This study investigated perceptions and behavioral patterns related to urban green space (UGS) in Italian cities, during the period of national lockdown imposed due to the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 in ...the spring of 2020. A survey was used to examine the responses of population groups in different municipal areas, comparing those in government-defined “red zones”, mostly in the northern regions of the country, with “non-red zones” in the rest of the country, where the rate of infection was much lower. A total of 2100 respondents participated in the survey. The majority of respondents declared themselves to be habitual users of UGS, especially of parks or green areas outside the town – mainly visiting for relaxation and physical exercise, but also for observing nature. In the northern regions people more commonly reported the adoption of sustainable practices, in terms of the utilization of tools for "green mobility". During the lockdown, habits changed significantly: only one third of respondents reported visiting UGS, with frequent visits made mainly for the purpose of walking the dog. Other motivations included the need for relaxing, mostly in the red zones, and for physical exercise in non-red zones. The reduction in travel to urban parks was accompanied by increased visitation of gardens and other green spaces in close proximity, as social distancing and other regulations imposed restrictions on movement. In all regions, respondents who could not physically access UGS expressed a feeling of deprivation which was exacerbated by living in towns located in red zones, being a usual visitor of UGS and having no green view from the window. The extent to which these visitors missed UGS depended on the frequency of visitation before the pandemic and the UGS distance, as well as the type of previous activity. In fact, those activities that were most common before the pandemic were missed the most, reinforcing the importance of green areas for social gathering, sports, and observing nature – but simply “spending time outdoors” was also mentioned, even by those who visited UGS during the lockdown, as the time outdoors was not enough or not fully enjoyed. The feeling of missing UGS was only partially alleviated by the green view from the window – only a more open view to a natural landscape or adaptation to a view with little greenery reduced such feeling.
•The outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 induced a change in UGS visitation for essential motivations.•The feeling of UGS deprivation was accentuated for those with some view of greenery.•Respondents demonstrated heightened awareness of the importance of respect for nature.•Respondents suggested urban policies addressing sustainability and resilience goals for cities.•Respondents suggested UGS expansion, improvement and pocket-greenery within neighborhoods.
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are becoming increasingly accessible tools with widespread use as environmental monitoring systems. They can be used for anthropogenic marine debris survey, a recently ...growing research field. In fact, while the increasing efforts for offshore investigations lead to a considerable collection of data on this type of pollution in the open sea, there is still little knowledge of the materials deposited along the coasts and the mechanism that leads to their accumulation pattern. UAVs can be effective in bridging this gap by increasing the amount of data acquired to study coastal deposits, while also limiting the anthropogenic impact in protected areas. In this study, UAVs have been used to acquire geo-referenced RGB images in a selected zone of a protected marine area (the Migliarino, Massacciuccoli, and San Rossore park near Pisa, Italy), during a long-term (ten months) monitoring programme. A post processing system based on visual interpretation of the images allows the localization and identification of the anthropogenic marine debris within the scanned area, and the estimation of their spatial and temporal distribution in different zones of the beach. These results provide an opportunity to investigate the dynamics of accumulation over time, suggesting that our approach might be appropriate for monitoring and collecting such data in isolated, and especially in protected, areas with significant benefits for different types of stakeholders.
•We investigated the change in visitation of urban green spaces (UGS) during COVID-19 pandemic.•Social isolation reduced extent, type and distance of visited UGS on the basis of legal ...restrictions.•Reasons for visiting UGS changed from non-essential before the pandemic to essential during it.•Respondents missed visiting UGS regardless of the view of UGS from their window.•Respondents expressed the need for UGS integrated within the urban fabric.
Urban green space (UGS) is an essential element in the urban environment, providing multiple ecosystem services as well as beneficial effects on physical and mental health. In a time of societal crisis these effects may be amplified, but ensuring that they are maintained requires effective planning and management – which is a complex challenge given the rapid changes in modern society and the need for continual adaptation. This study aims to identify the drivers that normally attract visitors to UGS, and to assess the effects of social isolation on the usage and perception of UGS during the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted an online survey during the period in which restrictive measures were imposed in response to the pandemic (March-May 2020), in Croatia, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, Slovenia and Spain.
Results showed that urban residents normally have a need for accessible UGS, mainly for physical exercise, relaxing and observing nature. The reduction in UGS visitation during the containment period was related to distinct changes in the motivations of those who did visit, with a relative increase in "necessary activities" such as taking the dog out, and a reduction in activities that could be considered non-essential or high-risk such as meeting people or observing nature. Behavioral changes related to proximity were also observed, with an increase in people walking to small urban gardens nearby (e.g. in Italy) or tree-lined streets (e.g. in Spain, Israel), and people traveling by car to green areas outside the city (e.g. in Lithuania). What the respondents missed the most about UGS during the pandemic was "spending time outdoors" and "meeting other people" – highlighting that during the COVID-19 isolation, UGS was important for providing places of solace and respite, and for allowing exercise and relaxation. Respondents expressed the need for urban greenery even when legally mandated access was limited – and many proposed concrete suggestions for improved urban planning that integrates green spaces of different sizes within the fabric of cities and neighborhoods, so that all residents have access to UGS.
Cloud cover is important meteorological information that still requires expensive equipment to be monitored from the ground, especially at night. The use of artificial lights at night causes light ...pollution, and clouds amplify this by reflecting light downward. In addition, cloud thermal radiation emissions affect sky temperature. In this study, we describe a system (NSKY-CD) that can be used to detect clouds at night since it integrates a sky quality meter that measures night sky brightness (NSB) and an air temperature and an infrared temperature sensor that measure sky temperature. We defined a cloud detection method based on fixed threshold values determined with two different procedures that we called ‘optimal’ and ‘antimode’. We then quantitatively assessed the performance of these methods in detecting the presence or absence of clouds in the urban area of Florence during two full moon cycles. Accuracy for the ‘optimal’ method varied between 87% and 91%, while for the ‘antimode’ method, it varied between 86% and 89%. Our results suggest that the two parameters are complementary since NSB has a better performance on moonless nights, and the difference between air temperature and sky temperature has a better performance on moonlit nights. Our method can also be used to analyze historical series of NSB to estimate cloud presence backwards, thus providing important information for meteorological, environmental and astronomical studies.
In a context of urban warming, the effects of trees on outdoor thermal stress are important even during the increasingly hot autumn season. This study examines the effects of a deciduous tree species ...(
Tilia x europaea
L) on surface temperature over different ground materials and in turn on human thermal comfort, with a particular focus on tree shade variation due to leaf fall. Grass, asphalt, and gravel-covered ground surfaces, both sun-exposed and under the
Tilia
, were monitored in Florence, Italy, during the summer (2014) and autumn (2017) seasons. The Index of Thermal Stress (ITS) was used to gauge the micrometeorological effects of the changing tree canopy, with tree defoliation quantified by the Plant Area Index. On clear summer days, thermal discomfort was especially pronounced over exposed asphalt, and even more intense above exposed gravel due to its higher reflectivity—while shaded surfaces showed large reductions in thermal stress. Even though incoming solar radiation decreases over the course of the fall season, the direct radiation under the gradually defoliating tree canopy actually increases. Due to this diminished shading effect, the differences in surface temperature between exposed and shaded asphalt shrink dramatically from about 20 to 3 °C. However, since ambient conditions become milder as the season progresses, the
Tilia
demonstrated a double benefit in terms of ITS: providing thermal comfort under its full canopy at the beginning of autumn and maintaining comfort even as its canopy thins out. At the same time, tree species with earlier defoliation may be unable to replicate such benefits.
This paper reports the results of an exploratory study carried out in Birjand, Iran, during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of the study was to explore the behavioral change in the ...use and the motivation to visit a green space (public or private) during the pandemic as compared to the pre-pandemic period, the effect of green spaces (private and public) on users’ feelings, the relations between the extent to which the access to green spaces was missed, and characteristics of respondents and the place they live. A survey was carried out through an online questionnaire in winter 2020 and about 400 responses were collected. The results showed a decrease in visitation of public green spaces during the pandemic, and higher visitation of private green spaces such as gardens or courtyards by those with access. In addition, both public and private green spaces enhance positive feelings and decrease the negative ones. Respondents missed access to green spaces, especially when their visitation before the pandemic was high, and women missed them more than men. Therefore, private green spaces might represent an opportunity for psychological respite in time of a pandemic, but also for socialization. The study reports respondents’ useful suggestions for urban landscape planning for the city of Birjand that might also be useful for other cities in dry lands; improving the quality of green spaces beyond the quantity may play a role in enhancing the connection to nature in the time of a pandemic, with positive effects on mental health, and this can also can improve recreation opportunities and reduce inequalities.
There are several tools and methods to quantify light pollution due to direct or reflected light emitted towards the sky. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) are still rarely used in light pollution ...studies. In this study, a digital camera and a sky quality meter mounted on a UAV have been used to study the relationship between indices computed on night images and night ground brightness (NGB) measured by an optical device pointed downward towards the ground. Both measurements were taken simultaneously during flights at an altitude of 70 and 100 m, and with varying exposure time. NGB correlated significantly both with the brightness index (−0.49 ÷ −0.56) and with red (−0.52 ÷ −0.58) and green band indices (−0.42 ÷ −0.58). A linear regression model based on the luminous intensity index was able to estimate observed NGB with an RMSE varying between 0.21 and 0.46 mpsas. Multispectral analysis applied to images taken at 70 m showed that increasing exposure time might cause a saturation of the colors of the image, especially in the red band, that worsens the correlation between image indices and NGB. Our study suggests that the combined use of low cost devices such as UAV and a sky quality meter can be used for assessing hotspot areas of light pollution originating from the surface.
Citizen science is a growing field of research and practice, generating new knowledge and understanding through the collaboration of citizens in scientific research. As the field expands, it is ...becoming increasingly important to consider its potential to foster education and learning opportunities. Although progress has been made to support learning in citizen science projects, as well as to facilitate citizen science in formal and informal learning environments, challenges still arise. This paper identifies a number of dilemmas facing the field-from competing scientific goals and learning outcomes, differing underlying ontologies and epistemologies, diverging communication strategies, to clashing values around advocacy and activism. Although such challenges can become barriers to the successful integration of citizen science into mainstream education systems, they also serve as signposts for possible synergies and opportunities. One of the key emerging recommendations is to align educational learning outcomes with citizen science project goals at the planning stage of the project using co-creation approaches to ensure issues of accessibility and inclusivity are paramount throughout the design and implementation of every project. Only then can citizen science realise its true potential to empower citizens to take ownership of their own science education and learning.
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV, aka drones) are being used for mapping macro-litter in the environment. As drone images require a manual processing task for detecting marine litter, it is of interest ...to evaluate the accuracy of non-expert citizen science operators (CSO) in performing this task. Students from Italian secondary schools (in this work, the CSO) were invited to identify, mark, and classify stranded litter items on a UAV orthophoto collected on an Italian beach. A specific training program and working tools were developed for the aim. The comparison with the standard in situ visual census survey returned a general underestimation (50%) of items. However, marine litter bulk categorisation was fairly in agreement with the in situ survey, especially for sources classification. The concordance level among CSO ranged between 60% and 91%, depending on the item properties considered (type, material, and colour). As the assessment accuracy was in line with previous works developed by experts, remote detection of marine litter on UAV images can be improved through citizen science programs, upon an appropriate training plan and provision of specific tools.
•NSB in Tuscany ranged between 17.2 (83 times brighter than the natural background) and 21.5 mpsas during moonless night.•Seasonal NSB during moonless night presented a different pattern in wet and ...dry season at urban sites.•NSB was affected by monthly cycle of moonlight and its effect interacted with weather conditions.•Average night sky during precipitation events was approximately six times (2 mpsas) than during dry days.•The presented analysis might be applied in ecological studies regarding light pollution effects on the environment.
Light pollution generated by the excessive use of artificial light at night is an environmental and ecological concern. Artificial light at night is diffused far from the sources, for long distances by scattering in the atmosphere (skyglow), thus affecting the night sky and the biodiversity of rural and natural areas. The characterization of the level and variability of light pollution has become an important issue for several disciplines.
This study analyzes light pollution in urban, rural and remote sites in Tuscany (Italy) by monitoring night sky brightness. Night sky brightness (NSB) data collected from 2016 to 2019 were analyzed to assess annual and seasonal variability at each site and between sites. The relationship between night sky brightness and moonlight and weather conditions were also analyzed. Trend analysis was also performed to evaluate the degradation of the quality of the measurement with time due to dirty accumulation on the sensor shield.
NSB in Tuscany during moonless nights ranged between 17.3 and 21.8 mpsas. The monthly cycle of moonlight is the main driver of night sky brightness variability in the remote site (21.8 mpsas on moonless nights and 18.5 mpsas on full moon nights) with a slight, but significant darkening effect during rainy conditions (22.3 mpsas). In urban sites, moonlight cycle is almost completely masked by weather conditions, as it can be seen from the analysis of seasonal variability, lunar monthly cycle analysis and weather condition analysis. Average night sky brightness on rainy days might reach 15.4 mpsas (approximately 436 times brighter than the natural background), an intensity that is even higher than average night sky brightness in full moonlight at the same site (16.6 mpsas). Light pollution can reach levels that might affect nocturnal species, and therefore the study of long term variability of light pollution is important for ecological studies.
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