Search results for " engineering"
showing 10 items of 38291 documents
Remote sensing of solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) in vegetation: 50 years of progress
2019
Remote sensing of solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) is a rapidly advancing front in terrestrial vegetation science, with emerging capability in space-based methodologies and diverse application prospects. Although remote sensing of SIF – especially from space – is seen as a contemporary new specialty for terrestrial plants, it is founded upon a multi-decadal history of research, applications, and sensor developments in active and passive sensing of chlorophyll fluorescence. Current technical capabilities allow SIF to be measured across a range of biological, spatial, and temporal scales. As an optical signal, SIF may be assessed remotely using high-resolution spectral sensors in …
Using Optical and Thermal Data for Tracking Snowmelt Processes in Alpine Area
2019
Alpine catchments represent a fundamental reservoir of fresh water at midlatitude. Remote sensing offers the opportunity to estimate snow properties in the optical, thermal and microwave domains. In particular, the possibility to estimate snow density from remote sensing is relevant and still represents a great challenge for the remote sensing scientific community. Since changes of snow density and liquid water content occur continuously in the snowpack, spatial and temporal patterns of optical and thermal data can give information about snowmelt processes. The main goal of this study is to evaluate if snow thermal inertia can be an indicator of snowmelt processes and to evaluate its relati…
Spectral alignment of multi-temporal cross-sensor images with automated kernel canonical correlation analysis
2015
In this paper we present an approach to perform relative spectral alignment between optical cross-sensor acquisitions. The proposed method aims at projecting the images from two different and possibly disjoint input spaces into a common latent space, in which standard change detection algorithms can be applied. The system relies on the regularized kernel canonical correlation analysis transformation (kCCA), which can accommodate nonlinear dependencies between pixels by means of kernel functions. To learn the projections, the method employs a subset of samples belonging to the unchanged areas or to uninteresting radiometric differences. Since the availability of ground truth information to p…
Mapping Vegetation Density in a Heterogeneous River Floodplain Ecosystem Using Pointable CHRIS/PROBA Data
2012
River floodplains in the Netherlands serve as water storage areas, while they also have the function of nature rehabilitation areas. Floodplain vegetation is therefore subject to natural processes of vegetation succession. At the same time, vegetation encroachment obstructs the water flow into the floodplains and increases the flood risk for the hinterland. Spaceborne pointable imaging spectroscopy has the potential to quantify vegetation density on the basis of leaf area index (LAI) from a desired view zenith angle. In this respect, hyperspectral pointable CHRIS data were linked to the ray tracing canopy reflectance model FLIGHT to retrieve vegetation density estimates over a heterogeneous…
Testing a theoretical resistance law for overland flow on a stony hillslope
2020
Overland flow, sediments, and nutrients transported in runoff are important processes involved in soil erosion and water pollution. Modelling transport of sediments and chemicals requires accurate estimates of hydraulic resistance, which is one of the key variables characterizing runoff water depth and velocity. In this paper, a new theoretical power–velocity profile, originally deduced neglecting the impact effect of rainfall, was initially modified for taking into account the effect of rainfall intensity. Then a theoretical flow resistance law was obtained by integration of the new flow velocity distribution. This flow resistance law was tested using field measurements by Nearing for the …
Validation of HF radar sea surface currents in the Malta-Sicily Channel
2019
Abstract A network of High-Frequency radar (HFR) stations runs operationally in the Malta-Sicily Channel (MSC), Central Mediterranean Sea, providing sea surface current maps with high temporal (1 h) and spatial (3 × 3 km) resolutions since August 2012. Comparisons with surface drifter data and near-surface Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) observations, as well as radar site-to-site baseline analyses, provide quantitative assessments of HFR velocities accuracy. Twenty-two drifters were deployed within the HFR domain of coverage between December 2012 and October 2013. Additionally, six ADCP vertical current profiles were collected at selected positions during a dedicated field survey.…
A giant exoplanet orbiting a very-low-mass star challenges planet formation models
2019
Surveys have shown that super-Earth and Neptune-mass exoplanets are more frequent than gas giants around low-mass stars, as predicted by the core accretion theory of planet formation. We report the discovery of a giant planet around the very-low-mass star GJ 3512, as determined by optical and near-infrared radial-velocity observations. The planet has a minimum mass of 0.46 Jupiter masses, very high for such a small host star, and an eccentric 204-day orbit. Dynamical models show that the high eccentricity is most likely due to planet-planet interactions. We use simulations to demonstrate that the GJ 3512 planetary system challenges generally accepted formation theories, and that it puts con…
Causas y consecuencias del crecimiento urbanístico en el litoral valenciano a través de la evolución de los usos del suelo. El caso de Oliva.
2019
Mediante la fotointerpretación de imágenes aéreas con la utilización de técnicas SIG y a través de un intenso trabajo bibliográfico y de campo, se realiza un análisis diacrónico (1956, 1991 y 2015) de la evolución de los usos del suelo en Oliva (València, España). A partir de este análisis multimetodológico se estudia la evolución de la situación urbanística y de las dinámicas territoriales en un municipio paradigmático para explicar la evolución urbanística del litoral valenciano en las últimas décadas. In this paper we have carried out a diachronic analysis about land uses evolution in Olive through a mixed method of research, based on photo-interpretation of aerial images (years 1956, 19…
Estudio de bofedales en los Andes ecuatorianos a través de la comparación de imágenes Landsat-8 y Sentinel-2
2019
[EN] The objective of the present study was to compare the Landsat-8 and Sentinel-2 images to calculate the wetland´s extension, distribution and degree of conservation, in Reserva de Producción de Fauna Chinborazo (RPFCH) protected area located in the Andean region of Ecuador. This process was developed with in situ work in 16 wetlands, distributed in different conservation levels. The Landsat-8 and Sentinel-2 images were processed through a radiometric calibration (restoration of lost lines or píxels and correction of the stripe of the image) and an atmospheric correction (conversion of the digital levels to radiance values), to later calculate the Vegetation spectral indexes: NDVI, SAVI …
Development of branching brittle and ductile shear zones: A numerical study
2017
Continental collision zones are usually associated with large-scale strike-slip shear zones. In most cases these shear zones are complex and consist of multiple strands, varying in width, length, and total displacement. Here we present 2-D numerical models to simulate the formation of such shear zones at different depth levels within the crust, under either brittle (frictional/plastic) or ductile conditions. Localization of shear zones is initiated by a material contrast (heterogeneity) of the material parameters. We systematically test the rate of strain-weakening in brittle and in ductile regimes to understand its influence on the development of shear zone networks. Our simulations sugges…