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The main motivation for this research is the growing awareness of the impact of climate change and the increasing relevance of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, aiming to contribute to the measurement of quantities like precipitation and rate of rainfall. This knowledge is widely used in hydrology, climatology and meteorology, providing data and information applied in modelling, pattern definition and recognition, and forecasting. This work is concerned with estimating the average areal rainfall in a stipulated region from rainfall intensity observations made at measurement stations within that region. It focuses on three straightforward estimation approaches: the arithmetic mean method, the Thiessen polygon method and the isohyetal method. The evaluation of the associated measurement uncertainty, for which the law of propagation of uncertainty and a Monte Carlo method as described in guidance documents from the Joint Committee for Guides in Metrology are applied, is the main consideration. The approaches described may be readily applied by practitioners. A comparison of results from applying these methods to a simple example is made. Such results are required for conformity assessment and support in urban management and water resources management worldwide.

This paper discusses the thermal influence on long-distance and noncontact measurement 01' suspension bridge three-dimensional displacement by the use of an optical system composed of a digital camera, infrared active targets, and computational support. ln this type of measurement method, the optical propagation path of light through the air can range from 250 m up to 750 m, making its measurement accuracy strongly dependent on atmospheric refraction and turbulence, phenomena that are linked to the vertical temperature gradient between the camera and targets. ln addition, the adopted measurement geometrical configuration can lead to a height difference between these two elements (camera and targets) above 50 m. The paper describes the experimental setup and procedure followed for the determination of local temperature vertical gradients in the 25th of April Bridge in Lisbon (Portugal), where an optical measurement system was applied. The obtained thermal measurements are presented and applied in the evaluation of the systematic refraction vertical deviation, based on appropriate mathematical models mentioned in the paper, and for the identification of stable or unstable observation thermal conditions related to turbulence.

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<p class="Abstract">This paper addresses the metrological quality of dimensional measurements based on images obtained from CCTV inspections in drain and sewer systems. In this type of indirect visual inspection, a significant number of absolute and relative dimensional quantities can be quantified, contributing to the characterization of the observations and, consequently, to the analysis of performance of drain and sewer systems outside buildings. Unfavorable environmental factors and conditions within the drain or sewer components affect estimation of the quantities of interest and the quality of the recorded images (lighting, lack of reference points, geometric irregularities and subjective assessments, among others). Quantification improvement of the dimensional quantities is a key objective to achieve a better assessment of components condition from these inspections. This study contributes to improve the quality of the dimensional measurements by defining experimental procedures, applicable to the optical systems used in CCTV inspection. The paper describes the European normative framework for these inspection activities and proposes approaches aiming at increasing confidence in the dimensional measurements based on the metrological characterization of the optical systems used, as well as, to establish a traceability chain. Results presented and discussed include the evaluation of measurement uncertainty.</p>