Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) have existed for many years and had assimilated many interesting innovations. Advances in electronics, radio transceivers, processes of IC manufacturing and development of algorithms for operation of such networks now enable creating energy-efficient devices that provide practical levels of performance and a sufficient number of features. Environmental monitoring is one of the areas in which WSNs can be successfully used. At the same time this is a field where devices must either bring their own power reservoir, such as a battery, or scavenge energy locally from some natural phenomena. Improving the efficiency of energy harvesting methods reduces complexity of WSN structures. This survey is based on practical examples from the real world and provides an overview of state-of-the-art methods and techniques that are used to create energyefficient WSNs with energy harvesting.

The utilization of mining waste is an important problem in Poland and Ukraine. The article presents one of the variants of waste mining in the quarry in Płaza. An analysis of the resource base of the deposit and their location at the area of Płaza deposit is carried out. The Płaza deposit is located in the western part of the Małopolskie province, in the entire Chrzanów commune. The Płaza deposit is constructed of Middle Triassic carbonates represented by the limestone-dolomite Olkusz Formation and the limestone-marlized Gogolin Formation. The deposit series lies on the dolomites of Röt age (Lower Triassic – Olenekian). The most valuable raw material was the pure limestone from the lower part of the Olkusz Formation, now almost completely exploited. The article presents the current state of mineable reserves of the deposit and their quality (chemical and physical characteristics). Moreover the article shows potential consumers of raw material and the possibility of extending the life of the mine work. According to the results of the environmental monitoring the ground and hydrogeological conditions were evaluated, the results of which allowed a more efficient use of the existing quarry area for mining waste disposal to be proposed. The paper presents a conceptual waste transport scheme, planned distribution and compaction of wastes belonging to the first, second and third group and then a surface reclamation. In view of the absence of similar decisions analogs, the consideration of the open-pit as a one solid geomechanical system functioning under the conditions of uncertainty is suggested. In order to examine the dynamics of the waste compaction process, some measures are foreseen to constantly observe their subsidence. The proposed measures for the synchronous disposal of mining waste in the worked-out area of the open-pit and the simultaneous mining operation in the quarry will allow the life cycle of the open-pit to be prolonged for 15–20 years.

A mine cannot function without monitoring systems: environmental, basic mining machinery and equipment. The exploitation of ore in the mine depends heavily on properly functioning machines and mining equipment, and acceptable for the miner technical environmental conditions occurring in underground excavations. The monitoring systems of the technical environment in underground mines are primarily telemetry and gasometry systems. The first part of the article shows the typical structure of gasometry systems operating in the Polish underground mines. The existing provisions include the so-called security systems of the mining plant. The article presents a quantitative summary of the telephone exchange types and count of main telecommunication lines operating in these systems. Monitoring systems of machines and mining equipment are an essential element of the effec-tive management of the mine, because they affect the safe operation and increase time of effi-ciency equipment. The second part of the article shows selected monitoring systems of mining machinery and equipment currently used in the dispatcher rooms of mines. Attention was paid to the monitoring systems, which are only software tools as well as those in which additionally use dedicated IT solutions for these systems, hardware and measuring tools. The table shows the types of monitoring systems and technological configurations used in underground mines, preferred for them.

Here we report a photo−documented record of a barn swallow ( Hirundo rustica ) from the South Shetland Islands. We also review previous records of passerine vagrants in the Antarctic (south of the Antarctic Convergence Zone). This barn swallow is the first re− corded member of the Hirundinidae family on King George Island and is only the second passerine recorded in the South Shetland Islands. This sighting, along with previous records of austral negrito and austral trush represent the southernmost sightings of any passerine bird anywhere in the world.

In this paper, the climate and environmental datasets were processed by the scripts of Generic Mapping Tools (GMT) and R to evaluate changes in climate parameters, vegetation patters and land cover types in Burkina Faso. Located in the southern Sahel zone, Burkina Faso experiences one of the most extreme climatic hazards in sub-saharan Africa varying from the extreme floods in Volta River Basin, to desertification and recurrent droughts.. The data include the TerraClimate dataset and satellite images Landsat 8-9 Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Thermal Infrared (TIRS) C2 L1. The dynamics of target climate characteristics of Burkina Faso was visualised for 2013-2022 using remote sensing data. To evaluate the environmental dynamics the TerraClimate data were used for visualizing key climate parameter: extreme temperatures, precipitation, soil moisture, downward surface shortwave radiation, vapour pressure deficit and anomaly. The Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) was modelled over the study area to estimate soil water balance related to the soil moisture conditions as a prerequisites for vegetation growth. The land cover types were mapped using the k-means clustering by R. Two vegetation indices were computed to evaluate the changes in vegetation patterns over recent decade. These included the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and the Soil-Adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI) The scripts used for cartographic workflow are presented and discussed. This study contributes to the environmental mapping of Burkina Faso with aim to highlight the links between the climate processes and vegetation dynamics in West Africa.

The measurements of the concentrations of gaseous and dust pollutants in the anthropogenic environment are an important element of environmental monitoring and for determining directions of preventive activities in the field of health protection. The article presents the results involving the concentrations of suspended dust and gaseous pollutants in the outdoor air, which were recorded at three measuring stations of air quality in the Silesian and Opole voivodeships (Wodzisław Śląski, Zabrze, Kędzierzyn-Koźle). The results were supplemented with the values recorded by the mobile laboratory located at the Center for Continuing Education - Branch of the Silesian University of Technology in Rybnik. The research results were used for a synthetic assessment of the threat level to the anthropogenic environment. In the computational layer, the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) was employed, which is included in the group of methods for solving multi-criteria decision-making problems (Multi Attribute Decision Making).