Simulating farm income under the current soil management regime in the mid-hills of Nepal

Farmers in the mid-hills of Nepal follow diverse farming systems. The peri-urban area of this region, where population density is higher, faces several problems in farming. While hills suffer from erosion because they are erodible, the peri-urban areas face the problem of decline in factor productivity, particularly in intensively cultivated farmlands. The present study is concerned with simulating farm income on a regional scale based on soil management practices. Spatial explicit simulation shows that the loss of farm income due to degradation is substantially higher in hills while it is lower in valley bottoms. Strategy formulation and testing in the spatial environment indicates that Geographic Information System is an appropriate methodological tool for simulating the consequences of particular interventions

Deriving Quests from Open World Mechanics

Open world games present players with more freedom than games with linear progression structures. However, without clearly-defined objectives, they often leave players without a sense of purpose. Most of the time, quests and objectives are hand-authored and overlaid atop an open world's mechanics. But what if they could be generated organically from the gameplay itself? The goal of our project was to develop a model of the mechanics in Minecraft that could be used to determine the ideal placement of objectives in an open world setting. We formalized the game logic of Minecraft in terms of logical rules that can be manipulated in two ways: they may be executed to generate graphs representative of the player experience when playing an open world game with little developer direction; and they may be statically analyzed to determine dependency orderings, feedback loops, and bottlenecks. These analyses may then be used to place achievements on gameplay actions algorithmically.Comment: To appear at Foundations of Digital Games (FDG) 201

Computing wildfire behaviour metrics from CFD simulation data

In this article, we demonstrate a new post-processing methodology which can be used to analyse CFD wildfire simulation outputs in a model-independent manner. CFD models produce a great deal of quantitative output but require additional post-processing to calculate commonly used wildfire behaviour metrics. Such post-processing has so far been model specific. Our method takes advantage of the 3D renderings that are a common output from such models and provides a means of calculating important fire metrics such as rate of spread and flame height using image processing techniques. This approach can be applied similarly to different models and to real world fire behaviour datasets, thus providing a new framework for model validation. Furthermore, obtained information is not limited to average values over the complete domain but spatially and temporally explicit metric distributions are provided. This feature supports posterior statistical analyses, ultimately contributing to more detailed and rigorous fire behaviour studies.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Applications of ISES for vegetation and land use

Remote sensing relative to applications involving vegetation cover and land use is reviewed to consider the potential benefits to the Earth Observing System (Eos) of a proposed Information Sciences Experiment System (ISES). The ISES concept has been proposed as an onboard experiment and computational resource to support advanced experiments and demonstrations in the information and earth sciences. Embedded in the concept is potential for relieving the data glut problem, enhancing capabilities to meet real-time needs of data users and in-situ researchers, and introducing emerging technology to Eos as the technology matures. These potential benefits are examined in the context of state-of-the-art research activities in image/data processing and management

Recommendation domains for pond aquaculture

This publication introduces the methods and results of a research project that has developed a set of decision-support tools to identify places and sets of conditions for which a particular target aquaculture technology is considered feasible and therefore good to promote. The tools also identify the nature of constraints to aquaculture development and thereby shed light on appropriate interventions to realize the potential of the target areas. The project results will be useful for policy planners and decision makers in national, regional and local governments and development funding agencies, aquaculture extension workers in regional and local governments, and researchers in aquaculture systems and rural livelihoods. (Document contains 40 pages

Ehitusinformatsiooni Modelleerimise (BIM) juurutamisraskuste ületamine maastikuarhitektuuris: Eesti juhtumiuuring

Master’s thesis Curriculum in Landscape ArchitectureThis study focuses on the barriers to widespread adoption of Building Information Modelling (BIM) in the field of landscape architecture in Estonia. Despite the many benefits of BIM, its use in landscape architecture has been restricted. A qualitative research approach was used in the study, which includes semi-structured interviews with industry professionals and a thorough literature review. Landscape architects, BIM professionals, and policy makers involved in BIM implementation were interviewed for primary data. Aimed to gain in-depth knowledge and understanding of the studied groups.The research findings identified barriers to BIM implementation in landscape architecture. These barriers included a lack of BIM awareness and understanding, small size of landscape firms, a lack of standards, a lack of awareness of available financial aid and support, an increase in initial workload, complacency with current technology, and a lack of BIM-specific professional societies or interest groups. Based on the outcomes of the interviews and a review of the literature, the study offers recommendations and strategies for overcoming the barriers to BIM implementation in landscape architecture. The goal is to foster BIM integration and enable professionals to leverage its capabilities in the Estonian landscape architecture sector. Ultimately, this study identifies the barriers to widespread BIM implementation in the landscape.Käesolev uuring keskendub takistustele, mis pärsivad ehitusinformatsiooni modelleerimise (BIM) laialdast kasutuselevõttu maastikuarhitektuuri valdkonnas Eestis. Vaatamata BIM-i paljudele eelistele on selle kasutamine maastikuarhitektuuris piiratud. Uuringus kasutati kvalitatiivset uurimismeetodit, mis hõlmab poolstruktureeritud intervjuusid valdkonna professionaalidega ja põhjalikku kirjanduse ülevaadet. Esmaste andmete saamiseks küsitleti maastikuarhitekte, BIM-spetsialiste ja BIM-i juurutamisega seotud poliitikakujundajaid. Eesmärgiks oli saada uuritud rühmadest põhjalikud teadmised ja arusaamine. Uurimistulemused tuvastasid takistused BIM-i rakendamisel maastikuarhitektuuris. Nende takistuste hulka kuulusid BIM-teadlikkuse ja -mõistmise puudumine, maastikuettevõtete väiksus, standardite puudumine, puudulik teadlikkus saadaolevast rahalisest abist ja toetusest, esialgse töökoormuse suurenemine, rahulolu praeguse tehnoloogiaga ja BIM-i puudumine, konkreetsete erialaseltside või huvigrupide puudumine. Tuginedes intervjuude tulemustele ja kirjanduse ülevaatele, pakub uuring soovitusi ja strateegiaid BIM-i juurutamise takistuste ületamiseks maastikuarhitektuuris. Eesmärk on soodustada BIM-i integratsiooni ja võimaldada spetsialistidel selle võimekust Eesti maastikuarhitektuuri sektoris ära kasutada. Lõppkokkuvõttes tuvastab see uuring takistused BIM-i laialdasele rakendamisele maastikul

USING LiDAR TO MAP THE GEOLOGY AND MORPHOLOGY OF ALLUVIAL FANS: SALTON SEA AREA, CALIFORNIA

The main result of this study has been to show that detailed maps of the geology and morphology of alluvial fans can be generated from high spatial resolution (1-meter) DEM’s (Digital Elevation Models) obtained from LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) data. DEMs with spatial resolutions of 1-meter, 10-meters and 30-meters were all examined but it was determined that only the 1-meter LiDAR data had sufficient spatial resolution to produce satisfactory maps of the geology and morphology. A case study on an alluvial fan in the Santa Rosa mountains northeast of the Salton Sea (California) showed that 1-meter spatial resolution LiDAR data could be used by itself to generate a detailed map of an alluvial fan that not only delineated the fan but also permitted detection and accurate mapping of various components of the fan such as debris flows, channel flows and sheet flows. The maps also revealed unique signatures for recent beach shorelines and showed features that were interpreted as levees in an active channel that ran through the alluvial fan. Profiles across the fan revealed the expected concave and convex morphology. These features were detected in sufficient detail to deduce an unambiguous geologic history as well as regions where the various processes interacted. In addition to the geology/morphology maps, a statistical analysis comparing the 1-meter, 10-meter and 30-meter DEMs using the Spearmen Rank Correlation and Pearson Correlation showed no difference among the images. This suggests that elevation range is not influencing the images but rather it is the geospatial resolution that determines the details of the DEM and the Quaternary geological map