Geography Commons^™

Road Extraction On Remote Sensing Imagery: Historical Mapping Of The Brazilian Amazon, Jonas Paiva Botelho Jr

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

This work proposes an artificial intelligence model based on U-Net architecture to map road networks in the Brazilian Amazon. Over the years, the Amazon region has been heavily exploited, leading to increased deforestation rates, contributing to CO2 emissions, amplifying global warming, and causing a disturbance in local fauna and flora. The expansion into the forest by illegal miners, loggers, and land grabbers can be tracked down by the construction of roads, which we can refer to as the arteries of deforestation. Previous works on the matter proposed algorithms that use high-resolution imagery to map roads precisely. However, this work approach …

A Review Of Emerging Sensor Technologies For Tank Inspection: A Focus On Lidar And Hyperspectral Imaging And Their Automation And Deployment, Sergio Pallas Enguita, Chung-Hao Chen, Samuel Kovacic

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper reviews various sensor technologies for tank inspection, focusing on Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) and Hyperspectral Imaging (HSI) as advanced solutions for corrosion detection. These technologies are evaluated alongside traditional methods such as ultrasonic, electromagnetic, and thermographic inspections. This review highlights their potential to enhance inspection accuracy, reduce the limitations of manual inspection, and support integrated data analysis for comprehensive asset management. Additionally, this paper proposes a pathway for automating these techniques to streamline inspection processes and improve implementation in practical applications.

Trends Of Autumn Phenology In Response To Environmental And Meteorological Variables, Meagan Renee Maguire

Masters Theses

Previous studies have identified that changes in plant phenology are most likely induced by climate variability. One such change is the end of season (EOS) for deciduous forests in the United States. In essence, the EOS represents the end of plant productivity for a given year; the phase in which plant dormancy is reached. However, our wealth of knowledge on plant phenology largely overlooks the phases that occur in autumn, especially the EOS, with many previous studies focusing on spring phenology. This study uses remote sensing MODIS aerial imagery data and historical meteorological data to analyze any relationships that may …

Unraveling Water Quality Issues In The Colorado River Basin: Utilizing Remote Sensing Satellite Images, Statistical, And Machine Learning For Improved Monitoring, Godson Ebenezer Adjovu

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This research was aimed at exploring innovative and cost-effective tools in understanding the spatiotemporal variability of water quality parameters in the Colorado River Basin (CRB), which includes the Colorado River and major reservoirs and lakes in the USA including Lake Mead. The river which arises in the state of Colorado and empties into the Republic of Mexico at the Gulf of California, is a source of water to seven US states and the Republic of Mexico and provides water to about 40 million people and million acres of farmlands in seven states in the western US and the Republic of …

Causes And Effects Of Shisper Glacial Lake Outburst Flood Event In Karakoram In 2022, Sandeep Kumar Mondal, Vatsal D. Patel, Rishikesh Bharti, Ramesh P. Singh

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Karakoram Himalayas are vulnerable to glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs), which cause catastrophic floods in the surrounding areas. The increasing natural and anthropogenic activities, especially in the Indo-Gangetic Plains at the southern flank of the towering Himalayas, could be the cause of climate change affecting the frequency of the natural hazards in the Himalayas. In the present study, a detailed analysis of the Shisper Lake breach of 7 May 2022 is carried out using satellite remote sensing. A decreasing trend in the glacial mass balance is observed between 2017 and 2021; in this period, frequent GLOF episodes occurred. A pronounced …

U-Net-Lstm: Time Series-Enhanced Lake Boundary Prediction Model, Lirong Yin, Lei Wang, Tingqiao Li, Siyu Lu, Jiawei Tian, Zhengtong Yin, Xiaolu Li, Wenfeng Zheng

Faculty Publications

Change detection of natural lake boundaries is one of the important tasks in remote sensing image interpretation. In an ordinary fully connected network, or CNN, the signal of neurons in each layer can only be propagated to the upper layer, and the processing of samples is independent at each moment. However, for time-series data with transferability, the learned change information needs to be recorded and utilized. To solve the above problems, we propose a lake boundary change prediction model combining U-Net and LSTM. The ensemble of LSTMs helps to improve the overall accuracy and robustness of the model by capturing …

Yolov4_Cspbi: Enhanced Land Target Detection Model, Lirong Yin, Lei Wang, Jianqiang Li, Siyu Lu, Jiawei Tian, Zhengtong Yin, Shan Liu, Wenfeng Zheng

Faculty Publications

The identification of small land targets in remote sensing imagery has emerged as a significant research objective. Despite significant advancements in object detection strategies based on deep learning for visible remote sensing images, the performance of detecting a small and densely distributed number of small targets remains suboptimal. To address this issue, this study introduces an improved model named YOLOV4_CPSBi, based on the YOLOV4 architecture, specifically designed to enhance the detection capability of small land targets in remote sensing imagery. The proposed model enhances the traditional CSPNet by redefining its channel partitioning and integrating this enhanced structure into the neck …

Analyzing The Adoption, Cropping Rotation, And Impact Of Winter Cover Crops In The Mississippi Alluvial Plain (Map) Region Through Remote Sensing Technologies, Zobaer Ahmed

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the application of remote sensing technologies in conservation agriculture, specifically focusing on identifying and mapping winter cover crops and assessing voluntary cover crop adoption and cropping patterns in the Arkansas portion of the Mississippi Alluvial Plain (MAP). In the first chapter, a systematic review using the PRISMA methodology examines the last 30 years of thematic research, development, and trends in remote sensing applied to conservation agriculture from a global perspective. The review uncovers a growing interest in remote sensing-based research in conservation agriculture and emphasizes the necessity for further studies dedicated to conservation practices. Among the 68 …

U-Net-Stn: A Novel End-To-End Lake Boundary Prediction Model, Lirong Yin, Lei Wang, Tingqiao Li, Siyu Lu, Zhengtong Yin, Xuan Liu, Xiaolu Li, Wenfeng Zheng

Faculty Publications

Detecting changes in land cover is a critical task in remote sensing image interpretation, with particular significance placed on accurately determining the boundaries of lakes. Lake boundaries are closely tied to land resources, and any alterations can have substantial implications for the surrounding environment and ecosystem. This paper introduces an innovative end-to-end model that combines U-Net and spatial transformation network (STN) to predict changes in lake boundaries and investigate the evolution of the Lake Urmia boundary. The proposed approach involves pre-processing annual panoramic remote sensing images of Lake Urmia, obtained from 1996 to 2014 through Google Earth Pro Version 7.3 …

Using Terrestrial Laser Scanning To Estimate Canopy Structure In Peatland Conifers Under A Climate Manipulation, Angela D. Seibert

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Northern peatlands are major terrestrial carbon sinks, storing 415 ± 150 Gt of carbon. The composition of peatland vegetation affects this carbon storage capacity, and thus quantifying the vegetation helps to constrain uncertainty in peatland carbon storage estimates. Ground layer vegetation, such as Sphagnum sp. moss contributes greatly to carbon storage capacity. In forested peatlands, the tree canopy structure directly influences peatland solar insolation, soil temperature, and water table levels. Each of these factors impacts the ground layer vegetation. Currently, there is uncertainty about how the peatland tree canopy structure is influenced by elevated levels of carbon dioxide (CO_{2 …}

Study On The Thermospheric Density Distribution Pattern During Geomagnetic Activity, Lirong Yin, Lei Wang, Lijun Ge, Jiawei Tian, Zhengtong Yin, Mingzhe Liu, Wenfeng Zheng

Faculty Publications

The atmospheric density of the thermosphere is a fundamental parameter for spacecraft launch and orbit control. Under magnetic storm conditions, the thermospheric atmospheric density experiences significant fluctuations, which have a negative impact on spacecraft control. Exploring thermospheric density during geomagnetic storms can help to mitigate the effects of such events. Research on the inversion of accelerometer measurements for different satellites and the variations of atmospheric density under extreme conditions is still in its infancy. In this paper, the distribution of atmospheric density during three geomagnetic storms is investigated from the inversion results of the Swarm-C accelerometer. Three major geomagnetic storms …

The Terroir Of Swiss Cheese: A Temporal And Geomorphological Investigation Of The Martian Co2 Sublimation Pits, Racine D. Cleveland

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Observations by NASA Mars Global Surveyor showed evidence of rough topography on the South Pole of Mars. The topography is the result of CO2 sublimation processes that occur through the changing seasons on the red planet. These sublimation areas are known to scientists as Swiss Cheese Features (SCF). SCF are erosional degradation pits that have been studied for over two decades. Studies show that these SCF increase in area over time, but these values are collected by hand on a per feature basis. Models for the pit evolution have also played a part in understanding these SCF. This work is …

Improving Nasa’S Earth Satellite And Model Data Discoverability For Interdisciplinary Research, Applications, And Education, Zhong Liu, Chung-Lin Shie, Suhung Shen, James Acker, Angela Li, Jennifer C. Wei, David J. Meyer

Copyright, Fair Use, Scholarly Communication, etc.

Since the Internet era began, numerous earth science data services have been developed to facilitate data discovery (for example, data sources, documents, facts, visualization, opinions) and data access for research and application activities. For example, a large collection of NASA’s earth science data has been made searchable and freely downloadable over the Internet. Some value-added services even allow users to analyze and visualize many variables online (for example, 2,000+ in NASA Giovanni) without downloading data and software.

However, finding and discovering suitable datasets and information for interdisciplinary research (involving two or more scientific disciplines), applications, education, and other emerging activities …

Mapping, Modeling, And Predicting Extreme Flood Events With Cloud Computing, Dan Tian

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Floods represent one of the most severe natural disasters worldwide. It is crucial to accurately assess flood hazards to mitigate the impact and enhance community resilience. This study focuses on three key components of flood hazard management, including (1) flood frequency estimation, (2) inundation delineation, and (3) flood susceptibility assessment. The first project presents a Bayesian Log-Pearson Type III model with Spatial Priors (BLP3-SP) that utilizes spatial regression priors to enhance the accuracy of flood frequency estimation for sites with limited data. The method is compared with two other algorithms with different priors. The results indicate that BLP3-SP performs the …

Analysis Of Small Lake Water Level Fluctuations By Remote Sensing In Twin Lake, Michigan., Eric Carballido

Masters Theses

Accurate analysis of lake level fluctuations is critical for water resources management. However, it remains a challenge to estimate lake level fluctuations in ungauged small lakes such as East Twin Lake. Located in Twin Lake, Michigan, East Twin Lake has experienced a drastic reduction in water surface area since 2020. To understand the nature of water level fluctuations in East Twin Lake, this study utilized a combination of Landsat and National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) data to make surface water area estimations of East Twin Lake for the period of 1993-2022. In total, 27 years of water surface area estimations …

Assessment Of Variable Rate Nitrogen Application On Rice Cultivars Using Remote Sensing, Rush Matthew Evans

Student Theses and Dissertations

Application of the right time and amount of fertilizer N is challenging in rice fertilization because crop N supply is highly variable in the field. Research plots were established at four research plot fields and one commercial field in Arkansas. Independent variables included six nitrogen (N) application rates (0, 67, 101, 134.5, 168, and 202 kg N ha-1), multiple rice cultivars, and five locations. The response variable was 24 vegetative indices values using high spatio-temporal multispectral and thermal imagery obtained from an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). The 134 and 168 kg N ha-1 rates were identified as the control group …

Monitoring Bull Kelp (Nereocystis Leutkeana) Remotely At High Resolutions, Hannah E. Joss

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Bull kelp (Nereocystis leutkeana) is a foundational seaweed in nearshore, marine systems, traditionally supporting economically important fisheries, extracting nutrients in its vicinity, and sequestering carbon and transporting it great distances to subsidize shallow and deep-sea environments. Bull kelp is also a culturally important species for some indigenous peoples along the northeastern Pacific coastline and provides a harvestable product with growing demand. Global trends in kelp distribution show patterns of decline, and the immense loss of northern California bull kelp forests in response to climatic changes have highlighted the need for alternative sources of kelp, both for the product …

Artisanal Mining River Dredge Detection Using Sar: A Method Comparison, Marissa A. Alessi, Peter G. Chirico, Marco Millones

Geography Articles

Challenges exist in monitoring artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) activities, given their dynamic and often informal nature. ASM takes form through various techniques and scales, including riverine dredging, which often targets the abundant alluvial gold deposits in South America. Remote sensing offers a solution to improve data collection, regulation, and monitoring of the more mobile and elusive ASM activities and their impacts. Mapping ASM riverine dredges using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is one of the application areas least explored. Three semi-automated detection approaches using Sentinel-1 SAR are compared on their ability to identify dredges with minimal false positives. The methods …

Linkages Between Atmospheric Circulation, Weather, Climate, Land Cover And Social Dynamics Of The Tibetan Plateau, Shobha Kumari Yadav

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The Tibetan Plateau (TP) is an important landmass that plays a significant role in both regional and global climates. In recent decades, the TP has undergone significant changes due to climate and human activities. Since the 1980s anthropogenic activities, such as the stocking of livestock, land cover change, permafrost degradation, urbanization, highway construction, deforestation and desertification, and unsustainable land management practices, have greatly increased over the TP. As a result, grasslands have undergone rapid degradation and have altered the land surface which in turn has altered the exchange of heat and moisture properties between land and the atmosphere. But gaps …

Utilizing Remote Sensing Technology To Relocate Lubra Village And Visualize Flood Damages, Ronan Wallace

Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science Honors Projects

As weather patterns change worldwide, isolated communities impacted by climate change go unnoticed and we need community and habitat-conscious solutions. In Himalayan Mustang, Nepal, indigenous Lubra village faces threats of increasing flash flooding. After every flood, residual concrete-like sediment hardens across the riverbed, causing the riverbed elevation to rise. As elevation increases, sediment encroaches on Lubra’s agricultural fields and homes, magnifying flood vulnerability. In the last monsoon season alone, the village witnessed floods swallowing several fields and damaging two homes. One solution considers relocating the village to a new location entirely. However, relocation poses a challenging task, as eight centuries …

Mapping Forest Structure In Mississippi Using Lidar Remote Sensing, Nitant Rai

Theses and Dissertations

This study aimed at evaluating the agreement of spaceborne Light Detection and Ranging (lidar) ICESat-2 canopy height with Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) derived canopy height to inform about the performance of ICESat-2 canopy height metrics and understand its uncertainties and utilities. The agreement was assessed for different forest types, physiographic regions, a range of percent canopy cover, and diverse disturbance histories. Results of this study suggest that best agreements are found using strong beam data collected at night for canopy height retrieval using ICESat-2. The ICESat-2 showed great potential for estimating canopy heights, particularly in evergreen forests with high canopy …

Geologic Mapping Of The Sparta 7.5-Minute Quadrangle In Northern Mississippi Via Remote Sensing, Traditional Geologic Survey, And Applied Geospatial Information Systems Methods, Rayford Dean Parnell

Theses and Dissertations

Traditional geologic mapping involves substantial time and labor in the field as geologic contacts are manually examined and interpreted. The processes of mapping geologic contacts can be condensed into a quicker and less laborious process using advances in remote sensing and GIS (geospatial information systems), including increased resolution and computerized data management and interpretation. Application of these advances reduces the costs and time of geologic mapping. The Sparta 7.5-minute quadrangle provides a mostly unaltered view of regional Paleocene and Upper Cretaceous geology due to its rural locale, lack of development, and stream topography. Recently LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) survey …

Precision Weed Management Based On Uas Image Streams, Machine Learning, And Pwm Sprayers, Jason Allen Davis

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Weed populations in agricultural production fields are often scattered and unevenly distributed; however, herbicides are broadcast across fields evenly. Although effective, in the case of post-emergent herbicides, exceedingly more pesticides are used than necessary. A novel weed detection and control workflow was evaluated targeting Palmer amaranth in soybean (Glycine max) fields. High spatial resolution (0.4 cm) unmanned aircraft system (UAS) image streams were collected, annotated, and used to train 16 object detection convolutional neural networks (CNNs; RetinaNet, Faster R-CNN, Single Shot Detector, and YOLO v3) each trained on imagery with 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, and 1.2 cm spatial resolutions. Models were …

The Possibilities Of Explicit Striga (Striga Asiatica) Risk Monitoring Using Phenometric, Edaphic, And Climatic Variables, Demonstrated For Malawi And Zambia, Emily Kimathi, Bester Tawona Mudereri, Elfatih M. Abdel-Rahman, Saliou Niassy, Henri E.Z. Tonnang, Tobias Landmann

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Food insecurity continues to affect more than two-thirds of the population in sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA), particularly those depending on rain-fed agriculture. Striga, a parasitic weed, has caused yield losses of cereal crops, immensely affecting smallholder farmers in SSA. Although earlier studies have established that Striga is a constraint to crop production, there is little information on the spatial extent of spread and infestation severity of the weed in some SSA countries like Malawi and Zambia. This study aimed to use remotely sensed vegetation phenological (n = 11), climatic (n = 3), and soil (n = 4) variables to develop a …

Studies Of Roseau Cane Dieback In The Lower Mississippi River Delta Based On Remote Sensing Data Including Landsat, Worldview, And Drone, Nan Shang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This research focused on the Roseau cane (Phragmites australis) dieback assessment in the lower MRD of Louisiana and introduced a comprehensive and systematic multi-source remote sensing method for assessing wetland and Roseau cane dieback and habitat dynamics analysis from three scale levels from large-scale to small scale.

Large-scale historical vegetation/land change analyses were conducted in the lower MRD based on Landsat in the past two decades (2001 - 2021). A strong increasing trend of vegetation was found since 2005. Around 51 km² ofdieback area was detected which accounts for 11% of the overall vegetation coverage. This research …

Characterization Of Smoke Particles Toward Improved Remote Sensing Retrievals And Chemical Transport Modeling, Chenchong Zhang

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Wildfires increase in extent, intensity, and frequency across the globe over the recent decades. The uncontrolled fires trigger cascading effects on local ecosystems and the fire emissions pose a higher risk to air quality and climate. Wildfire emissions contain a variety of trace gases and particulate matters. The particle-phase emissions, especially those light-absorbing species including black carbon (BC) and brown carbon (BrC), significantly affect the regional and global climate by modulating the radiative transfer phenomena in the atmosphere. A great discrepancy still exists between model- and observation-based estimates of aerosol-radiation interactions (ARI). The discrepancy is partially attributed to the mischaracterizations …

Titaniferous-Vanadiferous, Magnetite-Ilmenite Mineralization In A Mafic Suite Within The Chhotanagpur Gneissic Complex, Bihar, India, Ashmeer Mohammad, Anup K. Prasad, Kehe-U Wetsah, Mohammad Azad, Vivek Aryan, Hesham El-Askary

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Titanium or vanadium metals or their alloys are important industrial metals/alloys. Because these resources are in short supply, the investigation of potential titaniferous-vanadiferous deposits needs special attention to bridge the supply-demand gap. The study integrates geological, geochemical, remote sensing, and geophysical data for assessing the potentiality of titaniferous-vanadiferous, magnetite-ilmenite mineralization in and around the Sudamakund and Paharpur areas, Gaya and Jehanabad districts, Bihar, India, and delineation of specific targets for detailed exploration. Field visits for large scale mapping on (1:12,500 scale) were used to conduct a reconnaissance survey for magnetite-ilmenite mineralization in parts of toposheet number 72G/04 in the Gaya …

Response Of Surface And Atmospheric Parameters Associated With The Iran M 7.3 Earthquake, Feng Jing, Ramesh P. Singh

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Multiparameter observed from satellite, including microwave brightness temperature, skin temperature, air temperature, and carbon monoxide, have been analyzed to identify the anomalous signals associated with the M 7.3 Iran earthquake of November 12, 2017. Besides removing the multiyear variability of parameters as background, the effect of surface and atmosphere of a dust storm event in Middle East region during October 29–November 1 is considered to distinguish the possible anomalies associated with the earthquake. The characteristic behaviors of surface and atmospheric parameters clearly show the signals associated with the M 7.3 earthquake and the dust storm event. The multiple parameters at …

Influence Of Altitude And Scan Angle On Uas-Lidar Ground Height Measurement Accuracy In Juncus Roemerianus Scheele (Black Needle Rush)-Dominated Marshes, Michael Amelunke

Master's Theses

Coastal marshes are influenced by complex interactions among environmental and human factors. Marsh plant communities exist across subtle elevation gradients which are highly influenced by the local tidal regime. To better understand these dynamic conditions, improved methodologies for acquiring accurate elevation values are a necessity in marsh research and management. However, overestimation of marsh elevation values obtained from remote sensing is common due to vegetation characteristics. The goal of this study was to address this problem by determining the optimum altitude and scan angle for Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) collection using an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) within Juncus roemerianus …

Using Lidar To Estimate Carbon Sequestration Of Evergreen Trees At Eastern Washington University (Ewu) Campus, Cheney, Washington, Kristy A. Snyder

2022 Symposium

EWU contains a variety of deciduous and evergreen trees across its campus, providing several benefits. However, no comprehensive record exists of the total number, location, species, or ages of these trees. This knowledge can inform facilities of proper care for individual trees and can be used to estimate carbon sequestration on campus. Traditional on-the-ground methods for assessing trees require tree cores or clinometers, making trees susceptible to pests or disease and leading to inaccurate results. Remote sensing using lidar data is a noninvasive, more precise method to measure tree height and subsequently assess tree age. This poster explores using point …