Applications of Geoinformatics in Earth science

An attempt has been made to study the influence of Lineaments on drainage morphometry of Nethravathi Watershed of Dakshina Kannada district. A lineament is s linear feature in a landscape which represents the underlying geological structure. Lineaments play an important role in water movement and storage. Usually drainage network follows elevation of terrain. A linear drainage network will either controlled by geological structures or steep slope. Typically it represents the fault zones, series of folds, fracture zones, shear zones and igneous intrusions like dykes. Lineaments were extracted from Bhuvan website in the form of WMS layer and processed in ArcGIS 9.3 software. Drainage networks for the sub watershed are extracted from Cartosat 1 Dem data derived from Bhuvan portal. Morphometric calculations were carried out using ArcGIS 9.3 to evaluate aerial, linear and relief features of morphometric parameters. Compare to conventional method of drainage analysis, Remote sensing and GIS can provide appropriate data with good coverage. The analysis clearly shows following successive results. IX sub-basin have high elongation ratio (Re), basin relief (Bh), Ruggedness number (Rn) and time of concentration (Tc). The erosion and peak discharges were high in these basins. It is necessary to construct the check dams and earth dams to reduce peak discharge along the main channel. The study is predominantly useful in field of watershed management and artificial recharge structure to solve the crisis on water issues.

While high-resolution Digital Elevation Model (DEM) datasets have been captured through space-borne imagery to map badland landscapes at fine scales, these remain essentially top-down views of the surface and cannot adequately capture the micro-morphological features (soil pipes, hollows, earth pillars and rills) which form along the gully flanks and walls. For imaging these, thus, a ground-based, horizontal looking sensor is required, with further post-processing abilities of identifying individual aspects, stitching the images together using common points, generation of sparse and dense point clouds and final creation of meshes with overlain textures to generate viable three-dimensional representations of such surface forms. This paper uses ground-based close-range digital photography along with the structure-from-motion technique to generate high-resolution DEMs and threedimension (3D) representations of gullies and badland landscapes, which cannot otherwise be captured even by very high-resolution imagery or available satellite-imaged elevation datasets, since these systems lack the required view angle. The structure-from-motion technique has been a recent advancement in this domain, and its mechanism and workflow are explained in detail in this paper. Examples of its implementation in gully mapping are then showcased from the Gangani badland tract in Paschim Medinipur district of West Bengal. Repeated photographic surveys reveal the nature of morphological changes in the micro gully features, documenting erosional activity at fine scales. The imaging and rendering of these micro features also allow information like the relative lithological hardness to be superimposed on them for a better comparative analysis.

Abstract: Rural Transport extends socially desirable communication and breaks isolation of villages by
evoking social awakening in rural masses. Proper transport development exploits natural resources and
also ensures proper distribution of available goods particularly for better living and sustainable rural
growth. Transport and communication have always been the positive indicators of development and
absence of these services in any region often lead to the stage of backwardness. The Indian Sundarbans
is recognized as a backward region in terms of transport and communication with only 42 km of
railway, 250 km of metalled road, and about 170 km of unpaved narrow roads. The navigable rivers
and creeks form the principal means of communication in the Sundarbans since long. Though much
emphasis was laid on the improvement of village roads under the various five year plans, still they
remain under kutcha roads form most of which impassable during the rainy season. An attempt,
therefore, has been made to assess the rural road development through up-gradation of rural
infrastructure in Indian Sundarbans in the light of sustainable development.

Keywords: Rural transport, connectivity, rural road, boat-landing sites, isolatron

Whether the problem is tactical, strategic, or administrative, any data containing location information can be displayed and analyzed using geographic information system (GIS) technology. GIS is an essential part of a crime analyst's toolkit. In this research work, we determine valuable information for the Police force within Mubi Metropolis by incorporating traditional law enforcement agency (Police) data with data such as demographics, different kind of crimes over a specific period of time, infrastructure, and offender tracking in the form of route analysis, GIS was used to transform information into actionable intelligence, improve critical decision making in a rapidly changing environment and have a direct impact on the safety of Police force and the citizens they serve.

Sikkim is prone to multiple natural hazards. The Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) faces
complexity of landslide hazards of unreliable magnitudes or Sikkim is a multiple prone
state. Landslides is one of the common geomorphic morphologic hazards in Sikkim, pose
secure threat to life, property and infrastructure. Landslides constitute one of the major
damaging natural hazards in mountainous regions, triggered mainly under the influence
of earthquakes and rainfall. Geo-Informatics has become the powerful tool for effective
analysis associated with the study of landslide hazard. The use of remote sensing and GIS
has become an integrated, well developed and successful tool in disaster management.
This study has process through the analysis of geo-environmental parameters related
and responsible for landslides, one of the most frequently happening natural hazards
in the Himalayan environment. In this paper, a detailed analysis to find out the human
vulnerabilities due to natural disasters using of Remote Sensing and GIS technology with
special focus on human vulnerability due to landslides in Lingdok-Namphong area, East
Sikkim (total area of study is 31 sq. km) has been carried out.

A correct assessment of the landslide susceptibility component is extremely useful for the diminution of associated potential risks to local economic development, particularly in regard to land use planning and soil conservation. The purpose of the present study was to compare the usefulness of two methods, i.e., binary logistic regression (BLR) and analytical hierarchy process (AHP), for the assessment of landslide susceptibility over a 130-km 2 area in the Moldavian Plateau (eastern Romania) region, where landslides affect large areas and render them unsuitable for agriculture. A large scale inventory mapping of all types of landslides (covering 13.7% of the total area) was performed using orthophoto images, topographical maps, and field surveys. A geographic information system database was created, comprising the nine potential factors considered as most relevant for the landsliding process. Five factors (altitude, slope angle, slope aspect, surface lithology, and land use) were further selected for analysis through the application of a tolerance test and the stepwise filtering procedure of BLR. For each predictor, a corresponding raster layer was built and a dense grid of equally spaced points was generated, with an approximately equal number of points inside and outside the landslide area, in order to extract the values of the predictors from raster layers. Approximately half of the total number of points was used for model computation, while the other half was used for validation. Analytical hierarchy process was employed to derive factor weights, with several pair-wise comparison matrices being tested for this purpose. The class weights, on a scale of 0 to 1, were taken as normalized landslide densities. A comparison of results achieved through these two approaches showed that BLR was better suited for mapping landslide susceptibility, with 82.8% of the landslide area falling into the high and very high susceptibility classes. The susceptibility class separation using standard deviation was superior to either the equal interval or the natural break method. Results from the study area suggest that the statistical model achieved by BLR could be successfully extrapolated to the entire area of the Moldavian Plateau.

The Sundarban region is going through vulnerable situation due to severe attack of various physical as well social hazards since very past. This kind of phenomena had become an integral part to the inhabitants of Sundarban as they are bound to coping with these hazardous circumstances. The hitting of severe cyclone, breakage of embankment, loss of mangroves as well as massive illiteracy etc. are able to make the Sundarban region vulnerable physically, biologically and socially. This is a crucial situation for Sundarban because these hazards are affecting directly and indirectly on the people and the environment of Sundarban. Thus the vulnerability often turned the inhabitant’s life hazardous and cause several damages to the entire Sundarban region. The slow poisoning risk and vulnerable rate of Sundarban made us think about its past history and hopes and doubts about its future. The awareness regarding the vulnerability can rectify its environmental degradation and able to make fruitful to save this unique ‘Biosphere Reserve’ and ‘World Heritage Site’.
The Sundarban is famous for its unique scenic beauty with unanimous physical, biological and socio-economic importance. This largest mangrove swamp in the World contains 120 islands of which only 54 islands are inhabited by about 4.3 million people (according to 2011 census). It covers parts of North and South 24 Parganas of West Bengal with an area of 9630 sq. km. The Indian Sundarban is covered by an area of about 4493.60 sq km. and spread over 19 blocks of West Bengal. So far the vulnerability is concern, most of the blocks are belongs to highly vulnerable and henceforth they are not equally enlightening for the progression of the society and strengthening the base of development. Thus an attempt has been made to portrait the environmental outlook of the susceptible scenario along with the regional disparities of Sundarban.
Key Words: Sundarban, Vulnerability, hazards, degradation, mangrove, regional disparity

MSc Student Assignment Nr. 3 on module ’Geographical Information Systems: Advanced Course (GISA02)’ Lund University, GIS Centre. The work presents a research on using datasets, working with databases in ArcGIS environment: creating connections, exporting results, adding new field containing reclassification using Spatial Analyst extension, making logical SQL-queries for different available attributes. “Select by Location” and “Select by Attributes” functions were used for data analysis which creates following relationships: intersect, are within, touch the boundary of, ’are crossed by the outline of, contain, share a line segment with, are within distance.

The purpose of this paper is the application of geospatial data and techniques on the evaluation of potential groundwater management and uses in south New Valley (East El-Oweinat area), western desert of Egypt. An integration of geophysical, hydrogeological and remote sensing data into a Geographic Information System (GIS) has been used to determine groundwater potential zones for sustainable development. In the hydrogeophysical study, correlation of subsurface lithofacies has been carried out in different directions based on well logging data (Gamma ray, SP and normal short and long resistivity logs). The aquifer and aquitard thicknesses have been determined in the intensive study area. Moreover, a relationship between borehole resistivity and the hydraulic characteristics has been constructed in order to calculate transmissivity and hydraulic conductivity. In the hy-drogeological study, analyses of pumping tests have been carried out especially the step drawdown tests for the groundwater wells. These pumping tests will determine the well performance criteria such as well loss, aquifer loss, well efficiency and optimum pumping rates. In the Remote Sensing and GIS study, Landsat imagery and Digital Elevation Model (DEM) have been processed, analyzed and managed in layers of data set. These data were used to gather current information for the surface topographic features such as elevation, slope, land use/ cover and sand dunes in the study area. Sand dunes are located in the northwestern direction and are considered as a very low potentiality due to the effect of these dunes on the agricultural activities. Finally, an integration of these surface and subsurface geospatial characteristic into GIS environment has been carried out. Natural breaks classification method has been used in order to classify each thematic map. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) has been used in order to create the final groundwater potentiality map. Four zones A, B, C and D have been selected to be the most potentiality zones with different capacities which can be used for drilling new groundwater wells.

The application of UAV-based aerial imagery has advanced exponentially in the past two decades. This can be attributed to UAV operational flexibility, ultra-high spatial resolution, inexpensiveness, and UAV-based sensors enhancement. Nonetheless, the application of multitemporal series of multispectral UAV imagery still suffers significant misregistration errors, and therefore becoming a concern for applications such as precision agriculture. Direct image georeferencing and co-registration is commonly done using ground control points; this is usually costly and time consuming. This research proposes a novel approach for automatic co-registration of multitemporal UAV imagery using intensity-based keypoints. The Speeded Up Robust Features (SURF), Binary Robust Invariant Scalable Keypoints (BRISK), Maximally Stable Extremal Regions (MSER) and KAZE algorithms, were tested and parameters optimized. Image matching performance of these algorithms informed the decision to pursue further experiments with only SURF and KAZE. Optimally parametrized SURF and KAZE algorithms obtained co-registration accuracies of 0.1 and 0.3 pixels for intra-epoch and inter-epoch images respectively. To obtain better intra-epoch co-registration accuracy, collective band processing is advised whereas one-to-one matching strategy is recommended for inter-epoch co-registration. The results were tested using a maize crop monitoring case and the; comparison of spectral response of vegetation between the UAV sensors, Parrot Sequoia and Micro MCA was performed. Due to the missing incidence sensor, spectral and radiometric calibration of Micro MCA imagery is observed to be key in achieving optimal response. Also, the cameras have different specifications and thus differ in the quality of their respective photogrammetric outputs.

At present the rampant construction and poor compensatory plantation are taking a
heavy toll on Kolkata’s environment. Now, Kolkata’s green cover stands at a dismal 5%, which is
below the requirement of 15% for the Indian Metros. Last year Kolkata and its adjoining area have
lost more than 5,000 trees to development projects, unauthorized chapping and natural causes.
This has pushed up the carbon count by an alarming 5,500,000 kg. per year. The environmentalists
feel that, the impact of this loss would be felt in the coming years. Thus, the rapid destruction of
the urban greenery from the Indian city’s environs affects the urban ecology and causes
environmental degradation. Therefore, an attempt has been made here to analyze the urban
greenery or vegetation profile of Kolkata at micro level. Vegetation covers of ward 19 and 20 of
Kolkata Municipal Corporation Area along with the search of its low existence (KMCA) has been
worked for the study. To speed up mapping and decision making, remotely sensed satellite data
have been advocated and GIS technology has been used to represent the research work more
advanced.
Key words: Vegetation Cover, Geographic Information System, Remote Sensing

A minimum spanning tree (MST) of a connected, undirected and weighted network is a tree of that network consisting of all its nodes and the sum of weights of all its edges is minimum among all such possible spanning trees of the same network. In this study, we have developed a new GIS tool using most commonly known rudimentary algorithm called Prim’s algorithm to construct the minimum spanning tree of a connected, undirected and weighted road network. This algorithm is based on the weight (adjacency) matrix of a weighted network and helps to solve complex network MST problem easily, efficiently and effectively. The selection of the appropriate algorithm is very essential otherwise it will be very hard to get an optimal result. In case of Road Transportation Network, it is very essential to find the optimal results by considering all the necessary points based on cost factor (time or distance). This paper is based on solving the Minimum Spanning Tree (MST) problem of a road network by finding it’s minimum span by considering all the important network junction point. GIS technology is usually used to solve the network related problems like the optimal path problem, travelling salesman problem, vehicle routing problems, location-allocation problems etc. Therefore, in this study we have developed a customized GIS tool using Python script in ArcGIS software for the solution of MST problem for a Road Transportation Network of Dehradun city by considering distance and time as the impedance (cost) factors. It has a number of advantages like the users do not need a greater knowledge of the subject as the tool is user-friendly and that allows to access information varied and adapted the needs of the users. This GIS tool for MST can be applied for a nationwide plan called Prime Minister Gram Sadak Yojana in India to provide optimal all weather road connectivity to unconnected villages (points). This tool is also useful for constructing highways or railways spanning several cities optimally or connecting all cities with minimum total road length.

This research focus on examining and analyzing the landuse/land cover change detection that occurred over Adamawa State University Mubi during the period between 2001 to 2014 by geospatial modeling approach. This research was able to detect and identified the land cover changes that occurred during the period of 13 years. The multi-temporal satellites images (MSS, TM, and ETM+) covering the study area between 2001, 2006, 2012 and 2014 were used as the primary data sources for this research. The global mapper 13 software, Google Earth, and http://glovis.usgs.gov were used for image acquisition while the ArcGIS 10.1 software was used in the data analysis such as the classification of the image, calculation of areas and visualization of cartographic features. The study shows that the Agricultural land use reduced drastically due to increases in Residential land use and institutional land use in the study area. This is because of the increase in the institutional land use within the study area which attracts people to reside within the study area. The results further show a high level of accuracy for the selected images for the years 2001, 2006, 2012 and 2014, respectively. It also shows that the study area was once very rich in Agricultural land use or vegetation land cover consisting of grass, shrubs, and farmland as at 2001 which later reduced remarkably in 2012 and totally eliminated by 2014 due to changes in the land cover of the study area.

The reported work is part of a study that aims at exploiting validated data sets to predict soil properties of the top layer on large areas and to generate maps of international relevance at medium scales, in a more cost-effective way. This paper presents the results obtained to increase the applicative value for Romania in the case of such spatial data sets made freely available after 2012. As a source of environmental covariates for topsoil prediction, firstly the MERIS satellite superspectral images - acquired from 2002 to 2012 at full resolution - have been analyzed in terms of quality and coverage extent. For a preliminary prediction, the MERIS images selected have less than 1% cloud coverage over the national territory and contrasting fractions of soil covered by vegetation (i.e., specific to early spring and mid summer). Other sources of predictors have been the “SRTM 1 arc-second” digital elevation model and the “CRU TS 3.22” climate information, both data sets released in t...

While high-resolution Digital Elevation Model (DEM) datasets have been captured through space-borne imagery to map badland landscapes at fine scales, these remain essentially top-down views of the surface and cannot adequately capture the micro-morphological features (soil pipes, hollows, earth pillars and rills) which form along the gully flanks and walls. For imaging these, thus, a ground-based, horizontal looking sensor is required, with further post-processing abilities of identifying individual aspects, stitching the images together using common points, generation of sparse and dense point clouds and final creation of meshes with overlain textures to generate viable three-dimensional representations of such surface forms. This paper uses ground-based close-range digital photography along with the structure-from-motion technique to generate high-resolution DEMs and three-dimension (3D) representations of gullies and badland landscapes, which cannot otherwise be captured even by very high-resolution imagery or available satellite-imaged elevation datasets, since these systems lack the required view angle. The structure-from-motion technique has been a recent advancement in this domain, and its mechanism and workflow are explained in detail in this paper. Examples of its implementation in gully mapping are then showcased from the Gangani badland tract in Paschim Medinipur district of West Bengal. Repeated photographic surveys reveal the nature of morphological changes in the micro gully features, documenting erosional activity at fine scales. The imaging and rendering of these micro features also allow information like the relative lithological hardness to be superimposed on them for a better comparative analysis.

Information on soil attributes still largely relies on traditional methods of point sampling and subsequent laboratory test which are time and resource consuming. Thus, this study tested the applicability of Kauth-Thomas Tasseled-Cap Transformation (TCT) to soil textural mapping on the main campus of Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto as a faster method. The study hypothesized that the TCT-Brightness image had no relationship individually with soil particle size and Land use/ Land Cover (LUC). Landsat 8 of 22-03-2019 was preprocessed with QGIS and subjected to TCT in Idrisi Terrset to produce the TCT-Brightness image. Soil samples were collected at 91 points based on stratified random sampling at 0-15cm depth. Soil particle size was determined by Bouyoucos Hydrometer method. Simple linear regression analysis was used to model soil particle sizes from the TCT-Brightness image, while soil textural map was produced in SAGA. LUC of the area was mapped at Level III within the Google Earth Engine (GEE). Cross map-tabulation was carried out to test for the relationship between LUC and soil texture. Four textural classes were obtained namely sandy-clay-loam, loamy sand, sand and sandy-loam, with sand being dominant. Soil particle sizes were modeled at 99.85% accuracy, while soil textural mapping yielded 95% accuracy. Five LUC classes namely: built-up area, wetland, upland forest, bare surface and riparian forest, were mapped at 98.3% accuracy, with bare surface being dominant. A significant (p<0.01) relationship between LUC and soil texture was obtained at 0.85 Kappa Index of Agreement. The study concluded that the TCT is sufficient for predicting soil texture in a largely sandy semi-arid environment. A repeat of this study for the wet season was recommended.

The scope of activities of University Center for Space Research and Technologies (UCSRT) includes fundamental and applied research in the field of theoretical and experimental physics, space physics, geophysics, atmospheric physics, space, astrophysics, cosmology, space- materials science, development of mathematical models of processes in the near and distant space. At the Center, research and educational activities are performed in the field of space research and technologies, which have applications in electronics, telecommunications, geophysics, meteorology, ecology, archeology and other fields. The Center performs also research on properties of materials for space technologies.
Main educational activities of the Center are master's Program on “Space research” and Module 1 “Aerospace engineering” (small aero-spacecraft) of the master’s Program “Aerospace engineering and communications”, but its members lead also many courses of undergraduate programs in physics and engineering physics.
University Center for Space Research and Technologies is an independent research and educational unit of Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski", founded in 1987 and reorganized in 1992 into Unit of the Faculty of Physics. University Centre for Space Research and Technology has its own Rules of Operation, which is approved by decision of the Academic Council of Sofia University. According to the Council, UCSRT represents Sofia University and the Physics Faculty before the national and international bodies and organizations for Space Research.
UCSRT coordinates and manages the efforts of scientists from various departments of Sofia University and Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in temporary research teams, which accomplish scientific tasks related to Space Research and Technologies. Therefore, the Center has associated one internationally recognized observatory (IAU - А79), companies (such as O&K), active student workshop on astronomy, as well as individual professionals. The Center forms temporary laboratories on different scientific high-priority hot topics.
Applied research fields of the Centre include development of IR, UV and visible imaging systems and photometry for remote sensing observations from aircrafts, UAVs and satellites, research of Solar and Space Impacts on the Environment and applications of Space Research and Technologies in Archaeological research and prospecting. It includes also research and location of asteroids and dangerous Near- Earth Objects (NEO) and assessment of the damage which they can produce in result of potential collisions.
The Center has a highly qualified teaching staff, and its scientific production is published in journals, monographs and encyclopedias, some of which are issued by world-known academic publishers such as Elsevier and Thompson company issuing also ISI Citation index. Two of these monographs are awarded by an International Union of UNESCO Prize for the best publication in the relevant scientific field during the year.
The scientific outcome of the Center is significantly higher than the average production of the departments in the Faculty of Physics, despite its smaller staff: the results of the research activities of the members of the Center are published in 750 publications in scientific journals, monographs (mostly international), and conference proceedings, from which 560 publications in journals with impact factor.
Their results are presented in 167 reports at international congresses, conferences, symposia and schools, as 23 of them are invited or plenary talks.
They are cited worldwide 31290 times from foreign scientists, and research teams. 89 from the papers are cited more than 89 times, each (h-factor 89).
Specialists of the Center lead national and international research projects and programs. They have participated in one European, 10 international, 3 Italian and two Canadian research projects. At the moment they are leading two international research programs of one international scientific union. They review articles in prestigious international journals; are members of the editorial boards of international journals, editors of foreign monographs; evaluate Italian research projects in the fields of physics, astrophysics and Earth sciences; and participate in the appraisal of Italian universities. They chaired scientific organizing committees of five international scientific schools and conferences, and 6 sessions of other international conferences.
Specialists from UCSRT participate in large international collaborations and experiments in elementary particle physics, such as ATLAS, CHORUS, DELPHI, HARP, OPERA and H1.
The only Archaeo-geophysics laboratory in Bulgaria operates at the UCSRT.
The Center has intensive international collaborations with Universities and scientific institutions in Australia,  Austria,  Belgium,  Brazil,  Canada, China,  Croatia,  Czech  republic,  Egypt,  France,  Germany,  Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, South Africa, Serbia, Spain, Swisszerland, UK, USA and other countries.

University Center for Space Research and Technologies has YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyH3fFqMfKjLLI9jS4xnWHw

The reported work is part of a study that aims at exploiting validated data sets to predict soil properties of the top layer on large areas and to generate maps of international relevance at medium scales, in a more cost-effective way. This paper presents the results obtained to increase the applicative value for Romania in the case of such spatial data sets made freely available after 2012. As a source of environmental covariates for topsoil prediction, firstly the MERIS satellite superspectral images - acquired from 2002 to 2012 at full resolution - have been analyzed in terms of quality and coverage extent. For a preliminary prediction, the MERIS images selected have less than 1% cloud coverage over the national territory and contrasting fractions of soil covered by vegetation (i.e., specific to early spring and mid summer). Other sources of predictors have been the “SRTM 1 arc-second” digital elevation model and the “CRU TS 3.22” climate information, both data sets released in t...

While high-resolution Digital Elevation Model (DEM) datasets have been captured through space-borne imagery to map badland landscapes at fine scales, these remain essentially top-down views of the surface and cannot adequately capture the micro-morphological features (soil pipes, hollows, earth pillars and rills) which form along the gully flanks and walls. For imaging these, thus, a ground-based, horizontal looking sensor is required, with further post-processing abilities of identifying individual aspects, stitching the images together using common points, generation of sparse and dense point clouds and final creation of meshes with overlain textures to generate viable three-dimensional representations of such surface forms. This paper uses ground-based close-range digital photography along with the structure-from-motion technique to generate high-resolution DEMs and threedimension (3D) representations of gullies and badland landscapes, which cannot otherwise be captured even by very high-resolution imagery or available satellite-imaged elevation datasets, since these systems lack the required view angle. The structure-from-motion technique has been a recent advancement in this domain, and its mechanism and workflow are explained in detail in this paper. Examples of its implementation in gully mapping are then showcased from the Gangani badland tract in Paschim Medinipur district of West Bengal. Repeated photographic surveys reveal the nature of morphological changes in the micro gully features, documenting erosional activity at fine scales. The imaging and rendering of these micro features also allow information like the relative lithological hardness to be superimposed on them for a better comparative analysis.

Sikkim is prone to multiple natural hazards. The Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) faces complexity of landslide hazards of unreliable magnitudes or Sikkim is a multiple prone state. Landslides is one of the common geomorphic morphologic hazards in Sikkim, pose secure threat to life, property and infrastructure. Landslides constitute one of the major damaging natural hazards in mountainous regions, triggered mainly under the influence of earthquakes and rainfall. Geo-Informatics has become the powerful tool for effective analysis associated with the study of landslide hazard. The use of remote sensing and GIS has become an integrated, well developed and successful tool in disaster management. This study has process through the analysis of geo-environmental parameters related and responsible for landslides, one of the most frequently happening natural hazards in the Himalayan environment. In this paper, a detailed analysis to find out the human vulnerabilities due to natural disasters us...

University Centre for Space Research and Technologies, Sofia University 
performs  scientific  and  applied  research,  and  education  in  Space  Research  and
Technologies, which have applications in Monitoring of Pollutions and Protection of the
Environment,  Prevention  of  Forest  Fires,  Global  Change,  GIS,  Electronics,
Telecommunications, Geophysics, Meteorology, Ecology, Archaeology and other fields.
It also performs research on properties of materials for space technology.
The  Centre  coordinates  and  manages  efforts  of  scientists  from  various  departments  of  Sofia
University and external institutions in temporary research teams, which accomplish scientific and
applied tasks related to Space Research and Technologies. Centre forms temporary laboratories on
different high- priority hot topics. It ensures higher flexibility than this of most scientific institutes
and university departments in the country. 
The  Centre  have  affiliated  companies  (O&K,  Hydroloc,  etc),  internationally  recognized
Astronomical  observatory  IAU-  79  and  active  Astronomical  student  circle,  which  also  performs
scientific research. 
Applied  research  fields  of  the  Centre  includes  development  of  IR,  UV  and  visible  imaging
systems and photometry for remote sensing observations from aircrafts, UAVs and satellites, Solar
and Space Impacts on the Environment and  applications of Space Research and Technologies in
Archaeological research and prospecting. 
Main  educational  activity  of  the  Center  are  master's  Programs  on  “Space  research”  and
“Aerospace engineering”. 
Center’s web page is: 
http://www.phys.uni-sofia.bg/eng/departments/ucsrt/index.html
Center’s YouTube channel is:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyH3fFqMfKjLLI9jS4xnWHw
Center forms temporary laboratories, which work in its current directions of research, as its
laboratory in Archaeo-geophysics:
http://www.phys.uni-sofia.bg/bul/departments/ucsrt/agpl/index.html