While the decrease in flow is obvious in the Kikuletwa River, the mechanism leading to the decrease is unclear. We assessed the influence of vegetation cover change on dry season flow in the Kikuletwa River. The combined cover of closed and open forests decreased by 68% while closed and open forests decreased by 56% and 64% respectively. Land under agroforestry decreased by 25%, while that under annual crops increased by 41%. Grasslands increased by 116% and riverine vegetation decreased by 53%.

This study presents a predictive modelling technique to map population distribution and abundance for rural areas in Africa. Prediction models were created using a generalized regression analysis and spatial prediction (GRASP) method that uses the generalized additive model (GAM) regression technique. Dwelling unit presence–absence was mapped from airborne images covering 98 km² (30% of the study area) and used as a response variable. Remote-sensing-based (reflectance, texture and land cover) and geospatial (topography, climate and distance) data were used as predictors.

Landsat 8, a NASA and USGS collaboration, acquires global moderate-resolution measurements of the Earth's terrestrial and polar regions in the visible, near-infrared, short wave, and thermal infrared.

This paper assesses strategic water availability and use under different development pathways on a basin scale using remote sensing (RS), geographical information systems (GIS) and a spatial water budget model (SWBM). The SWBM was applied to the Upper Ing Basin in northern Thailand to investigate the spatial and temporal variations in the location of streams and water yields from different parts of the basin. The base simulation was carried out for the years 1998–2007 using a DEM and actual land-use data at 100-m resolution.

An operational data fusion framework is built to generate dense time-series Landsat-like images for a cloudy region by fusing Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data products and Landsat imagery. The Spatial and Temporal Adaptive Reflectance Fusion Model (STARFM) is integrated in the framework. Compared to earlier implementations of STARFM, several improvements have been incorporated in the operational data fusion framework.

Cloud forest in the Central Highlands of Guatemala provides important ecosystem services for the Q’eqchi’ Maya but has been disappearing at an increasing rate in recent decades. This research documents changes in cloud forest cover, explores some contributing factors to deforestation, and considers forest preservation and food security implications for Q’eqchi’ communities. We used a transdisciplinary framework that synthesized remote sensing/GIS analysis of land cover change, focus group dialogs, and surveys.

This paper describes the Salt Lake Valley urban flux study that was designed to understand the role of vegetation and urbanization on CO₂ and surface energy fluxes over surfaces typical of urbanized and pre-urbanized land cover in the semi-arid Salt Lake Valley. The eddy covariance technique was applied at two different sites with distinct land forms within an urbanizing mountain basin.

Urbanization effects on ecosystem functions are both important and complex, characterized by scale multiplicity, spatial heterogeneity, and intensive human disturbances. Integrating the hierarchical structure of urban landscape pattern with ecosystem processes through simulation modeling can facilitate our understanding of human–environment interactions in urban environment.

The diurnal land surface temperature (LST) variation is a primary characteristic of the effects of urbanization. However, no study to date has focused on changes in diurnal LST variation in urban environments. This paper investigates the effects of urbanization on landscape pattern and diurnal LST variation of Taipei City, using MODIS thermal images and SPOT multispectral remote sensing images over the 1994–2010 period. Supervised land-cover classifications were conducted to investigate decadal land-cover changes within the study area.

The aim of our study was to explore the spectral properties of fire-scorched (burned) and non fire-scorched (vegetation) areas, as well as areas with different burn/vegetation ratios, using a multisource multiresolution satellite data set. A case study was undertaken following a very destructive wildfire that occurred in Parnitha, Greece, July 2007, for which we acquired satellite images from LANDSAT, ASTER, and IKONOS. Additionally, we created spatially degraded satellite data over a range of coarser resolutions using resampling techniques.

Over the course of 1681 hours between May 5 and September 30, 2006, air temperatures measured at the 1.5-m height at seven sites in and near the city of Baltimore, MD were used to empirically model Δ [Formula: see text] R₋ₚ , the difference in air temperature between a site in downtown Baltimore and the six other sites. Variables in the prediction equation included difference between the downtown reference and each of the other sites in upwind tree cover and impervious cover as obtained from 10-m resolution geographic information system (GIS) data.

Stream fish distributions are commonly linked to environmental disturbances affecting terrestrial landscapes. In Great Plains prairie streams, the independent and interactive effects of watershed impoundments and land cover changes remain poorly understood despite their prevalence and assumed contribution to declining stream fish diversity.