Pixel-level Estimation Research Articles

The Effect of a Parcel-Aggregated Cropping Structure Mapping Method in Irrigation-Water Estimation in Arid Regions—A Case Study of the Weigan River Basin in Xinjiang Province

Effective management of agricultural water resources in arid regions relies on precise estimation of irrigation-water demand. Most previous studies have adopted pixel-level mapping methods to estimate irrigation-water demand, often leading to inaccuracies when applied in arid areas where land salinization is severe and where poorly growing crops cause the growing area to be smaller than the sown area. To address this issue and improve the accuracy of irrigation-water demand estimation, this study utilizes parcel-aggregated cropping structure mapping. We conducted a case study in the Weigan River Basin, Xinjiang Province, China. Deep learning techniques, the Richer Convolutional Features model, and the bilayer Long Short-Term Memory model were applied to extract parcel-aggregated cropping structures. By analyzing the cropping patterns, we estimated the irrigation-water demand and calculated the supply using statistical data and the water balance approach. The results indicated that in 2020, the cultivated area in the Weigan River Basin was 5.29 × 105 hectares, distributed over 853,404 parcels with an average size of 6202 m2. Based on the parcel-aggregated cropping structure, the estimated irrigation-water demand ranges from 25.1 × 108 m3 to 30.0 × 108 m3, representing a 5.57% increase compared to the pixel-level estimates. This increase highlights the effectiveness of the parcel-aggregated cropping structure in capturing the actual irrigation-water requirements, particularly in areas with severe soil salinization and patchy crop growth. The supply was calculated at 24.4 × 108 m3 according to the water balance approach, resulting in a minimal water deficit of 0.64 × 108 m3, underscoring the challenges in managing agricultural water resources in arid regions. Overall, the use of parcel-aggregated cropping structure mapping addresses the issue of irrigation-water demand underestimation associated with pixel-level mapping in arid regions. This study provides a methodological framework for efficient agricultural water resource management and sustainable development in arid regions.

Optimizing Landsat Next Shortwave Infrared Bands for Crop Residue Characterization

This study focused on optimizing the placement of shortwave infrared (SWIR) bands for pixel-level estimation of fractional crop residue cover (fR) for the upcoming Landsat Next mission. We applied an iterative wavelength shift approach to a database of crop residue field spectra collected in Beltsville, Maryland, USA (n = 916) and computed generalized two- and three-band spectral indices for all wavelength combinations between 2000 and 2350 nm, then used these indices to model field-measured fR. A subset of the full dataset with a Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) < 0.3 threshold (n = 643) was generated to evaluate green vegetation impacts on fR estimation. For the two-band wavelength shift analyses applied to the NDVI < 0.3 dataset, a generalized normalized difference using 2226 nm and 2263 nm bands produced the top fR estimation performance (R2 = 0.8222; RMSE = 0.1296). These findings were similar to the established two-band Shortwave Infrared Normalized Difference Residue Index (SINDRI) (R2 = 0.8145; RMSE = 0.1324). Performance of the two-band generalized normalized difference and SINDRI decreased for the full-NDVI dataset (R2 = 0.5865 and 0.4144, respectively). For the three-band wavelength shift analyses applied to the NDVI < 0.3 dataset, a generalized ratio-based index with a 2031–2085–2216 nm band combination, closely matching established Cellulose Absorption Index (CAI) bands, was top performing (R2 = 0.8397; RMSE = 0.1231). Three-band indices with CAI-type wavelengths maintained top fR estimation performance for the full-NDVI dataset with a 2036–2111–2217 nm band combination (R2 = 0.7581; RMSE = 0.1548). The 2036–2111–2217 nm band combination was also top performing in fR estimation (R2 = 0.8690; RMSE = 0.0970) for an additional analysis assessing combined green vegetation cover and surface moisture effects. Our results indicate that a three-band configuration with band centers and wavelength tolerances of 2036 nm (±5 nm), 2097 nm (±14 nm), and 2214 (±11 nm) would optimize Landsat Next SWIR bands for fR estimation.

Learning From Architectural Redundancy: Enhanced Deep Supervision in Deep Multipath Encoder–Decoder Networks

Deep encoder-decoders are the model of choice for pixel-level estimation due to their redundant deep architectures. Yet they still suffer from the vanishing supervision information issue that affects convergence because of their overly deep architectures. In this work, we propose and theoretically derive an enhanced deep supervision (EDS) method which improves on conventional deep supervision (DS) by incorporating variance minimization into the optimization. A new structure variance loss is introduced to build a bridge between deep encoder-decoders and variance minimization, and provides a new way to minimize the variance by forcing different intermediate decoding outputs (paths) to reach an agreement. We also design a focal weighting strategy to effectively combine multiple losses in a scale-balanced way, so that the supervision information is sufficiently enforced throughout the encoder-decoders. To evaluate the proposed method on the pixel-level estimation task, a novel multipath residual encoder is proposed and extensive experiments are conducted on four challenging density estimation and crowd counting benchmarks. The experimental results demonstrate the superiority of our EDS over other paradigms, and improved estimation performance is reported using our deeply supervised encoder-decoder.

Extrapolation Assessment for Forest Structural Parameters in Planted Forests of Southern China by UAV-LiDAR Samples and Multispectral Satellite Imagery

Accurate estimation and extrapolation of forest structural parameters in planted forests are essential for monitoring forest resources, investigating their ecosystem services (e.g., forest structure and functions), as well as supporting decisions for precision silviculture. Advances in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-borne Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technology have enhanced our ability to precisely characterize the 3-D structure of the forest canopy with high flexibility, usually within forest plots and stands. For wall-to-wall forest structure mapping in broader landscapes, samples (transects) of UAV-LiDAR datasets are a cost-efficient solution as an intermediate layer for extrapolation from field plots to full-coverage multispectral satellite imageries. In this study, an advanced two-stage extrapolation approach was established to estimate and map large area forest structural parameters (i.e., mean DBH, dominant height, volume, and stem density), in synergy with field plots and UAV-LiDAR and GF-6 satellite imagery, in a typical planted forest of southern China. First, estimation models were built and used to extrapolate field plots to UAV-LiDAR transects; then, the maps of UAV-LiDAR transects were extrapolated to the whole study area using the wall-to-wall grid indices that were calculated from GF-6 satellite imagery. By comparing with direct prediction models that were fitted by field plots and GF-6-derived spectral indices, the results indicated that the two-stage extrapolation models (R2 = 0.64–0.85, rRMSE = 7.49–26.85%) obtained higher accuracy than direct prediction models (R2 = 0.58–0.75, rRMSE = 21.31–38.43%). In addition, the effect of UAV-LiDAR point density and sampling intensity for estimation accuracy was studied by sensitivity analysis as well. The results showed a stable level of accuracy for approximately 10% of point density (34 pts·m−2) and 20% of sampling intensity. To understand the error propagation through the extrapolation procedure, a modified U-statistics uncertainty analysis was proposed to characterize pixel-level estimates of uncertainty and the results demonstrated that the uncertainty was 0.75 cm for mean DBH, 1.23 m for dominant height, 14.77 m3·ha−1 for volume and 102.72 n·ha−1 for stem density, respectively.

PhenoCrop: An integrated satellite-based framework to estimate physiological growth stages of corn and soybeans

The accurate and timely estimates of crop physiological growth stages are essential for efficient crop management and precise modeling of agricultural systems. Satellite remote sensing has been widely used to retrieve vegetation phenology metrics at local to global scales. However, most of these phenology metrics (e.g., green-up) are different from crop growth stages (e.g., emergence) used in crop management and modeling. As such, an integrated framework referred to as PhenoCrop was developed to: 1) establish a connection between remote sensing-derived phenology metrics and key crop growth stages based on Wang and Engle plant phenology model and 2) use fused MODIS-Landsat 30 m 8-day reflectance data generated using Kalman Filter-based data fusion technique to produce onset dates of key growth stages of corn (Zea mays L.) and soybeans (Glycine max L.) at 30 m spatial resolution. In this paper, we described the PhenoCrop framework, and tested its performance for the State of Nebraska for 2012–2016 by comparison to observations of estimated key growth stages at four experimental sites, and state-level statistical data from Crop Progress Reports (CPRs) published by the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Agricultural Statistical Services (NASS). In addition, to evaluate the suitability of using coarse or high spatial resolution satellite imagery, fused MODIS-Landsat-based estimates were compared with those produced using EOS MODIS 250 m (MOD9Q1) reflectance data.The PhenoCrop estimates captured the typical spatial trends of gradual delay in the progression of the growing season from southeast to northwest Nebraska. Also inter-annual differences due to factors such as weather fluctuations and change in management strategies (e.g., early season in 2012) were evident in the estimates. Validation results revealed that average root mean square error (RMSE) of the state-level estimates of corn and soybean growth stages ranged from 1.10 to 4.20 days and from 3.81 to 7.89 days, respectively, while pixel level estimates had a RMSE ranging from 3.72 to 8.51 days for corn and 4.76–9.51 days for soybean growth stages. Although MODIS 250 m based estimates showed similar general spatial patterns observed in the fused MODIS-Landsat based estimates, the accuracy and ability to capture field scale variations was improved with fused MODIS-Landsat data. Overall, results showed the ability of PhenoCrop framework to provide reliable estimates of crop growth stages that can be highly useful in crop modeling and crop management during the growing season.

Task-oriented quantitative image reconstruction in emission tomography for single- and multi-subject studies

Task-based selection of image reconstruction methodology in emission tomography is a critically important step when designing a PET study. This paper concerns optimizing, given the measured data of the study only, reconstruction performance for a range of quantification tasks: finding the mean radioactivity concentration for different regions of interests (ROIs), different ROI sizes and different group sizes (i.e. the number of subjects in the PET study). At present, the variability of quantification performance of different reconstruction methods, according to both the ROI and group sizes, is largely ignored. In this paper, it is shown that both the ROI and group size have a tremendous impact on the error of the estimator for the task of ROI quantification. A study-specific, task-oriented and space-variant selection rule is proposed that selects a close to optimal estimate drawn from a series of estimates obtained by filtered backprojection (FBP) and different OSEM (ordered subset expectation maximization) iterations. The optimality criterion is to minimize an estimated mean square error (MSE), where the MSE is estimated from the data in the study using the bootstrap resampling technique. The proposed approach is appropriate for both pixel-level estimates and ROI estimates in single- and multi-subject studies. An extensive multi-trial simulation study using a 2D numerical phantom and relevant count levels shows that the proposed selection rule can produce quantitative estimates that are close to the estimates that minimize the true MSE (where the true MSE can only be obtained from many independent Monte-Carlo realizations with knowledge of the ground truth). This indicates that with the proposed selection rule one can obtain a close to optimal estimate while avoiding the critical step of selecting user-defined reconstruction settings (such as an OSEM iteration number or the choice between FBP and OSEM). In this initial 2D study, only FBP and OSEM reconstruction methods are considered but the proposed selection rule should readily generalize to different estimators (i.e. different reconstruction algorithms) and 3D imaging.

Non-parametric and parametric methods using satellite images for estimating growing stock volume in alpine and Mediterranean forest ecosystems

This paper describes applications of non-parametric and parametric methods for estimating forest growing stock volume using Landsat images on the basis of data measured in the field, integrated with ancillary information. Several k-Nearest Neighbors (k-NN) algorithm configurations were tested in two study areas in Italy belonging to Mediterranean and Alpine ecosystems. Field data were acquired by the regional forest inventory and forest management plans, and satellite images are from Landsat 5 TM and Landsat 7 ETM+. The paper describes the data used, the methodologies adopted and the results achieved in terms of pixel level accuracy of forest growing stock volume estimates. The results show that several factors affect estimation accuracy when using the k-NN method. For the two test areas a total of 3500 different configurations of the k-NN algorithm were systematically tested by changing the number and type of spectral and ancillary input variables, type of multidimensional distance measures, number of nearest neighbors and methods for spectral feature extraction using the leave-one-out (LOO) procedure. The best k-NN configurations were then used for pixel level estimation; the accuracy was estimated with a bootstrapping procedure; and the results were compared to estimates obtained using parametric regression methods implemented on the same data set.The best k-NN growing stock volume pixel level estimates in the Alpine area have a Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) ranging between 74 and 96 m3 ha−1 (respectively, 22% and 28% of the mean measured value) and between 106 and 135 m3 ha−1 (respectively, 44% and 63% of the mean measured value) in the Mediterranean area. On the whole, the results cast a promising light on the use of non-parametric techniques for forest attribute estimation and mapping with accuracy high enough to support forest planning activities in such complex landscapes. The results of the LOO analyses also highlight the importance of a local empirical optimization phase of the k-NN procedure before defining the best algorithm configuration. In the tests performed the pixel level accuracy increased, depending on the k-NN configuration, as much as 100%.

영상 보간을 이용한 다시점 비디오 부호화 방법

사용자에게 보다 실감나는 입체감을 제공하기 위해 개발되고 있는 다시점 비디오는 두 대 이상의 카메라를 이용하여 촬영한 영상들을 기하학적으로 교정하고 공간적으로 처리하여 여러 방향의 다양한 시점 영상을 사용자에게 제공하는 3차원 영상처리 기술의 새로운 분야이다. 다시점 비디오는 사용자에게 시청 시점을 자유롭게 선택할 수 있는 기회를 주고 넓은 화면을 통한 3차원 입체감을 느낄 수 있는 장점을 가진다. 그러나 다시점 비디오는 시점 수가 증가하는 만큼 데이터 양도 증가하므로 효율적인 데이터 처리 방법이 요구된다. 최근 인접한 시점의 영상을 이용하여 중간시점의 영상을 합성하고 이를 부호화에 적용하는 방법이 연구되고 있다. 다시점 비디오 부호화 효율을 높이기 위해 제안되었던 기존의 영상보간법은 최대변위 설정과 고정된 블록을 이용한 블록정합 방법을 이용한다. 이때, 변위 종류가 다양한 영상이거나 변위차가 큰 영역에 대해서 변위 오류가 많이 발생한다. 이 논문에서는 이러한 문제점을 보완하고 개선된 화질의 중간시점의 영상을 얻기 위한 방법과 이 영상을 이용하여 부호화에 적용하는 방법을 제안한다. 제안한 영상보간법은 변위의 검색 범위를 초기에 설정하지 않고 블록 단위부터 화소 단위까지 변위를 측정하여 중간영상을 합성한다. 또한 이렇게 합성한 영상을 부호화 과정에서 참조 영상으로 추가하여 부호화한다. 이 논문에서 제안한 방법을 이용한 결과, 기존의 영상 보간법보다 약 <TEX>$1{\sim}4dB$</TEX> 정도 개선된 화질의 중간시점 영상을 얻었고, 이 영상들을 이용하여 제안한 부호화 방법으로 부호화한 결과 참조 모델에 비해 최대 0.5 dB의 부호화 효율이 개선됨을 확인했다. Since the multi-view video is a set of video sequences captured by multiple array cameras for the same three-dimensional scene, it can provide multiple viewpoint images using geometrical manipulation and intermediate view generation. Although multi-view video allows us to experience more realistic feeling with a wide range of images, the amount of data to be processed increases in proportion to the number of cameras. Therefore, we need to develop efficient coding methods. One of the possible approaches to multi-view video coding is to generate an intermediate image using view interpolation method and to use the interpolated image as an additional reference frame. The previous view interpolation method for multi-view video coding employs fixed size block matching over the pre-determined disparity search range. However, if the disparity search range is not proper, disparity error may occur. In this paper, we propose an efficient view interpolation method using initial disparity estimation, variable block-based estimation, and pixel-level estimation using adjusted search ranges. In addition, we propose a multi-view video coding method based on H.264/AVC to exploit the intermediate image. Intermediate images have been improved about <TEX>$1{\sim}4dB$</TEX> using the proposed method compared to the previous view interpolation method, and the coding efficiency have been improved about 0.5 dB compared to the reference model.

Atmospheric and spectral corrections for estimating surface albedo from satellite data using 6S code

Surface albedo is one of the most important physical parameters for climate models, because it governs the exchange of radiation between the land surface and the atmosphere. Therefore, accuracy of the measurement of surface albedo directly affects the results of a climate model. Satellite remote sensing techniques provide a more accurate pixel-level estimation of surface albedo for climate models than traditional field measurements. However, atmospheric effects and band pass limits of satellite sensors are two factors that limit accurate estimation of surface albedo from satellite data. Furthermore, comparative or global studies require a physically based model that is not optimized on one specific satellite scene, test site, and object class. Atmospheric code 6S can play this important role. Therefore, this paper develops a method for making atmospheric and spectral corrections for estimating surface albedo from satellite data using 6S code. The reliability of this method was tested in Kushiro Mire, Japan using comparisons of estimated and observed albedos. The results show that the satellite-inferred albedos agree well with the field-observed albedos, with the average error found to be about 6%. For spectral-to-broadband albedo conversion (spectral correction), results show that compensated band pass limits are better than extended band pass limits; the average error was reduced from 25% to 6%. Results also indicate that a higher spectral resolution sensor is necessary to more accurately estimate surface albedo.