Geoinformatics for the conservation and promotion of cultural heritage in support of the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Cultural Heritage (CH) is recognised as being of historical, social, and anthropological value and is considered as an enabler of sustainable development. As a result, it is included in the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 11 and 8. SDG 11.4 emphasises the protection and safeguarding of heritage, and SDG 8.9 aims to promote sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products. This paper briefly reviews the geoinformatics technologies of photogrammetry, remote sensing, and spatial information science and their application to CH. Detailed aspects of CH-related SDGs, comprising protection and safeguarding, as well as the promotion of sustainable tourism are outlined. Contributions of geoinformatics technologies to each of these aspects are then identified and analysed. Case studies in both developing and developed countries, supported by funding directed at the UN SDGs, are presented to illustrate the challenges and opportunities of geoinformatics to enhance CH protection and to promote sustainable tourism. The potential and impact of geoinformatics for the measurement of official SDG indicators, as well as UNESCO's Culture for Development Indicators, are discussed. Based on analysis of the review and the presented case studies, it is concluded that the contribution of geoinformatics to the achievement of CH SDGs is necessary, significant and evident. Moreover, following the UNESCO initiative to introduce CH into the sustainable development agenda and related ICOMOS action plan, the concept of Sustainable Cultural Heritage is defined, reflecting the significance of CH to the United Nations' ambition to "transform our world"

A WEBGIS FRAMEWORK FOR DISSEMINATING PROCESSED REMOTELY SENSED ON LAND COVER TRANSFORMATIONS

Mediterranean regions have experienced significant soil degradation over the past decades. In this context, careful land observation using satellite data is crucial for understanding the long-term usage patterns of natural resources and facilitating their sustainable management to monitor and evaluate the potential degradation. Given the environmental and political interest on this problem, there is urgent need for a centralized repository and mechanism to share geospatial data, information and maps of land change. Geospatial data collecting is one of the most important task for many users because there are significant barriers in accessing and using data. This limit could be overcome by implementing a WebGIS through a combination of existing free and open source software for geographic information systems (FOSS4G). In this paper we preliminary discuss methods for collecting raster data in a geodatabase by processing open multi-temporal and multi-scale satellite data aimed at retrieving indicators for land degradation phenomenon (i.e. land cover/land use analysis, vegetation indices, trend analysis, etc.). Then we describe a methodology for designing a WebGIS framework in order to disseminate information through maps for territory monitoring. Basic WebGIS functions were extended with the help of POSTGIS database and OpenLayers libraries. Geoserver was customized to set up and enhance the website functions developing various advanced queries using PostgreSQL and innovative tools to carry out efficiently multi-layer overlay analysis. The end-product is a simple system that provides the opportunity not only to consult interactively but also download processed remote sensing data

A Global Systematic Review of Improving Crop Model Estimations by Assimilating Remote Sensing Data: Implications for Small-Scale Agricultural Systems

There is a growing effort to use access to remote sensing data (RS) in conjunction with crop model simulation capability to improve the accuracy of crop growth and yield estimates. This is critical for sustainable agricultural management and food security, especially in farming communities with limited resources and data. Therefore, the objective of this study was to provide a systematic review of research on data assimilation and summarize how its application varies by country, crop, and farming systems. In addition, we highlight the implications of using process-based crop models (PBCMs) and data assimilation in small-scale farming systems. Using a strict search term, we searched the Scopus and Web of Science databases and found 497 potential publications. After screening for relevance using predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria, 123 publications were included in the final review. Our results show increasing global interest in RS data assimilation approaches; however, 81% of the studies were from countries with relatively high levels of agricultural production, technology, and innovation. There is increasing development of crop models, availability of RS data sources, and characterization of crop parameters assimilated into PBCMs. Most studies used recalibration or updating methods to mainly incorporate remotely sensed leaf area index from MODIS or Landsat into the WOrld FOod STudies (WOFOST) model to improve yield estimates for staple crops in large-scale and irrigated farming systems. However, these methods cannot compensate for the uncertainties in RS data and crop models. We concluded that further research on data assimilation using newly available high-resolution RS datasets, such as Sentinel-2, should be conducted to significantly improve simulations of rare crops and small-scale rainfed farming systems. This is critical for informing local crop management decisions to improve policy and food security assessments

Development and assessment of a multi-sensor platform for precision phenotyping of small grain cereals under field conditions

The growing world population, changing food habits especially to increased meat consumption in newly industrialized countries, the growing demand for energy and the climate change pose major challenges for tomorrows agriculture. The agricultural output has to be increased by 70% by 2050 to achieve food and energy security for the future and 90% of this increase must be achieved by increasing yields on existing agricultural land. Achieving this increase in yield is one of the biggest challenges for the global agriculture and requires, among other things, an efficient breeding of new, higher-yielding varieties adapted to the predicted climate change. To achieve this goal, new methods need to be established in plant breeding which include efficient genotyping and phenotyping approaches of crops. Enormous progress has been achieved in the field of genotyping which enables to gain a better understanding of the molecular basis of complex traits. However, phenotyping must be considered as equally important as genomic approaches rely on high quality phenotypic data and as efficient phenotyping enables the identification of superior lines in breeding programs. In contrast to the rapid development of genotyping approaches, phenotyping methods in plant breeding have changed only little in recent decades which is also referred to as phenotyping bottleneck. Due to this discrepancy between available phenotypic and genotypic information a significant potential for crop improvement remains unexploited. The aim of this work was the development and evaluation of a precision phenotyping platform for the non-invasive measurement of crops under field conditions. The developed platform is assembled of a tractor with 80 cm ground clearance, a carrier trailer and a sensor module attached to the carrier trailer. The innovative sensors for plant phenotyping, consisting of several 3D Time-of-Flight cameras, laser distance sensors, light curtains and a spectral imaging camera in the near infrared reflectance (NIR) range, and the entire system technology for data acquisition were fully integrated into the sensor module. To operate the system, software with a graphical user interface has been developed that enables recording of sensor raw data with time- and location information which is the basis of a subsequent sensor and data fusion for trait determination. Data analysis software with a graphical user interface was developed under Matlab. This software applies all created sensor models and algorithms on sensor raw data for parameter extraction, enables the flexible integration of new algorithms into the data analysis pipeline, offers the opportunity to generate and calibrate new sensor fusion models and allows for trait determination. The developed platform facilitates the simultaneous measurement of several plant parameters with a throughput of over 2,000 plots per day. Based on data of the years 2011 and 2012, extensive calibrations were developed for the traits plant height, dry matter content and biomass yield employing triticale as a model species. For this purpose, 600 plots were grown each year and recorded twice with the platform followed by subsequent phenotyping with state-of-the-art methods for reference value generation. The experiments of each year were subdivided into three measurements at different time points to incorporate information of three different developmental stages of the plants into the calibrations. To validate the raw data quality and robustness of the data collection and reduction process, the technical repeatability for all developed data analysis algorithms was determined. In addition to these analyses, the accuracy of the generated calibrations was assessed as the correlations between determined and observed phenotypic values. The calibration of plant height based on light curtain data achieved a technical repeatability of 0.99 and a correlation coefficient of 0.97, the calibration of dry matter content based on spectral imaging data a of 0.98 and a of 0.97. The generation and analysis of dry biomass calibrations revealed that a significant improvement of measurement accuracy can be achieved by a fusion of different sensors and data evaluations. The calibration of dry biomass based on data of the light curtains, laser distance sensors, 3D Time-of-Flight cameras and spectral imaging achieved a of 0.99 and a of 0.92. The achieved excellent results illustrate the suitability of the developed platform, the integrated sensors and the data analysis software to non-invasively measure small grain cereals under field conditions. The high utility of the platform for plant breeding as well as for genomic studies was illustrated by the measurement of a large population with a total of 647 doubled haploid triticale lines derived from four families that were grown in four environments. The phenotypic data was determined based on platform measurements and showed a very high heritability for dry biomass yield. The combination of these phenotypic data with a genomic approach enabled the identification of quantitative trait loci (QTL), i.e., chromosomal regions affecting this trait. Furthermore, the repeated measurements revealed that the accumulation of biomass is controlled by temporal genetic regulation. Taken together, the very high robustness of the system, the excellent calibration results and the high heritability of the phenotypic data determined based on platform measurements demonstrate the utility of the precision phenotyping platform for plant breeding and its enormous potential to widen the phenotyping bottleneck.Die stetig wachsende Weltbevölkerung, sich ändernde Ernährungsgewohnheiten hin zu vermehrtem Fleischkonsum in Schwellenländern, der stetig wachsende Energiebedarf sowie der Klimawandel stellen große Herausforderungen an die Landwirtschaft von morgen. Um eine gesicherte Lebensmittel- und Energieversorgung zu gewährleisten muss die landwirtschaftliche Produktion bis 2050 um 70% gesteigert werden, wobei 90% dieser Steigerung durch eine Erhöhung der Erträge auf bereits bestehenden landwirtschaftlichen Flächen erzielt werden muss. Diese erforderliche Ertragssteigerung ist eine der größten Herausforderungen für die weltweite Landwirtschaft und bedarf unter anderem einer effizienten Züchtung neuer, an den Klimawandel angepasster, ertragsreicherer Sorten. Um eine ausreichende Steigerung der Erträge sicherstellen zu können müssen neue Methoden in der Pflanzenzucht etabliert werden, welche auf einer effizienten Geno- sowie Phänotypisierung der Pflanzen basieren. Im Bereich der Genotypisierung gab es in den letzten Jahrzehnten große Fortschritte, wodurch ein enormer Wissenszuwachs über die molekulare Basis komplexer Merkmale erzielt werden konnte. Trotzdem ist der Bereich der Phänotypisierung als ebenso wichtig anzusehen, da genetische Untersuchungen unter anderem von der Qualität phänotypischer Daten abhängen und qualitativ hochwertige phänotypische Daten die Selektion überlegener Linien in der Pflanzenzucht verbessern können. Im Vergleich zur Genotypisierung gab es jedoch im Bereich der Phänotypisierung in den letzten Jahrzehnten nur wenig wissenschaftlichen Fortschritt. Durch dieses Missverhältnis zwischen der Qualität phänotypischer und genotypischer Informationen bleibt somit ein erhebliches Potential an neuen Erkenntnissen unentdeckt. Das Ziel dieser Arbeit war die Entwicklung und Bewertung einer Präzisionsphänotypisierungsplattform zur zerstörungsfreien Charakterisierung von Energiegetreide in der Pflanzenzucht, um den aktuell bestehenden Flaschenhals bei der Umsetzung neuer Zuchtmethoden zu weiten. Die entwickelte Plattform ist ein Gespann bestehend aus einem Hochradschlepper mit 80 cm Bodenfreiheit, einem eigens entwickelten Trägeranhänger und einem am Trägeranhänger befestigten Sensormodul. Die innovative Sensorik zur Pflanzenvermessung, bestehend aus mehreren 3D Time-of-Flight Kameras, Laserabstandssensoren, Lichtgittern und einem bildgebenden Spektralmessgerät im nahen infrarot (NIR) Bereich, sowie die gesamte Systemtechnik zur Datenaufnahme wurden vollständig im Sensormodul integriert. Zur Bedienung des Systems wurde eine Software mit graphischer Benutzeroberfläche entwickelt, die eine zeit- und ortsbezogene Aufnahme der Sensorrohdaten ermöglicht, was die Grundlage einer anschließenden Sensor- und Datenfusion zur Merkmalsbestimmung darstellt. Zur Datenauswertung wurde eine Software mit graphischer Benutzeroberfläche unter Matlab entwickelt. Durch diese Software werden alle erstellten Sensormodelle und Algorithmen zur Datenauswertung auf die Rohdaten angewendet, wobei neue Algorithmen flexibel in das System eingebunden, Sensorfusionsmodelle erzeugt und kalibriert und Pflanzenparameter bestimmt werden können. Die entwickelte Plattform ermöglicht die simultane Vermessung mehrerer Pflanzenparameter bei einem Durchsatz von über 2000 Parzellen pro Tag. Basierend auf Daten aus den Jahren 2011 und 2012 wurden umfangreiche Kalibrierungen für die Parameter Pflanzenhöhe, Trockensubstanzgehalt und Trockenmasse für Triticale erstellt. Zu diesem Zweck wurden in beiden Jahren Feldversuche mit jeweils 600 Parzellen angelegt, doppelt mit der Plattform vermessen und zur Referenzwertgenerierung im Anschluss konventionell phänotypisiert. In beiden Jahren wurden drei Messungen von jeweils 200 Parzellen zu drei verschiedenen Zeitpunkten durchgeführt, um Daten unterschiedlicher Entwicklungsstadien der Pflanzen für die Erstellung der Kalibrierungen zur Verfügung zu haben. Zur Validierung der Rohdatenqualität sowie der Robustheit der Datenreduktionsverfahren wurden zunächst für alle entwickelten Auswertungsalgorithmen basierend auf den Wiederholungsmessungen die technischen Wiederholbarkeiten bestimmt. Neben der Validierung der Rohdatenqualität wurden die Genauigkeiten der erstellten Kalibrierungen als Korrelation zwischen den Referenzwerten und den mit der Sensorplattform gemessenen Werten ermittelt. Die Kalibrierung der Pflanzenhöhe basierend auf Lichtgitterdaten erreicht eine technische Wiederholbarkeit Rw2 von 0.99 und einen Korrelationskoeffizienten Rc² von 0.97, die Kalibrierung des Trockensubstanzgehalts basierend auf Spectral-Imaging Daten ein Rw2 von 0.98 und ein Rc² von 0.97. Bei der Erstellung der Trockenmasse Kalibrierung konnte gezeigt werden, dass durch eine Fusion verschiedener Sensoren und Datenauswertungen eine signifikante Verbesserung der Messgenauigkeit erreicht werden kann. Die Kalibrierung der Trockenmasse basierend auf Daten der Lichtgitter, Laserabstandssensoren, 3D Time-of-Flight Kameras und des Spectral-Imaging erreicht ein Rw2 von 0.99 und ein Rc² von 0.92. Die hervorragenden technischen Wiederholbarkeiten, sowie die exzellenten Genauigkeiten der entwickelten Kalibrierungen verdeutlichen die herausragende Eignung der entwickelten Plattform, der integrierten Sensoren und der entwickelten Datenaufnahme- sowie Datenauswertesoftware zur zerstörungsfreien Phänotypisierung von Getreide unter Feldbedingungen. Der hohe praktische Nutzen der Plattform für die Pflanzenzucht sowie für genetische Studien konnte durch die wiederholte Phänotypisierung einer DH Population mit 647 doppelhaploiden Triticale Linien in vier Umwelten aufgezeigt werden. Die Pflanzen wurden mit der Plattform an drei verschiedenen Zeitpunkten phänotypisiert und die erzeugten Daten zeigten eine sehr hohe Heritabilität für Biomasse. Die Kombination dieser phänotypischen mit genotypischen Informationen in einer Assoziationskartierungsstudie ermöglichte die Identifizierung von Regionen im Genom welche für quantitative Merkmale (QTL) kodieren. So konnten z.B. Regionen auf mehreren Chromosomen identifiziert werden, welche die Biomasse beeinflussen. Des Weiteren konnte durch Auswertung der wiederholten Messungen der Nachweis erbracht werden, dass die Biomasseentwicklung durch sich zeitlich ändernde genetische Mechanismen beeinflusst wird. Die erreichte sehr hohe Robustheit des Systems, die exzellenten Kalibrierungsergebnisse und die hohen Heritabilitäten der mit der Plattform bestimmten phänotypischen Daten verdeutlichen die hervorragende Eignung des Systems zur Anwendung in der Pflanzenzucht und das enorme Potential der entwickelten Technologie zur Weitung des aktuell bestehenden Phänotypisierungs-Flaschenhalses

Trends in Geoinformatics Education

Trends in Geoinformatics Educatio

OPEN SOURCE WEB TOOL FOR TRACKING IN A LOWCOST MOBILE MAPPING SYSTEM

During the last decade several Mobile Mapping Systems (MMSs), i.e. systems able to acquire efficiently three dimensional data using moving sensors (Guarnieri et al., 2008, Schwarz and El-Sheimy, 2004), have been developed. Research and commercial products have been implemented on terrestrial, aerial and marine platforms, and even on human-carried equipment, e.g. backpack (Lo et al., 2015, Nex and Remondino, 2014, Ellum and El-Sheimy, 2002, Leica Pegasus backpack, 2016, Masiero et al., 2017, Fissore et al., 2018).<br><br> Such systems are composed of an integrated array of time-synchronised navigation sensors and imaging sensors mounted on a mobile platform (Puente et al., 2013, Tao and Li, 2007). Usually the MMS implies integration of different types of sensors, such as GNSS, IMU, video camera and/or laser scanners that allow accurate and quick mapping (Li, 1997, Petrie, 2010, Tao, 2000). The typical requirement of high-accuracy 3D georeferenced reconstruction often makes such systems quite expensive. Indeed, at time of writing most of the terrestrial MMSs on the market have a cost usually greater than 50000, which might be expensive for certain applications (Ellum and El-Sheimy, 2002, Piras et al., 2008). In order to allow best performance sensors have to be properly calibrated (Dong et al., 2007, Ellum and El-Sheimy, 2002).<br><br> Sensors in MMSs are usually integrated and managed through a dedicated software, which is developed ad hoc for the devices mounted on the mobile platform and hence tailored for the specific used sensors. Despite the fact that commercial solutions are complete, very specific and particularly related to the typology of survey, their price is a factor that restricts the number of users and the possible interested sectors.<br><br> This paper describes a (relatively low cost) terrestrial Mobile Mapping System developed at the University of Padua (TESAF, Department of Land Environment Agriculture and Forestry) by the research team in CIRGEO, in order to test an alternative solution to other more expensive MMSs. The first objective of this paper is to report on the development of a prototype of MMS for the collection of geospatial data based on the assembly of low cost sensors managed through a web interface developed using open source libraries. The main goal is to provide a system accessible by any type of user, and flexible to any type of upgrade or introduction of new models of sensors or versions thereof. After a presentation of the hardware components used in our system, a more detailed description of the software developed for the management of the MMS will be provided, which is the part of the innovation of the project. According to the worldwide request for having big data available through the web from everywhere in the world (Pirotti et al., 2011), the proposed solution allows to retrieve data from a web interface Figure 4. Actually, this is part of a project for the development of a new web infrastructure in the University of Padua (but it will be available for external users as well), in order to ease collaboration between researchers from different areas.<br><br> Finally, strengths, weaknesses and future developments of the low cost MMS are discussed

The Concept, Realizations and Role of Geosciences in the Development of Smart Cities

Today, more than half of the world\u27s population lives in cities and therefore the implementation of smart cities is being imposed as a strategy to solve the problems of rapid urbanization. Smart cities are still just a concept and there is no clear definition of it, and this paper provides a framework for understanding this concept and its key components. Considering a series of different studies, the basic components and factors of smart cities are derived. The implementation of this concept faces many challenges, with information and communication technology (ICT) playing a key role. Such cities are collecting large amounts of data, so in addition to ICT, two emerging technologies, the Internet of Things and the Big Data Concept, are increasingly being mentioned as the basis for successful development. Spatial information is also being imposed as one of the key drivers of successful development and decision making within a smart city. With the advancement and innovation of geospatial technologies, sciences such as geodesy and geoinformatics are becoming key drivers of the development of new smart applications and one of the essential components in the smart cities concept. But, due to the increasing interdisciplinarity of other sciences, geodesy and geoinformatics need to obtain their place in the concept of smart cities, so understanding this concept is crucial for sustainability of these professions