D6.6: 7 conference papers

The Deliverable 6.6 with the title “7 conference papers”, is part of WP6 “Dissemination and Exploitation” of Athena project with a basic aim to knowledge sharing, network development and exposure to an international environment. Three conference attendances were foreseen (e.g. CAA; SPIE; EARSeL) within the project duration whereas more than 30 posters and oral presentations were presented during the project in the conferences such as: SPIE 2016, SPIE 2018, EUROMED 2016, EUROMED 2018, EGU 2016, EGU 2017, EGU 2018, RSCy2016, RSCy 2017, RSCy 2018, etc

D10.1 Report on the dissemination activities and Conference organisation

This deliverable provides an extensive analysis of the dissemination activities and workshops organisation of the EXCELSIOR H2020 Teaming Project. The analysis starts with the report on our participation in conferences (11) and how the project was promoted through it. Then, we explain about the participation of our team members in talks (17), workshops (7) and seminars (12) as invited speakers. The deliverable continues with a thorough presentation of the lectures by invited speakers (8), the webinar (1) and the workshops (2) organized by our team. Additionally, we document about our participation in other events (i.e., European Researcher’s Night 2021 and SpaceUPCyprus 2021 Live). The last chapter provides the publications, journal papers, conference papers, and book sections for the reporting time period. The deliverable concludes by providing information on the outcome of the reported activities and how they have contributed to the progress of the EXCELSIOR H2020 Teaming Project. It is concluded that there is a strong need to establish links in the EMMENA region and connect with them. This has not been achieved yet, but a strategy was prepared to raise awareness about the EXCELSIOR Project in the EMMENA region and establish partnerships, starting with targeted stakeholders’ workshop in autumn 2021, where selected stakeholders from the region will be invited to be informed them about the project and provide them the space to discuss their needs and identify common scientific interests and ways of collaboration

Remote Sensing and Geosciences for Archaeology

This book collects more than 20 papers, written by renowned experts and scientists from across the globe, that showcase the state-of-the-art and forefront research in archaeological remote sensing and the use of geoscientific techniques to investigate archaeological records and cultural heritage. Very high resolution satellite images from optical and radar space-borne sensors, airborne multi-spectral images, ground penetrating radar, terrestrial laser scanning, 3D modelling, Geographyc Information Systems (GIS) are among the techniques used in the archaeological studies published in this book. The reader can learn how to use these instruments and sensors, also in combination, to investigate cultural landscapes, discover new sites, reconstruct paleo-landscapes, augment the knowledge of monuments, and assess the condition of heritage at risk. Case studies scattered across Europe, Asia and America are presented: from the World UNESCO World Heritage Site of Lines and Geoglyphs of Nasca and Palpa to heritage under threat in the Middle East and North Africa, from coastal heritage in the intertidal flats of the German North Sea to Early and Neolithic settlements in Thessaly. Beginners will learn robust research methodologies and take inspiration; mature scholars will for sure derive inputs for new research and applications

Semantic location extraction from crowdsourced data

Crowdsourced Data (CSD) has recently received increased attention in many application areas including disaster management. Convenience of production and use, data currency and abundancy are some of the key reasons for attracting this high interest. Conversely, quality issues like incompleteness, credibility and relevancy prevent the direct use of such data in important applications like disaster management. Moreover, location information availability of CSD is problematic as it remains very low in many crowd sourced platforms such as Twitter. Also, this recorded location is mostly related to the mobile device or user location and often does not represent the event location. In CSD, event location is discussed descriptively in the comments in addition to the recorded location (which is generated by means of mobile device's GPS or mobile communication network). This study attempts to semantically extract the CSD location information with the help of an ontological Gazetteer and other available resources. 2011 Queensland flood tweets and Ushahidi Crowd Map data were semantically analysed to extract the location information with the support of Queensland Gazetteer which is converted to an ontological gazetteer and a global gazetteer. Some preliminary results show that the use of ontologies and semantics can improve the accuracy of place name identification of CSD and the process of location information extraction

Proceedings of Abstracts 12th International Conference on Air Quality Science and Application

© 2020 The Author(s). This an open access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Final Published versio

Sustainable Agriculture and Advances of Remote Sensing (Volume 1)

Agriculture, as the main source of alimentation and the most important economic activity globally, is being affected by the impacts of climate change. To maintain and increase our global food system production, to reduce biodiversity loss and preserve our natural ecosystem, new practices and technologies are required. This book focuses on the latest advances in remote sensing technology and agricultural engineering leading to the sustainable agriculture practices. Earth observation data, in situ and proxy-remote sensing data are the main source of information for monitoring and analyzing agriculture activities. Particular attention is given to earth observation satellites and the Internet of Things for data collection, to multispectral and hyperspectral data analysis using machine learning and deep learning, to WebGIS and the Internet of Things for sharing and publishing the results, among others

Locating the Missing: A critical examination of the taphonomic alterations and the archaeological and forensic techniques that can be used to identify them during the search for mass graves

Mass grave investigations are complex due to the size of the grave, the number of victims, the nature in which they were created, and their often remote or inaccessible locations. Most mass graves are the result of conflict and/or human rights atrocities, despite the implementation of international laws, conflict and the creation of mass graves are still recurrent issues today. In most cases, investigations take place many years after the grave was first created, often, witness statements are the only information available to investigators to suggest the presence of an undiscovered mass grave. However, the passage of time causes the landscape to recover and change reducing the accuracy of witness information. Current methods that are effectively applied to locate single graves are also not necessarily designed to handle large-scale operations; wasting time, resources, and risking potential damage to evidence. This can have major implications for a forensic case, especially if it is to be presented in court. There is a need to find cheaper, more effective and less time-consuming methods that are specifically designed to locate large-scale gravesites, as there are still many mass graves which need to be found. This research project aimed to determine if the taphonomic signatures commonly found at burial sites have a big enough impact on the subsoil and surrounding landscape to be used as a method of locating archaeological and forensic mass graves. Examining archaeological mass graves alongside their forensic counterparts provided empirical knowledge on how the soil and landscape change over time, to determine which signatures offer the best chances of successfully identifying mass grave locations. Firstly, this project examined victim recovery rates from six countries, the results showed that recovery rates in Iraq are 2%, 3% in Argentina, 8% in Spain, 12% in Colombia, 59% in Cyprus, and 70% in the former Yugoslavia. This low rate of recovery suggests current location and recovery protocols are ineffective. Secondly, legislation, standards and guidance, and policies used to ensure that any gathered evidence is admissible in a court of law were reviewed. However, regulations are complex and vary depending on whether the casework is domestic (carried out in the UK) or international (carried out under the international criminal court), therefore the suitability and admissibility, of the recommended approaches will vary on a jurisdictional basis. Finally, this research critically assessed the physical, stratigraphical and chemical alterations caused by the creation of a mass grave, the subsequent decomposition of the bodies interred within, and the techniques which can detect these changes. It showed that the changes a mass grave causes in the vegetation, stratigraphy, soil phosphorus and pH levels potentially have a long-term impact on both the subsoil and surrounding landscape. Highlighting, they could be used as alternative ways to locate both archaeological and forensic mass graves quicker, faster and cheaper than existing approaches

Book of short Abstracts of the 11th International Symposium on Digital Earth

The Booklet is a collection of accepted short abstracts of the ISDE11 Symposium