Search results for: hilly terrain

Authors: Kusay Wheib, Alexandra Krvchenko

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Crop yields are influenced by many factors, including natural ones, such as soil and environmental characteristics of the agricultural land, as well as manmade ones, such as management applications. One of the factors that frequently affect crop yields in undulating Midwest landscapes is topography, which controls the movement of water and nutrients necessary for plant life. The main objective of this study is to examine how field topography influences performance of different management practices in undulated terrain of southwest Michigan. A total of 26 agricultural fields, ranging in size from 1.1 to 7.4 ha, from the Scale-Up at Kellogg Biological Station were included in the study. The two studied factors were crop species with three levels, i.e., corn (Zea mays L.) soybean (Glycine max L.), and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), and management practice with three levels, i.e., conventional, low input, and organic managements. They were compared under three contrasting topographical settings, namely, summit (includes summits and shoulders), slope (includes backslopes), and depression (includes footslope and toeslope). Yield data of years 2007 through 2012 was processed, cleaned, and filtered, average yield then was calculated for each field, topographic setting, and year. Topography parameters, including terrain, slope, curvature, flow direction and wetness index were computed under ArcGIS environment for each topographic class of each field to seek their effects on yield. Results showed that topographical depressions produced greatest yields in most studied fields, while managements with chemical inputs, both low input and conventional, resulted in higher yields than the organic management.

Keywords: sustainable agriculture, precision agriculture, topography, yield

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Authors: Arindam Chowdhury, Andres Tremante, Mohammadtaghi Moravej, Bodhisatta Hajra, Ioannis Zisis, Peter Irwin

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Extreme wind events, such as hurricanes, have caused significant damage to buildings, resulting in losses worth millions of dollars. The roof of a building is most vulnerable to wind-induced damage due to the high suctions experienced by the roof in extreme wind conditions. Wind turbines fitted to buildings can help generate energy, but to our knowledge, their application to wind load mitigation is not well known. This paper presents results from an experimental study to assess the effect of small wind turbines (developed and patented by the first and second authors) on the wind loads on a low rise building roof. The tests were carried out for an open terrain at the Wall of Wind (WOW) experimental facility at Florida International University (FIU), Miami, Florida, USA, for three cases – bare roof, roof fitted with wind turbines placed closer to the roof edges, and roof with wind turbines placed away from the roof edges. Results clearly indicate that the presence of the wind turbines reduced the mean and peak pressure coefficients (less suction) on the roof when compared to the bare deck case. Furthermore, the peak pressure coefficients were found to be lower (less suction) when the wind turbines were placed closer to the roof, than away from the roof. Flow visualization studies using smoke and gravel clearly showed that the presence of the turbines disrupted the formation of vortices formed by cornering winds, thereby reducing roof suctions and preventing lift off of roof coverings. This study shows that the wind turbines besides generating wind energy, can be used for mitigating wind induced damage to the building roof. Future research must be directed towards understanding the effect of these wind turbines on other roof geometries (e.g. hip/gable) in different terrain conditions.

Keywords: wall of wind, wind loads, wind turbine, building

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Authors: Rahul Jain, Pradhir Parmar, Dhruvesh Patel

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Planning and drawing are the important aspects of civil engineering. For testing theories about spatial location and interaction between land uses and related activities the computer based solution of urban models are used. The planner’s primary interest is in creation of 3D models of building and to obtain the terrain surface so that he can do urban morphological mappings, virtual reality, disaster management, fly through generation, visualization etc. 3D city models have a variety of applications in urban studies. Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) is an ongoing construction site between Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India. It will be built on 3590000 m2 having a geographical coordinates of North Latitude 23°9’5’’N to 23°10’55’’ and East Longitude 72°42’2’’E to 72°42’16’’E. Therefore to develop 3D city models of GIFT city, the base map of the city is collected from GIFT office. Differential Geographical Positioning System (DGPS) is used to collect the Ground Control Points (GCP) from the field. The GCP points are used for the registration of base map in QGIS. The registered map is projected in WGS 84/UTM zone 43N grid and digitized with the help of various shapefile tools in QGIS. The approximate height of the buildings that are going to build is collected from the GIFT office and placed on the attribute table of each layer created using shapefile tools. The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) 1 Arc-Second Global (30 m X 30 m) grid data is used to generate the terrain of GIFT city. The Google Satellite Map is used to place on the background to get the exact location of the GIFT city. Various plugins and tools in QGIS are used to convert the raster layer of the base map of GIFT city into 3D model. The fly through tool is used for capturing and viewing the entire area in 3D of the city. This paper discusses all techniques and their usefulness in 3D city model creation from the GCP, base map, SRTM and QGIS.

Keywords: 3D model, DGPS, GIFT City, QGIS, SRTM

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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: Benjamin K. Ghansah, Richard K. Appoh, Iliya Nababa, Eric K. Forkuo

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The Nasia River is an important source of water for domestic and agricultural purposes to the inhabitants of its catchment. Major farming activities takes place within the floodplain of the river and its network of tributaries. The actual inundation extent of the river system is; however, unknown. Reasons for this lack of information include financial constraints and inadequate human resources as flood modelling is becoming increasingly complex by the day. Knowledge of the inundation extent will help in the assessment of risk posed by the annual flooding of the river, and help in the planning of flood recession agricultural activities. This study used a simple terrain based algorithm, Height Above Nearest Drainage (HAND), to delineate the floodplain of the Nasia River and its tributaries. The HAND model is a drainage normalized digital elevation model, which has its height reference based on the local drainage systems rather than the average mean sea level (AMSL). The underlying principle guiding the development of the HAND model is that hillslope flow paths behave differently when the reference gradient is to the local drainage network as compared to the seaward gradient. The new terrain model of the catchment was created using the NASA’s SRTM Digital Elevation Model (DEM) 30m as the only data input. Contours (HAND Contour) were then generated from the normalized DEM. Based on field flood inundation survey, historical information of flooding of the area as well as satellite images, a HAND Contour of 2m was found to best correlates with the flood inundation extent of the river and its tributaries. A percentage accuracy of 75% was obtained when the surface area created by the 2m contour was compared with surface area of the floodplain computed from a satellite image captured during the peak flooding season in September 2016. It was estimated that the flooding of the Nasia River and its tributaries created a floodplain area of 1011 km².

Keywords: digital elevation model, floodplain, HAND contour, inundation extent, Nasia River

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Authors: Çağrı Bekir Baysal, Göktuğ Burak Çalık

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Armored vehicles may have different traction layouts as a result of terrain capabilities and mobility needs. Two main categories of layouts can be separated as wheeled and tracked. Tracked vehicles have superior off-road capabilities but what they gain on terrain performance they lose on mobility front. Wheeled vehicles on the other hand do not have as good terrain capabilities as tracked vehicles but they have superior mobility capabilities such as top speed, range and agility with respect to tracked vehicles. Conventional armored vehicles employ a diesel ICE as main power source. In these vehicles ICE is mechanically connected to the powertrain. This determines the ICE rpm as a result of speed and torque requested by the driver. ICE efficiency changes drastically with torque and speed required and conventional vehicles suffer in terms of fuel consumption because of this. Hybrid electric vehicles employ at least one electric motor in order to improve fuel efficiency. There are different types of hybrid vehicles but main types are Series Hybrid, Parallel Hybrid and Series-Parallel Hybrid. These vehicles introduce an electric motor for traction and also can have a generator electric motor for range extending purposes. Having an electric motor as the traction power source brings the flexibility of either using the ICE as an alternative traction source while it is in efficient range or completely separating the ICE from traction and using it solely considering efficiency. Hybrid configurations have additional advantages for armored vehicles in addition to fuel efficiency. Heat signature, silent operation and prolonged stationary missions can be possible with the help of the high-power battery pack that will be present in the vehicle for hybrid drivetrain. Because of the reasons explained, hybrid armored vehicles are becoming a target area for military and also for vehicle suppliers. In order to have a better idea and starting point when starting a hybrid armored vehicle design, hybrid drivetrain configuration has to be selected after performing a trade-off study. This study has to include vehicle mobility simulations, integration level, vehicle level and performance level criteria. In this study different hybrid traction configurations possible for an 8x8 vehicle is compared using above mentioned criteria set. In order to compare hybrid traction configurations ease of application, cost, weight advantage, reliability, maintainability, redundancy and performance criteria have been used. Performance criteria points have been defined with the help of vehicle simulations and tests. Results of these simulations and tests also help determining required tractive power for an armored vehicle including conditions like trench and obstacle crossing, gradient climb. With the method explained in this study, each configuration is assigned a point for each criterion. This way, correct configuration can be selected objectively for every application. Also, key aspects of armored vehicles, mine protection and ballistic protection will be considered for hybrid configurations. Results are expected to vary for different types of vehicles but it is observed that having longitudinal differential locking capability improves mobility and having high motor count increases complexity in general.

Keywords: armored vehicles, electric drivetrain, electric mobility, hybrid vehicles

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Authors: Marielcio Lacerda, Angelo Paulino, Elcio Shiguemori, Alvaro Damiao, Lamartine Guimaraes, Camila Anjos

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Accurate information about the terrain is extremely important in disaster management activities or conflict. This paper proposes the use of the Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) at the identification of Airdrop Zones (AZs) and Helicopter Landing Zones (HLZs). In this paper we consider the AZs the zones where troops or supplies are dropped by parachute, and HLZs areas where victims can be rescued. The use of digital image processing enables the automatic generation of an orthorectified mosaic and an actual Digital Surface Model (DSM). This methodology allows obtaining this fundamental information to the terrain’s comprehension post-disaster in a short amount of time and with good accuracy. In order to get the identification and classification of AZs and HLZs images from DJI drone, model Phantom 4 have been used. The images were obtained with the knowledge and authorization of the responsible sectors and were duly registered in the control agencies. The flight was performed on May 24, 2017, and approximately 1,300 images were obtained during approximately 1 hour of flight. Afterward, new attributes were generated by Feature Extraction (FE) from the original images. The use of multispectral images and complementary attributes generated independently from them increases the accuracy of classification. The attributes of this work include the Declivity Map and Principal Component Analysis (PCA). For the classification four distinct classes were considered: HLZ 1 – small size (18m x 18m); HLZ 2 – medium size (23m x 23m); HLZ 3 – large size (28m x 28m); AZ (100m x 100m). The Decision Tree method Random Forest (RF) was used in this work. RF is a classification method that uses a large collection of de-correlated decision trees. Different random sets of samples are used as sampled objects. The results of classification from each tree and for each object is called a class vote. The resulting classification is decided by a majority of class votes. In this case, we used 200 trees for the execution of RF in the software WEKA 3.8. The classification result was visualized on QGIS Desktop 2.12.3. Through the methodology used, it was possible to classify in the study area: 6 areas as HLZ 1, 6 areas as HLZ 2, 4 areas as HLZ 3; and 2 areas as AZ. It should be noted that an area classified as AZ covers the classifications of the other classes, and may be used as AZ, HLZ of large size (HLZ3), medium size (HLZ2) and small size helicopters (HLZ1). Likewise, an area classified as HLZ for large rotary wing aircraft (HLZ3) covers the smaller area classifications, and so on. It was concluded that images obtained through small UAV are of great use in calamity situations since they can provide data with high accuracy, with low cost, low risk and ease and agility in obtaining aerial photographs. This allows the generation, in a short time, of information about the features of the terrain in order to serve as an important decision support tool.

Keywords: disaster management, unmanned aircraft systems, helicopter landing zones, airdrop zones, random forest

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Authors: Recep Gundogan, Turgay Dindaroglu, Hikmet Gunal, Mustafa Ulukavak, Ron Bingner

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A majority of total soil losses in agricultural areas could be attributed to ephemeral gullies caused by heavy rains in conventionally tilled fields; however, ephemeral gully erosion is often ignored in conventional soil erosion assessments. Ephemeral gullies are often easily filled from normal soil tillage operations, which makes capturing the existing ephemeral gullies in croplands difficult. This study was carried out to determine topographic features, including slope and aspect composite topographic index (CTI) and initiation points of gully channels, using images obtained from unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) images. The study area was located in Topcu stream watershed in the eastern Mediterranean Region, where intense rainfall events occur over very short time periods. The slope varied between 0.7 and 99.5%, and the average slope was 24.7%. The UAV (multi-propeller hexacopter) was used as the carrier platform, and images were obtained with the RGB camera mounted on the UAV. The digital terrain models (DTM) of Topçu stream micro catchment produced using UAV images and manual field Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements were compared to assess the accuracy of UAV based measurements. Eighty-one gully channels were detected in the study area. The mean slope and CTI values in the micro-catchment obtained from DTMs generated using UAV images were 19.2% and 3.64, respectively, and both slope and CTI values were lower than those obtained using GPS measurements. The total length and volume of the gully channels were 868.2 m and 5.52 m³, respectively. Topographic characteristics and information on ephemeral gully channels (location of initial point, volume, and length) were estimated with high accuracy using the UAV images. The results reveal that UAV-based measuring techniques can be used in lieu of existing GPS and total station techniques by using images obtained with high-resolution UAVs.

Keywords: aspect, compound topographic index, digital terrain model, initial gully point, slope, unmanned aerial vehicle

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Authors: Wu Yiqun, Weng Jiantao

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The human settlements of China are picked up from the land use vector map by interpreting the Thematic Map of 2014. This paper established the sustainable human settlements geographical division evaluation system and division model using GIS. The results show that: The density of human residential areas in China is different, and the density of sustainable human areas is higher, and the west is lower than that in the West. The regional differences of sustainable human settlements are obvious: the north is larger than that the south, the plain regions are larger than those of the hilly regions, and the developed regions are larger than the economically developed regions. The geographical distribution of the sustainable human settlements is measured by the degree of porosity. The degree of porosity correlates with the sustainable human settlement density. In the area where the sustainable human settlement density is high the porosity is low, the distribution is even and the gap between the settlements is low.

Keywords: GIS, geographical division, sustainable human settlements, China

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Authors: Ajay Kumar Pandey

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White grub (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), locally known as Kurmula, Pagra, Chinchu, is a major destructive pest in western Himalayan region of Uttarakhand state of India. Various crops like cereals (up land paddy, wheat, and barley), vegetables (capsicum, cabbage, tomato, cauliflower, carrot etc) and some pulse (like pigeon pea, green gram, black gram) are grown with limited availability of primary resources. Among the various limitations in successful cultivation of these crops, white grub has been proved a major constraint in for all crops grown in hilly area. The losses incurred due to white grubs are huge in case of commercial crops like sugarcane, groundnut, potato, maize and upland rice. Moreover, it has been proved major constraint in potato production in mid and higher hills of India. Adults emerge in May-June following the onset of monsoon and thereafter defoliate the apple, apricot, plum, and walnut during night while 2nd and 3rd instar grubs feed on live roots of cultivated as well as non cultivated crops from August to January. Survey was conducted in hilly (Pauri and Tehri) as well as plain area (Haridwar district) of Uttarakhand state. Collection of beetle was done from various locations from August to September of five consecutive years with the help of light trap and directly from host plant. The grub was also collected by excavating one square meter area from different locations and reared in laboratory to find out adult. During the collection, the diseased or dead cadaver were also collected and brought in the laboratory and identified the causal organisms. Total 25 species of white grub was identified out of which Holotrichia longipennis, Anomala dimidiata, Holotrichia lineatopennis, Maladera insanabilis, Brahmina sp. make complex problem in different area of Uttarakhand where they cause severe damage to various crops. During the survey, it was observed that white grubs beetles have variation in preference of host plant, even in choice of fruit and leaves of host plant. It was observed that, a white grub species, which identified as Lepidiota mansueta Burmeister., was causing severe havoc to sugarcane crop grown in major sugarcane growing belt of Haridwar district. The study also revealed that Bacillus cereus, Beauveria bassiana, Metarhizium anisopliae, Steinernema, Heterorhabditis are major disease causing agents in immature stage of white grub under rain-fed condition of Uttarakhand which caused 15.55 to 21.63 percent natural mortality of grubs with an average of 18.91 percent. However, among the microorganisms, B. cereus found to be significantly more efficient (7.03 percent mortality) then the entomopathogenic fungi (3.80 percent mortality) and nematodes (3.20 percent mortality).

Keywords: Lepidiota, profiling, Uttarakhand, whitegrub

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Authors: Kaycee Bills

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This study examined the mobility experiences faced by female older adults who have physical disabilities and require the use of wheelchairs or other equipment for mobility. Despite the advances in ADA policies that were put in place to accommodate those who have disabilities, the findings of this study suggest that women who are older adults with disabilities face mobility issues in rural regions regarding the steepness of ramps, narrow spaces, and rough terrain on a regular basis), which require additional assistance. Implications for future practice and research are discussed.

Keywords: social work, accessibility, disability, gender equality

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Authors: Yuanrui Xu, Zailin Yang, Yunqiu Song, Guanxixi Jiang

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It is an important subject of seismology on the influence of local topography on ground motion during earthquake. In mountainous areas with complex terrain, the construction of the tunnel is often the most effective transportation scheme. In these projects, the local terrain can be simplified into hills with different shapes, and the underground tunnel structure can be regarded as a subsurface cavity. The presence of the subsurface cavity affects the strength of the rock mass and changes the deformation and failure characteristics. Moreover, the scattering of the elastic waves by underground structures usually interacts with local terrains, which leads to a significant influence on the surface displacement of the terrains. Therefore, it is of great practical significance to study the surface displacement of local terrains with underground tunnels in earthquake engineering and seismology. In this work, the region is divided into three regions by the method of region matching. By using the fractional Bessel function and Hankel function, the complex function method, and the wave function expansion method, the wavefield expression of SH waves is introduced. With the help of a constitutive relation between the displacement and the stress components, the hoop stress and radial stress is obtained subsequently. Then, utilizing the continuous condition at different region boundaries, the undetermined coefficients in wave fields are solved by the Fourier series expansion and truncation of the finite term. Finally, the validity of the method is verified, and the surface displacement amplitude is calculated. The surface displacement amplitude curve is discussed in the numerical results. The results show that different parameters, such as radius and buried depth of the tunnel, wave number, and incident angle of the SH wave, have a significant influence on the amplitude of surface displacement. For the underground tunnel, the increase of buried depth will make the response of surface displacement amplitude increases at first and then decreases. However, the increase of radius leads the response of surface displacement amplitude to appear an opposite phenomenon. The increase of SH wave number can enlarge the amplitude of surface displacement, and the change of incident angle can obviously affect the amplitude fluctuation.

Keywords: method of region matching, scattering of SH wave, subsurface cavity, trapezoidal hill

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Authors: Hana Drštičková

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The paper describes the findings of a qualitative, engaged research focused on the intersection between transgender and autistic identity in a politically engaged setting of activist (trans, queer, crip, disability justice or any combination thereof) groups. It explores the relationship that autistic and trans people have towards activism and how do they feel their identity(ies) impact the kind of political action they take. Geographically, the research terrain is located mainly in Czechia; however, there are important overlaps with other Eastern European countries. The basis of the research’s approach is built on the interconnected principles of the feminist theory of intersectionality, queer/trans studies, disability studies and the concept of the Neurodiversity Paradigm. This paper argues that the social phenomenon of autism and transness is formed differently in Czechia/Eastern Europe and, therefore, deserves additional attention. Nevertheless, it points out that, even though the socio-political context is different, the fact that these identities have a radical political potential to disrupt normative structures in society remains the same. The measure of oppression these structures generate, and the near absence of any public discourse beyond the pathological paradigm in the chosen terrain contributes to the emergence of mainly queer and trans-activist, and to a lesser extent crip, disability justice or mad activist groups, that attract trans and autistic membership. The subsections of the research focus on the topics of the mutual influence of both identities in flux within individual participants, the perceived (dis)connection of networks of oppression or, conversely, support and identification with the community or communities, and the question of how the trans* and autistic members feel their presence affects the activity, internal dynamics, thematic scope and general values of the activist groups they participate in. The research methodology includes participant observation and active participation in groups where the researcher acts as a partial insider, semi-structured in-depth interviews and a critical participatory methodology. Also included is the reflection of not only the combination of researcher and insider roles but also the combination of research and activist intent.

Keywords: activism, autism, queer, neurodiversity, neuroqueer, transgender

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Authors: Clara Oliver, Oibar Martinez, Jose Miguel Miranda

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This paper is devoted to the study of the most suitable protocols to verify the lightning protection and ground resistance quality in a large-scale scientific facility located in a harsh environment. We illustrate this work by reviewing a case study: the largest telescopes of the Northern Hemisphere Cherenkov Telescope Array, CTA-N. This array hosts sensitive and high-speed optoelectronics instrumentation and sits on a clear, free from obstacle terrain at around 2400 m above sea level. The site offers a top-quality sky but also features challenging conditions for a lightning protection system: the terrain is volcanic and has resistivities well above 1 kOhm·m. In addition, the environment often exhibits humidities well below 5%. On the other hand, the high complexity of a Cherenkov telescope structure does not allow a straightforward application of lightning protection standards. CTA-N has been conceived as an array of fourteen Cherenkov Telescopes of two different sizes, which will be constructed in La Palma Island, Spain. Cherenkov Telescopes can provide valuable information on different astrophysical sources from the gamma rays reaching the Earth’s atmosphere. The largest telescopes of CTA are called LST’s, and the construction of the first one was finished in October 2018. The LST has a shape which resembles a large parabolic antenna, with a 23-meter reflective surface supported by a tubular structure made of carbon fibers and steel tubes. The reflective surface has 400 square meters and is made of an array of segmented mirrors that can be controlled individually by a subsystem of actuators. This surface collects and focuses the Cherenkov photons into the camera, where 1855 photo-sensors convert the light in electrical signals that can be processed by dedicated electronics. We describe here how the risk assessment of direct strike impacts was made and how down conductors and ground system were both tested. The verification protocols which should be applied for the commissioning and operation phases are then explained. We stress our attention on the ground resistance quality assessment.

Keywords: grounding, large scale scientific instrument, lightning risk assessment, lightning standards and safety

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Authors: Vinod Kumar Jaysaval, Prateek Agarwal

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Performance prediction of airborne radar is a challenging and cumbersome task in clutter scenario for different types of targets. A generalized model requires to predict the performance of Radar for air targets as well as ground moving targets. In this paper, we propose a generalized model to bring out the performance of airborne radar for different Pulsed Repetition Frequency (PRF) as well as different type of targets. The model provides a platform to bring out different subsystem parameters for different applications and performance requirements under different types of clutter terrain.

Keywords: airborne radar, blind zone, clutter, probability of detection

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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: Riffat Sultana Pathan, Waheed Ali Panhwar, Muhammad Saeed Wagan

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Tettigonioidea are phytophagous insects damaging agricultural crops, forest, fruit orchards, berry shrubs, and grasses. The material was collected from different agricultural fields of rice, sugarcane, wheat, maize surrounding by different grasses. Beside this, forest, hilly areas, semi-desert and desert regions were also inspected time to time. All material was captured, killed and stored by using the standard entomological method. As a result of extensive survey fair numbers were captured from the different climatic zone of country. Seven sub-families of Tettigonioidea viz: Pseudophyllinae, Phaneropterinae, Conocephalinae, Tettigoniinae, Hexacentrinae, Mecopodinae and Decticinae came in collection. This fauna contributes 29 new records to Pakistan and 5 new species to science. Beside this, a brief description of each supra-generic category of Tettigonioidea along with photographs and synonymy is also documented. In addition to this, detailed list of host plants from Pakistan was also composed. This study provides important data for Integrated Pest Management (IPM) of Tettigonioidea biodiversity conservation and grassland restoration in Pakistan.

Keywords: agriculture, conocephalinae, pest, phaneropterinae, tettigoniidae

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Authors: Xiaofeng Fu

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This paper begins with the deconstruction of the localization of China's bicycle renaissance. Then think about how to scientifically plan bicycle traffic in a sustainable way in typed cities, especially in mountainous cities, because they need to respond to more serious geographical issues. Therefore, by sorting out the international research on bicycle traffic in mountainous cities, bike-ability is summarized as a prevalent qualitative analysis medium. Then this paper lists the influencing factors of likeability, the general research framework, and responds to the common problem of mountain cities, that is, the treatment of road longitudinal slopes, to assist urban managers in assessing whether the city's complex terrain is suitable for cycling and identifying possible improvements.

Keywords: traffic planning, bikeability, cycling suitability, mountainous cities

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Authors: Karolina Porada

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Over the last 40 years, there has been a trend in landscape architecture which supporters do not perceive the role of pro-ecological or postmodern solutions in the design of public green spaces as an essential goal, shifting their attention to the 'sculptural' shaping of areas with the use of slopes, hills, embankments, and other forms of terrain. This group of designers can be considered avant-garde, which in its activities refers to land art. Initial research shows that such applications are particularly frequent in places of former post-industrial sites and landfills, utilizing materials such as debris and post-mining waste in their construction. Due to the high degradation of the environment surrounding modern man, the brownfields are a challenge and a field of interest for the representatives of landscape architecture avant-garde, who through their projects try to recover lost lands by means of transformations supported by engineering and ecological knowledge to create places where nature can develop again. The analysis of a dozen or so facilities made it possible to come up with an important conclusion: apart from the cultural aspects (including artistic activities), the green areas formally referring to the land are important in the process of remediation of post-industrial sites and waste recycling (e. g. from construction sites). In these processes, there is also a potential for applying the concept of Natural Based Solutions, i.e. solutions allowing for the natural development of the site in such a way as to use it to cope with environmental problems, such as e.g.  air pollution, soil phytoremediation and climate change. The paper presents examples of modern parks, whose compositions are based on shaping the surface of the terrain in a way referring to the land art, at the same time providing an example of brownfields reuse and application of waste recycling.  For the purposes of object analysis, research methods such as historical-interpretation studies, case studies, qualitative research or the method of logical argumentation were used. The obtained results provide information about the role that landscape architecture can have in the process of remediation of degraded areas, at the same time guaranteeing the benefits, such as the shaping of landscapes attractive in terms of visual appearance, low costs of implementation, and improvement of the natural environment quality.

Keywords: brownfields, contemporary parks, landscape architecture, remediation

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Authors: Yuhang Zou, Zhu Wang

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Most of the western part of China is mountainous and hilly region, with abundant resources of mountainous space. However, the resources are complex, and the ecological factors are diverse. As urbanization expands rapidly today, the landscape of the mountain residence needs to be changed. This paper, starting with the ecological environment and visual landscape of the mountain living space, analyzes the basic conditions of the Eling Peak, ‘Mirror of the Sky’, in Chongqing, China before its landscape renovation. Then, it analyzes some parts of the project, including the overall planning, ecological coordination, space expansion and local conditions in mountain environment. After that, this paper concludes the intention of designer and 4 methods, appropriate demolition, space reconstruction, landscape modeling and reasonable road system, to transform the master’s mountain residential works. Finally, through the analysis and understanding of the project, it sums up that the most beautiful landscape is not only the outdoor space, but also borrowing scene from the city and the sky, making them a part of the mountainous residential buildings. Only in this way can people, landscape, building, sky, and city become integrated and coexist harmoniously.

Keywords: landscape design, mountainous architecture, renovation, residence

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Authors: Eugene Eduful

Abstract:

This paper introduces an approach that utilizes a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) to detect vegetation encroachment between segments of distribution lines. The WSN was designed and implemented, involving the seamless integration of Arduino Uno and Mega systems. This integration demonstrates a method for addressing the challenges posed by vegetation interference. The primary aim of the study is to improve the reliability of power supply in areas characterized by forested terrain, specifically targeting overhead powerlines. The experimental results validate the effectiveness of the proposed system, revealing its ability to accurately identify and locate instances of vegetation encroachment with a remarkably high degree of precision.

Keywords: wireless sensor network, vegetation encroachment, line of sight, Arduino Uno, XBEE

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Authors: Sondos Shaheen

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This paper employs a newly constructed composite indicator of social uprisings (SUCI) to analyze the causes of their occurrence. This empirical study is based on an unbalanced panel of 45 countries over the period of 1982–2007. The paper’s contribution to the literature is distinguishing between the causes of violent and nonviolent uprisings. The analysis shows that that certain variables have a significant impact on both violent and nonviolent uprisings in terms of relative SUCI values, for example, ethnic fractionalization and mountainous terrain. Nevertheless, differences between the causes of violent and nonviolent uprisings can be found. For example, life dissatisfaction is related to nonviolent social uprisings, but when life dissatisfaction is accompanied by democratic dissatisfaction, violent social uprisings are more likely.

Keywords: social uprisings, relative deprivation, dissatisfaction, mobilization, anti-government movements, causes

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Authors: Veenapani Rajeev Verma

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Context: Assessing facility readiness is paramount as it can indicate capacity of facilities to provide essential care for resilience to health challenges. In the context of decentralization, estimation of supply side readiness indices at sub national level is imperative for effective evidence based policy but remains a colossal challenge due to lack of dependable and representative data sources. Setting: District Poonch of Jammu and Kashmir was selected for this study. It is remote, rural district with unprecedented topographical barriers and is identified as high priority by government. It is also a fragile area as is bounded by Line of Control with Pakistan bearing the brunt of cease fire violations, military skirmishes and sporadic militant attacks. Hilly geographical terrain, rudimentary/absence of road network and impoverishment are quintessential to this area. Objectives: Objective of the study is to a) Evaluate the service readiness of health facilities and create a concise index subsuming plethora of discrete indicators and b) Ascertain supply side barriers in service provisioning via stakeholder’s analysis. Study also strives to expand analytical domain unravelling context and area specific intricacies associated with service delivery. Methodology: Mixed method approach was employed to triangulate quantitative analysis with qualitative nuances. Facility survey encompassing 90 Subcentres, 44 Primary health centres, 3 Community health centres and 1 District hospital was conducted to gauge general service availability and service specific availability (depth of coverage). Compendium of checklist was designed using Indian Public Health Standards (IPHS) in form of standard core questionnaire and scorecard generated for each facility. Information was collected across dimensions of amenities, equipment, medicines, laboratory and infection control protocols as proposed in WHO’s Service Availability and Readiness Assesment (SARA). Two stage polychoric principal component analysis employed to generate a parsimonious index by coalescing an array of tracer indicators. OLS regression method used to determine factors explaining composite index generated from PCA. Stakeholder analysis was conducted to discern qualitative information. Myriad of techniques like observations, key informant interviews and focus group discussions using semi structured questionnaires on both leaders and laggards were administered for critical stakeholder’s analysis. Results: General readiness score of health facilities was found to be 0.48. Results indicated poorest readiness for subcentres and PHC’s (first point of contact) with composite score of 0.47 and 0.41 respectively. For primary care facilities; principal component was characterized by basic newborn care as well as preparedness for delivery. Results revealed availability of equipment and surgical preparedness having lowest score (0.46 and 0.47) for facilities providing secondary care. Presence of contractual staff, more than 1 hr walk to facility, facilities in zone A (most vulnerable) to cross border shelling and facilities inaccessible due to snowfall and thick jungles was negatively associated with readiness index. Nonchalant staff attitude, unavailability of staff quarters, leakages and constraint in supply chain of drugs and consumables were other impediments identified. Conclusions/Policy Implications: It is pertinent to first strengthen primary care facilities in this setting. Complex dimensions such as geographic barriers, user and provider behavior is not under precinct of this methodology.

Keywords: effective coverage, principal component analysis, readiness index, universal health coverage

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Authors: Simon L. Madsen, Mads Dyrmann, Morten S. Laursen, Rasmus N. Jørgensen

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Recent advances in the Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) safety and perception systems enable safe low altitude autonomous terrain following flights recently demonstrated by the consumer DJI Mavic PRO and Phamtom 4 Pro drones. This paper presents the first prototype system utilizing this functionality in form of semi-automated UAS based collection of crop/weed images where the embedded perception system ensures a significantly safer and faster gathering of weed images with sub-millimeter resolution. The system is to be used when the weeds are at cotyledon stage and prior to the harvest recognizing the grass weed species, which cannot be discriminated at the cotyledon stage.

Keywords: weed mapping, UAV, DJI SDK, automation, cotyledon plants

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Authors: Jiří Barta

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The paper deals with simulation programs of spread of harmful substances. Air pollution has a direct impact on the quality of human life and environmental protection is currently a very hot topic. Therefore, the paper focuses on the simulation of release of harmful substances. The first part of article deals with perspectives and possibilities of implementation outputs of simulations programs into the system which is education and of practical training of the management staff during emergency events in the frame of critical infrastructure. The last part shows the practical testing and evaluation of simulation programs. Of the tested simulations software been selected Symos97. The tool offers advanced features for setting leakage. Gradually allows the user to model the terrain, location, and method of escape of harmful substances.

Keywords: Computer Simulation, Symos97, Spread, Simulation Software, Harmful Substances

Procedia PDF Downloads 261

Authors: K. M. Kheiralla, M. A. Ali, M. Y. Abdelgalil, N. E. Mohamed, G. Boutsis

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The present study focus on integrated geophysical surveys carried out in the mineralization zone in Erkowit region, Eastern Sudan to determine the extensions of the potential ore deposits on the topographically high hilly area and under the cover of alluvium along the nearby wadi and to locate other occurrences if any. The magnetic method (MAG) and the electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) were employed for the survey. Eleven traverses were aligned approximately at right angles to the general strike of the rock formations. The disseminated sulfides are located on the alteration shear zone which is composed of granitic and dioritic highly ferruginated rock occupying the southwestern and central parts of the area, this was confirmed using thin and polished sections mineralogical analysis. The magnetic data indicates low magnetic values for wadi sedimentary deposits in its southern part of the area, and high anomalies which are suspected as gossans due to magnetite formed during wall rock alteration consequent to mineralization. The significant ERT images define low resistivity zone as traced as sheared zones which may associated with the main loci of ore deposition. The study designates that correlation of magnetic and ERT anomalies with lithology are extremely useful in mineral exploration due to variations in some specific physical properties of rocks.

Keywords: ERT, magnetic, mineralization, Red Sea, Sudan

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Authors: E. Baltas, E. Feloni, G. Bariamis

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The operation of a network of hydrometeorological-hydrometric stations is basic infrastructure for the management of water resources, as well as, for flood protection. The assessment of water resources potential led to the necessity of adoption management practices including a multi-criteria analysis for the optimum design of the region’s station network. This research work aims at the optimisation of a new/existing network, using GIS methods. The planning of optimum network stations is based on the guidelines of international organizations such as World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The uniform spatial distribution of the stations, the drainage basin for the hydrometric stations and criteria concerning the low terrain slope, the accessibility to the stations and proximity to hydrological interest sites, were taken into consideration for its development. The abovementioned methodology has been implemented for two different areas the Florina municipality and the Argolis area in Greece, and comparison of the results has been conducted.

Keywords: GIS, hydrometeorological, hydrometric, network, optimisation

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Authors: Chamnan Kumsap, Somsarit Sinnung, Suriyawate Boonthalarath, Teeranai Srithamarong

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This research paper addresses the GIS analysis approach to the investigation of suitable sites for a vertical takeoff and landing drone. The study manipulated GIS and terrain layers into a proper input before the spatial analysis that included slope, reclassify, classify, and buffer was applied to the individual layers. The output layers were weighted, and multi-criteria analyzed before those patches failing to comply with filtering out criteria were discarded. Field survey for each suitable candidate site was conducted to cross-check the proposed approach with the real world. Conclusion was extracted for the VTOL takeoff and landing sites, and discussion was provided with further study being suggested on the mission simulation of selected takeoff and landing sites.

Keywords: GIS approach, site selection, VTOL, takeoff and landing

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Authors: Conrad Weber

Abstract:

The modelling of railway noise over large projects areas can be very time consuming in terms of preparing the noise models and calculation time. An open-source GIS program has been utilised to assist with the modelling of operational noise levels for 675km of railway corridor. A range of GIS algorithms were utilised to break up the noise model area into manageable calculation sizes. GIS was utilised to prepare and filter a range of noise modelling inputs, including building files, land uses and ground terrain. A spreadsheet was utilised to manage the accuracy of key input parameters, including train speeds, train types, curve corrections, bridge corrections and engine notch settings. GIS was utilised to present the final noise modelling results. This paper explains the noise modelling process and how the spreadsheet and GIS were utilised to accurately model this massive project efficiently.

Keywords: noise, modeling, GIS, rail

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Authors: R. Praveen, B. R. Chandan Ravi, M. Harikrishna

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Squeak and rattle noises are the most annoying transient vehicle noises produced due to different terrain conditions. Interpretation and prohibition of squeak and rattle noises are the dominant aspects of a vehicle refinement. This paper describes the computer-aided engineering (CAE) approach to evaluating the full vehicle squeak and rattle performance with the measured road surface profile as enforced excitation at the tire patch points. The E-Line methodology has been used to predict the relative displacement at the interface points and the risk areas were identified. Squeak and rattle performance has been evaluated at different speeds and at different road conditions to understand the vehicle characteristics. The competence of the process in predicting the risk and root cause of the problems showcased us a pleasing conformity between the physical testing and CAE simulation results.

Keywords: e-line, enforced excitation, full vehicle, squeak and rattle, road excitation

Procedia PDF Downloads 119