Spectral vegetation indices using red and NIR bands (two-band VIs) have been used as information for vegetation monitoring. However, spatially averaged values of two-band VI have biases (known as scaling effect) that are induced by surface heterogeneity and nonlinearity of VI’s model equations. This study tries to understand the mechanism of the scaling effect for a general form of twoband VI a...

The observation of spatially distributed soil moisture fields is an essential component for a large range of hydrological, climate, and agricultural applications. While direct measurements are expensive and limited to small spatial domains, the inversion of airborne and satellite L-band radiometer data has shown the potential to provide spatial estimates of near surface soil moisture from the l...

Rainfall, soil moisture, increasing temperature and changes in vegetation cover are the most important parameters effecting drought. Therefore, analysis of vegetation fraction and soil spectral signature, especially in red and infra red bands, are essential in drought estimation using remote sensing. In this study, Modified Perpendicular Drought Index (MPDI), which uses Vegetation Fraction (VF)...

We examined changes in rangeland health in the semi-arid woodlands of eastern Australia at fixed sites between 1989 and 1999. Over the 11-year period there were significant declines in the quality of the vegetation, and changes in plant species were driven largely by seasonality, and to a lesser extent, amount of rainfall. Three indices of rangelands health (composition, function and stability)...

Virtual 3D city models represent spatial and geo-referenced urban data by means of 3D geovirtual environments that basically include terrain models, building models, vegetation models as well as models of roads and transportation systems. In general, these models serve to present, explore, analyze, and manage urban data. As a characteristic element, virtual 3D city models allow for visually int...

This study aims to evaluate three classes of methods to discriminate between 13 peatland vegetation types using reflectance data. These vegetation types were empirically defined according to their composition, strata and biodiversity richness. On one hand, it is assumed that the same vegetation type spectral signatures have similarities. Consequently, they can be compared to a reference spectra...

Small mammals can be an important bioindicator of ecosystem health. They serve as both predator and prey in many ecosystems. By means of live trapping and nest monitoring, we studied the ecological relationships between small mammals, avian nest survival, and vegetation composition and structure on six private ranches in the Sandhills of Nebraska during 2004. Our study documented six species (1...