scholarly journals Improved Detection of Inundation below the Forest Canopy using Normalized LiDAR Intensity Data

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 707 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan W. Lang ◽  
Vincent Kim ◽  
Gregory W. McCarty ◽  
Xia Li ◽  
In-Young Yeo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Forest Canopy ◽  
Deciduous Forest ◽  
Forested Wetlands ◽  
Evergreen Forest ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Patterns ◽  
Inundation Maps ◽  
The Face ◽  
Moderate Resolution ◽  
And Function ◽  
Normalization Process

To best conserve wetlands and manage associated ecosystem services in the face of climate and land-use change, wetlands must be routinely monitored to assess their extent and function. Wetland extent and function are largely driven by spatial and temporal patterns in inundation and soil moisture, which to date have been challenging to map, especially within forested wetlands. The objective of this paper is to investigate the different, but often interacting effects, of evergreen vegetation and inundation on leaf-off bare earth return lidar intensity within mixed deciduous-evergreen forests in the Coastal Plain of Maryland, and to develop an inundation mapping approach that is robust in areas of varying levels of evergreen influence. This was achieved through statistical comparison of field derived metrics, and development of a simple yet robust normalization process, based on first of many, and bare earth lidar intensity returns. Results demonstrate the confounding influence of forest canopy gap fraction and inundation, and the effectiveness of the normalization process. After normalization, inundated deciduous forest could be distinguished from non-inundated evergreen forest. Inundation was mapped with an overall accuracy between 99.4% and 100%. Inundation maps created using this approach provide insights into physical processes in support of environmental decision-making, and a vital link between fine-scale physical conditions and moderate resolution satellite imagery through enhanced calibration and validation.

Predicting changes in distribution of a large coastal shark in the face of the strengthening East Australian Current

2020 ◽  
Vol 642 ◽  
pp. 163-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y Niella ◽  
AF Smoothey ◽  
V Peddemors ◽  
R Harcourt
Keyword(s):  
Austral Summer ◽  
Conservation Strategies ◽  
Limiting Factor ◽  
Commercial Fisheries ◽  
East Australian Current ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Patterns ◽  
Marine Animals ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Southeastern Australia ◽  
The Face

In the face of accelerating climate change, conservation strategies will need to consider how marine animals deal with forecast environmental change as well as ongoing threats. We used 10 yr (2009-2018) of data from commercial fisheries and a bather protection program along the coast of New South Wales (NSW), southeastern Australia, to investigate (1) spatial and temporal patterns of occurrence in bull sharks and (2) environmental factors affecting bull shark occurrence along the coast of NSW. Predicted future distribution for this species was modelled for the forecast strengthening East Australian Current. Bull sharks were mostly harvested in small to larger estuaries, with average depth and rainfall responsible for contrasting patterns for each of the fisheries. There was an increase in the occurrence of bull sharks over the last decade, particularly among coastal setline fisheries, associated with seasonal availability of thermal gradients >22°C and both westward and southward coastal currents stronger than 0.15 and 0.60 m s-1, respectively, during the austral summer. Our model predicts a 3 mo increase in the availability of favourable water temperatures along the entire coast of NSW for bull sharks by 2030. This coastline provides a uniquely favourable topography for range expansion in the face of a southerly shift of warmer waters, and habitat is unlikely to be a limiting factor for bull sharks in the future. Such a southerly shift in distribution has implications for the management of bull sharks both in commercial fisheries and for mitigation of shark-human interactions.

scholarly journals Neural contributors to trauma resilience: a review of longitudinal neuroimaging studies

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alyssa R. Roeckner ◽  
Katelyn I. Oliver ◽  
Lauren A. M. Lebois ◽  
Sanne J. H. van Rooij ◽  
Jennifer S. Stevens
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Neural Circuit ◽  
Major Life ◽  
Stress Resilience ◽  
Control Networks ◽  
The Face ◽  
Sensory Cortices ◽  
Life Stressor ◽  
Threat Cues ◽  
And Function

AbstractResilience in the face of major life stressors is changeable over time and with experience. Accordingly, differing sets of neurobiological factors may contribute to an adaptive stress response before, during, and after the stressor. Longitudinal studies are therefore particularly effective in answering questions about the determinants of resilience. Here we provide an overview of the rapidly-growing body of longitudinal neuroimaging research on stress resilience. Despite lingering gaps and limitations, these studies are beginning to reveal individual differences in neural circuit structure and function that appear protective against the emergence of future psychopathology following a major life stressor. Here we outline a neural circuit model of resilience to trauma. Specifically, pre-trauma biomarkers of resilience show that an ability to modulate activity within threat and salience networks predicts fewer stress-related symptoms. In contrast, early post-trauma biomarkers of subsequent resilience or recovery show a more complex pattern, spanning a number of major circuits including attention and cognitive control networks as well as primary sensory cortices. This novel synthesis suggests stress resilience may be scaffolded by stable individual differences in the processing of threat cues, and further buttressed by post-trauma adaptations to the stressor that encompass multiple mechanisms and circuits. More attention and resources supporting this work will inform the targets and timing of mechanistic resilience-boosting interventions.

scholarly journals NetFACS: Using network science to understand facial communication systems

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Mielke ◽  
Bridget M. Waller ◽  
Claire Pérez ◽  
Alan V. Rincon ◽  
Julie Duboscq ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Network Analysis ◽  
Communication Systems ◽  
Network Science ◽  
Coding System ◽  
Communication Tool ◽  
Resampling Methods ◽  
Facial Movements ◽  
The Face ◽  
Analyse Data ◽  
And Function

AbstractUnderstanding facial signals in humans and other species is crucial for understanding the evolution, complexity, and function of the face as a communication tool. The Facial Action Coding System (FACS) enables researchers to measure facial movements accurately, but we currently lack tools to reliably analyse data and efficiently communicate results. Network analysis can provide a way to use the information encoded in FACS datasets: by treating individual AUs (the smallest units of facial movements) as nodes in a network and their co-occurrence as connections, we can analyse and visualise differences in the use of combinations of AUs in different conditions. Here, we present ‘NetFACS’, a statistical package that uses occurrence probabilities and resampling methods to answer questions about the use of AUs, AU combinations, and the facial communication system as a whole in humans and non-human animals. Using highly stereotyped facial signals as an example, we illustrate some of the current functionalities of NetFACS. We show that very few AUs are specific to certain stereotypical contexts; that AUs are not used independently from each other; that graph-level properties of stereotypical signals differ; and that clusters of AUs allow us to reconstruct facial signals, even when blind to the underlying conditions. The flexibility and widespread use of network analysis allows us to move away from studying facial signals as stereotyped expressions, and towards a dynamic and differentiated approach to facial communication.

scholarly journals EVALUATION OF THE PERFORMANCE OF SAR AND SAR-OPTICAL FUSED DATASET FOR CROP DISCRIMINATION

2019 ◽  
Vol XLII-3/W6 ◽  
pp. 563-571
Author(s):  
S. Mustak ◽  
G. Uday ◽  
B. Ramesh ◽  
B. Praveen
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Deciduous Forest ◽  
Accuracy Assessment ◽  
Parameter Tuning ◽  
Northern Region ◽  
Evergreen Forest ◽  
Support Vector ◽  
Cropping Pattern ◽  
Land Use Classification ◽  
Crop Discrimination

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> Crop discrimination and acreage play a vital role in interpreting the cropping pattern, statistics of the produce and market value of each product. Sultan Battery is an area where a large amount of irrigated and rainfed paddy crops are grown along with Rubber, Arecanut and Coconut. In addition, the northern region of Sultan Battery is covered with evergreen and deciduous forest. In this study, the main objective is to evaluate the performance of optical and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)-optical hybrid fusion imageries for crop discrimination in Sultan Bathery Taluk of Wayanad district in Kerala. Seven land use classes such as paddy, rubber, coconut, deciduous forest, evergreen forest, water bodies and others land use (e.g., built-up, barren etc.) were selected based on literature review and local land use classification policy. Both Sentinel-2A (optical) and sentinel-1A (SAR) satellite imageries of 2017 for Kharif season were used for classification using three machine learning classifiers such as Support Vector Machine (SVM), Random Forest (RF) and Classification and Regression Trees (CART). Further, the performance of these techniques was also compared in order to select the best classifier. In addition, spectral indices and textural matrices (NDVI, GLCM) were extracted from the image and best features were selected using the sequential feature selection approach. Thus, 10-fold cross-validation was employed for parameter tuning of such classifiers to select best hyperparameters to improve the classification accuracy. Finally, best features, best hyperparameters were used for final classification and accuracy assessment. The results show that SVM outperforms the RF and CART and similarly, Optical+SAR datasets outperforms the optical and SAR satellite imageries. This study is very supportive for the earth observation scientists to support promising guideline to the agricultural scientist, policy-makers and local government for sustainable agriculture practice.</p>

The Changing Face and Function of Museums

1998 ◽  
Vol 89 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin Trotter
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Identity Formation ◽  
Economic Forces ◽  
The Face ◽  
National Museums ◽  
And Function ◽  
A Site ◽  
Internal Pressures ◽  
New Museology

Museums are currently undergoing a number of changes as a repercussion of their histories and professional developments, and of new social and cultural contexts, not to mention as a result of pressure from competition and economic forces. This article explores the current ‘reinvention’ of museums — in particular, national museums — by examining some of the factors of change — some of the major internal pressures that have been the result of museological initiatives and also various exogenous influences. New museology and postcolonialism represent not only separate forces, but also a synthesis of pressures that are not only changing the face, but also the role, of museums, whilst also transforming relationships between museums and their users. A concern of this study is to look at those museums which have a ‘nationalising’ function, and to determine whether changing policies and practices are inhibiting or advance a renegotiation of the relationships between museums and their constituencies. In the last two decades, we have seen some trends confirmed. There has been a move from material culture studies to concern with the ideas contained in objects, whilst the older notion of the museum as a treasure house has given way to a stronger educative role and, more recently, an information centre and also a site of leisure, entertainment and identity-formation. These ‘reinventive’ processes, it is suggested, are closely allied to a postcolonial imperative.

scholarly journals Evaluation of the Simard et al. 2011 Global Canopy Height Map in Boreal Forests

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 1114
Author(s):  
Wei Yang ◽  
Akihiko Kondoh
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forests ◽  
Forest Canopy ◽  
Spatial Separation ◽  
Canopy Height ◽  
Tree Cover ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Moderate Resolution ◽  
Resolution Imaging ◽  
Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer

Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) provides a state-of-the-art technique for measuring forest canopy height. Nevertheless, it may miss some forests due to its spatial separation of individual spots. A number of efforts have been made to overcome the limitation of global LiDAR datasets to generate wall-to-wall canopy height products, among which a global satellite product produced by Simard et al. (2011) (henceforth, the Simard-map) has been the most widely applied. However, the accuracy of the Simard-map is uncertain in boreal forests, which play important roles in the terrestrial carbon cycle and are encountering more extensive climate changes than the global average. In this letter, we evaluated the Simard-map in boreal forests through a literature review of field canopy height. Our comparison shows that the Simard-map yielded a significant correlation with the field canopy height (R2 = 0.68 and p < 0.001). However, remarkable biases were observed with the root mean square error (RMSE), regression slope, and intercept of 6.88 m, 0.448, and 10.429, respectively. Interestingly, we found that the evaluation results showed an identical trend with a validation of moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) tree-cover product (MOD44B) in boreal forests, which was used as a crucial input data set for generating the Simard-map. That is, both the Simard-map and MOD44B yielded an overestimation (underestimation) in the lower (upper) tails of the scatterplots between the field and satellite data sets. This indicates that the MOD44B product is the likely source of error for the estimation biases of the Simard-map. Finally, a field calibration was performed to improve the Simard-map in boreal forests by compensating for the estimation biases and discarding non-forest areas, which provided a more reliable canopy height product for future applications.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document