An update on automatic 3D building reconstruction

The development of tools for the generation of 3D city models started almost two decades ago. From the beginning, fully automatic reconstruction systems were envisioned to fulfil the need for efficient data collection. However, research on automatic city modelling is still a very active area. The paper will review a number of current approaches in order to comprehensively elaborate the state of the art of reconstruction methods and their respective principles. Originally, automatic city modelling only aimed at polyhedral building objects, which mainly reflects the respective roof shapes and building footprints. For this purpose, airborne images or laser scans are used. In addition to these developments, the paper will also review current approaches for the generation of more detailed facade geometries from terrestrial data collection.     

A watershed nitrogen and phosphorus balance: The upper Potomac River basin

Nitrogen and phosphorus mass balances were estimated for the portion of the Potomac River basin watershed located above Washington, D.C. The total nitrogen (N) balance included seven input tource terms, six sinks, and one “change-in-storage” term, but was simplified to five input terms and three output terms. The phosphorus (P) balance had four input and three output terms. The estimated balances are based on watershed data from seven information sources. Major sources of nitrogen are amimal waste and atmospheric deposition. The major sources of phosphorus are animal waste and fertilizer. The major sink, for nitrogen is combined denitrification, volatilization, and change-in-storage. The major sink for phosphorus is change-in-storage. River exports of N and P were 17% and 8%, respectively, of the total N and P inputs. Over 60% of the N and P were volatilized or stored. The major input and output terms on the budget are estimated from direct measurements, but the change-in-storage term is calculated by difference. The factors regulating retention and storage processes are discussed and research needs are identified.     

Fractionation of rare-earth elements in plants during experimental growth in varied clay substrates

The distribution and content of rare-earth elements (REEs) were determined in two radish species, the cultivated Raphanus sativus and the wild Raphanus raphanistrum, that were grown under laboratory-controlled conditions, in three substrates consisting of illite for one and two smectite substrates for the others, with the two smectite substrates being characterised by different porosities. The plants were split into leaves and stems + roots for analysis. The results indicate that both species take up systematically higher amounts of REEs when grown in the illite substrate, even considering that the smectite equivalent contains about three times more REEs. The REE uptake is also more plant species than mineral composition dependent: R. raphanistrum takes up 3.5–6.7 times more REEs than R. sativus, depending on the substrate, its porosity and the considered plant segments. Increased substrate porosity favours the take up of the REEs, but no specific uptake is observed in leaves relative to that in the combined stems and roots. The transfer of the REEs from minerals to plant organs does not appear to induce systematically identical patterns: (1) in the case of R. sativus, a positive Eu anomaly is visible in all patterns from both segment groups grown in both substrates. When grown in illite, the heavy REEs are also enriched in the stems and roots, which has not been observed in any other organ or in the other substrate and (2) in the case of R. raphanistrum, a very significant positive Gd anomaly, which is not expected to fractionate relative to the other REEs as do Ce and Eu, is observed in all segments of the plants grown in both substrates. A slight negative Ce anomaly is also visible in some of the REE patterns, suggesting some changes in the oxidation–reduction conditions in the substrates near the roots during plant growth. The comparison of the REE patterns from leaves relative to those of the roots + stems shows that those of R. raphanistrum grown in illite provide a spectrum that is very specific with significant deficits in La, Ce, Gd, Tm, Yb and Lu in the leaves. In the other cases, the patterns do not outline significant differences except for R. sativus grown in illite, in which the leaves are enriched in light and medium REEs from La to Gd relative to the stems + roots.     

Longitudinal velocities in a clay during plastic compression

Summary During uniaxial compression of clay cylinders it was observed that the longitudinal velocity decreased as each load increment was applied and then increased under constant stress. It is suggested that the load increment induces an increase in pore water pressure thereby reducing the effective stress. The velocity is dependent upon the effective stress and it decreases accordingly. The velocity then increases due to the dissipation of the pore pressure.     

Earth Fissures in Wadi Najran,Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

The formation of earth fissures due to groundwater depletion has been reported in many places in North America, Europe, and Asia. Najran Basin is in the southern part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and agricultural activities and other groundwater uses have caused significant groundwater depletion there. The basin recently experienced a sudden appearance of numerous earth fissures. An interdisciplinary study consisting of an evaluation of land-use changes, and hydrological, hydrogeological, and geophysical investigations was conducted to determine the reason for the formation of the earth fissures. The hydrological analysis strongly revealed that the groundwater level is decreasing with time. Groundwater depletion would lead to the accumulation of subsurface stress, causing soil hydro-consolidation which creates the ideal condition for the formation of earth fissures. Electrical resistivity, data indicated that there are anomalies in the profiles, which are most probably due to the presence of subsurface topography, another key factor for the formation of the earth fissures.     

Analysis of spatial and temporal extreme monsoonal rainfall over South Asia using complex networks

We present a detailed analysis of summer monsoon rainfall over the Indian peninsular using nonlinear spatial correlations. This analysis is carried out employing the tools of complex networks and a measure of nonlinear correlation for point processes such as rainfall, called event synchronization. This study provides valuable insights into the spatial organization, scales, and structure of the 90th and 94th percentile rainfall events during the Indian summer monsoon (June–September). We furthermore analyse the influence of different critical synoptic atmospheric systems and the impact of the steep Himalayan topography on rainfall patterns. The presented method not only helps us in visualising the structure of the extreme-event rainfall fields, but also identifies the water vapor pathways and decadal-scale moisture sinks over the region. Furthermore a simple scheme based on complex networks is presented to decipher the spatial intricacies and temporal evolution of monsoonal rainfall patterns over the last 6 decades.     

Extended Sediment Quality Rating for Trace Elements in Urban Waters – Case Study Klinke,Germany

The European Water Framework Directive (WFD) commits European Union member states to achieving good ecological status in all water bodies by 2015. For sediments the definition of good chemical status is based on numerical sediment quality guidelines. The aqua regia fraction is thus used for the evaluation of heavy metal concentrations in sediments. The chemical constituents in sediments responsible for mobility and toxicity are not considered generally. This article presents the combining of the sequential BCR procedure, for determining the chemical species of relevant elements, with the geoaccumulation index principle a numerical classification method for sediment quality guidelines. Using the BCR method it can be demonstrated that changes in element speciation can lead to more highly mobile species of trace elements which may affect the hazardous potential of sediments despite the “good chemical status” classification for aqua regia digestions. The Klinke stream is an urban surface water body located in Magdeburg, the state capital of Saxony‐Anhalt, Germany. Using this stream as an example it is shown that this additional information helps to describe the dynamics and discharge of the trace elements Al, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Rb, Sr, Mo, Pd, Cd, Sb, Ba, Pb, Bi, and U into the Elbe River from urban water bodies.     

Terrestrial radioisotopes in black shale hosted Mn-carbonate deposit (Úrkút, Hungary)

Previously, little attention has been paid to terrestrial radioisotopes (U, Th, ⁴⁰K) occurring in manganese ores, despite the fact that the biogeochemical relationship between Mn and U is versatile. Occurrence of terrestrial radioisotopes in great amounts during mining on a long-term causes significant radiation exposure. It is important to inspect black shale-hosted manganese ores from this aspect, as black shales are typically potential U-rich formations. Despite the increased radon concentration in the mine, based on the detailed major elements, trace elements and gamma spectroscopy inspection of the rock types of deposit, the U, Th enrichment was undetectable. However, the U and Th content of about average terrestrial abundance of the great ore amount may be in the background of the increased radon concentration level. This Mn-carbonate ore deposit in spite of the low U content exhibit potential radon danger for miners, which can be eliminated with intensive air change only.     

Regime shifts in the marine environment: the scientific basis and political context

Regime shifts in the marine environment have recently received much attention. To date, however, few large-scale meta-analyses have been carried out due to insufficient data coverage and integration between sustained observational datasets because of diverse methodologies used in data collection, recording and archival. Here we review the available data on regime shifts globally, followed by a review of current and planned policies with relevance to regime shifts.We then focus on the North and Baltic Seas, providing examples of existing efforts for data integration in the MarBEF Network of Excellence. Existing gaps in data coverage are identified, and the added value from meta-analyses of multiple datasets demonstrated using examples from the MarBEF integrated data project LargeNet. We discuss whether these efforts are addressing current policy needs and close with recommendations for future integrated data networks to increase our ability to understand, identify and predict recent and future regime shifts.