Nicholas Dercas

Development of a GIS-based Spatially Distributed Continuous Hydrological Model and its First Application

Abstract This study describes the development of a spatially distributed continuous hydrological model and its application on an Aegean Sea island. This model was developed on the basis of a Geographical Information System (GIS) in direct interaction with the special database containing the input data in a spatially distributed form. The model is physically based; it can evaluate the daily values of the water balance components in very fine spatial resolution and gives relatively accurate results with small calibration effort. The main scope of the model is to utilize a valuable tool in areas with great scarcity of hydrometric data, increased water needs and serious shortages of fresh water. The model was applied on Naxos, a medium size Aegean island, with satisfactory results.

Comparative Assessment of Environmental Flow Estimation Methods in a Mediterranean Mountain River

The ecological integrity of rivers ultimately depends on flow regime. Flow degradation is especially prominent in Mediterranean systems and assessing environmental flows in modified rivers is difficult, especially in environments with poor hydrologic monitoring and data availability. In many Mediterranean countries, which are characterized by pronounced natural variability and low summer flows, water management actions usually focus on prescribing minimum acceptable flows estimated by hydrologic methods. In this study, a comparative assessment of environmental flow estimation methods is developed in a river with poorly monitored flows and limited understanding of past reference conditions. This assessment incorporates both a hydrologic and a fish habitat simulation effort that takes into consideration hydrologic seasonality in a Greek mountainous river. The results of this study indicate that especially in data scarce regions the utilization of biotic indicators through habitat models, may provide valuable information, beyond that achievable with hydrologic methods, for developing regional environmental flow criteria. Despite the widespread use of the method, challenges in transferability of fish habitat simulation provide undefined levels of uncertainty and may require the concurrent use of different assessment tools and site-specific study.

Field Calibration of Weirs Using Partial Volumetric Flow Measurements

AbstractA simple and low-cost flow-measurement method for the field calibration of weirs is described. With this method, accurate estimations of the flow rate over a weir can be made on the basis of volumetric flow measurements of a fraction of the total flow, using common equipment. Two variants of the method, suitable for the calibration of rectangular or auxiliary profiled weirs, are described. The method, under specific conditions, can be also used for the field calibration of other flow-measurement or irrigation structures.

The role of spatial and spectral resolution on the effectiveness of satellite-based vegetation indices

Remote Sensing applications are designed to provide farmers with timely crop monitoring and production information. Such information can be used to identify crop needs or health problems and provide solutions for a better crop management. Vegetation indices (VIs) derived from satellite data have been widely used to assess variations in the physiological state and biophysical properties of vegetation. In the present study, the experimental area is located near the village Eleftherion of Larissa Prefecture in the Thessaly Plain, and consisted of two adjacent agricultural fields of cotton and corn. Imagery from WorldView-2 (WV2) satellite platform was obtained from European Space Imaging and Landsat-8 (L8) free of charge data were downloaded from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) archive. The images were selected for a four month span to evaluate continuity with respect to vegetation growth variation. VIs for each satellite platform data such as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), the Soil-Adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI) and the Fraction Photosynthetically Radiation (FPAR) were calculated. The comparison of these VIs produced from the two satellite systems with different spatial and spectral resolution was made for each growth stage of the crops and their results were analyzed in order to examine their correlation. Utilizing the WV2 new spectral data, several innovative chlorophyll and vegetation indices were created and evaluated so as to reveal their effectiveness in the detection of problematic plant growth areas. The Green Chlorophyll index appeared to be the most efficient index for the delineation of these areas.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) data analysis for fertilization dose assessment

The growth rate monitoring of crops throughout their biological cycle is very important as it contributes to the achievement of a uniformly optimum production, a proper harvest planning, and reliable yield estimation. Fertilizer application often dramatically increases crop yields, but it is necessary to find out which is the ideal amount that has to be applied in the field. Remote sensing collects spatially dense information that may contribute to, or provide feedback about, fertilization management decisions. There is a potential goal to accurately predict the amount of fertilizer needed so as to attain an ideal crop yield without excessive use of fertilizers cause financial loss and negative environmental impacts. The comparison of the reflectance values at different wavelengths, utilizing suitable vegetation indices, is commonly used to determine plant vigor and growth. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have several advantages; because they can be deployed quickly and repeatedly, they are flexible regarding flying height and timing of missions, and they can obtain very high-resolution imagery. In an experimental crop field in Eleftherio Larissa, Greece, different dose of pre-plant and in-season fertilization was applied in 27 plots. A total of 102 aerial photos in two flights were taken using an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle based on the scheduled fertilization. Α correlation of experimental fertilization with the change of vegetation indices values and with the increase of the vegetation cover rate during those days was made. The results of the analysis provide useful information regarding the vigor and crop growth rate performance of various doses of fertilization.

Evaluation and cross-comparison of vegetation indices for crop monitoring from sentinel-2 and worldview-2 images

Farmers throughout the world are constantly searching for ways to maximize their returns. Remote Sensing applications are designed to provide farmers with timely crop monitoring and production information. Such information can be used to identify crop vigor problems. Vegetation indices (VIs) derived from satellite data have been widely used to assess variations in the physiological state and biophysical properties of vegetation. However, due to the various sensor characteristics, there are differences among VIs derived from multiple sensors for the same target. Therefore, multi-sensor VI capability and effectiveness are critical but complicated issues in the application of multi-sensor vegetation observations. Various factors such as the atmospheric conditions during acquisition, sensor and geometric characteristics, such as viewing angle, field of view, and sun elevation influence direct comparability of vegetation indicators among different sensors. In the present study, two experimental areas were used which are located near the villages Nea Lefki and Melia of Larissa Prefecture in Thessaly Plain area, containing a wheat and a cotton crop, respectively. Two satellite systems with different spatial resolution, WorldView-2 (W2) and Sentinel-2 (S2) with 2 and 10 meters pixel size, were used. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Leaf Area Index (LAI) were calculated and a statistical comparison of the VIs was made to designate their correlation and dependency. Finally, several other innovative indices were calculated and compared to evaluate their effectiveness in the detection of problematic plant growth areas.