274 research outputs found
Tree rings as ecological indicator of geomorphic activity in geoheritage studies
Mountain areas are characterized by geomorphic processes, especially mass wasting and snow avalanches, which may impact the landscape affecting also the biological component, trees included. If sites colonized by trees are characterized by geomorphic features with a high Global and Scientific Value, including Representativeness of geomorphological processes, Educational Exemplarity, and Integrity, they can be considered geomorphosites. In the framework of assessment of the Scientific Value of geomorphosites, Ecological Support Role is of great importance. Hence, tree rings derived information can be used as indicators to refine the Scientific Value of the sites and also to propose multidisciplinary approaches to understand landscape dynamics. In fact, trees colonizing sites of geomorphological interest are used for detecting past and present events and tree rings may be considered ecological indicators under different points of view. Arboreal vegetation can register growth disturbances in terms of morphological features, at macro- (particular morphologies of trunks) and micro-scale (annual growth rings, stress indicators like compression wood, traumatic resin ducts), becoming a powerful indicator of the geomorphic activity affecting the landscape. In some cases, combined with other techniques like climate data analysis, they may allow refining the often lacunose historical records of geomorphic events impacting different territories. The integrated analysis carried out in the Loana Valley (Sesia Val Grande UNESCO Geopark, Western Italian Alps), considering a selection of geomorphosites affected by mass wasting processes and snow avalanches and located along a touristic trail, allowed to detect which meteorological thresholds favour hydrogeological instability (i.e. overcome of Mean Annual Rainfall of 6\u201310%). Tree rings data coming from the investigated sites provided information on the recurrence of geomorphic activity, allowing filling gaps within the historical archives, by individuating years during which hydrogeological or snow-related events probably occurred and that were missed (i.e. 1986, 1989, 2001, 2007), and adding details on sites for which temporal constraints had not been found before (i.e. Pizzo Stagno Complex System). Finally, investigated sites demonstrated to differently record the history of instability affecting the area and this difference is mirrored in the sites values that are adopted in the framework of geoheritage analysis (Scientific Value, Ecological Support Role and Educational Exemplarity). The proposed multidisciplinary approach, including geomorphology, dendrogeomorphology and climatology, represents, hence, a useful tool in geoheritage valorisation and management strategies
A fuzzy logic model for the analysis of social corporate responsibility
Introduction: Critical public opinion, based on information that is made available to the public through different systems, has led companies that operate in the environment to continually improve their social, environmental, and ethical performance. Objectives: This paper aims to propose a fuzzy-logic-based model for the analysis of social corporate responsibility in cases of environmental accidents. Methods: Our study employs techniques derived from social network analysis. The data was collected from the online database of The New York Times for the timespan from March 24, 1989, to September 1, 2017. Results: The results show that the proposed model can be replicated, after some adjustments. Conclusion: We conclude that, despite the complexity of an analysis of this kind in which the model is applied considering isolated words in the text and not the semantic aspects, the proposed model based on fuzzy logic is adequate for the analysis of social corporate responsibility.We would like to thank professors Mariana Claudia Broens, Jose Arthur Quilici Gonzalez and Maria Eunice Quilici Gonzalez for the helpful supervision and indications during the fundamental stages of this research. This paper was supported by the "Understanding opinion and language dynamics using massive data", funded by The São Paulo Research Foundation - FAPESP (reference: 2016/50256-0) (Trans-Atlantic Platform Social Sciences and Humanities, Digging into Data Challenges). We would like to thank the whole team of this project for their discussion and feedback. Ana Claudia Golzio also received support by FAPESP (process number: 2019/08442-9) during the development of this paper, and Mirelys Puerta-Díaz received funding from Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) - Financial Code 001
An Assessment of Coordinate Rotation Methods in Sonic Anemometer Measurements of Turbulent Fluxes over Complex Mountainous Terrain
The measurement of turbulent fluxes in the atmospheric boundary layer is usually performed using fast anemometers and the Eddy Covariance technique. This method has been applied here and investigated in a complex mountainous terrain. A field campaign has recently been conducted at Alpe Veglia (the Central-Western Italian Alps, 1746 m a.s.l.) where both standard and micrometeorological data were collected. The measured values obtained from an ultrasonic anemometer were analysed using a filtering procedure and three different coordinate rotation procedures: Double (DR), Triple Rotation (TR) and Planar Fit (PF) on moving temporal windows of 30 and 60 min. A quality assessment was performed on the sensible heat and momentum fluxes and the results show that the measured turbulent fluxes at Alpe Veglia were of a medium-high quality level and rarely passed the stationary flow test. A comparison of the three coordinate procedures, using quality assessment and sensible heat flux standard deviations, revealed that DR and TR were comparable, with significant differences, mainly under low-wind conditions. The PF method failed to satisfy the physical requirement for the multiple planarity of the flow, due to the complexity of the mountainous terrain
Measurement of UV light emission of the nighttime Earth by Mini-EUSO for space-based UHECR observations
The JEM-EUSO (Joint Experiment Missions for Extreme Universe Space
Observatory) program aims at the realization of the ultra-high energy cosmic
ray (UHECR) observation using wide field of view fluorescence detectors in
orbit. Ultra-violet (UV) light emission from the atmosphere such as airglow and
anthropogenic light on the Earth's surface are the main background for the
space-based UHECR observations. The Mini-EUSO mission has been operated on the
International Space Station (ISS) since 2019 which is the first space-based
experiment for the program. The Mini-EUSO instrument consists of a 25 cm
refractive optics and the photo-detector module with the 2304-pixel array of
the multi-anode photomultiplier tubes. On the nadir-looking window of the ISS,
the instrument is capable of continuously monitoring a ~300 km x 300 km area.
In the present work, we report the preliminary result of the measurement of the
UV light in the nighttime Earth using the Mini-EUSO data downlinked to the
ground. We mapped UV light distribution both locally and globally below the ISS
obit. Simulations were also made to characterize the instrument response to
diffuse background light. We discuss the impact of such light on space-based
UHECR observations and the Mini-EUSO science objectives.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, presented in 37th International Cosmic Ray
Conference (Berlin
An extensive-air-shower-like event registered with the TUS orbital detector
TUS (Tracking Ultraviolet Set-up) is the world's first orbital detector of
ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs). It was launched into orbit on 28th
April 2016 as a part of the scientific payload of the Lomonosov satellite. The
main aim of the mission was to test the technique of measuring the ultraviolet
fluorescence and Cherenkov radiation of extensive air showers generated by
primary cosmic rays with energies above ~100 EeV in the Earth atmosphere from
space. During its operation for 1.5 years, TUS registered almost 80,000 events
with a few of them satisfying conditions anticipated for extensive air showers
(EASs) initiated by UHECRs. Here we discuss an event registered on 3rd October
2016. The event was measured in perfect observation conditions as an
ultraviolet track in the nocturnal atmosphere of the Earth, with the kinematics
and the light curve similar to those expected from an EAS. A reconstruction of
parameters of a primary particle gave the zenith angle around 44 but an
extreme energy not compatible with the cosmic ray energy spectrum obtained with
ground-based experiments. We discuss in details all conditions of registering
the event, explain the reconstruction procedure and its limitations and comment
on possible sources of the signal, both of anthropogenic and astrophysical
origin. We believe this detection represents a significant milestone in the
space-based observation of UHECRs because it proves the capability of an
orbital telescope to detect light signals with the apparent motion and light
shape similar to what are expected from EASs. This is important for the
on-going development of the future missions KLYPVE-EUSO and POEMMA, aimed for
studying UHECRs from space.Comment: 24 pages; v2: important changes to address comments by the anonymous
referee; main conclusions unchange
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