69 research outputs found

    Preventing forest fires through remote sensing: achievements of the prevention and recovery of forest fires emergency in the Mediterranean area project

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    The three-year Space-Based Information Support for the Prevention and Recovery of Forest Fires Emergency in the Mediterranean Area (PREFER) project was devoted to creating a satellite-based service infrastructure capable of providing up-to-date information to support the prepared¬ness, prevention, recovery, and reconstruction phases of the forest fires emergency cycle in the European Mediterranean region. The project, an initiative of the 7th Framework Pro¬gramme for Research and Technological Development, was successfully completed at the end of 2015. However, the project’s products were also made available to engaged us¬ers for the 2016 summer season. The present article presents the initiative’s achievements, emphasizing the most innovative information products de¬veloped in PREFER’s framework. For these products, the methodology and validation results are introduced and dis¬cussed. The PREFER project was largely associated with the European Copernicus program (http://www.copernicus.eu/), the goal of which is to develop operational information services on a global scale, using both space- and ground-based monitoring systems, in support of environmental and security policy needs

    A patient defines the interstitial 1q deletion syndrome characterized by antithrombin III deficiency

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    A patient with microbrachycephaly, high forehead, long philtrum, thin upper lip, downturned corners of the mouth, low set ears with overlapping helix, fifth-finger clinodactyly, small hands and feet, bilateral transverse palmar crease, low total finger ridge count, hypotonia, severe growth and psychomotor delay, mild hypoplasia of corpus callosum, and Arnold-Chiari type 1 malformation is reported. The karyotype showed 46, XY, del(1)(q23q31.2). Coagulation factor V (F5, 1q23) and coagulation factor XIII (F13B, 1q31-q32.1) levels were normal. As expected, antithrombin III (AT3, 1q23-q25.1) serum level and activity were half of normal. We performed a review of the literature on proximal and intermediate deletion 1q syndrome, and we hypothesize the existence of only one 1q interstitial deletion syndrome, clinically characterized by ATIII deficiency

    Further delineation of 7p trisomy. Case report and review of literature.

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    The authors report on the 7th case of "de novo" 7p trisomy [46,XY,dup (7) (p15-pter)], followed during 6-and-a-half years. Through literature review, examination of pictures and dermatoglyphics, they try to contribute to the further definition of this multiple congenital anomaly syndrome. This entity, although several lengths of duplicated fragment or mosaicism, is characterized by high and large forehead flattened at the centre due to the abnormally large and persistent gaping anterior fontanel and sagittal (metopic sutures, consequent hypertelorism and broad nasal bridge, cutis laxa, often denounced by folded neck, joint and cardiovascular anomalies, psychomotor delay and a possible typical dermatoglyphic pattern. The phenotypic pattern seems to be similar in all the patients, although the association of anomalies appears to be correlated to the extension of the duplicated fragments

    Sugarcane biomass estimate based on sar imagery: A radar systems comparison

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    SBAM (Satellite Based Agricultural Monitoring) is a project funded by Italian Space Agency in the framework of Italian-Kenya cooperation. The project has four main objectives: a) to produce an updated map of the agricultural areas for Kenya based on Landsat 8 and Sentinel 2 imagery; b) to develop an automatic monitoring system able to classify agricultural areas and detect land use changes; c) to develop and deliver to the Kenyan partner of the project a system capable to download and process automatically Landsat8, Sentinel2, MODIS and MSG/SEVIRI images by providing standard products (vegetation indices, statistics, temporal analysis, etc.); d) to provide a tool for assessing changes in the agricultural area stability and crop yield. and study the feasibility of a tool capable to forecast crop yields. The paper is devoted to describe the activity carried out in the field of forecasting crop yield by using biomass estimate based on SAR images. The results obtained by using images acquired by X-band (Cosmo-Skymed), C-Band (Sentinel-1) and L-band (PALSAR) systems on a study area devoted to sugarcane will be described

    Evaluating Hyperion capability for land cover mapping in a fragmented ecosystem: Pollino National Park, Italy

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    We analyze the capability of Hyperion spaceborne hyperspectral data for discriminating land cover in a complex natural ecosystem according to the structure of the currently used European standard classification system (CORINE Land Cover 2000). For this purpose, we used Hyperion imagery acquired over Pollino National Park (Italy). Hyperion pre-processed data (30 m spatial resolution) were classified at the pixel level using common parametric supervised classification methods. The algorithms' performance and class level accuracy were compared with those obtained for the same area using airborne hyperspectral MIVIS data (7 m spatial resolution). Moreover, in selected test areas characterized by heterogeneous land cover (as mapped by MIVIS classification) a Linear Spectral Unmixing (LSU) technique was applied to Hyperion data to derive the abundance fractions of land cover endmembers. The accuracy of the LSU analysis was evaluated using the Residual Error parameter, by comparing Hyperion LSU results with land cover fractional abundances achieved from reference data (i.e., MIVIS and air-photo classification). The results show the potential of Hyperion spaceborne hyperspectral imagery in mapping land cover and vegetation diversity up to the 4th level of the CORINE legend, even at the sub-pixel level, within a fragmented ecosystem such as that of Pollino National Park. Moreover, we defined a criterion for evaluating the Hyperion accuracy in retrieving land cover abundances at the sub-pixel scale. Sub-pixel analysis allowed us to determine the optimal threshold to select the areas on which consistent fractional land cover monitoring can be achieved using the Hyperion sensor. (c) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

    Remote Sensing water observation for supporting Lake Victoria weed management

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    This paper aims to assess the suitability of remote sensing for enhancing the management of water body resources and for providing an inexpensive way to gather, on a wide area, weed infestation extent and optical parameter linked to the water body status. Remotely sensed satellite images and ancillary ground true data were used to produce land cover maps, trough classification techniques, and water compounds maps, applying radiative transfer models. The study proposed within the framework of the cooperation between Italian Foreign Affair Ministry (through the University of Rome) and Kenyan Authorities has been carried out on the Kenyan part of the Lake Victoria. This lake is one of the largest freshwater bodies of the world where, over the last few years environmental challenges and human impact have perturbed the ecological balance affecting the biodiversity. The objective of this research study is to define the thematic products, retrievable from satellite images, like weed abundance maps and water compound concentrations. These products, if provided with an appropriate time frequency, are useful to identify the preconditions for the occurrence of hazard events like abnormal macrophyte proliferation and to develop an up-to-date decision support system devoted to an apprised territory, environment and resource management

    COSMO SkyMed AO projects -multi-temporal SAR and optical data integrated approach for weed infested inland waters

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    In this paper we deal with the integrated use of time-series of SAR and MODIS images to derive the temporal behavior, the abundance and the distribution of the floating macrophytes in the Winam Gulf (Kenyan portion of the Lake Victoria). The proliferation of invasive plants and aquatic weeds is of growing concern. Starting from 1989, Lake Victoria has been interested by the highest infestation of water hyacinth with significant socio-economic impact on riparian populations. The information provided by satellite can play an important role in supporting a decision system for the management of the water resources allowing also an easy and inexpensive way of monitoring the environment response to any action that might be undertaken to contrast its degradation. This paper aims at assessing the capability of medium/high resolution (Wideregion and Stripmap) COSMO-SkyMed ScanSAR time series imagery to support/supplement optical data, frequently affected by clouds, in the knowledge of temporal macrophytes growing cycles and sustain the monitor and management of the Lake Victoria waters. © 2012 IEEE
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