Artificial Infrastructure Research Articles

Mapping Archaeological Site of Keraton Pleret Using Aerial Photograph

As a cultural heritage, Site of Keraton (Palace) Pleret becomes an essential relic in Javanese history and culture to preserve and deliver ancient information for the next generation sustainably. On the other hand, this preservation is dealing with quite rapid built-up area development. Mapping can be a significant effort as primary data in cultural preservation management. This study aims to make a detailed site map of the Keraton Pleret and identify the existing land use in each site component. Through remote sensing data interpretation and analysis, identification and mapping of archaeological sites done by matching previous archaeological documents, field conditions, digital orthophoto from aerial photography, and digital topographic data (digital surface models, DSM). Site components were identified firstly by matching the existence of the street network and river from a topographic map with orthophoto to obtain site orientation based on artificial infrastructure and existing natural features. It was followed by matching between Keraton Pleret blueprint document, previous archaeological information, and orthophoto to identify and locate each site component. Existing land use information obtained by orthophoto interpretation. Data analysis shows the compatibility between spatial data used in this research and previous documents to identify components and result in Keraton Pleret site map. At present, most of the Keraton Pleret site area has been converted to buildings and paddy fields, strengthen the need for archaeological sites management which alongside community activities.

Methodological Approach to Incorporate the Involve of Stakeholders in the Geodesign Workflow of Transmission Line Projects

Any artificial infrastructure built in a territory causes changes in its environment, especially when it is a question of large or extensive infrastructures such as high-voltage transmission lines (HVTLs). Such changes are perceived unevenly by the different groups affected or involved. However, all of them can obstruct the development of a project of this type of infrastructure. For this reason, it is increasingly necessary to manage the stakeholders in the different phases of the development of an HVTL project. This article presents the methodological proposal designed to add the management of stakeholders’ opinions by integrating it into the geodesign-based workflow for the development of HVTL projects, giving geographic meaning to each of their opinions, allowing their analysis together with the rest of the geospatial information of the project, reusing the “feedback-iteration-consensus” mechanisms, discovering interactions and synergies or incompatibilities, improving the understanding and finally facilitating the consensus of all parties. In this way, it is possible to manage the development of the projects with a single workflow, in which the results are obtained (development stages) and the decisions that are adopted are used both for the technical part and for the management of the project’s stakeholders.

Design for Visual Quality Enhancement of Artificial Infrastructure Facilities: An Application to Electricity Pylons

(1) Background: The visual impact of artificial infrastructures on natural landscapes generates a common negative perception in public opinion. However, as in the case of electrical energy, the increasing demand for power supply and its need for capillary distribution require the installation of new lines, commonly overhead lines with tall tower-like pylons. In most countries, this situation is faced with many attempts of solutions, as participatory workshops and design contests. Nevertheless, the solutions are usually not further developed into real structures due to many limitations (e.g., regulatory, safety, lack of feasibility). (2) Methods: This paper presents a systematic method for the design of tower-like pylons (e.g., electric ones) able to improve the visual quality on the landscape areas in which they will be installed. The method identifies a design strategy that advantageously exploits the inevitable visual impact of pylons on the landscape by integrating the symbolic morphology and the topologically optimized pylon structure from the earliest design phases. (3) Results: The resulting structure is designed in three steps. First, a concept is morphologically developed by integrating symbolic references to the landscape, environment, or cultural society. Second, the concept is topologically optimized, by reducing the structural weight and its visual impact, and respecting regulatory requirements. Third, the resulting structure is engineered and embodied into an industrially feasible layout. (4) Conclusions: The method is able to develop an original, brand new tower-like pylon integrating all the types of requirements, such as regulatory, industrial feasibility, and social components’ needs. The resulting electricity pylon presents an enhanced visual quality according to the citizens’ feedback.

A Model-Based Method for Estimating the Attitude of Underground Articulated Vehicles.

This paper presents a novel model-based method for estimating the attitude of underground articulated vehicles (UAV). We selected the Load–Haul–Dump (LHD) vehicle as our application object, as it is a typical UAV. First, we established the involved models of the LHD vehicle, including a kinematic model, the linear and angular constraints of a center articulation model, and a dynamic four degrees-of-freedom (DOF) yaw model. Second, we designed a Kalman filter (KF) to integrate the kinematic and constraint models with the data from an inertial measurement unit (IMU), overcoming gyroscope drift and disturbances in external acceleration. In addition, we designed another KF to estimate the yaw based on the dynamic yaw model. The accuracy of the estimations was further enhanced by data fusion. Then, the proposed method was validated by a simulation and a field test under different dynamic conditions. The errors in the estimation of roll, pitch, and yaw were 3.8%, 2.4%, and 4.2%, respectively, in the field test. The estimated longitudinal acceleration was used to obtain the velocity of the LHD vehicle; the error was found to be 1.2%. A comparison of these results to those of other methods showed that the proposed method has high precision. The proposed model-based method will greatly benefit the location, navigation, and control of UAVs without any artificial infrastructure in a global positioning system (GPS)-free environment.

Energy Reduction of a Tsunami Current through a Hybrid Defense System Comprising a Sea Embankment Followed by a Coastal Forest

The 2011 Great East Japan tsunami revealed the limit of using natural or artificial infrastructures as a single tsunami countermeasure. In recent tsunami mitigation strategy, interest in a hybrid defense system (combination of natural and artificial infrastructures) rather than a single defense structure is growing, and a pilot project has already started in Japan. Clarification of flow structures within the hybrid defense system is necessary for designing an improved mitigation system. In addition, when a hydraulic jump is expected, its position should be restricted to a protected area for the resilience of the hybrid defense system. This study performed flume tests to elucidate the mitigation effect of a hybrid defense system comprising an embankment model (EM), followed by different types of single-layer emergent forest models (SLM) or vertical double-layer forest models (DLM). Different types of hydraulic jumps were observed within the defense system, jump position and their characteristics dominated the energy reduction downstream of SLM or DLM. Experimental results showed that this hybrid defense system reduced the flow energy to 30% and 40% of maximum for SLM and DLM, respectively, compared to only the single EM. Moreover, the position of the hydraulic jump was near the EM in the combination of EM and DLMs.

Semantic Interpreter <i>Pythia</i> : GIS-based Expert Knowledge Algorithm for Automated Geotechnical Soil Profiling of Applicable Data

Although the fields of geospatial data are growing rapidly, the result is still not satisfactory for the needs of engineers. No systematic information is available about geotechnical subsurface soil conditions and underground artificial infrastructures. This old-age problem is two-fold: (a) inadequate available digital geotechnical data, and (b) no concepts to improving the applicability and to updating data for engineering applications. On the second, the paper proposes the innovative GIS-based model-driven data processing methodology implemented into an expert knowledge algorithm named Semantic Interpreter Pythia (thereafter SI). From the point of view of geotechnical engineering, the subject of SI is the automated multi-thematic geotechnical soil profiling (GSP) by which it determines the geometry, the properties and the stratigraphy of the site-specific subsoil. From the point of view of geographic information science, the subject of this expert is to relate multi-thematic sets of data from databases, to interpret these data with a specialized data fusion model and, ultimately, to lead to unified information in a core relational database. The paper presents the innovative idea of this algorithm to propose the development of automated SI tools by the modern GIS and internet technology. These tools could help disseminate useful and up-to-date data for a wide range of uses. Based on the experiences distilled from an extensive geotechnical case study, the paper specifies what content is appropriate for engineering studies. The notions of data applicability and geotechnical semantic interpretation arise.Â

Ecological priming of artificial aquaculture structures: kelp farms as an example

AbstractThe continued development of the aquaculture industry is contributing to the proliferation of artificial structures in the marine environment. Observations of seaweed farms (infrastructure and biomass) suggest they act as a habitat for associated species. Seaweed farms differ from other forms of artificial infrastructure as the material deployed already has marine organisms (i.e. culture species) growing on it. This ‘priming’ of ropes with juvenile sporophytes may affect future development of communities by facilitating colonizing species or suppressing competitors. We call this process ‘ecological priming’: the provision of a biological platform that influences the successional development of specific communities. The communities that developed on ropes primed with Alaria esculenta individuals were compared with unprimed ropes to assess the ecological priming effect, at a commercial kelp farm in south-west Ireland. Species richness increased over two cultivation seasons and species composition was consistent between years, with distinct communities developing on primed and unprimed treatments. Timing of species occurrence on primed ropes was predictable with no predictable pattern occurring on unprimed ropes. Multivariate tests indicated distinct communities between treatments, with suppression of other algal species and potential facilitation of some species that have a particular association with A. esculenta on primed ropes. Communities from primed holdfasts contained a lower diversity of algal species compared with unprimed communities. Cultivated kelp holdfasts represent a habitat for distinct assemblages that reflect ecological priming of the substratum.

Holocene evolution of Portus Pisanus, the lost harbour of Pisa

The ancient harbour of Pisa, Portus Pisanus, was one of Italy’s most influential seaports for many centuries. Nonetheless, very little is known about its oldest harbour and the relationships between environmental evolution and the main stages of harbour history. The port complex that ensured Pisa’s position as an economic and maritime power progressively shifted westwards by coastal progradation, before the maritime port of Livorno was built in the late 16th century AD. The lost port is, however, described in the early 5th century AD as being “a large, naturally sheltered embayment” that hosted merchant vessels, suggesting an important maritime structure with significant artificial infrastructure to reach the city. Despite its importance, the geographical location of the harbour complex remains controversial and its environmental evolution is unclear. To fill this knowledge gap and furnish accurate palaeoenvironmental information on Portus Pisanus, we used bio- and geosciences. Based on stratigraphic data, the area’s relative sea-level history, and long-term environmental dynamics, we established that at ~200 BC, a naturally protected lagoon developed and hosted Portus Pisanus until the 5th century AD. The decline of the protected lagoon started at ~1350 AD and culminated ~1500 AD, after which time the basin was a coastal lake.

Bending to the water's will.

In flood-prone Bangladesh, resilience can mean letting water have its way.

Artificial defences in coastal marine ecosystems in Chile: Opportunities for spatial planning to mitigate habitat loss and alteration of the marine community structure

Many coastal habitats are actually replaced with hard infrastructures which alter the taxonomic/functional structure of natural ecosystems worldwide. Few information about habitat loss and species composition in South American coasts are available compared with other coasts. Here, I examine the distribution and identity of coastal artificial infrastructures, especially artificial breakwaters, present along the coast of Chile and the proportion of natural habitat loss derived from their construction. Differences in species taxonomic/functional composition in artificial breakwaters and natural habitats present in northern Chile are also examined. I also propose/discuss opportunities for coastal planning based on habitat rehabilitation and ecological engineering in Chile, which could guide future marine infrastructures construction. An important proportion of natural habitat has been replaced by artificial coastal defences along the coast of Chile, accounting for about 200km of total coastal length. Given their specific uses and functions, artificial granite breakwaters are one of the most important coastal infrastructures present in Chile (62% of the total of artificial breakwaters present). Differences in taxonomic/functional structure between artificial breakwaters and natural adjacent habitats are significant, and appear related to contrasting spatial heterogeneity. Artificial infrastructures like granite breakwaters can facilitate presence of native and non-native species, which live in the marine-terrestrial interphase (crabs, rats). The present study highlights how the recent proliferation of coastal artificial infrastructures is replacing important natural habitats in Chile, and how the taxonomic/functional structure of coastal ecosystems can be negatively impacted. Furthermore, this study showed how artificial infrastructures can have direct consequences for human-health security and specific guidelines can be conducted to buffer impacts on ecosystem structure to match social livelihood and wellness.

Incorporating Novel Ecosystems and Layered Landscapes for Ecological Restoration in Cities

Ecological restoration in cities is problematic. The natural environment is radically altered with large areas of impervious surfaces, invasive species and a parallel artificial infrastructure for transporting water, waste and energy. There are also competing goals to meet the needs of people as identified in Official Community Plans. Cities are novel ecosystems and the restoration targets often do not align well with the natural ecosystems that historically existed in the area. The objective of this study is to use the University of Victoria campus as an example of urban restoration that incorporates novel ecosystems and takes a layered landscapes approach to address the complex socio-ecological histories of a site. Hobbs Creek and its ravine, Mystic Vale, are a particular focus. Instead of trying to restore the original fish-bearing stream and forest, the University of Victoria has used a novel ecosystem approach to set a suitable restoration target for an ecosystem that is capable of maturing, has a stable trajectory and is resilient. The university has an ongoing program of invasive species removal, reducing stream bank erosion and managing human impacts that is consistent with applying the layered landscapes concept, addressing the diverse values and visions of people as well as ecological integrity. In cities, the novel ecosystem approach acknowledges that complex socio-ecological histories of a site have shaped them over time and play a major role in determining a site’s future. Combining the layered landscapes perspective with the novel ecosystems concept as was done in this project is an effective approach to ecological restoration in cities.

HIG Capital acquires majority stake in Dominion Colour

Many coastal habitats are actually replaced with hard infrastructures which alter the taxonomic/functional structure of natural ecosystems worldwide. Few information about habitat loss and species composition in South American coasts are available compared with other coasts. Here, I examine the distribution and identity of coastal artificial infrastructures, especially artificial breakwaters, present along the coast of Chile and the proportion of natural habitat loss derived from their construction. Differences in species taxonomic/functional composition in artificial breakwaters and natural habitats present in northern Chile are also examined. I also propose/discuss opportunities for coastal planning based on habitat rehabilitation and ecological engineering in Chile, which could guide future marine infrastructures construction. An important proportion of natural habitat has been replaced by artificial coastal defences along the coast of Chile, accounting for about 200 km of total coastal length. Given their specific uses and functions, artificial granite breakwaters are one of the most important coastal infrastructures present in Chile (62% of the total of artificial breakwaters present). Differences in taxonomic/functional structure between artificial breakwaters and natural adjacent habitats are significant, and appear related to contrasting spatial heterogeneity. Artificial infrastructures like granite breakwaters can facilitate presence of native and non-native species, which live in the marine-terrestrial interphase (crabs, rats). The present study highlights how the recent proliferation of coastal artificial infrastructures is replacing important natural habitats in Chile, and how the taxonomic/functional structure of coastal ecosystems can be negatively impacted. Furthermore, this study showed how artificial infrastructures can have direct consequences for human-health security and specific guidelines can be conducted to buffer impacts on ecosystem structure to match social livelihood and wellness.

The marine ‘great wall’ of China: local‐ and broad‐scale ecological impacts of coastal infrastructure on intertidal macrobenthic communities

AbstractAimIncreasing areas of artificial infrastructure are being built along coastlines for purposes of land reclamation and coastal defences. Impacts of these structures on intertidal communities could be severe. Here, we tested the hypothesis that artificial structures can alter intertidal community composition by providing hard substrata for rocky intertidal species, and can serve as ‘stepping stones’ that facilitate broad‐scale migration of rocky intertidal species and may weaken a phylogeographic transition.LocationChinese intertidal ecosystem.MethodsThree‐year field ecological survey of macrobenthic species and phylogeographic analyses of three common species found on artificial structures and nearby natural rocky shores.Results(1) Artificial substrata were rapidly colonized by rocky intertidal species, and in the mid‐ and high‐intertidal zone, habitats were occupied by some widely distributed rocky intertidal species. (2) Distance to the nearest rocky shore and age of the artificial structures were important for species richness and community composition on the artificial structures. (3) Both ecological and genetic data showed that most populations on the artificial structures north of the Yangtze River estuary were derived by migration from natural rocky shores south of the Yangtze River estuary. This estuary formed a phylogeographic and biogeographic transition for intertidal species along China's coastline.Main conclusions(1) Artificial structures associated with large‐scale land reclamation along China's coastline provide appropriate habitats for rocky shore species; (2) because artificial structures are ubiquitous world‐wide, the biogeography of rocky shore species and other ecological impacts of this infrastructure along global coastlines should be reconsidered under the coupled impacts of climate change and human activities.

Evaluation of storm impact on sandy beaches of the Gulf of Valencia using Landsat imagery series

The impact of storms on sandy beaches and the subsequent recovery process is described from an analysis of the shoreline positions obtained from Landsat 5 TM and Landsat 7 ETM+ imagery. Shoreline extraction is based on an algorithm previously proposed by the authors that enables a positioning accuracy of 5m root mean square error (RMSE). The impact of six storms registered over a period of seven months (between November 2001 and May 2002) and the beach recovery processes until December 2002 across a 100km segment of the Gulf of Valencia on the Spanish Mediterranean coast were analysed by comparing 12 shoreline positions. The multiple shoreline positions obtained from Landsat images provide very useful information for describing the impact of storms and the recovery process across large segments of microtidal coast. This enables the identification of differences not only in the magnitude of change produced by a particular event but also in the cumulative effect associated with several storm events, and in the study of how the beach recovery process takes place. The results show a high level of spatial variability. Beaches with steep slopes experienced fewer changes than shallow slopes. The existence of well developed foredunes in some areas minimised the reduction in the beach width after the storms. Coastal orientation was another important factor in explaining storm impact and the recovery process. This factor affects not only the way the waves interact with the beaches but also the sediment longshore transport: beach regeneration is slower when the transport of sediments is limited by artificial infrastructures (groins, jetties, ports) or natural sediment traps (headlands). The main limitations of using the proposed methodology to obtain the shoreline position from Landsat images are related to: (i) the precision in the shoreline detection; (ii) the nature of the indicator obtained, that is, the water/land interface; and (iii) the registration instant defined by the image acquisition time. However, the high frequency of the data acquisition and the possibility to cover large coastal areas bring a new perspective that enriches other methods and tools used by coastal scientists.

Karst Rocky Desertification Remote Sensing Monitoring by Integrating Land Use Diagnoses in Southeast of Yunnan Province

Karst rocky desertification is one of the serious environment problems in southwest of China. In this study, a typical county with karst rocky desertification which located in Southeast of Yunnan province is selected as a work area at first. Based on the datum collection about land use status and field verification surveying in study area, the technique of remote sensing image processing and GIS spatial analysis was integrated used to monitor the karst rocky desertification status and got its information in different degree. Analysis for karst rocky desertification spatial distributing, the main result is that there is more amount proportion of karst rocky desertification land cover in case study area and these large numbers patches of karst rocky desertification mosaic beset in the different land use types, such as forest, plantation and artificial town or other infrastructure building. So it is stringent need to deepen research the karst rocky desertification development and its spatial expand. Another result include that remote sensing monitoring for the karst rocky desertification is one of the important advance technique method, but it also need to fuse more another assistant information according to the actual condition in case study area, for example, the land use status in quo is a good means to assistant remote sensing monitoring karst rocky desertification by spatial restrict effect.

Current limits of life cycle assessment framework in evaluating environmental sustainability – case of two evolving biofuel technologies

Abstract The growing need to use biofuel raw materials that do not compete with food and feed have resulted in a growing interest in lignocellulosic materials and microalgae. However, the life cycle environmental benefits of both biofuels have been questioned. The aim of this study was to evaluate how environmental sustainability of forest-based and microalgae biodiesel can be estimated by using the life cycle assessment framework. These biofuel chains were chosen because they are contrasting systems, as the first one is based on a “natural” feedstock production system, while the second one is an entirely anthropogenic system using an artificial infrastructure and external inputs to grow microalgae. This study focuses on life cycle impact categories still under methodological development, namely resource depletion, land use and land use change, water use, soil quality impacts and biodiversity. In addition, climate impacts were quantified in order to exemplify the uncertainty of the results and the complexity of estimating the parameters. This study demonstrates the difficulty to assess the absolute range of the total environmental impacts of the two systems. The results propose that the greenhouse gas emissions of microalgae biodiesel are higher than those of forest residue-based biodiesel, but the results of the microalgae chain are very uncertain due to the early development stage of the technology, and due to assumptions made concerning the electricity mix. On the other hand, the microalgae system has other advantages such as low competition on productive land and low biodiversity impacts. The findings help to recognise the main characteristics of the two production chains, and the main remaining research issues on bioenergy assessment along with the methodological development needs of life cycle approaches.

Anthropogenic Disturbance Can Determine the Magnitude of Opportunistic Species Responses on Marine Urban Infrastructures

BackgroundCoastal landscapes are being transformed as a consequence of the increasing demand for infrastructures to sustain residential, commercial and tourist activities. Thus, intertidal and shallow marine habitats are largely being replaced by a variety of artificial substrata (e.g. breakwaters, seawalls, jetties). Understanding the ecological functioning of these artificial habitats is key to planning their design and management, in order to minimise their impacts and to improve their potential to contribute to marine biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Nonetheless, little effort has been made to assess the role of human disturbances in shaping the structure of assemblages on marine artificial infrastructures. We tested the hypothesis that some negative impacts associated with the expansion of opportunistic and invasive species on urban infrastructures can be related to the severe human disturbances that are typical of these environments, such as those from maintenance and renovation works.Methodology/Principal FindingsMaintenance caused a marked decrease in the cover of dominant space occupiers, such as mussels and oysters, and a significant enhancement of opportunistic and invasive forms, such as biofilm and macroalgae. These effects were particularly pronounced on sheltered substrata compared to exposed substrata. Experimental application of the disturbance in winter reduced the magnitude of the impacts compared to application in spring or summer. We use these results to identify possible management strategies to inform the improvement of the ecological value of artificial marine infrastructures.Conclusions/SignificanceWe demonstrate that some of the impacts of globally expanding marine urban infrastructures, such as those related to the spread of opportunistic, and invasive species could be mitigated through ecologically-driven planning and management of long-term maintenance of these structures. Impact mitigation is a possible outcome of policies that consider the ecological features of built infrastructures and the fundamental value of controlling biodiversity in marine urban systems.

Misura e scala. Trasformazione paradigmatica e biografia urbana

Scale allows us to give a meaning to the value of urban measure and to grasp the degree of it beyond which it is necessary to update the paradigms by which its new formal extent is understood. If it is that which is placed between man and the world that establishes an agreement between thought and space, then changes in urban magnitude imply a redefinition of the relationship between the measures of man, of his liveable environment and of the total urban context. The changes of scale which lead from the space ‘of contact’ with urban places to expanded spaces, experienceable by means of artificial infrastructures, outline the narration of an ‘urban biography’ composed of the succession of construction dates and types of style. What appears is the knowledge that pierces every historical transformation: the substantive knowledge which identifies a city as a place where the self-education of society is practised.

Engineering novel habitats on urban infrastructure to increase intertidal biodiversity

Urbanization replaces natural shorelines with built infrastructure, seriously impacting species living on these "new" shores. Understanding the ecology of developed shorelines and reducing the consequences of urban development to fauna and flora cannot advance by simply documenting changes to diversity. It needs a robust experimental programme to develop ways in which biodiversity can be sustained in urbanized environments. There have, however, been few such experiments despite wholesale changes to shorelines in urbanized areas. Seawalls--the most extensive artificial infrastructure--are generally featureless, vertical habitats that support reduced levels of local biodiversity. Here, a mimic of an important habitat on natural rocky shores (rock-pools) was experimentally added to a seawall and its impact on diversity assessed. The mimics created shaded vertical substratum and pools that retained water during low tide. These novel habitats increased diversity of foliose algae and sessile and mobile animals, especially higher on the shore. Many species that are generally confined to lowshore levels, expanded their distribution over a greater tidal range. In fact, there were more species in the constructed pools than in natural pools of similar size on nearby shores. There was less effect on the abundances of mobile animals, which may be due to the limited time available for recruitment, or because these structures did not provide appropriate habitat. With increasing anthropogenic intrusion into natural areas and concomitant loss of species, it is essential to learn how to build urban infrastructure that can maintain or enhance biodiversity while meeting societal and engineering criteria. Success requires melding engineering skills and ecological understanding. This paper demonstrates one cost-effective way of addressing this important issue for urban infrastructure affecting nearshore habitats.