Cláudio Carneiro

Assessment of Solar Irradiance on the Urban Fabric for the Production of Renewable Energy using LIDAR Data and Image Processing Techniques

A general understanding of the solar admittance and solar gains incident on the urban fabric is very useful to assess the potential implementation of renewable energies at the scale of the city. The authors propose a tool that uses Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) data to automatically derive this information in a fast and accurate way with no need to refer to the construction of complex models of the urban layout. In particular, a complete methodology from the extraction of LIDAR data to the environmental analysis of urban models and the visualization of results is presented. Aim of the work is to establish a process to investigate digital urban models integrating cross-disciplinary competences, like remote sensing, GIS, image processing and urban and environmental studies. Toward this goal, working on several interfaces, tools and datasets was necessary to provide a consequent structure to the introduced methodology.

Solar Radiation over the Urban Texture: LIDAR Data and Image Processing Techniques for Environmental Analysis at City Scale

Keynotes.- A Virtual Geographic Environment for a Simulation of Air Pollution Dispersion in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) Region.- Representing and Exchanging 3D City Models with CityGML.- Research and Development Program for the Third National Geographic Information System Project in Korea: Korean Land Spatialization Program.- Papers.- Construction Operators for Modelling 3D Objects and Dual Navigation Structures.- A Multilayered Space-Event Model for Navigation in Indoor Spaces.- Towards Defining a Framework for Automatic Generation of Buildings in CityGML Using Building Information Models.- Managed Objects for Infrastructure Data.- Integrating Terrain Surface and Street Network for 3D Routing.- Using a B-Rep Structure to Query 9-Intersection Topological Relationships in 3D GIS - Reviewing the Approach and Improving Performance.- Query Processing in 3D Spatial Databases: Experiences with Oracle Spatial 11g.- Making Interoperability Persistent: A 3D Geo Database Based on CityGML.- Use of Finite Arithmetic in 3D Spatial Databases.- Automatic Digital Aerial Image Resection Controlled by LIDAR Data.- Automatic Surface Patch Generation from a Video Image Sequence.- Indoor 3D Modeling and Visualization with a 3D Terrestrial Laser Scanner.- Automatic Image Mosaic-Building Algorithm for Generating Facade Textures.- 3D Continuous K-NN Query for a Landmark-based Wayfinding Location-based Service.- 3D Geo-Network for Agent-based Building Evacuation Simulation.- Hierarchical Modelling of Multi-Geospatial Databases as Basis for Geo-Oriented 3D Analysis Capabilities.- Solar Radiation over the Urban Texture: LIDAR Data and Image Processing Techniques for Environmental Analysis at City Scale.- Creation and Error Analysis of High Resolution DEM Based on Source Data Sets of Various Accuracy.- A Topological Analysis Method for 3D Geo-Entities Structured as Hexahedron Tessellations.- Constraint-based Generation and Visualization of 3D City Models.- GeoVEs as Tools to Communicate in Urban Projects: Requirements for Functionality and Visualization.- Producing 3D Applications for Urban Planning by Integrating 3D Scanned Building Data with Geo-spatial Data.- 3D Dynamic Simulation and Visualization for GIS-based Infiltration Excess Overland Flow Modelling.A complete methodology from the extraction of Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) data to the environmental analysis of urban models and the visualization of results is presented. Aim of t he work is to establish a process to investigate digital urban models integra ting cross-disciplinary competences, like remote sensing, GIS, image proces sing and urban and environmental studies. Toward this goal, working on several interfaces, tools and datasets was necessary to provide a conse quent structure to the introduced methodology. Case study for application was a squared area 300 m etres wide in central Geneva where LIDAR data are available. The us of a hybrid approach from raw LIDAR data and vectorial digital maps (GIS data) of buildings footprints for the interpolation of a 2.5 -D urban surface model, with a resolution grid of 0.50 by 0.50 metres, allo wed to refine vertical

Digital Urban Morphometrics: Automatic Extraction and Assessment of Morphological Properties of Buildings

The aim of this article is to present a method to calculate the morphological properties of the built environment using LiDAR (light-detection and ranging) data, geographic information systems (GIS) data and three-dimensional (3D) models of cities as a source of information. A hybrid approach that takes into account different types of inputs and consequently evaluates the accuracy of each type of used data is presented. This work is intended to give a first response to the lack of comprehensive and accurate procedure that uses LiDAR data in order to automatically derive precise morphological properties, such as volumes and surfaces (facades and roofs) of buildings. The method was tested on two case-study areas in the Geneva region with different characteristics, one in the old town along the Rhone River and the other on the CERN campus. A statistical analysis that compares the results of the computation with the 3D model of the built environment was used to validate the results, complemented by significance statistical tests. Outcomes showed that the proposed method to derive morphological properties can reach high levels of accuracy, thus enhancing the potential uses of LiDAR data for numerous applications, typically for the assessment of the urban environmental quality (UEQ) at the city and district scale, such as the estimation of the potential deployment of renewable energies in the built environment and the determination and monitoring of several urban indicators.

GIS and LIDAR Data Analysis for the Integration of Multidimensional Indicators on Urban Morphogenesis Multi-agent Vector Based Geosimulation

In this paper we present an application of GIS and Airborne Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) data analysis for computation of buildings visibility, solar exposition and extraction of morphological indicators in the context of urban group analysis and morphogenesis geosimulation. The interdisciplinary project between geomaticians and architects aims to provide a simulation model based upon dynamic computation of building agents’ satisfaction degree, incorporating analysis results using a hybrid approach derived from GIS and raw LIDAR data.

Advanced Data Mining Method for Discovering Regions and Trajectories of Moving Objects: "Ciconia ciconia" Scenario

Trajectory data is of crucial importance for a vast range of applications involving analysis of moving objects behavior. Unfortunately, the extraction of relevant knowledge from trajectory data is hindered by the lack of semantics and the presence of errors and uncertainty in the data. This paper proposes a new analytical method to reveal the behavioral characteristics of moving objects through the representative features of migration trajectory patterns. The method relies on a combination of Fuzzy c-means, Subtractive and Gaussian Mixture Model clustering techniques. Besides, this method enables splitting the analysis into sections in order to differentiate the whole migration into i) migration-to-destination, ii) reverse-migration. The method also identifies places where moving objects’ cumulate and increase in number during the moves (bottleneck points). It also computes the degree of importance for a given point or probability of existence of an object at a given coordinate within a certain confidence degree, which in turn determines certain zones having different degrees of importance for the move, i.e. critical zones of interest. As shown in this paper, other techniques are not capable to elaborate similar results. Finally, we present experimental results using a trajectory dataset of migrations of white storks (Ciconia ciconia).

Solar Energy Potential Assessment on Rooftops and Facades in Large Built Environments Based on LiDAR Data, Image Processing, and Cloud Computing. Methodological Background, Application, and Validation in Geneva (Solar Cadaster)

The paper presents the core methodology for assessing solar radiation and energy production on building rooftops and vertical facades (still rarely considered) of the inner-city. This integrated tool is based on the use of LiDAR, 2D and 3D cadastral data. Together with solar radiation and astronomical models it calculates the global irradiance for a set of points located on roofs, ground and facades. Although the tool takes simultaneously roofs, ground and facades, different methods of shadow casting are applied. Shadow casting on rooftops is based on image processing techniques. On the other hand, the assessment on facade involves first to create and interpolate points along the facades and then to implement a point-by-point shadow casting routine. The paper is structured in five parts: (i) state of the art on the use of 3D GIS and automated processes in assessing solar radiation in the built environment, (ii) overview on the methodological framework used in the paper, (iii) detailed presentation of the method proposed for solar modelling and shadow casting, in particular by introducing an innovative approach for modelling the Sky View Factor (SVF), (iv) demonstration of the solar model introduced in this paper through applications in Geneva’s building roofs (solar cadaster) and facades, (v) validation of the solar model in some Geneva’s spots, focusing especially on two distinct comparisons: solar model versus fisheye catchments on partially inclined surfaces (roof component); solar model versus photovoltaic simulation tool PVSyst on vertical surfaces (facades). Concerning the roof component, validation results emphasize global sensitivity related to the density of light sources on the sky vault to model the SVF. The low dense sky model with 145 light sources gives satisfying results, especially when processing solar cadasters in large urban areas, thus allowing to save computation time. In the case of building facades, introducing weighting factor in SVF calculation leads to outputs close to those obtained by PVSyst. Such good validation results make the proposed model a reliable tool to: (i) automatically process solar cadaster on building rooftops and facades at large urban scales, (ii) support solar energy planning and energy transition policies.

Solar Cadaster of Geneva: A Decision Support System for Sustainable Energy Management

Cities play an increasingly important role with regards to energy transition. Main goal is to reach international and national (Swiss) targets related to energy efficiency and CO2 emission reduction. As a contribution to these global challenges, during the last 6 years the State of Geneva has been producing a detailed solar cadaster. In order to facilitate periodical updates of this solar cadaster, the iCeBOUND project was launched. Around 10 public and private stakeholders, all linked within the Geneva Territorial Information System (SITG), collaborated on the project. Its aim was to design and develop a cloud-based Decision Support System (DSS) that leverages 3D digital urban data with high computing performance, hence facilitating environmental analyses in large built areas, like solar energy potential assessment. As result of the project, an official geoportal and a newfangled public web interface were made widely available early 2017, so as to strengthen decision making with regards to solar installation investment.

Academic cooperation to foster research and advocacy competences in the occupied Palestinian territory (West Bank)

Palestinians living in the West Bank, a territory occupied by the State of Israel according to International Law, face deprived access to land and a limited ability to move freely which pertains to the presence of Israeli settlements and other infrastructure (closures, restricted or forbidden roads, etc.). This confinement has significant impacts on their economic and social livelihoods, and it is even worsening with the on-going construction of a 709 km long Barrier which mainly runs inside the West Bank. With regard to this situation, there is a clear need to strengthen the capacity of civil society and its representatives to apply sound research processes as a basis for improved advocacy for Palestinian human rights. Monitoring processes and tools are needed to assess the impacts of the Palestinians’ confinement, particularly in relation to the Barrier’s construction. Reliable data has also to be collected, managed, and above all, shared. These challenges have been addressed within the Academic Cooperation Palestine Project (ACPP) that brings together academic partners from the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) West Bank (WB), and Switzerland as well as other international academic institutions and Palestinian governmental and non-governmental agencies. ACPP started in early 2011 and is designed as a large cooperation networking platform involving researchers, students, public servants and experts from the oPt WB. A large set of actions have already been developed during the first year of the project, including courses, training, and research actions. First relevant results and impacts of the different actions are presented in this paper. Taken as a whole, the project produces valuable results for all partners: useful advocacy material for the Palestinian partners, and a unique “real-scale laboratory” where investigations are jointly conducted to develop novel confinement and change indicators.