Skip to content. | Skip to navigation

Personal tools

You are here: Home

Search results

RSS Subscribe to an always-updated RSS feed.

2209 items matching your search terms.
Filter the results.
Item type



































New items since



Sort by relevance · date (newest first) · alphabetically
Inproceedings Reference Urban waste from the medieval river Senne in Brussels
The river Senne has disappeared from the urban landscape since it was vaulted over in the 19th century, but it played a crucial role in the origin and economic development of the medieval city. In 2019 the remains of the medieval port on the river Senne were brought to light during a large excavation (nearly 6000m2) in the city centre of Brussels. Besides the discovery of a 12th-13th century bank reinforcement and an impressive stone quay wall (mainly 14th-15th century), meters thick excellently preserved waterlogged fluvial deposits from different phases of the river were excavated. These layers, dating between the 10th and 15th century, were extensively sampled for archaeobotanical(macrobotanical remains, pollen and phytoliths), archaeozoological and geoarchaeological studies. In this presentation we will discuss the results of the interdisciplinary study of these numerous samples, with a main focus on the plant remains. The assemblages consist of a mixture of naturally deposited material from the vegetation in the Senne valley and waste dumped in the river. Indeed, as urbanisation intensified, the river became used as an open sewer in which all kinds of refuse were disposed of. Thanks to the interdisciplinary approach and comparison with assemblages from several other sites in Brussels diverse types of waste could be distinguished, including artisanal(e.g. textile working and dyeing), domestic and consumption waste as well as remains of fuel and human and animal excrements. The exceptional diversity of the plant material (>300 taxa) recovered from this fluvial urban context and its perfect preservation offer a unique insight into various aspects of daily life in the city.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023
Inproceedings Reference Use of ocean color satellite data to study the dynamics of suspended particles in the Yangtze River plume (East China Sea)
A multi-sensor algorithm is applied to MODIS and MERIS satellite data in order to quantify suspended particulate matter (SPM) in the Yangtze River plume (East China Sea). Several atmospheric correction methods are tested; a simple but operational method is finally selected as appropriate for MODIS, MERIS and GOCI satellite data. As most of the methods for atmospheric corrections of satellite data fail over such highly turbid waters, an adaptation of the black pixel assumption is used to correct for the aerosol contribution. The retrieved seawater reflectance at red wavebands appears as the most sensitive to SPM concentrations but tends to saturate at concentrations beyond 100 mg.l(-1). By opposition the near-infrared seawater reflectance does not saturate even at extremely high concentrations of 1000 mg.l(-1). Overall, the most robust relationship between the SPM concentration and seawater reflectance is obtained considering a spectral ratio between the near-infrared (e. g., 850 nm) and visible (e. g. 550 nm). This relationship is applied to atmospherically corrected ocean color satellite data to retrieve SPM concentrations in the Yangtze River plume. Results show that ocean color satellite data can be used to study the seasonal dynamics of SPM and better understand the role played by the main physical processes involved (river discharge, tidal cycles, wind and regional circulation).
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Inproceedings Reference Use of the near infrared similarity reflectance spectrum for the quality control of remote sensing data
The shape of water-leaving reflectance spectra in the near infrared range 700-900nm is almost invariant for turbid waters and has been analysed and tabulated as a similarity spectrum by normalisation at 780nm. This similarity spectrum is used here for the quality control of seaborne reflectance measurements and for the improvement of sky glint correction. Estimates of the reflectance measurement error associated with imperfect sky glint correction from two different wavelength pairs are shown to be nearly identical. A demonstration of residual reflectance correction for data collected in cloudy, high wave conditions has shown that this correction removes a large source of variability associated with temporal variation of the wave field. The error estimate applied here to seaborne measurements has wide-ranging generality and is appropriate for any water-leaving reflectance spectra derived from seaborne, airborne or satellite borne sensors provided suitable near infrared bands are available.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Inproceedings Reference Use of the near infrared similarity reflectance spectrum for the quality control of remote sensing data
The shape of water-leaving reflectance spectra in the near infrared range 700-900nm is almost invariant for turbid waters and has been analysed and tabulated as a similarity spectrum by normalisation at 780nm. This similarity spectrum is used here for the quality control of seaborne reflectance measurements and for the improvement of sky glint correction. Estimates of the reflectance measurement error associated with imperfect sky glint correction from two different wavelength pairs are shown to be nearly identical. A demonstration of residual reflectance correction for data collected in cloudy, high wave conditions has shown that this correction removes a large source of variability associated with temporal variation of the wave field. The error estimate applied here to seaborne measurements has wide-ranging generality and is appropriate for any water-leaving reflectance spectra derived from seaborne, airborne or satellite borne sensors provided suitable near infrared bands are available.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications / Pending Duplicate Bibliography Entries
Inproceedings Reference Use of the near infrared similarity reflectance spectrum for the quality control of remote sensing data
The shape of water-leaving reflectance spectra in the near infrared range 700-900nm is almost invariant for turbid waters and has been analysed and tabulated as a similarity spectrum by normalisation at 780nm. This similarity spectrum is used here for the quality control of seaborne reflectance measurements and for the improvement of sky glint correction. Estimates of the reflectance measurement error associated with imperfect sky glint correction from two different wavelength pairs are shown to be nearly identical. A demonstration of residual reflectance correction for data collected in cloudy, high wave conditions has shown that this correction removes a large source of variability associated with temporal variation of the wave field. The error estimate applied here to seaborne measurements has wide-ranging generality and is appropriate for any water-leaving reflectance spectra derived from seaborne, airborne or satellite borne sensors provided suitable near infrared bands are available.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications / Pending Duplicate Bibliography Entries
Conference Reference Uses of DINEOF algorithm (Data interpolation with Empirical Orthogonal Functions) for reconstruction and analysis of incomplete satellite databases over the North Sea and the Mediterranean, synthesis from the RECOLOUR project.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Inproceedings Reference Using ancient DNA to identify Bos primigenius in ancient cattle remains from Belgium
Aurochs (Bos primigenius) are the wild ancestors of the domesticated taurine cattle (Bos taurus). During the Holocene, populations of aurochs gradually declined until their extinction at the turn of the 17th century. DNA data suggest that domestic cattle in Europe descended from Near East aurochs that were domesticated and brought to Europe by the first farmers during the Neolithic period. Hybridization occurred more recently in Europe between domestic cattle and local wild aurochs. Most aurochs can be distinguished from domestic cattle osteometrically, but large-sized domestic cattle may be misidentified as aurochs. Based on mitochondrial DNA, most European aurochs differ from domestic cattle (haplogroup “P” versus “T”). With the aim to provide new data on the former distribution of aurochs in Europe, we used mitochondrial DNA to identify large bovid bones attributed to aurochs and dating from Epipaleolithic to medieval times. DNA was extracted from the bones of 11 specimens from Belgium in an ancient DNA lab. Shotgun DNA sequencing provided raw reads comprising 0.02-10% of endogenous DNA. For three samples, reads covered 74-98% of the bovid mitochondrial genome and enabled the identification of one aurochs from the Bronze Age (haplogroup “P”) and two cows from Roman and medieval times (haplogroup “T”). Among the other samples (covering 2-18% of the mitogenome), three Roman specimens could be assigned to the haplogroup “T” based on a few diagnostic positions. This study provides the first mitogenomic data for a Belgian aurochs and contributes to the identification of exceptionally large Roman bovid remains.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023
Proceedings Reference Using Belgian Ringing Data to Estimate Bird Population Trends: A comparative Analysis. “Monitoring, indicators and targets".
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Inproceedings Reference Using DNA barcodes for assessing diversity of dance flies (Diptera: Empidoidea) and as a basis for phylogenetic research
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Proceedings Reference Using DNA barcodes for diversity assessment in Hybotidae (Diptera, Empidoidea)
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications