Extraction of fractional cover from spaceborne hyperspectral data for rangeland monitoring

牧场占地球陆地面积的47%，是粮食生产的主要来源。加拿大西部有四千万英亩的天然牧场。牧场对于维持土壤质量、增加清洁水的供应、隔离二氧化碳和维持生物多样性至关重要。不当的牧场管理做法可能导致严重退化，从而导致该生态系统发生不可逆转的变化。为了保护这些资源和长期的可持续性，迫切需要关于牧场状况的及时信息。该项目的目标是从监测艾伯塔省牧场的高光谱分辨率卫星数据中绘制地表物质（如绿色和死亡植被和土壤）覆盖的百分比。为此目的，将开发具体的遥感技术，以得出分数积。它们将直接成为牧场管理的重要投入，随后将有助于降低牧场监测和评估的成本，并为各级政府的决策提供及时的投入。随着时间的推移，这些产品还为妥善管理这一脆弱的生态系统提供了必要的支持，以优化经济和社会价值，确保其长期可持续性。开发的技术将远远超出牧场监测范围，有利于其他应用，例如气候变化、地质测绘和森林监测，在这些应用中需要卫星系统提供的反复大规模测绘。此外，该研究计划为学生提供了重要的培训机会，这些学生处于遥感前沿，与我们社会重要的生态系统有关。

Rangeland occupies 47% of the Earth's land surface and represents a major source of food production. There are 40 million acres of native rangeland in western Canada. Rangeland is crucial to sustain soil quality, enhance the availability of clean water, sequester carbon dioxide and maintain biodiversity. Improper rangeland management practices can cause severe degradation that can lead to irreversible changes of this ecosystem. There is an urgent need for timely information on the state of rangeland for the protection of these resources and long-term sustainability.The project's goal is to map fractional (percent) cover of surface material such as green and dead vegetation and soil from high-spectral resolution satellite data for monitoring rangeland in Alberta. For this purpose, specific remote sensing technologies will be developed to derive to the fractional products. They will directly act as important inputs for the rangeland management and, subsequently, will help to reduce the cost of rangeland monitoring and assessment and provide timely input for decision making by various levels of government. These products also provide the necessary support to properly manage this fragile ecosystem over time for optimization of economic and social values to ensure its long-term sustainability. The developed technologies will reach far beyond rangeland monitoring, benefiting other applications, such as climate change, geological mapping and forestry monitoring, where repeated large-scale mapping as provided by satellite systems is required. In addition, the research program provides important training opportunities for students at the leading edge of remote sensing related to an ecosystem important for our society.