scholarly journals On a report that the 2012 <i>M</i> = 6.0 earthquake in Italy was predicted after seeing an unusual cloud formation

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (9) ◽  
pp. 5889-5902
Author(s):  
J. N. Thomas ◽  
F. Masci ◽  
J. J. Love
Keyword(s):  
Satellite Images ◽  
Satellite Image ◽  
Central Italy ◽  
Northern Italy ◽  
Cloud Formation ◽  
Statistical Relationship ◽  
Simple Test ◽  
Po Valley

Abstract. Several recently published reports have suggested that semi-stationary linear-cloud formations might be causally precursory to earthquakes. We examine the report of Guangmeng and Jie (2013), who claim to have predicted the 2012 M = 6.0 earthquake in the Po Valley of northern Italy after seeing a satellite image showing a linear-cloud formation over the eastern Apennine Mountains of central Italy. From inspection of four years of satellite images we find numerous examples of linear-cloud formations over Italy. A simple test shows no obvious statistical relationship between the occurrence of these cloud formations and earthquakes that occurred in and around Italy. All of the linear-cloud formations we have identified in satellite images, including that which Guangmeng and Jie (2013) claim to have used to predict the 2012 earthquake, appear to be orographic – formed by the interaction of moisture-laden wind flowing over mountains. Guangmeng and Jie (2013) have not clearly stated how linear-cloud formations can be used to predict the size, location, and time of an earthquake, and they have not published an account of all of their predictions (including any unsuccessful predictions). We are skeptical of the validity of the claim by Guangmeng and Jie (2013) that they have managed to predict any earthquakes

scholarly journals On a report that the 2012 <i>M</i> 6.0 earthquake in Italy was predicted after seeing an unusual cloud formation

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 1061-1068 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. N. Thomas ◽  
F. Masci ◽  
J. J. Love
Keyword(s):  
Digital Image ◽  
Satellite Images ◽  
Central Italy ◽  
Northern Italy ◽  
Cloud Formation ◽  
Statistical Relationship ◽  
Simple Test ◽  
Po Valley ◽  
Satellite Photograph

Abstract. Several recently published reports have suggested that semi-stationary linear-cloud formations might be causally precursory to earthquakes. We examine the report of Guangmeng and Jie (2013), who claim to have predicted the 2012 M 6.0 earthquake in the Po Valley of northern Italy after seeing a satellite photograph (a digital image) showing a linear-cloud formation over the eastern Apennine Mountains of central Italy. From inspection of 4 years of satellite images we find numerous examples of linear-cloud formations over Italy. A simple test shows no obvious statistical relationship between the occurrence of these cloud formations and earthquakes that occurred in and around Italy. All of the linear-cloud formations we have identified in satellite images, including that which Guangmeng and Jie (2013) claim to have used to predict the 2012 earthquake, appear to be orographic – formed by the interaction of moisture-laden wind flowing over mountains. Guangmeng and Jie (2013) have not clearly stated how linear-cloud formations can be used to predict the size, location, and time of an earthquake, and they have not published an account of all of their predictions (including any unsuccessful predictions). We are skeptical of the validity of the claim by Guangmeng and Jie (2013) that they have managed to predict any earthquakes.

scholarly journals Zoonotic leishmaniasis and heartworm disease in Italy: changing epidemiological scenarios and future perspectives

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jairo Mendoza-Roldan ◽  
Giovanni Benelli ◽  
Rossella Panarese ◽  
Roberta Iatta ◽  
Tommaso Furlanello ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Southern Italy ◽  
Central Italy ◽  
Distribution Patterns ◽  
Northern Region ◽  
Northern Italy ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Epidemiological Surveillance ◽  
Canine Leishmaniosis ◽  
Po Valley ◽  
Heartworm Disease

Abstract Background: For long time, canine leishmaniosis (CanL) was considered endemic in the southern, central, and insular regions of Italy, whereas heartworm disease (HW) by Dirofilaria immitis in the northern region and in the swampy Po valley. Following the reports of new foci of both diseases, in this study we update the distribution patterns and occurrence of new foci of CanL and HW discussing the main drivers for the changes in the epidemiology of these two important zoonotic canine vector-borne diseases.Methods: Based on the statistical analyses of serological assays (n=90,633) on CanL and HW performed by reference diagnostic centres in Italy over a ten-year period (2009–2019), the distribution patterns of both diseases were herein presented along with the occurrence of new foci.Results: Results highlighted the changing distribution patterns of CanL vs HW disease in Italy. CanL is now also endemic in the northern regions and HW has endemic foci in central and southern regions and islands. Significant differences in CanL and HW prevalence among the study macroareas were detected. The overall prevalence of CanL was 28.2% in Southern Italy and Islands, 29.6% in Central Italy and 21.6% in Northern Italy and that of HW of 2.83% in northern Italy, 7.75% in central Italy and 4.97% in southern Italy and islands. HW prevalence significantly varied over years (χ2=108.401, d.f.=10, p<0.0001), gradually increasing from 0.77% in 2009 to values ranging from 5.19-8.47% in 2016-2017.Conclusions: The new epidemiological scenarios have been discussed according to a range of factors (e.g. environmental modifications, occurrence of competent insect vectors, transportation of infected animals to non-endemic areas, chemoprophylaxis or vector preventative measures), which may affect the current distribution. Overall, results advocate for epidemiological surveillance programs, more focussed preventative and control measures even in areas where few or none cases of both diseases have been diagnosed.

scholarly journals Otolaryngology activity in two hospitals in northern and central Italy differently affected by COVID-19 pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 104 (2) ◽  
pp. 003685042199848
Author(s):  
Antonio Minni ◽  
Francesco Pilolli ◽  
Massimo Ralli ◽  
Niccolò Mevio ◽  
Luca Roncoroni ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Intensive Care ◽  
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ◽  
Intensive Care Units ◽  
Healthcare System ◽  
Central Italy ◽  
Northern Italy ◽  
Public Hospitals ◽  
Geographical Differences ◽  
Italian Regions

The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic had a significant impact on the Italian healthcare system, although geographical differences were present; regions in northern Italy have been the most severely affected while regions in the south of the country were relatively spared. Otolaryngologists were actively involved in the management of the pandemic. In this work, we analyzed and compared the otolaryngology surgical activity performed during the pandemic in two large public hospitals located in different Italian regions. In northern Italy, otolaryngologists were mainly involved in performing surgical tracheotomies in COVID-19 positive patients and contributed to the management of these patients in intensive care units. In central Italy, where the burden of the infection was significantly lower, otolaryngologists focused on diagnosis and treatment of emergency and oncology patients. This analysis confirms the important role of the otolaryngology specialists during the pandemic, but also highlights specific differences between two large hospitals in different Italian regions.

scholarly journals Seasonal monitoring and estimation of regional aerosol distribution over Po valley, northern Italy, using a high-resolution MAIAC product

2016 ◽  
Vol 141 ◽  
pp. 106-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Arvani ◽  
R. Bradley Pierce ◽  
Alexei I. Lyapustin ◽  
Yujie Wang ◽  
Grazia Ghermandi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Northern Italy ◽  
Po Valley ◽  
Aerosol Distribution ◽  
Seasonal Monitoring

scholarly journals Regional Scale Impact of the COVID-19 Lockdown on Air Quality: Gaseous Pollutants in the Po Valley, Northern Italy

Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanni Lonati ◽  
Federico Riva
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
High Volume ◽  
Ambient Air ◽  
Northern Italy ◽  
Traffic Emissions ◽  
Gaseous Pollutants ◽  
Po Valley ◽  
Concentration Levels

The impact of the reduced atmospheric emissions due to the COVID-19 lockdown on ambient air quality in the Po Valley of Northern Italy was assessed for gaseous pollutants (NO2, benzene, ammonia) based on data collected at the monitoring stations distributed all over the area. Concentration data for each month of the first semester of 2020 were compared with those of the previous six years, on monthly, daily, and hourly bases, so that pre, during, and post-lockdown conditions of air quality could be separately analyzed. The results show that, as in many other areas worldwide, the Po Valley experienced better air quality during 2020 spring months for NO2 and benzene. In agreement with the reductions of nitrogen oxides and benzene emissions from road traffic, estimated to be −35% compared to the regional average, the monthly mean concentration levels for 2020 showed reductions in the −40% to −35% range compared with the previous years, but with higher reductions, close to −50%, at high-volume-traffic sites in urban areas. Conversely, NH3 ambient concentration levels, almost entirely due the emissions of the agricultural sector, did not show any relevant change, even at high-volume-traffic sites in urban areas. These results point out the important role of traffic emissions in NO2 and benzene ambient levels in the Po Valley, and confirm that this region is a rather homogeneous air basin with urban area hot-spots, the contributions of which add up to a relatively high regional background concentration level. Additionally, the relatively slow response of the air quality levels to the sudden decrease of the emissions due to the lockdown shows that this region is characterized by a weak exchange of the air masses that favors both the build-up of atmospheric pollutants and the development of secondary formation processes. Thus, air quality control strategies should aim for structural interventions intended to reduce traffic emissions at the regional scale and not only in the largest urban areas.

Assessment of mangrove forest change in Ca Mau province using satellite images in the period of 1988 - 2018

2021 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 175-187
Author(s):  
Duong Phung Thai ◽  
Son Ton
Keyword(s):  
Satellite Images ◽  
Satellite Image ◽  
Image Interpretation ◽  
Image Data ◽  
Vegetation Coverage ◽  
Landsat 8 ◽  
Mangrove Forests ◽  
Forest Change ◽  
Shrimp Ponds ◽  
Area Classification

On the basis of using practical methods, satellite image processing methods, the vegetation coverage classification system of the study area, interpretation key for the study area, classification and post-classification pro cessing, this research introduces how to exploit and process multi-temporal satellite images in evaluating the changes of forest area. Landsat 4, 5 TM and Landsat 8 OLI remote sensing image data were used to evaluate the changes in the area of mangrove forests (RNM) in Ca Mau province in the periods of 1988 - 1998, 1998 - 2013, 2013 - 2018, and 1988 - 2018. The results of the image interpretation in 1988, 1998, 2013, 2018 and the overlapping of the above maps show: In the 30-year period from 1988 to 2018, the total area of mangroves in Ca Mau province was decreased by 28% compared to the beginning, from 71,093.3 ha in 1988 reduced to 51,363.5 ha in 2018, decreasing by 19,729.8 ha. The recovery speed of mangroves is 2 times lower than their disappearance speed. Specifically, from 1988 to 2018, mangroves disappeared on an area of 42,534.9 hectares and appeared on the new area of 22,805 hectares, only 12,154.5 hectares of mangroves remained unchanged. The fluctuation of mangrove area in Ca Mau province is related to the process of deforestation to dig shrimp ponds, coastal erosion, the formation of mangroves on new coastal alluvial lands and soil dunes in estuaries, as well as planting new mangroves in inefficient shrimp ponds.

scholarly journals Segmentation of Satellite Imagery of Amedi Site Using Chan–Vese Model with Saliency Estimation

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 125-134
Author(s):  
Pawan Rachee
Keyword(s):  
Satellite Imagery ◽  
Satellite Images ◽  
Object Segmentation ◽  
Satellite Image ◽  
Bilateral Filter ◽  
Histogram Equalization ◽  
Saliency Map ◽  
Enhancement Technique ◽  
Map Segmentation ◽  
Quantitative Manner

The images that have been taken from space satellites are described by satellite imagery. The presence of the earth's surface is detected by remote sensing. Normally the source of the satellite image is barely seen, because many points in the sky are obscured with cloud shadows. Therefore, one of the most important and ubiquitous tasks in image analysis is segmentation. Segmentation is the method of dividing a image into a collection of specific regions that vary in some essential qualitative or quantitative manner. In this paper we will focus on a method for segmenting images that was developed   Three different methods to detect the location of the satellite images have been studied, implemented, and tested; these are based on Chan-Vese and saliency map segmentation, and multi-resolution segmentation to obtain a proper object segmentation. In this study, the combination of the proposed segmentation automatic detection and image enhancement technique has been performed to reduce the noise of the original image. In addition, the Bilateral filter, and histogram equalization are used in these proposed techniques. Experimental results demonstrate that the suggested method can precisely extract the objective of Amedi site from the satellite images with difficult backgrounds and overlapping regions.

scholarly journals Revealing glacier flow and surge dynamics from animated satellite image sequences: examples from the Karakoram

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 2597-2623 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Paul
Keyword(s):  
Satellite Images ◽  
Satellite Image ◽  
Time Lapse ◽  
Image Sequences ◽  
Flow Dynamics ◽  
Mountain Range ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Climatic Control ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Glacier Flow

Abstract. Although animated images are very popular on the Internet, they have so far found only limited use for glaciological applications. With long time-series of satellite images becoming increasingly available and glaciers being well recognized for their rapid changes and variable flow dynamics, animated sequences of multiple satellite images reveal glacier dynamics in a time-lapse mode, making the otherwise slow changes of glacier movement visible and understandable for a wide public. For this study animated image sequences were created from freely available image quick-looks of orthorectified Landsat scenes for four regions in the central Karakoram mountain range. The animations play automatically in a web-browser and might help to demonstrate glacier flow dynamics for educational purposes. The animations revealed highly complex patterns of glacier flow and surge dynamics over a 15-year time period (1998–2013). In contrast to other regions, surging glaciers in the Karakoram are often small (around 10 km2), steep, debris free, and advance for several years at comparably low annual rates (a few hundred m a−1). The advance periods of individual glaciers are generally out of phase, indicating a limited climatic control on their dynamics. On the other hand, nearly all other glaciers in the region are either stable or slightly advancing, indicating balanced or even positive mass budgets over the past few years to decades.

scholarly journals 3D structural and thermal modelling of Mesozoic petroleum systems in the Po Valley Basin, northern Italy

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 172-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudio Turrini ◽  
Barbara Bosica ◽  
Paul Ryan ◽  
Peter Shiner ◽  
Olivier Lacombe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Northern Italy ◽  
Thermal Modelling ◽  
Petroleum Systems ◽  
Po Valley
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document