6,786 research outputs found
Estimating the effects of water-induced shallow landslides on soil erosion
Rainfall induced landslides and soil erosion are part of a complex system of
multiple interacting processes, and both are capable of significantly affecting
sediment budgets. These sediment mass movements also have the potential to
significantly impact on a broad network of ecosystems health, functionality and
the services they provide. To support the integrated assessment of these
processes it is necessary to develop reliable modelling architectures. This
paper proposes a semi-quantitative integrated methodology for a robust
assessment of soil erosion rates in data poor regions affected by landslide
activity. It combines heuristic, empirical and probabilistic approaches. This
proposed methodology is based on the geospatial semantic array programming
paradigm and has been implemented on a catchment scale methodology using
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) spatial analysis tools and GNU Octave. The
integrated data-transformation model relies on a modular architecture, where
the information flow among modules is constrained by semantic checks. In order
to improve computational reproducibility, the geospatial data transformations
implemented in ESRI ArcGis are made available in the free software GRASS GIS.
The proposed modelling architecture is flexible enough for future
transdisciplinary scenario analysis to be more easily designed. In particular,
the architecture might contribute as a novel component to simplify future
integrated analyses of the potential impact of wildfires or vegetation types
and distributions, on sediment transport from water induced landslides and
erosion.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, published in IEEE Earthzine 2014 Vol. 7
Issue 2, 910137+ 2nd quarter theme. Geospatial Semantic Array Programming.
Available: http://www.earthzine.org/?p=91013
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Developing an open data portal for the ESA climate change initiative
We introduce the rationale for, and architecture of, the European Space Agency Climate Change Initiative (CCI) Open Data Portal (http://cci.esa.int/data/). The Open Data Portal hosts a set of richly diverse datasets â 13 âEssential Climate Variablesâ â from the CCI programme in a consistent and harmonised form and to provides a single point of access for the (>100 TB) data for broad dissemination to an international user community. These data have been produced by a range of different institutions and vary across both scientific and spatio-temporal characteristics. This heterogeneity of the data together with the range of services to be supported presented significant technical challenges.
An iterative development methodology was key to tackling these challenges: the system developed exploits a workflow which takes data that conforms to the CCI data specification, ingests it into a managed archive and uses both manual and automatically generated metadata to support data discovery, browse, and delivery services. It utilises both Earth System Grid Federation (ESGF) data nodes and the Open Geospatial Consortium Catalogue Service for the Web (OGC-CSW) interface, serving data into both the ESGF and the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). A key part of the system is a new vocabulary server, populated with CCI specific terms and relationships which integrates OGC-CSW and ESGF search services together, developed as part of a dialogue between domain scientists and linked data specialists. These services have enabled the development of a unified user interface for graphical search and visualisation â the CCI Open Data Portal Web Presence
From Sensor to Observation Web with Environmental Enablers in the Future Internet
This paper outlines the grand challenges in global sustainability research and the objectives of the FP7 Future Internet PPP program within the Digital Agenda for Europe. Large user communities are generating significant amounts of valuable environmental observations at local and regional scales using the devices and services of the Future Internet. These communitiesâ environmental observations represent a wealth of information which is currently hardly used or used only in isolation and therefore in need of integration with other information sources. Indeed, this very integration will lead to a paradigm shift from a mere Sensor Web to an Observation Web with semantically enriched content emanating from sensors, environmental simulations and citizens. The paper also describes the research challenges to realize the Observation Web and the associated environmental enablers for the Future Internet. Such an environmental enabler could for instance be an electronic sensing device, a web-service application, or even a social networking group affording or facilitating the capability of the Future Internet applications to consume, produce, and use environmental observations in cross-domain applications. The term ?envirofied? Future Internet is coined to describe this overall target that forms a cornerstone of work in the Environmental Usage Area within the Future Internet PPP program. Relevant trends described in the paper are the usage of ubiquitous sensors (anywhere), the provision and generation of information by citizens, and the convergence of real and virtual realities to convey understanding of environmental observations. The paper addresses the technical challenges in the Environmental Usage Area and the need for designing multi-style service oriented architecture. Key topics are the mapping of requirements to capabilities, providing scalability and robustness with implementing context aware information retrieval. Another essential research topic is handling data fusion and model based computation, and the related propagation of information uncertainty. Approaches to security, standardization and harmonization, all essential for sustainable solutions, are summarized from the perspective of the Environmental Usage Area. The paper concludes with an overview of emerging, high impact applications in the environmental areas concerning land ecosystems (biodiversity), air quality (atmospheric conditions) and water ecosystems (marine asset management)
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A modular access control architecture for the Earth system grid federation
Towards Semantic Integration of Heterogeneous Sensor Data with Indigenous Knowledge for Drought Forecasting
In the Internet of Things (IoT) domain, various heterogeneous ubiquitous
devices would be able to connect and communicate with each other seamlessly,
irrespective of the domain. Semantic representation of data through detailed
standardized annotation has shown to improve the integration of the
interconnected heterogeneous devices. However, the semantic representation of
these heterogeneous data sources for environmental monitoring systems is not
yet well supported. To achieve the maximum benefits of IoT for drought
forecasting, a dedicated semantic middleware solution is required. This
research proposes a middleware that semantically represents and integrates
heterogeneous data sources with indigenous knowledge based on a unified
ontology for an accurate IoT-based drought early warning system (DEWS).Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, In Proceedings of the Doctoral Symposium of the
16th International Middleware Conference (Middleware Doct Symposium 2015),
Ivan Beschastnikh and Wouter Joosen (Eds.). ACM, New York, NY, US
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An ECOOP web portal for visualising and comparing distributed coastal oceanography model and in situ data
As part of a large European coastal operational oceanography project (ECOOP), we have developed a web portal for the display and comparison of model and in situ marine data. The distributed model and in situ datasets are accessed via an Open Geospatial Consortium Web Map Service (WMS) and Web Feature Service (WFS) respectively. These services were developed independently and readily integrated for the purposes of the ECOOP project, illustrating the ease of interoperability resulting from adherence to international standards. The key feature of the portal is the ability to display co-plotted timeseries of the in situ and model data and the quantification of misfits between the two. By using standards-based web technology we allow the user to quickly and easily explore over twenty model data feeds and compare these with dozens of in situ data feeds without being concerned with the low level details of differing file formats or the physical location of the data. Scientific and operational benefits to this work include model validation, quality control of observations, data assimilation and decision support in near real time. In these areas it is essential to be able to bring different data streams together from often disparate locations
MSUO Information Technology and Geographical Information Systems: Common Protocols & Procedures. Report to the Marine Safety Umbrella Operation
The Marine Safety Umbrella Operation (MSUO) facilitates the cooperation between Interreg
funded Marine Safety Projects and maritime stakeholders. The main aim of MSUO is to
permit efficient operation of new projects through Project Cooperation Initiatives, these
include the review of the common protocols and procedures for Information Technology (IT)
and Geographical Information Systems (GIS).
This study carried out by CSA Group and the National Centre for Geocomputation (NCG)
reviews current spatial information standards in Europe and the data management
methodologies associated with different marine safety projects.
International best practice was reviewed based on the combined experience of spatial data
research at NCG and initiatives in the US, Canada and the UK relating to marine security
service information and acquisition and integration of large marine datasets for ocean
management purposes.
This report identifies the most appropriate international data management practices that could
be adopted for future MSUO projects
An Architecture for Integrated Intelligence in Urban Management using Cloud Computing
With the emergence of new methodologies and technologies it has now become
possible to manage large amounts of environmental sensing data and apply new
integrated computing models to acquire information intelligence. This paper
advocates the application of cloud capacity to support the information,
communication and decision making needs of a wide variety of stakeholders in
the complex business of the management of urban and regional development. The
complexity lies in the interactions and impacts embodied in the concept of the
urban-ecosystem at various governance levels. This highlights the need for more
effective integrated environmental management systems. This paper offers a
user-orientated approach based on requirements for an effective management of
the urban-ecosystem and the potential contributions that can be supported by
the cloud computing community. Furthermore, the commonality of the influence of
the drivers of change at the urban level offers the opportunity for the cloud
computing community to develop generic solutions that can serve the needs of
hundreds of cities from Europe and indeed globally.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure
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