Classification of Land-Water Continuum Habitats Using Exclusively Airborne Topobathymetric Lidar Green Waveforms and Infrared Intensity Point Clouds

Coastal areas host highly valuable ecosystems that are increasingly exposed to the threats of global and local changes. Monitoring their evolution at a high temporal and spatial scale is therefore crucial and mostly possible through remote sensing. This article demonstrates the relevance of topobathymetric lidar data for coastal and estuarine habitat mapping by classifying bispectral data to produce 3D maps of 21 land and sea covers at very high resolution. Green lidar full waveforms are processed to retrieve tailored features corresponding to the signature of those habitats. These features, along with infrared intensities and elevations, are used as predictors for random forest classifications, and their respective contribution to the accuracy of the results is assessed. We find that green waveform features, infrared intensities, and elevations are complimentary and yield the best classification results when used in combination. With this configuration, a classification accuracy of 90.5% is achieved for the segmentation of our dual-wavelength lidar dataset. Eventually, we produce an original mapping of a coastal site under the form of a point cloud, paving the way for 3D classification and management of land and sea covers.

Planning and Professional Assistance as Factors Influencing Private Forest Landowner Best Management Practice Implementation

Virtually all states have developed best management practices (BMPs) to mitigate potential adverse effects associated with timber harvesting. This study examined how BMP implementation on Minnesota’s family forest lands varied according to whether the land had a forest management plan, the timber sale was administered by a forester, or a written timber harvesting contract was used. Analysis of field monitoring data from 174 commercial timber harvesting sites on family forest lands found that BMP implementation is only modestly influenced by a forest management plan, supervising forester, or timber harvesting contract. Supervision of a forester had the greatest influence, with six guidelines implemented differently. In contrast, differences were found for just two BMPs with a forest management plan and only one with a written timber harvesting contract. When timber sales were administered by a forester, forest management guidelines generally related to management of the land-water interface were implemented to a higher standard, with significant increases observed for avoidance of infrastructure in filter strips, use of water diversion and erosion control structures, avoiding unnecessary wetland and waterbody crossings, and slash management. Higher timber utilization efficiency (within leave tree guidelines) was also found when a professional forester supervised the timber sale. Study Implications: We examine how BMP implementation on family forest lands varies with three types of supervisory and planning assistance: a forest management plan for the property, sale administration by a professional forester, and a written timber harvesting contract. Field monitoring data from 174 commercial timber harvests on family forest lands indicate that BMP implementation is only modestly influenced by any single form of assistance. Supervision by a forester had the greatest influence, increasing use of four guidelines related to management of the land-water interface. Results may help to inform best practices for landowner assistance and planning.

Management of Land, Water, Material and Technical Resources and Their Efficient Use in Agriculture

This article describes in detail the management of land, water, material and technical resources and their efficient use in agriculture. Keywords: Land resources, water resources, indicators of land and water efficiency, Land monitoring and state land cadastre, capitalization of land resources.

Airborne GNSS Reflectometry for Water Body Detection

This article is dedicated to the study of airborne GNSS-R signal processing techniques for water body detection and edge localization using a low-altitude airborne carrier with high rate reflectivity measurements. A GNSS-R setup on-board a carrier with reduced size and weight was developed for this application. We develop a radar technique for automatic GNSS signal segmentation in order to differentiate in-land water body surfaces based on the reflectivity measurements associated to different areas of reflection. Such measurements are derived from the GNSS signal amplitudes. We adapt a transitional model to characterize the changes in the measurements of the reflected GNSS signals from one area to another. We propose an on-line/off-line change detection algorithm for GNSS signal segmentation. A real flight experimentation took place in the context of this work obtaining reflections from different surfaces and landforms. We show, using the airborne GNSS measurements obtained, that the proposed radar technique detects in-land water body surfaces along the flight trajectory with high temporal (50 Hz ) and spatial resolution (order of 10 to 100 m2). We also show that we can localize the edges of the detected water body surfaces at meter accuracy.

Inhabiting the World’s Largest Tropical Delta: Understanding Human-Environment Relationship from a Century-Long Archaeological Quest in Bangladesh

Due to the exceptionally rich tropical resource, the Lower Ganges-Brahmaputra basins have attracted people of diverse ethnic and geographical backgrounds for millennia. So far 524 protected sites in present Bangladesh indicate the busy human occupation in the world’s largest delta at least from 5th century BCE. Although systematic archaeology began in the 1870s there is still a paucity of knowledge about past human land use and livelihood strategies across this area, which is especially prone to floods, cyclones, and river migrations. Here we attempt a systematic survey of human-environment interactions in ancient deltaic Bangladesh. Revisiting the fragmentary information from archaeological records and epigraphic references produced through over a century-long archaeological legacy, this study is the first attempt at a synthesis of the changing relationships between ancient people and their environment elements including land, water bodies, flora and fauna.

Nanomaterials for Remediation of Environmental Pollutants

Today, environmental contamination is a big concern for both developing and developed countries. The primary sources of contamination of land, water, and air are extensive industrialization and intense agricultural activities. Various traditional methods are available for the treatment of different pollutants in the environment, but all have some limitations. Due to this, an alternative method is required which is effective and less toxic and provides better outcomes. Nanomaterials have attracted a lot of interest in terms of environmental remediation. Because of their huge surface area and related high reactivity, nanomaterials perform better in environmental clean-up than other conventional approaches. They can be modified for specific uses to provide novel features. Due to the large surface-area-to-volume ratio and the presence of a larger number of reactive sites, nanoscale materials can be extremely reactive. These characteristics allow for higher interaction with contaminants, leading to a quick reduction of contaminant concentration. In the present review, an overview of different nanomaterials that are potential in the remediation of environmental pollutants has been discussed.

Key problems of agro-industrial development in Kazakhstan and ways to solve them

To provide food to the population of Kazakhstan, it is necessary to develop agricultural production based on the introduction of innovative technologies and new knowledge. In order to implement the tasks set, it is necessary to solve the problems in this industry that hinder its development. The purpose of writing the article is to identify the problems of the development of the agro-industrial complex in Kazakhstan and to justify the ways to solve them. We present the actual problems of the development of the country's agro-industrial complex, which must be solved within the framework of the implementation of the National Project for the development of the Agro-industrial Complex of the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2021–2025. The purpose of this project is to provide the country's population with essential foodstuffs, according to the established, scientifically based physiological consumption rate (SBPC). The key problems of the development of the agro-industrial complex of the Republic of Kazakhstan are low technical equipment of the branch with agricultural machinery and technology, inefficient use of natural resources, in particular land, water, the presence of a large number of small non-commodity farms, low level of processing of agricultural products, a lot of intermediaries between the production and sale of grown products, poor implementation of the results of scientific research and development of agricultural scientists, low level of storage, transportation and sale of agricultural products, etc. The article highlights such issues as the unattractiveness of this area for investment, low labor productivity, the need to develop state support mechanisms, the widespread introduction of innovative technologies, etc. The ways of solving the above-mentioned problems of the development of the agro-industrial complex of the Republic of Kazakhstan are substantiated and reasoned.

CULTIVABLE LAND WATER SUPPLY AND A PERSPECTIVE VIEW OF AGRICULTURAL CROPS YIELD

The maximum use of the potential of Georgia's agriculture and the targeted use of natural resources is vital for the development of the sectoral economy. The main guarantee of achieving a positive result for the country is the implementation of a clearly defined, effective agricultural policy aimed at competitive production, assistance in attracting financial resources, and encouragement of agricultural activities, conducting agrotechnical measures during the growing season of agricultural crops and determining the norms and terms of irrigation.

Divine Thoughts in the View of Abdul Rahuman

The thought of the Lord appears when one looks at the events seen in daily life and thinks deeply about them. Therefore, “Irai Sinthanai Thoughts in the View of Abdul Rahuman' is chosen as the title of this review article to convey the ideas, thoughts, beliefs, etc. about God. The study is carried out in such terms as algorithms. In the sense that these creations are deified, all living and inanimate objects in the world were created by the one and only God, and that religions call these things by the names of heredity, paramanma, god, lord, and that religions and religious principles should be in place to dispel the prejudice of men who claim that their religious god is the best. Since God holds within Himself all the powers of the giants, such as land, water, air, fire, and sky, which are necessary for life to exist, it makes sense that discriminating against God in His creation is tantamount to distinguishing Himself. In the sense of divine experience, we must reach the Lord who bestows that pleasure so that the lives in the world may attain lasting happiness and pleasure. That is the bliss of eternal bliss, and when that life reaches that state of bliss the two become one with the Lord. There are many saints and saints who have attained such supremacy. They have realized and realized the divine vision and divine experience that they have seen through her experience. Thus, Abdul Rahuman is situated in the pleasure of music, in the rhythm of beauty, in the experience of bliss, in the expression of joy, in a way that is indescribable in words, and in the way he realizes his divine experience as one who has seen and experienced God. In the sense of the means of attaining the Lord, just as the pious theologians show how to receive the grace of the Lord, Abdul Rahman also exemplifies the pursuit of worldly pleasures and attachments, helping one another, living in harmony with virtues without succumbing to vices, such as arrogance. Abdul Rahman points out that the only way to attain God is through the attainment of maturity by realizing through his experience that God is responsible for all the deeds in this world.

Urban aerosol chemistry at a land–water transition site during summer – Part 2: Aerosol pH and liquid water content

Particle acidity (aerosol pH) is an important driver of atmospheric chemical processes and the resulting effects on human and environmental health. Understanding the factors that control aerosol pH is critical when enacting control strategies targeting specific outcomes. This study characterizes aerosol pH at a land–water transition site near Baltimore, MD, during summer 2018 as part of the second Ozone Water-Land Environmental Transition Study (OWLETS-2) field campaign. Inorganic fine-mode aerosol composition, gas-phase NH3 measurements, and all relevant meteorological parameters were used to characterize the effects of temperature, aerosol liquid water (ALW), and composition on predictions of aerosol pH. Temperature, the factor linked to the control of NH3 partitioning, was found to have the most significant effect on aerosol pH during OWLETS-2. Overall, pH varied with temperature at a rate of −0.047 K−1 across all observations, though the sensitivity was −0.085 K−1 for temperatures > 293 K. ALW had a minor effect on pH, except at the lowest ALW levels (< 1 µg m−3), which caused a significant increase in aerosol acidity (decrease in pH). Aerosol pH was generally insensitive to composition (SO42-, SO42-:NH4+, total NH3 (Tot-NH3) = NH3 + NH4+), consistent with recent studies in other locations. In a companion paper, the sources of episodic NH3 events (95th percentile concentrations, NH3 > 7.96 µg m−3) during the study are analyzed; aerosol pH was higher by only ∼ 0.1–0.2 pH units during these events compared to the study mean. A case study was analyzed to characterize the response of aerosol pH to nonvolatile cations (NVCs) during a period strongly influenced by primary Chesapeake Bay emissions. Depending on the method used, aerosol pH was estimated to be either weakly (∼ 0.1 pH unit change based on NH3 partitioning calculation) or strongly (∼ 1.4 pH unit change based on ISORROPIA thermodynamic model predictions) affected by NVCs. The case study suggests a strong pH gradient with size during the event and underscores the need to evaluate assumptions of aerosol mixing state applied to pH calculations. Unique features of this study, including the urban land–water transition site and the strong influence of NH3 emissions from both agricultural and industrial sources, add to the understanding of aerosol pH and its controlling factors in diverse environments.