The Transylvanian region of Romania is a place of rich history since ancient times, where the original natural environment around architectural heritage sites or buildings has not been severely ...altered by urban development. Unfortunately, many such places are left by the authorities to degrade or totally collapse for lack of funds, vision or initiatives. The current paper addresses the potential of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in the assessment of a viable and feasible prospect of restoration on a 19th century mansion that belonged to a nobiliary family. UAV use is rising in many industries and has become very popular in the last decade, but for survey engineering and related domains they represent a quantum leap in technology. Integrating UAV-acquired data and structure from motion software, has enabled modern techniques to obtain useful metrics from the field, accurate photorealistic 3D models for visual inspection, structural damage analyses, architectural rehabilitation-restoration, conservation and spatial analysis of the surrounding area. In this work a socio-cultural planning and design process is explored and presented to improve the local community and inclusion in a tourist circuit based on the regional potential, as well as an evaluation of accessibility derived from a vector-raster database that highlights the central position of the cultural heritage in regards to the axis of circulation between the important metropolitan areas and the local tourist attractions. This established workflow of modern topographic and construction measurements is fully integrable into the architectural process, building information modelling, heritage conservation and reconstruction.
The need to evaluate Gauss quadrature rules arises in many applications in science and engineering. It often is important to be able to estimate the quadrature error when applying an ℓ-point Gauss ...rule, Gℓ(f), where f is an integrand of interest. Such an estimate often is furnished by applying another quadrature rule, Qk(f), with k>ℓ nodes, and using the difference Qk(f)−Gℓ(f) or its magnitude as an estimate for the quadrature error in Gℓ(f) or its magnitude. The classical approach to estimate the error in Gℓ(f) is to let Qk(f), with k=2ℓ+1, be the Gauss-Kronrod quadrature rule associated with Gℓ(f). However, it is well known that the Gauss-Kronrod rule associated with a Gauss rule Gℓ(f) might not exist for certain measures that determine the Gauss rule and for certain numbers of nodes. This prompted M. M. Spalević 1 to develop generalized averaged Gauss rules, Gˆ2ℓ+1, with 2ℓ+1 nodes for estimating the error in Gℓ(f). Similarly as for (2ℓ+1)-node Gauss-Kronrod rules, ℓ nodes of the rule Gˆ2ℓ+1 agree with the nodes of Gℓ. However, generalized averaged Gauss rules are not internal for some measures. They therefore may not be applicable when the integrand only is defined on the convex hull of the support of the measure. This paper describes a new kind of quadrature rules that may be internal also when generalized averaged quadrature rules are not. The construction of the new quadrature rules is based on theory developed by Peherstorfer 2. Their application is particularly attractive when the rule Gˆ2ℓ+1 is not internal, the integrand cannot be evaluated at all its nodes, and the integrand is inexpensive to evaluate at the quadrature points. Computed examples that illustrate the performance of the new quadrature rules introduced in this paper are presented.
Slope failures and landslides cause economic damage and deaths worldwide. These losses can be minimized by integrating different methodologies, instruments, and data monitoring to predict future ...landslides. In the constantly growing metropolitan area of Cluj-Napoca, Romania, changes in land cover, land use, and build-up areas are an issue. The unprecedented urban sprawl pushed the city limits from the Somes River to hilly terrain prone to landslides and erosion. This study focuses on a landslide-prone area where a previous slope failure caused significant economic losses. It combines topo-geodetic measurements, UAV monitoring of surface displacement, GIS spatial analysis, ground-penetrating radar investigations, and geotechnical assessment. Two years of data show that the slope is undergoing surface erosion, with soil displacements of a few centimeters. Geodetic monitoring of the retaining wall’s control points indicates a small rotation. Coupled with georadar profile imaging showing changes in soil and rock layers with an uplift trend, it was deduced that the area suffers from a global instability. The findings provide valuable information about the dynamics of landslides and erosion for forecasting future movements and developing preventative strategies based on a new methodology that combines affordable and prevalent instrumentation and techniques.
As the fertile topsoil is constantly washed away and agricultural production is decreased, soil erosion is a serious environmental issue that affects the entire planet. All river basins experience ...changes in land use that affect sediment dynamics, soil erodibility, and hydrologic response. The main reason for the faster erosion rates is frequently attributed to those alterations. In the current study, the Intensity of Erosion and Outflow (IntErO) model was used to estimate the sediment yield and maximum outflow from three river basins in Cluj County, Transylvania, Romania. Because the county is hilly and has significant erosion issues, it is essential to have a solid understanding of how soil erosion occurs in river basins. This will allow for more precise planning of soil conservation projects and will allow for more effective management of the severity of the erosion processes. The IntErO model offers quick, efficient, and feasible insight into how changing land use affects soil erosion processes. The testing of the procedures that have been put into place is an essential component of the ongoing development of watershed management strategies at the regional level. The relief characteristics and predominant land use of the three selected prototype river basins significantly influenced the resulting real soil losses. The application of the IntErO model in assessing soil erosion rates in the Transylvanian hills represents a novel approach. The findings of this study hold potential for informing policymakers in the formulation of more robust regulations pertaining to soil and water conservation. Consequently, the implementation of such measures is expected to contribute to the safeguarding of river basin soils.
In the highly populated analysed territory, the expansion of the construction zones and the pressure imposed on the slopes by the housing and transport infrastructure led to the appearance and ...reactivation of mass movement processes that affects the population and the environment. The purpose of this study consist in applying the principles of bivariate statistical analysis in order to determine the dynamic potential of a territory, taking into account the statistical relationship between the independent variables represented by predisposing and triggering factors of landslides (slope, geology, land use etc.) and dependent variables, in this case: landslides. The identification of the degree of validation of the results was determined by calculating the AUROC (Area under the Receiver Operating Characteristic) value, whose value of 0.854 highlights the representativeness of the chosen model. The analysis of landslides susceptibility highlights the inclusion of the territory represented by the hills surrounding Cluj-Napoca metropolitan area, Romania, on the classes of spatial occurrence of these processes.
This paper derives the second-order statistics of SC (selection combining) macrodiversity operating over the Gamma shadowed Nakagami-
m fading channels. Macrodiversity system of SC type consists of ...two microdiversity systems and selection (switching) is based on their output signal power values. Each microdiversity system is of MRC (maximal ratio combining) type with arbitrary number of branches in the presence of correlative Nakagami-
m fading. We have derived the infinite-series expressions for LCR (level crossing rate) and AFD (average fading duration) at the output of this system. Numerical results are also presented in order to show the influence of various parameters such as number of the diversity branches at the microcmbiners, fading severity and level of correlation between those branches on the system's statistics, and then compared to the previously published results from this area.
In this paper, the effects of multipath fading and shadowing over the propagation channel are observed through the performance analysis of switch and stay selection combining (SSC) technique. The ...short term fading (multipath fading) in conjunction with the long term fading (shadowing) are both modeled by Generalized-K (K
G
) distribution. The proposed system is considered as interference-limited system in correlated fading environment. The probability density function (PDF) of signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) at the output of SSC receiver is derived in form of Meijer G functions. According to this new expression, the outage probability is considered and the effects of fading and shadowing parameters and correlation coefficients on the performance gain are analyzed.
The aim of this paper is to study the performance of a switch-and-stay combining (SSC) receiver, operating in the presence of η-μ fading and co-channel interference (CCI). The analysis will ...incorporate both cases when the receiver branches are independent and when a correlation arises between them. Infinite-series expressions will be presented for the probability density function (PDF) and cumulative distribution function (CDF) of the SSC output signal-to-interference ratio (SIR). Further, capitalising on them, standard wireless performance measures, outage probability (OP) and average bit error probability (ABER) will be determined and discussed in the function of various system parameters, including fading severity, observed threshold and input SIR unbalance.
In this paper macrodiversity system consisting of two microdiversity SC
(Selection Combiner) receivers and one macrodiversity SC receiver are
analyzed. Independent ?-? fading and correlated slow ...Gamma fading are
present at the inputs to the microdiversity SC receivers. For this system
model, analytical expression for the probability density of the signal at
the output of the macrodiversity receiver SC, and the output capacity of the
macrodiversity SC receiver are calculated. The obtained results are
graphically presented to show the impact of Rician ? factor, the shading
severity of the channel c, the number of clusters ? and correlation
coefficient ? on the probability density of the signal at the output of the
macrodiversity system and channel capacity at the output of the
macrodiversity system. Based on the obtained results it is possible to
analyze the real behavior of the macrodiversity system in the presence of
?-? fading.
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In the case of forests located in the close proximity of urban centres, the functions and conventional roles of the forests have to be largely reconsidered. An experimental study area was located in ...Făget Forest, near the city of Cluj-Napoca, North-West of Romania, as a subject to evaluate different natural risks, especially landslides. Although most of this area is stabilized, human activity became in the last period the most aggressive and active factor that can induce changes in slopes stability. The evaluation based on new changes on the terrain and constructions has clearly revealed the effect of the unprecedented urban sprawl and the expansion of infrastructure elements and residential buildings. Landslide susceptibility map was elaborated using a multivariate statistical analysis and the Geographical Information System (GIS) technology on a predetermined path inside the forest, as well as obtaining valuable information about the tree species. Based on 14 surveys, each of them covering an area of 500 m2 on a longitudinal transect of the forest, there were identified relatively few tree species with a significant share: Carpinus betulus (42.9%), Fagus sylvatica (24.9%), Quercus petraea (23.2%), Q. robur (6.3%), Prunus avium (1.2%). Their positive roles on avoiding or limiting the flow on slopes, flooding, landslides etc. are different depending on the position, terrain, forest composition, trees density, slope, exposition, but it is fundamental beneficial. However, these species can assure productive (as wood), ameliorative, ecological, landscape, cultural, educational, relaxation roles, and consequently inestimable values.
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