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Publications

Publications by CRIIS

2022

DEEP LEARNING APPROACH FOR TERRACE VINEYARDS DETECTION FROM GOOGLE EARTH SATELLITE IMAGERY

Authors
Figueiredo, N; Neto, A; Cunha, A; Sousa, JJ; Sousa, A;

Publication
2022 IEEE INTERNATIONAL GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING SYMPOSIUM (IGARSS 2022)

Abstract
On rugged slopes overlooking the Douro River we find the Alto Douro Wine Region in Portugal, populated by plantations in schist lands of difficult access and mostly manual work. The combined features of this region are a source of motivation to explore remote sensing techniques associated with artificial intelligence. In this paper, a preliminary approach for terrace vineyards detection is presented. This is a key-enabling task towards the achievement of important goals such as multi-temporal crop evaluation and cultures characterization. The proposed methodology consists in the application of a deep learning model (U-net) to detect the terrace vineyards using satellite images dataset acquired with Google Earth Pro. The proposed methodology showed very promising detection capabilities.

2022

Remote sensing image fusion on 3D scenarios: A review of applications for agriculture and forestry

Authors
Jurado, JM; Lopez, A; Padua, L; Sousa, JJ;

Publication
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF APPLIED EARTH OBSERVATION AND GEOINFORMATION

Abstract
Three-dimensional (3D) image mapping of real-world scenarios has a great potential to provide the user with a more accurate scene understanding. This will enable, among others, unsupervised automatic sampling of meaningful material classes from the target area for adaptive semi-supervised deep learning techniques. This path is already being taken by the recent and fast-developing research in computational fields, however, some issues related to computationally expensive processes in the integration of multi-source sensing data remain. Recent studies focused on Earth observation and characterization are enhanced by the proliferation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) and sensors able to capture massive datasets with a high spatial resolution. In this scope, many approaches have been presented for 3D modeling, remote sensing, image processing and mapping, and multi-source data fusion. This survey aims to present a summary of previous work according to the most relevant contributions for the reconstruction and analysis of 3D models of real scenarios using multispectral, thermal and hyperspectral imagery. Surveyed applications are focused on agriculture and forestry since these fields concentrate most applications and are widely studied. Many challenges are currently being overcome by recent methods based on the reconstruction of multi-sensorial 3D scenarios. In parallel, the processing of large image datasets has recently been accelerated by General-Purpose Graphics Processing Unit (GPGPU) approaches that are also summarized in this work. Finally, as a conclusion, some open issues and future research directions are presented.

2022

The Efficiency of Foliar Kaolin Spray Assessed through UAV-Based Thermal Infrared Imagery

Authors
Padua, L; Bernardo, S; Dinis, LT; Correia, C; Moutinho Pereira, J; Sousa, JJ;

Publication
REMOTE SENSING

Abstract
The water content in an agricultural crop is of crucial importance and can either be estimated through proximal or remote sensing techniques, allowing better irrigation scheduling and avoiding extreme water stress periods. However, the current climate change context is increasing the use of eco-friendly practices to reconcile water management and thermal protection from sunburn. These approaches aim to mitigate summer stress factors (high temperature, high radiation, and water shortage) and improve the plants' thermal efficiency. In this study, data from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were used to monitor the efficiency of foliar kaolin application (5%) in a commercial vineyard. Thermal infrared imagery (TIR) was used to compare the canopy temperature of grapevines with and without kaolin and to compute crop water stress and stomatal conductance indices. The gas exchange parameters of single leaves were also analysed to ascertain the physiological performance of vines and validate the UAV-based TIR data. Generally, plants sprayed with kaolin presented a lower temperature compared to untreated plants. Moreover, UAV-based data also showed a lower water stress index and higher stomatal conductance, which relate to eco-physiological measurements carried out in the field. Thus, the suitability of UAV-based TIR data proved to be a good approach to monitor entire vineyards in regions affected by periods of heatwaves, as is the case of the analysed study area.

2022

Synergistic Use of Sentinel-2 and UAV Multispectral Data to Improve and Optimize Viticulture Management

Authors
Stolarski, O; Fraga, H; Sousa, JJ; Padua, L;

Publication
DRONES

Abstract
The increasing use of geospatial information from satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has been contributing to significant growth in the availability of instruments and methodologies for data acquisition and analysis. For better management of vineyards (and most crops), it is crucial to access the spatial-temporal variability. This knowledge throughout the vegetative cycle of any crop is crucial for more efficient management, but in the specific case of viticulture, this knowledge is even more relevant. Some research studies have been carried out in recent years, exploiting the advantage of satellite and UAV data, used individually or in combination, for crop management purposes. However, only a few studies explore the multi-temporal use of these two types of data, isolated or synergistically. This research aims to clearly identify the most suitable data and strategies to be adopted in specific stages of the vineyard phenological cycle. Sentinel-2 data from two vineyard plots, located in the Douro Demarcated Region (Portugal), are compared with UAV multispectral data under three distinct conditions: considering the whole vineyard plot; considering only the grapevine canopy; and considering inter-row areas (excluding all grapevine vegetation). The results show that data from both platforms are able to describe the vineyards' variability throughout the vegetative growth but at different levels of detail. Sentinel-2 data can be used to map vineyard soil variability, whilst the higher spatial resolution of UAV-based data allows diverse types of applications. In conclusion, it should be noted that, depending on the intended use, each type of data, individually, is capable of providing important information for vineyard management.

2022

Mapping the Leaf Area Index of Castanea sativa Miller Using UAV-Based Multispectral and Geometrical Data

Authors
Padua, L; Chiroque-Solano, PM; Marques, P; Sousa, JJ; Peres, E;

Publication
DRONES

Abstract
Remote-sensing processes based on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) have opened up new possibilities to both map and extract individual plant parameters. This is mainly due to the high spatial data resolution and acquisition flexibility of UAVs. Among the possible plant-related metrics is the leaf area index (LAI), which has already been successfully estimated in agronomy and forestry studies using the traditional normalized difference vegetation index from multispectral data or using hyperspectral data. However, the LAI has not been estimated in chestnut trees, and few studies have explored the use of multiple vegetation indices to improve LAI estimation from aerial imagery acquired by UAVs. This study uses multispectral UAV-based data from a chestnut grove to estimate the LAI for each tree by combining vegetation indices computed from different segments of the electromagnetic spectrum with geometrical parameters. Machine-learning techniques were evaluated to predict LAI with robust algorithms that consider dimensionality reduction, avoiding over-fitting, and reduce bias and excess variability. The best achieved coefficient of determination (R-2) value of 85%, which shows that the biophysical and geometrical parameters can explain the LAI variability. This result proves that LAI estimation is improved when using multiple variables instead of a single vegetation index. Furthermore, another significant contribution is a simple, reliable, and precise model that relies on only two variables to estimate the LAI in individual chestnut trees.

2022

Monitoring instabilities by MT-InSAR in a mesa placed town (Arjona, Guadalquivir valley, South Spain)

Authors
Ruiz-Armenteros, AM; Sánchez-Gómez, M; Delgado-Blasco, JM; Bakon, M; Ruiz-Constán, A; Galindo-Zaldívar, J; Lazecky, M; Marchamalo-Sacristán, M; Sousa, JJ;

Publication
Proceedings of the 5th Joint International Symposium on Deformation Monitoring - JISDM 2022

Abstract
Cities in Spain use to be overgrown around old towns (preroman, roman and medieval) constructed on topographic defensive heights of singular geological features. In the upper Guadalquivir valley, a tabular body of Miocene sediments has been eroded forming mesas where most of its population has been living since middle age. As the towns grew, new neighborhoods settled towards the edges and cliffs of these mesas, in areas with high probabilities of instability. The town of Arjona is a good example of this geological-urbanistic setup, located on the tabular hill formed by clay marls topped by bioclastic limestones that protect it from erosion. Modern buildings from few sectors of the town show important cracks, even the 16th century bell-tower has a 4º inclination indicating problems in the foundations. Multi-temporal SAR interferometry (MT-InSAR) is a powerful technique to derive displacement time series over coherent targets on the Earth associated with geophysical or structural instabilities phenomena. In this work we use MT-InSAR with Sentinel-1 data to reveal that, at present day, the periphery of Arjona is active, being recognized a large landslide in the south side of this mesa town which affects buildings and civil infrastructures. In addition, field work is being carried out to investigate the sources of these instabilities.

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