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Geosciences
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Remote Sensing used in Environmental Hydrology
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Remote Sensing used in Environmental Hydrology

A special issue of Geosciences (ISSN 2076-3263). This special issue belongs to the section "Hydrogeology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2019) | Viewed by 25943

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Antonino Maltese

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Dipartimento di Ingegneria, University of Palermo, 90128 Palermo, Italy
Interests: remote sensing; GIS; geomatics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Although Earth Observation (EO) technology has improved our ability to characterize and manage ecosystems and water resources both in space and in time, there are many emerging technologies and research areas where the potential of Earth Observation has not fully exploited.

The development of hyperspectral sensors, SAR acquiring at different frequencies, LiDAR, unmanned aerial vehicles, small micro and nano satellites, virtual constellations, represents unprecedented new opportunities; is the research community developing remote sensing to its full potential?

Research papers are sought covering progress, recent advances and future trends of the following topics: satellite rainfall estimation; snow and ice hydrology; water resource management; drought monitoring and prediction; soil moisture mapping; flooding; water quality; evapotranspiration; water securing for food and climate change, landslides; safety and security of critical infrastructures; hydrogeomatics.

Dr. Antonino Maltese
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • emerging technologies
  • securing water for food
  • soil moisture
  • unmanned aerial vehicles
  • surface energy balances
  • lidar and radar
  • hydrogeomatics

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 9163 KiB  
Article
Soil Water Content Diachronic Mapping: An FFT Frequency Analysis of a Temperature–Vegetation Index
by Fulvio Capodici, Carmelo Cammalleri, Antonio Francipane, Giuseppe Ciraolo, Goffredo La Loggia and Antonino Maltese
Geosciences 2020, 10(1), 23; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences10010023 - 10 Jan 2020
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3937
Abstract
Among the indirect estimation approaches of soil water content in the upper layer of the soil, the “triangle method” is one of the most common that relies on the simple relationship between the optical and thermal features sensed via Earth Observation. These features [...] Read more.
Among the indirect estimation approaches of soil water content in the upper layer of the soil, the “triangle method” is one of the most common that relies on the simple relationship between the optical and thermal features sensed via Earth Observation. These features are controlled by water content at the surface and within the root zone but also by meteorological forcing including air temperature and humidity, as well as solar radiation. Night- and day-time MODIS composites of land-surface temperature (LST) allowed applying a version of the triangle method that takes into account the temporal admittance of the soil. In this study, it has been applied to a long time-series of pair images to analyze the seasonal influence of the meteorological forcing on a triangle method index (or temperature–vegetation index, TVX), as well as to discuss extra challenges of the diachronic approach including seasonality effects and the variability of environmental forcing. The Imera Meridionale basin (Sicily, Italy) has been chosen to analyze the method over a time-series of 12 years. The analysis reveals that, under these specific environmental and climatic conditions (strong seasonality and rainfall out of phase with vegetation growth), Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and LST pairs move circularly in time within the optical vs. thermal feature space. Concordantly, the boundaries of the triangle move during the seasons. Results showed a strong correlation between TVX and rainfall normalized amplitudes of the power spectra (r2 ~0.8) over the range of frequencies of the main harmonics. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing used in Environmental Hydrology)
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19 pages, 7873 KiB  
Article
Spectral Index-Based Monitoring (2000–2017) in Lowland Forests to Evaluate the Effects of Climate Change
by Ferenc Kovács and András Gulácsi
Geosciences 2019, 9(10), 411; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences9100411 - 23 Sep 2019
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2786
Abstract
In the next decades, climate change will put forests in the Hungarian Great Plain in the Carpathian Basin to the test, e.g., changing seasonal patterns, more intense storms, longer dry periods, and pests are expected to occur. To aid in the decision-making process [...] Read more.
In the next decades, climate change will put forests in the Hungarian Great Plain in the Carpathian Basin to the test, e.g., changing seasonal patterns, more intense storms, longer dry periods, and pests are expected to occur. To aid in the decision-making process for the conservation of ecosystems depending on forestry, how woods could adapt to changing meso- and microclimatic conditions in the near future needs to be defined. In addition to trendlike warming processes, calculations show an increase in climate extremes, which need to be monitored in accordance with spatial planning, at least for medium-scale mappings. We can use the MODIS sensor dataset if up-to-date terrestrial conditions and multi-decadal geographical processes are of interest. For geographic evaluations of changes, we used vegetation spectral indices; Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), based on the summer half year, 16-day MODIS data composites between 2000 and 2017 in an intensively forested study area in the Hungarian Great Plain. We delineated forest areas on the Danube–Tisza Interfluve using Corine Land Cover maps (2000, 2006, and 2012). Mid-year changes over the nearly two-decade-long period are currently in balance; however, based on their reactions, forests are highly sensitive to abrupt changes caused by extreme climatic events. The higher occurrence of years or periods with extreme water shortages marks an observable decrease in biomass production, even in shorter index time series, such as that between 2004 and 2012. In the drought-stricken July-August periods, the effect of a dry year, subsequent to years with more precipitation, immediately pushes back the green mass and the reduction in the biomass production could become persistent, according to climatology predictions. The changes of specific sub-periods in the vegetation period can be evaluated even in a relatively short, 18-year data series, including the change in the growing values of the vegetative growth in spring or the increase in the summertime biomass production. Standardized differences highlight spatial differences in the biomass production; in response to years with the highest (negative) biomass difference; typically, the northern and southwestern parts of the Danube–Tisza Interfluve in the study area have longer lasting losses in biomass production. A comparison of NDVI and EVI values with the PaDI drought index and the vegetation indices of LANDSAT Operational Land Imager sensor respectively confirms our results. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing used in Environmental Hydrology)
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21 pages, 68396 KiB  
Article
Accuracy Assessment of Deep Learning Based Classification of LiDAR and UAV Points Clouds for DTM Creation and Flood Risk Mapping
by Gordana Jakovljevic, Miro Govedarica, Flor Alvarez-Taboada and Vladimir Pajic
Geosciences 2019, 9(7), 323; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences9070323 - 23 Jul 2019
Cited by 36 | Viewed by 7773
Abstract
Digital elevation model (DEM) has been frequently used for the reduction and management of flood risk. Various classification methods have been developed to extract DEM from point clouds. However, the accuracy and computational efficiency need to be improved. The objectives of this study [...] Read more.
Digital elevation model (DEM) has been frequently used for the reduction and management of flood risk. Various classification methods have been developed to extract DEM from point clouds. However, the accuracy and computational efficiency need to be improved. The objectives of this study were as follows: (1) to determine the suitability of a new method to produce DEM from unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data, using a raw point cloud classification and ground point filtering based on deep learning and neural networks (NN); (2) to test the convenience of rebalancing datasets for point cloud classification; (3) to evaluate the effect of the land cover class on the algorithm performance and the elevation accuracy; and (4) to assess the usability of the LiDAR and UAV structure from motion (SfM) DEM in flood risk mapping. In this paper, a new method of raw point cloud classification and ground point filtering based on deep learning using NN is proposed and tested on LiDAR and UAV data. The NN was trained on approximately 6 million points from which local and global geometric features and intensity data were extracted. Pixel-by-pixel accuracy assessment and visual inspection confirmed that filtering point clouds based on deep learning using NN is an appropriate technique for ground classification and producing DEM, as for the test and validation areas, both ground and non-ground classes achieved high recall (>0.70) and high precision values (>0.85), which showed that the two classes were well handled by the model. The type of method used for balancing the original dataset did not have a significant influence in the algorithm accuracy, and it was suggested not to use any of them unless the distribution of the generated and real data set will remain the same. Furthermore, the comparisons between true data and LiDAR and a UAV structure from motion (UAV SfM) point clouds were analyzed, as well as the derived DEM. The root mean square error (RMSE) and the mean average error (MAE) of the DEM were 0.25 m and 0.05 m, respectively, for LiDAR data, and 0.59 m and –0.28 m, respectively, for UAV data. For all land cover classes, the UAV DEM overestimated the elevation, whereas the LIDAR DEM underestimated it. The accuracy was not significantly different in the LiDAR DEM for the different vegetation classes, while for the UAV DEM, the RMSE increased with the height of the vegetation class. The comparison of the inundation areas derived from true LiDAR and UAV data for different water levels showed that in all cases, the largest differences were obtained for the lowest water level tested, while they performed best for very high water levels. Overall, the approach presented in this work produced DEM from LiDAR and UAV data with the required accuracy for flood mapping according to European Flood Directive standards. Although LiDAR is the recommended technology for point cloud acquisition, a suitable alternative is also UAV SfM in hilly areas. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing used in Environmental Hydrology)
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Graphical abstract

19 pages, 19129 KiB  
Article
Impact of Deforestation on Streamflow in the Amur River Basin
by Galina V. Sokolova, Andrei L. Verkhoturov and Sergei P. Korolev
Geosciences 2019, 9(6), 262; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences9060262 - 14 Jun 2019
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 6903
Abstract
In the basin of the Amur River in the Russian Far East, the influence of watershed areas covered by forests on the river basin has a complex nature, and no strict functional dependency has been established yet between these two factors. A study [...] Read more.
In the basin of the Amur River in the Russian Far East, the influence of watershed areas covered by forests on the river basin has a complex nature, and no strict functional dependency has been established yet between these two factors. A study of the Amur River watershed in the current conditions, between 2000 and 2016 (climate, forest coverage, fires, and felling), has been conducted using the ground and satellite observations. The purpose of the study was to identify their influence on the river behaviour (flow, flooding, and levels of water). The study of hydrological regime of rivers was conducted in conjunction with the analysis of the dynamics of forest and burns areas over the synchronised periods of time. A special attention was given to the changing nature of the species composition of the forests (coniferous and deciduous forests separately) from 2000 to 2016, and climatic parameters over thirty years (atmospheric temperature, dew point, precipitation). New facts have been obtained, which provide an explanation of the reasons for predominant prolonged trends in the dynamics of the summer streamflow. In the view of the general tendency toward increased forest coverage combining all species of forest stand, the trend in the dynamics of the coniferous species areas is negative. Therefore, a conclusion can be made, that one of the major factors in the increase of the river flood flow (alongside the atmospheric precipitation), is deforestation of primary coniferous forests on the watershed areas, in contrast with the deciduous forests, where the trend is positive. Practicability of such conclusions can be justified, as different types of forests have different root systems, which mellow the ground and facilitate partial loss of the atmospheric precipitation and its transformation into the groundwater flow. Besides, coniferous forests attract more frequent and intensive fires, more subjected to felling, have longer regeneration period, and also, use larger volumes of ground waters for growing and functioning. Consequently, with their disappearance, an increase in streamflow should be expected. No changes in surface temperature and humidity of the forest cover in the watersheds during 1980-2016 despite global warming. Therefore, annual variability of forested areas of watersheds is greatly influenced by fires and felling. There are reasons to assume, that because of the tendency for decreasing areas of coniferous forests, the conditions contributing to the increases in rivers’ flood flow and flood risks during monsoon and frontal cyclonic rainfalls will remain. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing used in Environmental Hydrology)
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Graphical abstract

15 pages, 4561 KiB  
Article
Performance of Remotely Sensed Soil Moisture for Temporal and Spatial Analysis of Rainfall over São Francisco River Basin, Brazil
by Jefferson Souto, Norma Beltrão and Ana Teodoro
Geosciences 2019, 9(3), 144; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences9030144 - 26 Mar 2019
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 3469
Abstract
Variability in precipitation patterns in the northeast and southeast regions of Brazil are complex, and the combined effects of the Tropical Atlantic, Pacific Niños, and local characteristics influence the precipitation rates. This study assesses the performance of multi-satellite precipitation product SM2RAIN-Climate Change Initiative [...] Read more.
Variability in precipitation patterns in the northeast and southeast regions of Brazil are complex, and the combined effects of the Tropical Atlantic, Pacific Niños, and local characteristics influence the precipitation rates. This study assesses the performance of multi-satellite precipitation product SM2RAIN-Climate Change Initiative (SM2RAIN-CCI) for the period of 1998–2015 at monthly scale. To accomplish this aim, various statistical analyses and comparison of multi-satellite precipitation analysis products with rain gauge stations are carried out. In addition, we used three values corresponding to extreme events: The total daily precipitation (PRCPTOT) and the number of consecutive dry/wet days (CDD/CWD). Results reveal that monthly rainfall data from SM2RAIN-CCI are compatible with surface observations, showing a seasonal pattern typical of the region. Data correlate well with observations for the selected stations (r ≥ 0.85) but tend to overestimate high rainfall values (>80 mm/month) in the rainy area. There is a significant decrease in rainfall to the indices, especially in PRCPTOT during the occurrence of tropical ocean–atmosphere interactions, reflecting CWD and CDD values. Moreover, our findings also indicate a relationship, at interannual timescales, between the state of El Niño Southern-Oscillation (ENSO) and Tropical Atlantic (TA) annual precipitation variability from 1998 to 2015. The SM2RAIN-CCI could be a useful alternative for rain-gauge precipitation data in the São Francisco River basin. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing used in Environmental Hydrology)
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