Image-aided platform orientation determination with a GNSS/low-cost IMU system using robust-adaptive Kalman filter

The availability of miniaturized sensors with enhanced capabilities, new methods for image processing, and easy access to small and low-weight airborne platforms for data acquisition, including unmanned vehicles, opens new possibilities for geodetic navigation applications and developing new developments in sensor fusion. In this context, the development of efficient methods, based on low-cost sensors, to extract precise georeferenced information from digital cameras is of utmost interest. We present a method to improve the performance of the integration of GNSS/low-cost IMU by exploiting the orientation changes retrieved from digital images. In this work, a robust-adaptive Kalman filter is also introduced to further improve the performance of the method deployed. The adaptive factor and the robust factor accomplished are determined by innovation information and the threshold value of orientation changes between consecutive images. Results from airborne tests used to assess the performance of the method are presented. The results show that using a non-metric camera, the Euler angle estimation accuracy of the GNSS/low-cost IMU integration can be improved to be close to 0.5 degree and an additional improvement, which can reach 59%, can be achieved after using the robust-adaptive Kalman filter.     

Validation of MODIS Vegetation Continuous Fields for monitoring deforestation and forest degradation: two cases in Mexico

This study assesses whether MODIS Vegetation Continuous Fields percent tree cover (PTC) data can detect deforestation and forest degradation. To assess the usefulness of PTC for detecting deforestation, we used a data set consisting of eight forest and seven non-forest categories. To evaluate forest degradation, we used data from two temperate forest types in three conservation states: primary (dense), secondary (moderately degraded) and open (heavily degraded) forest. Our results show that PTC can differentiate temperate forest from non-forest categories (p = 0.05) and thus suggests PTC can adequately detect deforestation in temperate forests. In contrast, single-date PTC data does not appear to be adequate to detect forest degradation in temperate forests. As for tropical forest, PTC can partially discriminate between forest and non-forest categories.     

Remote Sensing Data Reveals Eco-Environmental Changes in Urban Areas of Klang Valley, Malaysia: Contribution from Object Based Analysis

Understanding the growth and changes in urban environments are the most dynamic system on the earth’s surface is critical for urban planning and sustainable management. This study attempts to present a space-borne satellite-based approach to demonstrate the urban change and its relation with land surface temperature (LST) variation in urban areas of Klang valley, Malaysia. For this purpose an object-based nearest neighbour classifier (S-NN) approach was first applied on SPOT 5 data acquired on 2003 and 2010 and subsequently five land cover categories were extracted. The overall accuracies of the classified maps of 2003 and 2010 were 90.5 % and 91 % respectively. The classified maps were then used as inputs to perform the post classification change detection. The results revealed that the post-classification object-based change detection analysis performed reasonably well with an overall accuracy of 87.5 %, with Kappa statistic of 0.81 %. The changes represented that the urban expanded by 10 % over the period, whereas the urban expansion had caused reduction in soil (1.4 %) and vegetation (11.4 %), and growth in oil palm (2 %), and water (0.7 %). Additionally decision tree method was used to derive the surface heat fluxes from thermal infrared Landsat TM and ETM+bands. Subsequently, a comparison was made with classified result from SPOT 5 images. Results showed high correlation between urban growth and LST.     

Developing the ability to model acid-rock interactions and mineral dissolution during the RMA stimulation test performed at the Soultz-sous-Forêts EGS site,France

The Soultz Enhanced Geothermal System (EGS) reservoir's response to chemical stimulation is assessed by numerical simulation of coupled thermo-hydraulic-chemical processes. To assess chemical interactions between host rocks and a mixture of HCl and HF as well as its potential effects on the Soultz EGS reservoir, new modelling efforts using the FRACHEM code have been initiated. This article presents the model calibration and results. Simulations consider realistic conditions with available data sets from the EGS system at Soultz. Results indicate that the predicted amount of fracture sealing minerals dissolved by injection of a mixture of acids Regular Mud Acid (RMA) was consistent with the estimated amount from the test performed on GPK4 well at Soultz EGS site. Consequently reservoir porosity and permeability can be enhanced especially near the injection well by acidizing treatment.     

Effects of sinuosity factor on hydrodynamic parameters estimation in karst systems: a dye tracer experiment from the Beyyayla sinkhole (Eskişehir,Turkey)

The sinuosity factor (SF) is a critical value in karst systems in terms of estimating their hydrodynamic parameters including groundwater velocity, coefficient of dispersion, etc., through dye tracer experiments. SF has been used in a number of different dye tracer experiments in karstic systems to estimate a representative flow path. While knowing SF is crucially important in the estimation of hydrodynamic parameters, its calculation is associated with significant uncertainty due to the complexity of subsurface karstic features. And yet, only a few studies have discussed its uncertainties, which might lead some errors in estimation of hydrodynamic parameters from dye tracer experiment. In this study, dye tracer experiments were conducted in two consecutive years (2003 and 2004) representing low and high flow conditions in the Beyyayla sinkhole (Eski?ehir, Turkey) where the flow path is well known. Uranine was used in experiments as a tracer and QTRACER computer program was used to determine the hydrodynamic properties of the Beyyayla karst system as well as to gain insights into the effects of SF from dye tracer experiments on estimated parameters. The results showed that the breakthrough curve follows a unimodal and a bimodal distribution in low and high flow conditions, respectively. These different distributions stem from the water transport mechanisms, where velocities were calculated as 58.2 and 93.6 m h^?1 during low and high flow conditions observed in a spring emerging from the south side of the studied system. The results also show that the coefficient of dispersion, Reynolds number, and Peclet number increased and longitudinal dispersivity decreased with the higher flow rate. Furthermore, the estimated parameters did not vary with either the flow conditions or the tracer transit time, but they have shown some variations with SF. When SF was increased by 50 %, a change in these parameters was obtained in the range of 50–125 %.     

The origin of the high-K latites from Camp Creek,Arizona: constraints from experiments with variable fO2 and a_{{\text{H}}_{\text{2}} {\text{O}}}

Near-liquidus melting experiments were performed on a high-K latite at fO₂'s ranging from iron-wustite-graphite (IWG) to nickel-nickel oxide (NNO) in the presence of a C-O-H fluid phase. Clinopyroxene is a liquidus phase under all conditions. At IWG , the liquidus at 10 kb is about 1,150° C but is depressed to 1,025° C at NNO and . Phlogopite and apatite are near-liquidus phases, with apatite crystallizing first at pressures below 10 kb. Phlogopite is a liquidus phase only at NNO and high . Under all conditions the high-K latites show a large crystallization interval with phlogopite becoming the dominant crystalline phase with decreasing temperature. Increasing fO₂ affects phlogopite crystallization but the liquidus temperature is essentially a function of . The chemical compositions of the near-liquidus phases support formation of the high-K latites under oxidizing conditions (NNO or higher) and high . It is concluded from the temperature of the H₂O-saturated liquidus at 10 kb, the groundmass: crystal ratio and presence of chilled latite margins around some xenoliths that the Camp Creek high-K latite magma passed thru the lower crust at temperatures of 1,000° C or more.     

Secondary vorticity centres as centres of secondary (streamwise) vorticity

Summary The theory of secondary vorticity is used to explain the essence of so-called secondary or upper vorticity centres, discovered on satellite photographs. The general equation of vorticity, which is then adjusted by means of the equations of state and motion, is transformed into a specially selected intrinsic co-ordinate system. Three-component equations of vorticity are discussed for cases important meteorologically. The conclusion could be drawn that the secondary vorticity centres may be identified with centres of so-called secondary vorticity and that the theoretical facts about their origin and occurrence may be used, together with satellite photographs, to improve weather forecasts.     

The Distribution of Redox Sensitive Elements (U, As, Sb, V and Mo) along a River-Wetland-Lake System (Balaton Region, Hungary)

The distribution of redox sensitive elements (U, As,Sb, Mo and V) has been investigated in Lake Balatonand two man-made reservoirs (Lake Kis-Balaton-1 andKis-Balaton-2) built along the River Zala, the mainriver discharging into it. These elements underwentremoval in Lake Kis Balaton-2 (KB-2) during anoxicconditions (May and September).Similarities were found between the distributions ofdissolved As and Sb. Both elements had elevateddissolved concentrations in Lake Kis-Balaton-1 (KB-1)and in Lake Balaton in September. This increasedmobility could be due to a change of speciation (viareduction and the formation of methylated species).Such changes in speciation are well documented in theliterature and are generally enhanced during periodsof warmth and high primary productivity.Dissolved V and Mo distributions also showedsimilarities with higher concentrations in LakeBalaton than in other parts of the system.Although removal is not clearly detected from thedissolved concentrations, U, As, Sb and Mo aresignificantly enriched in the organic-rich sedimentsof Lake KB-1, while V is mainly associated with thealumino-silicate fraction. In Lake KB-1, theconcentrations of all elements in SPM (suspendedparticulate matter) are lower than in the depositedsediments (except for As) suggesting that enrichmentprocesses are occuring in the deposited sediments.Additionnally the cycling of As and Mo can be alsopartly controlled by uptake and scavenging processesin the water column, as suggested by the elevated Asand Mo concentrations observed in SPM seasonnally forAs in Lake KB-1 and at Z.mouth-1 station and for Mo atZ.mouth-1 station and Lake Balaton.