Georelational mapping system for the environment

Comprehensive Management of Industrial Heritage Sites as A Basis for Sustainable Regeneration

Automation and monitoring systems for industrial and commercial sites (short: Site Management Systems) often grow organically, hence they need to be able to integrate large numbers of heterogeneous devices, based on both legacy and novel tools and systems. Currently, many standards are used in the site management field for both control (e.g., KNX, BACNet, LON) and communication (e.g., WiFi, Ethernet). Different systems are responsible for different tasks and parts of the site. Since they are usually not designed to interoperate, the site manager is forced to choose one that suits most of her needs, forgoing features offered by alternative solutions. I.e, the flexibility of the site manager is limited. Moreover, site management systems often require technical personnel for installation, calibration and configuration, and are not designed to be modified frequently to adapt to changes. Because of this, the site manager is discouraged from changing the settings of the system or from adding or updating devices, by lack of technical knowledge and by high costs. In other words, a site management system that makes adding new devices, e.g., solar panels, as easy as plugging in and using a webcam is needed.

A fundamental requirement of any environmental management system for industrial sites is the identification and assessment of risk. To meet international standards in terms of environmental protection and preservation, industrial sites should ensure that a comprehensive environmental risk management process is in place by systematically identifying and managing risks arising from internal and external factors. The purpose of this study was to develop a new methodology to determine the significance of environmental hazardous situations associated with a process or activity. It uses qualitative or quantitative techniques to pinpoint weaknesses in design, operation, and lines of defense provided by engineering and administrative controls, which can lead to an environmentally hazardous event. It may also provide an assessment of risk resulting from the magnitude of the consequence and the probability of the environmental event occurring. The fundamental principle of this new risk-based hazard methodology is that whilst risk cannot be eliminated, it should be possible to reduce to ALARP (as low as reasonably practicable), and the environmental risk matrix could be a useful tool for establishing if an environmental risk rating is tolerable or not based on the likelihood and consequences. The outcome of this study is developing a new environmental risk matrix based on different consequences (health, environmental, reputation, and business interruption) with likelihood criteria. This matrix could be applied by industrial sites to identify and control their environmental risks.

Industrial legacy sites present persistent environmental and public health challenges due to heterogeneous contamination, fragmented historical records, and competing remediation priorities. Decision-makers often face difficulties in allocating limited resources effectively across complex spatial contexts characterized by uncertainty, multiple stakeholders, and interacting risk pathways. This study proposes a Geospatial Decision-Support System (GDSS) designed to prioritize environmental interventions in complex industrial legacy sites by integrating spatial analytics, multi-criteria decision analysis, and risk-based assessment within a unified computational framework. The proposed system synthesizes geospatial datasets including land use history, contaminant distribution, hydrogeological conditions, population vulnerability, ecological receptors, and infrastructure constraints to generate transparent, evidence-based prioritization outputs. A modular architecture is adopted, enabling flexible data ingestion, scenario testing, and iterative updating as new information becomes available. Spatial weighting and normalization techniques are combined with expert-informed criteria scoring to capture both quantitative indicators and contextual knowledge that are often excluded from conventional remediation planning tools. The GDSS incorporates uncertainty handling through sensitivity analysis and probabilistic overlays, allowing users to examine how data gaps and assumption variability influence intervention rankings. Visualization dashboards translate complex analytical results into intuitive maps and decision matrices that support stakeholder communication and regulatory engagement. The framework is particularly suited to data-limited environments where monitoring coverage is uneven and historical contamination patterns are poorly constrained. By explicitly linking spatial risk profiles to intervention feasibility and potential impact, the system supports strategic sequencing of remediation actions, optimization of monitoring investments, and alignment with sustainability and land-reuse objectives. A conceptual application demonstrates how the GDSS can differentiate high-priority zones requiring immediate intervention from areas suitable for long-term management or redevelopment planning. The study contributes a scalable and adaptable decision-support approach that enhances transparency, consistency, and accountability in environmental management of industrial legacy sites. Overall, the proposed GDSS advances geospatially informed environmental governance by enabling more rational, defensible, and impact-oriented prioritization of interventions under conditions of complexity and uncertainty. Its design supports integration with policy frameworks, community engagement processes, and adaptive management strategies, ensuring that remediation decisions remain responsive to evolving environmental conditions, regulatory expectations, and socio-economic development goals over extended project lifecycles. Globally applicable.

본 논문에서는 영상처리를 통해 GUI를 기반으로 산업용 디지털 기기의 측정값을 인식하고 기록하는 시스템을 제안하고 구현하였다. 제안한 시스템은 기존의 차량번호판 인식과 달리 산업용 측정기의 LCD화면에 표시되는 값은 디지털 숫자로 표시하고 있어 소수점과 마이너스 표시, LCD보호유리의 반사광등의 여러 가지 장애요인을 고려하였다. LCD화면에 표시된 숫자를 인식하기 위해 블롭 레이블링 (blob-labeling)기법을 사용하였으며, 인식한 숫자 이미지는 템플릿 매칭(template matching)을 통해 숫자가 무엇인지 판별하여, 인식한 측정값을 측정시간과 함께 저장장치에 기록하였다. 본 논문에서 제안한 시스템은 산업현장에서 제품의 내외경이나 높이를 측정하고 기록할 때 수기로 작성하는 번거로움을 줄이고, 수기로 작성 시 잘못 기입하는 경우를 방지함으로써 생산 공정 과정에서 오류가 없는 효율적인 공정관리가 가능하게 하였다. In this paper, we proposed and implemented a GUI-based system to recognize and record measured values of digital instruments in the industrial site through image processing. Unlike the existing vehicle license plate recognition system, the measured values of the measuring instrument are displayed on the LCD screen as digital numbers. So, the proposed system considers the decimal point, a negative sign, light reflected by LCD protective glass, and various disturbance factors. We used blob-labeling technique to recognize the numbers displayed on the LCD screen, the recognized number images were determined as certain numbers through the template matching, and recognized values were recorded in the storage device with measurement time. Therefore, the proposed system in this paper would reduce the burden of writing when recording the measured values of the inside/outside diameter or height of the product in the industrial site, so effective and errorless process management in production process is possible by preventing errors in recording measurements when written by hand.

The Integrated Environmental Management System is a system that moves away from the traditional single-medium approach and adopts a medium-integrated approach to achieve a higher level of environmental protection. Korea has been implementing the Integrated Environmental Management System since 2017, and as of 2024, total of 19 industries have received integrated permits. In 2023, the cement manufacturing industry was added to the list of industries subject to the Integrated Environmental Management System. As a critical industry with significant emission of air pollutants and particulate matter, it requires systematic environmental management that prioritizes public health and sustainability. This study aims to compare and analyze the Best Available Technique Reference Documents (BREFs) for the cement manufacturing industry in Korea and the European Union (EU) to explore environmental management improvement strategies for Korea’s cement industry. The analysis revealed that the K-BREF provides strong practical guidelines and is more focused on industrial sites, while the EU-BREF is characterized by an integrated environmental management approach reflecting carbon neutrality strategies and resource circulation policies. Particularly in terms of waste fuel management, the EU-BREF provided specific details on waste handling and preparation processes, suitability assessment of waste fuels, lists of maximum allowable substance values, and actual application cases. Additionally, the BAT-AEL (Best Available Techniques Associate Emission Level) and monitoring intervals were also further specified. In contrast, the K-BREF reflects the early stage of implementing an integrated environmental management system, resulting in a lack of technical examples related to waste fuels and BAT-AEL standards being limited to a single criterion per pollutant. The Korean cement industry must expand its use of waste fuels to meet greenhouse gas reduction targets of 12% by 2030 and 53% by 2050. Accordingly, specific multi-media integrated control standards should be established. To effectively respond to increasingly stringent emission regulations and ensure sustainable environmental management, a multi-faceted approach including regulatory improvements, technological development, and policy support is essential.

The purpose of this Post-Closure Strategy is to provide a consistent methodology for continual evaluation of post-closure requirements for use-restricted areas on the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS), Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR), and Tonopah Test Range (TTR) to consolidate, modify, or streamline the program. In addition, this document stipulates the creation of a single consolidated Post-Closure Plan that will detail the current post-closure requirements for all active use restrictions (URs) and outlines its implementation and subsequent revision. This strategy will ensure effective management and control of the post-closure sites. There are currently over 200 URs located on the NNSS, NTTR, and TTR. Post-closure requirements were initially established in the Closure Report for each site. In some cases, changes to the post-closure requirements have been implemented through addenda, errata sheets, records of technical change, or letters. Post-closure requirements have been collected from these multiple sources and consolidated into several formats, such as summaries and databases. This structure increases the possibility of inconsistencies and uncertainty. As more URs are established and the post-closure program is expanded, the need for a comprehensive approach for managing the program will increase. Not only should the current requirements be obtainable from a single source that supersedes all previous requirements, but the strategy for modifying the requirements should be standardized. This will enable more effective management of the program into the future. This strategy document and the subsequent comprehensive plan are to be implemented under the assumption that the NNSS and outlying sites will be under the purview of the U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration for the foreseeable future. This strategy was also developed assuming that regulatory control of the sites remains static. The comprehensive plan is not intended to be a permanent long-term stewardship plan. However, it is intended to clarify requirements and identify components to effectively manage the sites until regulatory requirements are met or management of the site changes. The Environmental Management Program is required to manage these sites until the NNSS Environmental Restoration program is completed, currently planned for 2030. Prior to completion of the Environmental Restoration program, additional planning will be conducted to ensure that long-term stewardship of the sites is maintained. A comprehensive post-closure plan can be transitioned effectively into any future site-wide long-term stewardship program that may be developed. Therefore, the post-closure plan will include current aspects of the post-closure program that are also important aspects of long-term stewardship, including the following: • Management of physical and engineering controls such as fences, signs, and soil covers • Management of institutional and administrative controls such as use restrictions and real estate systems • Management of monitoring and maintenance programs • Management of information related to the sites such as geographic information system data and related documentation The strategy will also allow for periodic review and modification of any aspect of the program to ensure continued effectiveness.

Despite two centuries of industrial activities, contaminated land issues have raised concern over the last 20–25 years only. A dedicated contaminated land policy related to Integration Prevention and Pollution Control industries has been developed in France over the last 15 years. It is based on two main concepts: a risk management driven approach, which goes beyond the assessment of the intrinsic level of pollution, and land-use (of the site and its surrounding) risk based management. Feedback studies on the management of many French and foreign polluted sites showed that risks from contaminated sites were not necessarily associated with the presence of pollutants in the soil, but were mostly caused by the hazardous character of contaminants (intrinsic toxicity, mobility, bioaccumulation, persistence) or caused by changes in human activities which affected the environment or exposed new populations to contamination. In relation to regeneration, and in the context of fast urban sprawl (since the mid-1950s, European cities have expanded by 78 per cent and population has grown by 33 per cent) and increasing pressure on the land market, those contaminated sites located mainly in urban areas can be seen as good opportunities, when abandoned, for satisfying some of the new land demands. It is therefore essential to take all necessary precautions to minimise risks for future users when redeveloping brownfields, and special care is necessary when reclaiming and redeveloping contaminated sites, especially in urban areas. This has resulted in the emergence of laws, methodological guidance documents for contaminated site management and new national tools of management. These tools, like those existing in other European countries, are based on risk assessment and management approaches. The case study of the Ferronneries du Midi (Toulouse, south of France) will illustrate how the remediation of contaminated soils has been integrated into redevelopment projects.

/ Public participation in environmental management decisions has frequently led to conflict. This paper examines the role of environmental values in fueling these conflicts, based on a data base and sample content analysis of written public comments solicited in 1994 regarding the highly contentious Clinton Forest Plan (also known as Option 9) proposed for management of federal forests in the US Pacific Northwest. The analysis considered whether those respondents favoring more versus less environmental protection than was offered in Option 9 held entirely different values, identifying which antagonistic values appeared to be most fundamental and where (if at all) values consensus occurred. It also compared values emanating from respondents within and outside the affected region, although few major differences were detected in this regard. Results suggest that strong values differences did exist among those preferring greater versus less environmental protection, in particular as concerned the extent, form, and spatial and temporal scope of justification of their positions, their ideas of forests, and the appropriate role of people in forest management. Disagreement concerned far more than purely environmental values: a major point of difference involved human benefits and harms of the proposed forest plan. Indeed, both sides' positions were overridingly anthropocentric and consequentialist-a values orientation that almost inevitably spells conflict in light of the commonly differentiated social impacts of environmental management decisions. Although public involvement in environmental management thus cannot be expected to lead to a clear and consensual social directive, the Pacific Northwest case suggests that viable environmental management solutions that take this range of values into account can still be crafted.KEY WORDS: Environmental values; Public participation; Clinton Forest Plan; Pacific Northwest

As part of the design of a biogas generation, purification, and compression system for Bahir Dar City’s municipal solid waste use, organic waste could be collected and treated in an anaerobic digester to produce biogas, which could then be compressed for use or storage after being purified to remove contaminants like carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, moisture, and other pollutants. This approach could help the city implement a more sustainable waste management plan, produce renewable energy, and reduce waste output. Collaboration with experts in gas purification, waste management, and comprehensive Bahir Dar City station systems would be essential for the successful implementation of this design work. This project included the design and sizing of a fixed‐dome biogas digester, biogas purification, and a detailed plant schematic, as well as data on Bahir Dar’s waste potential. A locking system was not taken into consideration when developing the digesters because they were built on a wet base with a biomass‐to‐water ratio of 1:1, which maximizes biogas output in continuous mode as opposed to batch type. Various purification unit operation strategies are used to purify the undesirable gases after the digester produces biogas. In order to create fuel with a higher calorific value, biogas purification increases the amount of methane in the gas. Compressing the cleaned biogas would raise its energy density for transit and storage.

Analysis of Trans-boundary Risks in the Pilcomayo and the Paraguay River Basins could generate relevant technical information about the management of water resources in the proposed basins. The Pilcomayo River Commission (Paraguay, Bolivia and Argentina) has conducted important studies in the water resources field of the Pilcomayo Basin that are currently stored in the Commission’s data base. Less information is available for the case of the Paraguay River Basin, especially in the area of study: the confluence area with the Parana River. The study presents a border management tool for managing the risks associated with extreme events water in rivers shared between Argentina and Paraguay, in order to contribute to an efficient coordination work between local agencies that manage emergencies. This study also aims to identify the main risks that can occur in urban and rural environments of potential areas to be affected by floods, droughts and other natural and anthropogenic phenomena such as erosion, sedimentation and pollution from various sources. A web platform has been developed to collect all available information regarding these Rivers. Alpha 3 CapWEM project (Capacity development in Water Engineering and Environmental Management) in which eight Universities from European and Latin American countries collaborate on improving higher education in the fields of Water and Environmental Management has provided the framework for the present study.

The problems of separation of flows of gas mixtures in the process implementation of environmentally safe waste disposal are considered. The main aim of the research is the mathematical description of the processes in the separator and the compressor - the functional elements of a complex energy-technological plant for the separation of multicomponent gas mixtures produced by the waste gasification. To determine the composition of the vapor and liquid products obtained at the outlet of the separator, it is used a set of subprograms for calculating the coefficient of thermal properties of the working bodies, which is based on the Peng-Robinson equation of state. The mathematical models of individual functional elements of a complex energy-technological plant of low-temperature separation of multicomponent gas mixtures obtained by recycling. The mathematical model of plant units, such as a separator and compressor, are presented in this part of the study. The study describes a model of the complex as a whole, and as the executive part of the system of environmental safety management of waste disposal.

Owing to advances in information technology, some studies have been conducted on work environment monitoring system using various sensors in order to prevention of accidents, information gathering, and optimal management of work environment. It was found that a factory environment monitoring system using climate sensors such as O2, Co2, Nh3, and Pm2 has recently become essential because it can help protect the safety and health of workers. Climate sensors are a mesh-type arrangement placed at certain distances apart to acquire and anlyze exact environmental information. Sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy increase as the number of sensors are increased. However, as the number of sensors increases, it becomes more difficult to detect faulty sensors, and in the worst case, false information can lead to accidents. It is necessary, therefore, for environment monitoring systems using a large number of climate sensors to have a function that will automatically detect the failure of a sensor. The value of an individual climate sensor is organically realted to the value of neighbor sensors, unless they are located in enclosed spaces. If the sensor value at a specific position changes, the neighboring sensor's values are also changed. In the past, much research has studied algorithms to improve the sensing accuracy of specific location using neighbor sensor data based on these principle. If these algorithms are used inversely, it is possible to infer or predict the environmental information in the area where the sensor has failed, by using the values from neighboring sensors. Even with these systems in operaton, a major concern on many industrial sites is that work does not stop even if a sensor failure is detected. In other words, when workers are in areas where a sensor has failed, they may become exposed to hazardous conditions. Therefore, even if a sensor fails, for the sake of the workers, it is necessary to continuously provide environmental information to those in the affected area. This paper presents the automatic sensor fault detection and sensor reconstruction algorithm for emergency recovery relative to the production of continuous and reliable environmental data. The principle of automatic sensor fault detection and the sensor reconstruction algorithm are the same. The proposed algorithms consist of four steps. In the first step, a total of nine sensors consisting of 3∗3 are configured as one set. In the second step, the three sensors, including the central sensor, are grouped into one group. One set becomes a total of four groups. In the third step, reference curve maps (RCM) are created to record changes in sensor values according to the amount of ambient gas. The RCM records the sensor's values as the gas changes in density. Four RCMs are created per set. A total of 32 RCMs are created because one sensor is included in a total of eight sets. In the fourth step, the automatic sensor fault detection and sensor reconstruction algorithms are performed. Automatic sensor fault detection consists of two substeps. In the first sub-step, the comparative values of the failed sensor and the neighboring sensor are added to the RCM. In the second substep, if more than half of the comparison result deviates from the normal range, the target sensor is judged to be faulty, and the supervisor is notified. If the superviisor determines that the sensor is normal, the RCMs are then updated to improve accuracy. Sensor reconstruction is performed when the sensor is determined to be faulty. Sensor reconstruction consists of two further substeps. First, the failure of the sensor is inferred using all RCMs and the linear interpolation technique. Second, the final value of the failed sensor is determined by using its predicted value, as obtained by using RCMs and weighted averages.

One of the primary missions of the Department of Energy's Morgantown Energy Technology Center (METC) is the development of an information and data base on the engineering and environmental aspects of advanced technologies for the conversion of relatively abundant energy sources, such as coal, to clean fuels. Such fuels may be suitable for a number of end uses, including substitute natural gas, fuel gas for use in gas turbines, and others. METC has provided support for the development of a number of synfuels technologies, including the Mountain Fuel Resources (MFR) and Kellogg-Rust/Westinghouse (KRW) gasification technologies, and several raw gas and aqueous waste cleanup technologies. The primary objective of this project was to obtain and evaluate environmental data for advanced synthetic fuel technologies of interest to the Department of Energy as well as associated pollution controls, such as gas cleanup and wastewater treatment technologies.

Gas emissions are produced by each economic entity individually — whether they are a large industrial enterprise, a boiler-house or a household (dwelling house). At that, in addition to visible chimneys there are a lot of hidden (unrecorded) sources of emissions in form of ventilation branch pipes. Communal systems for removal and reprocessing of wastes of two types: liquid (municipal sewage lines) and solid (collection and removal of wastes) are operated in populated localities. For the third type of waste — gaseous — a similarly municipal structure does not exist. For the time being there is no possibility for full system control and neutralization of dust and gas wastes because there is no system in the physical form which would enable comprehensive receipt of exit gases from all the city sources for further processing thereof. It is for the first time when a principally new holistic approach to cleaning/treatment of all city dust and gas emissions (wastes) is proposed which consists in creation of a City Communal Aspiration System (Municipal Aspiration System) containing a city communal aspiration network (gas outlets) for receipt/transportation of exhaust (flue) gases and a plant for utilization of such wastes connected to such network. In other words, it is proposed to organize a “City without Chimneys”. The proposed solution permits to remove mass unsystematic and uncontrolled emissions of environmentally harmful gas wastes in cities, reduce climate risks and make the transition to a new level of organization of environmental planning and management and, therefore, eliminates or principally simplifies many ecological difficulties and restrictions in urban planning (inseparably related to ecology) in sanitary rules and standards.