
The 3rd International Electronic Conference on Geosciences
Part of the International Electronic Conference on Geosciences series
7–13 Dec 2020
Geochemistry, Geophysics, Biogeosciences, Natural Hazards, Hydrogeology
- Go to the Sessions
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- A. Mapping and Assessing Natural Disasters Using GIScience Technologies
- B. Earth Sciences through Earth Observation
- C. Geosciences Teaching and Research under Physical Distancing Conditions
- D. Geoscientific Research for Natural Hazard & Risk Assessment
- e. Water Resources Management under Climate Change Pressure
- f. Contemporary Problems of Paleontology and Stratigraphy
- g. Others
- h. Poster Session
- Event Details
Welcome from the Chair
I am pleased to announce that the 3rd International Electronic Conference on Geosciences (IECG 2020) will be held online on 7–13 December 2020. This electronic conference offers a forum for researchers engaged in the study of any of the interdisciplinary aspects of earth and planetary sciences to present their research and exchange ideas with their colleagues. This online conference will allow you to participate without having to leave home, saving you time, travel, and participation expenses while, at the same time, gaining new information on the current research in geosciences.
This electronic conference concerns all subjects covered by the scope of the journal Geosciences (https://www.mdpi.com/journal/geosciences/about). In this third edition, the following selected themes will be covered more specifically:
A. Mapping and Assessing Natural Disasters Using GIScience Technologies
B. Earth Sciences through Earth Observation
C. Geosciences Teaching and Research under Physical Distancing Conditions
D. Geoscientific Research for Natural Hazard & Risk Assessment
E. Water Resources Management under Climate Change Pressure
F. Contemporary Problems of Paleontology and Stratigraphy
G. Others
H. Poster Session
This is a virtual conference held at www.sciforum.net. The Sciforum.net platform has been developed and sponsored by MDPI for the organization of electronic conferences and to provide our community with the technical support required to host digital conferences.
Participation is free of charge for both authors and attendees. Selected papers will be published in the Special Issue “Selected Papers from the 3rd International Electronic Conference on Geosciences” in Geosciences. Geosciences (ISSN 2076-3263) is an international, peer-reviewed, open access journal of geoscience and future earth and planetary science, published monthly online by MDPI. It is covered by numerous relevant databases, including Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI)—Web of Science (Clarivate Analytics), Scopus (Elsevier), GeoRef (American Geosciences Institute), AGORA (FAO), CAS—Chemical Abstracts (ACS), and DOAJ—Directory of Open Access Journals. Geosciences has a CiteScore of 2.10 in Scopus and is currently ranked Q2 in Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous) in SCImago.
I am looking forward to participating in exciting discussions, hearing new ideas and perspectives in the field, and welcoming all participants to this online conference.
Kind regards,
Prof. Dr. Jesus Martinez-Frias
Chair of the 3rd International Electronic Conference on Geosciences
Editor-in-Chief of Geosciences
Prof. Jesús Martínez Frías
Prof. Jesús Martínez Frías, PhD (Complutense University of Madrid/1986) has conducted numerous research stays in the UK (University of Leeds), Canada (University of Toronto), Germany (University of Heidelberg), and the USA (University of California). He is currently Scientific Researcher at the Geosciences Institute, IGEO (CSIC-UCM); Honorific Professor at the Bioengeneering and Aerospace Engineering Department of the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid; Head of the Research Group of Meteorites and Planetary Geosciences and founder; and Director of the Spanish Planetology and Astrobiology Network (REDESPA). He has participated in more than 40 projects and scientific campaigns spanning the globe (e.g., including Antarctica, Mauritania, Iceland, and Costa Rica). In 2002, he participated in the NASA mission to study the Leonid Meteor Shower. He is co-I of NASA-MSL (rover Curiosity), ESA-ExoMars, and NASA-Mars2020, and during 2016–2018, he served as instructor of ESA astronauts in the PANGAEA program (Lanzarote and Chinijo Islands UNESCO Global Geopark). He has published nine books and more than 200 articles (including Science, Nature, and Geology). He is a former Member of the UN ECOSOC Committee on Natural Resources, Ex-Vice Chair of the UNCSTD and Ex-Chair of IUGS-COGE (Commission on Geoscience Education, Training and Technology Transfer). He is an OC Member of the IAU Astrobiology Commission and member of the Inter-Commission C1-F2-F3-H2 WG Education and Training in Astrobiology and Co-Founder and President of the International Association for Geoethics (IAGETH). He is the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Geosciences (MDPI) and co-editor of the Springer Book Series: Geoheritage, Geoparks and Geotourism. He has received several awards and recognitions (i.e., NASA, ESA, GSAf (Goodwill Ambassador), ArabGU, Spanish Association of Scientists).
Call for Submissions
The 3rd International Electronic Conference on Geosciences (IECG 2020) will be held online from 7 to 13 December 2020. This event enables the researchers engaged in the study of any of the interdisciplinary aspects of earth and planetary sciences to present their research and exchange ideas with their colleagues without the need for travel. All proceedings will be published on the conference homepage in open access format.
The conference will be completely free of charge—both to attend, and for scholars to upload and present their latest work on the conference platform. There will also be the possibility of submitting selected papers to the journal Geosciences with a 20% discount on the article processing charges (APC). This offers you the opportunity to participate in this international, scholarly conference without having the concern or expenditure of travel—all you need is your computer and access to the Internet. We would like to invite you to “attend” this conference and present your latest work.
The Scientific Committee looks forward to receiving contributions in response to this call, and will be glad to provide any further information to interested parties. Questions may be addressed to the Geosciences Editorial Office at [email protected] or [email protected].
Critical Dates
Conference Chairs

Instituto de Geociencias, IGEO (CSIC-UCM), C/ Del Doctor Severo Ochoa 7, Edificio Entrepabellones 7 y 8, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Website
Prof. Jesús Martínez Frías, PhD (Complutense University of Madrid/1986) did several stays of research in the UK (University of Leeds), Canada (University of Toronto), Germany (University of Heidelberg) and the USA (University of California). He is Scientific Researcher at the Geosciences Institute, IGEO (CSIC-UCM); Honorific Professor at the Bioengeneering and Aerospace Engineering Department of the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid; Head of the Research Group of Meteorites and Planetary Geosciences and founder; and Director of the Spanish Planetology and Astrobiology Network (REDESPA). He has participated in more than 40 projects and scientific campaigns (e.g., Antarctica, Mauritania, Iceland, Costa Rica). In 2002, he participated in the NASA flight to study the Leonid Meteor Shower. He is co-I in NASA-MSL (rover Curiosity), ESA-ExoMars and NASA-Mars2020, and in 2016, 2017 and 2018, he was instructor of ESA astronauts in the PANGAEA program (Lanzarote and Chinijo Islands UNESCO Global Geopark). He has published nine books and more than 200 articles (Science, Nature, Geology, etc.). He was a Former Member of the UN ECOSOC Committee on Natural Resources, Ex-ViceChair of the UNCSTD and Ex-Chair of IUGS-COGE (Commission on Geoscience Education, Training and Technology Transfer). He is an OC Member of the IAU Astrobiology Commission and member of the Inter-Commission C1-F2-F3-H2 WG Education and Training in Astrobiology. Co-founder and President of the International Association for Geoethics (IAGETH). He is the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Geosciences (MDPI) and co-editor of the Springer Book Series: Geoheritage, Geoparks and Geotourism. He has received several awards and recognitions (i.e., NASA, ESA, GSAf (Goodwill Ambassador), ArabGU, Spanish Association of Scientists).
[email protected]
Conference Committee

School of Geosciences, University of South Florida, 4202 E Fowler Ave., NES 107, Tampa, FL 33620, USA
[email protected]

[email protected]

Department of Earth Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, P.le Aldo Moro, 5 - 00185 Roma, Italy
[email protected]

Laboratory of Phylogeny and Faunogenesis, Institute of Animal Systematics and Ecology of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Science, Novosibirsk, Russia
[email protected]

Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia Sezione di Napoli, Osservatorio Vesuviano Italy Naples, Italy
[email protected]
LandS/Lab2PT-Landscapes, Heritage and Territory laboratory (FCT-AUR/04509) and Earth Sciences Department, School of Sciences University of Minho, Braga, Portugal
[email protected]
CERENA, Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
[email protected]
University Institute of Geology, Universidade da Coruña, ESCI, Campus de Elviña, 15071 A Coruña, Spain
[email protected]
Sessions
A. Mapping and Assessing Natural Disasters Using GIScience TechnologiesB. Earth Sciences through Earth Observation
C. Geosciences Teaching and Research under Physical Distancing Conditions
D. Geoscientific Research for Natural Hazard & Risk Assessment
E. Water Resources Management under Climate Change Pressure
F. Contemporary Problems of Paleontology and Stratigraphy
G. Others
H. Poster Session
Instructions for Authors
- Scholars interested in participating in the conference can submit their abstract (about 200-250 words covering the areas indicated for the Proceedings issue) online on this website until 16 October 2020.
- The Conference Committee will pre-evaluate, on the basis of the submitted abstract, whether a contribution from the authors of the abstract will be accepted for the 3rd International Electronic Conference on Geosciences by 27 October 2020.
- If the abstract is accepted for this conference, the author will be invited to prepare a full description of their work (max. 8 pages), optionally accompanied by a PowerPoint presentation/poster, until the submission deadline of 20 November 2020.
- The conference proceedings papers and presentations will be available for discussion on https://sciforum.net/conference/IECG2020 during the time of the conference 7–13 December 2020 and will be published in the journal Proceedings.
- After the conference, the authors are recommended to submit an extended version (30-50%) of the proceeding papers to the journal Geosciences (the submission to the journal is independent from the conference proceedings and will follow the usual process of the journal, including peer review and application of an APC).
Proceedings Manuscripts
Manuscripts for Proceedings must conform to the following structure:
First page:
- Title
- Full author names
- Affiliations (including full postal address) and authors’ email addresses
- Abstract (200–250 words)
- Keywords
- Introduction
- Methods
- Results and Discussion
- Conclusions
- (Acknowledgments)
- References
Manuscripts should be prepared in MS Word or any other word processor and should be converted to PDF format before submission. The publication format will be PDF. The manuscript should count at least 3 pages (incl. figures, tables, and references) .
Microsoft Word
Authors must use the Microsoft Word template to prepare their manuscript. Using the template file will substantially shorten the time to complete copy-editing and publication of accepted manuscripts. Manuscript prepared in MS Word must be converted into a single file before submission. Please do not insert any graphics (schemes, figures, etc.) into a movable frame which can superimpose the text and create difficulties related to layout.
Manuscript Preparation
- Paper Format: A4 paper format, the printing area is 17.5 cm × 26.2 cm. The margins should be 1.75 cm on each side of the paper (top, bottom, and left and right sides).
- Formatting/Style: Papers should be prepared following the style of the IECG2020 template. The full titles and cited papers must be given. Reference numbers should be placed in square brackets [ ], and placed before the punctuation; for example, [4] or [1–3], and all the references should be listed separately as the last section at the end of the manuscript.
- Author List and Affiliation Format: Authors’ full first and last names must be given. Any abbreviated middle names can be added. For papers written by various contributors, a corresponding author must be designated. The PubMed/MEDLINE format is used for affiliations: complete street address information including city, zip code, state/province, country, and email address should be added. All authors who contributed significantly to the manuscript (including writing a section) should be listed on the first page of the manuscript, below the title of the article. Other parties, who provided only minor contributions, should only be listed under Acknowledgments. A minor contribution might be a discussion with the author, reading through the draft of the manuscript, or performing English corrections.
- Figures, Schemes, and Tables: Authors are encouraged to prepare figures and schemes in color. Full color graphics will be published free of charge. Figure and schemes must be numbered (Figure 1, Scheme I, Figure 2, Scheme II, etc.) and an explanatory title must be added. Tables should be inserted into the main text with numbers and titles supplied for all tables. All table columns should have an explanatory heading. Please supply legends for all figures, schemes, and tables. The legends should be prepared as a separate paragraph of the main text and placed in the main text before a table, figure, or scheme.
Presentation Slides
Authors are encouraged to prepare a presentation in PowerPoint or similar software, to be displayed online along with the manuscript. Slides, if available, will be directly displayed on the website using Sciforum.net’s proprietary slides viewer. Slides can be prepared in exactly the same way as for any traditional conference where research results can be presented. Slides should be converted to the PDF format before submission so that our process can easily and automatically convert them for online displaying.
Video Presentations
Authors are also encouraged to submit video presentations. The video should be no longer than 20 minutes and be prepared with the following formats:
- MOV
- MPEG4
- MP4
- AVI
- WMV
- MPEGPS
- FLV
The video should be submitted via email before 16 November 2020.
Presentation of Posters
Posters will be available on this conference website during and after the event. As with papers presented at conferences, participants will be able to ask questions and make comments about the posters. Posters can be presented without an accompanying Proceedings paper will be available online on this website during and after the e-conference. However, they will not be added to the proceedings of the conference.
Potential Conflicts of Interest
It is the authors’ responsibility to identify and declare any personal circumstances or interests that may be perceived as inappropriately influencing the representation or interpretation of clinical research. If there are no conflicts, please state here “The authors declare no conflicts of interest”. This should be conveyed in a separate “Conflicts of Interest” statement preceding the “Acknowledgments” and “References” sections at the end of the manuscript. Financial support for the study must be fully disclosed under the “Acknowledgments” section.
Copyright
MDPI, the publisher of the Sciforum.net platform, is an open access publisher. We believe that authors should retain the copyright to their scholarly works. Hence, by submitting a communications paper to this conference, you retain the copyright of your paper, but you grant MDPI the non-exclusive right to publish this paper online on the Sciforum.net platform. This means you can easily submit your paper to any scientific journal at a later stage and transfer the copyright to its publisher (if required by that publisher).
List of accepted submissions (30)
Id | Title | Authors | Presentation Video | Presentation Pdf | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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sciforum-040706 | Assessment of flooding risk in Lima, Peru, through change detection based on ERS-1/2 and Sentinel-1 time series | , , | N/A |
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The increased frequency of floods, landslides and avalanches recorded across Peru in the last decades suggests that the country is one of the most affected by El Niño-Southern Oscillation and its cascading hazards. Catastrophic floods that happened in Lima in 1997–1998 and 2017–2018 caused hundreds of fatalities and significant economic damage. In this paper, we test the hypothesis that information mined from satellite synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images can provide valuable input into the common workflow of flooding hazard assessment, and thus improve current methods for risk assessment in urban areas. The complete SAR image archives collected over the Rímac River basin by the European Space Agency (ESA)’s European Remote-Sensing (ERS-1/2) missions and the European Commission’s Copernicus Sentinel-1 constellation were screened. SAR backscatter color composites and ratio maps were created to identify change patterns occurred prior, during and after the catastrophic flooding events mentioned above. A total of 409 areas (58.50 km2) revealing change were mapped, including 197 changes (32.10 km2) due to flooding-related backscatter variations (flooded areas, increased water flow in the riverbed, and riverbank collapses and damage), and 212 (26.40 km2) due to other processes (e.g., new urban developments, construction of river embankments, other engineering works, vegetation changes). The areas inundated during the flooding events in 1997–1998 and 2017–2018 mostly concentrate along the riverbanks and plain, where low-lying topography and gentle slopes (≤5°), together with the presence of alluvial deposits, also indicate greater susceptibility to flooding. The accuracy in flood area delineation achieved with the proposed change detection method was assessed by comparison with the potential maximum flood extent map that was produced by Copernicus Emergency Management Service (EMS) in the framework of the Risk and Recovery Activation EMSN-038 during the March 2017 flood. All the observed spatial and temporal backscatter change patterns were interpreted through geospatial integration with ancillary data (topography, geology, permanent and seasonal water bodies, urban footprint, new urban development, roads and infrastructures, and population at the district level) and a risk classification map of Lima was produced. The map highlights the sectors of potential concern along the Rímac River, should flooding events of equal severity as those captured by SAR images occur in the future. Compared to published hazard maps made solely based on geological factors, this product has the advantage to embed event-based information and knowledge of the impacts of urbanization. Reference Alvan Romero, N.; Cigna, F.; Tapete, D. ERS-1/2 and Sentinel-1 SAR Data Mining for Flood Hazard and Risk Assessment in Lima, Peru. Appl. Sci. 2020, 10, 6598, doi:10.3390/app10186598 |
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sciforum-035650 | Building Extraction from Very High Resolution Stereo Satellite Images using OBIA and Topographic Information | , | N/A | N/A |
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The availability of very high resolution (VHR) satellite imagery (<1m) has opened new vistas in large scale mapping and information management in urban environments. Buildings are the most essential dynamic incremental factor in urban environment and hence their extraction is the most challenging activity. Extracting the urban features particularly buildings using traditional pixel based classification approaches as a function of spectral tonal value produces relatively less accurate results for these VHR Imageries. The present study demonstrates the building extraction using Pleiades panchromatic (PAN) and multispectral stereo satellite datasets of highly planned and dense urban areas in parts of Chandigarh, India. The stereo datasets were processed in photogrammetric environment to obtain the Digital elevation Model (DEM) and corresponding orthoimages. DEM’s were generated at 0.5 m and 2.0 m from stereo PAN and multispectral datasets, respectively. The orthoimages thus generated were segmented using Object Based Image Analysis (OBIA) tools. The object primitives such as scale parameter, shape, textural parameters, DEM derivatives were used for segmentation and indices were used to determine threshold values for building fuzzy rules for building extraction and classification. The rule based classification was carried out with defined decision rules based on object primitives and fuzzy rules. Two different methods were utilized for performance evaluation of the proposed automatic building approach. Overall accuracy, correctness and completeness were evaluated for extracted buildings. It was observed that overall accuracy was higher (> 93%) in areas having larger buildings and sparse built-up as compared to areas having smaller buildings and dense built-up. |
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sciforum-037551 | Integration of Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 for Classification of Small Urban Areas in Rural Landscape aided by Google Earth Engine | , | N/A | N/A |
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Rapid economic development and population growth lead to fast urban expansion in both urban and rural landscapes. Accurate and updated mapping of urban expansions is curtail in urban and territorial planning for sustainable and strategic urban development. Using Earth Observation (EO) technologies, classification of urban areas in a rural landscape is more challenging than big cities. In this regard, in this paper, we aim at assessing the integration of Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 satellite data for classifying small urban areas in rural landscape in Google Earth Engine (GEE). Images of close dates from Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 were selected, preprocessed, and integrated to develop a machine learning classification through a Support Vector Classification (SVM) classifier. We have also added vegetation indices to the investigated dataset. As a study area, two rural areas in the Republic of North Macedonia has been selected. The results showed that the integration of Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 performed better than Sentinel-2 alone, with accuracy higher than 90%. For future studies, we recommend testing the dataset to different study areas and adding different EO data for obtaining even higher accuracy.
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sciforum-039678 | Geological materials as cultural markers of water resources | , , , | N/A | N/A |
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Water has always been a critical resource for human groups and climate change could aggravate supply problems. In this context, groundwater could be an important reservoir of water, especially given the dispersion of places where it can be obtained (namely springs). Historically, places where groundwater is available have been marked by humans using built structures, with stone materials having a historically major role. These cultural objects tend to become a part of the collective memory and the historical record (when available) and frequently they stay on the original site along time (hence "marking a spot" for groundwater). However, the development of major water supply structures, especially in the 20th century, promoted an overlook of these ancient water sources. We present a general defence of the importance of recording and preserving cultural stone related to water sources, preferably in the original sites. Cultural stone could be seen as a potential exploration tool for groundwater. This should converge with historical information on the fountains’ discharge, with geological studies of the terrains and geochemical features of the groundwaters involved, in order to characterize the hydrogeological systems and their potential future use (including the preservation of water quality and properties). These issues should be vital factors in urban planning for the future. |
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sciforum-040786 | Promoting the co-creation of knowledge under physical distancing conditions through the participation of youth in the Bunaken-Tangkoko-Minahasa Biosphere Reserve (North Sulawesi, Indonesia) | , | N/A | N/A |
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The Biosphere Reserves are laboratories of sustainability that provide local solutions to global challenges such as climate change or the conservation of biodiversity. They promote research, education and the creation of communities of practice that jointly generate knowledge that may be applicable to cooperative decision-making at local scales. The context of global COVID-19 pandemic posed a great challenge to all teaching and learning processes and so to the co-creation of knowledge. To counteract it, we developed an online teaching environment (webinar) to enhance the value of ecosystems and analyze the perception of youth, a key interest group in participatory governance of the territory, in relation to the provision of ecosystem services in the Biosphere Reserve in Indonesia. We took the experience of the Programme "Ecosystem Services of Euskadi" as a reference and developed a questionnaire on the perception of the provision of ecosystem services. The results showed that the highest evaluation corresponded to “cultural services” and the most valued environmental unit was “primary and secondary forest”. Our results contribute to establish a baseline to understand the relationship of youth with the territory within the framework of the MAB Programme and in addition, to set up an international scientific cooperation. This experience showed that the promotion of online solutions can help counteract the global pandemic negative effects on teaching processes and also empower local actors, specially the youth which have a key present and future role in global sustainability processes, as well as in shared local management of the Biosphere Reserve. |
Conference Secretariat
A. Mapping and Assessing Natural Disasters Using GIScience Technologies
The overall goal of this session is to explore and evaluate the potential of application of advanced GIScience technologies, such as remote sensing (RS), GIS, GPS and spatial statistics in mapping, modeling, monitoring and assessing various natural disasters. Natural disasters, such as floods, wildfires, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis, landslides, can cause immense loss of life and/or property. A natural disaster is a major adverse event resulting from natural processes of the Earth. Such processes could be efficiently investigated and well understood with modern geospatial technologies. Specifically, this session will provide a showcase of the state-of-the-art of utilizing advanced GIScience technologies to map, model, monitor, predict, and assess natural disasters. This session aims to attract contributions to cover, without being limited to, the following areas:
- Wildfires: Hotspot detection and burn scar mapping and environmental impact assessment as well using satellite RS data, GIS, GPS, etc.;
- Landslides: Monitoring, mapping and assessing landslides using RADAR/LiDAR and/or optical RS devices, GIS and GPS;
- Earthquakes/tsunamis: Mapping condition pre- and post-, and evaluation of loss and damage after earthquakes/tsunamis using multitemporal RS and GIS techniques.
- Other natural disasters: Mapping and monitoring of volcanic eruptions, flooding and tornado/hurricane damage and processes, etc. using GIScience technologies and modeling tools.
Session Chair
Prof. Dr. Ruiliang Pu, School of Geosciences, University of South Florida, 4202 E Fowler Ave., NES 107, Tampa, FL 33620, USA
B. Earth Sciences through Earth Observation
This session aims to attract contributions that showcase the state-of-the-art of Earth Observation techniques to investigate dynamic natural processes and anthropogenic activities shaping Planet Earth.
Papers that deal with the following areas of study are therefore welcome:
- Geological processes
- Lithological mapping
- Natural hazards
- Coastal processes
- Anthropogenic use of land and Earth resources
- Urban environments
- Infrastructure asset monitoring
- Cultural and natural heritage
Papers should make use of remote sensing data including, but not limited to, the following:
- Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)
- Interferometric SAR (InSAR)
- Optical remote sensing
- Hyperspectral sensors
- Thermal imagery
Moreover, papers that present research undertaken with data from current and novel space missions (e.g., Copernicus Sentinels, Gaofen-3) are particularly welcome.
Session Chair
Dr. Deodato Tapete, Italian Space Agency (ASI), Via del Politecnico snc, 00133 Rome, Italy
C. Geosciences Teaching and Research under Physical Distancing Conditions
The current (May 2020) pandemic related to COVID-19 has thrown into turmoil teaching and research institutions around the world that have to react in a few days to keep at least part of their activities.
There is no guarantee that this kind of situation will not occur again in the future, either by another pandemic or by events such as floods or snow blizzards, which may be promoted by climate change. There are also situations were students or staff could face, total or partial, temporary or permanent, displacement difficulties (such as disabilities).
Additionally, a lower frequency of displacements will have diverse environmental and social advantages such as reducing pollutants emissions and movements of people and it creates new opportunities for diverse types of developments.
Remote operations could allow also a more flexible schedule and reduce time constraints favouring the inclusion of people with multiple activities such as working students and people caring for families (infants, elderly, sick).
Furthermore, and more specifically for geological studies, the development of remote procedures could be useful for studies in extreme environments unsuitable for human activities such as volcanoes, deep ocean, etc.
The IECG is a clear example of an activity that was performed exclusively onsite a few years ago and that can now be performed today exclusively by remote means.
This does not mean that it will be desirable to abandon all onsite activities but there is a clear interest in seeking alternatives, at least in part (even if there are some core activities that should remain onsite).
With this topic of IECG 2020, we seek contributions were remote operations can replace traditional procedures. This will be at the forefront of the intersection between technology and geology but our focus will be always on the contribution to geological teaching and research.
Among the subjects that will be suitable for this topic are:
- Approaches to the teaching of geological concepts that go beyond and above the simple webinar, the database search or the paper reading, promoting interactions with the students (individually and collectively) as well as between the students;
- Online analyses of terrains and outcrops (namely in real time);
- Fieldwork operations controlled by remote operators such as operated vehicles for the acquisition of images, radiations, etc., for mineral exploration work or geotechnical studies;
- Collection of samples of geological media (rocks, soils, water and gases) in isolated or dangerous (for humans) places;
- Remote operations of analytical instruments (such as microscopes, x-ray diffractometers, etc.);
- Remote observations of hand samples and microscopic preparations;
- Preparing and using 3D models of geological objects, from field structures to hand samples and microscopic sections both in academic and professional contexts.
Session Chairs
Dr. Carlos Alves, LandS/Lab2PT-Landscapes, Heritage and Territory laboratory (FCT-AUR/04509) and Earth Sciences Department/School of Sciences University of Minho, Portugal
Dr. Carlos Figueiredo, CERENA, Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
Dr. Jorge Sanjurjo-Sánchez, University Institute of Geology, Universidade da Coruña, ESCI, Campus de Elviña, 15071 A Coruña, Spain
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D. Geoscientific Research for Natural Hazard & Risk Assessment
This session aims to attract contributions that showcase the state-of-the-art of geoscientific techniques, remote sensing and laboratory investigations to detect, characterize, monitor, and model natural hazards and assess their associated risks.
Papers that deal with the following categories of natural hazards are therefore welcome:
- environmental
- geological
- geophysical
- hydro-meteorological
- atmospheric
- climatological
- oceanographic
- biological
- and (co-)triggered by human actions
Moreover, papers that present scientific assessment of recent hazard events are also encouraged.
Session Chairs
Dr. Deodato Tapete, Italian Space Agency (ASI), Via del Politecnico snc, 00133 Rome, Italy
Dr. Giuliana Alessio, Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia Sezione di Napoli, Osservatorio Vesuviano Italy Naples, Italy
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E. Water Resources Management under Climate Change Pressure
Water isn’t only a resource, having multiple values, and, for the environment, it is a crucial tool to ensure natural systems survive and thrive for the benefit of all. Water, for the human being, is the source of life, but it can be a source of death, when phenomena such floods, under climate change effects, occur.
Moreover, climate change is a growing up factor of pressure on groundwater resources availability and water quality protection.
Papers for this section include, but are not limited to, the following themes:
- Climate change effects on precipitations;
- Climate change effects on groundwater quality and recharge;
- Human rights and ethic question;
- hydrological cycle, wet and dry season.
Session Chair
Dr. Maurizio Barbieri, Department of Earth Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, P.le Aldo Moro, 5 - 00185 Roma, Italy
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F. Contemporary Problems of Paleontology and Stratigraphy
Paleontology is one of the successfully developing and promising areas of science, which is necessary for solving the problems of the development of recent biota and detection of the ways of its transformation.
The International Chronostratigraphic Chart is constantly being corrected, added and improved, which leads to an increasingly accurate reflection of events in earth history. The main objective of this session is to introduce researchers with new research findings, and exchange of new knowledge between them.
Researches for this section “Contemporary problems of paleontology and stratigraphy” include, but are not limited to, the following themes:
- Systematics of fossil organisms;
- Evolutionary paleontology;
- Paleofaunistics, paleofloristics and clarification of the fossil record;
- Paleobiogeography;
- Taphonomy;
- Biostratigraphy, biocorrelation and the international chronostratigraphic chart.
Session Chair
Dr. Andrei Legalov, Laboratory of Phylogeny and Faunogenesis, Institute of Animal Systematics and Ecology of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Science, Novosibirsk, Russia
H. Poster Session
If you just prepared the abstract and presentation , you could submit the abstract to related section and upload the presentation to the Poster Section.
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Submissions
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