Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
4.5
2.7
Journals
Applied Sciences
Special Issues
Applications of Remote Sensing and GIS in Land Surface Observation
applsci-logo
Submit to Applied Sciences Review for Applied Sciences Propose a Special Issue

Journal Menu

► Journal Menu

Journal Browser

► Journal Browser
share announcement

Applications of Remote Sensing and GIS in Land Surface Observation

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Earth Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 April 2023) | Viewed by 4081

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Terence Darlington Mushore

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. School of Agricultural, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg 3209, South Africa
2. Department of Space Science and Applied Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Zimbabwe, Harare 00263, Zimbabwe
Interests: land use; land-use change; environmental impacts; socioeconomic impacts; wetlands; climate change; urbanization; impact modelling; surface water

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Natural and human causes are altering the properties of land surfaces in space and time globally. The changes and causal processes vary in the spatial and temporal scale, requiring multitemporal and multiscale analysis to reveal complex patterns. The changes also have associated impacts, some of which are detrimental to the current and future performance of dependent systems. Furthermore, in view of the demand for sustainable development, modeling of future changes of land surface characteristics and possible associated impacts will be essential. The drivers of change will include water use and management strategies, agricultural practices, mining activities, and urbanization. Multitemporal, multispectral and multiresolution remotely sensed data integrated with other sources of data have the potential to enhance the analysis of the spatial and temporal relationships between land surface characteristics and impacts in different environments. Case studies of best practices, such as conservation methods and urban greening, will be important to drive sustainable development globally. New datasets and new methods will also aid effective analysis. The journal will also be open to emerging techniques, such as the use of artificial intelligence and advanced machine learning in characterizing the land surface and impacts. Comparison of methods, datasets, and models will also be key to improving land surface characterization.

Dr. Terence Darlington Mushore
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Published Papers (3 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

13 pages, 3915 KiB  
Article
Analysis of Urban Maize Yield Response to Urban Sprawl in a Changing Climate: Case of Harare Metropolitan City
by Herbert Mandigo, Teddious Mhizha and Terence Darlington Mushore
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(18), 10259; https://doi.org/10.3390/app131810259 - 13 Sep 2023
Viewed by 648
Abstract
Agriculture in free spaces within urban areas sustains residents as they grow crops to ensure food availability while at the same time selling other produce to fund other needs. Due to the value of urban agricultural production, the main focus of this study [...] Read more.
Agriculture in free spaces within urban areas sustains residents as they grow crops to ensure food availability while at the same time selling other produce to fund other needs. Due to the value of urban agricultural production, the main focus of this study was to investigate the implications of urban growth on maize yield in Harare metropolitan city. In order to achieve this, Landsat multispectral and multi-temporal data were used to establish the responses of the estimated maize yield to city growth from 1984 to 2018. Initially, Land Use and Land Cover map for each period were produced using multispectral images and field observation in Support Vector Machine (SVM)-based supervised image classification. The maps were reclassified using a binary scheme of croplands and non-croplands, which was used to quantify cropland area in each period and hence change over time. The maize yield for each period was estimated from data obtained from a study of maize yields obtained at the University of Zimbabwe Farm (UZ) farm for maize grown under variable agricultural practices. Results showed that cropland area was reduced from 11,120 ha in 1984 down to 2631 ha in 2018. The estimated average maize yield decreased from 52,264 tons in 1984 to 12,366 tons in 2018. In addition to showing the value of urban agriculture, the findings of this study are important in informing the government, municipalities, and other stakeholders about how urban growth has the potential to compromise food security and livelihoods, especially for the urban poor. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Applications of Remote Sensing and GIS in Land Surface Observation)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

22 pages, 59037 KiB  
Article
A Novel Remote Sensing Image Enhancement Method, the Pseudo-Tasseled Cap Transformation: Taking Buildings and Roads in GF-2 as an Example
by Jiqiu Deng, Wuzhou Dong, Yiwei Guo, Xiaoyan Chen, Renhao Zhou and Wenyi Liu
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(11), 6585; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13116585 - 29 May 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1149
Abstract
With the improvements in sensor accuracy, the spectral features of high-resolution remote sensing images become more complex. As a result, the classification accuracy for land cover classification decreases. Remote sensing image enhancements can improve the visual effect and the intra-class consistency and enhance [...] Read more.
With the improvements in sensor accuracy, the spectral features of high-resolution remote sensing images become more complex. As a result, the classification accuracy for land cover classification decreases. Remote sensing image enhancements can improve the visual effect and the intra-class consistency and enhance the characteristics of ground objects. These enhancements are important for both image interpretation and improving image segmentation accuracy. In this study, we propose a pseudo-tasseled cap transformation (pseudo-TCT) through an orthogonal linear transformation of Gaofen-2 (GF-2) images using the untransposed tasseled cap transformation (TCT) coefficients, and further, enhance the visual effect and the separability among ground objects by linear stretching and percentage truncation stretching. To examine the separability among ground objects in the pseudo-TCT image, we used K-Means clustering, ISODATA clustering and 3D visualization of the spectral features of typical ground objects. The results show that the separability of buildings and roads from background objects is better than in the original image and the TCT image, and typical ground objects are effectively distinguished. Additionally, we visualized intra-class consistency by calculating the mean Euclidean distance between the pixel values of each point and the pixel values of its eight neighboring points and calculated the standard deviation of the intra-class consistency images. The results indicate that the secondary textures of the objects were weakened, and edges were made clearer, enhancing intra-class consistency. The pseudo-TCT is effective, at least in our work, and could be a candidate for image enhancement under certain applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Applications of Remote Sensing and GIS in Land Surface Observation)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

20 pages, 3333 KiB  
Article
Controls of Land Surface Temperature between and within Local Climate Zones: A Case Study of Harare in Zimbabwe
by Terence Darlington Mushore, John Odindi and Onisimo Mutanga
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(24), 12774; https://doi.org/10.3390/app122412774 - 13 Dec 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1900
Abstract
Urban growth-related changes in land use and land cover have segmented urban areas into zones of distinct surface and air temperatures (i.e., Local Climate Zones—LCZ). While studies have revealed inter-LCZ temperature variations, understanding controls of variations in Land Surface Temperature (LST) within LCZs [...] Read more.
Urban growth-related changes in land use and land cover have segmented urban areas into zones of distinct surface and air temperatures (i.e., Local Climate Zones—LCZ). While studies have revealed inter-LCZ temperature variations, understanding controls of variations in Land Surface Temperature (LST) within LCZs has largely remained uninvestigated. In view of the need for LCZ-specific heat mitigation strategies, this study investigated factors driving LST variations within LCZs. To achieve this, an LCZ map for Harare was developed and correlated with LST, both derived using Landsat 8 data. The contribution index (CI) was then used to determine the relative contribution of LCZs to cooling and warming of the city. The contribution of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Normalized Difference Bareness Index (NDBaI), Normalized Difference Built-up Index (NDBI), Modified Normalized Difference Water Index (MNDWI), Urban Index (UI), and Aspect and Elevation as quantitative measures of surface controls of LST were investigated between and within LCZs. LST generally increased with built-up density and reduced with increases in surface water and vegetation. The study showed that the cooling effect of water bodies was reduced in contribution to their insignificant proportion of the study area. At the city scale, NDVI, MNDWI, NDBI, and UI had the strongest influence on LST (correlation coefficient > 0.5). At the intra-LCZ scale, the contribution of these surface properties remained significant, though to varied extents. The study concluded that surface wetness is a significant cooling determinant in densely built-up LCZs, while in other LCZs, it combines with vegetation abundance and health to mitigate elevated surface temperature. Aspect and elevation had low but significant correlations with LST in most LCZs. The study recommends that intra-LCZ controls of LST must be considered in heat mitigation efforts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Applications of Remote Sensing and GIS in Land Surface Observation)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-3
Back to TopTop