Other Environmental Sciences Commons^™

Coupling Dendroecological And Remote Sensing Techniques To Assess The Biophysical Traits Of Juniperus Virginiana And Pinus Ponderosa Within The Semi-Arid Grasslands Of The Nebraska Sandhills, R. Allen, Anastasios Mazis, Brian Wardlow, P. Cherubini, J. Hiller, David A. Wedin, Tala Awada

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Woody species encroachment is occurring within the semi-arid grasslands of the Nebraska Sandhills U.S., primarily driven by native Juniperus virginiana and Pinus ponderosa, altering ecosystems and the services they provide. Effective, low cost, and cross-scale monitoring of woody species growth and performance is necessary for integrated grassland and forest management in the face of climate variability and change. In this study, we sought to establish a relationship between remote sensing-derived vegetation indices (VIs), tree dendrochronological (raw and standardized tree ring width) measurements, and the abiotic environment [(precipitation, temperature, Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI), and soil water content (0–300 cm …

Characterization Of Boreal-Arctic Vegetation Growth Phases And Active Soil Layer Dynamics In The High-Latitudes Of North America: A Study Combining Multi-Year In Situ And Satellite-Based Observations, Michael G. Brown

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examined the seasonal freeze/thaw activity in boreal-Arctic soils and vegetation physiology in Alaska, USA and Alberta, Canada, using in situ environmental measurements and passive microwave satellite observations. The boreal-Arctic high-latitudes have been experiencing ecosystem changes more rapidly in comparison to the rest of Earth due to the presently warming climatic conditions having a magnified effect over Polar Regions. Currently, the boreal-Arctic is a carbon sink; however, recent studies indicate a shift over the next century to become a carbon source. High-latitude vegetation and cold soil dynamics are influenced by climatic shifts and are largely responsible for the regions …

Revisiting The Carbon–Biodiversity Connection, John Gamon

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

This article is a Commentary on Schuldt et al., https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16697

The link between biodiversity and ecosystem function has long been a subject of intense interest and debate among biologists, going back to the time of Charles Darwin, whose ideas on species interactions presaged subsequent discussions of biodiversity and ecosystem function (Peterson et al., 1998). Since then, many considerations of community diversity have centered on the importance of species or functional diversity for maintaining system resilience in the face of disturbance, analogous to the way that interwoven threads maintain the function and integrity of fabric. While our language, concepts, and methods …

Using Machine Learning Classification And Esa Sentinel 2 Multispectral Imager Data To Delineate Marsh Vegetation And Measure Ecotone Movement In Coastal Georgia, Thomas A. Pudil

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Tidal marshes are unique communities that are subjected to environmental stressors including sea level rise, salinity change, and drought, resulting in constant change. It is important to monitor these changing areas because of the ecosystem services they provide to us, such as protection from storms and carbon sequestration. The proposed work for this thesis project is focused on the study of tidal marshes and the dynamics between the vegetation species within them. The aim of this project is to use geospatial technology and analyses, along with machine learning classification methods, to monitor change in these valuable ecosystems. The Georgia coast …

Coupling Dendrochronology And Remote Sensing Techniques To Assess The Biophysical Traits Of Juniperus Virginiana And Pinus Ponderosa Within Grassland Communities In The Semi-Arid Grasslands Of The Nebraska Sandhills, Reece Allen

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Woody species encroachment is occurring within the sandhills region in Nebraska, primarily driven by Juniperus virginiana and Pinus ponderosa, altering ecosystems and the services they provide. Effective, low cost, and cross-scale monitoring of woody species growth and performance is necessary for integrated grassland and forest management in the face of climate variability and change. In this study, we sought to establish a relationship between remote sensing-derived vegetation indices (VIs) and dendrochronological (raw and standardized tree ring width) measurements to assess the performance of encroaching woody J. virginiana and P. ponderosa located within the Nebraska National Forest in the sandhills. …

Multi-Criteria Evaluation Model For Classifying Marginal Cropland In Nebraska Using Historical Crop Yield And Biophysical Characteristics, Andrew Laws

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Marginal cropland is suboptimal due to historically low and variable productivity and limiting biophysical characteristics. To support future agricultural management and policy decisions in Nebraska, U.S.A, it is important to understand where cropland is marginal for its two most economically important crops: corn (Zea mays) and soybean (Glycine max). As corn and soybean are frequently planted in a crop rotation, it is important to consider if there is a relationship with cropland marginality. Based on the current literature, there exists a need for a flexible yet robust methodology for identifying marginal land at different scales, which …

Surface Urban Heat Island In South Korea’S New Towns With Different Urban Planning, Kyungil Lee, Yoonji Kim, Hyun Chan Sung, Seung Hee Kim, Seong Woo Jeon

Institute for ECHO Articles and Research

A new town is strategically built within a short period compared to naturally developed cities. It is considered an appropriate study area for analyzing the urban climate problems such as surface urban heat islands (SUHIs) that is differently generated according to urban planning and development. In this study, we suggest comprehensive method for determining and comparing changes in surface UHI distribution during 1989–2048 in two new towns with different urban planning. First, a substantial increase in built-up areas was observed from 1989 (< 5%) to 2018 (> 40%) in both new towns. However, SUHI phenomenon-increasing patterns were different of about 12.25% depending on urban …

Canopy Spectral Reflectance Detects Oak Wilt At The Landscape Scale Using Phylogenetic Discrimination, Gerard Sapes, Cathleen Lapadat, Anna K. Schweiger, Jennifer Juzwik, Rebecca Montgomery, Hamed Gholizadeh, Philip A. Townsend, John A. Gamon, Jeannine Cavender-Bares

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The oak wilt disease caused by the invasive fungal pathogen Bretziella fagacearum is one of the greatest threats to oak-dominated forests across the Eastern United States. Accurate detection and monitoring over large areas are necessary for management activities to effectively mitigate and prevent the spread of oak wilt. Canopy spectral reflectance contains both phylogenetic and physiological information across the visible near-infrared (VNIR) and short-wave infrared (SWIR) ranges that can be used to identify diseased red oaks. We develop partial least square discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) models using airborne hyperspectral reflectance to detect diseased canopies and assess the importance of VNIR, SWIR, …

Evaluation Of Tidal Fresh Forest Distributions And Tropical Storm Impacts Using Sentinel-2 Msi Imagery, Galen Costomiris

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Situated in the transitional zone between non-tidal forests upstream and tidal fresh marshes downstream, tidal fresh forests occupy a unique and increasingly precarious habitat. The threat of intensifying anthropogenic climate change, compounded by the effects of historical logging and drainage alterations, could reduce the extent of this valuable ecosystem. The overall goals of this project were to identify forest communities present in the Altamaha tidal fresh forest; develop satellite imagery-based classifications of tidal fresh forest and tidal marsh vegetation along the Altamaha River, Georgia; and to quantify changes in vegetation distribution in the aftermath of hurricanes Matthew and Irma. Based …

Groundwater Level Assessment And Prediction In The Nebraska Sand Hills Using Lidar-Derived Lake Water Level, Nawaraj Shrestha, Aaron R. Mittelstet, Aaron R. Young, Troy E. Gilmore, David C. Gosselin, Yi Qi, Caner Zeyrek

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The spatial variability of groundwater levels is often inferred from sparsely located hydraulic head observations in wells. The spatial correlation structure derived from sparse observations is associated with uncertainties that spread to estimates at unsampled locations. In areas where surface water represents the nearby groundwater level, remote sensing techniques can estimate and increase the number of hydraulic head measurements. This research uses light detection and ranging (LIDAR) to estimate lake surface water level to characterize the groundwater level in the Nebraska Sand Hills (NSH), an area with few observation wells. The LIDAR derived lake groundwater level accuracy was within 40 …

Aquatic Habitat Changes Within The Channelized And Impounded Arkansas River, Arkansas, Usa, Jonathan J. Spurgeon, Mike Rhodes, J. Wesley Neal, Kristine O. Evans

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

River-wide changes in morphologic character following channelization and impoundment alter the occurrence and distribution of surface water and available habitats for aquatic organisms. Quantifying patterns of creation, redistribution or disappearance of habitats at river-wide and decadal spatiotemporal scales can promote understanding regarding trajectories of different habitat types following alteration and prospects of direct habitat enhancement projects within altered alluvial rivers. Newly available remote-sensing tools and databases may improve detection of river-wide changes in habitat through time. We used a combination of remote-sensing data and generalized linear models to assess changes in surface water coverage from 1984 to 2015 among aquatic …

Remote Sensing And Three-Dimensional Photogrammetric Analysis Of Glaciofluvial Sand And Gravel Deposits For Aggregate Resource Assessment In Mchenry County, Illinois, Usa, Xiaodong Miao, Christopher J. Stohr, Paul R. Hanson, Qiansuo Wang

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Sand and gravel deposits, one of the most common natural resources, are used as aggregates mostly by the construction industry, and their extraction contributes significantly to a region's economy. Thus, it is critical to locate sand and gravel deposits, and evaluate their quantity and quality safely and quickly. However, information on aggregate resources is generally only available from conventional two-dimensional (2-D) geologic maps, and direct field measurements for quality analysis at outcrops are time consuming and are often not possible due to safety concerns, or simply because exposures are too difficult to access. In this study, we presented a methodology …

Remote Sensing Monitoring Of Vegetation Dynamic Changes After Fire In The Greater Hinggan Mountain Area: The Algorithm And Application For Eliminating Phenological Impacts, Zhibin Huang, Chunxiang Cao, Wei Chen, Min Xu, Yongfeng Dang, Ramesh P. Singh, Barjeece Bashir, Bo Xie, Xiaojuan Lin

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Fires are frequent in boreal forests affecting forest areas. The detection of forest disturbances and the monitoring of forest restoration are critical for forest management. Vegetation phenology information in remote sensing images may interfere with the monitoring of vegetation restoration, but little research has been done on this issue. Remote sensing and the geographic information system (GIS) have emerged as important tools in providing valuable information about vegetation phenology. Based on the MODIS and Landsat time-series images acquired from 2000 to 2018, this study uses the spatio-temporal data fusion method to construct reflectance images of vegetation with a relatively consistent …

Leaf Reflectance Spectra Capture The Evolutionary History Of Seed Plants, Jose Eduardo Meireles, Jeannine Cavender-Bares, Philip A. Townsend, Susan Ustin, John A. Gamon, Anna K. Schweiger, Michael E. Schaepman, Gregory P. Asner, Roberta E. Martin, Aditya Singh, Franziska Schrodt, Adam Chlus, Brian C. O’Meara

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

• Leaf reflection spectra have been increasingly used to assess plant diversity. However, we do not yet understand how spectra vary across the tree of life or how the evolution of leaf traits affects the differentiation of spectra among species and lineages.
• Here we describe a framework that integrates spectra with phylogenies and apply it to aglobal dataset of over 16 000 leaf-level spectra (400–2400 nm) for 544 seed plant species. We test for phylogenetic signal in spectra, evaluate their ability to classify lineages, and characterize their evolutionary dynamics.
• We show that phylogenetic signal is present in leaf spectra but that …

Czech Drought Monitor System For Monitoring And Forecasting Of Agricultural Drought And Drought Impacts, Miroslav Trnka, Petr Hlavinka, Martin Možný, Daniela Semerádová, Petr Štěpánek, Jan Balek, Lenka Bartošová, Pavel Zahradníček, Monika Bláhová, Petr Skalák, Aleš Farda, Michael Hayes, Mark D. Svoboda, Wolfgang Wagner, Josef Eitzinger, Milan Fischer, Zdeněk Zalud

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The awareness of drought and its impacts on Central Europe increased after the significant drought episodes in 2000, 2003, 2012 and 2015, which were all estimated to have caused over 500 million Euro in damage in the Czech Republic alone. These events indicated the need for timely and highresolution monitoring tools that would enable analysing, monitoring and forecasting of drought events. Monitoring soil water availability in near real time and at high-resolution (up to 0.5 × 0.5 km for some products) helps farmers and water managers to mitigate impacts of these extreme events. The Czech Drought Monitor was developed between …

A Review Of Drought Monitoring Using Remote Sensing And Data Mining Methods, R. Inoubli, A.B. Abbes, I.R. Farah, V. Singh, T. Tadesse, A.Z. Abiy

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Beyond Inventories: Emergence Of A New Era In Rangeland Monitoring, Matthew O. Jones, David E. Naugle, Dirac Twidwell, Daniel R. Uden, Jeremy D. Maestas, Brady W. Allred

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

In the absence of technology-driven monitoring platforms, US rangeland policies, management practices, and outcome assessments have been primarily informed by the extrapolation of local information from national-scale rangeland inventories. A persistent monitoring gap between plot-level inventories and the scale at which rangeland assessments are conducted has required decision makers to fill data gaps with statistical extrapolations or assumptions of homogeneity and equilibrium. This gap is now being bridged with spatially comprehensive, annual, rangeland monitoring data across all western US rangelands to as- sess vegetation conditions at a resolution appropriate to inform cross-scale assessments and decisions. In this paper, 20-yr trends …

Current Frameworks For Reference Et And Crop Coefficient Calculation, R G. Allen, Ayse Kilic, Clarence W. Robison

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Estimation of evapotranspiration is under continual development and evolution, with significant developments and standardizations made during the past three decades for both reference ET (ETref) and for crop coefficients (Kc). These standardizations provide consistency and reproducibility in estimating ETref and a consistent basis for determining and expressing Kc curves, especially at the local scale. The application of the dual Kc procedure is growing, and has strong potential for improving accuracy of ET estimates as compared to the single Kc approach. This article describes current structures for estimating crop coefficients including the standardized FAO-56 dual Kc approach, with example applications. Emphasis …

Metric-Gis: An Advanced Energy Balance Model For Computing Crop Evapotranspiration In A Gis Environment, J. M. Ramírez-Cuesta, R G. Allen, D. S. Intrigliolo, Ayse Kilic, Clarence W. Robison, Ricardo Trezza, C. Santos, I. J. Lorite

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

A novel ArcGIS toolbox that applies the Mapping Evapotranspiration with Internalized Calibration model was developed and tested in a semi-arid environment. The tool, named METRIC-GIS, facilitates the pre-processing operations and the automatic identification of potential calibration and pixels review. The energy balance components obtained from METRIC-GIS were contrasted with those from the original METRIC version (R² = 1; RMSE = 0 W m^–2 or mm day^–1 for ET_c) Additionally, an irrigated scheme located at southern Spain was considered for assessing Kc variability in the maize fields with METRIC-GIS. The identified spatial variability was mainly due …

A Review Of Vegetation Phenological Metrics Extraction Using Time-Series, Multispectral Satellite Data, Linglin Zeng, Brian D. Wardlow, Daxiang Xiang, Shun Hu, Deren Li

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Vegetation dynamics and phenology play an important role in inter-annual vegetation changes in terrestrial ecosystems and are key indicators of climate-vegetation interactions, land use/land cover changes, and variation in year-to-year vegetation productivity. Satellite remote sensing data have been widely used for vegetation phenology monitoring over large geographic domains using various types of observations and methods over the past several decades. The goal of this paper is to present a detailed review of existing methods for phenology detection and emerging new techniques based on the analysis of time-series, multispectral remote sensing imagery. This paper summarizes the objective and applications of detecting …

Improving The Accessibility And Transferability Of Machine Learning Algorithms For Identification Of Animals In Camera Trap Images: Mlwic2, Michael A. Tabak, Mohammad S. Norouzzadeh, David W. Wolfson, Erica J. Newton, Raoul K. Boughton, Jacob S. Ivan, Eric Odell, Eric S. Newkirk, Reesa Y. Conrey, Jennifer Stenglein, Fabiola Iannarilli, John Erb, Ryan K. Brook, Amy J. Davis, Jesse Lewis, Daniel P. Walsh, James C. Beasley, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Jeff Clune, Ryan S. Miller

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Motion-activated wildlife cameras (or “camera traps”) are frequently used to remotely and noninvasively observe animals. The vast number of images collected from camera trap projects has prompted some biologists to employ machine learning algorithms to automatically recognize species in these images, or at least filter-out images that do not contain animals. These approaches are often limited by model transferability, as a model trained to recognize species from one location might not work as well for the same species in different locations. Furthermore, these methods often require advanced computational skills, making them inaccessible to many biologists. We used 3 million camera …

The Role Of Topography, Soil, And Remotely Sensed Vegetation Condition Towards Predicting Crop Yield, Trenton E. Franz, Sayli Pokal, Justin P. Gibson, Yuzhen Zhou, Hamed Gholizadeh, Fatima Amor Tenorio, Daran Rudnick, Derek M. Heeren, Matthew F. Mccabe, Matteo Ziliani, Zhenong Jin, Kaiyu Guan, Ming Pan, John Gates, Brian Wardlow

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Foreknowledge of the spatiotemporal drivers of crop yield would provide a valuable source of information to optimize on-farm inputs and maximize profitability. In recent years, an abundance of spatial data providing information on soils, topography, and vegetation condition have become available from both proximal and remote sensing platforms. Given the wide range of data costs (between USD $0−50/ha), it is important to understand where often limited financial resources should be directed to optimize field production. Two key questions arise. First, will these data actually aid in better fine-resolution yield prediction to help optimize crop management and farm economics? Second, what …

A Feasibility Study On The Application Of Tvdi On Accessing Wildfire Danger In The Korean Peninsula, Kwang Nyun Kim, Seung Hee Kim, Myoung Soo Won, Keun Chang Jang, Won Jun Choi, Yun Gon Lee

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Wildfire is a major natural disaster affecting socioeconomics and ecology. Remote sensing data have been widely used to estimate the wildfire danger with an advantage of higher spatial resolution. Among the several wildfire related indices using remote sensing data, Temperature Vegetation Dryness Index (TVDI) assesses wildfire danger based on both Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Land Surface Temperature (LST). Although TVDI has physical advantages by considering both weather and vegetation condition, previous studies have shown TVDI does not performed well compare to other wildfire related indices over the Korean Peninsula. In this study we have attempted multiple modification to …

Use Of Uav Imagery And Nutrient Analyses For Estimation Of The Spatial And Temporal Contributions Of Cattle Dung To Nutrient Cycling In Grazed Ecosystems, Amanda Shine

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Nutrient inputs from cattle dung are crucial drivers of nutrient cycling processes in grazed ecosystems. These inputs are important both spatially and temporally and are affected by variables such as grazing strategy, water location, and the nutritional profile of forage being grazed. Past research has attempted to map dung deposition patterns in order to more accurately estimate nutrient input, but the large spatial extent of a typical pasture and the tedious nature of identifying and mapping individual dung pats has prohibited the development of a time- and cost-effective methodology. The first objective of this research was to develop and validate …

Satellite-Based Decadal Change Assessments Of Pan-Arctic Environments, Liza K. Jenkins, Tom Barry, Karl R. Bosse, William S. Currie, Tom Christensen, Sara Longan, Robert A. Shuchman, Danielle Tanzer, Jason J. Taylor

United States National Park Service: Publications

Remote sensing can advance the work of the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program through monitoring of satellite-derived terrestrial and marine physical and ecological variables. Standardized data facilitate an unbiased comparison across variables and environments. Using MODIS standard products of land surface temperature, percent snow-covered area, NDVI, EVI, phenology, burned area, marine chlorophyll, CDOM, sea surface temperature, and marine primary productivity, significant trends were observed in almost all variables between 2000 and 2017. Analysis of seasonal data revealed significant breakpoints in temporal trends. Within the terrestrial environment, data showed significant increasing trends in land surface temperature and NDVI. In the marine environment, …

Drought Impacts Assessment In Brazil - A Remote Sensing Approach, Denis Mariano

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Climate extremes are becoming more frequent in Brazil; studies project an increase in drought occurrences in many regions of the country. In the south, drought events lead to crop yield losses affecting the value chain and, therefore, the local economy. In the northeast, extended periods of drought lead to potential land degradation, affecting the livelihood and hindering local development. In the southern Amazon, an area that experienced intense land use change (LUC) in the last, the impacts are even more complex, ranging from crop yield loss and forest resilience loss, affecting ecosystem health and putting a threat on the native …

Impact Of Deadly Dust Storms (May 2018) On Air Quality, Meteorological, And Atmospheric Parameters Over The Northern Parts Of India, Sudipta Sarkar, Akshansa Chauhan, Rajesh Kumar, Ramesh P. Singh

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

The northern part of India, adjoining the Himalaya, is considered as one of the global hot spots of pollution because of various natural and anthropogenic factors. Throughout the year, the region is affected by pollution from various sources like dust, biomass burning, industrial and vehicular pollution, and myriad other anthropogenic emissions. These sources affect the air quality and health of millions of people who live in the Indo‐Gangetic Plains. The dust storms that occur during the premonsoon months of March–June every year are one of the principal sources of pollution and originate from the source region of Arabian Peninsula and …

Land-Use/Land-Cover Changes And Their Influence On The Ecosystem In Chengdu City, China During The Period Of 1992–2018, Xiaojuan Lin, Min Xu, Chunxiang Cao, Ramesh P. Singh, Wei Chen, Hongrun Ju

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Due to urban expansion, economic development, and rapid population growth, land use/land cover (LULC) is changing in major cities around the globe. Quantitative analysis of LULC change is important for studying the corresponding impact on the ecosystem service value (ESV) that helps in decision-making and ecosystem conservation. Based on LULC data retrieved from remote-sensing interpretation, we computed the changes of ESV associated with the LULC dynamics using the benefits transfer method and geographic information system (GIS) technologies during the period of 1992–2018 following self-modified coefficients which were corrected by net primary productivity (NPP). This improved approach aimed to establish a …

Estimation Of The Relationship Between Satellite-Derived Vegetation Indices And Live Fuel Moisture Towards Wildfire Risk In Southern California, Kristen Whitney, Seung Hee Kim, Shenyue Jia, Menas Kafatos

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Southern California possesses a Mediterranean climate having semi-arid to arid characteristics and contains shrubland areas at high risk to wildfire. To assess wildfire danger, fire agencies have been monitoring the moisture of vegetation, called live fuel moisture (LFM), using field-based sampling. Unfortunately, spatial and temporal resolution of live fuel moisture data are significantly limited because sampling is labor intensive. Remote sensing satellite data has been used to monitor vegetation moisture content and health of shrublands. Therefore, a potential approach to overcome the limitations of manual measurements of live fuel moisture is to use vegetation indices (VIs) derived from satellite data. …

Spectrally Based Bathymetric Mapping Of A Dynamic, Sandbedded Channel: Niobrara River, Nebraska, Usa, E. Dilbone, C.J. Legleiter, J.S. Alexander, B. Mcelroy

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Methods for spectrally based mapping of river bathymetry have been developed and tested in clear‐flowing, gravel‐bed channels, with limited application to turbid, sandbed rivers. This study used hyperspectral images and field surveys from the dynamic, sandy Niobrara River to evaluate three depth retrieval methods. The first regressionbased approach, optimal band ratio analysis (OBRA), paired in situ depth measurements with image pixel values to estimate depth. The second approach used ground‐based field spectra to calibrate an OBRA relationship. The third technique, image‐to‐depth quantile transformation (IDQT), estimated depth by linking the cumulative distribution function (CDF) of depth to the CDF of an …