Remote Sensing and Problems of the Hydrosphere

A discussion of freshwater and marine systems is presented including areas of the classification of lakes, identification and quantification of major functional groups of phytoplankton, sources and sinks of biochemical factors, and temporal and regional variability of surface features. Atmospheric processes linked to hydrospheric process through the transfer of matter via aerosols and gases are discussed. Particle fluxes to the aquatic environment and global geochemical problems are examined

多対象物のトラッキングとそのハエ行動解析への応用

Tohoku University橋本浩一課

Alternative use of artificial quarry lakes as a source of thermal energy for greenhouses

In northern Italy, most greenhouses rely on gas or oil heaters which are sometimes subject to high operating costs. Several greenhouses are nearby quarry lakes, which are the legacy of the expansion of cities in the last decades, including Turin (NW Italy). About 20 quarry lakes were excavated close to the Po riverbed in the southern part of this urban area, along a belt of more than 30 km in length, with an overall volume exceeding 10 million m3 water. The study addresses these artificial lakes as a low enthalpy thermal energy source, potentially providing heat to surrounding agri-business buildings. Detailed temperature monitoring of a large lake quarry was conducted over two years at different depths, measuring the surrounding groundwater level as well. Two different behaviors of the lake during the winter and summer seasons enabled the definition of a quite low water mixing process between the surrounding aquifers and the lake (in the range of 2–4◦ C). An evaluation of the heat extraction potential using the lake as a heat source, depending on water temperature and its volume, and a qualitative comparison with groundwater systems are proposed. This study contributes to increasing knowledge on an overlooked resource for sustainable heating

The impact of earth resources exploration from space

The use of Earth Resources Technology Satellites in solving global problems is examined. Topics discussed are: (1) management of food, water, and fiber resources; (2) exploration and management of energy and mineral resources; (3) protection of the environment; (4) protection of life and property; and (5) improvements in shipping and navigation

VEIL Ballarat centre structural plan

This report looks at the future devlopment in Ballerat, Victoria. New forms of urban planning, housing and also transport and use of natural resouces are some of the major topics covered.  (1) BALLARAT - THE LOCALLY PRODUCTIVE CITY Goal: All precincts in Ballarat (exemplified by the CBA) aim to maximise production of environmentally and socially critical resources.Target: To be a net exporter in as many of the following areas as possible: Renewable energy - diverse systems - wind, solar, geothermal, biomass Water - rainwater, grey water, recycled Food production - close to points of consumption Community services Knowledge - research, innovation, education and skills. E.g: climate adaptation solutions; low-carbon solutions; sustainable agriculture (food and bio-mass) Green businesses, green services, eco-innovation (agricultural best practice and re-mining) "green zone" (2) BALLARAT - THE LOW CONSUMPTION CITYGoal: Living and Working Better - Consuming LessTarget: To develop the highest quality of living and working conditions with the lowest per-capita consumption and production of waste, in as many of the following areas as possible: Greenhouse gas (e.g. target: reductions of greater than 60%) Electricity use (e.g through retrofitting - 40% reduction) Water: (e.g. target 80 litres/person/day of reticulated potable water) Transport /mobility (e.g. target greater than 30% shift from car to walking & cycling; 25% reduction in car trip distances; 40% increase in public transport use) Waste reduction (e.g, in all sectors,40%) (3) BALLARAT - THE REGENERATIVE CITYGoal: Avoiding cascading breakdown effects, enabling quick bounceback from challenges - creating a social and physical fabric that is diverse, decentralised and locally inter-connected, so that any shocks (environmental or economic) will be limited in the spread of their effects.Target: To approach all planning and design decisions with the intent of increasing the diversity of communities, production systems (as in 1, above) and public facilities, particularly in relation to: access to energy, water, food, transport, the provision of work and residential facilities life in extreme weather conditions community engagement (4) BALLARAT - THE INVENTIVE CITYGoal: To achieve all of above through the development of innovative new solutions and approaches, building on the strong history of inventiveness and creativity in Ballarat (in agriculture and mining in particular).Target: Ballarat to be known nationally and internationally as supporting a culture of creative risk-taking, experimentation, and innovation in relation to climate resilience and sustainable solutions

Cities, traffic, and CO2: A multidecadal assessment of trends, drivers, and scaling relationships

Emissions of CO2 from road vehicles were 1.57 billion metric tons in 2012, accounting for 28% of US fossil fuel CO2 emissions, but the spatial distributions of these emissions are highly uncertain. We develop a new emissions inventory, the Database of Road Transportation Emissions (DARTE), which estimates CO2 emitted by US road transport at a resolution of 1 km annually for 1980-2012. DARTE reveals that urban areas are responsible for 80% of on-road emissions growth since 1980 and for 63% of total 2012 emissions. We observe nonlinearities between CO2 emissions and population density at broad spatial/temporal scales, with total on-road CO2 increasing nonlinearly with population density, rapidly up to 1,650 persons per square kilometer and slowly thereafter. Per capita emissions decline as density rises, but at markedly varying rates depending on existing densities. We make use of DARTE's bottom-up construction to highlight the biases associated with the common practice of using population as a linear proxy for disaggregating national- or state-scale emissions. Comparing DARTE with existing downscaled inventories, we find biases of 100% or more in the spatial distribution of urban and rural emissions, largely driven by mismatches between inventory downscaling proxies and the actual spatial patterns of vehicle activity at urban scales. Given cities' dual importance as sources of CO2 and an emerging nexus of climate mitigation initiatives, high-resolution estimates such as DARTE are critical both for accurately quantifying surface carbon fluxes and for verifying the effectiveness of emissions mitigation efforts at urban scales.https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1421723112Published versio