Plant Biodiversity: Monitoring, Assessment And Conservation

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Conservation biologists use the results of regular monitoring of the species diversity and structure of plant communities to help understand the impacts of perturbations caused by humans and other environmental factors on ecosystems worldwide. Changes in plant communities can, for example, be a reflection of increased levels of pollution, a response to long-term climate change, or the result of shifts in land-use practices by the human population.

This book presents a series of essays on the application of plant biodiversity monitoring and assessment to help prevent species extinction and ecosystem collapse and to solve problems in biodiversity conservation. Written by a large, international team of researchers, Plant Biodiversity uses case studies and examples from all over the world and from a broad range of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

The book is aimed at any graduate students and researchers with a strong interest in plant biodiversity monitoring and assessment, plant community ecology, biodiversity conservation, and the environmental impacts of human activities on ecosystems.

Modeling And Monitoring Of Pipelines And Networks: Advanced Tools For Automatic Monitoring And Supervision Of Pipelines

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This book focuses on the analysis and design of advanced techniques for on-line automatic computational monitoring of pipelines and pipe networks. It discusses how to improve the systems’ security considering mathematical models of the flow, historical flow rate and pressure data, with the main goal of reducing the number of sensors installed along a pipeline.

The techniques presented in the book have been implemented in digital systems to enhance the abilities of the pipeline network’s operators in recognizing anomalies. A real leak scenario in a Mexican water pipeline is used to illustrate the benefits of these techniques in locating the position of a leak. Intended for an interdisciplinary audience, the book addresses researchers and professionals in the areas of mechanical, civil and control engineering. It covers topics on fluid mechanics, instrumentation, automatic control, signal processing, computing, construction and diagnostic technologies.

Human Monitoring, Smart Health And Assisted Living: Techniques And Technologies

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Interest in Information and Communication Technologies for human monitoring, smart health and assisted living is growing due to the significant impact that these technologies are expected to have on improving the quality of life of ageing populations around the world.

This book brings together chapters written by a range of researchers working in these topics, providing an overview of the areas and covering current research, developments and applications for a readership of researchers and research-led engineering practitioners. It discusses the promises and the possible advantages of these technologies, and also indicates the challenges for the future. Topics covered include: personal monitoring and health data acquisition in smart homes; contactless monitoring of respiratory activity; technology-based assistance of people with dementia; wearable sensors for gesture analysis; design and prototyping of home automation systems for the monitoring of elderly people; multi-sensor platform for circadian rhythm analysis; smart multi-sensor solutions for activity detection; human monitoring based on heterogeneous sensor networks; mobile health for vital signs and gait monitoring systems; and smartphone-based blood pressure monitoring for falls risk assessment.

Infrastructure Monitoring With Spaceborne Sar Sensors

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This book presents a novel non-intrusive infrastructure monitoring technique based on the detection and tracking of scattering centers in spaceborne SAR images. The methodology essentially consists of refocusing each available SAR image on an imposed 3D point cloud associated to the envisaged infrastructure element and identifying the reliable scatterers to be monitored by means of four dimensional (4D) tomography. The methodology described in this book provides a new perspective on infrastructure monitoring with spaceborne SAR images, is based on a standalone processing chain, and brings innovative technical aspects relative to conventional approaches. The book is intended primarily for professionals and researchers working in the area of critical infrastructure monitoring by radar remote sensing.