Search results for " Er"
showing 10 items of 4279 documents
Top-of-Atmosphere Retrieval of Multiple Crop Traits Using Variational Heteroscedastic Gaussian Processes within a Hybrid Workflow.
2021
In support of cropland monitoring, operational Copernicus Sentinel-2 (S2) data became available globally and can be explored for the retrieval of important crop traits. Based on a hybrid workflow, retrieval models for six essential biochemical and biophysical crop traits were developed for both S2 bottom-of-atmosphere (BOA) L2A and S2 top-of-atmosphere (TOA) L1C data. A variational heteroscedastic Gaussian process regression (VHGPR) algorithm was trained with simulations generated by the combined leaf-canopy reflectance model PROSAILat the BOA scale and further combined with the Second Simulation of a Satellite Signal in the Solar Spectrum (6SV) atmosphere model at the TOA scale. Establishe…
Exploitation of SAR and Optical Sentinel Data to Detect Rice Crop and Estimate Seasonal Dynamics of Leaf Area Index
2017
This paper presents and evaluates multitemporal LAI estimates derived from Sentinel-2A data on rice cultivated area identified using time series of Sentinel-1A images over the main European rice districts for the 2016 crop season. This study combines the information conveyed by Sentinel-1A and Sentinel-2A into a high-resolution LAI retrieval chain. Rice crop was detected using an operational multi-temporal rule-based algorithm, and LAI estimates were obtained by inverting the PROSAIL radiative transfer model with Gaussian process regression. Direct validation was performed with in situ LAI measurements acquired in coordinated field campaigns in three countries (Italy, Spain and Greece). Res…
Ash-plume dynamics and eruption source parameters by infrasound and thermal imagery: The 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption
2013
During operational ash-cloud forecasting, prediction of ash concentration and total erupted mass directly depends on the determination of mass eruption rate (MER), which is typically inferred from plume height. Uncertainties for plume heights are large, especially for bent-over plumes in which the ascent dynamics are strongly affected by the surrounding wind field. Here we show how uncertainties can be reduced if MER is derived directly from geophysical observations of source dynamics. The combination of infrasound measurements and thermal camera imagery allows for the infrasonic type of source to be constrained (a dipole in this case) and for the plume exit velocity to be calculated (54–14…
Testing Sediment Connectivity at the Experimental SPA2 Basin, Sicily (Italy)
2017
The concept of sediment delivery can be used as a measure of sediment connectivity, and it can be linked to the structural connectivity (morphological unit, slope length, slope steepness, travel time) of a basin and to the hydrological connectivity (rainfall–runoff processes at morphological unit scale). In this paper, the sediment connectivity concept was tested at basin scale applying SEdiment Delivery Distributed model, which takes into account the hillslope sediment transport, and using sediment yield measurements carried out at SPA2 experimental basin (Sicily, Italy). For the SPA2 basin discretized into morphological units, the SEdiment Delivery Distributed model was first calibrated a…
Testing simple scaling in soil erosion processes at plot scale
2018
Abstract Explaining scale effects for runoff and erosion improves our understanding and simulation ability of hydrological and erosion processes. In this paper, plot scale effects on event runoff per unit area (Qe), sediment concentration (Ce) and soil loss per unit area (SLe) were checked at El Teularet-Sierra de Enguera experimental site in Eastern Spain. The measurements were carried out for 31 events occurring in the years 2005 and 2007 in bare ploughed plots ranging from 1 to 48 m2. The analysis established the scaling relationship by dimensional analysis and self-similarity theory, and tested this relationship at different temporal scales ranging from event to annual scale. The dimens…
Applying the USLE Family of Models at the Sparacia (South Italy) Experimental Site
2016
Soil erosion is a key process to understand the land degradation, and modelling of soil erosion will help to understand the process and to foresee its impacts. The applicability of the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) at event scale is affected by the fact that USLE rainfall erosivity factor does not take into account runoff explicitly. USLE-M and USLE-MM, including the effect of runoff in the event rainfall– runoff erosivity factor, are characterized by a better capacity to predict event soil loss. The specific objectives of this paper were (i) to determine the suitable parameterization of USLE, USLE-M and USLE-MM by using the dataseries of Sparacia experimental site and (ii) to evaluat…
An assessment of the global impact of 21st century land use change on soil erosion
2017
Human activity and related land use change are the primary cause of accelerated soil erosion, which has substantial implications for nutrient and carbon cycling, land productivity and in turn, worldwide socio-economic conditions. Here we present an unprecedentedly high resolution (250 × 250 m) global potential soil erosion model, using a combination of remote sensing, GIS modelling and census data. We challenge the previous annual soil erosion reference values as our estimate, of 35.9 Pg yr−1 of soil eroded in 2012, is at least two times lower. Moreover, we estimate the spatial and temporal effects of land use change between 2001 and 2012 and the potential offset of the global application o…
Magmas near the critical degassing pressure drive volcanic unrest towards a critical state
2016
During the reawaking of a volcano, magmas migrating through the shallow crust have to pass through hydrothermal fluids and rocks. The resulting magma–hydrothermal interactions are still poorly understood, which impairs the ability to interpret volcano monitoring signals and perform hazard assessments. Here we use the results of physical and volatile saturation models to demonstrate that magmatic volatiles released by decompressing magmas at a critical degassing pressure (CDP) can drive volcanic unrest towards a critical state. We show that, at the CDP, the abrupt and voluminous release of H2O-rich magmatic gases can heat hydrothermal fluids and rocks, triggering an accelerating deformation …
Combined ground and aerial measurements resolve vent-specific gas fluxes from a multi-vent volcano
2020
Volcanoes with multiple summit vents present a methodological challenge for determining vent-specific gas emissions. Here, using a novel approach combining multiple ultraviolet cameras with synchronous aerial measurements, we calculate vent-specific gas compositions and fluxes for Stromboli volcano. Emissions from vent areas are spatially heterogeneous in composition and emission rate, with the central vent area dominating passive emissions, despite exhibiting the least explosive behaviour. Vents exhibiting Strombolian explosions emit low to negligible passive fluxes and are CO2-dominated, even during passive degassing. We propose a model for the conduit system based on contrasting rheologi…
Geomorphological evolution of western Sicily, Italy
2017
Abstract This paper proposes a morphoevolutionary model for western Sicily. Sicily is a chain–foredeep–foreland system still being built, with tectonic activity involving uplift which tends to create new relief. To reconstruct the morphoevolutionary model, geological, and geomorphological studies were done on the basis of field survey and aerial photographic interpretation. The collected data show large areas characterized by specific geological, geomorphological, and topographical settings with rocks, landforms, and landscapes progressively older from south to north Sicily. The achieved results display: (1) gradual emersion of new areas due to uplift, its interaction with the Quaternary gl…