Fusing Aerial Multispectral Imagery and High-Resolution Photography

Aerial remote sensing is useful for spotting indicators in the survey of mine-suspected areas and minefields. Because the detection of landmines in the soil and under the vegetation cover is not yet practical, the minefield indicators and their electromagnetic signatures provide means for detection of the mine-suspected areas and minefields. The minefield indicators can be natural (e.g., vegetation cover) over a large spatial extent, or else artificial or man-made (e.g., trenches, bunkers, demolished objects) over a small spatial extent. The dimensions of artificial minefield indicators require use of multi-spectral sensors and aerial images with spatial resolution below one meter. Due to a mixture of natural and artificial minefield indicators, aerial survey should provide wide-area coverage, with very high spatial and spectral resolution. Two different approaches were applied to resolve this conflict. One approach used very high spatial resolution sensors (in the range of five to 10 cm), four wavelengths (green [G], red [R], near infrared [NIR] and thermal infrared), and image acquisition at low heights above terrain (starting with 30 m). Due to a large number of images, a serious problem was mosaicking and fusing the images acquired by used sensors (spatial accuracy and matching the radiometry). Another approach used three different sensors: multispectral line scanner (12 channels), synthetic aperture radar (Experimental SAR, four wavelengths) and photogrammetric camera RMK (color infrared photography [CIR], [G], [R] and [NIR]). Both cases used digital sensors, while aerial photography was used in one of them, but only as an auxiliary source of ground truth and contextual information

The Advanced Intelligence Decision Support System for the Assessment of Mine-suspected Areas

Several research and development projects have been created to utilize airborne and spaceborne remote sensing for mine action, but the Advanced Intelligence Decision Support System is the first mine-action technology to successfully combine remote sensing with advanced intelligence methodology. The result is a rigorously operationally validated system that improves hazardous risk assessment for greater efficiency in land cancellation and release. This article discusses the components of the AI DSS system and its achievements in mine action

Planting Adventist Communities of Faith Among Muslims in Unentered Areas of the Balkans

Problem The purpose of this research was to develop and equip the church for the implementation of a workable strategy for reaching a large population of about eight million secular Muslims in the Balkans who have never been systematically confronted with the gospel. Method This study describes the history, culture, and religion of the Balkans, analyzes socioeconomic and political developments of its Muslim population, examines methods of evangelism and suggests a strategy based on sound biblical and missiological principles for work among the Balkan Muslims. Results The outcome of this project will be the development of a contextualized method for evangelizing secular Muslims in the Balkans, and the establishment of an Adventist Muslim Relations Initiatives. Contextualized Bible studies for secular Muslims will be produced. Change agents will be trained and prepared to form Bible study groups and establish contextualized Adventist communities of faith. Sensitivity among Adventists towards people of other faiths will be enhanced through awareness seminars. The initial project will continue for at least five years. Conclusions The proposed strategy has been designed for work in unentered areas of the Balkans. It uses cultural elements to communicate the gospel especially among Muslim populations

Survey of Suspected Mined Areas From a Helicopter

While awaiting the results of airborne remote sensing projects, available in a few years, a simpler solution is recommended. Remote sensing from a manned helicopter for the general survey of minefields and risk-suspected areas has already been developed and was operationally validated in 2002 and 2003 in Croatia

Developing a Hyperspectral Non-Technical Survey for Minefields via UAV and Helicopter

The main topic discussed in this paper is the research, development, and implementation of hyperspectral remote sensing technology in humanitarian mine action (HMA), mainly for non-technical survey (NTS) from aerial platforms. NTS should be conducted to determine whether landmines or unexploded ordnance (UXO) exist in considered areas and whether clearance is needed and if so, in what scope. The availability of the hyperspectral sensors (2011–2012) that are suitable for use with multi-engine unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) enabled the development of systems for HMA. While large and costly airborne hyperspectral systems have been available for over two decades, they had little to no impact on HMA. Optical spectroscopy brought out interest in the relationship between vegetation and explosives, and this relationship is considered herein. Therefore, we briefly analyzed the state of landmine detection via hyperspectral technology, particularly the efforts to detect the mines due to the influence of explosives on vegetation reflectance spectra

Minefield Indicators and Analytical Mine Contamination Assessment in Scientific Projects and in Practice

The key factors of the application of the airborne remote sensing technology for humanitarian demining are the minefield indicators [1] or the indicators of mine presence and the indicators of mine absence [2] and the analytical assessment of the contamination by the landmines [3]. The basic simple concept of the minefield indicators was given in [1], where it was related to the ordinary physical features of the artificial and natural objects in the mine suspicious area. Similar concept was used in other works, while in [2] were introduced signatures of the minefield indicators and additional contextual features. The signatures depend on the sensors used for the remote sensing and this aspect was thoroughly considered in [2]. The contextual features can be derived by the analytical assessment of the terrain contamination by the land mines [3], addition of the formalized knowledge enables efficient use of the indicators for the support of the decision making and for suspicious area reduction [4]

Impact of Flooding on Mine Action in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Serbia

Devastating floods swept through Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Serbia in May 2014. The destructiveness of the floods, landslides and sediment torrents on minefields resulted in significant environmental and security issues. These three countries’ mine action centers launched a joint project cofunded by the Republic of Croatia’s Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs to develop effective and efficient methods and technologies that might improve the situation. Their research seeks to provide reliable assessments of the flood damage to minefields and generate accurate implications for potential hazardous areas

Closed-Form Solution of a Special Case of a Vehicle Longitudinal Motion Model

One of the most common approaches in modern engineering research, including vehicle dynamics, is to formulate an accurate, but typically complex, mathematical model of a system or phenomenon and then use a software package to solve it. Typically, the solution is obtained in the form of a large data set, which may be difficult to analyse and interpret. This paper represents a purely theoretical analysis of a special case of vehicle longitudinal motion. Starting from a simplified mathematical model, a set of transcendental equations was derived that represents the exact solution of the model (i.e., in a closed form). The equations are analysed and interpreted in terms of what is their physical meaning. Although the equations derived here have only limited application in studying real world problems, due to the simplicity of the mathematical model, they offer a deeper insight into the nature of vehicle longitudinal motion

Glutathione “Redox Homeostasis” and Its Relation to Cardiovascular Disease

More people die from cardiovascular diseases (CVD) than from any other cause. Cardiovascular complications are thought to arise from enhanced levels of free radicals causing impaired “redox homeostasis,” which represents the interplay between oxidative stress (OS) and reductive stress (RS). In this review, we compile several experimental research findings that show sustained shifts towards OS will alter the homeostatic redox mechanism to cause cardiovascular complications, as well as findings that show a prolonged antioxidant state or RS can similarly lead to such cardiovascular complications. This experimental evidence is specifically focused on the role of glutathione, the most abundant antioxidant in the heart, in a redox homeostatic mechanism that has been shifted towards OS or RS. This may lead to impairment of cellular signaling mechanisms and elevated pools of proteotoxicity associated with cardiac dysfunction