Multispectral UAV monitoring of submerged seaweed in shallow water

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Ultralight UAV for steep-hill archaeological 3D survey

The role of drones is becoming increasingly important within current 3D survey methodologies. Their flexibility of use and the ability to acquire images from inaccessible viewpoints make them a critical instrument in multiple fields of application at both urban and architectural scales. This success is mainly due to the progressive development of technology, including data acquisition sensors, flight systems, and data processing programs. The Cultural Heritage domain is one with the most widespread and massive applications. Besides, due to the RPAS regulations in Italy, drones less than or equal to 250 g have seen a considerable expansion in use in recent years. The improved quality of the cameras and the recent introduction of flight planning has made them proper for photogrammetric applications. Recent research reports experiments in the architectural and archaeological domains aimed at verifying the metric reliability of the acquired data compared with active instruments. In archaeological surveying, drones can cover large complex areas quickly, minimizing shadow areas concentrated in the crests of walls. The case study presented is the Canossa Castle, a medieval archaeological complex close to Reggio Emilia and extended on a steep hill with rocky spurs. The work describes integrating GNSS, 3D scanners, and ultralight RPAS photogrammetry, gathering multi-scale geometric information. The integration between the different surveying techniques allowed to plan different verification moments on the metrological reliability of the multi-resolution model. Al last, the data acquired made it possible to produce complete architectural and urban representations, improving the knowledge needed to prepare the virtual reconstruction of the entire complex area

The rapid spread of SARS-COV-2 Omicron variant in Italy reflected early through wastewater surveillance

The SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant emerged in South Africa in November 2021, and has later been identified worldwide, raising serious concerns. A real-time RT-PCR assay was designed for the rapid screening of the Omicron variant, targeting characteristic mutations of the spike gene. The assay was used to test 737 sewage samples collected throughout Italy (19/21 Regions) between 11 November and 25 December 2021, with the aim of assessing the spread of the Omicron variant in the country. Positive samples were also tested with a real-time RT-PCR developed by the European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), and through nested RT-PCR followed by Sanger sequencing. Overall, 115 samples tested positive for Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant. The first occurrence was detected on 7 December, in Veneto, North Italy. Later on, the variant spread extremely fast in three weeks, with prevalence of positive wastewater samples rising from 1.0% (1/104 samples) in the week 5–11 December, to 17.5% (25/143 samples) in the week 12–18, to 65.9% (89/135 samples) in the week 19–25, in line with the increase in cases of infection with the Omicron variant observed during December in Italy. Similarly, the number of Regions/Autonomous Provinces in which the variant was detected increased fromone in the first week, to 11 in the second, and to 17 in the last one. The presence of the Omicron variant was confirmed by the JRC real-time RT-PCR in 79.1% (91/115) of the positive samples, and by Sanger sequencing in 66% (64/97) of PCR amplicons

The rapid spread of SARS-COV-2 Omicron variant in Italy reflected early through wastewater surveillance

The SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant emerged in South Africa in November 2021, and has later been identified worldwide, raising serious concerns. A real-time RT-PCR assay was designed for the rapid screening of the Omicron variant, targeting characteristic mutations of the spike gene. The assay was used to test 737 sewage samples collected throughout Italy (19/21 Regions) between 11 November and 25 December 2021, with the aim of assessing the spread of the Omicron variant in the country. Positive samples were also tested with a real-time RT-PCR developed by the European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), and through nested RT-PCR followed by Sanger sequencing. Overall, 115 samples tested positive for Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant. The first occurrence was detected on 7 December, in Veneto, North Italy. Later on, the variant spread extremely fast in three weeks, with prevalence of positive wastewater samples rising from 1.0% (1/104 samples) in the week 5-11 December, to 17.5% (25/143 samples) in the week 12-18, to 65.9% (89/135 samples) in the week 19-25, in line with the increase in cases of infection with the Omicron variant observed during December in Italy. Similarly, the number of Regions/Autonomous Provinces in which the variant was detected increased from one in the first week, to 11 in the second, and to 17 in the last one. The presence of the Omicron variant was confirmed by the JRC real-time RT-PCR in 79.1% (91/115) of the positive samples, and by Sanger sequencing in 66% (64/97) of PCR amplicons. In conclusion, we designed an RT-qPCR assay capable to detect the Omicron variant, which can be successfully used for the purpose of wastewater-based epidemiology. We also described the history of the introduction and diffusion of the Omicron variant in the Italian population and territory, confirming the effectiveness of sewage monitoring as a powerful surveillance tool

La realizzazione di un Modello Digitale del Terreno dell’area medievale di Ferrara: primi risultati

none2Descrizione di un rilievo altimentrico del centro storico di Ferrara ai fini della realizzazione della Carta delle Potenzialità Archeologiche UrbanenonePellegrinelli A.; Russo P.Pellegrinelli, Alberto; Russo, Paol

Esperienze di rilevamento fotogrammetrico e multispettrale da APR per la stima dei danni in agricoltura

La sempre maggiore frequenza di eventi metereologici “estremi” pone la necessità di disporre di un metodo di stima dei danni subìti dalle colture in grado di fornire risultati oggettivi, accurati e a costi contenuti allo stesso tempo. L’operazione di stima, infatti, non deve incidere economicamente in modo significativo sull’entità del risarcimento che le compagnie di assicurazione devono corrispondere all’agricoltore assicurato. Il recente sviluppo del cosiddetto telerilevamento di prossimità da APR sembra offrire una soluzione interessante sia dal punto di vista tecnologico che da quello economico. In questo studio vengono prese in esame due colture estensive e un danno tipico che esse possono subire a causa dell’azione combinata del vento, della pioggia o della grandine: il cosiddetto “allettamento delle piante”. La base per stabilire l’entità economica del danno risiede nella quantificazione della superficie delle zone danneggiate e del livello di allettamento delle piante stesse

Low cost photogrammetric system for educational application

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