Spatial Analysis

Desde épocas muy remotas las cuencas hidráulicas del Occidente de México fueron sitios privilegiados para la habitación humana, por su concentración de flora, fauna, agua, tierra fértil y otros elementos de importancia vital para la supervivencia. Estas áreas vieron los más importantes desarrollos culturales en la época prehispánica, además de ser extremadamente ricas en recursos preciosos, y de servir como rutas de comunicación entre diversas áreas geográficas y culturales.

A study was conducted to assess spatial variations in experimental plots through the global and local indicator of spatial autocorrelation of kenaf. Field data obtained from experiment conducted at both Ilora and Ikenne outstations of the Institute of Agricultural Research and Training, Ibadan, Nigeria in 2006 were used to investigate spatial variability in experimental plots. The descriptive statistics showed that sample mean (μ) from different tessellated plots of the experimental sites were biased estimators which might have been probably caused by spatial variations in the experimental sites. Also, the global Moran I and Moran I scatter plots showed that these can be used as a measure of variation between the plots. Generally, the selected spatial autocorrelation indicators were found to be consistent with some other spatial statistical analytical tools.

Het Kennisinstituut voor de Mobiliteit (KiM) beschrijft in “Chauffeur aan het stuur?” vier toekomstbeelden voor de zelfrijdende auto (ZRA). Deze beelden varieren zowel in de mate van automatisering (overal of met name op de snelweg) als in de mate van autodelen (nauwelijks of veel). Het KiM schat daarbij ook de maatschappelijke gevolgen. Als we de effecten voor specifieke groepen (OV, autodealers etc.) buiten beschouwing laten, valt op dat (veel) ZRA technologie goed is voor verkeersveiligheid, sociale inclusie en ruimtelijke ordening, maar negatief uitpakt voor milieu en leefbaarheid, fietsen (gezondheid) en files (de omvang van het verkeer groeit harder dan de wegcapaciteit). Alleen wanneer technologie gecombineerd wordt met autodelen vallen deze negatieve aspecten weg en kun je van een (volledig) succesvolle ontwikkeling spreken. Maar die combinatie is allerminst zeker en gedrag –hier is dat delen- is lastig te sturen. Hoe zorgen we ervoor dat de ZRA een commercieel en maatschapp...

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the satisfaction levels of tourists from two generating regions, Asia and Europe towards their visit to historic city Bagan area and to study problems, which occurred during their stay in Bagan. The study was conducted using questionnaires interviewing 100 Asian tourists and 100 European tourists in 2015. Then data were analysed by using statistical analysis. The study showed that tourists from two different regions rated the highest average score at “very satisfied” with the ancient monument, architectural style, and traditional ways of living of inhabitants. In addition, the study revealed that they rated the medium average score at “moderately satisfied” with the cleanliness of accommodation, staff services, safety and security, cycling around Bagan and hot air balloons. Tourists from the two regions also experienced some problems, such as the hygiene and sanitation, health care services and clear directional signage, and reasonable p...

Retail activity presence in urban space is of paramount importance when considering the vivacity, livability and walkability of streets and neighborhoods . Urban designers, planners and geographers highlight how some urban morphological characteristics might define those urban spaces where higher retail densities are detected. Space Syntax and Multiple Centrality Assessment (MCA, Porta et al 2008) are two well-known approaches for studying the configuration of street networks, which have been used for this purpose. Based on the hypothesis of natural movement, these methods propose advanced calculations of proximity, accessibility and centrality-based measures, at the intra-urban level. Studies where these techniques were implemented showed how retail distribution may also be explained by network configurational properties. Nevertheless, these studies only focus on one aspect of the urban environment (i.e., the configuration of the street network). It might well be, though, that also the urban fabric could be closely related to the location of retail and economic activities. The configuration of the street network and the urban fabric might thus represent two complementary aspects. To some extent, previous empirical works considered both aspects as they focused on areas with a continuous urban form. For example, Omer and Goldblatt (2015), highlighted how traditional studies examined urban networks "mainly in cities characterized by either a deformed grid-like street pattern or by a planned perfect grid". The same authors studied how the presence of retail and configurational properties varied across neighborhoods which had undergone different processes of urban growths (i.e., planned vs self-organized). Svetsuk (2012) focused his analysis on "dense urban environments", where the characteristics of the urban fabric could be considered homogenous.

The URBAN’Air System, developed by NUMTECH with t e support of ADEME (Environment and Energy French Agency), is an operational modelling platform allowing to monit r and forecast air quality over urban areas. Based on the modelling code ADMS-Urban (McHugh et al., 1997), it allows to map the pollution level (NO 2, C6H6, SO2, O3, PM10 and PM2.5) at very high resolution (from the street scale to the great urban areas). As input, the system requires mainly meteorological d ta, background pollution, and detailed emission inventory. Meteorological and pollution input data can be either observed for the “monitoring” or “scenario mode”, or modelled at la rger scale (using regional model) for the “forecasting mode”. This operational system is launched automatically every day, and performs high resolution maps of air quality index from day-1 (past) until day+2. It allows also to pe rform scenarios studies, on a long meteorological p eriod. This system already works in several French cities (S...

The gravity models are commonly used spatial interaction models. They have been widely applied in a large set of domains dealing with interactions amongst spatial entities. The spread of vector-borne diseases is also related to the intensity of interaction between spatial entities, namely, the physical habitat of pathogens' vectors and/or hosts, and urban areas, thus humans. This study implements the concept behind gravity models in the spatial spread of two vector-borne diseases, nephropathia epidemica and Lyme borreliosis, based on current knowledge on the transmission mechanism of these diseases. Two sources of information on vegetated systems were tested: the CORINE land cover map and MODIS NDVI. The size of vegetated areas near urban centers and a local indicator of occupation-related exposure were found significant predictors of disease risk. Both the land cover map and the space-borne dataset were suited yet not equivalent input sources to locate and measure vegetated areas of importance for disease spread. The overall results point at the compatibility of the gravity model concept and the spatial spread of vector-borne diseases.

Chagas disease (CD) is still a neglected disease. Infected individuals are diagnosed late, being treated in worse clinical conditions. Thus, this study aimed to analyze the prevalence and the factors associated with new confirmed cases of CD identified by serological screening in an endemic region of Minas Gerais State, Brazil. This is an analytical crosssectional study with data from a project of the Research Center in Tropical Medicine of Sao Paulo-Minas Gerais (SaMi-Trop) conducted in two municipalities. Data collection included a questionnaire with closed questions, a venous blood collection and an ELISA serological test for CD. A total of 2,038 individuals with no previous diagnosis of CD participated in the study. The result of the serological test for CD was adopted as the dependent variable. The independent variables addressed personal issues, health conditions and lifetime housing. A descriptive analysis of individual variables was performed. Subsequently, a bivariate analysis was performed using the Pearson's chi-square test. Households sheltering individuals positive for CD were georeferenced, and the analysis of spatial distribution was performed using the quartic function to estimate the density of the nucleus. Among the participants, 188 (9.2 %) were positive for CD. The profile of participants with CD was associated with place of residence, age, relative/family member with CD and living conditions. It is noteworthy that there are still patients with CD who are unaware of their diagnosis in both, rural and urban areas.

Preamble Before beginning the survey, the survey teams were asked to read the following statement exactly as written (translated from Indonesian) "Thank you for giving me the opportunity to talk to you. My name is (insert name here). I am here to conduct a simple survey in your village. This is part of a large survey-based research project that is being conducted across all of Kalimantan. I am conducting this survey because I am interested in gathering information about animal presence and absence in the forests around your village, understanding the threats to wildlife in your area, and learning about your relationship with the forest. I would like to ask you some basic questions. Before I do, I would like to let you know that you are not obliged to answer any of these questions, or to participate in any way. There is no punishment for not participating, and you will not be paid for your participation or compensated in any other way. If you agree to participate, you are free to stop at any point in the process. You may ask me questions at any time in this process. I would also like you to know that this survey has nothing to do with law enforcement. You will not be punished for any answers you give or any information that you provide. We are simply interested in gathering accurate data. Your responses will be confidential. Your name will not be recorded, and results form this survey will only be reported in aggregate. Do you have any questions?" Answers to these questions were entered on paper and later transferred to an data base. After entering a village and finding the local village head or other local leader, the survey teams asked XX questions about the village and its people.

This article analyzes the relationship between the spatial configuration and socio-economic factors to find the existence of the communities in the historical city of Phra Nakorn Sri Ayutthaya, an island area mainly covered with historical monuments. This area has historical structures covering most of the town, so the communities here at present are small. The transportation network in the area is not systematically connected to the town itself and, thus, cannot serve a wide-range of community activities. The activities that do take place are not spread evenly across the area according to its integration value. As a consequence, communities cannot be self-reliant but instead are cross-community reliant and depend on the development of certain relationships to maintain their existence.

We study methods for how to include the spatial distribution of tumours when investigating the relation between brain tumours and the exposure from radio frequency electromagnetic fields caused by mobile phone use. Our suggested point process model is adapted from studies investigating spatial aggregation of a disease around a source of potential hazard in environmental epidemiology, where now the source is the preferred ear of each phone user. In this context, the spatial distribution is a distribution over a sample of patients rather than over multiple disease cases within one geographical area. We show how the distance relation between tumour and phone can be modelled nonparametrically and, with various parametric functions, how covariates can be included in the model and how to test for the effect of distance. To illustrate the models, we apply them to a subset of the data from the Interphone Study, a large multinational case-control study on the association between brain tumour...

Nordfors, U. & Paasikivi, S. 2025. Proteiinien tutkimus täydentää muinais-DNA:sta saatavaa tietoa. Teoksessa: Nordfors, U. & Meriluoto, M. (toim.) Muinais-DNA: Avain menneisyyteen: 262–281. Tietolipas 298. Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura.

Nordfors, U. & Paasikivi, S. 2025. Muinais-DNA osana terveyden ja sairauden monitieteistä arkeologista tutkimusta. Teoksessa: Nordfors, U. & Meriluoto, M. (toim.) Muinais-DNA: Avain menneisyyteen: 174–203. Tietolipas 298. Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura.

Nowadays, the Mediterranean freshwater systems face the threat of water scarcity, along with multiple other stressors (e.g., organic and inorganic contamination, geomorphological alterations, invasive species), leading to the impairment of their ecosystem services. All these stressors have been speeding up, due to climate variability and land cover/land use changes, turning them into a big challenge for the water management plans. The present study analyses the physicochemical and phytoplankton biomass (chlorophyll-a) dynamics of a large reservoir, in the Mediterranean region (Alqueva reservoir, Southern Portugal), under diverse meteorological conditions and land cover/land use real scenarios (2017 and 2018). The most important stressors were identified and the necessary tools and information for a more effective management plan were provided. Changes in these parameters were further related to the observed variations in the meteorological conditions and in the land cover/land use. ...

Baley necropolis (northwest Bulgaria) is a cremation necropolis from the 2nd millennium BC. Up to 2022, one hundred and sixty-four graves and features related to the mortuary practices were explored. The earliest graves date to the first half of the 2nd millennium BC (Middle Bronze Age), while the youngest features fall in the mid-11th century BC or, the transition to the Early Iron Age. Alongside the continuity in the mortuary practices during the Late Bronze Age, some new elements could be traced as well such as placing of a significant number of ceramic vessels in the graves and the use of large bowls as urns. Furthermore, a gradual transformation in pottery forms and decoration is also to be seen – from globular amphorae to biconical ones and from encrusted to fluted decoration. Problems of population changes and migrations related to the “Bistreţ” phenomenon are also discussed. The social structure of the Late Bronze Age population is argued as well. While some of the graves can be interpreted as material evidence for social differentiation, the possible existence of elite is not be seen (for now) in the necropolis.

The study presents innovative method of generalizing spatial information into a single multidimensional data model technology based on multidimensional information objects (MIO). This advanced method is intended to describe various types of spatial information of general planning objects at a construction site and their generalization into a single multidimensional model of general plan data. The method was further developed on the basis of newly introduced operations on multidimensional information objects. The operations of simple and generalized change and spatial generalization make it possible to integrate heterogeneous spatial information into single information space at all organizational levels of management while maintaining its integrity. The paper considers mathematical descriptions and graphic representations of information models of various types of spatial objects of general planning based on multidimensional information objects

This article proposes a quantitative analysis to measure social vulnerability in a urban space, specifically in the area of the Municipality of Rome. Social vulnerability can be defined as a situation in which people are characterized by a condition of multidimensional deprivation that encompasses multiple aspects of life and exposes population to different risks and hazards produced by natural, environmental, socioeconomic and epidemic factors. The analysis that follows presents the use of multivariate methods and models to provide an index for every dimensions of vulnerability (housing quality, social context, education, employment, urban mobility, social relations and economic conditions) and a global index for mapping social vulnerability. The analysis also succeeds in identifying significant vulnerability spatial patterns and to measure how and if vulnerability can be different in case of an observed heterogeneity in urban space.

The practice of producing drone videos for hobby or commercial purposes has already created a vast amount of open and free video datasets. When these videos are properly authored, time-stamped and geo-referenced, they receive characteristics of volunteered geographic information (VGI). As alternative forms to user-generated content (UGC), these visually appealing footages attract significant attention, but their production faces different practical and motivational issues that could impose limitation on the value of this kind of VGI. In order to better understand volunteered geographic drone videos (VGDV) from the social media and VGI perspective we conceptualize and discuss prospects and problems that could be explored in further research. This paper contributes to the development of theory about aerial drone videos, exploration of aerial drone video UGC characteristics and to the applicability of drone videos in Digital Earth systems.

• Understand the difficulties in obtaining reliable data on the quality and quantity of faecal sludge production on a citywide scale. • Know which parameters are important for faecal sludge characterisation, how they are analysed, and which ranges determine high, medium and low strength faecal sludge. • Be able to describe how operational factors impact the variability of faecal sludge. • Have an understanding of faecal sludge management and treatment targets and objectives. The first step in designing faecal sludge (FS) treatment technologies that will meet defined treatment objectives is to quantify and characterise the FS to be treated. Ideally, this should be carried out as part of the Feasibility Study as described in Chapter 17, but is however difficult due to the lack of standardised methodologies for the quantification or characterisation of FS. This complicates the design of adequate and appropriate systems. The quantities of FS generated and the typical FS characteristics are difficult to determine due the variety of onsite sanitation technologies in use, such as pit latrines, public ablution blocks, septic tanks, aqua privies, and dry toilets. In many cities, a mixture of these technologies often exist side-by-side, and there is generally a prevalence of different technologies in different geographical regions. For example, in Bangkok, Thailand; Dakar, Senegal; Hanoi, Vietnam, and Buenos Aires, Argentina septic tanks are the predominant form of onsite FS containment technology; whereas in Kampala, Uganda; Nairobi, Kenya; and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, various types of pit latrines are the predominant form of FS containment technology (e.g. improved and unimproved private latrines, shared and public latrines). high income countries 1 100-200 low income countries, rural 2 350 low income countries ,urban 2 250 China 3 315 Kenya 4 520 Thailand 5 120-400

Understanding what determines species' geographic distributions is crucial for assessing global change threats to biodiversity. Measuring limits on distributions is usually, and necessarily, done with data at large geographic extents and coarse spatial resolution. However, survival of individuals is determined by processes that happen at small spatial scales. The relative abundance of coexisting species (i.e. 'community structure') reflects assembly processes occurring at small scales, and are often available for relatively extensive areas, so could be useful for explaining species distributions. We demonstrate that Bayesian Network Inference (BNI) can overcome several challenges to including community structure into studies of species distributions, despite having been little used to date. We hypothesized that the relative abundance of coexisting species can improve predictions of species distributions. In 1570 assemblages of 68 Mediterranean woody plant species we used...

There is growing need for reliable survey-based small area estimates of crime and confidence in police work to design and evaluate place-based policing strategies. Crime and confidence in policing are geographically aggregated and police resources can be targeted to areas with the most problems. High levels of spatial autocorrelation in these variables allow for using spatial random effects to improve small area estimation models and estimates' reliability. This article introduces the Spatial Empirical Best Linear Unbiased Predictor (SEBLUP), which borrows strength from neighboring areas, to place-based policing. It assesses the SEBLUP under different scenarios of number of areas and levels of spatial autocorrelation and provides an application to confidence in policing in London. The SEBLUP should be applied for place-based policing strategies when the variable's spatial autocorrelation is medium/high, and the number of areas is large. Confidence in policing is higher in Central and West London and lower in Eastern neighborhoods.

This paper explores the phenomenon of women's disempowerment and empowerment as the result of their childhood experiences. To this end, it draws on Chimamanda N. Adichie's novel, Purple Hibiscus. In this novel, Kambili and her brother Jaja have experienced the lifestyle of three different towns and village; Enugu, Abba and Nsukka. Enugu, their home place has been oppressive to them whereas Abba and Nsukka, their village and their aunt's place, have favoured their empowerment. The focus is on the way Kambili's transformation has taken place as a result of her contact with Abba and Nsukka. This experience has allowed her to compare her lifestyle to Amaka's and her mother to Aunty Ifeoma. She feels that she has not received the right education and needs to change. She is now open up, expresses herself freely and takes responsibility. Kambili's progress conforms with Molara Ogundipe-Leslie's Stiwanism which confronts the family as a site for social transformation as far as gender relations are concerned.

A Multidisciplinary methodology that describes for the watershed of Laguna de Tuxpan the climate, topography, geology, soil, vegetation and land use through GIS. The topography (maximum altitude of 1731 m). The bathymetry(capacity of 18.89 Mm 3 , an area of 4.1 Mm 2 and a maximum depth of 7.86 m). The physicochemical and environmental parameters, show the generation of 107.01 kg of nitrogen per year (22.93% by point sources and 77.07% by diffuse sources). Tomatal river produces 18.7 t of sediment on the regions of average sloping, this equates to a lost of 7.45 t ha -1 on average throughout the basin. The water quality is within the maximum permissible limits for the development of aquatic life. The lake is classified as warm water body, shallow and tropical, with a holomíctic blend, or a water body mesotrophic -eutrophic, through plankton community. The pollution and toxicity by Vibrio fischeri, Daphnia magna, Selenastrumcapricornutum and Microcistinawas not present in the lake. The presence of six types of phthalates, plus the incidence of herbicide atrazine in the lake, point out as source of pollution to the trash of the area and agricultural activity. There are contamination by the presence of fecal coliform and total suspended solids of human and natural origin in the watershed. Is proposed a strategic plan of recuperation: 1) a program of promotion and adoption of conservation practices for hillside land, 2) construction of little dams within channels for the control sediment and runoff infiltration to help the recharge the aquifer, 3) the river corridor recovery through of reforestation, 4) management of less polluting agrochemicals, 5) relocation of human settlements of the river corridor, 6) rechanneling of the river,7) control of invasive species management of the corridor and the lake, and 8) management of the water urban residuals through social participation.

G2A is a lymphocyte-expressed G protein-coupled receptor whose genetic ablation results in the development of autoimmunity. Using HSV-TK reporter gene directed positron emission tomography (PET), we demonstrate that prior to any indication of the onset of illness, mice transplanted with BCR-ABL transduced G2A-deficient bone marrow harbor expanded populations of leukemic cells compared to recipients of wild-type bone marrow. The target cell type and anatomical locations of leukemia development are indistinguishable in animals transplanted with G2Aϩ/ϩ or G2AϪ/Ϫ cells. Shorter disease latency in the G2A-deficient background is associated with an increased rate of cellular expansion. PET can be successfully applied to the temporal and spatial analysis of Bcr-Abl driven leukemic progression and should have utility for the study of other leukemias and lymphomas.

The acceptable water quality standard varies based on the intended use of water. Therefore, the standard will be dramatically decreased while moving from Drinking, domestic, industrial and agricultural purposes. Water quality modeling software Aquachem and ArcGIS10.3 were used to analyze data sets of 12 samples from four different wells located around the Mafraq area in order to investigate its suitability for drinking. The results revealed that hydrochemistry of groundwater recorded a wide range in total dissolve solid (TDS) and the chloride is found to be most predominating. Generally, groundwater in the University and Zatari areas has high concentrations of nitrate. The major element's data were plotted on the Piper's diagram for working of hydrogeochemical facies. Mixed CaMgCl are the most prominent facies. The pH part of the Durov diagram reveals that groundwater in the study area is alkaline and electrical conductivity of most of samples lies in the range of drinking water standards adopted in Jordan.

Introduction: This study aimed to determine the hotspot areas for Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (CL) in Fasa city and assess the relations between the geographical factors with CL incidence using spatial analysis. Materials and Methods: This ecological study was conducted in Fasa city, data of the CL disease such as the total number of CL cases and the population at risk from 2009 to 2014. Weather conditions' data including the means of temperature, humidity, rainfall, sunny days, rainy days, and evaporation were collected from the weather forecast centers in Fars province. The disease cases' information such as the number of disease cases was collected from all healthcare centers located in Fasa City. Ordinary Least Square (OLS) and Global Moran’s Index (GMI) were used to assess the associations of the various environmental variables with CL incidence and to map clustering of CL cases across the region. Results: The cumulative incidence of CL was 16 per 10,000 populations during ...

Cycling as one of a mode of transport in urban and residential areas has been determined as a solution for the urban issue. It is an active and environmentally friendly mode of travel. However, the relationship between physical built environment and cycling behavior among residential are less associated with increasing the bikeability of residents. The main factors as a major contributor to bikeability behavior are built environment and social factors. The main aspect to determine the interaction between all the factors will be based on the behavior of individuals and their personal characteristics. The new conceptual framework of bikeability behavior was discovered in assisting and producing cycling behavior within neighborhoods

The Guapimirim estuary is the main tributary of Guanabara bay and is located in the northeast portion. Although it is protected, this estuary has been experiencing strong anthropogenic pressure, which has led to changes in the natural characteristics. Large amounts of sewage are dumped into the bay through tributaries, thereby changing the water and bottom sediment quality. One of the main elements of sewage is phosphorus. Despite its importance to life, a high concentration of this nutrient in the environment can result in eutrophication. This work describes the phosphorus distribution in its different fractions in the bottom sediment at 16 stations located in the main channel of the Guapimirim estuary. These results are correlated with data on grain size, organic matter and calcium carbonate content in the bottom sediment and with physicochemical parameters of the bottom water. The grain size decreases toward the mouth of the estuary, whereas the organic matter and carbonate content increase. The salinity increases significantly at 3.5 km upstream from the mouth, where there is also a notable increase in fine sediments; the same site is the mean position of the salinity front. The temperature and pH increase in the same direction. The P inorg -total ranges between 3.18 and 7.13 µmol g -1 , increasing toward the mouth. The same trend is observed for the other phosphorus fractions P-Ca, P-Fe and P-f.a., which range from 0.68 to 1.91, 0.79 to 1.71 and 0.03 to 0.93 µmol g -1 , respectively. The P-Ca and P-Fe fractions are the most representative in the P inorg -total, occurring at 26.3 and 26.0 %, respectively.

This article examines the key aspects of working with big data in databases, including their characteristics, architectures, and processing technologies. It analyzes modern solutions such as distributed computing (Hadoop, Spark), NoSQL databases (MongoDB, Cassandra, Redis), and relational DBMS (SQL Server, Oracle, PostgreSQL) that are adapted for handling big data. The significance of the optimization methods, such as indexing, partitioning, and compression, is emphasized, particularly the role played by security controls, such as encryption, access control, and monitoring. The emphasis is on integration of the big data with analytical tools with a scalability and high performance orientation.

Econometricians have begun to devote more attention to spatial interactions when carrying out applied econometric studies. In part, this is motivated by an explicit focus on spatial interactions in policy formulation or market behavior, but it may also reflect concern about the role of omitted variables that are or may be spatially correlated. The classic models of spatial autocorrelation or

Department of Urban and Regional Planning A AB BS ST TR RA AC CT T Riparian zones are vegetated strips of land located on each side of a watercourse or adjacent to a stationary water body. Ideally, the attributes of a riparian zone should include among others uninterrupted continuum of vegetation cover, appropriate vegetation structure and lateral width where ecological, social and economic functions should take place. However, despite their significance as urban landscape elements, riparian zones are facing pollution, encroachment and degradation from urban land uses in Nairobi River Basin. This is a result of improper determination, use and management. The implications of this stated problem include failure to filter polluted surface run-off, riverbank erosion, increased incidences of flooding and soil erosion, and death of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems that depend on riparian vegetation for survival. The cost of this problem to Kenya as a nation is monumental. The main objective of this study was to assess factors that affect the determination, use and management of riparian zones in Nairobi River Basin. The study sought to answer the question of whether the policy and institutional factors, land use and biophysical factors, as well as, professional and land users' factors influence conservation of riparian zones in the basin. This was with a view of developing an integrated model of conservation of riparian zones. The study followed a descriptive research design which employed a mixed strategy involving quantitative and qualitative methods. Secondary data was collected using archival method. Primary data collection relied on questionnaires, observations and scheduled interviews as the main methods. The technique of content analysis assisted in grouping qualitative data thematically that was presented in a narrative form. Statistical data were mainly analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS), and summarized in percentages. The data was presented in tables and graphs to provide visual relationships between variables. However, geographical information systems (GIS) spatial techniques were used to examine the physical extent of the zones in relation to adjoining land uses. The study established that weak policy and institutional framework have led to haphazard and incompatible multiple uses of the zones. In particular, planning and development control mechanisms are weak and there are unclear land administration guidelines and procedures to secure the riparian width and vegetation. Land use and biophysical factors are also not taken into account when formulating and implementing policies while professionals and land users have limited or no roles at all in securing riparian zones. As a result, these factors have played a major role in the continued indiscriminate invasion and ecological deterioration of riparian zones in the basin. In conclusion, there is improper determination, use and management of riparian zones in Nairobi River Basin. Therefore, the areas that physically and ecologically fall in these riparian zones are encroached and degraded by urban land uses. The study recommends among others, an integrated model for effective determination, use and management of riparian zones.

Resilience has been defined as the capacity of a system to absorb disturbance and reorganize while maintaining the same function, structure and identity. In Nairobi river basin, storm water drains have been developed to direct floods away from urban developments. However, when upper areas and riparian areas of rivers are bleached, the ramifications are seen in terms of increased flood resistance that reduces resilience. The main objective of the paper is to investigate the role of functional riparian zones in enhancing resilience to flooding in urban areas. Specifically, the study examined whether there are developments that are at a permanent risk of floods as a result of ignoring potential role of the riparian zone. Secondly, the criteria used during delimitation of riparian zones was assessed in its adequacy to shield development from effects of floods. Data was collected using mapping and archival methods. The study established that the width of the river varies along the river profile and depends on the adjoining topography. The location of the high-water mark therefore is not constant from the river and widens or narrows depending on the adjoining topography. The study revealed that there are structures that are at permanent risk of flooding. It was further established that the criteria used during delineation of the riparian zone is not adequate to protect development from flood hazards. Areas where structures are constructed within defined active flood areas are constricted and they have blocked the flood paths. As a result, floods get elevated due to lower rate of evacuation causing localized flooding in areas not ordinarily affected by floods. The paper concludes that functional riparian zones have potential role of ensuring flood resilience. The study recommends regeneration of the active flood areas through relocation of structures and planting of trees. The study further recommends pegging of inundated flood areas based on the criteria established in the study.

One traditional, although visionary goal of the remote sensing (RS) community is the development of operational satellite-based measurement systems suitable for automating the quantitative analysis of large-scale spaceborne multi-source multi-resolution image databases . In past years this goal was almost exclusively dealt with by research programs focused on land cover (LC) and land cover change (LCC) detection at global scale (Gutman et al., 2004) (pp. 451, 452). In recent years the objective of developing operational satellite-based measurement systems has become increasingly urgent due to multiple drivers. While cost-free access to large-scale low spatial resolution (SR) (above 40 m) and medium SR (from 40 to 20 m) spaceborne image databases has become a reality

According to existing literature and despite their commercial success, state-of-the-art two-stage non-iterative geographic object-based image analysis (GEOBIA) systems and three-stage iterative geographic object-oriented image analysis (GEOOIA) systems, where GEOOIA  GEOBIA, remain affected by a lack of productivity, general consensus and research. To outperform the degree of automation, accuracy, efficiency, robustness, scalability and timeliness of existing GEOBIA/GEOOIA systems in compliance with the Quality Assurance Framework for Earth Observation (QA4EO) guidelines, this methodological work is split into two parts. The present first paper provides a multi-disciplinary Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis of the GEOBIA/GEOOIA approaches that augments similar analyses proposed in recent years. In line with constraints stemming from human vision, this SWOT analysis promotes a shift of learning paradigm in the pre-attentive vision first stage of a remote sensing (RS) image understanding system (RS-IUS), from sub-symbolic statistical model-based (inductive) image segmentation to symbolic physical model-based (deductive) image preliminary classification. Hence, a symbolic deductive pre-attentive vision first stage accomplishes image sub-symbolic segmentation and image symbolic pre-classification simultaneously. In the second part of this work a novel hybrid (combined deductive and inductive) RS-IUS architecture featuring a symbolic deductive pre-attentive vision first stage is proposed and discussed in terms of: (a) computational theory (system design); (b) information/knowledge representation; (c) algorithm design; and

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are widely used for monitoring and observation of dynamic phenomena. A sensor in WSNs covers only a limited region, depending on its sensing and communicating ranges, as well as the environment configuration. For efficient deployment of sensors in a WSN the coverage estimation is a critical issue. Probabilistic methods are among the most accurate models proposed for sensor coverage estimation. However, most of these methods are based on raster representation of the environment for coverage estimation which limits their quality. In this paper, we propose a probabilistic method for estimation of the coverage of a sensor network based on 3D vector representation of the environment.

The availability of high-resolution satellite images allowed new applications, especially in urban areas. In Brazil, where up-to-date information is frequently missing in data banks at Municipal, State and Federal level, the information obtained from these images could eventually fill this gap. In this paper, a case study, performed in the city of São José dos Campos, São Paulo State, Brazil is presented. A QUICKBIRD scene was classified using an object-oriented approach. After presenting the fundamentals of this new approach, a land cover map of a section from this city is presented and discussed. This is a contribution for urban planning. 1.

Millions of tons of solid waste, mostly plastics, are annually dumped into the oceans, posing a major 21st-century environmental threat. Commercial shipping and ocean gyres exacerbate pollution on remote islands, resulting in the widespread presence of microplastics throughout the marine environment. Most of this pollution is plastics, and its fragmentation originates from microplastics (particles smaller than 5 mm). These debris are ubiquitous throughout the marine environment, dispersed among beaches, estuaries, on the water surface, and even on the seafloor. This study was carried out on São Miguel Island, Azores, where sediment samples were collected and analysed for microplastic (MP) abundance and dimension across eight areas covering the entire coastline of the island. Each area was divided into four sites along an inland-coastal gradient, from the stream to the ocean (upstream, downstream, coastal, and submerged marine sediments), following a nested design approach. In addition to this first method, 15 beaches, spread along the island's shore, were also tested and compared. Fibres were the most common type of microplastic, with varying levels of abundance across different locations. Abundance generally increased closer to the coast, but there were occasional instances of high upstream concentrations due to heavy rains, which then accumulated near coastlines and beaches. This study revealed an important local MP source from an apparently pristine touristic region which, aligned with other recent findings, unveils an important and silent pollution issue potentially affecting oceanic islands that should be seriously addressed in future studies and raise concern for litter management and mitigation and environmental awareness actions.

The aim of this study was a spatial analysis of the pottery occurrence (potsherds) in the acropolis part of the Pobedim hillfort (Slovakia) using two spatial statistical methods (spatial autocorrelation and kriging interpolation) with the help of GIS and their subsequent comparison. To understand the landscape of the study area, seven land use maps were created for different historical years (1783–1785, 1845, 1882, 1956, 1971, 2010 and 2017) confirming that the study area was predominantly utilized as arable land, which was related to advantageous floodplain location between the rivers of Horný Dudváh and Dubová. Using the Moran coefficient of spatial autocorrelation, it was found that there were seven high–high clusters and three high–low clusters representing the occurrence of potsherds. Using the kriging interpolation, three clusters of high concentration were found. Subsequent comparison of both methods revealed three identical areas with high frequency of pottery occurrence ind...

Turkey is one of the few countries in the world with a favourable climate for hazelnut production. In addition, it has the leading position in world hazelnut production and export, supplying about 70% of world’s production. However, hazelnut production exceeds the demand and new some regulations have been enacted to create new land use policies in Turkey. By putting into practice regulations restricting hazelnut plantation areas, a more efficient and productive hazelnut harvest policy could be created. Samsun city is one of the most important hazelnut production centres in Central Black Sea region. The main objective of this study is to determine potential hazelnut areas in Samsun city located Central Black Sea Region according to current regulations using geographic information system technique regarding to support hazelnut policy developers and organizations. According to the criteria dictated by government regulations, potential hazelnut area in Samsun province was determined and...

The Rupat Island is one of the islands in Riau Province, Indonesia which generally consists of peat soil. Hence several coastal areas surrounded Rupat Island have been severely damaged due to the influence of the sea waves and tides. Meanwhile, the coastal area has been widely occupied by the local human business activities including residential areas, industrials, tourism areas and river catchment areas for fishing activities. Rupat Island is in fact, included in the National Tourism Strategic Area (KSPN) and it is also the outermost island in the territory of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia bordering with Malaysia and Singapore. Hence, the conservation programs for these coastal areas become very important issues in the light of enforcing national sovereignty. This research was conducted to determine the level of vulnerability of the coast on Rupat Island abrasion using the Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI) method and to generate a spatial map of the coastal areas on Rupat Island which are vulnerable to failure using the Geographical Information System (GIS) approach. The results obtained are that Rupat Island has low to very high coastal vulnerability index with the largest abrasion was occurred in the Pergam Village (with the coastline damage up to 3.5 m / year).

Fruit–frugivore interactions are crucial for the dynamics and regeneration of most forested ecosystems. Still, we lack an understanding of the potential variation in the sign and strength of such interactions in relation to variations in the spatial and temporal ecological context. Here, we evaluated spatial (three sites) and temporal (two fruiting seasons) local variation in the sign (seed predation versus dispersal) and strength (frequency and quantity) of the interactions among six frugivorous mammals and a community of Mediterranean fleshy‐fruited shrubs. We examined mammal faecal samples and quantified frequency of seed occurrence, number of seeds per faecal sample, seed species diversity and quality of seed treatment (i.e. percentage of undamaged seeds). The frequency of seed occurrence and number of seeds per faecal sample strongly varied among dispersers, sites, seasons and fruit species. For instance, fox Vulpes vulpes faeces showed between 6 and 40 times more seeds than wi...