Volume 8, Issue 1

The present paper aims to introduce the current problems of geomathematics along with giving on overview on the papers published in the special issue covering the Croatian-Hungarian Geomathematical Congress of 2015 in Hungary.

Bacterial methane is a dominant hydrocarbon component in the Northern Croatia’s Adriatic offshore proven hydrocarbon reservoirs. As onshore reserves are declining the potential of shallow gas accumulation, analogue to the Adriatic ones, are being tested. A part of the Lonja Formation (Pliocene Pleistocene and Holocene), the Ravneš Member (Early Pliocene age) is analysed for its maturation and expulsion regarding bacterial methane as potential source and reservoir rocks, especially as it is thermally immature. Two approaches were used for the initial lithology modelling processes - the convergent interpolation and sequential Gaussian simulation. Possibility for trapping and forming of accumulations was also modelled. Results show that selected member has a large source rock potential for bacterial methane with a total volume of 411.53 × 10 9 m 3 for the Convergent interpolation model and 520.56 × 10 9 m 3 for the sequential Gaussian simulation model of expulsed bacterial methane

The volume calculation of geological structures is one of the primary goals of interest when dealing with exploration or production of oil and gas in general. Most of those calculations are done using advanced software packages but still the mathematical workflow (equations) has to be used and understood for the initial volume calculation process. In this paper a comparison is given between bulk volume calculations of geological structures using trapezoidal and Simpson’s rule and the ones obtained from cell-based models. Comparison in calculation is illustrated with four models; dome ‐ 1/2 of ball/sphere, elongated anticline, stratigraphic trap due to lateral facies change and faulted anticline trap. Results show that Simpson’s and trapezoidal rules give a very accurate volume calculation even with a few inputs(isopach areas ‐ ordinates). A test of cell based model volume calculation precision against grid resolution is presented for various cases. For high accuracy, less the 1% of an error from coarsening, a cell area has to be 0.0008% of the reservoir area

The main focus of the paper is to introduce a new approach at studying and modelling the relationship of initial water saturation profile and capillarity in water-wet hydrocarbon reservoirs, and describe the available measurement methods and possible applications. As a side track it aims to highlight a set of derivable parameters of mercury capillary curves using the Thomeer-method. Since the widely used mercury capillary pressure curves themselves can lead to over-, or underestimations regarding in-place and technical volumes and misinterpreted reservoir behaviour, the need for a proper capillary curve is reasonable. Combining the results of mercury and centrifuge capillary curves could yield a capillary curve preserving the strengths of both methods, while overcoming their weaknesses. Mercury injection capillary curves were normalized by using the irreducible water saturations derived from centrifuge capillary pressure measurements of the same core plug, and this new, combined capillary curve was applied for engineering calculations in order to make comparisons with other approaches. The most significant benefit of this approach is, that all of the measured data needed for a valid drainage capillary pressure curve represents the very same sample piece.

Multi-lateral wells have been increasingly used in recent years by different industries including oil- and gas industry along with coal bed methane- and water production. The common purpose of these wells is to achieve a higher production rate per well. More and more sophisticated well patterns and geometries can be implemented in practice which calls for improved modelling techniques. Complicated well geometries and small lateral diameters require high resolution models in the vicinity of the wells. With structured finite difference grids this can only be achieved by unnecessary refinements even far away from the wellbores. However the model may still suffer from orientation problems if laterals do not coincide with the rows or columns of the rectangular mesh. In the present work, we applied unstructured grids to model multi-lateral wells and compared the results to structured models. We used the MODFLOW-USG code, which simulates groundwater flow using a generalized control volume finite-difference approach, allowing grids other than orthogonal structured grids to be applied. This offers a solution for orientation and resolution problems. The second part of the paper aims to optimize multi-lateral well geometry by evaluating the effect of length, angle and number of laterals.

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between structural elements and the so-called genetic lithofacies in a clastic deep-water depositional system. Process-sedimentology has recently been gaining importance in the characterization of these systems. This way the recognized facies attributes can be associated with the depositional processes establishing the genetic lithofacies. In this paper this approach was presented through a case study of a Tertiary deep-water sequence of the Pannonian-basin. Of course it was necessary to interpret the stratigraphy of the sequences in terms of “general” sedimentology, focusing on the structural elements. For this purpose, well-logs and standard deep-water models were applied. The cyclicity of sedimentary sequences can be easily revealed by using Markov chains. Though Markov chain analysis has broad application in mainly fluvial depositional environments, its utilization is uncommon in deep-water systems. In this context genetic lithofacies was determined and analysed by embedded Markov chains. The randomness in the presence of a lithofacies within a cycle was estimated by entropy tests (entropy after depositional, before depositional, for the whole system). Subsequently the relationships between lithofacies were revealed and a depositional model ( i.e. modal cycle) was produced with 90% confidence level of stationarity. The non-randomness of the latter was tested by chi-square test. The consequences coming from the comparison of “general” sequences (composed of architectural elements), the genetic-based sequences (showing the distributions of the genetic lithofacies) and the lithofacies relationships were discussed in details. This way main depositional channel has the best, channelized lobes have good potential hydrocarbon reservoir attributes, with symmetric alternation of persistent fine-grained sandstone (Facies D) and muddy fine-grained sandstone with traction structures (Facies F)

The paper presents the evaluation of engineering geological laboratory test results of core drillings along the new metro line (line 4) in Budapest by using a multivariate data analysis. A data set of 30 core drillings with a total coring length of over 1500 meters was studied. Of the eleven engineering geological parameters considered in this study, only the five most reliable (void ratio, dry bulk density, angle of internal friction, cohesion and compressive strength) representing 1260 data points were used for multivariate (cluster and discriminant) analyses. To test the results of the cluster analysis discriminant analysis was used. The results suggest that the use of multivariate analyses allows the identification of different groups of sediments even when the data sets are overlapping and contain several uncertainties. The tests also prove that the use of these methods for seemingly very scattered parameters is crucial in obtaining reliable engineering geological data for design.

Reed stands may be employed in the amelioration of water quality or even in the treatment of wastewater. In this study, the nutrient concentrations of (i) the above- and below-ground Common Reed ( Phragmites australis ) biomass, and (ii) surface and interstitial water were analyzed in a natural stand used in wastewater treatment. The reed stand was located in Hungarian part of Lake Fertő/Neusiedler See, by the shore near Fertőrákos Bay. The nitrate, phosphate and dissolved organic nitrogen concentrations of surface water were found to be higher on the inlet side of the reed stand compared to the outlet. The N and P concentrations in the above-ground biomass and P concentrations in the below-ground biomass increased after the introduction of pre-treated wastewater. The inter-annual differences in the characteristics of sediment interstitial water and in the nutrient content of reed tissues were assessed using statistical methods. The samples taken before and after the introduction of the pre-treated wastewater in the parcel formed different clusters. The results of the study provide further evidence that the nutrient retention capacity of natural stands of P. australis may be employed in the treatment of wastewater while protecting and preserving the valuable natural assets of the lake.

Time series often contain breakpoints of different origin, i.e. breakpoints, caused by (i) shifts in trend, (ii) other changes in trend and/or, (iii) changes in variance. In the present study, artificially generated time series with white and red noise structures are analyzed using three recently developed breakpoint detection methods. The time series are modified so that the exact “locations” of the artificial breakpoints are prescribed, making it possible to evaluate the methods exactly. Hence, the study provides a deeper insight into the behaviour of the three different breakpoint detection methods. Utilizing this experience can help solving breakpoint detection problems in real-life data sets, as is demonstrated with two examples taken from the fields of paleoclimate research and petrology.

The web has penetrated just about every sphere of human interest and using information from the web has become ubiquitous among different categories of users. Medicine has long being using the benefits of modern technologies and without them it cannot function. This paper offers a proposal of use and mutual collaboration of several modern technologies within facilitating the location and communication between persons in need of emergency medical assistance and the emergency head offices, i.e., the ambulance. The main advantage of the proposed model is the technical possibility of implementation and use of these technologies in developing countries and low implementation cost.

Erosion is a frequently studied natural process. Unfortunately, detailed analysis mostly requires longterm field monitoring or detailed digital elevation models (DEM) which are still absent for many areas. For these reasons we used the dendrogeomorphic method, a valuable tool for erosion analysis. The slopes of a ~220 m long gully close to the Kozárovce village (Slovakia) were the object of our study. We analyzed 53 tree root samples coming from 16 broad-leaved trees of different species. 23 erosion event years were explored during the reconstruction period AD 1972–2013. The mean erosion rate E R was 1.00 cm/year. We were able to create four erosion patterns of slope erosion based on subsequent exposure of different parts of root. These erosion patterns serve as a base for a model of gully cross profile development. The highest values of erosion rate were reconstructed in the lowest parts of gully slopes. The gully sides formed by volcanic rocks are affected by lateral retreat here. Upward erosion dominates in the middle parts of slopes in loess, and downward erosion in the highest parts of the slopes.

The aim of this study is to predict landslide susceptibility caused using the spatial analysis by the application of a statistical methodology based on the GIS. Logistic regression models along with artificial neutral network were applied and validated to analyze landslide susceptibility in Inje, Korea. Landslide occurrence area in the study were identified based on interpretations of optical remote sensing data (Aerial photographs) followed by field surveys. A spatial database considering forest, geophysical, soil and topographic data, was built on the study area using the Geographical Information System (GIS). These factors were analysed using artificial neural network (ANN) and logistic regression models to generate a landslide susceptibility map. The study validates the landslide susceptibility map by comparing them with landslide occurrence areas. The locations of landslide occurrence were divided randomly into a training set (50%) and a test set (50%). A training set analyse the landslide susceptibility map using the artificial network along with logistic regression models, and a test set was retained to validate the prediction map. The validation results revealed that the artificial neural network model (with an accuracy of 80.10%) was better at predicting landslides than the logistic regression model (with an accuracy of 77.05%). Of the weights used in the artificial neural network model, ‘slope’ yielded the highest weight value (1.330), and ‘aspect’ yielded the lowest value (1.000). This research applied two statistical analysis methods in a GIS and compared their results. Based on the findings, we were able to derive a more effective method for analyzing landslide susceptibility.

The location and development of cities has been influenced basically by various environmental factors. However, the relationship is bilateral, because not only the environment can affect the city, but the city can affect the environment in different ways, depending on recovery. This is especially true in the case of large cities such as Budapest where the different geological, geomorphological, hydrological, soil and bio-geographical conditions can be changed in very small areas, which implies that land use can be also modified as well. The aim of our study was to determine the chemical water quality of three small streams in Budapest which have same water flow and compare the field and the laboratory test results. Between many natural characteristics of these streams similarity is evident, however, several differences were found between the watersheds in terms of human land use. Statistical data analysis was performed as well, which was the aim to explore the relationship between the parameters. Overall, according to our study it can be concluded, the small streams have similar water chemical properties, but some parameters need special attention in the future, because the investigated small streams can be categorized into polluted and sometimes heavily polluted category.

The aim of this paper is to delineate the different lead–zinc mineralized zones in the Zardu area of the Kushk zinc–lead stratabound SEDEX deposit, Central Iran, through concentration–volume (C–V) modeling of geological and lithogeochemical drillcore data. The geological model demonstrated that the massive sulfide and pyrite+dolomite ore types as main rock types hosting mineralization. The C–V fractal modeling used lead, zinc and iron geochemical data to outline four types of mineralized zones, which were then compared to the mineralized rock types identified in the geological model. ‘Enriched’ mineralized zones contain lead and zinc values higher than 6.93% and 19.95%, respectively, with iron values lower than 12.02%. Areas where lead and zinc values were higher than 1.58% and 5.88%, respectively, and iron grades lower than 22% are labelled “high-grade” mineralized zones, and these zones are linked to massive sulfide and pyrite+dolomite lithologies of the geological model. Weakly mineralized zones, labelled ‘low-grade’ in the C– V model have 0–0.63% lead, 0–3.16% zinc and > 30.19% iron, and are correlated to those lithological units labeled as gangue in the geological model, including shales and dolomites, pyritized dolomites. Finally, a log-ratio matrix was employed to validate the results obtained and check correlations between the geological and fractal modeling. Using this method, a high overall accuracy (OA) was confirmed for the correlation between the enriched and high-grade mineralized zones and two lithological units — the massive sulfide and pyrite+dolomite ore types.

The paper (communication) presents an overview of hydrologic field experiments at micro-scale in Romania. In order to experimentally investigate micro (plot)-scale hydrological impact of soil erosion, the National Institute of Hydrology and Water Management founded Voineşti Experimental Basin (VES) in 1964 and the Aldeni Experimental Basins (AEB) in 1984. AEB and VES are located in the Curvature Subcarpathians. Experimental plots are organized in a double systems and have an area of 80 m 2 (runoff plots) at AEB and 300 m 2 (water balance plots) at VES. Land use of plot: first plot ”grass-land” is covered with perennial grass and second plot (control) consists in ” bare soil ”. Over the latter one, the soil is hoeing, which results in a greater development of infiltration than in the first plot. Experimental investigations at micro-scale are aimed towards determining the parameters of the water balance equation, during natural and artificial rainfalls, researching of flows and soil erosion processes on experimental plots, extrapolating relations involving runoff coefficients from a small scale to medium scale. Nowadays, the latest evolutions in data acquisition and transmission equipment are represented by sensors (such as: sensors to determinate the soil moisture content). Exploitation and dissemination of hydrologic data is accomplished by research themes/projects, year-books of basic data and papers.

In this study, Multichannel Analysis of Surface Waves Method (MASW), seismic refraction tomography and seismic reflection methods are used together at Silivri district in Istanbul – a district with a landslide problem because of the high speed rail line project crossing through the area. The landslide structure, border and depth of the slip plane are investigated and correlated within the local geology. According to the obtained 2D seismic sections, the landslide occurs through the East-West direction in the study area and the landslide slip plane with its border are clearly obtained under the subsurface. The results prove that the study area is suitable enough for the landslide development and this evolution also affects the high speed rail line project.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of potential pollution sources, mainly from the upstream anthropogenic sources and port-related activities. The in-vestigated area covered a wide range of anthropogenic im-pacts ( e.g ., industrial wastes, storm water runoff, acciden-tal oil spills, intentional discharges and shipping activities). The quality of water and Sediments was assessed us-ing Standard methods, as physical-chemical parameters, chemistry and biology (microbiology, ecotoxicology) aim-ing to figure the level of pollution and the effect of port-related activities. Seawater quality results agreed generally with environmental Standards. Though, in some samples the concentrations of sulphates (mg/1) and heavy metals ( μ g/1), as B, As and Se exceeded the recommended lim-its, without posing a serious environmental concern. Most of the surface sediment samples contain critical levels of hydrocarbons (C>12), (mg/kg), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (ng/g) and polychlorobiphenyls (ng/g). For some heavy metals (mg/kg), exchangeable concentrations were found to be very close or above the regulations. The signifi-cance of this study is incontestable taking into account the lack of previous relevant historical data of this area. In this sense, it was possible to indicate, in general, good environmental conditions, despite the industrial and concentrated local port-related activities in the investigated area.

A total of 112 Au-nuggets, collected from alluvial placer deposits of the Ingarinda River from the Guli massif, located in northem Siberia, Russia, were investigated. The Guli massif consists of a huge dunite-clinopyroxenite complex (the largest complex in the world), an alkaline to highly alkaline rock suite (melilite, nephelinite, ijolite) enveloping the dunite and carbonatite intrusions, associated with disseminated schlieren type chromitite and Au-Ag, Pt placer deposits. The nuggets are characterized by various sizes and shapes and show chemical compositions Au, Au-Ag and AuCu, typical for a derivate of carbon-atites and/or ultramafic complexes. A great variety of oxide, silicate, REE-minerals, carbonate and sulphide inclusions have been detected in the nuggets, which are identical in mineralogy and chemical composition to mineral constituents of the alkaline to highly alkaline rock suite surrounding the Guli dunite core complex thus, considered as the source for Au-nuggets.

The paper presents an objective classification of circulation types for East-Central Europe with application to hourly precipitation events in Lublin (East Poland) from May to September. The development of the classification utilized sub-daily sea-level pressure values (at the main standard synoptic hours, i.e . 00, 06, 12 and 18 UTC). Sea-level pressure values and physical quantities (resultant flow direction and total shear vorticity) defined 27 circulation types: a) eight each of the directional cyclonic, transitional, and anticyclonic circulation types, and b) one each of the non-directional cyclonic, anticyclonic, and undefined types. In the years 1961-2010, the highest mean precipitation amount in the study area was recorded for cyclonic non-directional type C, followed by cyclonic types with air flow from the western and northern sectors. Type C was also distinguished by the highest number of precipitation events with high intensity irrespective of their duration, i.e . short-term, medium-term, and long-term precipitation events. Moreover, in the class of cyclonic types, precipitation events were considerably longer than in anticyclonic and transitional types. On the other hand, for anticyclonic types, precipitation with high intensity was recorded much more rarely, particularly in the case of advection from the southern sector.

This study provides evidences on the beneficial small-scale human-biometeorological effects of a large shade tree during the daytime in summer. We carried out detailed measurement from 10 am to 6 pm with two human-biometeorological stations on a popular square in Szeged, Hungary. One of the stations stood under a great Sophora japonica , while the other in the sun. Compared to the sunny location, we found 0.5°C lower air temperature, 2% higher relative humidity and 0.4 hPa higher vapor pressure under the tree. From human-biometeorological point of view, we observed more significant differences. The tree reduced the mean radiant temperature by 22.1°C and the physiological equivalent temperature by 9.3°C - indicating about two categories lower physiological stress on the human body. In order to demonstrate the background mechanisms of these differences, we analyzed separately the components of the radiation budget. The effect of tree crown on radiation components was found to be greater in the short-wave domain than in the long-wave domain. The extended foliage reduced the solar radiation from the upper hemisphere and thus lowered the radiation from the ground (the reflected short-wave and the emitted longwave flux densities) along with the radiation from the lateral directions.

Ground collapses over abandoned underground mines constitute a new environmental risk in the world. The high risk associated with subsurface voids, together with lack of knowledge of the geometric and geomechanical features of mining areas, makes abandoned underground mines one of the current challenges for countries with a long mining history. In this study, a stability analysis of Montevecchia marl mine is performed in order to validate a general approach that takes into account the poor local information and the variability of the input data. The collapse risk was evaluated through a numerical approach that, starting with some simplifying assumptions, is able to provide an overview of the collapse probability. The final results is an easy-accessible-transparent summary graph that shows the collapse probability. This approach may be useful for public administrators called upon to manage this environmental risk. The approach tries to simplify this complex problem in order to achieve a roughly risk assessment, but, since it relies on just a small amount of information, any final user should be aware that a comprehensive and detailed risk scenario can be generated only through more exhaustive investigations.

Boda Claystone Formation (BCF) is the host rock of the planned site for high level nuclear waste repository inHungary. Samples representing the dominant rock types of BCF were studied: albitic claystone, claystone with high illite content, and analcime bearing claystone. Clay minerals in these three rock types were characterized by Xray powder diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and thermal analysis (DTA-TG), and the results were discussed from the point of view of the radionuclide sorption properties being studied in the future. Mineral compositions of bulk BCF samples vary in wide ranges. In the albitic sample, besides the dominant illite, few percent of chlorite represents the layer silicates in the clay fraction. Illite is the dominating phase in the illitic sample, with a few percent of chlorite. HRTEM study revealed that the thickness of illite particles rarely reaches 10 layers, usually are of 5-6 TOT layer thick. Illite crystals are generally thicker in the albitic sample than in the illitic one. The significant difference between the clay mineral characterisitics of the analcimous and the other two samples is that the former contains regularly interstratified chlorite/smectite beside the dominant illite. Based on the structural and chemical data two illite type minerals are present in the BCF samples: 1M polytype containing octahedral Fe and Mg besides Al, 2M polytype illite generally is free of Fe andMg. Close association of very thin illite plates and nanosized hematite crystals is typical textural feature for BCF. The goal of this study is to provide solid mineralogical basis for further studies focusing on radionuclide sorption properties.

Kriging is one of the geostatistical techniques for spatial data analysis that is usually used for a modelling of natural phenomena or a creation of digital elevation models. In this paper, we introduce kriging methods in the context of a landslide modelling in time. The proposed procedure, as well as most of the statistical methods, is designed for complete data sets, i.e . the observations at the beginning and the end of the study are available. In order to use all the information from the data and to avoid the loss of information after omitting observations with missing values, the algorithm for imputation of missing data values based on kriging techniques is proposed. The methodology was verified by the landslide modelling in Halenkovice, Czech Republic, during the period from June 2008 to March 2010. The obtained results showed a potential of kriging methods for the landslide modelling.

The main objective of this study was to evaluate the suitability and select the most appropriate areas for building campgrounds in Kuerdening, China. To achieve this aim, AHP and GIS-based weighted overlay methods were adopted. AHP was used to determine the weights of the indexes, and ArcGIS 10 was used to calculate and map the campground suitability. In pursuit of minimum environmental effects and sustainable development, this paper identifies four factors to evaluate the suitability of areas for building campgrounds: natural environment condition, landscape condition, safety condition and infrastructure condition. The final outcome of this studywas the suitability map for building campgrounds. This research not only provides a theoretical guide for the construction of campgrounds in this area but also provides a scientific and efficientworkflow to evaluate the appropriateness of other areas. The result is reasonable and operable for camping facilities development and also useful for managers and planners working in local governments as well as investors.

This study is aimed at investigating the relationship between landform classification and vegetation in the southwest of Fars province, Iran. First, topographic position index (TPI) is used to perform landform classification using a Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) digital elevation model (DEM) with resolution of 30 m. The classification has ten classes; high ridges, midslope ridges, upland drainage, upper slopes, open slopes, plains, valleys, local ridges, midslope drainage and streams. Visual interpretation indicates that for the local, midslope and high ridge landforms, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) values and tree heights are higher as compared to the other landforms. In addition, it is found that there are positive and significant correlations betweenNDVI and tree height ( r = 0.923), and landform and NDVI ( r = 0.640). This shows that landform classification and NDVI can be used to predict tree height in the area. High correlation of determination ( R 2 ) 0.909 is obtained for the prediction of tree height using landform classification and NDVI.

This article presents a study of the ground thermal regime recorded at 11 stations in the North Dakota Agricultural Network. Particular focus is placed on detecting trends in the annual ground freeze process portion of the ground thermal regime’s daily temperature signature. A multivariate storage model from queuing theory is fit to a quantity of estimated daily depths of frozen soil. Statistical inference on a trend parameter is obtained by minimizing a weighted sum of squares of a sequence of daily one-step-ahead predictions. Standard errors for the trend estimates are presented. It is shown that the daily quantity of frozen ground experienced at these 11 sites exhibited a negative trend over the observation period.

Standardization of methods for data exchange in GIS has along history predating the creation of World Wide Web. The advent of World Wide Web brought the emergence of new solutions for data exchange and sharing including; more recently, standards proposed by the W3C for data exchange involving Semantic Web technologies and linked data. Despite the growing interest in integration, GIS and linked data are still two separate paradigms for describing and publishing spatial data on the Web. At the same time, both paradigms offer complementary ways of representing real world phenomena and means of analysis using different processing functions. The complementarity of linked data and GIS can be leveraged to synergize both paradigms resulting in richer data content and more powerful inferencing. The article presents an approach aimed at integrating linked data with GIS. The approach relies on the use of GIS tools for integration, verification and enrichment of linked data. The GIS tools are employed to enrich linked data by furnishing access to collection of data resources, defining relationship between data resources, and subsequently facilitating GIS data integration with linked data. The proposed approach is demonstrated with examples using data from DBpedia, OSM, and tools developed by the authors for standard GIS software.

A time cartogram visualizes travelling-times between locations. It replaces the geographic distance by time distance and distorts the underlyingmap accordingly. By distorting themap, time cartogramsmay give a more intuitive and clear picture of travelling-times. The distortion of the map, however, can make time cartograms harder to recognize and use. Although cartograms are becoming widespread in use, very little is known about their usability. This study focuses on the usability of centered time cartograms: time cartograms that visualize travellingtimes from a fixed starting location to other destinations in a region. We created several centered time cartograms to answer spatio-temporal questions related to the Dutch railway network. Two experiments were performed: a laboratory test and an online survey. In the laboratory test, we used eye-tracking, thinking aloud, and video-recording to compare four different designs of centered time cartograms to find out which one (or combination) of these performs better in answering spatiotemporal questions and thus, to establish a favorable design strategy for these cartograms. In the online survey, centered time cartograms were evaluated against a geographic and schematic map for accuracy, response time, and preference. The first experiment suggested that among various designs, the centered time cartogram with emphasized railroads is the most preferred design and the centered time cartogram without railroads is the least preferred. The second experiment indicated that overall, centered time cartograms perform better than the two other solutions in performing spatio-temporal tasks, particularly when the task has a dominant time-related component.

Mass displacement of materials such as landslide is considered among problematic phenomena in Baqi Basin located at southern slopes of Binaloud, Iran; since, it destroys agricultural lands and pastures and also increases deposits at the basin exit. Therefore, it is necessary to identify areas which are sensitive to landslide and estimate the significant volume. In the present study, in order to estimate the volume of landslide, information about depth and area of slides was collected; then, considering regression assumptions, a power regression model was given which was compared with 17 suggested models in various regions in different countries. The results showed that values of estimated mass obtained from the suggested model were consistent with observed data (P value= 0.000 and R = 0.692) and some of the existing relations which implies on efficiency of the suggested model. Also, relations that were created in small-area landslides were more suitable rather than the ones created in large-area landslides for using in Baqi Basin. According to the suggested relation, average depth value of landslides was estimated 3.314 meters in Baqi Basin which was close to the observed value, 4.609 m.

Numerical models were developed in order to provide a suitable computational framework for exploring research questions related to long-term landscape evolution. We used the Channel-Hillslope Integrated Landscape Development (CHILD) model to prove three hypotheses concerning the processes contributing to the neotectonic landscape evolution of the Tribeč Mts. and the Pohronský Inovec Mts. (Western Carpathians): (1) simultaneous planation and uplift; (2) temporally and spatially varying uplift; (3) exhumation of a part of the area from below Neogene sediments. Given the size of the area, its lithological variability and the insufficient knowledge of the palaeogeographical settings, using a detachment-limited model to express river incision into bedrock as well as water (rill) erosion on hillslopes proved the best solution. Results of the simulations were compared with real topography through hypsographic curves and the distribution of remnants of planation surfaces. The real surface corresponds best to a combination of the hypotheses (2) and (3), with more intensive Quaternary tectonic uplift of the Pohronský Inovec Mts. and the adjacent Rázdiel part of the Tribeč Mts., and exhumation of a mature palaeosurface from below Miocene sediments in the east of the Tribeč Mts.

Studies of Quaternary malacological assemblages from the loess-paleosol section of Črvenka (Vojvodina region, Serbia) provided the opportunity to examine the paleobiogeographic dynamics of the southern part of the Carpathian Basin. The results of quantitative-statistical, paleoecological and paleobiogeographical analyses performed on 9185 specimens of 38 mollusc species from six stratigraphic units showed that the study area was a transition area between the refuge areas in the Carpathian Basin during the Pleistocene.

The peat bog at Ócsa is located at the northern part of the Danube-Tisa Interfluves at the transitional zone of two landscapes with different morphological characters. At the boundary of the Danube-Tisa Interfluves and the Danube-along Plain a marshland sequence can be found from Hajós to Ócsa. We extended our research to the Ócsa peat bog to complete the environmental historical investigations in the examined area, as well. The bog is located in a former pool formed by the Danube River in which aeolian sand and thick lake sediment deposited from the Late Pleistocene. The initial oligotrophic lake became mesotrophic, therefore thick carbonate sediment deposited. Afterwards, as a consequence of the Neolithic human occupations, the natural development of the lake changed drastically and the lake choked up. The pollen and quartermalacological analysis of the area support the mentioned geological processes.

We consider migration in reflection seismics from a completely analytical perspective. We review the basic geometrical ray-path approach to understanding the subject of migration, and discuss the limitations of this method. We stress the importance of the linear differential wave equation in migration. We also review briefly how a wavefield, travelling with a constant velocity, is extrapolated from the differential wave equation, with the aid of Fourier transforms. Then we present a non-numerical treatment by which we derive an asymptotic solution for both the amplitude and the phase of a planar subsurface wavefield that has a vertical velocity variation. This treatment entails the application of the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin approximation, whose self-consistency can be established due to a very slow logarithmic variation of the velocity in the vertical direction, a feature that holds more firmly at increasingly greater subsurface depths. For a planar subsurface wavefield, we also demonstrate an equivalence between two apparently different migration algorithms, namely, the constant-velocity Stolt Migration algorithm and the stationary-phase approximation method.

The Ndop Plain, located along the Cameroon Volcanic Line (CVL), is a volcano-tectonic plain, formed by a series of tectonic movements, volcanic eruptions and sedimentation phases. Floods (annually) and landslides (occasionally) occur with devastating environmental effects. However, this plain attracts a lot of inhabitants owing to its fertile alluvial soils. With demographic explosion in the plain, the inhabitants (143,000 people) tend to farm and inhabit new zones which are prone to these geohazards. In this paper, we use field observations, laboratory analyses, satellite imagery and complementary methods using appropriate software to establish hazard (flood and landslide) maps of the Ndop Plain. Natural factors as well as anthropogenic factors are considered. The hazard maps revealed that 25% of the area is exposed to flood hazard (13% exposed to high flood hazard, 12% to moderate) and 5% of the area is exposed to landslide hazard (2% exposed to high landslide hazard, 3% to moderate). Some mitigation measures for floods (building of artificial levees, raising foundations of buildings and the meticulous regulation of the flood guards at Bamendjing Dam) and landslides (slope terracing, planting of trees, and building retaining walls) are proposed.

A backscattering trend in the range direction of the signal received by Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) in Wide Swath (WS) mode results in a progressive reduction of brightness over images from near to far range, which affects the detection and classification of sea surface features on wide swath SAR images. The aim of the present paper is to investigate methods for limiting the issue of Normalized Radar Cross-Section (NRCS or σ °) variation due to the incidence angle. Two sensor independent functions are investigated: a theoretical backscattering shape function derived from a minimum wind speed and an empirical range fit of NRCS against incidence angle θ . The former method exploits only the modeled NRCS values while the latter only the image content. The results were compared with the squared cosine correction, the most widely applied method for normalization, using six newly developed comparison factors. The results showed that the cosine squared normalization has the lowest efficiency while the proposed methods have similar behaviors and comparable results. Nevertheless, after the log-transformation and summation of the comparison factors, it was clearly shown that theoretical normalization performance is superior to the empirical one since it has the highest accuracy and requires less computational time.

The changes in rate and pattern of wind erosion sensitivity due to climate change were investigated for 2021–2050 and 2071–2100 compared to the reference period (1961–1990) in Hungary. The sensitivities of the main influencing factors (soil texture, vegetation cover and climate factor) were evaluated by fuzzy method and a combined wind erosion sensitivity map was compiled. The climate factor, as the driving factor of the changes, was assessed based on observed data for the reference period, while REMO and ALADIN regional climate model simulation data for the future periods. The changes in wind erosion sensitivity were evaluated on potentially affected agricultural land use types, and hot spot areas were allocated. Based on the results, 5–6% of the total agricultural areas were high sensitive areas in the reference period. In the 21st century slight or moderate changes of wind erosion sensitivity can be expected, and mostly ‘pastures’, ‘complex cultivation patterns’, and ‘land principally occupied by agriculture with significant areas of natural vegetation’ are affected. The applied combination of multi-indicator approach and fuzzy analysis provides novelty in the field of land sensitivity assessment. The method is suitable for regional scale analysis of wind erosion sensitivity changes and supports regional planning by allocating priority areas where changes in agro-technics or land use have to be considered.

This study investigates the low-frequency (interannual and longer period) variability in three hydroclimatic records from east Central Europe. Two of these records consist of climate proxies derived from oak-tree rings in Bakta forest, and Balaton Highlands in Hungary, for the time interval 1783-2003. The third record consists of homogenized instrumental precipitation data from Budapest, Hungary, from 1842 to 2003. Using wavelet analysis, the three time series are analyzed and compared with one another. It is found that all three time series exhibit strong interannual variability at the 2-4 years timescales, and these variations occur intermittently throughout the length of each record. Significant variability is also observed in all the records at decadal timescales, but these variations persist for only two to three cycles. Wavelet coherence among the various time series is used to explore their time-varying correlation. The results reveal significant coherence at the 2-4 years band. At these timescales, the climatic variations are correlated to the tree-ring signal over different time intervals with changing phase. Increased (decreased) contribution of large-scale stratiform precipitation offers a potential explanation for enhanced (faded) coherence at the interannual timescale. Strong coherence was also observed occasionally at decadal timescales, however these coherences did not appear uniformly. These results reinforce the earlier assertion that neither the strength nor the rank of the similarity of the local hydroclimate signals is stable throughout the past two centuries.

The article presents detailed geostatistical analysis of spatial distribution of lead and zinc concentration in water, suspension and bottom sediments of large, urban lake exposed to intensive anthropogenic pressure within a large city. Systematic chemical measurements were performed at eleven cross-sections located along Czerniakowskie Lake, the largest lake in Warsaw, the capital of Poland. During the summer, the lake is used as a public bathing area, therefore, to better evaluate human impacts, field measurements were carried out in high-use seasons. It was found that the spatial distributions of aqueous lead and zinc differ during the summer and autumn. In summer several Pb and Zn hot-spots were observed, while during autumn spatial distributions of Pb and Zn were rather homogenous throughout the entire lake. Large seasonal differences in spatial distributions of Pb and Zn were found in bottom sediments. Autumn concentrations of both heavy metals were ten times higher in comparison with summer values. Clear cross-correlations of Pb and Zn concentrations in water, suspension and bottom sediments suggest that both Pb and Zn came to Czerniakowskie Lake from the same source.

The spectral reflectance of the surface provides valuable information about the environment, which can be used to identify objects (e.g. land cover classification) or to estimate quantities of substances (e.g. biomass). We aimed to develop an MS Excel add-in – Hyperspectral Data Analyst (HypDA) – for a multipurpose quantitative analysis of spectral data in VBA programming language. HypDA was designed to calculate spectral indices from spectral data with user defined formulas (in all possible combinations involving a maximum of 4 bands) and to find the best correlations between the quantitative attribute data of the same object. Different types of regression models reveal the relationships, and the best results are saved in a worksheet. Qualitative variables can also be involved in the analysis carried out with separability and hypothesis testing; i.e . to find the wavelengths responsible for separating data into predefined groups. HypDA can be used both with hyperspectral imagery and spectrometer measurements. This bivariate approach requires significantly fewer observations than popular multivariate methods; it can therefore be applied to a wide range of research areas.

Information on structural composition of organic matter (OM) in particle-size fractions of soils along a climo-biosequence is sparse. The objective of this study was to examine structural composition and morphological characteristics of OM in particle-size fractions of soils along a climo-biosequence in order to better understand the factors and processes affecting structural composition of soil organic matter. To explore changes in structural composition of OM in soils with different pedogenesis, the A-horizon was considered for further analyses including particle-size fractionation, solid-state 13 C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Due to the increase in the thickness of organic layer with increasing elevation, the A-horizon was situated at greater depth in soils of higher elevation. The relationship between relative abundances of carbon (C) structures and particle-size fractions was examined using principal component analysis (PCA). It was found that alkyl C (20.1-73.4%) and O-alkyl C (16.8-67.7%) dominated particle-size fractions. The proportion of alkyl C increased with increasing elevation, while O-alkyl C showed an opposite trend. Results of PCA confirmed this finding and showed the relative enrichment of alkyl C in soils of higher elevation. Increase in the proportion of alkyl C in 250-2000 μm fraction is linked to selective preservation of aliphatic compounds derived from root litter. SEM results showed an increase in root contribution to the 250-2000 μm fraction with increasing elevation. For the <53 μm fraction, pedogenic process of podzolization is responsible for the relative enrichment of alkyl C. This study demonstrates that changes in structural composition of OM in particle-size fractions of soils along the studied climo-biosequence are attributed to site-specific differences in pedogenesis as a function of climate and vegetation.

On the 9 th of January 2001 a seismic swarm on the southeastern flank of Mt. Etna at 3.5 km beside sea level (b.s.l.), caused co-seismic variations on short and long baseline tiltmeters of the Mt. Etna permanent tilt network. Taking account of the geometry and mechanism of the active tectonic structure obtained by seismological studies, the theoretical tilt linked to the faulting source was calculated at multiple different recording stations. It was found that the amount of measured deformation exceeded that which was generated seismically, indicating that much of the deformation along the fault was aseismic. The 9 January 2001 episode represents a shear response to a local stress caused by a volcanic source that acted in the period preceding the 2001 eruption. Tilt data also suggest a marked slip of 70-140 cm along the fault, probably due to the presence of fluids.

The main contribution of this paper is to develop a method to determine the in situ stress on an engineering scale by modifying the elasto-static thermal stress model (Sheorey’s model). The suggested method, firstly, introduces correction factors for the local tectonism to reflect the stress distribution difference caused by local tectonic movements. The correction factors can be determined by the least-squares approach based on laboratory tests and local in situ stress measurements. Then, the rock elastic modulus is replaced by rock mass elastic modulus so as to show the effect of rock discontinuities on the in situ stress. Combining with elasticity theory, equations for estimating the major and minor horizontal stresses are obtained. It is possible to reach satisfactory accuracy for stress estimation. To show the feasibility of this method, it is applied to two deep tunnels in China to determine the in situ stress. Field tests, including in situ stress measurements by conventional hydraulic fracturing (HF) and rock mass modulus measurements using a rigid borehole jack (RBJ), are carried out. It is shown that the stress field in the two deep tunnels is dominated by horizontal tectonic movements. The major and minor horizontal stresses are estimated, respectively. Finally, the results are compared with those derived from the HF method. The calculated results in the two tunnels roughly coincide with the measured results with an average of 15% allowable discrepancy.

The primary goal of this study is to generate the NEHRP soil classification map for Lamphun City using the average shear wave velocity values (Vs (30) ) derived from the multi-channel analysis of surface wave (MASW) data. The secondary goal is to use the Vs (30) data to create the preliminary site amplification map of the city. For this work, multi-channel surface wave seismic data were acquired at 48 preselected sites in the Lamphun City area, northern Thailand. After generating the NEHRP map, soil class D is found to be present mostly in the northern part of the area, while soil class C is found mostly in the southern part. A major part of the Lamphun City is located on soil class D. The soil amplification map indicates higher amplification in the east, north and west of the city, where the soils consisted of mostly soft sediments from the alluvial plain and river terrace. The central and south eastern parts of Lamphun City had a relatively low amplification, perhaps because the sediment in this part is relatively thin or the bedrock is shallow. The results of study imply that the major part of Lamphun city may experience earthquake ground shaking due to amplification of the soft soils.

Spatial variations of b values were studied by means of 2376 earthquakes with a magnitude completeness of 2.7 in the Armutlu Peninsula (NW Turkey) during a 15-year period following the destructive earthquake on August 17, 1999 in Kocaeli. The b value of L6 for the entire Armutlu Peninsula represents a large value for a global value, but this analysis suggested that the distribution of b value around the Armutlu Peninsula varied extensively from 1.2 to 2.6. Several pockets of high bvalue reflected changes in the physical properties of the Armutlu Peninsula. The southern part of the peninsula represents a lower b value against the northern part of the peninsula. A high b value was observed around Termal and Armutlu towns where plenty of geothermal springs occur. Seismic tomography studies revealed a low velocity zone beneath the Termal area where the high b value was imaged in this study. A seismic swarm which is considered to be related with geothermal activity also occurred in 2014 at the same place. This observation suggests that it is possible to propose that the high b value in the northern part of the peninsula could be related to hydrothermal/geothermal activity which contributes to lowering the effective stress.

Linked Data represents the new trend in geoinformatics and geomatics. It produces a structure of objects (in a form of concepts or terms) interconnected by object relations expressing a type of semantic relationships of various concepts. The research published in this article studies, if objects connected by above mentioned relations are more similar than objects representing the same phenomenon, but standing alone. The phenomenon “forest” and relevant geographical concepts were chosen as the domain of the research. The concepts similarity (Tanimoto coefficient as a specification of Tversky index) was computed on the basis of explicit information provided by thesauri containing particular concepts. Overall in the seven thesauri (AGROVOC, EuroVoc, GEMET, LusTRE/EARTh, NAL, OECD and STW) there was tested if the “forest” concept interconnected by the relation skos:exactMatch are more similar than other, not interlinked concepts. The results of the research are important for the sharing and combining of geographical data, information and knowledge. The proposed methodology can be reused to a comparison of other geographical concepts.

The Mediterranean Sea is an ideal location to test the response of organisms to hydrological transformations driven by climate change. Here we review studies carried out on planktonic foraminifera and coccolithophores during the late Quaternary and attempt the comparison of data scattered in time and space. We highlight the prompt response of surface water ecosystems to both orbital- and suborbital-climatic variations. A markedly different spatial response was observed in calcareous plankton assemblages, possibly due to the influence of the North Atlantic climatic system in the western, central and northern areas and of the monsoon system in the easternmost and southern sites. Orbital-induced climatic dynamics led to productive surface waters in the northern, western and central Mediterranean Sea during the last glacial and to distinct deep chlorophyll maximum layers in the eastern Mediterranean Sea coinciding with bottom anoxia episodes. High-frequency planktonic modifications are well documented in the Sicily Channel and Alboran Sea and highlight the occurrence of different steps within a single stadial (cold phase)/interstadial (warm phase) oscillation. The review of planktonic organisms in the marine sedimentary archive casts light on the uniqueness of the Mediterranean Sea, especially in terms of climatic/oceanographic/biological interaction and influence of different climatic systems on distinct areas. Further research is needed in the eastern Mediterranean Sea where results are obscured by low-resolution sedimentary records and by a strong focus on sapropel deposition dynamics.

All official data are currently integrated and harmonized in a spatial reference system. This paper outlines a national geodetic and cartographic resources in Poland. The national geodetic and cartographic resources are an important part of the spatial information infrastructure in the European Community. They also provide reference data for other resources of Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI), including: main and detailed geodetic control networks, base maps, land and buildings registries, geodetic registries of utilities and topographic maps. This paper presents methods of producing digital map data and technical standards for field surveys, and in addition paper also presents some aspects of building Global and Regional SDI.

This paper examines temporal and spatial variability and trends of annual and seasonal precipitation in Slovenia and their relationship with three atmospheric circulation patterns represented by their indices: North Atlantic Oscillation index (NAOi), Mediterranean Oscillation index (MOi) andWestern Mediterranean Oscillation index (WeMOi). Data from 45 precipitation stations were used for the period 1963–2012.Mean annual precipitation varies from 736 mm in eastern Slovenia to 2,518 mm in northwestern Slovenia. A significant annual precipitation decrease (from −3% to −6% per decade) is observed in western Slovenia. Significant negative trends are observed in southwestern Slovenia in summer (from −4% to −10% per decade) and near the Adriatic coast in spring (from −6% to −10% per decade). Non-significant negative and positive trends are observed in winter and autumn, respectively. Results indicate significant correlations between winter precipitation and MOi (from −0.3 to −0.7), NAOi (from −0.3 to −0.6) andWeMOi (from 0.3 to 0.6). Significant We-MOi influence is observed in spring and autumn, while NAOi and MOi influence has not been detected. Annual precipitation and WeMOi are significantly correlated in central and eastern Slovenia, while significant NAOi and MOi influence is observed in western Slovenia (with the larger area covered by MOi influence).

For comprehensive utilization of powder quartz, a detailed mineralogical analysis is needed. In this paper, the minerals collected from a powder quartz deposit in Yunnan Province and its purification products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), chemical composition, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses. The raw powder quartz deposit had a simple mineral composition made of 85% quartz and 15% clay minerals kaolinite and illite with a trace amount of feldspar. It had narrow particle size distribution with whiteness of 81.4. The impurity minerals kaolinite and illite existed in the forms of aggregates with quartz or inclusions in quartz particles and could be easily removed. The mineralogical characterization suggested that the powder quartz deposit was formed by long-term weathering of feldspathic or felsic rocks, possible of pegmatitic origin.

The Dongying anticline is an E-W striking complex fault-bounded block unit which located in the central Dongying Depression, Bohai Bay Basin. The anticline covers an area of approximately 12 km 2 . The overlying succession, which is mainly composed of Tertiary strata, is cut by normal faults with opposing dips. In terms of the general structure, the study area is located in a compound transfer zone with major bounding faults to the west (Ying 1 fault) and east (Ying -8 and -31 faults). Using three-dimensional seismic data, wireline log and checkshot data, the geometries and kinematics of faults in the transfer zone were studied, and fault displacements were calculated. The results show that when activity on the Ying 1 fault diminished, displacement was transferred to the Ying -8, Ying -31 and secondary faults so that total displacement increased. Dynamic analysis shows that the stress fields in the transfer zone were complex: the northern portion was a left-lateral extensional shear zone, and the southern portion was a right-lateral extensional shear zone. A model of potential hydrocarbon traps in the Dongying transfer zone was constructed based on the above data combined with the observed reservoir rock distribution and the sealing characteristics of the faults. The hydrocarbons were mainly expulsed from Minfeng Sag during deposition periods of Neogene Guantao and Minghuazhen Formations, and migrated along major faults from source kitchens to reservoirs. The secondary faults acted as barriers, resulting in the formation of fault-bound compartments. The high points of the anticline and well-sealed traps near secondary faults are potential targets. This paper provides a reservoir formation model of the low-order transfer zone and can be applied to the hydrocarbon exploration in transfer zones, especially the complex fault block oilfields in eastern China.

In order to determine the groundwater resources and potentials of the Khanewal District of Pakistan, a geophysical method in combination with pumping test data were used. An analytical relationship between the aquifer parameters interpreted from surface geoelectrical method and pumping test was established in order to estimate aquifer parameters from surface measurements where no pumping tests exist. For the said purpose, 48 geoelectric investigations were carried out using Schlumberger vertical electrical sounding (VES). Seven of the soundings were conducted where pumping tests had been carried out at borehole sites. The vertical electrical sounding stations were interpreted, and resistivities and thickness parameters were calculated. The values of transmissivity and hydraulic conductivity were calculated using the Dar Zarrouk parameter. Transmissivity values obtained from pumping test data and the VES method range between 954 – 4263 m 2 /day and 200 – 5600 m 2 /day respectively. Hydraulic conductivity values determined from pumping test data and geoelectrical technique range between 15.9 – 60.9 m/day and 29.76 - 72.3 m/day respectively. The low values of transmissivity and hydraulic conductivity indicate clay or shale while high values are due to the presence of sand or gravel. A comparison of the transmissivity values obtained from pumping test data and surface geoelectrical method shows a positive correlation (R 2 =0.90). Similarly, the regression between hydraulic conductivity determined from the pumping test data and the geoelectrical method is also positively correlated (R 2 =0.96). The results provide a quick and useful estimation of aquifer properties and potentials.

People loss is one of the most important information that the government concerns after an earthquake, because it affects appropriate rescue levels. However, existing evaluation methods often consider an entire stricken region as a whole assessment area but disregard the spatial disparity of influencing factors. As a consequence, results are inaccurately evaluated. In order to address this problem, this paper proposes a post-earthquake evaluation approach of people loss based on the seismic multi-level hybrid grid (SMHG). In SMHG, the whole area is divided into grids at different levels with various sizes. In this manner, the efficiency of data management is improved. With SMHG, disaster statistics can be easily counted under both the administrative unit and per unit area. The proposed approach was then applied to investigate Yushu M s 7.1 earthquake in China. Results revealed that the number of deaths varied with different exposure grids. Among all the different grids, we found that using the 50×50 exposure grid can get the most satisfactory results, and the estimated number of deaths was 2,203, with an 18.3% deviation from the actual loss. People loss results obtained through the proposed approach were more accurate than those obtained through traditional GIS-based methods.

Global and nation-wide DEM do not preserve the same height accuracy throughout the area of study. Instead of assuming a single RMSE value for the whole area, this study proposes a vario-model that divides the area into sub-regions depending on the land-use / landcover (LULC) classification, and assigns a local accuracy per each zone, as these areas share similar terrain formation and roughness, and tend to have similar DEM accuracies. A pilot study over Lebanon using the SRTM and ASTER DEMs, combined with a set of 1,105 randomly distributed ground control points (GCPs) showed that even though the inputDEMs have different spatial and temporal resolution, and were collected using difierent techniques, their accuracy varied similarly when changing over difierent LULC classes. Furthermore, validating the generated vario-models proved that they provide a closer representation of the accuracy to the validating GCPs than the conventional RMSE, by 94% and 86% for the SRTMand ASTER respectively. Geostatistical analysis of the input and output datasets showed that the results have a normal distribution, which support the generalization of the proven hypothesis, making this finding applicable to other input datasets anywhere around the world.

In the last five centuries, the inappropriate management of the Vel’ká Fatra Mts. sub-alpine and alpine areas has led to the development of different forms of surface destruction. For evaluation of the dynamics and variability of surface degradation the territory of the Hornojelenská valley was chosen. It is a significant avalanche area. It has clearly been destroyed by avalanches, water erosion and cryogenic erosion as well as anthropo-zoogenic processes. The forms of destruction were mapped on a scale of 1:200 based on the aerial photographs and satellite images taken in 1961, 2003, 2009 and 2012. The total area of degradative morphogenetic forms (DMF) in 1961 was 5.5780 ha, 4.0650 ha in 2003, 4.5752 ha in 2009 and 4.9431 ha in 2012. The DMF reached its peak in 1961. In the mid-1960s, there were ambitions to reforest the highest areas of the study area that led to the decrease of DMF and the development of vegetation. The present exogenous geomorphologic processes are causing a gradual increase of the total destructed area.

Swash zone topography rapidly responds to the surf zone waves. Understanding how sandy beaches respond to wave action is critical for beach erosion research, and plays a critical role in the design and maintenance of shore protection structures. The main objectives of this study were to detect the relationship between high-frequency beachface oscillations and surf zone wave characteristics under plunging breakers by using Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA). The study site is located in Houjiangwan Bay, eastern Guangdong. Topography data were sampled at 6 min intervals. The wave characteristic parameters were calculated by spectrum method. During the field work, the beach showed a reflective state and plunging breakers controlled the surf zone. The beach cusp topography was destructed gradually. The analysis provides 4 canonical correlation processes between the beachface variations and surf zone waves, which explained 95.28% of the overall variation in the data. The result shows wave steepness, the irregularity factor and spectral broadness factor had strong impacts on the topography. The wave steepness was the most important factor for beach profile variations. The results of the present study indicate that data-driven statistical analysis, such as CCA, is useful for analyzing profile response to waves if there is strong correlation between the two variables (beach profiles and wave).

The approach presented in this paper characterises the uncertainty related to the outputs of a sequential Gaussian simulation. The input data set was a random subset of a complete CT slice. To outline possible, characteristically different groups of realisations within the outputs, we performed a distance-based classification of the realisations based on their derived connectivity features. Global metrics of connectivity also called geo-body or geoobject connectivity is derivative properties related to the overall structure of the simulated field. Based on these attributes stochastic images, which show the same characteristics from a statistical point of view become distinguishable. The scenarios generated this way are able to bridge the gap of information content between the individual stochastic images and the entirety of the pooled realisations. Scenarios are also capable of highlighting the groups of most probable outcomes from the realisations while screening the effect of ergodic fluctuations of the individual stochastic images. They yield a more realistic representation of the smaller scale heterogeneities than the individual stochastic images. In this sense, our approach is able to resolve the question of how many realisations to choose for the assessment of uncertainty. Besides, it eliminates subjectivity and supports reproducible decision-making when the task is to select stochastic images for dynamic simulation.

The Ordos Basin is the second largest sedimentary basin in China. The Yanchang Formation is the key oilbearing layer in the Ordos Basin. The stratigraphic time interval and the stratigraphic division of the Yanchang Formation has been highly debated with estimates ranging from Middle Triassic to Late Triassic. According to the latest studies on the stratigraphical division of Yanchang Formation, it was considered to be deposited as early as the Middle Triassic. Based on this new understanding, we reexamined the previous studies of the detrital zircons from the lower Yanchang Formation. The detrital zircons from the lower Yanchang Formation were divided into three groups based on their U-Pb ages: Paleozoic, Paleoproterozoic, and Neoarchean. The lack of Neoproterozoic U-Pb ages indicates no input from either the Qinling Orogen or the Qilian Orogen. The two older age groups (Paleoproterozoic, and Neoarchean) are likely derived from the North China Craton basement. The Paleozoic zircons were derived from the Inner Mongolia Paleo-uplift. The lower Yanchang Formation was mainly derived from the Inner Mongolia Paleo-uplift instead of being recycled from the previous sedimentary material from the central-eastern North China Craton as was previously hypothesized.

This paper introduces the Third International Conference on Remote Sensing and Geoinformation of Environment - RSCy2015, which was organized by the Cyprus Remote Sensing Society. A brief summary of the institution is made, followed by an overview of selected papers that were presented at this Conference.

Spatial Planning is a critical tool for land management and is extensively used in all developed nations. The Marine Spatial Planning (MSP), at the European Union (EU) level, is based on Directive 2014/89/EU of the European Parliament and Council of 23 rd July 2014 which establishes a common framework for MSP in the EU, which each Member State is called to apply in relation to the maritime space under its jurisdiction (marine waters). In this paper the overall results from the “Cross-Border Cooperation for the development of Marine Spatial Planning” project are presented for the area of Cyprus. A variety of activities fall within the MSP such as maritime transport routes and traffic flows, exploration, exploitation and extraction of energy resources, tourism, underwater cultural heritage etc. In addition, the legal framework, activities maps are also shown. The variety of conflicts maps for the area of Limassol are illustrated both in 2D and 3D. A hypothetical scenario of Limassol town in Cyprus as an energy center is presented based on the overall results. The paper ends with some conclusions regarding the framework of MSP in Cyprus.

Atmospheric corrosion is one of the main factors leading to performance deterioration of reinforced concrete buildings; and, hence, periodic structural condition monitoring is required to assess and repair the adverse effects of corrosion. However, this can become a cumbersome and expensive task to undertake for large populations of buildings, scattered in large urban areas. To optimize the use of available resources, appropriate tools are required for the assessment of corrosion risk of reinforced concrete construction. This paper proposes a framework for the production of digital corrosion risk maps for urban areas; Cyprus was used as a case study. This framework explored multi-temporal satellite remote sensing data from the Landsat sensors as well as corrosion risk factors derived from the results of a recently completed research project, entitled “STEELCOR”. This framework was used to develop two corrosion risk scenarios within Geographical Information Systems, and to produce corrosion risk maps for three coastal cities of Cyprus. The thematic maps indicated that, for slight corrosion damage, the distance of reinforced concrete buildings from the coast was more influential than the building age. While, for significant corrosion damage, the maps indicated that the age of RC buildings was more influential than the distance from the coast.

Property tax in Greece is levied since 1985 not on Market Values but on the “objective value” of the properties as it is defined by the Ministry of Economics. It forms a non-flexible system, with market-irrelevant and unrealistic values, inducing land-policy practices and potential political cost to each periodical update. Furthermore, instead of adjusting taxation levels to the current economic reality, the real estate market is experiencing further burdening through approximately 40 different property taxes and levies, leading to further shrinking and depreciation. The authors believe that a fairer taxation system could significantly assist the property sector in Greece. Thus, through this paper and by studying and analyzing best practices from other countries, they propose models that can be applied with the use of existing data in Greece. This work aims to identify the critical parameters that affecting property values in Thessaloniki to create a Market Value forecasting tool for a fairer taxation system, to highlight the importance of a GIS system for this purpose and to compare the results of MRA with the use of SPSS with those of GWR in ArcGIS environment. For the purposes of this study, the Municipality of Thessaloniki was chosen due to its very well organized portal with significant and well organized geographical data and because authors manage to access some data from the Central Bank of Greece, regarding property valuations.

The geotechnical challenges for safe slope design in large scale surface mining operations are enormous. Sometimes one degree of slope inclination can significantly reduce the overburden to ore ratio and therefore dramatically improve the economics of the operation, while large scale slope failures may have a significant impact on human lives. Furthermore, adverse weather conditions, such as high precipitation rates, may unfavorably affect the already delicate balance between operations and safety. Geotechnical, weather and production parameters should be systematically monitored and evaluated in order to safely operate such pits. Appropriate data management, processing and storage are critical to ensure timely and informed decisions. This paper presents an integrated data management system which was developed over a number of years as well as the advantages through a specific application. The presented case study illustrates how the high production slopes of a mine that exceed depths of 100–120 m were successfully mined with an average displacement rate of 10– 20 mm/day, approaching an almost slow to moderate landslide velocity. Monitoring data of the past four years are included in the database and can be analyzed to produce valuable results. Time-series data correlations of movements, precipitation records, etc. are evaluated and presented in this case study. The results can be used to successfully manage mine operations and ensure the safety of the mine and the workforce.

The olive oil industry is considered to be as one of the driving sectors of the agricultural economy of the Mediterranean basin. The extraction of olive oil generates huge quantities of wastes that may have a great impact on land and water environments due to high concentrations in phenolic compounds that could cause ophytotoxicity. This paper aims to examine the potential use of freely distributed satellite images for the detection of olive oil mil waste (OOMW) areas in the island of Crete through the use of two cases studies. In the first case study an archive GeoEye OrbView-3 image was used to detect OOMW areas using the Spectral Angle Mapper detection algorithm and other geometric and topographic parameters. In the second case study, Google Earth images were examined through different classification algorithms at different scales. The overall results demonstrate that remote sensing techniques can be used as an alternative to field observations so as to detect and monitor OOMW areas Furthermore, freely distributed RGB images from digital globes (such as Google Earth) can be sufficiently and effectively used for this purpose.

A web-based Decision Support System, named FLIRE DSS, for combined forest fire control and planning as well as flood risk management, has been developed and is presented in this paper. State of the art tools and models have been used in order to enable Civil Protection agencies and local stakeholders to take advantage of the web based DSS without the need of local installation of complex software and their maintenance. Civil protection agencies can predict the behavior of a fire event using real time data and in such a way plan its efficient elimination. Also, during dry periods, agencies can implement “ what-if ” scenarios for areas that are prone to fire and thus have available plans for forest fire management in case such scenarios occur. Flood services include flood maps and flood-related warnings and become available to relevant authorities for visualization and further analysis on a daily basis. When flood warnings are issued, relevant authorities may proceed to efficient evacuation planning for the areas that are likely to flood and thus save human lives. Real-time weather data from ground stations provide the necessary inputs for the calculation of the fire model in real-time, and a high resolution weather forecast grid supports flood modeling as well as the development of “ what-if ” scenarios for the fire modeling. All these can be accessed by various computer sources including PC, laptop, Smartphone and tablet either by normal network connection or by using 3G and 4G cellular network. The latter is important for the accessibility of the FLIRE DSS during firefighting or rescue operations during flood events. All these methods and tools provide the end users with the necessary information to design an operational plan for the elimination of the fire events and the efficient management of the flood events in almost real time. Concluding, the FLIRE DSS can be easily transferred to other areas with similar characteristics due to its robust architecture and its flexibility.

Multiple linear regression is used to downscale large-scale outputs from CGCM2 (second generation CGCM of Canadian centre for climate monitoring and analysis) and ECHAM5 (developed at the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology), statistically to regional precipitation over the Thessaly region, Greece. Mean monthly precipitation data for the historical period Oct.1960-Sep.2002 derived from 79 rain gauges were spatially interpolated using a geostatistical approach over the region of Thessaly, which was divided into 128 grid cells of 10 km × 10 km. The methodology is based on multiple regression of large scale GCM predictant variables with observed precipitation and the application of a stochastic time series model for precipitation residuals simulation (white noise). The methodology was developed for historical period (Oct.1960–Sep.1990) and validated against observed monthly precipitation for period (Oct.1990–Sep.2002). The downscaled proposed methodology was used to calculate the standardized precipitation index (SPI) at various timescales (3-month, 6-month, 9-month, 12-month, 24-month) in order to estimate climate change effects on droughts. Various evaluation statistics were calculated in order to validate the process and the results showed that the method is efficient in SPI reproduction but the level of uncertainty is quite high due to its stochastic component.

The aim of the paper is to compare Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ( NDVI ) products with different compositing periods (8-day, 16-day and 8-day-dual) at 250 m spatial resolution for early corn yield estimation. In order to achieve this objective, several regression models were used where the average yield was the dependent variable and the different values of NDVI were independent variables. The various inputs in the regression models included: (i) maximum NDVI value (peak value) during the season or heading date value, (ii) NDVI values from the first date after heading date, (iii), NDVI values from the second date after heading date, (iv) Seasonally integrated NDVI values. Results showed that the 16-day composite was better yield predictor than the 8-day composite when using maximum NDVI value during the season, which is the value from the most significant earliest period for yield estimation, which is called the heading date. The 8-day composites were more useful than 16-day composites later in the season for yield estimation when NDVI values from first date after heading date and values from second date after heading were used. However, the 8-day-dual was not useful for yield prediction. In order to validate the results, the authors used the leave-one-year-out approach, which trains the remaining years for the left out year and is used for yield prediction for missing year. It was found that the inverse regression model produced the best yield estimates. After excluding the anomalous 2012 year, the R 2 values for the regression model were > 0.5 for all remaining years and products, with statistical significant at 0.05. The smallest difference between predicted and actual corn yield when using 8-day composite was 0.05% while the largest difference was 34.47%, whilst in the case of 16-day composite the smallest difference between predicted and actual yield was 1.67% and the largest difference was 44.12%.