Integrating Indoor and Outdoor Spaces for Pedestrian Navigation Guidance: A Review

In light of the many improvements within 3D urban modeling and Location‐Based Services, this article provides a timely review of the state‐of‐the‐art on integrating indoor and outdoor spaces in pedestrian navigation guidance aids. With people moving seamlessly between buildings and surrounding areas, navigation guidance tools should extend from merely outdoor or indoor guidance, to provide support in the combined indoor‐outdoor context. This article first examines the challenges and complexities of integrating indoor and outdoor spaces into a single navigation system. Next, by using objective selection criteria, 36 relevant studies were withheld and further reviewed on their specific developments in data model requirements, and algorithmic and context support for integrated IO navigation systems. This review shows that the challenges of dealing with both indoor and outdoor space structures, while taking into account pedestrian's freer use of space, currently complicate the proposition of a unified IO space concept for navigation. However, there are some ongoing developments (e.g. context definitions, algorithmic extensions, increased data availability, growing awareness of pedestrians’ perception during wayfinding) that will help to bring outdoor and indoor spaces closer together in the realm of combined geospatial analysis.     

Seismic vulnerability assessment for Montreal

In Canada, Montreal is the second city with the highest seismic risk. This is due to its relatively high seismic hazard, old infrastructures and high population density. The region is characterised by moderate seismic activity with no recent record of a major earthquake. The lack of historical strong ground motion records for the region contributes to large uncertainties in the estimation of hazards. Among the sources of uncertainty, the attenuation function is the main contributor and its effect on estimates of risks is investigated. Epistemic uncertainty was considered by obtaining damage estimates for three attenuation functions that were developed for Eastern North America. The results indicate that loss estimates are highly sensitive to the choice of the attenuation function and suggest that epistemic uncertainty should be considered both for the definition of the hazard function and in loss estimation methodologies. Seismic loss estimates are performed for a 2% in 50 years seismic threat, which corresponds to the design level earthquake in the national building code of Canada, using HAZUS-MH4 for the Montreal region over 522 census tracts. The study estimated that for the average scenario roughly 5% of the building stock would be damaged with direct economic losses evaluated at 1.4 billion dollars for such a scenario. The maximum number of casualties would result in approximately 500 people being injured or dead at a calculated time of occurrence of 2?pm.     

Record of enhanced late Pliocene tectono‐volcanic activity in the Lesser Antilles forearc basin: Insights into the long‐term behaviour of the Lesser Antilles subduction zone

In this study, we investigate the Lesser Antilles forearc basin, focusing on the late Pliocene to Pleistocene sedimentary archives in order to track the occurrence of extreme events triggered by enhanced subduction‐related tectono‐volcanic activity. We identify late Piacenzian deposits covering a major regional erosional surface, displaying sedimentary dykes and large marine boulders embedded in a mixed continental–marine matrix, characteristic of tsunamites. We interpret this episode of platform emersion and the successive cataclysmic deposits as resulting from enhanced tectonic activity at the interface of the subduction zone, synchronous with the initiation of the Lesser Antilles volcanic arc. We then discuss the implications in terms of the mechanical behaviour of the Lesser Antilles subduction zone.     

Sedimentary archives of the French Atlantic coast (inner Bay of Vilaine,south Brittany): Depositional history and late Holocene climatic and environmental signals

The late Holocene is of particular interest to our understanding of the evolution of coastal sedimentary systems because this period encompasses warmer and cooler periods, and rising sea level in northern Europe. Based on an approach combining AMS ¹⁴C, sedimentological and rock magnetic analyses on sediment cores complemented with seismic data collected in the macrotidal Bay of Vilaine (south Brittany), we document the depositional history of the inner bay coeval to the mid- to late-Holocene transgression in south Brittany. Correlation between sedimentary archives revealed the main sedimentary infilling phases during the last 6000 years. Four units (U1–U4) are recognized in the coastal sediment wedge of the system, corresponding to the stepwise marine invasion of the bay. We show that (1) marine inundation, due to the steep morphology of the bedrock, is diachronous between distal and proximal records. A time lag of ～1000 years is inferred over a distance of less than 5 km; (2) in the outer areas, the sedimentation has been condensed since 3000 years; (3) proximal estuarine archives offer the best record of sedimentary processes covering the last 2000 years, including the Medieval Warm Period (MWP).Correlations in proximal records in the Bay of Vilaine assess the connection between coastal sedimentary dynamics, climatic conditions and anthropogenic activities during the MWP. We match the preservation of clay deposits to increased river-borne suspended matter transported to the estuary probably as a result of accelerated land-use development (higher soil erosion) in the catchment area between ca. 880 and 1050 AD. Because the preservation of estuarine sedimentary successions is favoured when coastal wave sediment reworking is minimal, it is proposed that the prevailing climatic regime in south Brittany during the MWP likely resembled to that of the preferred negative phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). Our data are fairly consistent with other late Holocene records from northern Europe including the Atlantic seaboard. However, they outline the difficulty in interpreting climatic and anthropogenic signatures in coastal sedimentary records where high-resolution chronologies required to unravel their respective influences are still missing.     

Calderas,landslides and paleo-canyons on Piton de la Fournaise volcano (La Réunion Island,Indian Ocean)

Based upon a re-interpretation of previous data and a new field campaign, a structural evolution is proposed for the early history of Piton de la Fournaise volcano from 500,000 to 50,000 years. Conceptually, it is shown that the formation of a caldera in which lava flows are contained inside the caldera depression, gives time for erosion to excavate deep canyons on the external slopes of the volcano, for example, the Rivière des Remparts, the Rivière Langevin and the Rivière de l'Est canyons on Piton de la Fournaise volcano. These canyons are infilled when lavas, filling the caldera and overflowing its rim, are able again to flow on the external slopes of the volcano. In the past, this excavating/infilling process has occurred twice following the formation of the Rivière des Remparts and Morne Langevin calderas. The formation of the third caldera, the Plaine des Sables caldera, was followed by the excavation of the current canyons. In addition to this process, two large landslides have been documented in the field. The first, which happened about 300,000 years ago, is apparently the first episode of the break up of Piton de la Fournaise volcano, predating the formation of the four large calderas. The second landslide, which occurred 150,000 years ago and is considered to be less extensive, has carried away the entire southern flank of the Rivière des Remparts caldera.     

The Grand Brûlé exploration drilling: New data on the deep framework of the Piton de la Fournaise volcano. Part 2: Secondary minerals

The Grand Brûlé borehole intersects a thick pile of basaltic lavas, down to 1010 m, and a basic-ultrabasic intrusive complex, from 1010 to 3003.50 m.The lavas are, in general, unaltered except in two fractured zones, where hydrothermal fluids circulated at temperatures not exceeding 350 ° C. The main secondary minerals there are pyroxene, feldspar, epidote, actinolite and chlorite.The entire thickness of the intrusive body intersected contains secondary minerals representing three stages of cooling:

1. 1. A late magmatic episode (600–900°C) characterized by biotite, kaersutite, edenite and pargasite.

2. 2. A hydrothermal episode (T<- 350°C) characterized by epidote, albite, biotite, actinolite and chlorite.

3. 3. A phase of serpentinization (T≤ 350°C).

It is very likely that the two later events occurred simultaneously, with physical and chemical interference.     

Prediction by regression and intrarange data scatter in surface-process studies

Modeling is a major component of contemporary earth science, and regression analysis occupies a central position in the parameterization, calibration, and validation of geomorphic and hydrologic models. Although this methodology can be used in many ways, we are primarily concerned with the prediction of values for one variable from another variable. Examination of the literature reveals considerable inconsistency in the presentation of the results of regression analysis and the occurrence of patterns in the scatter of data points about the regression line. Both circumstances confound utilization and evaluation of the models. Statisticians are well aware of various problems associated with the use of regression analysis and offer improved practices; often, however, their guidelines are not followed. After a review of the aforementioned circumstances and until standard criteria for model evaluation become established, we recommend, as a minimum, inclusion of scatter diagrams, the standard error of the estimate, and sample size in reporting the results of regression analyses for most surface-process studies.     

Raman spectroscopic studies of carbonates part I: High-pressure and high-temperature behaviour of calcite,magnesite, dolomite and aragonite

The room-temperature Raman spectra of aragonite, magnesite and dolomite have been recorded up to 30 GPa and 25 GPa, respectively and no phase changes were observed during compression, unlike calcite. The effect of temperature on the room-pressure Raman spectra of calcite, aragonite, magnesite and dolomite is reported up to 800–1100 K. The measured relative pressure and temperature-shifts of the Raman lines are greater for the lattice modes than for the internal modes of the CO₃ groups. These shifts are used to calculate the mode anharmonic parameters of the observed Raman modes; they are negative and their absolute values are smaller (close to 0) for the internal CO₃ modes than for the lattice modes (4–17 10^?5 K^?1). The temperature shifts of the lattice modes in calcite are considerably larger than those for dolomite and magnesite, and a marked non-linear increase in linewidth is observed above 400° C for calcite. This is consistent with an increasing relaxational component to the libration of the CO₃ groups about their threefold axes, premonitory to the rotational order-disorder transition at higher temperature. This behaviour is not observed for the other calcite structured minerals in this study. We examine systematic variations in the lattice mode frequencies and linewidths with composition, to begin to understand these differences in their anharmonic behaviour. Finally, we have used a simple Debye-Waller model to calculate atomic displacements in calcite, magnesite and dolomite with increasing temperature from the vibrational frequency data, to provide a direct comparison with atomic positional data from high-temperature structure refinements.