Improvement of Atmospheric Correction of Satellite Sentinel-3/OLCI Data for Oceanic Waters in Presence of Sargassum

The invasive species of brown algae Sargassum gathers in large aggregations in the Caribbean Sea, and has done so especially over the last decade. These aggregations wash up on shores and decompose, leading to many socio-economic issues for the population and the coastal ecosystem. Satellite ocean color data sensors such as Sentinel-3/OLCI can be used to detect the presence of Sargassum and estimate its fractional coverage and biomass. The derivation of Sargassum presence and abundance from satellite ocean color data first requires atmospheric correction; however, the atmospheric correction procedure that is commonly used for oceanic waters needs to be adapted when dealing with the occurrence of Sargassum because the non-zero water reflectance in the near infrared band induced by Sargassum optical signature could lead to Sargassum being wrongly identified as aerosols. In this study, this difficulty is overcome by interpolating aerosol and sunglint reflectance between nearby Sargassum-free pixels. The proposed method relies on the local homogeneity of the aerosol reflectance between Sargassum and Sargassum-free areas. The performance of the adapted atmospheric correction algorithm over Sargassum areas is evaluated. The proposed method is demonstrated to result in more plausible aerosol and sunglint reflectances. A reduction of between 75% and 88% of pixels showing a negative water reflectance above 600 nm were noticed after the correction of the several images.

Economic issues will dominate Colombia elections

This year’s elections will be held in extraordinary circumstances, but traditional public concerns endure

Municipal environmental management and regional conservation in eastern Amazon: perceived performance by public agents in the Pará state, Brazil

Public agents play a key role in municipal environmental management (MEM) under decentralised regimes. This study aimed to evaluate the MEM through the combined perception of municipal agents and the municipal performance previously calculated by secondary data in Pará, Brazil. A questionnaire with a 5-point Likert scale was applied to environmental agents. The respondents (n = 75) from 53 municipalities were divided into poorly performing and well-performing municipalities. The perception of agents from poorly performing municipalities was more optimistic than shown by empirical data. Agents from well-performing municipalities prioritised “economic issues” as significant threats to management over the “institutional capacity” chosen by the other group, indicating a broader view of the reality. As the perception over land-use practices was vital to differentiate the agents from different groups, we concluded for the use of mixed monitoring methods and feedback information for agents for a better MEM, focusing on five variables (Rural environmental register – CAR, in Portuguese acronym; degraded area; deforested area; rural credit; and abandoned pasture) that differentiated the municipalities.

On Some Regularities of the Transformation of the Civilizational Idea in Modern Russia

The paper analyzes the changes in the content of the civilizational idea in modern Russia. It is shown that the substantive changes concern both the traditional fluctuations between the orientation to the European and Eurasian development path, and the emergence of new features, in particular related to environmental and economic issues. At the same time, there is a reconfiguration of the civilizational idea regarding economic and political discourses. There is a fusion of civilizational identity with political identity, which manifests itself in the form of active use of national-state resources for the formation of national-civilizational identity. It is concluded that at the state level, civilizational identity is supported by political and economic discourses, and the Russian-Eurasian discourse itself is being transformed, turning from a discourse about the integration of cultures into a discourse about the integration of economies based on the integration of cultures.

Can Community Education Promote Community Participation in the Local Economic Development (LED) Activities in this Era of 2019-nCoV

The 2019-nCoV has come as an unexpected wicked challenge especially to the vulnerable ones as it has significantly affected the local economic development (LED) activities of many local people in communities of South Africa. In this chapter, the role of community education as a problem-solving measure in promoting community participation in LED will be explored as limited participation in those activities prevail especially in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic. The study provides the challenges posed by the limited participation in the communities and the economy and explains how the local participation is important through community education (CE) programmes in LED activities. Since community education indeed plays a huge role in enhancing community participation in LED activities, the government officials, policymakers and others need to work closely with local people so that they can understand the essence of socio-economic issues that communities daily encounter in the wake of the pandemic.

The Awareness and Impact of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) on Climate Change in Malaysia

This article aims to investigate the level of public awareness and perception regarding carbon capture and storage (CCS) and climate change in Malaysia. The article also aims to identify those social, economic and environmental issues which affect CCS and combating climate change in the country. The findings revealed that more than 79 percent of the respondents were willing to have government initiatives to implement CCS projects. However, about 21 percent were against these initiatives due to their different perceptions and opinions regarding CCS. By using partial least squares (PLS) model through SmartPLS 2.0, it is found that social and economic issues of CCS have significant positive while environmental issues have no significant impact on combating climate change. The findings offer significant implications for regulators, policy makers, and practitioners regarding social, economic and environmental issues of CCS and climate change in Malaysia.

Citizen Involvement in Public Services Design

In the last years new relational systems between citizens and Institutions have been arising. One of the main effects of such transformation is an increasing citizen engagement in designing public services. The motivations, modes, and effects concerning this practice are relevant research topics addressing political, social, and economic issues. In this paper the authors present the SPAC3 project, as it involved the citizens in the design process. The project aims to allow families of the Municipality of Bergamo (Italy) to access services and information dedicated to them in a more effective way. Here, the authors will focus on the analysis carried out in the project, by pointing out the methodology and the main achieved outcomes, and the features of the identified solution. In the end, the SPAC3 project has been a good opportunity to think about the complex relationship between citizens and Institutions in order to strengthen it.

Women’s Roles and Rights in the Means of Earning and Nation’s Economic Growth

Women are the most important members of the society. Islam is the only religion where women are given their due rights in the light of rights and duties without discrimination. As we know that in human society there have been opinions based on discrimination against women’s character and role. Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) has completed all aspects of prophet-hood and nothing can be added and removed in it. And the most important thing is that Prophet (PBUH) has shed ample light on women’s social and economic role. This elaboration of women’s social and economic role has uncovered the fact that during the time of Prophet Mohammad and spread of Islam women have participated to their utmost to benefit Islam. Among different aspects of women’s liberation one aspect is their right of trade and business ownership which is complete contrast against western concept of women liberation. Though in Islam, women are not obligated to earn for living, but Islam gives them proper right in certain economic issues like, Feminine services, breastfeeding, incubation, and medicine and women surgeries. In the light of mentioned example we conclude that women are one of the most important part of economic welfare of the society, and there is no place of Western claim that Islam has made women “a disabled part”. In the light of Prophet Mohammad’s (PB UH) character and sayings all possible means of earning for women and their level of participation is discussed and elaborated in accordance with the following professions: trade, agriculture, labor, handicraft. In this brief article following topics will be discussed: Women’s monetary right in the light of prophet’s Teachings. Legitimate means of earning for women (in accordance with modern era) Illegitimate means of earning for women (in accordance with modern era) Suggestions and recommendations.

Input-Output Analysis

This essential reference for students and scholars in the input-output research and applications community has been fully revised and updated to reflect important developments in the field. Expanded coverage includes construction and application of multiregional and interregional models, including international models and their application to global economic issues such as climate change and international trade; structural decomposition and path analysis; linkages and key sector identification and hypothetical extraction analysis; the connection of national income and product accounts to input-output accounts; supply and use tables for commodity-by-industry accounting and models; social accounting matrices; non-survey estimation techniques; and energy and environmental applications. Input-Output Analysis is an ideal introduction to the subject for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in many scholarly fields, including economics, regional science, regional economics, city, regional and urban planning, environmental planning, public policy analysis and public management.

Presidential run-off is likely in Costa Rica next year

Significance This appears to reflect high levels of disillusionment with established political parties, possibly exacerbated by several public sector corruption scandals that have emerged in recent months. A run-off looks the most likely outcome of the first presidential round on February 6. Impacts A surge in COVID-19 cases, potentially linked to Omicron, could disrupt the presidential race, particularly affecting the ruling PAC. Further arrests in anti-corruption investigations could influence voting intentions. More details of policies will be released over the coming weeks, especially focused on socio-economic issues.