A Unified 3D Spatial Data Model for Surface and Subsurface Spatial Objects

Three Dimensional (3D) spatial modelling is an abstract representation of  reality using mathematically proven relationships defined as points, lines, polygons and solids to represent man-made and natural features above, on and below the surface of the earth. 3D topology is the interrelationships existing between these objects to enable visualization, query and analysis. 3D mod-elling of subsurface objects and their integration with the surface and above surface objects currently lags behind despite efforts of researchers and the attempt at viewing above, surface and subsurface man-made objects for earth realism. Level of Details (LoD) for spatial objects has been extensively studied. However, these have not been extended to man-made features below the surface. LoD maps for surface and subsurface integration exist for most city centres but the 3D component is lacking and this does not enhance the Level of Realism (LoR) in most city centres. Knowledge about the surface and subsurface 3D objects for city centres, mining and 3D cadastre will create awareness among stakeholders for effective planning of a city or mine. This paper provides a discussion for 3D surface and subsurface integration. Various 3D spatial data models currently in existence for the integration of surface and subsurface models are discussed and a geometric, topological 3D object oriented model is sug-gested. A UML diagram for the top hierarchy class is presented and a conceptual and logical model for surface and subsurface integration is also discussed. A simulation of the above, on and below 3D spatial models for man-made constructions at differ-ent LoDs is presented. A simulation of this with regards to mining and cadastre is also presented. The model presented can be adopted in realising 3D GIS for mining and 3D cadastre can be realised in Ghana. Further work is geared towards 3D spatial analysis for such an integrated model

Three-dimensional anatomical atlas of the human body

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor in Information Management, specialization in Geographic Information SystemsAnatomical atlases allow mapping the anatomical structures of the human body. Early versions of these systems consisted of analogic representations with informative text and labelled images of the human body. With the advent of computer systems, digital versions emerged and the third dimension was introduced. Consequently, these systems increased their efficiency, allowing more realistic visualizations with improved interactivity. The development of anatomical atlases in geographic information systems (GIS) environments allows the development of platforms with a high degree of interactivity and with tools to explore and analyze the human body. In this thesis, a prototype for the human body representation is developed. The system includes a 3D GIS topological model, a graphical user interface and functions to explore and analyze the interior and the surface of the anatomical structures of the human body. The GIS approach relies essentially on the topological characteristics of the model and on the kind of available functions, which include measurement, identification, selection and analysis. With the incorporation of these functions, the final system has the ability to replicate the kind of information provided by the conventional anatomical atlases and also provides a higher level of functionality, since some of the atlases limitations are precisely features offered by GIS, namely, interactive capabilities, multilayer management, measurement tools, edition mode, allowing the expansion of the information contained in the system, and spatial analyzes

Leveraging Artificial Intelligence and Geomechanical Data for Accurate Shear Stress Prediction in CO2 Sequestration within Saline Aquifers (Smart Proxy Modeling)

This research builds upon the success of a previous project that used a Smart Proxy Model (SPM) to predict pressure and saturation in Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) operations into saline aquifers. The Smart Proxy Model is a data-driven machine learning model that can replicate the output of a sophisticated numerical simulation model for each time step in a short amount of time, using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and large volumes of subsurface data. This study aims to develop the Smart Proxy Model further by incorporating geomechanical datadriven techniques to predict shear stress by using a neural network, specifically through supervised learning, to construct Smart Proxy Models, which are critical to ensuring the safety and effectiveness of Carbon Capture and Storage operations. By training the Smart Proxy Model with reservoir simulations that incorporate varying geological properties and geomechanical data, we will be able to predict the distribution of shear stress. The ability to accurately predict shear stress is crucial to mitigating the potential risks associated with Carbon Capture and Storage operations. The development of a geomechanical Smart Proxy Model will enable more efficient and reliable subsurface modeling decisions in Carbon Capture and Storage operations, ultimately contributing to the safe and effective storage of CO2 and the global effort to combat climate change

How to build a biological machine using engineering materials and methods

We present work in 3D printing electric motors from basic materials as the key to building a self-replicating machine to colonise the Moon. First, we explore the nature of the biological realm to ascertain its essence, particularly in relation to the origin of life when the inanimate became animate. We take an expansive view of this to ascertain parallels between the biological and the manufactured worlds. Life must have emerged from the available raw material on Earth and, similarly, a self-replicating machine must exploit and leverage the available resources on the Moon. We then examine these lessons to explore the construction of a self-replicating machine using a universal constructor. It is through the universal constructor that the actuator emerges as critical. We propose that 3D printing constitutes an analogue of the biological ribosome and that 3D printing may constitute a universal construction mechanism. Following a description of our progress in 3D printing motors, we suggest that this engineering effort can inform biology, that motors are a key facet of living organisms and illustrate the importance of motors in biology viewed from the perspective of engineering (in the Feynman spirit of "what I cannot create, I cannot understand")

Advances in the Exploration of Geothermal Resources of the East Africa Rift System (EARS)

This work focuses on the geological, geophysical and geochemical exploration of the geothermal reservoirs located in the East Africa Rift System (EARS), with particular reference to the characterisation of some geothermal fields located in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Malawi. Moreover, this study provides an updated overview of the procedures for the exploration of geothermal resources and can serve therefore as a best-practice guide for future endeavours. Field activities included geological surveys, geophysical investigations (gravity, electromagnetic and seismic measurements) and geochemical survey/analyses. Moreover, stratigraphic data and P&T logs were available at some explored geothermal prospects. An overview of the main investigated geothermal fields was given and three case studies were described in detail as representative examples of geothermal play types of EARS: (i) the Alalobeda field (Ethiopia), located in correspondence of the triple junction Read Sea-Aden Gulf-Main Ethiopian Rift and (ii) the Kiejo-Mbaka field (Tanzania), belonging to EARS\u2019 western branch, both falling in the extensional domain play type, fault controlled or fault-leakage controlled; (iii) the Menengai field (Kenya), the second most important geothermal field in EARS, where a huge quantity of direct data from more than twenty drilled wells is available. The latter can be classified as convection-dominated magmatic play type. Compared to geothermal fields of South-East Asia and Central America, the geothermal of EARS presents some peculiar characters and differences. The plutonic play-type (convection dominated), occurring in fore- or back-arc regions of fold-thrust belts along subduction zones, denotes a well-developed thick and continuous cap rock mainly formed by clay minerals. In the plutonic play of Menengai, the typical impermeable cap rock is practically missing. A \u201czonation\u201d of the play types occurring in EARS can be recognized. The Western Branch is characterised by the presence of fault/fault-leakage controlled play types. In the Eastern Branch, geothermal plays are associated to active or quite recent volcanoes. Due to the foregoing characters, a different approach should be followed in order to characterize properly the geothermal fields present in EARS. In a subduction context, geophysical results from electromagnetic investigations play a fundamental role in the exploration of potential geothermal reservoirs, as in such an environment they are often succesfully used to detect the occurrence of an impermeable cap rock overlying the reservoir (target zone). Therefore, if the resistivity structures inferred in EARS geothermal plays are simply associated with \u201cstandard\u201d resistivity models of cap rock-reservoir formations, the inferred geophysical conceptual model may be grossly incorrect. Wherefore, an accurate and integrated interpretation of all the geoscientific data is essential. In this regard, a detailed structural survey is of primary importance especially in the fault-controlled plays, whereas its importance is often under-estimated in subduction realms. A high-resolution structural survey allows to define a detailed configuration of fractures and faults that may control the fluid upflow from the reservoir. Concerning the application of geochemical methods, in EARS, typical approaches and models developed in the subduction geothermal systems should be re-evaluated. The high-temperature geothermal reservoirs of the Eastern branch (e.g., Olkaria and Menengai in Kenya, and Aluto-Langano in Ethiopia) host not only mature chloride waters, as the geothermal systems situated along subduction zones, but also mature bicarbonate-chloride and mature bicarbonate waters. In volcanic-magmatic regions, deep geothermal liquids are assumed to be produced through neutralization of initially acidic meteoric-magmatic aqueous solutions. The few available data for volcanic gases indicate that subduction zones volcanic gases are enriched in Cl relative to hot-spot and divergent-plate volcanic gases. Therefore, the comparatively small supply of Cl-bearing magmatic gas species (chiefly HCl) in the root of the Eastern EARS geothermal systems might be responsible for the comparatively low Cl contents of related geothermal liquids. The situation might be even more complicated in the western EARS, due to the absence of magmatic systems. Therefore, a more comprehensive approach to water classification is needed to distinguish mature waters from immature ones. In view of the differences with the geothermal systems hosted in subduction zone environments, the future exploration and development of geothermal resources of EARS should thus consider that geothermal resources are rarely due to the presence of a hot magmatic source, but rather to the crustal thinning, which determines thermal anomalies of moderate intensity. Moreover, favorable thermal conditions are not always accompanied by an adequate hydrogeological setting, expecially when they occur in low permeability basalts. In these cases, it is essential to pay attention to the structural setting, in order to design the wells with the highest likelihood of intersecting permeable tectonic structures. Unlike in most Indonesian fields, where permeability tends to be widespread throughout the rock, in the EARS permeability appears in many cases limited to major faults. The planned program of drilling in several prospects of Ethiopia and Tanzania will make available further information improving the overall understanding of the geothermal characteristics of EARS

Proceedings. 9th 3DGeoInfo Conference 2014, [11-13 November 2014, Dubai]

It is known that, scientific disciplines such as geology, geophysics, and reservoir exploration intrinsically use 3D geo-information in their models and simulations. However, 3D geo-information is also urgently needed in many traditional 2D planning areas such as civil engineering, city and infrastructure modeling, architecture, environmental planning etc. Altogether, 3DGeoInfo is an emerging technology that will greatly influence the market within the next few decades. The 9th International 3DGeoInfo Conference aims at bringing together international state-of-the-art researchers and practitioners facilitating the dialogue on emerging topics in the field of 3D geo-information. The conference in Dubai offers an interdisciplinary forum of sub- and above-surface 3D geo-information researchers and practitioners dealing with data acquisition, modeling, management, maintenance, visualization, and analysis of 3D geo-information

HPC-enabling technologies for high-fidelity combustion simulations

With the increase in computational power in the last decade and the forthcoming Exascale supercomputers, a new horizon in computational modelling and simulation is envisioned in combustion science. Considering the multiscale and multiphysics characteristics of turbulent reacting flows, combustion simulations are considered as one of the most computationally demanding applications running on cutting-edge supercomputers. Exascale computing opens new frontiers for the simulation of combustion systems as more realistic conditions can be achieved with high-fidelity methods. However, an efficient use of these computing architectures requires methodologies that can exploit all levels of parallelism. The efficient utilization of the next generation of supercomputers needs to be considered from a global perspective, that is, involving physical modelling and numerical methods with methodologies based on High-Performance Computing (HPC) and hardware architectures. This review introduces recent developments in numerical methods for large-eddy simulations (LES) and direct-numerical simulations (DNS) to simulate combustion systems, with focus on the computational performance and algorithmic capabilities. Due to the broad scope, a first section is devoted to describe the fundamentals of turbulent combustion, which is followed by a general description of state-of-the-art computational strategies for solving these problems. These applications require advanced HPC approaches to exploit modern supercomputers, which is addressed in the third section. The increasing complexity of new computing architectures, with tightly coupled CPUs and GPUs, as well as high levels of parallelism, requires new parallel models and algorithms exposing the required level of concurrency. Advances in terms of dynamic load balancing, vectorization, GPU acceleration and mesh adaptation have permitted to achieve highly-efficient combustion simulations with data-driven methods in HPC environments. Therefore, dedicated sections covering the use of high-order methods for reacting flows, integration of detailed chemistry and two-phase flows are addressed. Final remarks and directions of future work are given at the end. }The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Programme under the CoEC project, grant agreement No. 952181 and the CoE RAISE project grant agreement no. 951733.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

The Origin and Early Evolution of Life

What is life? How, where, and when did life arise? These questions have remained most fascinating over the last hundred years. Systems chemistry is the way to go to better understand this problem and to try and answer the unsolved question regarding the origin of Life. Self-organization, thanks to the role of lipid boundaries, made possible the rise of protocells. The role of these boundaries is to separate and co-locate micro-environments, and make them spatially distinct; to protect and keep them at defined concentrations; and to enable a multitude of often competing and interfering biochemical reactions to occur simultaneously. The aim of this Special Issue is to summarize the latest discoveries in the field of the prebiotic chemistry of biomolecules, self-organization, protocells and the origin of life. In recent years, thousands of excellent reviews and articles have appeared in the literature and some breakthroughs have already been achieved. However, a great deal of work remains to be carried out. Beyond the borders of the traditional domains of scientific activity, the multidisciplinary character of the present Special Issue leaves space for anyone to creatively contribute to any aspect of these and related relevant topics. We hope that the presented works will be stimulating for a new generation of scientists that are taking their first steps in this fascinating field