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At least 37 records · Page 2

Keeping Up With the Time(s): Advancing NASA’s Worldview to Facilitate Quick Access to Global Near Real-Time Imagery

Striving to keep up with the constantly changing environment, whether physical or computing, NASA Worldview’s interactive web mapping application continues to make improvements to ensure that avenues to near-real time imagery are quick, easy and accessible. This poster will explore recent additions to NASA Worldview and the Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS) of near real-time imagery and imagery visualizations - from geostationary to flood mapping visualizations; improvements to access to imagery - from granule swath visualizations to vector interactions with fires and other types of vectors; and improvements to imagery discovery - from enhancements to the timeline to providing more ways to locate relevant imagery in the layer picker.

Min Minnie Wong↗

Improving Data Discoverability in NASA Worldview for Spatiotemporally Discontinuous Layers

Over the past ten years, NASA Worldview has continually evolved to remain an essential data visualization application for NASA’s archive of Earth Science data. Hosting over 1000 data layers, each with differing spatial and temporal availability, Worldview has addressed challenges with visualizing this data to ensure that the user interface and user experience remained straightforward to use.

Patrick Moulden↗

Automatic Estimation of Volcanic Ash Plume Height using WorldView-2 Imagery

We explore the use of machine learning, computer vision, and pattern recognition techniques to automatically identify volcanic ash plumes and plume shadows, in WorldView-2 imagery. Using information of the relative position of the sun and spacecraft and terrain information in the form of a digital elevation map, classification, the height of the ash plume can also be inferred. We present the results from applying this approach to six scenes acquired on two separate days in April and May of 2010 of the Eyjafjallajokull eruption in Iceland. These results show rough agreement with ash plume height estimates from visual and radar based measurements.

pattern recognition↗

Assessing within-Field Corn and Soybean Yield Variability from WorldView-3, Planet, Sentinel-2, and Landsat 8 Satellite Imagery

Crop yield monitoring is an important component in agricultural assessment. Multispectral remote sensing instruments onboard space-borne platforms such as Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR), Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), and Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) have shown to be useful for efficiently generating timely and synoptic information on the yield status of crops across regional levels. However, the coarse spatial resolution data inherent to these sensors provides little utility at the management level. Recent satellite imagery collection advances toward finer spatial resolution (down to 1 m) alongside increased observational cadence (near daily) implies information on crops obtainable at field and within-field scales to support farming needs is now possible. To test this premise, we focus on assessing the efficiency of multiple satellite sensors, namely WorldView-3, Planet/Dove-Classic, Sentinel-2, and Landsat 8 (through Harmonized Landsat Sentinel-2 (HLS)), and investigate their spatial, spectral (surface reflectance (SR) and vegetation indices (VIs)), and temporal characteristics to estimate corn and soybean yields at sub-field scales within study sites in the US state of Iowa. Precision yield data as referenced to combine harvesters’ GPS systems were used for validation. We show that imagery spatial resolution of 3 m is critical to explaining 100% of the within-field yield variability for corn and soybean. Our simulation results show that moving to coarser resolution data of 10 m, 20 m, and 30 m reduced the explained variability to 86%, 72%, and 59%, respectively. We show that the most important spectral bands explaining yield variability were green (0.560 µm), red-edge (0.726 µm), and near-infrared (NIR - 0.865 µm). Furthermore, the high temporal frequency of Planet and a combination of Sentinel-2/Landsat 8 (HLS) data allowed for optimal date selection for yield map generation. Overall, we observed mixed performance of satellite-derived models with the coefficient of determination (R^2) varying from 0.21 to 0.88 (averaging 0.56) for the 30 m HLS and from 0.09 to 0.77 (averaging 0.30) for 3 m Planet. R^2 was lower for fields with higher yields, suggesting saturation of the satellite-collected reflectance features in those cases. Therefore, other biophysical variables, such as soil moisture and evapotranspiration, at similar fine spatial resolutions are likely needed alongside the optical imagery to fully explain the yields.

agriculture; yield; within-field; corn; soybean; r↗

Quantifying Libya-4 Surface Reflectance Heterogeneity With WorldView-1, 2 and EO-1 Hyperion

The land surface imaging (LSI) virtual constellation approach promotes the concept of increasing Earth observations from multiple but disparate satellites. We evaluated this through spectral and spatial domains, by comparing surface reflectance from 30-m Hyperion and 2-m resolution WorldView-2 (WV-2) data in the Libya-4 pseudoinvariant calibration site. We convolved and resampled Hyperion to WV-2 bands using both cubic convolution and nearest neighbor (NN) interpolation. Additionally, WV-2 and WV-1 same-date imagery were processed as a cross-track stereo pair to generate a digital terrain model to evaluate the effects from large (>70 m) linear dunes. Agreement was moderate to low on dune peaks between WV-2 and Hyperion (R2 <; 0.4) but higher in areas of lower elevation and slope (R2 > 0.6). Our results provide a satellite sensor intercomparison protocol for an LSI virtual constellation at high spatial resolution, which should start with geolocation of pixels, followed by NN interpolation to avoid tall dunes that enhance surface reflectance differences across this internationally utilized site.

Hyperion↗

Ground-Level Digital Terrain Model (DTM) Construction from Tandem-X InSAR Data and Worldview Stereo-Photogrammetric Images

The ground-level digital elevation model (DEM) or digital terrain model (DTM) information are invaluable for environmental modeling, such as water dynamics in forests, canopy height, forest biomass, carbon estimation, etc. We propose to extract the DTM over forested areas from the combination of interferometric complex coherence from single-pass TanDEM-X (TDX) data at HH polarization and Digital Surface Model (DSM) derived from high-resolution WorldView (WV) image pair by means of random volume over ground (RVoG) model. The RVoG model is a widely and successfully used model for polarimetric SAR interferometry (Pol-InSAR) technique for vertical forest structure parameter retrieval [1][2][3][4]. The ground-level DEM have been obtained by complex volume decorrelation in the RVoG model with the DSM using stereo-photogrammetric technique. Finally, the airborne lidar data were used to validate the ground-level DEM and forest canopy height results.

Lee, Seung-Kuk↗

NASA GIBS and Worldview: Visualizing NASA's Earth Science Data for All to Explore

For more than 20 years, the NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) has operated dozens of remote sensing satellites collecting nearly 15 Petabytes of data that span thousands of science parameters. Within these observations are keys the Earth Scientists have used to unlock many discoveries that we now understand about our planet. Also contained within these observations are a myriad of opportunities for learning and education. The challenge is making them accessible to educators and students in intuitive and simple ways so that effort can be spent on lesson enrichment and not overcoming technical hurdles. The NASA Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS) system and NASA Worldview website provide a unique view into EOS data through daily full resolution visualizations of hundreds of earth science parameters. For many of these parameters, visualizations are available within hours of acquisition from the satellite. For others, visualizations are available for the entire mission of the satellite. Accompanying the visualizations are visual aids such as color legends, place names, and orbit tracks. By using these visualizations, educators and students can observe natural phenomena that enrich a scientific education.

Cechini, Matthew↗

Vegetation Classification of Coffea on Hawaii Island using Worldview-2 Satellite Imagery

Coffee is an important crop in tropical regions of the world; about 125 million people depend on coffee agriculture for their livelihoods. Understanding the spatial extent of coffee fields is useful for management and control of coffee pests such as Hypothenemus hampei and other pests that use coffee fruit as a host for immature stages such as the Mediterranean fruit fly, for economic planning, and for following changes in coffee agroecosystems over time. We present two methods for detecting Coffea arabica fields using remote sensing and geospatial technologies on WorldView-2 high-resolution spectral data of the Kona region of Hawaii Island. The first method, a pixel-based method using a maximum likelihood algorithm, attained 72% producer accuracy and 69% user accuracy (68% overall accuracy) based on analysis of 104 ground truth testing polygons. The second method, an object-based image analysis (OBIA) method, considered both spectral and textural information and improved accuracy, resulting in 76% producer accuracy and 94% user accuracy (81% overall accuracy) for the same testing areas. We conclude that the OBIA method is useful for detecting coffee fields grown in the open and use it to estimate the distribution of about 1050 hectares under coffee agriculture in the Kona region in 2012.

Gaertner, Julie↗

NASA GIBS and Worldview: Leveraging Visualizations to Improve Data Discovery

NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS) leverages scientific and community best practices and standards to provide a scalable, compliant, and authoritative source for NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) Earth science data visualizations. Since 2013, its goal has been to "transform how end users interact and discover [EOS] data through visualizations." Imagery layers within GIBS allow end users to easily and quickly interact with full resolution, pre-generated visualizations of scientific parameters. This interactive discovery approach relies on visual observation and identification of phenomena that are not as simply identified otherwise.

Global Imagery Browse Services↗

NASA’s Global Imagery Browse Services and Worldview Migrate to Mapbox Vector Tiles: The Drawbacks and Advantages

NASA’s Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS) is in the process of migrating their vector data from raster tiles to Mapbox Vector Tiles (MVTs). MVTs are becoming ubiquitous in the world of web mapping. Serving data in place of pixels for each feature presents numerous new visualization opportunities as well as various new challenges to overcome. This presentation will cover some of the hardships these teams encountered, the techniques used to overcome those barriers, and it will give you a glimpse at how the user experience was enhanced.

Benjamin King↗

Improved assessment of mangrove forests in Sundarbans East Wildlife Sanctuary using WorldView 2 and TanDEM-X high resolution imagery

Recent developments of remote sensing techniques which can capture both the structure and function of the ecosystem provide a more representative view of the landscape. These unique Earth observations were used to help improve traditional forestry surveys by providing species-specific land cover classes for mangrove forests in the Sundarbans East Wildlife Sanctuary. By combining optical data from WorldView2 (WV2; 2 m pixel) and a canopy height model derived using radar data from TanDEM-X (TDX; 12 m pixel), we identified nine mangrove and five non-mangrove classes by following an Iterative Self-Organizing Data Analysis Algorithm. Three dominant mangrove species accounted for nearly 50% of the sanctuary. Heritieria fomes disproportionately covered the largest area at 43%, overturning previous field-based estimates of Excoecaria agallocha dominance. E. agallocha and Sonneratia apetala, covered 3% and 1.47% of the sanctuary, respectively. Four mixed species classes were also identified with clear vegetation zonation patterns that trended toward species homogeneity with increasing distance from shore. The overall land cover accuracy (WV2: 89.33%; WV2-TDX: 89.89%), the Kappa Coefficient (WV2:0.88; WV2-TDX: 0.89) and change statistics between WV2 and WV2-TDX landcover classifications indicate that the WV2 imagery can separate mangrove community types without structural data. The combination of the land cover classifications and the canopy height model indicated that H. fomes were not only the most dominant forest but also, on average, the tallest (12.3 m) among the other eight mangrove types. Our large-scale mapping with high resolution optical and radar platforms can capture subtle changes in mangrove vegetation and canopy structural gradients more accurately and be used to monitor biodiversity changes and Aichi Biodiversity Targets and Indicators, which would contribute to biodiversity policy updating.

Md Mizanur Rahman↗

Estimating Bare Earth in Sparse Boreal Forests With WorldView Stereo Imagery

Circumboreal forests are currently experiencing rapid climate warming which is altering their structure, productivity, and status as a carbon sink. Very-high resolution (VHR, <2 m) stereo derived digital surface models are available to monitor these forests, but, a similar resolution digital terrain model (DTM) is required to extract information about tree height, which is often used to estimate carbon content. To our knowledge, no openly available VHR DTM currently exists. To address this need, we developed approaches to extract DTMs by filtering VHR stereo point clouds (PCs) in sparse canopies of Alaska. Our evaluation consisted of two stereo processing methods with three PC search radii, at six different tree canopy cover (TCC) intervals. We found VHR DTMs were robust for estimating bare ground at TCC intervals less than 40% with vertical errors <1.6 m using airborne small footprint light detection and ranging (LiDAR) as reference.

Christopher S R Neigh↗

Estimating Bare Earth in Sparse Boreal Forests With WorldView Stereo Imagery

Circumboreal forests are currently experiencing rapid climate warming which is altering their structure, productivity, and status as a carbon sink. Very-high resolution (VHR, <2 m) stereo derived digital surface models are available to monitor these forests, but, a similar resolution digital terrain model (DTM) is required to extract information about tree height, which is often used to estimate carbon content. To our knowledge, no openly available VHR DTM currently exists. To address this need, we developed approaches to extract DTMs by filtering VHR stereo point clouds (PCs) in sparse canopies of Alaska. Our evaluation consisted of two stereo processing methods with three PC search radii, at six different tree canopy cover (TCC) intervals. We found VHR DTMs were robust for estimating bare ground at TCC intervals less than 40% with vertical errors <1.6 m using airborne small footprint light detection and ranging (LiDAR) as reference.

Christopher S. R. Neigh↗

Refinement of a Method for Identifying Probable Archaeological Sites from Remotely Sensed Data

To facilitate locating archaeological sites before they are compromised or destroyed, we are developing approaches for generating maps of probable archaeological sites, through detecting subtle anomalies in vegetative cover, soil chemistry, and soil moisture by analyzing remotely sensed data from multiple sources. We previously reported some success in this effort with a statistical analysis of slope, radar, and Ikonos data (including tasseled cap and NDVI transforms) with Student's t-test. We report here on new developments in our work, performing an analysis of 8-band multispectral Worldview-2 data. The Worldview-2 analysis begins by computing medians and median absolute deviations for the pixels in various annuli around each site of interest on the 28 band difference ratios. We then use principle components analysis followed by linear discriminant analysis to train a classifier which assigns a posterior probability that a location is an archaeological site. We tested the procedure using leave-one-out cross validation with a second leave-one-out step to choose parameters on a 9,859x23,000 subset of the WorldView-2 data over the western portion of Ft. Irwin, CA, USA. We used 100 known non-sites and trained one classifier for lithic sites (n=33) and one classifier for habitation sites (n=16). We then analyzed convex combinations of scores from the Archaeological Predictive Model (APM) and our scores. We found that that the combined scores had a higher area under the ROC curve than either individual method, indicating that including WorldView-2 data in analysis improved the predictive power of the provided APM.

Tilton, James C.↗

Determining True Sensor Spatial Resolution of Very High Resolution Optical Imagery

Some satellite data is delivered in images with gridded pixels. This gridded pixel size is often assumed to be the spatial resolution of the satellite sensor; however, this is not always the case. An image can be grided to any arbitrary pixel size, but the sensor resolution will remain constant. For example, an image with a pixel grid size much smaller than the sensor resolution will appear blurry along what should be sharp transitions. This discrepancy between an image’s pixel size and true sensor spatial resolution can be the source of much confusion and even misinformation among data users, which may lead them to waste time and resources on using images that do not suit their spatial resolution needs. This presentation will highlight our evaluation of the true spatial resolution of various government and commercial images in the pixel size range of 0.3 m to 60 m. Images evaluated include ESA’s Sentinel-2 (60 m, 20 m, 10 m pixels), USGS’s Landsat 8/9 (30 m & 15 m pixels), Planet’s SuperDoves (3 m pixels), BlackSky’s Globals (~1 m pixels), and the optical bands of Maxar’s WorldView-2 (2.4 m – 0.41 m pixels) and WorldView-3 (1.38 m – 0.31 m pixels). Our evaluation of true sensor spatial resolution, or ‘footprint size’ is based on the sensor’s line spread function (LSF). We calculate the width at half the height of the LSF to find the full width at half maximum (FWHM). The FWHM is how we report sensor spatial resolution. Different objects are examined for constructing the LSF depending on the sensor spatial resolution. Coarser resolution sensors in this evaluation such as Sentinel-2 and Landsat 8/9 are examined at bridges over a dark water background. The bright bridge acts as a line impulse, giving a sensor’s line spread function (LSF) in one direction. Additionally, we simulate the impacts of bridge width on the apparent LSF to obtain a true LSF without the effects of bridge width for these sensors. Finer resolution sensors will image the irregularities in bridges such as trusses, sidewalks, and in some cases painted lines, interfering with the LSF construction. Instead, these sensors are evaluated at large (60 m – 140 m) black and white checkerboards known as Cal/Val sites. At these locations, the image’s transition from black to white is extracted as an edge spread function (ESF). We calculate the derivative of this ESF to obtain the sensor’s LSF. From there, we find the FWHM as we do for the coarser resolution images. With the FWHM and pixel size, we determine how over- or under-sampled the images are. When the ratio of a sensor’s spatial resolution and the gridded image’s pixel size is less than 1, the image is considered under-sampled. In this case, each pixel’s information is unique but only a portion of that pixel’s ground area has been measured. On the other side, if the ratio is greater than 1, the image is considered over-sampled. That is, each pixel’s information is sourced from within the ground extent of the pixel and some extent outside additionally. We will show the true spatial resolution and the extent of over-/under-sampling in the imagery from ESA’s Sentinel-2 (60 m, 20 m, 10 m pixels), USGS’s Landsat 8/9 (30 m & 15 m pixels), Planet’s SuperDoves (3 m pixels), BlackSky’s Globals (~1 m pixels), and the optical bands of Maxar’s WorldView-2 (2.4 m – 0.41 m pixels) and WorldView-3 (1.38 m – 0.31 m pixels).

Alana Semple↗