Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Geography
A framework to quantify the human footprint in Africa using supply and demand of net primary production
Published: 2020-05-28
Subjects: Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment, Environmental Sciences, Geography, Nature and Society Relations, Physical and Environmental Geography, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Remote Sensing, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Spatial Science, Sustainability
The human-environment connection in the mostly rural drylands of Africa forms a complex, interlinked system that provides ecosystem services. This system is susceptible to climatic variability that impacts the supply of its products, and high population growth, which impacts the demand for these products. When plants remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through the process of photosynthesis, [...]
Machine Learning on Greenest Pixels for Crop Mapping
Published: 2020-04-13
Subjects: Geography, Remote Sensing, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Remotely sensed signals from crop fields are full of variabilities due to the complex interactions among the environment, seeds, climate, market, and farmers. It is a common phenomenon that the crops in neighbouring fields are in different growing stages, e.g., the corns are in the V5 leaf stage in one field and V10 stage in another neighbouring field. The phenomenon results in remote sensing [...]
Concepts of space, time and scale
Published: 2020-04-11
Subjects: Forest Sciences, Geographic Information Sciences, Geography, Life Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Concepts of space, time and scale as well as their underpinning theories are crucial for understanding geospatial data. Space can be defined as a boundless, three-dimensional (3D) extent in which objects and events occur and have relative position and direction. Space has been considered to be absolute, meaning that it exists permanently and independently regardless of any matter in space. [...]
Fundamental laws and principles in geoinformation science
Published: 2020-04-11
Subjects: Forest Sciences, Geographic Information Sciences, Geography, Life Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Scientific laws are empirical statements, based on repeated experiments or observations, that describe or predict a range of natural phenomena. There are scientific laws and law-like statements also in the field of geoinformation sciences. Based on the Tobler’s first law of geography, “everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant things”. This first law [...]
Individual tree detection and characterization using 3D remote sensing
Published: 2020-04-11
Subjects: Forest Sciences, Geographic Information Sciences, Geography, Life Sciences, Remote Sensing, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Here, we will cover individual tree detection and characterization using 3D remote sensing. Simply, it means that point clouds are collected over a forested area using airborne laser scanning (ALS) or created using photogrammetric image interpretation and further used to detect individual trees using different algorithms. After the tree detection, the attributes of interest are predicted for each [...]
Introduction to geoinformation science
Published: 2020-04-11
Subjects: Forest Sciences, Geographic Information Sciences, Geography, Life Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Here, we define a geoinformation system (GIS) as a system, which is designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present geospatial data. In university education, we study geoinformation science that is the science underlying geographic concepts, applications, and systems. Geoinformation science is dedicated to advancing our understanding of geographic processes and spatial [...]
POSSIBILITIES OF CHANGE DETECTION OF TREE AND FOREST ATTRIBUTES BY COMBINING TERRESTRIAL LASER SCANNING BASED 3D POINT CLOUDS WITH UAV DATA
Published: 2020-04-01
Subjects: Forest Management, Forest Sciences, Geography, Life Sciences, Remote Sensing, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Exact and up-to-date information about forest resources is needed for decision makers when planning the use of forests. Knowledge about changes in forest environment and tree growth is a key factor for example when predicting the effects of climate change and estimating the amount of biomass and sequestered carbon in forests. New technologies, such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), allow one to [...]
Editorial: Geoscience in a time of pandemics
Published: 2020-03-20
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geography, Medical Sciences, Medicine and Health Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Social and Behavioral Sciences
We, the Executive Editors at Geoscience Communication, sincerely hope that this message finds you and your loved ones in good health. We are in the midst of yet another global health crisis, the Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). This affects all of us, and we truly hope that you are remaining safe and taking all necessary precautions. We all are facing difficult times ahead, and we hope that we [...]
Integrating UAV photogrammetry with terrestrial laser scanning to characterize managed forest stands
Published: 2020-03-03
Subjects: Forest Sciences, Geography, Life Sciences, Remote Sensing, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) provides detailed three-dimensional representation of the surrounding forest structure. However, due to close-range hemispherical scanning geometry the ability of TLS technique to comprehensively characterize the upper parts of forest canopy is often limited. To overcome challenges in upper canopy characterization, TLS point cloud were complemented with a point [...]
‘Scallywag Bunkers’: Geophysical Investigations of WW2 Auxiliary Unit Operational Bases (OBs) in the UK
Published: 2020-02-04
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Education, Geography, Other Earth Sciences, Other Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Social and Behavioral Sciences
In 1940, with the fall of France imminent, Britain prepared for invasion. After Dunkirk, with most armour and transport lost, a defence ‘stop line’ (GHQ Line) was prepared. Local Defence Volunteers (later Home Guard) were raised to buy time for the Home Army to deploy. Secret ‘Auxiliary Units’ were also formed, tasked with ‘Scallywagging’ – guerrilla activities ––in the invading army’s rear. 4-8 [...]
Coastal flooding will disproportionately impact people on river deltas
Published: 2020-01-09
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Studies, Geography, Physical and Environmental Geography, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Climate change is intensifying tropical cyclones, accelerating sea-level rise, and increasing coastal flooding. Coastal flooding will not affect all environments equally, and river deltas are especially vulnerable because of their low elevations, densely populated cities, and river channels that propagate coastal floods inland. Yet, we do not know how many people live on deltas and their exposure [...]
The economic implications of using a truly preindustrial climate baseline
Published: 2019-12-04
Subjects: Climate, Geography, Human Geography, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Social and Behavioral Sciences
The pervasive impacts of climate change can result in scientific decisions having unforeseen societal implications. To demonstrate this, we explore the global and regional economic implications of adopting an earlier preindustrial baseline of 1400-1800 for climate policy targets instead of the commonly used early industrial period of 1850-1900 for which we have observational data. Because of [...]
Low-cost electronic sensors for environmental research: pitfalls and opportunities
Published: 2019-11-08
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Geography, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Repeat observations underpin our understanding of environmental processes but financial constraints often limit scientists’ ability to deploy dense networks of conventional commercial instrumentation. Rapid growth in the Internet-Of-Things (IOT) and the maker movement is paving the way for low-cost electronic sensors to transform global environmental monitoring. Accessible and inexpensive sensor [...]
Constructing statutory energy goal compliant wind and solar PV infrastructure pathways
Published: 2019-10-30
Subjects: Environmental Studies, Geography, Meteorology, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Spatial Science
Concerns over climate change have led governments around the world to establish a range of renewable, low-carbon energy goals. Plans for meeting these targets vary widely in their ambition, specificity, and time horizons. Wind and solar electricity generation will feature prominently in future energy systems that meet these renewable, low-carbon energy goals. Implementing large-scale wind and [...]
Convergent human and climate forcing of late-Holocene flooding in northwest England
Published: 2019-08-12
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Geography, Geomorphology, Physical and Environmental Geography, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Concern is growing that climate change may amplify global flood risk but short hydrological data series hamper hazard assessment. Lake sediment reconstructions are capturing a fuller picture of rare, high-magnitude events but the UK has produced few lake palaeoflood records. We report the longest lake-derived flood reconstruction for the UK to date, a 1500-year record from Brotherswater, [...]