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Publications

Publications by CRIIS

2024

Phase Unwrapping using ML methods

Authors
Couto, D; Davies, S; Sousa, J; Cunha, A;

Publication
Procedia Computer Science

Abstract
Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) revolutionizes surface study by measuring precise ground surface changes. Phase unwrapping, a key challenge in InSAR, involves removing ambiguity in measured phase. Deep learning algorithms like Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) offer a potential solution for simplifying the unwrapping process. This work evaluates GANs for InSAR phase unwrapping, replacing SNAPHU with GANs. GANs achieve significantly faster processing times (2.38 interferograms per minute compared to SNAPHU's 0.78 interferograms per minute) with minimal quality degradation. A comparison of SBAS results shows that approximately 84% of GANs points are within 3 millimeters of SNAPHU. These results represent a significant advancement in phase unwrapping methods. While this experiment does not declare a definitive winner, it demonstrates that GANs are a viable alternative in certain scenarios and may replace SNAPHU as the preferred unwrapping method. © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V.

2024

Automatic classification of abandonment in Douro's vineyard parcels

Authors
Teixeira, I; Sousa, J; Cunha, A;

Publication
Procedia Computer Science

Abstract
Port wine plays a crucial role in the Douro region in Portugal, providing significant economic support and international recognition. The efficient and sustainable management of the wine sector is of utmost importance, which includes the verification of abandoned vineyard plots in the region, covering an area of approximately 250,000 hectares. The manual analysis of aerial images for this purpose is a laborious and resource-intensive task. However, several artificial intelligence (AI) methods are available to assist in this process. This paper presents the development of AI models, specifically deep learning models, for the automatic detection of abandoned vineyards using aerial images. A private image database was expanded, containing a larger collection of images with both abandoned and non-abandoned vineyards. Multiple AI algorithms, including Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) and Vision Transformers (ViTs), were explored for classification. The results, particularly with the ViTs approach, achieved high accuracy and demonstrated the effectiveness of automatic detection, with the ViT models achieving an accuracy of 99.37% and an F1-score of 98.92%. The proposed AI models provide valuable tools for monitoring and decision-making related to vineyard abandonment. © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V.

2024

Empowering intermediate cities: cost-effective heritage preservation through satellite remote sensing and deep learning

Authors
Rodríguez Antuñano, I; Sousa, JJ; Bakon, M; Ruiz Armenteros, AM; Martínez Sánchez, J; Riveiro, B;

Publication
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF REMOTE SENSING

Abstract
In the capitalist rush to attract more visitors, cities are committing significant resources to heritage conservation, driven by the substantial economic benefits generated by the tourism industry. However, less famous or less well-resourced cities, often with smaller populations, also known as intermediary cities, find it difficult to allocate funds to protect their most significant heritage sites. In this conservation context, intermediary cities, often on the periphery or 'at the margins', can fill the gaps and needs of urbanism through a better strategic understanding of the challenges of global touristification, thus this research provides urban planning tools for local governments with limited resources to preserve their architectural heritage through remote sensing, for its advantages in terms of lower economic cost, as a valuable monitoring tool to effectively identify high-vulnerability sites that require priority attention in the conservation of architectural heritage. In other words, it allows for a reduction in the territory of those areas located 'at the margins' in terms of urban planning and management, by approaching the territorial, urban, architectural and tourism problems from a transdisciplinary perspective in the preservation of the architectural heritage. This study explores the application of optical (Sentinel-2) using neural networks for classifying the land cover and radar (Sentinel-1 and PAZ) satellite images to obtain the ground motion as a geotechnical risk study, together with geospatial data, for the monitoring of architectural heritage in intermediate cities. Focusing on the districts of Bragan & ccedil;a and Guarda in Portugal, the approach allows the direct identification of vulnerable architectural heritage, identifying 9 highly-vulnerable areas using PAZ data and 7 areas using Sentinel-1 data. Furthermore, this work provides an understanding of the potential and limitations of these technologies in heritage preservation because compares the processing results of freely accessible medium-resolution Sentinel-1 radar imagery with the high-resolution radar images from the innovative PAZ satellite.

2024

Detection of Leak Areas in Vineyard Irrigation Systems Using UAV-Based Data

Authors
Pádua, L; Marques, P; Dinis, LT; Moutinho Pereira, J; Sousa, JJ; Morais, R; Peres, E;

Publication
DRONES

Abstract
Water is essential for maintaining plant health and optimal growth in agriculture. While some crops depend on irrigation, others can rely on rainfed water, depending on regional climatic conditions. This is exemplified by grapevines, which have specific water level requirements, and irrigation systems are needed. However, these systems can be susceptible to damage or leaks, which are not always easy to detect, requiring meticulous and time-consuming inspection. This study presents a methodology for identifying potential damage or leaks in vineyard irrigation systems using RGB and thermal infrared (TIR) imagery acquired by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The RGB imagery was used to distinguish between grapevine and non-grapevine pixels, enabling the division of TIR data into three raster products: temperature from grapevines, from non-grapevine areas, and from the entire evaluated vineyard plot. By analyzing the mean temperature values from equally spaced row sections, different threshold values were calculated to estimate and map potential leaks. These thresholds included the lower quintile value, the mean temperature minus the standard deviation (Tmean-sigma), and the mean temperature minus two times the standard deviation (Tmean-2 sigma). The lower quintile threshold showed the best performance in identifying known leak areas and highlighting the closest rows that need inspection in the field. This approach presents a promising solution for inspecting vineyard irrigation systems. By using UAVs, larger areas can be covered on-demand, improving the efficiency and scope of the inspection process. This not only reduces water wastage in viticulture and eases grapevine water stress but also optimizes viticulture practices.

2024

Assessing the Impact of Clearing and Grazing on Fuel Management in a Mediterranean Oak Forest through Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Multispectral Data

Authors
Padua, L; Castro, JP; Castro, J; Sousa, JJ; Castro, M;

Publication
DRONES

Abstract
Climate change has intensified the need for robust fire prevention strategies. Sustainable forest fuel management is crucial in mitigating the occurrence and rapid spread of forest fires. This study assessed the impact of vegetation clearing and/or grazing over a three-year period in the herbaceous and shrub parts of a Mediterranean oak forest. Using high-resolution multispectral data from an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), four flight surveys were conducted from 2019 (pre- and post-clearing) to 2021. These data were used to evaluate different scenarios: combined vegetation clearing and grazing, the individual application of each method, and a control scenario that was neither cleared nor purposely grazed. The UAV data allowed for the detailed monitoring of vegetation dynamics, enabling the classification into arboreal, shrubs, herbaceous, and soil categories. Grazing pressure was estimated through GPS collars on the sheep flock. Additionally, a good correlation (r = 0.91) was observed between UAV-derived vegetation volume estimates and field measurements. These practices proved to be efficient in fuel management, with cleared and grazed areas showing a lower vegetation regrowth, followed by areas only subjected to vegetation clearing. On the other hand, areas not subjected to any of these treatments presented rapid vegetation growth.

2024

Combining UAV-Based Multispectral and Thermal Infrared Data with Regression Modeling and SHAP Analysis for Predicting Stomatal Conductance in Almond Orchards

Authors
Guimaraes, N; Sousa, JJ; Couto, P; Bento, A; Padua, L;

Publication
REMOTE SENSING

Abstract
Understanding and accurately predicting stomatal conductance in almond orchards is critical for effective water-management strategies, especially under challenging climatic conditions. In this study, machine-learning (ML) regression models trained on multispectral (MSP) and thermal infrared (TIR) data acquired from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are used to address this challenge. Through an analysis of spectral indices calculated from UAV-based data and feature-selection methods, this study investigates the predictive performance of three ML models (extra trees, ET; stochastic gradient descent, SGD; and extreme gradient boosting, XGBoost) in predicting stomatal conductance. The results show that the XGBoost model trained with both MSP and TIR data had the best performance (R2 = 0.87) and highlight the importance of integrating surface-temperature information in addition to other spectral indices to improve prediction accuracy, up to 11% more when compared to the use of only MSP data. Key features, such as the green-red vegetation index, chlorophyll red-edge index, and the ratio between canopy temperature and air temperature (Tc-Ta), prove to be relevant features for model performance and highlight their importance for the assessment of water stress dynamics. Furthermore, the implementation of Shapley additive explanations (SHAP) values facilitates the interpretation of model decisions and provides valuable insights into the contributions of the features. This study contributes to the advancement of precision agriculture by providing a novel approach for stomatal conductance prediction in almond orchards, supporting efforts towards sustainable water management in changing environmental conditions.

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