Training of Crisis Mappers and Map Production from Multi-sensor Data: Vernazza Case Study (Cinque Terre National Park, Italy)

This aim of paper is to presents the development of a multidisciplinary project carried out by the cooperation between Politecnico di Torino and ITHACA (Information Technology for Humanitarian Assistance, Cooperation and Action). The goal of the project was the training in geospatial data acquiring and processing for students attending Architecture and Engineering Courses, in order to start up a team of "volunteer mappers". Indeed, the project is aimed to document the environmental and built heritage subject to disaster; the purpose is to improve the capabilities of the actors involved in the activities connected in geospatial data collection, integration and sharing. The proposed area for testing the training activities is the Cinque Terre National Park, registered in the World Heritage List since 1997. The area was affected by flood on the 25th of October 2011. According to other international experiences, the group is expected to be active after emergencies in order to upgrade maps, using data acquired by typical geomatic methods and techniques such as terrestrial and aerial Lidar, close-range and aerial photogrammetry, topographic and GNSS instruments etc.; or by non conventional systems and instruments such us UAV, mobile mapping etc. The ultimate goal is to implement a WebGIS platform to share all the data collected with local authorities and the Civil Protectio

A Social Internet of Things Smart City Solution for Traffic and Pollution Monitoring in Cagliari

In the last years, the smart city (SC) paradigm has been deeply studied to support sustainable mobility and to improve human living conditions. In this context, a new SC based on the Social Internet of Things paradigm is presented in this article. Starting from the tracking of all vehicles (that is, private and public) and pedestrians, integrated with air quality measurements (that is, in real time by mobile and fixed sensors), the system aims to improve the viability of the city, both for pedestrian and vehicular users. A monitoring network based on sensors and devices hosted on board in local public transport allows real-time monitoring of the most sensitive areas both from traffic congestion and from an environmental point of view. The proposed solution is equipped with an appropriate intelligence that takes into account instantaneous speed, type of traffic, and instantaneous pollution data, allowing to evaluate the congestion and pollution condition in a specific moment. Moreover, specific tools support the decisions of public administration facilitating the identification of the most appropriate actions for the implementation of effective policies relating to mobility. All collected data are elaborated in real time to improve traffic viability suggesting new directions and information to citizens to better organize how to live in the city

A smartphone-based road signs alert system for vehicle drivers’ assistance in Tanzania

A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master’s in Information Systems and Network Security of the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and TechnologyRoad Traffic Accidents (RTA) are major problems worldwide resulting in significant morbidity and mortality. Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) are one of the salient features of intelligent systems in transportation. ADAS improves vehicle safety by providing real-time traffic information on road signs ahead. Road signs play an important role in road safety. To be effective, road signs must be visible at a distance that enables drivers to take the necessary actions. Static road signs, however, are often seen too late for a driver to respond accordingly. In this study, a system for alerting drivers about road signs has been developed and tested using a smart mobile phone. The study was conducted in Tanzania along an 80 km stretch of Arusha to Moshi highway. The haversine method was used precisely for the measure and estimation of the distance between two pairs of coordinates. It uses an existing supported phone-based navigation application, Google Map. The system provides a speech alert to a needed action which enhances attention diversion. According to the experimental results, the proposed methodology has the benefits of high accuracy within a user radius of 10 meters, minimum bandwidth, and low-cost system. Furthermore, the system application package SHA-1 signing certificates fingerprint is secured by limiting access to API key to avoid unauthorized access to sensitive information