Modeling and Mapping High Water Table for a Coastal Region in Florida using Lidar DEM Data

Predicting and mapping high water table elevation in coastal landscapes is critical for both science application projects like inundation risk analysis and engineering projects like pond design and maintenance. Previous studies of water table mapping focused on the application of geostatistical methods, which cannot predict values beyond an observation spatial domain or generate an ideal pattern for regions with sparse measurements. In this study, we evaluated the multiple linear regression (MLR) and support vector machine (SVM) techniques for high water table prediction and mapping using fine spatial resolution lidar-derived Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data, and designed an application protocol of these two techniques for high water table mapping in a coastal landscape where groundwater, tide, and surface water are related. Testing results showed that SVM largely improved the high water table prediction with a mean absolute error (MAE) of 1.22 feet and root mean square error (RMSE) of 2.22 feet compared to the application of the ordinary Kriging method which could not generate a reasonable water table. MLR was also promising with a MAE of around 2 feet and RMSE of around 3 feet. The study suggests that both MLR and SVM are valuable alternatives to estimate high water table elevation in Florida. Fine resolution lidar DEMs are beneficial for high water table prediction and mapping.     

Spatial distribution of canine faeces in Buenos Aires suburbs: implications for public health

Canine faecal contamination contributes to environmental degradation and increases the exposure of humans – mainly children – to helminth infections. We studied the magnitude and spatial distribution of faecal contamination on the pavements of two neighbourhoods representative of Buenos Aires suburbs. The pavements of a low-income neighbourhood (LIN) and a middle-income neighbourhood (MIN) were selected at random. Field maps including all substrates and objects observed on each pavement were drawn, viewed from above, on millimetre paper at 1:100 scale. Data were then loaded into a geographic information system (GIS) Arc View 3.1 with a digitiser board. The spatial distribution of faeces and its association with substrates or standing elements were analysed at three scales: substrate, pavement and neighbourhood.
Permeable substrate cover was higher in LIN (75%) than in MIN (35%). The faeces were not homogeneously distributed on the substrates. In both neighbourhoods, the substrates with >50 per cent grass cover showed a significantly higher proportion of faeces than those with <50 per cent grass cover, bare soil and tile. At pavement scale, the number of faeces on pavements was not related to either the number of trees, posts and domiciled dogs in the block, or with the number of faeces and percentage cover of each substrate. At patch scale, substrate patches with faeces were larger than those without faeces. Patches with faeces did not differ in shape between neighbourhoods and were more regularly shaped than patches without faeces.
The spatial distribution of faeces relative to each other was almost random, even when analysed in relation to trees or standing objects. Strategies for the sustainable control of this problem are suggested.     

Archaeomagnetic investigation of two mediaeval brick constructions in north Belgium and the magnetic anisotropy of bricks

Archaeomagnetic dates derived from geomagnetic field direction records in baked materials are proposed for a mediaeval brick kiln (from inclination I and declination D) and for bricks from a brick wall (from I only) in northern Belgium. They are used to verify whether a brick chronology based on the format of bricks is feasible in Flanders. The brick kiln yielded a highly reliable average magnetization direction corresponding to an archaeomagnetic date around A.D. 1650, using the British and French geomagnetic field secular variation curves as a reference, at least half a century younger than expected from historical data. The fidelity of the geomagnetic records was controlled by measuring the magnetic anisotropy of the bricks. Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) measurements demonstrate that the bricks have a shape related magnetic fabric, which is induced during the molding process. A test to control whether AMS can substitute for the anisotropy of thermo‐remanent magnetization (ATRM) failed because of induced changes during laboratory heating. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Deposition of nanoparticles on school eyeglasses in urban and rural areas:A methodology for a more real assessment of the possible impacts

Because incomplete confirmation is available concerning the influential role of atmosphere contamination on conjunctivitis,myopia,asthma,and allergic rhinitis in Brazil,the focus of the present work is to explore the possible relations among atmosphere contamination and eye problems.Rather that a case study on eye diseases,by way of questionnaires supplemented by the investigation of nanoparticles(NPs)on eyeglasses,the study examines the mechanisms in which NPs and ultra-fine particles are deposited on the glasses of children up to 10 years of age in urban and rural area.The important connection between atmosphere contaminants and individual protection equipment justifies improving indoor school properties in order could protect children’s eyes,particularly in high-pollution/high-particulate areas.     

Cattle grazing effects on annual plants assemblages in the Central Monte Desert,Argentina

Plant assemblages' dynamics have been studied to evaluate the influence of different environmental factors. The aim of our work was to assess the effect of a disturbance in the form of livestock grazing on annual plants, in a South American desert. We tested the exclusion of cattle grazing by comparing the composition of annual plants in three major vegetation types within a MaB Reserve in the Monte Desert of Argentina, with those of an adjacent grazed field. Sampling was conducted in two consecutive years that differed in precipitation. We established three sampling sites within each vegetation type at the reserve and the grazed field. Transects were set to assess plant cover, abundance, and richness. Theoretically, changes in diversity are explained by changes in one of its components: species richness. Species richness of annual plants was not different between the grazed and ungrazed sites. However, plant cover and diversity were lower in grazed sites, whereas abundance increased. Owing to a strong species-specific effect, we propose that it is evenness the main parameter involved in diversity dynamics in the heterogeneous vegetation mosaic of the Monte desert. Finally, vegetation types (spatial heterogeneity) and rainfall regime (temporal heterogeneity) greatly interacted with grazing effects. We endorse the idea that rapid responses of annual plant assemblages to changes in rainfall conditions coupled with herbivore control, might result in a restoration pathway for degraded arid landscapes.     

Impact of mining activities on sediments in a semi-arid environment: San Pedro River, Sonora, Mexico

A study of the San Pedro River (SPR), which is located in a semi-arid region in Sonora, Mexico, was conducted to evaluate the chemical, spatial and temporal (mobilization) trends of potentially harmful metals in its sediment in the rainy and dry seasons. High total concentrations of metals were detected in the following order: Fe > Cu > Mn > Zn > Pb > Cd. All studied metals except for Pb were increased during the dry season showing the effect of climate on the metal distribution in sediments. The results of sequential extraction indicated that the residual and Fe/Mn oxide fractions were the most important with regard to retaining potentially harmful metals in the sediments. In the exchangeable carbonate and Fe oxide fractions, high concentrations of metals were detected, representing high environmental risk. The geoaccumulation index shows slight to moderate contamination in most samples, and sampling point E4 (related to cattle activity) shows strong contamination for Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn. Enrichment factors (EFs) demonstrate anthropogenic origins for Pb (EF: 3–57), Cd (EF: 6–73) and Cu (EF: 1.5–224). This study shows that sediments are impacted by anthropogenic activities related to the mining industry, untreated wastewater discharges from the city of Cananea and cattle activities. Metal mobility in the SPR can disrupt the development of aquatic species in the river.     

Sunspot-like and ENSO/NAO-like periodicities in lacustrinelaminated sediments of the Pliocene Villarroya Basin (La Rioja,Spain)

This is a study of an extremely good outcrop of 1745 varves inthe Villarroya Pliocene Basin (Spain). The thicknesses of the light and darklayers, which were obtained from enlarged photograph negatives, are dealt withseparately, and three time series, of light, dark, and the sum of both layers,are performed. Periodicities of about 12, 6–7 and 2–3 years havebeen obtained. The origin of the recurrent behaviour of the sediments withthese periods could be related to natural phenomena like sunspot cycles, ElNiño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) andQuasi-biennial Oscillation (QBO), as these phenomena are capable of modulatingthe climate in this frequency band. From our point of view, there could be aclose relationship between sedimentation in the Villarroya Basin and thesenatural phenomena, which is moved through climate. The light layers record therun-off of gastropods, ostracods and charophytes from a seasonal productivitycycle, and are generated during late summer and autumn. It seems clear that theclimatic information provided by these cycles corresponds mainly to summertime, which would be translated into a variation of the light layer thicknessdue to a more or less intense development of the flora and fauna, being thickerin years of higher temperatures and thinner in years of lower temperatures.Considering the results, we would suggest that the sedimentation of thesematerials in the Pliocene was driven by solar activity or/and ENSO, NAO, andQBO phenomena. Nowadays these phenomena produce rainfall and temperaturechanges with the cyclicities shown in this study and we think they could haveoperated in the same way in Pliocene times.     

Accuracy of a pre-trained sentiment analysis (SA) classification model on tweets related to emergency response and early recovery assessment: the case of 2019 Albanian earthquake

Traditionally, earthquake impact assessments have been made via fieldwork by non-governmental organisations (NGO's) sponsored data collection; however, this approach is time-consuming, expensive and often limited. Recently, social media (SM) has become a valuable tool for quickly collecting large amounts of first-hand data after a disaster and shows great potential for decision-making. Nevertheless, extracting meaningful information from SM is an ongoing area of research. This paper tests the accuracy of the pre-trained sentiment analysis (SA) model developed by the no-code machine learning platform MonkeyLearn using the text data related to the emergency response and early recovery phase of the three major earthquakes that struck Albania on the 26th November 2019. These events caused 51 deaths, 3000 injuries and extensive damage. We obtained 695 tweets with the hashtags: #Albania #AlbanianEarthquake, and #albanianearthquake from the 26th November 2019 to the 3rd February 2020. We used these data to test the accuracy of the pre-trained SA classification model developed by MonkeyLearn to identify polarity in text data. This test explores the feasibility to automate the classification process to extract meaningful information from text data from SM in real-time in the future. We tested the no-code machine learning platform's performance using a confusion matrix. We obtained an overall accuracy (ACC) of 63% and a misclassification rate of 37%. We conclude that the ACC of the unsupervised classification is sufficient for a preliminary assessment, but further research is needed to determine if the accuracy is improved by customising the training model of the machine learning platform.

     

Historical reconstruction and evolution of the large landslide of Inza (Navarra,Spain)

Natural Hazards - In the winter of 1714–1715, a large rotational landslide originated on the northern slope of the Sierra de Aralar (Navarra, Spain), generating an earthflow that slowly...