Article
Environmental Sciences
Huiping Jiang, Huadong Guo, Zhongchang Sun, Xiongfeng Yan, Jinlin Zha, Haili Zhang, Sijia Li
Summary: China has experienced rapid human settlement expansion in both urban and rural areas over the past three decades. However, previous studies have failed to capture the carbon storage changes in human settlement due to their focus on specific ecosystems and neglect of urban-rural disparities. This study used big Earth data technology to explore China's urban-rural disparities in human settlement expansion and their direct impacts on carbon storage. The results showed that China's human settlement expansion reached 175,703.80 km2 from 1990 to 2018, with different proportions in inner-city, peri-urban, and rural areas. The increase in impervious surface area led to a sealing of soil organic carbon and a reduction in vegetation biomass carbon, and the change density of both carbon components slightly increased along the urban-rural gradient. Socioeconomic drivers had a greater influence in urban areas, and concerted efforts are needed to preserve lands with abundant carbon storage and regulate rural land use to prevent wastage of land resources.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Remote Sensing
Jose Luis San Emeterio, Catherine Mering
Summary: This research explores a reproducible method for replacing manual digitalizations of urban agglomerations using numerical image analysis, which provided better results in humid regions but faced challenges in detecting highly scattered habitats with texture analyses.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF REMOTE SENSING
(2021)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Chunmei Zhang, Lingen Wang
Summary: This study used entropy method and spatial autocorrelation analysis to evaluate the human settlement quality in 14 prefecture-level cities in Liaoning Province. The results indicate that the settlements had ordinary quality and measures should be taken to improve their quality. Spatially, there were regional differentiations in the settlements, with lower distribution in the east, higher distribution in the west and middle, and slightly lower distribution at the ends. The quality of the settlements also showed systematic differentiation during the evaluation period. Effective measures to improve the quality of urban human settlements are proposed in this paper, providing theoretical support for their healthy development.
Review
Environmental Sciences
Bruno Ferreira, Rui G. Silva, Muriel Iten
Summary: This paper presented a review on the capabilities of machine learning algorithms for modeling and extracting information from Earth observation data. The combination of Earth observation and machine learning has shown great potential in various fields, and several commonly used machine learning techniques were discussed.
Article
Environmental Studies
Shenzhen Tian, Bing Yang, Zhangli Liu, Xueming Li, Wei Zhang
Summary: This study examines the coupling and coordination relationship and evolution principle of urban pseudo and reality human settlements in 34 prefecture-level cities in northeast China. The results show a steady growth of the coupling coordination degree in the temporal dimension, while in the spatial dimension, the coordination degree decreases in a circular pattern from the center to the periphery. The spatial evolution trend changes from a - shape to U shape in the south-north direction, and there is spatio-temporal variation in the east-west direction. The socioeconomic situation is identified as an important driving factor, and the tool system plays an important role in the coupling and coordinated development of urban human settlements.
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Shenzhen Tian, Ao Qi, Zihang Li, Xiaobai Pan, Yushi Liu, Xueming Li
Summary: This study empirically examines the spatial patterns, coordination relationships, driving mechanisms and development paths of urban human settlements in 14 prefecture-level cities in Liaoning Province. The research reveals regional variations in the spatial patterns of high-quality development and the coordination between different types of human settlements. The driving forces include population, economic conditions, and entertainment systems.
Article
Remote Sensing
Peter K. Hargreaves, Gary R. Watmough
Summary: This review highlights the inadequacy of traditional data in measuring poverty and achieving sustainable development goals, proposing satellite earth observation data as a potential supplement for sustainable rural development. The research found that most existing methods operate at a single spatial scale, for a single point in time, and proxy only one socioeconomic metric. It also notes an underutilization of fusion capabilities with disparate datasets.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF APPLIED EARTH OBSERVATION AND GEOINFORMATION
(2021)
Editorial Material
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Christopher T. Fisher
Summary: The aerial technique, which can detect hidden signs of human modifications in ancient landscapes, has provided data that will lead to a reevaluation of the types of settlements inhabited by early societies in the Amazon region.
Article
Remote Sensing
Zhibang Xu, Limin Jiao, Ting Lan, Zhengzi Zhou, Hao Cui, Chengpeng Li, Gang Xu, Yaolin Liu
Summary: Urban boundaries serve as the foundation for urban statistics and planning, but discrepancies in city definitions make comparison challenging. A model was proposed to consistently identify hierarchical urban boundaries based on physical urban entities, resulting in a global dataset named GHUB. The study revealed the physical form and spatial characteristics of global urban settlements, highlighting the variety of urban characteristics worldwide and the importance of a universal approach to studying urban settlements.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF APPLIED EARTH OBSERVATION AND GEOINFORMATION
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Dimitris Tsirantonakis, Nektarios Chrysoulakis
Summary: The sustainable development of cities is crucial for the well-being and safety of urban populations, and evaluating the impact of urban planning interventions is important. In this study, Earth Observation data was used to systematically assess the effect of a suburban park development on urban surface energy balance, and it was found that the planned intervention contributed to the development of the urban heat island.
Article
Remote Sensing
Zhenfeng Shao, Wenfu Wu, Deren Li
Summary: Urban remote sensing is crucial for urban observation, requiring data with high resolution. Existing satellites cannot fulfill all requirements, thus coordination of data is necessary. This study introduced an urban spatio-temporal-spectral observation model to address the gap in existing frameworks, and proposed four specific applications.
GEO-SPATIAL INFORMATION SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Computer Science, Interdisciplinary Applications
Rosario Michele Costigliola, Claudio Mancuso, Luca Pagano, Francesco Silvestri
Summary: This paper compares the results of different analysis procedures in studying the seismic response of an Italian earth dam, and shows how the combination of complete dynamic analyses and traditional simplified approaches can complement each other in interpreting the dam's seismic response. It also discusses the importance of calibrating model parameters in complete dynamic analyses.
COMPUTERS AND GEOTECHNICS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Luciano Argento, Francesco Buccafurri, Angelo Furfaro, Sabrina Graziano, Antonella Guzzo, Gianluca Lax, Francesco Pasqua, Domenico Sacca
Summary: Accountability requires individuals or organizations to be responsible, transparent, and trustworthy in digital transactions, with blockchain technology offering a decentralized solution that eliminates the need for a single trusted third party. The integration of digital identity and blockchain is crucial for achieving accountability in concrete solutions. The results of a three-year research project demonstrate the effectiveness and innovation of a blockchain-based platform for service accountability integrating eIDAS-compliant Public Digital Identity.
APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL
(2021)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Qirui Xue, Xiaohua Yang, Feifei Wu
Summary: Urban human settlements have a significant impact on human health, livability, and economy. To facilitate objective regionalization and identify impact factors, a two-stage model of spatiotemporal analysis and factor analysis was established. Analysis showed that the urban real human settlements index and pseudo human settlements index fluctuate, with varying values across space. The key factors affecting urban human settlements were found to be population size, social development, and environmental governance.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2021)
Article
Environmental Studies
Jiayu Zhang, Xiaodong Yang, Hao Wang
Summary: This study analyzed the contradictions among stakeholders in urban aging-friendly regeneration and proposed incentive measures to improve decision-making efficiency. It identified the stable strategy set of active intervention, coordination of opinions and agreement on benefits strategies among the local government, investors, and residents.
Review
Environmental Sciences
Thorsten Hoeser, Felix Bachofer, Claudia Kuenzer
Article
Environmental Sciences
Minh Tu Nguyen, Zita Sebesvari, Maxime Souvignet, Felix Bachofer, Andreas Braun, Matthias Garschagen, Ulrike Schinkel, Liang Emlyn Yang, Linh Hoang Khanh Nguyen, Volker Hochschild, Andre Assmann, Michael Hagenlocher
Summary: Vietnam faces various types of floods that lead to significant economic losses, infrastructure damage, and loss of lives. Existing flood risk assessments in the country lack clear definitions, tend to prioritize physical and environmental drivers over social, economic, and governance-related drivers, and often overlook vulnerability scenarios. Future research on flood risk in Vietnam should focus on addressing these gaps and engaging relevant stakeholders for more comprehensive risk assessments and solutions.
JOURNAL OF FLOOD RISK MANAGEMENT
(2021)
Article
Anthropology
Alvise Barbieri, Felix Bachofer, Elmar M. Schmaltz, Carsten Leven, Nicholas J. Conard, Christopher E. Miller
Summary: The study reveals that sediments and archaeological materials eroded from caves and deposited above river incisions in both Ach and Lone valleys before 37-32 Kcal BP. A comparison suggests that the dearth of Gravettian materials in the Lone Valley may be the result of cave deposits erosion occurring at different times than in the Ach Valley.
JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Daniela Palacios-Lopez, Felix Bachofer, Thomas Esch, Mattia Marconcini, Kytt MacManus, Alessandro Sorichetta, Julian Zeidler, Stefan Dech, Andrew J. Tatem, Peter Reinartz
Summary: The field of human population mapping is advancing with the help of high-resolution satellite imagery and developments in machine learning. The emergence of global built-area datasets has improved the production of new population grids, leading to higher quality and spatial resolution.
Article
Ecology
Bassam Qarallah, Malik Al-Ajlouni, Ayman Al-Awasi, Mohammad Alkarmy, Emad Al-Qudah, Ahmad Bani Naser, Amani Al-Assaf, Caroline M. Gevaert, Yolla Al Asmar, Mariana Belgiu, Yahia A. Othman
Summary: By using remote sensing data and field measurements, we studied the fire severity and recovery process of the Latroon dry forest in Jordan after the 2003 fire, finding that about 65% of the forest was burned. UAV assessments showed that 90% of the burned area had recovered to pre-fire conditions by 2020, but tree heights in severely burned areas were significantly lower than those in moderately burned areas.
JOURNAL OF ARID ENVIRONMENTS
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Soner Uereyen, Felix Bachofer, Claudia Kuenzer
Summary: The analysis of the Earth system and interactions among its spheres is important for understanding global environmental change. This study presents a methodological framework that combines multivariate land surface variables, statistical time series analysis techniques, and a causal discovery algorithm to quantify land surface change and driving variables. The results demonstrate the value and suitability of this framework for global climate change research, providing detailed information on significant trends and seasonality, as well as detection of causal links.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Marco Ottinger, Felix Bachofer, Juliane Huth, Claudia Kuenzer
Summary: Asia dominates the aquaculture sector and contributes to 90% of the world's total annual global production. While aquaculture is important for providing protein source, income, and employment, it has also resulted in environmental degradation. Therefore, the utilization of geospatial information is crucial for managing and sustaining the aquaculture industry for coastal ecosystems, resources, and human health.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Ronja Lappe, Tobias Ullmann, Felix Bachofer
Summary: This study analyzed the dynamics of Vietnam's coastline from 1986 to 2021 using Landsat archives and Google Earth Engine. The results showed that half of Vietnam's coastline did not experience significant change, while the other half exhibited erosion and accretion. The areas with the highest change rates were located in the delta regions of major rivers, and the erosion rates may be related to human activities.
Review
Environmental Sciences
Tuyen Ha, Juliane Huth, Felix Bachofer, Claudia Kuenzer
Summary: Drought is a recurring climatic hazard that poses devastating threats to humans, the economy, and the environment. Satellite observations play a key role in providing timely and accurate information for early warning drought management. Studies on drought in Southeast Asia have increased, with a focus on Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Vegetation indices from optical remote sensing sensors are commonly used for drought monitoring. Challenges remain in large-area and long time-series drought measurements, combined drought approach, and multi-sensor remote sensing integration.
Article
Computer Science, Information Systems
Abbas Najmi, Caroline M. M. Gevaert, Divyani Kohli, Monika Kuffer, Jati Pratomo
Summary: This research aims to integrate Remote Sensing Imagery (RSI) and Street View Images (SVI) for slum mapping. The experimental results demonstrate that combining RSI and SVI improves the accuracy of slum mapping, depending on how and at what level they are integrated in the network.
ISPRS INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GEO-INFORMATION
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Christina Eisfelder, Sarah Asam, Andreas Hirner, Philipp Reiners, Stefanie Holzwarth, Martin Bachmann, Ursula Gessner, Andreas Dietz, Juliane Huth, Felix Bachofer, Claudia Kuenzer
Summary: Remote sensing multi-decadal time-series provide important information for analysing long-term environmental change. This study presents a novel NDVI product based on AVHRR data, which can be used for monitoring vegetation conditions and assessing long-term vegetation change in Europe and northern Africa. The study reveals distinct NDVI trends for different regions and seasons.
Review
Remote Sensing
Caroline M. Gevaert
Summary: This paper reviews examples of explainable machine learning and explainable artificial intelligence in the field of Earth Observation, classifying the methods and identifying limitations. The findings indicate a lack of clarity, with explanations often targeting domain experts and lacking testing for usefulness to the intended audience.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF APPLIED EARTH OBSERVATION AND GEOINFORMATION
(2022)
Article
Environmental Studies
Zhiyuan Wang, Felix Bachofer, Jonas Koehler, Juliane Huth, Thorsten Hoeser, Mattia Marconcini, Thomas Esch, Claudia Kuenzer
Summary: In the past decades, various Earth observation-based time series products have emerged, enabling studies and predictive modeling of global change processes. A pixel-based approach called spatio-temporal matrix (STM) was introduced to interpret the spatial and temporal information of land cover for predictive modeling. The STM-based model showed good performance in predicting future urban/built-settlement growth.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Markus L. Fischer, Felix Bachofer, Chad L. Yost, Ines J. E. Bludau, Christian Schepers, Verena Foerster, Henry Lamb, Frank Schaebitz, Asfawossen Asrat, Martin H. Trauth, Annett Junginger
Summary: Southern Ethiopia has undergone significant climatic changes over the past 25,000 years, from the Last Glacial Maximum to the African Humid Period and present-day dry conditions. Vegetation changes and lake balance models reflect the impact of climate change on the region, with paleo-landcover maps showing shifts in moisture availability. Human occupations in southern Ethiopia appear to align with open landscapes during the late Pleistocene and Holocene, indicating a correlation between human activity and environmental conditions.
