Innovations in geomatics teaching during the COVID-19 emergency

The approach in the teaching process is changing, thanks to the increased awareness that a higher students\u2019 involvement leads to a better quality of their learning. The aim is to make the students more participative, avoiding a unidirectional lesson and encouraging their wish to keep updated on the course advancements. However, innovative teaching methodologies are not yet widespread, mainly in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) disciplines. At the University of Genoa, the experimentation of innovative teaching techniques has been significant and worthy especially because it was planned before the COVID-19 emergency and applied in the scenario of forced remote teaching. Thanks to the introduc- tion of novel technological instruments, several techniques have been exploited to realize interactive lessons and promoting students\u2019 involvement. The present work discloses the employed techniques and frames them within the state of the art of innovative teaching, highlighting their contribution in the teaching activities related to the Geomatics field of knowledge. The acquired experiences in Geomatics dissemination and a critical analysis, including teachers\u2019 and students\u2019 perception about the tested innovative teaching/learning tools, are also reported. In general, the innovations introduced in teaching and learning processes during the COVID-19 sanitary emergency were warmly received by the entire community, including teachers, students, and teaching assistants

Deriving Coastal Shallow Bathymetry from Sentinel 2-, Aircraft- and UAV-Derived Orthophotos: A Case Study in Ligurian Marinas

Bathymetric surveys of shallow waters are increasingly necessary for navigational safety and environmental studies. In situ surveys with floating acoustic sensors allow the collection of high-accuracy bathymetric data. However, such surveys are often unfeasible in very shallow waters in addition to being expensive and requiring specific sectorial skills for the acquisition and processing of raw data. The increasing availability of optical images from Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles, aircrafts and satellites allows for bathymetric reconstruction from images thanks to the application of state-of-the-art algorithms. In this paper, we illustrate a bathymetric reconstruction procedure involving the classification of the seabed, the calibration of the algorithm for each class and the subsequent validation. We applied this procedure to high-resolution, UAV-derived orthophotos, aircraft orthophotos and Sentinel-2 Level-2A images of two marinas along the western Ligurian coastline in the Mediterranean Sea and validated the results with bathymetric data derived from echo-sounder surveys. Our findings showed that the aircraft-derived bathymetry is generally more accurate than the UAV-derived and Sentinel-2 bathymetry in all analyzed scenarios due to the smooth color of the aircraft orthophotos and their ability to reproduce the seafloor with a considerable level of detail

Dwarf spheroidal satellites of M31: I. Variable stars and stellar populations in Andromeda XIX

We present B,V time-series photometry of Andromeda XIX (And XIX), the most extended (half-light radius of 6.2') of Andromeda's dwarf spheroidal companions, that we observed with the Large Binocular Cameras at the Large Binocular Telescope. We surveyed a 23'x 23' area centered on And XIX and present the deepest color magnitude diagram (CMD) ever obtained for this galaxy, reaching, at V~26.3 mag, about one magnitude below the horizontal branch (HB). The CMD shows a prominent and slightly widened red giant branch, along with a predominantly red HB, which, however, extends to the blue to significantly populate the classical instability strip. We have identified 39 pulsating variable stars, of which 31 are of RR Lyrae type and 8 are Anomalous Cepheids (ACs). Twelve of the RR Lyrae variables and 3 of the ACs are located within And XIX's half light radius. The average period of the fundamental mode RR Lyrae stars ( = 0.62 d, \sigma= 0.03 d) and the period-amplitude diagram qualify And XIX as an Oosterhoff-Intermediate system. From the average luminosity of the RR Lyrae stars ( = 25.34 mag, \sigma= 0.10 mag) we determine a distance modulus of (m-M)$_0$=$24.52\pm0.23$ mag in a scale where the distance to the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is $18.5\pm0.1$ mag. The ACs follow a well defined Period-Wesenheit (PW) relation that appears to be in very good agreement with the PW relationship defined by the ACs in the LMC.Comment: accepted for publication in Ap

Thermal Evolution of the Permo−Triassic Karakaya Subduction-accretion Complex Between the Biga Peninsula and the Tokat Massif (Anatolia)

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FOSS tools and applications for education in geospatial sciences

While the theory and implementation of geographic information systems (GIS) have a history of more than 50 years, the development of dedicated educational tools and applications in this field is more recent. This paper presents a free and open source software (FOSS) approach for education in the geospatial disciplines, which has been used over the last 20 years at two Italian universities. The motivations behind the choice of FOSS are discussed with respect to software availability and development, as well as educational material licensing. Following this philosophy, a wide range of educational tools have been developed, covering topics from numerical cartography and GIS principles to the specifics regarding different systems for the management and analysis of spatial data. Various courses have been implemented for diverse recipients, ranging from professional training workshops to PhD courses. Feedback from the students of those courses provides an invaluable assessment of the effectiveness of the approach, supplying at the same time directions for further improvement. Finally, lessons learned after 20 years are discussed, highlighting how the management of educational materials can be difficult even with a very open approach to licensing. Overall, the use of free and open source software for geospatial (FOSS4G) science provides a clear advantage over other approaches, not only simplifying software and data management, but also ensuring that all of the information related to system design and implementation is available

Regulatory framework relevant for int:net

Published online: 30 May 2024Lack of interoperability is increasingly becoming a significant issue in the electricity sector. The need to integrate a growing amount of distributed resources, such as renewable energy sources and electric vehicles, means that interoperable energy services will play an increasingly vital role in maintaining the stability of the electricity system and enabling consumers to benefit from the energy transition. Much has been done to create a regulatory framework that can support the development of these new services and the related flexibility markets. However, the journey towards a completely digitalised electricity system which operates in a seamless way is still long. In light of this, this deliverable aims to provide policymakers and regulators with a series of considerations that may prove relevant when deciding how to improve the current regulatory framework. To develop these considerations, the main barriers to the development of interoperable energy services were identified through two main activities: a stakeholder analysis and an analysis of Horizon projects focused on the development of new flexibility services.The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme, under Grant Agreement no 101070086

VARIABLE STARS AND STELLAR POPULATIONS IN ANDROMEDA XXV. III. A CENTRAL CLUSTER OR THE GALAXY NUCLEUS?

We present B and V time series photometry of Andromeda XXV, the third galaxy in our program on the Andromeda’s satellites, which we have imaged with the Large Binocular Cameras of the Large Binocular Telescope. The field of Andromeda XXV is found to contain 62 variable stars, for which we present light curves and characteristics of the light variation (period, amplitudes, variability type, mean magnitudes, etc.). The sample includes 57 RR Lyrae variables (46 fundamental-mode—RRab, and 11 first-overtone—RRc, pulsators), 3 anomalous Cepheids, 1 eclipsing binary system, and 1 unclassified variable. The average period of the RRab stars ( =0.60 σ = 0.04 days) and the period–amplitude diagram place Andromeda XXV in the class of the Oosterhoff-Intermediate objects. From the average luminosity of the RR Lyrae stars we derive for the galaxy a distance modulus of (m–M)0 = 24.63 ± 0.17 mag. The color–magnitude diagram reveals the presence in Andromeda XXV of a single, metal-poor ([Fe/H] = ‑1.8 dex) stellar population as old as ∼10–12 Gyr, traced by a conspicuous red giant branch and the large population of RR Lyrae stars. We discovered a spherically shaped high density of stars near the galaxy center. This structure appears to be at a distance consistent with Andromeda XXV and we suggest it could either be a star cluster or the nucleus of Andromeda XXV. We provide a summary and compare the number and characteristics of the pulsating stars in the M31 satellites analyzed so far for variability. Based on data collected with the Large Binocular Cameras at the Large Binocular Telescope

Variable Stars and Stellar Populations in Andromeda XXVII. IV. An Off-centered, Disrupted Galaxy

We present B and V time-series photometry of the M31 satellite galaxy Andromeda XXVII (And XXVII) that we observed with the Large Binocular Cameras of the Large Binocular Telescope. In the field of And XXVII we have discovered a total of 90 variables: 89 RR Lyrae stars and 1 Anomalous Cepheid. The average period of the fundamental mode RR Lyrae stars (RRab) < {P}{ab}> =0.59 {days} (σ = 0.05 day) and the period–amplitude diagram place And XXVII in the class of Oosterhoff I/Intermediate objects. Combining information from the color–magnitude diagram (CMD) and the variable stars, we find evidence for a single old and metal-poor stellar population with [Fe/H] ∼ ‑1.8 dex and t ∼ 13 Gyr in And XXVII. The spatial distributions of RR Lyrae and red giant branch (RGB) stars give clear indication that And XXVII is a completely disrupted system. This is also supported by the spread observed along the line of sight in the distance to the RR Lyrae stars. The highest concentration of RGB and RR Lyrae stars is found in a circular area of 4 arcmin in radius, centered about 0.°2 in the southeast direction from Richardson et al.’s center coordinates of And XXVII. The CMD of this region is well-defined, with a prominent RGB and 15 RR Lyrae stars (out of the 18 found in the region) tracing a very tight horizontal branch at < V({RR})> =25.24 {mag} σ = 0.06 mag (average over 15 stars). We show that And XXVII is a strong candidate building block of the M31 halo. Based on data collected with the Large Binocular Cameras at the Large Binocular Telescope, PI: G. Clementini

Variability and star formation in Leo T, the lowest luminosity star-forming galaxy known today

We present results from the first combined study of variable stars and star formation history (SFH) of the Milky Way (MW) "ultra-faint" dwarf (UFD) galaxy Leo T, based on F606W and F814W multi-epoch archive observations obtained with the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 on board the Hubble Space Telescope. We have detected 14 variable stars in the galaxy. They include one fundamental-mode RR Lyrae star and 10 Anomalous Cepheids with periods shorter than 1 day, thus suggesting the occurrence of multiple star formation episodes in this UFD, of which one about 10 Gyr ago produced the RR Lyrae star. A new estimate of the distance to Leo T of 409 $^{+29}_{-27}$ kpc (distance modulus of 23.06 $\pm$ 0.15 mag) was derived from the galaxy's RR Lyrae star. Our V, V-I color-magnitude diagram of Leo T reaches V~29 mag and shows features typical of a galaxy in transition between dwarf irregular and dwarf spheroidal types. A quantitative analysis of the star formation history, based on the comparison of the observed V,V-I CMD with the expected distribution of stars for different evolutionary scenarios, confirms that Leo T has a complex star formation history dominated by two enhanced periods about 1.5 and 9 Gyr ago, respectively. The distribution of stars and gas shows that the galaxy has a fairly asymmetric structure.Comment: 31 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in Ap