KEYWORDS: Point clouds, Biodiversity, 3D applications, LIDAR, Unmanned aerial vehicles, Data processing, RGB color model, Georeferencing, Receivers, Satellite navigation systems
The growing threat to biodiversity and ecosystem degradation necessitates innovative methods for monitoring and managing forested areas. This paper introduces the LIFE EL-BIOS project, a pioneering initiative to develop a Digital Twin for forest biodiversity analysis using terrestrial and airborne Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technologies. The project utilizes advanced equipment, including the DJI Matrice 300 UAV with airborne LiDAR, DJI Mavic 3E, Quantum Systems Trinity F90+ with RGB and multispectral sensors, a GeoSLAM ZEB REVO terrestrial SLAM device, and a Leica BLK360 terrestrial laser scanner. Research spans over 40 forest plots, each 2000 square meters, in Greece's Kotychi-Strofilia Wetlands and Northern Pindos National Parks. The methodology integrates and georeferences point clouds from aerial and terrestrial sources to create unified point clouds for each area. Advanced software tools, such as 3DFIN and 3DFOREST, are then used to extract precise biodiversity-relevant parameters. This innovative data extraction method is compared with traditional in-situ measurements to evaluate the potential and limitations of the Digital Twin approach. A preliminary assessment focused on the time- and cost-effectiveness, accuracy, and robustness of this multiscale Earth Observation (EO) based mapping framework. Initial results suggest that the combined use of terrestrial and airborne LiDAR, multispectral data, and advanced analysis pipelines enhances the accuracy and speed of biodiversity measurements. Moreover, it allows for the extraction of additional information critical for developing biodiversity indicators. This study highlights the potential of multiscale and multisource EO data in creating digital twins of ecologically sensitive areas, offering a revolutionary approach to environmental conservation.
Remote sensing of the atmosphere with high-grade Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) is nowadays an established technique in GNSS-Meteorology. GNSS signal propagation delay in the troposphere provides information of Water Vapor (WV), which is the most abundant greenhouse gas (accounting for ~70% of global warming) and not well-estimated by the current meteorological models. GNSS derived WV has been proved a valuable data source for high-resolution limited area Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) models. Nowadays, low-cost commercial GNSS modules can provide raw GNSS data for several positioning engineering applications. The goal of this study is to assess the potential of a low-cost GNSS receiver in tropospheric monitoring with an accuracy close to that of high-grade receiver with clear advantages in cost, size and power consumption. A comparative study between a LeicaGR30 high-grade geodetic receiver, and a low-cost, GNSS Receiver dual frequency based on a sino gnssK803 OEM product is undertaken to explore the potential of the low-cost devices for sensing the troposphere. The housing and operation firmware of the low-cost receiver were developed by Cloudwater Ltd. A measurement campaign for a two-month period (February – March 2023) was carried out in order to investigate the signal strength and Integrated Water Vapor (IWV) estimation. For this purpose, a GNSS signal splitter was connected with the two receivers under test and all data were recorded with a single Leica AR20 choke ring antenna at Klirou which is about 25 Km SW from Nicosia.
One of the principal techniques for ground-based ionospheric monitoring is based on high-grade Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers. Recently, the availability of low-cost commercial GNSS modules encouraged their exploitation in the frames of several positioning engineering applications. The aim of this study is to investigate the capability of a low-cost GNSS receiver in ionospheric monitoring with a performance comparable to that of a high-grade receiver with clear advantages in cost, size and power consumption. A comparative study between a LeicaGR30 high-grade geodetic receiver, and a low-cost, GNSS Receiver dual frequency based on a sino gnssK803 OEM product is undertaken to explore the potential of the low-cost devices for sensing the ionosphere. The housing and operation firmware of the low-cost receiver were developed by Cloudwater Ltd. A measurement campaign for several days characterized by quiet and disturbed geomagnetic conditions, was undertaken in order to investigate the signal strength and Total Electron Content (TEC) estimation. A GNSS signal splitter was connected with the two receivers under test and all data were recorded with a Leica AR20 choke ring antenna at Klirou (35°N, 33.2°E) which is about 25 Km SW from Nicosia in Cyprus.
Global climate changes are a main factor of risk for infrastructures and people living along the coasts around the world. In this context, sea level rise, coastal retreat and storm surges pose serious threats to coastal zones. In order to assess the expected coastal changes for the next decades, a detailed knowledge of the site’s topography (coastline position, DTM, bathymetry) is needed. This paper focuses on the use of very high resolution satellite data and UAV imagery for the generation of accurate very-high and ultra-high mapping of coastal areas. In addition, the use of very high resolution multi-spectral satellite data is investigated for the generation of coastal bathymetry maps. The paper presents a study for the island of Lipari and the coasts of Cinque Terre (Italy) and the island of Lefkas (Greece). For Lefkas, two areas of the island were mapped (the city of Lefkas and its adjoining lagoon in the north side of the island, and the Bay of Vasiliki at the south part of the island) using World View 1, and Wolrd View 3 satellite images, and UAV imagery. The satellite processing provided results that demonstrated an accuracy of approximately 0.25 m plannimetrically and 0.70 m vertically. The processing of the UAV imagery resulted in the generation of DTMs and orthophotos with an accuracy of approximately 0.03-0.04 meters. In addition, for the Vasiliki bay in the south of the island the World View 3 imagery was used for the estimation of a bathymetry map of the bay. The achieved results yielded an accuracy of 0.4 m. For the sites of Lipari and Cinque Terre (both in Italy), UAV surveys allowed to extract a DTM at about 2 cm of pixel resolution. The integration of topographic data with high resolution multibeam bathymetry and expected sea level rise from IPCC AR5 2.6 and 8.5 climatic scenarios, will be used to map sea level rise scenarios for 2050 and 2100, taking into account the Vertical Land Motion (VLM) as estimated from CGPS data. The above-mentioned study was realized during the implementation of the SAVEMEDCOASTS project (Sea level rise scenarios along the Mediterranean coasts, funded by the European Commission ECHO A.5, GA ECHO/SUB/2016/742473/PREV16, www.savemedcoasts.eu).
This study aims to describe the main objectives and activities of the research project BeRTISS (Balkan-Mediterranean Real Time Severe weather Service) funded by the European Territorial Cooperation Programme “Interreg V-B Balkan-Mediterranean 2014-2020". BeRTISS targets to establish the first transnational operational service for monitoring severe weather events in the Balkan‐Mediterranean area by exploiting Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) tropospheric products. GNSS signals transmitted from satellites to the ground reference stations are delayed by ionosphere and water vapor in troposphere. Ionospheric propagation delay can be easily removed, while tropospheric delay needs to be calculated using surface pressure and temperature variables. By knowing the tropospheric delay the Precipitable Water Vapour (PWV) which is the most abundant greenhouse gas is easily assessed. GNSS derived PWV has been proved to be a valuable data source for Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) models in order to detect rapid moisture increases at intervals between the available every 1-6 hours prediction model updates and therefore improve the accuracy of forecast. BeRTISS real-time service, which will comprise the extension of the existing European GNSS network of tropospheric products, will provide continuous information for nowcasting and forecasting for PWV over Greece, Bulgaria and Cyprus using the GNSS derived tropospheric products and WRF (Weather Research and Forecasting) model.
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