Leaf area index (LAI) is a key parameter used to describe vegetation structures and is widely used in ecosystem biophysical process and vegetation productivity models. Many algorithms have been developed for the estimation of LAI based on remote sensing images. Our goal was to produce accurate and timely predictions of grassland LAI for the meadow steppes of northern China. Here, we compare the...

Spatially-detailed forest height data are useful to monitor local, regional and global carbon cycle. LiDAR remote sensing can measure three-dimensional forest features but generating spatially-contiguous forest height maps at a large scale (e.g., continental and global) is problematic because existing LiDAR instruments are still data-limited and expensive. This paper proposes a new approach bas...

This paper deals with the problem of state estimation for the vector-tracking loop of a software-defined Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver. For a nonlinear system that has the model error and white Gaussian noise, a noise statistics estimator is used to estimate the model error, and based on this, a modified iterated extended Kalman filter (IEKF) named adaptive iterated Kalman filter (AI...

We apply a spatially-implicit, allometry-based modelling approach to predict stem diameter distributions (SDDs) from low density airborne LiDAR data in a heterogeneous, temperate forest in Ontario, Canada. Using a recently published algorithm that relates the density, size, and species of individual trees to the height distribution of first returns, we estimated parameters that succinctly descr...

BACKGROUND Current K-DOQI recommendations call for an assessment of dialysis adequacy that depends critically on an estimate of total body water (TBW). Such estimates are problematic in children since the range of patient size is large, and often formulas derived in normals are not validated in end-stage renal disease. Gold standard methods of TBW measurement, such as deuterium dilution ((2)H(2...

In-shoe pressure measurement devices are used in research and clinic to quantify plantar foot pressures. Various devices are available, differing in size, sensor number and type; therefore accuracy and repeatability. Three devices (Medilogic, Tekscan and Pedar) were examined in a 2 day×3 trial design, quantifying insole response to regional and whole insole loading. The whole insole protocol ap...

Although water temperature is important to stream biota, it is difficult to collect in a spatially and temporally continuous fashion. We used remotely-sensed Land Surface Temperature (LST) data to estimate mean daily stream temperature for every confluence-to-confluence reach in the John Day River, OR, USA for a ten year period. Models were built at three spatial scales: site-specific, subwater...

In this study, Caco-2 permeability results from different laboratories were compared. Six different sets of apparent permeability coefficient (Papp) values reported in the literature were compared to experimental Papp obtained in our laboratory. The differences were assessed by determining the root mean square error (RMSE) values between the datasets, which reached levels as high as 0.581 for t...

Censored data sets are often encountered in water quality investigations and streamflow analyses. A Monte Carlo analysis examined the performance of three techniques for estimating the moments and quantiles of a distribution using censored data sets. These techniques include a lognormal maximum likelihood estimator (MLE), a logprobability plot regression estimator, and a new log-partial probabi...

Spectral matching algorithms can be used for the identification of unknown spectra based on a measure of similarity with one or more known spectra. Two popular spectral matching algorithms use different error metrics and constraints to determine the existence of a spectral match. Multiple endmember spectral mixture analysis (MESMA) is a linear mixing model that uses a root mean square error (RM...