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A Modeling Approach to Global Land Surface Monitoring with Low Resolution Satellite ImagingThe effects of changing land use/land cover on global climate and ecosystems due to greenhouse gas emissions and changing energy and nutrient exchange rates are being addressed by federal programs such as NASA's Mission to Planet Earth (MTPE) and by international efforts such as the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program (IGBP). The quantification of these effects depends on accurate estimates of the global extent of critical land cover types such as fire scars in tropical savannas and ponds in Arctic tundra. To address the requirement for accurate areal estimates, methods for producing regional to global maps with satellite imagery are being developed. The only practical way to produce maps over large regions of the globe is with data of coarse spatial resolution, such as Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) weather satellite imagery at 1.1 km resolution or European Remote-Sensing Satellite (ERS) radar imagery at 100 m resolution. The accuracy of pixel counts as areal estimates is in doubt, especially for highly fragmented cover types such as fire scars and ponds. Efforts to improve areal estimates from coarse resolution maps have involved regression of apparent area from coarse data versus that from fine resolution in sample areas, but it has proven difficult to acquire sufficient fine scale data to develop the regression. A method for computing accurate estimates from coarse resolution maps using little or no fine data is therefore needed.
Document ID
20020073379
Acquisition Source
Ames Research Center
Document Type
Other
Authors
Hlavka, Christine A.
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA United States)
Dungan, Jennifer
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA United States)
Livingston, Gerry P.
(Vermont Univ. Burlington, VT United States)
Gore, Warren J.
Date Acquired
September 7, 2013
Publication Date
December 9, 1998
Subject Category
Earth Resources And Remote Sensing
Funding Number(s)
PROJECT: RTOP 274-52-81-19
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.
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