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Vegetation studies of the Amazon basin using enhanced resolution Seasat scatterometer data The Seasat-A scatterometer (SASS) was designed to measure the near-surface wind field over the ocean by inferring the wind from measurements of the surface radar backscatter. While backscatter measurements were also made over land, they have been primarily used for the calibration of the instrument. This has been due in part to the low resolution of the scatterometer measurements (nominally 50 km). In a separate paper the present authors introduced a new method for generating enhanced resolution radar measurements of the Earth's surface using spaceborne scatterometry. In the present paper, the method is used with SASS data to study vegetation classification over the extended Amazon basin using the resulting medium-scale radar images. The remarkable correlation between the Ku-band radar images and vegetation formations is explored, and the results of several successful experiments to classify the general vegetation classes using the image data are presented. The results demonstrate the utility of medium-scale radar imagery in the study of tropical vegetation and permit utilization of both historic and contemporary scatterometer data for studies of global change. Because the scatterometer provides frequent, wide-area coverage at a variety of incidence angles, it can supplement higher resolution instruments which often have narrow swaths with limited coverage and incidence angle diversity. IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING. VOL. 32. NO.2. MARCH 1994 Vegetation Studies of the Amazon Basin Using Enhanced Resolution Seasat Scatterometer Data David G. Long and Perry J. Hardin 449 Abstract-The Seasat-A scatterometer (SASS) was designed to measure the near-surface wind field over the ocean by inferring the wind from measurements of the surface radar backscatter. While backscatter measurements were also made over land, they have been primarily used for the calibration of the instrument. This bas been due in part to the low resolution of the scatterometer measurements (nominally 50 km). In a separate paper [7], we introduced a new method for generating enhanced resolution radar measurements of the earth's surface using spaceborne scatterometry. In this paper, the method is used with SASS data to study vegetation classification over the extended Amazon basin using the resulting medium-scale radar images. The remarkable correlation between the Ku-band radar images and vegetation formations is explored, and the results of several successful experiments to classify the general vegetation classes using the image data are presented. The results demonstrate the utility of medium-scale radar imagery in the study of tropical vegetation and permit utilization of both bistoric and contemporary scatterometer data for studies of global change. Because the scatterometer provides frequent, wide-area coverage at a variety of incidence angles, it can supplement higher resolution instruments which often have narrow swaths with limited coverage and incidence angle diversity. I. INTRODUCTION SPACEBORNE wind scatterometers are an important element in future remote sensing systems because of their proven ability to make all-weather measurements of vector winds over the ocean, a capability first demonstrated by the Ku-band (14.6 GHz) Seasat scatterometer (SASS) in 1978 [14]. Scatterometers measure the normalized radar backscatter coefficient (u 0) of the earth's surface. Over the ocean, the u 0 measurements can be used to estimate the near-surface wind [14]. The coarse resolution (nominally 50 kID) of the scatterometer measurements, while suitable for ocean wind measurement, is a significant limitation in the application of scatterometer data to land and ice studies. The principle application of land 0 0 measurements has been in the calibration of the scatterometer using tropical forests as homogeneous targets [3], [10]. However, global studies Manuscript received April 8, 1992; revised October 22, 1992 and February 9, 1993. This work was supported by the NASA HQ Physical Oceanography and Polar Sciences Programs. The authors are with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602. IEEE Log Number 9214662. (e.g., [4], [5], [13]) have indicated that the u 0 measurements are very sensitive to vegetation and physiographic type, and may provide valuable information for discriminating between land cover classes. In a separate paper [7] (hereafter LHW), we introduced a new'method for obtaining enhanced resolution radar images from low-resolution scatterometer measurements. In this paper, we use the method to generate enhanced resolution images of the extended Amazon basin. Using these medium-scale SASS-derived images, a series of experiments in vegetation classification were conducted. We conclude that the medium-scale enhanced resolution images can be very useful in studies of tropical vegetation. This paper is organized as follows. We first briefly provide some background in scatterometry theory, a description of the SASS data used, and an overview of our enhanced resolution imaging technique. (A detailed description of the enhanced resolution imaging technique is presented in LHW.) Data considerations and assumptions required to apply the technique to SASS data are then discussed. We present enhanced resolution radar images of the extended Amazon basin generated from the SASS data, and then provide the results of several vegetation classification experiments based on the images. We consider both vertically and horizontally polarized measurements. Finally, we summarize our results. II. BACKGROUND Wind scatterometers such as SASS observe (J 0 over a wide range of incidence angles, at several azimuth angles, and with both horizontal and vertical polarizations. The SASS measurement cells had nominally 50 km resolution on an irregular 50 kID grid; however, they varied in size and shape across the measurement swath and along the orbit track (see Fig. 1). Further details regarding the SASS measurement method and the measurement geometry are contained in LHW. For the purposes of applying our resolution enhancement method, we have adopted a simple model describing the dependence of U O on the incidence angle 8, i.e. [4], 0196/2892/94$04.00 1994 IEEE 450 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING, VOL. 32, NO.2, MARCH 1994 '"I a> I I a> I o N I +--,--,---,--,---r-.,.-,---,--,--' -74 -73 -72 -71 -70 -69 -68 -67 -66 -65 -64 -63 Longitude Fig. I. An illustration of Ibe ranges of sizes and shapes of Ibe SASS a 0 cells used in generating the images in this paper. Only a 0 cells wiIb incidence angles in Ibe range of 230 :s () :s 55 0 are shown. While SASS also made nadir a 0 measurements. these are not used in Ibis paper. where 9 is the incidence angle of the observation and a and (B are constants dependent only on the observed surface characteristics. For the experiments described below, this method is applied only over the relatively narrow incidence angle range of 23 0 < 9 < 570 Bracalente and Sweet determined this linear model to be accurate with 0.5 dB over this range. In this model, a is the value of (J 0 at an incidence angle of 400 a can thus be considered to be the "incidence angle-normalized" (J o. Because of the diversity of measurement incidence angles used by wind scatterometers, the a and (B coefficients of this model are more useful in application than the direct (J 0 measurements [5], [6]. Data from the first spaceborne scatterometer, the Skylab S-193 experiment, showed that the 14.6 GHz (J0 values over land were sensitive to vegetation cover, surface water, soil moisture, and physiography [13]. Because the Amazon rain forest appeared to be homogeneous, azimuthally isotropic, and relatively insensitive to polarization with a small diurnal variation, (J 0 measurements of the Amazon rain forest were used for calibration of SASS [1], [3], [4), [10). Later, Kennett and Li [5), [6] conducted a study of SASS measurements over land at a resolution of 1 x lOin a search for additional homogeneous areas for future scatterometer instrument calibration. They found remarkable correlation between land cover types and the values of a and (B with 0.1 (B :s 0.22 dB/O and -40 :s a :s 0 dB, depending on the surface type and vegetation cover. While the early demise of Seasat precluded study of the seasonal change of the backscatter versus land type, they found significant variability in the Arctic region and other areas undergoing high seasonal change during the abbreviated three-month mission (JulySeptember 1978). However, the Amazon and Congo rain forests and various desert regions (mapped at a somewhat higher resolution of 0.5 X 0.50 ) proved to be remarkably stable, and were thus deemed suitable targets for future scatterometer calibration activities. ITI. THE SASS DATA The SASS Sensor Data Record (SDR) files used in this study are described in [2]. While the SASS SDR files do not include the integrated cell comers, we developed an algorithm for reconstructing the cell comer positions from data available in the SDR files (see Fig. 1). The SDR files contain (J 0 measurements spanning an incidence angle range of 0-700 and include estimates of the normalized standard deviation (Kp ) for each (J 0 measurement. We have chosen to exclude (J 0 measurements with excessive Kp (Kp > 15%) in the experiments described below. The discarded measurements represent fewer than 5% of the measurements, most of which occurred at large incidence angles. Orbits (revs) for which the measurements exhibited excessive error were not included (see [4] for a detailed description of the SASS data anomalies and the rationale for selecting and excluding orbits with excessive error). To illustrate the variability in the scatterometer data as well as demonstrate the validity of the model, all the vertically polarized (J 0 measurements over the three-month mission from a 4 X 40 region in northeastern Brazil were plotted as a function of the measurement incidence angle (see Fig. 2). Only measurements with incidence angles in the range of 23-570 with Kp < 15% were used. This region is a portion of the Amazon tropical rain forest, an area previously noted for its homogeneous radar response. Linear regression was used to compute the a and (B coefficients and the corresponding line shown. As evident from this figure, the linear model fits the data well, although there is significant data scatter about the best-fit line. This scatter is due to: 1) thermal noise in the instrument, 2) errors in the computation of the radar parameters used to compute (J 0 from the measured power (this is known as "retrieval error"), 3) variations in the radar backscatter of the forest canopy, and 4) variations in the calibration of the SASS instrument. The latter effect probably accounts for less than 0.1 dB (4). The additive error due to the retrieval error and the thermal noise are both subsumed into Kp (see LHW), although for the ranges of (J 0 observed over land, Kp is dominated by the retrieval error. The standard deviation of the canopy backscatter is estimated to be 0.15 dB [4]. The temporal variation in the radar response can be observed with the aid of Fig. 3 which contains plots of the vertically polarized a and (B versus Julian day (1978) for the study region defined above. The same measurements used in Fig. 2 were employed in creating these plots. To generate this plot, a moving ten-day window was used to compute a time-averaged a and (B value by linear regression of the (J 0 versus incidence angle within the temporal window. The corresponding time-averaged a and (B coefficients were plotted as lines in the upper portion of the plot. To illustrate the frequent changes in the measurements as a function of time, the time-averaged (B value from the upper plot was used to remove the incidence angle dependence of each (J 0 measurement. The resulting a LONG AND HARDIN: VEGETATION STUDIES OF AMAZON BASIN USING SASS DATA 451 as measurement noise by the resolution enhancement algorithm. Time Series of a O values I As discussed in LAW, for future scalterometers, this requirement may be relaxed. IV. ENHANCED RESOLUTION SCAlTEROMETER IMAGING In generating their regional maps, Kennett and Li used a "binning" technique for mapping <t and ill. In this technique, the study area was divided into rectangular "bins" (l0 orO.5 on a side). Each (10 measurement was assigned to the bin in which the cell center fell. a and ill were estimated for each bin using linear regression. The "binning" technique must use resolution "bins" no smaller than the largest measurement cell, limiting the resolution to no better than 50 km. Unfortunately, the 50 kIn intrinsic resolution of the scatterometer is too coarse for many studies. To ameliorate t\tis problem, we developed a new technique for generating enhanced resolution images of a and ill from the low-resolution scatterometer measurements of (J o. Our technique is based primarily on ground-based signal processing. The method takes advantage of the areal overlap in the backscatter measurements taken at different times of a given region and, using an indirect measurement (i.e., reconstruction) formulation, extends the effective resolution. However, the improved resolution is not without cost: the noise in the images of <t and <B increases as we attempt to improve the resolution. Hence, a tradeoff must be made between resolution and the noise level. In addition, certain conditions on the data are required and various assumptions must be made. These will be described below. Because of the spatial sampling characteristics of the SASS measurements, we must use data from multiple orbits to obtain sufficient measurement overlap to apply our reconstruction technique. I To accurately estimate a and ill, we must assume that the target does not change appreciably during the imaging time interval. We define the "imaging time interval" as the length oftime required to accumulate all the measurements used to reconstruct an enhanced resolution image. The ultimate obtainable resolution with our technique is a function of the measurement cell overlap and the noise in the measurements. Arbitrarily reducing the size of the resolution elements will not increase the effective resolution of the resulting estimate since, as the resolution element size is decreased, the noise in the estimates increases. To minimize the estimate noise for a given resolution element size, the- number of measurement cells should be maximized. In turn, however, increasing the number of measurements requires increasing the imaging time interval. Thus, the resolution element size must be a tradeoff between the imaging time interval and the image estimate noise level. Our imaging technique provides estimates of <t and <B for each element of a rectilinear grid of small resolution 28 24 28 32 3fC; 48 ..:14 ...j 52 ':,1:":. T I>:,t(J (deg' -7 m 0 -9 0c 0' v; -11 Fig. 3. Plots of vertically polarized a and <B detennined from the measurements shown in Fig. 2. In the upper portion of this plot, the a and <B coefficients of the linear model using linear regression of a 0 versus II were computed for a ten-day window centered at the plotted point. The window was shifted one day and a and <B recomputed using only the a 0 measurements in the window. The lower plot was generated using the <B estimate from the upper plot to incidence angle "correct" the individual a 0 measurements. The corrected measurements ( a values) are plotted as square symbols. Tbe heavy line in the lower plot is a plot of the average "corrected" value computed using a sliding 1Q-day window. estimate was then plotted in the lower portion of Fig. 3 as individual symbols. A windowed time average ofthese points was plotted as a solid line on this plot. Gaps in the time series are due to missing data. We note that both a and ill remain relatively constant throughout the mission for this region of tropical forest. As discussed later, some seasonal variation in savanna areas was noted. In effect, the scatter in the a estimates in the lower plot is treated Fig. 2. A plot sbowing a (in dB) versus incidence angle II for vertically polarized a measurements from a 4 x 4 study region in nortbwest Brazil. Tbe linear regression line ( a = 7.85, <B = -0.894) is sbown. The study region is centered at 45.5 W, 12 N. Only aO measurements with Kp < 15% and 23 ,,; II ,,; 55 are plotted. 452 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING. VOL. 32, NO.2. MARCH 1994 elements from the lower resolution IJ measurements. In this paper, the iterative SIRF (scatterometer image reconstruction with filtering at each stage) algorithm was used to generate enhanced resolution images of a and <B over the Amazon region of South America from three months of SASS data. For the images shown in this paper, the resolution element (pixel) size is 1/26 x 1/26 (approximately 4.2 x 4.2 kIn). When applied to SASS, this represents about the best resolution enhancement possible. As described in LHW, modifications to future scatterometers could result in an enhanced resolution of 1-2 km. These resolutions are similar to the resolution of local area coverage (LAC) from the Advanced Visible High Resolution Radiometer. Although the enhanced images are only medium scale, our results demonstrate that they can be successfully applied to studies of tropical vegetation. Thus, this technique can be used to augment the data from existing and planned instruments, leading to their more effective use. The wider coverage of the enhanced scatterometer data may be more effective for large-scale monitoring than higher resolution radar sensors such as SAR's because they are lower cost. Using the technique, scatterometer data can be used to extend the results of focused studies by high-resolution sensors to much larger (continental) areas. While we have limited ourselves to using Ku-band SASS data in this paper, the technique can also be applied to the C-band ERS-l scatterometer. A later paper will present ERS-l results. A. Key Assumptions and Application to SASS Data In order to apply our resolution enhancement method to SASS data, conditions must be imposed on the data and various assumptions made. As an example of the former, in order to estimate both a and <B for the resolution elements, each element must be observed with a diversity of incidence angles. Our assumptions in applying this method to SASS data for this region are listed below. 1) The instrument calibration remains stable over the data acquisition interval. Limited tests of this assumption over the Amazon rain forest have indicated the calibration stability to be adequate [4]. 2) Over the study regions, there is no dependence of a or <B on the azimuth angle of the measurement, i.e., there is no azimuthal modulation of u0. The validity of this assumption for Amazon data is borne out by previous investigators [1], [6]. We plan further study of this issue for this and other regions in later papers. 3) The effects of surface topography are small and can be neglected. Surface slope affects the local incidence angle which, in tum, may affect the estimates of a and <B. However, <B, which describes the incidence angle dependence of 1J0, is relatively small (globally, -0.08 <B -0.22 dB/a). Given the small value of <B, the relatively flat topography of the Amazon basin, and the relatively large size of the resolution elements, this assumption is reasonable. 4) The dependence of the time of day on IJ is small or known and correctable. Previous researchers [1], [4] have noted some time-of-day variation in IJ over the Amazon region. In the early morning hours, IJ 0. dropped approximately 0.5 dB, possibly due to the accumulation of dew [4]. However, only a limited number of scatterometer measurements were made during this time, with most occurring later in the day. Uncorrected diurnal variations are treated as "noise" in the imaging algorithm. This variation appears to have very little impact on our results and has, therefore, been ignored (see the discussion below). Further studies of the diurnal variability are being conducted. 5) The a and <B parameters over the target region remain constant over the imaging time interval. For a sufficiently short imaging time interval, this assumption is justifiM. However, in applying the method to SASS data, the imaging time interval must be very long (days to weeks) to obtain sufficient measurement overlap in order to achieve the desired resolution. Kennett and Li [5] specifically examined the time dependency of a and <B at 1 x 1 resolution in their search for extended scatterometer calibration regions. During the three-month SASS mission in the late summer of 1978, they observed time-dependent changes in the a parameter in some areas. However, over the extended Amazon basin, the only variation occurred during the first twothree weeks of the mission, and was limited to less than 1 dB (compare Fig. 3). We have considered imaging time intervals which include and exclude these first weeks. In this paper, the full data set was used. In a later paper, we will report on seasonal variations. Assumptions 2), 4), and 5) may be relaxed when applying the method to suitably modified future scatterometers [7]. B. Technique Validation The ability of the resolution enhancement algorithm to recover surface detail from the low-resolution measurements was demonstrated with simulated measurements in LHW. For actual IJ measurements, the lack of ground truth makes it difficult to objectively evaluate the effectiveness of the algorithm. However, we have observed a remarkable correlation between the observed Ku-band radar backscatter characteristics (a and <B) and vegetation formations. This topic is explored in depth in the following section. Noting this, we have compared the backscatter from the enhanced resolution images to a map of vegetation to evaluate the capability of the radar images to discern vegetation features smaller than those resolvable in the low-resolution "binned" images. For simplicity, on the a values were used to make this comparison. The a values from both the enhanced resolution and low-resolution "binned" images were extracted along a line from 56 W lOoS to 61 S 19 5. This line was arbitrarily chosen to cross a variety of vegetation types aM conditions. Fig. 4 shows the location of this line in an LONG AND HARDIN: VEGETATION STUDIES OF AMAZON BASIN USING SASS DATA 453 Latitude -10' 5 Longitude. 56' W _15L---- -J Latitude _ 19' S Longitutle .. 6' W -11 the relative species densities within the class. Thus, spatial variations in the radar response within each nominal vegetation class can be expected. Further, the radar response seems to be more dependent on the canopy density and vigor rather than just the physiognomic type. In Fig. 5, type "a" corresponds to moist formations which include ombrophilous forest (which is the dominant formation along the line), and related degraded woodland and grassland mosaics. This has the highest a response. Type "b" consists of variable subhumid medium-tall grasslands with woody broad-leafed evergreen woodlands. Being an ecotone, this can be expected to have a higher woodland density with a higher a response than similar formations further from type a. " Type c" is a subhumid degraded formation disturbed by cultivation. As discussed later, this type can be expected to exhibit a wide variation in vegetation due to various stages of clearing and regrowth. This will result in a variable a response. Type "d" is subhumid grassland mixed with shrubs. This small region has the smallest a response which is well defined in the enhanced resolution image. Type "e" corresponds to subhumid medium-tall grasslands nearly devoid of shrubs. We note a close correspondence in the location of this type on the a image and on the map although the observed a response is somewhat higher than generally observed for this vegetation type. Type "f" is a subhumid tropical evergreen seasonal lowland forest. Type "g" is edaphic tropical grassland with palms, while type "h" is edaphic tropical tall grassland with palms. The dip in the enhanced resolution plot indicated by "i" corresponds to the location of a transition within type "a" between a grassland and tropical forest. Unfortunately, the precise a response for each vegetation type along the study line is not known. However, we note a close correspondence with the details of the a response from the enhanced resolution image and the vegeta ion formations along the study line. These are only weakly evident in the low-resolution image. Although the Fig. 5. (i values versus distance along the line extending from 56 W, 100S to 61 0&, 19 5. The solid line is the value ofafrom the enhanced resolution image shown in Fig. 4(a), while the dashed line is the value of (i from the low-resolution "binned" image in Fig. 4(b). For an explanation of the symbols, see the text. expanded view of both the enhanced and low-resolution images. (An a image of the full extended Amazon basin at eilhanced resolution is shown in Fig. 6.) Comparison of the images in Fig. 4 reveals that the enhanced resolution image contains more detail than the low-resolution "binned" image. Fig. 5 shows plots of the a values from the enhanced and low-resolution images along the study line (note that a is the (J 0 value in dB at a 400 incidence angle). Referring to this figure, we note that the a value from the enhanced image (solid line) appears to contain more detail than the a value from the low-resolution "binne<i" image (dashed line). Further, it is clear that the low-resolution line is not merely an averaged version of the enhanced resolution line. Using a small-scale land cover map published in 1978 by UNESCO [15] for reference, the vegetationtypes along this line were determined. The extent of each type along the line is indicated by the vertical dashed lines. As discussed further in a later section, the highest a response, in general, occurs for moist tropical forest with reduced values for woodlands. Grasslands typically have the lowest a response. While there is a good comparison between the map and the radar imagery, the land cover map has some limitations which must be kept in mind when using it for comparison, For example, the map contains unavoidable generalizations because the amount of detail is limited by the map scale. In addition, there is some uncertainty in the placement of vegetation boundaries due to inaccurate source material and because of the frequent existence of broad transition zones (ecotones) between vegetation classes. Classification schemes used to generate the map also demand that grouping of vegetation species be performed. Within a given class, there may be variations in . . Fig. 4. An enhanced resolution (a) image and a low-resolution "binned" (b) image of a for a region in overlapping Brazil and Paraguay showing the location of a line transect used to compare the resolution of the two methods. The resolution of the low-resolution image is 0.5 x 0.5 , while the pixel resolution of the enhanced resolution image is 1/26 x 1/260. The rectangular region extends from 62 to 55 W and from 9 to 200S. 454 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING, VOL. 32, NO.2, MARCH 1994 correspondence is not perfect, and noting the cartographic uncertainties in the map previously mentioned, we conclude with come confidence that the resolution enhancement algorithm has, indeed, provided resolution enhancement. V. VERTICAL POLARIZATION: THE AMAZON BASIN Images of ex and CB were separately generated for vertically and horizontally polarized (J 0 measurements; however, there were only 1/10 as many horizontal measurements as there were vertical measurements for the study region. This occurs because the instrument was primarily operated in a dual-sided mode in which only the vertically polarized antennas on either side of the spacecraft were used, The instrument was less frequently operated in a single-side mode in which both polarizations were used. Hence, the intrinsic resolution of the horizontally polarized images is lower than the vertically polarized images, and the horizontally polarized images have "holes" due to missing coverage, For this reason, we first consider enhanced resolution images of ex and CB generated from vertically polarized (J 0 measurements. Fig, 6 shows an enhanced resolution ex estimate image generated using the SIRF algorithm and the entire threemonth SASS data set of vertically polarized (J 0 measurements. The corresponding CB estimate image is shown in Fig. 7. The resolution of these images is 1/26 x 1/260 For reference, Fig. I illustrates typical (J 0 measurement cells used to construct these images. Perhaps the most striking feature of the <i image is the obvious boundary between the light tropical rain forest in the upper half of the image and the darker savanna woodlands below. Interdigitation and transition between the woodlands and grass-shrublands are apparent in the lower right quarter of the image. The Amazon River and many of its tributaries are clearly visible against the lighter rain forest region. Within the rain forest region, there appear many small regions of woodland. The large dark region at 12 0 south and 64 0 west in the lower left quarter of the rain forest is an area of tropical tall grassland mixed with palms known as the Llanos de Mojos. The smaller dark areas north of the Amazon in the upper center of the image are also areas of tall grassland (very dark) mixed with scrubby trees and seasonal evergreen forest (dark gray). The broad gray area left of center in the lower portion of the image consists of woodland and thorn-forest. On the far right is dry steppe-like vegetation, mixed with agricultural areas. The highest backscatter occurs in a small region at the extreme southwest corner of the landmass shown on the image corresponding to the Salar de Atacama, a salt pan upland basin within the Atacama Desert. While not clearly evident in this reproduction, coastal urban areas also have very high backscatter. The remarkable correlation of the ex image a the vegetation map prompted us to consider using the SASS-derived images in various vegetation discrimination studies. Our results are described below. The CB image shows only Fig, 6, Enhanced resolution (1 estimate image of the extended Amazon basin derived from three months of SASS data. This image was generated using only vertically polarized a 0 measurements, The resolulion element size is 1126 X 1/26 0 (approximately 4,2 x 4,2 km), For comparison, 0,5 X 0,5 0 (approximately 50 x 50 km) corresponds to the best resolution obtainable using the "binning" approach, Fig. 7, Enhanced resolution <B estimate image corresponding to Fig. 6, very limited spatial detail which is generally obscured by noise artifacts; however, careful inspection of the CB images reveals some spatial features which correlate with the key features evident in the ex images. The CB image provided only limited additional information in the discrimination experiments described in later sections. We note that when seen in greater detail as depicted in the ex image, the Amazon rain forest region appears to have more small-scale spatial variation than previously thought. Such inhomogeneity can contribute to the calibration uncertainty when Amazon rain forest measurements are used to calibrate the scatterometer. Use of these enhanced resolution ex and CB images to compensate for the small heterogeneity of the rain forest region will result in improved instrument calibration accuracy, LONG AND HARDIN: VEGETATION STUDIES OF AMAZON BASIN USING SASS DATA 455 A. Vegetation Discrimination Experiments As an initial evaluation of the capability of the reconstructed SASS imagery to discriminate between various vegetation types, an experiment using measurements made over the extended Amazon basin was conducted. The study area portion of the image is shown in Fig. 8. This area was selected to avoid regions where available vegetation information may be suspect and to avoid areas of high local topographic relief, e.g., the Andes. Using the UNESCO [15] small-scale land cover map published in 1978 for reference, vegetation in the central South American study area was divided into forest, woodland, and grass-shrublands categories. The forest group consisted primarily of extremely wet rain forest types, moist seasonal forest, wet submontane forest, and related degraded forest formations. The subhumid woodland complex consisted of several vegetation communities, associated mosaics, and cultivated landscapes. The specific woodland types included chaco2 and caatinga. 3 The subhumid shrub-grasslands land cover class included a variety of grass-woody species mixtures, pantanal, 4 and agriculture. The statistics from the vertically polarized cr. image for each class and the three major groupings (forest, woodland, and shrub-grassland) are presented in Table 1. In a supervised classification experiment utilizing quadratic discriminant functions with training and withheld data sets, the vertically polarized cr. image data were found adequately diverse to distinguish among humid forest, woodland, and shrub-grassland with a classification accuracy rate of 88% (see Table II) [9]. Error in the classification was distributed logically between categories with similar land cover. Sobti et al. [13] suggest that it may be more appropriate to classify terrain types predicated on "expected microwave response" instead of a priori land cover schemes. With this working hypothesis in mind and after some initial experimentation and exploratory clustering, it became apparent that between 9 and 12 unique backscatter classes existed in the data set. While somewhat greater 'Chaco-Drought dcciduous lowland (and submontane) woodland. The Gran Chaco region is found in Bolivia. along the plain between the Paraguay and Parana Rivers in Paraguay, and along the Rio Paraguay in southcrn Brazil. This woodland is typically multicanopied and deciduous, with cactus located in drier areas. There are many climatic and edaphic variations on a local scalc which are not differentiated on the map. 'Caatinga-Semi-deciduous thorn scrub with succulents. It is found in northeastern Brazil in areas where the climate is subhumid to arid. It is bordered on the east by the northern variety of campos cerrados and on the east by the coastal Atlantic forest and related degraded formations. Climax caatinga formations are ligneous, drought deciduous, thickly branched, narrow leafed, and sometimes thorned. The physiognomy of caatinga is variable. In some areas, it may resemble shrubland steppe, and in other regions may be a densc scrubland with canopies reaching to m. Cactus may also be found. 4Pantanal-A phytogeographical complex covering over 100 000 km' along the Rio Paraguay and its tributaries in Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay. thc Pantanal region is primarily a humid savanna of hygrophytic grassland of which 80% is flooded during the rainy seaSon (October-March). In areas of higher local relative relief, pantanal includes shrubs, woodland, and riparian forests along the banks of the river courses. Fig. 8. Outline of the vegetation study region. The collocated vegetation indexes and image values extracted from this region were used in the vegctation discrimination experiments. statistical divergence could be achieved using alternative divisions, a 12-cluster solution was selected due to its greater interpretability and ability to show gradations in the data. The average statistical divergence [12] between these clusters was a very high 0.96 (on a scale between 0 and 1), and the average statistical divergence between each cluster and its nearest neighboring cluster was a moderately high 0.75. While the clusters were statistically unique, interpreting the clusters and assigning the clusters unique labels was somewhat subjective. In the discussion of the clusters below, the clusters have been ordered from highest to lowest average cr.. Table III shows the primary formations constituting each cluster. For a formation to be considered primary, it had to either account for 10% of the pixels within the cluster or, alternatively, the cluster had to subsume at least 10% of the formation. The first four clusters can loosely be classified as tropical forest groupings. Generally, these forests are found astride the equator in the central Amazon basin and northward into Venezuela, Guyana, and Surinam. Bounded on the east by the Pacific Ocean or a variety of coastal vegetation and agriculture, these forests stretch across the continent and extend up the eastern Andean slopes. The first (1) cluster consists of very moist forest, moist seasonal forest, wet submontane forest in northern Brazil (endings its wet season), and extremely moist forest. Cluster 2 consists of the same formations, but also includes some tropical evergreen seasonal lowland forest. Cluster 3 consists almost entirely of very moist forest and moist seasonal forest. It also should be noted that degraded forest formations make up a small fraction of these tropical forest clusters as well. Despite the introduction of some degraded woodland formation pixels, cluster 4 is primarily a forest cluster, with 81%of its pixels originating from forest formations. In summary, given the trend through the remainder of the clusters, we interpret clusters 1-4 to be tropical forest clusters with varying canopy 456 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING, VOL. 32, NO.2, MARCH 1994 TABLE I STATISTICS FOR THE 18 GROUPS EXAMINED IN THE SUPERVISED DISCRIMINATION ANALYSIS OF THE VERTICALLY POLARIZED (J 0 DATA Group Forest Woodland Grass-shrobland (i Standard (i Deviation Pixel Vegetation Fonnation (dB) (dB) Count All forest fonnations -7.62 0.328 16060 Extremely moist forest -7.19 0.194 476 Moist submontane forest -7.50 1.006 586 Moist seasonal forest -7.54 0.203 4200 Degraded forest fonnations -7.54 0.400 242 Very moist forest -7.67 0.229 9956 Tropical evergreen seasonal forest -7.84 0.589 600 All woodland fonnations -9.33 0.609 8384 Degraded woodland fonnations -8.58 0.373 998 Caatinga -9.30 0.696 1866 Chaco -9.46 0.494 5184 Degraded caatjnga fonnations -9.82 0.472 336 All grass-shrobland fonnations -10.39 1.023 14444 Campos cerrados (N fonnations) -10.04 0.681 3922 Campos sujos/ljmpos -10.14 1.641 2030 Pantanal -10.33 0.938 2116 Agriculture -10.43 0.903 2546 Degraded lowland campos cerrados -10.65 0.563 668 Grassland with palms -10.77 1.126 642 Campos cerrados (S fonnations) -10.94 0.734 1836 Degraded subhuntid campos cerrados -11.18 0.491 684 TABLE II CLASSIFICATION ACCURACY TABLE FOR THE THREE-GROUP DISCRIMINATION EXPERIMENT. OVERALL CLASSIRCATION ACCURACY FOR THE EXPERIMENT WAS 84.8%. densities, different canopy structures, or communities in different stages of seasonal growth or vigor. With large mean a decreases of 0.57 and 0.51 dB, respectively, clusters 5 and 6 appear to be transition clusters between the forest and woodland groups. While 18% of the tropical evergreen seasonal lowland forest formation is included in cluster 5, woodland formations account for 62% of its membership-primarily degraded formations and caatinga, Cluster 6 is primarily wooded chaco mixed with caatinga. While these two formations are widely separated geographically, their combination is logical. First, in their typical definitions, both the caatinga and chaco can accurately be described as drought-deciduous lowland formations of woodland trees mixed with shrubs and Cactaceae. Furthermore, both formations are found in regions with nearly identical yearly precipitation characteristics, mean annual temperatures, and mean annual numbers of dry months. Specifically, the chaco is found in areas of Brazil bordering on the Rio Paraguay, and in the Chaco Province of Paraguay. These areas have a yearly precipitation between 500 and 1000 mm, mean annual temperatures ranging between 20 and 25 C, and six- Predicted Class Forest Woodland Grass-Shrobland Forest 99.2% 0.6% 0.2% Actual Class Woodland 10.1% 65.3% 24.6% Grass-Shrobland 4.8% 15.0% 80.2% seven dry months. The caatinga is found in areas of northeast Brazil, with yearly precipitation between 500 and 1000 mm, mean annual temperatures between 23 and 29 C, and between six and eight dry months [15]. Given the apparent trend in the clusters to reflect vegetation formations of increasingly sparse tree canopy cover, clusters 5 and 6 may reflect chaco with tree and shrub spacing densities similar to some areas of caalinga. Cluster 7 is also has a mixture of caalinga and chaco, but includes 14% ofthe campos cerrados (N)5 pixels. This northern formation of campos cerrados is found in central Brazil, and forms a zone between the Amazonian forests to the east and north and the caatinga along its western border. Physiognomy of the campos cerrados (N) varies from a shrub savanna to woodland savanna of light to dense canopy densities. Gallery forests and areas of grassland are also common. Cluster 8 is primarily a campos cerrados (N) and chaco cluster, with some caatinga, and pantanal. Interestingly, 45% of the degraded caalinga formation is subsumed in this cluster, although it accounts for only 5% of the total cluster membership. Cluster 9 is also primarily a campos cerrados (S)6 cluster, but contains 10% pantanal too. This southern variety of campos cerrados is distinguished from 'Campos cerrados (N)-Medium-tall grassland with several species of broad-leaved evergreen trees and shrubs. These trees and shrobs average 5 m in height, have thick bark, twisted branches, and artially deciduous leaves which may be hairy and leathery. Anthropogemc change, edaphlc factors, and fire in the campos cerrados (N) make the landscape extremely variable. Campos cerrados (S)-Medium-tall grassland with several species of broad-leaved evergreen trees and shrubs. This fonnation is located in Southern Brazil and north-central Paraguay. It is distinguished from campos cerrados (N) by its shorter dry season and a definite cool season. In general, possesses a denser understory than the northern campos cerrados . Primarily grassland with sedges, shorter palms are sometimes common. LONG AND HARDIN: VEGETATION STUDIES OF AMAZON BASIN USING SASS DATA 457 TABLE 1II CONSTITUENT FORMATIONS FOR THE 12 CLUSTERS PRODUCED FROM ANALYSIS OF THE VERTICALLY POLARIZED <t DATA. THE 6 VALUES IN THE MEAN (1 COLUMN REPRESENT THE INCREASE IN MEAN (1 FROM THE PRECEDING CLUSTER CHARTED. <t Cluster <t Sl. Pixel Percentage of Percentage of Index Mean Den. Count Primary Formations Cluster Formation -7.17 0.142 132 Very moist forest 32 B Moist seasonal forest 24 15 Wet submontane forest 14 63 Extremely moist forest 13 77 Degraded forest formations 3 36 2 -7.49 0.080 2927 Very moist forest 52 30 Moist seasonal forest 39 55 6 = 032 Tropical evergreen seasonal lowland forest 3 28 Extremely moist forest 2 26 Wet submonrane forest 2 18 Degraded forest formations 1 27 -7.75 0.074 2871 Very moist forest 78 45 Moist seasonal forest 17 24 6 = 0.26 Degraded forest formations I 26 4 -8.01 0.110 1121 Very moist forest 67 15 Moist seasonal forest 11 6 6 = 0.26 Degraded woodland formarions 10 23 Tropical evergreen seasonal lowland forest 3 12 5 -8.58 0.153 746 Degraded woodland formations 38 57 Caalinga 24 19 6 = 0.57 Tropical evergreen seasonal lowland forest 7 18 6 -9.09 0.102 1736 Chaco 58 39 Caalinga II 20 6 = 0.51 Agriculture 7 10 7 -9.40 0.094 1779 Chaco 53 36 Campos cerrados (N) 14 13 6 = 0.31 Caalinga 12 23 Agriculture 10 14 -9.76 0.106 1669 Campos cerrados (N) 39 33 Chaco 21 13 6 = 0.36 Caalinga 10 18 Panlanal 9 15 Degraded caalinga formations 5 45 9 -10.15 0.124 1271 Campos cerrados (N) 38 25 Campos cerrados (S) 12 16 6 = 0.39 Pantanal 11 14 10 -10.62 0.159 1206 Campos cerrados (N) 21 13 Campos cerrados (S) 15 20 6 = 0.47 Panlanal 15 17 Campos sujos/limpos 10 12 Agriculture 10 9 Grassland with palms 7 25 II -11.19 0.190 2121 Agriculture 30 50 Camposcerrados(S) 18 42 6 = 0.51 Pantanal 12 25 Degraded subhumid campos cerrados II 68 Campos sujos/limpos 7 16 Grassland with palms 5 34 12 -12.08 0.383 668 Campos sujosllimpos 36 24 Campos cerrados (S) 19 14 6 = 0.89 Campos cerrados (N) 13 4 Pantanal 12 8 Grassland with palms 9 19 campos cerrados (N) by its shorter dry season and definite cool season. The remaining 29% of the cluster pixels is accounted for by other members of the woodland and shrub-grassland formations. While cluster 10 is also a campos cerrados (N&S) cluster, a significant number of grassland formations account for a large percentage of the pixels, including pantanal, campos sujos,7 campos lim- 'Campos sujos-"Dirty Grassland." A prairie grassland with scaltered shrubs. Within the study area of this paper. they are located along the upper Rio Branco in northern Brazil. pOS,8 and grassland with palms. Given the moderate decrease in backscatter from the previous cluster (0.47 dB) and the entry of grassland constituents into the cluster, cluster 10 represents a transition between woodlandshrubland clusters to shrubland-grassland clusters. Cluster 11 has a mean a of 0.57 dB less than cluster 10, and consists primarily of agriculture and grasslands. 'Campos limpos-Tall prairie grassland nearly devoid of shrubs and trees. Within the study area, these areas are mixed with campos sujos in northern Brazil. 458 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING, VOL. 32, NO.2, MARCH 1994 It also include 42% of the campos cerrados (S) pixels, 68% of the degraded subhumid campos cerrados formation, and 34% of the grassland with palms. Cluster 12 has an average ct of nearly a decibel lower than cluster II, and consists mostly of campos sujos/limpos. Almost 20% of the grassland with palms formation is subsumed in this cluster, with small percentages of campos cerrados (N&S). In attempting to assess the meaning of each cluster, the limitations of using the UNESCO map for ground truth, will all its cartographic generalization and classification became apparent-it does not contain sufficient areal detail within the mapped formations to account for the observed detail captured in the clustering analysis. Based on 1) the pattern exhibited in the clustering, 2) the nominal cluster constituents, 3) the general formation descriptions, and 4) the consistency of the results through the cluster sequence, it seems that the ct coefficients are expressions of a large-scale physiognomic characteristic typical of the formations rather than the species composition of each formation. For an individual pixel, we hypothesize that this characteristic is canopy density/cover integrated over the "'" 16 krn2 area spanned by a single pixel. This implies that the relative amounts of bare ground, grass, shrubbery, and trees that very between (and within) formations also will be reflected in the backscatter coefficients. The phenophase (i.e., seasonal growth stage) with its attendant differences in vigor, changing canopy structures, and canopy moisture content will also influence the backscatter values. However, given the information from the map, this hypothesis cannot be definitively tested. Further research to investigate these hypotheses continues. VI. HORIZONTAL VERSUS VERTICAL POLARIZATION While SASS generally operated in vertical polarization modes, it also made a limited number of horizontally polarized (J 0 measurements. Over the study region, these were made primarily during two one-week periods in the first month of the mission. Coupled with the criss-cross coverage pattern (refer to [7]), horizontally polarized measurements were not made at all over several diamondshaped regions in our study area. In addition, because there were fewer horizontally polarized measurements than vertically polarized measurements, the intrinsic resolution of any reconstructed ct and <B images from the horizontally polarized (J 0 measurements would much coarser than the vertically polarized ct and <B images. While the paucity of the horizontally polarized data limits our ability to draw firm conclusions, we have found the addition of the horizontally polarized measurements increases our ability to distinguish between some varieties of tropical vegetation. Our results are presented below. In the following discussion, subscripts are used to distinguish ct and <B values derived from vertically polarized and horizontally polarized (J 0 measurements. In Section IV-A, we presented the results of a supervised discrimination experiment using only vertically polarized ct ( ctv) image data. In this section, we consider how these discrimination results are affected by including the vertically polarized <B (<Bv) image and the horizontally polarized a and <B images (ah and <Bh). Three of the 18 vegetation classes used in Section IV-A were excluded from this experiment because of the lack of coverage by horizontally polarized SASS measurements. The statistics for 15 remaining vegetation classes are shown in Table IV. As evident in Table IV, the cth coefficients were, as a rule, lower than the corresponding <tv coefficients. It is also apparent the smallest differences between the average cth and ctv values exist between members of the forest group (.1 "'" 0.0), and the difference increases slightly in the woodland group (.1 "'" 0.05) and dramatically in the grass-shrubland group (.1 "'" -0.73). Formations having the greatest proportion of grassland, such as campos sujos/ limpos (.1 "'" -0.97), pantanal (.1 "'" -1.09), and grassland with palms (.1 "'" -0.85) display the greatest differences between cth and ctv values. The standard deviations shown in Table V also indicate that the variability in the ct backscatter coefficients was smallest in the forest group, somewhat larger in the woodland group, and greatest within the grass-shrubland group. With the exception of the woodland <B standard deviation values, the vertical coefficients displayed less variation than the horizontal coefficients. When compared on a pixel-by-pixel basis, there is a significant linear correlation between the ctv and ah coefficients for several of the classes. An interesting pattern is evident for the forest, woodland, and grass-shrubland groups. There is only slight correlation (r = 0.31) among corresponding avand <th coefficients for the forest group, with some members of the group (e.g., very moist forest) showing almost no correlation. For these members, this indicates that the difference (d) between the ctv and cth values for individual pixels is primarily due to randomness or noise rather than the measurement polarity. The linear correlation between pixels increases through the woodland (r = 0.64) and grass-shrubland (r = 0.77) vegetation groups. For these groups, this indicates that the polarity of the measurements is a factor in the value of the ct coefficients. It is interesting to note that the greatest polarization dependence (as shown by r) is within the agriculture class (r = 0.83). In order to explore the effects of polarization on actual discrimination results, the supervised discrimination experiment described in Section IV-A (but with only the 15 vegetation classes) was conducted using all possible combinations (there are 15) of the ctv' <Bv, (th' and <Bh image data. As in the previous experiment, the 15 vegetation categories were subdivided into forest, woodland, and grass-shrubland before conducting the quadratic discriminant analyses. The results for the 15 classification experiments are summarized in Table VI. This table shows the coefficient variables used in each classification experiment tabled LONG AND HARDIN; VEGETATION STUDIES OF AMAZON BASIN USING SASS DATA 459 TABLE IV SUMMARY ct,.. eB,.. ct . AND eB. COEFFICIENT INFORMATIO FOR THE 15 VEGETATION CLASSES USED IN CONTRASTING THE DISCRIMINATING ABILITY OF THE HORIZONTALLY AND VERTICALLY POLARIZED DATA ct,.-(i. (i,. (i. ct,.-ct. Pearson's eB,. eB. Group Vegetation Formation (dB) (dB) Ll. (dB/') (dB/') Forest All forest formations -7.67 -7.67 0.00 0.31 -0.120 -0.123 Moist seasonal forest -7.53 -7.49 -0.04 0.15 -0.\22 -0.120 Degraded forest fonnalions -7.62 -7.18 -0.08 0.57 -0.125 -0.128 Very moist foresl -7.72 -7.80 +0.08 0.05 -0.118 -0.124 Tropical evergreen seasonal forest -8.02 -7.78 -0.24 0.62 -0.123 -0.123 Wet submontane forest -8.16 -7.91 -0.25 0.69 -0.123 -0.129 Woodland All woodland formations -9.07 -9.02 -0.05 0.64 -0.111 -0.122 Degrdded woodland formations -8.59 -8.22 -0.37 0.52 -0.124 -0.125 Chaco -9.28 -9.42 +0.14 0.21 -0.103 -0.119 Coalinga -9.30 -9.00 -0.30 0.23 -0.119 -0129 Grass-Shrubland All grass-shrubland formations -10.39 -9.66 -0.73 0.77 -0.124 -0.126 Campos sujos/limpos -9.86 -8.89 -0.97 0.75 -0.128 -0.133 Campos corrados -10.18 -9.61 -0.57 0.80 -0.120 -0.119 Pantanal -10.31 -9.22 -1.09 0.74 -0.122 -0.127 Grassland with palms -10.68 -9.83 -0.85 0.74 -0.126 -0.128 Degraded lowland campos corrados -10.69 -10.30 -0.39 0.39 -0.119 -0 125 Agriculture -10.69 - 10.25 -0.44 0.83 -0.125 -0.123 Degraded subhumid campos corrados -11.45 -10.89 -0.56 0.55 -0.131 -0.128 against the simple percentage and Cohen's kappa accuracy figures resulting from the classification. Kappa is an accuracy metric which, unlike a simple percentage, ac- TABLE VI THE RESULTS OF THE 15 GROUP CLASSIFICATION EXPERIMENTS CONTRASTING THE DISCRIMINATING ABILITY OF THE HORIZONTALLY AND VERTICALLY POLARIZED DATA. THE TABLE ENTRIES ARE SORTED BY ASCENDING ACCURACY OF CLASSIFICATION. TABLE V STANDARD DEVIATION VALUES FOR THE THREE MAIN VEGETATION GROUPS. WITH THE SINGLE EXCEPTION OF THE WOODLAND eB,. VALUE, THE VARIABILITY WITHIN THE HORIZONTALLY POLARIZED COEFFICIENTS WAS HIGHER THAN THE VARIABILITY IN THE VERTICALLY POLARIZED COEFFICIENTS. ct,. a. eB,. eB. Standard Standard Standard Standard Deviation Deviation Deviation Deviation Vegetation Group (dB) (dB) (dB/O) (dB/') Forest 0.330 0.563 0.0035 0.0049 Woodland 0.470 0.737 0.0109 0.0048 Grass-Shrubland 1.108 1.271 0.0046 0.0056 counts for the classification accuracy which could be expected by the operation of random chance alone. (The reader unfamiliar with Cohen's kappa may wish to review fll] for a discussion of its calculation and merits.) In comparing classifications, kappa is a more useful measure of discriminating power than is percent, particularly in experiments producing low accuracies and/or involving very few classes. A kappa of 0 indicates that there is no discrimination between the classes, while a kappa of 1.0 indicates that errorless discrimination may be achieved. From the table, a number of conclusions can be drawn. First, discrimination using coefficients derived from the vertically polarized data is always superior to discrimination predicated on their horizontally polarized counterparts. Second, experiments utilizing a single (t theme (i .e., (tv or (th) exhibit significantly enhanced discrimination capability when the corresponding <B coefficient is added. The enhancement, however, is more noticeable in the vertical polarization case. Finally, if (tv and <Bv data are utilized, a small but significant amount of discrimination ability is gained in adding horizontally polarized coefficient data. Based on the results summarized in Tables IV-VI, it appears that there is significant polarization dependence in 14.6 GHz backscatter for tropical woodlands, grasslands, and some tropical forest formations. It also appears that the difference between vertical and horizontal a 0 is generally small in tropical forest formations, but increases in tropical woodland and grass-shrubland formations. This implies that improved vegetation discrimination between tropical forest and other vegetation groups can be achieved when both vertically polarized and horizontally polarized measurements are available. Finally, despite the variance in the <B coefficient data, the <B coefficient data do support a small amount of discrimination (particularly <B v). eB. Included Kappa Percentage Yes 0.140 51.6 0.410 65.0 Yes 0.498 70.3 0.565 73.7 Yes 0.624 77.1 0.755 85.5 Yes 0.778 86.7 0789 86.8 Yes 0.803 87.7 0.815 88.6 Yes 0.830 89.5 0.891 93.4 Ycs 0.905 94.2 0.906 94.3 Yes 0.914 94.7 Yes Yes Ycs Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes eB,. Included a. Included Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes (i,. Included 460 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING, VOL. 32. NO.2. MARCH 1994 Despite the results from the classification comparisons, the reader should not assume that vertically polarized 14.6 GHz u 0 measurements are superior to horizontally polarized u 0 measurements for discriminating between subtropical vegetation. It must be remembered that the reconstructed <Ih and <Bh images used in these experiments are based on many fewer u 0 measurements than the reconstructed <Iv and <Bv images. Since all four images were reconstructed to the same resolution, thete is more noise in the (th and <Bh images than in their vertically polarized counterparts (see Table V and the resolution versus noise tradeoff in the companion paper [7]). Hence, an alternative interpretation of the decreased classification accuracy of the horizontally polarized measurements may simply be hat there is less noise in the (tv and <Bv estimates and, by extension, better class discrimination. VII. CONCLUSION Traditionally, spacebome scatterometers have been low-resolution radar instruments designed to measure winds over the ocean. Because of their low resolution, the scatterometer measurements made over land have been used primarily to calibrate the instrument. However, studies of scatterometer measurements over land have hinted at the sensitivity of the scatterometer measurements to vegetation and ice poverage. In a separate paper [7], we described a method for obtaining enhanced resolution radar images from low-resolution scatterometer measurements. To validate our resolution enhancement scatterometer imaging technique, we have processed SASS data into radar images of the Amazon basin. We used these data to study and classify the observed vegetation, and have found a remarkable correlation between the radar images and the vegetation type leading to impressive discrimination capability. Our results suggest that medium-scale, enhanced resolution scatterometer data can be useful in vegetation studies (see also [9]). We postulate that the enhanced data will be useful in a variety of other geophysical studies, e.g., ice [8]. Our resolution enhancement technique can be used to augment the data from existing and planned scatterometers as a "technique of opportunity, " leading to more effective use of the instruments with little associated cost. In particular, applying the technique to SASS data provides a unique historical data set for studies in global change. The wide-area, frequent coverage of the enhanced scatterometer data is particularily well suited for large-scale monitoring. The enhanced resolution scatterometer data can be used to extend the results of focused studies made in conjunction with high-resolution sensors to much larger (continental) areas. The high absolute accuracy of the scatterometer measurements and their wide incidence angle diversity can be significant advantage for geophysical modeling. While we have limited ourselves to SASS data in this paper, the technique can also be applied to the Cband ERS-l scatterometer as well as other sensors. ACKNOWLEDGMENT We wish to acknowledge D. Adamec and R. Thomas, The SASS SDR data were obtained from the NASA Ocean Data System at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology. REFERENCES [I) I. J. Birrer, E. M. Bracalente, G. J. Dome, J. Sweet, and G. Berthold, "u signature of the Amazon rainforest obtained from the seasat scatterometer," IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sensing, vol. GE-20, no. I, pp. 1l 17, 1982. (2) D. H. Boggs, "Seasat algorithm development facility scatterometer sensor algorithm specifications," Seasat Doc. 622-231, Jet Propulsion Lab., Pasadena, CA, May 1981. (3) E. Bracalente, D. Boggs, W. Grantham, and J. Sweet, "The SASS scattering coefficient (UO) algorithm," IEEE J. Oceanic Eng., vol. OE-5, pp. 145-154, Apr. 1980. (4) E'. Bracalente and J. Sweet, "Analysis of normalized radar cross section ("0) signalUre of Amazon rain forest using Seasat scatterometer data," NASA Tech. Memo. 85779, NASA NTIS, 1984. [5] R. G. Kennett and F. K. Li, "Seasat over-land scatterometer data, Part I: Global overview of the Xu-band backscatter coefficients," IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sensing, vol. 27, pp. 592-605, Sept. 1989. (6) -, "Seasat over-land scatterometer data, Part II: Selection of extended area land-target sites for the calibration of spacebome scatterometers," IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sensing, vol. 27, pp. 779788, Nov. 1989. [7] D. G. Long, P. J. Hardin, and P. T. Whiting, "Resolution enhancement of spacebome scatterometer data," IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sensing, vol. 31, no. 3, pp. 700-715, 1993. [8] D. G. Long and M. Drinkwater, "Greenland observed at enhanced resolution by the Seasat-A scatterometer," in pressJ. Geophys. Res., 1994. [9] P. J. Hardin and D. G. Long, "Discriminating between subtropical vegetation formations using reconstructed high-resolution Seasat-A scatterometer data," in press Photogramm. Eng, Remote Sensing, I . [10] J. W. Johnson, L. A. WiJliams, Jr., E. M. Bracalente, F. B. Beck, and W. L. Grantham, "Seasat-A sateJlite scaiterometer instrument evaluation," IEEE J. Oceanic Eng., vol. OE-5, pp. 138-144, Apr. 1980. [II] G. H. Rosenfield and K. Fitzpatrick-Lins, "A coefficient of agreement as a measure of thematic classification accuracy," Phorogramm. Eng. Remote Sensing, vol. 52, pp. 223-227, 1986. [12] A. Singh; "Some clarificatiolls about the pairwise divergence measure in remote sensing," Int. J. Remote Sensing, vol. 5, pp. 623- 627, 1984. . [13] A. Sobti, R. K. Moore, and F. T. Ulaby, "Backscatter response at 13.9 OHz for major terrain types as seen from orbit," Tech. Rep. 243-4, NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Cen., Houston, TX, Aug 15,1975. [14) R. H. Stewart, "Seasat success statement," Jet Propulsion Lab., PubJ. D-284I, Pasadena, CA, Apr. 11.1985. [15] UNESCO, Vegetation Map of South America (I :5,000,000, two sheets) and Vegetation Map of South America Explanatory Notes. United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Paris, France, 1980 and 198I. David G. Long, photograph and biography not available at time of publication. Perry J. Hardin, photograph and biography not available at time of publication.
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Quick Facts
- NAME: Dai Ailian
- OCCUPATION: Ballet Dancer, Choreographer
- BIRTH DATE: c. 1916
- DEATH DATE: February 09, 2006
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Trinidad and Tobago
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Dai Ailian was a dancer and choreographer who co-founded the Central Ballet of China (also known as the National Ballet of China).
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Dancer and choreographer, born in Trinidad. She studied during the 1930s in Britain, working from 1940 in China, where she was instrumental in introducing the principles and study of Western ballet. In 1959 she co-founded what became the Central Ballet of China, and was the company's artistic adviser. Since 1995 the company has been known as the National Ballet of China when touring outside mainland China.© 2014 A+E Networks. All rights reserved.
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The Guardian
September 20, 2009, in Lagos, Nigeria
Ohu, 45, an assistant news editor for the influential private daily The Guardian, was shot by unidentified assailants as he answered a knock at the front door of his house in a northern suburb of Lagos. The six assailants took a laptop and cell phone, according to the journalist's relatives and local news reports.
Ohu was preparing to head to church to meet his wife, and two of his five children were home at the time, local journalists told CPJ. Neighbors drove him to a local hospital, but staff refused to treat him because he was not accompanied by police, journalists and news reports said. He died before neighbors could get him to another hospital, local journalists told CPJ.
Members of the Nigerian Union of Journalists told CPJ they believe Ohu was killed for his political reporting. They said the murder may be linked to his investigation into alleged fraud in the Customs Department. He had also been reporting on Ekiti state elections, a volatile campaign that had led to several reports of anti-press violence.
In May 2012, NUJ said a judge in the case had freed three people charged with Ohu's murder on the grounds that the prosecution had failed to prove the case. NUJ said they were pushing for a renewed investigation.
Medium: Print
Job: Editor, Print Reporter
Beats Covered: Politics
Gender: Male
Local or Foreign: Local
Freelance: No
Type of Death: Murder
Suspected Source of Fire: Unknown Fire
Impunity: Yes
Taken Captive: No
Tortured: No
Threatened: No
Related Articles:
- Three journalists killed in Nigeria, April 26, 2010
- Attacks on the Press 2009: Nigeria, February 16, 2010
- A memorial to killed journalists, a call to action, October 19, 2009
- Q&A: Wife enters journalism after husband's murder, October 14, 2009
- Journalist killed on a Sunday morning at home in Nigeria, October 6, 2009


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Keep Off the Gras
New Jersey v. Duck Liver
No one in the state of New Jersey produces foie gras, and no Garden State farmer has announced any plans to start force-feeding ducks or selling liver paté. But that hasn't stopped two members of the state Assembly from proposing legislation to regulate the process and ban the pricey snack.
Foie gras makers have been on the run in Europe and the U.S. for more than a decade. Before New Jersey got into the game, the process of producing the food had been banned in most of Western Europe, Poland, Finland, and Israel. In April 2006, the city of Chicago passed a ban on foie gras that drew immediate criticism from Mayor Richard M. Daley and local gourmet chefs.
Windy City restaurants protested by serving foie gras and other forbidden foods in August. But for New Jersey Assemblyman Michael Panter, the ban was an inspiration, not a provocation. He joined with fellow Democratic legislator Joan Voss to write a measure prohibiting "the force feeding of ducks, geese and other poultry for the production of foie gras" and began drafting another bill banning the production, distribution, and sale of foie gras anywhere in the state.
Panter, a vegetarian, has rebuffed concerns from a New Jersey–based distributor who supplies chefs in New York with foie gras produced elsewhere. When asked if the legislator might one day target other foods on the grounds of cruelty, Panter's office is noncommittal.
"I think this is one of the issues he'd like to address first," says spokesperson Kerri Danskin. "Overall, he's an advocate for animals."
Editor's Note: We invite comments and request that they be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of Reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment for any reason at any time. Report abuses.


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Big Red Machine
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: Out Wayne
Posts: 22,730
Mindy McCready R.I.P.
Mindy McCready has been found dead at age 37 from a self-inflicted gun shot wound. The country singer was perhaps best known for her hit song "Ten Thousand Angels" and for the revelation that she had a relationship with Roger Clemens, a relationship rumored to have begun when Clemens was 28 and she was only 15.
"Hey...Dad. Wanna Have A Catch?" Kevin Costner in "Field Of Dreams." |
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Please enter your travel dates.
Standard Room, 1 King Bed, View - Cannery Row View w/ Fireplace.
Standard Room, 1 King Bed, Ocean View - Ocean View w/ Fireplace.
Romantic waterfront inn on Monterey's Cannery Row
With a stay at Spindrift Inn in Monterey, you'll be on the beach and minutes from Monterey Bay Aquarium and close to Fisherman's Wharf.
This beach inn is within close proximity of American Tin Cannery Factory Outlets and San Carlos Beach - The Breakwater.
Treat yourself to a stay in one of the 45 guestrooms, featuring fireplaces and flat-screen televisions. Satellite programming and iPod docking stations are provided for your entertainment, while complimentary wireless Internet access keeps you connected. Conveniences include laptop-compatible safes and complimentary newspapers, as well as direct-dial phones with free local calls and voice mail.
Pamper yourself with onsite massages or take in the view from a rooftop terrace. This inn also features complimentary wireless Internet access, concierge services, and a fireplace in the lobby.
Take advantage of the inn's room service (during limited hours). Mingle with other guests at a complimentary reception, held daily.
Featured amenities include a computer station, dry cleaning/laundry services, and a 24-hour front desk. Parking (subject to charges) is available onsite.
Hotel Amenities
- General
The Spindrift Inn enjoys a premier location on a stretch of beach along Monterey Bay, in the heart of Cannery Row and just a half-mile from downtown shops. A complimentary daily continental breakfast is delivered on a silver tray to guests in their rooms each morning. The European-style lobby, with wood-burning fireplace, is the setting for complimentary Monterey wine and cheese each day between 4:30 PM and 6 PM (hours subject to change).
The furnished open-air rooftop patio provides panoramic views of Monterey Bay. Guests enjoy massages (surcharge). Complimentary wireless Internet access is available throughout the hotel. The inn also offers valet parking (surcharge).
This is a smoke-free property (fines may apply for violations).
- 24-hour front desk
- Valet parking (surcharge)
- Number of floors - 4
- Free breakfast
- Concierge services
- Dry cleaning/laundry service
- Elevator/lift
- Fireplace in lobby
- Tours/ticket assistance
- Computer station
- Total number of rooms - 45
- Secure parking
- Rooftop terrace
- Patio
- Porter/bellhop
- Room service (limited hours)
- Complimentary reception
- Free Wi-Fi
- Parking (surcharge)
- Smoke-free property
- Internet
Available in all rooms: Free Wi-Fi
Available in some public areas: Free Wi-Fi
- Parking
Parking (surcharge), Secure parking, Valet parking (surcharge)
- Room Amenities
- Complimentary newspaper
- Free local calls
- Fireplace
- Premium bedding
- Climate control
- Refrigerator
- Daily housekeeping
- Turndown service
- Designer toiletries
- Private bathroom
- Bathrobes
- In-room massage available
- Shower/tub combination
- Iron/ironing board
- Clock radio
- Coffee/tea maker
- Cribs/infant beds available
- Direct-dial phone
- Electronic/magnetic keys
- Hair dryer
- Hypo-allergenic bedding available
- In-room safe (laptop compatible)
- Satellite TV service
- Flat-panel TV
- iPod docking station
- Minibar
- Voice mail
- Wake-up calls
- Window opens
- Down comforter
- Free Wi-Fi
- Dining
A complimentary Continental breakfast is delivered to guestrooms on a silver platter each morning and includes fresh pastries, hard-boiled eggs, cold cereal, juice, coffee, and tea. Complimentary Monterey wine and cheese is served in the lobby each evening, 4:30 PM to 6 PM (hours subject to change).
The hotel does not have its own restaurant, but there are several dining options within the surrounding area.
Nearby restaurants:
Paradiso Trattoria
The Whaling Station
Sardine Factory
Chart House
- Recreation
The hotel's Monterey Bay location provides numerous recreational options such as volleyball, surfing, fishing, boating, and scuba diving. A paved path along the Monterey Peninsula offers miles of walking and biking. There are 17 golf courses within 15 miles of the hotel, including the 18-hole course at Pebble Beach Golf Links, 2.5 miles away, and Poppy Hills Golf Course, four miles from the hotel. Discounted passes are provided to Monterey Sports Center, one mile away.
The recreational activities listed below are available either on site or near the hotel; fees may apply.
- Golfing nearby
- Golf - miniature nearby
- Whale-watching nearby
- Boating nearby
- Surfing/boogie boarding nearby
- Kayaking nearby
- Sailing nearby
- Scuba diving nearby
- Aerobics nearby
- Volleyball nearby
- Tennis nearby
- Running track/path nearby
- Pilates classes/instruction nearby
- Yoga classes/instruction nearby
- Mountain biking nearby
- Bicycle rentals nearby
- Horse riding/rental nearby
- Fishing nearby
- Bird watching nearby
- Playground nearby
- Spa
- Massages
Policies & Fees
- Check-in
Minimum check-in age is 18
Check-in time starts at 4 PM
- Check-out
Check-out time is noon
- Payment types
Accepted at this hotel: American Express, Diners Club, Discover, JCB International, MasterCard, Visa
- Pets
Pets not allowed
- General
Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on hotel policy.
Government-issued photo identification and a credit card or cash deposit are required at check-in for incidental charges.
Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges. Special requests cannot be guaranteed.
Early departure fee charged
Parking height restrictions apply
- Fees
- The following fees and deposits are charged by the property at time of service, check-in, or check-out.
- Valet parking fee: USD 23 per night (in/out privileges)
The above list may not be comprehensive. Fees and deposits may not include tax and are subject to change.
- Additional Details
Reservations are required for massage services. Reservations can be made by contacting the inn prior to arrival, using the contact information on the booking confirmation.
Awards & Affiliations
- Details
- A Green / Sustainable Property - Third Party CertifiedThis property participates in Green Seal, a third-party certification program that has been independently certified. Third-party certification measures the property's impact on one or more of the following: environment, community, cultural-heritage, the local economy. An objective assessment of a company's sustainable tourism practices has been performed at this property by an auditor who is independent of the third-party certification program.


text:
One Direction action shots
Zayn Malik
Harry Styles
Niall Horan
Full-scale, higher res. versions and more of each athttp://malecelebritiesnaked.blogspot.com
And once again many thanks for all the great feedback
One Direction action shots
Zayn Malik
Harry Styles
Niall Horan
Full-scale, higher res. versions and more of each athttp://malecelebritiesnaked.blogspot.com
And once again many thanks for all the great feedback
Last edited by wcorkgalleryman; May 5th, 2013 at 12:07 PM.
Love the works coming in. Could someone do a Logan Lerman, Justin Bieber, and David Archuleta threesome?
Sam Witwer & Sam Huntington
A request for country star Tim McGraw on the bondage thread
Big Time Rush beauty James Maslow enjoys a boner in anticipation of hitting the waves!
Full erection at: http://paxartceleb.blogspot.com/
Pax, this killed me its so amazing
For higher res fakes, download from my blog http://wishfulcelebfak.livejournal.com/
For higher res fakes, download from my blog http://wishfulcelebfak.livejournal.com/
Sean Faris bound in public...
A great couple of pages of top-quality work from our regular fakers.
Birthday request: On the bondage thread, I got mixed up between two blond bombshells, Ryan Philippe and Hayden Christensen. It's my birthday on May 11th, and here's a real out-of-the-box request (well, people do keep asking for other than the regulars to be faked, but they rarely turn up): could someone do Hayden (Anakin) with Mark Hamill (Luke) from the 'Star Wars' series? Something of a challenge, but who'll rise to it? Might be a nice change from Bieber et al!
sean faris has got to be one of the top 5 sexiest fuckers out there
JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE http://fakemaleporn.blogspot.it/
Very interesting blog, arthemalle. Lots of Italian guys and others I've never heard of, plus plenty of others I do know, and good to look through. You seem to like feet, which I tend to avoid, but there are plenty of other hot poses!
Please could we have some Gareth Bale, Joe Hart and Eden Hazard (all footballers) fakes please. They are really really hot!
Matt Smith fakes
Can someone make some of rapper Drake?? I've only found like 2 bad ones -__- Please and thank you
I watched the movie "The Host" a few weeks back and even though the movie was yawn worthy at best there wasn't any shortage of hot guys to look at
Max Irons, Jake Abel and Boyd Holbrook
For Danfan
It's a bit vanilla and I have no doubt paxart will do an infinitely better job.. but here's Mark Hamill and Hayden Christensen
Full-scale version at http://malecelebritiesnaked.blogspot.com
Happy birthday Danfan
Last edited by wcorkgalleryman; May 6th, 2013 at 03:11 PM.
Any chance will be seeing the boys of Hemlock Grove?? Especially Bill Skarsgard & Landon Liboiron?!
Would die to see some of that
and as always still hoping for a Colton Haynes/Daniel Sharman pairing.
Thanks guys there isn't a one of you who isnt amazing at what you do!
... and a Ronaldo fake for whoever asked for footballers
Friom Theo Blaze
Dean Geyer Craves Cock
One Direction Producer Gets Payback...
Last edited by paxart; May 6th, 2013 at 04:54 PM.
can someone make fakes of this german actors they are so hot 1.stephan luca,2.tom beck,3.rene steinke,4.gedeon burkhard,5.marco girnth and also turkish actors 6.burak hakki,7.kivanc kasabali,8.kenan imirzalioglu,9.mehmet gunsur,10.burak ozcivit i would like to see some combination paring please
Nice job, WCork! Like the hint of sci-fi in it; I decided to go way more traditional and there were better b & w pics of Hamill; so another Happy Birthday to Danfan!!
Full fuck at: http://paxartceleb.blogspot.com/
Here's an attempt at Landon Liboiron; oh those eyes!
Full thrusts at: http://paxartceleb.blogspot.com/
Thanks for John Francis Daley, That was fast work!!
No problem never saw any of him b4 and figured why not hes hot enough
Gay Glee's Mr Schu (Matthew Morrison) naked fucked by students, Part 3 Ryder Lynn (Blake Jenner)
For higher res fakes, download from my blog http://wishfulcelebfak.livejournal.com/
Check out more fakes at http://fantastiquefakes.blogspot.com
That show is somewhat strange, just like Brenda Hampton's old show 7th Heaven. Why doesn't anyone ever say goodbye to one another on the phone? They always just hang up.
She does have a knack for picking the eye candy. You know who's hot in that show? Ken Baumann. Then again, I often have a thing for the skinny nerd over the hot jock. btw pax, I think you flipped the G and the S. It's Kagasoff.
Wow, love that first one. Dinner is served!
Mmmm. Niall seems so happy to have that massive cock inside him.
Hot threesome idea!
Some of the prettiest eyes I've ever seen. I only know him from Degrassi.
Twinkies...it's what's on the inside that counts!
These are both really good, you guys. In Mark Hamill's case, I think it's extremely difficult trying to find a useable pic from the '80s. Scanned, non-digital pics from that era really suck. pax, I love Hayden looking longingly at Mark while pounding him. In this case, I like the "father" more than the "son". Hayden is so damn beautiful.
Happy birthday, DanFan!
Twinkies...it's what's on the inside that counts!


text:
Welcome to Fairmont Ford in Fairmont, MN
We are proud to be a 3rd generation Ford dealer located in Fairmont, MN!! We are the 4th oldest Ford dealer in the country, which tells you, our customers, that we are committed to you! So rest assured, we will be here for your family for years to come.
Opening in 1909, Fairmont Ford is now celebrating over 100 years in business. The Kloeckner Family has owned and operated the dealership, starting with Claus, then Robert, now David and James.
We believe in old fashioned customer service, value pricing on all our products and services, coupled with modern facilites and trained and experienced staff. This all adds up to a great dealership experience for the consumer. Stop by and see why we've been in business for this long
Sales Staff Emails
Mike Johnson email@example.com
Gregg Smitherman firstname.lastname@example.com
Paul Kloeckner firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
#pokemon is now the default chat for discussion, but should #pokemon be currently involved in another discussion, such as UU or Kefka vs Sephiroth, then #dw can be used instead.
Because of this Natgeo. It really doesn't make a difference what chan name we use as long as people recognize what it is and what it is for. And can we PLEASE stop mimicking Az? it's really lost its novelty like 3 weeks ago. Genny edit: I didn't even understand why az does it.
Bumping to introduce #dwcouncil, a channel where the council holds its discussions. Any user is free to watch, but only council members are allowed to speak. If you want to learn more about Dream World both #dw and #dwcouncil are excellent places to do so, so don't be shy and drop on by. God that was a terrible rhyme.


text:
Graduate Programs
Why choose North Central for your graduate education?
You probably already know about North Central's convenient location and course schedule, small classes and successful alumni.
When you enroll, you'll also learn what it means to pursue a challenging curriculum with the individual attention of full-time faculty and a close-knit student community.
No matter which program you choose—business or education, leadership or liberal studies, web development or management information systems—you'll blend intellectual inquiry (theory) with essential professional skills (practice). You'll discover that we're dedicated to our liberal arts foundation and interdisciplinary learning, integrating human, ethical and societal issues into all of our programs. Plus you'll graduate empowered by a broad perspective on your life, your professional environment and your world.
Graduate Information Session
Apr 7, 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Master of Science in Management Information Systems and Web and Internet Applications Information Session
Apr 28, 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Master of Business Administration and Master of International Business Administration Information Session
May 7, 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Education Alumni Reunion
May 8, 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM


text:
Internet Opportunities
Seminoles.com was relaunched in 2009. As the official athletic website of Florida State University, Seminoles.com is the most comprehensive site, covering all Florida State intercollegiate athletic teams. Seminoles.com averages over 2.8 million page views and 220,000 unique visitors a month. Online Partner Level Content Sponsorship Level Banner Advertising Level Seminoles.com Interactive Inventory For more information regarding sponsorship opportunities with Florida State Athletics, please contact: Seminole ISP Sports Network Email Requests to: |


text:
Item: | Dimensions: | Weight: |
Decorative Square Toss Pillow (Set of 2) | 18.5" H x 18.5" W x 5" D | 4 lbs |
Furniture Type: | Accent Pillow |
Product Category: | Outdoor Cushions |
Questions & Answers
Pillow Perfect Decorative Square Toss Pillow (Set of 2)
As described Coury from Louisiana– Verified Buyer They seem to be fine. They seem to be as described. I got them in the blue and tan stripe. I have no complaints. |
Worth the money! Erin Barry from Michigan Worth the money, for sure These are great quality and a thick fabric. Great colors. Very pleased, will purchase again. |
Anonymous from Colorado– Verified Buyer |
Anonymous from Ohio– Verified Buyer |


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Marcus SlaterF150 Online
Same engine. Different body. Well, there's a lot different between and Mustang and an F-150, clearly, but there isn't as big a difference in the quarter miles times as you might think.
In this case I think the Mustang might need a driver mod. They should be in the twelves no problem. Still though... I think the way the F-150 keeps up is pretty impressive. The engine is the same, the only real difference is the weight. That's kind of a problem at the launch, but it looks like the Coyote does its job once the F-150 gets moving. He's got a tune and some bolt-ons, so it's not stock versus stock. I respect it still.
Now... Just put the Coyote against the Ecoboost. That's the race I really want to see.


text:
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Don't be afraid to use stop-smoking products to help you quit. Stop-smoking products are a legitimate way to handle withdrawal symptoms and tobacco cravings. Some types of nicotine replacement therapy, including patches, gum and lozenges, are available over-the-counter. Nicotine nasal spray and the nicotine inhaler are available by prescription. Prescription medications might be an option, too. Bupropion (Zyban) can help control nicotine cravings. Varenicline (Chantix) can reduce both the pleasurable effects of smoking and nicotine withdrawal symptoms. Talk to your health care provider about what stop-smoking products may be right for you.
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1 hr ago | Examiner.com
Historics: SVRA continues VP Racing Fuels partnership
The Sportcars Vintage Racing Association announced on Thursday, March 6, via press release that it will continue its partnership with VP Racing Fuels, naming VP the official racing fuel of the organization through 2014.
Trending on the Topix Network
6 hrs ago | Sports Media 101
Joey Logano Takes Pole for Kobalt Tools 500 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Motorsports 101 provides 24/7 obsessive sports coverage of Motorsports as a part of Sports Media 101 .
Some NASCAR drivers say new qualifying format is dangerous
NASCAR's new knockout qualifying sessions have cars on the track trying to achieve top speeds to make the race field at the same time others are doing cool-down laps.
Rising teen driver Kwasniewski comes home to Vegas
Since Kyle and Kurt Busch don't seem particularly interested in the job, Dylan Kwasniewski is more than ready to be the Las Vegas Motor Speedway's newest hometown hero.
New Indy 500 qualifying procedures revealed
The Indianapolis 500 qualifying procedure revealed Friday will take some getting used to.
Kyle Busch says hunting for wins in NASCAR Sprint Cupa
Kyle Busch believes that he is a actually in a very strong early-season position, despite being just 14th in the overall Sprint Cup standings.
Race is on for Dario Franchitti's hair apparent
The race is on in IndyCar even though the season doesn't begin for another three weeks.
'Prestigious' first stop at TMS kicks off dirt-track season
"The prestige of Texas Motor Speedway is the cool thing about it," driver Shane Herbert said in an interview with the speedway.
Mike Brudenell: Kurt Busch the latest driver to attempt racing in NASCAR, IndyCar on same day
In mountain climbing, it would be akin to conquering Mt. Everest and then taking a crack shortly after at K2.
Ryan Ellis signs NASCAR Nationwide deal for 2014 with SR2 Motorsports
On Thursday, March 6, SR2 Motorsports announced that Ryan Ellis has been signed to their 2014 NASCAR Nationwide Series, program.
Joe Gibbs Racing: 2014 KOBALT 400 weekend preview
NASCAR's Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series continue on out west, heading to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the Boyd Gaming 300 Nationwide Series race on Saturday and the KOBALT 400 Cup Series race on Sunday.
Which NASCAR drivers will have the most fun in Sin City?
One of the first images to surface when NASCAR first announced in 1997 that it was going to race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was a photo of Richard Petty, The King, stretched across the hood of a stock car with a Vegas showgirl.
NASCAR Sprint Cup qualifying format is still a subject for debate
Farmers and property owners from five midwestern states sue the federal government, blaming their flood damage on mistakes by the Army Corps of Engineers.
Stock Car Spin brings to you the weekly NASCAR Power Rankings. Here are how things stand following Sunday's The Profit CNBC 500 from Phoenix International Raceway.
Kobalt Tools 400 2014: Latest NASCAR Team News, Top Drivers and More
It has been a bit of a shaky start to the season for Richard Childress Racing's Paul Menard.
Daniel Suarez Won the Nascar K&N Pro Series Race at Daytona International Speedway
Daniel Suarez celebrates in victory lane after winning NASCAR K&N Pro Series East UNOH Battle at Daytona International Speedway Daniel Suarez is 2-for-2 in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East.
If ita s March, time for famous Famoso Dragway nostalgia March Meet
If it's March, it's time for the famed March Meet at Auto Club Famoso Raceway north of Bakersfield.
Drivers Hawksworth, Servia secure IndyCar slots
The Indianapolis 500 picked up two drivers Wednesday, a rookie set to compete in his first full IndyCar Series season and a veteran with nearly 200 starts.
NASCAR Driver Blake Koch Talks ESPN Controversy and Racing Sans Major Sponsors
NASCAR driver Blake Koch started his 88th Nationwide Series race and his second Sprint Cup race at Phoenix International Raceway this past weekend.
Servia to Run at Least 4 Races in 2nd Rahal Car
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing will field a second IndyCar entry for Oriol Servia this season in at least four races, more if sponsorship can be secured.


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Why it's great: "After working for MAC for two years, one of the products that I will always remain loyal to is their wipes," one insider writes, claiming that it breaks down "any makeup you can imagine." Another reader asks, "Who actually enjoys washing their makeup off at night? These wipes are perfect for those of us who are too tired/lazy/intoxicated to wash their faces before bed, but who don't like the idea of clogged pores and dirty pillow cases, either!" One reader admits that using them "kinda makes you want to skip washing your face."
*At time of publication
Agree? Disagree? Write your review here.
SEE NEXT PAGE: No. 6: Aveeno Positively Radiant Daily Cleansing Pads, $6.49
Older comments
Cool, I've always wanted to try Neutrogena's wipes, maybe now I will.
by lehxuu Sunday, April 28, 2013 at 08:50PM Report as inappropriate
I like the ones by Almay and Neutrogena. I used to LOVE Pond's "Clean Sweep" towelettes. Are they still made?
by GigiSD Friday, April 12, 2013 at 10:05PM Report as inappropriate
very helpful. I prefer to use referrals before I buy. Who better than cosmetic junkies lke myself
by kimberly_chandler_7366 Thursday, March 28, 2013 at 09:59PM Report as inappropriate
These always make me break out
by LittleBunny Wednesday, January 16, 2013 at 07:48PM Report as inappropriate
I haVE TRIED A FEW OF THESE AND THE PROBLEM IS ALWAYS THE EYE AREA GETS IRRITATED BY PERFUME. i HAVE FOUND nO7 AND sIMPLE TO BE THE BEST AT REMOVING ALL MAKEUP INCLUDING EYES AND LEAVING SKIN FEELING FRESH
by mum21 Friday, January 4, 2013 at 10:52PM Report as inappropriate
I want to try the Almay wipes because they are such a great price!!
by Lamexicana1 Saturday, November 17, 2012 at 06:25PM Report as inappropriate
I've been using the Ponds luminous towelettes, which are ok, but take 2 or 3 to get all the makeup off. Going to try the Olay age defy next, thanks for the list.
by kimihavens Thursday, November 15, 2012 at 12:12PM Report as inappropriate
I really like Burts Bee's facial towelets.
by littleladyfish Tuesday, October 2, 2012 at 06:10PM Report as inappropriate