Water Bodies mapping and monitoring using high-resolution satellite images

Recent developments in satellite optical remote sensors have led to a new age in surface water monitoring. Several methodologies have been developed to identify water bodies using the various spatial, spectral, and temporal properties. Surface water observation is a functional necessity for ecological and hydrological processes. Recently anticipated satellites with enhanced spectral and spatial resolution sensors might lead to broader remote sensing techniques for evaluating and monitoring water bodies. Remote sensing data integration, GPS, and GIS technology are powerful tools to monitor and analyze water bodies. Remotely sensed data could be utilized to construct a geographically positioned permanent database to give a baseline for future comparisons. For many environmental applications, surface water body mapping and monitoring are crucial. This research examines surface water detection, extraction, and monitoring with optical remote sensing, particularly progress within the recent decade. Satellite image delineation of the water body remains challenging due to sensor resolutions, cloud presence, low-albedo surfaces, topography, and atmospheric circumstances in metropolitan locations. This study shows the utility of high spatial resolutions satellite images are suitable for mapping and monitoring surface water bodies, even minor water systems. The suggested technique distinguished water from other land cover features with precision and time. The integrated use of remotely sensed data, GPS, and GIS will allow consultants and natural resource managers to construct management plans for several applications for the management of natural resources. &nbsp

Modeling historic, current, and available aboveground forest biomass along the Missouri River corridor

"July 2014."Dissertation Supervisor: Dr. Hong S. He.Dissertation Supervisor: Dr. Shibu Jose.Includes vita.This research presents the culmination of statistical, landscape, and geospatial analyses that examine the geographic dynamics of aboveground forest biomass (AFB) within the Missouri River corridor, Missouri USA. The Missouri River corridor is a region specifically within Missouri that encompasses 106,000 km², and is regarded as a processing region for improving the viability of Missouri's biomass/biofuel industry. Current and historic forest inventory data coupled with remote sensing, edaphic, physiographic, and climate variables were integrated into an ensemble regression tree method, Random Forest (RF), to estimate AFB, determine external driving forces of AFB, and visualize geographic locations where the greatest deviations exist between current and historic AFB values. The applicability of constructing a hybrid modeling framework using RF was initially tested in Chapter 2 by estimating current (observed data derived from Forest Inventory and Analysis) and theoretical (based on 20% of AFB found within Missouri) AFB, and calculating the percent change to determine percent changes in AFB across the landscape. The third chapter extended the RF modeling procedure to include historical information derived from General Land Office (GLO) data to estimate a baseline measure of AFB. Current AFB was again estimated and then compared to historic values where an additional synthesis was performed to investigate the top predictors of AFB. The fourth chapter examined a fuzzy logic approach for developing a suitability index based on available AFB. Available AFB was determined by applying physical constraints onto estimated AFB from the RF model, which included forest transitions and distance to rivers. The model results failed to reject our null hypothesis that there were no differences between observed and predicted AFB, and x model accuracy was very low for all AFB estimate. Results from these investigations indicated that 1) the greatest potential for increasing AFB may be along the floodplains of the Missouri anIncludes bibliographical references (pages 123-137)

Ecological network construction based on minimum cumulative resistance for the City of Nanjing, China

With economic growth and the improvement of the urbanization level, human activities have constantly interfered with landscape patterns, resulting in serious threats to regional ecological security. Therefore, it is of great significance to study the evolution and optimization of the landscape patterns. Based on three TM images from 1990, 2000, and 2010, and selected landscape pattern indexes, the changes in the landscape pattern of Nanjing in the past twenty years were studied based on landscape ecology theory using Remote Sensing (RS) and a Geographical Information System (GIS). The ecological network was built on the basis of extracted ecological nodes and the minimum cumulative resistance. The results show that changes in the landscape pattern of the city of Nanjing were notable. Class-level indexes indicate that the farmland landscape area decreased and the degree of patch fragmentation increased. The construction land area increased, and it tended to show dispersed distribution. The proportion of forest land increased and the shape of patches became more complex. The proportion of water firstly showed a decrease, followed by an increase, and the shape of the water became more regular. Landscape-level indexes indicate that biological diversity and the degree of fragmentation increased. Spatial heterogeneity of the natural landscape increased, and the patch shape of each landscape type developed similarly. The results also call for stepping-stones to enhance the connectivity and optimization of the ecological network, which will help improve ecological services and improve the landscape pattern of the city

A GIS approach towards estimating tourist's off-road use in a mountainous protected area of Northwest Yunnan, China

To address the environmental impacts of tourism in protected areas, park managers need to understand the spatial distribution of tourist use. Standard monitoring measures (tourist surveys and counting and tracking techniques) are not sufficient to accomplish this task, in particular for off-road travel. This article predicts tourists' spatial use patterns through an alternative approach: park accessibility measurement. Naismith's rule and geographical information system's anisotropic cost analysis are integrated into the modeling process, which results in a more realistic measure of off-road accessibility than that provided by other measures. The method is applied to a mountainous United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site in northwest Yunnan Province, China, where there is increasing concern about potential impacts of unregulated tourist use. Based on the assumption that accessibility tends to attract more tourists, a spatial pattern of predicted off-road use by tourists is derived. This pattern provides information that can help park managers develop strategies that are effective for both tourism management and species conservation

HIGHWAY ALIGNMENT ALONG THE CORRIDORS USING REMOTE SENSING AND GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEM - PERUNDURAI TO PALANI, TAMILNADU, INDIA

Best route location and highway alignment selection process is a complicated one due to many variables it must be considered. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can easily represent such variables, including topography, environment, built-up areas and geology variables. It is to identify the short route for the vehicles travelling from Perundurai to Palani and to diminish the time journey for the vehicles with possible routes for laying eco-friendly highway. This study took compensation of GIS capabilities that present the ability to overlay maps, merge them and execute spatial analysis on different layers of information in either two or three dimensions. GIS model for route location and highway alignment developed and worn to create alternate highway route applications. After the alternatives are preliminarily deliberated using ArcGIS9.3, the imitation is used to analyze, evaluate and to select the best alternative with least impacts on environment and economy. The selected highway is supposed to connect three districts viz. Erode, Tirupur and Dindugal. In final stages of examination and assessment, the replica envelops the high capabilities in analyzing the impacts of every alternatives, with buffering and spatial relations.   Three different routes are identified as left, middle and right routes. Right route is identified as best route which fulfils least cost with eco-friendly environment, material reduction on number of bridges and culverts

An Evaluation of LANDSAT TM Data and GIS Modelling To Identify Significant Woodlands in Southern Ontario

The rapid and reliable identification of woodlands that should be protected from incompatible development is an urgent need in municipal planning to secure a viable natural heritage system. The objective of this research was to test the use of LANDSAT Thematic Mapper (TM) spectral data as a current, unified, and scalable thematic layer to identify ecologically significant woodlands in southwestern Ontario. LANDSAT TM data were classified to obtain a Treed Cover data layer for input into a geographic information system (GIS) model that integrated conventional mapping layers (topography, hydrology, soils, vegetation types); patch metrics (size, shape); and landscape connectivity (proximity, linkages). The Treed Cover layer obtained from the LANDSAT TM data provided a reliable representation of woodland patches when compared to other sources. The integrated data were tested against ecological criteria to identify candidate patches for a preliminary representation of significant woodlands. The GIS model was tested for wildlife habitat conservation planning at the landscape scale using forest area sensitive bird species data and interior habitat data obtained from the Treed Cover layer

Characterizing geomorphological change to support sustainable river restoration and management

The hydrology and geomorphology of most rivers has been fundamentally altered through a long history of human interventions including modification of river channels, floodplains, and wider changes in the landscape that affect water and sediment delivery to the river. Resultant alterations in fluvial forms and processes have negatively impacted river ecology via the loss of physical habitat, disruption to the longitudinal continuity of the river, and lateral disconnection between aquatic, wetland, and terrestrial ecosystems. Through a characterization of geomorphological change, it is possible to peel back the layers of time to investigate how and why a river has changed. Process rates can be assessed, the historical condition of rivers can be determined, the trajectories of past changes can be reconstructed, and the role of specific human interventions in these geomorphological changes can be assessed. To achieve this, hydrological, geomorphological, and riparian vegetation characteristics are investigated within a hierarchy of spatial scales using a range of data sources. A temporal analysis of fluvial geomorphology supports process-based management that targets underlying problems. In this way, effective, sustainable management and restoration solutions can be developed that recognize the underlying drivers of geomorphological change, the constraints imposed on current fluvial processes, and the possible evolutionary trajectories and timelines of change under different future management scenarios. Catchment/river basin planning, natural flood risk management, the identification and appraisal of pressures, and the assessment of restoration needs and objectives would all benefit from a thorough temporal analysis of fluvial geomorphology