1,721,080 research outputs found

    Combining InSAR and optical data to detect earthquake damages

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    In this paper, we made a preliminary experimental evaluation of the capability to detect the urban changes due to an earthquake by InSAR and optical satellite based data. The test site is the area hit by the August 17 th, 1999, Turkey earthquake. A multichannel/multitemporal dataset has been created including the intensity image of the pre event and the post event ERS acquisitions, the complex coherence and the intensity correlation coefficients. Using this SAR data set and the change detection provided by IRS, we performed a number of statistical tests to understand at what extent the InSAR is able to help detecting urban damages and what particular features extracted by SAR better contribute to this objective

    Comparing and combining the capability of detecting earthquake damages in urban areas using SAR and optical data

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    The prompt detection, mapping and assessment of urban damages due to earthquakes is a key point, particularly in remote areas or where the infrastructures are not well developed to ensure the necessary communication exchanges or where their operability has strongly decreased as a consequence of the event. The combination of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data and optical images is a promising and suitable approach. We propose two test cases, the 1999 Izmit (Turkey) and the 2003 Bam (Iran) earthquakes where we investigate the capability to detect urban changes and classify them. Moreover, a comparison with ground based data is also shown

    Retrieval and analysis of land surface microwave emissivity from SSM/I data

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    The retrieval of land surface emissivity from microwave radiometric measurements is useful for monitoring the surface properties without being affected by the contribution of the atmosphere, which can be significant at higher frequencies. It is based on the inversion of the radiative transfer equation, assuming the absence of scattering phenomena. In this work, a method to improve the accuracy of the emissivity estimates through the removal of the effects of the atmosphere from the radiometric data and through the consideration of the surface elevation information is proposed. We have used the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) observations over Italy throughout 1995. The atmospheric parameters have been derived from the NCEP vertical profiles, whilst the presence of clouds has been detected through METEOSAT images co-located with the SSM/I ones. The data provided by a digital elevation model (DEM) have been also exploited. Monthly average maps of microwave emissivity relative to a geographical area including Italy have been produced to assess the whole estimation procedure, as well as to give examples of monitoring the seasonal trend of this parameter in a mountainous zone (Alps) and in a flat area (Po Plain)

    Towards an operational procedure to map soil moisture using SAR: Results of a seven-year-experiment over an agricultural area

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    In this work, the outcomes of a research activity, that lasted approximately seven years (2003-2010), in which soil moisture was monitored on a test site in Northern Italy by collecting a series of SAR images and in situ data are presented. Radar data were provided by the C-band ENVISAT/ASAR instrument. The research activity aimed at calibrating and validating a pre-operational algorithm, conceived to be used by the Italian Civil Protection, for high resolution soil moisture mapping from SAR data. The algorithm is focused on the Bayesian theory of parameter estimation. The Maximum A Posteriori (MAP) probability criterion or the Minimum Variance one are used to retrieve soil moisture by inverting a forward scattering model. Ancillary data such as optical images and land cover data are also used. The results of the validation activity have confirmed the validity of the proposed mapping approach. In particular, the algorithm allowed us to retrieve soil moisture with a R-2 coefficient of 0.77 and with a root mean square error in the order of 0.07 m(3)/m(3)

    Exploiting physical and topographic information within a fuzzy scheme to map flooded area by SAR

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    An inundation event occurred in Italy on November 1994 has been analysed in order to asses the capability to map the flooded areas by radar (SAR) images in support to civil protection interventions. ERS images collected before and after the inundation have shown the presence of different scattering mechanisms occurring in the flooded areas and originating either an increase or a decrease of the backscattering coefficient, depending on the land covers type. This analysis has allowed us to develop a flood discrimination procedure based on a fuzzy approach able to integrate all the possible sources of available data (SAR images, land cover and a DEM) and prior information (cover dependent backscattering behaviour). A comparison with a ground survey providing the maximum flood extension has given encouraging results

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

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    The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed

    Variations on the Author

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    “Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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