Use of remote sensing and global positioning system in the study of vegetation

G.D.Bagchi Central Institute of Medicinal and aromatic plants, LUCKNOW

A. Remote sensing
It is the ability to measure the properties of an object without touching it. The term was coined by Ms. Evelyn Pruitt in mid 1950s, she was geographer / oceanographer with U.S. Office of Naval Research, Washington DC. Definition- It is a technology for sampling electromagnetic radiation to acquire and interpret non immediate geospatial data from which to extract information about features, objects, and classes on the Earths land surface, oceans and atmosphere ( and where applicable, on the exteriors of other bodies in the solar system, or, in the broadcast framework, celestial bodies such as stars and galaxies

i. Aerial sensing
a. Aircrafts b. Balloons

ii. Remote sensing through satellites

Satellites have made enormous contribution to regional and global geophysical surveys. This is because it is very difficult and costly to conduct ground and aerial surveys over large areas and then to coordinate the individual surveys by joining them together. To obtain coherent data sets on a world scale, orbiting satellites are the only reasonable alternate way to provide total coverage. Many satellites have been placed in space by different nations to get various important data of Earth.

Remote sensing satellites study earths surface from 500 km using powerful cameras to scan the planet then sends back data for processing. Indian satellitesIRS- ID- 1997 IRS- P4- 1999 (Oceansat) Resourcesat, Cartosat

Other important satellitesLandsat-MSS, TM GRACE- 2002 SPOT HRV RADARSAT

Ground station

How does remote sensing work

* Reflected light from earth surface is captured by camera or sensors. * Natural and man made structures absorb and reflect varying amounts of lights in different wavelengths. * This information is recorded and displayed by another set of sensors

Scanning of the object

Image character
Sun is the primary source of energy that illuminates natural targets. Depending upon the nature of objects, they either Transmit, absorb, reflect or scatter the light. Most remote sensing systems are design to collect the reflected radiation

Vegetation / Agricultural remote sensing

It is commonly done in the visible, near-infrared and thermal infrared portions of the spectrum

 Regions within the visible and infrared spectrum

Visible Violet- 0.40-0.45 Infrared Near-infrared 0.70-3.0 Blue- 0.45-0.50 Thermal infrared 3.0-14.0 Green- 0.50-0.55 Far infrared 14.0-1000. Yellow-0.55-0.60 Orange-0.60-0.65 Red- 0.65-0.70 The amount of energy radiating from a surface in a particular portion of the spectrum is measured by radiometer placed on board aircraft and satellite for survey of vegetation or field.

Identification of vegetation
Most vegetation reflect green and infra red light. Thus most vegetation has a green leafy colour and appears bright in the near Infra red wavelengths. Identifying vegetation depends on several plant characteristics

Plant / vegetation characters that help in the identification

1. Vegetation can be distinguished from inorganic materials by its absorption of blue and red light and reflectance of green and near IR wavelengths. 2. The Wavelength of reflectance are different in different plant parts, canopies reflect more shorter radar wavelength than branches and tree trunk. 3. Leaf characters that influence the reflectance properties are internal and external structure, age, water status, mineral composition and health. 4. Deciduous leaves tend to be more reflective than evergreen needles. Therefore,in infrared colour composites, the red colour associated bands (0.7-1.1) are normally richer in hue and brighter from leaves than pine needles.

Reflectance properties of earth objects

*Making spectral measurements of reflected signals remote sensing experts describe and classify man made objects and vegetation types.

Determination of density of vegetation on the basis of spectral characters

Identification of vegetation

Species identification and determination of population density

1.Stipa tenacissima 2.Artemisia alba 3. Anabasis aphylla 4. Peganum harmala 5. N mucronata 6. Galleys 7. Bare soil 8. Not classified

Watermelo n

Pumpki n

Marigol d

Maize

Grass

Tree

Soil1

Soil2

Soil3

Builtup

Concret e

Vin yl

Unclassifi ed

Vegetation

Non-vegetation

Factors that influence the images

 Angle of source of irradiance, The Sun  Reflectance of the object

Factors that detect the vegetation quality

 Brightness  Greenness

Moisture- plants take up water from soil and then release it from their leaves and leaves are cooled. If a crop cannot get enough water its surface temperature will rise. Therefore, it will tell about the health of the crop.

Thermal remote sensing

Thermal portion of the spectrum measures surface temperature of earth or vegetation. Thermal imagery brings out information on soil moisture. Health of the crop. Healthy plants receiving good amount of moisture possess cooler surface than the water deficient and diseased plants Blue-moist areas, Red dry areas

Land use / land cover map of south central Asia

Agarwal S. et al (2003) Curr. Sci. 84, 1440-1448.

Area statistics of the land cover classes

Net primary productivity image over Indian sub-continent 1998-99

Net primary productivity (NPP) is the fundamental process in biosphere functioning and is needed for assessing the carbon balance at regional and global scales. With the availability of space based remote sensing measurements providing global coverage with nearly daily sampling and techniques to estimate absorb photo synthetically active radiation (APAR), the use of RS data has become the most preferred technique for estimating global/ regional NPP.

Chhabra and Dadhwal (2004), Curr. Sci. 86(2); 269-271

Chlorophyll-a concentration map of south China sea

Nowduar (Assam) Reserve Forest showing deforestation

Srivastava S. et al (2002), Curr. Sci. 82 (12); 1479-1484.

Assessment of Mangrove vegetation using Remote sensing data

Cauvery basin (Pichavaram, Tamil Nadu) mangrove wetland (a) before restoration 1986 ; (b) after restoration 2002

Selvam V. et al (2003) Curr. Sci. 84 (6); 794-797

Classified map of Cauvery basin ( Pinchavaram) mangrove wetland showing increase in area of dense and young mangrove forestc

Estimation of agricultural and horticultural resources

Map showing mango orchard area (green) in Malihabad block, district Lucknow. RSAC- Lucknow

Mapping of Taxus baccata in Talle valley (Arunachal Pradesh)

Behera et al.Curr Sci 78, 1008,2000

IRS 1C LISS-III False colour composite image of Talle valley

Classified image of Talle valley showing different vegetation association with Taxus baccata
Behera et al, Curr Sci, 78,1008,2000

Mapping of Hippophae rhamnoides in Kaza area of Lahul and Spiti

IRS IC LISS-FCC image showing H. rhamnoides on the bank of Spiti river . Roy et al, Curr Sci, 80, 1107, 2001

Classified image of Kaza and adjoining areas showing distribution of Hippophae rhamnoides
Roy et al, Curr Sci. 80,1107, 2001

Water Resource Mapping

Remote sensing techniques with conventional ground geo-physical surveys enables delineating ground water potential zones that pin point the sites the drilling operations

RSAC- Lucknow

Flood inundation mapping and damage assessment

Using optical and microwave remote sensing data, the information on flood inundated areas along various river system can be generated.

RSAC- Lucknow

Monitoring dynamics of river systems The dynamic behavior of intrinsic network of drainages in different rivers can be monitored using multi-date satellite data. Such studies are useful in riverine projects and selecting suitable sites for construction of rail and road bridges across the rivers.

RSAC- Lucknow

Glaciological studies
The melt water, from snow and ice bound areas of Himalayas, feed the numerous river systems. Monitoring of the spatial and temporal variations in the snow and ice cover using multi date satellite data helps in predicting the discharge in the emanating river systems during the summer months. Studies have shown that various glaciers (particularly Gangotri glacior) of Himalayas are retreating at the rate of 25 m / yr. RSAC- Lucknow

RSAC- Lucknow

Satellites afford excellent means to monitor on-going and potential ecological threats and damage as well as long term after effects to the Earths natural surface and to areas relevant to human activities. Sometimes, ongoing ecological problems can be watched in nearreal time using both high resolution and geo-stationary satellites. This is true for assessing the damage done to wetlands, shorelines, and forests hit by strong hurricanes. Much obvious damage is imposed on vegetation by forest fires and grassland burns. Also, normally very easy to see are the destruction and deposits associated with sand storms. Dust storms brought about by nature but sometimes made more severe because of human land practices can affect large regions. Oil spills constitute another ecological catastrophe that often is detectable in Landsat-type imagery and under favorable conditions in radar scenes.

New Orleans, Louisiana Before After

Tarangambadi, India Post-tsunami Lat: 11.03 N Lon: 79.85 E This one-meter resolution image was taken by Space Imaging's IKONOS satellite on Dec. 29, 2004 just three days after the devastating tsunami hit. The image shows destruction and damage to Tarangambadi, India including standing floodwater, washed out bridges, structures and highways and damaged agricultural fields.

Vegetation fires in grasslands and forests.

Oil Spill- Charleston Harbor

Lucknow city as viewed by remote sensing satillite IRS-1C, 2001

CIMAP

RSAC- Lucknow

Mapping and monitoring of urban sprawl of Lucknow city.

Urban sprawl of Luckow city was 44.03 sq km in 1901 increased to 80.00 sq Km in 1973. Based on satellite data the urban area has been measured to be 196.50 sq Km in 1997.
RSAC- Lucknow

B. Global Positioning System (GPS)

GPS is a satellite based navigation system. The first GPS satellite was launched by the US Military in February 1978. Civilian use began in the early 1990s.

GPS Satellite signals

Each satellite transmits a message containing 3 informations1. Satellite number 2. Its position in space 3. Signal time Satellites transmit two different signals1. Precision or P-code: Designed for authorized military usersaccuracy better than 20m. 2. Coarse acquisition or C/A-code: Designed for civilian use is less accurate and easy to acquireaccuracy better than 100m.

GPS receiver

GPS receiver reads the massage sent by the GPS satellites. It compares the time at which a signal was transmitted by the satellite to determine the distance. It determines a 3D position which includes latitude, longitude and altitude. It can also provide data on speed and direction of travel.

Identification of position on earth

For accurate location of a place
In two dimensions on a plane, three sets of known locations and distances are required to uniquely identify a point. In three dimensional spaces, four sets of positions and distances are required. Errors may occur in accurate location due to atmospheric effects, satellite arrangements and selective availability of the random signals.

Random code
Pseudo Random Code (PRC) is a fundamental part of GPS. It is a complicated digital code. It works as on off pulse. Each satellite has its own PRC.

Use of differential GPS

Differential correction compensates for Selective Availability It uses data collected at the known location to correct data collected at an unknown location For this there must be at least two GPS receivers in the field operating simultaneously The two receivers must record data from the same set of satellites at the same time.

Types of GPS

Types of GPS

Set of data recorded by the GPS

Geographic Information System - GIS

GIS Gis combines layers of information about a place to give a better understanding of that place. What layers of information you combine depends on the purpose- finding the best location, analyzing environmental damage A full GIS requires Hardware (computer and peripherals) Software Data Sound analysis methods for interpreting the results generated by GIS