scholarly journals The Impact of Municipal Mergers on Local Public Spending: Evidence from Remote-Sensing Data

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steve Pickering ◽  
Seiki Tanaka
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Public Spending ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Sensing Data ◽  
The Impact

scholarly journals THE IMPACT OF MUNICIPAL MERGERS ON LOCAL PUBLIC SPENDING: EVIDENCE FROM REMOTE-SENSING DATA

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-266
Author(s):  
Steve Pickering ◽  
Seiki Tanaka ◽  
Kyohei Yamada
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Public Spending ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Sensing Data ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Administrative Units ◽  
Political Units ◽  
Political Leverage ◽  
The Impact

AbstractHow are resources distributed when administrative units merge? We take advantage of recent, large-scale municipal mergers in Japan to systematically study the impact of municipal mergers within merged municipalities and, in particular, what politicians do when their districts and constituencies suddenly change. We argue that when rural and sparsely populated municipalities merge with more urban and densely populated municipalities, residents of the former are likely to see a reduced share of public spending because they lost political leverage through the merger. Our empirical analyses detect changes in public spending before and after the municipal mergers with remote sensing data, which allows for flexible units of analysis and enables us to proxy for spending within merged municipalities. Overall, our results show that politicians tend to reduce benefits allocated to areas where there are a small number of voters, while increasing the allocation to more populous areas. The micro-foundation of our argument is also corroborated by survey data. The finding suggests that, all things being equal, the quantity rather than quality of electorates matters for politicians immediately after political units change.

scholarly journals Analysing the Impact of Climate Change on Hydrological Ecosystem Services in Laguna del Sauce (Uruguay) Using the SWAT Model and Remote Sensing Data

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 2014
Author(s):  
Celina Aznarez ◽  
Patricia Jimeno-Sáez ◽  
Adrián López-Ballesteros ◽  
Juan Pablo Pacheco ◽  
Javier Senent-Aparicio
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Swat Model ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Erosion Control ◽  
Sensing Data ◽  
Extreme Precipitation Events ◽  
The Impact

Assessing how climate change will affect hydrological ecosystem services (HES) provision is necessary for long-term planning and requires local comprehensive climate information. In this study, we used SWAT to evaluate the impacts on four HES, natural hazard protection, erosion control regulation and water supply and flow regulation for the Laguna del Sauce catchment in Uruguay. We used downscaled CMIP-5 global climate models for Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) 2.6, 4.5 and 8.5 projections. We calibrated and validated our SWAT model for the periods 2005–2009 and 2010–2013 based on remote sensed ET data. Monthly NSE and R2 values for calibration and validation were 0.74, 0.64 and 0.79, 0.84, respectively. Our results suggest that climate change will likely negatively affect the water resources of the Laguna del Sauce catchment, especially in the RCP 8.5 scenario. In all RCP scenarios, the catchment is likely to experience a wetting trend, higher temperatures, seasonality shifts and an increase in extreme precipitation events, particularly in frequency and magnitude. This will likely affect water quality provision through runoff and sediment yield inputs, reducing the erosion control HES and likely aggravating eutrophication. Although the amount of water will increase, changes to the hydrological cycle might jeopardize the stability of freshwater supplies and HES on which many people in the south-eastern region of Uruguay depend. Despite streamflow monitoring capacities need to be enhanced to reduce the uncertainty of model results, our findings provide valuable insights for water resources planning in the study area. Hence, water management and monitoring capacities need to be enhanced to reduce the potential negative climate change impacts on HES. The methodological approach presented here, based on satellite ET data can be replicated and adapted to any other place in the world since we employed open-access software and remote sensing data for all the phases of hydrological modelling and HES provision assessment.

scholarly journals ANALYSIS OF THE IMPACT OF OIL PRODUCT SPILLS ON NATURAL OBJECTS BASED ON SENTINEL-2 REMOTE SENSING DATA IN EASTERN SIBERIA

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 24-31
Author(s):  
Dmitry A. Baikin
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Oil Products ◽  
Eastern Siberia ◽  
Sensing Data ◽  
Sensing System ◽  
Natural Objects ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Sentinel 2

The article analyzes the impact of oil spills on natural objects according to the remote sensing system Sentinel-2 in Eastern Siberia. Remote sensing data analysis is used to detect traces of oil products in the accident area. Conclusions about the usage of Sentinel-2 data for detecting traces of oil products were made.

scholarly journals An Event-Based Inventory Approach in Landslide Hazard Assessment: The Case of the Skolis Mountain, Northwest Peloponnese, Greece

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 457
Author(s):  
Aspasia Litoseliti ◽  
Ioannis K. Koukouvelas ◽  
Konstantinos G. Nikolakopoulos ◽  
Vasiliki Zygouri
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Aspect Ratio ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Historical Seismicity ◽  
Landslide Hazard ◽  
Disaster Mitigation ◽  
Earthquake Activity ◽  
Sensing Data ◽  
Reach Angle ◽  
The Impact

Assessment of landslide hazard across mountains is imperative for public safety. Pre- and post-earthquake landslide mapping envisage that landslides show significant size changes during earthquake activity. One of the purposes of earthquake-induced landslide investigation is to determine the landslide state and geometry and draw conclusions on their mobility. This study was based on remote sensing data that covered 72 years, and focused on the west slopes of the Skolis Mountains, in the northwest Peloponnese. On 8 June 2008, during the strong Movri Mountain earthquake (Mw = 6.4), we mapped the extremely abundant landslide occurrence. Historical seismicity and remote sensing data indicate that the Skolis Mountain west slope is repeatedly affected by landslides. The impact of the earthquakes was based on the estimation of Arias intensity in the study area. We recognized that 89 landslides developed over the last 72 years. These landslides increased their width (W), called herein as inflation or their length (L), termed as enlargement. Length and width changes were used to describe their aspect ratio (L/W). Based on the aspect ratio, the 89 landslides were classified into three types: I, J, and Δ. Taluses, developed at the base of the slope and belonging to the J- and Δ-landslide types, are supplied by narrow or irregular channels. During the earthquakes, the landslide channels migrated upward and downward, outlining the mobility of the earthquake-induced landslides. Landslide mobility was defined by the reach angle. The reach angle is the arctangent of the landslide’s height to length ratio. Furthermore, we analyzed the present slope stability across the Skolis Mountain by using the landslide density (LD), landslide area percentage (LAP), and landslide frequency (LF). All these parameters were used to evaluate the spatial and temporal landslide distribution and evolution with the earthquake activity. These results can be considered as a powerful tool for earthquake-induced landslide disaster mitigation

Moderate-Resolution Remote Sensing and Geospatial Analyses of Microclimates, Mounds, and Maize in the Northern Great Lakes

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 195-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meghan C.L. Howey ◽  
Michael Palace ◽  
Crystal H. McMichael ◽  
Bobby Braswell
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Great Lakes ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Sensing Data ◽  
Inland Lakes ◽  
Maize Cultivation ◽  
Geospatial Analyses ◽  
Moderate Resolution ◽  
Burial Mounds ◽  
The Impact

AbstractRemote sensing applications are increasingly common in archaeology but they often focus on high resolution imagery and direct archaeological site detection. Moderate spatial resolution remote sensing instruments, which have (near) daily repeat intervals, but contain less detailed spectral and spatial information, have been employed much less frequently in archaeology. However, moderate remote sensing data offer distinct advantages for archaeological research as they can be used to relate archaeological, ecological, and climactic data at vast spatial scales. To show this potential, we use moderate remote sensing data to examine the impact of landscape heterogeneity on the spread of indigenous maize horticulture in the northern Great Lakes during Late Precontact (ca. AD 1200-1600). Analyzing National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) imagery, we identify differences in freeze/thaw cycles across inland lakes in Michigan, showing that some large inland lakes produce a microclimatic amelioration, possibly extending the growing season for prehistoric maize cultivation. Conducting geospatial analyses, we find that burial mounds and maize cultivation practices were associated preferentially with larger inland lakes with microclimates. We could not have found these dynamic interrelationships between microclimates, burial mounds, and maize cultivation if not for both the frequent temporal imaging and large spatial coverage provided by moderate resolution remote sensing imagery.

scholarly journals Analyzing the Relationship between Animal Diversity and the Remote Sensing Vegetation Parameters: The Case of Xinjiang, China

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (17) ◽  
pp. 9897
Author(s):  
Jinhui Wu ◽  
Haoxin Li ◽  
Huawei Wan ◽  
Yongcai Wang ◽  
Chenxi Sun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Bird Diversity ◽  
Area Index ◽  
Sensing Data ◽  
Animal Diversity ◽  
The Mean ◽  
The Impact

An explicit analysis of the impact for the richness of species of the vegetation phenological characteristics calculated from various remote sensing data is critical and essential for biodiversity conversion and restoration. This study collected long-term the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), the Leaf Area Index (LAI), the Fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FAPAR), and the Fractional Vegetation Cover (FVC), and calculated the six vegetation phenological characteristic parameters: the mean of the growing season, the mean of the mature season, the mean of the withered season, the annual difference value, the annual cumulative value, and the annual standard deviation in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The relationships between the vegetation phenological characteristics and the species richness of birds and mammals were analyzed in spatial distribution. The main findings include: (1) The correlation between bird diversity and vegetation factors is greater than that of mammals. (2) For remote sensing data, FAPAR is the most important vegetation parameter for both birds and mammals. (3) For vegetation phenological characteristics, the annual cumulative value of the LAI is the most crucial vegetation phenological parameter for influencing bird diversity distribution, and the annual difference value of the NDVI is the most significant driving factor for mammal diversity distribution.

scholarly journals Evaluating the quality of remote sensing products for agricultural index insurance

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (10) ◽  
pp. e0258215
Author(s):  
Benson K. Kenduiywo ◽  
Michael R. Carter ◽  
Aniruddha Ghosh ◽  
Robert J. Hijmans
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Insurance Contract ◽  
Index Insurance ◽  
Sensing Data ◽  
Insurance Contracts ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Economic Well Being

Agricultural index insurance contracts increasingly use remote sensing data to estimate losses and determine indemnity payouts. Index insurance contracts inevitably make errors, failing to detect losses that occur and issuing payments when no losses occur. The quality of these contracts and the indices on which they are based, need to be evaluated to assess their fitness as insurance, and to provide a guide to choosing the index that best protects the insured. In the remote sensing literature, indices are often evaluated with generic model evaluation statistics such as R2 or Root Mean Square Error that do not directly consider the effect of errors on the quality of the insurance contract. Economic analysis suggests using measures that capture the impact of insurance on the expected economic well-being of the insured. To bridge the gap between the remote sensing and economic perspectives, we adopt a standard economic measure of expected well-being and transform it into a Relative Insurance Benefit (RIB) metric. RIB expresses the welfare benefits derived from an index insurance contract relative to a hypothetical contract that perfectly measures losses. RIB takes on its maximal value of one when the index contract offers the same economic benefits as the perfect contract. When it achieves none of the benefits of insurance it takes on a value of zero, and becomes negative if the contract leaves the insured worse off than having no insurance. Part of our contribution is to decompose this economic well-being measure into an asymmetric loss function. We also argue that the expected well-being measure we use has advantages over other economic measures for the normative purpose of insurance quality ascertainment. Finally, we illustrate the use of the RIB measure with a case study of potential livestock insurance contracts in Northern Kenya. We compared 24 indices that were made with 4 different statistical models and 3 remote sensing data sources. RIB for these indices ranged from 0.09 to 0.5, and R2 ranged from 0.2 to 0.51. While RIB and R2 were correlated, the model with the highest RIB did not have the highest R2. Our findings suggest that, when designing and evaluating an index insurance program, it is useful to separately consider the quality of a remote sensing-based index with a metric like the RIB instead of a generic goodness-of-fit metric.

scholarly journals Monitoring of specially protected natural territories of forest-steppe landscapes of the Stavropol upland by means of remote sensing data

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 364-376
Author(s):  
Tigran Shahbazyan
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Satellite Imagery ◽  
Satellite Images ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Anthropogenic Factors ◽  
Forest Steppe ◽  
Landsat 8 ◽  
Sensing Data ◽  
Ndvi Index ◽  
The Impact

The article considers the methodology of monitoring specially protected natural areas using remote sensing data. The research materials are satellite images of the Landsat 5 and Landsat 8 satellites, obtained from the resource of the US Geological Survey. The key areas of the study were 3 specially protected areas located within the boundaries of the forest-steppe landscapes of the Stavropol upland, the reserves «Alexandrovskiy», «Russkiy Les», «Strizhament». The space survey materials were selected for the period 1991–2020, and the data from the summer seasons were used. The NDVI index is chosen as the method of processing the spectral channels of satellite imagery. To integrate long-term satellite imagery into a single raster image, the method of variance of the variation series for the NDVI index was used. The article describes an algorithm for processing satellite images, which allows us to identify the features of the dynamics of the vegetation state of the studied territory for the period 1991–2020. The bitmap image constructed by means of the variance of the NDVI index was classified by the quantile method, to translate numerical values into classes with qualitative characteristics. There were 4 classes of the territory according to the degree of dynamism of the vegetation state: “stable”, “slightly variable”, “moderately variable”, “highly variable”. The paper highlights the factors of landscape transformation, including natural and anthropogenic ones. In the course of the study, the determining influence of anthropogenic factors of transformation was noted. The greatest impact is on the reserve «Alexandrovskiy», the least on the reserve «Russkiy Les», in the reserve «Strizhament» the impact is expressed locally. The paper identifies the leading anthropogenic factors of vegetation transformation, based on their influence on vegetation.

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