The HiWATER Research Scenario
(courtesy of Dr. Yingchun Ge) A GRSL special stream – 2014/2015
Editorship
· Xin Li, CAREERI CAS, China (Guest Editor)
· Shaomin Liu, BNU, China (Guest Editor)
· Rui Jin, CAREERI CAS, China (GRSL Associate Editor)
Soil moisture, evapotranspiration, land surface temperature, albedo and other land surface parameters are of crucial importance for hydrological science and water resource management in arid regions. The remote sensing of these parameters has advanced rapidly in the past decades. However, grand challenges still exist and are associated with a fundamental problem: the land surface is heterogeneous, especially for arid regions. Neither remote sensing forward models nor validation for these land surface parameters sufficiently consider the effects of the heterogeneity within a remote sensing pixel. Active and relevant research initiatives within the remote sensing community are related to:
- how to develop remote sensing products over heterogeneous land surface,
- how to quantify the uncertainty associated with heterogeneity, and
- how to validate remote sensing products in heterogeneous land surface by taking the advantages of newly developed in situ observation techniques such as wireless sensor network and footprint-scale measurements.
Aiming to promote the understanding of the above problems, the HiWATER (Heihe Watershed Allied Telemetry Experimental Research), an intensive experiment with respect to the application of remote sensing on ecology and hydrology in river basin scale, was carried out in an inland river basin in Northwestern China’s arid region. The highlights of HiWATER are the use of multi-sources airborne remote sensors, a flux observing matrix and an eco-hydrological wireless sensor network to capture multi-scale heterogeneities in order to address the aforementioned complex problems.
The IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters (IEEE GRSL) called for papers for a special stream devoted to understanding the heterogeneity of soil moisture, evapotranspiration, and other related eco-hydrological variables. There are 28 papers accepted for publication among 40 submissions, which used HiWATER data with foci on heterogeneity, scaling-up and uncertainty. The papers are organized into four themes: 1) soil moisture, 2) evapotranspiration, 3) other land surface parameters, and 4) information system of HiWATER.
A closing paper in open access reviews the outcomes and contributions of this special stream. According to the research scopes of spatial heterogeneity, scaling method, uncertainty analysis, optimal sampling, validation of remote sensing products, and the considerations of heterogeneity in the remote sensing model, Table 1 summarizes the content of the papers. And Table 2 offers a full listing of each paper, including the authors, the title and the DOI based web link.
TABLE 1: OVERVIEW OF THE SPECIAL STREAM PAPER CONTENT.
| Theme |
Uncertainty |
Heterogeneity |
Scaling |
Remote Sensing |
Validation |
| Soil Moisture |
1, 2, 8 |
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 |
1, 3, 5 |
1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9 |
1, 3, 5 |
| Evapotranspiration |
10, 11 |
10, 15, 18 |
15 |
12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18 |
10, 12, 18 |
| Other Land Surface Parameters |
22 |
19, 24, 25, 26 |
24, 28 |
19, 21, 22, 23, 26 |
24, 25 |
| HiWATER Information System |
20, 27 |
TABLE 2: LISTING OF THE ACCEPTED PAPERS.
| 1 |
Rui Jin, Xin Li, Baoping Yan, Xiuhong Li, Wanmin Luo, Mingguo Ma, Jianwen Guo, Jian Kang, Zhongli Zhu, and Shaojie Zhao, “A Nested Ecohydrological Wireless Sensor Network for Capturing the Surface Heterogeneity in the Midstream Areas of the Heihe River Basin, China,” IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, Vol. 11, No. 9, November 2014, pp. 2015-2019. |
| 2 |
Zhongli Zhu, Lei Tan, Shengguo Gao, and Qishun Jiao, “Observation on Soil Moisture of Irrigation Cropland by Cosmic-Ray Probe,” IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, Vol. 12, No. 3, March 2015, pp. 472-476. |
| 3 |
Jian Kang, Rui Jin, and Xin Li, “Regression Kriging-Based Upscaling of Soil Moisture Measurements From a Wireless Sensor Network and Multiresource Remote Sensing Information Over Heterogeneous Cropland,” IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, Vol. 12, No. 1, January 2015, pp. 92-96. |
| 4 |
Xujun Han, Rui Jin, Xin Li, and Shuguo Wang, “Soil Moisture Estimation Using Cosmic-Ray Soil Moisture Sensing at Heterogeneous Farmland.” IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, Vol. 11, No. 9, September 2014, pp. 1659-1663. |
| 5 |
Jianghao Wang, Yong Ge, Yongze Song, Xin Li, “A Geostatistical Approach to Upscale Soil Moisture With Unequal Precision Observations,” IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, Vol. 11, No. 12, December 2014, pp. 2125-2129. |
| 6 |
Tao Zhang, Lingmei Jiang, Linna Chai, Tianjie Zhao, and Qi Wang, “Estimating Mixed-Pixel Component Soil Moisture Contents Using Biangular Observations From the HiWATER Airborne Passive Microwave Data,” IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, Vol. 12, No. 5, May 2105, pp. 1146-1150. |
| 7 |
Jiangyuan Zeng, Zhen Li, Quan Chen, and Haiyun Bi, “Method for Soil Moisture and Surface Temperature Estimation in the Tibetan Plateau Using Spaceborne Radiometer Observations” IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, Vol. 12, No. 1, January 2015, pp. 97-101. |
| 8 |
Dazhi Li, Rui Jin, and Jian Zhou, “Analysis and Reduction of the Uncertainties in Soil Moisture Estimation With the L-MEB Model Using EFAST and Ensemble Retrieval,” IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, Vol. 12, No. 6, June 2105, pp. 1337-1341. |
| 9 |
Heshun Wang, Qing Xiao, Hua Li, Yongming Du, and Qinhuo Liu, “Investigating the Impact of Soil Moisture on Thermal Infrared Emissivity Using ASTER Data,” IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, Vol. 12, No. 2, February 2015, pp. 294-298. |
| 10 |
ie Bai, Li Jia, Shaomin Liu, Ziwei Xu, Guangcheng Hu, Mingjia Zhu, and Lisheng Song, “Characterizing the Footprint of Eddy Covariance System and Large Aperture Scintillometer Measurements to Validate Satellite-Based Surface Fluxes,” IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, Vol. 12, No. 5, May 2105, pp. 943-947. |
| 11 |
Jiemin Wang, Jinxin Zhuang, Weizhen Wang, Shaomin Liu, and Ziwei Xu, “Assessment of Uncertainties in Eddy Covariance Flux Measurement Based on Intensive Flux Matrix of HiWATER-MUSOEXE,” IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, Vol. 12, No. 2, February 2015, pp. 259-263. |
| 12 |
Lisheng Song, Shaomin Liu, Xi Zhang, Ji Zhou, and Mingsong Li, “Estimating and Validating Soil Evaporation and Crop Transpiration During the HiWATER-MUSOEXE,” IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, Vol. 12, No. 2, February 2015, pp. 334-338. |
| 13 |
Chen Qiao, Rui Sun, Ziwei Xu, Lei Zhang, Liangyun Liu, Lvyuan Hao, and Guoqing Jiang, “A Study of Shelterbelt Transpiration and Cropland Evapotranspiration in an Irrigated Area in the Middle Reaches of the Heihe River in Northwestern China,” IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, Vol. 12, No. 2, February 2015, pp. 369-373. |
| 14 |
Tongren Xu, S. Mohyddin Bateni, and Shunlin Liang, “Estimating Turbulent Heat Fluxes With a Weak-Constraint Data Assimilation Scheme: A Case Study (HiWATER-MUSOEXE),” IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, Vol. 12, No. 1, January 2015, pp. 68-72. |
| 15 |
Yong Ge, Yongzhong Liang, Jianghao Wang, Qianyi Zhao, and Shaomin Liu, “Upscaling Sensible Heat Fluxes With Area-to-Area Regression Kriging,” IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, Vol. 12, No. 3, March 2015, pp. 656-660. |
| 16 |
Zhansheng Li, Li Jia, Guangcheng Hu, Jing Lu, Jingxiao Zhang, Qiting Chen, and Kun Wang, “Estimation of Growing Season Daily ET in the Middle Stream and Downstream Areas of the Heihe River Basin Using HJ-1 Data,” IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, Vol. 12, No. 5, May 2105, pp. 948-952. |
| 17 |
Bingfang Wu, Qiang Xing, Nana Yan, Weiwei Zhu, and Qifeng Zhuang, “A Linear Relationship Between Temporal Multiband MODIS BRDF and Aerodynamic Roughness in HiWATER Wind Gradient Data,” IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, Vol. 12, No. 3, March 2015, pp. 507-511. |
| 18 |
Yanfei Ma, Shaomin Liu, Fen Zhang, Ji Zhou, Zhenzhen Jia, and Lisheng Song, “Estimations of Regional Surface Energy Fluxes Over Heterogeneous Oasis-Desert Surfaces in the Middle Reaches of the Heihe River During HiWATER-MUSOEXE,” IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, Vol. 12, No. 3, March 2015, pp. 671-675. |
| 19 |
Biao Cao, Qinhuo Liu, Yongming Du, Hua Li, Heshun Wang, and Qin Xiao, “Modeling Directional Brightness Temperature Over Mixed Scenes of Continuous Crop and Road: A Case Study of the Heihe River Basin,” IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, Vol. 12, No. 2, February 2015, pp. 234-238. |
| 20 |
Liangxu Wang, Shuguo Wang, and Youhua Ran, “Data Sharing and Data Set Application of Watershed Allied Telemetry Experimental Research,” IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, Vol. 11, No. 9, November 2014, pp. 2020-2024. |
| 21 |
Yaokui Cui, Li Jia, Guangcheng Hu, and Jie Zhou, “Mapping of Interception Loss of Vegetation in the Heihe River Basin of China Using Remote Sensing Observations,” IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, Vol. 12, No. 1, January 2015, pp. 23-27. |
| 22 |
Yanli Zhang, Guangjian Yan, and Yulong Bai, “Sensitivity of Topographic Correction to the DEM Spatial Scale,” IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, Vol. 12, No. 1, January 2015, pp. 53-57. |
| 23 |
Guiyun Zhou, Bin Wang, and Ji Zhou, “Automatic Registration of Tree Point Clouds From Terrestrial LiDAR Scanning for Reconstructing the Ground Scene of Vegetated Surfaces,” IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, Vol. 11, No. 9, September 2014, pp. 1654-1658. |
| 24 |
Wenping Yu and Mingguo Ma, “Scale Mismatch Between In Situ and Remote Sensing Observations of Land Surface Temperature: Implications for the Validation of Remote Sensing LST Products,” IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, Vol. 12, No. 3, March 2015, pp. 497-501. |
| 25 |
Liying Geng, Mingguo Ma, Wenping Yu, Xufeng Wang, and Shuzhen Jia, “Validation of the MODIS NDVI Products in Different Land-Use Types Using In Situ Measurements in the Heihe River Basin,” IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, Vol. 11, No. 9, September 2014, pp. 1649-1653. |
| 26 |
Gaofei Yin, Jing Li, Qinhuo Liu, Longhui Li, Yelu Zeng, Baodong Xu, Le Yang, and Jing Zhao, “Improving Leaf Area Index Retrieval Over Heterogeneous Surface by Integrating Textural and Contextual Information: A Case Study in the Heihe River Basin,” IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, Vol. 12, No. 2, February 2015, pp. 359-363. |
| 27 |
Jianwen Guo and Feng Liu, “Automatic Data Quality Control of Observations in Wireless Sensor Network,” IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, Vol. 12, No. 4, April 2015, pp. 716-720. |
| 28 |
Lu Wang, Wenjie Fan, Xiru Xu, and Yuan Liu, “Scaling Transform Method for Remotely Sensed FAPAR Based on FAPAR-P Model,” IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, Vol. 12, No. 4, April 2015, pp. 706-710. |
| Closing paper (open access) |
Rui Jin, Xin Li, Shaomin Liu, “Understanding the heterogeneity of soil moisture and evapotranspiration using multi-scale observations from satellite, airborne and observation matrix,” To appear. |
