In 2015, an emergency state was declared in Bolivia when Poopó Lake dried up. Climate variability and the increasing need for water are potential factors responsible for this situation. Because field data are missing over the region, no statements are possible about the influence of mentioned factors. This study is a preliminary step toward the understanding of Poopó Lake drought using remote sensing data. First, atmospheric corrections for Landsat (FLAASH and L8SR), seven satellite derived indexes for extracting water bodies, MOD16 evapotranspiration, PERSIANN-CDR and MSWEP rainfall products potentiality were assessed. Then, the fluctuations of Poopó Lake extent over the last 26 years are presented for the first time jointly, with the mean regional annual rainfall. Three main droughts are highlighted between 1990 and 2015: two are associated with negative annual rainfall anomalies in 1994 and 1995 and one associated with positive annual rainfall anomaly in 2015. This suggests that other factors than rainfall influenced the recent disappearance of the lake. The regional evapotranspiration increased by 12.8% between 2000 and 2014. Evapotranspiration increase is not homogeneous over the watershed but limited over the main agriculture regions. Agriculture activity is one of the major factors contributing to the regional desertification and recent disappearance of Poopó Lake. Full article

The loss of tropical forests has continued in recent decades despite wide recognition of their importance to maintaining biodiversity. Here, we examine the conversion of forests to pastures and coca crops (illicit activity) on the San Lucas Mountain Range, Colombia for 2002–2007 and 2007–2010. Land use maps and biophysical variables were used as inputs to generate land use and cover change (LUCC) models using the DINAMICA EGO software. These analyses revealed a dramatic acceleration of the pace of deforestation in the region, with rates of conversion from forest to pasture doubling from the first to the second period. Altitude, distance to other crops, and distance to rivers were the primary drivers of deforestation. The influence of these drivers, however, differed markedly depending on whether coca cultivation or pastures replaced forest. Conversion to coca was more probable farther from other crops and from settlements. In contrast, proximity to other crops and to settlements increased conversion to pasture. These relationships highlight the different roles of coca and pastures in forest loss, with coca tending to open up new forest frontiers, and pastures tending to consolidate agricultural expansion and urban influence. Large differences between LUCC processes for each period suggest highly dynamic changes, likely associated with shifting underlying causes of deforestation. These changes may relate to shifts in demand for illicit crops, land, or mining products; however, the data to test these hypotheses are currently lacking. More frequent and detailed monitoring is required to guide actions to decrease the loss of forest in this highly vulnerable biodiversity hotspot in the Northern Andes. Full article

Maintenance tasks are crucial for all kind of industries, especially in extensive industrial plants, like solar thermal power plants. The incorporation of robots is a key issue for automating inspection activities, as it will allow a constant and regular control over the whole plant. This paper presents an autonomous robotic system to perform pipeline inspection for early detection and prevention of leakages in thermal power plants, based on the work developed within the MAINBOT (http://www.mainbot.eu) European project. Based on the information provided by a thermographic camera, the system is able to detect leakages in the collectors and pipelines. Beside the leakage detection algorithms, the system includes a particle filter-based tracking algorithm to keep the target in the field of view of the camera and to avoid the irregularities of the terrain while the robot patrols the plant. The information provided by the particle filter is further used to command a robot arm, which handles the camera and ensures that the target is always within the image. The obtained results show the suitability of the proposed approach, adding a tracking algorithm to improve the performance of the leakage detection system. Full article