Search results for: spatial resolution

Authors: Nguyen Tien Thanh, Günter Meon

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Precipitation plays a key role in water cycle, defining the local climatic conditions and in ecosystem. It is also an important input parameter for water resources management and hydrologic models. With spatial continuous data, a certainty of discharge predictions or other environmental factors is unquestionably better than without. This is, however, not always willingly available to acquire for a small basin, especially for coastal region in Vietnam due to a low network of meteorological stations (30 stations) on long coast of 3260 km2. Furthermore, available gridded precipitation datasets are not fine enough when applying to hydrologic models. Under conditions of global warming, an application of spatial interpolation methods is a crucial for the climate change impact studies to obtain the spatial continuous data. In recent research projects, although some methods can perform better than others do, no methods draw the best results for all cases. The objective of this paper therefore, is to investigate different spatial interpolation methods for daily precipitation over a small basin (approximately 400 km2) located in coastal region, Southern Vietnam and find out the most efficient interpolation method on this catchment. The five different interpolation methods consisting of cressman, ordinary kriging, regression kriging, dual kriging and inverse distance weighting have been applied to identify the best method for the area of study on the spatio-temporal scale (daily, 10 km x 10 km). A 30-year precipitation database was created and merged into available gridded datasets. Finally, observed changes in constructed precipitation were performed. The results demonstrate that the method of ordinary kriging interpolation is an effective approach to analyze the daily precipitation. The mixed trends of increasing and decreasing monthly, seasonal and annual precipitation have documented at significant levels.

Keywords: interpolation, precipitation, trend, vietnam

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Authors: Ejovi Eghwubare Augustine

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This study delved into the traditional mechanisms of conflict resolution in Africa, a pathway to sustainable peace in Nigeria. It deployed the quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection and content analysis. The work adopted the Peace Process theory propounded by John Darby and Roger Macunity. It ascertained that disputes or disagreements are unarguably and necessarily an inevitable part of human existence, flowing directly from communication, interaction, and relationships which can occur at individual and national levels, even at international levels in view of the current trend of globalization. The alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism is a basket of procedures outside the traditional process of litigation or strict determination of legal rights. It may also be elucidated as a range of procedures that serve as generally involve the intercession and assistance of a neutral and impartial third party. The traditional mechanisms of conflict resolution in Africa are alien to the Western world; this paper is of utmost importance to the Western world and also enriched their pool of literature. Nigeria is a country that is dominated by various ethnic groups anchored on diverse cultures, customs, and traditions. It is, therefore, not surprising to see conflicts arise, and despite the various attempts at resolving these conflicts through litigation, they still remained unabated. The paper investigated the lessons learned from Traditional Mechanisms of Conflict resolution; it also interrogated its impact and the way forward. In light of the lessons that were learned and the impact of the traditional mechanisms of conflict resolution, suggestions on how to attain a sustainable, peaceful society were proffered. In conclusion, the study crystallized reforms on the alternative dispute resolution introduced through the traditional mechanism, which includes, amongst others, that constitutional recognition should be given to traditional institutions of conflict resolution to enable quick dispensation of matters.

Keywords: traditional, conflict, peace, resolution

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Authors: Anita Afriana, Efa Laela Fakhriah

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The law of civil procedure which is currently in effect in Indonesia is still referring to the rules applicable at the time of the Dutch East Indies, that is Het Herziene Indonesisch Reglement (HIR) and Reglement Tot Regeling Van Het Rechtswezen In De gewesten Buiten Java En Madura (RBg). With the fact that the enactment of this has been very long, there are some things that are no longer suitable with the circumstances and needs of the community in seeking justice today. Therefore, a new regulation on the law of civil procedure is required and the discussions of the draft are currently being carried out. The fast examination of dispute in civil procedure is required to accelerate the growth of Indonesia’s economy by accelerating the dispute resolution method (time efficiency). With the provision of the quick examination on commercial disputes mentioned above, it is expected to benefit the community in order to obtain a tool of dispute resolution efficiently and effectively, so as making justice fast and inexpensive, especially for the resolution of commercial disputes.

Keywords: commercial dispute, civil law procedure, court, Indonesia

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Authors: Daijun Chen

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Affordable housing is subsidized by the government to meet the housing demand of low and middle-income urban residents in the process of urbanization and to alleviate the housing inequality caused by market-based housing reforms. It is a recognized fact that the living conditions of the insured have been improved while constructing the subsidized housing. However, the choice of affordable housing is mostly in the suburbs, where the surrounding urban functions and infrastructure are incomplete, resulting in the spatial mismatch of "jobs-housing" in affordable housing. The main reason for this problem is that the residents of affordable housing are more sensitive to the spatial location of their residence, but their selectivity and controllability to the housing location are relatively weak, which leads to higher commuting costs. Their real cost of living has not been effectively reduced. In this regard, 92 subsidized housing communities in Nanjing, China, are selected as the research sample in this paper. The residents of the affordable housing and their commuting Spatio-temporal behavior characteristics are identified based on the LBS (location-based service) data. Based on the spatial mismatch theory, spatial mismatch indicators such as commuting distance and commuting time are established to measure the spatial mismatch degree of subsidized housing in different districts of Nanjing. Furthermore, the geographically weighted regression model is used to analyze the influencing factors of the spatial mismatch of affordable housing in terms of the provision of employment opportunities, traffic accessibility and supporting service facilities by using spatial, functional and other multi-source Spatio-temporal big data. The results show that the spatial mismatch of affordable housing in Nanjing generally presents a "concentric circle" pattern of decreasing from the central urban area to the periphery. The factors affecting the spatial mismatch of affordable housing in different spatial zones are different. The main reasons are the number of enterprises within 1 km of the affordable housing district and the shortest distance to the subway station. And the low spatial mismatch is due to the diversity of services and facilities. Based on this, a spatial optimization strategy for different levels of spatial mismatch in subsidized housing is proposed. And feasible suggestions for the later site selection of subsidized housing are also provided. It hopes to avoid or mitigate the impact of "spatial mismatch," promote the "spatial adaptation" of "jobs-housing," and truly improve the overall welfare level of affordable housing residents.

Keywords: affordable housing, spatial mismatch, commuting characteristics, spatial adaptation, welfare benefits

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Authors: Lucie Pospíšilová, Robert Osman, Hana Porkertová

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The scholarly literature demonstrates disability and masculinity in conflict with each other. While disability is associated with dependence, weakness, or helplessness, masculinity is associated with independence, strength, and power. Thus, disabled masculinity might be a dilemma experienced on a personal level. The relationship between masculinity and disability is also interesting from a geographical point of view because the conception of space is gendered. In our society, the skills like spatial orientation, working with the maps, and navigation technologies as same as with scale are associated with masculinity. And because these skills are related to the visual imagination, it is the blindness that is associated with the limitation or even the absence of them. Thus, the conflict of masculinity and disability in the spatial experience is very well apparent in the case of visually impaired men. To study this conflict can tell us a lot not only about the experience of visually impaired men but also about the conception of space in geography and in our society. The paper uses Henri Lefebvre's theory of space based on a triad of spatial practice, representations of space, and representational space. It answers the question: How masculinity and disability intersect in the spatial experience of visually impaired men? The data come from research conducted in Brno and Prague (Czechia) in 2020 and 2021 and include 7 interviews and 6 go-alongs with visually impaired men.

Keywords: disability, masculinity, abstract space, spatial experience, visually impaired men

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Authors: Temenuzhka Spasova, Nadya Yanakieva

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Snow modulates the hydrological cycle and influences the functioning of ecosystems and is a significant resource for many populations whose water is harvested from cold regions. Snow observations are important for validating climate models. The accumulation and rapid melt of snow are two of the most dynamical seasonal environmental changes on the Earth’s surface. The actuality of this research is related to the modern tendencies of the remote sensing application in the solution of problems of different nature in the ecological monitoring of the environment. The subject of the study is the dynamic during the different seasons on Livingstone Island, South Shetland Islands in Antarctica and on Svalbard in Arctic. The objects were analyzed and mapped according to the Еuropean Space Agency data (ESA), acquired by sensors Sentinel-1 SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar), Sentinel 2 MSI and GIS. Results have been obtained for changes in snow coverage during the summer-winter transition and its dynamics in the two hemispheres. The data used is of high time-spatial resolution, which is an advantage when looking at the snow cover. The MSI images are with different spatial resolution at the Earth surface range. The changes of the environmental objects are shown with the SAR images and different processing approaches. The results clearly show that snow and snow melting can be best registered by using SAR data via hh- horizontal polarization. The effect of the researcher on aerospace data and technology enables us to obtain different digital models, structuring and analyzing results excluding the subjective factor. Because of the large extent of terrestrial snow coverage and the difficulties in obtaining ground measurements over cold regions, remote sensing and GIS represent an important tool for studying snow areas and properties from regional to global scales.

Keywords: climate changes, GIS, remote sensing, SAR images, snow coverage

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Authors: Ti-An Tsai, Chun-Chih Wang, Hung-Wen Wang, I-Ling Chang, Lien-Wen Chen

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In this study, we demonstrate a high-resolution refractive index sensor based on a magnetic photonic crystal (MPC) composed of a triangular lattice array of air holes embedded in Si matrix. A microcavity is created by changing the radius of an air hole in the middle of the photonic crystal. The cavity filled with gyrotropic materials can serve as a refractive index sensor. The shift of the resonant frequency of the sensor is obtained numerically using finite difference time domain method under different ambient conditions having refractive index from n = 1.0 to n = 1.1. The numerical results show that a tiny change in refractive index of Δn = 0.0001 is distinguishable. In addition, the spectral response of the MPC sensor is studied while an external magnetic field is present. The results show that the MPC sensor exhibits a dramatic improvement in resolution.

Keywords: magnetic photonic crystal, refractive index sensor, sensitivity, high-resolution

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Authors: Zohra Mekranfar, Ahmed Saidi, Abdellah Mebrek

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This work aims to develop multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) and spatial data warehouse (SDW) methods, which will be integrated into a GIS according to a ‘GIS dominant’ approach. The GIS operating tools will be operational to operate the SDW. The MCDM methods can provide many solutions to a set of problems with various and multiple criteria. When the problem is so complex, integrating spatial dimension, it makes sense to combine the MCDM process with other approaches like data mining, ascending analyses, we present in this paper an experiment showing a geo-decisional methodology of SWD construction, On-line analytical processing (OLAP) technology which combines both basic multidimensional analysis and the concepts of data mining provides powerful tools to highlight inductions and information not obvious by traditional tools. However, these OLAP tools become more complex in the presence of the spatial dimension. The integration of OLAP with a GIS is the future geographic and spatial information solution. GIS offers advanced functions for the acquisition, storage, analysis, and display of geographic information. However, their effectiveness for complex spatial analysis is questionable due to their determinism and their decisional rigor. A prerequisite for the implementation of any analysis or exploration of spatial data requires the construction and structuring of a spatial data warehouse (SDW). This SDW must be easily usable by the GIS and by the tools offered by an OLAP system.

Keywords: data warehouse, GIS, MCDM, SOLAP

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Authors: Robin V. Cupido

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Online dispute resolution has been identified in many countries as a viable alternative for resolving conflicts which have arisen in the so-called digital age. This system of dispute resolution is developing alongside the Internet, and as new types of transactions are made possible by our increased connectivity, new ways of resolving disputes must be explored. Developed nations, such as the United States of America and the European Union, have been involved in creating these online dispute resolution mechanisms from the outset, and currently have sophisticated systems in place to deal with conflicts arising in a number of different fields, such as e-commerce, domain name disputes, labour disputes and conflicts arising from family law. Specifically, in the field of e-commerce, the Internet’s borderless nature has served as a way to promote cross-border trade, and has created a global marketplace. Participation in this marketplace boosts a country’s economy, as new markets are now available, and consumers can transact from anywhere in the world. It would be especially advantageous for developing nations to be a part of this global marketplace, as it could stimulate much-needed investment in these nations, and encourage international co-operation and trade. However, for these types of transactions to proliferate, an effective system for resolving the inevitable disputes arising from such an increase in e-commerce is needed. Online dispute resolution scholarship and practice is flourishing in developed nations, and it is clear that the gap is widening between developed and developing nations in this regard. The potential for implementing online dispute resolution in developing countries has been discussed, but there are a number of obstacles that have thus far prevented its continued development. This paper aims to evaluate the various political, infrastructural and socio-economic challenges faced in developing nations, and to question how these have impacted the acceptance and development of online dispute resolution, scholarship and training of online dispute resolution practitioners and, ultimately, developing nations’ readiness to participate in cross-border e-commerce.

Keywords: developing countries, feasibility, online dispute resolution, progress

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Authors: Julien Caudeville, Muriel Ismert

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Analyzing the relationship between environment and health has become a major preoccupation for public health as evidenced by the emergence of the French national plans for health and environment. These plans have identified the following two priorities: (1) to identify and manage geographic areas, where hotspot exposures are suspected to generate a potential hazard to human health; (2) to reduce exposure inequalities. At a regional scale and fine resolution of exposure outcome prerequisite, environmental monitoring networks are not sufficient to characterize the multidimensionality of the exposure concept. In an attempt to increase representativeness of spatial exposure assessment approaches, risk composite indicators could be built using additional available databases and theoretical framework approaches to combine factor risks. To achieve those objectives, combining data process and transfer modeling with a spatial approach is a fundamental prerequisite that implies the need to first overcome different scientific limitations: to define interest variables and indicators that could be built to associate and describe the global source-effect chain; to link and process data from different sources and different spatial supports; to develop adapted methods in order to improve spatial data representativeness and resolution. A GIS-based modeling platform for quantifying human exposure to chemical substances (PLAINE: environmental inequalities analysis platform) was used to build health risk indicators within the Lorraine region (France). Those indicators combined chemical substances (in soil, air and water) and noise risk factors. Tools have been developed using modeling, spatial analysis and geostatistic methods to build and discretize interest variables from different supports and resolutions on a 1 km2 regular grid within the Lorraine region. By example, surface soil concentrations have been estimated by developing a Kriging method able to integrate surface and point spatial supports. Then, an exposure model developed by INERIS was used to assess the transfer from soil to individual exposure through ingestion pathways. We used distance from polluted soil site to build a proxy for contaminated site. Air indicator combined modeled concentrations and estimated emissions to take in account 30 polluants in the analysis. For water, drinking water concentrations were compared to drinking water standards to build a score spatialized using a distribution unit serve map. The Lden (day-evening-night) indicator was used to map noise around road infrastructures. Aggregation of the different factor risks was made using different methodologies to discuss weighting and aggregation procedures impact on the effectiveness of risk maps to take decisions for safeguarding citizen health. Results permit to identify pollutant sources, determinants of exposure, and potential hotspots areas. A diagnostic tool was developed for stakeholders to visualize and analyze the composite indicators in an operational and accurate manner. The designed support system will be used in many applications and contexts: (1) mapping environmental disparities throughout the Lorraine region; (2) identifying vulnerable population and determinants of exposure to set priorities and target for pollution prevention, regulation and remediation; (3) providing exposure database to quantify relationships between environmental indicators and cancer mortality data provided by French Regional Health Observatories.

Keywords: health risk, environment, composite indicator, hotspot areas

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Authors: Caiwei Zhu, Remke Klapwijk

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Spatial thinking, a way of thinking based on the understanding and reasoning of spatial concepts and representations, is embedded in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) learning. Aside from many studies that successfully used targeted training to improve students’ spatial thinking skills, few have closely examined how spatial thinking can be trained in classroom settings. Design and technology education, which receives increasing attention towards its integration into formal curriculums, inherently encompasses a wide range of spatial activities, such as constructing mental representations of design ideas, mentally transforming objects and materials to form designs, visually communicating design plans through annotated drawings, and creating 2D and 3D design artifacts. Among different design topics, biomimicry offers a unique avenue for students to recognize and analyze the shapes and structures in nature. By mapping the forms of plants and animals onto functions, students gain inspiration to solve human design challenges. This study is one of the first to highlight opportunities for training spatial thinking in a biomimicry design project for primary school students. Embracing methodological principles of educational design-based research, this case study is conducted along with iterations in the design of the intervention and collaboration with teachers. Data are harvested from small groups of 10- to 12-year-olds at an international school in the Netherlands. Classroom videos, semi-structured interviews with students, design drawings and artifacts, formative assessment, and the pre- and post-intervention spatial test triangulate evidence for students' spatial thinking. In addition to contributing to a theory of integrating spatial thinking in the primary curriculum, mechanisms underlying such improvement in spatial thinking are explored and discussed.

Keywords: biomimicry, design and technology education, primary education, spatial thinking

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Authors: Pierre F. Gerard, Frederic F. Leymarie, William Latham

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Architects have developed a series of objective evaluations, using spatial analysis tools such as Isovist, that show how certain spatial qualities are beneficial to specific human activities hosted in the built environments. In return, they can build more adapted environments by tuning those spatial qualities in their design. In parallel, virtual reality technologies have been developed by engineers with the dream of creating a system that immerses users in a new form of spatial experiences. They already have demonstrated a useful range of benefits not only in simulating critical events to assist people in acquiring new skills, but also to enhance memory retention, to name just a few. This paper investigates the effects of two spatial qualities, openness, and complexity, on cognitive performance within immersive virtual environments. Isovist measure is used to design a series of room settings with different levels of each spatial qualities. In an empirical study, each room was then used by every participant to solve a navigational puzzle game and give a rating of their spatial experience. They were then asked to fill in a questionnaire before solving the visual-spatial memory quiz, which addressed how well they remembered the different rooms. Findings suggest that those spatial qualities have an effect on some of the measures, including navigation performance and memory retention. In particular, there is an order effect for the navigation puzzle game. Participants tended to spend a longer time in the complex room settings. Moreover, there is an interaction effect while with more open settings, participants tended to perform better when in a simple setting; however, with more closed settings, participants tended to perform better in a more complex setting. For the visual-spatial memory quiz, participants performed significantly better within the more open rooms. We believe this is a first step in using virtual environments to enhance participant cognitive performances through better use of specific spatial qualities.

Keywords: architecture, navigation, spatial cognition, virtual reality

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Authors: Shu Tao

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Based on a global fuel consumption data product (PKU-FUEL-2007) compiled recently and a series of databases for emission factors of various sources, global emission inventories of a number of greenhouse gases and air pollutants, including CO2, CO, SO2, NOx, primary particulate matter (total, PM 10, and PM 2.5), black carbon, organic carbon, mercury, volatile organic carbons, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, from combustion sources have been developed. The inventories feather high spatial and sectorial resolutions. The spatial resolution of the inventories are 0.1 by 0.1 degree, based on a sub-national disaggregation approach to reduce spatial bias due to uneven distribution of per person fuel consumption within countries. The finely resolved inventories provide critical information for chemical transport modeling and exposure modeling. Emissions from more than 60 sources in energy, industry, agriculture, residential, transportation, and wildfire sectors were quantified in this study. With the detailed sectorial information, the inventories become an important tool for policy makers. For residential sector, a set of models were developed to simulate temporal variation of fuel consumption, consequently pollutant emissions. The models can be used to characterize seasonal as well as inter-annual variations in the emissions in history and to predict future changes. The models can even be used to quantify net change of fuel consumption and pollutant emissions due to climate change. The inventories has been used for model ambient air quality, population exposure, and even health effects. A few examples of the applications are discussed.

Keywords: air pollutants, combustion, emission inventory, sectorial information

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Authors: Htet Khaing Lin

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This study explores the relationship between a diverse set of variables, encompassing both environmental and socio-economic factors, and poverty levels in the Philippines for the years 2012, 2015, and 2018. Employing Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), Spatial Lag Models (SLM), and Spatial Error Models (SEM), this study delves into the dynamics of key indicators, including daytime and nighttime land surface temperature, cropland surface, urban land surface, rainfall, population size, normalized difference water, vegetation, and drought indices. The findings reveal consistent patterns and unexpected correlations, highlighting the need for nuanced policies that address the multifaceted challenges arising from the interplay of environmental and socio-economic factors.

Keywords: poverty analysis, OLS, spatial lag models, spatial error models, Philippines, google earth engine, satellite data, environmental dynamics, socio-economic factors

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Authors: Juergen Junk, Franz Ronellenfitsch, Michael Eickermann

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An appropriate weed management in autumn is a prerequisite for an economically successful harvest in the following year. In Luxembourg oilseed rape, wheat and barley is sown from August until October, accompanied by a chemical weed control with soil active herbicides, depending on the state of the weeds and the meteorological conditions. Based on regular ground and surface water-analysis, high levels of contamination by transformation products of respective herbicide compounds have been found in Luxembourg. The most ideal conditions for incorporating soil active herbicides are single rain events. Weed control may be reduced if application is made when weeds are under drought stress or if repeated light rain events followed by dry spells, because the herbicides tend to bind tightly to the soil particles. These effects have been frequently reported for Luxembourg throughout the last years. In the framework of a multisite long-term field experiment (EFFO) weed monitoring, plants observations and corresponding meteorological measurements were conducted. Long-term time series (1947-2016) from the SYNOP station Findel-Airport (WMO ID = 06590) showed a decrease in the number of days with precipitation. As the total precipitation amount has not significantly changed, this indicates a trend towards rain events with higher intensity. All analyses are based on decades (10-day periods) for September and October of each individual year. To assess the future meteorological conditions for Luxembourg, two different approaches were applied. First, multi-model ensembles from the CORDEX experiments (spatial resolution ~12.5 km; transient projections until 2100) were analysed for two different Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP8.5 and RCP4.5), covering the time span from 2005 until 2100. The multi-model ensemble approach allows for the quantification of the uncertainties and also to assess the differences between the two emission scenarios. Second, to assess smaller scale differences within the country a high resolution model projection using the COSMO-LM model was used (spatial resolution 1.3 km). To account for the higher computational demands, caused by the increased spatial resolution, only 10-year time slices have been simulated (reference period 1991-2000; near future 2041-2050 and far future 2091-2100). Statistically significant trends towards higher air temperatures, +1.6 K for September (+5.3 K far future) and +1.3 K for October (+4.3 K), were predicted for the near future compared to the reference period. Precipitation simultaneously decreased by 9.4 mm (September) and 5.0 mm (October) for the near future and -49 mm (September) and -10 mm (October) in the far future. Beside the monthly values also decades were analyzed for the two future time periods of the CLM model. For all decades of September and October the number of days with precipitation decreased for the projected near and far future. Changes in meteorological variables such as air temperature and precipitation did already induce transformations in weed societies (composition, late-emerging etc.) of arable ecosystems in Europe. Therefore, adaptations of agronomic practices as well as effective weed control strategies must be developed to maintain crop yield.

Keywords: CORDEX projections, dry spells, ensembles, weed management

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Authors: F. R. Chen, C. Kisielowski, D. Van Dyck

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In principle, the latest generation aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopes (TEMs) could achieve sub-Å resolution, but there is bottleneck that hinders the final step towards revealing 3D structure. Firstly, in order to achieve a resolution around 1 Å with single atom sensitivity, the electron dose rate needs to be sufficiently large (10⁴-10⁵eÅ⁻² s⁻¹). With such large dose rate, the electron beam can induce surfaces alterations or even bulk modifications, in particular, for electron beam sensitive (soft) materials such as nm size particles, organic materials, proteins or macro-molecules. We will demonstrate methodology of low dose electron holography for observing 3D structure for soft materials such as single Oleic acid molecules at atomic resolution. The main improvement of this new type of electron holography is based on two concepts. Firstly, the total electron dose is distributed over many images obtained at different defocus values from which the electron hologram is then reconstructed. Secondly, in contrast to the current tomographic methods that require projections from several directions, the 3D structural information of the nano-object is then extracted from this one hologram obtained from only one viewing direction.

Keywords: low dose electron microscopy, in-line electron holography, atomic resolution tomography, soft materials

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Authors: Rahma Fitriani, Zerlita Fahdha Pusdiktasari, Herman Cahyo Diartho

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Spatial panel model is commonly used to specify more complicated behavior of economic agent distributed in space at an individual-spatial unit level. There are several spatial panel models which can be adapted based on certain assumptions. A package called splm in R has several functions, ranging from the estimation procedure, specification tests, and model selection tests. In the absence of prior assumptions, a comprehensive procedure which utilizes the available functions in splm must be formed, which is the objective of this study. In this way, the best specification and model can be fitted based on data. The implementation of the procedure works well. It specifies SARAR-FE as the best model for agricultural productivity growth of the 38 East Java’s Regencies/Municipalities.

Keywords: spatial panel, specification, splm, agricultural productivity growth

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Authors: William Huang

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Retinal prostheses are currently limited to low resolution grayscale images that lack color and spatial information. This study develops a novel real-time image optimization framework and tools to encode maximum information to the prostheses which are constrained by the number of electrodes. One key idea is to localize main objects in images while reducing unnecessary background noise through region-contrast saliency maps. A novel color depth mapping technique was developed through MiniBatchKmeans clustering and color space selection. The resulting image was downsampled using bicubic interpolation to reduce image size while preserving color quality. In comparison to current schemes, the proposed framework demonstrated better visual quality in tested images. The use of the region-contrast saliency map showed improvements in efficacy up to 30%. Finally, the computational speed of this algorithm is less than 380 ms on tested cases, making real-time retinal prostheses feasible.

Keywords: retinal implants, virtual processing unit, computer vision, saliency maps, color quantization

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Authors: Cormac Reale, Luke J. Prendergast, Kenneth Gavin

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While significant improvements have been made in axial pile design methods over recent years, the influence of soils natural variability has not been adequately accounted for within them. Soil variability is a crucial parameter to consider as it can account for large variations in pile capacity across the same site. This paper seeks to address this knowledge deficit, by demonstrating how soil spatial variability can be accommodated into existing cone penetration test (CPT) based pile design methods, in the form of layered non-homogeneous random fields. These random fields model the scope of a given property’s variance and define how it varies spatially. A Monte Carlo analysis of the pile will be performed taking into account parameter uncertainty and spatial variability, described using the measured scales of fluctuation. The results will be discussed in light of Eurocode 7 and the effect of spatial averaging on design capacities will be analysed.

Keywords: pile axial design, reliability, spatial variability, CPT

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Authors: Elżbieta Antczak

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Cities offer important opportunities for economic development and for expanding access to basic services, including health care and education, for large numbers of people. Moreover, green areas (as an integral part of sustainable urban development) present a major opportunity for improving urban environments, quality of lives and livelihoods. This paper examines, using spatial concentration and spatial taxonomic measures, regional diversification of greenery in the cities of Poland. The analysis includes location quotients, Lorenz curve, Locational Gini Index, and the synthetic index of greenery and spatial statistics tools: (1) To verify the occurrence of strong concentration or dispersion of the phenomenon in time and space depending on the variable category, and, (2) To study if the level of greenery depends on the spatial autocorrelation. The data includes the greatest Polish cities, categories of the urban greenery (parks, lawns, street greenery, and green areas on housing estates, cemeteries, and forests) and the time span 2004-2015. According to the obtained estimations, most of cites in Poland are already taking measures to become greener. However, in the country there are still many barriers to well-balanced urban greenery development (e.g. uncontrolled urban sprawl, poor management as well as lack of spatial urban planning systems).

Keywords: greenery, urban areas, regional spatial diversification and concentration, spatial taxonomic measure

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Authors: Sahabeh Safarpour, Khiruddin Abdullah, Hwee San Lim, Mohsen Dadras

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Air pollution is a growing problem arising from domestic heating, high density of vehicle traffic, electricity production, and expanding commercial and industrial activities, all increasing in parallel with urban population. Monitoring and forecasting of air quality parameters are important due to health impact. One widely available metric of aerosol abundance is the aerosol optical depth (AOD). The AOD is the integrated light extinction coefficient over a vertical atmospheric column of unit cross section, which represents the extent to which the aerosols in that vertical profile prevent the transmission of light by absorption or scattering. Seasonal aerosol optical depth (AOD) values at 550 nm derived from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor onboard NASA’s Terra satellites, for the 10 years period of 2000-2010 were used to test 7 different spatial interpolation methods in the present study. The accuracy of estimations was assessed through visual analysis as well as independent validation based on basic statistics, such as root mean square error (RMSE) and correlation coefficient. Based on the RMSE and R values of predictions made using measured values from 2000 to 2010, Radial Basis Functions (RBFs) yielded the best results for spring, summer, and winter and ordinary kriging yielded the best results for fall.

Keywords: aerosol optical depth, MODIS, spatial interpolation techniques, Radial Basis Functions

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Authors: Yuchen Yang, Zhenming Wang, Jun Zhu, Ning Zhao

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An easy-to-implement and robust finite volume multi-resolution Weighted Essentially Non-Oscillatory (WENO) scheme is proposed on adaptive cartesian grids in this paper. Such a multi-resolution WENO scheme is combined with the ghost cell immersed boundary method (IBM) and wall-function technique to solve Navier-Stokes equations. Unlike the k-exact finite volume WENO schemes which involve large amounts of extra storage, repeatedly solving the matrix generated in a least-square method or the process of calculating optimal linear weights on adaptive cartesian grids, the present methodology only adds very small overhead and can be easily implemented in existing edge-based computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes with minor modifications. Also, the linear weights of this adaptive finite volume multi-resolution WENO scheme can be any positive numbers on condition that their sum is one. It is a way of bypassing the calculation of the optimal linear weights and such a multi-resolution WENO scheme avoids dealing with the negative linear weights on adaptive cartesian grids. Some benchmark viscous problems are numerical solved to show the efficiency and good performance of this adaptive multi-resolution WENO scheme. Compared with a second-order edge-based method, the presented method can be implemented into an adaptive cartesian grid with slight modification for big Reynolds number problems.

Keywords: adaptive mesh refinement method, finite volume multi-resolution WENO scheme, immersed boundary method, wall-function technique.

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Authors: M. Varin, A. M. Dubois, R. Gadbois-Langevin, B. Chalghaf

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Good knowledge of the physical environment is essential for an integrated forest planning. This information enables better forecasting of operating costs, determination of cutting volumes, and preservation of ecologically sensitive areas. The use of satellite images in stereoscopic pairs gives the capacity to generate high precision 3D models, which are scale-adapted for harvesting operations. These models could represent an alternative to 3D LiDAR data, thanks to their advantageous cost of acquisition. The objective of the study was to assess the quality of stereo-derived canopy height models (CHM) in comparison to a traditional LiDAR CHM and ground tree-height samples. Two study sites harboring two different forest stand types (broadleaf and conifer) were analyzed using stereo pairs and tri-stereo images from the WorldView-3 satellite to calculate CHM. Acquisition of multispectral images from an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) was also realized on a smaller part of the broadleaf study site. Different algorithms using two softwares (PCI Geomatica and Correlator3D) with various spatial resolutions and band selections were tested to select the 3D modeling technique, which offered the best performance when compared with LiDAR. In the conifer study site, the CHM produced with Corelator3D using only the 50-cm resolution panchromatic band was the one with the smallest Root-mean-square deviation (RMSE: 1.31 m). In the broadleaf study site, the tri-stereo model provided slightly better performance, with an RMSE of 1.2 m. The tri-stereo model was also compared to the UAV, which resulted in an RMSE of 1.3 m. At individual tree level, when ground samples were compared to satellite, lidar, and UAV CHM, RMSE were 2.8, 2.0, and 2.0 m, respectively. Advanced analysis was done for all of these cases, and it has been noted that RMSE is reduced when the canopy cover is higher when shadow and slopes are lower and when clouds are distant from the analyzed site.

Keywords: very high spatial resolution, satellite imagery, WorlView-3, canopy height models, CHM, LiDAR, unmanned aerial vehicle, UAV

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Authors: Arda Ozkurt, Ozlem Bozkurt

Abstract:

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are devices that output commands by interpreting the data collected from the brain. Electroencephalography (EEG) is a non-invasive method to measure the brain's electrical activity. Since it was invented by Hans Berger in 1929, it has led to many neurological discoveries and has become one of the essential components of non-invasive measuring methods. Despite the fact that it has a low spatial resolution -meaning it is able to detect when a group of neurons fires at the same time-, it is a non-invasive method, making it easy to use without possessing any risks. In EEG, electrodes are placed on the scalp, and the voltage difference between a minimum of two electrodes is recorded, which is then used to accomplish the intended task. The recordings of EEGs include, but are not limited to, the currents along dendrites from synapses to the soma, the action potentials along the axons connecting neurons, and the currents through the synaptic clefts connecting axons with dendrites. However, there are some sources of noise that may affect the reliability of the EEG signals as it is a non-invasive method. For instance, the noise from the EEG equipment, the leads, and the signals coming from the subject -such as the activity of the heart or muscle movements- affect the signals detected by the electrodes of the EEG. However, new techniques have been developed to differentiate between those signals and the intended ones. Furthermore, an EEG device is not enough to analyze the data from the brain to be used by the BCI implication. Because the EEG signal is very complex, to analyze it, artificial intelligence algorithms are required. These algorithms convert complex data into meaningful and useful information for neuroscientists to use the data to design BCI devices. Even though for neurological diseases which require highly precise data, invasive BCIs are needed; non-invasive BCIs - such as EEGs - are used in many cases to help disabled people's lives or even to ease people's lives by helping them with basic tasks. For example, EEG is used to detect before a seizure occurs in epilepsy patients, which can then prevent the seizure with the help of a BCI device. Overall, EEG is a commonly used non-invasive BCI technique that has helped develop BCIs and will continue to be used to detect data to ease people's lives as more BCI techniques will be developed in the future.

Keywords: BCI, EEG, non-invasive, spatial resolution

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Authors: Jiawei Li

Abstract:

How cooperation emerges and persists in a population of selfish agents is a fundamental question in evolutionary game theory. Our research shows that Collective Strategies with Master-Slave Mechanism (CSMSM) defeat Tit-for-Tat and other well-known strategies in spatial iterated prisoner’s dilemma. A CSMSM identifies kin members by means of a handshaking mechanism. If the opponent is identified as non-kin, a CSMSM will always defect. Once two CSMSMs meet, they play master and slave roles. A mater defects and a slave cooperates in order to maximize the master’s payoff. CSMSM outperforms non-collective strategies in spatial IPD even if there is only a small cluster of CSMSMs in the population. The existence and performance of CSMSM in spatial iterated prisoner’s dilemma suggests that cooperation first appears and persists in a group of collective agents.

Keywords: Evolutionary game theory, spatial prisoners dilemma, collective strategy, master-slave mechanism

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Authors: Sachin Jain, Daniel Perez-Astudillo, Dunia A. Bachour, Antonio P. Sanfilippo

Abstract:

The future of solar energy in Qatar is evolving steadily. Hence, high-quality spatial solar radiation data is of the uttermost requirement for any planning and commissioning of solar technology. Generally, two types of solar radiation data are available: satellite data and ground observations. Satellite solar radiation data is developed by the physical and statistical model. Ground data is collected by solar radiation measurement stations. The ground data is of high quality. However, they are limited to distributed point locations with the high cost of installation and maintenance for the ground stations. On the other hand, satellite solar radiation data is continuous and available throughout geographical locations, but they are relatively less accurate than ground data. To utilize the advantage of both data, a product has been developed here which provides spatial continuity and higher accuracy than any of the data alone. The popular satellite databases: National Solar radiation Data Base, NSRDB (PSM V3 model, spatial resolution: 4 km) is chosen here for merging with ground-measured solar radiation measurement in Qatar. The spatial distribution of ground solar radiation measurement stations is comprehensive in Qatar, with a network of 13 ground stations. The monthly average of the daily total Global Horizontal Irradiation (GHI) component from ground and satellite data is used for error analysis. The normalized root means square error (NRMSE) values of 3.31%, 6.53%, and 6.63% for October, November, and December 2019 were observed respectively when comparing in-situ and NSRDB data. The method is based on the Empirical Bayesian Kriging Regression Prediction model available in ArcGIS, ESRI. The workflow of the algorithm is based on the combination of regression and kriging methods. A regression model (OLS, ordinary least square) is fitted between the ground and NSBRD data points. A semi-variogram is fitted into the experimental semi-variogram obtained from the residuals. The kriging residuals obtained after fitting the semi-variogram model were added to NSRBD data predicted values obtained from the regression model to obtain the final predicted values. The NRMSE values obtained after merging are respectively 1.84%, 1.28%, and 1.81% for October, November, and December 2019. One more explanatory variable, that is the ground elevation, has been incorporated in the regression and kriging methods to reduce the error and to provide higher spatial resolution (30 m). The final GHI maps have been created after merging, and NRMSE values of 1.24%, 1.28%, and 1.28% have been observed for October, November, and December 2019, respectively. The proposed merging method has proven as a highly accurate method. An additional method is also proposed here to generate calibrated maps by using regression and kriging model and further to use the calibrated model to generate solar radiation maps from the explanatory variable only when not enough historical ground data is available for long-term analysis. The NRMSE values obtained after the comparison of the calibrated maps with ground data are 5.60% and 5.31% for November and December 2019 month respectively.

Keywords: global horizontal irradiation, GIS, empirical bayesian kriging regression prediction, NSRDB

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Authors: Rabia Shabbir, Sheikh Saeed Ahmad, Amna Butt

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Rapid land use changes have taken place in Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan, over the past decades due to accelerated urbanization and industrialization. In this study, land use changes in the metropolitan area of Islamabad was observed by the combined use of GIS and satellite remote sensing for a time period of 15 years. High-resolution Google Earth images were downloaded from 2000-2015, and object-based classification method was used for accurate classification using eCognition software. The information regarding urban settlements, industrial area, barren land, agricultural area, vegetation, water, and transportation infrastructure was extracted. The results showed that the city experienced a spatial expansion, rapid urban growth, land use change and expanding transportation infrastructure. The study concluded the integration of GIS and remote sensing as an effective approach for analyzing the spatial pattern of urban growth and land use change.

Keywords: land use change, urban growth, Islamabad, object-based classification, Google Earth, remote sensing, GIS

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Authors: Rania Ajmi, Faiza Allouche Khebour, Aude Nuscia Taibi, Sirine Essasi

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Urban green spaces (UGS) as an important contributor can be a significant part of sustainable development. A spatial method was employed to assess and map the spatial distribution of UGS in five districts in Sousse, Tunisia. Ecological management of UGS is an essential factor for the sustainable development of the city; hence the municipality of Sousse has decided to support the districts according to different green spaces characters. And to implement this policy, (1) a new GIS web application was developed, (2) then the implementation of the various green spaces was carried out, (3) a spatial mapping of UGS using Quantum GIS was realized, and (4) finally a data processing and statistical analysis with RStudio programming language was executed. The intersection of the results of the spatial and statistical analyzes highlighted the presence of an imbalance in terms of the spatial UGS distribution in the study area. The discontinuity between the coast and the city's green spaces was not designed in a spirit of network and connection, hence the lack of a greenway that connects these spaces to the city. Finally, this GIS support will be used to assess and monitor green spaces in the city of Sousse by decision-makers and will contribute to improve the well-being of the local population.

Keywords: distributions, GIS, green space, imbalance, spatial analysis

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Authors: Nora Geczy

Abstract:

In today’s architectural practice, during the process of designing public, educational, healthcare and cultural space, human-centered architectural designs helping spatial orientation, safe space usage and the appropriate spatial sequence of actions are gaining increasing importance. Related to the methodology of designing public buildings, several scientific experiments in spatial recognition, spatial analysis and spatial psychology with regard to the components of space producing mental and physiological effects have been going on at the Department of Architectural Design and the Interdisciplinary Student Workshop (IDM) at the Széchenyi István University, Győr since 2013. Defining the creation of preventive, anticipated spatial design and the architectural tools of spatial comfort of public buildings and their practical usability are in the limelight of our research. In the experiments applying eye-tracking cameras, we studied the way public spaces are used, especially concentrating on the characteristics of spatial behaviour, orientation, recognition, the sequence of actions, and space usage. Along with the role of mental maps, human perception, and interaction problems in public spaces (at railway stations, galleries, and educational institutions), we analyzed the spatial situations influencing psychological and ergonomic factors. We also analyzed the eye movements of the experimental subjects in dynamic situations, in spatial procession, using stairs and corridors. We monitored both the consequences and the distorting effects of the ocular dominance of the right eye on spatial orientation; we analyzed the gender-based differences of women and men’s orientation, stress-inducing spaces, spaces affecting concentration and the spatial situation influencing territorial behaviour. Based on these observations, we collected the components of creating public interior spaces, which -according to our theory- contribute to the optimal usability of public spaces. We summed up our research in criteria for design, including 10 points. Our further goals are testing design principles needed for optimizing orientation and space usage, their discussion, refinement, and practical usage.

Keywords: architecture, eye-tracking, human-centered spatial design, public interior spaces, visual perception

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Authors: Liyun Chang, Cheng-Hsiang Tsai

Abstract:

To ensure the radiation precisely delivering to the target of cancer patients, the linear accelerator equipped with the pretreatment on-board imaging system is introduced and through it the patient setup is verified before the daily treatment. New generation radiotherapy using beam-intensity modulation, usually associated the treatment with steep dose gradients, claimed to have achieved both a higher degree of dose conformation in the targets and a further reduction of toxicity in normal tissues. However, this benefit is counterproductive if the beam is delivered imprecisely. To avoid shooting critical organs or normal tissues rather than the target, it is very important to carry out the quality assurance (QA) of this on-board imaging system. The QA of the On-Board Imager® (OBI) system of one Varian Clinac-iX linear accelerator was performed through our procedures modified from a relevant report and AAPM TG142. Two image modalities, 2D radiography and 3D cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT), of the OBI system were examined. The daily and monthly QA was executed for five months in the categories of safety, geometrical accuracy and image quality. A marker phantom and a blade calibration plate were used for the QA of geometrical accuracy, while the Leeds phantom and Catphan 504 phantom were used in the QA of radiographic and CBCT image quality, respectively. The reference images were generated through a GE LightSpeed CT simulator with an ADAC Pinnacle treatment planning system. Finally, the image quality was analyzed via an OsiriX medical imaging system. For the geometrical accuracy test, the average deviations of the OBI isocenter in each direction are less than 0.6 mm with uncertainties less than 0.2 mm, while all the other items have the displacements less than 1 mm. For radiographic image quality, the spatial resolution is 1.6 lp/cm with contrasts less than 2.2%. The spatial resolution, low contrast, and HU homogenous of CBCT are larger than 6 lp/cm, less than 1% and within 20 HU, respectively. All tests are within the criteria, except the HU value of Teflon measured with the full fan mode exceeding the suggested value that could be due to itself high HU value and needed to be rechecked. The OBI system in our facility was then demonstrated to be reliable with stable image quality. The QA of OBI system is really necessary to achieve the best treatment for a patient.

Keywords: CBCT, image quality, quality assurance, OBI

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