A novel approach to estimating the competitive ability of Cirsium arvense in cereals using unmanned aerial vehicle imagery

Eight experiments were carried out in Denmark to determine the yield loss of spring barley due to Cirsium arvense in farmers' fields and to suggest and evaluate a novel approach for quantifying C. arvense infestation in large plots. Literature about the competitive ability of C. arvense is old, scattered and inconclusive, and existing models for estimating crop yield loss are based on data from North America. This study showed that C. arvense coverage could be quantified from unmanned aerial vehicle imagery using a manual image analysis procedure. This gave similar results as scoring the coverage. Yield loss of spring barley due to C. arvense infestation assessed at harvest was given by Y = 100·(1−exp(−0.00170·X)) where Y is the percentage of crop yield loss and X is the percentage of C. arvense coverage. The yield loss was much lower than estimates from models that have been developed in North America. It is speculated that the main reason for this is the later emergence of C. arvense than the crop due to lower soil temperatures in spring. Grain moisture increased linearly with C. arvense coverage: M = 0.0310·X where M is the proportional (%) increase in grain moisture and X is the proportion (%) of C. arvense coverage. Automated image analysis procedures are needed to estimate C. arvense coverage on field scales, and further experiments are needed to reveal whether the low competitive ability of C. arvense found in this study is representative for Northern Europe.     

Multispectral classification of grass weeds and wheat (Triticum durum) using linear and nonparametric functional discriminant analysis and neural networks

Field studies were conducted to determine the potential of multispectral classification of late‐season grass weeds in wheat. Several classification techniques have been used to discriminate differences in reflectance between wheat and Avena sterilis, Phalaris brachystachys, Lolium rigidum and Polypogon monspeliensis in the 400–900 nm spectrum, and to evaluate the accuracy of performance for a spectral signature classification into the plant species or group to which it belongs. Fisher’s linear discriminant analysis, nonparametric functional discriminant analysis and several neural networks have been applied, either with a preliminary principal component analysis (PCA) or not and in different scenarios. Fisher’s linear discriminant analysis, feedforward neural networks and one‐layer neural network, all showed classification percentages between 90% and 100% with PCA. Generally, a preliminary computation of the most relevant principal components considerably improves the correct classification percentage. These results are promising because A. sterilis and L. rigidum, two of the most problematic, clearly patchy and expensive‐to‐control weeds in wheat, could be successfully discriminated from wheat in the 400–900 nm range. Our results suggest that mapping grass weed patches in wheat could be feasible with analysis of real‐time and high‐resolution satellite imagery acquired in mid‐May under these conditions.     

荒漠草原区土壤水分ELM-ESTARFM遥感反演模型构建与应用

土壤水分的高时空分辨率和高精度评估对干旱监测具有重要意义。为探究我国内蒙古荒漠草原区土壤水分遥感反演最优模型,基于Landsat和MODIS数据进行改进型自适应反射率时空融合（Enhanced Spatial and Temporal Adaptive Reflectance Fusion Model,ESTARFM）,结合下垫面因子、地形因子、气象因子、植被因子等多要素环境因子,通过极限学习机（Extreme learning machine,ELM）和随机森林（Random forest,RF）两种方法构建土壤含水率反演模型,并与Landsat（未进行融合）构建的土壤含水率反演模型进行对比,最终筛选得到最优土壤含水率反演模型,并对研究区不同土地利用类型土壤含水率分布特征进行应用分析。结果表明：归一化植被指数是土壤含水率环境因子相关分析中最重要的预测因子（0～10、10～20、20～30 cm土壤深度处R²=0.85、0.82、0.79）,其次为降水量（R²=0.73、0.68、0.71）、高程（R²=0.71、0.70、0.71）、水体指数（R²=0.69、0.69、0.68）、归一化盐分指数（R²=0.68、0.67、0.65）。与未进行时空融合所构建的模型相比,利用ESTARFM时空融合所构建的模型精度均有所提升,考虑ESTARFM时空融合时,ELM模型的R²、RMSE、MAE分别为0.89、6.58%、3.93%,RF模型的R²、RMSE、MAE分别为0.78、7.25%、4.95%;未考虑ESTARFM时空融合时,ELM模型的R²、RMSE、MAE分别为0.75、7.37%、5.24%,RF模型的R²、RMSE、MAE分别为0.71、7.48%、5.30%。表明ELM模型比RF模型的土壤含水率反演效果更好,且ELM-ESTARFM为土壤含水率反演最优模型。在此基础上,运用改进后的ELM-ESTARFM遥感反演模型监测了乌审旗全域土壤含水率,发现研究区北部和西北部的土壤含水率较高,南部地区的土壤含水率较低;对于不同土壤深度,土壤含水率由大到小依次为耕地、林地、草地、沙地,耕地区域0～10、10～20、20～30 cm土层含水率分别为18.92%、19.34%、21.84%,林地为11.80%、11.87%、12.40%,草地为10.97%、11.02%、12.22%,沙地为5.07%、5.35%、5.67%。     

Determining the spatial distribution of soil properties using the environmental covariates and multivariate statistical analysis: a case study in semi-arid regions of Iran

Natural soil-forming factors such as landforms, parent materials or biota lead to high variability in soil properties. However, there is not enough research quantifying which environmental factor(s) can be the most relevant to predicting soil properties at the catchment scale in semi-arid areas. Thus, this research aims to investigate the ability of multivariate statistical analyses to distinguish which soil properties follow a clear spatial pattern conditioned by specific environmental characteristics in a semi-arid region of Iran. To achieve this goal, we digitized parent materials and landforms by recent orthophotography. Also, we extracted ten topographical attributes and five remote sensing variables from a digital elevation model (DEM) and the Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM), respectively. These factors were contrasted for 334 soil samples (depth of 0-30 cm). Cluster analysis and soil maps reveal that Cluster 1 comprises of limestones, massive limestones and mixed deposits of conglomerates with low soil organic carbon (SOC) and clay contents, and Cluster 2 is composed of soils that originated from quaternary and early quaternary parent materials such as terraces, alluvial fans, lake deposits, and marls or conglomerates that register the highest SOC content and the lowest sand and silt contents. Further, it is confirmed that soils with the highest SOC and clay contents are located in wetlands, lagoons, alluvial fans and piedmonts, while soils with the lowest SOC and clay contents are located in dissected alluvial fans, eroded hills, rock outcrops and steep hills. The results of principal component analysis using the remote sensing data and topographical attributes identify five main components, which explain 73.3% of the total variability of soil properties. Environmental factors such as hillslope morphology and all of the remote sensing variables can largely explain SOC variability, but no significant correlation is found for soil texture and calcium carbonate equivalent contents. Therefore, we conclude that SOC can be considered as the best-predicted soil property in semi-arid regions.     

Check dam extraction from remote sensing images using deep learning and geospatial analysis: A case study in the Yanhe River Basin of the Loess Plateau,China

Check dams are widely used on the Loess Plateau in China to control soil and water losses, develop agricultural land, and improve watershed ecology. Detailed information on the number and spatial distribution of check dams is critical for quantitatively evaluating hydrological and ecological effects and planning the construction of new dams. Thus, this study developed a check dam detection framework for broad areas from high-resolution remote sensing images using an ensemble approach of deep learning and geospatial analysis. First, we made a sample dataset of check dams using GaoFen-2 (GF-2) and Google Earth images. Next, we evaluated five popular deep-learning-based object detectors, including Faster R-CNN, You Only Look Once (version 3) (YOLOv3), Cascade R-CNN, YOLOX, and VarifocalNet (VFNet), to identify the best one for check dam detection. Finally, we analyzed the location characteristics of the check dams and used geographical constraints to optimize the detection results. Precision, recall, average precision at intersection over union (IoU) threshold of 0.50 (AP₅₀), IoU threshold of 0.75 (AP₇₅), and average value for 10 IoU thresholds ranging from 0.50-0.95 with a 0.05 step (AP_50-95), and inference time were used to evaluate model performance. All the five deep learning networks could identify check dams quickly and accurately, with AP_50-95, AP₅₀, and AP₇₅ values higher than 60.0%, 90.0%, and 70.0%, respectively, except for YOLOv3. The VFNet had the best performance, followed by YOLOX. The proposed framework was tested in the Yanhe River Basin and yielded promising results, with a recall rate of 87.0% for 521 check dams. Furthermore, the geographic analysis deleted about 50% of the false detection boxes, increasing the identification accuracy of check dams from 78.6% to 87.6%. Simultaneously, this framework recognized 568 recently constructed check dams and small check dams not recorded in the known check dam survey datasets. The extraction results will support efficient watershed management and guide future studies on soil erosion in the Loess Plateau.