Based on the spectral reflection characteristics analysis of the muddy coastline in Jiangsu, an improved spectral water index (IWI) combined with the Otsu algorithm is proposed to extract muddy coastlines from Landsat Operational Land Imager (OLI) images. The IWI-extracted coastline results are compared with those extracted by the modified normalized difference water index (MNDWI), normalized difference water index (NDWI), enhanced water index (EWI), revised normalized different water index (RNDWI) and automated water extraction index (AWEI). The results show that the IWI is not affected by tidal conditions or sand content in the water, can reduce the “salt-and-pepper” phenomenon in the Otsu algorithm classification, can accurately identify water boundaries and can extract silty mudflats and marine buildings with high accuracy. It can also significantly increase the degree of automation of coastline extraction. The IWI combined with the Otsu algorithm demonstrates high accuracy of over 84% in the extraction muddy coastline data with one-pixel tolerance, which is twice as accurate as other indices. The accuracy of extraction for all other types of coastlines is over 81%. Therefore, the IWI index combined with the Otsu algorithm is reliable for studies of sea–land processes and coastline evolutions.

Chronosequences are effective tools for studying soil genesis and can be used to evaluate the rate and direction of soil changes. Traditional methods for determining soil pedogenic properties are expensive and time consuming. Soil reflectance spectroscopy is a rapid and inexpensive technique that can analyse many soil constituents simultaneously. However, it remains unclear whether this new technique can be used in chronosequence studies to examine and interpret pedogenic processes. The objectives of this study are to summarize the progress made in the study of soil chronosequences and the research on soil reflectance spectroscopy over the past few decades, and to discuss the feasibility of soil spectroscopy in chronosequence studies. This study has reviewed the changes over time of five soil pedogenic properties of a chronosequence, i.e. soil organic matter, iron oxide, clay minerals, particle size distribution, and calcium carbonate. These properties can be quantitatively estimated using soil spectroscopy, although not all of them have spectral features. These changing properties serve as a bridge linking soil pedogenic processes and reflectance spectroscopy, which makes it possible to analyse chronosequences using spectroscopy. This application will provide a new method for studying soil genesis.

The soil chronosequence is a useful method for investigating pedological theories. Soil chemical, physical and mineralogical properties in chronosequences change over time and exhibit systematic and time-dependent trends, which can be used to analyze the rates and directions of pedogenic changes. The potential of soil spectroscopy as an emerging, rapid and cost-effective technique for predicting soil properties has been widely accepted and has motivated the application of spectroscopic techniques to the analysis of soil chronosequence. We present a soil chronosequence derived from 1000-year-old calcareous marine sediments and examine changes in six soil properties over this period. We evaluated the utility of a soil spectroscopic method to detect soil property changes and to predict the pedogenic properties and soil ages of the chronosequence. The results show that some soil pedogenic processes, such as soil organic matter accumulation, CaCO₃ leaching and clay migration, can be identified in the millennium chronosequence. Power chronofunctions are formulated for soil organic matter (SOM) and Logarithmic chronofunctions are fitted for clay, CaCO₃ and pH. These pedogenic processes are identified in the reflectance intensity and absorption features of soil spectroscopy, and pedogenic properties can be calibrated via soil reflectance spectroscopy. Profile ages can also be predicted via pseudo multi-depth spectra of soil profiles, and soil spectral curves for 0–30 cm generated the best prediction results (RPD = 1.85). We conclude that soil properties, changing due to weathering and soil formation, act as a bridge linking spectroscopy and weathering levels/pedogenic processes. The results imply that applying spectroscopy techniques to chronosequence study and mapping the degree of soil development in certain areas should be possible.

UAV-SfM photogrammetry is widely used in remote sensing and geoscience communities. Scholars have tried to optimize UAV-SfM for terrain modeling based on analysis of error statistics like root mean squared error (RMSE), mean error (ME), and standard deviation (STD). However, the errors of terrain modeling tend to be spatially distributed. Although the error statistic can represent the magnitude of errors, revealing spatial structures of errors is still challenging. The “best practice” of UAV-SfM is lacking in research communities from the perspective of spatial structure of errors. Thus, this study designed various UAV-SfM photogrammetric scenarios and investigated the effects of image collection strategies and GCPs on terrain modeling. The error maps of different photogrammetric scenarios were calculated and quantitatively analyzed by ME, STD, and Moran’s I. The results show that: (1) A high camera inclination (20–40°) enhances UAV-SfM photogrammetry. This not only decreases the magnitude of errors, but also mitigates its spatial correlation (Moran’s I). Supplementing convergent images is valuable for reducing errors in a nadir camera block, but it is unnecessary when the image block is with a high camera angle. (2) Flying height increases the magnitude of errors (ME and STD) but does not affect the spatial structure (Moran’s I). By contrast, the camera angle is more important than the flying height for improving the spatial structure of errors. (3) A small number of GCPs rapidly reduce the magnitude of errors (ME and STD), and a further increase in GCPs has a marginal effect. However, the structure of errors (Moran’s I) can be further improved with increasing GCPs. (4) With the same number, the distribution of GCPs is critical for UAV-SfM photogrammetry. The edge distribution should be first considered, followed by the even distribution. The research findings contribute to understanding how different image collection scenarios and GCPs can influence subsequent terrain modeling accuracy, precision, and spatial structure of errors. The latter (spatial structure of errors) should be routinely assessed in evaluations of the quality of UAV-SfM photogrammetry.