Automatic detection of landslides from very high resolution satellite images is a prerequisite for rapid damage assessment and supporting disaster management activities. In this study, a novel method using open source tools was developed for extracting landslides from bi-temporal satellite images based on Object Based Image Analysis (OBIA). The methodology employed involves image segmentation f...

Two distinct organizational states of kelp forest communities, foliose algal assemblages and deforested barren areas, typically display sharp discontinuities. Mechanisms responsible for maintaining these state differences were studied by manipulating various features of their boundary regions. Urchins in the barren areas had significantly smaller gonads than those in adjacent kelp stands, imply...

Accurate information of paddy fields over wide areas is essential to support sustainable agricultural and a food security program. Monitoring of these lands continuously, using remote sensing technology, will provide information related to the cropping intensity in the field, as well as its dynamics change. We characterized seasonal vegetation dynamics from long-term multi-temporal MODIS satell...

The 16-day composite MODIS vegetation indices (VIs) at 500-m resolution for the period between 2000 to 2007 were seasonally averaged on the basis of the estimated distribution of 16 potential natural terrestrial ecosystems (NTEs) across Turkey. Graphical and statistical analyses of the time-series VIs for the NTEs spatially disaggregated in terms of biogeoclimate zones and land cover types incl...

This work estimated and validated the land surface temperature (LST) from thermal-infrared Channels 4 (10.8 μm) and 5 (12.0 μm) of the Visible and Infrared Radiometer (VIRR) onboard the second-generation Chinese polar-orbiting FengYun-3A (FY-3A) meteorological satellite. The LST, mean emissivity and atmospheric water vapor content (WVC) were divided into several tractable sub-ranges with little...

Accurate digital terrain models (DTMs) are necessary for a wide variety applications. National-scale mediumresolution elevation data have been acquired for the conterminous United States under the USGS National Elevation Data (NED; 10 m and 30 m), the Shuttle Radar Topographic Mapping (SRTM; 30 m), and the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER; 30 m) programs. In...

The US Department of Defense (DOD) manages over 10.1 million ha of land, much of which is used for training military personnel. However, vast sections receive little or no use, and military lands have become refuges for many species. At Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, USA, populations of the endangered Karner blue butterfly (Lycaeides melissa samuelis) are found in oak and pine barren communities where ...

Maize (Zea mays) has a highly branched inflorescence due to the production of different types of axillary meristems. Characterization of the barren inflorescence class of mutants has led to the discovery of genes required for axillary meristem initiation in the inflorescence. Previous studies showed that barren inflorescence2 (bif2) encodes a serine/threonine protein kinase that regulates auxin...