Search results for "Enginyeria"
showing 10 items of 178 documents
Estimation of Vegetation Structure Parameters From SMAP Radar Intensity Observations
2021
In this article, we present a multipolarimetric estimation approach for two model-based vegetation structure parameters (shape A and orientation distribution ψ of the main canopy elements). The approach is based on a reduced observation set of three incoherent (no phase information) polarimetric backscatter intensities (|S HH | 2 , |S HV | 2 , and |S VV | 2 ) combined with a two-parameter (A P and ψ) discrete scatterer model of vegetation. The objective is to understand whether this confined set of observations contains enough information to estimate the two vegetation structure parameters from the L-band radar signals. In order to disentangle soil and vegetation scattering influences on th…
Performance of polyester-based electrospun scaffolds under in vitro hydrolytic conditions: From short-term to long-term applications
2019
The evaluation of the performance of polyesters under in vitro physiologic conditions is essential to design scaffolds with an adequate lifespan for a given application. In this line, the degradation-durability patterns of poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA), polydioxanone (PDO), polycaprolactone (PCL) and polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) scaffolds were monitored and compared giving, as a result, a basis for the specific design of scaffolds from short-term to long-term applications. For this purpose, they were immersed in ultra-pure water and phosphate buffer solution (PBS) at 37 °
Microwave and optical data fusion for global mapping of soil moisture at high resolution
2018
After more than 8 years in orbit the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite is still in good health and several algorithms for improving its spatial resolution have been proposed and validated in a variety of catchments. However, none of them has yet been applied at the global scale. In this article we present: i) a review of the latest SMOS-BEC downscaling algorithm, which allows for its global application using an adaptive moving window and ii) a thorough validation of the resulting maps over two in-situ networks: REMEDHUS in Spain and OzNet in Australia. The proposed algorithm combines SMOS brightness temperatures (at ~40 km spatial resolution), and MODIS-derived Land Surface …
SMOS REFLEX 2003: L-band emissivity characterization of vineyards
2005
The goal of the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity mission over land is to infer surface soil moisture from multiangular L-band radiometric measurements. As the canopy affects the microwave emission of land, it is necessary to characterize different vegetation layers. This paper presents the Reference Pixel L-Band Experiment (REFLEX), carried out in June-July 2003 at the Vale/spl grave/ncia Anchor Station, Spain, to study the effects of grapevines on the soil emission and on the soil moisture retrieval. A wide range of soil moisture (SM), from saturated to completely dry soil, was measured with the Universitat Polite/spl grave/cnica de Catalunya's L-band Automatic Radiometer (LAURA). Concurre…
Global L-band vegetation volume fraction estimates for modeling vegetation optical depth
2021
The attenuation of microwave emissions through the canopy is quantified by the vegetation optical depth (VOD), which is related to the amount of water, the biomass and the structure of vegetation. To provide microwave-derived plant water estimates, one must account for biomass/structure contributions in order to extract the water component from the VOD. This study uses Aquarius scatterometer data to build an L-band global seasonality of vegetation volume fraction (d), representative of biomass/structure dynamics. The dynamic range of d is adapted for its application in a gravimetric moisture (Mg) retrieval model. Results show that d ranging from 0 to 3.35.10- 4 is needed for modelling physi…
Mapping Carbon Stocks In Central And South America With Smap Vegetation Optical Depth
2019
Mapping carbon stocks in the tropics is essential for climate change mitigation. Passive microwave remote sensing allows estimating carbon from deep canopy layers through the Vegetation Optical Depth (VOD) parameter. Although their spatial resolution is coarser than that of optical vegetation indices or airborne Lidar data, microwaves present a higher penetration capacity at low frequencies (L-band) and avoid cloud masking. This work compares the relationships of airborne carbon maps in Central and South America with both (i) SMAP L-band VOD at 9 km gridding and (ii) MODIS Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI). Models to estimate carbon stocks are built from these two satellite-derived variables.…
Sensitivity of L-band vegetation optical depth to carbon stocks in tropical forests: a comparison to higher frequencies and optical indices
2019
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2019.111303. Monitoring vegetation carbon in tropical regions is essential to the global carbon assessment and to evaluate the actions oriented to the reduction of forest degradation. Mainly, satellite optical vegetation indices and LiDAR data have been used to this purpose. These two techniques are limited by cloud cover and are sensitive only to the top of vegetation. In addition, the vegetation attenuation to the soil microwave emission, represented by the vegetation optical depth (VOD), has been applied for biomass estimation using frequencies ranging from 4 to 30¿GHz (C- to K-bands). Atmosphere is t…
L-band vegetation optical depth seasonal metrics for crop yield assessment
2018
Attenuation of surface microwave emission due to the overlying vegetation is proportional to the density of the canopy and to its water content. The vegetation optical depth (VOD) parameter measures this attenuation. VOD could be a valuable source of information on agroecosystems, especially at lower frequencies for which greater portion of the vegetation canopy contributes to the observed brightness temperature. In the past, visible-infrared indices have been used to provide yield estimates based on measuring the photosynthetic activity from the surface canopy layer. These indices are affected by clouds and apply only in the presence of solar illumination. In this study we instead use the …
Electrocardiographic Imaging for Atrial Fibrillation: A Perspective From Computer Models and Animal Experiments to Clinical Value
2021
[EN] Electrocardiographic imaging (ECGI) is a technique to reconstruct non-invasively the electrical activity on the heart surface from body-surface potential recordings and geometric information of the torso and the heart. ECGI has shown scientific and clinical value when used to characterize and treat both atrial and ventricular arrhythmias. Regarding atrial fibrillation (AF), the characterization of the electrical propagation and the underlying substrate favoring AF is inherently more challenging than for ventricular arrhythmias, due to the progressive and heterogeneous nature of the disease and its manifestation, the small volume and wall thickness of the atria, and the relatively large…
Murine muscle engineered from dermal precursors: an in vitro model for skeletal muscle generation, degeneration and fatty infiltration.
2013
Skeletal muscle can be engineered by converting dermal precursors into muscle progenitors and differentiated myocytes. However, the efficiency of muscle development remains relatively low and it is currently unclear if this is due to poor characterization of the myogenic precursors, the protocols used for cell differentiation, or a combination of both. In this study, we characterized myogenic precursors present in murine dermospheres, and evaluated mature myotubes grown in a novel three-dimensional culture system. After 5-7 days of differentiation, we observed isolated, twitching myotubes followed by spontaneous contractions of the entire tissue-engineered muscle construct on an extracellul…