Emma Bee

British Geological Survey

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Co-Authors

Colm Jordan

British Geological Survey

Jon Ford

British Geological Survey

J.M. Mankelow

British Geological Survey

Mike Hall

Monash University

Ken Lawrie

Geoscience Australia

Russell Lawley

British Geological Survey

Juan Carlos García-Davalillo

Instituto Geológico y Minero de España

Peter Turner

The Royal Melbourne Hospital

Giovanni B. Crosta

University of Milano-Bicocca

A.P. Marchant

University of Washington

Cooperative Institutions

British Geological Survey

University of Naples Federico II

Instituto Geológico y Minero de España

EuroGeoSurveys

University of Alicante

Natural Environment Research Council

University of Nottingham

University of Milano-Bicocca

University of Milan

Federico II University Hospital

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Research Field

Mapping the Aurora using social media: new scientific data for nowcasting and forecasting space weather?

Sarah Reay D. Diaz Doce Simon Flower Ellen Clarke Emma Bee

“How far south will the aurora borealis be seen?” is a common question asked when a geomagnetic storm forecast is issued. It is not a straightforward answer; and current projections based, for example, on Kp do not always match sighting reports received after a display. Citizen science – engaging the general public to aid scientific research - may be one way of tackling this issue. By using social media, such as Twitter, a new source of data can be mined for scientific analysis. We present a new interactive web application to gather relevant tweets about the aurora and display these on a map. This tool has been created in JavaScript using the Twitter API and a customised application template from ESRI. We use both active and passive means to gather data. We actively encourage users to tweet using a known hashtag (#BGSaurora) with their location in a prescribed format. This will geo-locate the tweet and place a marker on the map reporting the sighting. We can also passively search tweets for more general hashtags such as #aurora or #northernlights. If these are geo-tagged they again can be mapped. Other relevant data layers, such as cloud cover and geomagnetic activity levels, can also be displayed. We present the aurora sightings map and discuss the benefits of it both as an application to engage the general public, helping them to see when and where aurora are visible, and as a potential tool for gathering useful data for scientific analysis. If a better indicator of geomagnetic activity levels relevant for aurora viewing can be determined from these then this in turn will improve future predictions for aurora enthusiasts.

Space Weather

Nowcasting

Citizen Science

Geolocation

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Future Thames : applied geoscience for decision-making in London and the Thames Basin

Emma Bee Jon Ford Katy Mee

The Thames Basin is the UK’s principal aquifer. It encompasses London, which is Europe’s largest megacity, and has an extensive coastal zone. It presents a unique conjunction of geological, hydrogeological, environmental, and socio-economic factors that are intrinsically linked by the effects of environmental change. The British Geological Survey (BGS) is responding to this challenge through its FutureThames initiative. FutureThames aims to initiate, facilitate and support interdisciplinary and collaborative geoscience research in an attempt to understand the effects of environmental change in the Thames Basin. Such collaboration will assist in providing ‘real world’ responses to different ‘what if’ scenarios, such as “What will happen to groundwater if a new housing estate is built here?” Or “How will sea-level rise affect my property?” Six key environmental challenges have been identified to provide a framework to focus our research activities in the region.

Megacity

Geological survey

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Digital field data capture in the York area : feedback and recommendations on the digital notebook application

Jonathan Ford Simon Price Mike Hall Tony Cooper Holger Kessler

This report provides feedback and recommendations following field trials of the beta digital notebook component and associated aspects of the digital field data capture subproject of the SIGMA workflow. All points raised during the testing period are shown, including problems for which solutions have subsequently been found (in conjunction with the developers and project management). As well as indicating areas that require further development, this report is intended to highlight aspects of the system that may require additional explanation during training. Although this phase of testing was primarily intended to assess the beta notebook component of the digitally captured field data, aspects of this of this system were also considered for suitability with respect to the ongoing development of the digital fieldslip. Negative feedback directed at the notebook replacement may be due to the way in which users have attempted to force the notebook application to satisfy requests that would normally have been made of the fieldslip. This issue should be taken into account when considering the comments presented in this document. A detailed appraisal of the use of the GSD in visualising and manipulating these digital field data during this period is beyond the remit of this report, and will be reported elsewhere. Following an overview of the test environment, detailed feedback on the “beta notebook application” and “geoline” tool is organised into three sections. Firstly, issues relating to pre-fieldwork office-based preparation are discussed. Secondly, field-based observations are reported. Thirdly, matters arising from the transfer and management of field data are described.

Component (thermodynamics)

Digital data

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Multiscale Analysis of Geo-Hazards Affecting the Alhambra Cultural Heritage

Springer geology (2023)

J. A. Fernández Merodo Rosa Martín‐Mateos José Miguel Azañón Pablo Ezquerro Juan Carlos García-Davalillo

Cliff

Natural hazard

10.1007/978-3-031-13810-2_3

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Citations (1)

Multi-hazard susceptibility assessment using analytic hierarchy process: the Derwent Valley Mills UNESCO World Heritage Site case study (United Kingdom)

Journal of Cultural Heritage (2022)

Luigi Guerriero Mariano Di Napoli Alessandro Novellino Diego Di Martire Concetta Rispoli

Natural hazard

Natural heritage

Debris flow

10.1016/j.culher.2022.04.009

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Citations (19)

Installation and user guide for the 2010A Open Source release of BGS SIGMAmobile

Colm Jordan Emma Bee Neil Smith Ken Lawrie A.P. Marchant

This report serves as an installation and introductory user guide to BGS·SIGMAmobile, which is an application for digital geoscience field data collection developed within the British Geological Survey’s SIGMA (System for Integrated Geoscience Mapping) programme within the Earth & Planetary Observation & Monitoring Team. This document provides installation instructions, followed by a brief guide to using the application. In BGS we provide our field staff with a two-day training course, and while this guide does not replace that, it is hoped that these instructions will provide a basis for successful use of BGS·SIGMAmobile in your organisation. BGS·SIGMAmobile is designed to run in the field on rugged Tablet PCs, but can also be used on a laptop or a desktop PC. The system is a heavily customised ArcGIS 9.3.1 (service pack 1) and MSAccess application. The user must have a licensed copy of ArcView ArcGIS and MSAccess 2003, BGS does not supply these. The system will run with MSAccess2007 but the database must be stored as a 2002-2003 .mdb file otherwise it will not be compatible with ArcGIS. It is fully tested on the Windows XP operating system; BGS does not currently use the Windows 7 operating system and therefore no testing of the system on Windows 7 has taken place. The BGS uses the application on several models of Tablet PC including Itronix GoBooks, Xplore iX104s and GETAC V100’s. This guide does not provide instructions to its use on specific hardware platforms. BGS staff have used the system for mapping in locations including the UK, Ghana, Madagascar, Tajikistan, the Antarctic and the U.S.A. We use it as part of a workflow of other customised BGS-developed systems that enables us to: 1. automatically collate spatial information from our databases, 2. interpret new data from satellite imagery and digital photogrammetry, 3. take our baseline and interpreted data to the field, 4. populate corporate databases with our field data, 5. build 3D digital models and visualisations, 6. output our data in formats such as maps. Further information on these steps is available from the BGS website at http://www.bgs.ac.uk/research/technologies_epo.html. Only the field system has been supplied in this Open Source agreement so you will need to build/define your own methods for integrating BGS·SIGMAmobile into your mapping workflow.

Laptop

File format

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The development of digital field data collection systems to fulfil the British Geological Survey mapping requirements

Colm Jordan Emma Bee Nichola A. Smith Russell Lawley Jon Ford

Geological mapping with pen and paper is proving inefficient in many respects in the digital age. With this in mind, the British Geological Survey (BGS) instigated the System for Integrated Geospatial MApping programme (SIGMA) to improve the mapping workflow by evaluating and implementing effective digital procedures for baseline data review, geological data acquisition, and geological mapping and modelling. The project has developed digital field data capture systems to collect information for output to a Geographical Information System (GIS) and digital geological maps. BGS first explored the concept of digital field data collection in the early 1990’s with the conclusion that the mobile computing hardware available at the time was not suitable. An effective digital field data capture system will have a number of advantages over the conventional analogue recording systems. The first is to increase the efficiency of data collection and its subsequent manipulation, predominantly by reducing the time spent copying analogue field data to databases/GIS. The system design will ensure that all field geologists record the same range of structured data and also that mandatory or important information is not omitted. Drop-down menus and approved dictionaries are incorporated to standardise nomenclature. An additional advantage of a digital field system is that a GIS of baseline data (e.g. a series of historic topographic maps) can be uploaded onto the mobile PC, ensuring that new data are collected in the context of prior geological knowledge and with a wide range of other geographic and environmental datasets. It should be noted that while we strive to guarantee corporate consistency and common standards by structuring our data collection, there must also be a degree of flexibility so that geologists are not unduly constrained. Moreover, when we replicate functions that are ideally suited to pencil and paper, such as drawing sketches, we must ensure that the digital solutions are fit for purpose and do not leave field geologists yearning for ‘the old days’.

Geological survey

Mobile mapping

Upload

Digital mapping

Copying

Geologic map

Baseline (sea)

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Citations (9)

The development and implementation of mineral safeguarding policies at national and local levels in the United Kingdom

Resources Policy (2014)

C.E. Wrighton Emma Bee J.M. Mankelow

Mineral extraction makes an essential contribution to national development and prosperity. However, unlike many other land uses, the location of sites where mineral extraction can take place is limited. The underlying geology dictates where mineral resources occur and other factors, such as economics, environmental considerations, surface land use or technology can limit access. To ensure a continued, steady and adequate supply of the raw materials needed by society, it is important that mineral resources are not needlessly sterilised by new, non-mineral related, development. Although this principle has been part of the UK planning process since the Town and Country Planning Act was introduced in 1947, the mechanisms and policies in place to support it were, until recently, largely ineffective. A more robust mechanism was, therefore, required. In recent years, mineral policy has been revised by the UK government and a process known as 'mineral safeguarding' has been introduced and applied through the UK planning system within the devolved jurisdictions. Efforts undertaken so far focus on the safeguarding of onshore construction minerals, industrial minerals and coal largely because of the importance of their indigenous production. However, more recently the concept of mineral safeguarding is being applied to offshore aggregates. This paper describes how mineral safeguarding has been implemented in the UK. A number of case studies highlight different aspects of the mineral safeguarding process which, when applied and enforced, enables mineral resources to be appropriately considered within the land use planning process.

Safeguarding

Prosperity

Mineral resource classification

10.1016/j.resourpol.2014.05.006

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Citations (39)

Examining the influence of settlement morphology and separation zones policies on the availability of shallow coal resources in the United Kingdom

Applied Geography (2017)

Emma Bee J.M. Mankelow

Morphology

Settlement (finance)

10.1016/j.apgeog.2017.04.007

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Mobile phone technologies for disaster risk reduction

Climate Risk Management (2021)

Jonathan D. Paul Emma Bee Mirianna Budimir

The explosion of increasingly sophisticated mobile phone technologies can usefully be harnessed by disaster risk reduction (DRR) as a means of enhancing inclusivity and local relevance of knowledge production and resilience building. However, much new technology is designed on an ad hoc basis without considering user needs – especially mobile applications (apps), which often terminate at the proof-of-concept stage. Here, we examine best practice by marshalling learnings from 45 workers representing 20 organisations working globally across the disaster risk management (DRM) lifecycle, including physical and social science, NGOs, technological developers, and (inter)governmental regulatory bodies. We present a series of generalisable and scalable guidelines that are novel in being independent of any specific natural hazard or development setting, designed to maximise the positive societal impact of exploiting mobile technologies. Specifically, the local context, dynamics, and needs must be carefully interrogated a priori, while any product should ideally be co-developed with local stakeholders through a user-centered design approach.

Disaster risk reduction

Mobile phone

Marshalling

Vulnerability

Resilience

Relevance

10.1016/j.crm.2021.100296

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Citations (27)