Spatial modelling of adaptation strategies for urban built infrastructures exposed to flood hazards

The recent 2010/2011 floods in the central and southern Queensland (Australia) prompted this research to investigate the application of geographical information system (GIS) and remote sensing in modelling the current flood risk, adaptation/coping capacity, and adaptation strategies. Identified Brisbane City as the study area, the study aimed to develop a new approach of formulating adaptation/coping strategies that will aid in addressing flood risk management issues of an urban area with intensive residential and commercial uses. Fuzzy logic was the spatial analytical tool used in the integration of flood risk components (hazard, vulnerability, and exposure) and in the generation of flood risk and adaptation capacity indices. The research shows that 875 ha, 566 ha, and 828 ha were described as areas with relatively low, relatively moderate, and relatively high risk to flooding, respectively. Identified adaptation strategies for areas classified as having relatively low (RL), relatively moderate (RM), relatively high (RH), and likely very high (LVH) adaptation/coping capacity were mitigation to recovery phases, mitigation to response phases, mitigation to preparedness phases, and mitigation phase, respectively. Integrating the results from the flood risk assessment, quantitative description of adaptation capacity, and identification of adaptation strategies, a new analytical technique identified as flood risk-adaptation capacity index-adaptation strategies (FRACIAS) linkage model was developed for this study

URBAN DESIGN STRATEGIES FOR THE UPCYCLING OF URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE RESIDUAL POCKETS: 3D CITY MODELLING FROM OPEN DATA AND LOW-COST RAPID MAPPING TOOLS

This paper deals with the 3D City Modelling specific procedure developed as a tool to support strategies for urban regeneration, within the framework of the B-ROAD research project.The B-ROAD research project, whose acronym stands for Below the Road, is developing urban design strategies for upcycling urban infrastructure residual pockets.The B-ROAD’s methodology is conceived as research by design as it is carried out by creating pilot scenarios, disclosing the latent and still unexpressed potential of these wasted areas and displaying their potential transformations, to turn them into precious resources for the contemporary city.The 3D City Modelling of the study area has proved to be essential and strategic yet often complex and critical as most of the spatial and architectural features of B-ROAD spaces, as well as their potential, cannot be detected nor represented through the traditional means of representation of urbanised land, as aerial survey-based representations, or GIS. Likewise, traditional, or even cutting-edge, survey techniques that can be used to acquire missing data are often costly and time-consuming, thus making it hardly impossible to achieve the purpose of extensive and deep knowledge of such a vast area. Thus, 3D City Modelling aimed at examining spaces and providing a final representation of pilot scenarios has been a crucial stage requiring a specific in-depth study.</p

Urban design strategies for the upcycling of urban infrastructure residual pockets: 3D city modelling from open data and low-cost rapid mapping tools

This paper deals with the 3D City Modelling specific procedure developed as a tool to support strategies for urban regeneration, within the framework of the B-ROAD research project. The B-ROAD research project, whose acronym stands for Below the Road, is developing urban design strategies for upcycling urban infrastructure residual pockets. The B-ROAD’s methodology is conceived as research by design as it is carried out by creating pilot scenarios, disclosing the latent and still unexpressed potential of these wasted areas and displaying their potential transformations, to turn them into precious resources for the contemporary city. The 3D City Modelling of the study area has proved to be essential and strategic yet often complex and critical as most of the spatial and architectural features of B-ROAD spaces, as well as their potential, cannot be detected nor represented through the traditional means of representation of urbanised land, as aerial survey-based representations, or GIS. Likewise, traditional, or even cutting-edge, survey techniques that can be used to acquire missing data are often costly and time-consuming, thus making it hardly impossible to achieve the purpose of extensive and deep knowledge of such a vast area. Thus, 3D City Modelling aimed at examining spaces and providing a final representation of pilot scenarios has been a crucial stage requiring a specific in-depth study

Trend Analysis of Las Vegas Land Cover and Temperature Using Remote Sensing

The Las Vegas urban area expanded rapidly during the last two decades. In order to understand the impacts on the environment, it is imperative that the rate and type of urban expansion is determined. Remote sensing is an efficient and effective way to study spatial change in urban areas and Spectral Mixture Analysis (SMA) is a valuable technique to retrieve subpixel landcover information from remote sensing images. In this research, urban growth trends in Las Vegas are studied over the 1990 to 2010 period using images from Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM) and National Agricultural Imagery Program (NAIP). The SMA model of TM pixels is calibrated using high resolution NAIP classified image. The trends of land cover change are related to the land surface temperature trends derived from TM thermal infrared images. The results show that the rate of change of various land covers followed a linear trend in Las Vegas. The largest increase occurred in residential buildings followed by roads and commercial buildings. Some increase in vegetation cover in the form of tree cover and open spaces (grass) is also seen and there is a gradual decrease in barren land and bladed ground. Trend analysis of temperature shows a reduction over the new development areas with increased vegetation cover especially, in the form of golf courses and parks. This research provides a useful insight about the role of vegetation in ameliorating temperature rise in arid urban areas

Active and Paleo floodplain mapping of Palam Cauvery using Geospatial Technology

This paper presents precise active floodplain and paleo floodplain mapping of the Palam Cauvery in its deltaic region implementing various Geospatial Techniques, as well as a comparative analysis to comprehend the changes that have occurred to the river course in the past. False Colour Composite (FCC), Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI), Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) ALOS PALSAR L- Band and Digital Elevation Model of ALOS PALSAR has been used to carried out the detailed mapping. The active floodplain and paleo flood plains are mapped using the method proposed above and ten separate cross-sectional profiles were obtained along the river course, revealing that the paleo flood plain has an aerial extent that is 86% broader than the present flood plain. This clearly shows that the principal river was formerly running along the Palam Cauvery in this course and has progressively shifted or migrated

Role of Geoinformatics for Ghana oil and gas industry

The Geoinformatics Engineer (GE), who uses mathematical theory and precise measurements for the collection and distribution of geospatial data, plays a significant role in the oil and gas industry. The paper reviews the role the HE would play in t he recent oil and gas discovery in Ghana. This is because the GE is required in the planning and execution of nearly every form of activities at the upstream, midstream and downstream; for example offshore and onshore construction, exploration and engineering for the production and dissemination of oil and gas. Ghana is at the initial stages in the commercial production of oil and gas; and thus needs research institutions with excellent practical and research skills, such as the Department of Geomat ic Engineering (DGE), Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana and School of Earth Sciences and Engineering (SESE), Hohai University, China, in employing Geoinformatics theories, applications and principles for geospatial decision making for sustainable production of oil and gas for Ghana and the Sub - Saharan Africa. SESE expertise in 3S Technology would greatly assist in the construction and monitoring of oil and gas infrastructures at the upstream, midstream and downstr eam. The pap er recommends useful suggestions for smooth management of the oil and gas industry focusing on GEs and research institutions

Applied Hydrological Modeling with the Use of Geoinformatics: Theory and Practice

Water resource management and catchment analysis are crucial aspects of the twenty-first century in hydrological and environmental sciences. Linked directly with studies and research about climate change effects in global resources (e.g., diminution of rainfall dynamic), as well as continuously growing extreme natural phenomena with catastrophic results (e.g., floods and erosion), hydrological modeling has become a key priority in modern academic research goals. On a national or lower administrative level, the need for coping with natural disasters—affecting mainly human life, property, local economy, infrastructure, etc.—and the need to design management plans and projects for sustainable exploitation of natural resources set hydrological modeling in high demand by government organizations and local authorities. Thus, hazard assessment and risk evaluation modeling have become a strategic aim and an extremely useful tool for stakeholders, decision-makers, and scientific community

Monitoring urban heat island through google earth engine. Potentialities and difficulties in different cities of the United States

The aim of this work is to exploit the large-scale analysis capabilities of the innovative Google Earth Engine platform in order to investigate the temporal variations of the Urban Heat Island phenomenon as a whole. A intuitive methodology implementing a large-scale correlation analysis between the Land Surface Temperature and Land Cover alterations was thus developed. The results obtained for the Phoenix MA are promising and show how the urbanization heavily affects the magnitude of the UHI effects with significant increases in LST. The proposed methodology is therefore able to efficiently monitor the UHI phenomenon