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Search results for: land degradation
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Data Acquisition and Processing for GeoAI Models to Support Sustainable Agricultural Practices
PublicationThere are growing opportunities to leverage new technologies and data sources to address global problems related to sustainability, climate change, and biodiversity loss. The emerging discipline of GeoAI resulting from the convergence of AI and Geospatial science (Geo-AI) is enabling the possibility to harness the increasingly available open Earth Observation data collected from different constellations of satellites and sensors...
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Methods for quality improvement of multibeam and LiDAR point cloud data in the context of 3D surface reconstruction
PublicationPoint cloud dataset is the transitional data model used in several marine and land remote-sensing applications. During further steps of processing, the transformation of point cloud spatial data to more complex models containing higher order geometric structures like edges and facets may be possible, if an appropriate quality level of input data is provided. Point cloud datasets usually contain a considerable amount of undesirable...
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Sustainable urban planning in the context of studentification of the inner city areas
PublicationThe social dimension of urban planning as well as the importance of local communities and civic participation are often underlined in contemporary urban renewal and revitalisation programmes based on the principles of sustainable development. British Urban Renaissance is one the most far-reaching and widely discussed urban regeneration strategies which aims at repopulation and social diversification of inner city areas and land...
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Reduction of measurement data before Digital Terrain Model generation vs. DTM generalisation
PublicationModern data acquisition technologies provide large datasets that are not always necessary in its entirety to properly accomplish the goal of the study. In addition, such datasets are often cumbersome for rational processing, and their processing is time and labour consuming. Therefore, methods that enable to reduce the size of the measurement dataset, such as the generalization of the Digital Terrain Model (DTM) or the reduction...
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HISTORY OF INITIAL ENERGY AND WATER NETWORK DEVELOPMENT IN QATAR
PublicationQatar: A country which had to be associated with neighboring countries like UAE or Saudi Arabia for people to know about it, stands proud today due to the ample production and exporting of Black Gold. A country with almost no vegetation or suitable weather to harvest crops, turned from being heavily dependent on trading Pearls to exporting natural oil and gas to all over the globe. The paper outlines in details the history of the...
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Application of Least Squares with Conditional Equations Method for Railway Track Inventory Using GNSS Observations
PublicationSatellite geodetic networks are commonly used in surveying tasks, but they can also be used in mobile surveys. Mobile satellite surveys can be used for trackage inventory, diagnostics and design. The combination of modern technological solutions with the adaptation of research methods known in other fields of science offers an opportunity to acquire highly accurate solutions for railway track inventory. This article presents the...
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Concentrations and loads of DOC, phenols and aldehydes in a proglacial arctic river in relation to hydro-meteorological conditions. A case study from the southern margin of the Bellsund Fjord – SW Spitsbergen
PublicationClimate warming accelerates the melting and thawing of cryosphere components. Therefore, it favours the release of contaminants stored in High-Arctic glaciers for many years. The rate of land-based glacier retreat is of particular importance for the hydrological regime of glacial rivers, but also for the chemical composition of their waters. In this study, we examined 84 surface water samples collected during a period of 42 days...
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Characterizing surface and air temperature in the Baltic Sea coastal area using remote sensing techniques and GIS
PublicationEstimation of surface temperature using multispectral imagery retrieved from satellite sensors constitutes several problems in terms of accuracy, accessibility, quality and evaluation. In order to obtain accurate results, currently utilized methods rely on removing atmospheric fluctuations in separate spectral windows, applying atmospheric corrections or utilizing additional information related to atmosphere or surface characteristics...
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Towards improved energy efficiency of future smart ships by application of advanced CFD simulations – case study
PublicationThe international trade plays crucial role in today’s globally developed world’s economy. Many people are unaware of the unimaginable volume of cargo being transported every year by oceans and seas. For most of the time invisible from land the shipping industry preserves its strong position of the most cost-efficient and environmental friendly mean of transport. However during last years the shipping industry is under great pressure...
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Concentration and sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in surface soil near a municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill
PublicationDue to a continuous demand of land for infrastructural and residential development there is a public concern about the condition of surface soil near municipal solid waste landfills. A total of 12 surface (0–20 cm) soil samples from a territory near a landfill were collected and the concentration of 16 PAHs and 7 PCB congeners were investigated in these samples. Limits of detection were in the range of 0.038–1.2 μg/kg for PAHs...
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Granulometric characterization of Arctic driftwood sawdust from frame sawing process
PublicationArctic driftwood can be used as an alternative source of wood as construction timber and furniture material, especially in Iceland and Greenland. The use of Arctic driftwood can help in the fight against climate change, by developing land reforestation processes and reducing the volume harvested wood from forests and sustainability of harvesting processes. In this paper the results of an analysis of the effect of long-term residence...
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Forest management
e-Learning CoursesThe last ice age ended in Scandinavia about 15 000 years ago. The land was gradually occupied by present tree species. Human settlement followed the vegetation. The first forest uses were hunting and gathering. Animal husbandry and forest grazing came later. Shifting cultivation was a wide spread form of agriculture, especially in Sweden and Finland. Wood was first used for domestic purposes and for construction, In the 18th century,...
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Organic Pollution in Surface Waters from the Fuglebekken Basin in Svalbard, Norwegian Arctic
PublicationThe Fuglebekken basin is situated in the southern part of the island of Spitsbergen (Norwegian Arctic), on the Hornsund fjord (Wedel Jarlsberg Land). Surface water was collected from 24 tributaries (B1-B24) and from the main stream water in the Fuglebekken basin (25) between 10 July 2009 and 30 July 2009. The present investigation reveals the results of the analysis of these samples for their PAH and PCB content. Twelve of 16 PAHs...
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Comparison of direct and inverse methods of satellite observations downscaling for the coastal zone area
PublicationThe Earth observation satellite imaging systems have known limitations, especially regarding their spatial and temporal resolution. Therefore, approaches which aim to combine data retrieved from sensors of higher temporal and lower spatial resolution with the data characterized by lower temporal but higher spatial resolution are of high interest. This allows for joint utilization of the advantages of both these types of sensors....
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Floodsar: Automatic mapping of river flooding extent from multitemporal SAR imagery
PublicationFloodsar is an open-source tool for automatic mapping of the flood extent from a time series of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery. Floodsar is unsupervised, however, it requires defining the parameters search space, geographical area of interest, and some river gauge observations (e.g. water levels or discharges) time series that overlap temporarily with the SAR imagery. Applications of Floodsar are mainly in real-time monitoring...
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Selected elements of the methodology and method of designing amphibious flood rescue vehicles
PublicationThe methodology of designing amphibious flood rescue vehicles at the preliminary stage of the design process has been presented. The study has been focused on the properties of such vehicles when afloat, with their on-land behaviour and performance characteristics having been left aside. In the study, a general assumption has been made that the amphibious flood rescue vehicles should be designed as, above all, watercraft that additionally...
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Soil and groundwater contamination as a result of sewage sludge land application
PublicationThe leaching of chemical compounds (N-NO3, N-NH4, Norg, P-PO4, Ptot) and trace elements (Cd, Cu, Cr, Ni, Zn, and Pb) from sewage sludge and their migration through the soil profile was the subject of the study. The column experiments were carried out under atmospheric conditions corresponding to naturally occurring storm events - sewage sludge amended soil was irrigated with high rates of water. The column filter media used in...
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Project-Based Learning as a Method for Interdisciplinary Adaptation to Climate Change—Reda Valley Case Study
PublicationThe challenges of the global labour market require university authorities to extend traditional forms of education into more innovative and effective solutions. Project-based learning (PjBL) is one of highly effective methods for acquiring knowledge and teaching “soft” skills to future employees. This article describes an experimental use of PjBL at a university with a long history of teaching based on traditional methods—the Gdansk...
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Designing with Green and Blue – Climate Adaption Proposals for Lowland Areas of Gdańsk
PublicationThe paper gives insight into issues explored within the framework of the SOS Climate Waterfront workshop that took place in Gdańsk in June 2019. The aim of the study was to propose solutions that will decrease the number of flooding events and span the gap between flood prevention strategies and the provision of other benefits such as ecological, urban, cultural and social. Historical cartography enquiries and research by the design...
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Influence of the fragment size on the recycling process of thin-film modules based on CdTe
PublicationFor several years, the production of second generation cells (the so-called thin film), produced from amorphous silicon, cadmium telluride (CdTe) or copper indium (gallium) diselenide (CI(G)S), has been increasing. The total number of end-of-life panels by 2050 is expected to reach 9.57 million tonnes. They contain heavy metals that can be leached into the environment at the land field. The EU directive on waste electrical and...
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Shaping the City Responding to Climate Change – Concept of Development of the Right Bank of the Vistula River in Toruń, Poland,
PublicationThe problems of cities of the 21st century are caused by anthropogenic oppression of the environment, through the growth of economic activity and continuous urbanisation, and taking away ecologically important open areas and biologically active areas. Increasingly frequent and sudden rains, strong winds, turbulence and rising world water levels are some of the consequences of climate change that have a direct impact on the functioning...
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Seasonal changes of the concentrations of mineral forms of nitrogen and phosphorus in watercourses in the agricultural catchment area (Bay of Puck, Baltic Sea, Poland)
PublicationThe Baltic Region countries are obliged to meet the stringent limits of N and P discharge set by HELCOM for 2021. Area sources of pollution, including agriculture, are considered the main contributors of biogenic compounds. The Bay of Puck as an inner part of the Baltic Sea is particularly sensitive to eutrophication caused by nutrient in flow from agricultural lands. Rivers and streams inflowing to the Bay of Puck transport nitrogen...
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Ice Load Characteristics on Floating Photovoltaic Platform
PublicationNowadays, based upon human needs and preferring perpetual types of energy, photovoltaic system (PV) is a suitable alternative and more frequently used in northern countries, which are recently more attracted by solar power. The new floating type of the structure is installed in the water bodies instead of land. One of the main elements in floating photovoltaic structures is the forces imposed on the panels. In the northern regions,...
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Using UAV Photogrammetry to Analyse Changes in the Coastal Zone Based on the Sopot Tombolo (Salient) Measurement Project
PublicationThe main factors influencing the shape of the beach, shoreline and seabed include undulation, wind and coastal currents. These phenomena cause continuous and multidimensional changes in the shape of the seabed and the Earth’s surface, and when they occur in an area of intense human activity, they should be constantly monitored. In 2018 and 2019, several measurement campaigns took place in the littoral zone in Sopot, related to...
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A Method for The Assessing of Reliability Characteristics Relevant to an Assumed Position-Fixing Accuracy in Navigational Positioning Systems
PublicationThis paper presents a method which makes it possible to determine reliability characteristics of navigational positioning systems, relevant to an assumed value of permissible error in position fixing. The method allows to calculate: availability , reliability as well as operation continuity of position fixing system for an assumed, determined on the basis of formal requirements - both worldwide and national, position-fixing accuracy....
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A case study of odour nuisance evaluation in the context of integrated urban planning
PublicationOdour nuisance poses a serious problem in many urban areas, yet its evaluation and mitigation is often omitted in the urban planning process. By identifying its range and spatio-temporal variations, it could be taken into consideration by planners in urban development strategies and land use decisions. The aim of the study was to present the application of odour evaluation techniques in the improvement of the quality of life in...
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An analysis of wind conditions at pedestrian level in the selected types of multi-family housing developments
PublicationThe following article addresses the issue of wind conditions around urban building development at pedestrian level. Factors that depend on those issues include wind comfort and air quality within urbanized spaces. The conditions specific of cities located in a temperate climate zone have been taken into account. The article is intended to identify aerodynamic phenomena characteristic of the three basic types of multi-family building...
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Monitoring of Ship Operations in Seaport Areas in the Sustainable Development of Ocean–Land Connections
PublicationThe paper is devoted to underlining the important role of monitoring systems in the sustainable development of seaport areas—sensitive ocean–land connections exposed to the harmful effects of multimodal transport. The study concerns the existing monitoring possibilities of the environmental factors and ship traffic near port infrastructure. The main aim of the study is presenting the example of solutions, supporting the sustainable...
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Innovative Urban Blue Space Design in a Changing Climate: Transition Models in the Baltic Sea Region
PublicationWaterfront areas in cities are subject to constant changes. The desire to integrate the transformed waterside areas with the urban fabric involves shaping high-quality public spaces related to water, which are often referred to as urban blue spaces (UBS). The aim of the research was to examine the transformation processes of urban waterfront areas in the Baltic Sea Region and identify emerging transition models and types of blue...
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Occurrence of specific pollutants in a mixture of sewage and rainwater from an urbanized area
PublicationUrban runoff appears to be a pathway for transferring new emerging pollutants from land-based sources to the aquatic environment. This paper aimed to identify and describe the groups of pollutants present in rainwater surface runoff as well as their mixture with wastewater in the combined sewer system from urbanized catchments and to determine the correlations between these pollutants. Four leading groups of new emerging pollutants...
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Where the Second World War in Europe broke out: the land-scape history of Westerplatte, Gdańsk/Danzig
PublicationWesterplatte is known as the place where the Second World War in Europe broke out. However, its history covers many other events involving Polish, German, Russian and even French politics over the last three centuries - neglected by many papers published in the current discussion. Due to its location at the entrance to the main harbour on the Baltic Sea entrance, Wester-platte-Peninsula is cartographically the best-documented part...
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Multisensor System for the Protection of Critical Infrastructure of Seaport
PublicationThere are many separated infrastructural objects within a harbor area that may be considered “critical”, such as gas and oil terminals or anchored naval vessels. Those objects require special protection, including security systems capable of monitoring both surface and underwater areas, because an intrusion into the protected area may be attempted using small surface vehicles (boats, kayaks, rafts, floating devices with weapons...
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Soil and groundwater fecal contamination as a result of sewage sludge land application.
PublicationThe release of sludge-born bacteria and their further transport in subsurface was studied. The migration of bacteria was investigated in column experiments which were carried out under the conditions corresponding to naturally occurring extreme rainfall. Coal fly ash as well as coarse and medium grained sand, which properties are similar to the soils present in degraded areas, were used as column beds. Sewage sludge was applied...
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Impact of Urbanization on Stormwater Runoff from a Small Urban Catchment: Gdańsk Małomiejska Basin Case Study
PublicationThis paper deals with the impact of different forms of urbanization on the basin outflow. The influence of changes in land cover/use, drainage system development, reservoirs, and alternative ways of stormwater management (green roofs, permeable pavements) on basin runoff was presented in the case of a small urban basin in Gdańsk (Poland. Seven variants of area development (in the period of 2000-2012) – three historical and four...
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Planning Around Polarisation: Components of Finding Common Ground Based on Regeneration Projects in London and Gdańsk
PublicationVarious forms of public participation in urban design and planning—as presented and discussed in literature—have recently been challenged by the needs and expectations of different stakeholders, including those coming from the private sector. This comes with a redefinition of the public good and the roles and responsibilities of municipal authorities in post‐liberal times. As a result, contemporary participatory processes need...
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Review of Segmentation Methods for Coastline Detection in SAR Images
PublicationSynthetic aperture radar (SAR) images acquired by airborne sensors or remote sensing satellites contain the necessary information that can be used to investigate various objects of interest on the surface of the Earth, including coastlines. The coastal zone is of great economic importance and is also very densely populated. The intensive and increasing use of coasts and changes of coastlines motivate researchers to try to assess...
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Modeling and Accuracy Assessment of Determining the Coastline Course Using Geodetic, Photogrammetric and Satellite Measurement Methods: Case Study in Gdynia Beach in Poland
PublicationThe coastal environment represents a resource from both a natural and economic point of view, but it is subject to continuous transformations due to climate change, human activities, and natural risks. Remote sensing techniques have enormous potential in monitoring coastal areas. However, one of the main tasks is accurately identifying the boundary between waterbodies such as oceans, seas, lakes or rivers, and the land surface....
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Wpływ stosowanych praktyk rolniczych na dopływ wód podziemnych oraz azotanów do Zatoki Puckiej
PublicationEutrophication of marine basins associated with submarine groundwater discharge is currently one of the most important challenges in modern coastal hydrogeology, and is classified as a serious global environmental problem. A particular source of groundwater pollution is agricultural activity, which is commonly carried out in the coastal zone. Research was conducted on a representative part of the Bay of Puck watershed, dominated...
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Application of multisensoral remote sensing data in the mapping of alkaline fens Natura 2000 habitat
PublicationThe Biebrza River valley (NE Poland) is distinguished by largely intact, highly natural vegetation patterns and very good conservation status of wetland ecosystems. In 2013⿿2014, studies were conducted in the upper Biebrza River basin to develop a remote sensing method for alkaline fen classification ⿿ a protected Natura 2000 habitat (code 7230) ⿿ using remote sensing technologies. High resolution airborne true colour (RGB) and...
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Application of multi-criteria methods to compare different solutions of supplying buildings in electricity from photovoltaic systems
PublicationNowadays, the technologies of electricity generation in distributed systems are usually associated with Renewable Energy Sources (RES). The choice of the construction site depends mainly on the availability of the power system. However, energy planning, especially in case of RES, is a complex process involving multiple and often conflicting objectives. The complexity of the selection of the electricity system is typically addressed...
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The impact of sediment, fresh and marine water on the concentration of chemical elements in water of the ice-covered lagoon
PublicationThe common use of chemical elements by man has been contributing to their extraction for centuries. As a consequence, they have been directly or indirectly introduced into the biogeochemical cycle. In the framework of many conventions, mining and processing of elements are currently subject to many restrictions. However, their large load that has already been deposited in the soil and bottom sediments can be remobilised and...
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Thermal efficiency investigations on the self-ignition test engine fed with marine low sulfur diesel fuels
PublicationWithin the article an issues of implementing the new kinds of marine diesel fuels into ships’ operation was described taking into ac-count restrictions on the permissible sulphur content introduced by the International Maritime Organization. This is a new situation for ship owners and fuel producers, which forces the necessity to carry out laboratory research tests on especially adapted engine stands. How to elaborate the method...
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Study on Methods to Control Interstory Deflections
PublicationOne of the possibilities to prevent building pounding between two adjacent structures is to consider appropriate in-between separation distance. Another approach might be focused on controlling the relative displacements during seismic excitations. Although the majority of building codes around the world recommend the use of some equations of various distances between structures to avoid pounding; a lot of reports after earthquakes...
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From Data to Decision: Interpretable Machine Learning for Predicting Flood Susceptibility in Gdańsk, Poland
PublicationFlood susceptibility prediction is complex due to the multifaceted interactions among hydrological, meteorological, and urbanisation factors, further exacerbated by climate change. This study addresses these complexities by investigating flood susceptibility in rapidly urbanising regions prone to extreme weather events, focusing on Gdańsk, Poland. Three popular ML techniques, Support Vector Machine (SVM), Random Forest (RF), and...
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The influence of electromagnetic pollution on living organisms – historical trends and forecasting changes
PublicationCurrent technologies have become a source of omnipresent electromagnetic pollution from generated electromagnetic fields and resulting electromagnetic radiation. In many cases this pollution is much stronger than any natural sources of electromagnetic fields or radiation. Wireless and radio communication, electric power transmission or devices in daily use such as smartphones, tablets and portable computers every day expose people...
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Wastewater reuse in agriculture: Prospects and challenges
PublicationSustainable water recycling and wastewater reuse are urgent nowadays considering water scarcity and increased water consumption through human activities. In 2015, United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6 (UN SDG6) highlighted the necessity of recycling wastewater to guarantee water availability for individuals. Currently, wastewater irrigation (WWI) of crops and agricultural land appears essential. The present work overviews...
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Scarabaeidae as human food – A comprehensive review
PublicationRising global population and sustainable protein demand have sparked interest in unique food sources. Entomophagy, or insect consumption, presents a solution and Scarab beetles, part of the Scarabaeidae family, offer a novel food option. The comprehensive review underscores their potential as human food, with strong nutrition, low environmental impact, and the ability to ease strain on conventional agriculture. Nutritional analysis...
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Environmental impacts of food waste management technologies: A critical review of life cycle assessment (LCA) studies
PublicationFood waste is a serious global problem. Therefore, it is essential to reduce food waste and adopt recycling strategies to minimize its environmental impacts. However, conventional waste disposal methods emit harmful gases such as dioxin, CH4, N2O, and NH3, which contaminate the air and water resources. This work reviews the environmental consequences of food waste based on lifecycle assessment (LCA) techniques using methods such...
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Upward convergence patterns in chosen environmental-related SDGs
PublicationSustainable development is a challenge facing humanity. EU countries not only strive to reach their specific objectives, but they also work collaboratively towards shared goals. There is a need to balance synergies and compromises to address these objectives effectively. When discussing countries' development and people's well-being, one often focuses on socio-economic development. However, it is crucial not to overlook the environmental...
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Feature Weighted Attention-Bidirectional Long Short Term Memory Model for Change Detection in Remote Sensing Images
PublicationIn remote sensing images, change detection (CD) is required in many applications, such as: resource management, urban expansion research, land management, and disaster assessment. Various deep learning-based methods were applied to satellite image analysis for change detection, yet many of them have limitations, including the overfitting problem. This research proposes the Feature Weighted Attention (FWA) in Bidirectional Long...