Estimating Canopy Fuel Attributes from Low-Density LiDAR

Simulations of wildland fire risk are dependent on the accuracy and relevance of spatial data inputs describing drivers of wildland fire, including canopy fuels. Spatial data are freely available at national and regional levels. However, the spatial resolution and accuracy of these types of products often are insufficient for modeling local conditions. Fortunately, active remote sensing techniques can produce accurate, high-resolution estimates of forest structure. Here, low-density LiDAR and field-based data were combined using randomForest k-nearest neighbor imputation (RF-kNN) to estimate canopy bulk density, canopy base height, and stand age across the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in Minnesota, USA. RF-kNN models produced strong relationships between estimated canopy fuel attributes and field-based data for stand age (Adj. R2 = 0.81, RMSE = 10.12 years), crown fuel base height (Adj. R2 = 0.78, RMSE = 1.10 m), live crown base height (Adj. R2 = 0.7, RMSE = 1.60 m), and canopy bulk density (Adj. R2 = 0.48, RMSE = 0.09kg/m3). These results suggest that low-density LiDAR can help estimate canopy fuel attributes in mixed forests, with robust model accuracies and high spatial resolutions compared to currently utilized fire behavior model inputs. Model map outputs provide a cost-efficient alternative for data required to simulate fire behavior and support local management

Labelling of breast carcinoma, thyroid carcinoma and melanoma with manno- and galacto-specific lectins from marine invertebrates

Three marine invertebrate FITC-labelled lectins, CNL, GCL, and GSL, isolated respectively, from the sponges Chondrilla nucula, Geodia cydonium, and the hexacoral Gerardia savaglia, were used as potential diagnostic tools for different breast tumors. The lectins vary in their carbohydrate binding properties: GSL is D-mannose specific, GCL and CNL D-galactose specific. GSL labels most investigated types of malignant tissues distinctively, while the results with CNL and GC-L are less consistent. The well known D-mannose specific lectin, concanavalin A, also binds to tumor tissues, but with much lower intensity than GSL

An accuracy assessment of tree detection algorithms in juniper woodlands

This research provides a comprehensive accuracy assessment of five methods for classifying western juniper (Juniperus occidentalis) canopy cover from 1 m, 4-band National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) imagery. Two object-oriented classification approaches (image segmentation and spatial wavelet analysis, (SWA)) are compared to three pixel based classification approaches (random forests, Iterative Self-Organizing Data Analysis (ISODATA), and maximum likelihood). Methods are applied to approximately 250 km2 in the intermountain western USA. A robust suite of statistical approaches, which offer an alternative to traditional kappa-based methods, are utilized to determine equivalence between methods and overall effectiveness. Object-oriented approaches have the highest overall accuracy among the assessed methods. Each of the methods varied considerably in cover class accuracy. SWA has the highest class accuracy when juniper canopy cover is low (0 to 40 percent cover), ISODATA performs best at moderate cover (60 to 80 percent) and maximum likelihood performs best at higher cover (60 to 100 percent cover). © 2014 American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing

Vertical distribution of natural radionuclides in soil: Assessment of external exposure of population in cultivated and undisturbed areas

In the present work, naturally occurring radionuclides U-238, Th-232 and K-40 were measured in soil samples from the cultivated and undisturbed areas in Rudovci, municipality of Lazarevac, Serbia. There were three profiles, each profile divided into four horizons, giving the twelve soil samples. The specific activity of U-238, Th-232 and K-40 in soil and sediment samples was determined by gamma spectrometry using the HPGe semiconductor detector. Obtained activity concentrations ranged from 28.0 to 44.0 Bq/kg for U-238, from 59.4 to 71.4 Bq/kg for Th-232 and from 335.0 to 517.0 Bq/kg for K-40. The evaluation of the radiological hazards originated from U-238, Th-232 and K-40 in the samples, the absorbed dose rate (D) and the annual effective dose rate (E), calculated in accordance with the UNSCEAR 2000 report, are presented in this paper. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved