The use of contextual techniques and textural analysis of satellite imagery in geological studies of arid regions

This Thesis examines the problem of extracting spatial information (context and texture) of use to the geologist, from satellite imagery. Part of the Arabian Shield was chosen to be the study area. Two new contextual techniques; (a) Ripping Membrane and (b) Rolling Ball were developed and examined in this study. Both new contextual based techniques proved to be excellent tools for visual detection and analysis of lineaments, and were clearly better than the 'traditional' spatial filtration technique. This study revealed structural lineaments, mostly mapped for the first time, which are clearly related to regional tectonic history of the area. Contextual techniques were used to perform image segmentation. Two different image segmentation methods were developed and examined in this study. These methods were the automatic watershed segmentation and ripping membrane/Laserscan system method (as this method was being used for the first time). The second method produced high accuracy results for four selected test sites. A new automatic lineament extraction method using the above contextual techniques was developed. The aim of the method was to produce an automatic lineament map and the azimuth direction of these lineaments in each rock type, as defined by the segmented regions. 75-85% of the visually traced lineaments were extracted by the automatic method. The automatic method appears to give a dominant trend slightly different (10° — 15°) from the visually determined trend. It was demonstrated that not all the different types of rock could be discriminated using the spectral image enhancement techniques (band ratio, principal components and decorrelation stretch). Therefore, the spatial grey level dependency matrix (SGLDM) was used to produce a texture feature image, which would enable distinctions to be made and overcome the limitations of spectral enhancement techniques. The SGLDM did not produce any useful texture features which can discriminate between every rock type in the selected test sites. It did, however, show some acceptable texture discrimination between some rock types. The remote sensing data examined in this thesis were the Landsat (multispectral scanner, Thematic Mapper), SPOT, and Shuttle Imaging Radar (SIR-B)

Contractual Liability for the Property Fire in The Event of a Sole Tenant

The Syrian legislator dealt with the case of the destruction of the leased property due to the fire when the tenant of this property is one person in the first paragraph of Article 552 of the Syrian Civil Code, which states that “1-the tenant is liable for the fire of the leased property unless he proves that the cause was beyond his control Accordingly, if a fire breaks out in the leased property, the tenant is liable, but the question arises about the time of comencing this liability, and the extent of liablity for the fire in case of sole tenant is differ from its extent if caused by joint tenants, and since the event of the fire bears tenant the liability, by its merits, this raises the question of misuse of the leased property, as it represents a breach of the tenant's obligation to look after the leased property. Thus, I have examined these aspects in two sections; each divided into two sub-sections.At the end, I have reached a number of conclusions and recommendations, the most important of which is that I have recommended that the Iraqi legislator to add a text to the Iraqi civil Code regarding the liability of the tenant for the fire of the leased property, and not to leave the matter to be subject to the general rules on the grounds that the fire, although it is a type of damage, but it involves a great danger. Which needs a special attention

Chapter 1 - Introductory chapter

Working Group III (WGIII) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is charged with assessing scientific research related to the mitigation of climate change. 'Mitigation' is the effort to control the human sources of climate change and their cumulative impacts, notably the emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and other pollutants, such as black carbon particles, that also affect the planet's energy balance. Mitigation also includes efforts to enhance the processes that remove GHGs from the atmosphere, known as sinks. Because mitigation lowers the anticipated effects of climate change as well as the risks of extreme impacts, it is part of a broader policy strategy that includes adaptation to climate impacts - a topic addressed in more detail in WGII. There is a special role for international cooperation on mitigation policies because most GHGs have long atmospheric lifetimes and mix throughout the global atmosphere. The effects of mitigation policies on economic growth, innovation, and spread of technologies and other important social goals also implicate international concern because nations are increasingly inter-linked through global trade and economic competition. The economic effects of action by one nation depend, in part, on the action of others as well. Yet, while climate change is fundamentally a global issue, the institutions needed for mitigation exist at many different domains of government, including the local and national level. This chapter introduces the major issues that arise in mitigation policy and also frames the rest of the WGIII Contribution to the AR5. First we focus on the main messages since the publication of AR4 in 2007. Then we look at the historical and future trends in emissions and driving forces, noting that the scale of the mitigation challenge has grown enormously since 2007 due to rapid growth of the world economy and the continued lack of much overt effort to control emissions. This trend raises questions about the viability of widely discussed goals such as limiting climate warming to 2 degrees Celsius since the pre-industrial period. Then we look at the conceptual issues - such as sustainable development, green growth, and risk management - that frame the mitigation challenge and how those concepts are used in practice. Finally, we offer a roadmap for the rest of the volume

Red Sea MODIS Estimates of Chlorophyll a and Phytoplankton Biomass Risks to Saudi Arabian Coastal Desalination Plants

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) and the high biomass associated with them have afflicted marine desalination plants along coastal regions around the world. Few studies of HABs have been conducted in the Red Sea, where desalination plants along the Saudi Arabian Red Sea coast provide drinking water for millions of people. This study was conducted along the Saudi Arabian Red Sea coast from 2014 to 2015 to assess the potential for using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) remote sensing of chlorophyll a (Chl a) or fluorescence line height (FLH) to identify risks for biofouling at these desalination plants. Ship-based surveys of phytoplankton were conducted along the Saudi Arabian coastline offshore of desalination plants at Jeddah, Al Shoaibah and Al Qunfudhuh to assess the density of phytoplankton populations and identify any potential HAB species. Ship-based surveys showed low to moderate concentrations of phytoplankton, averaging from 1800–10,000 cells L−1 at Jeddah, 2000–11,000 cells L−1 at Al Shoaibah and 1000–20,500 cells L−1 at Al Qunfudhuh. Sixteen different species of potentially toxigenic HABs were identified through these surveys. There was a good relationship between ship-based total phytoplankton counts and monthly averaged coastal MODIS Chl a (R2 = 0.49, root mean square error (RMSE) = 0.27 mg m−3) or FLH (R2 = 0.47, RMSE = 0.04 mW m−2 µm−1 sr−1) values. Monthly average near shore Chl a concentrations obtained using MODIS satellite imagery were much higher in the Red Sea coastal areas at Al Qunfudhuh (maximum of about 1.3 mg m−3) than at Jeddah or Al Shoaibah (maximum of about 0.4 and 0.5 mg m−3, respectively). Chlorophyll a concentrations were generally highest from the months of December to March, producing higher risks of biofouling desalination plants than in other months. Concentrations decreased significantly, on average, from April to September. Long-term (2005–2016) monthly averaged MODIS Chl a values were used to delineate four statistically distinct zones of differing HAB biomass across the entire Red Sea. Sinusoidal functions representing monthly variability were fit to satellite Chl a values in each zone (RMSE values from 0.691 to 0.07 mg m−3, from Zone 1 to 4). December to January mean values and annual amplitudes for Chl a in these four sinusoidal functions decreased from Zones 1–4. In general, the greatest risk of HABs to desalination occurs during winter months in Zone 1 (Southern Red Sea), while HAB risks to desalination plants in winter months are low to moderate in Zone 2 (South Central Red Sea), and negligible in Zones 3 (North Central) and 4 (Northern)