Search results for: land potential

Authors: Danilo G. De Quadros

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Biofuels are a priority in the renewable energy agenda. The utilization of tropical grasses to ethanol production is a real opportunity to Brazil reaches the world’s leadership in biofuels production because there are 100 million hectares of sown pastures, which represent 20% of all land and 80% of agricultural areas. Basically, nowadays tropical grasses are used to raise livestock. The results obtained in this research could bring tremendous advance not only to national technology and economy but also to improve social and environmental aspects. Thus, the objective of this work was to estimate, through well-established international models, the potential of biofuels production using sown tropical pastures as feedstocks and to compare the results with sugarcane ethanol, considering state-of-art of conversion technology, advantages and limitations factors. There were used data from national and international literature about forage yield and biochemical conversion yield. Some scenarios were studied to evaluate potential advantages and limitations for cellulosic ethanol production, since non-food feedstock appeal to conversion strategies, passing through harvest, densification, logistics, environmental impacts (carbon and water cycles, nutrient recycling and biodiversity), and social aspects. If Brazil used only 1% of sown pastures to ethanol production by biochemical pathway, with average dry matter yield of 15 metric tons per hectare per year (there are results of 40 tons), resulted annually in 721 billion liters, that represents 10 times more than sugarcane ethanol projected by the Government in 2030. However, more research is necessary to take the results to commercial scale with competitive costs, considering many strategies and methods applied in ethanol production using cellulosic feedstock.

Keywords: biofuels, biochemical pathway, cellulosic ethanol, sustainability

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Authors: Jose Funes, Jeff Sauer, Laixiang Sun

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This research examines determinants of multifamily housing development and spillovers in the District of Columbia. A range of socioeconomic factors related to income distribution, productivity, and land use policies are thought to influence the development in contemporary U.S. multifamily housing markets. The analysis leverages data from the American Community Survey to construct panel datasets spanning from 2010 to 2019. Using spatial regression, we identify several socioeconomic measures and land use policies both positively and negatively associated with new housing supply. We contextualize housing estimates related to race in relation to uneven development in the contemporary D.C. housing supply.

Keywords: neighborhood effect, sorting, spatial spillovers, multifamily housing

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Authors: Zo Hasina Rabemananjara

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The North-East of Madagascar is the pillar of Madagascar's foreign trade, providing 41% and 80% of world exports of cloves and vanilla, respectively, in 2016. For Madagascar, the north-eastern escarpment is home to the last massifs of humid forest in large scale of the island, surrounded by a small scale agricultural mosaic. In the sites where this study is taking place, located in the peripheral zones of protected areas, the production of rent aims to supply international markets. In fact, importers of the cash crops produced in these areas are located mainly in India, Singapore, France, Germany and the United States. Recently, the price of these products has increased significantly, especially from the year 2015. For vanilla, the price has skyrocketed, from an approximate price of 73 USD per kilo in 2015 to more than 250 USD per kilo in 2016. The value of clove exports increased sharply by 49.4% in 2017, largely to Singapore and India due to the sharp increase in exported volume (+47, 6%) in 2017. If the relationship between the rise in prices of rented products and the change in physical environments is known, the evolution of the behavior of land users linked to this aspect was not yet addressed by research. In fact, the consequence of this price increase in the organization of the use of space at the local level still raises questions. Hence, the research question is: to what extent does this improvement in the price of imported products affect user behavior linked to the local organization of access to the factor of soil production? To fully appreciate this change in behavior, surveys of 144 land user households were carried out, and group interviews were also carried out. The results of this research showed that the rise in the prices of annuity products from the year 2015 caused significant changes in the behavior of land users in the study sites. Young people, who have not been attracted to farming for a long time, have started to show interest in it since the period of rising vanilla and clove prices. They have set up their own fields of vanilla and clove cultivation. This revival of interest conferred an important value on the land and caused conflicts especially between family members because the acquisition of the cultivated land was done by inheritance or donation. This change in user behavior has also affected the farmers' life strategy since the latter have decided to abandon rain-fed rice farming, which has long been considered a guaranteed subsistence activity for cash crops. This research will contribute to nourishing scientific reflection on the management of land use and also to support political decision-makers in decision-making on spatial planning.

Keywords: behavior of land users, North-eastern Madagascar, price of export products, spatial planning

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Authors: Maya Irjayanti

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Local creativity utilization has been a strategic investment to be expanded as a creative industry due to its significant contribution to the national gross domestic product. Many developed and developing countries look toward creative industries as an agenda for the economic growth. This study aims to identify the role of local potential for creative industries from various empirical studies. The method performed in this study will involve a peer-reviewed journal articles and conference papers review addressing local potential and creative industries. The literature review analysis will include several steps: material collection, descriptive analysis, category selection, and material evaluation. Finally, the outcome expected provides a creative industries clustering based on the local potential of various nations. In addition, the finding of this study will be used as future research reference to explore a particular area with well-known aspects of local potential for creative industry products.

Keywords: business, creativity, local potential, local wisdom

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Authors: Muhammad Nasar-u-Minallah, Dagmar Haase, Salman Qureshi

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Rapid urbanization significantly change land use, urban nature, land surface vegetation cover, and heat distribution, leading to the formation of urban heat island (UHI) effect and affecting the healthy growth of cities and the comfort of human living style. Past information and present changes in Land Surface Temperature (LST) and urban landscapes could be useful to geographers, environmentalists, and urban planners in an attempt to shape the urban development process and mitigate the effects of urban heat islands (UHI). This study aims at using Satellite Remote Sensing (SRS) and GIS techniques to develop an approach for assessing the urban nature and UHI effects in Lahore, Pakistan. The study employed the Radiative Transfer Method (RTM) in estimating LST to assess the SUHI effect during the interval of 20 years (2000-2020). The assessment was performed by the available Landsat 7/ETM+ and Landsat 8/OIL_TIRs data for the years 2000, 2010, and 2020 respectively. Pearson’s correlation and normalized mutual information were applied to investigate the relationship between green space characteristics and LST. The result of this work revealed that the influence of urban heat island is not always at the city centers but sometimes in the outskirt where a lot of development activities were going on towards the direction of expansion of Lahore, Pakistan. The present study explores the usage of image processing and spatial analysis in the drive towards achieving urban greening of Lahore and a sustainable urban environment in terms of urban planning, policy, and decision making and promoting the healthy and sustainable urban environment of the city.

Keywords: urban nature, urban heat islands, urban green space, land use, Lahore

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Authors: Modi M. Ahmed, Noor Al-Dousari, Ali M. Al-Dousari

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Cornulaca aucheri is an annual herb consider as disturbance indicator currently visible and widely distributed in disturbed lands in Liyah area. Such area is suffered from severe land degradation due to multiple interacting factors such as, overgrazing, gravel and sand quarrying, military activities and natural process. The restoration program is applied after refilled quarries sites and levelled the surface irregularities in order to rehabilitate the natural vegetation and wildlife to its original shape. During the past 10 years of rehabilitation, noticeable greenery healthy cover of Cornulaca sp. are shown specially around artificial lake and playas. The existence of such species in high density it means that restoration program has succeeded and transit from bare ground state to Cornulaca and annual forb state. This state is lower state of Range State Transition Succession model, but it is better than bare soil. Cornulaca spp is native desert plant grows in arid conditions on sandy, stony ground, near oasis, on sand dunes and in sandy depressions. The sheep and goats are repulsive of it. Despite its spiny leaves, it provides good grazing for camels and is said to increase the milk supply produced by lactating females. It is about 80 cm tall and has stems that branched from the base with new faster greenery growth in the summer. It shows good environmental potential to be managed as natural types used for the restoration of degraded lands in desert areas.

Keywords: land degradation, range state transition succession model, rehabilitation, restoration program

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Authors: Mouhamed Mbouandi Njikam

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This work assesses the trade potential of countries in the Economic Community of Central Africa States (ECCAS). The gravity model of trade is used to evaluate the trade flows of member countries, and to compute the trade potential index of ECCAS during 1995-2010. The focus is on the removal of tariffs and non-tariff barriers in the sub-region. Estimates from the gravity model are used for the calculation of the sub-region’s commercial potential. Its three main findings are: (i) the background research shows a low level of integration in the sub-region and open economies; (ii) a low level of industrialization and diversification are the main factors reducing trade potential in the sub-region; (iii) the trade creation predominate on the deflections of trade between member countries.

Keywords: gravity model, ECCAS, trade flows, trade potential, regional cooperation

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Authors: Tooba Sabir, Asima Jaffar, Namra Sabir, Mohammad Amjad Sabir

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Ecocriticism is the study of relationship between human and environment which has been represented in literature since the very beginning in pastoral tradition. However, the analysis of such representation is new as compared to the other critical evaluations like Psychoanalysis, Marxism, Post-colonialism, Modernism and many others. Ecocritics seek to find information like anthropocentrism, ecocentrism, ecofeminism, eco-Marxism, representation of environment and environmental concept and several other topics. In the current study the representation of environmental concepts, were ecocritically analyzed in Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist, one of the most read novels throughout the world, having been translated into many languages. Analysis of the text revealed, the representations of environmental ideas like landscapes and tourism, biodiversity, land-sea displacement, environmental disasters and warfare, desert winds and sand dunes. 'This desert was once a sea' throws light on different theories of land-sea displacement, one being the plate-tectonic theory which proposes Earth’s lithosphere to be divided into different large and small plates, continuously moving toward, away from or parallel to each other, resulting in land-sea displacement. Another theory is the continental drift theory which holds onto the belief that one large landmass—Pangea, broke down into smaller pieces of land that moved relative to each other and formed continents of the present time. The cause of desertification may, however, be natural i.e. climate change or artificial i.e. by human activities. Imagery of the environmental concepts, at some instances in the novel, is detailed and at other instances, is not as striking, but still is capable of arousing readers’ imagination. The study suggests that ecocritical justifications of environmental concepts in the text will increase the interactions between literature and environment which should be encouraged in order to induce environmental awareness among the readers.

Keywords: biodiversity, ecocritical analysis, ecocriticism, environmental disasters, landscapes

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Authors: Arafan Traore, Teiji Watanabe

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Conakry, the capital city of the Republic of Guinea, has experienced a rapid urban expansion and population increased in the last two decades, which has resulted in remarkable local weather and climate change, raise energy demand and pollution and treating social, economic and environmental development. In this study, the spatiotemporal variation of the land surface temperature (LST) is retrieved to characterize the effect of urban growth on the thermal environment and quantify its relationship with biophysical indices, a normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and a normalized difference built up Index (NDBI). Landsat data TM and OLI/TIRS acquired respectively in 1986, 2000 and 2016 were used for LST retrieval and Land use/cover change analysis. A quantitative analysis based on the integration of a remote sensing and a geography information system (GIS) has revealed an important increased in the LST pattern in the average from 25.21°C in 1986 to 27.06°C in 2000 and 29.34°C in 2016, which was quite eminent with an average gain in surface temperature of 4.13°C over 30 years study period. Additionally, an analysis using a Pearson correlation (r) between (LST) and the biophysical indices, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and a normalized difference built-up Index (NDBI) has revealed a negative relationship between LST and NDVI and a strong positive relationship between LST and NDBI. Which implies that an increase in the NDVI value can reduce the LST intensity; conversely increase in NDBI value may strengthen LST intensity in the study area. Although Landsat data were found efficient in assessing the thermal environment in Conakry, however, the method needs to be refined with in situ measurements of LST in the future studies. The results of this study may assist urban planners, scientists and policies makers concerned about climate variability to make decisions that will enhance sustainable environmental practices in Conakry.

Keywords: Conakry, land surface temperature, urban heat island, geography information system, remote sensing, land use/cover change

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Authors: Othman Maklouf, Abdunnaser Tresh

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Land vehicle navigation is subject of great interest today. Global Positioning System (GPS) is the main navigation system for positioning in such systems. GPS alone is incapable of providing continuous and reliable positioning, because of its inherent dependency on external electromagnetic signals. Inertial Navigation (INS) is the implementation of inertial sensors to determine the position and orientation of a vehicle. The availability of low-cost Micro-Electro-Mechanical-System (MEMS) inertial sensors is now making it feasible to develop INS using an inertial measurement unit (IMU). INS has unbounded error growth since the error accumulates at each step. Usually, GPS and INS are integrated with a loosely coupled scheme. With the development of low-cost, MEMS inertial sensors and GPS technology, integrated INS/GPS systems are beginning to meet the growing demands of lower cost, smaller size, and seamless navigation solutions for land vehicles. Although MEMS inertial sensors are very inexpensive compared to conventional sensors, their cost (especially MEMS gyros) is still not acceptable for many low-end civilian applications (for example, commercial car navigation or personal location systems). An efficient way to reduce the expense of these systems is to reduce the number of gyros and accelerometers, therefore, to use a partial IMU (ParIMU) configuration. For land vehicular use, the most important gyroscope is the vertical gyro that senses the heading of the vehicle and two horizontal accelerometers for determining the velocity of the vehicle. This paper presents a field experiment for a low-cost strap down (ParIMU)\GPS combination, with data post processing for the determination of 2-D components of position (trajectory), velocity and heading. In the present approach, we have neglected earth rotation and gravity variations, because of the poor gyroscope sensitivities of our low-cost IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) and because of the relatively small area of the trajectory.

Keywords: GPS, IMU, Kalman filter, materials engineering

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Authors: Margaret S. Gumisiriza, Ernest. R. Mbega, Patrick Ndakidemi, Businge K. Edward

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The purpose of the paper was to assess existing literature regarding hydroponics in both the developing and developed countries. Furthermore, relate it to the context of African countries, how they can implement it and benefit from it in the face of climate change, high population growth rates, and reduced food production. Agriculture remains the major economic activity for a number of African countries. It is the source of income for most peasants, and still contributes to the Gross Domestic Product in most of these African countries. Unfortunately, climate change coupled with the increasing rates of population growth; rural-urban migration; and urbanization have led to food insecurity due to a reduction of available land for agriculture. This has further intensified the food security dilemma in Africa, especially in urban areas, where land is already limited. Considering the aforementioned state of affairs, there is an increasing demand for interventions that can help farmers in Africa to cope with climate change and increase food production. This review explores hydroponic farming and how it can be used as a climate-smart farming system in Africa’s rural and urban areas. Specifically, the review focuses on hydroponics, requirements for hydroponic farming and the state of hydroponic farming in LDCs and Developed countries (DCs). From the review, it was observed that African countries especially those that receive a lot of sunlight would highly benefit from the solar-powered hydroponic farming systems. Further, still, this farming system will help African countries cope with the challenges of high population pressure in urban areas and climate change as it qualifies to be an urban farming system.

Keywords: Africa, climate-smart agriculture, solar-powered-hydroponics, urban-farming

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Authors: Ibrahim Makram Ibrahim Salib

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Agriculture plays an essential role in providing food for the world's population. It also offers numerous benefits to countries, including non-food products, transportation, and environmental balance. Precision agriculture, which employs advanced tools to monitor variability and manage inputs, can help achieve these benefits. The increasing demand for food security puts pressure on decision-makers to ensure sufficient food production worldwide. To support sustainable agriculture, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can be utilized to manage farms and increase yields. This paper aims to provide an understanding of UAV usage and its applications in agriculture. The objective is to review the various applications of UAVs in agriculture. Based on a comprehensive review of existing research, it was found that different sensors provide varying analyses for agriculture applications. Therefore, the purpose of the project must be determined before using UAV technology for better data quality and analysis. In conclusion, identifying a suitable sensor and UAV is crucial to gather accurate data and precise analysis when using UAVs in agriculture.

Keywords: agriculture land, agriculture land loss, Kabul city, urban land expansion, urbanization agriculture yield growth, agriculture yield prediction, explorative data analysis, predictive models, regression models drone, precision agriculture, farmer income

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Authors: Subhra Chattopadhyay

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New Towns are usually built up at city-periphery with an eye to accommodate overspill population and functions of the city. ‘New towns are self-sufficient planned towns having a full range of urban economic and social activities, so it can provide employments for all of its inhabitants as well as a balanced self-content social community could be maintained’. In 3rd world countries New towns often emerge from scratch i.e on the area having no urban background and therefore, it needs a massive land conversion from rural to urban. This paper aims to study the implication of such land title transfer into rural sustainability with a case study at Jatragachi, New Town Kolkata. Broad objectives of this study are to understand 1. new changes in this area like i)changes in land use, ii) demographic changes, iii) occupational changes of the local people and 2.their view about new town planning. Major observations are stated below. The studied area was completely rural till recent years and is now at the heart of New Town Kolkata. Though this area is now under the jurisdiction of New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA), it is still administrated by rural self-government.It creates administrative confusion and misuse of public capital. It is observed in this study that cultivation was the mainstay of livelihood for the majority of residents till recent past. There was a dramatic rise in irrigated area in the decade of 90’s pointing out agricultural prosperity.The area achieved the highest productivity of rice in the District. Percentage of marginal workers dropped significantly.In addition to it, ascending women’s literacy rate as found in this rural Mouza obviously indicates a constant social progress .Through land conversion, this flourishing agricultural land has been transformed into urban area with highly sophisticated uses. Such development may satisfy educated urban elite but the dwellers of the area suffer a lot. They bear the cost of new town planning through loss of their assured food and income as well as their place identity. The number of marginal workers increases abruptly. The growth of female literacy drops down. The area loses its functional linkages with its surroundings and fails to prove its actual growth potentiality. The physical linkages( like past roads and irrigation infrastructure) which had developed through time to support the economy become defunct. The ecological services which were provided by the agricultural field are denied. The historicity of this original site is demolished. Losses of the inhabitants of the area who have been evicted are also immense and cannot be materially compensated. Therefore, the ethos of such new town planning in stake of rural sustainability is under question. Need for an integrated approach for rural and urban development planning is felt in this study.

Keywords: new town, sustainable development, growth potentiality, land transfer

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Authors: M. E. Razipoor, T. Masunaga, K. Sato, M. S. Saboory

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Estimation of soil erosion is economically and environmentally important in Herat, Afghanistan. Degradation of soil has negative impact (decreased soil fertility, destroyed soil structure, and consequently soil sealing and crusting) on life of Herat residents. Water and wind are the main erosive factors causing soil erosion in Herat. Furthermore, scarce vegetation cover, exacerbated by socioeconomic constraint, and steep slopes accelerate soil erosion. To sustain soil productivity and reduce soil erosion impact on human life, due to sustaining agricultural production and auditing the environment, it is needed to quantify the magnitude and extent of soil erosion in a spatial domain. Thus, this study aims to estimate soil loss potential and its spatial distribution in Herat, Afghanistan by applying RUSLE in GIS environment. The rainfall erosivity factor ranged between values of 125 and 612 (MJ mm ha-1 h-1 year-1). Soil erodibility factor varied from 0.036 to 0.073 (Mg h MJ-1 mm-1). Slope length and steepness factor (LS) values were between 0.03 and 31.4. The vegetation cover factor (C), derived from NDVI analysis of Landsat-8 OLI scenes, resulting in range of 0.03 to 1. Support practice factor (P) were assigned to a value of 1, since there is not significant mitigation practices in the study area. Soil erosion potential map was the product of these factors. Mean soil erosion rate of Herat Province was 29 Mg ha-1 year-1 that ranged from 0.024 Mg ha-1 year-1 in flat areas with dense vegetation cover to 778 Mg ha-1 year-1 in sharp slopes with high rainfall but least vegetation cover. Based on land cover map of Afghanistan, areas with soil loss rate higher than soil loss tolerance (8 Mg ha-1 year-1) occupies 98% of Forests, 81% rangelands, 64% barren lands, 60% rainfed lands, 28% urban area and 18% irrigated Lands.

Keywords: Afghanistan, erosion, GIS, Herat, RUSLE

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Authors: Victoria Tobi Dada, Emmanuel Dada

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Culture trees are notable agricultural system in the tropical region of the world because of its great contribution to the economy of this region. Plantation agriculture such as oil palm, cocoa, cashew and rubber are the dominant agricultural trees in the tropical countries with the at least mean annual rainfall of 1500mm and 280c temperature. The study examines the review developmental trend in the common tropical culture trees. The study shows that global area of land occupied by rubber plantation increased from 9464276 hectares to 11739333 hectares between year 2010 and 2017, while oil palm cultivated land area increased from 1851278 in 2010 hectares to 2042718 hectares in 2013 across 35 countries. Global cashew plantation cultivation are dominated by West Africa with 44.8%, South-Eastern Asia with 32.9% and Sothern Asia with 13.8%, while the remaining 8.5% of the cultivated land area were distributed among six other tropical countries of the world. Cocoa cultivation and production globally are dominated by five West African countries, Indonesia and Brazil. The study revealed that notable tropical culture trees have not study together to determine their spatial distribution.

Keywords: culture trees, tropical region, cultivated area, spatial distribution

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Authors: Efnie Indrianie

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Potential Intelligence constitutes one essential factor in every individual. This intelligence can be a provision for the development of Performance Intelligence if it is supported by surrounding environment. Fingerprint analysis is a method in recognizing this Potential Intelligence. This method is grounded on pattern and number of finger print outlines that are assumed symmetrical with the number of nerves in our brain, in which these areas have their own function among another. These brain’s functions are later being transposed into intelligence components in accordance with the Multiple Intelligences theory. This research tested the correlation between Potential Intelligence and the components of its Performance Intelligence. Statistical test results that used Pearson correlation showed that five components of Potential Intelligence correlated with Performance Intelligence. Those five components are Logic-Math, Logic, Linguistic, Music, Kinesthetic, and Intrapersonal. Also, this research indicated that cultural factor had a big role in shaping intelligence.

Keywords: potential intelligence, performance intelligence, multiple intelligences, fingerprint, environment, brain

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Authors: Joachim Onyike

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The Federal Government of Nigeria in 2012 came up with a new National Housing Policy; one of its major objectives was to make housing affordable to the poor. Six years down the line, this study was carried out to find out whether the poor have fared better under the new housing policy. Owerri, the capital of Imo State, was adopted as a case study to mirror the situation nationwide. The study population was made up of low-income civil servants, i.e., grade levels 1–6 in the Imo State Civil Service. The study looked at household size, household income, rental levels, house prices, costs of major building materials, land values, land tenure, the interest rate on mortgages, inflation rate, and the status of government interventions, owing to their obvious effect on housing affordability by the low-income earners. The study made use of physical observations, questionnaires, and interviews as well as library studies to elicit relevant information. Housing affordability by the subject population did not improve. It rather dropped. The study came to the conclusion that in spite of the new National Housing Policy, housing affordability by the low-income earners has not improved. The policy as it affects the poor has not been duly implemented by both Federal and State Governments.

Keywords: house prices, housing affordability, housing policy, land values, low-income earners

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Authors: Allaw Kamel, Al-Chami Leila

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It is important to reduce the human influence on natural resources by identifying an appropriate land use. Moreover, it is essential to carry out the scientific land evaluation. Such kind of analysis allows identifying the main factors of agricultural production and enables decision makers to develop crop management in order to increase the land capability. The key is to match the type and intensity of land use with its natural capability. Therefore; in order to benefit from these areas and invest them to obtain good agricultural production, they must be organized and managed in full. Lebanon suffers from the unorganized agricultural use. We take south Lebanon as a study area, it is the most fertile ground and has a variety of crops. The study aims to identify and locate the most suitable area to cultivate thirteen type of permanent trees which are: apples, avocados, stone fruits in coastal regions and stone fruits in mountain regions, bananas, citrus, loquats, figs, pistachios, mangoes, olives, pomegranates, and grapes. Several geographical factors are taken as criterion for selection of the best location to cultivate. Soil, rainfall, PH, temperature, and elevation are main inputs to create the final map. Input data of each factor is managed, visualized and analyzed using Geographic Information System (GIS). Management GIS tools are implemented to produce input maps capable of identifying suitable areas related to each index. The combination of the different indices map generates the final output map of the suitable place to get the best permanent tree productivity. The output map is reclassified into three suitability classes: low, moderate, and high suitability. Results show different locations suitable for different kinds of trees. Results also reflect the importance of GIS in helping decision makers finding a most suitable location for every tree to get more productivity and a variety in crops.

Keywords: agricultural production, crop management, geographical factors, Geographic Information System, GIS, land capability, permanent trees, suitable location

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Authors: Jen Wang, Wei-Chia Hsu, Zih-Sin Wang, Ching-Ping Chu, Bo-Shiou Guo

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In the late 19th century, the Jinguashi ore deposit in northern Taiwan was discovered, and accompanied with flourishing mining activities. However, tons of contaminants including heavy metals, sulfur dioxide, and total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) were released to surroundings and caused environmental problems. Site T was one of copper smelter located on the coastal hill near Jinguashi ore deposit. In over ten years of operation, variety contaminants were emitted that it polluted the surrounding soil and groundwater quality. In order to exhaust fumes produced from smelting process, three stacks were built along the hill behind the factory. The sediment inside the stacks contains high concentration of heavy metals such as arsenic, lead, copper, etc. Moreover, soil around the discarded stacks suffered a serious contamination when deposition leached from the ruptures of stacks. Consequently, Site T (including the factory and its surroundings) was declared as a pollution remediation site that visiting the site and land-use activities on it are forbidden. However, the natural landscape and cultural attractions of Site T are spectacular that it attracts a lot of visitors annually. Moreover, land resources are extremely precious in Taiwan. In addition, Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) is actively promoting the contaminated land revitalization policy. Therefore, this study took Site T as case study for brownfield revitalization planning to the limits of activate and remediate the natural resources. Land-use suitability analysis and risk mapping were applied in this study to make appropriate risk management measures and redevelopment plan for the site. In land-use suitability analysis, surrounding factors into consideration such as environmentally sensitive areas, biological resources, land use, contamination, culture, and landscapes were collected to assess the development of each area; health risk mapping was introduced to show the image of risk assessments results based on the site contamination investigation. According to land-use suitability analysis, the site was divided into four zones: priority area (for high-efficiency development), secondary area (for co-development with priority area), conditional area (for reusing existing building) and limited area (for Eco-tourism and education). According to the investigation, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), heavy metals and TPH were considered as target contaminants while oral, inhalation and dermal would be the major exposure pathways in health risk assessment. In accordance with health risk map, the highest risk was found in the southwest and eastern side. Based on the results, the development plan focused on zoning and land use. Site T was recommended be divides to public facility zone, public architectonic art zone, viewing zone, existing building preservation zone, historic building zone, and cultural landscape zone for various purpose. In addition, risk management measures including sustained remediation, extinguish exposure and administration management are applied to ensure particular places are suitable for visiting and protect the visitors’ health. The consolidated results are corroborated available by analyzing aspects of law, land acquired method, maintenance and management and public participation. Therefore, this study has a certain reference value to promote the contaminated land revitalization policy in Taiwan.

Keywords: brownfield revitalization, land-use suitability analysis, health risk map, risk management

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Authors: Sasirin Srisomkiew, Sireewan Ratsadornasai, Tanomkwan Tipvong, Isariya Meesing

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Cassava is an important food source in the tropics and has recently gained attention as a potential source of biofuel that can replace limited fossil fuel sources. As a result, the demand for cassava production to support industries both within the country and abroad has increased. In Thailand, most farmers prefer to grow cassava in sandy and sandy loam areas where the soil has low natural fertility. Cassava is a tuber plant that has large roots to store food, resulting in the absorption of large amounts of nutrients from the soil, such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Therefore, planting cassava in the same area for a long period causes soil erosion and decreases soil fertility. The loss of soil fertility affects the economy, society, and food and energy security of the country. Therefore, it is necessary to know the level of soil fertility and the amount of nutrients in the soil. To address this problem, this study applies geo-informatics technology and mathematical equations to assess erosion and soil fertility and to analyze factors affecting the amount of cassava production in Maha Sarakham Province. The results show that the area for cassava cultivation has increased in every district of Maha Sarakham Province between 2015-2022, with the total area increasing to 180,922 rai or 5.47% of the province’s total area during this period. Furthermore, it was found that it is possible to assess areas with soil erosion problems that had a moderate level of erosion in areas with high erosion rates ranging from 5-15 T/rai/year. Soil fertility assessment and information obtained from the soil nutrient map for 2015–2023 reveal that farmers in the area have improved the soil by adding chemical fertilizers along with organic fertilizers, such as manure and green manure, to increase the amount of nutrients in the soil. This is because the soil resources of Maha Sarakham Province mostly have relatively low agricultural potential due to the soil texture being sand and sandy loam. In this scenario, the ability to absorb nutrients is low, and the soil holds little water, so it is naturally low in fertility. Moreover, agricultural soil problems were found, including the presence of saline soil, sandy soil, and acidic soil, which is a serious restriction on land use because it affects the release of nutrients into the soil. The results of this study may be used as a guideline for managing soil resources and improving soil quality to prevent soil degradation problems that may occur in the future.

Keywords: Cassava, geoinformatics, soil erosion, soil fertility, land use change

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Authors: Erina Wulansari, Bambang Soemardiono, Ispurwono Soemarno

Abstract:

Designing sustainable tourism area is defined as an attempt to design an area, that brings the natural environmental conditions as components are available with a wealth of social conditions and the conservation of natural and cultural heritage. To understanding tourism area in this study is not only focus on the location of the tourist object, but rather to a tourist attraction around the area, tourism objects such as the existence of residential area (settlement), a commercial area, public service area, and the natural environmental area. The principle of success in designing a sustainable tourism area is able to integrate and balance between the limited space and the variety of activities that’s always continuously to growth up. The limited space in this area of tourism needs to be managed properly to minimize the damage of environmental as a result of tourism activities hue. This research aims to identify space in this area of tourism through land suitability approach as an effort to create a sustainable design, especially in terms of ecological. This study will be used several analytical techniques to achieve the research objectives as superimposing analysis with GIS 9.3 software and Analysis Hierarchy Process. Expected outcomes are in the form of classification and criteria of usable space in designing embodiment tourism area. In addition, this study can provide input to the order of settlement patterns as part of the environment in the area of sustainable tourism.

Keywords: sustainable tourism area, land suitability, limited space, environment, criteria

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Authors: Saem Lee, Thanh Nguyen, Hio-Jung Shin, Thomas Koellner

Abstract:

Land-use management has an influence on the provision of ecosystem service in dynamic, agricultural landscapes. Agricultural land use is important for maintaining the productivity and sustainability of agricultural ecosystems. However, in Korea, intensive farming activities in this highland agricultural zone, the upper stream of Soyang has led to contaminated soil caused by over-use pesticides and fertilizers. This has led to decrease in water and soil quality, which has consequences for ecosystem services and human wellbeing. Conventional farming has still high percentage in this area and there is no special measure to prevent low water quality caused by farming activities. Therefore, the adoption of environmentally friendly farming has been considered one of the alternatives that lead to improved water quality and increase in biomass production. Concurrently, farm households with environmentally friendly farming have occupied still low rates. Therefore, our research involved a farm household survey spanning conventional farming, the farm in transition and organic farming in Soyang watershed. Another purpose of our research was to compare economic advantage of the farmers adopting environmentally friendly farming and non-adaptors and to investigate the different factors by logistic regression analysis with socio-economic and benefit-cost ratio variables. The results found that farmers with environmentally friendly farming tended to be younger than conventional farming and farmer in transition. They are similar in terms of gender which was predominately male. Farmers with environmentally friendly farming were more educated and had less farming experience than conventional farming and farmer in transition. Based on the benefit-cost analysis, total costs that farm in transition farmers spent for one year are about two times as much as the sum of costs in environmentally friendly farming. The benefit of organic farmers was assessed with 2,800 KRW per household per year. In logistic regression, the factors having statistical significance are subsidy and district, residence period and benefit-cost ratio. And district and residence period have the negative impact on the practice of environmentally friendly farming techniques. The results of our research make a valuable contribution to provide important information to describe Korean policy-making for agricultural and water management and to consider potential approaches to policy that would substantiate ways beneficial for sustainable resource management.

Keywords: organic farming, logistic regression, profitability, agricultural land-use

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Authors: J. T. Koininga, J. E. Teigen, A. Wilkinson, D. Kanneh, F. Kanneh, M. Foday, D. S. Grant, M. Leach, L. M. Moses

Abstract:

Lassa fever (LF) is a severe febrile illness endemic to West Africa. While human-to-human transmission occurs, evidence suggests most LF cases originate from exposure to rodents, particularly the Natal multimammate mouse, Mastomys natalensis. Within West Africa, LF occurs primarily in rural communities where agriculture is the main economic activity. Seasonality of LF has also been linked to agricultural cycles, with peak incidence occurring in the dry season when fields are burned and plowed. To investigate this pattern of seasonality, four agricultural communities were selected for this two-year longitudinal study. Each community was to be sampled four times each year, but this was interrupted by the Ebola virus disease outbreak. Agricultural land use, forested, and fallow areas were identified through participatory mapping. Transects were plotted in each area and Sherman traps were set for four nights. Captured small mammals were identified, ear tagged, and released. Mastomys natalensis abundance was found to be highest in areas of converted fallow land and rice swamps in the dry season and upland mixed crop areas toward the onset of the rainy season. All peak times were associated with heavy perturbation of soil. All ages and genders were present during these time points. These results suggest that peak abundance of the Mastomys natalensis in agricultural areas coincides with peak incidence of LF reported in this region. Although contact with rodents may be higher in villages, our study suggests human behaviors in agricultural areas may increase risk of transmission of Lassa virus.

Keywords: agriculture, land use, Lassa Fever, rodent abundance

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Authors: Kevin Soubly, Kaysara Khatun

Abstract:

This study applies the existing Middle-Out Perspective (MOP) as a complementing analytical alternative to the customary dichotomous options of top-down vs. bottom-up strategies of international development and commons governance. It expands the framework by applying it to a new context of land management and environmental change, enabling fresh understandings of decision making around land use. Using a case study approach in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia among a village of indigenous Dayak, this study explores influences from both internal and external middle actors, utilizing qualitative empirical evidence and incorporating responses across 25 village households and 11 key stakeholders. Applying the factors of 'agency' and 'capacity' specific to the MOP, this study demonstrates middle actors’ unique capabilities and criticality to change due to their influence across various levels of decision-making. Study results indicate that middle actors play a large role, both passively and actively, both directly and indirectly, across various levels of decision-making, perception-shaping, and commons governance. In addition, the prominence of novel 'passive' middle actors, such as the internet, can provide communities themselves with a level of agency beyond that provided by other middle actors such as NGOs and palm oil industry entities – which often operate at the behest of the 'top' or out of self-interest. Further, the study posits that existing development and decision-making frameworks may misidentify the 'bottom' as the 'middle,' raising questions about traditional development and livelihood discourse, strategies, and support, from agricultural production to forest management. In conclusion, this study provides recommendations including that current policy preconceptions be reevaluated to engage middle actors in locally-adapted, integrative manners in order to improve governance and rural development efforts more broadly.

Keywords: environmental management, governance, Indonesia, land use, middle actors, middle-out perspective

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Authors: Roshanak Afrakhteh, Abdolrasoul Salman Mahini, Mahdi Motagh, Hamidreza Kamyab

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Urban Heat Islands (UHIs) are distinctive urban areas characterized by densely populated central cores surrounded by less densely populated peripheral lands. These areas experience elevated temperatures, primarily due to impermeable surfaces and specific land use patterns. The consequences of these temperature variations are far-reaching, impacting the environment and society negatively, leading to increased energy consumption, air pollution, and public health concerns. This paper emphasizes the need for simplified approaches to comprehend UHI temperature dynamics and explains how urban development patterns contribute to land surface temperature variation. To illustrate this relationship, the study focuses on the Guilan Plain, utilizing techniques like principal component analysis and generalized additive models. The research centered on mapping land use and land surface temperature in the low-lying area of Guilan province. Satellite data from Landsat sensors for three different time periods (2002, 2012, and 2021) were employed. Using eCognition software, a spatial unit known as a "city block" was utilized through object-based analysis. The study also applied the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) method to estimate land surface radiance. Predictive variables for urban land surface temperature within residential city blocks were identified categorized as intrinsic (related to the block's structure) and neighboring (related to adjacent blocks) variables. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to select significant variables, and a Generalized Additive Model (GAM) approach, implemented using R's mgcv package, modeled the relationship between urban land surface temperature and predictor variables.Notable findings included variations in urban temperature across different years attributed to environmental and climatic factors. Block size, shared boundary, mother polygon area, and perimeter-to-area ratio were identified as main variables for the generalized additive regression model. This model showed non-linear relationships, with block size, shared boundary, and mother polygon area positively correlated with temperature, while the perimeter-to-area ratio displayed a negative trend. The discussion highlights the challenges of predicting urban surface temperature and the significance of block size in determining urban temperature patterns. It also underscores the importance of spatial configuration and unit structure in shaping urban temperature patterns. In conclusion, this study contributes to the growing body of research on the connection between land use patterns and urban surface temperature. Block size, along with block dispersion and aggregation, emerged as key factors influencing urban surface temperature in residential areas. The proposed methodology enhances our understanding of parameter significance in shaping urban temperature patterns across various regions, particularly in Iran.

Keywords: urban heat island, land surface temperature, LST modeling, GAM, Gilan province

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Authors: Thavananthan Sivananthawerl

Abstract:

Coconut palm is existing for more than 2000 years in Sri Lanka. However, cultivation on a large scale (plantation) began only in the 19th century. Due to different light perceptions during the growth stages of palm, there is a huge potential to grow crops in-between rows of coconut plants which are grown with wider, fixed spacing. Intercropping under coconut will have multiple benefits such as increasing soil fertility, increasing sunlight utilization, increasing total crop productivity, increasing income & profit, maximum use of resources, reducing the risk, and increasing food security. Growing potential annual, agricultural intercrops could be classified as ‘agri-silvicultural’ system. This is the best agri-silvicultural system that can be named under any perennial crop system in Sri Lanka. In the late 1970’s cassava, pepper and cacao are the major intercrops under the coconut plantations. At the early ages of the palm (<5 years) light-loving crops such as pineapple, passion, papaya, and cassava are recommended and preferred by the cultivators. In between 5-20 years of age, the availability of light is very low, and therefore shade tolerant/loving crops (pasture, yam, ginger) could be used as the intercrops. However, after 20 years of age (>20 years) canopy is getting small, and the light availability on the ground increases. So, light demanding crops such as pepper, banana, pineapple, betel, cassava, and seasonal crops could be grown successfully. Even though this is a sustainable system in several aspects, there are potential challenges ahead to the system. The major ones are land fragmentation and infrastructure development. The other factors are drought, lack of financial support, price instability of the intercrops, availability of improved planting materials, and development of dwarf varieties which reduces the light.

Keywords: coconut cultivation, agri-silviculture, intercrop, sunlight, annuals, sustainability

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Authors: Miroslav Dumbrovsky, Lucie Larisova

Abstract:

The infiltration characteristic of the soil surface is one of the major factors that determines the potential soil degradation risk. The physical, chemical and biological characteristic of soil is changed by the processing of soil. The infiltration soil ability has an important role in soil and water conservation. The subject of the contribution is the evaluation of the influence of the conventional tillage and reduced tillage technology on soil surface crusting processing and infiltration properties of the soil in the North Bohemia region. Field experimental work at the area was carried out in the years 2013-2016 on Cambisol district medium-heavy clayey soil. The research was conducted on sloping erosion-endangered blocks of compacted arable land. The areas were chosen each year in the way that one of the experimental areas was handled by conventional tillage technologies and the other by reduced tillage technologies. Intact soil samples were taken into Kopecký´s cylinders in the three landscape positions, at a depth of 10 cm (representing topsoil) and 30 cm (representing subsoil). The cumulative infiltration was measured using a mini-disc infiltrometer near the consumption points. The Zhang method (1997), which provides an estimate of the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity K(h), was used for the evaluation of the infiltration tests of the mini-disc infiltrometer. The soil profile processed by conventional tillage showed a higher degree of compaction and soil crusting processing. The bulk density was between 1.10–1.67 g.cm⁻³, compared to the land processed by the reduced tillage technology, where the values were between 0.80–1.29 g.cm⁻³. Unsaturated hydraulic conductivity values were about one-third higher within the reduced tillage technology soil processing.

Keywords: soil crusting processing, unsaturated hydraulic conductivity, cumulative infiltration, bulk density, porosity

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Authors: Julie Ann L. Gadin, Andrearose C. Igano, Carl Joseph S. Ignacio, Christopher C. Bacungan

Abstract:

Corn production has become an important and pervasive industry in the Visayas for many years. Its role as a substitute commodity to rice heightens demand for health-particular consumers. Unfortunately, the corn industry is confronted with several challenges, such as weak institutions. Considering these issues, the paper examined the factors that influence corn production in the three administrative regions in the Visayas, namely, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, and Eastern Visayas. The data used was retrieved from a variety of publicly available data sources such as the Philippine Statistics Authority, the Department of Agriculture, the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation, and the International Disaster Database. Utilizing a dataset from 2002 to 2019, the indicators were tested using three multiple linear regression (MLR) models. Results showed that the land area harvested (p=0.02), and the value of corn production (p=0.00) are statistically significant variables that influence corn production in the Visayas. Given these findings, it is suggested that the policy of forest conversion and sustainable land management should be effective in enabling farmworkers to obtain land to grow corn crops, especially in rural regions. Furthermore, the Biofuels Act of 2006, the Livestock Industry Restructuring and Rationalization Act, and supported policy, Senate Bill No. 225, or an Act Establishing the Philippine Corn Research Institute and Appropriating Funds, should be enforced inclusively in order to improve the demand for the corn-allied industries which may lead to an increase in the value and volume of corn production in the Visayas.

Keywords: corn, industry, production, MLR, Visayas

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Authors: Fathiah Mohamed Zuki, Robert George Edyvean

Abstract:

Electrostatic interaction energy (∆EEDL) is a part of the Extended Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (XDLVO) theory, which, together with van der Waals (∆EVDW) and acid base (∆EAB) interaction energies, has been extensively used to investigate the initial adhesion of bacteria to surfaces. Electrostatic or electrical double layer interaction energy is considerably affected by surface potential, however it cannot be determined experimentally and is usually replaced by zeta (ζ) potential via electrophoretic mobility. This paper focuses on the effect of ionic concentration as a function of pH and the effect of mineral grain size on ζ potential. It was found that both ionic strength and mineral grain size play a major role in determining the value of ζ potential for the adhesion of P. putida to hematite and quartz surfaces. Higher ζ potential values lead to higher electrostatic interaction energies and eventually to higher total XDLVO interaction energy resulting in bacterial repulsion.

Keywords: XDLVO, electrostatic interaction energy, zeta potential, P. putida, mineral

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Authors: Grace Rachid, Mutasem El Fadel, Mahmoud Al Hindi, Ibrahim Jamali, Daniel Abdel Nour

Abstract:

This study examines the feasibility of indirect solar desalination in oil producing countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. It relies on value engineering (VE) and cost-benefit with sensitivity analyses to identify optimal coupling configurations of desalination and solar energy technologies. A comparative return on investment was assessed as a function of water costs for varied plant capacities (25,000 to 75,000 m3/day), project lifetimes (15 to 25 years), and discount rates (5 to 15%) taking into consideration water and energy subsidies, land cost as well as environmental externalities in the form of carbon credit related to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction. The results showed reverse osmosis (RO) coupled with photovoltaic technologies (PVs) as the most promising configuration, robust across different prices for Brent oil, discount rates, as well as different project lifetimes. Environmental externalities and subsidies analysis revealed that a 16% reduction in existing subsidy on water tariffs would ensure economic viability. Additionally, while land costs affect investment attractiveness, the viability of RO coupled with PV remains possible for a land purchase cost < $ 80/m2 or a lease rate < $1/m2/yr. Beyond those rates, further subsidy lifting is required.

Keywords: solar energy, desalination, value engineering, CBA, carbon credit, subsidies

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