Linking random forest and auxiliary factors for extracting the major economic forests in the mountainous areas of southwestern Yunnan Province, China (open access)

Linking random forest and auxiliary factors for extracting the major economic forests in the mountainous areas of southwestern Yunnan Province, China

Article describes how forests are generally extracted from remotely sensed images based on the spectral features, ignoring other important auxiliary information, and the techniques of precise extraction need to be further improved. By using the Sentinel–2 image and auxiliary factors (AFs) including site conditions (SCs) and vegetation indices (VIs), the random forest model with AFs (RF–AFs) was adopted for the extraction of the economic forests in Lancang County.
Date: February 24, 2023
Creator: Huang, Pei; Zhao, Xiaoqing; Pu, Junwei; Gu, Zexian; Feng, Yan; Zhou, Shijie et al.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Mapping Dragon Fruit Croplands from Space Using Remote Sensing of Artificial Light at Night (open access)

Mapping Dragon Fruit Croplands from Space Using Remote Sensing of Artificial Light at Night

Article using National Polar Partnership (NPP)-Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) NTL remote sensing data to observe the seasonal variation of artificial lighting in dragon fruit cropland in Binh Thuan Province, Vietnam. The results suggest that the NTL remotely sensed data could be used to reveal some agricultural productive activities such as dragon fruits production accurately by monitoring the seasonal artificial lighting. This research demonstrates the application potential of NTL remotely sensed data in agriculture.
Date: December 17, 2020
Creator: Wang, Ruirui; Shi, Wei & Dong, Pinliang
System: The UNT Digital Library
Mapping forest height using photon-counting LiDAR data and Landsat 8 OLI data: A case study in Virginia and North Carolina, USA (open access)

Mapping forest height using photon-counting LiDAR data and Landsat 8 OLI data: A case study in Virginia and North Carolina, USA

Article is a study mapping forest height by combining photon-counting LiDAR data and Landsat OLI data.
Date: March 13, 2020
Creator: Pan, Feifei; Zhu, Xiaoxiao; Wang, Cheng; Nie, Sheng; Xi, Xiaohuan & Hu, Zhenyue
System: The UNT Digital Library
Mapping Health Fragility and Vulnerability in Air Pollution–Monitoring Networks in Dallas–Fort Worth (open access)

Mapping Health Fragility and Vulnerability in Air Pollution–Monitoring Networks in Dallas–Fort Worth

Article describes how environmental air pollution remains a major contributor to negative health outcomes and mortality, but the relationship between socially vulnerable populations and air pollution is not well understood. This paper seeks to understand how air pollution monitor placement strategies and policy may neglect social vulnerabilities and therefore potentially underestimate exposure burdens in vulnerable populations.
Date: January 18, 2023
Creator: Northeim, Kari & Oppong, Joseph R.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Monitoring, Mapping, and Modeling Spatial–Temporal Patterns of PM2.5 for Improved Understanding of Air Pollution Dynamics Using Portable Sensing Technologies (open access)

Monitoring, Mapping, and Modeling Spatial–Temporal Patterns of PM2.5 for Improved Understanding of Air Pollution Dynamics Using Portable Sensing Technologies

This article maps the dynamics of PM2.5 concentrations at high spatio-temporal resolutions using bicycle-based, mobile measures on a university campus.
Date: June 5, 2020
Creator: Hart, Ronan; Liang, Lu & Dong, Pinliang
System: The UNT Digital Library
A New Method for Automated Measurement of Sand Dune Migration Based on Multi-Temporal LiDAR-Derived Digital Elevation Models (open access)

A New Method for Automated Measurement of Sand Dune Migration Based on Multi-Temporal LiDAR-Derived Digital Elevation Models

This article proposes a toe line tracking (TLT) method for the automated measurement of dune migration rate and direction using multi-temporal digital elevation models (DEM) derived from light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data to overcome a major limitation of the existing method of pairs of source and target points (PSTP).
Date: August 6, 2021
Creator: Dong, Pinliang; Xia, Jisheng; Zhong, Ruofei; Zhao, Zhifang & Tan, Shucheng
System: The UNT Digital Library
Object-Oriented Canopy Gap Extraction from UAV Images Based on Edge Enhancement (open access)

Object-Oriented Canopy Gap Extraction from UAV Images Based on Edge Enhancement

Article describes the efficient and accurate identification of canopy gaps is the basis of forest ecosystem research, which is of great significance to further forest monitoring and management. One major limitation of the traditional methods of remote sensing to map canopy gaps is that they cannot finely extract the complex edges of canopy gaps in mountainous areas. The authors proposed an object-oriented classification method that integrates multi-source information.
Date: September 23, 2022
Creator: Xia, Jisheng; Wang, Yutong; Dong, Pinliang; He, Shijun; Zhao, Fei & Luan, Guize
System: The UNT Digital Library
Reduced reflectance and altered color: The potential cost of external particulate matter accumulation on urban Rock Pigeon (Columba livia) feathers (open access)

Reduced reflectance and altered color: The potential cost of external particulate matter accumulation on urban Rock Pigeon (Columba livia) feathers

Authors of the article state that airborne particulate matter (PM) can accumulate on feather surfaces and alter feather appearance, so they quantified PM accumulation on Rock Pigeon feathers and analyzed the spectral properties of extracted particulates. Their findings suggest that wild birds could incur an urban pollution penalty as PM accumulation has the potential to alter feather properties.
Date: February 10, 2023
Creator: Ellis, Jennifer L.; Ponette-González, Alexandra G.; Fry, Matthew & Johnson, Jeff A.
System: The UNT Digital Library
A review of diversity of bees, the attractiveness of host plants and the effects of landscape variables on bees in urban gardens (open access)

A review of diversity of bees, the attractiveness of host plants and the effects of landscape variables on bees in urban gardens

Article exploring the ecology of pollinating bees in urban gardens and farms.
Date: January 16, 2022
Creator: Rahimi, Ehsan; Barghjelveh, Shahindokht & Dong, Pinliang
System: The UNT Digital Library
Selecting Inter-city Transportation Routes in Complex Terrains Using Quantitative Methods – A Case Study from Northern Yunnan, China (open access)

Selecting Inter-city Transportation Routes in Complex Terrains Using Quantitative Methods – A Case Study from Northern Yunnan, China

Article identifies inter-city transportation routes in complex terrains using quantitative methods in GIS.
Date: March 27, 2020
Creator: Dong, Pinliang; Xia, Jisheng & Zhao, Zhifang
System: The UNT Digital Library
A semi-automated method for extracting channels and channel profiles from lidar-derived digital elevation models (open access)

A semi-automated method for extracting channels and channel profiles from lidar-derived digital elevation models

Article introduces a semi-automated method for extracting stream channels and channel profiles from high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) using image processing techniques. The method is implemented as an ArcGIS Python add-in toolbar named Channel Extraction and demonstrated using a lidar-derived DEM in a study area along the San Andreas fault in California, USA.
Date: March 10, 2020
Creator: Dong, Pinliang; Zhong, Ruofei; Xia, Jisheng & Tan, Shucheng
System: The UNT Digital Library
Small businesses and government assistance during COVID-19: Evidence from the paycheck protection program in the U.S. (open access)

Small businesses and government assistance during COVID-19: Evidence from the paycheck protection program in the U.S.

Article describes how the COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented losses for small businesses in cities across the globe. The authors' study examines the spatial distribution of PPP loans at the neighborhood level.
Date: April 3, 2023
Creator: Wang, Qingfang & Kang, Wei
System: The UNT Digital Library
Soil Erosion Vulnerability Mapping in Selected Rural Communities of uThukela Catchment, South Africa, Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (open access)

Soil Erosion Vulnerability Mapping in Selected Rural Communities of uThukela Catchment, South Africa, Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process

Article presents a study (i) assessing and modeling soil erosion vulnerability based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) approach in Hoffenthal and KwaMaye communities within the uThukela Catchment, South Africa; and (ii) identifying the relevant sustainable interventions and remedial strategies to combat soil erosion in the study area.
Date: May 13, 2022
Creator: Ebhuoma, Osadolor; Gebreslasie, Michael; Ngetar, Njoya Silas; Phinzi, Kwanele & Bhattacharjee, Shwarnali
System: The UNT Digital Library
Spatial Targeting of Agricultural Support Measures: Indicator-Based Assessment of Coverages and Leakages (open access)

Spatial Targeting of Agricultural Support Measures: Indicator-Based Assessment of Coverages and Leakages

This article evaluates the targeting strategy of a national-level program in Mexico that distributed agricultural support based on seven criteria that prioritized poor smallholder farming communities at high risk of cropland failure. The findings highlight the continued lack of financial support for smallholder agriculture in Mexico, despite program rules and priority statements that stress the vulnerability of this sector. The article also illustrates the important role of spatial targeting in better aligning agricultural support payments with stated policy priorities.
Date: July 15, 2021
Creator: LaFevor, Matthew C.; Ponette-González, Alexandra G.; Larson, Rebecca & Mungai, Leah M.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Student Cyclists Experience PM2.5 Pollution Hotspots around an Urban University Campus (open access)

Student Cyclists Experience PM2.5 Pollution Hotspots around an Urban University Campus

Article examining urban cyclists' risk of exposure to harmful concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM₂.₅).
Date: 2020
Creator: Luce, Brett W.; Barrett, Tate E. & Ponette-González, Alexandra G.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Urban and air pollution: a multi-city study of long-term effects of urban landscape patterns on air quality trends (open access)

Urban and air pollution: a multi-city study of long-term effects of urban landscape patterns on air quality trends

This article identifies the key urban form determinants of decadal-long fine particulate matter (PM2.5) trends in all 626 Chinese cities at the county level and above. As the first study of its kind, this study comprehensively examines the urban form effects on air quality in cities of different population sizes, at different development levels, and in different spatial-autocorrelation positions.
Date: October 29, 2020
Creator: Liang, Lu & Gong, Peng
System: The UNT Digital Library
Urban edge trees: Urban form and meteorology drive elemental carbon deposition to canopies and soils (open access)

Urban edge trees: Urban form and meteorology drive elemental carbon deposition to canopies and soils

Article asserts that urban tree canopies are a significant sink for atmospheric elemental carbon (EC)--and air pollutant that is a powerful climate-forcing agent and threat to human health. The authors' findings indicate that complex configurations of roads, buildings, and vegetation produce “urban edge trees” that contribute to heterogeneous EC deposition patterns across urban systems, with implications for greenspace planning.
Date: September 27, 2022
Creator: Ponette-González, Alexandra G.; Chen, Dongmei; Elderbrock, Evan; Rindy, Jenna E.; Barrett, Tate E.; Luce, Brett W. et al.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Urban Expansion Monitoring Based on the Digital Surface Model—A Case Study of the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei Plain (open access)

Urban Expansion Monitoring Based on the Digital Surface Model—A Case Study of the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei Plain

This article presents a study of urban expansion in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei plain based on ALOS Global Digital Surface Model “ALOS World 3D-30 m” (AW3D30 DSM), Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) DSM, and Landsat 7 ETM+ images. The method proposed in this paper can provide rapid and large-scale statistics to study urban construction expansion in the world.
Date: May 24, 2022
Creator: Wang, Yanping; Dong, Pinliang; Liao, Shunbao; Zhu, Yueqin; Zhang, Da & Yin, Na
System: The UNT Digital Library
Urban Feature Extraction within a Complex Urban Area with an Improved 3D-CNN Using Airborne Hyperspectral Data (open access)

Urban Feature Extraction within a Complex Urban Area with an Improved 3D-CNN Using Airborne Hyperspectral Data

Article describes how airborne hyperspectral data has high spectral-spatial information, but mining and using this information effectively is still a great challenge. Therefore, a 3D-1D-CNN model was proposed for feature extraction in complex urban with hyperspectral images affected by cloud shadows.
Date: February 10, 2023
Creator: Ma, Xiaotong; Man, Qixia; Yang, Xinming; Dong, Pinliang; Yang, Zelong; Wu, Jingru et al.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Using solar radiation data in soil moisture diagnostic equation for estimating root-zone soil moisture (open access)

Using solar radiation data in soil moisture diagnostic equation for estimating root-zone soil moisture

Article describes how the soil moisture daily diagnostic equation (SMDE) evaluates the relationship between the loss function coefficient and the summation of the weighted average of precipitation. The study has confirmed that using actual solar radiation data in the soil moisture daily diagnostic equation can improve its accuracy.
Date: December 12, 2022
Creator: Omotere, Olumide; Pan, Feifei & Wang, Lei
System: The UNT Digital Library
Using the Lonsdorf model for estimating habitat loss and fragmentation effects on pollination service (open access)

Using the Lonsdorf model for estimating habitat loss and fragmentation effects on pollination service

Article examining the effects of habitat loss and fragmentation on pollination separately according to the Lonsdorf model. Results show that the effects of habitat loss and fragmentation on pollination are completely different at the landscape and farm levels. This article shows that using the Lonsdorf model could lead to confusing results for the landscape ecologists and farmers who want to reduce the adverse effects of fragmentation on their products by creating new forest patches.
Date: March 22, 2021
Creator: Rahimi, Ehsan; Barghjelveh, Shahindokht & Dong, Pinliang
System: The UNT Digital Library
The utility of zooarchaeological data to guide listing efforts for an imperiled mussel species (Bivalvia: Unionidae: Pleurobema riddellii) (open access)

The utility of zooarchaeological data to guide listing efforts for an imperiled mussel species (Bivalvia: Unionidae: Pleurobema riddellii)

Article presents research that demonstrates Pleurobema riddellii, Louisiana Pigtoe, was likely present in the Trinity River basin during the late Holocene, which indicates questions about its taxonomic validity or presence in this basin are unfounded.
Date: July 22, 2020
Creator: Wolverton, Steven J.; Randklev, Charles R.; Johnson, Nathan A.; Smith, Chase H.; DuBose, Traci P.; Robertson, Clinton R. et al.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Were domestic camelids present on the prehispanic South American agricultural frontier? An ancient DNA study (open access)

Were domestic camelids present on the prehispanic South American agricultural frontier? An ancient DNA study

Article testing the hypothesis that domesticated camelids occurred in prehispanic, southern Mendoza through analysis of ancient DNA.
Date: November 5, 2020
Creator: Johnson, Jeff A.; Kim, Tracy; Wolverton, Steven J.; Gil, Adolfo Fabian; Abbona, Cinthia Carolina & Adolfo, Gustavo Neme
System: The UNT Digital Library
What Influences Low-cost Sensor Data Calibration? - A Systematic Assessment of Algorithms, Duration, and Predictor Selection (open access)

What Influences Low-cost Sensor Data Calibration? - A Systematic Assessment of Algorithms, Duration, and Predictor Selection

Article describes how the low-cost sensor has changed the air quality monitoring paradigm with the capacity for efficient network expansion and community engagement. This study comprehensively assessed ten widely used data techniques, namely AdaBoost, Bayesian ridge, gradient tree boosting, K-nearest neighbors, Lasso, multivariable linear regression, neural network, random forest, ridge regression, and support vector machine.
Date: June 27, 2022
Creator: Liang, Lu & Daniels, Jacob
System: The UNT Digital Library