G.N. Zholtkevych1, G.Yu. Bespalov1, K.V. Nosov1,

E.V. Visotskaya2, A.I. Pecherskaya2

1V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, Ukraine

2Kharkiv National University of Radioelectronics, Ukraine

Discrete models of dynamical systems of relationships between spectral characteristics of grass for remote sensing of effects disclosing locust crowds

 

The outbreaks of locust create heavy biosafety problems related to the damage for an agricultural sector of economy in different regions of the Planet. These problems are growing in connection with the global warming. In this regard, detection of locust crowds on vast areas becomes the task of great practical importance. In some cases these areas may be hard-to-reach. In such a situation, the role of  remote methods is constantly intensifying. Such methods can use relatively low-cost techniques for registering locust crowds on the field, e. g., digital photography from light-weight unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The presence of locust's protective coloration masks locust crowds on the ground vegetation and requires special processing methods for revealing systemic effects, which can disclose the crowds. One of the methods, that solves the assigned task, can be built on information technology, which uses the new, developed with the authors' participation, class of  mathematical models [1-2] called discrete modeling of  dynamical systems (DMDS). 

The aim of the present work is a formalized description of systemic effects characterizing the dynamics of spectral characteristics of grassland vegetation communities with the help of the mentioned discrete dynamical models. The character of the systemic effects can serve as an indicator of presence or absence of crowds of locust, having protective coloring painting, and can help to disclose such crowds.

As the source data for modeling the digital photos of locust crowds occurred in summer 2012 in Astrakhan region (Russia) [3] was taken. For studying systemic effects the dynamic models based on the concept of limiting factors according to Liebig's Law of the Minimum [2] were built.  Using the photos the intensities of three colors of RGB color model were calculated (by averaging through sites under investigation). As components of a dynamical system the following spectral characteristics of digital photos, received on the basis of the three color intensities, were used:  G/B , R/G, (R+B)/B, where   R, G, B is the average intensities of red, green, and blue colors. To this list of components a latent component was added. It is assumed, that correlation between the latent component and others components is to be 0. According to the model, it is deemed that all the components compose the dynamical system, and separate photographed areas represent different steps of a single cycle. Using benefits inherent in the very nature of the DMDS concept, it is possible to restore a dynamics of changes of these components on the base of separate photos, taken at different moments. So the long-term monitoring of changes in a grassland community is not required. Restored dynamics and relationships between components can help us to understand the system effects facilitating the identification of locust crowds.

The system of relationships between components obtained by the DMDS allows to build idealized trajectories of the dynamical system reflecting the typical features of a cycle of changes of components values for a grassland community in the cases with and without locust crowds. If there is no crowds on a site, the maximums of the G/B and R/G values alternate, and that fact can be explained as an indicator of alternation of  "young" and "old" phases of grassland community's development. Dynamics of the latent component allows us to interpret it as a performance indicator of reducers incorporating into trophic chain of dead organic matter, which are accumulated on "old" phases of plant communities' development.

Locust  crowds with protective coloring disturb the above mentioned cycle of components changes. Instead of the previous cycle an another cycle appears, which requires different interpretation (this interpretation is not of  interest from the point of view of the targeted task of disclosing the locust crowds; for solving this task, of interest is the remote registration of absence of the cycle generic for a grassland community without locust crowds).

The results obtained in the work confirm possibilities for remote detection of systemic effects disclosing locust crowds on grass with the use of the DMDS models and relatively simple and low-cost technical means. These capabilities can be fully implemented by information technologies providing calculation of idealized trajectories by the DMDS methods, that reflects cycles of changes of remotely recorded parameters (in particular, by digital photos from light-weight UAV) with follow-up storage of those idealized trajectories in databases (obtained for various landscapes, weather conditions, etc.). The effectiveness of such information technologies can be improved at the expense of  expert opinions based on the expert's interpretation of dynamics of latent component's relationship with other components, by follow-up identification of latent component with some factors of life activity of ecological systems and biological objects located in the region of interest and having specific physical or biological significance.

So one of the most interesting prospect consists on the use of the DMDS models in information technologies enhancing the capabilities of remote registration of dangerous and harmful organisms on landscapes with their own well-established communities of plants and animals.

REFERENCES

1.

G.N. Zholtkevych, G.Yu. BespalovK.V. Nosov, Mahalakshmi Abhishek Discrete Modeling of Dynamics of Zooplankton Community at the Different Stages of an Antropogeneous Eutrophication //Acta Biotheoretica, 2013. - ¹ 8. – Ñ. 48 – 53.

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Bespalov Yu., Gorodnyanskiy I., Zholtkevych G., Zaretskaya I., Nosov K., Bondarenko T., Kalinovskaya K., Carrero Y. Discrete Dynamical Modeling of System Characteristics of a Turtle's Walk in Ordinary Situations and After Slight Stress // Áèîíèêà èíòåëëåêòà, 2011. - ¹ 3 (77). - Ñ. 54-59.

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Æèðíîâà Ò. À., Óòàëèåâà À. À., Áðóìøòåéí Þ. Ì. Ñàðàí÷à â àñòðàõàíñêîé îáëàñòè: âîñïðèßòèå íàñåëåíèåì è ìåòîäû áîðüáû // Àñòðàõàíñêèé âåñòíèê ýêîëîãè÷åñêîãî îáðàçîâàíèÿ. Âûïóñê ¹ 2 (24). - 2013.