Night-time Monitoring Research Articles

Characterizing Two Types of Urban Air and Surface Heat Island according to Urban Design -Case of Casablanca Neighborhoods-

The urban heat island (UHI) is a recognized signature of the urban climate, however beyond this characterization; it isstill a relevant phenomenon to study in urban design. In this paper, we seek to characterize UHI in differing urbanforms, comparing air and surface temperatures to characterize Air UHI (AUHI) and Surface UHI (SUHI) respectively.The analysis site corresponds to the districts of Casablanca, Morocco's largest city, covering coastal and centralneighborhoods with different urban planning styles. We used land surface temperatures (LST) from the Landsat-8satellite and both observed and simulated air temperatures from the Copernicus reanalysis. We argue that LST isalways higher than air temperature and that there is a shift between SUHI and AUHI that we have quantified fordaytime and nighttime monitoring. We also concluded that UHI depends on four criteria: location, land use, buildingheight, and road width.

Analysis of small-scale soil CO2 fluxes in an orange orchard under irrigation and soil conservative practices

The quantification of soil carbon dioxide (CO2) flux represents an indicator of the agro-ecosystems sustainability. However, the monitoring of these fluxes is quite challenging due to their high spatially-temporally variability and dependence on environmental variables and soil management practices.In this study, soil CO2 fluxes were measured using a low-cost accumulation chamber, that was realized ad hoc for the surveys, in an orange orchard managed under different soil management (SM, bare versus mulched soils) and water regime (WR, full irrigation versus regulated deficit irrigation) strategies. In particular, the soil CO2 flux measurements were acquired in discontinuous and continuous modes, together with ancillary agrometeorological and soil-related information, and then compared to the agrosystem scale CO2 fluxes measured by the eddy covariance (EC) technique.Overall significant differences were obtained for the soil CO2 discontinuous fluxes as function of the WR (0.16 ± 0.01 and 0.14 ± 0.01 mg m−2 s−1 under full irrigation and regulated deficit irrigation, respectively). For the continuous soil CO2 measurements, the response observed for the SM factor varied from year to year, indicating for the overall reference period 2022-23 higher soil CO2 flux under the mulched soils (0.24 ± 0.01 mg m−2 s−1) than under bare soil conditions (0.15 ± 0.00 mg m−2 s−1). Inter-annual variations were also observed as function of the day-of-year (DOY), the SM and their interactions, resulting in higher soil CO2 flux under the mulched soils (0.24 ± 0.02 mg m−2 s−1) than under bare soil (0.15 ± 0.01 mg m−2 s−1) in certain periods of the years, according to the environmental conditions. Resultssuggest the importance of integrating soil CO2 flux measurements with ancillary variables that explain the variability of the agrosystem and the need to conduct the measurements using different operational modalities, also providing for night-time monitoring of CO2. In addition, the study underlines that the small-scale chamber measurements can be used to estimate soil CO2 fluxes at orchard scale if fluxes are properly scaled.

DETECTION OF CRIME SCENE OBJECTS FOR EVIDENCE ANALYSIS USING DEEP LEARNING TECHNIQUES

Research on the detection of objects at crime scenes has flourished in the last two decades. Researchers have been concentrating on colour pictures, where lighting is a crucial component, since this is one of the most pressing issues in computer vision, with applications spanning surveillance, security, medicine, and more. However, nighttime monitoring is crucial since most security problems cannot be seen by the naked eye. That's why it's crucial to record a dark scene and identify the things at a crime scene. Even when its dark out, infrared cameras are indispensable. Both military and civilian sectors will benefit from the use of such methods for nighttime navigation. On the other hand, IR photographs have issues with poor resolution, lighting effects, and other similar issues. Surveillance cameras with infrared (IR) imaging capabilities have been the focus of much study and development in recent years. This research work has attempted to offer a good model for object recognition by using IR images obtained from crime scenes using Deep Learning. The model is tested in many scenarios including a central processing unit (CPU), Google COLAB, and graphics processing unit (GPU), and its performance is also tabulated.

Improving Dust Aerosol Optical Depth (DAOD) Retrieval from the GEOKOMPSAT-2A (GK-2A) Satellite for Daytime and Nighttime Monitoring.

The Advanced Meteorological Image (AMI) onboard GEOKOMPSAT 2A (GK-2A) enables the retrieval of dust aerosol optical depth (DAOD) from geostationary satellites using infrared (IR) channels. IR observations allow the retrieval of DAOD and the dust layer altitude (24 h) over surface properties, particularly over deserts. In this study, dust events in northeast Asia from 2020 to 2021 were investigated using five GK-2A thermal IR bands (8.7, 10.5, 11.4, 12.3, and 13.3 μm). For the dust cloud, the brightness temperature differences (BTDs) of 10.5 and 12.3 μm were consistently negative, while the BTD of 8.7 and 10.5 μm varied based on the dust intensity. This study exploited these optical properties to develop a physical approach for DAOD lookup tables (LUTs) using IR channels to retrieve the DAOD. To this end, the characteristics of thermal radiation transfer were simulated using the forward model; dust aerosols were explained by BTD (10.5, 12.3 μm)-an intrinsic characteristic of dust aerosol. The DAOD and dust properties were gained from a brightness temperature (BT) of 10.5 μm and BTD of 10.5, 12.3 μm. Additionally, the cumulative distribution function (CDF) was employed to strengthen the continuity of 24-h DAOD. The CDF was applied to the algorithm by calculating the conversion value coefficient for the DAOD error correction of the IR, with daytime visible aerosol optical depth as the true value. The results show that the DAOD product can be successfully applied during the daytime and nighttime to continuously monitor the flow of yellow dust from the GK-2A satellite in northeast Asia. In particular, the validation results for IR DAOD were similar to the active satellite product (CALIPSO/CALIOP) results, which exhibited a tendency similar to that for IR DAOD at night.

Assessment of nighttime air quality over an urban location in Indo-Gangetic plain using remote sensing observations

Nocturnal inversion can trap atmospheric pollutants in the lower atmosphere and can significantly impact human health and reduce visibility, particularly in mega-cities. Therefore, nighttime monitoring of atmospheric aerosols and gases is very important. In this paper, we have selected an urban location of Kanpur located in a highly polluted region of Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) to study the variability in nighttime aerosols in response to trace gases and meteorological parameters. For this purpose, we have analyzed all the available data of aerosol optical depth at 500 nm (AOD), Angstrom Exponent (440–870) (AE) from AERONET's newly developed direct moon algorithm. We also examined nighttime data of temperature, relative humidity, methane, ozone, and carbon monoxide from AIRS (Atmospheric Infrared Sounder). The average values of nighttime AOD, AE, and precipitable water (PW) were observed to be 0.65 ± 0.04, 1.06 ± 0.21, and 2.86 ± 1.71, respectively. The highest value (0.90 ± 0.05) of lunar AOD is found in November with a corresponding AE value of 1.28 representing the dominance of fine-mode aerosols in Kanpur. In summer, AOD exhibited a slight decreasing trend (slope = −0.008) while AE exhibited an increasing trend (slope = 0.029) indicating that the aerosol burden is decreasing but the contribution of fine mode aerosols is increasing. Urban aerosols were the most abundant type (62.75 %) in the atmosphere of Kanpur during nighttime. Average values of methane, carbon monoxide, and ozone were found to be 1876.30 ± 21.79 ppbv, 127.40 ± 15.12 ppbv, and 40.76 ± 4.55 ppbv, respectively. HYSPLIT cluster analysis on high AOD day indicate the transportation of desert dust and biomass burning aerosols from western and north western regions of India. WTC between AOD and temperature posits a positive correlation in the medium-term period. AOD and carbon monoxide showed an anti-phase association.

Diurnal predators of restocked lab-reared and wild Diadema antillarum near artificial reefs in Saba.

The long-spined sea urchin Diadema antillarum controls reef dynamics by grazing on algae and increasing coral recruitment. Populations of Diadema never recovered after a mass-die off in 1983 and 1984, and numbers were further reduced by a more recent die-off in 2022. To restore grazing pressure and thereby the resilience of Caribbean coral reefs, multiple Diadema restocking efforts have been performed. Although results vary, relatively low retention is one of the reasons restocking is not considered more often. If causes for the low retention can be identified, suitable measures may be able to increase restocking success. In this study, we monitored restocked lab-reared and wild juvenile Diadema on artificial reefs around Saba, Caribbean Netherlands. To assess the retention of Diadema over time, we conducted diver surveys and used underwater photo time lapse during daylight. Retention of uncaged lab-reared and wild Diadema decreased steadily with less than 30% surviving after 10 days. In total, 138 predator-prey interactions were recorded, of which 99% involved the queen triggerfish Balistes vetula, although other potential predators were present in the area. None of the recorded predator-prey interactions was successful, which suggests that artificial reefs with incorporated shelters may be suitable for juveniles as daytime refuge. However, Diadema that were more often attacked during the day were more likely to be absent the next morning. Because queen triggerfish often visited the experimental site in the first or last hour of daylight, it could be that they were more successful in their attacks when it was too dark to see anything on the photos and when Diadema came out to feed or to look for better shelter opportunities. If Diadema migrated off the artificial reef, they were probably predated during the process, because no Diadema were found on surrounding reefs. Wild Diadema were attacked significantly more often than lab-reared Diadema, possibly because the wild urchins were larger, but this did not significantly affect retention. Future restocking should be performed on natural or artificial reefs with deeper shelters, so Diadema can retract farther into their crevice, and should include night-time monitoring to identify the remaining unknown factors that cause low retention, including migration and nocturnal predation. This knowledge is urgently needed to coral reef managers so they can increase Diadema restocking success by selecting reefs with a lower predator density, protect urchins during an acclimatization period and/or conduct temporary predator control measures.

Will passive acoustic monitoring make result‐based payments more attractive? A cost comparison with human observation for farmland bird monitoring

AbstractResult‐based payments (RBPs) reward land users for conservation outcomes and are a promising alternative to standard payments, which are targeted at specific land use measures. A major barrier to the implementation of RBPs, particularly for the conservation of mobile species, is the substantial monitoring cost. Passive acoustic monitoring may offer promising opportunities for low‐cost monitoring as an alternative to human observation. We develop a costing framework for comparing human observation and passive acoustic monitoring and apply it to a hypothetical RBP scheme for farmland bird conservation. We consider three different monitoring scenarios: daytime monitoring for the whinchat and the ortolan bunting, nighttime monitoring for the gray partridge and the common quail, and day‐and‐night monitoring for all four species. We also examine the effect of changes in relevant parameters (such as participating area, travel distance and required monitoring time) on the cost comparison. Our results show that passive acoustic monitoring is still more expensive than human observation for daytime monitoring. In contrast, passive acoustic monitoring has a cost advantage for nighttime as well as day‐and‐nighttime monitoring in all considered scenarios.

Quantification of gas, ash, and sulphate aerosols in volcanic plumes from open path Fourier transform infrared (OP-FTIR) emission measurements at Stromboli volcano, Italy

Field-portable Open Path Fourier Transform Infrared (OP-FTIR) spectrometers can be used to remotely measure the composition of volcanic plumes using absorption spectroscopy, providing invaluable data on total gas emissions. Quantifying the temporal evolution of gas compositions during an eruption helps develop models of volcanic processes and aids in eruption forecasting. Absorption measurements require a viewing geometry which aligns infrared source, plume, and instrument, which can be challenging. Here, we present a fast retrieval algorithm to estimate quantities of gas, ash and sulphate aerosols from thermal emission OP-FTIR measurements, and the results from two pilot campaigns on Stromboli volcano in Italy in 2019 and 2021. We validate the method by comparing time series of SO2 slant column densities retrieved using our method with those obtained from a conventional UV spectrometer, demonstrating that the two methods generally agree to within a factor of 2. The algorithm correctly identifies ash-rich plumes and gas bursts associated with explosions and quantifies the mass column densities and particle sizes of ash and sulphate aerosols (SA) in the plume. We compare the ash sizes retrieved using our method with the particle size distribution (PSD) of an ash sample collected during the period of measurements in 2019 by flying a Remotely Piloted Aircraft System into the path of a drifting ash plume and find that both modes of the bimodal PSD (a fine fraction with diameter around 5–10 μm and a coarse fraction around 65 μm) are identified within our datasets at different times. We measure a decrease in the retrieved ash particle size with distance downwind, consistent with settling of larger particles, which we also observed visually. We measure a decrease in the SO2/SA ratio as the plume travels downwind, coupled with an increase in measured SA particle size (range 2–6 μm), suggesting rapid hygroscopic particle growth and/or SO2 oxidation. We propose that infrared emission spectroscopy can be used to examine physical and chemical changes during plume transport and opens the possibility of remote night-time monitoring of volcanic plume emissions. These ground-based analyses may also aid the refinement of satellite-based aerosol retrievals.

Night-Time Monitoring System for Getting-up Action of Older Person Based on Single Camera and Infrared Reflective Sheet

Night-Time Monitoring System for Getting-up Action of Older Person Based on Single Camera and Infrared Reflective Sheet

HOME MONITORING & TELEHEALTH EDUCATION FOR ASTHMA DISEASE MANAGEMENT

<h3>Introduction</h3> Asthma disease management requires self-management skills and personalized clinical interventions. Allergy and Asthma Network (AAN) collaborated with CurieAI and VitalFlo to monitor patient symptoms and spirometry as part of a personalized telehealth asthma education program. <h3>Methods</h3> The Not-One-More-Life telehealth AAN program enrolled participants with severe asthma between July and December 2021 for a 6-week virtual asthma telehealth coaching program. Participants were provided with a cellular-connected bedside tablet device for passive nighttime symptom monitoring. The CurieAI software running on the tablet device enabled daily overnight monitoring for objective assessment of audible symptoms; like cough, sneeze, throat-clearing, wheezing, obstructive-snoring, grunting. VitalFlo solution using a MIR spirometer was provided to measure FEV1, FVC, FEV1/FVC parameters. <h3>Results</h3> 22 participants used the two home monitoring devices. There were a total of 862 nights of monitoring for symptoms (39+ nights per participant in the 6 weeks). 20 high-level alerts were generated for severe or worsening symptoms. An asthma coach followed these symptoms with the participant, provided treatment plan guidance, and advised them to see the healthcare provider. Participants used VitalFlo solution for an average of 3.5 days per participant during the same 6-week period. 32% of participants experienced improvement in their FEV1 and FVC, and 27% improvement in FEV1/FVC. <h3>Conclusion</h3> Asthma disease management telehealth program with home monitoring devices successfully followed participants' health status. Participants who used the Vitalflo platform to document spirometry use indicated improvement between pre-and-post recordings and the nighttime monitoring identified worsening of symptoms for timely follow-up.

PASSIVE CONTACTLESS MONITORING OF NIGHTTIME RESPIRATORY SYMPTOMS AND ITS APPLICATION IN DISEASE MANAGEMENT

PASSIVE CONTACTLESS MONITORING OF NIGHTTIME RESPIRATORY SYMPTOMS AND ITS APPLICATION IN DISEASE MANAGEMENT

A Night-Time Monitoring System (eNightLog) to Prevent Elderly Wandering in Hostels: A Three-Month Field Study.

Older people are increasingly dependent on others to support their daily activities due to geriatric symptoms such as dementia. Some of them stay in long-term care facilities. Elderly people with night wandering behaviour may lose their way, leading to a significant risk of injuries. The eNightLog system was developed to monitor the night-time bedside activities of older people in order to help them cope with this issue. It comprises a 3D time-of-flight near-infrared sensor and an ultra-wideband sensor for detecting human presence and to determine postures without a video camera. A threshold-based algorithm was developed to classify different activities, such as leaving the bed. The system is able to send alarm messages to caregivers if an elderly user performs undesirable activities. In this study, 17 sets of eNightLog systems were installed in an elderly hostel with 17 beds in 9 bedrooms. During the three-month field test, 26 older people with different periods of stay were included in the study. The accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of detecting non-assisted bed-leaving events was 99.8%, 100%, and 99.6%, respectively. There were only three false alarms out of 2762 bed-exiting events. Our results demonstrated that the eNightLog system is sufficiently accurate to be applied in the hostel environment. Machine learning with instance segmentation and online learning will enable the system to be used for widely different environments and people, with improvements to be made in future studies.

Feasibility of remote home monitoring with a T-shirt wearable device in post-recovery COVID-19 patients.

Feasibility of remote home monitoring with a T-shirt wearable device in post-recovery COVID-19 patients.

Sleep increases leaks and asynchronies during home noninvasive ventilation: a polysomnographic study.

In patients treated with noninvasive ventilation, sleep-related breathing changes can modify patient-ventilator interactions, which could reduce its effectiveness. The aim of this prospective observational study was to determine the impact of sleep/wake state on leaks, upper airway obstructive events, and asynchronies in patients treated by long-term noninvasive ventilation. Stable patients adapted to noninvasive ventilation were considered for nocturnal polysomnography. Unintentional leaks, upper airway obstructive events, and asynchronies were compared between sleep and awake periods. Twenty-eight patients were enrolled. Underlying diagnoses were neuromuscular disease (n = 11), chest wall disease (n = 8), and obesity-hypoventilation (n = 9). Leaks were more frequent in sleep than in awake periods, with a median of 10% (interquartile range [IQR], 0%-75%) vs 1% (IQR, 0%-9%) of time (P < .001), respectively. During sleep, asynchronies with and without associated leak affected 27% of breaths (IQR, 16%-39%) compared with non-leak-related asynchronies that were recorded in 8% (IQR, 3%-25%) of breaths (P < .001). Asynchronies affecting more than 10% of total breaths were more frequent in sleep (25 patients, 89%) than in awake time (8 patients, 29%; P = .25). Eleven patients (39%) presented with 5 or more upper airway obstructive events without reduction in ventilatory drive per hour of sleep. In patients adapted to home noninvasive ventilation, leaks, asynchronies, and upper airway obstructive events are frequent during the night and are concentrated in sleep periods. Asynchronies are often associated with leaks. These findings may have clinical implications considering that in patients with low sleep efficiency respiratory events could be underestimated if sleep is not evaluated. Martí S, Ferré A, Sampol G, etal. Sleep increases leaks and asynchronies during home noninvasive ventilation: a polysomnographic study. J Clin Sleep Med. 2022;18(1):225-233.

Intra-urban microclimate investigation in urban heat island through a novel mobile monitoring system

Monitoring microclimate variables within cities with high accuracy is an ongoing challenge for a better urban resilience to climate change. Assessing the intra-urban characteristics of a city is of vital importance for ensuring fine living standards for citizens. Here, a novel mobile microclimate station is applied for monitoring the main microclimatic variables regulating urban and intra-urban environment, as well as directionally monitoring shortwave radiation and illuminance and hence systematically map for the first time the effect of urban surfaces and anthropogenic heat. We performed day-time and night-time monitoring campaigns within a historical city in Italy, characterized by substantial urban structure differentiations. We found significant intra-urban variations concerning variables such as air temperature and shortwave radiation. Moreover, the proposed experimental framework may capture, for the very first time, significant directional variations with respect to shortwave radiation and illuminance across the city at microclimate scale. The presented mobile station represents therefore the key missing piece for exhaustively identifying urban environmental quality, anthropogenic actions, and data driven modelling toward risk and resilience planning. It can be therefore used in combination with satellite data, stable weather station or other mobile stations, e.g. wearable sensing techniques, through a citizens’ science approach in smart, livable, and sustainable cities in the near future.

Photogrammetric Digital Surface Model Reconstruction in Extreme Low-Light Environments

Digital surface models (DSM) have become one of the main sources of geometrical information for a broad range of applications. Image-based systems typically rely on passive sensors which can represent a strong limitation in several survey activities (e.g., night-time monitoring, underground survey and night surveillance). However, recent progresses in sensor technology allow very high sensitivity which drastically improves low-light image quality by applying innovative noise reduction techniques. This work focuses on the performances of night-time photogrammetric systems devoted to the monitoring of rock slopes. The study investigates the application of different camera settings and their reliability to produce accurate DSM. A total of 672 stereo-pairs acquired with high-sensitivity cameras (Nikon D800 and D810) at three different testing sites were considered. The dataset includes different camera configurations (ISO speed, shutter speed, aperture and image under-/over-exposure). The use of image quality assessment (IQA) methods to evaluate the quality of the images prior to the 3D reconstruction is investigated. The results show that modern high-sensitivity cameras allow the reconstruction of accurate DSM in an extreme low-light environment and, exploiting the correct camera setup, achieving comparable results to daylight acquisitions. This makes imaging sensors extremely versatile for monitoring applications at generally low costs.

Assessment of BRDF Impact on VIIRS DNB from Observed Top-of-Atmosphere Reflectance over Dome C in Nighttime

The Day–Night Band (DNB) imaging sensor of the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) adds nighttime monitoring capability to the Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 20 weather satellite launched in 2011 and 2017, respectively. Nighttime visible imagery has already found diverse applications, but image quality is often unsatisfactory. In this study, variations in observed top-of-atmosphere (TOA) reflectance were examined in terms of nighttime bidirectional effects. The Antarctica Dome C ground site was selected due to high uniformity. First, variation of reflectance was characterized in terms of viewing zenith angle, lunar zenith angle, and relative lunar azimuth angle, using DNB data from 2012 to 2020 and Miller–Turner 2009 simulations. Variations in reflectance were observed to be strongly anisotropic, suggesting the presence of bidirectional effects. Then, based on this finding, three popular bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) models were evaluated for effectiveness in correcting for these effects on the nighttime images. The observed radiance of VIIRS DNB was compared with the simulated radiance respectively based on the three BRDF models under the same geometry. Compared with the RossThick-LiSparseReciprocal (RossLi) BRDF model and Hudson model, the Warren model has a higher correlation coefficient (0.9899–0.9945) and a lower root-mean-square-error (0.0383–0.0487). Moreover, the RossLi BRDF model and Hudson model may have similar effects in the description of the nighttime TOA over Dome C. These findings are potentially useful to evaluate the radiometric calibration stability and consistency of nighttime satellite sensors.

Night-time monitoring of the aerosol content of the lower atmosphere by differential photometry of the anthropogenic skyglow

ABSTRACT Night-time monitoring of the aerosol content of the lower atmosphere is a challenging task, because appropriate reference natural light sources are lacking. Here, we show that the anthropogenic night-sky brightness due to city lights can be successfully used for estimating the aerosol optical depth of arbitrarily thick atmospheric layers. This method requires measuring the zenith night-sky brightness with two detectors located at the limiting layer altitudes. Combined with an estimate of the overall atmospheric optical depth (available from ground-based measurements or specific satellite products), the ratio of these radiances provides a direct estimate of the differential aerosol optical depth of the air column between these two altitudes. These measurements can be made with single-channel low-cost radiance detectors widely used by the light pollution research community.

Infant Monitoring System for Real-Time and Remote Discomfort Detection

Infant monitoring is very important in daily life, since infants lack the ability to verbalize and communicate with their caregivers. However, a full-time monitoring provided by caregivers or practitioners is very expensive and labor intensive. To solve the practical difficulties for particular nighttime monitoring and further reduce the labor cost, in this article, we propose a novel 24-hour infant monitoring system, enabling continuous monitoring for infant discomfort detection using both Red-Green-Blue (RGB) and Near Infrared-light (NIR) videos. The proposed algorithm is robust to arbitrary head rotations, occlusions and face profiles. For this purpose, a Faster R-CNN architecture is first pre-trained with the ImageNet dataset, and then fine-tuned with a specific training dataset of different infant expressions. Our proposed method obtains an Average Precision of more than 87% for classifying discomfort expression. Infant monitoring during the nighttime using NIR videos is proposed for the first time, and the presented system enables reflux disease analysis and continuous remote home monitoring in a more relaxed environment, which is largely preferred by pediatricians and parents.

The Dispersion of Diaspores of Protium icicariba (Burseraceae) - a Networked or Multifactorial System?

The adaptive radiation of the angiosperms was strongly affected by fruit and seed dispersal since the establishment of the seedlings is a fundamental process for the recruitment of juveniles to the populations. Among the species of Burseraceae, seeds with fleshy attachments and high caloric value suggest mammaliochory as an ancestral dispersal way. In Protium icicariba, at the same time as there is a visual pattern typical of ornithochory, with a report of effective demonstration, the diaspores present the highest levels of essential oils of the whole plant, suggesting other dispersion processes by olfactory guided vectors. This work aims to monitor the diasporic dispersal process in P. icicariba in situ, aiming to identify dispersers and to investigate the role of the essential oil in the dispersion of diaspores of this plant species. The natural dispersion was monitored in situ, in weekly campaigns throughout eight months, using visual and photographic records, in daily shifts of six hours, distributed along the dawn, morning, afternoon, dusk, and night. We used both direct observation and continuous picture capturing along 43days with photographic traps. Mature diaspores removed from pseudocapsules were pooled to determine potential dispersers. Artificial models of the diaspores, in white and green colors, were also used to test hypotheses on the role of scent in the dispersion, added 1%, weight/weight, of the essential oil extracted from the mature diaspores, which chemical composition determined by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. Besides, the analysis of stomach contents of lizards collected in adjacent area was also performed. In daytime and nighttime monitoring in nature, no vertebrates were recorded dispersing diaspores. The most common was the primary wind-facilitated autochory of diaspores to the substrate, near the plant matrices. Secondarily, workers of the ant species Atta robusta can remove the pseudoarils or move the pyrenes to the anthills. The lizard species Tropidurus torquatus ingests pyrenes with the pseudoarils, and the sclerified pericarp of the pyrene is potentially resistant to chemical action of the digestive juices. Ants and lizards have also accessed the caves with natural diaspores. Concerning the artificial diaspore models, ants accessed, indistinctly, white and the green models that contained essential oils. The lizards accessed the white models, with or without essential oils, and showed insignificant access to green ones, with or without essential oil. The ingestion of pyrenes by lizards was also confirmed through analysis of stomach contents. The aggregate spatial pattern of P. icicariba at the study site, associated with clumps, may be derived from germination in the substrate near the matrices, or in the anthills or after diaspora defecation and / or regurgitation of the lizard, which is a species strongly associated with clumps of this vegetation. As the access to the diaspores by ants and lizards depends on the primary autochory, and no impediments to the germination near to the matrix plant were found, the dispersion is compatible with a multifactorial characteristic of the diplochory.