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The increasing frequency of global drought events poses a significant threat to the stability of grassland ecosystems' functionality. The Inner Mongolian grasslands stand out as one of the world's most drought-prone regions, facing elevated drought risks compared to other biomes. An in-depth comprehension of the impact of drought on grassland ecosystems is paramount for their long-term sustainability. Using the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) from 1982 to 2018, this study identified various drought events within the Inner Mongolian grasslands, encompassing moderate drought, severe drought, and extreme drought. The resistance of the vegetation to the different drought conditions, assessed through net primary productivity (NPP) as a metric (reflecting its capacity to maintain its original level during drought periods), was examined. The research findings indicated that the period from 2001 to 2018 witnessed a substantial increase in both the frequency and the extent of drought events compared to the period from 1982 to 2000, particularly concerning severe and extreme droughts. The areas most severely impacted by extreme drought were the Xilingol League and the Alxa League. From 1982–2000 to 2001–2018, under moderate drought conditions, vegetation resistance exhibited a minor decrease in the central and eastern regions but experienced a slight increase in the western region. In contrast, under severe drought conditions, the western region saw a significant decrease in vegetation resistance. Remarkably, under extreme drought conditions, the western region showed a substantial increase in vegetation resistance, while the central and eastern regions experienced a slight decrease. Across all three drought conditions, as precipitation levels declined, the resistance of the meadow–steppe–desert ecosystems demonstrated a high–low–high distribution pattern. The temperate desert steppe exhibited a minimal vulnerability to drought, boasting resistance levels exceeding 0.9. Notably, extreme drought had the most pronounced impact on the temperate meadow steppe, temperate steppe, and temperate desert steppe, particularly within the temperate meadow steppe category. Given these findings, the authorities responsible for grassland management should prioritize regions characterized by frequent drought occurrences and low drought resistance, such as Ulanqab City, the Xilingol League, and the western part of Hulun Buir City. Safeguarding steppe ecosystems is of paramount importance for stabilizing vegetation productivity and land carbon sinks, especially under the anticipated exacerbation of climate conditions in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grassland aboveground biomass (AGB) is an important indicator for studying the change in grassland ecological quality and carbon cycle. The rapid development of high-resolution remote sensing and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) provides a new opportunity for accurate estimation of grassland AGB on the plot scale. In this study, the mountain grassland was taken as the research object. Using UAV Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data and multispectral satellite images, the influence of topographic correction methods on AGB estimation was compared and a series of LiDAR metrics and vegetation indices were extracted. On this basis, a comprehensive indicator, the vegetation index-height-intensity model (VHI), was proposed to estimate AGB quickly. The results show that: (1) Among the four topographic correction methods, the Teillet regression has the best effect, and can effectively improve the accuracy of AGB estimation in mountain grassland. The correlation between corrected ratio vegetation index and AGB was the highest (correlation coefficient: 0.682). (2) Among the height and intensity metrics, median height and max intensity yielded the higher accuracy in estimating AGB, with Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) of 322 g/m2 and 333 g/m2, respectively. (3) The VHI integrated spectrum and LiDAR information, and its accuracy for AGB estimation for mountain grassland, was obviously better than other indicators, with an RMSE of 272 g/m2. We also found that the accuracy of VHI in univariate models was comparable to that of complex multivariate models such as stepwise regression, support vector machine, and random forest. This study provides a new approach for estimating grassland AGB with multi-source data. As a simple and effective indicator, VHI has shown strong application potential for grassland AGB estimating in mountainous areas, and can be further applied to grassland carbon cycle research and fine management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At present, with the advance of satellite image processing technology, remote sensing images are becoming more widely used in real scenes. However, due to the limitations of current remote sensing imaging technology and the influence of the external environment, the resolution of remote sensing images often struggles to meet application requirements. In order to obtain high-resolution remote sensing images, image super-resolution methods are gradually being applied to the recovery and reconstruction of remote sensing images. The use of image super-resolution methods can overcome the current limitations of remote sensing image acquisition systems and acquisition environments, solving the problems of poor-quality remote sensing images, blurred regions of interest, and the requirement for high-efficiency image reconstruction, a research topic that is of significant relevance to image processing. In recent years, there has been tremendous progress made in image super-resolution methods, driven by the continuous development of deep learning algorithms. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive overview and analysis of deep-learning-based image super-resolution methods. Specifically, we first introduce the research background and details of image super-resolution techniques. Second, we present some important works on remote sensing image super-resolution, such as training and testing datasets, image quality and model performance evaluation methods, model design principles, related applications, etc. Finally, we point out some existing problems and future directions in the field of remote sensing image super-resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temperature and precipitation are considered to be the most important indicators affecting the green-up date. Sensitivity of the green-up date to temperature and precipitation is considered to be one of the key indicators to characterize the response of terrestrial ecosystems to climate change. We selected the main grassland types for analysis, including temperate steppe, temperate meadow steppe, upland meadow, and lowland meadow. This study investigates the variation in key meteorological indicators (daily maximum temperature (Tmax), daily minimum temperature (Tmin), and precipitation) between 2001 and 2018. We then examined the partial correlation and sensitivity of green-up date (GUD) to Tmax, Tmin, and precipitation. Our analysis indicated that the average GUD across the whole area was DOY 113. The mean GUD trend was −3.1 days/decade and the 25% region advanced significantly. Tmax and Tmin mainly showed a decreasing trend in winter (p > 0.05). In spring, Tmax mainly showed an increasing trend (p > 0.05) and Tmin a decreasing trend (p > 0.05). Precipitation showed no significant (p > 0.05) change trend and the trend range was ±10 mm/decade. For temperate steppe, the increase in Tmin in March promotes green-up (27.3%, the proportion of significant pixels), with a sensitivity of −0.17 days/°C. In addition, precipitation in April also promotes green-up (21.7%), with a sensitivity of −0.32 days/mm. The GUDs of temperate meadow steppe (73.9%), lowland meadow (65.9%), and upland meadow (22.1%) were mainly affected by Tmin in March, with sensitivities of −0.15 days/°C, −0.13 days/°C, and −0.14 days/°C, respectively. The results of this study reveal the response of vegetation to climate warming and contribute to improving the prediction of ecological changes as temperatures increase in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An earthquake-induced landslide (EQIL) is a rapidly changing process occurring at the Earth's surface that is strongly controlled by the earthquake in question and predisposing conditions. Predicting locations prone to EQILs on a large scale is significant for managing rescue operations and disaster mitigation. We propose a deep learning framework while considering the source area feature of EQIL to model the complex relationship and enhance spatial prediction accuracy. Initially, we used high-resolution remote sensing images and a digital elevation model (DEM) to extract the source area of an EQIL. Then, 14 controlling factors were input to a stacked autoencoder (SAE) to search for robust features by sparse optimization, and the classifier took advantage of high-level abstract features to identify the EQIL spatially. Finally, the EQIL inventory collected from the Wenchuan earthquake was used to validate the proposed model. The results show that the proposed method significantly outperformed conventional methods, achieving an overall accuracy (OA) of 91.88%, while logistic regression (LR), support vector machine (SVM), and random forest (RF) achieved 80.75%, 82.22%, and 84.16%, respectively. Meanwhile, this study reveals that shallow machine learning models only take advantage of significant factors for EQIL prediction, but deep learning models can extract more effective information related to EQIL distribution from low-value density data, which is why its prediction accuracy is growing with increasing input factors. There is hope that new knowledge of EQILs can be represented by high-level abstract features extracted by hidden layers of the deep learning model, which are typically acquired by statistical methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Northern China has been long threatened by aeolian desertification. In recent years, all levels of the Chinese government have performed a series of ecological protection and sand control projects. To grasp the implementation effects of these projects and adjust policies in time, it is necessary to understand the process of aeolian desertification quickly and accurately. Remote sensing technologies play an irreplaceable role in aeolian desertification monitoring. In this study, the Zhenglan Banner, which is in the hinterland of the Hunshandake Sandy Land, was considered as the research area. Based on unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) images, ground survey data, and Landsat images called in Google Earth Engine (GEE), the aeolian desertified land (ADL) in 2000, 2004, 2010, 2015, and 2019 was extracted using spectral mixture analysis. A desertification index (DI) was constructed to evaluate the spatial and temporal dynamics of the ADL in the Zhenglan Banner. Finally, a residual analysis explored the driving forces of aeolian desertification. The results showed that (1) the ADL area in the Zhenglan Banner has been trending downwards over the past 20 years but rebounded from 2004 to 2010; (2) over the past 20 years, the area of slightly, moderately, and severely desertified land has decreased at annual rates of 0.4%, 2.7%, and 3.4%, respectively; (3) human activities had significantly positive and negative impacts on the aeolian desertification trend for 20.0% and 21.0% of the study area, respectively, but not for the rest. This paper explored new techniques for rapid aeolian desertification monitoring and is of great significance for controlling and managing aeolian desertification in this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accumulation of heat and moderate precipitation are the primary factors that are used by grasslands to trigger a green-up date. The accumulated growing degree-days (AGDD) requirement over the preseason is an important indicator of the response of grassland spring phenology to climate change. This study adopted the Normalized Difference Phenology Index (NDPI), which derived from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), to extract annual green-up dates in the Hulun Buir grassland in China between 2001–2015. Our analysis indicated that the range (standard deviation) and trend for the green-up date were DOY (day of year) 104 to DOY 144 (10.6 days) and −2.0 days per decade. Nine point two percent of the study area had significant (p < 0.05) changes in AGDD requirements. The partial correlations between the AGDD requirements and chilling days (67.04%, pixels proportion) were negative and significant (p < 0.05). The partial correlations between the AGDD requirement and precipitation (28.87%) were positive and significant (p < 0.05). Finally, the partial correlation between the AGDD requirement and insolation (97.65%) were positive and significant (p < 0.05). The results of this study could reveal the response of vegetation to climate warming and contribute to improving the phenological mechanism model of different grassland types in future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Frequent droughts in a warming climate tend to induce the degeneration of vegetation. Quantifying the response of vegetation to variations in drought events is therefore crucial for evaluating the potential impacts of climate change on ecosystems. In this study, the standardized precipitation index (SPI) was calculated using the precipitation data sourced from the China Meteorological Forcing Dataset (CMFD), and then the drought events in southern Tibet from 1982 to 2015 were identified based on the SPI index. The results showed that the frequency, severity, and intensity of drought events in southern Tibet decreased from 1982 to 2015, and the highest frequency of drought was found between 1993 and 2000. To evaluate the impact of drought events on vegetation, the vegetation characteristic indexes were developed based on the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and the drought characteristics. The assessment of two drought events showed that the alpine grasslands and alpine meadows had high vegetation vulnerability (AI). The assessment of multiple drought events showed that responses of vegetation to drought were spatially heterogeneous, and the total explain rate of environmental factors to the variations in AI accounted for 40%. Among the many environmental factors investigated, the AI were higher at middle altitudes (2000–3000 m) than low altitudes (<2000 m) and high altitudes (3000–4500 m). Meanwhile, the silt soil fraction in the upper soil layer (0–30 cm) had the greatest positive correlation with AI, suggesting that areas with a high silt soil fraction were more sensitive to drought. The relative contribution rates of environmental factors were predicted by a multivariate linear regression (MLR) model. The silt soil fraction was found to make the greatest relative contribution (23.3%) to the changes in AI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ecosystem of extra-high mountain areas is very fragile. Understanding local vegetation changes is crucial for projecting ecosystem dynamics. In this paper, we make a case for Himalayan mountain areas to explore vegetation dynamics and their influencing factors. Firstly, the interannual trends of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) were extracted by the Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition (EEMD) algorithm and linear regression method. Moreover, the influence of environmental factors on interannual NDVI trends was assessed using the Random Forests algorithm and partial dependence plots. Subsequently, the time-lag effects of seasonal NDVI on different climatic factors were discussed and the effects of these factors on seasonal NDVI changes were determined by partial correlation analysis. The results show that (1) an overall weak upward trend was observed in NDVI variations from 1982 to 2015, and 1989 is considered to be the breakpoint of the NDVI time series; (2) interannual temperature trends and the shortest distance to large lakes were the most important factors in explaining interannual NDVI trends. Temperature trends were positively correlated with NDVI trends. The relationship between the shortest distance to large lakes and the NDVI trend is an inverted U-shaped; (3) the time-lags of NDVI responses to four climatic factors were shorter in Autumn than that in Summer. The NDVI responds quickly to precipitation and downward long-wave radiation; (4) downward long-wave radiation was the main climate factor that influenced NDVI changes in Autumn and the growing season because of the warming effect at night. This study is important to improve the understanding of vegetation changes in mountainous regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) has been proven to be an efficient indicator of vegetation photosynthesis. To investigate the relationship between SIF and Gross Primary Productivity (GPP), tower-based continuous spectral observations coordinated with eddy covariance (EC) measurements are needed. As the strong absorption effect at the O2-A absorption bands has an obvious influence on SIF retrieval based on the Fraunhofer Line Discrimination (FLD) principle, atmospheric correction is required even for tower-based SIF observations made with a sensor tens of meters above the canopy. In this study, an operational and simple solution for atmospheric correction of tower-based SIF observations at the O2-A band is proposed. The aerosol optical depth (AOD) and radiative transfer path length (RTPL) are found to be the dominant factors influencing the upward and downward transmittances at the oxygen absorption band. Look-up tables (LUTs) are established to estimate the atmosphere transmittance using AOD and RTPL based on the MODerate resolution atmospheric TRANsmission 5 (MODTRAN 5) model simulations, and the AOD is estimated using the ratio of the downwelling irradiance at 790 nm to that at 660 nm (E790/E660). The influences of the temperature and pressure on the atmospheric transmittance are also compensated for using a corrector factor of RTPL based on an empirical equation. A series of field measurements were carried out to evaluate the performance of the atmospheric correction method for tower-based SIF observations. The difference between the SIF retrieved from tower-based and from ground-based observations decreased obviously after the atmospheric correction. The results indicate that the atmospheric correction method based on a LUT is efficient and also necessary for more accurate tower-based SIF retrieval, especially at the O2-A band. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]