Search results for "PE&RC"
showing 10 items of 135 documents
The global forest above-ground biomass pool for 2010 estimated from high-resolution satellite observations
2021
Funding Information: We are thankful to the GlobBiomass project team and Frank Martin Seifert (ESA) for valuable suggestions and stimulating scientific discussions. We are thankful to Takeo Tadono (JAXA EORC), Masato Hayashi, (JAXA EORC), Kazufumi Kobayashi (RESTEC), Åke Rosenqvist (soloEO), and Josef Kellndorfer (EBD) for support with the use and interpretation of the ALOS PALSAR mosaics. Support by the CCI Land Cover project team, in particular Sophie Bontemps (UCL), is greatly acknowledged. The help from Martin Jung (MPI-BGC) in feature selection and Ulrich Weber (MPI-BGC) for data processing for the GSV-to-AGB conversions is greatly acknowledged. Forest inventory data for the validation…
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 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…
Short-Term Vegetation Recovery after a Grassland Fire in Lithuania: The Effects of Fire Severity, Slope Position and Aspect
2016
In Lithuania, fire is frequently used by farmers as a tool to remove dry grass, improve soil nutrient status and help soil tilling. However, little is known about the ecological impacts of these fires, including vegetation recovery. The objective of this work is to study the impacts of a spring grassland fire on vegetation recuperation on an east-facing (A) and a west-facing slope (B), considering fire severity and slope position, 10, 17, 31 and 46 days after the fire. Because of their effects on fire behaviour, aspect, steepness and heterogeneity of topography favoured higher fire severity on slope B than on slope A. Three different slope positions were identified on slope A – flat top, mi…
Effect of soil management on soil erosion on sloping farmland during crop growth stages under a large-scale rainfall simulation experiment
2018
Soil erosion on farmland is a critical environmental issue and the main source of sediment in the Yellow River, China. Thus, great efforts have been made to reduce runoff and soil loss by restoring vegetation on abandoned farmland. However, few studies have investigated runoff and soil loss from sloping farmland during crop growth season. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of soil management on runoff and soil loss on sloping farmland during crop growth season. We tested different soybean growth stages (i.e., seedling stage (R1), initial blossoming stage (R2), full flowering stage (R3), pod bearing stage (R4), and initial filling stage (R5)) and soil management pract…
Analysis of drought and vulnerability in the North Darfur region of Sudan
2018
North Darfur of Sudan is located on the edge of the Sahara Desert and endures frequent droughts due to water shortages and high summer temperatures. Monitoring and understanding drought characteristics are essential for integrated drought risk mitigation and prevetion of land degradation. This study evaluates drought conditions in North Darfur by analyzing the spatiotemporal distribution of drought using three drought indices (Standardized Precipitation Index, Vegetation Condition Index, and Soil Moisture Content Index) and their combined drought index (CDI) from 2004 to 2013. Biophysical and socioeconomic indicators are further used to measure vulnerability to drought risk and its three co…
Using hydrological connectivity to detect transitions and degradation thresholds: Applications to dryland systems
2020
In arid and semi-arid ecosystems, shortage of water can trigger changes in landscapes’ structures and function leading to degradation and desertification. Hydrological connectivity is a useful framework for understanding water redistribution and scaling issues associated with runoff and sediment production, since human and/or natural disturbances alter surface water availability and pathways increasing/decreasing connectivity. In this paper, we illustrate the use of the connectivity framework for several examples of dryland systems that are analysed at a variety of spatial and temporal scales. In doing so, we draw particular attention to the analysis of coevolution of system structures and …
Soil erosion processes in European vineyards: A qualitative comparison of rainfall simulation measurements in Germany, Spain and France
2016
Small portable rainfall simulators are considered a useful tool to analyze soil erosion processes in cultivated lands. European research groups in Spain (Valencia, Málaga, Lleida, Madrid and La Rioja), France (Reims) and Germany (Trier) have used different rainfall simulators (varying in drop size distribution and fall velocities, kinetic energy, plot forms and sizes, and field of application) to study soil loss, surface flow, runoff and infiltration coefficients in different experimental plots (Valencia, Montes de Málaga, Penedès, Campo Real and La Rioja in Spain, Champagne in France and Mosel-Ruwer valley in Germany). The measurements and experiments developed by these research teams give…
Soil erosion in sloping vineyards assessed by using botanical indicators and sediment collectors in the Ruwer-Mosel valley
2016
Steep slopes, erodible soils, rill and ephemeral gullies, compaction due to wheel. traffic and human trampling are common features in vineyards around the world and result in high soil erosion rates. However, little is known about seasonal and spatial variations of soil erosion rates due to factors such as the impact of the vine plantation, harvest, and tillage on the soil redistribution over the long-term temporal scale. The goal of this study is to assess long-term soil erosion rates and the impact of management on sediment and runoff yield by means of Gerlach troughs and a topographical approach based on botanic benchmarks in two paired vineyards with different ages (3 and 35 years) loca…
Environmental drivers interactively affect individual tree growth across temperate European forests
2019
Forecasting the growth of tree species to future environmental changes requires a better understanding of its determinants. Tree growth is known to respond to global-change drivers such as climate change or atmospheric deposition, as well as to local land-use drivers such as forest management. Yet, large geographical scale studies examining interactive growth responses to multiple global-change drivers are relatively scarce and rarely consider management effects. Here, we assessed the interactive effects of three global-change drivers (temperature, precipitation and nitrogen deposition) on individual tree growth of three study species (Quercus robur/petraea, Fagus sylvatica and Fraxinus exc…