Chapter Drone remote sensing for coastal habitats protection

Growing beach tourist vocation of Lecce province has led to an increase human pressures along its coasts, often on habitats of conservation interest. Ever-increasing erosion phenomena of sandy shoreline constantly requires fast and effective monitoring activities assessing the conservation status of dunes and shoreline. Remote sensing via RPAS is proving useful to identify phenomena that act on a small scale and supporting and implementing protective measures with an adaptive management approach. This work consists of a protocol for monitoring dune cordons and nearby shorelines through RPAS

Underwater archaeological surveys in Salento waters: results and methods

This paper is related to the survey carried out in several coastal sites of Puglia in 2020, within the project UnderwaterMuse. The core of the activities took place at the Torre S. Sabina site, on the Adriatic Sea, where an integrated topographic and photogrammetric survey has been conducted on the late-imperial Roman shipwreck. Another activity, always on the Adriatic Sea, are been conducted in the “Le Cesine” Natural Reserve how led to the identification of a big pier from the Augustan period. On the Ionian Sea, furthermore, in Porto Cesareo Marine Protected Area, new evidence has been added to the numerous ones already known, such as some spectacular formations composed uniquely by cemented sherds of Tripolitanian amphorae (2nd cent. AD). This evidence seems to be significant markers of sea-level changes and the evolution of the seascape

The underwater wonderland of ancient Puglia

The projects Puglia Seascapes - looking at Apulia from an underwater perspective – and UnderwaterMuse, Immersive Underwater Museum Experience for a wider inclusion, both coordinated by Puglia Region, aim to make a significant contribution to better understanding of the underwater cultural heritage; the study cases concern different sites in the Marine Protected Areas of Porto Cesareo and Torre Guaceto: a cargo of columns from Evia island and another cargo of amphoras scattered in the shallow waters of Torre Chianca (Porto Cesareo, Lecce) and the remains of a Late Antique cargo (V-VI century AD) found in the waters of Torre Guaceto (Brindisi). The interpretation of the archaeological and geoarchaological data about the sites, their formation process and the coastal landscape evolution, as well as the 3D models obtained through photogrammetry techniques based on SfM (Structure from Motion) and underwater 360° and 5K videos, allowed us to develope a methodological and technological protocol based on the use of a software (App), i.e. Puglia Seascapes VR. It provides suggestive scenarios through advanced 3D modeling and animation techniques and results in interactive videos shoot that reconstruct and above all narrate in an emotional way the last journey of the ship in the ancient seascape, deeply different from the current, and the formation of underwater context. Moreover, the application of immersive techniques accessible from a single VR application for wearable devices allows the large public to discover new environments and the scholars to face to a new approach for rewriting the history of ancient Italy

Radiological Protection in Industries Involving NORM: A (Graded) Methodological Approach to Characterize the Exposure Situations

The interest in radiation protection in industrial sectors involving Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORM) is increasingly growing. This is due also to the recent implementation of the European Council Directive 59/2013/Euratom which in Italy and in the other European Union Member States extends the field of application to industrial sectors never involved before. This paper reports main results of a research project on radiation protection in industries involving NORM carried out in Italy aimed to provide useful tools for stakeholders to comply new legal obligations. The project activities were mainly focused on different aspects relevant to the NORM involving industries, accounting for the positive list reported in the Italian law. Firstly, the inventory of the industries currently operating in Italy in order to identify the industrial sectors with an important radiological impact on population and workers was updated. Based on this information, a general methodology was elaborated taking into account a graded approach. The first phase consists in the identification and characterization of the most critical exposure scenarios and of the radiological content of NORMs involved in the different phases of the industrial processes. In the second phase calculation methods were developed for dose estimation for workers and members of public. These tools require the use of existing and well tested calculation codes, and the development of a dedicated user-friendly software

La radioprotezione applicata alle industrie NORM: sviluppo di un sistema di strumenti metodologici, conoscitivi e formativi a sostegno degli stakeholders. Stato dell’arte del progetto di INAIL

Con il recepimento della Direttiva Europea 59/2013 EURATOM, la normativa italiana di radioprotezione ha introdotto nuovi obblighi per gli esercenti di diversi settori industriali “NORM”. Per sostenere l’assolvimento di tali obblighi che garantiscono la protezione di lavoratori e popolazione, dal 2019 è in corso un progetto di ricerca, nell’ambito del quale sono state realizzate diverse attività. Alcune di esse hanno avuto sviluppi anche in ambito internazionale, a testimonianza di quanto questa tematica sia di grande interesse. Lo scopo del presente lavoro è presentare i nuovi risultati del progetto, dall’aggiornamento del censimento dei settori NORM attualmente attivi in Italia, all’ applicazione e declinazione dell’approccio graduale per l’individuazione di situazioni di particolare interesse dal punto di vista della radioprotezione, fino allo sviluppo di metodologie operative e di calcolo applicate ad alcuni settori

Sviluppo di protocolli di campionamento e di valutazione della dose per settori industriali con presenza di NORM

Nell’ambito delle attività del progetto INAIL - BRIC ID 30 “Protocolli operativi e metodologie di calcolo per l’attuazione della nuova normativa di radioprotezione, recepimento della Direttiva 59/2013/Euratom, in settori industriali NORM di particolare impatto radiologico”, è stato sviluppato un approccio metodologico per gli adempimenti previsti dall’art. 22 del D.lgs. 101/2020. Una proposta di protocollo per la misura della concentrazione di attività delle matrici e per la valutazione della dose efficace per lavoratori e popolazione è stata elaborata per il settore della produzione di cemento e per l’industria dello zircone e zirconio

Drone remote sensing for coastal habitats protection

The growing beach touristic vocation of the Lecce Province has led to increasing human pressures along its coasts over the years, often on habitats of conservation interest. Furthermore, the ever-increasing erosion phenomena of the sandy shoreline constantly requires fast and effective monitoring activities assessing the conservation status of the dunes and shoreline. Remote sensing through the use of RPAS (Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems or Drones) is proving to be very useful for identifying phenomena that act on a small scale and supporting and implementing protective measures according to an adaptive management approach and to favour the creation of a long term investigation model, through multi-year surveys on conservation interest habitats. The photographic data and their photogrammetric elaboration allow to find a specific point, thanks to georeferencing, on which evaluate the evolution of certain phenomena following the analysis by different types of experts able to extract a large amount of data from the same photogrammetric product, this thanks to the possibility of choosing analysis scales from the meter to the centimetre. In recent years this technique has proved to be extremely effective and interesting in the environmental analysis of a multitude of matrices. The present work consists of a protocol for monitoring the dune cordons and the nearby shorelines through the use of RPAS. This kind of survey allows to create a geodatabase with spatially-explicit detailed maps able to provide a useful tool for monitoring overtime the erosive phenomena and/or the anthropic abuses on nature to the detriment of the beach system

Chapter Drone remote sensing for coastal habitats protection

Growing beach tourist vocation of Lecce province has led to an increase human pressures along its coasts, often on habitats of conservation interest. Ever-increasing erosion phenomena of sandy shoreline constantly requires fast and effective monitoring activities assessing the conservation status of dunes and shoreline. Remote sensing via RPAS is proving useful to identify phenomena that act on a small scale and supporting and implementing protective measures with an adaptive management approach. This work consists of a protocol for monitoring dune cordons and nearby shorelines through RPAS

Blue Light and Ultraviolet Radiation Exposure from Infant Phototherapy Equipment

Phototherapy is the use of light for reducing the concentration of bilirubin in the body of infants. Although it has become a mainstay since its introduction in 1958, a better understanding of the efficacy and safety of phototherapy applications seems to be necessary for improved clinical practices and outcomes. This study was initiated to evaluate workers' exposure to Optical Radiation from different types of phototherapy devices in clinical use in Italy. During infant phototherapy the staff monitors babies periodically for around 10 min every hour, and fixation of the phototherapy beam light frequently occurs: almost all operators work within 30 cm of the phototherapy source during monitoring procedures, with most of them commonly working at ≤25 cm from the direct or reflected radiation beam. The results of this study suggest that there is a great variability in the spectral emission of equipments investigated, depending on the types of lamps used and some phototherapy equipment exposes operators to blue light photochemical retinal hazard. Some of the equipment investigated presents relevant spectral emission also in the UVA region. Taking into account that the exposure to UV in childhood has been established as an important contributing factor for melanoma risk in adults and considering the high susceptibility to UV-induced skin damage of the newborn, related to his pigmentary traits, the UV exposure of the infant during phototherapy should be "as low as reasonably achievable," considering that it is unnecessary to the therapy. It is recommended that special safety training be provided for the affected employees: in particular, protective eyewear can be necessary during newborn assistance activities carried out in proximity of some sources. The engineering design of phototherapy equipment can be optimized. Specific requirements for photobiological safety of lamps used in the phototherapy equipment should be defined in the safety product standard for such equipment

Underwater archaeological surveys in Salento waters: results and methods

none8This paper is related to the survey carried out in several coastal sites of Puglia in 2020, within the project UnderwaterMuse. The core of the activities took place at the Torre S. Sabina site, on the Adriatic Sea, where an integrated topographic and photogrammetric survey has been conducted on the Late-Imperial Roman shipwreck. Another activity, always on the Adriatic Sea, carried out in the “Le Cesine” Natural Reserve, led to the identification of a harbour complex hypotetically attributed to the Augustan or Early Imperial Age. On the Ionian Sea, furthermore, in Porto Cesareo Marine Protected Area, new evidence has been added to the numerous ones already known, such as some spectacular formations composed uniquely by cemented sherds of Tripolitanian amphorae (2nd cent. AD). This evidence seems to be significant markers of sea-level changes and the evolution of the seascape.openR. Auriemma, A. Calantropio, F. Chiabrando, L. Coluccia, M. Rugge, P. D’Ambrosio, M. Buccolieri, A. PiccioloAuriemma, R.; Calantropio, A.; Chiabrando, F.; Coluccia, L.; Rugge, M.; D’Ambrosio, P.; Buccolieri, M.; Picciolo, A