Search results for "Earth Science"
showing 10 items of 2419 documents
Analysis of directional effects on atmospheric correction
2013
Abstract Atmospheric correction in the Visible and Near Infrared (VNIR) spectral range of remotely sensed data is significantly simplified if we assume a Lambertian target. However, natural surfaces are anisotropic. Therefore, this assumption will introduce an error in surface directional reflectance estimates and consequently in the estimation of vegetation indexes such as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and the surface albedo retrieval. In this paper we evaluate the influence of directional effects on the atmospheric correction and its impact in the NDVI and albedo estimation. First, we derived the NDVI and surface albedo from data corrected assuming a Lambertian surface…
New advances in dial-lidar-based remote sensing of the volcanic CO2 flux
2017
We report here on the results of a proof-of-concept study aimed at remotely sensing the volcanic CO2 flux using a Differential Adsorption lidar (DIAL-lidar). The observations we report on were conducted on June 2014 on Stromboli volcano, where our lidar (LIght Detection And Ranging) was used to scan the volcanic plume from ~ 3 km distance from the summit vents. The obtained results prove that a remotely operating lidar can resolve a volcanic CO2 signal of a few tens of ppm (in excess to background air) over km-long optical paths. We combine these results with independent estimates of plume transport speed (from processing of UV Camera images) to derive volcanic CO2 flux time-series of ≈16-3…
The 1430s: a cold period of extraordinary internal climate variability during the early Spörer Minimum with social and economic impacts in north-west…
2016
Changes in climate affected human societies throughout the last millennium. While European cold periods in the 17th and 18th century have been assessed in detail, earlier cold periods received much less attention due to sparse information available. New evidence from proxy archives, historical documentary sources and climate model simulations permit us to provide an interdisciplinary, systematic assessment of an exceptionally cold period in the 15th century. Our assessment includes the role of internal, unforced climate variability and external forcing in shaping extreme climatic conditions and the impacts on and responses of the medieval society in north-western and central Europe. Climate…
Derivation of global vegetation biophysical parameters from EUMETSAT Polar System
2020
Abstract This paper presents the algorithm developed in LSA-SAF (Satellite Application Facility for Land Surface Analysis) for the derivation of global vegetation parameters from the AVHRR (Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer) sensor on board MetOp (Meteorological–Operational) satellites forming the EUMETSAT (European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites) Polar System (EPS). The suite of LSA-SAF EPS vegetation products includes the leaf area index (LAI), the fractional vegetation cover (FVC), and the fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (FAPAR). LAI, FAPAR, and FVC characterize the structure and the functioning of vegetation and are key par…
Record-breaking warming and extreme drought in the Amazon rainforest during the course of El Niño 2015–2016
2016
AbstractThe El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the main driver of interannual climate extremes in Amazonia and other tropical regions. The current 2015/2016 EN event was expected to be as strong as the EN of the century in 1997/98, with extreme heat and drought over most of Amazonian rainforests. Here we show that this protracted EN event, combined with the regional warming trend, was associated with unprecedented warming and a larger extent of extreme drought in Amazonia compared to the earlier strong EN events in 1982/83 and 1997/98. Typical EN-like drought conditions were observed only in eastern Amazonia, whilst in western Amazonia there was an unusual wetting. We attribute this wet…
Partitioning of nitrogen during melting and recycling in subduction zones and the evolution of atmospheric nitrogen
2019
Abstract The subduction of sediment connects the surface nitrogen cycle to that of the deep Earth. To understand the evolution of nitrogen in the atmosphere, the behavior of nitrogen during the subduction and melting of subducted sediments has to be estimated. This study presents high-pressure experimental measurements of the partitioning of nitrogen during the melting of sediments at sub-arc depths. For quantitative analysis of nitrogen in minerals and glasses, we calibrated the electron probe micro-analyzer on synthetic ammonium feldspar to measure nitrogen concentrations as low as 500 μg g−1. Nitrogen abundances in melt and mica are used together with mass balance calculations to determi…
Neocomian to early Aptian syn-rift evolution of the normal to oblique-rifted North Gabon Margin (Interior and N'Komi Basins).
2009
18 pages; International audience; The North Gabon coastal rift basins consist of a set of 130–150 long-segment asymmetrically tilted half grabens (Interior Basin) and 000–020 short-segment en échelon half grabens (N'Komi Basin) separated by 040–060 major transverse faults. Tectono-sedimentary analysis of field and subsurface data reveals the control exerted by extensional tectonism over continental sedimentation. During Berriasian to early Barremian times, uniform uniaxial 040–060 extension was responsible for the stretching of the brittle upper crust over a 100-km wide domain. During late Barremian–early Aptian times, the main locus of extension stepped westward resulting in severe end-rif…
Machine learning regression algorithms for biophysical parameter retrieval: Opportunities for Sentinel-2 and -3
2012
Abstract ESA's upcoming satellites Sentinel-2 (S2) and Sentinel-3 (S3) aim to ensure continuity for Landsat 5/7, SPOT-5, SPOT-Vegetation and Envisat MERIS observations by providing superspectral images of high spatial and temporal resolution. S2 and S3 will deliver near real-time operational products with a high accuracy for land monitoring. This unprecedented data availability leads to an urgent need for developing robust and accurate retrieval methods. Machine learning regression algorithms may be powerful candidates for the estimation of biophysical parameters from satellite reflectance measurements because of their ability to perform adaptive, nonlinear data fitting. By using data from …
Optimized Class-Separability in Hyperspectral Images
2016
International audience; Image visualization techniques are mostly based on three bands as RGB color composite channels for human eye to characterize the scene. This, however, is not effective in case of hyper-spectral images (HSI) because they contain dozens of informative spectral bands. To eliminate redundancy of spectral information among these bands, dimensionality reduction (DR) is applied while at the same trying to retain maximum information. In this paper, we propose a new method of information-preserved hyper-spectral satellite image visualization that is based on fusion of unsupervised band selection techniques and color matching function (CMF) stretching. The results show consist…
Estimating the macroscopic capillary length from Beerkan infiltration experiments and its impact on saturated soil hydraulic conductivity predictions
2020
International audience; The macroscopic capillary length, λc, is a fundamental soil parameter expressing the relative importance of the capillary over gravity forces during water movement in unsaturated soil. In this investigation, we propose a simple field method for estimating λc using only a single-ring infiltration experiment of the Beerkan type and measurements of initial and saturated soil water contents. We assumed that the intercept of the linear regression fitted to the steady-state portion of the experimental infiltration curve could be used as a reliable predictor of λc. This hypothesis was validated by assessing the proposed calculation approach using both analytical and field d…