Geomatics and Environmental Engineering

The COVID-19 pandemic represents a combined supply and demand shock to the financial and housing market but also an unusual negative shock in terms of the health of society (households) and national economy. The fall in housing demand was initially assumed together with price decreases as a consequence of the uncertainty of the health of society, significant falls in stock markets and corporate solvency. However, the results of research in selected Polish cities do not indicate such a significant market recession. This article examines the housing price dynamics and forecasting in Polish cities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The TRAMO/SEATS and ARIMA models were used for the decomposition and forecasting of dwelling time series. The Polish housing market, represented by selected local housing markets, still shows a growing trend despite the COVID-19 pandemic throughout 2020. The housing market may slow down in 2021, but the strong forecasted growth trends in Warszawa and Poznań suggest that there will be no significant price decline in Poland in the near future.

Land Surface Temperature (LST) is an important variable within global climate change. With the appearance of remote sensing techniques and advanced GIS software, it is now possible to estimate LST. In this study, the effect of lockdown during COVID-19 on the LST was assessed using Landsat 8 Imagery. LST dynamic was investigated for three different periods: Before, during and after the COVID-19 lockdown. The study was conducted in Casablanca City. The results showed that during the emergence of COVID-19 with lockdown policy applied, the LST decreases remarkably compared to the previous 4-years’ average LST. After the easing of restrictions, the LST increased to exceed the previous 4-year mean LST. Furthermore, throughout all studied periods, the LST recorded its higher values in industrial zones and areas with high urban density and urban transportation, which indicates the conspicuous impact of anthropogenic activities on the LST variation. These findings indicate an ability to assess the feasibility of planned lockdowns intended as a potential reventive mechanism to reduce LST peaks and the loss of air quality in metro‑politan environments in the future.

The initiation of the National Spatial Reference System caused the necessity of replacing local coordinate systems by the compulsory national coordinate system. This applies to both municipal coordinate systems and coordinate systems valid within large industrial plants. This paper discusses the methodology for determining the transformation parameters from the local HiL system to the national coordinate system. The characteristic of the HiL coordinate system and the manner of its creation are presented on the basis of archival materials. The transformation algorithm from the HiL system to the PL-2000 system as well as the way and results of transformation model verification are given. The results of studies presented in this paper enabled the inclusion of the local control network from the HiL area to the detailed control network of the city of Krakow.

Topological properties of objects should be maintained and preserved to concisely represent objects. However, the implementation of 2D topological rules requires the decomposition of 3D objects into lower dimensions to determine topological relationships. This results in 2D topological relationships although the connected objects are in 3D. Hence, accurate representation of 3D connectivity in 3D models is limited. 3D topological rules can be implemented to include topological connectivity in 3D space. This paper implemented an extension of the 27-Intersection Model (27-IM) called the 36-Intersection Model (36-IM) to represent 3D topological adjacencies of two objects in 3D space. This resulted in a 12 × 3 intersection matrix or 36-IM that represented the intersections in terms of dimension and number of separations. Six cases were tested, consisting of “meets”, “disjoint” “intersects at a line”, “intersects at a point”, “contains”, and “overlaps”. The resulting 36-IM matrices provided an accurate representation of how the objects in 3D space were related and their dimension of intersections. The formalisms of the 36-IM matrices were also interoperable which allowed the interpretation of 36-IM using the 9IM and DE-9IM to determine general topological relationships. By examining the intersection of interiors, boundaries and exteriors of 3D objects without object decomposition, 3D topological relationships can be determined as well as the dimension and manner of intersection.

This research attempted to determine the optimal photo overlap, number of control points and method of camera calibration for a photogrammetric 3D model reconstruction of an object of cultural heritage value. Terrestrial images of the object were taken with a hand‑held digital camera and processed in the ContextCapture software using the Structure‑from‑Motion (SfM) algorithm. A total station was used to measure ground control points (GCPs) and check points. Here, the research workflow, methodology, and various analyses concerning different configurations of the aforementioned factors are described. An attempt to assess the parameters which should be implemented in order to provide a high degree of accuracy of the model and reduce time‑consumption both during fieldwork and data processing was taken. The manuscript discusses the results of the analyses and compares them with other studies presented by different authors and indicates further potential directions of studies within this scope. Based on the authors’ experience with this research, some general conclusions and remarks concerning the planning of photo acquisition from the terrestrial level for the purpose of 3D model reconstruction were formulated.

The main goal of the paper is to make a general assessment of the application of 3D technologies in spatial planning. It was performed with the city of Krakow as the case study. The paper describes the outline of the spatial planning system in Poland and the planning conditions of Krakow. The data obtained from laser scanning for Krakow are also briefly characterized. The possibility of using these data for locating high-rise buildings in terms of the protection of Krakow’s panorama and within two programs “IT system of the Country’s Protection Against Extreme Hazards” (ISOK) and “Integrated spatial data monitoring system for air quality improvement in Krakow” (MONIT-AIR) were analyzed in the paper. The main result of the research is the assessment of what studies or measurements may be used to meet particular spatial planning needs or requirements.

The rational administration and management of properties requires obtaining and gathering information about the properties and their surroundings as well as implementing an IT system that makes it possible to update information regularly and prepare analyses of such information. Work on creating a uniform 3D cadastre that would facilitate the rational management of those spaces that until now have been considered undevelopable is carried out around the world. There is ongoing work on the manner of making the transition between 2D and 3D cadastres. The continuing investment and economic development in Poland requires the development of a spatial registration concept for objects located above or below a plot of land. The recording of spatial object data is to be in line with initiatives and standards between the national standards for the harmonization of spatial data sets.

The CityGML model is now the norm for smart city or digital twin city development for better planning, management, risk-related modelling and other applications. CityGML comes with five levels of detail (LoD), mainly constructed from point cloud measurements and images of several systems, resulting in a variety of accuracies and detailed models. The LoDs, also known as pre-defined multi-scale models, require large storage-memory-graphic consumption compared to single scale models. Furthermore, these multi-scales have redundancy in geometries, attributes, are costly in terms of time and workload in updating tasks, and are difficult to view in a single viewer. It is essential for data owners to engage with a suitable multi-scale spatial management solution in minimizes the drawbacks of the current implementation. The proper construction, control and management of multi-scale models are needed to encourage and expedite data sharing among data owners, agencies, stakeholders and public users for efficient information retrieval and analyses. This paper discusses the construction of the CityGML model with different LoDs using several datasets. A scale unique ID is introduced to connect all respective LoDs for cross-LoD information queries within a single viewer. The paper also highlights the benefits of intermediate outputs and limitations of the proposed solution, as well as suggestions for the future.

The goal of the paper was to define the phytoindication ability of selected plant species in the conditions of the impact of traffic on the environment. The contents of the following trace metals were analysed: Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn in three plant species: moss Pleurozium schreberi (Brid.) Mitt., dandelion Taraxacum officianale F. H. Wigg. And in Norway spruce Picea abies (L.) H. Karst alongside the communication route Kraków-Zakopane. The plant samples (green parts of moss, leaves of dandelion, and two year old needles of common spruce) were taken in seven transects perpendicular to the road in the following distances from the edge of the road: 5 m, 10 m, 50 m and 100 m. The moss Pleurozium schreberi turned out to be the best indicator among the tested plant species because it accumulated trace metals in the highest concentrations. In the leaves of the dandelion lower concentrations of metals were found, while the lowest ones were in the needles of the spruce.

Sustainable land use development requires a smart decision‑making process based on appropriate spatial design patterns. However, the pro‑investment policy of many municipalities often results in disproportions between the de‑mand and supply of investment areas, which means that spatial development is not realized in a sustainable way. In order to avoid the overconsumption of land for investment purposes, central government in Poland introduced a requirement to assess land balance, which includes the calculation of spa‑tial absorbency at the level of local urban planning. The aim of this work is to develop the concept of spatial absorbency assessment. In order to select best practices, document reviews of local spatial policies in Kalisz, Łódź, Toruń and Gdańsk were performed. Based on the review, a method for spatial absorbency assessment was presented. The applicability of the proposed solution is pre‑sented by its use on the case of the Racibórz municipality. The visualization shows what kind of geoinformation is required to perform an assessment by means of the developed method. The results of the calculations present the final feedback that is received by local authorities. The work was carried out us‑ing ArcGIS software. The obtained results may constitute the basis for further multi‑dimensional analyses as part of sustainable land development planning at the local level.

This paper aims at reviewing the core Polish regulations on land‑use plan­ning (LUP) around hazardous plants and presenting a researcher’s view on the proposal of a ministerial ordinance on safety distance determination from the plants creating a major accident hazard (Seveso establishments). Currently there are no legal regulations concerning the method of safety distance deter­mination from Seveso establishments in Poland. The method of generic‑dis­tances recommended in the Polish guidelines from 2007 is not mandatory. The author stands by her opinion expressed for the first time in 2015 that Polish legal regulations on safety distance determination from Seveso establishments formulated as a ministerial ordinance are indisputably needed. If the ordinance is issued, it will contribute to a more complete implementation of the Direc­tive 2012/18/EU and will allow nationwide unification of the method of safety distance determination. The consequence‑based approach seems a reasonable option in Polish conditions. This researcher suggests an extension of the draft of the ordinance by introducing a reference tool for the mathematical mod­elling of accident consequences. It is also worth considering the introduction of legal norms for the description of areas designed in the spatial planning documents for the location of Seveso establishments.

Land cover mapping of marshland areas from satellite images data is not a simple process, due to the similarity of the spectral characteristics of the land cover. This leads to challenges being encountered with some land covers classes, especially in wetlands classes. In this study, satellite images from the Sentinel 2B by ESA (European Space Agency) were used to classify the land cover of Al -Hawizeh marsh/Iraq -Iran border. Three classification methods were used aimed at comparing their accuracy, using multispectral satellite images with a spatial resolution of 10 m. The classification process was performed using three different algorithms, namely: Maximum Likelihood Classification (MLC), Artificial Neural Networks (ANN), and Support Vector Machine (SVM). The classification algorithms were carried out using ENVI 5.1 software to detect six land cover classes: deep water marsh, shallow water marsh, marsh vegetation (aquatic vegetation), urban area (built -up area), agriculture area, and barren soil. The results showed that the MLC method applied to Sentinel 2B images provides a higher overall accuracy and the kappa coefficient compared to the ANN and SVM methods. Overall accuracy values for MLC, ANN, and SVM methods were 85.32%, 70.64%, and 77.01% respectively.

Remote sensing is widely applied in examining the parameters of the state and quality of water. Spectral characteristics of water are strictly connected with the dispersion of electromagnetic radiation by suspended matter and the absorption of radiation by water and chlorophyll a and b.Multispectral sensor ALI has bands within the ranges of electromagnetic radiation: blue and infrared, absent in sensors such as Landsat, SPOT, or Aster. The main goal of the article was to examine the influence of the presence of these bands on water classification accuracy carried out for simulated images ALI, Landsat, Spot, and Aster. The simulation of images was based on the hyperspectral image from a Hyperion sensor. Due to the spectral properties of water, all the operations on the images were carried out for the set of bands in visible and near-infrared (VNIR) spectral range. In the framework of these studies, the impact of removing individual bands or sets of bands on the classification results was tested. Tests were carried out for the area of the water body of the Dobczyce Reservoir. It was observed that the lack of a spectral response in the infrared range of ALI image can reduce the accuracy of a classification by as much as 60%. On the other hand, the lack of blue and red bands in the dataset for the classification decreased the accuracy of water classification by 15% and 10%, respectively.

The processing of GPS observations in precise positioning is complex and requires professional surveyors since it must be carried out after each static measurement. In GPS network adjustment, the obtaining of the correct coordinates of the determined point is possible after determining the components of GPS vectors and aligning the networks of these vectors, while PPP requires the availability of precise products for the reference satellites orbits and clock. For that reason, surveyors can take advantage of free online GPS data processing. In this paper, the authors compare the results obtained from different sources of free online GPS data processing (AUSPOS, OPUS, CenterPoint RTX, APPS, MagicGNSS, CSRS-PPP, GAPS, and SCOUT) in terms of their accuracy, availability, and operation. This is then compared with free GPS processing software (gLAB and RTKLIB), and finally with commercial software (TBC Trimble Business Center). The results show that online processing services are more accurate than offline processing software, which indicates the strength of their algorithms and processes. The CSRS-PPP online service had the best results. The difference between the relative solution of AUSPOS and OPUS, and CSRS-PPP is insignificant.

A parcel constitutes a leading object in the register of land and buildings. The main spatial attribute of a parcel are its boundaries, which determine the range of proprietary right. The surface area of a parcel is a derivative of its boundaries and in accordance with the regulations in force it is calculated on the basis of boundary points coordinates. Based on derived formulas and on the materials obtained from the centres of geodetic and cartographic documentation, the basic factors influencing the value of average error of parcel surface area have been analyzed. The results of examination have confirmed unambiguously that the errors in boundary points’ location have a significant influence on lowering the accuracy of surface area analytical determination. The parcel geometry, which is strictly connected with the number of boundary bend points, plays also an important role in this respect. In practice, all the considered factors affect the final value of surface area average error. Their total influence can cause very negative effects in a great number of fields related to real estate management. It proves the fact that data on parcels’ boundaries should be obtained with the highest accuracy, particularly on urbanized areas. The fulfilment of this postulate will contribute to a significant improvement of broadly-understood functioning of the register of land and buildings.

In this paper, we have described an accuracy analysis of MLS point clouds collected using the LARA3D prototype platform in an urban area. Accuracy of the MLS was achieved through comparison with other data sources more accurate that the studied system. The study has shown, that when compared with control points, collected by a Total Station, the prototype system LARA3D is able to produce data with an accuracy better then 0.3 m. However, taking into consideration the uncertainty in the identification of common points, this method is affected by man-made error and limited by point cloud resolutions. Meanwhile, the use of existing reference data, such as e.g. high resolution point clouds from static terrestrial laser scanning provides fast and reliable data evaluation. The subjective element of operator interpretation is also removed. Results achieved using ICP algorithm show, that our mobile mapping system suffers from limitations of the sensor quality and Kalman filter implementation. In the case of point clouds locally degraded, proper matching is impossible and the obtained result does not reflect the type and scale of deformation correctly. Meanwhile, another less time-consuming and more automated method for assessing data accuracy should be developed. That may be referred to using the existing spatial data as reference, such as e.g.: cadastre, ALS data, Topographic Data Base (TBD), Digital Terrain Model, orthophotos and so on.

A short analysis of the behaviour of the spatial coordinates of eccentric points KRA8 and KRA9 of the KRAW permanent geodesic station in the ASG EUPOS system over time was conducted. Measurements were conducted on eccentric points in real time in RTK GPS mode, over several measuring cycles. Two GPS receivers of various manufacturers were applied for research measurements. Obtained measurement results – spatial coordinates – were related to values accepted as error free, obtained from the ETRV 2000 measuring campaign.

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are used to acquire measurement data for an increasing number of applications. Photogrammetric studies based on UAV data, thanks to the significant development of computer vision techniques, photogrammetry, and equipment miniaturization, allow sufficient accuracy for many engineering and non-engineering applications to be achieved. In addition to accuracy, development time and cost of data acquisition and processing are also important issues. The aim of this paper is to present potential limitations in the use of UAVs to acquire measurement data and to present measurement and processing techniques affecting the optimisation of work both in terms of accuracy and economy. Issues related to the type of drones used (multi-rotor, fixed-wing), type of shutter in the camera (rolling shutter, global shutter ), camera calibration method (pre-calibration, self-calibration), georeferencing method (direct, indirect), technique of measuring the external images orientation parameters (RTK, PPK, PPP), flight design methods and the type of software used were analysed.

Fulfilling the required prerequisites for acquisitive prescription (usucaption) such as uninterrupted possession and the lapse of time results in the acquisition of ownership. Both, in the stage of examining the case in respect of fulfilling the prerequisites for acquisitive prescription as well as in the stage of adjudicating in court proceedings, contemporary and archive urveying and photogrammetric evidence plays a vital role. There are situations when the socalled “acquisitive prescription map”, prepared by a licensed land surveyor, showing the area being the subject of the petition and the state of cadastral boundaries as of the day of acquiring the ownership right, is necessary. The aim of this paper is the analysis of the applicability of present and archival aerial photos, maps, especially cadastral orthophotomaps and other documents gathered in the state geodetic and cartographic resource as a proof of holding an immovable, justifying the data of acquiring the right by acquisitive prescription and showing the scope of possession. In fact, the combined analysis of all the above-mentioned evidence accessible for a given area gives complete information about a property being in its entirety or in part a matter of proceedings for ascertaining the acquisition of the ownership of a real property by acquisitive prescription. Moreover, this publication describes some of the problems encountered in the professional practice of court experts during preparation of cquisitive prescription maps.

The main purpose of this research paper is to analyze the conditions, extent, and reasonable grounds for the acquisitive prescription of public real properties (i.e., those owned by the state treasury and local government units), taking into account the exclusion time for public properties to be subject to the possibility of prescription. The acquisitive prescription of real properties is one of the methods used to regulate the legal status and for the owner to obtain a title of ownership for the property.The analysis was carried out on the example of the city of Krakow. This allowed me to assess the causes and effects as well as the scale of the practical implementation of this legal institution. The final results of the performed research study are proposed actions that should be taken as part of the public property management process aimed at protecting ownership rights by means of stopping the course of acquisitive prescription. The results of the research studies have proven the legitimacy of introducing legal regulations limiting the possibility of the acquisitive prescription of public properties.A comparison of the reasonable grounds and dates of the acquisitive prescription of the real properties in Poland with those in force in other countries (such as the United Kingdom and Germany) was also performed.

This paper presents the results of a study to assess the feasibility of using the Structure from Motion photogrammetric method to estimate what parts of Wołek Castle have survived from the 15th century to the present day. The photogrammetric measurements were made with a Nikon D5200 camera, and 249 mock-up images were obtained. Planimetry and altitude coordinates of the castle ruins were obtained using RTN GNSS measurements and the polar method. The measurements were made in the 2000 coordinate system in zone 6, the heights were obtained in the Kronstadt system. Two spatial models were made. The first one in the field scale was made using the ground control points measured in the terrain. The second one was made using ground control points measured on the model in the local system. The control measures were analyzed, the model compared with the actual orthophotomap, and it was estimated what part of the castle was preserved in reality.

Vegetation mapping is an active research area in the domain of remote sensing. This study proposes a methodology for the mapping of vegetation by integrating several vegetation indices along with original spectral bands. The Land Use Land Cover classification was performed by two powerful Machine Learning techniques, namely Random Forest and AdaBoost. The Random Forest algorithm works on the concept of building multiple decision trees for the final prediction. The other Machine Learning technique selected for the classification is AdaBoost (adaptive boosting), converts a set of weak learners into strong learners. Here, multispectral satellite data of Dehradun, India, was utilised. The results demonstrate an increase of 3.87% and 4.32% after inclusion of selected vegetation indices by Random Forest and AdaBoost respectively. An Overall Accuracy (OA) of 91.23% (kappa value of 0.89) and 88.59% (kappa value of 0.86) was obtained by means of the Random Forest and AdaBoost classifiers respectively. Although Random Forest achieved greater OA as compared to AdaBoost, interestingly AdaBoost provided better class-specific accuracy for the Shrubland class compared to Random Forest. Furthermore, this study also evaluated the importance of each individual feature used in the classification. Results demonstrated that the NDRE, GNDVI, and RTVIcore vegetation indices, and spectral bands (NIR, and Red-Edge), obtained higher importance scores.

The Venezia Islands are a very special area from the hydrological point of view due to its water mass changes. Regular floods results in the need for the regular monitoring of water mass changes. For this purpose, a Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment mission (GRACE) can be used as a source of data. The aim of the paper is to compare the latest results of the new GRACE FO observations. The comparisons were carried out all over Venezia Island using the L3 level, RL06 release data obtained with spherical harmonics degree and order extension of up to 120, by the three most important computational centres: JPL, GFZ, CSR. Results are compared to an average month values of precipitation and evapotranspiration and tide gauge data in the nearby area. Based on the research, no dependence between TWS and evapotranspiration and evapotranspiration change were found.