Computational modeling of land surface temperature using remote sensing data to investigate the spatial arrangement of buildings and energy consumption relationship

The effect of urban form on energy consumption has been the subject of various studies around the world. Having examined the effect of buildings on energy consumption, these studies indicate that the physical form of a city has a notable impact on the amount of energy consumed in its spaces. The present study identified the variables that affected energy consumption in residential buildings and analyzed their effects on energy consumption in four neighborhoods in Tehran: Apadana, Bimeh, Ekbatan-phase I, and Ekbatan-phase II. After extracting the variables, their effects are estimated with statistical methods, and the results are compared with the land surface temperature (LST) remote sensing data derived from Landsat 8 satellite images taken in the winter of 2019. The results showed that physical variables, such as the size of buildings, population density, vegetation cover, texture concentration, and surface color, have the greatest impacts on energy usage. For the Apadana neighborhood, the factors with the most potent effect on energy consumption were found to be the size of buildings and the population density. However, for other neighborhoods, in addition to these two factors, a third factor was also recognized to have a significant effect on energy consumption. This third factor for the Bimeh, Ekbatan-I, and Ekbatan-II neighborhoods was the type of buildings, texture concentration, and orientation of buildings, respectively

Mètode d'extracció multiparamètrica de característiques de textura orientat a la segmentació d'imatges

Tal com es veurà en el següent capítol d'antecedents, existeixen formes molt variades d'afrontar l'anàlisi de textures però cap d'elles està orientada al càlcul en temps real (video rate). Degut a la manca de mètodes que posin tant d'èmfasi en el temps de processat, l'objectiu d'aquesta tesi és definir i desenvolupar un nou mètode d'extracció de característiques de textura que treballi en temps real. Per aconseguir aquesta alta velocitat d'operació, un altre objectiu és presentar el disseny d'una arquitectura específica per implementar l'algorisme de càlcul dels paràmetres de textura definits, així com també l'algorisme de classificació dels paràmetres i la segmentació de la imatge en regions de textura semblant.En el capítol 2 s'expliquen els diversos mètodes més rellevants dins la caracterització de textures. Es veuran els mètodes més importants tant pel que fa als enfocaments estadístics com als estructurals. També en el mateix capítol se situa el nou mètode presentat en aquesta tesi dins els diferents enfocaments principals que existeixen. De la mateixa manera es fa una breu ressenya a la síntesi de textures, una manera d'avaluar quantitativament la caracterització de la textura d'una imatge. Ens centrarem principalment, en el capítol 3, en l'explicació del mètode presentat en aquest treball: s'introduiran els paràmetres de textura proposats, la seva necessitat i definicions. Al ser paràmetres altament perceptius i no seguir cap model matemàtic, en aquest mateix capítol s'utilitza una tècnica estadística anomenada anàlisi discriminant per demostrar que tots els paràmetres introdueixen suficient informació per a la separabilitat de regions de textura i veure que tots ells són necessaris en la discriminació de les textures.Dins el capítol 4 veurem com es tracta la informació subministrada pel sistema d'extracció de característiques per tal de classificar les dades i segmentar la imatge en funció de les seves textures. L'etapa de reconeixement de patrons es durà a terme en dues fases: aprenentatge i treball. També es presenta un estudi comparatiu entre diversos mètodes de classificació de textures i el mètode presentat en aquesta tesi; en ell es veu la bona funcionalitat del mètode en un temps de càlcul realment reduït. S'acaba el capítol amb una anàlisi de la robustesa del mètode introduint imatges amb diferents nivells de soroll aleatori. En el capítol 5 es presentaran els resultats obtinguts mitjançant l'extracció de característiques de textura a partir de diverses aplicacions reals. S'aplica el nostre mètode en aplicacions d'imatges aèries i en entorns agrícoles i sobre situacions que requereixen el processament en temps real com són la segmentació d'imatges de carreteres i una aplicació industrial d'inspecció i control de qualitat en l'estampació de teixits. Al final del capítol fem unes consideracions sobre dos efectes que poden influenciar en l'obtenció correcta dels resultats: zoom i canvis de perspectiva en les imatges de textura.En el capítol 6 es mostrarà l'arquitectura que s'ha dissenyat expressament per al càlcul dels paràmetres de textura en temps real. Dins el capítol es presentarà l'algorisme per a l'assignació de grups de textura i es demostrarà la seva velocitat d'operació a video rate.Finalment, en el capítol 7 es presentaran les conclusions i les línies de treball futures que es deriven d'aquesta tesi, així com els articles que hem publicat en relació a aquest treball i a l'anàlisi de textures. Les referències bibliogràfiques i els apèndixs conclouen el treball

Potentially toxic elements in ultramafic rocks and soils: A case study from the Voltri Massif (NW Italy)

openHigh concentrations of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in surface and near-surface environment may be attributed to both anthropogenic sources, including industrial and agricultural activity, and geogenic source, mainly due to natural weathering of rocks. Considering the geogenic sources, ultramafic rocks (e.g., dunite, peridotite, pyroxenite, and serpentinites) are among the most critical from the environmental point of view; in fact, they are characterized by high contents of Cr, Ni, Co, and other PTEs which can have potential harmful impact on ecosystems and human health if released into soils and waters during weathering and pedogenic processes. As a matter of the fact, weathering of ultramafic rock produces ultramafic soil containing high concentration of PTEs, including Cr, Ni, and Co compared to soils derived from non-ultramafic bedrock. Although ultramafic rocks and relative soils cover approximately 1% of the Earth’s surface, they are distributed worldwide and are commonly associated with ophiolite complexes; for this reason, they play an important role in environmental management. The main objective of this PhD thesis was to determinate the mineralogy and the chemistry of PTEs of ultramafic soil profiles from the Voltri Massif and to evaluate how lithological, textural, and structural properties of the ultramafic bedrock with various degree of serpentinization and deformation may affect the PTEs re-distribution and the fate in the soils during pedogenesis, as well as to assess their environmental implications in the ecosystem. The multidisciplinary and multiscale approach, used in this PhD thesis, has allowed to highlight a series of considerations that led to the following conclusions: • In the studied rocks, Cr, Ni, and, subordinately, Co are invariably the PTEs with the highest concentrations; in addition, V, Cu, and Zn are generally found in high concentrations. The main factors controlling the PTEs distribution within the studied ultramafic rocks appeared to be the serpentinization degree and the deformation style and intensity. The main source of the PTEs are spinel-group minerals. Moreover, PTEs-bearing phases are also represented by the other rock-forming minerals (such as serpentines, olivines, pyroxenes, and chlorites) and some accessory phases (e.g., ilmenite and other oxides, sulfides). • The studied ultramafic soil profiles vary in thickness from 35 to 80 cm and are characterized by weakly developed A and C horizons and a very thin O horizon (up to 5-10 cm). In general, in the soils the mineralogy of the skeleton (sandy and silty fractions) is closely related to bedrock mineralogy as expected for primitive A-C soils (in order of abundance: antigorite, chlorite, spinel-group minerals, pyroxenes, authigenic phases, quartz, olivine, and tremolite). The clay fraction is mainly composed by amorphous or low-crystalline Fe-oxyhydroxides, serpentines, smectite and illite/smectite mixed-layer clay, and clinochlore. Cr and Ni values have very variable concentrations over a wide range. Cr and Ni decrease according to serpentinization degree of bedrock. Co, Zn, and Cu do not show a clear correlation with bedrock serpentinization. V increase with the serpentinization of the bedrock. The PTEs concentrations in the studied ultramafic soil profiles are linked both to the primary minerals, inherited by bedrocks (e.g., serpentines, spinel-group minerals, pyroxenes, chlorites), and to their stable authigenic products (Fe-oxyhydroxides and clay minerals). The PTEs leached from the primary minerals is mainly scavenge by goethite, and subordinate by clay. • The results evidence that Cr, Ni, and, Co systematically exceed (up to one order of magnitude) the residential and industrial threshold values (CSC) according to Italian law (D.M. 471/1999; D.Lgs 152/2006) both in rocks and soils. However, combining all my results, I have demonstrated that the critical PTEs concentrations in the studied profiles have a geogenic origin and are linked both to the primary minerals, inherited by bedrocks, and to their stable authigenic products. Considering the high stability of authigenic products in supergenic environment, it is evident that this mineral species are effective and often permanent traps for the most important PTEs of ultramafic soils and bedrocks, thus reducing its bioavailability. A study of this kind that combine the bulk chemistry of outcropping rocks and the relative soil profiles with their geological, structural, mineralogical, and crystallochemical data, can be also a useful tool in environmental concerns to determine the PTEs distribution, to evaluate their potential mobility and bioavailability as well as to discriminate the natural geochemical background from possible source of contamination.openXXXI CICLO - SCIENZE E TECNOLOGIE PER L'AMBIENTE E IL TERRITORIO (STAT) - Scienze della terraCOMODI, PAOLA (Università di Perugia)Fornasaro, Silvi

Assembly, Elasticity, And Structure Of Lyotropic Chromonic Liquid Crystals And Disordered Colloids

This dissertation describes experiments which explore the structure and dynamics in two classes of soft materials: lyotropic chromonic liquid crystals and colloidal glasses and super-cooled liquids. The first experiments found that the achiral LCLCs, sunset yellow FCF (SSY) and disodium cromoglycate (DSCG) both exhibit spontaneous mirror symmetry breaking in the nematic phase driven by a giant elastic anisotropy of their twist modulus compared to their splay and bend moduli. Resulting structures of the confined LCLCs display interesting director configurations due to interplay of topologically required defects and twisted director fields. At higher concentrations, the LCLC compounds form columnar phases. We studied the columnar phase confined within spherical drops and discovered and understood configurations of the LC that sometimes led to non-spherical droplet shapes. The second experiments with SSY LCLCs confined in hollow cylinders uncovered director configurations which were driven in large measure by an exotic elastic modulus known as saddle-splay. We measured this saddle-splay modulus in a LCLC for the first time and found it to be more than 50 times greater than the twist elastic modulus. This large relative value of the saddle-splay modulus violates a theoretical result/assumption known as the Ericksen inequality. A third group of experiments on LCLCs explored the drying process of sessile drops containing SSY solutions, including evaporation dynamics, morphology, and deposition patterns. These drops differ from typical, well-studied evaporating colloidal drops primarily due to the LCLC\u27s concentration-dependent isotropic, nematic, and columnar phases. Phase separation occurs during evaporation, creating surface tension gradients and significant density and viscosity variation within the droplet. Thus, the drying multiphase drops exhibit new convective currents, drop morphologies, deposition patterns, as well as a novel ordered crystalline phase. Finally, experiments in colloidal glasses and super-cooled liquids were initiated to probe the relationship between structure and dynamics in their constituent particles. The displacements of individual particles in the colloids can be decomposed into small cage fluctuations and large rearrangements into new cages. We found a correlation between the rate of rearrangement and the local cage structure associated with each particle. Particle trajectories of a two-dimensional binary mixture of soft colloids are captured by video microscopy. We use a machine learning method to calculate particle ``softness\u27\u27, which indicates the likelihood of rearrangement based on many radial structural features for each particle. We measured the residence time between consecutive rearrangements and related probability distribution functions (PDFs). The softness-dependent conditional PDF is well fit by an exponential with decay time decreasing monotonically with increasing softness. Using these data and a simple thermal activation model, we determined activation energies for rearrangements

Luminescence modulation in liquid crystalline phases containing a dispiro[fluorene-9,11′-indeno[1,2-b]fluorene-12′,9′′-fluorene] core

International audienceA luminescent liquid crystalline compound containing a bulky dispiro[fluorene-9,11′-indeno[1,2-b]fluorene-12′,9′′-fluorene] has been designed and synthesized by di-substitution of a bromo derivative with N-(4-ethynylphenyl)-3,4,5-tris(hexadecyloxy)benzamide fragments. This di-substituted 3π-2spiro derivative forms stable and well-organized mesophases over large temperature ranges. Combination of DSC, POM and SAXS analyses has revealed the formation of a lamellar mesophase between 60 and 150 °C followed by another mesophase with a 2-dimensional lattice of rectangular symmetry that remains up to the isotropization point near 225 °C. In the original molecular packing model deduced from SAXS, the tert-butyl terminal groups fill the centre of hollow columns constituted by both the dihydro(1,2-b)indenofluorene and benzamide fragments and separated from each other by the surrounding aliphatic tails. The merging of the columns yielding the lamellar phase turned out to be governed by the dynamics of both, the micro-phase segregation process and the network of hydrogen bonds. In the various mesomorphic states and in solution, a strong luminescence was observed. The emission spectrum however depends on temperature and drastically changes between both mesophases and the isotropic liquid. In particular, a strong modulation of the emission wavelength occurs at the isotropic to 2D phase transition. This luminescence modulation results from an enhanced contribution of the vibronic peaks at higher energies in the emission profile. The compound was also found to be soluble in 5CB and was integrated in a guest-host LC cell, allowing efficient modulation of the photoluminescence polarization, in the presence or absence of an electrical field

LANDSAT-D investigations in snow hydrology

Work undertaken during the contract and its results are described. Many of the results from this investigation are available in journal or conference proceedings literature - published, accepted for publication, or submitted for publication. For these the reference and the abstract are given. Those results that have not yet been submitted separately for publication are described in detail. Accomplishments during the contract period are summarized as follows: (1) analysis of the snow reflectance characteristics of the LANDSAT Thematic Mapper, including spectral suitability, dynamic range, and spectral resolution; (2) development of a variety of atmospheric models for use with LANDSAT Thematic Mapper data. These include a simple but fast two-stream approximation for inhomogeneous atmospheres over irregular surfaces, and a doubling model for calculation of the angular distribution of spectral radiance at any level in an plane-parallel atmosphere; (3) incorporation of digital elevation data into the atmospheric models and into the analysis of the satellite data; and (4) textural analysis of the spatial distribution of snow cover

異方性コロイド粒子による階層構造の形成

九州工業大学博士学位論文 学位記番号: 工博甲第544号 学位授与年月日: 令和4年3月25日1. General introduction|2. Fabrication of CNC-polymer core-shell particles with CNC cores|3. Fabrication of CNC-polymer core-shell particles with CNC shells|4. Linear assembly of colloidal inorganic nanosheets: evaluation of the linearity|5. Electrically induced linear assembly of colloidal inorganic nanosheets: experimental conditions necessary for constructing the linear structures|6. Conclusions九州工業大学令和3年

Controls on the formation of microbially induced sedimentary structures and biotic recovery in the Lower Triassic of Arctic Canada

Microbially induced sedimentary structures (MISS) are reportedly widespread in the Early Triassic and their occurrence is attributed to either the extinction of marine grazers (allowing mat preservation) during the Permo-Triassic mass extinction or the suppression of grazing due to harsh, oxygen-poor conditions in its aftermath. Here we report on the abundant occurrence of MISS in the Lower Triassic Blind Fiord Formation of the Sverdrup Basin, Arctic Canada. Sedimentological analysis shows that mid-shelf settings were dominated by deposition from cohesive sand-mud flows that produced heterolithic, rippled sandstone facies that pass down dip into laminated siltstones and ultimately basinal mudrocks. The absence of storm beds and any other “event beds” points to an unusual climatic regime of humid, quiet conditions characterized by near continuous run off. Geochemical proxies for oxygenation (Mo/Al, Th/U, and pyrite framboid analysis) indicate that lower dysoxic conditions prevailed in the basin for much of the Early Triassic. The resultant lack of bioturbation allowed the development and preservation of MISS, including wrinkle structures and bubble textures. The microbial mats responsible for these structures are envisaged to have thrived, on sandy substrates, within the photic zone, in oxygen-poor conditions. The dysoxic history was punctuated by better-oxygenated phases, which coincide with the loss of MISS. Thus, Permo-Triassic boundary and Griesbachian mudrocks from the deepest-water settings have common benthos and a well-developed, tiered burrow profile dominated by Phycosiphon. The presence of the intense burrowing in the earliest Triassic contradicts the notion that bioturbation was severely suppressed at this time due to extinction losses at the end of the Permian. The notion that Early Triassic MISS preservation was caused by the extinction of mat grazers is not tenable