Remote Sensing Commons^™

Earth Observations Reveal Impacts Of Climate Variability On Maize Cropping Systems In Sub-Saharan Africa, Adomas Liepa, Michael Thiel, Hannes Taubenböck, Doris Klein, Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter, Marcell K. Peters, Sarah Schönbrodt-Stitt, Insa Otte, Tobias Landmann, Zeyaur R. Khan, Michael Ochieng Obondo, Frank Chidawanyika, Emily A. Martin, Tobias Ullmann

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

In Kenya, climate variability and change threaten smallholder, rainfed farms, with crop failures, yield reductions, and pest infestations. Efficient agroecological strategies, such as Push-Pull intercropping, offer documented benefits including pest control, improved soil fertility, and water conservation compared to traditional maize monocropping. To date, no studies exist comparing traditional maize monocropping and Push-Pull intercropping using earth observation tools over several growing seasons in East Africa. Our research addresses this by harmonizing Landsat 7, 8, 9 with Sentinel-2 remote sensing time series from 2016 to 2023. Phenological metrics of 15 growing seasons are extracted based on a threshold method using the …

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 …

Timing And Magnitude Of Drought Impacts On Carbon Uptake Across A Grassland Biome, Andrew Felton, Gregory R. Goldsmith

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Although drought is known to negatively impact grassland functioning, the timing and magnitude of these impacts within a growing season remains unresolved. Previous small-scale assessments indicate grasslands may only respond to drought during narrow periods within a year; however, large-scale assessments are now needed to uncover the general patterns and determinants of this timing. We combined remote sensing datasets of gross primary productivity and weather to assess the timing and magnitude of grassland responses to drought at 5 km² temporal resolution across two expansive ecoregions of the western US Great Plains biome: the C₄-dominated shortgrass steppe and …

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 …

Phenology Of Short Vegetation Cycles In A Kenyan Rangeland From Planetscope And Sentinel-2, Yan Cheng, Anton Vrieling, Francesco Fava, Michele Meroni, Michael Marshall, Stella Gachoki

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

The short revisit times afforded by recently-deployed optical satellite sensors that acquire 3–30 m resolution imagery provide new opportunities to study seasonal vegetation dynamics. Previous studies demonstrated a successful retrieval of phenology with Sentinel-2 for relatively stable annual growing seasons. In semi-arid East Africa however, vegetation responds rapidly to a concentration of rainfall over short periods and consequently is subject to strong interannual variability. Obtaining a sufficient density of cloud-free acquisitions to accurately describe these short vegetation cycles is therefore challenging. The objective of this study is to evaluate if data from two satellite constellations, i.e., PlanetScope (3 m resolution) …

Responses Of Land Surface Phenology To Wildfire Disturbances In The Western United States Forests, Jianmin Wang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Land surface phenology (LSP) characterizes the seasonal dynamics in the vegetation communities observed for a satellite pixel and it has been widely associated with global climate change. However, LSP and its long-term trend can be influenced by land disturbance events, which could greatly interrupt the LSP responses to climate change. Wildfire is one of the main disturbance agents in the western United States (US) forests, but its impacts on LSP have not been investigated yet. To gain a comprehensive understanding of the LSP responses to wildfires in the western US forests, this dissertation focused on three research objectives: (1) to …

Crown-Level Mapping Of Tree Species And Health From Remote Sensing Of Rural And Urban Forests, Fang Fang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Tree species composition and health are key attributes for rural and urban forest biodiversity, and ecosystem services preservation. Remote sensing has facilitated extraordinary advances in estimating and mapping tree species composition and health. Yet previous sensors and algorithms were largely unable to resolve individual tree crowns and discriminate tree species or health classes at this essential spatial scale due to the low image spectral and spatial resolution. However, current available very high spatial resolution (VHR) remote sensing data can begin to resolve individual tree crowns and measure their spectral and structural qualities with unprecedented precision. Moreover, various machine learning algorithms …

Decadal Land Surface Phenology And Water Quality In The Headwaters Illinois River Watershed, Justin Ray Rollans

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Over 25 percent of the world’s population either lives on or obtains water from karst aquifers. The complex interactions between subsurface karst geologic features, the constant motion of the plant life cycle, and significant water resource demand all suggest the need to better define those interactions. The relationship of historical land surface phenology and water quality in karst topography were investigated in the Headwaters Illinois River watershed in Northwest Arkansas (NWA). This area represents high vulnerability to surface water and groundwater contamination, with both natural and anthropogenic processes such as over application of broil litter for enhanced cattle browse, affecting …

Fusing Satellite Data To Monitor The Urban Area's Effect On Plant Phenology, Norman Gervais

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This dissertation centrally focuses on developing and validating the use of fused satellite imagery to monitor the effects of the urban area on plant phenology, specifically the timing of the start and end of the growing season (SOS and EOS, respectively). In the first paper, Chapter 2, data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Landsat were fused together using the Spatial and Temporal Adaptive Reflectance Fusion Model (STARFM) to produce a time series of a high spatial and high temporal resolution vegetation index. From this time series, the SOS and EOS were extracted and compared between the urban …

Reconstruction Of Daily 30 M Data From Hj Ccd, Gf-1 Wfv, Landsat, And Modis Data For Crop Monitoring, Mingquan Wu, Xiaoyang Zhang, Wenjiang Huang, Zheng Niu, Changyao Wang, Wang Li, Pengyu Hao

GSCE Faculty Publications

With the recent launch of new satellites and the developments of spatiotemporal data fusion methods, we are entering an era of high spatiotemporal resolution remote-sensing analysis. This study proposed a method to reconstruct daily 30 m remote-sensing data for monitoring crop types and phenology in two study areas located in Xinjiang Province, China. First, the Spatial and Temporal Data Fusion Approach (STDFA) was used to reconstruct the time series high spatiotemporal resolution data from the Huanjing satellite charge coupled device (HJ CCD), Gaofen satellite no. 1 wide field-of-view camera (GF-1 WFV), Landsat, and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data. Then, …

Remote Sensing Of Green Leaf Area Index In Maize And Soybean: From Close-Range To Satellite, Anthony L. Nguy-Robertson

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

This dissertation seeks to explore alternative methodologies for estimating green leaf area index (LAI) and crop developmental stages. Specifically this research [1] developed an approach for creating a Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) high spatial resolution product for estimating green LAI on the base of data collected using two different close-range sensors. It was determined that the vegetation indices (VIs) Wide Dynamic Range Vegetation Index (WDRVI) and Enhanced Vegetation Index 2 (EVI2) were capable of accurate estimation of green LAI from MODIS 250 m data using models developed from hyperspectral (RMSE < 0.69 m² m^-2; CV < 33%) or multispectral sensors (RMSE < 0.69 m² m^-2; …

Classification Of Satellite Time Series-Derived Land Surface Phenology Focused On The Northern Fertile Crescent, Brian Embree Bunker

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Land surface phenology describes events in a seasonal vegetation cycle and can be used in a variety of applications from predicting onset of future drought conditions, to revealing potential limits of historical dry farming, to guiding more accurate dating of archeological sites. Traditional methods of monitoring vegetation phenology use data collected in situ. However, vegetation health indices derived from satellite remote sensor data, such as the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), have been used as proxy for vegetation phenology due to their repeated acquisition and broad area coverage. Land surface phenology is accessible in the NDVI satellite record when images …

Proximal Sensing As A Means Of Characterizing Phragmites Australis, Travis Yeik

Department of Geography: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Phragmites australis is an invasive wetland weed found throughout much of the United States. Documenting and mapping the growth and spread of this emergent macrophyte can be an important step in developing and implementing successful management strategies. Characterizing the phenology of a vegetation species with a sensor capable of hyperspectral resolution, positioned at close proximity to the canopy of interest, is often a first step necessary for understanding the basic species-specific reflectance patterns, and for quantifying the manner in which light interacts with the plants comprising particular communities. Spectral data over a P. australis canopy were collected during 22 …

Global Trends In Seasonality Of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (Ndvi), 1982-2011, J. Ronald Eastman, Florencia Sangermano, Elia A. Machado, John Rogan, Assaf Anyamba

Geography

A 30-year series of global monthly Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) imagery derived from the Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies (GIMMS) NDVI3g archive was analyzed for the presence of trends in changing seasonality. Using the Seasonal Trend Analysis (STA) procedure, over half (56.30%) of land surfaces were found to exhibit significant trends. Almost half (46.10%) of the significant trends belonged to three classes of seasonal trends (or changes). Class 1 consisted of areas that experienced a uniform increase in NDVI throughout the year, and was primarily associated with forested areas, particularly broadleaf forests. Class 2 consisted of areas experiencing …

Monitoring Ecosystem Dynamics In An Arctic Tundra Ecosystem Using Hyperspectral Reflectance And A Robotic Tram System, Santonu Goswami

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Global change, which includes climate change and the impacts of human disturbance, is altering the provision and sustainability of ecosystem goods and services. These changes have the capacity to initiate cascading affects and complex feedbacks through physical, biological and human subsystems and interactions between them. Understanding the future state of the earth system requires improved knowledge of ecosystem dynamics and long term observations of how these are being impacted by global change. Improving remote sensing methods is essential for such advancement because satellite remote sensing is the only means by which landscape to continental-scale change can be observed.

The Arctic …