Geo Environment

This volume features papers from the First International Conference on Monitoring, Simulation and Remediation of the Geological Environment.

Published to coincide with the Fourth United Nations Environmental Assembly, UN Environment's sixth Global Environment Outlook calls on decision makers to take bold and urgent action to address pressing environmental issues in order to protect the planet and human health. By bringing together hundreds of scientists, peer reviewers and collaborating institutions and partners, the GEO reports build on sound scientific knowledge to provide governments, local authorities, businesses and individual citizens with the information needed to guide societies to a truly sustainable world by 2050. GEO-6 outlines the current state of the environment, illustrates possible future environmental trends and analyses the effectiveness of policies. This flagship report shows how governments can put us on the path to a truly sustainable future - emphasising that urgent and inclusive action is needed to achieve a healthy planet with healthy people. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Geomatics, the handling and processing of information and data about the Earth, is one geoscience discipline that has seen major changes in the last decade, as mapping and observation systems become ever more sensitive and sophisticated. This book is a unique and in-depth survey of the field, which has a central role to play in tackling a host of environmental issues faced by society. Covering all three strands of geomatics - applications, information technology and surveying - the chapters cover the history and background of the subject, the technology employed both to collect and disseminate data, and the varied applications to which geomatics can be put, including urban planning, assessment of biodiversity, disaster management and land administration. Relevant professionals, as well as students in a variety of disciplines such as geography and surveying, will find this book required reading. This rapidly developing field uses increasingly complex and accurate systems. Today, technology enables us to capture geo-data in full 3D as well as to disseminate it via the Web at the speed of light. We are able to continuously image the world from space at resolutions of up to 50 cm. Airborne LiDAR (laser surveying) sensors can be combined with digital camera technology to produce geometrically correct images of the Earth's surface, while integrating these with large-scale topographic maps and terrestrial as well as aerial images to produce 3D cityscapes that computer users can explore from their desktops.

The focus of this book is on the management of the geoenvironment. It seeks to explain how, through an understanding of the environmental processes that take place in rocks, soils, waters, sediments, air and so on, the resources contained in them could be managed sustainably. Topics covered in the book include: Ecologically-sustainable industrial development; dynamics of the geoenvironment; the impact of mining on rocks, soils, water and biota; the natural radiation environment; the use of geotechnology to mitigate the consequences of natural disasters and the disposal of various kinds of waste, particulary hazardous waste. The models proposed by the World Bank on how to make environemntal amelioration economcially viable are also looked at.

This book contains most of the papers presented at the 3rd International Conference on Evaluation, Monitoring, Simulation, Management and Remediation of the Geological Environment and Landscape held in The New Forest, Ashurst Lodge, UK, in June 2008, organised by the Wessex Institute of Technology, UK, Complutense University, Madrid, Spain, University of Tartu, Estonia, and sponsored by the WIT Transactions on the Built Environment. This volume brings together international information, experience and research in order to give the reader a greater knowledge and ability to help their communities to develop in a sustainable way. It discusses some of the problems facing the public and private sectors and the engineering and scientific communities. It studies several aspects of environmental pollution, modelling, and monitoring, soil and rock properties, vulnerability studies, ecosystem remediation, climatological processes and hydrological studies, geo-ecology and landscape analysis, geo-environment in urban settings, natural hazards and risks, remote sensing of the environment, environmental planning and management, and restoration of ecosystems. The papers published in the book are grouped in the following sections: Remediation and Restoration; Environmental Modelling; Environmental Monitoring; Environmental Hazards and Pollution; Landscape Analysis.

The research work focuses on detailed large scale mapping, Geological & Geo- Technical Investigation, slope stability assessment and stabilization measures of Dhalli & Jhakri Landslide, Shimla District, Himachal Pradesh and Kotropi Landslide, Mandi District, Himachal Pradesh. Dhalli landslide occurred on 2nd September, 2017 was a structurally controlled rock slide that occurred along a Road cut slope National highway (NH – 5A) without proper toe support. Jhakri landslide is also located along the steep slope section of a National highway (NH-22) connecting Rampur and Jhakri area. Kotropi landslide occurred on August, 2017 along the Mandi – Pathankot national highway (NH-154). The landslide is of complex type with deep seated failure with huge social and economic loss. Landslide susceptibility map (LSM) have been developed for the Dhalli, Jhakri and Kotropi landslide. The results reveal that for Dhalli landslide site 42.15% of the total area was covered in moderately vulnerable zone and 57.85% of the area is covered in High and very high vulnerable area. In Jhakri landslide site 100% of the total area was covered in Very High vulnerable zone. LSM of Kotropi study area reveal that 43.5% of the total area was covered in moderate vulnerable zone, 42.5% falls under high vulnerable zone and 15% falls under very high vulnerable zone. Large scale mapping of the landslide sites Dhalli and Jhakri were conducted through total station. The results reveal that all the study areas are located along steep slopes of various National highways.

Floods and flash floods with hydro-meteorological and tropical cyclones are the some of the most devastating natural disasters causing massive damages to natural and man-made features. Flood hazards are a major threat to human life, properties (agricultural area, yield production, building and homes) and infrastructures (bridges, roads, railways, urban infrastructures, etc). Flood hazards susceptibility mapping (risk assessment) and modelling is an essential step for early warning systems, emergency services, prevention and mitigation of future environmental and social hazards and implementation of risk management strategies. Due to the lack of proper information, technology-based policies and strategies, mapping and modelling can often not be implemented to the best possible level. Geo-spatial techniques have enjoyed rising interest in recent decades among the earth environmental and social sciences research communities for their powerful ability to solve and understand various complex problems and develop novel approaches toward sustainable earth and human society. By linking geo-spatial computational intelligence techniques with societal and environmental-oriented problems, this book demonstrates geospatial technology approaches to data mining techniques, data analysis, modelling, risk assessment and visualization and management strategies in different aspects of flood hazards. We believe that a diverse group of academics, scientists, geographers, hydrologist, remote sensing and GIS expertise, environmentalists, meteorologists and computing experts with a common interest in geospatial sciences within the earth environmental sciences and humanistic and social sciences will find this book to be of great value.