46,403 research outputs found
Unmanned Aerial Systems for Wildland and Forest Fires
Wildfires represent an important natural risk causing economic losses, human
death and important environmental damage. In recent years, we witness an
increase in fire intensity and frequency. Research has been conducted towards
the development of dedicated solutions for wildland and forest fire assistance
and fighting. Systems were proposed for the remote detection and tracking of
fires. These systems have shown improvements in the area of efficient data
collection and fire characterization within small scale environments. However,
wildfires cover large areas making some of the proposed ground-based systems
unsuitable for optimal coverage. To tackle this limitation, Unmanned Aerial
Systems (UAS) were proposed. UAS have proven to be useful due to their
maneuverability, allowing for the implementation of remote sensing, allocation
strategies and task planning. They can provide a low-cost alternative for the
prevention, detection and real-time support of firefighting. In this paper we
review previous work related to the use of UAS in wildfires. Onboard sensor
instruments, fire perception algorithms and coordination strategies are
considered. In addition, we present some of the recent frameworks proposing the
use of both aerial vehicles and Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UV) for a more
efficient wildland firefighting strategy at a larger scale.Comment: A recent published version of this paper is available at:
https://doi.org/10.3390/drones501001
Fundamental remote sensing science research program. Part 1: Scene radiation and atmospheric effects characterization project
Brief articles summarizing the status of research in the scene radiation and atmospheric effect characterization (SRAEC) project are presented. Research conducted within the SRAEC program is focused on the development of empirical characterizations and mathematical process models which relate the electromagnetic energy reflected or emitted from a scene to the biophysical parameters of interest
A study of remote sensing as applied to regional and small watersheds. Volume 1: Summary report
The accuracy of remotely sensed measurements to provide inputs to hydrologic models of watersheds is studied. A series of sensitivity analyses on continuous simulation models of three watersheds determined: (1)Optimal values and permissible tolerances of inputs to achieve accurate simulation of streamflow from the watersheds; (2) Which model inputs can be quantified from remote sensing, directly, indirectly or by inference; and (3) How accurate remotely sensed measurements (from spacecraft or aircraft) must be to provide a basis for quantifying model inputs within permissible tolerances
Contribution of leaf specular reflection to canopy reflectance under black soil case using stochastic radiative transfer model
Numerous canopy radiative transfer models have been proposed based on the assumption of “ideal bi-Lambertian leaves” with the aim of simplifying the interactions between photons and vegetation canopies. This assumption may cause discrepancy between the simulated and measured canopy bidirectional reflectance factor (BRF). Few studies have been devoted to evaluate the impacts of such assumption on simulation of canopy BRF at a high-to-medium spatial resolution (∼30 m). This paper focuses on quantifying the contribution of leaf specular reflection on the estimation of canopy BRF under a black soil case using one of the most efficient radiative transfer models, the stochastic radiative transfer model. Analyses of field and satellite data collected over the boreal Hyytiälä forest in Finland show that leaf specular reflection may lead to errors of up to 33.1% at 550 nm and 32.8% at 650 nm in terms of relative root mean square error. The results suggest that, in order to minimize these errors, leaf specular reflection should be accounted for in modeling BRF.This research was supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities under Grant No. 531107051063 and Guangxi Natural Science Foundation under Grant No. 2016JJD110017. We would like to thank Dr. Rautiainen Miina and Mottus Matti for sharing the field data and the USGS for making the EO-1 Hyperion hyperspectral data publically available. (531107051063 - Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities; 2016JJD110017 - Guangxi Natural Science Foundation)Accepted manuscrip
Bayesian Nonparametric Unmixing of Hyperspectral Images
Hyperspectral imaging is an important tool in remote sensing, allowing for
accurate analysis of vast areas. Due to a low spatial resolution, a pixel of a
hyperspectral image rarely represents a single material, but rather a mixture
of different spectra. HSU aims at estimating the pure spectra present in the
scene of interest, referred to as endmembers, and their fractions in each
pixel, referred to as abundances. Today, many HSU algorithms have been
proposed, based either on a geometrical or statistical model. While most
methods assume that the number of endmembers present in the scene is known,
there is only little work about estimating this number from the observed data.
In this work, we propose a Bayesian nonparametric framework that jointly
estimates the number of endmembers, the endmembers itself, and their
abundances, by making use of the Indian Buffet Process as a prior for the
endmembers. Simulation results and experiments on real data demonstrate the
effectiveness of the proposed algorithm, yielding results comparable with
state-of-the-art methods while being able to reliably infer the number of
endmembers. In scenarios with strong noise, where other algorithms provide only
poor results, the proposed approach tends to overestimate the number of
endmembers slightly. The additional endmembers, however, often simply represent
noisy replicas of present endmembers and could easily be merged in a
post-processing step
Earth Resources Laboratory research and technology
The accomplishments of the Earth Resources Laboratory's research and technology program are reported. Sensors and data systems, the AGRISTARS project, applied research and data analysis, joint research projects, test and evaluation studies, and space station support activities are addressed
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