Climate Ready Estuaries - COAST in Action: 2012 Projects from Maine and New Hampshire

In summer 2011 the US EPA’s Climate Ready Estuaries program awarded funds to the Casco Bay Estuary Partnership (CBEP) in Portland, Maine, and the Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership (PREP) in coastal New Hampshire, to further develop and use COAST (COastal Adaptation to Sea level rise Tool) in their sea level rise adaptation planning processes. The New England Environmental Finance Center worked with municipal staff, elected officials, and other stakeholders to select specific locations, vulnerable assets, and adaptation actions to model using COAST. The EFC then collected the appropriate base data layers, ran the COAST simulations, and provided visual, numeric, and presentation-based products in support of the planning processes underway in both locations. These products helped galvanize support for the adaptation planning efforts. Through facilitated meetings they also led to stakeholders identifying specific action steps and begin to determine how to implement them

Application of Remote Sensing Data for Evaluation of Rockfall Potential within a Quarry Slope

This is the final version. Available on open access from MDPI via the DOI in this recordIn recent years data acquisition from remote sensing has become readily available to the quarry sector. This study demonstrates how such data may be used to evaluate and back analyse rockfall potential of a legacy slope in a blocky rock mass. Use of data obtained from several aerial LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) and photogrammetric campaigns taken over a number of years (2011 to date) provides evidence for potential rockfall evolution from a slope within an active quarry operation in Cornwall, UK. Further investigation, through analysis of point cloud data obtained from terrestrial laser scanning, was undertaken to characterise the orientation of discontinuities present within the rock slope. Aerial and terrestrial LiDAR data were subsequently used for kinematic analysis, production of surface topography models and rockfall trajectory analyses using both 2D and 3D numerical simulations. The results of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)-based 3D photogrammetric analysis enabled the reconstruction of high resolution topography, allowing one to not only determine geometrical properties of the slope surface and geomechanical characterisation but provide data for validation of numerical simulations. The analysis undertaken shows the effectiveness of the existing rockfall barrier, while demonstrating how photogrammetric data can be used to inform back analyses of the underlying failure mechanism and investigate potential runout

Training of Crisis Mappers and Map Production from Multi-sensor Data: Vernazza Case Study (Cinque Terre National Park, Italy)

This aim of paper is to presents the development of a multidisciplinary project carried out by the cooperation between Politecnico di Torino and ITHACA (Information Technology for Humanitarian Assistance, Cooperation and Action). The goal of the project was the training in geospatial data acquiring and processing for students attending Architecture and Engineering Courses, in order to start up a team of "volunteer mappers". Indeed, the project is aimed to document the environmental and built heritage subject to disaster; the purpose is to improve the capabilities of the actors involved in the activities connected in geospatial data collection, integration and sharing. The proposed area for testing the training activities is the Cinque Terre National Park, registered in the World Heritage List since 1997. The area was affected by flood on the 25th of October 2011. According to other international experiences, the group is expected to be active after emergencies in order to upgrade maps, using data acquired by typical geomatic methods and techniques such as terrestrial and aerial Lidar, close-range and aerial photogrammetry, topographic and GNSS instruments etc.; or by non conventional systems and instruments such us UAV, mobile mapping etc. The ultimate goal is to implement a WebGIS platform to share all the data collected with local authorities and the Civil Protectio

Preventing catastrophic events in construction

The construction industry recognises the hazardous nature of its activities, which can be seen in the high toll of accidents its workers suffer compared with other industries - ranging from lost time injuries to fatalities. There is also a high incidence of ill-health among construction workers, including fatal diseases such as cancer arising from asbestos exposure. However, the industry may not be sufficiently aware of the potential for it to be associated with more major or catastrophic events (those involving multiple deaths and/or significant damage to property and infrastructure). Larger construction organisations have been applying ‘holistic’ risk management techniques to manage project risk. Low probability but high-consequence issues have often been included in these considerations. Most issues addressed have had purely commercial consequences eg sudden loss of a major contract or customer. However, some issues do have significant health and safety implications. This project has examined these ‘low probability but high-consequence’ safety hazards by looking at: n the types of catastrophic event which have occurred or which might occur during construction; n the reasons for occurrence when there have been (or could have been) catastrophic events during construction, including an examination of the underlying factors; n the controls which should contribute to an avoidance of a catastrophic event; and n where the UK construction industry could improve. This report and the work it describes were funded by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Its contents, including any opinions and/or conclusions expressed, are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect HSE policy

Tunnel Engineering

This volume presents a selection of chapters covering a wide range of tunneling engineering topics. The scope was to present reviews of established methods and new approaches in construction practice and in digital technology tools like building information modeling. The book is divided in four sections dealing with geological aspects of tunneling, analysis and design, new challenges in tunnel construction, and tunneling in the digital era. Topics from site investigation and rock mass failure mechanisms, analysis and design approaches, and innovations in tunnel construction through digital tools are covered in 10 chapters. The references provided will be useful for further reading

ISGSR 2011 - Proceedings of the 3rd International Symposium on Geotechnical Safety and Risk

Scientific standards applicable to publication of BAWProceedings: http://izw.baw.de/publikationen/vzb_dokumente_oeffentlich/0/2020_07_BAW_Scientific_standards_conference_proceedings.pd

London’s foundations protecting the geodiversity of the capital

This report describes a geodiversity audit of London commissioned by a partnership led by the Greater London Authority (GLA), which includes the British Geological Survey (BGS), Natural England, Government Office for London, London Biodiversity Partnership, London Borough of Lambeth, Harrow and Hillingdon Geological Society, South London London RIGS Groups, Hanson UK and Queen Mary College, University of London. The project was funded by an Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund grant from Natural England plus additional support from the GLA, BGS and Natural England London Region. The audit began with a review of the available geodiversity documentation for London including: BGS field maps, databases and publications; Regional Important Geological Sites (RIGS) Group information; Natural England Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Geological Conservation Review (GCR) documentation; and documentation and data from the GLA and London Boroughs. An initial list of around 470 sites with potential for geodiversity value was compiled from this information. This list was then narrowed down to 100 for further assessment by exporting site locations to a GIS and cross-checking against digital aerial photography backed up by BGS staff local geological expertise. Using the procedure set out in this report field auditing was carried out by BGS staff and the South London RIGS Group between November 2007 and April 2008. From the list of 100 sites, 35 sites were found to be suitable for detailed auditing. Harrow and Hillingdon Geological Society audited a further site in November 2008, bringing the total to 36 sites. Using the criteria set out in this report 14 of the 36 sites are recommended for designation as Regionally Important Geological/geomorphological Sites (RIGS) in borough Local Development Documents. Of the 33 London boroughs, RIGS are recommended in eight, with five in Bromley, three in Croydon and one each in Lewisham, Ealing, Greenwich, Harrow, Hillingdon and Bexley. Using the criteria set out in this report 15 of the 36 sites have the potential to be designated as Locally Important Geological Sites (LIGS). These sites are located in nine boroughs, three in Waltham Forest, two in Bromley, two in Islington and one each in Barnet, Lewisham, Redbridge, Wandsworth, Southwark and Sutton. Planning proposals should have regard to geodiversity in order to implement strategic and local policies. Sites should be protected, managed and enhanced and, where ppropriate, new development should provide improvements to the geodiversity value of a site. This can include measures that promote public access, study, interpretation and appreciation of geodiversity. In addition to individual sites of geodiversity interest, Greater London has distinctive natural landscapes shaped by geological processes, such as undulating chalk downlands with dry valleys in south London, and river terraces forming long flat areas separated by steeper areas of terrace front slopes. This natural topographic geodiversity underlying London should be understood, respected and only altered in that knowledge with full knowledge of it origin and form. Planners are encouraged to use authentic contouring in restoration work and new landscaping schemes, maintain the contributions of natural topography, rock outcrops, landscape features, and to maintain soil quality, quantity and function

1.2. Are We Ready for New (Digital) Ways to Record Archaeological Fieldwork? A Case Study from Pompeii

Beyond outlining some of the experiences and outcomes of the conversion of the University of Cincinnati’s excavations at Pompeii to a “paperless” project, particularly through the highly publicized adoption of iPads to record our archaeological fieldwork, this paper is about our discipline’s polarized response to such developments. In particular, it aims to set the pessimism about paperless methods, held by a sizable demographic, within a wider socio-academic context. Much of it is about admitting we have a problem: that is, a disciplinary consternation for changes to the ways we record data and produce knowledge in the field. More than a defense of the use of tablet computers over pieces of paper to record archaeological fieldwork, what follows is ultimately a call to balance our commonly romanticized views of experience and tradition in the ways we do things with the intellectual value in exploring new ideas and developments in core methodology.https://dc.uwm.edu/arthist_mobilizingthepast/1003/thumbnail.jp

Towards ecosystem-based restoration of peatland biodiversity

Natural peatlands support rich biological diversity at the genetic, species, ecosystem and landscape levels. However, because the character of this diversity differs from that of other ecosystem types, the value of peatlands for biodiversity has often been overlooked. Fundamentally, this arises because peatland ecosystems direct part of the energy captured by primary production into long-term storage within a peat layer, and thus establish a structural and functional basis for biodiversity maintenance that is not found elsewhere. This article examines the far-reaching implications for the assessment of peatland biodiversity as well as for the drivers, methods and targets of peatland conservation and restoration initiatives. It becomes clear that a robust framework for the management and restoration of peatland biodiversity must be founded in structural-functional ecosystem analysis, and such a framework is developed. The authors draw on a broad base of historical and contemporary literature and experience, including important Russian contributions that have previously had little international exposure

Applications of Photogrammetry for Environmental Research

ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information: special issue entitled "Applications of Photogrammetry for Environmental Research