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The feedback from international practice has shown that the installation of photovoltaic (PV) parks on abandoned dumps is one of the best environmental and economical solutions. This paper discusses the site selection criteria for the installation of PV systems on dumps. When installing the PV systems, different environmental, technical, and economic criteria should be respected. The ground movement and combustion hazards in the dumps appear to be the main constraints and limitations for the installation of photovoltaic panels. This paper presents several examples of the installation of photovoltaic panels on coal-lignite dumps in France. However, the number of projects is still very limited compared to the identified potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Machine learning is constantly gaining ground in the mining industry. Machine learning-based systems take advantage of the computing power of personal, embedded and cloud systems of today to rapidly build models of real processes, something that would have been impossible or extremely time-consuming a couple of decades ago. The widespread access to the internet and the availability of cheap and powerful cloud computing systems led to the development and acceptance of tools to automate resource modelling processes or optimise mine scheduling, using machine learning methodologies. The domain modelling system discussed in this paper, called DomainMCF, has been developed by Maptek, using artificial neural network technology. In the application presented in this paper, DomainMCF is used to model the spatial distribution of marble quality categorical parameters, and the results are combined to produce a final marble quality classification using drillhole and quarry face samples from an operational marble quarry in NE Greece. DomainMCF was made available for this study as a cloud processing service through an early access program for individuals or companies interested in testing its capabilities and suitability in various modelling scenarios and geological settings. The resulting marble product classifications are compared with those produced by the already established classification system that is based on a more conventional estimation method. The produced results show that DomainMCF can be effectively applied to the modelling of marble quality spatial distribution and similar domaining problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a discussion on Quebec's pegmatite lithium resources and potential markets. It also evaluates the opportunities of lithium battery production for electric vehicles (EV) in the province while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The paper shows that mining Quebec's lithium ore deposits would be sufficient to satisfy the province's lithium demand and also for exporting abroad lithium-ion batteries. By considering only the projects whose final product is LMH or LCE, Quebec would be able to produce between 10 and 21 million lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles with a greenhouse gas emissions footprint of only 43% of the international average value due to Quebec's hydro power. Finally, considering Quebec's lithium mining project economics, the increased future demand for lithium would render Quebec's lithium pegmatite projects competitive compared with those reported for brine projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Greece is gifted with geologic features that promote geothermal heat flow. Geothermal energy exploration began in the late 60s, culminating in the first geothermal energy law in 1984 and the introduction of geothermal energy as a mineral resource under the amendment of the Greek Mining Code. Since then, low- and high-temperature geothermal activities followed their separate ways, with a modest utilization of the energy product in the primary sector (agriculture, aquaculture) and attempts for electricity production stalled since the mid-1990s. The adoption of green policies by both the EU and Greece, the acceptance of global warming as an existing threat, the adhesion to CO2 reduction goals, energy efficiency and the application on renewable energy solutions as means to combat the increase in global temperature have led to an increasing interest in the utilization of the geothermal energy applications. This paper presents the new legal framework for geothermal energy established by Law 4602/2019, as introduced by the Greek Ministry of Environment and Energy, Directorate-General for Mineral Raw Materials and discusses its scope and goals set by the implementation of its provisions. The paper offers a roadmap to successfully test those new policies and regulatory provisions and, finally, it maps the interfaces of stakeholders and geothermal industry in an attempt to highlight the steps of the necessary administrative procedures towards the facilitation of viable geothermal projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recycling plant-based materials for various applications not only reduces the harm to the environment but also presents an excellent green source for nanomaterial synthesis. Being chiral and biodegradable makes cellulose, which is an organic polymer, an economic and easy-to-access plant-derived green material. Cellulose can be synthesized into nanostructures for a vast array of high-demand applications, such as drug delivery; biomedicines, which includes "biosensors and diagnostics"; medical implants; skin tissue healing; wastewater treatment; touch screen technology; electronic skin; human–machine interfaces; flexible devices; energy storage devices; clothes; packaging; and cosmetics. The daily newspapers that are delivered to our homes can be one of the best sources of cellulose for us. Our work in this study concentrated on removing nanocrystalline cellulose from newspapers. To begin, we deinked the newspapers and then the deinked pulp was transformed into its nanostructures, or nanocrystalline cellulose, to achieve a high aspect ratio, on the one hand, using chemicals like NaOH, thiourea, etc., and on the other side, via a mechanical process. We used a variety of characterization techniques, including scanning electron microscopy to study morphological properties, X-ray diffraction, and dynamic light scattering for dimensional analysis, Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy for thermogravimetric analysis, and others, to confirm that the synthesized materials had achieved the intended outcomes. A high aspect ratio enables us to create surfaces with a huge surface area with very little synthetic material. The final product, which was created by synthesis, has been discovered to have features that are identical to those of nanocrystalline cellulose, which is available for purchase in the market for use in laboratory purposes. To make nanocomposites, this nanocrystalline cellulose can be combined with various organic and inorganic polymers, which can be further used as a base material for energy storage devices. In this paper, we compared our materials at different time durations used in synthesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a model for the dependence of heat capacity of thin metal films on the temperature and on the number of atomic layers in these films directly. Model representations are based on the principles of statistical physics for solids and concepts of the distribution of principal quantum numbers in the system of oscillators distributed in solids at high temperatures, i.e., Bose–Einstein distribution. The calculations were performed based on the comparison of the Helmholtz free energy values for the various configurations of films and the number of layers in them. The main tool for the model implementation was the formation and further calculation of the partition function, being an expression of the distribution of principal quantum numbers in the complex system of a thin film. Calculations showed the existence of the optimal film thickness at which the maximum heat capacity was achieved. The calculations were performed based on a comparison of the values of the Helmholtz free energy for different film configurations and the number of layers in them. The main tool for implementing the model was the formation and further calculation of the partition function, which was an expression of the distribution of principal quantum numbers in the complex system of a thin film. The calculation results show the presence of a 15–20% increase in the heat capacity of thin films, corresponding to 400–600 atomic layers and the Dulong–Petit law, i.e., the comparison of exceeding heat capacity values with bulk objects for a certain temperature range. The heat capacity reaches the highest values in thin films of 30–50 atomic layers in thickness and exceeds the value of 3R by ~2.0 times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are an evolving class of crystalline porous materials made of organic linkers and metallic nodes. The rich chemistry of MOFs allows them to have an almost infinite number of possible structures. Consequently, they have been of great interest because of their highly tunable properties and unique features, such as their high porosity, high surface area, structural stability, structural diversity, and tailorability. These enable MOFs to be a flexible catalytic platform for photocatalytic applications. Thus, this paper discusses the opportunities of MOFs for use in catalysis. In particular, the use of metal-organic frameworks as a photocatalyst is briefly discussed. Specifically, MOFs can be used as a photocatalyst for carbon dioxide reduction (CO2RR), nitrogen reduction reactions (NRRs), and water-splitting reactions (HERs and ORRs). However, using MOFs as catalytic platforms has some challenges that must be addressed to achieve commercialization. Therefore, this paper also discusses some prospects of designing MOFs for their specific catalytic applications to improve their catalytic properties and enhance selectivity. More importantly, an outlook is also provided on how MOF catalysts can further be developed to enable other catalytic reactions. Overall, MOFs have great potential as a photocatalytic material, provided they are uniquely designed to suit their intended applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The predominant climatological wind regime in summer over the Greek Seas and especially over the Aegean Sea is undoubtedly the Etesian winds system, very well known since the time of the ancient Greeks, who first identified and described its main characteristics. The Etesian winds have been under continuous and intensive research since early 1900s, and numerous papers have been published, which have revealed all the secrets associated with the physical mechanisms responsible for their creation and maintenance. The ordinary synoptic situation, which is closely associated with the appearance of spells of Etesian winds outbreaks over the Aegean Sea, refers to cases in which the Subtropical Jet Stream (SJS) is situated over the Greek mainland. Then the frontal surfaces associated with the Polar Jet Stream (PJS), or a polar jet streak, passing through Greece from the north can cause severe weather in northern Greece as far south as Larisa (39.39° N, 22.26° E). Precipitation does not usually occur south of Larisa, because the SJS constitutes a barrier to the southward extension of the upper half of the frontal surface. In this case, cold advection occurs in the lower troposphere, resulting in a drop in temperatures even in southern Greece, due to the establishment of an Etesian winds outbreak. Thereafter, these north-easterly winds persist for a long time, weakening gradually, following the variation of the pressure gradient due to the combination of the mobile dynamic anticyclone positioned over the Balkans, after the passage of the cold front and the permanent Cyprus surface low. The main goal of this article is to investigate how much the case of a time period around 9 July 2022 differs from the conceptual model mentioned above, as deep convection occurred over all of Greece over three successive days, breaking the Etesian winds regime and defeating the low tropospheric stability usually accompanying this wind regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Weather prediction is a key aspect of today's society and its activities. Accurate predictions are crucial for efficiently organizing human activities, particularly in the agricultural, transportation and energy sectors. In this paper, two deep neural networks, designed based on a long short-term memory architecture, are developed to predict the occurrence of rainfall events and the respective amount of rainfall on the island of Nisyros in the south Aegean Sea. Two deep neural networks are developed, serving two different learning tasks. The first network acts as a classifier that assesses whether it is going to rain or not and, sequentially, the second network performs a regression task, quantifying the anticipated amount of rainfall. The performance of such prediction models is highly dependent on input sequences. Among others, the lookback time window shapes those input sequences by determining the number of past time steps to be taken into account. The ideal time window for the classifier involves 24 time steps (i.e., 4 h), resulting in increased accuracy levels exceeding 96.45%. The predictions of the regression model, which has the same lookback time window, feature low errors, measured as 6.635 and 1.411 mm using the mean-square-error and mean-absolute-error indices, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Being comfortable and healthy in one's home is of the utmost importance and a contributing factor to the quality of their life, and it is greatly affected by the air quality of the residence. Therefore, the subject of this paper centres around the indoor air quality (IAQ) of a standard household in central Athens and how these components influence human health. The air quality assessment is conducted using particulate matter (PM) on-site continuous measurements taken from low-cost sensors (PurpleAir) installed both inside and outside the house. Focusing especially on PM2.5 data from September 2021 to September 2022, the Air Quality Index (AQI) and the number of exceedances are evaluated in detail, investigating the association between indoor and outdoor environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the potential impacts of climate change and anthropogenic activities on the transboundary river of Aoos/Vjosa, flowing through Greece and Albania, and proposes strategies for its protection. The paper analyzes the current state of the river and its ecosystems, identifies the key drivers of change, and examines the potential impacts of future climate scenarios and human activities. Using climate data and GIS mapping, the study highlights the importance of sustainable development and cross-border cooperation to ensure the long-term health and sustainability of the river and its resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate-change-induced environmental impacts has an especially strong influence on water resources. Declining water availability not only results in droughts, but is also responsible for decreasing the quality of water in water-scarce regions, such as the South Caucasus. Armed conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan in 2020 occurred during the recent major war in the South Caucasus. In this paper, I ask how will intensifying climate change in the region affect the current political situation? Is there any chance of multilateral cooperation for water management? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the planned resettlement process and the social impact induced by the Tha Htay Hydropower Project in Myanmar. Through the empirical case study, the status of direct impact on the resettled people, changes in their livelihood, policy orientation towards practical limitations, practical consequences of resettlement, and inadequate preparation for resettlement implementation were studied as verifiable evidence. In this paper, the survey data were compiled from the responses of resettled people from three resettled villages: Maewa, Payit and Yegauk, which were interpreted as the real condition of the project-affected people because a higher degree of their dissatisfaction negatively affected the project, whereas a higher degree of satisfaction led to positive effects. In this paper, a quantitative method was used to analyze the planned resettlement and its social impact. As a survey descriptive design, a simple random sampling method was utilized to collect samples from the target population with a contribution of structured questionnaires. The collected data were presented by mean and standard deviation to decide the real situation of the resettlement project. The study found that details of social impact were considered to carry out when the construction of the hydropower project began. Then, the policy constraint in the resettlement process was verified, which led to the insufficient preparation and implementation of the resettlement. To meet the future development requirements of the planned resettlement process with fewer social impacts on hydropower development projects, practical contributions and policy recommendations are made for the compensation of farmland, where the people's livelihoods are land-based, and additional livelihood packages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents the provisional, regulating and cultural ecosystem services that can be delivered by the newly constructed multi-purpose reservoir of Lake Karla located in a water-scarce agricultural area in central Greece. The present short paper takes advantage of literature data and outputs produced from a dynamic GIS hydrologic and management model of the study area with SWAT that simulated hydrology, reservoir operation, irrigation practices and crop production. The paper highlights the net provisional services that the local agricultural society can gain from the full operation of Karla and the additional benefits arising, such as flood control, biodiversity maintenance, aesthetic improvement and touristic opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the last few decades, a prominent example of extreme weather events in the Indian Ocean region has been cyclonic storms. In this paper, annual variations of different categories of tropical cyclonic storms over the Bay of Bengal (BOB) and Arabian Sea (ARS) are analyzed. The analysis reveals that the total number of cyclones (TNC) has increased at a high rate (the gradient being + 1.67 per year) and that there are more CSs over the BOB than over the ARS. The rate of increase in CSs over the Arabian Sea is more than that over the Bay of Bengal. Furthermore, two interesting features were noted: (i) monsoons tend to prohibit the formation of CSs; (ii) cyclonic storms (CSs) increased with the increase in Global Sea Surface Temperature (GSST) during said period. An attempt was also made to find out the influence of solar activity on these extreme weather events. Keeping in mind that the sunspot number (SSN) is an indicator of the strength of solar effects, it was found that, most of the time, a high SSN value was associated with a small number of total cyclones (CSs). A high SSN (>90) and number of cyclones showed ahigh correlation coefficient (0.78). The significance was at the 99.99% level, while the correlation coefficient (CC) of cyclones with time was 0.53, and with SSN < 60, it was 0.095. Thus, it appears that although CS frequency is increasing with time, the influence of sunspots is such that it basically opposes the formation of cyclones provided the SSN exceeds a certain critical value (roughly 90). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The optical and radiative properties of aerosols are governed by their types. In this paper, the optical and radiative properties of different aerosol types in Wuhan, China, have been inverted and investigated using the collected PM2.5 samples. The results show that PM2.5 (average mass concentration about 31.25 μg/m3) is mainly contributed by sulfate (SO4) and organic carbon (OC) (22% and 52%, respectively), while aerosol optical depth (AOD, average about 0.28) is mainly contributed by SO4 and black carbon (EC) (22% and 19%, respectively). SO4 and nitrate (NO3) have a negative radiative forcing at the top of the atmosphere (TOA) and a cooling effect, while OC and EC have a positive radiative forcing and a heating effect. Moreover, EC has the most significant effect on the radiative forcing in Wuhan, contributing up to 61% and 73% at the bottom of the atmosphere (BOA) and atmosphere (ATM), respectively, while contributing up to 75% to the atmospheric heating rate (about 1~2 K/day). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air pollution caused by biomass burning is the main environmental concern in Mozambique. This paper investigates the effect of biomass combustion on air quality, focusing on the sources of pollution, pollutants released, and health and environmental consequences. The substantial reliance on biomass for cooking, heating, and energy generation causes high levels of air pollution from the combustion of wood, agricultural residues, and charcoal. During biomass burning, particulate matter (PM), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) are emitted, resulting in health hazards and contributing to climate change. Mozambique can considerably improve air quality, safeguard public health, and contribute to sustainable development by using cleaner cooking technology, supporting sustainable biomass management practices, and raising awareness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coastal areas of Chile are undergoing major transformations associated with changes in the frequency and intensity of coastal storms, alterations in the rainfall regime with a megadrought of more than 10 years, and variations in ocean currents, which have generated a series of impacts related to beach erosion, the alteration of coastal wetlands and the effects on coastal cities. Faced with this problem, it is necessary to incorporate multiple monitoring methodologies that are complementary to existing ones, and that promote the incorporation of communities as fundamental axes in data collection. In this paper, we present the CoastSnap initiative implemented in Chile, whose results have been notorious, despite the short implementation time. Up to July 2023, the communities had shared 350 photographs that have allowed for analysis of the variability of the beaches, allowing for the quantification of variations on average up to 45 m wide in some of their beaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The statistical characteristics of combined lidar and radiometric measurements obtained from satellite lidar CALIOP and ground-based sun-radiometer stations were used as input datasets to retrieve the altitude profiles of aerosol parameters (LRS-C technique). The signal-to-noise ratio of the input satellite lidar signals increased when averaging over a large array of measured data. An algorithm and software package for processing the input dataset of the LRS-C sounding of atmospheric aerosol in regions with medium and low aerosol loads was developed. This paper presents the results of studying long-term changes in the concentration profiles of aerosol modes in regions of East Europe (AERONET site Minsk, 53.92° N, 27.60° E) and East Antarctic (AERONET site Vechernaya Hill, 67.66° S, 46.16° E). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Super-resolution (SR) is a well-established technique used to enhance the resolution of low-resolution images. In this paper, we introduce a novel approach for the super-resolution of Sentinel-2 10 m RGB images using higher-resolution Venus 5 m RGB images. The proposed method takes advantage of a modified SRResNet network, integrates perceptual loss based on the VGG network, and incorporates a learning rate decay strategy for improved performance. By leveraging higher-resolution VENµS 5 m RGB images as reference images, this approach aims to generate high-quality super-resolved images of Sentinel-2 10 m RGB images. The modified SRResNet network was designed to capture and learn underlying patterns and details present in Venus images, enabling it to effectively enhance the resolution of Sentinel-2 images. In addition, the inclusion of perceptual loss based on the VGG network helps preserve important visual features and maintain the overall image quality. The learning rate decay strategy ensures the network converges to an optimal solution by gradually reducing the learning rate during the training process. Our research contributes to the field of super-resolution by offering a novel approach specifically tailored for enhancing the resolution of Sentinel-2 10 m RGB images using Venus 5 m RGB images. The proposed methodology has the potential to benefit various applications, such as remote sensing, land cover analysis, and environmental monitoring, where high-resolution imagery is crucial for accurate and detailed analysis. In summary, our approach presents a promising solution for the super-resolution of Sentinel-2 10 m RGB images, providing an effective means to obtain higher-resolution imagery by leveraging the complementary information from Venus 5 m RGB images. We used the SEN2VENµS dataset for this research. The SEN2VENµS dataset comprises cloud-free surface reflectance patches obtained from Sentinel-2 imagery. Notably, these patches are accompanied by corresponding reference surface reflectance patches captured at a remarkable 5 m resolution by the VENµS Micro-Satellite on the same acquisition day. To assess the effectiveness of the proposed approach, we evaluated it using widely used metrics such as the mean squared error (MSE), the peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR), and the structural similarity index (SSIM). These metrics provided quantitative measurements of the quality and fidelity of the super-resolved images. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed approach in achieving improved super-resolution performance compared to existing methods. As an example, our method achieved a PSNR of 35.70 and a SSIM of 0.94 on the training dataset, outperforming the bicubic interpolation method, which yielded a PSNR of 29.53 and a SSIM of 0.92. On the validation dataset, our approach achieved a PSNR of 40.3809 and a SSIM of 0.98, while the bicubic interpolation method achieved a PSNR of 34.26 and a SSIM of 0.94. Finally, on the test dataset, our approach achieved a PSNR of 29.8231 and a SSIM of 0.90, whereas the bicubic interpolation method yielded a PSNR of 26.99 and a SSIM of 0.85. The evaluation based on MSE, PSNR, and SSIM metrics showcases the enhanced visual quality, increased image resolution, and improved similarity to the reference Venus images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

eXplainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) has emerged as an essential requirement when dealing with mission-critical applications, ensuring transparency and interpretability of the employed black box AI models. The significance of XAI spans various domains, from healthcare to finance, where understanding the decision-making process of deep learning algorithms is essential. Most AI-based computer vision models are often black boxes; hence, providing the explainability of deep neural networks in image processing is crucial for their wide adoption and deployment in medical image analysis, autonomous driving, and remote sensing applications. Existing XAI methods aim to provide insights about the methodology used by the black-box model in making decisions by highlighting the most relevant regions within the input image that contribute to the model's prediction. Recently, several XAI methods for image classification tasks have been introduced. In contrast, image segmentation has received comparatively less attention in the context of explainability, although it is a fundamental task in computer vision applications, especially in remote sensing. Only some research proposes gradient-based XAI algorithms for image segmentation. This paper adapts the recent gradient-free Sobol XAI method for semantic segmentation. To measure the performance of the Sobol method for segmentation, we propose a quantitative XAI evaluation method based on a learnable noise model. The main objective of this model is to induce noise on the explanation maps, where a higher induced noise signifies low accuracy and vice versa. A benchmark analysis is conducted to evaluate and compare the performances of three XAI methods, Seg-Grad-CAM, Seg-Grad-CAM++ and Seg-Sobol, using the proposed noise-based evaluation technique. This constitutes the first attempt to run and evaluate XAI methods using high-resolution satellite images. Our code is publicly available at GitHub. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land use and land cover (LULC) change is a major driver of environmental change in District Bahawalnagar, Punjab. LULC change can lead to changes in soil quality, water availability, and climate, all of which can affect crop yields. LULC change can also lead to the loss of agricultural land, forest land, water bodies, and an increment in urban land that causes climate change and affects the agricultural sector. The study area showed that in the last thirty years, the population increased, built-up land increased, and agricultural land dropped by 30%. The present status of knowledge is reviewed in this paper on the impact of LULC on agricultural production in District Bahawalnagar. The conversion of agricultural land to urban development in District Bahawalnagar has led to a decline in crop yields of an average of 10%. The production of wheat and rice, the two major crops grown in District Bahawalnagar, is influenced by LULC changes. This study also found that the loss of agricultural land has resulted in an increase in soil salinity, which has further reduced crop yields. The detrimental effects of LULC change on agricultural output in District Bahawalnagar can be mitigated by adopting sustainable land management practices. These practices include reforestation, conservation agriculture, and water conservation. The government of Pakistan can also play a role in mitigating the negative impacts of LULC change on agricultural production by developing and implementing land use plans that protect agricultural land from conversion to other uses. More research is required to fully comprehend the effects of LULC and develop effective management strategies. However, LULC is a major challenge that must be addressed if we are to ensure food security in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Amery Ice Shelf is a major source of sea ice, whose production is linked to the global climate. In 2019, a collapse event occurred in the Amery Ice Shelf; sea ice production before and during this collapse needs to be studied. In this study, polynyas in the Amery Ice Shelf were identified according to ice thickness, and sea ice production was obtained by calculating the heat flux during winter (March–October) in 2013–2020. It was found that the sea ice production in the polynyas fluctuated greatly, and the maximum annual ice production occurred in 2018, which reached 225.4 km3. As for the collapse event in 2019, it is assumed that it may have exacerbated the volatility and instability of sea ice production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a technique for mapping the vegetation cover of mountainous areas based on seasonal satellite data from Landsat-OLI 8, using information about vegetation growth conditions. This mapping is based on the creation of a layer of relatively homogeneous areas in terms of relief and climate. Training samples for the classification of images were formed within these areas. Satellite images were classified using the maximum likelihood method. The created map reflects the spatial distribution of 9 classes of forest vegetation and 10 classes of non-forest vegetation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate computations of the radiance in the gaseous absorption bands typically require fine wavelength steps. In this paper, a fast technique for computing a radiance spectrum in the wavelength region of 400–2500 nm is proposed. Our approach draws inspiration from the established k-correlation distribution model, with k denoting the absorption coefficient. However, our method expands upon this by considering both the direct transmittance and the scattering coefficient as predictors. At selected spectral points, the full radiative transfer simulations are performed, and the mathematical relation between a predictor and the radiance is established. Then, the radiance is restored on a fine wavelength grid. This approach can be used to enhance the accuracy of the convolved spectrum computations based on precomputed approximately monochromatic lookup tables and reduce the size of lookup tables. Numerical analysis demonstrates the method's applicability to scenarios characterized by aerosol optical thicknesses not exceeding two. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Live Fuel Moisture Content (LFMC) describes the amount of water present in any type of vegetation and helps quantify the amount of fuel available in a wildfire. In this paper, a multivariate linear regression model was built to estimate the LFMC of the weighted average of all shrub-type species present, using the fraction of canopy cover (FCC) of each forest species as weights. Sample training was conducted with field data obtained during the fire season of the years 2019, 2020 and 2021 in 15 plots of a Mediterranean area where vegetation composed of the shrub-type species dominates. Different spectral indices extracted from Sentinel-2 together with the mean surface temperature, the accumulated precipitation and the seasonal parameters were considered as predictors. The results were compared with the extrapolation of another model trained with field data collected in the year 2019. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Methane is the second most important anthropogenic greenhouse gas, whose emissions need to be mitigated to curb global warming. There is a large uncertainty about its point source, but thanks to a new generation of high-spatial-resolution satellites, this situation is changing drastically, revealing thousands of emission point sources worldwide. In this paper, several hotspot areas are mapped, looking for methane emission point sources with different types of high-resolution satellites. Our results demonstrate the potential of satellite remote sensing to reveal methane emission point sources in different scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To achieve safety, accessibility, and technical compatibility in the operation of rail systems, technical specifications for interoperability are adopted to be complied with. This paper presents a study of the essential interoperability requirement ʺStructure Gaugeʺ within the framework of the regulations applicable to new, upgraded, or renewed infrastructure in the rail system within the European Union. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the results relying on 12 experimental M2 water profiles observed in a flume with emergent stems in a square arrangement. The authors used a recently proposed approach to determine the drag coefficients in the flow direction. Since these showed a behavior difficult to interpret, the authors first computed for each profile the best value of the Manning coefficient for the profile simulation and then the drag coefficients. With the help of a classical dimensional analysis, a regression equation was found to predict the drag coefficients, and these were used to simulate the observed profiles with good results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The digitalisation of water supply systems is essential to support crucial activities, ranging from the hydraulic modelling and calibration of distribution systems to the optimal planning of renewal measures. Digital Twins is the current challenge that aims to join accurate hydraulic models with Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools that employ a faithful digital copy of the original system and smart infrastructures. Thus, the aqueduct Digital Twin model is intended to be the core of future integrated water management systems to support efficient and sustainable management. In this paper, a process of implementing a digital model for a mountain aqueduct with its associated applications is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, EXTRASTAR software (EXTRemes Abacus for STAtistical Regionalization) is illustrated, which provides a general framework for extreme value analysis, specifically for Annual Maxima (AM) time series. The proposed methodology represents a useful and quick approach to carry out onsite and regional statistical investigations of extreme events, which is also suitable for climate change scenarios. EXTRASTAR was tested with the AM time series at daily resolutions for the entire Italian rain gauge network by implementing EV1 (Extreme Value Type I), GEV (Generalized Extreme Value) and TCEV (Two-Components Extreme Value) probability distributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water distribution systems (WDSs) are considered inherently vulnerable to intentional and accidental contamination. The installation of a water quality sensor system (WQSS) represents a valid strategy for securing WDSs against contamination. This paper proposes a novel topological-based methodological approach for defining a suitable WQSS, by also addressing both the computational intractability of the problem as the size of the WDS increases and the assumption that sensors are wrongly modelled and positioned on WDS nodes, rather than along system pipes. The method is tested on the WDS of Parete (Italy) and the results demonstrate the significant detection efficiency of the defined WQSS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water is a multi-purpose resource, and almost all of these purposes are of essential importance for our contemporary society. The most important water use nowadays is in food and energy production, and these two uses are essential for the development of civilization. The products of the food and energy industries are valued on the market. In the case of sufficiency of both food and energy supplies, it is possible to evaluate alternative uses of water by a combination of the economic models utilized in the food and energy industries. This paper aims to investigate the alternative use of water in plant and energy production by modeling the relation between them. The additional investigation is based on including a consideration of land as consolidated and non-consolidated area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Access to clean water is vital to human health, communities' development, and economic prosperity. Nowadays, more than 10% of the global population lacks access to clean water. This has created the so-called "water crisis" and set, as a key goal for communities, the protection and optimization of water usage. In this direction, technological concepts, like internet-of-things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) assisted recommendation, which enables real-time monitoring and efficient exploitation of water resources, have been identified as fundamental pillars of the solution. This inspired the design, development, and testing of several breakthrough concepts in this domain; however, to the best of our knowledge, none of them lies in real-time intelligent exploitation of mixing clean and recycled water for crops irrigation. Motivated by this, in this paper, we present a holistic next-generation IoT approach, namely AUGEIAS, for optimal clean and treated wastewater usage in precision agriculture. In more detail, we present AUGEIAS architecture and explain its features and functionalities. Moreover, the AUGEIAS intelligent mechanisms that allow accurate crops water demand and weather prediction, as well as optimization, are documented. Finally, the front end of AUGEIAS platform is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the EU Drinking Water Directive (EU DWD) 2020/2184, the approach of the "water safety plan", as suggested by the WHO, has been individuated as the correct tool for water utilities to ensure safe, drinkable water. The ADRIATIC-IONIAN Interreg project, MUHA—Multi-Hazard Framework for water related risks management, has become the necessity to effectively link different aspects of the water related risks management in an improved response system, integrating the functions of analysis, forecasting, and incident command systems. This paper aims to describe the rationale of the MUHA project and present some of the main outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Porous shallow-water equations (PSWE) are a mathematical model for urban flooding simulation that has gained popularity because of its modest computational burden. Under certain initial conditions, PSWE may admit multiple exact solutions. This implies that (i) a criterion is required to identify the unique physically relevant solution among the alternatives, and that (ii) the corresponding numerical models should incorporate this criterion. In the present paper, a procedure for the disambiguation of PSWE multiple exact solutions is proposed and a 1-d PSWE numerical scheme from the literature is modified to embed the disambiguation ability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With climate change, dry periods are more frequent, and intense short rainfall events are increasing in Mediterranean areas. It is essential to have better and more accurate territorial planning that does not expose the population to risks. The feasibility of small dams' construction was studied in the municipality of Guarda to improve and include the information in the respective Master Plan. This paper presents the methodologies implemented and results obtained in the identification of sites for the possible construction of hydraulic structures of less than 15 m height to retain and store water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To provide quantitative elements to the expected rate of change of flood quantiles in Alpine basins due to global warming, a systematical assessment of a river network is undertaken in this paper through the implementation of a geomorphoclimatic approach. The model, called "FloodAlp" produces the flood frequency curve of mountainous catchments based on the stochastic interaction of precipitation and temperature. In view of a widespread application, FloodAlp was revamped here and applied to all the sections of the river network of the Chisone basin (Northwest Italy) identified through a 50 m resolution digital elevation model (DEM). We show that, based on the decrease in snow-affected contributing areas, flood frequency can increase up to 8 times compared to the current frequency, with amplifications depending on the local elevation characteristics of sub-basins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While pressure reducing valves (PRVs) have been widely used in water distribution networks (WDNs) to reduce water leakage, research in recent years has focused on the use of turbines instead of PRVs as the means for enabling both pressure reduction and energy production. However, in WDNs daily continuous variability of flow discharge and upstream head make PAT selection a challenging issue. The present paper describes an innovative approach for optimal PAT selection in systems with hydraulic and/or electrical regulation. The methodology was also applied to a district of the Benevento, Italy, WDN, showing the effectiveness of the proposed approach. The findings showed the optimal pumps lie in the vicinity of the maximum of the produced energy. Furthermore, considering weekday pattern instead of long-period pattern gives reliable results only if the PAT system operated with hydraulic regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water demand scenarios are defined assuming that the samples are complete. On the other hand, consumption measurements are often affected by a considerable number of missing data. This paper explores the problem of missing data and proposes an example of a data pre-processing technique. Afterwards, a deconstruction of the time series, without being influenced by the presence of gaps, is presented. For this purpose, the fast Fourier transform for nonuniform sampling is developed. This analysis allows us to generate ergodic and stationary samples, useful for pursuing the generation of water demand scenarios. An application is provided on a water consumption time series recorded in a suburban area of Naples, Italy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, two different strategies are presented that allow for the assessment of the effects of climate change on urban pluvial flooding, in order to understand potentialities and limitations, advantages and drawbacks. The two strategies are hereby defined as "top-down" and "bottom-up", according to the relative position of climate change modelling with respect to flood modelling (upstream for top-down, downstream for bottom-up). To provide a practical example, the two strategies are applied to a case study located in Naples, Italy. However, they can be successfully extended for the assessment of any potential impact of climate change in any location. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, green roofs have been used as a control measure for urban stormwater management, as they retain, detain and slowly release rainwater. Green roofs present many economic, social and environmental benefits. After a general overview of the main features of green roofs, the paper focuses on the main outcomes highlighted by selected literature studies on the hydraulic performance of green roofs. The hydraulic efficiency has been specifically assessed through the definition of two parameters of great interest to design the tailwater drainage system: the peak reduction and the volume reduction indexes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The design of sustainable construction materials is continuously gaining increasing importance in civil engineering. Geopolymers are attractive alternatives to cementitious materials in terms of environmental impact and specific material properties, such as durability, an initial increase in mechanical properties, or chemical and thermal resistance. Such favorable properties can be advantageously utilized within various applications involving the design of materials for heavily stressed industrial floors. The research presented in the paper was focused on the design of a geopolymer composite based on metashale MEFISTO L05 and waste metashale RON D460HR binders. The 1:4 raw/waste mix of binders activated by potassium hydroxide/silicate was supplemented by 0.11 wt.% of graphite fibers to optimize electrical properties and bestow on it some new material functions, such as self-heating. The further utilization of fine waste aggregate (crushed defective concrete products, waste concrete from auto-mixers) resulted in an ~85% utilization of input waste materials. An acceptable mechanical performance of the mortar for particular civil engineering applications was observed (28d: Rf ~ 2.5 MPa, Rc ~ 15 MPa), as well as favorable thermal and DC/AC electrical properties, predicting the self-heating potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alkali-activated materials (AAMs) are a group of environmentally friendly binders considered alternatives to conventional cementitious binders. They utilise industrial wastes such as slag and fly ash to reduce cement production and related CO2 emissions. Despite the strong interest of researchers, the application of alkali-activated concrete (AAC) in constructions is still very limited. Given the difference in the process of producing the AAC and ordinary Portland cement concrete (OPCC), some of the testing methods need to be adjusted to a new type of binder. The increased sensitivity of AAM to high temperatures leads to discussions on the results achieved in the gas permeability tests that require the samples to be dried first. In this paper, the influence of drying temperature applied to the samples on the gas permeability will be presented. The binders' precursors are blends of fly ash (FA) and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) in slag proportions of 5%, 20%, and 35%, expressed by the mass of FA. Materials are denoted AAC5, AAC20, and AAC35, respectively. Measurements of the gas permeability of concretes were conducted by the RILEM–CEMBUREAU method, with lab adaptation for gas flow measurements. The comparison of results obtained shows the increase in gas permeability values with the temperature. However, the corresponding effect of temperature on permeability is driven by, on the one hand, the binder composition, and on the other hand, the aggregate's nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to design and optimize building materials containing phase changing material (PCM), it is important to accurately characterize the thermal properties of these composites: the enthalpy curve and its hysteresis. This paper presents the initial tests of these properties for a composite panel: gypsum plasterboard with an evenly distributed layer of PCM. Performance testing of the selected material was carried out by means of the dynamic method. This method (dynamic heat flow meter apparatus (DHFMA)) involves the measurement of non-stationary heat flow to determine the stored energy (enthalpy change) as a function of temperature using a stationary heat flow measurement apparatus (HFMA). This method allows for the measurement of the sensible and latent heat capacity of the products containing phase change material. In addition to presenting the obtained results, the study will discuss the practical aspects of this test method, recently introduced in the standard ASTM C 1784-20. The preliminary experiments described in the article were aimed at learning a new research technique, determining the required conditions for conducting research and the capabilities of the possessed apparatus in this regard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cement production has the largest carbon-footprint since it leads to the release of carbon dioxide and enormous energy consumption. Therefore, scientific research is being conducted worldwide on the possibility of using other materials that can be used as a cement substitute. A potential alternative material is glass powder. This paper present research results on the use of glass powder as a partial cement replacement with a substitution level of 0–20%. The pozzolanic activity and the influence of glass powder on cement hydration were analyzed. The porosity, the microstructure of the interfacial transition zone and the compressive strength of mortar were also investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the issue of fastening sheet-metal components on the facades of contemporary buildings that are massively insulated with external thermal insulation composite systems. This research focused on facades with thin-layer acrylic plaster and sheet-metal components made of aluminium, copper and hot-dipped galvanized sheet metal. Two different test methods and test sample geometries were used to determine the most critical aspects for the studied application sectors. Surprisingly high tensile properties as well as shear stresses in the bonded joints were recorded for all the selected combinations. The presented results confirmed the assumed benefits for the construction industry and the future practical use of this technology in construction, although the durability of a bonded joint will always depend mainly on the quality of the bonded substrate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, 3D printing has been more and more used in the development of buildings and building elements. Mostly-printed structures are subjected to compression that is oriented perpendicular to the layer laying direction. When applying load in this way, the printed structure exhibits characteristics similar to masonry structures. However, as the technology and application of 3D printing develop, the structures also become more complicated and subjected not only to direct compression but other stresses as well. In this paper, long-term properties together with compressive strength were determined for 3D-printed specimens with load applied in the same direction as the layers are laid. The long-term and mechanical properties were compared with cast same-composition specimens. Results show that for the printed specimens, the compressive strength was more than two times lower than cast specimens, while the creep properties were slightly lower for the printed specimens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Europe, the construction sector currently generates more than a third of CO2 emissions. Moreover, residential buildings consume about 40% of the energy that we are able to produce. Construction product manufacturers implement innovative solutions that give us a chance to achieve more widespread construction of zero-emission and zero-energy buildings. However, they face legal barriers related to the lack of standardization procedures enabling the rapid placing of innovative construction products on the market to be achieved. The MEZeroE project ("Measuring Envelope products and systems contributing to next generation of healthy nearly Zero Energy Buildings"), funded by European Union Horizon 2020, aims to create a platform combining science and business to facilitate the development of nearly zero-energy buildings. The aim of this paper is to present the European procedure for placing innovative construction products on the market under the MEZeroE project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diatomites are mineral resources formed from diatoms. They are widely used in sorption processes, medicine, cosmetology, and in protecting animals from parasites. Attempts are being made to incorporate them into concretes and construction binders to improve various performance properties. This paper presents the results of analyses (particle size analysis, XRD, and SEM) of a fine fraction of non-calcined and calcined diatomite as an additive to geopolymers made from fly ash from lignite combustion. The fly ash was also analyzed in the same way. Diatomite was introduced in its calcined and non-calcined form at 10%, 15%, and 30% by weight, replacing parts of the filler sand. The geopolymer mixtures were activated with 10 and 14 M aqueous sodium hydroxide solution with sodium water glass. As a result, it was found that it was possible to obtain geopolymers with diatomite additives with a compressive strength of about 34 MPa. In addition, after the strength tests, the microstructure of the obtained geopolymers was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]