Radio Astronomy Demonstrator: Assessment of the Appropriate Sites through a GIS Open Source Application

Abstract

Abstract:In the framework of Portuguese radio astronomical capacitation towards participation in the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) project, a site was selected for radio astronomical testing purposes and the development of a radio astronomical infrastructure. The site is within Herdade da Contenda (HC), a large national forest perimeter, located in Alentejo (Portugal). In order to minimize the impacts in the ecosystem and landscape, an application based on the Geographic Information System (GIS) open source environment was created, the HC Environmental Integrated Management System. This application combines several functionalities and menus with different characterization methods allowing the creation of multiple maps regarding the HC characteristics, such as Digital Elevation Model (DEM), Land Use Land Cover (LULC), Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), groundwater vulnerability, erosion risk, flood risk and forest fire risk. Other geographical information can be added if necessary (human heritage visualization and fauna and flora). A decision making support tool was also developed. It incorporates an algorithm running through a series of assigned weights and eliminatory factors to find the locations best suited for the infrastructure with minimal impact to the local ecosystem. In order to test the application and the decision making tool, several maps were used as input in order to decide which sites are more adequate. The application developed can be adopted for other protected or natural areas.

Application of GIS-Based Multi-Criteria Decision Technique in Exploration of Suitable Site Options for Anaerobic Digestion of Food and Biodegradable Waste in Oita City, Japan

“…The standardized maps are classified in the range of bytes (from 0 to 255), representing different fuzzy membership decision sets ( Figure 6 and Table 2). In this analysis, the suitable fuzzy functions and related control points shown in Table 2 were selected on the basis of a review of the literature in conformity with WMPCL and Oita Prefecture legislation [6,14,15,[19][20][21][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][41][42][43][44]. Water bodies in our study denote streams, rivers, and other surface water sources.…”

Visualization of Refractive Index and Reflectance of Sodium Metal Based on Drude's Theory Using MATLAB as an Alternative for Optics and Astrophysics Lectures

“…MATLAB can be used in supporting optical and astrophysical research activities, especially in analyzing and visualizing mathematical equations of complex optical and astrophysical phenomena [16]. The implementation of MATLAB in optics and astrophysics courses can support simple visual constructs of every optical and astrophysical equation [17]. The implementation of MATLAB in optics and astrophysics courses also has a positive impact on students' abilities.…”

Texture Is Important in Improving the Accuracy of Mapping Photovoltaic Power Plants: A Case Study of Ningxia Autonomous Region, China

“…The construction of PV power plants in various landscapes, such as desert, mountain, coast, lake [20][21][22], has also led to the differences in their environmental effects. Researchers need to urgently evaluate these effects and issues with the rapidly growing PV power plants [23]. However, datasets on the distribution of PV power plants are still scarce in many regions.…”