Estimating the biomass of a mixed species complex using hydroacoustics and catch data from the Bay of Fundy and Scotian Shelf summer ecosystem survey

An acoustic-based index of biomass was developed due to concerns that the existing bottom-trawl index for western component pollock (Pollachius virens) was inaccurate and imprecise. Acoustic data were recorded during annual summer ecosystem surveys. Pollock and other common groundfish could not be readily identified from echo-traces within echograms. Survey catch data were analyzed concurrently with acoustic data to estimate biomass from echo-integrals contributed by the six most commonly caught fish species: pollock, Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus), redfish (Sebastes fasciatus), Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus), and spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias). A cluster analyses that used a Bayesian conditional probability classified homogeneous regions based on species composition. Species composition, nautical area scatter coefficient, and backscattering cross-section of fishes for regions were used to calculate the biomass of fishes. Acoustic indices were considered as appropriate as bottom-trawl indices for fisheries management advice because the bias and variance were similar between the indices when analyzed using repeated K-fold cross-validation.

RADAR CROSS SECTION CHARACTERIZATION OF CORNER REFLECTORS IN DIFFERENT FREQUENCY BANDS AND POLARIZATIONS

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> Corner Reflectors (CR) are standard passive radar targets which offer one of the best solutions for SAR calibration. Radar Cross Section (RCS) of corner reflectors plays a vital role for estimation of calibration parameters and hence back scatter coefficient for airborne and spaceborne SAR images. There is a stringent requirement to characterize RCS of corner reflectors by measuring its scattering properties in a controlled environment. RCS characterization of square trihedral corner reflectors, dihedrals including polarization selective dihedrals is addressed. These measurements were carried out at X, C and S band frequencies with wide scan angles at definite sampling interval. The design details of corner reflectors, specifications of Compact Antenna Test Range Facility, technical modalities involved for RCS measurements, variation of measured RCS from theoretical value for trihedral and dihedral reflectors at different frequency bands and polarizations are presented in this paper.</p>

Transformation of Rice’s small perturbation solution for rough surface scattering into the high frequency reciprocal physical and geometric optics solutions

A step by step transformation of the low frequency small height and slope perturbation solution into the high frequency reciprocal and dual, physical and geometrical optic solutions is presented. The familiar Kirchhoff approximations for the fields impressed by the incident plane wave upon the rough surfaces results in nonreciprocal solutions. It is shown that the surface element scattering coefficients based on the Kirchhoff approximations agree with the corresponding reciprocal physical optics solutions only at the stationary phase, specular points on the rough surfaces. While the Kirchhoff approximations and physical optics approximations are based on the characterization of the surface fields by Fresnel reflection coefficients, the corresponding surface element scatter coefficient derived for the small perturbation solution and the full wave solutions are based on the imposition of boundary conditions for the tangential components of the electric and magnetic fields. A flow graph schematically depicting the relationships between these solutions for the scattered fields is also presented.

Near-Infrared Absorption and Scattering Separated by Extended Inverted Signal Correction (EISC): Analysis of Near-Infrared Transmittance Spectra of Single Wheat Seeds

A new extended method for separating, e.g., scattering from absorbance in spectroscopic measurements, extended inverted signal correction (EISC), is presented and compared to multiplicative signal correction (MSC) and existing modifications of this. EISC preprocessing is applied to near-infrared transmittance (NIT) spectra of single wheat kernels with the aim of improving the multivariate calibration for protein content by partial least-squares regression (PLSR). The primary justification of the EISC method is to facilitate removal of spectral artifacts and interferences that are uncorrelated to target analyte concentration. In this study, EISC is applied in a general form, including additive terms, multiplicative terms, wavelength dependency of the light scatter coefficient, and simple polynomial terms. It is compared to conventional MSC and derivative methods for spectral preprocessing. Performance of the EISC was found to be comparable to a more complex dual-transformation model obtained by first calculating the second derivative NIT spectra followed by MSC. The calibration model based on EISC preprocessing performed better than models based on the raw data, second derivatives, MSC, and MSC followed by second derivatives.

Estimation de la hauteur des peuplements forestiers par diffusiomètre radar

This paper presents the results of an analysis of radar airborne scatterometer data obtained over an Austrian black pine (Pinus nigra Arnold ssp. nigricans Host.) forest in Lozère, France. This system provides vertical sounding inside canopy from which can be derived tree height estimations. The objective of this paper is to analyse the validity of these measurements and, then, to study the interest of this kind of sensors for better forest management. The mean and top height estimations give very good results with a relative error of about 6%. The radar measures the back scatter coefficient of the vegetation from which can be estimated other parameters such as stem volume or basal area. The radar backscatter coefficient is found to be sensitive to the biomass in a low to intermediate range of values (0-200 m3/ha), particularly when the canopy backscattering is separated from the ground echo. The estimation of stem volume using a regression with both tree height estimations and backscatter measurements gives satisfying results. Finally, we discuss the interest of this kind of sensor data for an improved and detailed forest management giving an example of application on the evaluation of the variability of the local site index within a stand.