Metro systems : Construction, operation and impacts

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Geoinformatics in Citizen Science

The book features contributions that report original research in the theoretical, technological, and social aspects of geoinformation methods, as applied to supporting citizen science. Specifically, the book focuses on the technological aspects of the field and their application toward the recruitment of volunteers and the collection, management, and analysis of geotagged information to support volunteer involvement in scientific projects. Internationally renowned research groups share research in three areas: First, the key methods of geoinformatics within citizen science initiatives to support scientists in discovering new knowledge in specific application domains or in performing relevant activities, such as reliable geodata filtering, management, analysis, synthesis, sharing, and visualization; second, the critical aspects of citizen science initiatives that call for emerging or novel approaches of geoinformatics to acquire and handle geoinformation; and third, novel geoinformatics research that could serve in support of citizen science

Utilization of Low Altitude Remote Sensing Techniques for Coral Bleaching Assessments

M.S. University of Hawaii at Manoa 2016.Includes bibliographical references.The utilization of small-unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) as a cheap, effective complement to other assessment tools is imminent in the field of coral reef ecology. Here, we describe the current status of sUAS in the field of coastal monitoring, and introduce the utilization of low-altitude sUAS assessments for coral reef research using proof-of-concept results and completed work describing the distribution of coral bleaching across several patch reefs in Kāneʻohe Bay, Hawaii. Overlapping sub- centimeter reef imagery collected during the 2015 coral bleaching event was used to construct complete high-resolution reef images of four Kāneʻohe Bay patch reefs located in “long residence time” and “short residence time” flow regimes. The spatial distributions of bleached and paled corals were assessed in relation to coastal stressors (sedimentation rates, salinity and phosphate concentrations). Results support the notion that phosphate, an important inorganic nutrient, differed significantly between “closer to shore” and “further from shore” reefs instead of between previously determined flow regimes. Mean phosphate concentrations and salinities were both significantly correlated to unhealthy (bleached or paled) coral cover. When assessing the environmental conditions in close temporal proximity to image collection, only salinity had a strong negative correlation with the cover of unhealthy coral. Paled, bleached, and healthy coral on all four reefs were significantly clumped spatially, although bleached corals had the largest mean distances between affected colonies. This project provides valuable insight into the relationships between Kāneʻohe Bay patch reefs and coastal stressors at previously unexplored spatial scales, and demonstrates the effective use of sUAS surveys in the field of coral reef science

Book of Abstracts & Lead Articles The Second International Symposium Remote Sensing for Ecosystem Analysis and Fisheries

SAFARI (Societal Applications in Fisheries and Aquaculture using Remotely-Sensed Imagery) is an initiative which provides a forum for coordination, at the international level, of activities in global fisheries research and management. The forum is open to all interested parties, including policy makers, research scientists, government managers, and those involved in the fishing industries. SAFARI organizes international workshops and symposia as a platform to discuss the latest research in Earth observation and fisheries management, information sessions aimed at the fisheries industry, government officials and resource managers, representation at policy meetings, and producing publications relevant to the activities. SAFARI gains worldwide attention through collaboration with other international networks, such as ChloroGIN (Chlorophyll Global Integrated Network), IOCCG (International Ocean-Colour Coordinating Group), POGO (Partnership for Observation of the Global Oceans) and the oceans and society: Blue Planet Initiative of the intergovernmental organization, the Group on Earth Observations (GEO)

Urban Informatics

This open access book is the first to systematically introduce the principles of urban informatics and its application to every aspect of the city that involves its functioning, control, management, and future planning. It introduces new models and tools being developed to understand and implement these technologies that enable cities to function more efficiently – to become ‘smart’ and ‘sustainable’. The smart city has quickly emerged as computers have become ever smaller to the point where they can be embedded into the very fabric of the city, as well as being central to new ways in which the population can communicate and act. When cities are wired in this way, they have the potential to become sentient and responsive, generating massive streams of ‘big’ data in real time as well as providing immense opportunities for extracting new forms of urban data through crowdsourcing. This book offers a comprehensive review of the methods that form the core of urban informatics from various kinds of urban remote sensing to new approaches to machine learning and statistical modelling. It provides a detailed technical introduction to the wide array of tools information scientists need to develop the key urban analytics that are fundamental to learning about the smart city, and it outlines ways in which these tools can be used to inform design and policy so that cities can become more efficient with a greater concern for environment and equity