Search results for "Geographic information system"
showing 10 items of 138 documents
The crisis facing Tunisian drainage tunnels: identification, analysis and evaluation of water heritage in the Mediterranean region
2014
In regions with Mediterranean and steppe climates, the presence of surface water is sporadic, and a unique – but fragile and undervalued – element of water capture for irrigation and human supply is the ‘qanats’, ‘foggaras’, ‘mkoulas’ or water tunnels. The central objective of this project has been the full study of Tunisia's drainage tunnels. The inventory, analysis and heritage evaluation of Tunisia's ‘qanats’ have been possible through the application of a particular methodology during four annual sessions of fieldwork and analysis in the geographic information system (GIS) laboratory. The results have been: the creation of a spatial data and cartography infrastructure for the Tunisian ‘…
A detailed analysis of the spatial distribution of Schöningen 13II-4 'Spear Horizon' faunal remains
2021
The Middle Pleistocene Schöningen 13II-4 'Spear Horizon' (Germany) is a key site for the study of human evolution, most notably for the discovery of Paleolithic wooden weaponry and evidence for developed hunting strategies. On the other hand, the 'Spear Horizon' offers an excellent opportunity to approach hominin spatial behavior, thanks to the richness of the archeological assemblage, its exceptional preservation, and the vast expanse of the excavated surface. Analyzing how space was used is essential for understanding hominin behavior at this unique open-air site and, from a wider perspective, for approaching how humans adapted to interglacial environments. In this article, we present an …
A GIS-Based Methodology for Evaluating the Increase in Multimodal Transport between Bicycle and Rail Transport Systems. A Case Study in Palermo
2021
Background: In a world where every municipality is pursuing the goals of more sustainable mobility, bicycles play a fundamental role in getting rid of private cars and travelling by an eco-friendly mode of transport. Additionally, private and shared bikes can be used as a feeder transit system, solving the problem of the first- and last-mile trips. Thanks to GIS (Geographic Information System) software, it is possible to evaluate the effectiveness of such a sustainable means of transport in future users’ modal choice. Methods: Running an accessibility analysis of cycling and rail transport services, the potential mobility demand attracted by these services and the possible multimodality bet…
Exploring the effect of absence selection on landslide susceptibility models: A case study in Sicily, Italy
2016
Abstract A statistical approach was employed to model the spatial distribution of rainfall-triggered landslides in two areas in Sicily (Italy) that occurred during the winter of 2004–2005. The investigated areas are located within the Belice River basin and extend for 38.5 and 10.3 km 2 , respectively. A landslide inventory was established for both areas using two Google Earth images taken on October 25th 2004 and on March 18th 2005, to map slope failures activated or reactivated during this interval. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) were used to prepare 5 m grids of the dependent variables (absence/presence of landslide) and independent variables (lithology and 13 DEM-derivatives). Mul…
Assessment of susceptibility to earth-flow landslide using logistic regression and multivariate adaptive regression splines: A case of the Belice Riv…
2015
Abstract In this paper, terrain susceptibility to earth-flow occurrence was evaluated by using geographic information systems (GIS) and two statistical methods: Logistic regression (LR) and multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS). LR has been already demonstrated to provide reliable predictions of earth-flow occurrence, whereas MARS, as far as we know, has never been used to generate earth-flow susceptibility models. The experiment was carried out in a basin of western Sicily (Italy), which extends for 51 km 2 and is severely affected by earth-flows. In total, we mapped 1376 earth-flows, covering an area of 4.59 km 2 . To explore the effect of pre-failure topography on earth-flow sp…
GIS-based groundwater potential mapping in Shahroud plain, Iran. A comparison among statistical (bivariate and multivariate), data mining and MCDM ap…
2019
Abstract In arid and semi-arid areas, groundwater resource is one of the most important water sources by the humankind. Knowledge of groundwater distribution over space, associated flow and basic exploitation measures can play a significant role in planning sustainable development, especially in arid and semi-arid areas. Groundwater potential mapping (GWPM) fits in this context as the tool used to predict the spatial distribution of groundwater. In this research we tested four GIS-based models for GWPM, consisting of: i) random forest (RF); ii) weight of evidence (WoE); iii) binary logistic regression (BLR); and iv) technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) mul…
A Heterogeneous Sensor and Actuator Network Architecture for Ambient Intelligence
2014
One of the most important characteristics of a typical ambient intelligence scenario is the presence of a number of sensors and actuators that capture information about user preferences and activities. Such nodes, i.e., sensors and actuators, are often based on different technologies so that types of networks which are typically different coexist in a real system, for example, in a home or a building. In this chapter we present a heterogeneous sensor and actuator network architecture designed to separate network management issues from higher, intelligent layers. The effectiveness of the solution proposed here was evaluated using an experimental scenario involving the monitoring of an office…
Outdoor, but not indoor, nitrogen dioxide exposure is associated with persistent cough during the first year of life
2011
Background and aims: Because their lungs and immune system are not completely developed, children are more susceptible to respiratory disease and more vulnerable to ambient pollution. We assessed the relation between prenatal and postnatal nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels and the development of lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI), wheezing and persistent cough during the first year of life. Methods: The study population consisted of 352 children from a birth cohort in Valencia, Spain. Prenatal exposure to NO2, a marker of traffic related air pollution was measured at 93 sampling sites spread over the study area during four different sampling periods of 7 days each. It was modeled for eac…
The Olt River pollution monitoring, using spatial analysis, analityc hierarchy process and technique for order preference by similarity methods
2016
Abstract Environmental pollution is one of the most serious problems of the contemporary world. Chemical industry is one of the major sources of environmental pollutants. Human knowledge and experience is currently focused on the use of assessment methods and techniques before and during the onset of such activities. For instance, it is common to consider the integration of multiple constraining factors and also, taking into account their high complexity and the application of one of the various techniques of Multi-Criteria Decision Making. The purpose of this study is to determine the location of the least and most polluted areas from several sampling points on the Olt River, in Romania. I…