Concept design plays a critical role in product design, aiming to create conceptual schemes that satisfy various constraints. Among them, configuring the functions and structures that meet the user ...requirements and determining their spatial relationship is a necessary part of generating schemes. While existing methodologies of function and structure solution have been advanced recently, how to avoid overlap and interference in the space of functions and structures when generating schemes so as to maximize the use of the workspace and achieve the functionality of the product remains challenging. To address this issue, a space layout design model for concept generation using function-based spatial planning and structure dynamic deployment is proposed in this study. In the functional analysis phase, a function-based spatial zoning model is created for the functions, and establishing mappings for the spatial relationships and the zones in the space to generate the layout solution by extending and integrating zoned space. After generating conceptual structure, coordinate transformation based position deployment and trajectory analysis based motion space deployment methods are used to deploy spatial layout of the structures. A case study of a machine for electrical insulator detection that includes the integration and interaction of multiple components in space is introduced to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed model and method.
This paper presents a framework containing ten components to deliver a data management process for the storage and management of data used for Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) in Ireland. The work ...includes a data process flow and a recommended solution architecture. The architecture includes a central data catalogue and a spatial storage system. The components of the process are presented to maximise the reuse potential of any dataset within an MSP context. The terms 'Suitability' and 'Readiness' in the MSP context are offered as both formal and considered assessments of data, as is the applicability of a data stewardship maturity matrix. How data contained in such a storage system can be published externally to potential consumers of these data is also explored. The process presents a means of managing data and metadata to ensure data lineage is optimised by carrying information about the origin of and the processing applied to the data; to evaluate the quality and relevance of geospatial datasets for use in MSP decisions in Ireland. The process was piloted in the National Marine Planning Framework for Ireland in the development of draft map products; feedback from the public consultation is ongoing and not presented.
Understanding the market demand for decentralized water technologies and the impacts on the urban water systems (UWS) is critical to sustainable promotion in urban communities. In this paper, we ...developed a spatial agent-based model (ABM) that simulates the adoption of home-based rainwater harvesting (RWH) and greywater recycling (GWR) by single-family households in Boston, United States. We applied system dynamics modeling (SDM) to evaluate the impacts of decentralized technologies on the UWS. The change in carbon emissions of the UWS was modeled as the environmental benefit for household choice decisions in ABM. We validated our integration by comparing the simulated reservoir elevations with the reference-year values and comparing where early adoptions emerge with the reported installations. In the results, we first examined the sensitivity of the adoption and diffusion to the market promotion, neighbor's influence, environmental benefits, and economic attractiveness. Our simulation highlights the diffusion from central downtown to the suburban. RWH has higher adoptions than GWR, and RWH starts diffusing much earlier. Reservoir water availability is improved through the adoption of RWH and GWR. As the tradeoffs, reservoirs discharge more water for storage security, and hydropower generation becomes less as the need of water transfer decreases. The UWS do not reduce carbon emissions due to the high electricity consumption of GWR. Utilizing the improved water resources and reducing the impact of decentralized technologies are required for sustainable promotion of water decentralization. Our integrated modeling can be improved by including more critical socio-technical interactions for spatial planning of decentralized water technologies.
•A framework for planning water at the nexus of human-infrastructure-environment.•Agent-based model to simulate spatial adoption of decentralized water technologies.•System dynamics model to quantify the impact of adoption on water system.•Rainwater harvesting has a higher potential among Boston single-family communities.•Suggestions are identified for sustainable promotion of decentralization.
The European Union has a legally-binding framework for the establishment of maritime spatial plans in the sea areas covered by the exclusive economic zones of its Member States by 2021. The European ...Commission is supporting EU Member States in their planning efforts with concrete tools and financing. The European Union is well positioned to use its experience and expertise in promoting international and transboundary maritime spatial planning to help address global and regional governance gaps and challenges in ocean management, thereby contributing to improved international ocean governance. In this paper, the European Commission's Bernhard Friess and Marie Grémaud-Colombier explain the EU's legal framework for maritime spatial planning, and elaborate on how the Commission supports EU Member States in the preparation of their maritime spatial plans and the establishment of lasting mechanisms for cross-border cooperation. They set out how the EU's MSP experience led to intensification of its work on international MSP, including with the adoption of the joint DG MARE – IOC-UNESCO Roadmap on International MSP which sets out a clear forward looking and global perspective towards implementing the Agenda 2030.
This article summarizes briefly the principal conclusions from papers presented in this special issue on marine spatial planning. It identifies potential economic, ecological, and administrative ...benefits (and costs) that might be realized from the implementation of MSP. Finally, the article summarize lessons learned and identifies future challenges and directions for MSP, including the development of international guidelines for its implementation.
Offshore Wind Farms (OWFs) became promising investments to meet climate change targets while bringing autonomy and development to several coastal countries. However, these developments may cause ...externalities, primarily affecting users dependent on maritime space and its seascapes, such as Tourism and Recreation (T&R). The marine renewable expansion, in general, is expected by some of the actors involved to affect T&R with the prospect of decreasing local welfare and the number of visitors. Nonetheless, this influence over Coastal and Maritime Tourism & Recreation is not well addressed by academic papers. Here we assess this literature gap via a semi-systematic narrative meta-synthesis (SSNMS) which expands on the methodology and results of two guiding reference studies (Scottish Government, 2008; Parsons & Firestone, 2018) to conjecture about this topic. The SSNMS promotes the evaluation studies produced between 2015 and 2019 selected through a rigorous investigation of relevant peer-reviewed keywords in Scopus and Web of Science. The analysis revealed that the studied knowledge gap persists and that OWFs can indeed impact coastal communities dependent on maritime tourism and recreational activities, despite the obligatory Environmental Impact Assessment for OWFs. However, both negative and positive impacts greatly vary with development stages and locations. Nevertheless, results still provide valuable conclusions common to generic coastal areas dealing with offshore wind farms sitting. In the few cases where authors consider T&R in their impact analysis, the results indicate a lack of public sensitivity and participation. Higher clarity and participation in the process might play a key role in generating optimistic attitudes toward OWF projects and positive synergies in between the local Blue Economy actors. In conclusion, the projected negative impacts mainly emerge as a reaction to the absence of proper integration between local T&R stakeholders and OWF developers, demonstrating that adverse effects are mitigable and preventable. Furthermore, the results indicate that a distinctive Tourism & Recreation Impact Assessment should be part of the obligatory technical assessments submitted by the OWF developers in coastal areas that rely on these activities.
•The overview confirmed the hypothesized knowledge gap.•Impacts significantly vary in different OWFs, but visual impact is the common reason for public opposition to OWFs.•92% of the articles analysed reveal an impactful or potentially impactful relationship – mostly detrimental (68%)•For all analized pamateters, islands are more likely to be sensitive to impacts.•An appropriate and distinct Tourism and Recreation Impact Assessment (T&R IA), should also be developed by the OWF developers.
Some locations have extraordinary ecological and conservation significance and subsequently need protection to guarantee the persistence of species that depend on them. Fish Spawning Aggregation ...(FSA) sites, where fish congregate to breed, are examples of such places, but are being extirpated worldwide through overfishing. Although transient FSA sites figure prominently as priority areas for conservation, extirpated aggregations, that due to current low abundance at spawning times are no longer recognizable as FSAs, represent a dilemma for managers. Given the limited resources available for conservation actions, should we protect extirpated FSAs or omit them from spatial management plans? Here we present two contrasting points of view, look into the mechanisms associated with the emergence and maintenance of aggregation sites, and review available evidence of recovery in the field. Of the 53 extirpated FSA sites examined, 9 (17%) reported recovery, always after strict management was implemented. All recovered sites were located in the wider Caribbean and western Atlantic. We make the case that extirpated FSAs seem to have the potential to recover and their protection may provide a cost effective way to help rebuild fisheries. It is unclear, however, if a remnant population is needed to allow recovery. Current methods used to monitor and assess FSA status and extirpation are not consistent, hindering site trend analysis, between-site comparisons and meta-analysis. We suggest that monitoring and management should be made more consistent and strengthened to boost FSA recovery.
•Fish spawning aggregations (FSAs) are disappearing through overfishing.•It is currently unclear if there is value in protecting extirpated FSAS.•We supplement the best database on FSAs available.•Recovery of FSAs is possible in areas with effective management.
Incidences of disease, dieback, decline or mortality, some of which induced or enhanced by climate change, threaten the sustainability of forest stands in many ecosystems. Spatially explicit ...prediction of disease onset remains challenging, however, due to the involvement of several causative agents. In this paper, we developed a generic framework based on machine-learning algorithms and spatial analyses for landscape-level prediction of oak disease outbreaks caused by the charcoal fungus Biscogniauxia mediterranea in a mixed-oak forest of Mediterranean climate. For prediction, we used a set of fifteen causative factors as a cross-function of soil, site and stand-related predictors. A total of 80 sample plots, including 1134 affected trees, were surveyed and used for the modeling process at the 5600-ha landscape level of the southern Zagros, Iran, where the disease occurs in roughly 25% of forest lands. Ten machine learning algorithms were explored and the performance of each algorithm to predict oak disease outbreak was evaluated. The modeling framework used maximum entropy to remove the least influential variables and build the status-quo management scenario to which the results of the prediction models were compared. Results showed that the random forests algorithm (AUC = 0.96: Precision = 0.71: Accuracy = 0.90: F-Measure = 0.70) achieved significantly better results than the status-quo management (Precision = 0.13: Accuracy = 0.67: F-Measure = 0.12) and any other algorithm. Soil chemical properties (NPK, organic carbon and EC) and landform predictors (slope, distance to roads, and TWI) were major forecasters of oak disease outbreak identified by the random forest algorithm. Geostatistical analysis enabled the creation of a map that identified sites at higher risk of infestation, allowing epidemiologists and forest managers to find sites likely to be infested. Consequently, financial resources can be allocated and management practices such as sanitation felling treatments applied across large forest landscapes to minimize the risk of spread and severity to uninfested high-value trees on nearby or adjacent land zones that are in the early stage of epidemics.
•Soil and landform attributes explain short-term presence of oak charcoal disease.•Random forest (RF) algorithms outperform nine other machine learning algorithms.•RF predicts 41% of Brant's oak at moderate disease intensity in southern Zagros.•RF algorithm predicts oak dieback, decline or mortality with 96% accuracy.•Machine-learning algorithms predict spatial charcoal disease intensity in Brant's oak.
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