Search results for: vegetation phenology

Authors: Setareh Orak

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Wetlands are essential guardians of global ecosystems, yet they remain vulnerable to increasing human interference and environmental stress. The Miankaleh wetland in northern Iran, designated as a Ramsar Convention site, represents a critical habitat known for its rich biodiversity and essential ecological functions. Despite the existence of national and international environmental laws aimed at preserving such critical ecosystems, the regulatory frameworks in place often fall short in terms of enforcement, monitoring, and overall effectiveness. Unfortunately, this wetland is undergoing severe degradation due to overexploitation, industrial contamination, unsustainable tourism, and land-use alterations. This study aims to assess the strengths and limitations of these regulations and examine their practical impacts on Miankaleh’s ecological health. Adopting a multi-method research approach, this study relies on a combination of case study analysis, legal and literature reviews, environmental data examination, stakeholder interviews, and comparative assessments. Through these methodologies, we scrutinize current national policies, international conventions, and their enforcement mechanisms, revealing the primary areas where they fail to protect Miankaleh effectively. The analysis is supported by two satellite maps linked to our tables, offering detailed visual representations of changes in land use, vegetation, and pollution sources over recent years. By connecting these visual data with quantitative measures, the study provides a comprehensive perspective on how human activities and regulatory shortcomings are contributing to environmental degradation. In conclusion, this study’s insights into the limitations of current environmental legislation and its recommendations for enhancing both policy and public engagement underscore the urgent need for integrated, multi-level efforts in conserving the Miankaleh wetland. Through strengthened legal frameworks, better enforcement, increased public awareness, and international cooperation, the hope is to establish a model of conservation that not only preserves Miankaleh but also serves as a template for protecting similar ecologically sensitive areas worldwide.

Keywords: wetlands, tourism, industrial pollution, land use changes, Ramsar convention

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Authors: Aayushi Pandey, Manoj Kumar Pandey, Ashutosh Tiwari, Kireet Kumar

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Glaciers play an important role in climate change and are sensitive phenomena of global climate change scenario. Glaciers in Himalayas are unique as they are predominantly valley type and are located in tropical, high altitude regions. These glaciers are often covered with debris which greatly affects ablation rate of glaciers and work as a sensitive indicator of glacier health. The aim of this study is to map high altitude Glacier surface with a focus on glacial lake and debris estimation using different techniques in Nagling glacier of dhauliganga basin in Himalayan region. Different Image Classification techniques i.e. thresholding on different band ratios and supervised classification using maximum likelihood classifier (MLC) have been used on high resolution sentinel 2A level 1c satellite imagery of 14 October 2017.Here Near Infrared (NIR)/Shortwave Infrared (SWIR) ratio image was used to extract the glaciated classes (Snow, Ice, Ice Mixed Debris) from other non-glaciated terrain classes. SWIR/BLUE Ratio Image was used to map valley rock and Debris while Green/NIR ratio image was found most suitable for mapping Glacial Lake. Accuracy assessment was performed using high resolution (3 meters) Planetscope Imagery using 60 stratified random points. The overall accuracy of MLC was 85 % while the accuracy of Band Ratios was 96.66 %. According to Band Ratio technique total areal extent of glaciated classes (Snow, Ice ,IMD) in Nagling glacier was 10.70 km2 nearly 38.07% of study area comprising of 30.87 % Snow covered area, 3.93% Ice and 3.27 % IMD covered area. Non-glaciated classes (vegetation, glacial lake, debris and valley rock) covered 61.93 % of the total area out of which valley rock is dominant with 33.83% coverage followed by debris covering 27.7 % of the area in nagling glacier. Glacial lake and Debris were accurately mapped using Band ratio technique Hence, Band Ratio approach appears to be useful for the mapping of debris covered glacier in Himalayan Region.

Keywords: band ratio, Dhauliganga basin, glacier mapping, Himalayan region, maximum likelihood classifier (MLC), Sentinel-2 satellite image

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Authors: Pawan Kumar, Pitamber Singh Negi

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Many of the regeneration failures in conifers are often being attributed to heavy insect attack and pathogens during the period of seed formation and under storage conditions. Conifer berries and seed insects occur throughout the known range of the hosts and also limit the production of seed for nursery stock. On occasion, even entire seed crops are lost due to insect attacks. The berry and seeds of both the species have been found to be infected with insects. Recently, heavy damage to the berry and seeds of Juniper and Chilgoza Pine was observed in the field as well as in stored conditions, leading to reduction in the viability of seeds to germinate. Both the species are under great threat and regeneration of the species is very low. Due to lack of adequate literature, the study on the damage potential of seed insects was urgently required to know the exact status of the insect-pests attacking seeds/berries of both the pine species so as to develop pest management practices against the insect pests attack. As both the species are also under threat and are fighting for survival, so the study is important to develop management practices for the insect-pests of seeds/berries of Juniper and Chilgoza pine so as to evaluate in the nursery, as these species form major vegetation of their distribution zones. A six-year study on the management of insect pests of seeds of Chilgoza revealed that seeds of this species are prone to insect pests mainly borers. During present investigations, it was recorded that cones of are heavily attacked only by Dioryctria abietella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) in natural conditions, but seeds which are economically important are heavily infected, (sometimes up to 100% damage was also recorded) by insect borer, Plodia interpunctella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) and is recorded for the first time ‘to author’s best knowledge’ infesting the stored Chilgoza seeds. Similarly, Juniper berries and seeds were heavily attacked only by a single borer, Homaloxestis cholopis (Lepidoptera: Lecithoceridae) recorded as a new report in natural habitat as well as in stored conditions. During the present investigation details of insect pest attack on Juniper and Chilgoza pine seeds and berries was observed and suitable management practices were also developed to contain the insect-pests attack.

Keywords: borer, chilgozapine, cones, conifer, Lepidoptera, juniper, management, seed

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Authors: Ella Sèdé Maforikan

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Accurate land cover mapping is essential for effective environmental monitoring and natural resources management. This study focuses on assessing the classification performance of two satellite datasets and evaluating the impact of different input feature combinations on classification accuracy in the Beterou catchment, situated in the northern part of Benin. Landsat-8 and Sentinel-2 images from June 1, 2020, to March 31, 2021, were utilized. Employing the Random Forest (RF) algorithm on Google Earth Engine (GEE), a supervised classification categorized the land into five classes: forest, savannas, cropland, settlement, and water bodies. GEE was chosen due to its high-performance computing capabilities, mitigating computational burdens associated with traditional land cover classification methods. By eliminating the need for individual satellite image downloads and providing access to an extensive archive of remote sensing data, GEE facilitated efficient model training on remote sensing data. The study achieved commendable overall accuracy (OA), ranging from 84% to 85%, even without incorporating spectral indices and terrain metrics into the model. Notably, the inclusion of additional input sources, specifically terrain features like slope and elevation, enhanced classification accuracy. The highest accuracy was achieved with Sentinel-2 (OA = 91%, Kappa = 0.88), slightly surpassing Landsat-8 (OA = 90%, Kappa = 0.87). This underscores the significance of combining diverse input sources for optimal accuracy in land cover mapping. The methodology presented herein not only enables the creation of precise, expeditious land cover maps but also demonstrates the prowess of cloud computing through GEE for large-scale land cover mapping with remarkable accuracy. The study emphasizes the synergy of different input sources to achieve superior accuracy. As a future recommendation, the application of Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technology is proposed to enhance vegetation type differentiation in the Beterou catchment. Additionally, a cross-comparison between Sentinel-2 and Landsat-8 for assessing long-term land cover changes is suggested.

Keywords: land cover mapping, Google Earth Engine, random forest, Beterou catchment

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Authors: Sudha T., Naveen C.

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Dengue is a serious public health issue that causes significant annual economic and welfare burdens on nations. However, enhanced optimization techniques and quantitative modeling approaches can predict the incidence of dengue. By advocating for a data-driven approach, public health officials can make informed decisions, thereby improving the overall effectiveness of sudden disease outbreak control efforts. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are two of the U.S. Federal Government agencies from which this study uses environmental data. Based on environmental data that describe changes in temperature, precipitation, vegetation, and other factors known to affect dengue incidence, many predictive models are constructed that use different machine learning methods to estimate weekly dengue cases. The first step involves preparing the data, which includes handling outliers and missing values to make sure the data is prepared for subsequent processing and the creation of an accurate forecasting model. In the second phase, multiple feature selection procedures are applied using various machine learning models and optimization techniques. During the third phase of the research, machine learning models like the Huber Regressor, Support Vector Machine, Gradient Boosting Regressor (GBR), and Support Vector Regressor (SVR) are compared with several optimization techniques for feature selection, such as Harmony Search and Genetic Algorithm. In the fourth stage, the model's performance is evaluated using Mean Square Error (MSE), Mean Absolute Error (MAE), and Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) as assistance. Selecting an optimization strategy with the least number of errors, lowest price, biggest productivity, or maximum potential results is the goal. In a variety of industries, including engineering, science, management, mathematics, finance, and medicine, optimization is widely employed. An effective optimization method based on harmony search and an integrated genetic algorithm is introduced for input feature selection, and it shows an important improvement in the model's predictive accuracy. The predictive models with Huber Regressor as the foundation perform the best for optimization and also prediction.

Keywords: deep learning model, dengue fever, prediction, optimization

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Authors: Amritee Bora, B. S. Mipun

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Land degradation is often used to describe the land environmental phenomena that reduce land’s original productivity both qualitatively and quantitatively. The study of land degradation vulnerability primarily deals with “Environmentally Sensitive Areas” (ESA) and the amount of topsoil loss due to erosion. In many studies, it is observed that the assessment of the existing status of land degradation is used to represent the vulnerability. Moreover, it is also noticed that in most studies, the primary emphasis of land degradation vulnerability is to assess its sensitivity to soil erosion only. However, the concept of land degradation vulnerability can have different objectives depending upon the perspective of the study. It shows the extent to which changes in land use land cover can imprint their effect on the land. In other words, it represents the susceptibility of a piece of land to degrade its productive quality permanently or in the long run. It is also important to mention that the vulnerability of land degradation is not a single factor outcome. It is a probability assessment to evaluate the status of land degradation and needs to consider both biophysical and human induce parameters. To avoid the complexity of the previous models in this regard, the present study has emphasized on to generate a simplified model to assess the land degradation vulnerability in terms of its current human population pressure, land use practices, and existing biophysical conditions. It is a “Mixed-Method” termed as the land degradation vulnerability index (LDVi). It was originally inspired by the MEDALUS model (Mediterranean Desertification and Land Use), 1999, and Farazadeh’s 2007 revised version of it. It has followed the guidelines of Space Application Center, Ahmedabad / Indian Space Research Organization for land degradation vulnerability. The model integrates the climatic index (Ci), vegetation index (Vi), erosion index (Ei), land utilization index (Li), population pressure index (Pi), and cover management index (CMi) by giving equal weightage to each parameter. The final result shows that the very high vulnerable zone primarily indicates three (3) prominent circumstances; land under continuous population pressure, high concentration of human settlement, and high amount of topsoil loss due to surface runoff within the study sites. As all the parameters of the model are amalgamated with equal weightage further with the help of regression analysis, the LDVi model also provides a strong grasp of each parameter and how far they are competent to trigger the land degradation process.

Keywords: population pressure, land utilization, soil erosion, land degradation vulnerability

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Authors: Lubaina Soni, Claire Farrell, Christopher Szota, Tim D. Fletcher

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Green roofs are a promising engineered ecosystem for reducing stormwater runoff and restoring vegetation cover in cities. Plants can contribute to rainfall retention by rapidly depleting water in the substrate; however, this increases the risk of plant drought stress. Green roof configurations, therefore, need to provide plants the opportunity to efficiently deplete the substrate but also avoid severe drought stress. This study used green roof modules placed in a rainout shelter during a six-month rainfall regime simulated in Melbourne, Australia. Rainfall was applied equally with an overhead irrigation system on each module. Aside from rainfall, modules were under natural climatic conditions, including temperature, wind, and radiation. A single species, Ficinia nodosa, was planted with five different treatments and three replicates of each treatment. In this experiment, we tested the impact of three plant cover treatments (0%, 50% and 100%) on rainfall retention and plant drought stress. We also installed two runoff zone treatments covering 50% of the substrate surface for additional modules with 0% and 50% plant cover to determine whether directing rainfall resources towards plant roots would reduce drought stress without impacting rainfall retention. The retention performance for the simulated rainfall events was measured, quantifying all components for hydrological performance and survival on green roofs. We found that evapotranspiration and rainfall retention were similar for modules with 50% and 100% plant cover. However, modules with 100% plant cover showed significantly higher plant drought stress. Therefore, planting at a lower cover/density reduced plant drought stress without jeopardizing rainfall retention performance. Installing runoff zones marginally reduced evapotranspiration and rainfall retention, but by approximately the same amount for modules with 0% and 50% plant cover. This indicates that reduced evaporation due to the installation of the runoff zones likely contributed to reduced evapotranspiration and rainfall retention. Further, runoff occurred from modules with runoff zones faster than those without, indicating that we created a faster pathway for water to enter and leave the substrate, which also likely contributed to lower overall evapotranspiration and retention. However, despite some loss in retention performance, modules with 50% plant cover installed with runoff zones showed significantly lower drought stress in plants compared to those without runoff zones. Overall, we suggest that reducing plant cover represents a simple means of optimizing green roof performance but creating runoff zones may reduce plant drought stress at the cost of reduced rainfall retention.

Keywords: green roof, plant cover, plant drought stress, rainfall retention

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Authors: Zahra Jandaghian, Mehdi Ghobadi, Michal Bartko, Alex Hayes, Marianne Armstrong, Alexandra Thompson, Michael Lacasse

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The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report stated the urgent need to cut greenhouse gas emissions to avoid the adverse impacts of climatic changes. The United Nations has forecasted that nearly 70 percent of people will live in urban areas by 2050 resulting in a doubling of the global building stock. Given that buildings are currently recognised as emitting 40 percent of global carbon emissions, there is thus an urgent incentive to decarbonize existing buildings and to build net-zero carbon buildings. To attain net zero carbon emissions in communities in the future requires action in two directions: I) reduction of emissions; and II) removal of on-going emissions from the atmosphere once de-carbonization measures have been implemented. Nature-based solutions (NBS) have a significant role to play in achieving net zero carbon communities, spanning both emission reductions and removal of on-going emissions. NBS for the decarbonisation of buildings can be achieved by using green roofs and green walls – increasing vertical and horizontal vegetation on the building envelopes – and using nature-based materials that either emit less heat to the atmosphere thus decreasing photochemical reaction rates, or store substantial amount of carbon during the whole building service life within their structure. The NBS approach can also mitigate urban flooding and overheating, improve urban climate and air quality, and provide better living conditions for the urban population. For existing buildings, de-carbonization mostly requires retrofitting existing envelopes efficiently to use NBS techniques whereas for future construction, de-carbonization involves designing new buildings with low carbon materials as well as having the integrity and system capacity to effectively employ NBS. This paper presents the opportunities and challenges in respect to the de-carbonization of buildings using NBS for both building retrofits and new construction. This review documents the effectiveness of NBS to de-carbonize Canadian buildings, identifies the missing links to implement these techniques in cold climatic conditions, and determine a road map and immediate approaches to mitigate the adverse impacts of climate change such as urban heat islanding. Recommendations are drafted for possible inclusion in the Canadian building and energy codes.

Keywords: decarbonization, nature-based solutions, GHG emissions, greenery enhancement, buildings

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Authors: Thavananthan Sivananthawerl

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Shifting cultivation (Chena, Slash & Burn) is a cultivation method of raising, primarily, food crops (mainly annual) where an area of land is cleared off for its vegetation and cultivated for a period, and the abandoned (fallow) for its fertility to be naturally restored. Although this is the oldest (more than 5000 years) farming system, it is still practiced by indigenous communities of several countries such as Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, West & Central Africa, and Amazon rainforest area. In Sri Lanka, shifting cultivation is mainly practiced during the North-East monsoon (called as Maha season, from Sept. to Dec.) with no irrigation. The traditional system allows farmers to cultivate for a short period of cultivation and a long period fallow period. This was facilitated mainly by the availability of land with less population. In addition, in the old system, cultivation practices were mostly related to religious and spiritual practices (Astrology, dynamic farming, etc.). At present, the majority of the shifting cultivators (SC’s) are cultivating in government lands, and most of them are adopting new technology (seeds, agrochemicals, machineries). Due to the local demand, almost 70% of the SC’s growing maize is mono-crop, and the rest with mixed-crop, such as groundnut, cowpea, millet, and vegetables. To ensure continuous cultivation and reduce moisture stress, they established ‘dug wells’ and used pumps to lift water from nearby sources. Due to this, the fallow period has been reduced drastically to 1- 2 years. To have the future prosperous of system, farmers should be educated so that they can understand the harmful effects of shifting cultivation and require new policies and a framework for converting the land use pattern towards high economic returns (new crop varieties, maintaining soil fertility, reducing soil erosion) while protecting the natural forests. The practice of agroforestry should be encouraged in which both the crops and the tall trees are cared for by farmers simultaneously. To facilitate the continuous cultivation, the system needs to develop water harvesting, water-conserving technologies, and scientific water management for the limited rainy season. Even though several options are available, all the solutions vary from region to region. Therefore, it is only the government and cultivators together who can find solutions to the problems of the specific areas.

Keywords: shifting cultivation, agroforestry, fallow, economic returns, government, Sri Lanka

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Authors: Ivana Čavlina Tomašević, Višnjica Vučetić, Maja Telišman Prtenjak, Barbara Malečić

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The Split wildfire on the mid-Adriatic Coast in July 2017 is one of the most severe wildfires in Croatian history, given the size and unexpected fire behavior, and it is used in this research as a case study to run the Weather Research and Forecasting Spread Fire (WRF SFIRE) model. This coupled fire-atmosphere model was successfully run for the first time ever for one Croatian wildfire case. Verification of coupled simulations was possible by using the detailed reconstruction of the Split wildfire. Specifically, precise information on ignition time and location, together with mapped fire progressions and spotting within the first 30 hours of the wildfire, was used for both – to initialize simulations and to evaluate the model’s ability to simulate fire’s propagation and final fire scar. The preliminary simulations were obtained using high-resolution vegetation and topography data for the fire area, additionally interpolated to fire grid spacing at 33.3 m. The results demonstrated that the WRF SFIRE model has the ability to work with real data from Croatia and produce adequate results for forecasting fire spread. As the model in its setup has the ability to include and exclude the energy fluxes between the fire and the atmosphere, this was used to investigate possible fire-atmosphere interactions during the Split wildfire. Finally, successfully coupled simulations provided the first numerical evidence that a wildfire from the Adriatic coast region can modify the dynamical structure of the surrounding atmosphere, which agrees with observations from fire grounds. This study has demonstrated that the WRF SFIRE model has the potential for operational application in Croatia with more accurate fire predictions in the future, which could be accomplished by inserting the higher-resolution input data into the model without interpolation. Possible uses for fire management in Croatia include prediction of fire spread and intensity that may vary under changing weather conditions, available fuels and topography, planning effective and safe deployment of ground and aerial firefighting forces, preventing wildland-urban interface fires, effective planning of evacuation routes etc. In addition, the WRF SFIRE model results from this research demonstrated that the model is important for fire weather research and education purposes in order to better understand this hazardous phenomenon that occurs in Croatia.

Keywords: meteorology, agrometeorology, fire weather, wildfires, couple fire-atmosphere model

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Authors: A. O. Abulibdeh

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The aim of this study is to investigate and compare the changes in the Land Surface Temperature (LST) as a function of urbanization, particularly land use/land cover changes, in three cities in the UAE, mainly Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Al Ain. The scale of this assessment will be at the macro- and micro-levels. At the macro-level, a comparative assessment will take place to compare between the four cities in the UAE. At the micro-level, the study will compare between the effects of different land use/land cover on the LST. This will provide a clear and quantitative city-specific information related to the relationship between urbanization and local spatial intra-urban LST variation in three cities in the UAE. The main objectives of this study are 1) to investigate the development of LST on the macro- and micro-level between and in three cities in the UAE over two decades time period, 2) to examine the impact of different types of land use/land cover on the spatial distribution of LST. Because these three cities are facing harsh arid climate, it is hypothesized that (1) urbanization is affecting and connected to the spatial changes in LST; (2) different land use/land cover have different impact on the LST; and (3) changes in spatial configuration of land use and vegetation concentration over time would control urban microclimate on a city scale and control macroclimate on the country scale. This study will be carried out over a 20-year period (1996-2016) and throughout the whole year. The study will compare between two distinct periods with different thermal characteristics which are the cool/cold period from November to March and warm/hot period between April and October. The best practice research method for this topic is to use remote sensing data to target different aspects of natural and anthropogenic systems impacts. The project will follow classical remote sensing and mapping techniques to investigate the impact of urbanization, mainly changes in land use/land cover, on LST. The investigation in this study will be performed in two stages. Stage one remote sensing data will be used to investigate the impact of urbanization on LST on a macroclimate level where the LST and Urban Heat Island (UHI) will be compared in the three cities using data from the past two decades. Stage two will investigate the impact on microclimate scale by investigating the LST and UHI using a particular land use/land cover type. In both stages, an LST and urban land cover maps will be generated over the study area. The outcome of this study should represent an important contribution to recent urban climate studies, particularly in the UAE. Based on the aim and objectives of this study, the expected outcomes are as follow: i) to determine the increase or decrease of LST as a result of urbanization in these four cities, ii) to determine the effect of different land uses/land covers on increasing or decreasing the LST.

Keywords: land use/land cover, global warming, land surface temperature, remote sensing

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Authors: A. Lianah, B. Peter Sopade, C. Krisantini

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Walikadep/Tetrastigma glabratum (Blume) Planch is a traditional herb that has been used by people of Blumah village; it is believed to have a stimulant effect and ailments for many illnesses. Our survey demonstrated that the people of Blumah village has exploited walikadep from Protected Forest of Mount Prau. More than 10% of 448 households at Blumah village have used walikadep as traditional herb or jamu. Part of the walikadep plants used is the liquid extract of the stem. The population of walikadep is getting scarce and it is rarely found now. The objectives of this study are to examine the stimulant effect of walikadep, to measure growth and exploitation rate of walikadep, and to find ways to effectively propagate the plants, as well as identifying the impact on the environment through field experiments and explorative survey. Stimulant effect was tested using open-field and hole-board test. Data were collected through field observation and experiment, and data were analysed using lab test and Anova. Rate of exploitation and plant growth was measured using Regression analysis; comparison of plant growth in-situ and ex-situ used descriptive analysis. The environmental impact was measured by population structure vegetation analysis method by Shannon Weinner. The study revealed that the walikadep exudates did not have a stimulant effect. Exploitation of walikadep and the long time required to reach harvestable size resulted in the scarcity of the plant in the natural habitat. Plant growth was faster in-situ than ex-situ; and fast growth was obtained from middle part cuttings treated with vermicompost. Biodiversity index after exploitation was higher than before exploitation, possibly due to the toxic and allellopathic effect (phenolics) of the plant. Based on these findings, further research is needed to examine the toxic effects of the leave and stem extract of walikadep and their allelopathic effects. We recommend that people of Blumah village to stop using walikadep as the stimulant. The local people, village government in the regional and central levels, and perhutani should do an integrated efforts to conserve walikadep through Pengamanan Terpadu Konservasi Walikadep Lestari (PTKWL) program, so this population of this plant in the natural habitat can be maintained.

Keywords: utilization, medical plants, traditional, Tetastigma glabratum

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Authors: J. F. Reinoso-Gordo, F. J. Ariza-López, A. Mozas-Calvache, J. L. García-Balboa, S. Eddargani

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The DEMs quality may depend on several factors such as data source, capture method, processing type used to derive them, or the cell size of the DEM. The two most important capture methods to produce regional-sized DEMs are photogrammetry and LiDAR; DEMs covering entire countries have been obtained with these methods. The quality of these DEMs has traditionally been evaluated by the national cartographic agencies through punctual sampling that focused on its vertical component. For this type of evaluation there are standards such as NMAS and ASPRS Positional Accuracy Standards for Digital Geospatial Data. However, it seems more appropriate to carry out this evaluation by means of a method that takes into account the superficial nature of the DEM and, therefore, its sampling is superficial and not punctual. This work is part of the Research Project "Functional Quality of Digital Elevation Models in Engineering" where it is necessary to control the quality of a DEM whose data source is an experimental LiDAR flight with a density of 14 points per square meter to which we call Point Cloud Product (PCpro). In the present work it is described the capture data on the ground and the postprocessing tasks until getting the point cloud that will be used as reference (PCref) to evaluate the PCpro quality. Each PCref consists of a patch 50x50 m size coming from a registration of 4 different scan stations. The area studied was the Spanish region of Navarra that covers an area of 10,391 km2; 30 patches homogeneously distributed were necessary to sample the entire surface. The patches have been captured using a Leica BLK360 terrestrial laser scanner mounted on a pole that reached heights of up to 7 meters; the position of the scanner was inverted so that the characteristic shadow circle does not exist when the scanner is in direct position. To ensure that the accuracy of the PCref is greater than that of the PCpro, the georeferencing of the PCref has been carried out with real-time GNSS, and its accuracy positioning was better than 4 cm; this accuracy is much better than the altimetric mean square error estimated for the PCpro (<15 cm); The kind of DEM of interest is the corresponding to the bare earth, so that it was necessary to apply a filter to eliminate vegetation and auxiliary elements such as poles, tripods, etc. After the postprocessing tasks the PCref is ready to be compared with the PCpro using different techniques: cloud to cloud or after a resampling process DEM to DEM.

Keywords: data quality, DEM, LiDAR, terrestrial laser scanner, accuracy

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Authors: Nathaniel Bayode Eniolorunda, Murtala Abubakar Gada, Sheikh Danjuma Abubakar

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The challenge of erosion in the study area is persistent, suggesting the need for a better understanding of the mechanisms that drive it. Thus, the study evolved a predictive erosion model (RUSLE_Sok), deploying Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographical Information System (GIS) tools. The nature and pattern of the factors of erosion were characterized, while soil losses were quantified. Factors’ impacts were also measured, and the morphometry of gullies was described. Data on the five factors of RUSLE and distances to settlements, rivers and roads (K, R, LS, P, C, DS DRd and DRv) were combined and processed following standard RS and GIS algorithms. Harmonized World Soil Data (HWSD), Shuttle Radar Topographical Mission (SRTM) image, Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station data (CHIRPS), Sentinel-2 image accessed and processed within the Google Earth Engine, road network and settlements were the data combined and calibrated into the factors for erosion modeling. A gully morphometric study was conducted at some purposively selected sites. Factors of soil erosion showed low, moderate, to high patterns. Soil losses ranged from 0 to 32.81 tons/ha/year, classified into low (97.6%), moderate (0.2%), severe (1.1%) and very severe (1.05%) forms. The multiple regression analysis shows that factors statistically significantly predicted soil loss, F (8, 153) = 55.663, p < .0005. Except for the C-Factor with a negative coefficient, all other factors were positive, with contributions in the order of LS>C>R>P>DRv>K>DS>DRd. Gullies are generally from less than 100m to about 3km in length. Average minimum and maximum depths at gully heads are 0.6 and 1.2m, while those at mid-stream are 1 and 1.9m, respectively. The minimum downstream depth is 1.3m, while that for the maximum is 4.7m. Deeper gullies exist in proximity to rivers. With minimum and maximum gully elevation values ranging between 229 and 338m and an average slope of about 3.2%, the study area is relatively flat. The study concluded that major erosion influencers in the study area are topography and vegetation cover and that the RUSLE_Sok well predicted soil loss more effectively than ordinary RUSLE. The adoption of conservation measures such as tree planting and contour ploughing on sloppy farmlands was recommended.

Keywords: RUSLE_Sok, Sokoto, google earth engine, sentinel-2, erosion

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Authors: Majid Rasta, Xiaotao Shi, Mian Adnan Kakakhel, Yanqin Bai, Lao Liu, Jia Manke

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Microplastics (MPs; particles <5 mm) pollution is considered as a globally pervasive threat to aquatic ecosystems, and many studies reported this pollution in rivers, wetlands, lakes, coastal waters and oceans. In the aquatic environments, settling and transport of MPs in water column and sediments are determined by different factors such as hydrologic characteristics, watershed pattern, rainfall events, hydraulic conditions, vegetation, hydrodynamics behavior of MPs, and physical features of particles (shape, size and density). In the meantime, hydraulic conditions (such as turbulence, high/low water speed flows or water stagnation) play a key role in the fate of MPs in aquatic ecosystems. Therefore, this study presents a briefly review on the effects of different hydraulic conditions on the fate, transport and accumulation of MPs in aquatic ecosystems. Generally, MPs are distributed horizontally and vertically in aquatic environments. The vertical distribution of MPs in the water column changes with different flow velocities. In the riverine, turbulent flow causing from the rapid water velocity and shallow depth may create a homogeneous mixture of MPs throughout the water column. While low velocity followed by low-turbulent waters can lead to the low level vertical mixing of MP particles in the water column. Consequently, the high numbers of MPs are expected to be found in the sediments of deep and wide channels as well as estuaries. In contrast, observing the lowest accumulation of MP particles in the sediments of straights of the rivers, places with the highest flow velocity is understandable. In the marine environment, hydrodynamic factors (e.g., turbulence, current velocity and residual circulation) can affect the sedimentation and transportation of MPs and thus change the distribution of MPs in the marine and coastal sediments. For instance, marine bays are known as the accumulation area of MPs due to poor hydrodynamic conditions. On the other hand, in the nearshore zone, the flow conditions are highly complex and dynamic. Experimental studies illustrated that maximum horizontal flow velocity in the sandy beach can predict the accumulation of MPs so that particles with high sinking velocities deposit in the lower water depths. As a whole, it can be concluded that the transport and accumulation of MPs in aquatic ecosystems are highly affected by hydraulic conditions. This study provided information about the impacts of hydraulic on MPs pollution. Further research on hydraulics and its relationship to the accumulation of MPs in aquatic ecosystems is needed to increase insights into this pollution.

Keywords: microplastics pollution, hydraulic, transport, accumulation

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Authors: Sabyasachi Mukhopadhyay, Joseph Ogutu, Gundula Bartzke, Hans-Peter Piepho

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Rainfall is a critical component of climate governing vegetation growth and production, forage availability and quality for herbivores. However, reliable rainfall measurements are not always available, making it necessary to predict rainfall values for particular locations through time. Predicting rainfall in space and time can be a complex and challenging task, especially where the rain gauge network is sparse and measurements are not recorded consistently for all rain gauges, leading to many missing values. Here, we develop a flexible Bayesian model for predicting rainfall in space and time and apply it to Narok County, situated in southwestern Kenya, using data collected at 23 rain gauges from 1965 to 2015. Narok County encompasses the Maasai Mara ecosystem, the northern-most section of the Mara-Serengeti ecosystem, famous for its diverse and abundant large mammal populations and spectacular migration of enormous herds of wildebeest, zebra and Thomson's gazelle. The model incorporates geographical and meteorological predictor variables, including elevation, distance to Lake Victoria and minimum temperature. We assess the efficiency of the model by comparing it empirically with the established Gaussian process, Kriging, simple linear and Bayesian linear models. We use the model to predict total monthly rainfall and its standard error for all 5 * 5 km grid cells in Narok County. Using the Monte Carlo integration method, we estimate seasonal and annual rainfall and their standard errors for 29 sub-regions in Narok. Finally, we use the predicted rainfall to predict large herbivore biomass in the Maasai Mara ecosystem on a 5 * 5 km grid for both the wet and dry seasons. We show that herbivore biomass increases with rainfall in both seasons. The model can handle data from a sparse network of observations with many missing values and performs at least as well as or better than four established and widely used models, on the Narok data set. The model produces rainfall predictions consistent with expectation and in good agreement with the blended station and satellite rainfall values. The predictions are precise enough for most practical purposes. The model is very general and applicable to other variables besides rainfall.

Keywords: non-stationary covariance function, gaussian process, ungulate biomass, MCMC, maasai mara ecosystem

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Authors: Tshegofatso Galekgathege

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Poor water quality is of great concern to human health as it can cause disease outbreaks. A standard practice today, in developed countries, is that people should be provided with safe-reliable drinking water, as safe drinking water is recognized as a basic human right and a cost effective measure of reducing diseases. Over 1.1 billion people worldwide lack access to a safe water supply and as a result, the majority are forced to use polluted surface or groundwater. It is widely accepted that our water supply systems are susceptible to the intentional or accidental contamination .Water quality degradation may occur anywhere in the path that water takes from the water source to the consumer. Chlorine is believed to be an effective tool in disinfecting water, but its concentration may decrease with time due to consumption by chemical reactions. This shows that we are at the risk of being infected by waterborne diseases if chlorine in water falls below the required level of 0.2-1mg/liter which should be maintained in water and some contaminants enter into the water distribution system. It is believed that the lack of adequate sanitation also contributes to the contamination of water globally. This study therefore, assesses drinking water contamination from the source to the consumer by identifying the point vulnerable to contamination from the source to the consumer in the study area .To identify the point vulnerable to contamination, water was sampled monthly from boreholes, water treatment plant, water distribution system (WDS), service reservoirs and consumer taps from all the twenty (20) villages of Palapye region. Sampled water was then taken to the laboratory for testing and analysis of microbiological and chemical parameters. Water quality analysis were then compared with Botswana drinking water quality standards (BOS32:2009) to see if they comply. Major sources of water contamination identified during site visits were the livestock which were found drinking stagnant water from leaking pipes in 90 percent of the villages. Soils structure around the area was negatively affected because of livestock movement even vegetation in the area. In conclusion microbiological parameters of water in the study area do not comply with drinking water standards, some microbiological parameters in water indicated that livestock do not only affect land degradation but also the quality of water. Chlorine has been applied to water over some years but it is not effective enough thus preventative measures have to be developed, to prevent contaminants from reaching water. Remember: Prevention is better than cure.

Keywords: land degradation, leaking systems, livestock, water contamination

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Authors: Nahed M. M. Ismail, Bayoumy B. Mostafa, Ahmed Abdel-Kader, Khalil M. El-Said, Asmaa Abdel-Motleb, Hoda M. Abu Taleb

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This study was carried out in lined and unlined watercourses in Beheira and Giza governorates to investigate the effect of water canals lining on water quality and aquatic vegetations. Samples of water and aquatic plants were collected from the examining sites during four seasons in two successive years. The main ecological parameters were recorded and water quality was measured. Results showed that the mean value of water conductivity and total dissolved salts in lined sites was significantly lower than those of unlined ones (p < 0.01, p < 0.05). In Beheira, the dissolved oxygen concentrations during autumn and winter were higher in lined sites (3.93±1.3 and 9.6±1.1 ppm, respectively) than those of unlined ones (the same values of 1.2±0.6 ppm). However, it represented by lower values of 5.77±6.05 and 4.9±1.8 ppm in lined watercourses in spring and summer, respectively, comparing with those in unlined ones (14.05±5.59 and 5.83±0.8 ppm, respectively). Generally, Zn, Pb, Fe, Cd were higher in both lined and unlined sites during summer than the other seasons. However, Zn and Fe were higher in lined sites (0.78±0.37 and 17.4±4.3 ppb, respectively) during summer than that of unlined ones (0.4±0.1 and 10.95±1.93 ppb, respectively). Cu was absent during summer in lined and unlined sites and only in unlined ones during spring. Regarding to Giza sites, Cu and Pb were absent in both lined and unlined sites during summer and only in unlined ones during spring. Whereas, Fe recorded higher values in autumn in both lined (8.8±20.1 ppb) and unlined sites (15.16±3 ppb) than the other seasons. Present survey study revealed that 13 species of aquatic plants were collected from lined and unlined sites in Beheira and Giza governorates. Eichhornia crassipes, Ceratophyllum demersum, and Potamogeton sp. were the only plant species infested the examined sites during autumn and winter in Beheira. In autumn C. demersum was the only plant found in lined sites represented by highly lower significant percentage (12.5% of the all examined sites) compared to the unlined sites (50%). E. crassipes was completely absent in the lined sites during the two seasons. In spring, there is only 3 plant species in lined sites compared to 6 ones in unlined. Also, in summer, there is only 2 species in lined sites comparing with 5 in unlined. The percentage of occurrence and density of these plants was highly significant (p < 0.01, p < 0.001) higher in unlined sites compared to the lined ones during all seasons. A diversity of plant species, E. crassipes, C. demersum, Jussias repens, Lemma giba, and Polygonum serr were the most abundant in many examined sites during all seasons in Giza. In summer, the percentage of sites containing the two plants E. crassipes (83.3%) and C. demersum (50%) was highly significant (p < 0.001) higher in unlined sites compared to the lined ones (50% and 0.0%, respectively). It concluded from the results that watercourses lining may play a significant role in preserving water with a good quality and reduces the distribution of aquatic vegetation which rendered the current of water.

Keywords: aquatic plants, lining of watercourses, physicochemical parameters, water quality

Procedia PDF Downloads 133

Authors: M. Bučas, A. Skersonas, E. Ivanauskas, J. Lesutienė, N. Nika, G. Srėbalienė, E. Tiškus, J. Gintauskas, A.Šaškov, G. Martin

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Submerged vegetation enhances heterogeneity of sublittoral habitats; therefore, macrophyte stands are essential elements of aquatic ecosystems to maintain a diverse fish fauna. Fish-habitat relations have been extensively studied in streams and coastal waters, but in lakes and estuaries are still underestimated. The aim of this study is to assess temporal (diurnal and seasonal) patterns of fish juvenile assemblages associated with common submerged macrophyte habitats, which have significantly spread during the recent decade in the upper littoral part of the Curonian Lagoon. The assessment was performed by means of an upgraded pop-up net approach resulting in much precise sampling versus other techniques. The optimal number of samples (i.e., pop-up nets) required to cover>80% of the total number of fish species depended on the time of the day in both study sites: at least 7and 9 nets in the evening (18-24 pm) in the Southern and Northern study sites, respectively. In total, 14 fish species were recorded, where perch and roach dominated (respectively 48% and 24%). From multivariate analysis, water salinity and seasonality (temperature or sampling month) were primary factors determining fish assemblage composition. The southern littoral area, less affected by brackish water conditions, hosted a higher number of species (13) than in the Northern site (8). In the latter site, brackish water tolerant species (three-spined and nine-spined sticklebacks, spiny loach, roach, and round goby) were more abundant than in the Southern site. Perch and ruffe dominated in the Southern site. Spiny loach and nine-spined stickleback were more frequent in September, while ruffe, perch, and roach occurred more in July. The diel dynamics of the common species such as perch, roach, and ruffe followed the general pattern, but it was species specific and depended on the study site, habitat, and month. The species composition between macrophyte habitats did not significantly differ; however, it differed from the results obtained in 2005 at both study sites indicating the importance of expanded charophyte stands during the last decade in the littoral zone.

Keywords: diel dynamics, charophytes, pondweeds, herbivorous and benthivorous fishes, littoral, nursery habitat, shelter

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Authors: Tsegaw Abebe, Temesgen Abebe

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Land degradation is one of a serious environmental challenge in Ethiopia and is one of the major underlying causes for declining agricultural productivity. The Ethiopia government realized the significance of environmental restoration specifically on deforested and degraded land after the 1973 and 1984/85 major famines that struck the country. Among the various conservation strategies, the establishment of area exclosures have been regarded as an effective response to halt and reverse the problems of land degradation. There are limited studies in Ethiopia dealing how the conversion of free grazing lands and degraded lands by closures increase biomass accumulation. However, these studies are not sufficient to conclude about the strength of area closures to restore degraded vegetations at the diverse agro-ecological condition. The overall objective of this study was, therefore, to assess and evaluate the usefulness of area closure technique in enhancing rehabilitation of degraded ecosystem and thereby increase the natural capital in the study site (southern Ethiopia). Woody plant species were collected from area exclosure for eight year and adjacent degraded land with similar landscape positions using systematic sampling plot design technique. Woody species diversity was determined by Shannon diversity. Comparative assessment result of woody plant species analysis showed that the density of woody species in the exclosure and degraded site were 778 and 222 individuals per hectare, respectively. A total of 16 woody species, representing 12 families were recorded in the study site. Out of the 12 families, all were recorded in the exclosure while 5 were recorded in the degraded site. Out of the 16 species, 15 were recorded in the exclosure while six were in the degraded site. A total of 10 species were recorded in the exclosure, which were absent in the degraded site. Similarly, one species was recorded in the degraded site which was not present in the exclosure. The results showed that protecting of degraded site from human and animal disturbances promotes woody plant species regenerations and productivity Apart from increasing woody plant species, the local communities have benefited from the exclosure in the form of both products (grass harvesting) and services (ecological). Due to this reason the local communities have positive attitudes and contribute a lot for the success of enclosures in the study site. The present study clearly showed that area closure interventions should be oriented towards managing and improving the productivity of the degraded land, in such a way that both the need for conservation of biodiversity and environmental sustainability, and the demands of the local people for biomass resources can be achieved.

Keywords: degraded land, exclosure, land restoration, woody vegetation

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Authors: X. Wang

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Timely and accurate information on urban building damage caused by earthquake is important basis for disaster assessment and emergency relief. Very high resolution (VHR) remotely sensed imagery containing abundant fine-scale information offers a large quantity of data for detecting and assessing urban building damage in the aftermath of earthquake disasters. However, the accuracy obtained using spectral features alone is comparatively low, since building damage, intact buildings and pavements are spectrally similar. Therefore, it is of great significance to detect urban building damage effectively using multi-source data. Considering that in general height or geometric structure of buildings change dramatically in the devastated areas, a novel multi-stage urban building damage detection method, using bi-temporal spectral, height and corner information, was proposed in this study. The pre-event height information was generated using stereo VHR images acquired from two different satellites, while the post-event height information was produced from airborne LiDAR data. The corner information was extracted from pre- and post-event panchromatic images. The proposed method can be summarized as follows. To reduce the classification errors caused by spectral similarity and errors in extracting height information, ground surface, shadows, and vegetation were first extracted using the post-event VHR image and height data and were masked out. Two different types of building damage were then extracted from the remaining areas: the height difference between pre- and post-event was used for detecting building damage showing significant height change; the difference in the density of corners between pre- and post-event was used for extracting building damage showing drastic change in geometric structure. The initial building damage result was generated by combining above two building damage results. Finally, a post-processing procedure was adopted to refine the obtained initial result. The proposed method was quantitatively evaluated and compared to two existing methods in Port au Prince, Haiti, which was heavily hit by an earthquake in January 2010, using pre-event GeoEye-1 image, pre-event WorldView-2 image, post-event QuickBird image and post-event LiDAR data. The results showed that the method proposed in this study significantly outperformed the two comparative methods in terms of urban building damage extraction accuracy. The proposed method provides a fast and reliable method to detect urban building collapse, which is also applicable to relevant applications.

Keywords: building damage, corner, earthquake, height, very high resolution (VHR)

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Authors: Rupam Saikia, Ashim Kanti Dey

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Sonapur is an intense hilly region on the border of Assam and Meghalaya lying in North-East India and is very near to a seismic fault named as Dauki besides which makes the region seismically active. Besides, these recently two earthquakes of magnitude 6.7 and 6.9 have struck North-East India in January and April 2016. Also, the slope concerned for this study is adjacent to NH 44 which for a long time has been a sole important connecting link to the states of Manipur and Mizoram along with some parts of Assam and so has been a cause of considerable loss to life and property since past decades as there has been several recorded incidents of landslide, road-blocks, etc. mostly during the rainy season which comes into news. Based on this issue this paper reports a static and dynamic slope stability analysis of Sonapur which has been carried out in MIDAS GTS NX. The slope being highly unreachable due to terrain and thick vegetation in-situ test was not feasible considering the current scope available so disturbed soil sample was collected from the site for the determination of strength parameters. The strength parameters were so determined for varying relative density with further variation in water content. The slopes were analyzed considering plane strain condition for three slope heights of 5 m, 10 m and 20 m which were then further categorized based on slope angles 30, 40, 50, 60, and 70 considering the possible extent of steepness. Initially static analysis under dry state was performed then considering the worst case that can develop during rainy season the slopes were analyzed for fully saturated condition along with partial degree of saturation with an increase in the waterfront. Furthermore, dynamic analysis was performed considering the El-Centro Earthquake which had a magnitude of 6.7 and peak ground acceleration of 0.3569g at 2.14 sec for the slope which were found to be safe during static analysis under both dry and fully saturated condition. Some of the conclusions were slopes with inclination above 40 onwards were found to be highly vulnerable for slopes of height 10 m and above even under dry static condition. Maximum horizontal displacement showed an exponential increase with an increase in inclination from 30 to 70. The vulnerability of the slopes was seen to be further increased during rainy season as even slopes of minimal steepness of 30 for height 20 m was seen to be on the verge of failure. Also, during dynamic analysis slopes safe during static analysis were found to be highly vulnerable. Lastly, as a part of the study a comparative study on Strength Reduction Method (SRM) versus Limit Equilibrium Method (LEM) was also carried out and some of the advantages and disadvantages were figured out.

Keywords: dynamic analysis, factor of safety, slope stability, strength reduction method

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Authors: Ankit Tyagi, Reet Kamal Tiwari, Naveen James

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Landslide is the major geo-environmental problem of Himalaya because of high ridges, steep slopes, deep valleys, and complex system of streams. They are mainly triggered by rainfall and earthquake and causing severe damage to life and property. In Uttarakhand, the Tehri reservoir rim area, which is situated in the lesser Himalaya of Garhwal hills, was selected for landslide hazard zonation (LHZ). The study utilized different types of data, including geological maps, topographic maps from the survey of India, Landsat 8, and Cartosat DEM data. This paper presents the use of a weighted overlay method in LHZ using fourteen causative factors. The various data layers generated and co-registered were slope, aspect, relative relief, soil cover, intensity of rainfall, seismic ground shaking, seismic amplification at surface level, lithology, land use/land cover (LULC), normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), topographic wetness index (TWI), stream power index (SPI), drainage buffer and reservoir buffer. Seismic analysis is performed using peak horizontal acceleration (PHA) intensity and amplification factors in the evaluation of the landslide hazard index (LHI). Several digital image processing techniques such as topographic correction, NDVI, and supervised classification were widely used in the process of terrain factor extraction. Lithological features, LULC, drainage pattern, lineaments, and structural features are extracted using digital image processing techniques. Colour, tones, topography, and stream drainage pattern from the imageries are used to analyse geological features. Slope map, aspect map, relative relief are created by using Cartosat DEM data. DEM data is also used for the detailed drainage analysis, which includes TWI, SPI, drainage buffer, and reservoir buffer. In the weighted overlay method, the comparative importance of several causative factors obtained from experience. In this method, after multiplying the influence factor with the corresponding rating of a particular class, it is reclassified, and the LHZ map is prepared. Further, based on the land-use map developed from remote sensing images, a landslide vulnerability study for the study area is carried out and presented in this paper.

Keywords: weighted overlay method, GIS, landslide hazard zonation, remote sensing

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Authors: Maria De Albuquerque Bercot, Caio Gustavo Mesquita Angelo, Daniela Maria Moreira Siqueira, Augusto Assucena De Vasconcellos, Rodrigo Studart Correa

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Mining is an important socioeconomic activity in Brazil although it negatively impacts the environment. Mineral operations cause irreversible changes in topography, removal of vegetation and topsoil, habitat destruction, displacement of fauna, loss of biodiversity, soil erosion, siltation of watercourses and have potential to enhance climate change. Due to the impacts and its pollution potential, mining activity in Brazil is legally subjected to environmental licensing. Unlicensed mining operations or operations that not abide to the terms of an obtained license are taken as environmental crimes in the country. This work reports a case analyzed in the Forensic Institute of the Brazilian Federal District Civil Police. The case consisted of detecting illegal aspects of sand exploitation from a licensed mine in Federal District, nearby Brasilia city. The fieldwork covered an area of roughly 6 ha, which was surveyed with an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) (PHANTOM 3 ADVANCED). The overflight with UAV took about 20 min, with maximum flight height of 100 m. 592 UAV georeferenced images were obtained and processed in a photogrammetric software (AGISOFT PHOTOSCAN 1.1.4), which generated a mosaic of geo-referenced images and a 3D model in less than six working hours. The 3D model was analyzed in a forensic software for accurate modeling and volumetric analysis. (MAPTEK I-SITE FORENSIC 2.2). To ensure the 3D model was a true representation of the mine site, coordinates of ten control points and reference measures were taken during fieldwork and compared to respective spatial data in the model. Finally, these spatial data were used for measuring mining area, excavation depth and volume of exploited sand. Results showed that mine holder had not complied with some terms and conditions stated in the granted license, such as sand exploration beyond authorized extension, depth and volume. Easiness, the accuracy and expedition of procedures used in this case highlight the employment of UAV imagery and computational photogrammetry as efficient tools for outdoor forensic exams, especially on environmental issues.

Keywords: computational photogrammetry, environmental monitoring, mining, UAV

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Authors: Stefan Peters, Phillip Roetman

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The global loss of biodiversity is threatening the benefits nature provides to human populations and has become a more pressing issue than climate change and requires immediate attention. While there have been successful global agreements for environmental protection, such as the Montreal Protocol, these are rare, and we cannot rely on them solely. Thus, it is crucial to take national and local actions to support biodiversity. Australia is one of the 17 countries in the world with a high level of biodiversity, and its cities are vital habitats for endangered species, with more of them found in urban areas than in non-urban ones. However, the protection of biodiversity in metropolitan Adelaide has been inadequate, with over 130 species disappearing since European colonization in 1836. In this research project we conceptualized, developed and implemented a framework for wildlife Habitat Hotspots and Habitat Corridor modelling in an urban context using geographic data and GIS modelling and analysis. We used detailed topographic and other geographic data provided by a local council, including spatial and attributive properties of trees, parcels, water features, vegetated areas, roads, verges, traffic, and census data. Weighted factors considered in our raster-based Habitat Hotspot model include parcel size, parcel shape, population density, canopy cover, habitat quality and proximity to habitats and water features. Weighted factors considered in our raster-based Habitat Corridor model include habitat potential (resulting from the Habitat Hotspot model), verge size, road hierarchy, road widths, human density, and presence of remnant indigenous vegetation species. We developed a GIS model, using Python scripting and ArcGIS-Pro Model-Builder, to establish an automated reproducible and adjustable geoprocessing workflow, adaptable to any study area of interest. Our habitat hotspot and corridor modelling framework allow to determine and map existing habitat hotspots and wildlife habitat corridors. Our research had been applied to the study case of Burnside, a local council in Adelaide, Australia, which encompass an area of 30 km2. We applied end-user expertise-based category weightings to refine our models and optimize the use of our habitat map outputs towards informing local strategic decision-making.

Keywords: biodiversity, GIS modeling, habitat hotspot, wildlife corridor

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Authors: Mindaye Teshome, Evaldo Muñoz Braz, Carlos M. M. Eleto Torres, Patricia Mattos

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Sustainable forest management planning requires up-to-date information on the structure, standing volume, biomass, and growth rate of trees from a given forest. This kind of information is lacking in many forests in Ethiopia. The objective of this study was to quantify the population structure, diameter growth rate, and standing volume of wood from Juniperus procera trees in the Chilimo forest. A total of 163 sample plots were set up in the forest to collect the relevant vegetation data. Growth ring measurements were conducted on stem disc samples collected from 12 J. procera trees. Diameter and height measurements were recorded from a total of 1399 individual trees with dbh ≥ 2 cm. The growth rate, maximum current and mean annual increments, minimum logging diameter, and cutting cycle were estimated, and alternative cutting cycles were established. Using these data, the harvestable volume of wood was projected by alternating four minimum logging diameters and five cutting cycles following the stand table projection method. The results show that J. procera trees have an average density of 183 stems ha⁻¹, a total basal area of 12.1 m² ha⁻¹, and a standing volume of 98.9 m³ ha⁻¹. The mean annual diameter growth ranges between 0.50 and 0.65 cm year⁻¹ with an overall mean of 0.59 cm year⁻¹. The population of J. procera tree followed a reverse J-shape diameter distribution pattern. The maximum current annual increment in volume (CAI) occurred at around 49 years when trees reached 30 cm in diameter. Trees showed the maximum mean annual increment in volume (MAI) around 91 years, with a diameter size of 50 cm. The simulation analysis revealed that 40 cm MLD and a 15-year cutting cycle are the best minimum logging diameter and cutting cycle. This combination showed the largest harvestable volume of wood potential, volume increments, and a 35% recovery of the initially harvested volume. It is concluded that the forest is well stocked and has a large amount of harvestable volume of wood from J. procera trees. This will enable the country to partly meet the national wood demand through domestic wood production. The use of the current population structure and diameter growth data from tree ring analysis enables the exact prediction of the harvestable volume of wood. The developed model supplied an idea about the productivity of the J. procera tree population and enables policymakers to develop specific management criteria for wood harvesting.

Keywords: logging, growth model, cutting cycle, minimum logging diameter

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Authors: Maryam Al Mheiri, Khaled Al Awadi

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Urban population is continuously increasing worldwide and the speed at which cities urbanize creates major challenges, particularly in terms of creating sustainable urban environments. Rapid urbanization often leads to negative environmental impacts and changes in the urban microclimates. Moreover, when rapid urbanization is paired with limited landscape elements, the effects on human health due to the increased pollution, and thermal comfort due to Urban Heat Island effects are increased. Urban Heat Island (UHI) describes the increase of urban temperatures in urban areas in comparison to its rural surroundings, and, as we discuss in this paper, it impacts on pedestrian comfort, reducing the number of walking trips and public space use. It is thus very necessary to investigate the quality of outdoor built environments in order to improve the quality of life incites. The main objective of this paper is to address the morphology of Emirati neighborhoods, setting a quantitative baseline by which to assess and compare spatial characteristics and microclimate performance of existing typologies in Abu Dhabi. This morphological mapping and analysis will help to understand the built landscape of Emirati neighborhoods in this city, whose form has changed and evolved across different periods. This will eventually help to model the use of different design strategies, such as landscaping, to mitigate UHI effects and enhance outdoor urban comfort. Further, the impact of different native plants types and native species in reducing UHI effects and enhancing outdoor urban comfort, allowing for the assessment of the impact of increasing landscaped areas in these neighborhoods. This study uses ENVI-met, an analytical, three-dimensional, high-resolution microclimate modeling software. This micro-scale urban climate model will be used to evaluate existing conditions and generate scenarios in different residential areas, with different vegetation surfaces and landscaping, and examine their impact on surface temperatures during summer and autumn. In parallel to these simulations, field measurement will be included to calibrate the Envi-met model. This research therefore takes an experimental approach, using simulation software, and a case study strategy for the evaluation of a sample of residential neighborhoods. A comparison of the results of these scenarios constitute a first step towards making recommendations about what constitutes sustainable landscapes for Abu Dhabi neighborhoods.

Keywords: landscape, microclimate, native plants, sustainable neighborhoods, thermal comfort, urban heat island

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Authors: Esmaeil Kouhgardi, Elaheh Shakerdargah

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The mangrove ecosystem is a complex of various inter-related elements in the land-sea interface zone which is linked with other natural systems of the coastal region such as corals, sea-grass, coastal fisheries and beach vegetation. The mangrove ecosystem consists of water, muddy soil, trees, shrubs, and their associated flora, fauna and microbes. It is a very productive ecosystem sustaining various forms of life. Its waters are nursery grounds for fish, crustacean, and mollusk and also provide habitat for a wide range of aquatic life, while the land supports a rich and diverse flora and fauna, but pollutions may affect these characteristics. Iran has the lowest share of Persian Gulf pollution among the eight littoral states; environmental experts are still deeply concerned about the serious consequences of the pollution in the oil-rich gulf. Prolongation of critical conditions in the Persian Gulf has endangered its aquatic ecosystem. Water purification equipment, refineries, wastewater emitted by onshore installations, especially petrochemical plans, urban sewage, population density and extensive oil operations of Arab states are factors contaminating the Persian Gulf waters. Population density has been the major cause of pollution and environmental degradation in the Persian Gulf. Persian Gulf is a closed marine environment which is connected to open waterways only from one way. It usually takes between three and four years for the gulf's water to be completely replaced. Therefore, any pollution entering the water will remain there for a relatively long time. Presently, the high temperature and excessive salt level in the water have exposed the marine creatures to extra threats, which mean they have to survive very tough conditions. The natural environment of the Persian Gulf is very rich with good fish grounds, extensive coral reefs and pearl oysters in abundance, but has become increasingly under pressure due to the heavy industrialization and in particular the repeated major oil spillages associated with the various recent wars fought in the region. Pollution may cause the mortality of mangrove forests by effect on root, leaf and soil of the area. Study was showed the high correlation between industrial pollution and mangrove forests health in south of Iran and increase of population, coupled with economic growth, inevitably caused the use of mangrove lands for various purposes such as construction of roads, ports and harbors, industries and urbanization.

Keywords: Mangrove forest, pollution, Persian Gulf, population, environment

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Authors: Hira Jabbar, Tanzeel-Ur Rehman

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Urban parks and open spaces play a significant role in improving physical and mental health of the citizens, strengthen the societies and make the cities more attractive places to live and work. As the world’s cities continue to grow, continuing to value green space in cities is vital but is also a challenge, particularly in developing countries where there is pressure for space, resources, and development. Offering equal opportunity of accessibility to parks is one of the important issues of park distribution. The distribution of parks should allow all inhabitants to have close proximity to their residence. Remote sensing and Geographic information systems (GIS) can provide decision makers with enormous opportunities to improve the planning and management of Park facilities. This study exhibits the capability of GIS and RS techniques to provide baseline knowledge about the distribution of parks, level of accessibility and to help in identification of potential areas for such facilities. For this purpose Landsat OLI imagery for year 2016 was acquired from USGS Earth Explorer. Preprocessing models were applied using Erdas Imagine 2014v for the atmospheric correction and NDVI model was developed and applied to quantify the land use/land cover classes including built up, barren land, water, and vegetation. The parks amongst total public green spaces were selected based on their signature in remote sensing image and distribution. Percentages of total green and parks green were calculated for each town of Lahore City and results were then synchronized with the recommended standards. ANGSt model was applied to calculate the accessibility from parks. Service area analysis was performed using Network Analyst tool. Serviceability of these parks has been evaluated by employing statistical indices like service area, service population and park area per capita. Findings of the study may contribute in helping the town planners for understanding the distribution of parks, demands for new parks and potential areas which are deprived of parks. The purpose of present study is to provide necessary information to planners, policy makers and scientific researchers in the process of decision making for the management and improvement of urban parks.

Keywords: accessible natural green space standards (ANGSt), geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing (RS), United States geological survey (USGS)

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Authors: Nuzhat Sharmin

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Human being is the most integral part of the nature and responsible for maintaining ecological balance both in rural and urban areas. But unfortunately, we are not doing our job with a holistic approach. The rapid growth of urbanization is making human life more isolated from greenery. Nowadays modern urban living involves sensory deprivation and overloaded stress. In many cities and towns of the world are expanding unabated in the name of urbanization and industrialization and in fact becoming jungles of concrete. Dhaka is one of the examples of such cities where open and green spaces are decreasing because of accommodating the overflow of population. This review paper has been prepared based on interviewing 30 teenagers, both male and female in Dhaka city. There were 12 open-ended questions in the questionnaire. For the literature review information had been gathered from scholarly papers published in various peer-reviewed journals. Some information was collected from the newspapers and some from fellow colleagues working around the world. Ideally about 25% of an urban area should be kept open or with parks, fields and/or plants and vegetation. But currently Dhaka has only about 10-12% open space and these also are being filled up rapidly. Old Dhaka has only about 5% open space while the new Dhaka has about 12%. Dhaka is now one of the most populated cities in the world. Accommodating this huge influx of people Dhaka is continuously losing its open space. As a result, children and teenagers are losing their interest in playing games and making friends, rather they are mostly occupied by television, gadgets and social media. It has been known from the interview that only 28% of teenagers regularly play. But the majority of them have to play on the street and rooftop for the lack of open space. On an average they are occupied with electronic devices for 8.3 hours/day. 64% of them has chronic diseases and often visit doctors. Most shockingly 35% of them claimed for not having any friends. Green space offers relief from stress. Areas of natural environment in towns and cities are theoretically seen providing setting for recovery and recuperation from anxiety and strains of the urban environment. Good quality green spaces encourage people to walk, run, cycle and play. Green spaces improve air quality and reduce noise, while trees and shrubbery help to filter out dust and pollutants. Relaxation, contemplation and passive recreation are essential to stress management. All city governments that are losing its open spaces should immediately pay attention to this aesthetic issue for the benefit of urban people. All kinds of development must be sustainable both for human being and nature.

Keywords: greenery, health, human, urban

Procedia PDF Downloads 173