TERRA- 1: Understanding The Terrestrial Environment: The Role of Earth Observations from Space

266 Pages·1992·14.174 MB·\266

by  Paul Mather (Editor)

TERR A-1:
Understanding the
Terrestrial Environment
The Role of Earth Observations from Space

TERRA-1:
Understanding the
Terrestrial Environment
The Role of Earth Observations
from Space
Edited by
Paul M. Mather
Department of Geography
University of Nottingham, UK
I Natural
I Environment
I Research
I Council
Taylor & Francis
London • Washington, DC
1992
UK Taylor & Francis Ltd, 4 John St, London WC1N 2ET
USA Taylor & Francis Inc., 1900 Frost Road, Suite 101, Bristol, PA
19007
Copyright © Taylor & Francis Ltd, 1992
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any
means, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photo-
copying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the
copyright owners.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British
Library.
ISBN 0-7484-0044-3
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data is
available
Cover design by Amanda Barragry
Contents
Preface vii
List of contributors xi
List of acronyms xiii
1 Remote sensing the land surface water budget
R.J. Gurney 1
2 The use of visible satellite imagery over ice sheets
D.G. Vaughan and C.S.M. Doake 9
3 'Long-term' land surface processes: erosion, tectonics and climate
history in mountain belts
B.L. hacks 21
4 Applications of satellite remote sensing techniques to volcanology
P. Francis and C. Oppenheimer 37
5 Soil/vegetation characteristics at microwave wavelengths
A.M. Shutko 53
6 Synergistic use of multispectral satellite data for monitoring arid lands
B.J. Choudhury and S.E. Nicholson 67
1 Remote sensing inputs to climate models
P.R. Rowntree 77
8 Atmosphere-biosphere exchange of CO
2
P.G. Jarvis andJ.B. Moncrieff 85
9 Observational studies of the land/atmosphere interaction
W.J. Shuttleworth 101
10 Monitoring global tropical deforestation: a challenge for remote sensing
J.P. Malingreau, M. M. Verstraete and F. Achard 121
11 Achievements and unresolved problems in vegetation monitoring
M.D. Steven, T.J. Malthus and]. A. Clark 133
12 ERS-1 land and ice applications
C.G. Rapley 147
13 The EOS Data and Information System (EOSDIS)
J. Dozier 163
14 The ESA Earth Observation Polar Platform Programme
M. Rast and C.J. Readings 175
15 Temperature-independent thermal infrared spectral indices and land surface
temperature determined from space
F. Becker and Z.-L. Li 185
16 Extracting surface properties from satellite data in the visible and near-
infrared wavelengths
M.M. Verstraete and B. Pinty 203
17 Remote sensing and geographical information systems
P.M. Mather 211
18 Automated knowledge-based segmentation of SAR images
S. Quegan, R. Caves and P. Harley 221
19 Large-scale environmental databases: the example of CORINE
B.K. Wyatt 233
Index 249

Preface
Global environmental research is by its very nature world-wide in its
scope and interdisciplinary in its applications. While oceanographers,
meteorologists, climatologists and terrestrial scientists can, and do, carry out
their individual fruitful lines of research, the interactions between the
phenomena studied by these disciplines often fail to attract the attention
they deserve. In recent years the concept of Earth system science has come
to the fore; nowadays, emphasis is rightly placed on both the analysis of
specific components of the Earth system and on the synthesis of the findings
of individual disciplines in terms of how the Earth and its atmosphere
function as an open system. A question of immediate importance is: how
does this system change, both in the short (human) time-scale and over
geological time, and how can such changes be predicted? Prediction, if it is
to be reliable, requires scientific understanding which, in turn, requires
models, theories and data. Remote sensing is capable of providing data on
appropriate temporal and spatial scales. The problem is how best to
encourage dialogue between terrestrial scientists and remote sensing
experts.
An ad-hoc meeting organized on behalf of The Remote Sensing Society
by Professor J.A. Allan and chaired by Lord Shackleton was held in August,
1989, at the Royal Geographical Society in London. The meeting provided
the opportunity for a wide-ranging discussion on the role of remote sensing
in continental and global scale monitoring and modelling of changes taking
place on the Earth's land surfaces, and the effects of such changes on the
global climate. Following this meeting the concept of an international
conference on the theme of 'Understanding the terrestrial environment: the
role of Earth observations from space' surfaced, and received wide support
from a number of organizations and individuals. A steering committee,
comprising Prof. R. Gurney (NUTIS, Reading University), Prof. J.-P.
Muller (University College London), Dr B. Wyatt (Institute of Terrestrial
Ecology), Prof. J. A. Allan (School of African and Oriental Studies, Univer-
sity of London) and Mr H. Mooney (British Aerospace (Space Systems)
Ltd) was set up and, with a minimum of bureaucratic fuss, laid down the
strategic aim of the conference: to bring together experts from those
sciences which study the land surface of the Earth, including its form and
features, and remote sensing specialists in order to promote the interchange
of ideas and thus encourage inter- and multi-disciplinary interaction in
facing the problems posed by environmental change.
vii
viii Preface
As Chairman of the Steering Committee it was my duty to contact
experts from many countries to invite them to TERRA-1, as speakers,
session chairmen, or discussion leaders. I was pleasantly surprised by the
keen interest expressed by all those whom I contacted, and had soon
organized an impressive programme. Prof. P. Curran (University College,
Swansea) provided me with considerable support at this time. The pro-
gramme structure is reflected in the layout of this volume. The opening
sessions of the conference were devoted to Earth and atmospheric science
issues (including hydrological systems, geomorphology and soils, atmos-
phere-biosphere interactions, and biosphere). A session on sensor systems
for global monitoring separated discussion of these scientific topics from the
final part of the meeting, which was devoted to automated information
extraction. The conference opened with addresses from leading scientists:
Dr (now Sir) John Houghton, CBE, FRS, on 'Policy, implications of
climate change'; Prof. W.G. Chaloner, FRS, on 'The IGBP—purpose and
programmes'; and Mr M. Berens on 'NERC's TIGER programme'.
Participants were also privileged to hear an after-dinner address on the
social, environmental, political and economic ramifications of climate
change from Sir Crispin Tickell.
A conference such as TERRA-1 does not occur spontaneously; moral
and financial support is required. Two major sponsors came forward,
British Aerospace PLC and the UK Natural Environment Research Coun-
cil (NERC), and they deserve much of the credit for the success of
TERRA-1. Dr B. Tinker, Director of Terrestrial and Life Sciences at the
NERC, and Mr H. Mooney of British Aerospace gave invaluable assist-
ance. I am particularly grateful to Mr Mooney and his team at Bristol for
their help in every aspect of the organization of the meeting.
It is inevitable that I will have overlooked some of those who gave of
their time and expertise, and I apologize where this is the case. I would
particularly like to thank the Steering Committee, Prof. Curran, Dr
Tinker, Mr Mooney, Mr D. Hardy and Ms K. Korzeniewski, the Remote
Sensing Society's Administrative Secretary, also my wife Rosalind and
daughter Tamsin for helping with the tedious task of sorting out regist-
rations and accommodation. I am also grateful for the assistance of the
session chairmen: Prof. B. Wilkinson (Institute of Hydrology), Prof. J.B.
Thornes (University of Bristol), Prof. F. Becker (University of Strasbourg),
Prof. P. Curran (University College, Swansea), Mr D. Hunt (British
Aerospace), and Dr J. Dozier (University of California, Santa Barbara). The
Chairman of the Natural Environment Research Council, Prof. J. Knill,
and the Managing Director of British Aerospace (Space Systems) Ltd, Mr J.
Holt, provided some very agreeable food for thought at the conference
dinner. Finally, my thanks are due to speakers, chairman and delegates for
attending the conference despite a difficult international situation preceding
the war in Kuwait and Iraq. At one time it seemed likely that TERRA-1
would be a victim of international events, but in the end my unswerving
Preface ix
belief in the toughness of terrestrial scientists carried me through to what, I
hope, was the first of a biennial series of specialist conferences organized by
The Remote Sensing Society on the general theme of global environmental
change.
Paul M. Mather, Nottingham
November 1991