A Saffron Spice Separation System with Computer Vision

A separation device is described to obtain saffron spice after harvesting. To set the separation device, a vertical wind tunnel is developed which measures the terminal velocities of parts of saffron flower, with variations for different regions and years of production. The separation device is equipped with a vision system, which evaluates the separation and the percentage of purity of the saffron spice obtained after separation. In this paper, the design and the realization of the wind tunnel and of the separation device are described and the separation of the flower is performed and discussed, evaluating the separation efficiency

Industrial sprawl and residential housing. Exploring the interplay between local development and land-use change in the Valencian Community, Spain

Urbanization in Mediterranean Europe has occurred in recent decades with expansion of residential, commercial and industrial settlements into rural landscapes outside the traditional metropolitan boundaries. Industrial expansion in peri-urban contexts was particularly intense in Southern Europe. Based on these premises, this work investigates residential and industrial settlement dynamics in the Valencian Community, Spain, between 2005 and 2015, with the aim to clarify the role of industrial expansion in total urban growth in a paradigmatic Mediterranean region. Since the early 1990s, the Valencian industrial sector developed in correspondence with already established industrial nodes, altering the surrounding rural landscape. Six variables (urban hierarchy, discontinuous settlements, pristine land under urban expansion, isolated industrial settlements, within- and out-of-plan industrial areas) were considered with the aim at exploring land-use change. Empirical results indicate a role of industrial development in pushing urban sprawl in coastal Valencia. A reflection on the distinctive evolution of residential and industrial settlements is essential for designing new planning measures for sustainable land management and containment of urban sprawl in Southern Europe. A comparative analysis of different alternatives of urban development based on quantitative assessment of land-use change provides guidelines for local development and ecological sustainability

Hand arm vibration generated by a rotary pick-up for table olives harvesting

The manual harvest of olives is one of the most expensive operations in the table olives production, but the use of the electric hand-guided machines triples the productivity.  The development of these new machines leads to changes in the harvesting methodologies and in the operator’s working behavior.  These items may also affect the hand-arm vibration (HAV) transmitted to the operators during the work.  Aim of this study is to evaluate the hand-arm vibration transmitted to the operator using an experimental electric labor saving machine with rotary combs with teeth of different dimensions covered by silicon to minimize the damage to the drupes.  Moreover, the olives removal forces have been analyzed to understand if the force necessary to detach the drupes is correlated to the vibration levels transmitted to the operator’s hand arm.  With this type of hand held olive harvester, it has been found that higher is the fruit removal force, higher are the measured vibration levels.   Keywords: HAV, portable olive shakers, rotary pick-up, table olive

Integrating uavs and canopy height models in vineyard management: A time-space approach

The present study illustrates an operational approach estimating individual and aggregate vineyards’ canopy volume estimation through three years Tree-Row-Volume (TRV) measurements and remotely sensed imagery acquired with unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) Red-Green-Blue (RGB) digital camera, processed with MATLAB scripts, and validated through ArcGIS tools. The TRV methodology was applied by sampling a different number of rows and plants (per row) each year with the aim of evaluating reliability and accuracy of this technique compared with a remote approach. The empirical results indicate that the estimated tree-row-volumes derived from a UAV Canopy Height Model (CHM) are up to 50% different from those measured on the field using the routinary technique of TRV in 2019. The difference is even much higher in the two 2016 dates. These empirical findings outline the importance of data integration among techniques that mix proximal and remote sensing in routine vineyards’ agronomic practices, helping to reduce management costs and increase the environmental sustainability of traditional cultivation systems

Soil degradation and socioeconomic systems’ complexity: Uncovering the latent nexus

Understanding Soil Degradation Processes (SDPs) is a fundamental issue for humankind. Soil degradation involves complex processes that are influenced by a multifaceted ensemble of socioeconomic and ecological factors at vastly different spatial scales. Desertification risk (the ultimate outcome of soil degradation, seen as an irreversible process of natural resource destruction) and socioeconomic trends have been recently analyzed assuming “resilience thinking” as an appropriate interpretative paradigm. In a purely socioeconomic dimension, resilience is defined as the ability of a local system to react to external signals and to promote future development. This ability is intrinsically bonded with the socio-ecological dynamics characteristic of environmentally homogeneous districts. However, an evaluation of the relationship between SDPs and socioeconomic resilience in local systems is missing in mainstream literature. Our commentary formulates an exploratory framework for the assessment of soil degradation, intended as a dynamic process of natural resource depletion, and the level of socioeconomic resilience in local systems. Such a framework is intended to provide a suitable background to sustainability science and regional policies at the base of truly resilient local systems

Uncovering the role of biophysical factors and socioeconomic forces shaping soil sensitivity to degradation: insights from Italy

Following an operational framework derived from earlier research, our study research estimates the specific contribution of biophysical and socioeconomic factors to soil sensitivity to degradation at two-time points (Early-1990s and Early-2010s) in Italy, a Mediterranean hotspot for desertification risk. A total of 34 variables associated (directly or, at least, indirectly) with different processes of soil degradation (erosion, salinization, sealing, contamination, and compaction) and climate change were considered here, delineating the predominant (underlying) cause (i.e., biophysical or socioeconomic). This set of variables represented the largest (quantitative) information available from national and international data sources including official statistics at both national and European scale. Contribution of biophysical and socioeconomic dimensions to soil sensitivity to degradation was heterogeneous in Italy, with the level of soil sensitivity to biophysical factors being the highest in less accessible, natural areas mostly located in hilly and mountainous districts. The highest level of soil sensitivity to socioeconomic drivers was instead observed in more accessible locations around large cities and flat rural districts with crop intensification and low (but increasing) population density. All these factors delineated an enlarged divide in environmental quality between (i) flat and upland districts, and between (ii) Northern and Southern Italian regions. These findings suggest the appropriateness of policy strategies protecting soils with a strong place-specific knowledge, i.e., based on permanent monitoring of local (biophysical and socioeconomic) conditions

Identification of Tree Species in Japanese Forests based on Aerial Photography and Deep Learning

Natural forests are complex ecosystems whose tree species distribution and their ecosystem functions are still not well understood. Sustainable management of these forests is of high importance because of their significant role in climate regulation, biodiversity, soil erosion and disaster prevention among many other ecosystem services they provide. In Japan particularly, natural forests are mainly located in steep mountains, hence the use of aerial imagery in combination with computer vision are important modern tools that can be applied to forest research. Thus, this study constitutes a preliminary research in this field, aiming at classifying tree species in Japanese mixed forests using UAV images and deep learning in two different mixed forest types: a black pine (Pinus thunbergii)-black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) and a larch (Larix kaempferi)-oak (Quercus mongolica) mixed forest. Our results indicate that it is possible to identify black locust trees with 62.6 % True Positives (TP) and 98.1% True Negatives (TN), while lower precision was reached for larch trees (37.4% TP and 97.7% TN).Comment: Proc. of EnviroInfo 2020, Nicosia, Cyprus, September 202