Cristina Catita

Extending solar potential analysis in buildings to vertical facades

The assessment of local photovoltaic (PV) potential plays a critical role in the development of planning policies and financing schemes for the successful deployment of PV systems in cities. Considering the significant area available on facades in modern urban landscapes, the solar potential analysis at the local or municipal scale should be extended to take into account the irradiation on vertical walls. Starting from three different sets of information of a site, solar radiation model for roofs, ground and facades, 3D buildings model and a DSM derived from airborne LiDAR data, a methodology was developed in a GIS environment in order to fuse the datasets and allow for spatio-temporal analysis for solar energy quests. The resultant 3D database enables spatial visualization of the answers to the most interesting questions regarding new solar energy systems on buildings. The GIS database can be used as a tool to support municipal/local decision planners since statistics for the solar potential of each building can be easily inspected. In order to optimize solar collection, this system is particularly suited to identify which parts (roofs and/or facades) of a building are more favorable for the installation of solar arrays as well as the area available for the installation. Methodology for spatio-temporal analysis for solar energy on buildings (roofs and facades).Solar GIS database for support of municipal/local decision planners.Integration of LiDAR data with 3D buildings model.3D spatial analysis.High resolution solar potential analysis.

Merging GPS and Atmospherically Corrected InSAR Data to Map 3-D Terrain Displacement Velocity

A method to derive accurate spatially dense maps of 3-D terrain displacement velocity is presented. It is based on the merging of terrain displacement velocities estimated by time series of interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) data acquired along ascending and descending orbits and repeated GPS measurements. The method uses selected persistent scatterers (PSs) and GPS measurements of the horizontal velocity. An important step of the proposed method is the mitigation of the impact of atmospheric phase delay in InSAR data. It is shown that accurate vertical velocities at PS locations can be retrieved if smooth horizontal velocity variations can be assumed. Furthermore, the mitigation of atmospheric effects reduces the spatial dispersion of vertical velocity estimates resulting in a more spatially regular 3-D velocity map. The proposed methodology is applied to the case study of Azores islands characterized by important tectonic phenomena.

Large-scale active slump of the southeastern flank of Pico Island, Azores

We report evidence for ongoing lateral slump of part of the southeastern flank of the Pico volcanic ridge in the Azores. Data from a high-resolution digital elevation model, field work, GPS, and radar interferometry show that: (1) the slumping sector is several cubic kilometers in size; (2) the structure involves several curved scars with normal fault kinematics; (3) the central part is undergoing little horizontal displacement toward the southeast (1.6 ± 1.3 mm/yr), but significant downward movement (5–12 mm/yr); and (4) the outer part of the southeastern flank of Pico is subsiding faster than the inner parts; this likely reflects recent individualization of a steep seaward-dipping fault in the moving mass. The slump shares similarities with active slumps recognized elsewhere, although the studied area may represent only the proximal part of a much larger complex potentially affecting the deep submarine base of the island. Displacement of the subaerial part of the southeastern flank of Pico seems to be accommodated by the movement and rotation of large blocks along listric normal faults.

Temporal relationship between environmental factors and the occurrence of dengue fever.

To determine the time-lag effect of meteorological factors on the relative risk (RR) of dengue incidence in Coronel Fabriciano city, Brazil, we applied a distributed lag nonlinear model, a modeling framework that can simultaneously represent nonlinear exposure–response dependencies and delayed effects, to establish the association between dengue incidence and weather predictors. The weekly number of notified dengue cases during the period 2004–2010 was used for analysis. When considering the rainfall, the highest RR (1.2) was observed for lag 10. Observing the cumulative effect of the precipitation, the RR for 12th and 13th week was RR = 4. The highest risk, 1.25, was observed at 25 °C, denoting that the risk of dengue transmission increases with temperature. Climate-based models that take into account the time lag between rainfall, temperature, and dengue can be useful in dengue control programs to be applied in tropical countries.

InSAR time series analysis of the 9 July 1998 Azores earthquake

The 9 July 1998 Mw 6.1 Pico‐Faial earthquake was one of the largest events recorded in the Azores (North Atlantic) in recent years. It generated significant co‐seismic deformation that was captured by a GPS network on Faial Island. On the other islands, where no such networks were available, the co‐seismic surface displacement field was heretofore unknown. To measure it on Pico Island, we analysed Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images using interferometry. Our dataset includes 17 images acquired by the ERS‐1 and ERS‐2 satellites in descending passes between June 1992 and November 2000. The interferograms computed from the available image pairs show poor correlation, particularly over the dense vegetated area of Faial Island and the flanks of Pico Volcano. However, a well‐correlated fringe pattern remains over 33 months for barren parts of NW Pico Island. We analysed phase profiles across this fringe to distinguish the relative contributions of the co‐seismic signal and the tropospheric noise, observing a co‐seismic step of 29±10 mm in range.

Augmented reality for support decision on solar radiation harnessing

The use of mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, is widespread nowadays because they are portable, affordable, and offer a diversity of features. This type of equipment supports Augmented Reality (AR) applications, since they have all the necessary characteristics: good processing power, are equipped with cameras, sensors, such as accelerometers, magnetometers and gyroscopes, provide geo-location system and Web-connectivity. Having AR applications in this type of devices makes them available to a large audience. In particular, mobile AR applications can help disseminating the use of renewable energy, providing mechanisms to calculate the potential gains of its use. These applications can also be a valuable tool for technicians and researchers in this field. In the case of solar energy, the installation of photovoltaic modules is no longer limited to roofs, because there is specific equipment to install in walls or windows, surfaces that are suitable for presenting information in AR. Extending previous work on data visualization of solar radiation in RA, this article presents an application to simulate the installation of a photovoltaic module on the walls of a building. The user can control the module position on the wall by dragging its icon on the screen. When the module position is chosen, the application provides information about the amount of produced energy which, obviously, depends on the module position on the wall. A user study conducted with volunteers revealed a positive overall assessment of the application.

[Poster] Visualization of solar radiation data in augmented reality

We present an AR application for visualizing solar radiation data on facades of buildings, generated from LiDAR data and climatic observations. Data can be visualized using colored surfaces and glyphs. A user study revealed the proposed AR visualizations were easy to use, which can lead to leverage the potential benefits of AR visualizations: to detect errors in the simulated data, to give support to the installation of photovoltaic equipment and to raise public awareness of the use of facades for power production.

Os efeitos do crescimento urbano sobre a dengue

Objective: To analyze the spatial and temporal dynamics of dengue in Coronel Fabriciano, Minas Gerais State, Brazil, and to associate cases to the growth of urban areas and loss of natural areas in recent years. Methods: This is a descriptive, exploratory study, with a quantitative approach. Dengue cases of 2009 were obtained from the Health Municipal Secretariat, including the suspected and confirmed cases. Shape files were obtained, containing information about the municipal boundary, boundary of the urban area, census tracts, areas with buildings and natural areas. Based on the distribution of dengue cases, the Kernel estimator was used to measure data dispersion. Results: Dengue cases reported were georeferenced in GIS (Geographic Information System) environment. The landscape showed changes in the units of urban area and pasture, as an urban growth over the pasture matrix. No changes were observed in the areas of remaining forest and eucalyptus. There are cases spatially spread with a tendency to form clusters. Conclusion: Cases of dengue were observed spatially clustered in the northern region of the city, where new neighborhoods have emerged in recent years, following the population growth without proper structure of urbanization and urban planning. In addition, urban growth have reduced the margin of watercourses providing a bare soil, suitable for accumulation of trash and formation of breeding sites for mosquitoes. Efficient public policies and appropriate urban planning might reduce the impact of dengue in endemic regions. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.5020/18061230.2013.p539