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...ion in the DEM becamessignificantly overestimated. To overcome this problem in future studies, it isspossible to apply filtering algorithms developed to remove off-ground pointssfrom the point cloud (=-=Zhang et al., 2003-=-; Kobler et al., 2007).sThis study illustrates a method by which the DEM of a small area (less thans1000 m2) can be efficiently derived using a lightweight, low-cost infrared lasersrangefinder which c...

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...ar automaton (CA).sCA is a discrete rule-based model that constitutes a mathematical system inswhich simple components (rules) act together to recreate complicated patternss40sChapter 3sof behaviour (=-=Wolfram, 1984-=-; Mynett and Chen, 2004). CA offers thespossibility to infer movements from given transition rules built on physiologicalssimulation of the target species, and has two main advantages over othersmetho...

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...dscape in the Animal’s Natural HabitatsThe thermal landscape is one of the most important abiotic determinants ofsorganismal distribution and physiological performance, and especially forsectotherms (=-=Williams and Morritt, 1995-=-). Thermal factors such as airstemperature, wind speed, solar radiation, and surface temperature of substratesinteract to drive the flux of heat into and out of an organism (Helmuth andsHofmann, 2001)...

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...nt spatial variables insvarious scientific research projects, including ecological studies (Turner et al.,s2003; Estes et al., 2010; Skidmore et al., 2011), hydrological studies (Sharma etsal., 2011; =-=Yamazaki et al., 2012-=-), soil mapping (Mueller and Pierce, 2003; Peiset al., 2010) and archaeology (Vogel and Märker, 2010). As a result, manysgeographic information systems and resource inventory systems are beingsdevelop...

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...ance. From this background, some studies havesexplored the potential of neural networks for function fitting and forsrelationship building. For instance, ANN modelling methods has been appliedsby Yi (=-=Yi et al., 2007-=-) to the monitoring of rice nitrogen status using leaf levelshyperspectral reflectance; Mutanga (Mutanga and Skidmore, 2004) mappedsgrass quality in an African savanna rangeland using ANN method based...

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...lly relevant predictorsssuch as temperature and radiation (Elith and Leathwick, 2009). Some modelssinclude proxy predictors such as air temperature or solar radiation (Fischer etsal., 2002), or both (=-=Zeng et al., 2010-=-). However, any proxy predictor is assimplification (sometimes an oversimplification) of the actual thermalsenvironment.s4sChapter 1sAccording to the energy transfer theory, the heat from a thermal en...