Environment mapping, map constructing, and path planning for underwater navigation of a low-cost µAUV in a cluttered nuclear storage pond

This paper presents a novel approach that enables a low-cost µAUV (micro autonomous underwater vehicle) navigate and work safely in an enclosed cluttered underwater environment. In order to achieve a autonomy collision-free navigation in underwater, it requires a reliable approach that would allow a µAUV which equipped with sparse and inaccurate sonar sensors to map the underwater environment, a map constructing algorithm that converts the obtained data to useful information to establish a map, and a path planning algorithm that plans a collision-free path from the start to the desired goal. The proposed approach will integrate environment survey, environment reconstruction, and path planning as a completed task, which involves map acquisition and path planning. A complete simulation of the environment topology acquisition and route planning process is documented in this paper.

Water Sustainability at the River Grande Basin, Brazil: An Approach Based on the Barometer of Sustainability

Water resources are fundamental for the social and economic development of a country and sustainability is the best approach to treat water-related problems. Therefore, sustainability studies of water resources are deemed urgent. Sustainability analysis methods should enable space-temporal monitoring, decision-making, and development of policies necessary for water governance. Furthermore, sustainability analysis methods should also integrate environment and socioeconomic variables into a single system. In this context, this study aimed to assess the water sustainability conditions of the River Grande Basin (BHRG), Brazil, before the implementation of the Integrated Water Resources Plan (IWRP), using the Barometer of Sustainability tool (BS). The River Grande basin was in an “almost unsustainable” condition and under high environmental stress. A significant imbalance between environmental and human well-being in the system was also observed. To achieve an acceptable sustainability condition, it is thus necessary to improve the environmental quality of the area. Among the priority thematic area, native vegetation recovery was the most urgent. Overall, the sustainability study based on the BS not only facilitates comprehension regarding environment and human interrelationships, but also provide references for policy formulations and water management.