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1. The cyber-consciousness of environmental assessment: how environmental assessments evaluate the impacts of smart, connected, and digital technology

   https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac413b  

   Mulrow, John; Gali, Manasi; Grubert, Emily (December 2021, Environmental Research Letters)

   Abstract Digitally enabled technologies are increasingly cyber-physical systems (CPSs). They are networked in nature and made up of geographically dispersed components that manage and control data received from humans, equipment, and the environment. Researchers evaluating such technologies are thus challenged to include CPS subsystems and dynamics that might not be obvious components of a product system. Although analysts might assume CPS have negligible or purely beneficial impact on environmental outcomes, such assumptions require justification. As the physical environmental impacts of digital processes (e.g. cryptocurrency mining) gain attention, the need for explicit attention to CPS in environmental assessment becomes more salient. This review investigates how the peer-reviewed environmental assessment literature treats environmental implications of CPS, with a focus on journal articles published in English between 2010 and 2020. We identify nine CPS subsystems and dynamics addressed in this literature: energy system, digital equipment, non-digital equipment, automation and management, network infrastructure, direct costs, social and health effects, feedbacks, and cybersecurity. Based on these categories, we develop a ‘cyber-consciousness score’ reflecting the extent to which the 115 studies that met our evaluation criteria address CPS, then summarize analytical methods and modeling techniques drawn from reviewed literature to facilitate routine inclusion of CPS in environmental assessment. We find that, given challenges in establishing system boundaries, limited standardization of how to evaluate CPS dynamics, and failure to recognize the role of CPS in a product system under evaluation, the extant environmental assessment literature in peer-reviewed journals largely ignores CPS subsystems and dynamics when evaluating digital or digitally-enabled technologies. 

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2. The Movebank system for studying global animal movement and demography

   https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.13767  

   Kays, Roland; Davidson, Sarah C.; Berger, Matthias; Bohrer, Gil; Fiedler, Wolfgang; Flack, Andrea; Hirt, Julian; Hahn, Clemens; Gauggel, Dominik; Russell, Benedict; et al (December 2021, Methods in Ecology and Evolution)

   Abstract Quantifying movement and demographic events of free‐ranging animals is fundamental to studying their ecology, evolution and conservation. Technological advances have led to an explosion in sensor‐based methods for remotely observing these phenomena. This transition to big data creates new challenges for data management, analysis and collaboration.We present the Movebank ecosystem of tools used by thousands of researchers to collect, manage, share, visualize, analyse and archive their animal tracking and other animal‐borne sensor data. Users add sensor data through file uploads or live data streams and further organize and complete quality control within the Movebank system. All data are harmonized to a data model and vocabulary. The public can discover, view and download data for which they have been given access to through the website, the Animal Tracker mobile app or by API. Advanced analysis tools are available through the EnvDATA System, the MoveApps platform and a variety of user‐developed applications. Data owners can share studies with select users or the public, with options for embargos, licenses and formal archiving in a data repository.Movebank is used by over 3,100 data owners globally, who manage over 6 billion animal location and sensor measurements across more than 6,500 studies, with thousands of active tags sending over 3 million new data records daily. These data underlie >700 published papers and reports. We present a case study demonstrating the use of Movebank to assess life‐history events and demography, and engage with citizen scientists to identify mortalities and causes of death for a migratory bird.A growing number of researchers, government agencies and conservation organizations use Movebank to manage research and conservation projects and to meet legislative requirements. The combination of historic and new data with collaboration tools enables broad comparative analyses and data acquisition and mapping efforts. Movebank offers an integrated system for real‐time monitoring of animals at a global scale and represents a digital museum of animal movement and behaviour. Resources and coordination across countries and organizations are needed to ensure that these data, including those that cannot be made public, remain accessible to future generations. 

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3. Toward Best Management Practices for Ecological Corridors

   https://doi.org/10.3390/land10020140  

   Gregory, Andrew; Spence, Emma; Beier, Paul; Garding, Emily (February 2021, Land)

   Ecological corridors are one of the best, and possibly only viable, management tools to maintain biodiversity at large scales and to allow species, and ecological processes, to track climate change. This document has been assembled as a summary of the best available information about managing these systems. Our aim with this paper is to provide managers with a convenient guidance document and tool to assist in applying scientific management principles to management of corridors. We do not cover issues related to corridor design or political buy in, but focus on how a corridor should be managed once it has been established. The first part of our paper outlines the history and value of ecological corridors. We next describe our methodologies for developing this guidance document. We then summarize the information about the impacts of linear features on corridors and strategies for dealing with them—specifically, we focus on the effects of roads, canals, security fences, and transmission lines. Following the description of effects, we provide a summary of the best practices for managing the impacts of linear barriers. Globally, many corridors are established in the flood plains of stream and rivers and occur in riparian areas associated with surface waters. Therefore, we next provide guidance on how to manage corridors that occur in riparian areas. We then segue into corridors and the urban/suburban environment, and summarize strategies for dealing with urban development within corridors. The final major anthropic land use that may affect corridor management is cultivation and grazing agriculture. We end this review by identifying gaps in knowledge pertaining to how best to manage corridors. 

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4. Digital Water and Its Impact on Sustainability

   Khaleel Muhammed and Aavudai Anandhi (August 2022, Journal of the ASABE)

   Special edition editors of ASABE's Resource Magazine Drs. Sahoo, Mehan. The article (Ed.)

   Digital water is an emerging research direction that involves using technology to manage water use. The digital water ecosystem is described by the International Water Association (IWA) as being composed of many stakeholders, including the public sector, peer groups, investors, industry associations, and academic institutions. In this brief article, we first describe the relationships among the aspects of digital water and then explain how digital water can be used to make water use more sustainable. Aspects of digital water 

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5. Zero to a trillion: Advancing surface process studies with open access to high resolution topography

   https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-444-64177-9.00011-4  

   Crosby, C. J.; Arrowsmith, J R.; Nandigam, V. (January 2020, Developments in earth surface processes)

   Tarolli, P.; Mudd, S. (Ed.)

   High-resolution topography (HRT) is a powerful observational tool for studying the Earth's surface, vegetation, and urban landscapes, with broad scientific, engineering, and education-based applications. Submeter resolution imaging is possible when collected with laser and photogrammetric techniques using the ground, air, and space-based platforms. Open access to these data and a cyberinfrastructure platform that enables users to discover, manage, share, and process then increases the impact of investments in data collection and catalyzes scientific discovery. Furthermore, open and online access to data enables broad interdisciplinary use of HRT across academia and in communities such as education, public agencies, and the commercial sector. OpenTopography, supported by the US National Science Foundation, aims to democratize access to Earth science-oriented, HRT data and processing tools. We utilize cyberinfrastructure, including large-scale data management, high-performance computing, and service-oriented architectures to provide efficient web-based visualization and access to large, HRT datasets. OT colocates data with processing tools to enable users to quickly access custom data and derived products for their application, with the ultimate goal of making these powerful data easier to use. OT's rapidly growing data holdings currently include 283 lidar and photogrammetric, point cloud datasets (>1.2 trillion points) covering 236,364km2. As a testament to OT's success, more than 86,000 users have processed over 5 trillion lidar points. This use has resulted in more than 290 peer-reviewed publications across numerous academic domains including Earth science, geography, computer science, and ecology. 

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