Effects of woody elements on simulated canopy reflectance: Implications for forest chlorophyll content retrieval

An important bio-indicator of actual plant health status, the foliar content of chlorophyll a and b (Cab), can be estimated using imaging spectroscopy. For forest canopies, however, the relationship between the spectral response and leaf chemistry is confounded by factors such as background (e.g. understory), canopy structure, and the presence of non-photosynthetic vegetation (NPV, e.g. woody elements)—particularly the appreciable amounts of standing and fallen dead wood found in older forests. We present a sensitivity analysis for the estimation of chlorophyll content in woody coniferous canopies using radiative transfer modeling, and use the modeled top-of-canopy reflectance data to analyze the contribution of woody elements, leaf area index (LAI), and crown cover (CC) to the retrieval of foliar Cab content. The radiative transfer model used comprises two linked submodels: one at leaf level (PROSPECT) and one at canopy level (FLIGHT). This generated bidirectional reflectance data according to the band settings of the Compact High Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (CHRIS) from which chlorophyll indices were calculated. Most of the chlorophyll indices outperformed single wavelengths in predicting Cab content at canopy level, with best results obtained by the Maccioni index ([R₇₈₀ − R₇₁₀] / [R₇₈₀ − R₆₈₀]). We demonstrate the performance of this index with respect to structural information on three distinct coniferous forest types (young, early mature and old-growth stands). The modeling results suggest that the spectral variation due to variation in canopy chlorophyll content is best captured for stands with medium dense canopies. However, the strength of the up-scaled Cab signal weakens with increasing crown NPV scattering elements, especially when crown cover exceeds 30%. LAI exerts the least perturbations. We conclude that the spectral influence of woody elements is an important variable that should be considered in radiative transfer approaches when retrieving foliar pigment estimates in heterogeneous stands, particularly if the stands are partly defoliated or long-lived.     

Ecological assessment of Phragmites australis wetlands using multi-season SPOT-5 scenes

Ecologists and conservationists need accurate and replicable tools for monitoring wetland conditions in order to develop and implement adaptive management strategies efficiently. The Rhone Delta (Camargue) in southern France encloses 9200 ha of fragmented reed marshes actively managed for reed harvesting, waterfowl hunting or cattle grazing, and holding significant numbers of vulnerable European birds. We used multi-season SPOT-5 data in conjunction with ground survey to assess the predictive power of satellite imagery in modelling indicators of reed structure (height, diameter, density and cover of green/dry stems) relevant to ecosystem management and bird ecology. All indicators could be predicted accurately with a combination of bands (SWIR, NIR) and indices (SAVI, OSAVI, NDWI, DVI, DVW, MSI) issued from scenes of March, June, July, September or December and subtraction between these. All models were robust when validated with an independent set of satellite and field data. The high spatial resolution of SPOT-5 scenes (pixel of 10 × 10 m) permits the monitoring of detailed attributes characterizing the reed ecosystem across a large spatial extent, providing a scientifically-based, replicable tool for managers, stakeholders and decision-makers to follow wetland conditions in the short and long-term. Combined with models on the ecological requirements of vulnerable bird species, these tools can provide maps of potential species ranges at spatial extents that are relevant to ecosystem functioning and bird populations.     

SAIL: Structure-aware indexing for effective and progressive top-k keyword search over XML documents

Keyword search in XML documents has recently gained a lot of research attention. Given a keyword query, existing approaches first compute the lowest common ancestors (LCAs) or their variants of XML elements that contain the input keywords, and then identify the subtrees rooted at the LCAs as the answer. In this the paper we study how to use the rich structural relationships embedded in XML documents to facilitate the processing of keyword queries. We develop a novel method, called SAIL, to index such structural relationships for efficient XML keyword search. We propose the concept of minimal-cost trees to answer keyword queries and devise structure-aware indices to maintain the structural relationships for efficiently identifying the minimal-cost trees. For effectively and progressively identifying the top-k answers, we develop techniques using link-based relevance ranking and keyword-pair-based ranking. To reduce the index size, we incorporate a numbering scheme, namely schema-aware dewey code, into our structure-aware indices. Experimental results on real data sets show that our method outperforms state-of-the-art approaches significantly, in both answer quality and search efficiency.     

Empirical correction of multiple flightline hyperspectral aerial image mosaics

Aerial survey provides the user with great flexibility in terms of the geometry of sensing and the timing of measurements, but mosaicking individual aerial images to produce an extensive coverage remains a problem. Empirical methods based on normalising individual images to a common standard are used widely to create visually acceptable mosaics. However, the effect of these methods on quantitative estimation of land surface properties is unknown. An existing method for atmospherically correcting an aerial image mosaic involves fitting a regression model using pixels from the overlapping edges of adjacent flightlines. Here, we demonstrate a new method of atmospherically correcting an aerial image mosaic, based on use of an additional orthogonal flightline. The two methods were compared by using the two image mosaics to calculate vegetation indices (NDVI, SAVI, ARVI), which were then used to predict leaf area index, which was known in detail from ground survey. The second method was found to have lower uncertainty for all three vegetation indices tested. ARVI was found to be the most robust of the three when applied across multiple flightlines, regardless of the method of atmospheric correction.     

Integrating spectral indices with environmental parameters for estimating heavy metal concentrations in rice using a dynamic fuzzy neural-network model

A generalized dynamic fuzzy neural network (GDFNN) was created to estimate heavy metal concentrations in rice by integrating spectral indices and environmental parameters. Hyperspectral data, environmental parameters, and heavy metal content were collected from field experiments with different levels of heavy metal pollution (Cu and Cd). Input variables used in the GDFNN model were derived from 10 variables acquired by gray relational analysis. The assessment models for Cd and Cu concentration employed five and six input variables, respectively. The results showed that the GDFNN for estimating Cu and Cd concentrations in rice performed well at prediction with a compact network structure using the training, validation, and testing sets (for Cu, fuzzy rules=9, R² greater than 0.75, and RMSE less than 2.5; for Cd, fuzzy rules=9, R² greater than 0.75, and RMSE less than 1.0). The final GDFNN model was then compared with a back-propagation (BP) neural network model, adaptive-network-based fuzzy interference systems (ANFIS), and a regression model. The accuracies of GDFNN model prediction were usually slightly better than those of the other three models. This demonstrates that the GDFNN model is more suitable for predicting heavy metal concentrations in rice.     

Effective indices to characterize short sequences of human random generations

Brain impediments such as dementia are a serious problem today. It would be very useful if software for private diagnosis were available. In this paper, we show the effectiveness of the human random generation test (HRG) for such software, and propose a set of four indices to be used for classifying the HRG data. Human-generated random numbers have strong characteristics compared to computer-generated random numbers, and these are known to be correlated to the individual characters of the subjects. However, analysis using the correlation dimension or HMM requires a long data sequence, and thus is not suitable for diagnoses. We therefore focus on short sequences of HRG and search for effective indices to detect signs of brain disability hidden in the HRG data. We studied data from subjects of different age groups, and successfully differentiated the data from the different groups. This work was presented in part at the 12th International Symposium on Artificial Life and Robotics, Oita, Japan, January 25–27, 2007     

利用演化神经网络研究有机污染物色谱保留值

利用分子连接性指数作为分子的描述性参数,定量刻画两类主要环境污染物的分子结构,通过演化神经网络分别建立了多环芳烃（PAH）和酚两类有机污染物的结构与色谱保留值之间的定量关系。计算过程中,采用留十法（Ieave-10-out）对所有化合物进行了计算,并将计算值与实验值进行了比较。     

Monitoring access to water in rural areas based on the human right to water framework: a local level case study in Nicaragua

Much effort has gone into the recognition of the human right to water. Without doubt, this milestone influences governance and decision making processes at many scales so it is essential now to shift the discussion from the legal and conceptual framework to practice. Along this line, the article proposes a methodology for monitoring access to water in rural areas using the framework of this human right. The practicality of the approach is demonstrated by a case study carried out in Nicaragua. Different criteria of the right to water were included in surveys and structured interviews that were conducted in rural households and water committees, respectively. A discussion analyzes the advantages and challenges of using this framework. Finally, the approach provides elements for policy making that can be used by different stakeholders in the development and human rights sectors.     

交叉型平面二自由度移动并联机构运动学性能分析

为研究一种新型平面二自由度移动并联机构的运动学性能,建立其运动学模型,推导出位置正/逆解的解析表达式,定义运动学性能指标,分析不同构型的性能指标表达式,探讨性能指标与机构尺寸之间的关系,并绘制相关的性能图谱.得到该并联机构具有较大有效工作空间与机架尺寸比值、导轨长度短等优点.这些性能图谱为该并联机构的优化提供了参考.     

两种适合零膨胀微晶玻璃晶化热处理工艺制定的实验方法研究

通过晶核形成速度和晶体生长速度曲线可以确定零膨胀微晶玻璃晶化热处理工艺的主要参数,但受到各种因素的影响,往往不能及时、准确地得到这两条曲线。研究表明可以通过晶化热处理过程中一些反映内部结构变化的性质和现象,来制定和优化晶化热处理工艺。本文通过对晶化热处理过程折射率ND和发热量的变化进行记录和分析,制定和优化了晶化热处理工艺的方法。