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 heuristic model of bounded route choice in urban areas

There is substantial evidence to indicate that route choice in urban areas is complex cognitive process, conducted under uncertainty and formed on partial perspectives. Yet, conventional route choice models continue make simplistic assumptions around the nature of human cognitive ability, memory and preference. In this paper, a novel framework for route choice in urban areas is introduced, aiming to more accurately reflect the uncertain, bounded nature of route choice decision making. Two main advances are introduced. The first involves the definition of a hierarchical model of space representing the relationship between urban features and human cognition, combining findings from both the extensive previous literature on spatial cognition and a large route choice dataset. The second advance involves the development of heuristic rules for route choice decisions, building upon the hierarchical model of urban space. The heuristics describe the process by which quick, 'good enough' decisions are made when individuals are faced with uncertainty. This element of the model is once more constructed and parameterised according to findings from prior research and the trends identified within a large routing dataset. The paper outlines the implementation of the framework within a real-world context, validating the results against observed behaviours. Conclusions are offered as to the extension and improvement of this approach, outlining its potential as an alternative to other route choice modelling frameworks

The influence of preconceptions on perceived sound reduction by environmental noise barriers

The paper presents research that answers three main questions: (1) Do preconceptions held about the constituent materials of an environmental noise barrier affect how people perceive the barrier will perform at attenuating noise? (2) Does aesthetic preference influence the perception of how a barrier will perform? (3) Are barriers, which are deemed more aesthetically pleasing, more likely to be perceived as better noise attenuators? In a virtual reality setting with film to improve the contextual realism of the intersensory interaction test, participants were required to compare the perceived effectiveness of five standard 'in-situ' noise barriers, including concrete, timber, metal, transparent acrylic and a vegetative screen. The audio stimulus was held at a constant sound pressure level (SPL), whilst the visual stimulus changed, as the influential factor. As the noise levels projected during the study were held constant, it was possible to attribute the participants' perception of noise attenuation by the barriers, to preconceptions of how the varying barrier material would attenuate noise. There was also an inverse correlation between aesthetics and perception of how a noise barrier would perform. The transparent and deciduous vegetation barriers, judged most aesthetically pleasing, were judged as the least effective at attenuating noise. (c) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Strategies and tools for speed management on European roads.

The aim of the European project MASTER (MAnaging Speeds of Traffic on European Roads) is to produce information that can be cited in the preparation of national and EU decisions concerning speed management and standards for speed control equipment. For this purpose, the project seeks answers to three key questions:1) What are acceptable ranges of speeds?2) What are the key factors influencing drivers’ choice of speed?3) What are the best speed management tools and strategies?Each of three research areas addresses one of these questions. Area 1 is concerned with developing a basis for appraisal of effects of different levels of speed upon accident occurrence, emissions, noise, vehicle operating costs and travel time. Area 2 provides information on factors that influence drivers speed behaviour with respect to present speed levels and speed management methods in Europe, enforcement levels, motivation and acceptability of driving speeds, and road design and subjective road categorisation. Area 3 reviews various tools for speed management, tests the most promising ones and gives recommendations for implementation of Advanced Transport Telematics (ATT) systems. The summary reports from these three work areas provide the main inputs to this paper, which is concerned with making recommendations for speed management strategies and policies. The full results of the project are documented in 26 reports which are listed in the reference section of this paper

Could Intelligent Speed Adaptation make overtaking unsafe?

This driving simulator study investigated how mandatory and voluntary ISA might affect a driver's overtaking decisions on rural roads, by presenting drivers with a variety of overtaking scenarios designed to evaluate both the frequency and safety of the manoeuvres. In half the overtaking scenarios, ISA was active and in the remainder ISA was switched off. A rural road was modelled with a number of 2 + 1 road sections, thus allowing drivers a protected overtaking opportunity. The results indicate that drivers became less inclined to initiate an overtaking manoeuvre when the mandatory ISA was active and this was particularly so when the overtaking opportunity was short. In addition to this, when ISA was activated drivers were more likely to have to abandon an overtaking, presumably due to running out of road. They also spent more time in the critical hatched area - a potentially unsafe behaviour. The quality of the overtaking manoeuvre was also affected when mandatory ISA was active, with drivers pulling out and cutting back in more sharply. In contrast, when driving with a voluntary ISA, overtaking behaviour remained mostly unchanged: drivers disengaged the function in approximately 70% of overtaking scenarios. The results of this study suggest that mandatory ISA could affect the safety of overtaking manoeuvres unless coupled with an adaptation period or other driver support functions that support safe overtaking

The toll of the automobile

Animal-vehicle collisions are a common phenomenon worldwide, causing injury or death to millions of animals and hundreds of human passengers each year. Collision numbers can be significant to species conservation, wildlife management, traffic safety, as well as from an economic and political point of view, and should thus be evaluated from these different perspectives. In this thesis, I assess, evaluate, analyse and predict animal-vehicle collisions with respect to their extent, their effect on populations, and their broad and fine scale distribution. A questionnaire with Swedish drivers indicated that nationwide road traffic in 1992 may caused an annual loss in harvest of common game species of 7% to 97% and of 1% to 12% of estimated populations. Road mortality did not appear as an existential threat to most species, although in badgers (Meles meles), traffic probably is the largest single cause of death. A slow population growth rate coupled with a high proportion of adult badger road-kills is responsible for their sensitivity to road mortality. Provided that road mortality is additive, we predicted that losses due to nationwide traffic might already exceed birth rates and limit badger population growth. In roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) and moose (Alces alces), road mortality is of minor importance to the population. Broad-scale trends and patterns in collision numbers correlate with harvest and traffic volumes, thus providing a simple means to monitor the toll of road traffic. To predict local collision risks with these species, information on animal abundance and landscape composition, on road traffic parameters, and on the spatial coincidence of roads and landscape elements is needed. However, vehicle speed appeared as one of the most important factors determining collision risks with moose, underlining the influence of human factors on collision risks. Successful counteraction therefore requires an interdisciplinary approach that addresses both the animal and the driver in their shared environment