Carolina Planning Vol. 25.2: Planning Our Coast

What Does it Mean to Implement a CAMA Land Use Plan Anyway?; A Local Government Perspective on Land Use Planning; The Disconnect Between CAMA, CRC, Local Governments, and the Protection of North Carolina's Coastal Waters; The Trouble With Storms; Hazard Mitigation on North Carolina's Coastal Barrier Islands; The Use of Storm Water Rules to Protect Coastal Waters; After Floyd? CRC Regulations and Redevelopment Options Available to Littoral and Riparian Owner

An Adjectival Interface for procedural content generation

Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references.In this thesis, a new interface for the generation of procedural content is proposed, in which the user describes the content that they wish to create by using adjectives. Procedural models are typically controlled by complex parameters and often require expert technical knowledge. Since people communicate with each other using language, an adjectival interface to the creation of procedural content is a natural step towards addressing the needs of non-technical and non-expert users. The key problem addressed is that of establishing a mapping between adjectival descriptors, and the parameters employed by procedural models. We show how this can be represented as a mapping between two multi-dimensional spaces, adjective space and parameter space, and approximate the mapping by applying novel function approximation techniques to points of correspondence between the two spaces. These corresponding point pairs are established through a training phase, in which random procedural content is generated and then described, allowing one to map from parameter space to adjective space. Since we ultimately seek a means of mapping from adjective space to parameter space, particle swarm optimisation is employed to select a point in parameter space that best matches any given point in adjective space. The overall result, is a system in which the user can specify adjectives that are then used to create appropriate procedural content, by mapping the adjectives to a suitable set of procedural parameters and employing the standard procedural technique using those parameters as inputs. In this way, none of the control offered by procedural modelling is sacrificed â although the adjectival interface is simpler, it can at any point be stripped away to reveal the standard procedural model and give users access to the full set of procedural parameters. As such, the adjectival interface can be used for rapid prototyping to create an approximation of the content desired, after which the procedural parameters can be used to fine-tune the result. The adjectival interface also serves as a means of intermediate bridging, affording users a more comfortable interface until they are fully conversant with the technicalities of the underlying procedural parameters. Finally, the adjectival interface is compared and contrasted to an interface that allows for direct specification of the procedural parameters. Through user experiments, it is found that the adjectival interface presented in this thesis is not only easier to use and understand, but also that it produces content which more accurately reflects usersâ intentions

Realistic reconstruction and rendering of detailed 3D scenarios from multiple data sources

During the last years, we have witnessed significant improvements in digital terrain modeling, mainly through photogrammetric techniques based on satellite and aerial photography, as well as laser scanning. These techniques allow the creation of Digital Elevation Models (DEM) and Digital Surface Models (DSM) that can be streamed over the network and explored through virtual globe applications like Google Earth or NASA WorldWind. The resolution of these 3D scenes has improved noticeably in the last years, reaching in some urban areas resolutions up to 1m or less for DEM and buildings, and less than 10 cm per pixel in the associated aerial imagery. However, in rural, forest or mountainous areas, the typical resolution for elevation datasets ranges between 5 and 30 meters, and typical resolution of corresponding aerial photographs ranges between 25 cm to 1 m. This current level of detail is only sufficient for aerial points of view, but as the viewpoint approaches the surface the terrain loses its realistic appearance. One approach to augment the detail on top of currently available datasets is adding synthetic details in a plausible manner, i.e. including elements that match the features perceived in the aerial view. By combining the real dataset with the instancing of models on the terrain and other procedural detail techniques, the effective resolution can potentially become arbitrary. There are several applications that do not need an exact reproduction of the real elements but would greatly benefit from plausibly enhanced terrain models: videogames and entertainment applications, visual impact assessment (e.g. how a new ski resort would look), virtual tourism, simulations, etc. In this thesis we propose new methods and tools to help the reconstruction and synthesis of high-resolution terrain scenes from currently available data sources, in order to achieve realistically looking ground-level views. In particular, we decided to focus on rural scenarios, mountains and forest areas. Our main goal is the combination of plausible synthetic elements and procedural detail with publicly available real data to create detailed 3D scenes from existing locations. Our research has focused on the following contributions: - An efficient pipeline for aerial imagery segmentation - Plausible terrain enhancement from high-resolution examples - Super-resolution of DEM by transferring details from the aerial photograph - Synthesis of arbitrary tree picture variations from a reduced set of photographs - Reconstruction of 3D tree models from a single image - A compact and efficient tree representation for real-time rendering of forest landscapesDurant els darrers anys, hem presenciat avenços significatius en el modelat digital de terrenys, principalment gràcies a tècniques fotogramètriques, basades en fotografia aèria o satèl·lit, i a escàners làser. Aquestes tècniques permeten crear Models Digitals d'Elevacions (DEM) i Models Digitals de Superfícies (DSM) que es poden retransmetre per la xarxa i ser explorats mitjançant aplicacions de globus virtuals com ara Google Earth o NASA WorldWind. La resolució d'aquestes escenes 3D ha millorat considerablement durant els darrers anys, arribant a algunes àrees urbanes a resolucions d'un metre o menys per al DEM i edificis, i fins a menys de 10 cm per píxel a les fotografies aèries associades. No obstant, en entorns rurals, boscos i zones muntanyoses, la resolució típica per a dades d'elevació es troba entre 5 i 30 metres, i per a les corresponents fotografies aèries varia entre 25 cm i 1m. Aquest nivell de detall només és suficient per a punts de vista aeris, però a mesura que ens apropem a la superfície el terreny perd tot el realisme. Una manera d'augmentar el detall dels conjunts de dades actuals és afegint a l'escena detalls sintètics de manera plausible, és a dir, incloure elements que encaixin amb les característiques que es perceben a la vista aèria. Així, combinant les dades reals amb instàncies de models sobre el terreny i altres tècniques de detall procedural, la resolució efectiva del model pot arribar a ser arbitrària. Hi ha diverses aplicacions per a les quals no cal una reproducció exacta dels elements reals, però que es beneficiarien de models de terreny augmentats de manera plausible: videojocs i aplicacions d'entreteniment, avaluació de l'impacte visual (per exemple, com es veuria una nova estació d'esquí), turisme virtual, simulacions, etc. En aquesta tesi, proposem nous mètodes i eines per ajudar a la reconstrucció i síntesi de terrenys en alta resolució partint de conjunts de dades disponibles públicament, per tal d'aconseguir vistes a nivell de terra realistes. En particular, hem decidit centrar-nos en escenes rurals, muntanyes i àrees boscoses. El nostre principal objectiu és la combinació d'elements sintètics plausibles i detall procedural amb dades reals disponibles públicament per tal de generar escenes 3D d'ubicacions existents. La nostra recerca s'ha centrat en les següents contribucions: - Un pipeline eficient per a segmentació d'imatges aèries - Millora plausible de models de terreny a partir d'exemples d’alta resolució - Super-resolució de models d'elevacions transferint-hi detalls de la fotografia aèria - Síntesis d'un nombre arbitrari de variacions d’imatges d’arbres a partir d'un conjunt reduït de fotografies - Reconstrucció de models 3D d'arbres a partir d'una única fotografia - Una representació compacta i eficient d'arbres per a navegació en temps real d'escenesPostprint (published version

Waipi'o Valley: Towards Community Planning and Ahupua'a Management

This plan has been prepared to explore community planning and ahupua’a management in Waipi’o Valley, on the Big Island of Hawai’i. This report is a culmination of a six-month long inclusive planning process that contains input from community organizations, resource management experts, government agencies, major landowners in the area, and Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners. Additionally, site visits were conducted to assess the existing condition in Waipi’o Valley and to identify key issues and concerns related to government plans being prepared. The Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Lower Hamakua Ditch Watershed Plan characterizes the planning practicum activity as follows: “The community organization process in Waipi’o Valley to identify issues, develop and obtain data, evaluate alternatives, and identify and pursue actions to resolve problems will be facilitated by members of the University of Hawai’i, Department of Urban and Regional Planning Practicum. The members of the practicum will work with the communities in Waipi’o Valley to develop, as much as possible, a shared vision of the future and strategies for concerned action to achieve identified objectives. While the DOA [United States Department of Agriculture] and NRCS [Natural Resource Conservation Service] will provide the necessary funds for travel and subsistence to the UH group, the project proponents will not attempt to influence the community organization process” (USDA-NRCS, 1999, September, p. 148)

Geographic Information Science (GIScience) and Geospatial Approaches for the Analysis of Historical Visual Sources and Cartographic Material

This book focuses on the use of GIScience in conjunction with historical visual sources to resolve past scenarios. The themes, knowledge gained and methodologies conducted might be of interest to a variety of scholars from the social science and humanities disciplines

Ludotopia

Where do computer games »happen«? The articles collected in this pioneering volume explore the categories of »space«, »place« and »territory« featuring in most general theories of space to lay the groundwork for the study of spatiality in games. Shifting the focus away from earlier debates on, e.g., the narrative nature of games, this collection proposes, instead, that thorough attention be given to the tension between experienced spaces and narrated places as well as to the mapping of both of these

Direct action self-help groups in UK flood risk management

This thesis critically evaluates the reasons and extent to which Direct Action Self-Help (DASH) groups are, or can be, viable and an efficacious, efficient and effective means of managing and monitoring Flood and Coastal erosion Risk Management (FCRM) assets. FCRM DASH groups are found to be motivated by challenges of increasing flood risk and reduced public funding, alongside a sense of stewardship and community solidarity, catalysed by a few motivated individuals. The thesis develops a conceptual framework of the different dimensions, contextual aspects and motivations for DASH activity. Case studies show that channel maintenance work by DASH groups can be effective and efficient at reducing some aspects of local fluvial flood risk for lower order flood events. By contrast, maintenance of existing sea walls by DASH groups is less efficient because of the need for significant expenditure on materials and is only efficacious if the engineering is quality controlled; its longer term effectiveness is limited by sea level rise. Professional FCRM coordination and support of DASH activity is examined using a case study of an Environment Agency (EA) area coordinator and comparisons with alternative approaches. Support of DASH groups by FCRM professionals is essential to avoid unwise activity and to provide practical support, seed-corn funding and advice on the nature and extent to which DASH activity might be appropriate. The most effective form of DASH facilitation requires a quality and quantity of involvement that cannot readily be supplied by dispersed arrangements from a number of individuals. The thesis also proposes an approach for assessing and scoring the human dimensions of engineering assets. The dimensions of Sense of Security, Accessibility/Availability and Delight/Inspiration reflect insights from key thinkers from a wide range of disciplines. The framework is verified for the FCRM context and its practicality evaluated by trials in which DASH and other community groups assess human dimensions