Irregular shape of terrain causes variable illumination angles and diverse reflectance values within same land cover type in optical remote sensing image. It causes problems in image segmentation and misclassification (snow with other land cover). This perception leads to develop an empirical-statistical based topographic correction (ESbTC) algorithm for reflectance modeling after compared with existed topographic correction methods like Cosine correction, C-correction, Minnaert correction, sun–canopy–senor with c-correction (SCS + C) and slope matching, in the context of snow reflectance.

AIM: The brown‐headed cowbird is an obligate brood parasite known to exploit a large number of host species and use a variety of habitats. Much attention has been directed towards uncovering the fundamental factors that affect cowbird abundance; however, no study has evaluated these factors in the context of a biogeographic‐scale analysis that takes into account spatial autocorrelation. Our primary objective was to compare the relative influence of geography, land cover and host species on the local abundance of cowbirds. LOCATION: Great Plains region of the USA.

While it is clear that many migratory behaviors are shared across taxa, generalizable models that predict the distribution and abundance of migrating taxa at the landscape scale are rare. In migratory landbirds, ephemeral concentrations of refueling birds indicate that individual behaviors sometimes produce large epiphenomena in particular geographic locations. Identifying landscape factors that predict the distribution and abundance of birds during migratory stopover will both improve our understanding of the migratory process and assist in broad, regionally relevant conservation.

- Environmental factors act in a hierarchical manner at multiple spatial scales to influence the organisation of ecological assemblages; however, the relative influence of the different scale-related factor groups is poorly known. We evaluated the importance of catchment-scale and site-scale environmental variables, as well as the spatial context of the sampling sites, in shaping stream fish assemblages in an agriculture-dominated landscape in Hungary.

Contemporary land-use change and impacts on natural systems are of concern throughout the Cornbelt region, where agricultural activities have extensively altered the landscape. Land-use changes driven by urbanization throughout this region could have a disproportionate impact on remaining natural areas, particularly forests. We used readily available data sets and software to assess land cover change for four municipalities in Iowa and to examine the usefulness of this approach for urban foresters and planners interested in understanding/predicting impacts of land cover change.

Despite legislation and voluntary initiatives aimed at protecting the environment, previously undeveloped areas of Costa Rica are subject to new development opportunities. This growth has been largely unchecked, and has led to enormous amounts of foreign direct investment. This unchecked investment has led to destabilization of the natural environment, and, in the case of the Dominical–Uvita corridor on the Pacific Coast, has led to an observed increase in landsliding activity.

The Berchtesgaden National Park (Bavaria, Germany), a study site of the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere program in the catchment of Berchtesgadener Ache, is introduced as a platform for interdisciplinary research. As the investigation of how human activities affect the natural resources in the park area, which has been defined a main aim of the program, naturally requires expertise from different scientific fields, interdisciplinary research has been fostered in the national park plan since the very beginning of the Man and the Biosphere program in 1981.

The urbanization of watersheds is a highly dynamic global phenomenon that must be monitored. With consequences for the environment, the population, and the economy, accurate products at adequate spatial and temporal resolutions are required and demanded by the science community and stakeholders alike. To address these needs, a new Impervious Surface Area (ISA) product was created for a Portuguese Watershed (Mondego river) from Landsat data (a combination of leaf-on multispectral bands, derived products, and NDVI time series), using Regression Tree Models (RTM).

Aquarius satellite observations over land offer a new resource for measuring soil moisture from space. Although Aquarius was designed for ocean salinity mapping, our objective in this investigation is to exploit the large amount of land observations that Aquarius acquires and extend the mission scope to include the retrieval of surface soil moisture. The soil moisture retrieval algorithm development focused on using only the radiometer data because of the extensive heritage of passive microwave retrieval of soil moisture.

Total phosphorus (TP) concentrations are known to be a significant factor influencing fish populations in Minnesota lakes. Consequently, a primary focus of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to address fish habitat in lakes across the state has been to determine relationships between TP concentrations and watershed conditions in Minnesota lakes. Because phosphorus concentrations in Minnesota lakes vary widely corresponding to differences in geomorphology, nutrient criteria were established by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency for specific ecoregions.

The country of Spain is representative of land change processes in Mediterranean member states of the European Union (EU). These land change processes are often triggered by European, national and sub-national policies and include widespread land abandonment and urbanisation trends, as well as an increase in land use intensities accompanied by strong exploitation of water resources. The Mediterranean is part of the dryland ecoregion, which is particularly vulnerable to ecosystem degradation.

Quantification of landscape pattern is of primary interest in landscape ecological studies. For quantification purposes, a large number of landscape metrics have been developed, with definitions based on measurable patch attributes. Calculation of these metrics is commonly conducted on wall-to-wall maps, whereas a new interest is to use sample data. It is argued that a sample survey takes less time and results are more reliable. The overall objective in this paper was to present the potential of the line interest sampling method for estimating a special contagion metric.