The Response of Macrobenthic Communities to Environmental Variability in Tropical Coastal Waters

The relative contributions of spatial and temporal fluctuations are different in shaping natural communities in a tropical coastal/estuarine system. Understanding how coastal communities respond to these fluctuations is still equivocal, and thus, available data are rare. Here, multiple analytical approaches were used to identify key spatial and temporal factors, and to quantify their relative roles in shaping a macrobenthic community through space (contamination degree, physical parameters, and sediment characteristics) and time (climatic factors, season, and year). A dataset of eight sampling times was analyzed over a period of 2 years, in which macrobenthic species abundances were sampled. A total of 33 species were identified, including 18 bivalves, 5 gastropods, and 4 crustaceans. The other taxa were less diverse. The results show that there were no significant temporal changes of macrobenthic community structure, but spatial changes were significant and synchronized with environmental factors (i.e., sediment characteristics, water depth, and the distance from anthropogenic sources). This study demonstrates that spatial factors played a primary role in structuring of macrobenthic assemblages, whereas the influence of temporal factors appeared less across geographically distinct sites. Thus, temporal variation of a coastal macrobenthic community appears to be controlled by partly different processes at different scales.     

Effect of land use land cover changes on land surface temperature during 1984–2020: a case study of Baghdad city using landsat image

Natural Hazards - Urban land surface temperature (LST) is dependent on many factors, including land cover, building materials, urban density, and other human activities. The current study evaluated...     

Fusion Methods and Multi-classifiers to Improve Land Cover Estimation Using Remote Sensing Analysis

Geotechnical and Geological Engineering - Adopting a low spatial resolution remote sensing imagery to get an accurate estimation of Land Use Land Cover is a difficult task to perform. Image fusion...     

Study of the climatic teleconnection between the Siberian high and maritime continent warm pool

This paper attempts to establish a method for analysing the relationship between the polar and equatorial climate of the Northern Hemisphere. The Arctic Oscillation （AO） is known to have no direct relationship with the monsoon over the Maritime Continent （MC）. Thus, an index called the Siberian High（SH~Maritime Continent（MC） Index （SHMCI） is developed to represent the mean sea level pressure difference between the SH and the warm pool over the MC. This index indicates a strong link with the monsoon circulation. A positive （strong） value of the SHMCI is associated with strong meridional winds and intense and frequent cold surge events over the South China Sea. The correlation between the AO index and the SHMCI is -0.39, which is medium but statistically significant; however, it is not sufficiently conclusive to infer direct correlation. Nevertheless, the SHMCI can be used as a tool to relate the AO with the monsoon over the MC because of the influence demonstrated by the AO towards the SH. Further analysis on the convergence and divergence anomalies over the MC reveals an impact discernible only from the SHMCI. This implies that the SHMCI manifests clearly the relationship between the Arctic and equatorial climate.     

Geophone‐ground coupling with flat bases

Seismic acquisition can be costly and inefficient when using spiked geophones. In most cases, such as the desert, the most practical solution is the use of flat bases, where geophone‐ground coupling is based on an optimal choice of the mass and area of contact between the receiver and the ground. This optimization is necessary since areas covered by sand are loose sediments and poor coupling occurs. Other cases include ground coupling in stiff pavements, for instance urban areas and ocean‐bottom nodes. We consider three different approaches to analyse coupling and model the geophone with a flat base (plate) resting on an elastic half‐space. Two existing models, based on the full‐wave theory, which we refer to as the Wolf and Hoover‐O'Brien models, predict a different behaviour with respect to the novel method introduced in this work. This method is based on the transmission coefficient of upgoing waves impinging in the geophone‐ground contact, where the ground is described as an anelastic half‐space. The boundary conditions at the contact have already been used to model fractures and are shown here to provide the equation of the damped oscillator. This fracture‐contact model depends on the stiffness characteristic of the contact between the geophone base plate and the ground. The transmission coefficient from the ground to the plate increases for increasing weight and decreasing base plate area. The new model predicts that the resonant frequency is independent of the geophone weight and plate radius, while the recorded energy increases with increasing weight and decreasing base plate area (as shown from our own experiments and measurements by Krohn) which is contrary to the theories developed by Wolf and Hoover‐O'Brien. The transient response is obtained by an inverse Fourier transform. Optimal geophone‐ground coupling and energy transmission are required, the first concept meaning that the geophone is following the motion of the ground and the second one that the signal is detectable. As a final example, we simulate seismic acquisition based on the novel theory, showing the differences between optimal and poor ground‐to‐geophone energy transmission.     

Adaptive neuro-fuzzy evaluation of wind farm power production as function of wind speed and direction

Wind velocity assumes a critical part for measuring the power created by the wind turbines. Nonetheless, power production from wind has a few weaknesses. One significant issue is that wind is a discontinuous energy source which implies that there exists substantial variability in the generation of vigor because of different variables, for example, wind speed. Wind direction is a significant variable for proficient turbine control for getting the most energy with a given wind speed. Taking into account the conjectures on wind heading, it might be conceivable to adjust the turbine to the wind bearing to get the most energy yield. Since both forecasts of wind speed and direction are basic for effective wind energy collecting it is crucial to develop a methodology for estimation of wind speed and direction and afterwards to estimate wind farm power production as function of wind pace and heading distribution. Despite the fact that various numerical functions have been proposed for demonstrating the wind speed and direction frequency distribution, there are still disadvantages of the models like very demanding in terms of calculation time. In this investigation adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS), which is a particular sort of the artificial neural networks (ANN) family, was used to anticipate the wind speed and direction frequency dispersion. Thereafter, the ANFIS system was utilized to gauge wind homestead power creation as function of wind velocity and bearing. Neural system in ANFIS modifies parameters of enrollment capacity in the fuzzy logic of the fuzzy inference system. The reenactment outcomes exhibited in this paper demonstrate the adequacy of the created technique.     

Modification of fractal algorithm for oil spill detection from RADARSAT-1 SAR data

This paper introduces a modified formula for the fractal box counting dimension. The method is based on utilization of the probability distribution formula in the fractal box count. The purpose of this method is to use it for the discrimination of oil spill areas from the surrounding features, e.g., sea surface and look-alikes in RADARSAT-1 SAR Wide beam mode (W1) and Standard beam mode (S2) data have been collected under different wind speeds. The results show that the new formula of the fractal box counting dimension is able to discriminate between oil spills, look-alike areas and pixels of the size of a single ship. The W1 mode data illustrate an error standard deviation of 0.05, thus performing a better discrimination of oil spills as compared to S2 mode data. We conclude that automatic detection and discrimination of oil spill and other sea surface features can be opertionalized by using the new formula for fractal box counting.     

An integrated approach to coastal rehabilitation: Mangrove restoration in Sungai Haji Dorani,Malaysia

To achieve an efficient method of coastal rehabilitation, a coastal structure was applied in combination with the mangrove restoration scheme in Sungai Haji Dorani where coastal forest over-cutting associated with erosion has resulted in severe coastline retreat. Such an attempt provides the opportunity to mitigate erosion as well as improve ecological and socio-economic aspects of coastal areas, both of which are of great importance to local communities and authorities. Beach morphological changes were monitored for an eight-month period of time. The results indicate that the attempt has been successful in retaining sediment on the beach and consequently raising the elevation of the site. While the monitoring schedule is required to continue for several years to evaluate long-term performance of the rehabilitation effort, approximately 30% of the transplanted mangrove saplings' survival after eight months shows that the project was moderately successful. Since the general conditions of the selected site represent the majority of the eroded shorelines on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia, the method applied in this study can be replicated as an appropriate cost-effective alternative for the same cases.     

Evaluation of ICA and CEM algorithms with Landsat-8/ASTER data for geological mapping in inaccessible regions

Many regions remain poorly studied in terms of geological mapping and mineral exploration in inaccessible regions especially in the Arctic and Antarctica due to harsh conditions and logistic difficulties. Application of specialized image processing techniques is capable of revealing the hidden linear mixing spectra in multispectral and hyperspectral satellite images. In this study, the applications of Independent component analysis (ICA) and Constrained Energy Minimization (CEM) algorithms were evaluated for Landsat-8 and Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) remote sensing data for geological mapping in Morozumi Range and Helliwell Hills areas, Northern Victoria Land (NVL), Antarctica. The results of this investigation demonstrate the capability of the two algorithms in distinguishing pixel and subpixel targets in the multispectral satellite data. The application of the methods for identifying poorly exposed geologic materials and subpixel exposures of alteration minerals has invaluable implications for geological mapping and mineral exploration in inaccessible regions.