Environmental Imaging Network (Lancaster Univ.)

Events

Workshop: Urban Imaging
12:00-16:30, March 12th, 2010
Meeting Room (LG505)
LEC, Environmental Science building

12:30-13:30 Using mobile laser scanning to create urban city models
Dr. Graham Hunter, 3d Laser Mapping
StreetMapper uses well-proven laser scanning technology to capture highly accurate measurements at speeds of up to 70 km per hour. A series of laser scanners can be mounted on virtually any vehicle and arranged to suit the specific requirements of the survey project. The StreetMapper system employs TERRAControl GPS/INS navigation which is the most accurate and advanced European system in use for mobile laser scanning.
The system has been in use over the past 5 years for highway surveying and city modelling. Two high profile urban modelling projects have been completed using the system in the past year. A 30 km survey of central Los Angeles for planning of a redevelopment project and a complete 3D model of the area around the 11th China Games for the purpose of public security planning.

13:30-14:30 Thermal imaging and energy budgets
Dr Alun Jones, The GeoInformation Group
The use of thermal imaging cameras, either hand held or mounted on an aerial platform, such as a plane, is gathering much attention as a means to measure the state of energy use in our environment. This talk looks at the science behind the use of thermal imagery and the benefits it can bring to those seeking to manage energy budgets and reduce carbon emissions.

15:00-16:00 Using remotely sensed data to map urban vegetation for ecological research and conservation
James Hale, University of Birmingham
A researcher/practitioner perspective on how we are using remotely sensed data, particularly lidar and NIR, to try and map urban vegetation.

Seminar: Airborne LIDAR: principles, processing and applications to volcanic areas.
Dr Massimiliano Favalli, INGV, Piza.

10-11 am, January 19th, 2010
Meeting Room (LG505)
LEC, Environmental Science building

Airborne Light Intensity Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) is an active remote sensing system consisting of a laser scanner, a Global Positioning System (GPS) and an Inertial Navigation System (INS). A laser transmits brief laser pulses to the ground which are scattered back to the scanner. From the laser pulses direction, the pulses travel time and the position of the aircraft it is possible to reconstruct accurate coordinates of the points of the terrain surface. The peak power of backscattered pulses is also recorded by the system and can be used to produce maps of intensity.

DEMs derived from LIDAR data are nowadays largely used for quantitative analyses and modelling in geology and geomorphology. Raw three-dimensional data points are however largely affected by systematic errors. A rigorous removal of these errors usually produces a great improvement in the quality of LIDAR-derived DEMs. Some examples of LIDAR applications to volcanic areas are presented: lava flow mapping using intensity maps; accurate volumes calculation of lava flows; calculation of the volumes of erosion and deposition of recently formed pyroclastic cones; mapping of changes of superficial properties (e.g. roughness).

Seminar: Autonomous monitoring of cliff nesting seabirds using computer vision.
Dr. Patrick Dickinson, University of Lincoln

1-2 pm, May 12th, 2009
Meeting Room (LG505)
Dept. Environmental Science

Seabird populations are an important and accessible indicator of the health of marine ecosystems, and recent estimates show that many UK populations are in decline. Reliable behavioural data is an invaluable resource to ecologist studying these populations; however, manual collection methods are time-consuming, error-prone, and limited in scope. Our objective is to develop automated surveillance methods using computer vision. Current techniques are not generally robust to dynamic scene artefacts, such as moving water and foliage, which are present in natural scenes. We present our existing work in which we address these problems, and describe how we will develop these methods to support ecologists monitoring of a population of Common Guillemots on Skomer Island.

Seminar: X-band radar: how to measure the sea without getting your feet wet.
Dr Paul Bell, Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory

1-2 pm, June 19th, 2008
Small Lecture Theatre (LG504)
Dept. Environmental Science

X-Band marine radars see not only hard targets such as ships and coastlines, but also reflections from the sea surface - known as sea clutter. At the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory, we have developed analysis techniques of the wave patterns to turn this sea clutter 'noise' into useful data, allowing the remote mapping of the sea bed to ranges of several kilometers. Recent developments for extracting the current field are also showing some promise and results will be shown from a number of field sites illustrating the capabilities and limitations.

Seminar: Optical sensing of gravel sediment transport and characteristics: recent advances and future challenges.
Daniel Buscombe, University of Plymouth

4-5 pm, May 20th, 2008
Small Lecture Theatre (LG5504)
Dept. Environmental Science

This talk concerns recent research conducted into optical remote sensing of seabed structure, and coarse-grain sediment transport under non-turbid coastal waters. Advances in automated remote sensing of sediment beds have significant potential implications for sediment transport and sedimentation modelling in coastal waters. Algorithms have been developed and validated for accurate automated quantification of grain size, sorting, shape and other information by remotely sensing the bed with digital stills and video. Models of coastal sediment transport crucially depend on an accurate characterisation of these sedimentary properties, and using remote sensing methods enormous spatial and temporal coverage and resolution is achieved, which could revolutionize field and laboratory studies into sediment dynamics.
Measurement and subsequent parameterisation of bedload transport is an important topic in coastal processes research. It has been shown that underwater video cameras are a suitable tool to monitor the seabed, in the absence of appropriate acoustic instrumentation. Current work involves field deployment of four high-resolution fully submersible digital cameras to visualise the gravel bed in three-dimensions. The principal focus here is sediment entrainment thresholds, particle size and bed structure, and grain-controlled turbulence.

Seminar: Pixel- and region-based image fusion using alpha-stable distributions. Dr. Alin Achim
Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Bristol

1:30 – 2:30, March 14th, 2008
C60c InfoLab21

Among the different fusion methods developed in the past, the weighted average (WA) technique proposed by Burt and Kolczinsky remains one of the most effective, yet simple and easy to implement. WA essentially consists in calculating a normalised correlation (match measure) between the two images’ subband decompositions over a small local area. Then, the fused subband coefficient is calculated from this measure and the local variance (saliency measure) via a weighted average of the two images coefficients. In this talk, we first describe a generalization of the WA method for the case when the data to be fused exhibit heavy tails with no convergent second- or higher-order moments. [more]

Seminar: Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs): A new platform for environmental remote sensing.

Dr. Daniel Donoghue
Department of Geography, Durham University

1 – 2pm, January 30th, 2008
Small Lecture Theatre (LG5504)
Dept. Environmental Science

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles or UAVs are usually thought of as sophisticated aircraft used for tactical military reconnaissance. In fact, the world of UAVs is surprisingly diverse and spans from ultra lightweight radio-controlled “wings” to full-size aircraft and helicopters; imagery derived from these unmanned platforms is being adopted very rapidly for a range of exciting environmental applications. The seminar will seek to demonstrate the value of a Swedish designed SmartPlane system that uses a relatively low-technology approach to obtain imagery quickly and easily at low cost. [more]

Seminar: X-ray tomography: What it can (or can’t) do for your research.

Andrew Binley, Apostolos Papadopoulos & Nick Kettridge

2 – 3pm, 12 November 2007
Small Lecture Theatre (LG5504)
Dept. Environmental Science

X-ray tomography (commonly referred to in medicine as CT or CAT scanning from “Computerised (Axial) Tomography”) allows the determination of 3D or 2D images of X-ray attenuation within an object of interest in a non-invasive manner. The success of X-ray tomography in medicine is a result of the variability of X-ray attenuation properties within clinical subjects and various hardware, algorithm and software developments. X-ray attenuation is controlled by the material density and atomic number and the value of X-ray tomography has also been recognised in other fields, ranging from electronic engineering to geology and soil science. Desktop systems are now available allowing microscopic imaging of small objects for a wide variety of applications. These desktop units are designed for higher resolution imaging and more effective penetration of denser materials (which would normally attenuate X-rays too much in conventional medical tomography systems). The application is non destructive and requires no special preparation of the specimen. In 2006 an X-ray tomography system was purchased by the Department of Environmental Science. The system is capable of 5 micron resolution and can image objects (with a lower resolution) up to 75 mm diameter and 150 mm in length. The unit’s main activity has been the characterisation of soil and rock samples to help understand the physical structures that control fluid and gas transport processes in these porous media. The unit has, however, a much wider range of possible uses in science and engineering and the purpose of this presentation is to introduce the system to potential users, discuss capabilities and limitations and present a few illustrative examples. Those interested in seeing the system will be able to do so at the end of the presentation. [ More images: Lava, apple1, apple2 ].

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	Environmental Imaging Network
	Events Workshop: Urban Imaging 12:00-16:30, March 12th, 2010 Meeting Room (LG505) LEC, Environmental Science building 12:30-13:30 Using mobile laser scanning to create urban city models Dr. Graham Hunter, 3d Laser Mapping StreetMapper uses well-proven laser scanning technology to capture highly accurate measurements at speeds of up to 70 km per hour. A series of laser scanners can be mounted on virtually any vehicle and arranged to suit the specific requirements of the survey project. The StreetMapper system employs TERRAControl GPS/INS navigation which is the most accurate and advanced European system in use for mobile laser scanning. The system has been in use over the past 5 years for highway surveying and city modelling. Two high profile urban modelling projects have been completed using the system in the past year. A 30 km survey of central Los Angeles for planning of a redevelopment project and a complete 3D model of the area around the 11th China Games for the purpose of public security planning. 13:30-14:30 Thermal imaging and energy budgets Dr Alun Jones, The GeoInformation Group The use of thermal imaging cameras, either hand held or mounted on an aerial platform, such as a plane, is gathering much attention as a means to measure the state of energy use in our environment. This talk looks at the science behind the use of thermal imagery and the benefits it can bring to those seeking to manage energy budgets and reduce carbon emissions. 15:00-16:00 Using remotely sensed data to map urban vegetation for ecological research and conservation James Hale, University of Birmingham A researcher/practitioner perspective on how we are using remotely sensed data, particularly lidar and NIR, to try and map urban vegetation. Seminar: Airborne LIDAR: principles, processing and applications to volcanic areas. Dr Massimiliano Favalli, INGV, Piza. 10-11 am, January 19th, 2010 Meeting Room (LG505) LEC, Environmental Science building Airborne Light Intensity Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) is an active remote sensing system consisting of a laser scanner, a Global Positioning System (GPS) and an Inertial Navigation System (INS). A laser transmits brief laser pulses to the ground which are scattered back to the scanner. From the laser pulses direction, the pulses travel time and the position of the aircraft it is possible to reconstruct accurate coordinates of the points of the terrain surface. The peak power of backscattered pulses is also recorded by the system and can be used to produce maps of intensity. DEMs derived from LIDAR data are nowadays largely used for quantitative analyses and modelling in geology and geomorphology. Raw three-dimensional data points are however largely affected by systematic errors. A rigorous removal of these errors usually produces a great improvement in the quality of LIDAR-derived DEMs. Some examples of LIDAR applications to volcanic areas are presented: lava flow mapping using intensity maps; accurate volumes calculation of lava flows; calculation of the volumes of erosion and deposition of recently formed pyroclastic cones; mapping of changes of superficial properties (e.g. roughness). Seminar: Autonomous monitoring of cliff nesting seabirds using computer vision. Dr. Patrick Dickinson, University of Lincoln 1-2 pm, May 12th, 2009 Meeting Room (LG505) Dept. Environmental Science Seabird populations are an important and accessible indicator of the health of marine ecosystems, and recent estimates show that many UK populations are in decline. Reliable behavioural data is an invaluable resource to ecologist studying these populations; however, manual collection methods are time-consuming, error-prone, and limited in scope. Our objective is to develop automated surveillance methods using computer vision. Current techniques are not generally robust to dynamic scene artefacts, such as moving water and foliage, which are present in natural scenes. We present our existing work in which we address these problems, and describe how we will develop these methods to support ecologists monitoring of a population of Common Guillemots on Skomer Island. Seminar: X-band radar: how to measure the sea without getting your feet wet. Dr Paul Bell, Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory 1-2 pm, June 19th, 2008 Small Lecture Theatre (LG504) Dept. Environmental Science X-Band marine radars see not only hard targets such as ships and coastlines, but also reflections from the sea surface - known as sea clutter. At the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory, we have developed analysis techniques of the wave patterns to turn this sea clutter 'noise' into useful data, allowing the remote mapping of the sea bed to ranges of several kilometers. Recent developments for extracting the current field are also showing some promise and results will be shown from a number of field sites illustrating the capabilities and limitations. Seminar: Optical sensing of gravel sediment transport and characteristics: recent advances and future challenges. Daniel Buscombe, University of Plymouth 4-5 pm, May 20th, 2008 Small Lecture Theatre (LG5504) Dept. Environmental Science This talk concerns recent research conducted into optical remote sensing of seabed structure, and coarse-grain sediment transport under non-turbid coastal waters. Advances in automated remote sensing of sediment beds have significant potential implications for sediment transport and sedimentation modelling in coastal waters. Algorithms have been developed and validated for accurate automated quantification of grain size, sorting, shape and other information by remotely sensing the bed with digital stills and video. Models of coastal sediment transport crucially depend on an accurate characterisation of these sedimentary properties, and using remote sensing methods enormous spatial and temporal coverage and resolution is achieved, which could revolutionize field and laboratory studies into sediment dynamics. Measurement and subsequent parameterisation of bedload transport is an important topic in coastal processes research. It has been shown that underwater video cameras are a suitable tool to monitor the seabed, in the absence of appropriate acoustic instrumentation. Current work involves field deployment of four high-resolution fully submersible digital cameras to visualise the gravel bed in three-dimensions. The principal focus here is sediment entrainment thresholds, particle size and bed structure, and grain-controlled turbulence. Seminar: Pixel- and region-based image fusion using alpha-stable distributions. Dr. Alin Achim Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Bristol 1:30 – 2:30, March 14th, 2008 C60c InfoLab21 Among the different fusion methods developed in the past, the weighted average (WA) technique proposed by Burt and Kolczinsky remains one of the most effective, yet simple and easy to implement. WA essentially consists in calculating a normalised correlation (match measure) between the two images’ subband decompositions over a small local area. Then, the fused subband coefficient is calculated from this measure and the local variance (saliency measure) via a weighted average of the two images coefficients. In this talk, we first describe a generalization of the WA method for the case when the data to be fused exhibit heavy tails with no convergent second- or higher-order moments. [more] Seminar: Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs): A new platform for environmental remote sensing. Dr. Daniel Donoghue Department of Geography, Durham University 1 – 2pm, January 30th, 2008 Small Lecture Theatre (LG5504) Dept. Environmental Science Unmanned Aerial Vehicles or UAVs are usually thought of as sophisticated aircraft used for tactical military reconnaissance. In fact, the world of UAVs is surprisingly diverse and spans from ultra lightweight radio-controlled “wings” to full-size aircraft and helicopters; imagery derived from these unmanned platforms is being adopted very rapidly for a range of exciting environmental applications. The seminar will seek to demonstrate the value of a Swedish designed SmartPlane system that uses a relatively low-technology approach to obtain imagery quickly and easily at low cost. [more] Seminar: X-ray tomography: What it can (or can’t) do for your research. Andrew Binley, Apostolos Papadopoulos & Nick Kettridge 2 – 3pm, 12 November 2007 Small Lecture Theatre (LG5504) Dept. Environmental Science X-ray tomography (commonly referred to in medicine as CT or CAT scanning from “Computerised (Axial) Tomography”) allows the determination of 3D or 2D images of X-ray attenuation within an object of interest in a non-invasive manner. The success of X-ray tomography in medicine is a result of the variability of X-ray attenuation properties within clinical subjects and various hardware, algorithm and software developments. X-ray attenuation is controlled by the material density and atomic number and the value of X-ray tomography has also been recognised in other fields, ranging from electronic engineering to geology and soil science. Desktop systems are now available allowing microscopic imaging of small objects for a wide variety of applications. These desktop units are designed for higher resolution imaging and more effective penetration of denser materials (which would normally attenuate X-rays too much in conventional medical tomography systems). The application is non destructive and requires no special preparation of the specimen. In 2006 an X-ray tomography system was purchased by the Department of Environmental Science. The system is capable of 5 micron resolution and can image objects (with a lower resolution) up to 75 mm diameter and 150 mm in length. The unit’s main activity has been the characterisation of soil and rock samples to help understand the physical structures that control fluid and gas transport processes in these porous media. The unit has, however, a much wider range of possible uses in science and engineering and the purpose of this presentation is to introduce the system to potential users, discuss capabilities and limitations and present a few illustrative examples. Those interested in seeing the system will be able to do so at the end of the presentation. [ More images: Lava, apple1, apple2 ].

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