scholarly journals Unraveling the hydrology and sediment balance of an ungauged lake in the Sudano-Sahelian region of West Africa using remote sensing

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvan Ragettli ◽  
Tabea Donauer ◽  
Peter Molnar ◽  
Ron Delnoije ◽  
Tobias Siegfried

Abstract. The presence of ephemeral ponds and perennial lakes in the Sudano-Sahelian region of West Africa is strongly variable in space and time. Yet, they have important ecological functions and societies are reliant on their surface waters for their lives and livelihoods. It is essential to monitor and understand the dynamics of these lakes to assess past, present, and future water resource changes. In this paper, we present an innovative approach to unravel the sediment and water balance of Lac Wégnia, a small ungauged lake in Mali near the capital of Bamako. The approach uses optical remote sensing data to identify the shoreline positions over a period of 22 years (2000–2021) and then attributes water surface heights (WSHs) to each observation using the lake bathymetry. The method represents a significant advancement over previous attempts to remotely monitor lakes in the West African drylands, since it considers not only changes in water depth to explain recent declining trends in lake areas, but also changes in the storage capacity. We recognize silting at the tributaries to the lake, but overall, erosion processes are dominant and threaten the persistence of the lake because of a continuous decrease of the floor level at the outflow. This explains the decreasing trend in WSH even for the wet-season, in spite of positive rainfall patterns.

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 441
Author(s):  
Han Fu ◽  
Bihong Fu ◽  
Pilong Shi

The South China Karst, a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) natural heritage site, is one of the world’s most spectacular examples of humid tropical to subtropical karst landscapes. The Libo cone karst in the southern Guizhou Province is considered as the world reference site for these types of karst, forming a distinctive and beautiful landscape. Geomorphic information and spatial distribution of cone karst is essential for conservation and management for Libo heritage site. In this study, a deep learning (DL) method based on DeepLab V3+ network was proposed to document the cone karst landscape in Libo by multi-source data, including optical remote sensing images and digital elevation model (DEM) data. The training samples were generated by using Landsat remote sensing images and their combination with satellite derived DEM data. Each group of training dataset contains 898 samples. The input module of DeepLab V3+ network was improved to accept four-channel input data, i.e., combination of Landsat RGB images and DEM data. Our results suggest that the mean intersection over union (MIoU) using the four-channel data as training samples by a new DL-based pixel-level image segmentation approach is the highest, which can reach 95.5%. The proposed method can accomplish automatic extraction of cone karst landscape by self-learning of deep neural network, and therefore it can also provide a powerful and automatic tool for documenting other type of geological landscapes worldwide.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 29
Author(s):  
Praveen Kumar ◽  
Akhouri P. Krishna ◽  
Thorkild M. Rasmussen ◽  
Mahendra K. Pal

Optical remote sensing data are freely available on a global scale. However, the satellite image processing and analysis for quick, accurate, and precise forest above ground biomass (AGB) evaluation are still challenging and difficult. This paper is aimed to develop a novel method for precise, accurate, and quick evaluation of the forest AGB from optical remote sensing data. Typically, the ground forest AGB was calculated using an empirical model from ground data for biophysical parameters such as tree density, height, and diameter at breast height (DBH) collected from the field at different elevation strata. The ground fraction of vegetation cover (FVC) in each ground sample location was calculated. Then, the fraction of vegetation cover (FVC) from optical remote sensing imagery was calculated. In the first stage of method implementation, the relation model between the ground FVC and ground forest AGB was developed. In the second stage, the relational model was established between image FVC and ground FVC. Finally, both models were fused to derive the relational model between image FVC and forest AGB. The validation of the developed method was demonstrated utilizing Sentinel-2 imagery as test data and the Tundi reserved forest area located in the Dhanbad district of Jharkhand state in eastern India was used as the test site. The result from the developed model was ground validated and also compared with the result from a previously developed crown projected area (CPA)-based forest AGB estimation approach. The results from the developed approach demonstrated superior capabilities in precision compared to the CPA-based method. The average forest AGB estimation of the test site obtained by this approach revealed 463 tons per hectare, which matches the previous estimate from this test site.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 2313
Author(s):  
Elena Prudnikova ◽  
Igor Savin

Optical remote sensing only provides information about the very thin surface layer of soil. Rainfall splash alters soil surface properties and its spectral reflectance. We analyzed the impact of rainfall on the success of soil organic matter (SOM) content (% by mass) detection and mapping based on optical remote sensing data. The subject of the study was the arable soils of a test field located in the Tula region (Russia), their spectral reflectance, and Sentinel-2 data. Our research demonstrated that rainfall negatively affects the accuracy of SOM predictions based on Sentinel-2 data. Depending on the average precipitation per day, the R2cv of models varied from 0.67 to 0.72, RMSEcv from 0.64 to 1.1% and RPIQ from 1.4 to 2.3. The incorporation of information on the soil surface state in the model resulted in an increase in accuracy of SOM content detection based on Sentinel-2 data: the R2cv of the models increased up to 0.78 to 0.84, the RMSEcv decreased to 0.61 to 0.71%, and the RPIQ increased to 2.1 to 2.4. Further studies are necessary to identify how the SOM content and composition of the soil surface change under the influence of rainfall for other soils, and to determine the relationships between rainfall-induced SOM changes and soil surface spectral reflectance.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1764 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qinhuo Liu ◽  
Guangjian Yan ◽  
Ziti Jiao ◽  
Qing Xiao ◽  
Jianguang Wen ◽  
...  

The academician Xiaowen Li devoted much of his life to pursuing fundamental research in remote sensing. A pioneer in the geometric-optical modeling of vegetation canopies, his work is held in high regard by the international remote sensing community. He codeveloped the Li–Strahler geometric-optic model, and this paper was selected by a member of the International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE) milestone series. As a chief scientist, Xiaowen Li led a scientific team that made outstanding advances in bidirectional reflectance distribution modeling, directional thermal emission modeling, comprehensive experiments, and the understanding of spatial and temporal scale effects in remote sensing information, and of quantitative inversions utilizing remote sensing data. In addition to his broad research activities, he was noted for his humility and his dedication in making science more accessible for the general public. Here, the life and academic contributions of Xiaowen Li to the field of quantitative remote sensing science are briefly reviewed.


2018 ◽  
Vol 40 ◽  
pp. 63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rayonil Gomes Carneiro ◽  
Alice Henkes ◽  
Gilberto Fisch ◽  
Camilla Kassar Borges

In the present study, the evolution the diurnal cycle of planetary boundary layer in the wet season at Amazon region during a period of intense observations carried out in the GOAmazon Project 2014/2015 (Green Ocean Amazon).The analysis includes radiosonde and remote sensing data. In general case, the results of the daily cycle in the wet season indicate a Nocturnal boundary layer with a small oscillation in its depth and with a tardy erosion. The convective boundary layer did not present great depth, responding to the low values of sensible heat of the wet season. A comparison between the different techniques(in situ observations and remote sensing)  for estimating the planetary boundary layer is also presented.


Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Abdelkareem ◽  
Fathy Abdalla ◽  
Samar Y. Mohamed ◽  
Farouk El-Baz

At present, the Arabian Peninsula is one of the driest regions on Earth; however, this area experienced heavy rainfall in the past thousand years. During this period, catchments received substantial amounts of surface water and sustained vast networks of streams and paleolakes, which are currently inactive. The Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) Phased Array Type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR) data reveal paleohydrologic features buried under shallow aeolian deposits in many areas of the ad-Dawasir, Sahba, Rimah/Batin, and as-Sirhan wadis. Optical remote-sensing data support that the middle of the trans-peninsula Wadi Rimah/Batin, which extends for ~1200 km from the Arabian Shield to Kuwait and covers ~200,000 km2, is dammed by linear sand dunes formed by changes in climate conditions. Integrating Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI), Geo-Eye, Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) digital elevation model, and ALOS/PALSAR data allowed for the characterization of paleodrainage reversals and diversions shaped by structural and volcanic activity. Evidence of streams abruptly shifting from one catchment to another is preserved in Wadi ad-Dawasir along the fault trace. Volcanic activity in the past few thousand years in northern Saudi Arabia has also changed the slope of the land and reversed drainage systems. Relics of earlier drainage directions are well maintained as paleoslopes and wide upstream patterns. This study found that paleohydrologic activity in Saudi Arabia is impacted by changes in climate and by structural and volcanic activity, resulting in changes to stream direction and activity. Overall, the integration of radar and optical remote-sensing data is significant for deciphering past hydrologic activity and for predicting potential water resource areas.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document