Canopy Extraction and Height Estimation of Trees in a Shelter Forest Based on Fusion of an Airborne Multispectral Image and Photogrammetric Point Cloud

To reduce data acquisition cost, this study proposed a novel method of individual tree height estimation and canopy extraction based on fusion of an airborne multispectral image and photogrammetric point cloud. A fixed-wing drone was deployed to acquire the true color and multispectral images of a shelter forest. The Structure-from-Motion (SfM) algorithm was used to reconstruct the 3D point cloud of the canopy. The 3D point cloud was filtered to acquire the ground point cloud and then interpolated to a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) using the Radial Basis Function Neural Network (RBFNN). The DEM was subtracted from the Digital Surface Model (DSM) generated from the original point cloud to get the canopy height model (CHM). The CHM was processed for the crown extraction using local maximum filters and watershed segmentation. Then, object-oriented methods were employed in the combination of 12 bands and CHM for image segmentation. To extract the tree crown, the Support Vector Machine (SVM) algorithm was used. The result of the object-oriented method was vectorized and superimposed on the CHM to estimate the tree height. Experimental results demonstrated that it is efficient to employ point cloud and the proposed approach has great potential in the tree height estimation. The proposed object-oriented method based on fusion of a multispectral image and CHM effectively reduced the oversegmentation and undersegmentation, with an increase in the F -score by 0.12–0.17. Our findings provided a reference for the health and change monitoring of shelter forests as well.

Cadres, scripts, registres — complexité de traduction des mots polysémiques

The article deals with issues related to the description of polysemic units for supervised automatic translation of texts from French to Polish based on the object-oriented method by W. Banyś (AOO). Applying to the description additional tools allowing for the disambiguation — frames, scripts and register analysis — the author focuses on presenting the complexity of the description of lexical units. It should be stressed that the decision to assign meanings of such words one or another equivalents in the target language is determined by the criterion of preference. Some of the meanings of the word are easy to describe in such a way that the program can make a correct translation into the target language with a high degree of probability. However, there are often such meanings whose description is much more complex. The closer the meanings of the disambiguated words in the original and target language and the more similar the communication situation in which they are used, the more difficult it is to clearly indicate the boundaries between the meanings. In such cases, there is a much greater range of preferential character of the translation, which we have to adopt The French noun conjunction (f), chosen for analysis, reflects this phenomenon very well.

Impact of population size at a rate of morphological and molecular evolution – the use of an object-oriented model

A generalization of Moran model of evolution is created using object-oriented method of modelling. A population consists of individuals which have a genotype and a phenotype. The genotype is inherited by descendants and it can mutate. The phenotype is dependent on the genotype. Moreover, the phenotype causes changes in the fitness of the individuals (natural selection which four kinds are defined and analysed). Evolution of the population appears spontaneously. This model is used to analyse how population size influence the rate of evolution. Evolution is manifested by two processes: the increase of the phenotype size (morphological evolution) and number of mutations accumulated on genes (molecular evolution). The rate of evolution increases if population size increases. An adaptive natural selection causes nonlinear changes in the phenotype size and number of mutations accumulated on genes. A competitive natural selection causes linear evolution. A surviving natural selection causes the faster evolution than a reproductive natural selection.

Evaluation of Rainfall Forecasts by Three Mesoscale Models during the Mei-yu Season of 2008 in Taiwan. Part II: Development of an Object-Oriented Method

This study describes a recently developed object-oriented method suitable for Taiwan for the purpose to verify quantitative precipitation forecasts (QPFs) produced by mesoscale models as a complement to the traditional approaches in existence. Using blended data from the rain-gauge network in Taiwan and the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) as the observation, the method developed herein is applied to twice-daily 0–48 h QPFs produced by the Cloud-Resolving Storm Simulator (CReSS) during the South-West Monsoon Experiment (SoWMEX) in May–June 2008. In this method, rainfall objects are identified through a procedure that includes smoothing and thresholding. Various attribute parameters and the characteristics of observed and forecast rain-area objects are then compared and discussed. Both the observed and the QPF frequency distributions of rain-area objects with respect to total water production, object size, and rainfall are similar to chi-distribution, with highest frequency at smaller values and decreased frequencies toward greater values. The model tends to produce heavier rainfall than observation, while the latter exhibits a higher percentage of larger objects with weaker rainfall intensity. The distributions of shape-related attributes are similar between QPF and observed rainfall objects, with more northeast–southwest oriented and fewer northwest–southeast oriented objects. Both observed and modeled object centroid locations have relative maxima over the terrain of Taiwan, indicating reasonable response to the topography. The above results are consistent with previous studies.

Analysis on the Relationship between Mangrove and Aquaculture in Maowei Sea Based on Object-oriented Method

Before 2000, a large number of mangrove forests in Guangxi were cut down for aqua-cultural purposes. After 2000, with the introduction of national, provincial and municipal policies on mangrove protection, this phenomenon was less frequently seen. By using the object-oriented method, referring to the spectral and texture characteristics of the ground target, and using the Landsat remote sensing images of 2000-2019, this paper extracts and analyzes the area and change of mangrove and aquaculture area in Maowei sea, Guangxi. The results show that the use of object-oriented methods can extract mangroves and aquaculture areas with higher accuracy. The area of mangroves generally shows an upward trend, with the area of aquaculture increasing first and then decreasing.

Land Use Changes in the Zoige Plateau Based on the Object-Oriented Method and Their Effects on Landscape Patterns

Land use/land cover change (LUCC) is the most direct driving force of landscape pattern change. The Zoige Plateau is a natural ecosystem with the largest high-altitude swamp wetland in China and its land use pattern has undergone great changes in recent years, but how the changes of each land use type affect the landscape pattern is uncertain. Here, we used the object-oriented method to extract land use information in 2015. Then, combined with land use data, the land use change characteristics from 2000 to 2015 were analyzed. We used the correlation analysis method to analyze the effects of land use changes on landscape pattern systematically. Three key conclusions were reached. (1) Land use information for the Zoige Plateau could be extracted with high accuracy by combining the object-oriented method and support vector machine (SVM). The overall accuracy was 93.2% and the Kappa coefficient was 0.889. (2) The comprehensive dynamic degree of land use was the highest from 2010 to 2015. From 2000 to 2015, the wetland area decreased the fastest because 57.05% of the wetlands were transferred out. Construction land increased the fastest, and the transferred in area from grassland and farmland were the main reason. (3) The effects of unused land, farmland, and construction land on the overall landscape pattern were stronger than that of the other types, among which farmland had the most significant impact (with a correlation coefficient of 0.959, p < 0.001). The change of unused land was the most highly significant factor associated with the landscape area pattern, and both the water body and unused land showed strong correlations with landscape shape pattern change. This suggested that the effects of land use types occupying a relatively small area on the landscape pattern were intensified. This study will provide guidance for the environmental management of local land resources and other natural ecosystem areas.