Article
Environmental Sciences
Grigorijs Goldbergs
Summary: This study compared the performance of large-format airborne and satellite imagery, as well as airborne laser scanning (ALS) data, in estimating growing stock in Latvian hemiboreal forests. The results showed that ALS and image-based height metrics had comparable effectiveness in predicting growing stock in dense closed-canopy forests. The research suggests that regularly collected airborne imagery and image-based CHMs can be an efficient solution for forest growing stock calculations and updates. VHRSI can also be a fast and affordable solution for monitoring forest growing stock changes in vast and dense forestland.
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Carlotta Ferrara, Nicola Puletti, Matteo Guasti, Roberto Scotti
Summary: This study used terrestrial and airborne laser scanning data to characterize the understory in a European beech and black pine forest in Italy. The results showed that upper understory density is associated with two specific airborne laser scanning metrics, while lower understory metrics are more related to one metric. Additionally, the study demonstrated the power of hand-held mobile TLS as a tool for measuring forest structural attributes and obtaining relevant ecological data.
Article
Ecology
Marc Fuhr, Etienne Lalechere, Jean-Matthieu Monnet, Laurent Berges
Summary: Building a network of interconnected overmature forests is crucial for biodiversity conservation. LiDAR technology can accurately assess forest structural parameters and identify overmature forest patches over large areas. In this study, an index combining forest structural maturity attributes was developed to characterize the maturity of field plots. LiDAR metrics, along with elevation, slope, and echo intensity distribution, were important for predicting forest maturity. The model showed a high correlation between observed and predicted maturity values, indicating accurate ranking of field plots.
REMOTE SENSING IN ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION
(2022)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Xinyu Wang, Zhaozhi Luo, Wenqing Li, Xin Hu, Liangpei Zhang, Yanfei Zhong
Summary: This article introduces a self-supervised hyperspectral image denoising network (SHDN) for dealing with complicated noise in real-world HSIs. It consists of a noise estimator and a CNN denoiser, utilizing a self-supervised training scheme to handle noisy HSI data without the need for paired training sets. The network shows applicability and generalization in various scenarios, demonstrating usability in land-cover mapping experiments.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Liyong Qian, Decheng Wu, Dong Liu, Shalei Song, Shuo Shi, Wei Gong, Le Wang
Summary: This paper investigates a simulation method for determining the design parameters of an airborne hyperspectral imaging LiDAR system, considering atmospheric transmission model and ground target reflectance spectrum to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of the system.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Christoph Joerges, Hedwig Sophie Vidal, Tobias Hank, Heike Bach
Summary: Solar photovoltaic panels have great potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as renewable energy technology. Accurate and global mapping and monitoring of PV modules using remote sensing methods are important for various purposes such as predicting energy production potentials and estimating ecological impacts. This study investigated the spectral signatures of spaceborne and airborne hyperspectral data for the detection and classification of solar PV modules in southern Germany. The results showed high accuracy in identifying PV modules using physics-based spectral indices.
Article
Ecology
Adrian Pascual, Juan Guerra-Hernandez
Summary: Comparing ALS time-series is crucial for landscape conservation planning, especially in monitoring forest ecosystems. Modellers need to consider phenology when comparing ALS-based maps of ground elevation or canopy height between different years. This study demonstrates the comparison of two ALS surveys conducted in a National Park in Northwest Spain, using the same algorithms for data interpretation and generating digital terrain models and canopy height models. A hybrid approach was implemented to correct discrepancies caused by differences in phenology or scaling, reducing uncertainty and providing a solid evaluation of emerging problems in multi-temporal ALS surveys.
ECOLOGICAL INFORMATICS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Rosa Maria Garcia-Nunez, Julio Cesar Buendia-Espinoza, Selene del Carmen Arrazate-Jimenez, Elisa del Carmen Martinez-Ochoa
Summary: This study analyzed the species composition and diversity in a natural population subject to copal extraction in San Juan Raboso Izucar de Matamoros, Puebla, Mexico. The abundance, frequency, and relative dominance of each species were quantified to calculate the importance value index (IVI), and the Shannon index (H') was used to evaluate diversity. A total of 29 species were identified, with the Fabaceae family being the richest and Opuntia streptacantha being the most ecologically important species. The community showed mild diversity with an average Shannon index (H') of 1.45.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Marlena Kycko, Bogdan Zagajewski, Marcin Kluczek, Anna Tarda, Lydia Pineda, Vicenc Pala, Jordi Corbera
Summary: The Mediterranean ecosystem has unique geological and climatic features, which have resulted in the emergence of resilient plant species. Monitoring the vegetation in these areas is challenging due to the diversity of shrub species and other environmental factors. This study used multispectral and hyperspectral images to assess the accuracy of different classification methods for shrubby formations.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Jakob J. Assmann, Jesper E. Moeslund, Urs A. Treier, Signe Normand
Summary: Biodiversity studies can benefit greatly from three-dimensional data on ecosystem structure obtained from remote sensing technologies such as lidar. This study utilized Denmark's publicly available airborne laser scanning data set to compute 70 descriptors of ecological interest, producing a high-resolution data set that provides information on vegetation height, structure, density, and topography for biodiversity research in Denmark.
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE DATA
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Michele Dalponte, Alvar J. I. Kallio, Hans Ole orka, Erik Naesset, Terje Gobakken
Summary: This study used airborne hyperspectral data to detect wood decay in Norway spruce forests. The results showed that wood decay could be detected, although the accuracy varied depending on the dataset.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Nicolas Francos, Sabine Chabrillat, Nikolaos Tziolas, Robert Milewski, Maximilian Brell, Nikiforos Samarinas, Theodora Angelopoulou, Nikolaos Tsakiridis, Vasillis Liakopoulos, Thomas Ruhtz, Eyal Ben-Dor
Summary: This study used a field-based protocol to measure soil reflectance data and predict water-infiltration rate (WIR) from spectral measurements. The results showed satisfactory prediction accuracy when validated with airborne hyperspectral data, indicating the potential for rapid estimation of soil surface conditions.
Article
Ecology
Samuel F. Stickley, Jennifer M. Fraterrigo
Summary: Research has shown that the understory vegetation structure plays a role in buffering near-surface forest temperatures, enhancing the accuracy of maximum temperature predictions. Additionally, the spatial and temporal mismatches between free-air and microclimatic temperatures are influenced by elevation and solar insolation, highlighting the potential impact of landscape physiographic characteristics on temperature deviations between macro- and micro-scales. This research underscores the importance of incorporating complex vegetation characteristics and biophysical interactions into microclimate modeling for accurately predicting microclimatic temperatures and understanding organismal responses to climate change.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Andrea Hevia, Anabel Calzado, Reyes Alejano, Javier Vazquez-Pique
Summary: This study uses forest inventory data, low-density airborne laser scanning (ALS) data, and geostatistical analysis to estimate the old-growth indices (OGIs) of the oldest tree species in the Mediterranean areas and demonstrates its significance in identifying old-growth forests.
Article
Remote Sensing
Lu Xu, Shuo Shi, Wei Gong, Zixi Shi, Fangfang Qu, Xingtao Tang, Bowen Chen, Jia Sun
Summary: This study explored the potential of integrating hyperspectral image and LiDAR data to improve leaf chlorophyll content (LCC) estimation. The results showed that the constrained PROSAIL model had better performance than the non-constrained model, improving the estimation accuracy of LCC by increasing the R2 value by 10% to 29% for synthetic datasets and 9% to 62% for an airborne sensor dataset. The constrained PROSAIL model with Pareto sets achieved the best accuracy with an R2 value of 0.81 for the airborne sensor dataset.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF APPLIED EARTH OBSERVATION AND GEOINFORMATION
(2022)
Article
Remote Sensing
Fabian Ewald Fassnacht, Javiera Poblete-Olivares, Lucas Rivero, Javier Lopatin, Andres Ceballos-Comisso, Mauricio Galleguillos
Summary: The study presents a workflow for deriving landscape-level biomass estimates in a large watershed, combining various remote sensing data, feature selection, and machine learning techniques to estimate biomass for different vegetation types. The results show that the workflow yields biomass predictions comparable to studies focusing on individual vegetation types.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF APPLIED EARTH OBSERVATION AND GEOINFORMATION
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Pilar Barria, Cristian Chadwick, Anahi Ocampo-Melgar, Mauricio Galleguillos, Rene Garreaud, Raul Diaz-Vasconcellos, David Poblete, Eduardo Rubio-Alvarez, Dagoberto Poblete-Caballero
Summary: Aculeo Lake in Central Chile serves as an important natural reservoir, but has experienced a rapid shrinkage and eventually dried up due to severe and sustained drought as well as changes in land use. Research indicates that the main factor triggering the lake desiccation is the severe megadrought that led to significant reductions in river flows and aquifer recharges.
REGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Faundez Urbina Carlos, Kremer Farina Cristian, Garrido Salinas Marco, Galleguillos Mauricio, Aponte Humberto, Honorio de Miranda Jarbas, Seguel Seguel Oscar
Summary: The study evaluated the model efficiency of HYDRUS 2D/3D simulations for volumetric water content and pore electrical conductivity in an olive tree variety under desert conditions. The model simulations were improved through calibration using PEST software. The sensitivity analysis identified relevant parameters for the model outputs and calibration focused on those parameters. Overall, the HYDRUS 2D/3D simulations showed acceptable precision for the variation of volumetric water content in time and space.
JOURNAL OF SOIL SCIENCE AND PLANT NUTRITION
(2022)
Article
Agronomy
E. Pizarro, M. Galleguillos, P. Barria, R. Callejas
Summary: Table grape production requires a large amount of water, which can be problematic in semi-arid Mediterranean regions affected by climate change. This study evaluated the impact of different irrigation strategies and climate change scenarios on water balance variables in Chilean table grape crops. The results showed that improved irrigation management can increase water use efficiency, and deficit irrigation scenarios have higher efficiencies compared to standard irrigation management under future climate change conditions.
AGRICULTURAL WATER MANAGEMENT
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Rocio A. Pozo, Mauricio Galleguillos, Mauro E. Gonzalez, Felipe Vasquez, Rodrigo Arriagada
Summary: This study assessed the association between socio-economic drivers and spatiotemporal patterns of wildfires in south-central Chile over the period 2010-2018. The results showed that 98.5% of wildfires were related to human activities, with density at the commune-level associated with factors such as road access, land cover, and socio-economic variables. The study provides important insights for policy-making and research into strategies for predicting and mitigating wildfire activity.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Remote Sensing
Violeta Tolorza, Dagoberto Poblete-Caballero, David Banda, Christian Little, Claudia Leal, Mauricio Galleguillos
Summary: This study used Digital Soil Mapping to predict the spatial distribution of post-fire litter composition in Chile. Remote sensing data and field observations were used as predictors in random forest models, and the results showed acceptable accuracy. The findings highlight the decrease in litter composition with increasing burn severity and decreasing pre-fire biomass.
REMOTE SENSING LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Javier Lopatin, Rocio Araya-Lopez, Mauricio Galleguillos, Jorge F. Perez-Quezada
Summary: Anthropogenic disturbances can alter the relationships between peatland soil and plants, affecting their ability to store carbon. This study examined a peatland in Northern Patagonia and found that aboveground vegetation attributes were directly and indirectly related to soil carbon pools. Disturbed areas had significantly lower levels of live moss, debris, and poorly-decomposed carbon pools compared to undisturbed areas.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Soil Science
Osvaldo Salazar, Manuel Casanova, Juan Pablo Fuentes, Mauricio Galleguillos, Francisco Najera, Jorge F. Perez-Quezada, Marco Pfeiffer, Leah L. R. Renwick, Oscar Seguel, Yasna Tapia
Article
Environmental Sciences
F. Gimeno, M. Galleguillos, D. Manuschevich, M. Zambrano-Bigiarini
Summary: This study assesses the effects of different land-use policy scenarios on water provision for rural communities. The results show that, although there are only slight increases in inflows in the scenarios of forest recovery and protection and pristine areas compared to the baseline scenario, these increases become more significant during the dry season.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Agronomy
Victor Beya-Marshall, Emilia Arcos, Oscar Seguel, Mauricio Galleguillos, Cristian Kremer
Summary: Irrigation scheduling based on soil water content sensors can maintain optimal soil moisture range for plant growth. The breaking point is an effective criterion for irrigation management, but its implementation should be validated with plant water status measurement and consideration of weather conditions.
AGRICULTURAL WATER MANAGEMENT
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Mauro E. Gonzalez, Mauricio Galleguillos, Javier Lopatin, Claudia Leal, Constanza Becerra-Rodas, Antonio Lara, Jose San Martin
Summary: This study assessed the resilience of the endangered species Nothofagus alessandrii after a mega-fire in Chile. The results showed that fire severity, invasion by exotic species, and landscape configuration influenced the recovery of N. alessandrii forests.
Review
Engineering, Civil
Francisco Balocchi, Mauricio Galleguillos, Diego Rivera, Alejandra Stehr, Jose Luis Arumi, Roberto Pizarro, Pablo Garcia-Chevesich, Andres Iroume, Juan J. Armesto, Pedro Herve-Fernandez, Carlos Oyarzun, Pilar Barria, Christian Little, Gabriel Mancilla, Santiago Yepez, Rolando Rodriguez, Don A. White, Richard P. Silberstein, Daniel G. Neary, Pablo Ramirez de Arellano
Summary: This paper reviews the hydrological processes in Chilean temperate forests, covering a range of natural and planted forests in diverse environmental settings. It highlights the importance of forested catchments for local communities, freshwater ecosystems, and downstream economic activities. The review identifies knowledge gaps and proposes future research directions to improve understanding of forest hydrology in Chile.
JOURNAL OF HYDROLOGY
(2023)
Article
Water Resources
Carlos A. Faundez Urbina, Daniel Cabrera Alanis, Elizabeth Ramirez, Oscar Seguel, Ivo J. Fustos, Pablo Diaz Donoso, Jarbas Honorio de Miranda, Nikola Rakonjac, Sebastian Elgueta Palma, Mauricio Galleguillos
Summary: Determining soil water content in forest ecosystems is challenging due to deep rooting systems and unknown soil heterogeneity. This study tests two undisturbed methods, electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) and HYDRUS 2D/3D, for 2D water content determination in a thorny forest ecosystem. The results show that both methods are alternative approaches for determining soil water content in heterogeneous and deep soils of forest ecosystems.
HYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Diego I. Dinamarca, Mauricio Galleguillos, Oscar Seguel, Carlos Faundez Urbina
Summary: Spatially explicit soil information is vital for understanding and managing various Earth processes. This study introduces a gridded database of soil properties and hydraulic parameters for Chile and shared basins with Argentina. The study generates soil maps using digital soil mapping techniques and predicts soil hydraulic properties, providing valuable tools for environmental studies.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Alejandro Miranda, Rayen Mentler, Italo Moletto-Lobos, Gabriela Alfaro, Leonardo Aliaga, Dana Balbontin, Maximiliano Barraza, Susanne Baumbach, Patricio Calderon, Fernando Cardenas, Ivan Castillo, Gonzalo Contreras, Felipe de la Barra, Mauricio Galleguillos, Mauro E. Gonzalez, Carlos Hormazabal, Antonio Lara, Ian Mancilla, Francisca Munoz, Cristian Oyarce, Francisca Pantoja, Rocio Ramirez, Vicente Urrutia
Summary: Achieving a local understanding of fire regimes requires high-resolution, systematic and dynamic databases. This study developed a flexible workflow using the Google Earth Engine platform to reconstruct burned areas and estimate fire severity based on historical wildfires in Chile. The result is the Landscape Fire Scars Database, which provides detailed information on fire events and is publicly available.
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE DATA
(2022)