brief visit and subsequently decided to permanently return. Under South Africa’s democratically elected regime, Makeba was appointed an FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) Goodwill ambassador for the UN. She continued performing in her later years, but in November 2008 she collapsed following a performance in Italy and died from cardiac arrest. Her legacy continues through the work of the ZM Makeba Foundation.

Sahelian countries face acute hunger crisis

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Rural Economy ◽  
Acute Malnutrition ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Crisis Prevention ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
Food And Agriculture Organization ◽  
Food Shortages ◽  
The Cost

Subject Food shortages and insecurity in the Sahel. Significance The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP) warned in May that 1.6 million children are in danger of acute malnutrition and 5.0 million people are in need of food assistance in the Sahel and parts of West Africa. Drought and conflict have left 7.1 million people in the Sahel in need of food aid, the Food Crisis Prevention Network (RPCA) warned in April. Pastoral societies are severely affected. The range of food shortages and socio-economic crises in the Sahel reflects the region’s vulnerability to annual drought and long-term climate change, as well as challenges posed by insecurity. Impacts France will emphasise counter-terrorism even though the cost of fighting terrorism undermines the Sahel’s capacity to avert food crises. The region will remain vulnerable to annual droughts. Long-term climate change will threaten the sustainability of the rural economy upon which the majority of the population still depend.

scholarly journals Towards decision-based global land use models for improved understanding of the Earth system

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. D. A. Rounsevell ◽  
A. Arneth ◽  
P. Alexander ◽  
D. G. Brown ◽  
N. de Noblet-Ducoudré ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Climate System ◽  
System Modelling ◽  
Earth System ◽  
Global Networks ◽  
Global Circulation Models

Abstract. A primary goal of Earth system modelling is to improve understanding of the interactions and feedbacks between human decision making and biophysical processes. The nexus of land use and land cover change (LULCC) and the climate system is an important example. LULCC contributes to global and regional climate change, while climate affects the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems and LULCC. However, at present, LULCC is poorly represented in global circulation models (GCMs). LULCC models that are explicit about human behaviour and decision-making processes have been developed at local to regional scales, but the principles of these approaches have not yet been applied to the global scale level in ways that deal adequately with both direct and indirect feedbacks from the climate system. In this article, we explore current knowledge about LULCC modelling and the interactions between LULCC, GCMs and dynamic global vegetation models (DGVMs). In doing so, we propose new ways forward for improving LULCC representations in Earth system models. We conclude that LULCC models need to better conceptualise the alternatives for upscaling from the local to global scale. This involves better representation of human agency, including processes such as learning, adaptation and agent evolution, formalising the role and emergence of governance structures, institutional arrangements and policy as endogenous processes and better theorising about the role of teleconnections and connectivity across global networks. Our analysis underlines the importance of observational data in global-scale assessments and the need for coordination in synthesising and assimilating available data.

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