Demystifying the Differences between Structure-from-Motion Software Packages for Pre-Processing Drone Data

With the increased availability of low-cost, off-the-shelf drone platforms, drone data become easy to capture and are now a key component of environmental assessments and monitoring. Once the data are collected, there are many structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry software options available to pre-process the data into digital elevation models (DEMs) and orthomosaics for further environmental analysis. However, not all software packages are created equal, nor are their outputs. Here, we evaluated the workflows and output products of four desktop SfM packages (AgiSoft Metashape, Correlator3D, Pix4Dmapper, WebODM), across five input datasets representing various ecosystems. We considered the processing times, output file characteristics, colour representation of orthomosaics, geographic shift, visual artefacts, and digital surface model (DSM) elevation values. No single software package was determined the “winner” across all metrics, but we hope our results help others demystify the differences between the options, allowing users to make an informed decision about which software and parameters to select for their specific application. Our comparisons highlight some of the challenges that may arise when comparing datasets that have been processed using different parameters and different software packages, thus demonstrating a need to provide metadata associated with processing workflows.

Environmental Assessment in the Pre-launch Phase of Hayabusa2 for Safety Declaration of Returned Samples From Asteroid (162173) Ryugu: Background Monitoring of Possible Contaminants During Development of the Sampler System

We report the ground-based environmental assessments during development of the sampler system until the launch of the Hayabusa2 spacecraft. We conducted static monitoring of potential contaminants to assess the environmental cleanliness during (1) laboratory work throughout the development and manufacturing of the sampler devices, (2) installation of the sampler system on the spacecraft, and (3) transportation to the launch site at the JAXA’s Tanegashima Space Center. Major elements and ions detected in our inorganic analysis were sodium (Na), potassium (K), and ionized chloride (Cl–); those were positively correlated with the total organic content and with exposure duration in the range from 101 to 103 nanogram per monitor coupon within a ~30 mm-diameter scale. We confirmed that deposits on the coupon were totally less than the microgram-scale order during manufacturing, installation, and transportation in the pre-launch phase. The present assessment yields a nominal safety declaration for sample analysis of the pristine sample (>5 g) returned from asteroid (162173) Ryugu combined with a highly clean environmental background level. We expect that the Hayabusa2-returned sample from Ryugu without severe and/or unknown contamination will allow us to provide native profiles recorded in the carbonaceous asteroid history.

Analysis of the Cultured Meat Production System in Function of Its Environmental Footprint: Current Status, Gaps and Recommendations

Cultured meat has been presented as an environmentally friendlier option to conventional meat, but due to the limited data, the studies related to its performance are scarce and based on hypothetical production processes. This work provides a short literature review of the published environmental assessments of cultured meat. The main findings of this critical analysis showed that the lack of real data related to cultured meat decreased the level of accuracy of each study. The missing environmental profile of the process itself, including the proliferation and differentiation phases in bioreactors, along with key ingredients such as growth factors and other recombinant proteins, increase the difficulty of achieving reliable conclusions. In order to bridge the highlighted gaps, a complete production system is modelled and analysed from an engineering and life-cycle perspective. Furthermore, an overview of the supply chains of different products used in the process is provided, together with recommendations on how they should be considered in future life-cycle assessments. In essence, this work provides a structured pathway for upcoming consistent environmental assessments in this field, with the objective of setting the basis to understand the potential of cultured meat.

Uncertainties in land use data may have substantial effects on environmental planning recommendations: A plea for careful consideration

A key challenge of environmental planning is to craft recommendations for future sustainable spatial development amid ubiquitous uncertainties. This paper aims to explore how different data uncertainties, usually unknown to the planner, may influence environmental planning recommendations. We apply a case study-based approach, in which we provide three illustrative examples of how data with different kinds and levels of uncertainty affect environmental assessments and, by that, the decision-support provided by environmental planning. The cases stem from different spatial levels in Germany and consider ‘Regional soil-based climate change mitigation’ in the region of Hannover, ‘State-wide habitat conservation siting’ in the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt, and ‘National renewable energy planning’. Based on the three examples, we discuss implications for planning practice and derive recommendations for further research. The three cases studies illustrate the substantial effects of data uncertainty on environmental assessments and planning recommendations derived from those results. We identify four problem constellations of dealing with data uncertainty in environmental planning that relate to the severeness of uncertainty impacts, the responsibility of the decision-maker, and the kinds of impacts that wrong decisions may have. We close with recommendations for further research, among others to develop robust and pragmatic methods for identifying the uncertainty levels in environmental data and assessment results.

Making the Environmental Humanities Consequential in “The Age of Consequences”

This article suggests that global environmental assessments (GEAs) may be a potent means for making the environmental humanities more consequential outside universities. So far most GEAs have been led by geoscientists, with mainstream social science in support. However, there is no reason why the concept of assessment cannot be elasticated to include the concerns of interpretive social science and the humanities. Building on the forty-year history and authority of GEAs as a means to bridging the gap between the research world and the wider world, this article identifies the potential that reformatted assessments hold for more impactful work by environmental humanists. It suggests some next steps for rethinking the means and ends of assessment toward a new paradigm that bridges geoscience, mainstream social science, and humanistic thinking about the nonhuman world. This paradigm would explore the human dimensions of environmental change fully. The timing is propitious: independently GEAs are undergoing change at the very moment that the “What next?” question is being asked by many environmental humanists. This article is intended to inspire debate and, ultimately, action. It both makes the case for more humanistic GEAs and offers examples of potential work packages.

Use of essential oil for post-harvest pest control.

Since past few decades, application of essential oils (EOs) was explored experimentally for the management of postharvest pests and diseases. However, uses of essential oils face a series of problems, including regulatory obstruction to commercialization (such as cost of toxicological and environmental assessments) or the way that efficiency of essential oils toward pests and diseases is not as evident or clear as that seen with the present available forms. This review highlights several issues extending from EOs chemistry to their bioactivity potential. The mechanism of action of EOs is also discussed to provide better understanding about their functions and improve the scope for the establishment of commercial opportunities in the form of natural biocontrol agents/botanical pesticides.