Papers by Samuel Van Ackere
There are many sensors and measuring methods for detecting moving objects, each with its advantag... more There are many sensors and measuring methods for detecting moving objects, each with its advantages and disadvantages. In active tracking methods (based on e.g. GNSS technology), the user is informed and actively participates, for instance by installing a smartphone app. These methods typically have the problem that only a limited part of the moving objects is tracked. In passive tracking methods (e.g. video recognition), the moving person is not informed of being subject to the data acquisition. These methods are typically privacy-invasive. Many techniques also require complex calculations to transform the raw data into accurate and meaningful trajectories of moving objects. However, such trajectories usually require only one point of the moving object at any given time. If the moving object is a person walking or cycling, then such a point of interest is the highest point of the person's head (i.e. "highest point of interest" or HPOI). Detecting this point typically ...
Flood Impact Assessment Tool (FLIAT) - An Object-Relational GIS Tool for Impact Assessment in Flanders, Belgium
4D WebGIS coastal flood analysis and visualisation for urban areas
Flood Impact Assessment Tool (FLIAT)
Final scientific report.Take home messages & project results
Methodology for flood mapping using aerial photography after the passage of Hurricane Matthew in Haiti
Unlocking heritage data through a flexible data model and geo-application
A planning decision support tool for small and medium wind turbines in Flanders
Energy saving, emission reduction and increased use of renewables are key strategies to achieve t... more Energy saving, emission reduction and increased use of renewables are key strategies to achieve the European 20-20-20 goals, but they require a novel approach to energy demand and supply, integrated with spatial planning. New sustainable energy technologies as Small and Medium Wind Turbines (SMWT) often have an extensive spatial footprint with a high associated impact on both, space and energy provision. This paper proposes a planning support tool that enables SMWT location assessment via a user-friendly open source web-based GIS platform. The tool has been designed with reference to the legislative framework on environmental impact assessment of SMWT in Flanders. It has the potential to be used as strategic spatial-environmental tool - in due time Europe-wide - since it is based on the LESTS assessment (Legal, Economic, Spatial, Technical and Social analysis) and it provides insight at two spatial planning levels. At the regional planning scale the tool provides information on spat...
Flood impact and risk assessment for urban city Ghent
Previous studies have reported that Ghent (Belgium) and regions nearby are insufficiently protect... more Previous studies have reported that Ghent (Belgium) and regions nearby are insufficiently protected against storm surge events from the North Sea, whether combined with high upper drainage by abundant rainfall or not. When a downpour occurs and drains can no longer effectively manage the amount of water, floods in and around the city of Ghent will cause damage to energy and transportation infrastructure and precipitate a disruption to the delivery of services. In this research, an analysis is made for the casualties and economic damage caused by floods due to a downpour that statistically takes place once every twenty, fifty, and hundred years (T20, T50, T100) for the current situation and for the projected situation in 2050. The impact of moderate to extreme floods in the territory of Ghent is investigated, wherein all fragile infrastructure and vulnerable functions are identified and described. Although Ghent appears to be well protected against the high water levels of the rivers...
Without adaptation, 0.2 to 4.6% of the global population may be flooded annually in 2100 with sce... more Without adaptation, 0.2 to 4.6% of the global population may be flooded annually in 2100 with scenarios of 0.25 till 1.23 m global mean sea level rise. Therefore, it is necessary that local governments engage and educate the local community in order to adapt to the impacts of sea level rise. To this point, we developed a comprehensive four-dimensional (4D, i.e. 3D and time) flood visualisation WebGIS (Web-based Geographic Information System), as it quickly conveys strong messages, condenses complex information, engages people in issues of environmental change, and motivates personal actions. This paper describes the developed landscape visualisation of a flood model simulation for the coastal town of Ostend (West Flanders, Belgium) and presents practical considerations for future studies. This research proposes an adaptation plan with a series of practical measures to be introduced by 2050, for example, inserting gates where needed, sluices to prevent ingress of water into drains, r...
Water, 2019
Worldwide, flood events frequently have a dramatic impact on urban societies. Time is key during ... more Worldwide, flood events frequently have a dramatic impact on urban societies. Time is key during a flood event in order to evacuate vulnerable people at risk, minimize the socio-economic, ecologic and cultural impact of the event and restore a society from this hazard as quickly as possible. Therefore, detecting a flood in near real-time and assessing the risks relating to these flood events on the fly is of great importance. Therefore, there is a need to search for the optimal way to collect data in order to detect floods in real time. Internet of Things (IoT) is the ideal method to bring together data of sensing equipment or identifying tools with networking and processing capabilities, allow them to communicate with one another and with other devices and services over the Internet to accomplish the detection of floods in near real-time. The main objective of this paper is to report on the current state of research on the IoT in the domain of flood detection. Current trends in IoT...
ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information, 2018
Floods cause major disruptions to energy supply and transportation facilities and lead to signifi... more Floods cause major disruptions to energy supply and transportation facilities and lead to significant impacts on the society, economy, and environment. As a result, there is a compelling need for resilience and adaptation against extreme flood events under a changing climate. An accurate focal priority analysis of how societies can adapt to these changing events can provide insight into practical solutions. Besides the social, ecological, and cultural impact assessments of floods, an accurate economic impact analysis is required to define priority zones and priority measures. Unfortunately, studies show that economic impact assessments can be highly inaccurate because of the margin of error in economic value estimation of residential and industrial buildings, as they account for a large part of the total economic damage value. Therefore, tools that can accurately estimate the maximum economic damage value (or replacement value) of residential and industrial buildings are imperative. This paper outlines a methodology to estimate the maximum economic value of buildings by using a data extraction algorithm for Energy Performance Certificates (EPC), through which the replacement value can be calculated for all of the buildings in Flanders, and in addition, across Europe.
Water, 2019
Floods can cause damage to transportation and energy infrastructure, disrupt the delivery of serv... more Floods can cause damage to transportation and energy infrastructure, disrupt the delivery of services, and take a toll on public health, sometimes even causing significant loss of life. Although scientists widely stress the compelling need for resilience against extreme events under a changing climate, tools for dealing with expected hazards lag behind. Not only does the socio-economic, ecologic and cultural impact of floods need to be considered, but the potential disruption of a society with regard to priority adaptation guidelines, measures, and policy recommendations need to be considered as well. The main downfall of current impact assessment tools is the raster approach that cannot effectively handle multiple metadata of vital infrastructures, crucial buildings, and vulnerable land use (among other challenges). We have developed a powerful cross-platform flood impact assessment tool (FLIAT) that uses a vector approach linked to a relational database using open source program l...
International Journal of Safety and Security Engineering, 2016
Low elevation coastal areas are vulnerable to the effects of sea level rise and to an increase in... more Low elevation coastal areas are vulnerable to the effects of sea level rise and to an increase in the frequency and severity of storm surge events due to climate change.Coastal urban areas are at risk because coastal flooding causes extensive damage to energy and transportation infrastructure, disruptions to the delivery of services, devastating tolls on the public's health and,occasionally, significant loss of life. Although scientists widely stress the compelling need to mitigate and adapt to climate change, public awareness lags behind. Because WebGIS maps (web-based geographic information systems) quickly convey strong messages, condense complex information, engage people on issues of environmental change, and motivate personal actions, this paper focuses on searching the ideal flood assessment WebGIS method to encourage people to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Surveys demonstrated that 3D visualisations have an enormous added value because they are more vivid and therefore more understandable and make it easier to imagine the consequences of a flood than2D visualisations. In this research, the WebGIS will be created using Ol3-Cesium and openlayers to visualise a flood event by dynamic layers in a 2D/3D environment.
Preservation of the Archaeological Heritage of the North Sea Using Webgis
16th International Multidisciplinary Scientific GeoConference SGEM2016, Informatics, Geoinformatics and Remote Sensing, 2016
The submerged coastal heritage forms an important aspect of our cultural and archaeological patri... more The submerged coastal heritage forms an important aspect of our cultural and archaeological patrimony and offers huge possibilities for scientific and (inter-) cultural purposes. Since the knowledge of this heritage is limited, gathering more data is one of the main objectives of the multidisciplinary project SeArch (Archaeological heritage in the North Sea, www.sea-arch.be). Additionally, these data will be used as a basis for a sustainable management by government agencies. To share, integrate and visualize the gathered archaeological and environmental data and information in a user-friendly way, an interactive web-based Geographical Information System/Service is created. By implementing this webGIS, the benefits of standard map reading (such as providing insight) are combined with facilities such as easy accessible spatial analysis and feature querying in an interactive environment, which is accessible worldwide. To create an interactive webGIS-platform, a good structured spatial database is needed. This paper provides more information about the configuration of the spatial database and the application of the software package GeoServer. The development of a fully functional spatial data infrastructure (SDI) using the most novel, reliable and powerful technological components is described. The objective of this SDI is to increase the accessibility and interoperability of spatial data for a wide range of users.
Proceedings of the ARQUEOLÓGICA 2.0 8th International Congress on Archaeology, Computer Graphics, Cultural Heritage and Innovation, 2016
The knowledge of the submerged cultural heritage in the North Sea is rather limited. The Belgian ... more The knowledge of the submerged cultural heritage in the North Sea is rather limited. The Belgian North Sea is being used for a lot of different purposes, such as fishing, aggregate extraction, wind farms, dredging, etc. Due to these increasing economic activities, the underwater archive is in danger. In the context of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage of 2001, gathering more information about the submerged cultural heritage in the intertidal zones of the North Sea is one of the main objectives of the Belgian scientific project ‘SeArch’. It will give a clearer picture of the broader cultural and archaeological heritage in the region and it can be used as a basis for a sustainable management by government agencies. The Department of Geography (Ghent University, Belgium) contributes to the SeArch project in two ways. First, an innovative survey methodology has been developed which allows an accurate and cost-efficient evaluation of the archaeol...
Energies, 2015
Energy saving, reduction of greenhouse gasses and increased use of renewables are key policies to... more Energy saving, reduction of greenhouse gasses and increased use of renewables are key policies to achieve the European 2020 targets. In particular, distributed renewable energy sources, integrated with spatial planning, require novel methods to optimise supply and demand. In contrast with large scale wind turbines, small and medium wind turbines (SMWTs) have a less extensive impact on the use of space and the power system, nevertheless, a significant spatial footprint is still present and the need for good spatial planning is a necessity. To optimise the location of SMWTs, detailed knowledge of the spatial distribution of the average wind speed is essential, hence, in this article, wind measurements and roughness maps were used to create a reliable annual mean wind speed map of Flanders at 10 m above the Earth's surface. Via roughness transformation, the surface wind speed measurements were converted into meso-and macroscale wind data. The data were further processed by using seven different spatial interpolation methods in order to develop regional wind resource maps. Based on statistical analysis, it was found that the transformation into mesoscale wind, in combination with Simple Kriging, was the most adequate method to create reliable maps for decision-making on optimal production sites for SMWTs in Flanders (Belgium).
Uitdagingen in de directe leefomgeving en ruimtelijke ordening: locatie onderzoek voor kleine en middelgrote windturbines
Het Windkracht 13 project (WK13) is een demonstratie- en disseminatieproject van de Universiteit ... more Het Windkracht 13 project (WK13) is een demonstratie- en disseminatieproject van de Universiteit Gent in het kader van het Nieuw Industrieel Beleid van de Vlaamse overheid. Dit project is gericht op het openbreken van de markt voor kleine en middelgrote windturbines (KMWT) door het uitvoeren van een JERTS- (Juridisch, Economisch, Ruimtelijk, Technisch, Sociaal) studie die de bestaande barrieres duidelijk in kaart brengt en aan de hand hiervan ook aanbevelingen doet voor het verlagen van drempels verbonden met deze barrieres. De ruimtelijke en juridische pijlers spelen in dit kader de meest centrale rol. De inplanting van windturbines heeft immers een directe impact op de techno-economische barrieres en vereist een sociaal-maatschappelijk draagvlak. In WK13 worden de tools gecreeerd die snel en gericht een antwoord bieden op vragen uit elk van de vijf JERTS-domeinen; zo is er bv de ruimtelijke informatietool die interessante inplantingsplaatsen voor KMWT in beeld brengt en meteen overzichtelijk ook de belangrijkste barrieres weergeeft. Een selectie van waardevolle en gevoelige gebieden in Vlaanderen wordt aan de hand van layers toegevoegd aan een interactieve kaart. Deze kaartlagen zijn gekoppeld aan databases van bv Mercator Vlaanderen, dienst Onroerend Erfgoed, KMI, defensie en Belgocontrol, e.a. Door de directe koppeling blijft de ruimtelijke informatie up-to-date en wordt een duurzame interface gecreeerd die toegankelijk wordt vanuit elke invalshoek. Het project beoogt om interferentiezones voor inplanting van KMWT’s in kaart te brengen en hieraan een impactfactor toe te kennen. De ruimtelijke tool maakt het mogelijk om op een vlotte en accurate manier zowel vastgelegde waardevolle als gevoelige gebieden voor KMWT-inplanting te onderscheiden, en zal dus de kandidaat-gebruiker, de vergunningverlenende overheid en andere belanghebbenden een welkome bron van (voor)informatie bieden.
Kleine windturbines, ruimtelijke en juridische barrières versus rendement
Het Windkracht 13 project (WK13) is een demonstratie- en disseminatieproject van de Universiteit ... more Het Windkracht 13 project (WK13) is een demonstratie- en disseminatieproject van de Universiteit Gent in het kader van het Nieuw Industrieel Beleid van de Vlaamse overheid. Dit project is gericht op het openbreken van de markt voor kleine en middelgrote windturbines (KMWT) door het uitvoeren van een JERTS- (Juridisch, Economisch, Ruimtelijk, Technisch, Sociaal) studie die de bestaande barrieres duidelijk in kaart brengt en aan de hand hiervan ook aanbevelingen doet voor het verlagen van drempels verbonden met deze barrieres. De ruimtelijke en juridische pijlers spelen in dit kader de meest centrale rol. De inplanting van windturbines heeft immers een directe impact op de techno-economische barrieres en vereist een sociaal-maatschappelijk draagvlak. In WK13 worden verschillende lokale windkaarten gemaakt, waar isoventlijnen de jaarlijkse gemiddelde windsnelheid op een bepaalde locatie weergeven. Hierdoor wordt de optimale inplantingslocatie van kleine en middelgrote windturbines in kaart gebracht. De hoeveelheid jaarlijkse gemiddelde windenergie opbrengst die een specifieke windturbine genereert op een bepaalde inplantingslocatie wordt afgeleid uit de isoventlijnen. De lokale windkaarten bieden een deel van het antwoord op de vraag of het inplanten van een bepaalde KMWT op een specifieke locatie rendabel en gerechtvaardigd is al dan niet.
LATIS 4.1: stand van zaken en verbeteringsmogelijkheden
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Papers by Samuel Van Ackere