Sensitivity analysis of automatic landslide mapping: numerical experiments towards the best solution

The automatic detection of landslides after major events is a crucial issue for public agencies to support disaster response. Pixel-based approaches (PBAs) are widely used in the literature for various applications. However, the accuracy of PBAs in the case of automatic landslide mapping (ALM) is affected by several issues. In this study, we investigated the sensitivity of ALM using PBA through digital terrain models (DTMs). The analysis, carried out in a study area of Poland, consisted of the following steps: (1) testing the influence of selected DTM resolutions for ALM, (2) assessing the relevance of diverse landslide morphological indicators for ALM, and (3) assessing the sensitivity to landslide features for a selected size of moving window (kernel) calculations for ALM. Ultimately, we assessed the performance of three classification methods: maximum likelihood (ML), feed-forward neural network (FFNN), and support vector machine (SVM). This broad analysis, as combination of grid cell resolution, surface derivatives calculation, and performance classification methods, is the challenging aspect of the research. The results of almost 500 experimental tests provide valuable guidelines for experts performing ALM. The most important findings indicate that feature sensitivity in the case of kernel size increases with coarser DTM resolution; however, the peak of the optimal feature performance for the selected study area and landslide type was demonstrated for a resolution of 20 m. Another finding indicated that in combining a set of topographic variables, the optimal performance was acquired for a DTM resolution of 30 m and the support vector machine classification. Moreover, the best performance of the identification is represented for SVM classification.     

Experimental calibration of vanadium partitioning and stable isotope fractionation between hydrous granitic melt and magnetite at 800 °C and 0.5 GPa

Vanadium has multiple oxidation states in silicate melts and minerals, a property that also promotes fractionation of its isotopes. As a result, vanadium isotopes vary during magmatic differentiation, and can be powerful indicators of redox processes at high temperatures if their partitioning behaviour can be determined. To quantify the partitioning and isotope fractionation factor of V between magnetite and melt, piston cylinder experiments were performed in which magnetite and a hydrous, haplogranitic melt were equilibrated at 800 °C and 0.5 GPa over a range of oxygen fugacities (\({f_{{{\text{O}}_{\text{2}}}}}\)), bracketing those of terrestrial magmas. Magnetite is isotopically light with respect to the coexisting melt, a tendency ascribed to the VI-fold V³⁺ and V⁴⁺ in magnetite, and a mixture of IV- and VI-fold V⁵⁺ and V⁴⁺ in the melt. The magnitude of the fractionation factor systematically increases with increasing log\({f_{{{\text{O}}_{\text{2}}}}}\) relative to the Fayalite–Magnetite–Quartz buffer (FMQ), from ?⁵¹V_mag-gl = ? 0.63?±?0.09‰ at FMQ ? 1 to ? 0.92?±?0.11‰ (SD) at ≈?FMQ?+?5, reflecting constant V³⁺/V⁴⁺ in magnetite but increasing V⁵⁺/V⁴⁺ in the melt with increasing log\({f_{{{\text{O}}_{\text{2}}}}}\). These first mineral-melt measurements of V isotope fractionation factors underline the importance of both oxidation state and co-ordination environment in controlling isotopic fractionation. The fractionation factors determined experimentally are in excellent agreement with those needed to explain natural isotope variations in magmatic suites. Furthermore, these experiments provide a useful framework in which to interpret vanadium isotope variations in natural rocks and magnetites, and may be used as a potential fingerprint the redox state of the magma from which they crystallise.     

Low reproductive success for copepods during a bloom of the non‐aldehyde‐producing diatom Cerataulina pelagica in the North Adriatic Sea

Egg production rates and/or hatching success in the copepods Acartia clausi, Calanus helgolandicus and Temora longicornis were negatively affected by a late spring (May–June 2003) phytoplankton bloom in the North Adriatic Sea, dominated mainly by the large diatom Cerataulina pelagica. Highest total concentrations of 3.3·10⁴ cells·ml^?1 were located in the vicinity of the Po River, which also corresponded to the area where the highest numbers of phaeophorbides were measured (0.779, 0.528 and 0.419 μg·l^?1, respectively, compared to an average of the remaining stations of 0.183 ± 0.049 SD), suggesting some grazing on the bloom. Phytoplankton biomass in terms of carbon was dominated by diatoms, representing on average 42% of total phytoplankton carbon and more than 80% at several stations. Cerataulina pelagica, Cyclotella spp., Chaetoceros spp. and small unidentified centric diatoms dominated the diatom community numerically but C. pelagica was by far the dominant diatom in terms of carbon due to its large cell size. This species represented more than 60% of the diatom biomass at nine of the 14 stations sampled, and was absent only at one station, which was the most offshore station sampled during the cruise. Although polyunsaturated aldehydes (PUAs) were not detected, other oxylipins which are hydroxy and keto derivatives of eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids that affect copepod reproduction were found in these samples. Hence, we can attribute the negative impact of diatoms not only to PUAs, as previously believed, but also to these compounds. This is the first direct evidence of the presence of oxylipins other than PUAs in marine blooms dominated by diatoms.     

Towards new applications of underwater photogrammetry for investigating coral reef morphology and habitat complexity in the Myeik Archipelago,Myanmar

Photogrammetry represents a non-destructive, cost-effective tool for coral reef monitoring, able to integrate traditional remote sensing techniques and support researchers’ work. However, its application to submerged habitats is still in early stage. We present new ways to employ Structure from Motion techniques to infer properties of reef habitats. In particular, we propose the use of Digital Surface Models and Digital Terrain Models for assessing coral colonies extension and height and discriminating between seabed and coral cover. Such information can be coupled with digital rugosity estimates to improve habitat characterization. DTM, DSM and orthophotos were derived and used to compute a series of metrics like coral morphologies, reef topography, coral cover and structural complexity. We show the potentialities offered by underwater photogrammetry and derived products to provide useful basic information for marine habitat mapping, opening the possibility to extend these methods for large-scale assessment and monitoring of coral reefs.     

The astrometric signal of microlensing events caused by free floating planets

Astrometric observations of microlensing events can be used to obtain important information about lenses. During these events, the shift of the position of the multiple image centroid with respect to the source star location can be measured. This effect, which is expected to occur on scales from micro-arcseconds to milli-arcseconds, depends on the lens-source-observer system physical parameters. Here, we consider the astrometric and photometric observations by space and ground-based telescopes of microlensing events towards the Galactic bulge caused by free floating planets (FFPs). We show that the efficiency of astrometric signal on photometrically detected microlensing events tends to increase for higher FFP masses in our Galaxy. In addition, we estimate that during five years of the Gaia observations, about a dozen of microlensing events caused by FFPs are expected to be detectable.     

The Sun–Earth saddle point: characterization and opportunities to test general relativity

The saddle points are locations where the net gravitational accelerations balance. These regions are gathering more attention within the astrophysics community. Regions about the saddle points present clean, close-to-zero background acceleration environments where possible deviations from General Relativity can be tested and quantified. Their location suggests that flying through a saddle point can be accomplished by leveraging highly nonlinear orbits. In this paper, the geometrical and dynamical properties of the Sun–Earth saddle point are characterized. A systematic approach is devised to find ballistic orbits that experience one or multiple passages through this point. A parametric analysis is performed to consider spacecraft initially on \(L_{1,2}\) Lagrange point orbits. Sun–Earth saddle point ballistic fly-through trajectories are evaluated and classified for potential use. Results indicate an abundance of short-duration, regular solutions with a variety of characteristics.     

Coanda effect in coastal flows

In the present paper some numerical simulations and experiments were carried out to study jet-wall interaction in shallow waters. Namely, modifications of the hydrodynamic field concerning the interaction of river run-off with a shallow coastal water body, due to the presence of marine structures, were investigated. Stratification effects due to salinity and temperature were neglected, and the interest was focused on barotropic features (Coanda effect). The numerical analysis was carried out by means of shallow water equations, numerically solved by finite difference, and the present method was validated by means of a typical simple-shaped test case. The experiments were carried out in a shallow water tank, flow visualizations were performed, and the velocity field was obtained by PIV. The main features of jet-wall interaction flow were investigated in simple-shaped geometries, and applications were shown for two practical cases: Pescara channel harbour (Adriatic Sea, Italy) and the proposed design of Latina harbour (Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy).     

JP3D compression of solar data-cubes: Photospheric imaging and spectropolarimetry

Hyperspectral imaging is an ubiquitous technique in solar physics observations and the recent advances in solar instrumentation enabled us to acquire and record data at an unprecedented rate. The huge amount of data which will be archived in the upcoming solar observatories press us to compress the data in order to reduce the storage space and transfer times. The correlation present over all dimensions, spatial, temporal and spectral, of solar data-sets suggests the use of a 3D base wavelet decomposition, to achieve higher compression rates. In this work, we evaluate the performance of the recent JPEG2000 Part 10 standard, known as JP3D, for the lossless compression of several types of solar data-cubes. We explore the differences in: a) The compressibility of broad-band or narrow-band time-sequence; I or V Stokes profiles in spectropolarimetric data-sets; b) Compressing data in [x,y, λ] packages at different times or data in [x,y,t] packages of different wavelength; c) Compressing a single large data-cube or several smaller data-cubes; d) Compressing data which is under-sampled or super-sampled with respect to the diffraction cut-off.     

Implementation of the European Water Framework Directive: Natural variability associated with the CARLIT method on the rocky shores of the Ligurian Sea (Italy)

The Water Framework Directive (WFD) 2000/60/EC, adopted by the European Community in 2000 with the goal of maintaining and improving the aquatic environments, requires that member states achieve and maintain a good ecological status of all water bodies by 2015. In the marine context, the ecological status has to be quantified applying indexes based on appropriate key biological elements, which allow the categorization of water bodies into five Ecological Status (ES) classes. The CARLIT index is a cartographic monitoring tool enabling the Ecological Quality Ratio (EQR) to be calculated using macroalgae in coastal hard bottoms as a key biological element; at present it is being applied in Spain, France and Italy. To detect actual changes of water quality and, consequently, rely on the application of indexes for the assessment of the ecological status in the marine environment, it is necessary to evaluate their sensitivity to natural variability at different temporal and spatial scales. In this study we present a first quantification of natural (spatial and temporal) variability of EQR‐CARLIT quality assessment in 2006 and 2007 along the Ligurian coast (North‐Western Mediterranean, Italy). The EQR‐CARLIT values recorded along the Ligurian coastline show that natural variability of EQR‐CARLIT is low and that it does not affect the attribution of a given stretch of coast to a particular ES class, in agreement with the major human pressures acting in the area (urbanization, river load, sea‐farming). A small‐scale variability was detected, strengthening the use of cartography of the whole rocky shore, whenever possible, or, alternatively, the assessment of the ecological status for long stretches of coast, to encompass the small‐scale variability due to local factors.