THE CONTRIBUTION OF RADAR REMOTE SENSING VIA SENTINEL-1 DATA AND PHOTO-INTERPRETATION BY GOOGLE EARTH IMAGES FOR WETLAND MAPPING

Wetlands are considered as sensitive ecosystems exposed and threatened by climate change and the urbanization of natural environments. In the purpose of managing these sensitive areas and conservatizing their biodiversity, remote sensing is an efficient way to track environmental variables over large areas as wetlands. However, when it comes to the study of hydrologic dynamics, high temporal and spatial resolutions are essential. Since the access to optical satellite imagery is restrictive because of the large cloud cover that masks the ground, radar sensors that are working in the microwave field, are particularly suited to the characterization of hydrological dynamics due to the sensitivity of their measurements in the presence of water, regardless of the vegetation in place. Recently, radar remote sensing has experienced a real revolution with the launch of the Sentinel-1A satellite in 2014, followed by its twin Sentinel-1B two years later by the European Space Agency as part of the Copernicus program. These sensors acquire C-band data (λ = 5.6 cm) with a temporal resolution of 12 days by satellite and their distribution is open and free. This article aims to assess the potential of Sentinel A1 SAR data for wetland mapping in the city of Benslimane (Central Morocco). The first part is explaining the methodology for mapping water surfaces. We identified a confusion of the C-band radar response of water surfaces and that of certain bare soils. We then showed that the VH polarization is the most suitable for the mapping of water surfaces, comparing four methods of detecting areas in water. It. The second part is discussing the use of unsupervised methods without a priori data demonstrating that the methods taking into account the spatial neighborhood give better results. Temporal filtering has been developed and has made it possible to improve detection and to overcome confusion between bare soil and permanent water surfaces. Water surfaces larger than 0.5 ha are at 80% detected. Classification was performed using the SVM (Support Vector Machine) algorithm. This latter information was then implemented into the thematic map derived from SPOT-4 images to obtain the final weltands map.

Operational Detection of Sun Glints in DSCOVR EPIC Images

Satellite images often feature sun glints caused by the specular reflection of sunlight from water surfaces or from horizontally oriented ice crystals occurring in clouds. Such glints can prevent accurate retrievals of atmospheric and surface properties using existing algorithms, but the glints can also be used to infer more about the glint-causing objects—for example about the microphysical properties and radiative effects of ice clouds. This paper introduces the recently released operational glint product of the Earth Polychromatic Camera (EPIC) onboard the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) spacecraft. Most importantly, the paper describes the algorithm used for generating the key component of the new product: a glint mask indicating the presence of sun glint caused by the specular reflection of sunlight from ice clouds and smooth water surfaces. After describing the glint detection algorithm and glint product, the paper shows some examples of the detected glints and discusses some basic statistics of the glint population in a yearlong dataset of EPIC images. These statistics provide insights into the performance of glint detection and point toward possibilities for using the glint product to gain scientific insights about ice clouds and water surfaces.

SAR-Based Flood Monitoring for Flatland with Frequently Fluctuating Water Surfaces: Proposal for the Normalized Backscatter Amplitude Difference Index (NoBADI)

Space-based synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is a powerful tool for monitoring flood conditions over large areas without the influence of clouds and daylight. Permanent water surfaces can be excluded by comparing SAR images with pre-flood images, but fluctuating water surfaces, such as those found in flat wetlands, introduce uncertainty into flood mapping results. In order to reduce this uncertainty, a simple method called Normalized Backscatter Amplitude Difference Index (NoBADI) is proposed in this study. The NoBADI is calculated from a post-flood SAR image of backscatter amplitude and multiple images on non-flooding conditions. Preliminary analysis conducted in the US state of Florida, which was affected by Hurricane Irma in September 2017, shows that surfaces frequently covered by water (more than 20% of available data) have been successfully excluded by means of C-/L-band SAR (HH, HV, VV, and VH polarizations). Although a simple comparison of pre-flood and post-flood images is greatly affected by the spatial distribution of the water surface in the pre-flood image, the NoBADI method reduces the uncertainty of the reference water surface. This advantage will contribute in making quicker decisions during crisis management.

SWISS SCIENCE CENTER TECHNORAMA, WINTERTHUR The new Park and the Bridges

<p>The Swiss Science Center Technorama in Winterthur, Switzerland is building a new Science Park on an area of 15,000 m2, with completely new paths, vegetation and water surfaces, creating space for numerous new exhibits, art works and experimental possibilities.</p><p>At the heart of the new park is the «Wunderbrücke» (Marvel Bridge), co-developed by the SIA (Swiss Associ- ation of Engineers and Architects) as a large experimental platform with unusual engineering components, and the «Hängebrücke», an adjustable suspension bridge, to illustrate the vibration behaviour of structures.</p>

Global Estimation and Assessment of Monthly Lake/Reservoir Water Level Changes Using ICESat-2 ATL13 Products

Accurate and detailed information on lake/reservoir water levels and temporal changes around the globe is urgently required for water resource management and related studies. The traditional satellite radar altimeters normally monitor water level changes of large lakes and reservoirs (i.e., greater than 1 km2) around the world. Fortunately, the recent Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) makes it possible to monitor water level changes for some small lakes and reservoirs (i.e., less than 1 km2). ICESat-2 ATL13 products provide observations of inland water surface heights, which are suitable for water level estimation at a global scale. In this study, ICESat-2 ATL13 products were used to conduct a global estimation and assessment of lake/reservoir water level changes. We produced monthly water levels for 13,843 lakes and reservoirs with areas greater than 0.1 km2 and all-season ATL13 products across the globe, in which 2257 targets are smaller than 1 km2. In total, the average valid number of months covered by ICESat-2 is 5.41 months and only 204 of 13,843 lakes and reservoirs have water levels in all the months in 2019. In situ water level data from 21 gauge stations across the United States and 12 gauge stations across Australia were collected to assess the monthly lake/reservoir water levels, which exhibited a high accuracy (RMSE = 0.08 m, r = 0.999). According to comparisons between the monthly water levels and changes from ATL08 products in another study and ATL13 products in this study, we found that both products can accurately estimate the monthly water level of lakes and reservoirs, but water levels derived from ATL13 products exhibited a higher accuracy compared with water levels derived from ATL08 products (RMSE = 0.28 m, r = 0.999). In general, the ATL13 product is more convenient because the HydroLAKES mask of inland water bodies, the orthometric height (with respect to the EGM2008 geoid) of water surfaces, and several data quality parameters specific to water surfaces were involved in the ATL13 product.

Oil Spill Removal from Water Surfaces using Zinc Ferrite Magnetic Nanoparticles as A Sorbent Material

In this study, zinc ferrite magnetic nanoparticles (ZnFe2O4, ZFO MNPs) were employed as a sorbent for the removal of oil spill from water surfaces. ZFO MNPs were synthesized via a sol-gel process and characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD). Both the apparent density and magnetic force were determined. ZFO MNPs presented a considerable magnetic force (40.22 mN) and an adequate density (0.5287 g/cm3), which are important for the magnetic separation and flotation. Four oil samples (gasoline engine oil, crude oil, used motor oil and diesel engine oil) were used to investigate the gravimetric oil removal capability of ZFO MNPs. The oil sorption capacities were found to be 23.00-6.13, 27.65-7.42, 22.62-7.01 and 30.54-9.93 g/g for crude, diesel engine, gasoline engine, and used motor oil, respectively. The current findings demonstrate that ZFO MNPs exhibit good properties (e.g., magnetic and density) and can be used as a sorbent for oil spill cleaning-up from water surfaces.

Heterogeneous formation and partitioning of nitrous acid on water surfaces: dependency on the acidity

&lt;p&gt;Hydrolysis of nitrogen dioxide (NO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;) has long been recognized as a major formation path of atmospheric nitrous acid (HONO), which is regarded as a dominant hydroxyl radical (OH) source, particularly in a polluted environment. Since HONO is moderately water soluble and its solubility can be highly dependent on the acidity of the water solution, the HONO formation rate and its ensuring fate may also be affected by the acidity of the water surfaces. In this work, we investigated the hydrolysis of NO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; on dilute sulfuric acid water solutions with a pH value ranging from ~3 to ~6. Both the gaseous HONO and dissolved nitrous acid solution were quantified by a wet-chemistry based HONO analyzer and ion chromatography analyses, respectively. The results showed that significant amount of HONO can participate into the aqueous phase at low acidity and as the acidity increased gas-phase HONO also increased. These results indicated that liquid water on various surfaces may both provide a reaction site for HONO formation and serve as a reservoir of HONO that can be released when the liquid water was evaporated.&lt;/p&gt;