AN INTEGRATED DATA CAPTURE METHODOLOGY
FOR GEOSYSTEMS IMPROVEMENT
by
HENRIQUE GARCIA PEREIRA
(henrique.pereira@ist.utl.pt)
The objective of this paper is to put forward an integrated data
capture methodology for Natural Resources characterization,
combining and correlating raw data drawn from several disparate
procedures. This methodology is materialized in a network of data
capture instruments producing structured information on Natural
Resources attributes, under the Geosystems unifying concept.
Geosystems are viewed as the projection, onto the space of
knowledge, of the interaction of Natural Resources’ quantitative and
qualitative properties with the models for planning their economic
development, in balance with environmental preservation. Since
environmental concerns require that ‘resources’ are viewed as
‘sources’ that were already re-done by man’s action, the importance
of recycling is paramount in modern societies. However, the
implementation of cleaner (preventive) technologies and the
maximization of recycling/recovery of wastes/residues do not
prevent the drive to extract new primary resources from the Earth, if
society intends to maintain (or improve) its ‘material’ basis. In fact,
preservation/recuperation has to be harmoniously combined with
exploitation/valuation through a process of ordering and prioritisation
that takes into account the interdependence between resources,
environmental concern and market demand.
Hence, the Geosystems concept becomes the ‘background’ for the
multi-criteria simulations that make it possible to support decisions
regarding the alternative uses of resources, accounting both for their
economic value and for the environmental externalities associated to
their exploitation. Under this global perspective that balances
preservation and valuation (man can not only do, but choose not to
do), the first step to be taken is to characterise Geosystems by
collecting and monitoring a set of properties in the technical,
economical and environmental realms, where further decisions are
to be based on. These properties are measured/observed by a
variety of devices, which provide the attributes to be combined in the
space of knowledge by the network of models that are the
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‘representation’ of Geosystems in that abstract space. In order to
capture the data needed to feed those models at all scales (from the
microscopic scale to the remote observation of Earth), it is required
to set up an integrated data acquisition system, as proposed in this
paper.
For a specific kind of natural resources, such as natural stones,
which are ‘static’ and a priori ‘clean’, the point addressed here is to
respond to the serious lack of knowledge about their physical,
chemical, morphological, symbolic, in situ characteristics, avoiding
the inevitable environmental damage resulting from their casuistic
exploitation and improving its economic recovery in the modern
framework of an exigent market that demand ‘special characteristics’
instead of anodyne commodities. The proposed system is meant to
provide the objective basis for the rational planning of those
resources development, balancing environmental harm with their
potential value, conveyed by the characteristics that are required by
downstream industries.
For the ‘dynamic’ resources prone to pollution that must be
exploited in large quantities within a certain range of quality
parameters, like groundwater, it is required, in a first step, to model
groundwater flow and transport in order to contribute for water
resources planning at all scales. Also, the evaluation of the input
from diffuse and point sources and the assessment of the retention
in soils and other bordering constituents are issues to be taken into
account. Hence, the proposed system allows to integrated data from
different scientific areas for the purpose of optimising groundwater
management.
For resources such as soil and land, which are recognized as being
contaminated by a variety of different agents, the first step is to
characterise properly those resources and monitor their state of
pollution. Besides this characterisation aspect, the proposed system
provides also a quantitative framework to guide the selection of the
models to be used in the actions for minimizing environmental
damage. In the cases where remediation is feasible, the proposed
system allows to delimitate areas to be reclaimed, according to
priority criteria.
For the recycling of residues of previous industrial operations, apart
from their characterisation (which is a crucial step, given the
complexity stemming from the non-conventional combination of
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diverse materials and products), it is also needed to collect data for
the design of the technological procedures that permit their
economic recovery. The proposed system puts in tune a set of
devices to capture and treat such data.
The proposed data capture integration methodology, unified by the
Geosystems concept, is composed of a network of models in
interaction that share the information acquisition methods and
equipment. The network is to function in parallel, taking advantage
of the formal analogies between Geosystems. The same data
acquisition system is to be used in a variety of studies, feeding
different models that depend on the specific features of the
resources targeted by each one of the studies (or that are fitted to all
resources, like image analysis/remote sensing).
Furthermore, new methods, sensors and devices are emerging at a
rate that induces a quick obsolescence in the ‘conventional’ data
capturing equipment. Those new methods permit to include in the
models a variety of features that could not be apprehended by the
traditional data acquisition devices. Obviously, it is required to
integrate in the global system the ‘new’ and the traditional methods.
Hence, the proposed global integrated data acquisition system can
solve, to a certain extent, the serious problems regarding the
reliability and adequacy of data gathering for model feeding,
insomuch as it is designed, ab initio, for the purpose of filling the
‘missing link’ in the modelling process, which is in fact its root – the
data capturing methodology. A data driven approach assuring a
complete compatibility between the basic information gathering and
its statistical treatment is the backbone of the the Geosystems
theory. Once installed this procedure, the operational side of the
Geosystems concept is clearly improved, since a reliable information
processing chain is completed, from the downstream data capture
step to the upstream application of models, in the economical/
environmental realm.
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