Full-waveform small-footprint laser scanning and airborne hyperspectral image data of a forest area in Germany were fused to get a detailed characterization of forest reflective properties and ...structure. Combining active laser scanning data with passive hyperspectral data increases the information content without adding much redundancy.The small-footprint light detection and ranging (lidar) waveforms on the area of each 5 m × 5 m HyMap pixel were combined into quasi-large-footprint waveforms of 0.5 m vertical resolution by calculating the mean laser intensity in each voxel. As exemplary applications for this data set, we present the estimation of crown base heights and the ease of displaying vertical and horizontal slices through the three-dimensional data set.As a consequence of the identical geometry of the voxel bases and the hyperspectral image, they could be joined as a multi-band image. The combined spectra are well suited for interpretations of pixel content. In a test classification of tree species and age classes, the joint image performed better than the hyperspectral image alone and also better than the hyperspectral image combined with lidar percentile images.
Light pollution is the consequence of elevated lighting emitted by human-made artefacts to the lower atmosphere. Recently, there have been major advances in the assessment and mitigation of light ...pollution impacts on humans and the natural ecosystems. Severe negative impacts of light pollution have been highlighted while very few mitigation measures have been implemented. People (scientists, policymakers or stakeholders) interested in light pollution may not have a holistic perspective of the problem, and also there is a need for incorporating social and natural dimensions. Therefore, the main goal of this paper is to review the literature on light pollution using ISI Web of Science by paying attention to the (i) type of publication, year and journal; (ii) impacts on specific elements; (iii) location and (iv) methods used. Our results indicated that the elevated number of papers come from a diverse range of disciplines, methods, places and scales. It is clear that light pollution is getting enough attention from the scientific community but decisions on the implementation of mitigation measures are left with the stakeholders, ordinary inhabitants, policymakers and politicians. Nevertheless, light pollution is having impacts on the health of humans and the natural ecosystem as perceived by experts and inhabitants having divergent perspectives. Thus, light pollution is multifaceted but difficult to be faced, mitigated and not holistically understood. This review paper groups the total impacts of light pollution on the Earth presents some contradictory results, summarises mitigation measures, and provides specific future research directions.
Light pollution is a well-known problem because of its negative impacts on human health, flora, and fauna. From an ecological and engineering point of view, the literature states to consider the ...following aspects: (1) the light intensity; (2) the composition of the spectrum; (3) the time and duration of lighting to optimize the time of illumination with the available technologies; (4) the periods of lighting and the control cone; (5) the height and spacing between the light sources to optimize the space between the light sources, to reduce the flow of light and unnecessary energy consumption; (6) the environmental impact studies on-site; and (7) the analysis of real needs and less standardized approaches, examining the evolution of use and habits of light consumption. Accordingly, we want to present the SMART LIGHT-HUB (INTERREG) project, which pretends, during the next 3 years (2019–2021), to deliver smart lighting systems to reach the widest possible public, such as companies active in the relevant subject areas. We are setting up an R&D network in the Grande Région (Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, and France) to facilitate the emergence of new collective solutions to needs that are not addressed in the private and public sectors, in terms of lighting. We are planning exchange workshops, which serve to complete the project, concerning the interested parties on the ground (public authorities, chambers of commerce and industry, local authorities, public–private sector, private companies, etc.) and external participants representing the final consumers. We also want to work on restoring a protected nighttime environment (i.e., continuous areas of “nocturnal/black corridors” for animals that cannot tolerate artificial light).
Near-to-nature stormwater management aims at replicating the quasi-natural local water balance and preserving the ecosystem's integrity of affected waters. Surface waters in the urban areas of ...Trier-Petrisberg are managed by a separate sewer system in conjunction with a complex retention system. To investigate the effect of this alternative rainwater management practice on the local water balance, a differentiated discharge and groundwater monitoring network with a high spatio-temporal measurement resolution has been implemented within the watershed. Additional information regarding the proportion and spatial distribution of discharge-generating surfaces was provided through visual interpretation of aerial photographs. As a result of this analysis, groundwater levels were found to not be significantly affected by an increase of local sealed surfaces, and the ecologically-justifiable maximum discharge in the tributary was infrequently exceeded. Regarding further building development and climate change, the hydrological load capacity of the retention basins will provide effective rainwater management, even with respect to increasing precipitation intensities and frequencies.
A study was conducted to compare the new MED-EL TEMPO+ ear-level speech processor with the CIS PRO+ body-worn processor in the COMBI 40/COMBI 40+ implant system. Speech tests were performed in 46 ...experienced subjects in two test sessions approximately 4 weeks apart. Subjects were switched over from the CIS PRO+ to the TEMPO+ in the first session and used only the TEMPO+ in the time between the two sessions. Speech tests included monosyllabic word tests and sentence tests via the telephone. An adaptive noise method was used to adjust each subject's scores to approximately 50%. Additionally, subjects had to complete a questionnaire based on their 4 weeks of experience with the TEMPO+. The speech test results showed a statistically significant improvement in the monosyllabic word scores with the TEMPO+. In addition, in the second session, subjects showed a significant improvement when using the telephone with the TEMPO+, indicating some learning in this task. In the questionnaire, the vast majority of subjects found that the TEMPO+ allows equal or better speech understanding and rated the sound quality of the TEMPO+ higher. All these objective and subjective results indicate the superiority of the TEMPO+ and are mainly attributed to a new coding strategy called CIS+ and its implementation in the TEMPO+. In other words, based on the results of this study, it appears that after switching over from the CIS PRO+ to the TEMPO+, subjects are able to maintain or even improve their own speech understanding capability.
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