PE&RS August 1996

Cover Image

These images illustrate that the SeaStar spacecraft's SeaWiFS instrument will provide a more accurate measure of vegetative health than the NOAA's Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) instrument. The SeaWiFS' six visible and two near infrared spectral channels provide the ability to effectively compensate for the atmospheric haze error source that significantly reduces the accuracy of AVHRR-based Vegetation Indices. Initially designed for a low radiance ocean imaging mission, the SeaWiFS sensor has been modified to image also high radiance areas such as land and coastal zone regions. A recent study by ERIM determined that the SeaWiFS instrument's eight spectral bands will dramatically enhance existing environmental monitoring techniques. The base image for the cover was acquired by SeaStar's predecessor the Coastal Zone Color Scanner flown on the Nimbus-7 spacecraft. It was acquired on June 11, 1980 as it passed over the Great Lakes. SeaStar will be launched during the early part of 1997 aboard Orbital Sciences Corporation's Pegasus XL launch vehicle.

Peer-Reviewed Articles (Click the linked titles to see the full abstract)

921 Land Cover in the Amazon Estuary: Linking of the Thematic Mapper with Botanical and Historical Data
Eduardo Brondizio, Emilio Moran, Paul Mausel, and You Wu

The use of field-based information supportive of classification resulted in individual test field class results which ranged from 81 to 100 percent individual class accuracy. 

931 Change Detection at Multiple Temporal Scales: Seasonal and Annual Variations in Landscape Variables
Eric F. Lambin

When seasonal variations in any remotely sensed landscape variable occur, the detection of inter-an-nual changes in this landscape variable needs to integrate explicitly the fine time-scale variations. 

939 Remote Sensing of Mangrove Wetlands: Relating Canopy Spectra to Site-Specific Data
Elijah W. Ramsey III and John R. Jensen

Visible to near-infrared remote sensing techniques were used in describing the spectral and struc-tural changes within and between mangrove species and community types. 

949 Inferring Urban Land Use from Satellite Sensor Images Using Kernel-Based Spatial Reclassification
M.J. Barnsley and S.L. Barr

A technique for inferring urban land use from the spatial arrangement of land-cover types in high spatial resolution remotely sensed images is presented. 

959 On Using the NOAA AVHRR "Experimental Calibrated Weekly Global Vegetation Index"
Erik A. Williamsand Dennis E. Jelinski

Real errors in the Index are related to duplication of files among years, while potential errors arise from problems in re-sampling. 

961 Comparison of Nadir and Off-Nadir Multispectral Response Patterns for Six Tallgrass Prairie Treatments in Eastern Kansas
John W. Dunhamand Kevin P. Price

Analysis of ground-based multispectral measurements from six tallgrass prairie parcels under differ-ent management practices showed that two of the parcels were spectrally unique.

969 Visual Interpretation of Vegetation Classes from Airborne Videography: An Evaluation of Observer Proficiency with Minimal Training
Sam Drake

The ability to correctly identify Arizona plant communities from color airborne video was evalu-ated, the relationship of five background variables to subjects' success was explored, and which community types were easiest and most difficult for subjects to identify was determined.

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