Final Presentation Outline

Disclaimer: This is only an outline or still a work in progress.  If you have any suggestions or comments please let me know!

Outline for Final Presentation:

Title Page: The use of Remote Sensing in Akagera National Park in order to analyze the impact of wildfires on savanna growth patterns by Anna Weldy

Background:

• Akagera National Park background/history
• Wildfires rage through the savanna ecosystem
• Burns reduce plant fuel making fire in the next year less likely/drastic
• Importance of fire in maintaining biodiversity
  • Burns reduce plant fuel making fire in the next year less likely/drastic
  • Ash from wildfire is rich in minerals, which attracts animals.

Objective:

• To analyze, through remote sensing, how wildfires effect vegetation growth patterns over a span of four decades.
  • What can analysis of vegetation growth tell scientists about environment, climate..

Methods:

• Landsat Data
  • TM was used (1984-present) because it has more bands and was therefore more practical for this analysis.
• ENVI
• Indices:
  • NDVI, SAVI/MSAVI, NBR, dNBR
    • Math/equations

Data/Images:

• Four images from four decades before fires
  • SAVI/MSAVI computed for all four and compared
  • NDVI??
• Use images after fires to explain changes over time
  • dNBR shows that a fire occurred and the severity of the burn.

Results/Conclusion:

• What changes occurred over time, to what extent, how do we know...

Applications:

• Fire management
• Understanding change due to climate change/management

Thank you/Acknowledgments:

July 30: MSAVI and Bike trip

I started today by computing MSAVI for the 1980s image.  In order to do this, I had to calculate the slope of the NIR v. Red for a specific image.  Using this value and the equation NIR - (slope)(Red), I was able to compute the WDVI.  With the WDVI, I solved for L using another equation.  I used the L value to calculate the MSAVI.  In the end, MSAVI is calculated the same way that SAVI is, but SAVI assumes a the variable L to be constant at a value of 0.5.  MSAVI requires a bit more work because it relies on L to be calculated for the specific location and vegetation circumstances.

Then, at eleven, the interns and intern advisers went on a bike ride!  We rode to the University of Rochester and we visited Mount Hope Cemetery; we saw the graves of Frederick Douglas and Susan B. Anthony.  Then, we had a delicious lunch and rode back to RIT.  Even though it was EXTREMELY hot, it was a really fun trip (see picture below). 

After we got back and recovered from the extreme heat, I continued to work with SAVI for the image from the 1990s.  I won't be at work tomorrow, but I will post my outline tonight so that my fellow interns and advisers can see it and give me some constructive criticism.

Bike trip:

July 29

Today I worked on implementing the more difficult version of SAVI.  The SAVI I used yesterday uses infrared and red bands and an already predetermined constant; however, the version of SAVI which I used today needed additional calculations in order to find the constant.  I went through a number of equations and graphs and I am finally getting somewhere!  Today I also attended the weekly remote sensing meeting and all of the interns listened to a presentation about physics application to fire management.

July 28

Yesterday, I went through images from the 1980s and 1990s and I found a few images which will be used to show change over time.  However, when I got to images from 2004 and younger, the mask I tried to apply did not work.  It was rather strange, because the software recognized the mask as a mask band, but when it was applied the values of zero caused by the broken mirror in landsat 7 were not ignored.  I met with Dr. Vodacek to show him  the problem and he said that he would speak to someone today who is more familiar with the ENVI software.  For now, he wants me to work on applying SAVI to the older images and if we cannot get the mask to function, then he said I can just apply SAVI despite the anomalies caused by the broken mirror in landsat 7.

July 27: Week Four?!

Today I met with Dr. Vodacek in order to ask some questions on how to do analysis of fire burns over time.  He suggested that to start, I should choose four images from four decades (1980s-present) that were taken before fires and compare them to each other in order to note change over time. He also gave me a paper to read about SAVI and MSAVI so that I will know how to calculate this index in ENVI; he also helped me by explaining different strategies which will help me to check if I have built and applied a mask correctly.  I spent the remainder of the day reading the article and will start looking for the four images tomorrow.

July 24

Today I worked on cropping images and determining sections that I could use as subsets of data.  A smaller subset will be helpful because it will be more accurate and specific to the location.  We had our annual grill out and I also served as a test subject in the Color Science department.

July 23: An apocalypse?!

At today's meeting we shared our progress and any problems we were having.  Then Mr. Callens took a group of interns over to see the Color Science department because we will serve as test subjects for a test going on there.  Then, all of the interns attended a presentation on space weather; it was so cool!  However, I never realized the severity of space weather, and apparently a severe enough event would cause humans to lose power for 10 years!  So now I am more than tempted to stock up on food and prepare for a near apocalyptic event because it could happen any day...

After the presentation, I kept sifting through images in order to distinguish fires and burn scars.  I got all the way up to 2004, which is when the Landsat 7 mirror broke.  So, I tried to work on building and applying a mask so that I could run an accurate NBR.  However, I do not think it worked, so I am planning on asking Dr. Vodacek for help tomorrow morning.  Today I also worked with the fires from 1984 and 1999 by running an NDVI and Tasseled Cap on both.