Search results for: satellite town

Authors: W. A. Gonçalves, E. P. Souza, C. R. Alcântara

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The ISCCP-Tracking database offers an opportunity to study physical and morphological characteristics of Convective Systems based on geostationary meteorological satellites. This database contains 26 years of tracking of Convective Systems for the entire globe. Then, Tropical Squall Lines which occur in Brazil are certainly within the database. In this study, we propose a methodology for identification of these systems based on the ISCCP-Tracking database. A physical and morphological characterization of these systems is also shown. The proposed methodology is firstly based on the year of 2007. The Squall Lines were subjectively identified by visually analyzing infrared images from GOES-12. Based on this identification, the same systems were identified within the ISCCP-Tracking database. It is known, and it was also observed that the Squall Lines which occur on the north coast of Brazil develop parallel to the coast, influenced by the sea breeze. In addition, it was also observed that the eccentricity of the identified systems was greater than 0.7. Then, a methodology based on the inclination (based on the coast) and eccentricity (greater than 0.7) of the Convective Systems was applied in order to identify and characterize Tropical Squall Lines in Brazil. These thresholds were applied back in the ISCCP-Tracking database for the year of 2007. It was observed that other systems, which were not Squall Lines, were also identified. Then, we decided to call all systems identified by the inclination and eccentricity thresholds as Linear Convective Systems, instead of Squall Lines. After this step, the Linear Convective Systems were identified and characterized for the entire database, from 1983 to 2008. The physical and morphological characteristics of these systems were compared to those systems which did not have the required inclination and eccentricity to be called Linear Convective Systems. The results showed that the convection associated with the Linear Convective Systems seems to be more intense and organized than in the other systems. This affirmation is based on all ISCCP-Tracking variables analyzed. This type of methodology, which explores 26 years of satellite data by an objective analysis, was not previously explored in the literature. The physical and morphological characterization of the Linear Convective Systems based on 26 years of data is of a great importance and should be used in many branches of atmospheric sciences.

Keywords: squall lines, convective systems, linear convective systems, ISCCP-Tracking

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Authors: Tuba Zahra, Aakash Parekh

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Hyperspectral remote sensing refers to imaging of objects or materials in narrow conspicuous spectral bands. Hyperspectral images (HSI) enable the extraction of spectral signatures for objects or materials observed. These images contain information about the reflectance of each pixel across the electromagnetic spectrum. It enables the acquisition of data simultaneously in hundreds of spectral bands with narrow bandwidths and can provide detailed contiguous spectral curves that traditional multispectral sensors cannot offer. The contiguous, narrow bandwidth of hyperspectral data facilitates the detailed surveying of Earth's surface features. This would otherwise not be possible with the relatively coarse bandwidths acquired by other types of imaging sensors. Hyperspectral imaging provides significantly higher spectral and spatial resolution. There are several use cases that represent the commercial applications of hyperspectral remote sensing. Each use case represents just one of the ways that hyperspectral satellite imagery can support operational efficiency in the respective vertical. There are some use cases that are specific to VNIR bands, while others are specific to SWIR bands. This paper discusses the different commercially viable use cases that are significant for HSI application areas, such as agriculture, mining, oil and gas, defense, environment, and climate, to name a few. Theoretically, there is n number of use cases for each of the application areas, but an attempt has been made to streamline the use cases depending upon economic feasibility and commercial viability and present a review of literature from this perspective. Some of the specific use cases with respect to agriculture are crop species (sub variety) detection, soil health mapping, pre-symptomatic crop disease detection, invasive species detection, crop condition optimization, yield estimation, and supply chain monitoring at scale. Similarly, each of the industry verticals has a specific commercially viable use case that is discussed in the paper in detail.

Keywords: agriculture, mining, oil and gas, defense, environment and climate, hyperspectral, VNIR, SWIR

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Authors: M. Uysal, M. Yilmaz, I. Tiryakioğlu

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Digital Terrain Model (DTM) is a digital numerical representation of the Earth's surface. DTMs have been applied to a diverse field of tasks, such as urban planning, military, glacier mapping, disaster management. In the expression of the Earth' surface as a mathematical model, an infinite number of point measurements are needed. Because of the impossibility of this case, the points at regular intervals are measured to characterize the Earth's surface and DTM of the Earth is generated. Hitherto, the classical measurement techniques and photogrammetry method have widespread use in the construction of DTM. At present, RADAR, LiDAR, and stereo satellite images are also used for the construction of DTM. In recent years, especially because of its superiorities, Airborne Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) has an increased use in DTM applications. A 3D point cloud is created with LiDAR technology by obtaining numerous point data. However recently, by the development in image mapping methods, the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for photogrammetric data acquisition has increased DTM generation from image-based point cloud. The accuracy of the DTM depends on various factors such as data collection method, the distribution of elevation points, the point density, properties of the surface and interpolation methods. In this study, the random data reduction method is compared for DTMs generated from image based point cloud data. The original image based point cloud data set (100%) is reduced to a series of subsets by using random algorithm, representing the 75, 50, 25 and 5% of the original image based point cloud data set. Over the ANS campus of Afyon Kocatepe University as the test area, DTM constructed from the original image based point cloud data set is compared with DTMs interpolated from reduced data sets by Kriging interpolation method. The results show that the random data reduction method can be used to reduce the image based point cloud datasets to 50% density level while still maintaining the quality of DTM.

Keywords: DTM, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), uniform, random, kriging

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Authors: Mohammad Arif, Soumen Chatterjee, Krishnendu Gupta

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The peri-urban interface is an area of transition where the urban and rural areas meet and interact. So the peri-urban areas, which is characterized by strong urban influence, easy access to markets, services and other inputs, are ready supplies of labour but distant from the land paucity and pollution related to urban growth. Hence, the present study is primarily aimed at quantifying the spatio-temporal pattern of land use/land cover change during the last three decades (i.e., 1987 to 2016) in the peri-urban area of Burdwan city. In the recent past, the morphology of the study region has rapid change due to high growth of population and establishment of industries. The change has predominantly taken place along the State and National Highway 2 (NH-2) and around the Burdwan Municipality for meeting both residential and commercial purposes. To ascertain the degree of change in land use and land cover, over the specified time, satellite imageries and topographical sheets are employed. The data is processed through appropriate software packages to arrive at a deduction that most of the land use changes have occurred by obliterating agricultural land & water bodies and substituting them by built area and industrial spaces. Geospatial analysis of study area showed that this area has experienced a steep increase (30%) of built-up areas and excessive decrease (15%) in croplands between 1987 and 2016. Increase in built-up areas is attributed to the increase of out-migration during this period from the core city. This study also examined social, economic and institutional factors that lead to this rapid land use change in peri-urban areas of the Burdwan city by carrying out a field survey of 250 households in peri-urban areas. The research concludes with an urgency for regulating land subdivisions in peri-urban areas to prevent haphazard land use development. It is expected that the findings of the study would go a long way in facilitating better policy making.

Keywords: growth, land use land cover, morphology, peri-urban, policy making

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Authors: Kevin Wang, Jian Ge, Yinan Zhao, Kevin Willis

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Kepler has discovered over 4000 exoplanets and candidates. However, current transit planet detection techniques based on the wavelet analysis and the Box Least Squares (BLS) algorithm have limited sensitivity in detecting minor planets with a low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and long periods with only 3-4 repeated signals over the mission lifetime of 4 years. This paper presents a novel precise-period transit signal detection methodology based on a new Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) Fast Folding algorithm in conjunction with a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) to detect low SNR and/or long-period transit planet signals. A comparison with BLS is conducted on both simulated light curves and real data, demonstrating that the new method has higher speed, sensitivity, and reliability. For instance, the new system can detect transits with SNR as low as three while the performance of BLS drops off quickly around SNR of 7. Meanwhile, the GPU Fast Folding method folds light curves 25 times faster than BLS, a significant gain that allows exoplanet detection to occur at unprecedented period precision. This new method has been tested with all known transit signals with 100% confirmation. In addition, this new method has been successfully applied to the Kepler of Interest (KOI) data and identified a few new Earth-sized Ultra-short period (USP) exoplanet candidates and habitable planet candidates. The results highlight the promise for GPU Fast Folding as a replacement to the traditional BLS algorithm for finding small and/or long-period habitable and Earth-sized planet candidates in-transit data taken with Kepler and other space transit missions such as TESS(Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) and PLATO(PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars).

Keywords: algorithms, astronomy data analysis, deep learning, exoplanet detection methods, small planets, habitable planets, transit photometry

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Authors: Akano Benedict Ubawuike

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This study investigated the effects of pre-laboratory discussion on physics students’ acquisition of science process skills. The study design was quasi-experimental and purposive sampling technique was applied in selecting two schools in Kontagora Town for the research based on the availability of a good physics laboratory. Intact classes already grouped by the school for the sake of small laboratory space and equipment, comprising Thirty (30) students, 15 for experimental group in School A and 15 for control in school B were the subjects for the research. The instrument used for data collection was the lesson prepared for pre – practical discussion and researcher made Science Process Skill Test (SPST ) and two (2) research questions, and two (2) research hypotheses were developed to guide the study. The data collected were analyzed using means and t-Test statistics at 0.05 level of significance. The study revealed that pre-laboratory discussion was found to be more efficacious in enhancing students’ acquisition of science process skills. It also revealed that gender, had no significant effect on students’ acquisition of science process skills. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that teachers should encourage students to develop interest in practical activities by engaging them in pre-laboratory discussion and providing instructional materials that will challenge them to be actively involved during practical lessons. It is also recommended that Ministries of Education and professional organizations like Science Teachers' Association of Nigeria (STAN) should organize workshops, seminars and conferences for physics teachers and Physics concepts should be taught with practical activity so that the students will do science instead of learning about science.

Keywords: physics, laboratory, discussion, students, acquisition, science process skills

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Authors: Gherbi Khadidja

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In the Mediterranean region, water resources are limited and very unevenly distributed in space and time. The main objective of this project is the development of a wireless network for the management of water resources in northern Algeria, the Mitidja plain, which helps farmers to irrigate in the most optimized way and solve the problem of water shortage in the region. Therefore, we will develop an aid tool that can modernize and replace some traditional techniques, according to the real needs of the crops and according to the soil conditions as well as the climatic conditions (soil moisture, precipitation, characteristics of the unsaturated zone), These data are collected in real-time by sensors and analyzed by an algorithm and displayed on a mobile application and the website. The results are essential information and alerts with recommendations for action to farmers to ensure the sustainability of the agricultural sector under water shortage conditions. In the first part: We want to set up a wireless sensor network, for precise management of water resources, by presenting another type of equipment that allows us to measure the water content of the soil, such as the Watermark probe connected to the sensor via the acquisition card and an Arduino Uno, which allows collecting the captured data and then program them transmitted via a GSM module that will send these data to a web site and store them in a database for a later study. In a second part: We want to display the results on a website or a mobile application using the database to remotely manage our smart irrigation system, which allows the farmer to use this technology and offers the possibility to the growers to access remotely via wireless communication to see the field conditions and the irrigation operation, at home or at the office. The tool to be developed will be based on satellite imagery as regards land use and soil moisture. These tools will make it possible to follow the evolution of the needs of the cultures in time, but also to time, and also to predict the impact on water resources. According to the references consulted, if such a tool is used, it can reduce irrigation volumes by up to up to 40%, which represents more than 100 million m3 of savings per year for the Mitidja. This volume is equivalent to a medium-size dam.

Keywords: optimal irrigation, soil moisture, smart irrigation, water management

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Authors: Rabih Ghostine, Craig Kapfer, Viswanathan Kannan, Ibrahim Hoteit

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Urban flooding resulting from a sudden release of water due to dam-break or excessive rainfall is a serious threatening environment hazard, which causes loss of human life and large economic losses. Anticipating floods before they occur could minimize human and economic losses through the implementation of appropriate protection, provision, and rescue plans. This work reports on the numerical modelling of flash flood propagation in urban areas after an excessive rainfall event or dam-break. A two-dimensional (2D) depth-averaged shallow water model is used with a refined unstructured grid of triangles for representing the urban area topography. The 2D shallow water equations are solved using a second-order well-balanced discontinuous Galerkin scheme. Theoretical test case and three flood events are described to demonstrate the potential benefits of the scheme: (i) wetting and drying in a parabolic basin (ii) flash flood over a physical model of the urbanized Toce River valley in Italy; (iii) wave propagation on the Reyran river valley in consequence of the Malpasset dam-break in 1959 (France); and (iv) dam-break flood in October 1982 at the town of Sumacarcel (Spain). The capability of the scheme is also verified against alternative models. Computational results compare well with recorded data and show that the scheme is at least as efficient as comparable second-order finite volume schemes, with notable efficiency speedup due to parallelization.

Keywords: dam-break, discontinuous Galerkin scheme, flood modeling, shallow water equations

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Authors: Najeeb Hassan, Mahmudur Rahman

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Arial Khan River is one of the main south-eastward outlets of the River Padma. This river maintains a meander channel through its course and is erosional in nature. The specific objective of the research is to study and evaluate the hydrological characteristics in the form of assessing changes of cross-sections, discharge, water level and velocity profile in different stations and to create a hydrodynamic model of the Arial Khan River. Necessary data have been collected from Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) and Center for Environment and Geographic Information Services (CEGIS). Satellite images have been observed from Google earth. In this study, hydrodynamic model of Arial Khan River has been developed using well known steady open channel flow code Hydrologic Engineering Centers and River Analysis System (HEC-RAS) using field surveyed geometric data. Cross-section properties at 22 locations of River Arial Khan for the years 2011, 2013 and 2015 were also analysed. 1-D HEC-RAS model has been developed using the cross sectional data of 2015 and appropriate boundary condition is being used to run the model. This Arial Khan River model is calibrated using the pick discharge of 2015. The applicable value of Mannings roughness coefficient (n) is adjusted through the process of calibration. The value of water level which ties with the observed data to an acceptable accuracy is taken as calibrated model. The 1-D HEC-RAS model then validated by using the pick discharges from 2009-2018. Variation in observed water level in the model and collected water level data is being compared to validate the model. It is observed that due to seasonal variation, discharge of the river changes rapidly and Mannings roughness coefficient (n) also changes due to the vegetation growth along the river banks. This river model may act as a tool to measure flood area in future. By considering the past pick flow discharge, it is strongly recommended to improve the carrying capacity of Arial Khan River to protect the surrounding areas from flash flood.

Keywords: BWDB, CEGIS, HEC-RAS

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Authors: M. P. Tripathi, Priti Tiwari

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Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) is a distributed parameter continuous time model and was tested on daily and fortnightly basis for a small agricultural watershed (Dhangaon) of Chhattisgarh state in India. The SWAT model recently interfaced with ArcGIS and called as ArcSWAT. The watershed and sub-watershed boundaries, drainage networks, slope and texture maps were generated in the environment of ArcGIS of ArcSWAT. Supervised classification method was used for land use/cover classification from satellite imageries of the years 2009 and 2012. Manning's roughness coefficient 'n' for overland flow and channel flow and Fraction of Field Capacity (FFC) were calibrated for monsoon season of the years 2009 and 2010. The model was validated on a daily basis for the years 2011 and 2012 by using the observed daily rainfall and temperature data. Calibration and validation results revealed that the model was predicting the daily surface runoff and sediment yield satisfactorily. Sensitivity analysis showed that the annual sediment yield was inversely proportional to the overland and channel 'n' values whereas; annual runoff and sediment yields were directly proportional to the FFC. The model was also tested (calibrated and validated) for the fortnightly runoff and sediment yield for the year 2009-10 and 2011-12, respectively. Simulated values of fortnightly runoff and sediment yield for the calibration and validation years compared well with their observed counterparts. The calibration and validation results revealed that the ArcSWAT model could be used for identification of critical sub-watershed and for developing management scenarios for the Dhangaon watershed. Further, the model should be tested for simulating the surface runoff and sediment yield using generated rainfall and temperature before applying it for developing the management scenario for the critical or priority sub-watersheds.

Keywords: watershed, hydrologic and water quality, ArcSWAT model, remote sensing, GIS, runoff and sediment yield

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Authors: Neha Devi, P. K. Joshi

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Fire fuel map is one of the most critical factors for planning and managing the fire hazard and risk. One of the most significant forms of global disturbance, impacting community dynamics, biogeochemical cycles and local and regional climate across a wide range of ecosystems ranging from boreal forests to tropical rainforest is wildfire Assessment of fire danger is a function of forest type, fuelwood stock volume, moisture content, degree of senescence and fire management strategy adopted in the ground. Remote sensing has potential of reduction the uncertainty in mapping fuels. Hyperspectral remote sensing is emerging to be a very promising technology for wildfire fuels characterization. Fine spectral information also facilitates mapping of biophysical and chemical information that is directly related to the quality of forest fire fuels including above ground live biomass, canopy moisture, etc. We used Hyperion imagery acquired in February, 2016 and analysed four fuel characteristics using Hyperion sensor data on-board EO-1 satellite, acquired over the Shiwalik Himalayas covering the area of Champawat, Uttarakhand state. The main objective of this study was to present an overview of methodologies for mapping fuel properties using hyperspectral remote sensing data. Fuel characteristics analysed include fuel biomass, fuel moisture, and fuel condition and fuel type. Fuel moisture and fuel biomass were assessed through the expression of the liquid water bands. Fuel condition and type was assessed using green vegetation, non-photosynthetic vegetation and soil as Endmember for spectral mixture analysis. Linear Spectral Unmixing, a partial spectral unmixing algorithm, was used to identify the spectral abundance of green vegetation, non-photosynthetic vegetation and soil.

Keywords: forest fire fuel, Hyperion, hyperspectral, linear spectral unmixing, spectral mixture analysis

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Authors: M. Sirajul Islam Molla

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Noise pollution has been a continuous and an increasing threat to human health in urban population all over the world. The situation in Bangladesh particularly in major cities has been dangerously aggravating. Despite the government of Bangladesh have laws in its hand to curb the noise pollution the authority’s reluctance in enforcing it, is making the situation worse. We do not see any difference in some other major cities of the South Asian Regional Countries like Delhi and Kathmandu, both of the cities are facing the same situation like Dhaka. With the expansion of technology-based township all over the world, the noise pollution has been an emerging threat to urban health. The information for this review has been derived from websites of GOs, NGOs, peer-reviewed papers, seminars and symposia. The worse situation of noise pollution results in people’s irritation and protest, but in many cases, the protesters are facing the wrath of the polluters. Two such consequences in Bangladesh have resulted in killing the protesters by the polluters – one happened in Dhaka city and the other in a rural town. The law-enforcing agencies proactively do not attempt to impose the law. Noise pollution has been increasing so rapidly that it has become a burden on human health in urban populations. Prolonged exposure to higher noise causes mental stress, sleeplessness, high blood pressure, cardiac failure, respiratory disorder, miscarriage and breaks attention of students to their studies and also irritates their behavior. The noise pollution-caused mortality has also been increasing all over the world. Recommendations from the international conferences such as ICUH should be forwarded to the United Nations. The UN then should pass it on to the concerned countries. The UN should also keenly monitor if the countries have appropriate plan to curb noise pollution to meet the sustainable development goals.

Keywords: decibel, environment, noise, pollution

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Authors: Tomiwa, Akinyemi Clement

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Tropical regions experience diverse and complex precipitation patterns, posing significant challenges for accurate rainfall estimation and forecasting. This study addresses the problem of effectively classifying tropical rain types and refining the Z-R (Reflectivity-Rain Rate) relationship to enhance rainfall estimation accuracy. Through a combination of remote sensing, meteorological analysis, and machine learning, the research aims to develop an advanced classification framework capable of distinguishing between different types of tropical rain based on their unique characteristics. This involves utilizing high-resolution satellite imagery, radar data, and atmospheric parameters to categorize precipitation events into distinct classes, providing a comprehensive understanding of tropical rain systems. Additionally, the study seeks to improve the Z-R relationship, a crucial aspect of rainfall estimation. One year of rainfall data was analyzed using a Micro Rain Radar (MRR) located at The Federal University of Technology Akure, Nigeria, measuring rainfall parameters from ground level to a height of 4.8 km with a vertical resolution of 0.16 km. Rain rates were classified into low (stratiform) and high (convective) based on various microstructural attributes such as rain rates, liquid water content, Drop Size Distribution (DSD), average fall speed of the drops, and radar reflectivity. By integrating diverse datasets and employing advanced statistical techniques, the study aims to enhance the precision of Z-R models, offering a more reliable means of estimating rainfall rates from radar reflectivity data. This refined Z-R relationship holds significant potential for improving our understanding of tropical rain systems and enhancing forecasting accuracy in regions prone to heavy precipitation.

Keywords: remote sensing, precipitation, drop size distribution, micro rain radar

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Authors: Sobhan Sobhani

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This study examined the behavioral patterns of student and their determinants according to the "symbolic interaction" sociological perspective in the form of 7 hypotheses. Behavioral patterns of students were classified in 8 categories: religious, scientific, political, artistic, sporting, national, parents and teachers. They were evaluated by student opinions by a five-point Likert rating scale. The statistical population included all male and female students of Islamic Azad University, Behabahan branch, among which 600 patients (268 females and 332 males) were selected randomly. The following statistical methods were used: frequency and percentage, mean, t-test, Pearson correlation coefficient and multi-way analysis of variance. The results obtained from statistical analysis showed that: 1-There is a significant difference between male and female students in terms of disposition to religious figures, artists, teachers and parents. 2-There is a significant difference between students of urban and rural areas in terms of assuming behavioral patterns of religious, political, scientific, artistic, national figures and teachers. 3-The most important criterion for selecting behavioral patterns of students is intellectual understanding with the pattern. 4-The most important factor influencing the behavioral patterns of male and female students is parents followed by friends. 5-Boys are affected by teachers, the Internet and satellite programs more than girls. Girls assume behavioral patterns from books more than boys. 6-There is a significant difference between students in human sciences, technical, medical and engineering disciplines in terms of selecting religious and political figures as behavioral patterns. 7-There is a significant difference between students belonging to different subcultures in terms of assuming behavioral patterns of religious, scientific and cultural figures. 8-Between the first and fourth year students in terms of selecting behavioral patterns, there is a significant difference only in selecting religious figures. 9-There is a significant negative correlation between the education level of parents and the selection of religious and political figures and teachers. 10-There is a significant negative correlation between family income and the selection of political and religious figures.

Keywords: behavioral patterns, behavioral patterns, male and female students, Islamic Azad University

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Authors: Esubalew Yehualaw Melaku, Tigistu Haile Eritro

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In this study, two basic geophysical methods are applied for mapping the groundwater aquifer system in the Lisana area along the Guder River, northeast of Hosanna town, near the western margin of the Central Main Ethiopian Rift. The main target of the study is to map the potential aquifer zone and investigate the groundwater potential for current and future development of the resource in the Gode area. The geophysical methods employed in this study include, Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES) and magnetic survey techniques. Electrical sounding was used to examine and map the depth to the potential aquifer zone of the groundwater and its distribution over the area. On the other hand, a magnetic survey was used to delineate contact between lithologic units and geological structures. The 2D magnetic modeling and the geoelectric sections are used for the identification of weak zones, which control the groundwater flow and storage system. The geophysical survey comprises of twelve VES readings collected by using a Schlumberger array along six profile lines and more than four hundred (400) magnetic readings at about 10m station intervals along four profiles and 20m along three random profiles. The study result revealed that the potential aquifer in the area is obtained at a depth range from 45m to 92m. This is the response of the highly weathered/ fractured ignimbrite and pumice layer with sandy soil, which is the main water-bearing horizon. Overall, in the neighborhood of four VES points, VES- 2, VES- 3, VES-10, and VES-11, shows good water-bearing zones in the study area.

Keywords: vertical electrical sounding, magnetic survey, aquifer, groundwater potential

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Authors: B. Mavhuru, N. S. Nethengwe

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Human activities on land degradation have triggered several environmental problems especially in rural areas that are underdeveloped. The main aim of this study is to analyze the contribution of different land uses to gully development and sediment load on the Nzhelele River Valley in the Limpopo Province. Data was collected using different methods such as observation, field data techniques and experiments. Satellite digital images, topographic maps, aerial photographs and the sediment load static model also assisted in determining how land use affects gully development and sediment load. For data analysis, the researcher used the following methods: Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation coefficient and statistical correlation methods. The results of the research illustrate that high land use activities create negative changes especially in areas that are highly fragile and vulnerable. Distinct impact on land use change was observed within settlement area (9.6 %) within a period of 5 years. High correlation between soil organic matter and soil moisture (R=0.96) was observed. Furthermore, a significant variation (p ≤ 0.6) between the soil organic matter and soil moisture was also observed. A very significant variation (p ≤ 0.003) was observed in bulk density and extreme significant variations (p ≤ 0.0001) were observed in organic matter and soil particle size. The sand mining and agricultural activities has contributed significantly to the amount of sediment load in the Nzhelele River. A high significant amount of total suspended sediment (55.3 %) and bed load (53.8 %) was observed within the agricultural area. The connection which associates the development of gullies to various land use activities determines the amount of sediment load. These results are consistent with other previous research and suggest that land use activities are likely to exacerbate the development of gullies and sediment load in the Nzhelele River Valley.

Keywords: drainage basin, geomorphological processes, gully development, land degradation, riparian land use and sediment load

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Authors: Hira Jabbar

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Education is vital for inclusive growth of an economy and a critical contributor for investment in human capital. Like other developing countries, Pakistan is facing enormous challenges regarding the provision of public facilities, improper infrastructure planning, accelerating rate of population and poor accessibility. The influence of the rapid advancement and innovations in GIS and RS techniques have proved to be a useful tool for better planning and decision making to encounter these challenges. Therefore present study incorporates GIS and RS techniques to investigate the spatial distribution of school facilities, identifies settlements with served and unserved population, finds potential areas for new schools based on population and develops an accessibility index to evaluate the higher accessibility for schools. For this purpose high-resolution worldview imagery was used to develop road network, settlements and school facilities and to generate school accessibility for each level. Landsat 8 imagery was utilized to extract built-up area by applying pre and post-processing models and Landscan 2015 was used to analyze population statistics. Service area analysis was performed using network analyst extension in ArcGIS 10.3v and results were evaluated for served and underserved areas and population. An accessibility tool was used to evaluate a set of potential destinations to determine which is the most accessible with the given population distribution. Findings of the study may contribute to facilitating the town planners and education authorities for understanding the existing patterns of school facilities. It is concluded that GIS and remote sensing can be effectively used in urban transport and facility planning.

Keywords: accessibility, geographic information system, landscan, worldview

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Authors: Bojana Horvat, Barbara Karleusa, Goran Volf, Nevenka Ozanic, Ivica Kisic

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Forest fire is a major threat in many regions in Croatia, especially in coastal areas. Although they are often caused by natural processes, the most common cause is the human factor, intentional or unintentional. Forest fires drastically transform landscapes and influence natural processes. The main goal of the presented research is to analyse and quantify the impact of the forest fire on hydrological processes and propose the model that best describes changes in hydrological patterns in the analysed catchments. Keeping in mind the spatial component of the processes, geospatial analysis is performed to gain better insight into the spatial variability of the hydrological response to disastrous events. In that respect, two catchments that experienced severe forest fire were delineated, and various hydrological and meteorological data were collected both attribute and spatial. The major drawback is certainly the lack of hydrological data, common in small torrential karstic streams; hence modelling results should be validated with the data collected in the catchment that has similar characteristics and established hydrological monitoring. The event chosen for the modelling is the forest fire that occurred in July 2019 and burned nearly 10% of the analysed area. Surface (land use/land cover) conditions before and after the event were derived from the two Sentinel-2 images. The mapping of the burnt area is based on a comparison of the Normalized Burn Index (NBR) computed from both images. To estimate and compare hydrological behaviour before and after the event, curve number (CN) values are assigned to the land use/land cover classes derived from the satellite images. Hydrological modelling resulted in surface runoff generation and hence prediction of hydrological responses in the catchments to a forest fire event. The research was supported by the Croatian Science Foundation through the project 'Influence of Open Fires on Water and Soil Quality' (IP-2018-01-1645).

Keywords: Croatia, forest fire, geospatial analysis, hydrological response

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Authors: Suleiman Garba, Haruna Ishaku

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Information and communication technology (ICT) includes any communication device encompassing: radio, television, cellular phones, computer, satellite systems and so on, as well as the various services and applications associated with them. The significance of ICT cannot be over-emphasized in education. The teaching and learning processes have integrated with the application of ICTs for effectiveness and enhancement of academic performance among the students. Today, as the educational sector is faced with series of changes and reforms, it was noted that the problem of information technology illiteracy was a serious one among the schools’ teachers in the country as it cuts across primary, secondary schools and tertiary institutions. This study investigated the impact of ICT on the academic performance of senior secondary schools students in Gwagwalada Area Council of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. A sample of 120 SSS III students was involved in the study. They were selected by using simple random sampling technique. A questionnaire was developed and validated through expert judgement and reliability co-efficient of 0.81 was obtained. It was used to gather relevant data from the respondents. Findings revealed that there was positive impact of ICT on academic performance of senior secondary schools students. The findings indicated the causes of poor academic performance among the students as lack of qualified teachers to teach in schools, peer group influence, and bullying. Significantly, the findings revealed that ICT had a positive impact on students’ academic performance. The null hypotheses were tested using t-test at 0.05 level of significance. It was discovered that there was significant difference between male and female secondary schools’ students' impact of ICT on academic performance in Gwagawalada Area Council of FCT-Abuja. Based on these findings, some recommendations were made which include: adequate funds should be provided towards procurement of ICT resources, relevant textbooks to enhance students’ active participation in learning processes and students should be provided with internet accessibility at inexpensive rate so as to create a platform for accessing useful information in the pursuit of academic excellence.

Keywords: academic performance, impact, information communication technology, schools, students

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Authors: Yamkela Zitwana

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Soil erosion along the roads and/or road riparian areas has become a norm in the Eastern Cape. Soil erosion refers to the detachment and transportation of soil from one area (onsite) to another (offsite). This displacement or removal of soil can be caused by water, air and sometimes gravity. This will focus on accelerated soil erosion which is the result of human interference with the environment. Engcobo local municipality falls within the Eastern Cape Province in the eastern side of CHRIS HANI District municipality. The focus road is R61 protruding from the Engcobo town outskirts along the Nyanga SSS on the way to Umtata although it will cover few Kilometers away from Engcobo. This research aims at looking at the contribution made by road construction to soil erosion. Steps to achieve the result will involve revisiting the phases of road construction through unstructured interviews, identifying the types of soil erosion evident in the area by doing a checklist, checking the material, utensils and equipment used for road construction and the contribution of road construction through stratified random sampling checking the soil color and texture. This research will use a pragmatic approach which combines related methods and consider the flaws of each method so as to ensure validity, precision and accuracy. Both qualitative and quantitative methods will be used. Statistical methods and GIS analysis will be used to analyze the collected data.

Keywords: soil erosion, road riparian, accelerated soil erosion, road construction, sampling, universal soil loss model, GIS analysis, focus groups, qualitative, quantitative method, research, checklist questionnaires, unstructured interviews, pragmatic approach

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Authors: Nurtati Soewarno, Dian Duhita

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The existence of civilization from the past is recognized by the left objects such as monuments, buildings or even a town. The relics were designed and made well, using the good quality material so it could persist a long period of time. At this moment, those relics are cultural heritage that must be preserved and the authenticity maintained. Indonesia, a country consist of various tribes with many cultural heritages, one of them is the city of Lasem. Lasem city lies in the northern part of Central Java since the Majapahit kingdom era (13th century) poses as a busy harbor city and a trading center. Lasem is one of the residences of Chinese immigrants in Java, seen by the domination of Chinese architectural building styles. The residential was built since the 15th century and the building has the courtyard which is different from other China’s building in another part of Java. This city loses ground since the trade activity experience difficulties during the Japanese colonial era and continues after the Indonesian independence time. Many Chinese people left Lasem city and let the buildings empty not maintained. This paper will present the result of observation to Chinese architectural style buildings in Lasem city which still hold out until this moment. Using typo morphology method, the case study is chosen based on the transformation type. The occurring transformation is parallel with adaptive reuse concept as an effort to revitalize the existence of the buildings. With this concept, it is expected that the buildings could be re functioned and the glory of the foretime Lasem city could be experienced again. Intervention from the local government is expected, issuing regulations, hoping the new building functions won’t ruin the cultural heritage but instead beautifies it.

Keywords: adaptive re-use, brown field area, building transformation, Lasem city

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Authors: Amina Beldjazia, Djamel Alatou, Khaled Missaoui

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The forest of Mahouna is a part of the mountain range of the Tell Atlas in the northeast of Algeria. It is characterized by a significant biodiversity. The management of this resource requires thorough the understanding of the current state of the vegetation (inventories), degradation factors and ongoing monitoring of the various long-term ecological changes. Digital mapping is a very effective way to in-depth knowledge of natural resources. The realization of a vegetation map based on satellite images, aerial photographs and the use of geographic information system (GIS), shows large values results of the vegetation of the massif in the scientific view point (the development of a database of the different formations that exist on the site, ecological conditions) and economic (GIS facilitate our task of managing the various resources and diversity of the forest). The methodology is divided into three stages: the first involves an analysis of climate data (1988 to 2013); the second is to conduct field surveys (soil and phytoecological) during the months of June and July 2013 (10 readings), the third is based on the development of different themes and synthetic cards by software of GIS (ENVI 4.6 and 10 ARCMAP). The results show: cork oak covers an area of 1147 ha. Depending on the environmental conditions, it rests on sandstone and individualizes between 3 layers of vegetation from thermo-mediterranean (the North East part with 40ha), meso-Mediterranean (1061 ha) and finally the supra-Mediterranean (46ha ). The map shows the current actual state of the cork oak forest massif of Mahouna, it is an older forest (>150 years) where regeneration is absent because of several factors (fires, overgrazing, leaching, erosion, etc.). The cork oak is in the form of dense forest with Laburnum and heather as the dominant species. It may also present in open forest dominated by scrub species: Daphne gniduim, Erica arborea, Calycotome spinosa, Phillyrea angustifolia, Lavandula stoechas, Cistus salvifolius.

Keywords: biodiversity, environmental, Mahouna, Cork oak

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Authors: Shagufta Tazin Shathy, Mohammad Imam Hasan Reza

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Fragmentation due to urbanization and agricultural expansion has become the main reason for destruction of forest area and loss of biodiversity particularly in the developing world. At present, the world is experiencing the largest wave of urban growth in human history, and it is estimated that this influx will be mainly taking place in developing world. Therefore, study on urban fragmentation is vital for a sustainable urban development. Landscape fragmentation is one of the most important conservation issues in the last few decades. Habitat fragmentation due to landscape alteration has caused habitat isolation, destruction in ecosystem pattern and processes. Thus, this research analyses the spatial and temporal extent of urban fragmentation using landscape indices in the Kuala Lumpur (KL) – the capital and most populous city in Malaysia. The objective of this study is to examine the urban fragmentation index in KL city. Fragmentation metrics used in the study are: a) Urban landscape ratio (the ratio of urban landscape area and build up area), b) Infill (development that occurred within urbanized open space), and c) Extension (development of exterior open space). After analyzing all three metrics, these are calculated for the combined urban fragmentation index (UFI). In this combined index, all three metrics are given an equal weight. Land cover/ land use maps of the year 1996 and 2005 have been developed from the Landsat TM 30 m resolution satellite image. The year 1996 is taken as a reference year to analyze the changes. The UFI calculated for the year of 1996 and2005 found that the KL city has undergone rapid landscape changes destructing forest ecosystem adversely. Increasing UFI for the year of 1996 compared to 2005 indicates that the developmental activities have been occupying open spaces and fragmenting natural lands and forest. This index can be implemented in other unplanned and rapidly urbanizing Asian cities for example Dhaka and Delhi to calculate the urban fragmentation rate. The findings from the study will help the stakeholders and urban planners for a sustainable urban management planning in this region.

Keywords: GIS, index, sustainable urban management, urbanization

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Authors: B. Kulaga, A. Cinti, F. J. Mazzocchini

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Despite the fact that growing academic attention on dark tourism is a fairly recent phenomenon, among the various reasons for travelling death-related ones, are very ancient. Furthermore, the darker side of human nature has always been fascinated and curious regarding death, or at least, man has always tried to learn lessons from death. This study proposes to describe the phenomenon of dark tourism related to the 2016 earthquake in Central Italy, deadly for 302 people and highly destructive for the rural areas of Lazio, Marche, and Umbria Regions. The primary objective is to examine the motivation-experience relationship in a dark tourism site, using the structural equation model, applied for the first time to a dark tourism research in 2016, in a study conducted after the Beichuan earthquake. The findings of the current study are derived from the calculations conducted on primary data compiled from 350 tourists in the areas mostly affected by the 2016 earthquake, including the town of Amatrice, near the epicenter, Castelluccio, Norcia, Ussita and Visso, through conducting a Likert scale survey. Furthermore, we use the structural equation model to examine the motivation behind dark travel and how this experience can influence the motivation and emotional reaction of tourists. Expected findings are in line with the previous study mentioned above, indicating that: not all tourists visit the thanatourism sites for dark tourism purpose, tourists’ emotional reactions influence more heavily the emotional tourist experience than cognitive experiences do, and curious visitors are likely to engage cognitively by learning about the incident or related issues.

Keywords: dark tourism, emotional reaction, experience, motivation, structural equation model

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Authors: Amleset Haile

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Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) are harvested for both subsistence and commercial use and play a key role in the livelihoods of millions of rural people. Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) are important in rural southwest Ethiopia, Kaffa as a source of household income. market players at various levels in marketing chains are interviewed to getther information on elements of marketing system–products, product differentiation, value addition, pricing, promotion, distribution, and marketing chains. The study, therefore, was conducted in Kaffa Biosphere reserve of southwest Ethiopia with the main objective of assessing and analyzing the contribution of NTFPs to rural livelihood and to the conservation of the biosphere reserve and to identify factors influencing in the marketing of the NTFP. Five villages were selected based on their proximity gradient from Bonga town and availability of NTFP. Formal survey was carried out on rural households selected using stratified random sampling. The results indicate that Local people practice diverse livelihood activities mainly crops cultivation (cereals and cash crops) and livestock husbandry, gather forest products and off-farm/off-forest activities for surviva. NTFP trade is not a common phenomenon in southwest Ethiopia. The greatest opportunity exists for local level marketing of spices and other non timber forest products. Very little local value addition takes place within the region,and as a result local market players have little control. Policy interventions arc required to enhance the returns to local collectors, which will also contribute to sustainable management of forest resources in Kaffa biosphere reserve.

Keywords: forest management, biosphere reserve, marketing, local people

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Authors: Abdalraheem Huwaysh, Khalil Al Samarrai, Yasmin ElAhmar

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Water quality is an important factor that determines its usage for domestic, agricultural and industrial uses. This study was carried out through the Tajoura Area, Jifarah Plain, Northwest Libya. Chemical and physical parameters were measured and analyzed for groundwater samples collected in 2021 from twenty-six wells distributed throughout the investigation area. Overexploitation of groundwater caused considerable deterioration in the water quality, especially at Tajoura Town (20 Km east of Tripoli). The aquifer shows an increase in salinization, which has reached an alarming level in many places during the past 25 years as a result of the seawater intrusion. The chemical composition of the water samples was compared with the drinking water standards of WHO and Libyan Standards. Groundwater from this area was not suitable to be a source for direct drinking based on Total Dissolved Solids. The dominant cation is sodium, while the dominant anion is chloride. Based on the Piper trilinear diagram, most of the groundwater samples (90%) were identified as sodium chloride type. The best groundwater quality exists at the southern part of the study area. Serious degradation in the water quality, expressed in salinity increase, occurs as we go towards the coastline. The abundance of NaCl waters is strong evidence to attribute the successive deterioration of the water quality to the seawater intrusion. Considering the values of Cl- concentration and the ratio of Cl-/HCO3-, about 70% of the groundwater samples were strongly affected by the saline water. Car wash stations in the study area as well as the unlined disposal pond used for the collection of untreated wastewater, contribute significantly to the deterioration of water quality. The water quality in this area needs to be monitored regularly and it is crucial to treat the water before consumption.

Keywords: Tajoura, groundwater, seawater intrusion, water quality

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Authors: Ashneel Ajay Singh, Anish Maharaj, Havish Naidu, Michelle Kumar

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Mangrove patches are the foundation species located in the estuarine land areas. These patches provide a nursery, food source and protection for numerous aquatic, intertidal and well as land-based organisms. Mangroves also help in coastal protection, maintain water clarity and are one of the biggest sinks for blue carbon sequestration. In the Pacific Island countries, numerous coastal communities have a heavy socioeconomic dependence on coastal resources and mangroves play a key ecological and economical role in structuring the availability of these resources. Fiji has a large mangrove patch located in the Votua area of the Ba province. Globally, mangrove population continues to decline with the changes in climatic conditions and anthropogenic activities. Baseline information through wetland maps and time series change are essential references for development of effective mangrove management plans. These maps reveal the status of the resource and the effects arising from anthropogenic activities and climate change. In this study, we used remote sensing and GIS tools for mapping and temporal change detection over a period of >20 years in Votua, Fiji using Landsat imagery. Landsat program started in 1972 initially as Earth Resources Technology Satellite. Since then it has acquired millions of images of Earth. This archive allows mapping of temporal changes in mangrove forests. Mangrove plants consisted of the species Rhizophora stylosa, Rhizophora samoensis, Bruguiera gymnorrhiza, Lumnitzera littorea, Heritiera littoralis, Excoecaria agallocha and Xylocarpus granatum. Change detection analysis revealed significant reduction in the mangrove patch over the years. This information serves as a baseline for the development and implementation of effective management plans for one of Fiji’s biggest mangrove patches.

Keywords: climate change, GIS, Landsat, mangrove, temporal change

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Authors: Parvin Ghafarian, Mohammadreza Mohammadpur Panchah, Mehri Fallahi

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Synoptic patterns from surface up to tropopause are very important for forecasting the weather and atmospheric conditions. There are many tools to prepare and analyze these maps. Reanalysis data and the outputs of numerical weather prediction models, satellite images, meteorological radar, and weather station data are used in world forecasting centers to predict the weather. The forecasting extreme precipitating on the southern coast of the Caspian Sea (CS) is the main issue due to complex topography. Also, there are different types of climate in these areas. In this research, we used two reanalysis data such as ECMWF Reanalysis 5th Generation Description (ERA5) and National Centers for Environmental Prediction /National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) for verification of the numerical model. ERA5 is the latest version of ECMWF. The temporal resolution of ERA5 is hourly, and the NCEP/NCAR is every six hours. Some atmospheric parameters such as mean sea level pressure, geopotential height, relative humidity, wind speed and direction, sea surface temperature, etc. were selected and analyzed. Some different type of precipitation (rain and snow) was selected. The results showed that the NCEP/NCAR has more ability to demonstrate the intensity of the atmospheric system. The ERA5 is suitable for extract the value of parameters for specific point. Also, ERA5 is appropriate to analyze the snowfall events over CS (snow cover and snow depth). Sea surface temperature has the main role to generate instability over CS, especially when the cold air pass from the CS. Sea surface temperature of NCEP/NCAR product has low resolution near coast. However, both data were able to detect meteorological synoptic patterns that led to heavy rainfall over CS. However, due to the time lag, they are not suitable for forecast centers. The application of these two data is for research and verification of meteorological models. Finally, ERA5 has a better resolution, respect to NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data, but NCEP/NCAR data is available from 1948 and appropriate for long term research.

Keywords: synoptic patterns, heavy precipitation, reanalysis data, snow

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Authors: Jerzy Banski

Abstract:

Small towns represent a key element of settlement structure and serve a number of important functions associated with the servicing of rural areas that surround them. It is in light of this that scientific studies have paid considerable attention to the functional structure of centers of this kind, as well as the relationships with both surrounding rural areas and other urban centers. But a preliminary to such research has typically involved attempts at classifying the urban centers themselves, with this also assisting with the planning and shaping of development policy on different spatial scales. The purpose of the work is to test out the methods underpinning three different classifications of small urban centers, as well as to offer a preliminary interpretation of the outcomes obtained. Research took in 722 settlement units in Poland, granted town rights and populated by fewer than 20,000 inhabitants. A morphologically-based classification making reference to the database of topographic objects as regards land cover within the administrative boundaries of towns and cities was carried out, and it proved possible to distinguish the categories of “housing-estate”, industrial and R&R towns, as well as towns characterized by dichotomy. Equally, a functional/morphological approach taken with the same database allowed for the identification – via an alternative method – of three main categories of small towns (i.e., the monofunctional, multifunctional or oligo functional), which could then be described in far greater detail. A third, multi-criterion classification made simultaneous reference to the conditioning of a structural, a location-related, and an administrative hierarchy-related nature, allowing for distinctions to be drawn between small towns in 9 different categories. The results obtained allow for multifaceted analysis and interpretation of the geographical differentiation characterizing the distribution of Poland’s urban centers across space in the country.

Keywords: small towns, classification, local planning, Poland

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Authors: Papazafeiropoulou Olga

Abstract:

The “Athens Dramatic Company” was one of the longest-running and most widely traveled troupes in the history of modern Greek theatre. The theatre company had been established since 1887, and the following: Euthychios Vonaseras, Eleni Kotopoulis, etc., like the founder of the troupe Theodoros Pofantis, referred to the distribution of the works presented in Patras: The price of a crime, The niece of her uncle, Agathopoulos, Amphitryon, The Two Sergeants, Lawyer and Actors, The Crusaders, The Daughter of Pantopolos, He Will Kill Himself, Macbeth, The Two Orphans, The Auction, Pistis Hope and Mercy, Love Attempt, The Crusaders, The lady is in Loutra, Markos Votsaris. In 1921, after peregrinations in Cyprus, Constantinople, Romania, Crete, Thessaloniki, Volos, Smyrna, the “Athens Dramatic Company” toured in Africa, where the Greek communities flourished. In 1923, the collaborations of troupe’s members and the repertoire varied several times, such as in Johannesburg, from where they traveled via Cape Town to Australia, where they presented the works: Dikaioma o Eros, Enochos, Psychokori, Kolokotronis. Atimoi, Voskopoula, Golfo, etc., while they impressed with the tragedy Oedipus Tyrannus, which was watched by Australians. Alongside the “Athens Dramatic Company” was also touring “Vrysoula’s Pantopoulos Troupe” and most of the members of the two troupes went to America, uniting their formation. In 1927, the old leader of “Athens Dramatic Company” (Theodoros Pofantis) decided to re-establish his troupe, but after unpleasant adventures, he passed away. In the year 1934, the Greek Dramatic Troupe of Athens revived with works including: The Man of the Day, A Dying Heart, A Dream Was and Gone, An Inspection, The Two Sergeants, The Mother, the Father-in-Law and the Non-existent Son-in-law, before finally expiring in 1935, after nearly 40 years of historical passage.

Keywords: athens, dramatic, company, universal, troupe

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