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Dr. Rajesh Bahadur Thapa
ICIMOD, Kathmandu, Nepal

Basic Info


Research Keywords & Expertise

0 Capacity Development
0 Remote Sensing Applications
0 SAR
0 Spatial Analysis
0 Spatial Modeling

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SAR
Deforestation and forest degradation
Spatial Analysis
Spatial Modeling
biomass estimation

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Short Biography

Dr. Thapa works at ICIMOD and leads the Group on Land Use Land Cover Change and Ecosystem Services, Geospatial Solutions Theme and the Capacity Development Programme of SERVIR-HKH (NASA-USAID) Initiative, MENRIS Regional Programme. His researches focus on monitoring and assessment of terrestrial environments including forest, agriculture, urban, and disasters thematic areas and capacity development. He empowers people to use emerging Earth observation and geospatial technologies for making evidence-based decisions to protect the pulse of the planet. He is an active member of Group on Earth Observations (GEO) Capacity Development Working Group and has over twenty years work experience across various Asian countries including Japan, Thailand, and the HKH region. Prior to joining ICIMOD, he served at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). He was also a visiting professor at the University of Tsukuba, Japan. He holds a PhD in Geoenvironmental Science, MSc in Remote Sensing and GIS, and Master Degree in Geography. Recently, SERVIR Global recognized his remarkable contributions and unwavering commitment to capacity development for connecting space to village mission and awarded prestigious SERVIR Award of Excellence.

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Project

Project Goal: SERVIR connects space to village by helping developing countries use satellite data to address challenges in food security, water resources, weather and climate, land use, and natural disasters. A partnership of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and leading technical organizations, SERVIR develops innovative solutions to improve livelihoods and foster self-reliance in Asia, Africa, and the Americas. SERVIR-HKH is an initiative under ICIMOD’s Mountain Environment Regional Information System (MENRIS) Regional Programme, which caters to the specific needs of regional member countries in addressing different aspects of environmental degradation and climate change impacts.

Starting Date:01 October 2010

Current Stage: Phase II

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Chapter
Published: 15 August 2021 in Earth Observation Science and Applications for Risk Reduction and Enhanced Resilience in Hindu Kush Himalaya Region
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The innovative transformation in geospatial information technology (GIT) and Earth observation (EO) data provides a significant opportunity to study the Earth’s environment and enables an advanced understanding of natural and anthropogenic impacts on ecosystems at the local, regional, and global levels (Thapa et al. in Carbon Balance Manag 10(23):1–13, 2015; Flores et al. in SAR handbook: comprehensive methodologies for forest monitoring and biomass estimation. NASA Publication, 2019; Leibrand et al. in Front Environ Sci 7:123, 2019; Chap. 10.1007/978-3-030-73569-2_1). The major advantages of these technologies can be briefly categorized into five broad areas: multidisciplinary; innovative and emerging; providing platforms for analysis, modelling, and visualization; capability to support decision-making; and impact on policies.

ACS Style

Rajesh Bahadur Thapa; Poonam Tripathi; Mir A. Matin; Birendra Bajracharya; Betzy E. Hernandez Sandoval. Strengthening the Capacity on Geospatial Information Technology and Earth Observation Applications. Earth Observation Science and Applications for Risk Reduction and Enhanced Resilience in Hindu Kush Himalaya Region 2021, 269 -289.

AMA Style

Rajesh Bahadur Thapa, Poonam Tripathi, Mir A. Matin, Birendra Bajracharya, Betzy E. Hernandez Sandoval. Strengthening the Capacity on Geospatial Information Technology and Earth Observation Applications. Earth Observation Science and Applications for Risk Reduction and Enhanced Resilience in Hindu Kush Himalaya Region. 2021; ():269-289.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Rajesh Bahadur Thapa; Poonam Tripathi; Mir A. Matin; Birendra Bajracharya; Betzy E. Hernandez Sandoval. 2021. "Strengthening the Capacity on Geospatial Information Technology and Earth Observation Applications." Earth Observation Science and Applications for Risk Reduction and Enhanced Resilience in Hindu Kush Himalaya Region , no. : 269-289.

Chapter
Published: 15 August 2021 in Earth Observation Science and Applications for Risk Reduction and Enhanced Resilience in Hindu Kush Himalaya Region
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In the first phase, SERVIR-HKH placed high importance on developing application products and tools to demonstrate the usefulness of earth observation (EO) and geospatial information in supporting decision-making on various thematic areas including land cover mapping, forest fire monitoring, agriculture and food security, disasters, and air quality monitoring (Chap. 10.1007/978-3-030-73569-2_1).

ACS Style

Rajesh Bahadur Thapa; Birendra Bajracharya; Mir A. Matin; Eric Anderson; Pete Epanchin. Service Planning Approach and Its Application. Earth Observation Science and Applications for Risk Reduction and Enhanced Resilience in Hindu Kush Himalaya Region 2021, 23 -40.

AMA Style

Rajesh Bahadur Thapa, Birendra Bajracharya, Mir A. Matin, Eric Anderson, Pete Epanchin. Service Planning Approach and Its Application. Earth Observation Science and Applications for Risk Reduction and Enhanced Resilience in Hindu Kush Himalaya Region. 2021; ():23-40.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Rajesh Bahadur Thapa; Birendra Bajracharya; Mir A. Matin; Eric Anderson; Pete Epanchin. 2021. "Service Planning Approach and Its Application." Earth Observation Science and Applications for Risk Reduction and Enhanced Resilience in Hindu Kush Himalaya Region , no. : 23-40.

Original research article
Published: 22 October 2019 in Frontiers in Environmental Science
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While the Earth observation (EO) data and geospatial information technology (GIT) are getting more open and accessible, lack of skilled human resources and institutional capacities are limiting effective applications in the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region. This paper aims to present the capacity building approach and applications designed to fill these gaps and empower decision makers and practitioners in using EO data and GIT through information education and training. The capacity building approach consists of four components: assessment, design, implementation, and monitoring (ADIM). The assessment component focuses on identifying the needs and priorities of capacity building for targeted groups or institutions. The design component develops training content in order to execute the plan in coordination with subject matter experts (SME). The implementation component executes the capacity building activity in any of these four formats—standard training, training of trainers, on-the-job training, and exposure learning. The monitoring component helps to identify the participants' expectations, learning achievements, and feedback so as to improve future capacity building events. In the application of ADIM, we conducted needs assessment in four countries, designed 26 types of capacity building contents and implemented 39 capacity building events. A range of thematic topics—from agriculture and food security, water resources and hydro-climatic disasters, land use, land cover and ecosystem, weather and climate services, to crosscutting issues—were covered in the events. Altogether, the activities reached out to over 1,000 individuals (35% of them women) from over 200 unique institutions in 30 countries. Institutional capacity was built for universities in Afghanistan and Bangladesh to design and deliver courses independently. The capacity of partner agencies were built to co-design and co-develop data and applications. The approach also experienced challenges in the nomination process and in identifying women participants due to the lack of women professionals in the field and in the respective agencies. The ADIM approach and its workflow focused on bridging the gap between the current trend and progression in EO and GIT fields and the existing state of capacity of the agencies involved in the decision-making process. It promoted gender equity, adopted frontier technologies, engaged SMEs and provided sustainable solutions, which are starting to bring success stories in the region.

ACS Style

Rajesh Bahadur Thapa; Mir A. Matin; Birendra Bajracharya. Capacity Building Approach and Application: Utilization of Earth Observation Data and Geospatial Information Technology in the Hindu Kush Himalaya. Frontiers in Environmental Science 2019, 7, 1 .

AMA Style

Rajesh Bahadur Thapa, Mir A. Matin, Birendra Bajracharya. Capacity Building Approach and Application: Utilization of Earth Observation Data and Geospatial Information Technology in the Hindu Kush Himalaya. Frontiers in Environmental Science. 2019; 7 ():1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Rajesh Bahadur Thapa; Mir A. Matin; Birendra Bajracharya. 2019. "Capacity Building Approach and Application: Utilization of Earth Observation Data and Geospatial Information Technology in the Hindu Kush Himalaya." Frontiers in Environmental Science 7, no. : 1.

Journal article
Published: 01 May 2018 in International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation
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This article compares and assesses eight remotely sensed maps of Philippine forest cover in the year 2010. We examined eight Forest versus Non-Forest maps reclassified from eight land cover products: the Philippine Land Cover, the Climate Change Initiative (CCI) Land Cover, the Landsat Vegetation Continuous Fields (VCF), the MODIS VCF, the MODIS Land Cover Type product (MCD12Q1), the Global Tree Canopy Cover, the ALOS-PALSAR Forest/Non-Forest Map, and the GlobeLand30. The reference data consisted of 9852 randomly distributed sample points interpreted from Google Earth. We created methods to assess the maps and their combinations. Results show that the percentage of the Philippines covered by forest ranges among the maps from a low of 23% for the Philippine Land Cover to a high of 67% for GlobeLand30. Landsat VCF estimates 36% forest cover, which is closest to the 37% estimate based on the reference data. The eight maps plus the reference data agree unanimously on 30% of the sample points, of which 11% are attributable to forest and 19% to non-forest. The overall disagreement between the reference data and Philippine Land Cover is 21%, which is the least among the eight Forest versus Non-Forest maps. About half of the 9852 points have a nested structure such that the forest in a given dataset is a subset of the forest in the datasets that have more forest than the given dataset. The variation among the maps regarding forest quantity and allocation relates to the combined effects of the various definitions of forest and classification errors. Scientists and policy makers must consider these insights when producing future forest cover maps and when establishing benchmarks for forest cover monitoring.

ACS Style

Ronald C. Estoque; Robert G. Pontius; Yuji Murayama; Hao Hou; Rajesh Bahadur Thapa; Rodel D. Lasco; Merlito A. Villar. Simultaneous comparison and assessment of eight remotely sensed maps of Philippine forests. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation 2018, 67, 123 -134.

AMA Style

Ronald C. Estoque, Robert G. Pontius, Yuji Murayama, Hao Hou, Rajesh Bahadur Thapa, Rodel D. Lasco, Merlito A. Villar. Simultaneous comparison and assessment of eight remotely sensed maps of Philippine forests. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation. 2018; 67 ():123-134.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ronald C. Estoque; Robert G. Pontius; Yuji Murayama; Hao Hou; Rajesh Bahadur Thapa; Rodel D. Lasco; Merlito A. Villar. 2018. "Simultaneous comparison and assessment of eight remotely sensed maps of Philippine forests." International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation 67, no. : 123-134.

Journal article
Published: 04 May 2017 in International Journal of Research Studies in Education
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Due to globalization and internationalization of education, the importance of English language has been growing consistently. Like many other countries around the globe, English is taught as a compulsory subject from the primary level in Nepal. Despite continuous public and private efforts, achievement in English education is not satisfactory, especially in rural areas, due to numerous socio-cultural and other factors. Thus, this article explores some important determinants of English achievement of high school students in Rural Nepal. Through the questionnaire responses of 407 students from the four villages of Sindhupalchok district, which is explored using Cremer’s V analysis, a strong association between students English test score and their socio-cultural, family, school and personal factors was found

ACS Style

Pramila Neupane; Rajesh Bahadur Thapa; Jeet Bahadur Sapkota. Factors determining English test score of high school students in rural Nepal. International Journal of Research Studies in Education 2017, 7, 1 .

AMA Style

Pramila Neupane, Rajesh Bahadur Thapa, Jeet Bahadur Sapkota. Factors determining English test score of high school students in rural Nepal. International Journal of Research Studies in Education. 2017; 7 (3):1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Pramila Neupane; Rajesh Bahadur Thapa; Jeet Bahadur Sapkota. 2017. "Factors determining English test score of high school students in rural Nepal." International Journal of Research Studies in Education 7, no. 3: 1.

Book chapter
Published: 30 March 2017 in The Life and Afterlife of Gay Neighborhoods
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This chapter analyzes the origin and brief history of the Kathmandu Metropolitan Area (KMA), the national capital of Nepal, which forms the core of the nation’s most populous metropolitan area. It examines the urban primacy , urban land use/cover change patterns, and driving forces that influence the rapid urbanization of the KMA. In addition, it discusses the prospective implications of these elements for the future sustainable urban development of the metropolitan area. The KMA has been important economically, administratively, and politically for hundreds of years. During the past 25 years (1989–2014), the KMA has experienced tremendous growth that is expected to continue through 2030. These results suggest that the current urban development process is in a critical stage in which urban and fringe frontier areas will create unprecedented stress on land resources that will be manifested in river and forest ecosystems and other environmentally sensitive areas. These changes are driven by various interrelated physiographic as well as socioeconomic factors . Similar to many developing cities, the KMA has issues of poor management of urban expansion and infrastructure as well as disaster preparedness, resulting in environmental and socioeconomic consequences. However, possibilities are available for improving the urban environment and managing the potential land demands in the metropolitan area through the strict enforcement of sustainable urban development policies and changes in the current urbanization trend. The Gorkha earthquake on April 25, 2015, in Kathmandu has afforded an opportunity to revitalize the city. If such improvement measures are implemented, living conditions will be improved, enabling the KMA to become a world-class city.

ACS Style

Rajesh Bahadur Thapa. Kathmandu Metropolitan Area. The Life and Afterlife of Gay Neighborhoods 2017, 217 -237.

AMA Style

Rajesh Bahadur Thapa. Kathmandu Metropolitan Area. The Life and Afterlife of Gay Neighborhoods. 2017; ():217-237.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Rajesh Bahadur Thapa. 2017. "Kathmandu Metropolitan Area." The Life and Afterlife of Gay Neighborhoods , no. : 217-237.

Conference paper
Published: 03 November 2016 in 2016 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS)
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One of the main missions of the Advanced Land Observing Satellite-2 (ALOS-2, “DAICHI-2” ) is the disaster monitoring. Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has operated the emergency observation more than hundred times in 2015. Not only the most important event in 2015, the Mw 7.8 Gorkha earthquake on April 25, the Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar-2 (PALSAR-2) aboard ALOS-2 observed various floods, volcano eruptions and earthquakes. In this paper, we present some emergency observation results which were impossible to be performed by the previous ALOS. That is, automatically burst aligned ScanSAR to ScanSAR interferometry and, left / right looking for increasing acquisition opportunity.

ACS Style

Ryo Natsuaki; Takeshi Motohka; Manabu Watanabe; Masato Ohki; Rajesh B. Thapa; Hiroto Nagai; Takeo Tadono; Masanobu Shimada; Shinichi Suzuki. Emergency observation and disaster monitoring performed by ALOS-2 PALSAR-2. 2016 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS) 2016, 3849 -3852.

AMA Style

Ryo Natsuaki, Takeshi Motohka, Manabu Watanabe, Masato Ohki, Rajesh B. Thapa, Hiroto Nagai, Takeo Tadono, Masanobu Shimada, Shinichi Suzuki. Emergency observation and disaster monitoring performed by ALOS-2 PALSAR-2. 2016 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS). 2016; ():3849-3852.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ryo Natsuaki; Takeshi Motohka; Manabu Watanabe; Masato Ohki; Rajesh B. Thapa; Hiroto Nagai; Takeo Tadono; Masanobu Shimada; Shinichi Suzuki. 2016. "Emergency observation and disaster monitoring performed by ALOS-2 PALSAR-2." 2016 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS) , no. : 3849-3852.

Conference paper
Published: 03 November 2016 in 2016 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS)
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Decreasing the carbon emission from the deforestation and forest degradation is one of the issues that the humans need to tag for sustaining the Earth. Monitoring the forest from the space is the recent achievements that the space agencies contribute. Measuring the forest cover change is being conducted by using the high resolution optical and/or SAR images. ALOS-2 has been on-orbit carrying the L-band SAR since May 24, 2014. After more than one year data acquisition and related processing, the first version of the 25-m resolution global PALSAR-2 mosaic dataset from the 2014–2015 acquisitions, forest-non-forest map, and the forest cover change from 2007 to 2015 were generated.

ACS Style

Masanobu Shimada; Takuya Itoh; Takeshi Motooka; Manabu Watanabe; Rajesh Thapa. Generation of the first PALSAR-2 global mosaic 2014/2015 and change detection between 2007 and 2015 using the PALSAR and PALSAR-2. 2016 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS) 2016, 3871 -3872.

AMA Style

Masanobu Shimada, Takuya Itoh, Takeshi Motooka, Manabu Watanabe, Rajesh Thapa. Generation of the first PALSAR-2 global mosaic 2014/2015 and change detection between 2007 and 2015 using the PALSAR and PALSAR-2. 2016 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS). 2016; ():3871-3872.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Masanobu Shimada; Takuya Itoh; Takeshi Motooka; Manabu Watanabe; Rajesh Thapa. 2016. "Generation of the first PALSAR-2 global mosaic 2014/2015 and change detection between 2007 and 2015 using the PALSAR and PALSAR-2." 2016 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS) , no. : 3871-3872.

Journal article
Published: 22 July 2016 in Earth, Planets and Space
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ACS Style

Manabu Watanabe; Rajesh Bahadur Thapa; Tsuneo Ohsumi; Hiroyuki Fujiwara; Chinatsu Yonezawa; Naoya Tomii; Sinichi Suzuki. Detection of damaged urban areas using interferometric SAR coherence change with PALSAR-2. Earth, Planets and Space 2016, 68, 1 .

AMA Style

Manabu Watanabe, Rajesh Bahadur Thapa, Tsuneo Ohsumi, Hiroyuki Fujiwara, Chinatsu Yonezawa, Naoya Tomii, Sinichi Suzuki. Detection of damaged urban areas using interferometric SAR coherence change with PALSAR-2. Earth, Planets and Space. 2016; 68 (1):1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Manabu Watanabe; Rajesh Bahadur Thapa; Tsuneo Ohsumi; Hiroyuki Fujiwara; Chinatsu Yonezawa; Naoya Tomii; Sinichi Suzuki. 2016. "Detection of damaged urban areas using interferometric SAR coherence change with PALSAR-2." Earth, Planets and Space 68, no. 1: 1.

Journal article
Published: 29 March 2016 in Remote Sensing
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Pi-SAR-L2 full polarimetic data observed in four different observational directions over a landslide area on Izu Oshima Island, induced by Typhoon Wipha on 16 October 2013, were analyzed to clarify the most appropriate L-band full polarimetric parameters and observational direction to detect a landslide area. Japanese airborne Pi-SAR-L2 and PiSAR-L data were used in this analysis. Several L-band full polarimetric parameters, including backscattering coefficient (σ°), coherence between two polarimetric states, four-component decomposition parameters (double-bounce/volume/surface/helix scattering), and eigenvalue decomposition parameters (entropy/α/anisotropy), were calculated to determine the most appropriate parameters for detecting landslide areas. The change in land cover from forest before the disaster to bare soil after the disaster was detected well by α, and coherence between HH and VV. Observational data from the bottom to the top of the landslide detected the landslide well, whereas observations from the opposite sides were not as useful, indicating that a smaller local incident angle is better to distinguish landslide and forested areas. Soil from the landslide intruded into the urban areas; however, none of the full polarimetric parameters showed any significant differences between the landslide-affected urban areas after the disaster and unaffected areas before the disaster.

ACS Style

Manabu Watanabe; Rajesh Bahadur Thapa; Masanobu Shimada. Pi-SAR-L2 Observation of the Landslide Caused by Typhoon Wipha on Izu Oshima Island. Remote Sensing 2016, 8, 282 .

AMA Style

Manabu Watanabe, Rajesh Bahadur Thapa, Masanobu Shimada. Pi-SAR-L2 Observation of the Landslide Caused by Typhoon Wipha on Izu Oshima Island. Remote Sensing. 2016; 8 (4):282.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Manabu Watanabe; Rajesh Bahadur Thapa; Masanobu Shimada. 2016. "Pi-SAR-L2 Observation of the Landslide Caused by Typhoon Wipha on Izu Oshima Island." Remote Sensing 8, no. 4: 282.

Journal article
Published: 03 March 2016 in IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing
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This study examines the potential of airborne PiSAR-L2 data for estimating forest carbon stocks in central Sumatra. Polarimetric interferometric synthetic aperture radar L-band-2 (PiSAR-L2) is a second-generation airborne sensor developed by JAXA. We acquired full-polarimetric data at a fine spatial resolution of 2.5 m during the PiSAR-L2 flight campaign in August 2012. A total of 59 field measurement plots for aboveground forest carbon stocks (AFCSs) were established in same year where AFCS ranged between 4.8 and . The plots comprised natural and plantation forests. These plot-level field data were used for calibrating and validating AFCS estimation models with the SAR data. Various possibilities including direct sigma naught backscatters and their ratios and various types of textures obtained from HH, HV, and VV polarizations were examined by applying regression modeling. The main indicators used for the selection of best potential models in the calibration phase were , variable inflation factor (VIF), p-value, and root-mean-squared errors (RMSEs). The potential models were validated using the leave-one-out (LOO) method. The results indicated that a simple combination of backscatters and their ratios provides an AFCS estimate with an RMSE of and an of 0.65. Inclusion of SAR textural parameters improved the AFCS estimates with an RMSE of and an of 0.80. This indicates that the airborne PiSAR-L2 full-polarimetric data have the potential to estimate forest carbon stocks with an improved accuracy in the tropical region.

ACS Style

Rajesh Bahadur Thapa; Manabu Watanabe; Masanobu Shimada; Takeshi Motohka. Examining High-Resolution PiSAR-L2 Textures for Estimating Tropical Forest Carbon Stocks. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing 2016, 9, 3202 -3209.

AMA Style

Rajesh Bahadur Thapa, Manabu Watanabe, Masanobu Shimada, Takeshi Motohka. Examining High-Resolution PiSAR-L2 Textures for Estimating Tropical Forest Carbon Stocks. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing. 2016; 9 (7):3202-3209.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Rajesh Bahadur Thapa; Manabu Watanabe; Masanobu Shimada; Takeshi Motohka. 2016. "Examining High-Resolution PiSAR-L2 Textures for Estimating Tropical Forest Carbon Stocks." IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing 9, no. 7: 3202-3209.

Journal article
Published: 01 February 2016 in Earth, Planets and Space
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The Advanced Land Observing Satellite-2 (ALOS-2, “DAICHI-2”) has been observing Nepal with the Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar-2 (PALSAR-2) in response to an emergency request from Sentinel Asia related to the Mw 7.8 Gorkha earthquake on April 25, 2015. PALSAR-2 successfully detected not only avalanches and local crustal displacements but also continental-scale deformation. Especially, by the use of the ScanSAR mode, we are able to make interferograms that cover the entire displacement area of the earthquake. However, we did encounter some fundamental problems with the ScanSAR and incorrect settings of PALSAR-2 operation that have now been fixed. They include (1) burst overlap misalignment between two ScanSAR observations, which limits the number of pairs available and the quality of the interferogram, (2) non-crustal fringes which are derived from co-registration error and/or ionospheric effect and, (3) incorrect setting of the center frequency in the Stripmap beam F2-6. In this paper, we describe their problems and solutions. The number of interferometric pairs are limited by (1) and (3). The accuracy of the interferograms are limited by (2) and (3). The experimental results showed that current solutions for (2) and (3) work appropriately.

ACS Style

Ryo Natsuaki; Hiroto Nagai; Takeshi Motohka; Masato Ohki; Manabu Watanabe; Rajesh B. Thapa; Takeo Tadono; Masanobu Shimada; Shinichi Suzuki. SAR interferometry using ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 data for the Mw 7.8 Gorkha, Nepal earthquake. Earth, Planets and Space 2016, 68, 212 .

AMA Style

Ryo Natsuaki, Hiroto Nagai, Takeshi Motohka, Masato Ohki, Manabu Watanabe, Rajesh B. Thapa, Takeo Tadono, Masanobu Shimada, Shinichi Suzuki. SAR interferometry using ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 data for the Mw 7.8 Gorkha, Nepal earthquake. Earth, Planets and Space. 2016; 68 (1):212.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ryo Natsuaki; Hiroto Nagai; Takeshi Motohka; Masato Ohki; Manabu Watanabe; Rajesh B. Thapa; Takeo Tadono; Masanobu Shimada; Shinichi Suzuki. 2016. "SAR interferometry using ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 data for the Mw 7.8 Gorkha, Nepal earthquake." Earth, Planets and Space 68, no. 1: 212.

Journal article
Published: 29 October 2015 in Optics Letters
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We demonstrate a low-loss, repeatable, and robust splice between single-mode silica fiber and single-mode chalcogenide (CHG) fiber. These splices are particularly difficult to create because of the significant difference in the two fibers’ glass transition temperatures (∼1000°C) as well as the large difference in the coefficients of thermal expansion between the fibers (∼20×10−6/°C). With 90% light coupled through the silica–CHG fiber splice, predominantly in the fundamental circular-symmetric mode, into the core of the CHG fiber and with 0.5 dB of splice loss measured around the wavelength of 2.5 μm, after correcting only for the Fresnel loss, the silica–CHG splice offers excellent beam quality and coupling efficiency. The tensile strength of the splice is greater than 12 kpsi, and the laser damage threshold is greater than 2 W (CW) and was limited by the available laser pump power. We also utilized this splicing technique to demonstrate 2 to 4.5 μm ultrabroadband supercontinuum generation in a monolithic all-fiber system comprising a CHG fiber and a high peak power 2 μm pulsed Raman-shifted thulium fiber laser. This is a major development toward compact form factor commercial applications of soft-glass mid-IR fibers.

ACS Style

Rajesh Bahadur Thapa; Rafael Gattass; Vinh Nguyen; Geoff Chin; Daniel Gibson; Woohong Kim; L. Brandon Shaw; Jasbinder S. Sanghera. Low-loss, robust fusion splicing of silica to chalcogenide fiber for integrated mid-infrared laser technology development. Optics Letters 2015, 40, 5074 -5077.

AMA Style

Rajesh Bahadur Thapa, Rafael Gattass, Vinh Nguyen, Geoff Chin, Daniel Gibson, Woohong Kim, L. Brandon Shaw, Jasbinder S. Sanghera. Low-loss, robust fusion splicing of silica to chalcogenide fiber for integrated mid-infrared laser technology development. Optics Letters. 2015; 40 (21):5074-5077.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Rajesh Bahadur Thapa; Rafael Gattass; Vinh Nguyen; Geoff Chin; Daniel Gibson; Woohong Kim; L. Brandon Shaw; Jasbinder S. Sanghera. 2015. "Low-loss, robust fusion splicing of silica to chalcogenide fiber for integrated mid-infrared laser technology development." Optics Letters 40, no. 21: 5074-5077.

Research
Published: 17 September 2015 in Carbon Balance and Management
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Efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in tropical Asia require accurate high-resolution mapping of forest carbon stocks and predictions of their likely future variation. Here we combine radar and LiDAR with field measurements to create a high-resolution aboveground forest carbon stock (AFCS) map and use spatial modeling to present probable future AFCS changes for the Riau province of central Sumatra. Our map provides spatially explicit estimates of the AFCS with an accuracy of ±23.5 Mg C ha−1. According to this map, the natural forests in the province currently store 265 million Mg C, with a density of 72 Mg C ha−1, as aboveground biomass. Using a spatially explicit modeling technique we derived time-series AFCS maps up to the year 2030 under three forest policy scenarios: business as usual, conservation, and concession. The spatial patterns of AFCS and their trends under different scenarios vary on a local scale, and some areas are highlighted that are at eminent risk of carbon emission. Based on the business as usual scenario, the current AFCS could decrease by 75 %, which may lead to the release of 747 million Mg CO2. The other two scenarios, conservation and concession, suggest the risk reductions by 11 and 59 %, respectively. The time-series AFCS maps provide spatially explicit scenarios of changes in AFCS. These data may aid in planning Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation in developing countries projects in the study area, and stimulate the development of AFCS maps for other regions of tropical Asia.

ACS Style

Rajesh Bahadur Thapa; Takeshi Motohka; Manabu Watanabe; Masanobu Shimada. Time-series maps of aboveground carbon stocks in the forests of central Sumatra. Carbon Balance and Management 2015, 10, 23 .

AMA Style

Rajesh Bahadur Thapa, Takeshi Motohka, Manabu Watanabe, Masanobu Shimada. Time-series maps of aboveground carbon stocks in the forests of central Sumatra. Carbon Balance and Management. 2015; 10 (1):23.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Rajesh Bahadur Thapa; Takeshi Motohka; Manabu Watanabe; Masanobu Shimada. 2015. "Time-series maps of aboveground carbon stocks in the forests of central Sumatra." Carbon Balance and Management 10, no. 1: 23.

Conference paper
Published: 01 September 2015 in 2015 IEEE 5th Asia-Pacific Conference on Synthetic Aperture Radar (APSAR)
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Retrieving aboveground forest carbon stocks (AFCS) accurately in tropical region remains challenging due to forest structure complexity and species diversity. In order to improve AFCS estimates, the present study evaluates the potential of high-resolution ALOS/PALSAR mosaics data in the tropical forests in central Sumatra. The study region with AFCS range of 1 to 334 Mg ha-1 consists of natural and plantation forests. Field measurements of AFCS were carried out in 87 plots. Various textures of dual polarized mosaics data for the year 2009 and 2010 were computed and assessed their potential for estimating AFCS applying regression modelling. R2, p-value, variable inflation factor, and root mean square errors (RMSE) were examined. Potential models were cross validated by leave- one-out (LOO) method. The result indicates that simple textures analysis in PALSAR mosaics increases potential of AFCS estimation and reduces errors to 30.5 Mg ha-1. The method and models presented in this study can be a low cost wall-to-wall forest carbon mapping with high level of accuracy in tropical forests in Southeast Asia where other methods are still rare.

ACS Style

Rajesh Bahadur Thapa; Manabu Watanabe; Takeshi Motohka; Masanobu Shimada. Texture analysis of PALSAR mosaics for forests carbon stock estimation in central Sumatra. 2015 IEEE 5th Asia-Pacific Conference on Synthetic Aperture Radar (APSAR) 2015, 672 -675.

AMA Style

Rajesh Bahadur Thapa, Manabu Watanabe, Takeshi Motohka, Masanobu Shimada. Texture analysis of PALSAR mosaics for forests carbon stock estimation in central Sumatra. 2015 IEEE 5th Asia-Pacific Conference on Synthetic Aperture Radar (APSAR). 2015; ():672-675.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Rajesh Bahadur Thapa; Manabu Watanabe; Takeshi Motohka; Masanobu Shimada. 2015. "Texture analysis of PALSAR mosaics for forests carbon stock estimation in central Sumatra." 2015 IEEE 5th Asia-Pacific Conference on Synthetic Aperture Radar (APSAR) , no. : 672-675.

Review
Published: 30 July 2015 in Applied Optics
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The infrared range of the optical spectrum is attractive for its use in sensing, surveillance, and material characterization. The increasing availability of compact laser sources and detectors in the infrared range stands in contrast with the limited development of optical components for this optical range. We highlight developments of infrared components with a particular focus on fiber-based components for compact optical devices and systems.

ACS Style

Rafael Gattass; Rajesh Bahadur Thapa; Frederic H. Kung; Lynda E. Busse; L. Brandon Shaw; Jasbinder S. Sanghera. Review of infrared fiber-based components. Applied Optics 2015, 54, F25 -F34.

AMA Style

Rafael Gattass, Rajesh Bahadur Thapa, Frederic H. Kung, Lynda E. Busse, L. Brandon Shaw, Jasbinder S. Sanghera. Review of infrared fiber-based components. Applied Optics. 2015; 54 (31):F25-F34.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Rafael Gattass; Rajesh Bahadur Thapa; Frederic H. Kung; Lynda E. Busse; L. Brandon Shaw; Jasbinder S. Sanghera. 2015. "Review of infrared fiber-based components." Applied Optics 54, no. 31: F25-F34.

Conference paper
Published: 01 July 2015 in 2015 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS)
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Correlations between L-band SAR polarimetric parameters obtained with airborne SAR (Pi-SAR-L2) and metrics obtained with airborne LiDAR were examined to identify the relationship between the full polarimetric parameters and forest parameters obtained for a natural forest in Indonesia. Values of a 0 HV and a 0 VV show good correlations with canopy height and 90 th percentile metrics of LiDAR, with R 2 values of 0.85-0.89. These correlations show higher R 2 values than the value of 0.33 for a 0 HV vs. above-ground biomass. The results indicate that a 0 shows a robust correlation with tree height weighted to taller trees. Polarimetric parameters estimated from a single tree also support the results. Entropy and anisotropy obtained from a single tree shows almost the same value, and a is about 45°, while the tree height ranges 2 m to 6 m. This indicates that these parameters are preferable for land cover classification.

ACS Style

Manabu Watanabe; Takeshi Motohka; Rajesh Bahadur Thapa; Masanobu Shimada. Correlation between L-band SAR polarimetric parameters and LiDAR metrics over a forested area. 2015 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS) 2015, 1574 -1577.

AMA Style

Manabu Watanabe, Takeshi Motohka, Rajesh Bahadur Thapa, Masanobu Shimada. Correlation between L-band SAR polarimetric parameters and LiDAR metrics over a forested area. 2015 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS). 2015; ():1574-1577.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Manabu Watanabe; Takeshi Motohka; Rajesh Bahadur Thapa; Masanobu Shimada. 2015. "Correlation between L-band SAR polarimetric parameters and LiDAR metrics over a forested area." 2015 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS) , no. : 1574-1577.

Journal article
Published: 05 June 2015 in IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing
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The temporal variations (diurnal and annual) in arboreal (ε Tree ) and bare soil (ε Soil ) dielectric constants and their correlation with precipitation were examined for several trees in Japan. A significant (1 σ (standard deviation) and 2 σ) ε Tree increase is observed after rainfall at 89.8% and 90.5% probability. However, rainfall does not always induce significant ε Tree increases. Rainfall of more than 5 mm/day can induce 1 σ ε Tree Tree increase at a 59.6% probability. In order to examine whether the increase in εTree affects the L-band σ 0 variation in a forest, the four-year temporal variation of the L-band backscattering coefficient (σ 0 ) was estimated from observations by the Advanced Land Observing Satellite Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar. Observed maximum absolute deviations from the mean over the forest area were 1.0 and 1.2 dB for σ HH 0 and σ HV 0 , respectively, and 4.0 and 3.0 dB over open land. σ 0 and rainfall correlations show that ε Tree and σ Forest 0 are proportional to precipitation integrated over seven or eight days; ε Soil and σ Open land 0 are proportional to precipitation integrated over three days. This finding indicates that ε Tree variations influence σ Forest areas 0 . A stronger correlation between σ HV 0 and precipitation is observed in several sites with low σ HV 0 , where less biomass is expected, and several sites with high σ HV 0 , where more biomass is expected. A weaker correlation between σ HV 0 and precipitation is observed for several sites with high σ HV 0 . These differences may be explained by the different contributions of double bounce scattering and potential transpiration, which is a measure of the ability of the atmosphere to remove water from the surface through the processes of transpiration. The two other results were as follows: 1) The functional relation between aboveground biomass and σ 0 showed dependence on precipitation data, this being an effect connected with seasonal changes of the ε Tree . This experiment reinforces the fact that the dry season is preferable for retrieval of woody biomass from inversion of the functional dependence of SAR backscatter and for avoiding the influence of rainfall. 2) The complex dielectric constant for a tree trunk, which is measured between 0.2 and 6 GHz, indicates that free water is dominant in the measured tree.

ACS Style

Manabu Watanabe; Takeshi Motohka; Tomohiro Shiraishi; Rajesh Bahadur Thapa; Chinatsu Yonezawa; Kazuki Nakamura; Masanobu Shimada. Multitemporal Fluctuations in L-Band Backscatter From a Japanese Forest. IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing 2015, 53, 5799 -5813.

AMA Style

Manabu Watanabe, Takeshi Motohka, Tomohiro Shiraishi, Rajesh Bahadur Thapa, Chinatsu Yonezawa, Kazuki Nakamura, Masanobu Shimada. Multitemporal Fluctuations in L-Band Backscatter From a Japanese Forest. IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing. 2015; 53 (11):5799-5813.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Manabu Watanabe; Takeshi Motohka; Tomohiro Shiraishi; Rajesh Bahadur Thapa; Chinatsu Yonezawa; Kazuki Nakamura; Masanobu Shimada. 2015. "Multitemporal Fluctuations in L-Band Backscatter From a Japanese Forest." IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing 53, no. 11: 5799-5813.

Journal article
Published: 05 June 2015 in SPIE Professional
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Radar backscatter using L-band microwave frequencies from the Advanced Land Observing Satellite enables the generation of maps of global forest cover for 2007–2010.

ACS Style

Masanobu Shimada; Takuya Itoh; Takeshi Motooka; Manabu Watanabe; Rajesh Thapa. High-resolution satellite radar for mapping changes in global forest cover. SPIE Professional 2015, 1 .

AMA Style

Masanobu Shimada, Takuya Itoh, Takeshi Motooka, Manabu Watanabe, Rajesh Thapa. High-resolution satellite radar for mapping changes in global forest cover. SPIE Professional. 2015; ():1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Masanobu Shimada; Takuya Itoh; Takeshi Motooka; Manabu Watanabe; Rajesh Thapa. 2015. "High-resolution satellite radar for mapping changes in global forest cover." SPIE Professional , no. : 1.