Application of GIS and remote sensing techniques in frost risk mapping for mitigating agricultural losses in the Aberdare ecosystem,Kenya

Frost is a perennial agricultural hazard that normally causes crop damage leading to huge agricultural losses within the Kenyan highlands; aggravated by inadequate information on frost. This research mapped frost hotspots within the Aberdare and Mount Kenya regions and identified the extent of arable land under frost risk while establishing the trend of minimum temperature occurrences between the years 2000 and 2013. Minimum temperature values were extracted from daily Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer land surface temperature data-sets, and frost risk categorized into very severe frost (<250 K), severe frost (250–260 K), moderate frost (260–270 K), minor frost (270–280 K) and areas of no frost. Concentration of frost (<273 K) was mapped within regions above 1500 m asl and occasional occurrences within valleys lower than this altitude with recurrent occurrences in the months of April, May, July, August and November. Elevation, land surface convexity and humidity were found to influence frost occurrence. Improved agricultural practice to mitigate against losses is recommended.     

Xxth International Congress of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing

The XXth International Congress of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing was held at the Istanbul Convention and Exhibition Centre (ICEC), Turkey, from 12th to 23rd July 2004. Reports are given on the Congress as a whole, including the General Assembly, some Technical Commission activities and the Congress Exhibition. Papers from the Congress are published in Volume XXXV of the International Archives of Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences.     

GLONASS ambiguity resolution of mixed receiver types without external calibration

GLONASS processing from mixed receiver types is typically subject to unmodeled inter-frequency phase biases which prevent carrier phase ambiguity parameters from converging to integers. Receiver-dependent values have been proposed to mitigate the contribution of these biases, but are still subject to a number of issues, such as firmware updates. Recent studies have demonstrated that the origin of inter-frequency biases is a misalignment between phase and code observations, and could be calibrated to first order by manufacturers. In this contribution, a calibration-free method for GLONASS ambiguity resolution is presented in which ambiguities naturally converge to integers. A mandatory condition is that two GLONASS satellites with adjacent frequency numbers are observed simultaneously, although this condition can be relaxed once a fixed solution has been obtained. This approach then permits the integration of different receiver types and firmware versions into seamless processing.     

Assessment of climate change impacts on the quantity and quality of a coastal catchment using a coupled groundwater–surface water model

The hydrology of coastal catchments is influenced by both sea level and climate. Hence, a comprehensive assessment of the impact of climate change on coastal catchments is a challenging task. In the present study, a coupled groundwater–surface water model is forced by dynamically downscaled results from a general circulation model. The effects on water quantity and quality of a relatively large lake used for water supply are analyzed. Although stream inflow to the lake is predicted to decrease during summer, the storage capacity of the lake is found to provide a sufficient buffer to support sustainable water abstraction in the future. On the other hand, seawater intrusion into the stream is found to be a significant threat to the water quality of the lake, possibly limiting its use for water supply and impacting the aquatic environment. Additionally, the results indicate that the nutrient load to the lake and adjacent coastal waters is likely to increase significantly, which will increase eutrophication and have negative effects on the surface water ecology. The hydrological impact assessment is based on only one climate change projection; nevertheless, the range of changes generated by other climate models indicates that the predicted results are a plausible realization of climate change impacts. The problems identified here are expected to be relevant for many coastal regimes, where the hydrology is determined by the interaction between saline and fresh groundwater and surface water systems.     

Analysis of the 16S-23S rDNA intergenic spacers (IGSs) of marine vibrios for species-specific signature DNA sequences

Vibrios are widespread in the marine environment and a few pathogenic species are known to be commonly associated with outbreaks of diarrheal diseases in humans due to the consumption of raw or improperly cooked seafood. However, there are also many Vibrio species which are potentially pathogenic to vertebrate and invertebrate aquatic animals, and of which little is known. In an attempt to develop rapid PCR detection methods for these latter class of vibrios, we have examined the 16S-23S intergenic spacers (IGSs) of 10 lesser-known Vibrio species and successfully developed species-specific primers for eight of them--Vibrio costicola, V. diazotrophicus, V. fluvialis, V. nigripulchritudo, V. proteolyticus, V. salmonicida, V. splendidus and V. tubiashii. The IGS amplicons were amplified using primers complementary to conserved regions of the 16S and 23S rRNA genes, and cloned into plasmid vectors and sequenced. Analysis of the IGS sequences showed that 37 ribosomal RNA (rrn) operons representing seven different IGS types have been cloned from the 10 vibrios. The three IGS types--IGS(0), IGS(IA) and IGS(Glu)--were the most prevalent forms detected. Multiple alignment of representative sequences of these three IGS types from different Vibrio species revealed several domains of high sequence variability, which were used to design species-specific primers for PCR. The specificity of the primers were evaluated using total DNA prepared from different Vibrio species and bacterial genera. The results showed that the PCR method can be used to reliably detect eight of the 10 Vibrio species in marine waters in this study.     

Remarkable geochemical changes and degassing at Voui crater lake,Ambae volcano,Vanuatu

Ambae (also known as Aoba), is a 38 × 16 km² lozenge-shaped island volcano with a coastal population of around 10 000. At the summit of the volcano is lake Voui — one of the largest active crater lakes worldwide, with 40 × 10⁶ m³ of acidic water perched 1400 m a.s.l. After more than 300 years of dormancy, Ambae volcano reawakened with phreatic eruptions through Voui in 1995, and culminating in a series of surtseyan eruptions in 2005, followed by a rapid and spectacular colour change of the lake from light blue to red in 2006. Integrating lake water chemistry with new measurements of SO₂ emissions from the volcano during the 2005–2006 eruptive period helps to explain the unusual and spectacular volcanic activity of Ambae — initially, a degassed magma approached the lake bed and triggered the surtseyan eruption. Depressurization of the conduit facilitated ascent of volatile-rich magma from the deeper plumbing system. The construction of a cone during eruption and the high degassing destabilised the equilibrium of lake stratification leading to a limnic event and subsequently the spectacular colour change.     

Influence of salinity and fish species on PAH uptake from dispersed crude oil

The use of chemical oil dispersants to minimize spill impacts causes a transient increase in hydrocarbon concentrations in water, which increases the risk to aquatic species if toxic components become more bioavailable. The risk of effects depends on the extent to which dispersants enhance the exposure to toxic components, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). Increased salinities can reduce the solubility of PAH and the efficiency of oil dispersants. This study measured changes in the induction of CYP1A enzymes of fish to demonstrate the effect of salinity on PAH availability. Freshwater rainbow trout and euryhaline mummichog were exposed to water accommodated fractions (WAF), and chemically-enhanced water accommodated fractions (CEWAF) at 0 per thousand, 15 per thousand, and 30 per thousand salinity. For both species, PAH exposure decreased as salinity increased whereas dispersant effectiveness decreased only at the highest salinity. Hence, risks to fish of PAH from dispersed oil will be greatest in coastal waters where salinities are low.     

Monitoring the impact of urbanisation on the Glinscica stream

Stream flow regimes are determined by watershed characteristics: climate, geology, topography, soil, vegetation and human activities. In the process of urbanisation, natural land surfaces are replaced by man made artificial coverage, such as paved roads, parking lots and roofs, which usually also implies vegetation clearing and soil compaction. Gutters, drains and storm sewers are built to accelerate the conveyance of runoff to stream channels, thus affecting the drainage system. The impact of urbanisation is complex and affects different elements of the hydrological cycle. The commonly observed hydrological responses of the watershed to urbanization are increased volume and peak of floodwaters. Concerning the ecological status of stream water, the intensified rainfall runoff induces increased pollution risks and diminishes the value of the stream water body as a habitat, especially during dry periods. In order to improve the flood safety, the regulations of the stream channel have further devaluated the ecological role of the urban streams. The magnitude of the impact is usually enlarged with the decrease in the stream size. The present paper aims at presenting the results of a two-year study monitoring the impacts of the urban environment on the watershed of the Glinscica stream situated in the central part of Slovenia. The study area of 19.3 km² represents a great complexity in terms of the land use pattern. The watershed was equipped with three rainfall stations, a Doppler velocity meter and a water quality multiprobe. In a short period of time more than 10 thunderstorm events were recorded and analyzed. The hydrological response of the watershed was analyzed and, interestingly, it did not show the “typical” urban impact on the runoff processes. The main water quality parameters such as temperature, pH, TDS, ORP, conductivity, dissolved oxygen and especially the concentrations of nitrate and ammonium, were measured to obtain an insight into seasonal and short time dynamics of the water quality. The results show substantial seasonal and along-the-channel variations of concentration of dissolved oxygen, nitrate and ammonium content due to biochemical processes in the channeled stream. The continuous tracing of nitrate and ammonium showed significant influence of stream regulation works on short time variations of the measured water quality parameters.     

Seismicity in the block mountains between Halle and Leipzig,Central Germany: centroid moment tensors,ground motion simulation,and felt intensities of two <Emphasis Type="Italic">M</Emphasis> ≈ 3 earthquakes in 2015 and 2017

On April 29, 2017 at 0:56 UTC (2:56 local time), an M_W =?2.8 earthquake struck the metropolitan area between Leipzig and Halle, Germany, near the small town of Markranstädt. The earthquake was felt within 50 km from the epicenter and reached a local intensity of I₀ = IV. Already in 2015 and only 15 km northwest of the epicenter, a M_W =?3.2 earthquake struck the area with a similar large felt radius and I₀ = IV. More than 1.1 million people live in the region, and the unusual occurrence of the two earthquakes led to public attention, because the tectonic activity is unclear and induced earthquakes have occurred in neighboring regions. Historical earthquakes south of Leipzig had estimated magnitudes up to M_W ≈?5 and coincide with NW-SE striking crustal basement faults. We use different seismological methods to analyze the two recent earthquakes and discuss them in the context of the known tectonic structures and historical seismicity. Novel stochastic full waveform simulation and inversion approaches are adapted for the application to weak, local earthquakes, to analyze mechanisms and ground motions and their relation to observed intensities. We find NW-SE striking normal faulting mechanisms for both earthquakes and centroid depths of 26 and 29 km. The earthquakes are located where faults with large vertical offsets of several hundred meters and Hercynian strike have developed since the Mesozoic. We use a stochastic full waveform simulation to explain the local peak ground velocities and calibrate the method to simulate intensities. Since the area is densely populated and has sensitive infrastructure, we simulate scenarios assuming that a 12-km long fault segment between the two recent earthquakes is ruptured and study the impact of rupture parameters on ground motions and expected damage.     

Shear-wave velocity estimation using a combination of ambient noise from small aperture array and small-scale active seismic measurements: a case study in the area of the natural gas fields of Northern Germany

In recent years, numerous induced seismic events have occurred in the proximity of the natural gas field in Northern Germany. To monitor the seismicity and to asses the seismic hazard potential, a local monitoring network was installed in the area. Focusing on the seismicity hazard assessment, a major challenge is the characterisation of potential site effects due to local soil characteristics. This is quantitatively performed by estimating the shear-wave velocity (V _s) variation with subsurface layer thickness. Such local effects can only be covered with a coarse spatial resolution due to the limited number of monitoring stations. Profiles were determined at three test sites (Langwedel, Walle and Bomlitz) by using a combined approach of small aperture 2D array ambient noise and small-scale active 1D measurements. The high-resolution frequency-wavenumber (HRFK), spatial autocorrelation (SPAC) and multichannel analysis of surface waves (MASW) methods were applied to the recorded ambient noise and active seismic data using various array sizes supplemented by the active measurements. This jointly allowed obtaining phase velocity dispersion curves covering a wide frequency range from 2 up to 32 Hz. The inversion of the obtained dispersion curves results in average S-wave velocity profiles down to depths of 70 m, identifying thin near-surface layers of a few meters as well as thicker layers of tens of meters in greater depth. A comparison with available borehole data shows a good correlation with the layering. Additionally, to asses the impact of a seismic event at the test sites, PGV estimations for various seismic events were performed. The final results of the test surveys demonstrate that the combined approach represents a suitable tool for near-surface characterisation, which can be used to improve the seismic hazard assessment in the area of the natural gas fields in Northern Germany.