Air Quality System (AQS) Monitoring Network, EPA OAR OAQPS

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This GIS dataset contains points which depict air quality monitors within EPA's Air Quality System (AQS) monitoring network. This dataset is updated weekly to...

Outlier Detection in Urban Air Quality Sensor Networks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Zoest, V.M.; Stein, A.; Hoek, Gerard

2018-01-01

Low-cost urban air quality sensor networks are increasingly used to study the spatio-temporal variability in air pollutant concentrations. Recently installed low-cost urban sensors, however, are more prone to result in erroneous data than conventional monitors, e.g., leading to outliers. Commonly

Air quality monitoring at Seoul, Korea as a part of East-Asian air surveillance network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hashimoto, Y.; Sekine, Y.; Kim, H.K.; Otoshi, T.

1989-01-01

Global scale air pollution study is a recent trend due to a perception that air pollution is changing climate and other essential earth's conditions that could seriously affect our lives. One of the important tasks which can contribute to protect our natural environment must be to know about the present and changing air quality. For this purpose, a regional air monitoring plan was designed by a research group and has proceeded to set up stations in the eastern Asia including Japan, Korea and China to get continuous data which can contribute to world wide data base of air quality. This project was initiated at Seoul, Korea in April, 1986 by the method of National Air Surveillance Network, Japan. Airborne particles were collected by so-called Hi-vol and Lo-vol, and their components were analyzed by neutron activation analysis and others. The results of Seoul sampling as a first step of this network plan are presented

Development and Application of a Next Generation Air Sensor Network for the Hong Kong Marathon 2015 Air Quality Monitoring.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Li; Wong, Ka Chun; Wei, Peng; Ye, Sheng; Huang, Hao; Yang, Fenhuan; Westerdahl, Dane; Louie, Peter K K; Luk, Connie W Y; Ning, Zhi

2016-02-05

This study presents the development and evaluation of a next generation air monitoring system with both laboratory and field tests. A multi-parameter algorithm was used to correct for the impact of environmental conditions on the electrochemical sensors for carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollutants. The field evaluation in an urban roadside environment in comparison to designated monitors showed good agreement with measurement error within 5% of the pollutant concentrations. Multiple sets of the developed system were then deployed in the Hong Kong Marathon 2015 forming a sensor-based network along the marathon route. Real-time air pollution concentration data were wirelessly transmitted and the Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) for the Green Marathon was calculated, which were broadcast to the public on an hourly basis. The route-specific sensor network showed somewhat different pollutant patterns than routine air monitoring, indicating the immediate impact of traffic control during the marathon on the roadside air quality. The study is one of the first applications of a next generation sensor network in international sport events, and it demonstrated the usefulness of the emerging sensor-based air monitoring technology in rapid network deployment to supplement existing air monitoring.

Identifying vital edges in Chinese air route network via memetic algorithm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wenbo Du

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Due to rapid development in the past decade, air transportation system has attracted considerable research attention from diverse communities. While most of the previous studies focused on airline networks, here we systematically explore the robustness of the Chinese air route network, and identify the vital edges which form the backbone of Chinese air transportation system. Specifically, we employ a memetic algorithm to minimize the network robustness after removing certain edges, and hence the solution of this model is the set of vital edges. Counterintuitively, our results show that the most vital edges are not necessarily the edges of the highest topological importance, for which we provide an extensive explanation from the microscope view. Our findings also offer new insights to understanding and optimizing other real-world network systems.

Structural properties of the Chinese air transportation multilayer network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hong, Chen; Zhang, Jun; Cao, Xian-Bin; Du, Wen-Bo

2016-01-01

Highlights: • We investigate the structural properties of the Chinese air transportation multilayer network (ATMN). • We compare two main types of layers corresponding to major and low-cost airlines. • It is found that small-world property and rich-club effect of the Chinese ATMN are mainly caused by major airlines. - Abstract: Recently multilayer networks are attracting great attention because the properties of many real-world systems cannot be well understood without considering their different layers. In this paper, we investigate the structural properties of the Chinese air transportation multilayer network (ATMN) by progressively merging layers together, where each commercial airline (company) defines a layer. The results show that the high clustering coefficient, short characteristic path length and large collection of reachable destinations of the Chinese ATMN can only emerge when several layers are merged together. Moreover, we compare two main types of layers corresponding to major and low-cost airlines. It is found that the small-world property and the rich-club effect of the Chinese ATMN are mainly caused by those layers corresponding to major airlines. Our work will highlight a better understanding of the Chinese air transportation network.

Development and Application of a Next Generation Air Sensor Network for the Hong Kong Marathon 2015 Air Quality Monitoring

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li Sun

2016-02-01

Full Text Available This study presents the development and evaluation of a next generation air monitoring system with both laboratory and field tests. A multi-parameter algorithm was used to correct for the impact of environmental conditions on the electrochemical sensors for carbon monoxide (CO and nitrogen dioxide (NO2 pollutants. The field evaluation in an urban roadside environment in comparison to designated monitors showed good agreement with measurement error within 5% of the pollutant concentrations. Multiple sets of the developed system were then deployed in the Hong Kong Marathon 2015 forming a sensor-based network along the marathon route. Real-time air pollution concentration data were wirelessly transmitted and the Air Quality Health Index (AQHI for the Green Marathon was calculated, which were broadcast to the public on an hourly basis. The route-specific sensor network showed somewhat different pollutant patterns than routine air monitoring, indicating the immediate impact of traffic control during the marathon on the roadside air quality. The study is one of the first applications of a next generation sensor network in international sport events, and it demonstrated the usefulness of the emerging sensor-based air monitoring technology in rapid network deployment to supplement existing air monitoring.

Development and Application of a Next Generation Air Sensor Network for the Hong Kong Marathon 2015 Air Quality Monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Li; Wong, Ka Chun; Wei, Peng; Ye, Sheng; Huang, Hao; Yang, Fenhuan; Westerdahl, Dane; Louie, Peter K.K.; Luk, Connie W.Y.; Ning, Zhi

2016-01-01

This study presents the development and evaluation of a next generation air monitoring system with both laboratory and field tests. A multi-parameter algorithm was used to correct for the impact of environmental conditions on the electrochemical sensors for carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollutants. The field evaluation in an urban roadside environment in comparison to designated monitors showed good agreement with measurement error within 5% of the pollutant concentrations. Multiple sets of the developed system were then deployed in the Hong Kong Marathon 2015 forming a sensor-based network along the marathon route. Real-time air pollution concentration data were wirelessly transmitted and the Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) for the Green Marathon was calculated, which were broadcast to the public on an hourly basis. The route-specific sensor network showed somewhat different pollutant patterns than routine air monitoring, indicating the immediate impact of traffic control during the marathon on the roadside air quality. The study is one of the first applications of a next generation sensor network in international sport events, and it demonstrated the usefulness of the emerging sensor-based air monitoring technology in rapid network deployment to supplement existing air monitoring. PMID:26861336

Air pollution assessment in the Slovak Republic in 2005. Measurement stations of air quality monitoring network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon

2006-05-01

In this Appendix to the report 'Air pollution assessment in the Slovak Republic in 2005' the main characteristics of measurement stations of air quality monitoring network of the Slovak Republic are presented

Air pollution assessment in the Slovak Republic in 2004. Measurement stations of air quality monitoring network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon

2005-07-01

In this Appendix to the report 'Air pollution assessment in the Slovak Republic in 2004' the main characteristics of measurement stations of air quality monitoring network of the Slovak Republic are presented

INVESTIGATION INTO ADVANCED AIR TRANSPORTATION NETWORK OF RUSSIAN FEDERATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. U. Udzhukhu

2014-01-01

Full Text Available An approach allowing one to predict the development of air-route network is proposed. It proceeds from the principle of increasing the accessibility of points of destination, that is to make available for passengers non-stop flights or flights with one transit landing in case of the largest number of routes. With comparative analysis of possible variants of extending the structure of air-route network, it is reasonable to take into account a generalized time parameter and a number of alternative routes for passenger delivery from departure point to point of destination.

Scale-Free Networks and Commercial Air Carrier Transportation in the United States

Science.gov (United States)

Conway, Sheila R.

2004-01-01

Network science, or the art of describing system structure, may be useful for the analysis and control of large, complex systems. For example, networks exhibiting scale-free structure have been found to be particularly well suited to deal with environmental uncertainty and large demand growth. The National Airspace System may be, at least in part, a scalable network. In fact, the hub-and-spoke structure of the commercial segment of the NAS is an often-cited example of an existing scale-free network After reviewing the nature and attributes of scale-free networks, this assertion is put to the test: is commercial air carrier transportation in the United States well explained by this model? If so, are the positive attributes of these networks, e.g. those of efficiency, flexibility and robustness, fully realized, or could we effect substantial improvement? This paper first outlines attributes of various network types, then looks more closely at the common carrier air transportation network from perspectives of the traveler, the airlines, and Air Traffic Control (ATC). Network models are applied within each paradigm, including discussion of implied strengths and weaknesses of each model. Finally, known limitations of scalable networks are discussed. With an eye towards NAS operations, utilizing the strengths and avoiding the weaknesses of scale-free networks are addressed.

Quality assurance and quality control for Hydro-Quebec's ambient air monitoring networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lambert, M.; Varfalvy, L.

1993-01-01

Hydro Quebec has three ambient air monitoring networks to determine the contribution of some of its thermal plants to ambient air quality. They are located in Becancour (gas turbines), Iles-de-la-Madeleine (diesel), and Tracy (conventional oil-fired). To ensure good quality results and consistency between networks, a quality assurance/quality control program was set up. A description is presented of the ambient air quality monitoring network and the quality assurance/quality control program. A guide has been created for use by the network operators, discussing objectives of the individual network, a complete description of each network, field operation for each model of instrument in use, treatment of data for each data logger in use, global considerations regarding quality assurance and control, and reports. A brief overview is presented of the guide's purpose and contents, focusing on the field operation section and the sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide monitors. 6 figs., 1 tab

Modeling a cold-air drainage event with a wireless sensor network

OpenAIRE

Brian R. Zutta; Eric A. Graham; Philip W. Rundel

2005-01-01

A wireless network of sensors was used to characterize a cold-air drainage event in the canyon surrounding the James Reserve. The flow of cold air at night and the first hours of sunrise have major ecological consequences by limiting the vegetation types to those tolerant of freeze and thaw cycles. A network of wireless sensors provides the opportunity to track this event in real time and fully characterize the cold air flow down the canyon, which may last 1.5 hours, and the pooling of cold a...

Hyper-Spectral Networking Concept of Operations and Future Air Traffic Management Simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Paul; Boisvert, Benjamin

2017-01-01

The NASA sponsored Hyper-Spectral Communications and Networking for Air Traffic Management (ATM) (HSCNA) project is conducting research to improve the operational efficiency of the future National Airspace System (NAS) through diverse and secure multi-band, multi-mode, and millimeter-wave (mmWave) wireless links. Worldwide growth of air transportation and the coming of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) will increase air traffic density and complexity. Safe coordination of aircraft will require more capable technologies for communications, navigation, and surveillance (CNS). The HSCNA project will provide a foundation for technology and operational concepts to accommodate a significantly greater number of networked aircraft. This paper describes two of the HSCNA projects technical challenges. The first technical challenge is to develop a multi-band networking concept of operations (ConOps) for use in multiple phases of flight and all communication link types. This ConOps will integrate the advanced technologies explored by the HSCNA project and future operational concepts into a harmonized vision of future NAS communications and networking. The second technical challenge discussed is to conduct simulations of future ATM operations using multi-bandmulti-mode networking and technologies. Large-scale simulations will assess the impact, compared to todays system, of the new and integrated networks and technologies under future air traffic demand.

What Does It Take to Establish that a World Is Uninhabited Prior to Exploitation? A Question of Ethics as well as Science

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Erik Persson

2014-08-01

Full Text Available If we find life on another world, it will be an extremely important discovery and we will have to take great care not to do anything that might endanger that life. If the life we find is sentient we will have moral obligations to that life. Whether it is sentient or not, we have a duty to ourselves to preserve it as a study object, and also because it would be commonly seen as valuable in its own right. In addition to this we would also have a duty to our fellow humans and other earthly life forms not to expose them to danger by advertently or inadvertently exposing them to potentially harmful space organisms. When space exploration turns into exploitation it will therefore be important to be able to show that a world that is up for exploitation is uninhabited before the exploitation starts. Showing that a world is uninhabited is, however, a different kind of task than showing that it is inhabited. The latter task can be accomplished through one positive finding but it is not clear how to go about the former task. In this paper I suggest that it is a gradual process asymptotically approaching certainty rather than a discovery in the traditional sense of the word. It has to be handled in two steps. The first is to connect degree of certainty with research setup. The second is to decide how certain we need to be. The first step is about the number, diversity and quality of observations. The second step is a decision we have to make based on the purpose of the investigation. The purpose and therefore the degree of certainty needed to establish that a world is uninhabited will be different for a world that is up for exploitation than for a world that is not. In the latter case it is only a matter of epistemic values. In the former case also ethical values have to be considered.

Enhanced data validation strategy of air quality monitoring network.

Science.gov (United States)

Harkat, Mohamed-Faouzi; Mansouri, Majdi; Nounou, Mohamed; Nounou, Hazem

2018-01-01

Quick validation and detection of faults in measured air quality data is a crucial step towards achieving the objectives of air quality networks. Therefore, the objectives of this paper are threefold: (i) to develop a modeling technique that can be used to predict the normal behavior of air quality variables and help provide accurate reference for monitoring purposes; (ii) to develop fault detection method that can effectively and quickly detect any anomalies in measured air quality data. For this purpose, a new fault detection method that is based on the combination of generalized likelihood ratio test (GLRT) and exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) will be developed. GLRT is a well-known statistical fault detection method that relies on maximizing the detection probability for a given false alarm rate. In this paper, we propose to develop GLRT-based EWMA fault detection method that will be able to detect the changes in the values of certain air quality variables; (iii) to develop fault isolation and identification method that allows defining the fault source(s) in order to properly apply appropriate corrective actions. In this paper, reconstruction approach that is based on Midpoint-Radii Principal Component Analysis (MRPCA) model will be developed to handle the types of data and models associated with air quality monitoring networks. All air quality modeling, fault detection, fault isolation and reconstruction methods developed in this paper will be validated using real air quality data (such as particulate matter, ozone, nitrogen and carbon oxides measurement). Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Annual report 1990/91 for the Hamburg air monitoring network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goemer, D.; Hache, W.; Matzen, D.; Reich, T.

1992-01-01

In addition to measured results form the stationary air monitoring network from 1990 (detailed report) and 1991 (brief version), the annual report 1990/91 presents results form special measuring programs of the dynmao car area and from measurements made on the street dating from 1990/91. After a detailed presentation of the meteorological frame conditions in 1990, distinguishing by a relatively good air exchange, a detailed discussion of the air load during this period and a brief survey about the air quality in 1991 follows. (orig.) [de

Network Theory: A Primer and Questions for Air Transportation Systems Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Holmes, Bruce J.

2004-01-01

A new understanding (with potential applications to air transportation systems) has emerged in the past five years in the scientific field of networks. This development emerges in large part because we now have a new laboratory for developing theories about complex networks: The Internet. The premise of this new understanding is that most complex networks of interest, both of nature and of human contrivance, exhibit a fundamentally different behavior than thought for over two hundred years under classical graph theory. Classical theory held that networks exhibited random behavior, characterized by normal, (e.g., Gaussian or Poisson) degree distributions of the connectivity between nodes by links. The new understanding turns this idea on its head: networks of interest exhibit scale-free (or small world) degree distributions of connectivity, characterized by power law distributions. The implications of scale-free behavior for air transportation systems include the potential that some behaviors of complex system architectures might be analyzed through relatively simple approximations of local elements of the system. For air transportation applications, this presentation proposes a framework for constructing topologies (architectures) that represent the relationships between mobility, flight operations, aircraft requirements, and airspace capacity, and the related externalities in airspace procedures and architectures. The proposed architectures or topologies may serve as a framework for posing comparative and combinative analyses of performance, cost, security, environmental, and related metrics.

Why social network analysis is important to Air Force applications

Science.gov (United States)

Havig, Paul R.; McIntire, John P.; Geiselman, Eric; Mohd-Zaid, Fairul

2012-06-01

Social network analysis is a powerful tool used to help analysts discover relationships amongst groups of people as well as individuals. It is the mathematics behind such social networks as Facebook and MySpace. These networks alone cause a huge amount of data to be generated and the issue is only compounded once one adds in other electronic media such as e-mails and twitter. In this paper we outline the basics of social network analysis and how it may be used in current and future Air Force applications.

Mapping real-time air pollution health risk for environmental management: Combining mobile and stationary air pollution monitoring with neural network models.

Science.gov (United States)

Adams, Matthew D; Kanaroglou, Pavlos S

2016-03-01

Air pollution poses health concerns at the global scale. The challenge of managing air pollution is significant because of the many air pollutants, insufficient funds for monitoring and abatement programs, and political and social challenges in defining policy to limit emissions. Some governments provide citizens with air pollution health risk information to allow them to limit their exposure. However, many regions still have insufficient air pollution monitoring networks to provide real-time mapping. Where available, these risk mapping systems either provide absolute concentration data or the concentrations are used to derive an Air Quality Index, which provides the air pollution risk for a mix of air pollutants with a single value. When risk information is presented as a single value for an entire region it does not inform on the spatial variation within the region. Without an understanding of the local variation residents can only make a partially informed decision when choosing daily activities. The single value is typically provided because of a limited number of active monitoring units in the area. In our work, we overcome this issue by leveraging mobile air pollution monitoring techniques, meteorological information and land use information to map real-time air pollution health risks. We propose an approach that can provide improved health risk information to the public by applying neural network models within a framework that is inspired by land use regression. Mobile air pollution monitoring campaigns were conducted across Hamilton from 2005 to 2013. These mobile air pollution data were modelled with a number of predictor variables that included information on the surrounding land use characteristics, the meteorological conditions, air pollution concentrations from fixed location monitors, and traffic information during the time of collection. Fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide were both modelled. During the model fitting process we reserved

Constructing a generalized network design model to study air distribution in ventilation networks in subway with a single-track tunnel

Science.gov (United States)

Lugin, IV

2018-03-01

In focus are the features of construction of the generalized design model for the network method to study air distribution in ventilation system in subway with the single-track tunnel. The generalizations, assumptions and simplifications included in the model are specified. The air distribution is calculated with regard to the influence of topology and air resistances of the ventilation network sections. The author studies two variants of the subway line: half-open and closed with dead end on the both sides. It is found that the total air exchange at a subway station depends on the station location within the line. The operating mode of fans remains unaltered in this case. The article shows that elimination of air leakage in the station ventilation room allows an increase in the air flow rate by 7–8% at the same energy consumption by fans. The influence of the stop of a train in the tunnel on the air distribution is illustrated.

An Empirical Assessment of Temporal Decorrelation Using the Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar over Forested Landscapes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michelle Hofton

2012-04-01

Full Text Available We present an empirical assessment of the impact of temporal decorrelation on interferometric coherence measured over a forested landscape. A series of repeat-pass interferometric radar images with a zero spatial baseline were collected with UAVSAR (Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar, a fully polarimetric airborne L-band radar system. The dataset provided temporal separations of 45 minutes, 2, 7 and 9 days. Coincident airborne lidar and weather data were collected. We theoretically demonstrate that UAVSAR measurement accuracy enables accurate quantification of temporal decorrelation. Data analysis revealed precipitation events to be the main driver of temporal decorrelation over the acquisition period. The experiment also shows temporal decorrelation increases with canopy height, and this pattern was found consistent across forest types and polarization.

Air Force and the Cyberspace Mission: Defending the Air Force's Computer Network in the Future

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Courville, Shane P

2007-01-01

.... Although the Air Force and the Department of Defense (DoD) in general, have numerous safeguards in effect to protect systems and their networks, DoD relies on a system that is "passive" when encountering cyber threats...

The control network of air quality in the Lorraine steel industry country: an example of a specific steel industry network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Poncin, G.

1991-01-01

This specific (for steel industry region) network for the air quality control mainly measures the concentrations in sulfur dioxide, airborne dust and fall out particles. The recent automation of this network implied a preliminary optimization study which consisted of a statistical analysis of the numerous data collected by many hand operated sensors. The implementation and working conditions of the new equipment have required the use of air-conditioned monoblock metallic cabins

Based on Artificial Neural Network to Realize K-Parameter Analysis of Vehicle Air Spring System

Science.gov (United States)

Hung, San-Shan; Hsu, Chia-Ning; Hwang, Chang-Chou; Chen, Wen-Jan

2017-10-01

In recent years, because of the air-spring control technique is more mature, that air- spring suspension systems already can be used to replace the classical vehicle suspension system. Depend on internal pressure variation of the air-spring, thestiffnessand the damping factor can be adjusted. Because of air-spring has highly nonlinear characteristic, therefore it isn’t easy to construct the classical controller to control the air-spring effectively. The paper based on Artificial Neural Network to propose a feasible control strategy. By using offline way for the neural network design and learning to the air-spring in different initial pressures and different loads, offline method through, predict air-spring stiffness parameter to establish a model. Finally, through adjusting air-spring internal pressure to change the K-parameter of the air-spring, realize the well dynamic control performance of air-spring suspension.

Modeling Air Traffic Situation Complexity with a Dynamic Weighted Network Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hongyong Wang

2018-01-01

Full Text Available In order to address the flight delays and risks associated with the forecasted increase in air traffic, there is a need to increase the capacity of air traffic management systems. This should be based on objective measurements of traffic situation complexity. In current air traffic complexity research, no simple means is available to integrate airspace and traffic flow characteristics. In this paper, we propose a new approach for the measurement of air traffic situation complexity. This approach considers the effects of both airspace and traffic flow and objectively quantifies air traffic situation complexity. Considering the aircraft, waypoints, and airways as nodes, and the complexity relationships among these nodes as edges, a dynamic weighted network is constructed. Air traffic situation complexity is defined as the sum of the weights of all edges in the network, and the relationships of complexity with some commonly used indices are statistically analyzed. The results indicate that the new complexity index is more accurate than traffic count and reflects the number of trajectory changes as well as the high-risk situations. Additionally, analysis of potential applications reveals that this new index contributes to achieving complexity-based management, which represents an efficient method for increasing airspace system capacity.

Research on the Topological Properties of Air Quality Index Based on a Complex Network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yongli Zhang

2018-04-01

Full Text Available To analyze the dynamic characteristics of air quality for enforcing effective measures to prevent and evade air pollution harm, air quality index (AQI time series data was selected and transformed into a symbol sequence consisting of characters (H, M, L through the coarse graining process; then each 6-symbols series was treated as one vertex by time sequence to construct the AQI directed-weighted network; finally the centrality, clusterability, and ranking of the AQI network were analyzed. The results indicated that vertex strength and cumulative strength distribution, vertex strength and strength rank presented power law distributions, and the AQI network is a scale-free network. Only 17 vertices possessed a higher weighted clustering coefficient; meanwhile weighted clustering coefficient and vertex strength didn’t show a strong correlation. The AQI network did not have an obvious central tendency towards intermediaries in general, but 20.55% of vertices accounted for nearly 1/2 of the intermediaries, and the varieties still existed. The mean distance of 68.4932% of vertices was 6.120–9.973, the AQI network did not have obvious small-world phenomena, the conversion of AQI patterns presented the characteristics of periodicity and regularity, and 20.2055% of vertices had high proximity prestige. The vertices fell into six islands, the AQI pattern indicating heavy or serious air pollution lasting six days always lingered for a long time. The number of triads 2-012 was the largest, and the AQI network followed the transitivity model. The study has instructional significance in understanding time change regulation of air quality in Beijing, opening a new way for time series prediction research. Additionally, the factors causing the change of topological properties should be analyzed in the future research.

Performance assessment of air quality monitoring networks using principal component analysis and cluster analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lu, Wei-Zhen; He, Hong-Di; Dong, Li-yun

2011-01-01

This study aims to evaluate the performance of two statistical methods, principal component analysis and cluster analysis, for the management of air quality monitoring network of Hong Kong and the reduction of associated expenses. The specific objectives include: (i) to identify city areas with similar air pollution behavior; and (ii) to locate emission sources. The statistical methods were applied to the mass concentrations of sulphur dioxide (SO 2 ), respirable suspended particulates (RSP) and nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), collected in monitoring network of Hong Kong from January 2001 to December 2007. The results demonstrate that, for each pollutant, the monitoring stations are grouped into different classes based on their air pollution behaviors. The monitoring stations located in nearby area are characterized by the same specific air pollution characteristics and suggested with an effective management of air quality monitoring system. The redundant equipments should be transferred to other monitoring stations for allowing further enlargement of the monitored area. Additionally, the existence of different air pollution behaviors in the monitoring network is explained by the variability of wind directions across the region. The results imply that the air quality problem in Hong Kong is not only a local problem mainly from street-level pollutions, but also a region problem from the Pearl River Delta region. (author)

Wireless air monitoring network with new AMIZ-2004G dust monitors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jakowiuk, A.; Machaj, B.; Pienkos, P.; Swistowski, E.

2006-01-01

The principle of operation of the dust monitors is based on determination of dust mass deposited on air filters from known volumes of air samples. The dust mass is determined from radiation attenuation of a Pm-147 beta source. MIZA and AMIZ monitors produced in the Institute of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology, Warsaw (Poland) additionally measure relative humidity, atmospheric pressure and temperature of the air. In case the measurements are made in a few different places, direct collection of the results requires that personnel of the environment protection units has to go frequently to the monitors and collect the data. To improve the data transmission, a new version of the AMIZ-2004G monitor was developed which is equipped with a GSM modem enabling communication with a central computer. Thanks to the new construction not only a remote wireless communication with AMIZ is possible, but also a monitoring network containing a higher number of dust monitors can be made. The measuring data from all the monitors in the network can now be collected in one central computer equipped with the GSM modem and a proper acquisition program. In 2005, two such monitoring networks were put into operation

Inside the Mechanics of Network Development: How Competition and Strategy Reorganize European Air Traffic

Science.gov (United States)

Huber, Hans

2006-01-01

Air transport forms complex networks that can be measured in order to understand its structural characteristics and functional properties. Recent models for network growth (i.e., preferential attachment, etc.) remain stochastic and do not seek to understand other network-specific mechanisms that may account for their development in a more microscopic way. Air traffic is made up of many constituent airlines that are either privately or publicly owned and that operate their own networks. They follow more or less similar business policies each. The way these airline networks organize among themselves into distinct traffic distributions reveals complex interaction among them, which in turn can be aggregated into larger (macro-) traffic distributions. Our approach allows for a more deterministic methodology that will assess the impact of airline strategies on the distinct distributions for air traffic, particularly inside Europe. One key question this paper is seeking to answer is whether there are distinct patterns of preferential attachment for given classes of airline networks to distinct types of European airports. Conclusions about the advancing degree of concentration in this industry and the airline operators that accelerate this process can be drawn.

Ambient Air Pollution Monitoring Network Over Alexandria City And The Nile DELTA, Egypt

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

El Raey, M.; Shalaby, E.; Guirguis, S.; Ghatass, Z.; Said, H.H.; Zahran, A.; Rashad, M.; Sivertsen, B.

2007-01-01

The Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA) has established a National Air Pollution Network for Egypt. A part of this network covers Alexandria and the Nile delta region and is being operated by the Institute of Graduate Studies and Research (IGSR), University of Alexandria. This paper presents a description of the network, the QA/QC program as well as results from automatic monitors and manually operated instruments . . Preliminary interpretations and implications of air pollution levels have also been discussed. The network monitors ambient air quality indicators including SO 2 , NO 2 , CO, O 3 and PM 10 . The sites for measurements were selected to represent industrial, traffic and domestic sources. Eight stations are established over Alexandria City and seven stations are distributed over Nile delta major cities Damanhur, Kafr EI-Dawwar, Kafr EI-Zayat, Mahala, Tanta, Damietta and Mansoura. The results represent the first long term air quality data for the southern Mediterranean region, which have been properly quality assured and quality controlled. The main results indicate that measured NO 2 concentrations have not exceeded the national air quality limit (AQL) values given for Egypt. The same occurred for SO 2 except at one site located in Kafr Elzayat in the Delta, where large emissions from brick factories impact the site. The 8-hour average CO concentrations were exceeded at a few occasions. PM 10 concentrations have been identified as the major air pollution problem. Concentrations exceeding 70 μm 3 (AQL) have been observed over many sites most of the time. It is suggested that a strong program for tree cultivation on the western desert may be essential for protection

Air fuel ratio detector corrector for combustion engines using adaptive neurofuzzy networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nidhi Arora

2013-07-01

Full Text Available A perfect mix of the air and fuel in internal combustion engines is desirable for proper combustion of fuel with air. The vehicles running on road emit harmful gases due to improper combustion. This problem is severe in heavy vehicles like locomotive engines. To overcome this problem, generally an operator opens or closes the valve of fuel injection pump of locomotive engines to control amount of air going inside the combustion chamber, which requires constant monitoring. A model is proposed in this paper to alleviate combustion process. The method involves recording the time-varying flow of fuel components in combustion chamber. A Fuzzy Neural Network is trained for around 40 fuels to ascertain the required amount of air to form a standard mix to produce non-harmful gases and about 12 fuels are used for testing the network’s performance. The network then adaptively determines the additional/subtractive amount of air required for proper combustion. Mean square error calculation ensures the effectiveness of the network’s performance.

Air Quality Measures on the National Environmental Health Tracking Network

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provides air pollution data about ozone and particulate matter (PM2.5) to CDC for the Tracking Network. The EPA maintains a...

Towards development of a deposition monitoring network for air pollution of Europe

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Erisman JW; Mennen MG; Fowler D; Flechard CR; Spindler G; Gruner A; Duyzer JH; Ruigrok W; Wyers GP; LLO; TNO; ECN; ITE (Engeland); IFT (Duitsland)

1996-01-01

In January 1993 within the framework of the LIFE programme a project was financed which aim was to develop a deposition monitoring method for air pollution of Europe. This method should be used to extend existing European monitoring networks of air concentrations to provide deposition inputs on an

On the feasibility of measuring urban air pollution by wireless distributed sensor networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Moltchanov, Sharon; Levy, Ilan; Etzion, Yael; Lerner, Uri; Broday, David M; Fishbain, Barak

2015-01-01

Accurate evaluation of air pollution on human-wellbeing requires high-resolution measurements. Standard air quality monitoring stations provide accurate pollution levels but due to their sparse distribution they cannot capture the highly resolved spatial variations within cities. Similarly, dedicated field campaigns can use tens of measurement devices and obtain highly dense spatial coverage but normally deployment has been limited to short periods of no more than few weeks. Nowadays, advances in communication and sensory technologies enable the deployment of dense grids of wireless distributed air monitoring nodes, yet their sensor ability to capture the spatiotemporal pollutant variability at the sub-neighborhood scale has never been thoroughly tested. This study reports ambient measurements of gaseous air pollutants by a network of six wireless multi-sensor miniature nodes that have been deployed in three urban sites, about 150 m apart. We demonstrate the network's capability to capture spatiotemporal concentration variations at an exceptional fine resolution but highlight the need for a frequent in-situ calibration to maintain the consistency of some sensors. Accordingly, a procedure for a field calibration is proposed and shown to improve the system's performance. Overall, our results support the compatibility of wireless distributed sensor networks for measuring urban air pollution at a sub-neighborhood spatial resolution, which suits the requirement for highly spatiotemporal resolved measurements at the breathing-height when assessing exposure to urban air pollution. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A metric of influential spreading during contagion dynamics through the air transportation network.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christos Nicolaides

Full Text Available The spread of infectious diseases at the global scale is mediated by long-range human travel. Our ability to predict the impact of an outbreak on human health requires understanding the spatiotemporal signature of early-time spreading from a specific location. Here, we show that network topology, geography, traffic structure and individual mobility patterns are all essential for accurate predictions of disease spreading. Specifically, we study contagion dynamics through the air transportation network by means of a stochastic agent-tracking model that accounts for the spatial distribution of airports, detailed air traffic and the correlated nature of mobility patterns and waiting-time distributions of individual agents. From the simulation results and the empirical air-travel data, we formulate a metric of influential spreading--the geographic spreading centrality--which accounts for spatial organization and the hierarchical structure of the network traffic, and provides an accurate measure of the early-time spreading power of individual nodes.

Twenty years of measurement of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in UK ambient air by nationwide air quality networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Andrew S; Brown, Richard J C; Coleman, Peter J; Conolly, Christopher; Sweetman, Andrew J; Jones, Kevin C; Butterfield, David M; Sarantaridis, Dimitris; Donovan, Brian J; Roberts, Ian

2013-06-01

The impact of human activities on the health of the population and of the wider environment has prompted action to monitor the presence of toxic compounds in the atmosphere. Toxic organic micropollutants (TOMPs) are some of the most insidious and persistent of these pollutants. Since 1991 the United Kingdom has operated nationwide air quality networks to assess the presence of TOMPs, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), in ambient air. The data produced in 2010 marked 20 years of nationwide PAH monitoring. This paper marks this milestone by providing a novel and critical review of the data produced since nationwide monitoring began up to the end of 2011 (the latest year for which published data is available), discussing how the networks performing this monitoring has evolved, and elucidating trends in the concentrations of the PAHs measured. The current challenges in the area and a forward look to the future of air quality monitoring for PAHs are also discussed briefly.

The Roland Maze Project - school-based extensive air shower network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feder, J.; Jedrzejczak, K.; Karczmarczyk, J.; Lewandowski, R.; Swarzynski, J.; Szabelska, B.; Szabelski, J.; Wibig, T.

2006-01-01

We plan to construct the large area network of extensive air shower detectors placed on the roofs of high school buildings in the city of Lodz. Detection points will be connected by INTERNET to the central server and their work will be synchronized by GPS. The main scientific goal of the project are studies of ultra high energy cosmic rays. Using existing town infrastructure (INTERNET, power supply, etc.) will significantly reduce the cost of the experiment. Engaging high school students in the research program should significantly increase their knowledge of science and modern technologies, and can be a very efficient way of science popularisation. We performed simulations of the projected network capabilities of registering Extensive Air Showers and reconstructing energies of primary particles. Results of the simulations and the current status of project realisation will be presented

From trees to forest: relational complexity network and workload of air traffic controllers.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Jingyu; Yang, Jiazhong; Wu, Changxu

2015-01-01

In this paper, we propose a relational complexity (RC) network framework based on RC metric and network theory to model controllers' workload in conflict detection and resolution. We suggest that, at the sector level, air traffic showing a centralised network pattern can provide cognitive benefits in visual search and resolution decision which will in turn result in lower workload. We found that the network centralisation index can account for more variance in predicting perceived workload and task completion time in both a static conflict detection task (Study 1) and a dynamic one (Study 2) in addition to other aircraft-level and pair-level factors. This finding suggests that linear combination of aircraft-level or dyad-level information may not be adequate and the global-pattern-based index is necessary. Theoretical and practical implications of using this framework to improve future workload modelling and management are discussed. We propose a RC network framework to model the workload of air traffic controllers. The effect of network centralisation was examined in both a static conflict detection task and a dynamic one. Network centralisation was predictive of perceived workload and task completion time over and above other control variables.

An open-access modeled passenger flow matrix for the global air network in 2010.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Zhuojie; Wu, Xiao; Garcia, Andres J; Fik, Timothy J; Tatem, Andrew J

2013-01-01

The expanding global air network provides rapid and wide-reaching connections accelerating both domestic and international travel. To understand human movement patterns on the network and their socioeconomic, environmental and epidemiological implications, information on passenger flow is required. However, comprehensive data on global passenger flow remain difficult and expensive to obtain, prompting researchers to rely on scheduled flight seat capacity data or simple models of flow. This study describes the construction of an open-access modeled passenger flow matrix for all airports with a host city-population of more than 100,000 and within two transfers of air travel from various publicly available air travel datasets. Data on network characteristics, city population, and local area GDP amongst others are utilized as covariates in a spatial interaction framework to predict the air transportation flows between airports. Training datasets based on information from various transportation organizations in the United States, Canada and the European Union were assembled. A log-linear model controlling the random effects on origin, destination and the airport hierarchy was then built to predict passenger flows on the network, and compared to the results produced using previously published models. Validation analyses showed that the model presented here produced improved predictive power and accuracy compared to previously published models, yielding the highest successful prediction rate at the global scale. Based on this model, passenger flows between 1,491 airports on 644,406 unique routes were estimated in the prediction dataset. The airport node characteristics and estimated passenger flows are freely available as part of the Vector-Borne Disease Airline Importation Risk (VBD-Air) project at: www.vbd-air.com/data.

U.S. EPA's National Dioxin Air Monitoring Network: Analytical Issues

Science.gov (United States)

The U.S. EPA has established a National Dioxin Air Monitoring Network (NDAMN) to determine the temporal and geographical variability of atmospheric chlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (CDDs), furans (CDFs), and coplanar polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) at rural and non-impacted locatio...

Quantitative Assessment of Detection Frequency for the INL Ambient Air Monitoring Network

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sondrup, A. Jeffrey [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Rood, Arthur S. [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

2014-11-01

A quantitative assessment of the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) air monitoring network was performed using frequency of detection as the performance metric. The INL air monitoring network consists of 37 low-volume air samplers in 31 different locations. Twenty of the samplers are located on INL (onsite) and 17 are located off INL (offsite). Detection frequencies were calculated using both BEA and ESER laboratory minimum detectable activity (MDA) levels. The CALPUFF Lagrangian puff dispersion model, coupled with 1 year of meteorological data, was used to calculate time-integrated concentrations at sampler locations for a 1-hour release of unit activity (1 Ci) for every hour of the year. The unit-activity time-integrated concentration (TICu) values were calculated at all samplers for releases from eight INL facilities. The TICu values were then scaled and integrated for a given release quantity and release duration. All facilities modeled a ground-level release emanating either from the center of the facility or at a point where significant emissions are possible. In addition to ground-level releases, three existing stacks at the Advanced Test Reactor Complex, Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center, and Material and Fuels Complex were also modeled. Meteorological data from the 35 stations comprising the INL Mesonet network, data from the Idaho Falls Regional airport, upper air data from the Boise airport, and three-dimensional gridded data from the weather research forecasting model were used for modeling. Three representative radionuclides identified as key radionuclides in INL’s annual National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants evaluations were considered for the frequency of detection analysis: Cs-137 (beta-gamma emitter), Pu-239 (alpha emitter), and Sr-90 (beta emitter). Source-specific release quantities were calculated for each radionuclide, such that the maximum inhalation dose at any publicly accessible sampler or the National

Architecture for an integrated real-time air combat and sensor network simulation

Science.gov (United States)

Criswell, Evans A.; Rushing, John; Lin, Hong; Graves, Sara

2007-04-01

An architecture for an integrated air combat and sensor network simulation is presented. The architecture integrates two components: a parallel real-time sensor fusion and target tracking simulation, and an air combat simulation. By integrating these two simulations, it becomes possible to experiment with scenarios in which one or both sides in a battle have very large numbers of primitive passive sensors, and to assess the likely effects of those sensors on the outcome of the battle. Modern Air Power is a real-time theater-level air combat simulation that is currently being used as a part of the USAF Air and Space Basic Course (ASBC). The simulation includes a variety of scenarios from the Vietnam war to the present day, and also includes several hypothetical future scenarios. Modern Air Power includes a scenario editor, an order of battle editor, and full AI customization features that make it possible to quickly construct scenarios for any conflict of interest. The scenario editor makes it possible to place a wide variety of sensors including both high fidelity sensors such as radars, and primitive passive sensors that provide only very limited information. The parallel real-time sensor network simulation is capable of handling very large numbers of sensors on a computing cluster of modest size. It can fuse information provided by disparate sensors to detect and track targets, and produce target tracks.

Combining Community Engagement and Scientific Approaches in Next-Generation Monitor Siting: The Case of the Imperial County Community Air Network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michelle Wong

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Air pollution continues to be a global public health threat, and the expanding availability of small, low-cost air sensors has led to increased interest in both personal and crowd-sourced air monitoring. However, to date, few low-cost air monitoring networks have been developed with the scientific rigor or continuity needed to conduct public health surveillance and inform policy. In Imperial County, California, near the U.S./Mexico border, we used a collaborative, community-engaged process to develop a community air monitoring network that attains the scientific rigor required for research, while also achieving community priorities. By engaging community residents in the project design, monitor siting processes, data dissemination, and other key activities, the resulting air monitoring network data are relevant, trusted, understandable, and used by community residents. Integration of spatial analysis and air monitoring best practices into the network development process ensures that the data are reliable and appropriate for use in research activities. This combined approach results in a community air monitoring network that is better able to inform community residents, support research activities, guide public policy, and improve public health. Here we detail the monitor siting process and outline the advantages and challenges of this approach.

Classifying Sources Influencing Indoor Air Quality (IAQ Using Artificial Neural Network (ANN

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shaharil Mad Saad

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Monitoring indoor air quality (IAQ is deemed important nowadays. A sophisticated IAQ monitoring system which could classify the source influencing the IAQ is definitely going to be very helpful to the users. Therefore, in this paper, an IAQ monitoring system has been proposed with a newly added feature which enables the system to identify the sources influencing the level of IAQ. In order to achieve this, the data collected has been trained with artificial neural network or ANN—a proven method for pattern recognition. Basically, the proposed system consists of sensor module cloud (SMC, base station and service-oriented client. The SMC contain collections of sensor modules that measure the air quality data and transmit the captured data to base station through wireless network. The IAQ monitoring system is also equipped with IAQ Index and thermal comfort index which could tell the users about the room’s conditions. The results showed that the system is able to measure the level of air quality and successfully classify the sources influencing IAQ in various environments like ambient air, chemical presence, fragrance presence, foods and beverages and human activity.

Journal Article: EPA's National Dioxin Air Monitoring Network (Ndamn): Design, Implementation, and Final Results

Science.gov (United States)

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) established the National Dioxin Air Monitoring Network (NDAMN) in June of 1998, and operated it until November of 2004. The objective of NDAMN was to determine background air concentrations of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (...

A Portable Low-Cost High Density Sensor Network for Air Quality at London Heathrow Airport

Science.gov (United States)

Popoola, Olalekan; Mead, Iq; Bright, Vivien; Baron, Ronan; Saffell, John; Stewart, Gregor; Kaye, Paul; Jones, Roderic

2013-04-01

Outdoor air quality and its impact on human health and the environment have been well studied and it has been projected that poor air quality will surpass poor sanitation as the major course of environmental premature mortality by 2050 (IGAC / IGBP, release statement, 2012). Transport-related pollution has been regulated at various levels by enactment of legislations at local, national, regional and global stages. As part of the mitigation measures, routine measurements of atmospheric pollutants such as carbon monoxide (CO), nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) have to be established in areas where air quality problems are identified. In addition, emission inventories are also generated for different atmospheric environments including urban areas and airport environments required for air quality models. Whilst recognising that most of the existing sparse monitoring networks provide high temporal measurements, spatial data of these highly variable pollutants are not captured, making it difficult to adequately characterise the highly heterogeneous air quality. Spatial information is often obtained from model data which can only be constrained using measurements from the sparse monitoring networks. The work presented here shows the application of low-cost sensor networks aimed at addressing this missing spatial information. We have shown in previous studies the application of low-cost electrochemical sensor network instruments in monitoring road transport pollutants including CO, NO and NO2 in an urban environment (Mead et. al. 2012, accepted Atmospheric Environment). Modified versions of these instruments which include additional species such as O3, SO2, VOCs and CO2 are currently deployed at London Heathrow Airport (LHR) as part of the Sensor Network for Air Quality (SNAQ) project. Meteorology data such as temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and direction are also measured as well as size-speciated particulates (0.38 to 17.4 µm). A network of 50

Development of multiplexing network for air conditioner systems; Eakon yo LAN system no kaihatsu

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Matsumoto, T; Nakazawa, Y; Nakase, M; Sato, Y [Nissan Motor Co. Ltd., Tokyo (Japan); Nomura, M; Okasato, Y; Sunaga, H [Calsonic Corp., Tokyo (Japan)

1997-10-01

Plural air flap actuators of the air conditioner system in a vehicle have been integrated into a single-type actuator using two newly developed technologies: super-low-cost multiplexing network technology and digital motor control technology with a 1-bit A/D converter. The number of harnesses and connectors and the handling load of the air conditioner control microcomputer are reduced, so that we succeeded in sharply reducing the cost of the air conditioner system. 9 figs., 2 tabs.

Air radioactivity: to assess risks. Tools answer citizen questions. The Opera-Air network: the journey of a filter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Didier, Damien; Gariel, Jean-Christophe; Bruno, Valerie; Debayle, Christophe

2017-01-01

Very highly efficient filters containing a porous glass fibre fabric are used in industrial installations to trap radioactive or toxic particles in order to limit their release, notably in accidental situations. Thus this set of articles discusses various issues related to the use of such filters. A first one describes how air radioactivity is continuously monitored by two coexisting networks: Opera-Air and Teleray. It indicates where air radioactivity comes from, and how the origin of a release can be determined, and outlines the importance of modelling tools. Air monitoring about the Gravelines nuclear power plant is briefly presented with a drawing. A second article comments the existence of numerous tools which are used as information channels about the monitoring of air radioactivity: web sites, mobile application, and so on. The last article briefly describes the journey of a filter from its removal on a Monday to a complete and validated analysis which lasts between two and four weeks

INFLUENCE OF APPLYING ADDITIONAL FORCING FANS FOR THE AIR DISTRIBUTION IN VENTILATION NETWORK

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nikodem SZLĄZAK

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Mining progress in underground mines cause the ongoing movement of working areas. Consequently, it becomes neces-sary to adapt the ventilation network of a mine to direct airflow into newly-opened districts. For economic reasons, opening new fields is often achieved via underground workings. Length of primary intake and return routes increases and also increases the total resistance of a complex ventilation network. The development of a subsurface structure can make it necessary to change the air distribution in a ventilation network. Increasing airflow into newly-opened districts is necessary. In mines where extraction does not entail gas-related hazards, there is possibility of implementing a push-pull ventilation system in order to supplement airflows to newly developed mining fields. This is achieved by installing sub-surface fan stations with forcing fans at the bottom of downcast shaft. In push-pull systems with multiple main fans, it is vital to select forcing fans with characteristic curves matching those of the existing exhaust fans to prevent undesirable mutual interaction. In complex ventilation networks it is necessary to calculate distribution of airflow (especially in net-works with a large number of installed fans. In the article the influence of applying additional forcing fans for the air distribution in ventilation network for underground mine were considered. There are also analysed the extent of over-pressure caused by the additional forcing fan in branches of the ventilation network (the operating range of additional forcing fan. Possibilities of increasing airflow rate in working areas were conducted.

Game theoretic analysis of congestion, safety and security networks, air traffic and emergency departments

CERN Document Server

Zhuang, Jun

2015-01-01

Maximizing reader insights into the roles of intelligent agents in networks, air traffic and emergency departments, this volume focuses on congestion in systems where safety and security are at stake, devoting special attention to applying game theoretic analysis of congestion to: protocols in wired and wireless networks; power generation, air transportation and emergency department overcrowding. Reviewing exhaustively the key recent research into the interactions between game theory, excessive crowding, and safety and security elements, this book establishes a new research angle by illustrating linkages between the different research approaches and serves to lay the foundations for subsequent analysis. Congestion (excessive crowding) is defined in this work as all kinds of flows; e.g., road/sea/air traffic, people, data, information, water, electricity, and organisms. Analyzing systems where congestion occurs – which may be in parallel, series, interlinked, or interdependent, with flows one way or both way...

European experience on air and water pollution control: monitoring network and warning station

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aflalo, Sergio S [Groupe Environnement S.A., Poissy (France)

1994-12-31

After a review of the energy consumption and pollutants emitted in the European Community, especially those concerning the `green house effect`, the author proceeded a summary of the actual legislation and Europeans directives, and also, the Best Available Technology for reducing air pollution is discussed. Original Air Quality monitoring networks performed by Environnement SA are described including measurements obtained around Paris and other areas of France. 7 refs., 11 figs.

European experience on air and water pollution control: monitoring network and warning station

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aflalo, Sergio S. [Groupe Environnement S.A., Poissy (France)

1993-12-31

After a review of the energy consumption and pollutants emitted in the European Community, especially those concerning the `green house effect`, the author proceeded a summary of the actual legislation and Europeans directives, and also, the Best Available Technology for reducing air pollution is discussed. Original Air Quality monitoring networks performed by Environnement SA are described including measurements obtained around Paris and other areas of France. 7 refs., 11 figs.

Optimal redistribution of an urban air quality monitoring network using atmospheric dispersion model and genetic algorithm

Science.gov (United States)

Hao, Yufang; Xie, Shaodong

2018-03-01

Air quality monitoring networks play a significant role in identifying the spatiotemporal patterns of air pollution, and they need to be deployed efficiently, with a minimum number of sites. The revision and optimal adjustment of existing monitoring networks is crucial for cities that have undergone rapid urban expansion and experience temporal variations in pollution patterns. The approach based on the Weather Research and Forecasting-California PUFF (WRF-CALPUFF) model and genetic algorithm (GA) was developed to design an optimal monitoring network. The maximization of coverage with minimum overlap and the ability to detect violations of standards were developed as the design objectives for redistributed networks. The non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm was applied to optimize the network size and site locations simultaneously for Shijiazhuang city, one of the most polluted cities in China. The assessment on the current network identified the insufficient spatial coverage of SO2 and NO2 monitoring for the expanding city. The optimization results showed that significant improvements were achieved in multiple objectives by redistributing the original network. Efficient coverage of the resulting designs improved to 60.99% and 76.06% of the urban area for SO2 and NO2, respectively. The redistributing design for multi-pollutant including 8 sites was also proposed, with the spatial representation covered 52.30% of the urban area and the overlapped areas decreased by 85.87% compared with the original network. The abilities to detect violations of standards were not improved as much as the other two objectives due to the conflicting nature between the multiple objectives. Additionally, the results demonstrated that the algorithm was slightly sensitive to the parameter settings, with the number of generations presented the most significant effect. Overall, our study presents an effective and feasible procedure for air quality network optimization at a city scale.

Role of monitoring network in the control management of air quality. An industrial case history

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zerbo, G. [Catania Univ. (Italy). Inst. of Merceology; Fabiano, B.; Ferraiolo, A.; Solisio, C.; Ruaro, R.

1995-12-31

Air quality control by a system of monitoring station is indispensable for the environmental protection. Moreover, a monitoring network have not to be only a mere data collection a good air quality control is possible only if the network management allows to prevent unacceptable pollutants level. In other terms, elaboration and interpretation data are fundamental in order to make monitoring system really able for regulations of corrective measures as, for example, the reduction of local emissions. The case of monitoring network run from the Industrial Society CIPA of Siracusa (Italy) is discussed. The management of the data obtained from a continuous survey allows to keep pollutants level below the current limits set down by the Italian law. Furthermore, elaboration of the data allows useful evaluations about atmospheric dispersion phenomena. (author)

Role of monitoring network in the control management of air quality. An industrial case history

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zerbo, G [Catania Univ. (Italy). Inst. of Merceology; Fabiano, B; Ferraiolo, A; Solisio, C; Ruaro, R

1996-12-31

Air quality control by a system of monitoring station is indispensable for the environmental protection. Moreover, a monitoring network have not to be only a mere data collection a good air quality control is possible only if the network management allows to prevent unacceptable pollutants level. In other terms, elaboration and interpretation data are fundamental in order to make monitoring system really able for regulations of corrective measures as, for example, the reduction of local emissions. The case of monitoring network run from the Industrial Society CIPA of Siracusa (Italy) is discussed. The management of the data obtained from a continuous survey allows to keep pollutants level below the current limits set down by the Italian law. Furthermore, elaboration of the data allows useful evaluations about atmospheric dispersion phenomena. (author)

Long short-term memory neural network for air pollutant concentration predictions: Method development and evaluation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Xiang; Peng, Ling; Yao, Xiaojing; Cui, Shaolong; Hu, Yuan; You, Chengzeng; Chi, Tianhe

2017-01-01

Air pollutant concentration forecasting is an effective method of protecting public health by providing an early warning against harmful air pollutants. However, existing methods of air pollutant concentration prediction fail to effectively model long-term dependencies, and most neglect spatial correlations. In this paper, a novel long short-term memory neural network extended (LSTME) model that inherently considers spatiotemporal correlations is proposed for air pollutant concentration prediction. Long short-term memory (LSTM) layers were used to automatically extract inherent useful features from historical air pollutant data, and auxiliary data, including meteorological data and time stamp data, were merged into the proposed model to enhance the performance. Hourly PM 2.5 (particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than or equal to 2.5 μm) concentration data collected at 12 air quality monitoring stations in Beijing City from Jan/01/2014 to May/28/2016 were used to validate the effectiveness of the proposed LSTME model. Experiments were performed using the spatiotemporal deep learning (STDL) model, the time delay neural network (TDNN) model, the autoregressive moving average (ARMA) model, the support vector regression (SVR) model, and the traditional LSTM NN model, and a comparison of the results demonstrated that the LSTME model is superior to the other statistics-based models. Additionally, the use of auxiliary data improved model performance. For the one-hour prediction tasks, the proposed model performed well and exhibited a mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of 11.93%. In addition, we conducted multiscale predictions over different time spans and achieved satisfactory performance, even for 13–24 h prediction tasks (MAPE = 31.47%). - Highlights: • Regional air pollutant concentration shows an obvious spatiotemporal correlation. • Our prediction model presents superior performance. • Climate data and metadata can significantly

Assessment of an air pollution monitoring network to generate urban air pollution maps using Shannon information index, fuzzy overlay, and Dempster-Shafer theory, A case study: Tehran, Iran

Science.gov (United States)

Pahlavani, Parham; Sheikhian, Hossein; Bigdeli, Behnaz

2017-10-01

Air pollution assessment is an imperative part of megacities planning and control. Hence, a new comprehensive approach for air pollution monitoring and assessment was introduced in this research. It comprises of three main sections: optimizing the existing air pollutant monitoring network, locating new stations to complete the coverage of the existing network, and finally, generating an air pollution map. In the first section, Shannon information index was used to find less informative stations to be candidate for removal. Then, a methodology was proposed to determine the areas which are not sufficiently covered by the current network. These areas are candidates for establishing new monitoring stations. The current air pollution monitoring network of Tehran was used as a case study, where the air pollution issue has been worsened due to the huge population, considerable commuters' absorption and topographic barriers. In this regard, O3, NO, NO2, NOx, CO, PM10, and PM2.5 were considered as the main pollutants of Tehran. Optimization step concluded that all the 16 active monitoring stations should be preserved. Analysis showed that about 35% of the Tehran's area is not properly covered by monitoring stations and about 30% of the area needs additional stations. The winter period in Tehran always faces the most severe air pollution in the year. Hence, to produce the air pollution map of Tehran, three-month of winter measurements of the mentioned pollutants, repeated for five years in the same period, were selected and extended to the entire area using the kriging method. Experts specified the contribution of each pollutant in overall air pollution. Experts' rankings aggregated by a fuzzy-overlay process. Resulted maps characterized the study area with crucial air pollution situation. According to the maps, more than 45% of the city area faced high pollution in the study period, while only less than 10% of the area showed low pollution. This situation confirms the need

Towards development of a deposition monitoring network for air pollution of Europe

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Erisman JW; Mennen MG; Fowler D; Flechard CR; Spindler G; Gruner A; Duyzer JH; Ruigrok W; Wyers GP; LLO; TNO; ECN; ITE (Engeland); IFT (Duitsland)

1996-01-01

In 1993 werd vanuit het LIFE project van de Europese Commissie DG XI het project 'Towards the development of a deposition monitoring network for air pollution of Europe' gefinancierd. Het doel van dit project was het ontwikkelen en implementeren van een depositiemonitoring-methode voor

[Management of Uninhabitable Homes - Investigation of 186 Cases of Hoarding, Domestic Neglect and Squalor in Dortmund (Germany)].

Science.gov (United States)

Lenders, T; Kuster, J; Bispinck, R

2015-12-01

To develop an intervention concept for the management of uninhabitable homes. Retrospective analysis of 186 cases of the community mental health service in Dortmund (Germany) presenting with a destitute situation of the domestic environment as core problem. All patients suffered from psychiatric illnesses, mainly from addiction (F1: 41 %), psychosis (F2: 17 %), depression (F3: 17 %), and hoarding disorder (F63.8: 12 %). Main socio-demographic characteristics of our sample are: middle age (45-65 years, 48 %), male gender (73 %), isolated situation (only 7 % married, 84 % living alone), normal schooling (only 4 % without completion of schooling, 7 % attended a school for special needs), after initial integration into employment nearly all patients suffered vocational disintegration (5 % employed, 44 % unemployment benefit, 7 % welfare, 39 % pension or invalidity benefit).Psychosocial interventions differed between the 4 main diagnostic groups: F1: treatment of dependence (rehab) and treatment of concomitant somatic diseases; F2: admission to a psychiatric hospital and implementation of guardianship; F3: mediation of conflicts with neighbours/landlords and implementation of guardianship; F63.8: direct practical help by members of the community mental health team and organisation of home help/waste disposal. In all diagnostic groups, acceptance of help was impaired due to social withdrawal, resistance and psychiatric symptoms. At 13 %, compliance with help and interventions was lowest in the hoarder group (F1: 27 %, F2: 26 %, F3: 38 %). Consequently, in this group the poor outcome categories "nothing accomplished" and "lost flat/eviction" were more frequent (44 %, F1: 27 %, F2: 26 %, F3: 38 %). Concurrent to the deterioration of the domestic situation, patients suffer vocational disintegration as well as family and social isolation. Uninhabitable homes occur in the course of various severe and chronic psychiatric diseases

Analyzing the evolutionary mechanisms of the Air Transportation System-of-Systems using network theory and machine learning algorithms

Science.gov (United States)

Kotegawa, Tatsuya

Complexity in the Air Transportation System (ATS) arises from the intermingling of many independent physical resources, operational paradigms, and stakeholder interests, as well as the dynamic variation of these interactions over time. Currently, trade-offs and cost benefit analyses of new ATS concepts are carried out on system-wide evaluation simulations driven by air traffic forecasts that assume fixed airline routes. However, this does not well reflect reality as airlines regularly add and remove routes. A airline service route network evolution model that projects route addition and removal was created and combined with state-of-the-art air traffic forecast methods to better reflect the dynamic properties of the ATS in system-wide simulations. Guided by a system-of-systems framework, network theory metrics and machine learning algorithms were applied to develop the route network evolution models based on patterns extracted from historical data. Constructing the route addition section of the model posed the greatest challenge due to the large pool of new link candidates compared to the actual number of routes historically added to the network. Of the models explored, algorithms based on logistic regression, random forests, and support vector machines showed best route addition and removal forecast accuracies at approximately 20% and 40%, respectively, when validated with historical data. The combination of network evolution models and a system-wide evaluation tool quantified the impact of airline route network evolution on air traffic delay. The expected delay minutes when considering network evolution increased approximately 5% for a forecasted schedule on 3/19/2020. Performance trade-off studies between several airline route network topologies from the perspectives of passenger travel efficiency, fuel burn, and robustness were also conducted to provide bounds that could serve as targets for ATS transformation efforts. The series of analysis revealed that high

Analysis of 7Be behaviour in the air by using a multilayer perceptron neural network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Samolov, A.; Dragović, S.; Daković, M.; Bačić, G.

2014-01-01

A multilayer perceptron artificial neural network (ANN) model for the prediction of the 7 Be behaviour in the air as the function of meteorological parameters was developed. The model was optimized and tested using 7 Be activity concentrations obtained by standard gamma-ray spectrometric analysis of air samples collected in Belgrade (Serbia) during 2009–2011 and meteorological data for the same period. Good correlation (r = 0.91) between experimental values of 7 Be activity concentrations and those predicted by ANN was obtained. The good performance of the model in prediction of 7 Be activity concentrations could provide basis for construction of models which would forecast behaviour of other airborne radionuclides. - Highlights: • Neural network analysis was used to predict airborne 7 Be activity using meteorological parameters as inputs. • Strong correlation between calculated and measured activities was found. • Obtained results can help in construction of a general model of 7 Be activity variation in air

Seluge++: a secure over-the-air programming scheme in wireless sensor networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Doroodgar, Farzan; Abdur Razzaque, Mohammad; Isnin, Ismail Fauzi

2014-03-11

Over-the-air dissemination of code updates in wireless sensor networks have been researchers' point of interest in the last few years, and, more importantly, security challenges toward the remote propagation of code updating have occupied the majority of efforts in this context. Many security models have been proposed to establish a balance between the energy consumption and security strength, having their concentration on the constrained nature of wireless sensor network (WSN) nodes. For authentication purposes, most of them have used a Merkle hash tree to avoid using multiple public cryptography operations. These models mostly have assumed an environment in which security has to be at a standard level. Therefore, they have not investigated the tree structure for mission-critical situations in which security has to be at the maximum possible level (e.g., military applications, healthcare). Considering this, we investigate existing security models used in over-the-air dissemination of code updates for possible vulnerabilities, and then, we provide a set of countermeasures, correspondingly named Security Model Requirements. Based on the investigation, we concentrate on Seluge, one of the existing over-the-air programming schemes, and we propose an improved version of it, named Seluge++, which complies with the Security Model Requirements and replaces the use of the inefficient Merkle tree with a novel method. Analytical and simulation results show the improvements in Seluge++ compared to Seluge.

An Examination of Drag Reduction Mechanisms in Marine Animals, with Potential Applications to Uninhabited Aerial Vehicles

Science.gov (United States)

Musick, John A.; Patterson, Mark R.; Dowd, Wesley W.

2002-01-01

Previous engineering research and development has documented the plausibility of applying biomimetic approaches to aerospace engineering. Past cooperation between the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) and NASA focused on the drag reduction qualities of the microscale dermal denticles of shark skin. This technology has subsequently been applied to submarines and aircraft. The present study aims to identify and document the three-dimensional geometry of additional macroscale morphologies that potentially confer drag reducing hydrodynamic qualities upon marine animals and which could be applied to enhance the range and endurance of Uninhabited Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Such morphologies have evolved over eons to maximize organismal energetic efficiency by reducing the energetic input required to maintain cruising speeds in the viscous marine environment. These drag reduction qualities are manifested in several groups of active marine animals commonly encountered by ongoing VIMS research programs: namely sharks, bony fishes such as tunas, and sea turtles. Through spatial data acquired by molding and digital imagery analysis of marine specimens provided by VIMS, NASA aims to construct scale models of these features and to test these potential drag reduction morphologies for application to aircraft design. This report addresses the efforts of VIMS and NASA personnel on this project between January and November 2001.

Establishing an air pollution monitoring network for intra-urban population exposure assessment : a location-allocation approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kanaroglou, P.S. [McMaster Univ., Hamilton, ON (Canada). School of Geography and Geology; Jerrett, M.; Beckerman, B.; Arain, M.A. [McMaster Univ., Hamilton, ON (Canada). School of Geography and Geology]|[McMaster Univ., Hamilton, ON (Canada). McMaster Inst. of Environment and Health; Morrison, J. [Carleton Univ., Ottawa, ON (Canada). School of Computer Science; Gilbert, N.L. [Health Canada, Ottawa, ON (Canada). Air Health Effects Div; Brook, J.R. [Meteorological Service of Canada, Toronto, ON (Canada)

2004-10-01

A study was conducted to assess the relation between traffic-generated air pollution and health reactions ranging from childhood asthma to mortality from lung cancer. In particular, it developed a formal method of optimally locating a dense network of air pollution monitoring stations in order to derive an exposure assessment model based on the data obtained from the monitoring stations and related land use, population and biophysical information. The method for determining the locations of 100 nitrogen dioxide monitors in Toronto, Ontario focused on land use, transportation infrastructure and the distribution of at-risk populations. The exposure assessment produced reasonable estimates at the intra-urban scale. This method for locating air pollution monitors effectively maximizes sampling coverage in relation to important socio-demographic characteristics and likely pollution variability. The location-allocation approach integrates many variables into the demand surface to reconfigure a monitoring network and is especially useful for measuring traffic pollutants with fine-scale spatial variability. The method also shows great promise for improving the assessment of exposure to ambient air pollution in epidemiologic studies. 19 refs., 3 tabs., 4 figs.

Spatiotemporal Patterns, Monitoring Network Design, and Environmental Justice of Air Pollution in the Phoenix Metropolitan Region: A Landscape Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Pope, Ronald L.

Air pollution is a serious problem in most urban areas around the world, which has a number of negative ecological and human health impacts. As a result, it's vitally important to detect and characterize air pollutants to protect the health of the urban environment and our citizens. An important early step in this process is ensuring that the air pollution monitoring network is properly designed to capture the patterns of pollution and that all social demographics in the urban population are represented. An important aspect in characterizing air pollution patterns is scale in space and time which, along with pattern and process relationships, is a key subject in the field of landscape ecology. Thus, using multiple landscape ecological methods, this dissertation research begins by characterizing and quantifying the multi-scalar patterns of ozone (O3) and particulate matter (PM10) in the Phoenix, Arizona, metropolitan region. Results showed that pollution patterns are scale-dependent, O3 is a regionally-scaled pollutant at longer temporal scales, and PM10 is a locally-scaled pollutant with patterns sensitive to season. Next, this dissertation examines the monitoring network within Maricopa County. Using a novel multiscale indicator-based approach, the adequacy of the network was quantified by integrating inputs from various academic and government stakeholders. Furthermore, deficiencies were spatially defined and recommendations were made on how to strengthen the design of the network. A sustainability ranking system also provided new insight into the strengths and weaknesses of the network. Lastly, the study addresses the question of whether distinct social groups were experiencing inequitable exposure to pollutants - a key issue of distributive environmental injustice. A novel interdisciplinary method using multi-scalar ambient pollution data and hierarchical multiple regression models revealed environmental inequities between air pollutants and race, ethnicity

Application of Frequency of Detection Methods in Design and Optimization of the INL Site Ambient Air Monitoring Network

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rood, Arthur S. [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Sondrup, A. Jeffrey [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

2015-11-01

This report presents an evaluation of a hypothetical INL Site monitoring network and the existing INL air monitoring network using frequency of detection methods. The hypothetical network was designed to address the requirement in 40 CFR Part 61, Subpart H (2006) that “emissions of radionuclides to ambient air from U.S. DOE facilities shall not exceed those amounts that would cause any member of the public to receive in any year an effective dose equivalent exceeding 10 mrem/year.” To meet the requirement for monitoring only, “radionuclide releases that would result in an effective dose of 10% of the standard shall be readily detectable and distinguishable from background.” Thus, the hypothetical network consists of air samplers placed at residence locations that surround INL and at other locations where onsite livestock grazing takes place. Two exposure scenarios were used in this evaluation: a resident scenario and a shepherd/rancher scenario. The resident was assumed to be continuously present at their residence while the shepherd/rancher was assumed to be present 24-hours at a fixed location on the grazing allotment. Important radionuclides were identified from annual INL radionuclide National Emission Standards for Hazardous Pollutants reports. Important radionuclides were defined as those that potentially contribute 1% or greater to the annual total dose at the radionuclide National Emission Standards for Hazardous Pollutants maximally exposed individual location and include H-3, Am-241, Pu-238, Pu 239, Cs-137, Sr-90, and I-131. For this evaluation, the network performance objective was set at achieving a frequency of detection greater than or equal to 95%. Results indicated that the hypothetical network for the resident scenario met all performance objectives for H-3 and I-131 and most performance objectives for Cs-137 and Sr-90. However, all actinides failed to meet the performance objectives for most sources. The shepherd/rancher scenario showed

Potential assessment of a neural network model with PCA/RBF approach for forecasting pollutant trends in Mong Kok urban air, Hong Kong

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lu, W.-Z.; Wang, W.-J.; Wang, X.-K.; Yan, S.-H.; Lam, Joseph C.

2004-01-01

The forecasting of air pollutant trends has received much attention in recent years. It is an important and popular topic in environmental science, as concerns have been raised about the health impacts caused by unacceptable ambient air pollutant levels. Of greatest concern are metropolitan cities like Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, respirable suspended particulates (RSP), nitrogen oxides (NO x ), and nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) are major air pollutants due to the dominant usage of diesel fuel by commercial vehicles and buses. Hence, the study of the influence and the trends relating to these pollutants is extremely significant to the public health and the image of the city. The use of neural network techniques to predict trends relating to air pollutants is regarded as a reliable and cost-effective method for the task of prediction. The works reported here involve developing an improved neural network model that combines both the principal component analysis technique and the radial basis function network and forecasts pollutant tendencies based on a recorded database. Compared with general neural network models, the proposed model features a more simple network architecture, a faster training speed, and a more satisfactory prediction performance. The improved model was evaluated with hourly time series of RSP, NO x and NO 2 concentrations monitored at the Mong Kok Roadside Gaseous Monitory Station in Hong Kong during the year 2000 and proved to be effective. The model developed is a potential tool for forecasting air quality parameters and is superior to traditional neural network methods

Coupling Network Computing Applications in Air-cooled Turbine Blades Optimization

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Liang; Yan, Peigang; Xie, Ming; Han, Wanjin

2018-05-01

Through establishing control parameters from blade outside to inside, the parametric design of air-cooled turbine blade based on airfoil has been implemented. On the basis of fast updating structure features and generating solid model, a complex cooling system has been created. Different flow units are modeled into a complex network topology with parallel and serial connection. Applying one-dimensional flow theory, programs have been composed to get pipeline network physical quantities along flow path, including flow rate, pressure, temperature and other parameters. These inner units parameters set as inner boundary conditions for external flow field calculation program HIT-3D by interpolation, thus to achieve full field thermal coupling simulation. Referring the studies in literatures to verify the effectiveness of pipeline network program and coupling algorithm. After that, on the basis of a modified design, and with the help of iSIGHT-FD, an optimization platform had been established. Through MIGA mechanism, the target of enhancing cooling efficiency has been reached, and the thermal stress has been effectively reduced. Research work in this paper has significance for rapid deploying the cooling structure design.

Air-Sense: indoor environment monitoring evaluation system based on ZigBee network

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Yang; Hu, Liang; Yang, Disheng; Liu, Hengchang

2017-08-01

In the modern life, people spend most of their time indoors. However, indoor environmental quality problems have always been affecting people’s social activities. In general, indoor environmental quality is also related to our indoor activities. Since most of the organic irritants and volatile gases are colorless, odorless and too tiny to be seen, because we have been unconsciously overlooked indoor environment quality. Consequently, our body suffer a great health problem. In this work, we propose Air-Sense system which utilizes the platform of ZigBee Network to collect and detect the real-time indoor environment quality. What’s more, Air-Sense system can also provide data analysis, and visualizing the results of the indoor environment to the user.

Cyber-Threat Assessment for the Air Traffic Management System: A Network Controls Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Roy, Sandip; Sridhar, Banavar

2016-01-01

Air transportation networks are being disrupted with increasing frequency by failures in their cyber- (computing, communication, control) systems. Whether these cyber- failures arise due to deliberate attacks or incidental errors, they can have far-reaching impact on the performance of the air traffic control and management systems. For instance, a computer failure in the Washington DC Air Route Traffic Control Center (ZDC) on August 15, 2015, caused nearly complete closure of the Centers airspace for several hours. This closure had a propagative impact across the United States National Airspace System, causing changed congestion patterns and requiring placement of a suite of traffic management initiatives to address the capacity reduction and congestion. A snapshot of traffic on that day clearly shows the closure of the ZDC airspace and the resulting congestion at its boundary, which required augmented traffic management at multiple locations. Cyber- events also have important ramifications for private stakeholders, particularly the airlines. During the last few months, computer-system issues have caused several airlines fleets to be grounded for significant periods of time: these include United Airlines (twice), LOT Polish Airlines, and American Airlines. Delays and regional stoppages due to cyber- events are even more common, and may have myriad causes (e.g., failure of the Department of Homeland Security systems needed for security check of passengers, see [3]). The growing frequency of cyber- disruptions in the air transportation system reflects a much broader trend in the modern society: cyber- failures and threats are becoming increasingly pervasive, varied, and impactful. In consequence, an intense effort is underway to develop secure and resilient cyber- systems that can protect against, detect, and remove threats, see e.g. and its many citations. The outcomes of this wide effort on cyber- security are applicable to the air transportation infrastructure

Practical strategies of wind energy utilization for uninhabited aerial vehicles in loiter flights

Science.gov (United States)

Singhania, Hong Yang

Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is becoming increasingly attractive in missions where human presence is undesirable or impossible. Agile maneuvers and long endurance are among the most desired advantages of UAVs over aircraft that have human pilots onboard. Past studies suggest that the performance of UAVs may be considerably improved by utilizing natural resources, especially wind energy, during flights. The key challenge of exploiting wind energy in practical UAV operations lies in the availability of reliable and timely wind field information in the operational region. This thesis presents a practical onboard strategy that attempts to over-come this challenge, to enable UAVs in utilizing wind energy effectively during flights, and therefore to enhance performance. We propose and explore a strategy that combines wind measurement and optimal trajectory planning onboard UAVs. During a cycle of a loiter flight, a UAV can take measurements of wind velocity components over the flight region, use these measurements to estimate the local wind field through a model-based approach, and then compute a flight trajectory for the next flight cycle with the objective of optimizing fuel. As the UAV follows the planned trajectory, it continues to measure the wind components and repeats the process of updating the wind model with new estimations and planning optimal trajectories for the next flight cycle. Besides presenting an onboard trajectory planning strategy of wind energy exploration, estimation, and utilization, this research also develops a semi-analytical linearized solution to the formulated nonlinear optimal control problem. Simulations and numerical results indicate that the fuel savings of trajectories generated using the proposed scheme depend on wind speed, wind estimation errors, rates of change in wind speed, and the wind model structures. For a given wind field, the magnitude of potential fuel savings is also contingent upon UAVs' performance capabilities.

Long short-term memory neural network for air pollutant concentration predictions: Method development and evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xiang; Peng, Ling; Yao, Xiaojing; Cui, Shaolong; Hu, Yuan; You, Chengzeng; Chi, Tianhe

2017-12-01

Air pollutant concentration forecasting is an effective method of protecting public health by providing an early warning against harmful air pollutants. However, existing methods of air pollutant concentration prediction fail to effectively model long-term dependencies, and most neglect spatial correlations. In this paper, a novel long short-term memory neural network extended (LSTME) model that inherently considers spatiotemporal correlations is proposed for air pollutant concentration prediction. Long short-term memory (LSTM) layers were used to automatically extract inherent useful features from historical air pollutant data, and auxiliary data, including meteorological data and time stamp data, were merged into the proposed model to enhance the performance. Hourly PM 2.5 (particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than or equal to 2.5 μm) concentration data collected at 12 air quality monitoring stations in Beijing City from Jan/01/2014 to May/28/2016 were used to validate the effectiveness of the proposed LSTME model. Experiments were performed using the spatiotemporal deep learning (STDL) model, the time delay neural network (TDNN) model, the autoregressive moving average (ARMA) model, the support vector regression (SVR) model, and the traditional LSTM NN model, and a comparison of the results demonstrated that the LSTME model is superior to the other statistics-based models. Additionally, the use of auxiliary data improved model performance. For the one-hour prediction tasks, the proposed model performed well and exhibited a mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of 11.93%. In addition, we conducted multiscale predictions over different time spans and achieved satisfactory performance, even for 13-24 h prediction tasks (MAPE = 31.47%). Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Neural network modeling of air pollution in tunnels according to indirect measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaverzneva, T; Lazovskaya, T; Tarkhov, D; Vasilyev, A

2016-01-01

The article deals with the problem of providing the necessary parameters of air of the working area in dead-end tunnels in the case of ventilation systems powered off. An ill-posed initialboundary problem for the diffusion equation is used as a mathematical model for a description and analysis of mass transfer processes in the tunnel. The neural network approach is applied to construct an approximate solution (regularization) of the identification problem in the case of the approximate measurement data and the set of interval parameters of the modeled system. Two types of model measurements included binary data are considered. The direct problem solution and the inverse problem regularization for the offered neural network approach are constructed uniformly. (paper)

Prediction of Indoor Air Exposure from Outdoor Air Quality Using an Artificial Neural Network Model for Inner City Commercial Buildings.

Science.gov (United States)

Challoner, Avril; Pilla, Francesco; Gill, Laurence

2015-12-01

NO₂ and particulate matter are the air pollutants of most concern in Ireland, with possible links to the higher respiratory and cardiovascular mortality and morbidity rates found in the country compared to the rest of Europe. Currently, air quality limits in Europe only cover outdoor environments yet the quality of indoor air is an essential determinant of a person's well-being, especially since the average person spends more than 90% of their time indoors. The modelling conducted in this research aims to provide a framework for epidemiological studies by the use of publically available data from fixed outdoor monitoring stations to predict indoor air quality more accurately. Predictions are made using two modelling techniques, the Personal-exposure Activity Location Model (PALM), to predict outdoor air quality at a particular building, and Artificial Neural Networks, to model the indoor/outdoor relationship of the building. This joint approach has been used to predict indoor air concentrations for three inner city commercial buildings in Dublin, where parallel indoor and outdoor diurnal monitoring had been carried out on site. This modelling methodology has been shown to provide reasonable predictions of average NO₂ indoor air quality compared to the monitored data, but did not perform well in the prediction of indoor PM2.5 concentrations. Hence, this approach could be used to determine NO₂ exposures more rigorously of those who work and/or live in the city centre, which can then be linked to potential health impacts.

APPLICATION OF ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORKS FOR PREDICTION OF AIR POLLUTION LEVELS IN ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Małgorzata Pawul

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Recently, a lot of attention was paid to the improvement of methods which are used to air quality forecasting. Artificial neural networks can be applied to model these problems. Their advantage is that they can solve the problem in the conditions of incomplete information, without the knowledge of the analytical relationship between the input and output data. In this paper we applied artificial neural networks to predict the PM 10 concentrations as factors determining the occurrence of smog phenomena. To create these networks we used meteorological data and concentrations of PM 10. The data were recorded in 2014 and 2015 at three measuring stations operating in Krakow under the State Environmental Monitoring. The best results were obtained by three-layer perceptron with back-propagation algorithm. The neural networks received a good fit in all cases.

The deployment of carbon monoxide wireless sensor network (CO-WSN) for ambient air monitoring.

Science.gov (United States)

Chaiwatpongsakorn, Chaichana; Lu, Mingming; Keener, Tim C; Khang, Soon-Jai

2014-06-16

Wireless sensor networks are becoming increasingly important as an alternative solution for environment monitoring because they can reduce cost and complexity. Also, they can improve reliability and data availability in places where traditional monitoring methods are difficult to site. In this study, a carbon monoxide wireless sensor network (CO-WSN) was developed to measure carbon monoxide concentrations at a major traffic intersection near the University of Cincinnati main campus. The system has been deployed over two weeks during Fall 2010, and Summer 2011-2012, traffic data was also recorded by using a manual traffic counter and a video camcorder to characterize vehicles at the intersection 24 h, particularly, during the morning and evening peak hour periods. According to the field test results, the 1 hr-average CO concentrations were found to range from 0.1-1.0 ppm which is lower than the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) 35 ppm on a one-hour averaging period. During rush hour periods, the traffic volume at the intersection varied from 2,067 to 3,076 vehicles per hour with 97% being passenger vehicles. Furthermore, the traffic volume based on a 1-h average showed good correlation (R2 = 0.87) with the 1-h average CO-WSN concentrations for morning and evening peak time periods whereas CO-WSN results provided a moderate correlation (R2 = 0.42) with 24 hours traffic volume due to fluctuated changes of meteorological conditions. It is concluded that the performance and the reliability of wireless ambient air monitoring networks can be used as an alternative method for real time air monitoring.

Remote Sensing and In-Situ Observations of Arctic Mixed-Phase and Cirrus Clouds Acquired During Mixed-Phase Arctic Cloud Experiment: Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Uninhabited Aerospace Vehicle Participation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McFarquhar, G.M.; Freer, M.; Um, J.; McCoy, R.; Bolton, W.

2005-01-01

The Atmospheric Radiation Monitor (ARM) uninhabited aerospace vehicle (UAV) program aims to develop measurement techniques and instruments suitable for a new class of high altitude, long endurance UAVs while supporting the climate community with valuable data sets. Using the Scaled Composites Proteus aircraft, ARM UAV participated in Mixed-Phase Arctic Cloud Experiment (M-PACE), obtaining unique data to help understand the interaction of clouds with solar and infrared radiation. Many measurements obtained using the Proteus were coincident with in-situ observations made by the UND Citation. Data from M-PACE are needed to understand interactions between clouds, the atmosphere and ocean in the Arctic, critical interactions given large-scale models suggest enhanced warming compared to lower latitudes is occurring

Prediction of Indoor Air Exposure from Outdoor Air Quality Using an Artificial Neural Network Model for Inner City Commercial Buildings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Avril Challoner

2015-12-01

Full Text Available NO2 and particulate matter are the air pollutants of most concern in Ireland, with possible links to the higher respiratory and cardiovascular mortality and morbidity rates found in the country compared to the rest of Europe. Currently, air quality limits in Europe only cover outdoor environments yet the quality of indoor air is an essential determinant of a person’s well-being, especially since the average person spends more than 90% of their time indoors. The modelling conducted in this research aims to provide a framework for epidemiological studies by the use of publically available data from fixed outdoor monitoring stations to predict indoor air quality more accurately. Predictions are made using two modelling techniques, the Personal-exposure Activity Location Model (PALM, to predict outdoor air quality at a particular building, and Artificial Neural Networks, to model the indoor/outdoor relationship of the building. This joint approach has been used to predict indoor air concentrations for three inner city commercial buildings in Dublin, where parallel indoor and outdoor diurnal monitoring had been carried out on site. This modelling methodology has been shown to provide reasonable predictions of average NO2 indoor air quality compared to the monitored data, but did not perform well in the prediction of indoor PM2.5 concentrations. Hence, this approach could be used to determine NO2 exposures more rigorously of those who work and/or live in the city centre, which can then be linked to potential health impacts.

A multi-objective assessment of an air quality monitoring network using environmental, economic, and social indicators and GIS-based models.

Science.gov (United States)

Pope, Ronald; Wu, Jianguo

2014-06-01

In the United States, air pollution is primarily measured by Air Quality Monitoring Networks (AQMN). These AQMNs have multiple objectives, including characterizing pollution patterns, protecting the public health, and determining compliance with air quality standards. In 2006, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a directive that air pollution agencies assess the performance of their AQMNs. Although various methods to design and assess AQMNs exist, here we demonstrate a geographic information system (GIS)-based approach that combines environmental, economic, and social indicators through the assessment of the ozone (O3) and particulate matter (PM10) networks in Maricopa County, Arizona. The assessment was conducted in three phases: (1) to evaluate the performance of the existing networks, (2) to identify areas that would benefit from the addition of new monitoring stations, and (3) to recommend changes to the AQMN. A comprehensive set of indicators was created for evaluating differing aspects of the AQMNs' objectives, and weights were applied to emphasize important indicators. Indicators were also classified according to their sustainable development goal. Our results showed that O3 was well represented in the county with some redundancy in terms of the urban monitors. The addition of weights to the indicators only had a minimal effect on the results. For O3, urban monitors had greater social scores, while rural monitors had greater environmental scores. The results did not suggest a need for adding more O3 monitoring sites. For PM10, clustered urban monitors were redundant, and weights also had a minimal effect on the results. The clustered urban monitors had overall low scores; sites near point sources had high environmental scores. Several areas were identified as needing additional PM10 monitors. This study demonstrates the usefulness of a multi-indicator approach to assess AQMNs. Network managers and planners may use this method to assess the

Spatial and temporal trends from an air quality sensor network near a heavily trafficked intersection

Science.gov (United States)

Orlando, P.; Vo, D.; Giossi, C.; George, L.

2017-12-01

With the world-wide increase in urbanization and the increasing usage of combustion vehicles in urban areas, traffic-related air pollution is a growing health hazard. However, there are limited studies that examine the spatial and temporal impacts of traffic-related pollutants within cities. In particular, there are few studies that look at traffic management and its potential for pollution mitigation. In a previous study we examined roadway pollution and traffic parameters with one roadway station instrumented with standard measurement instruments. With the advent of low-cost air pollution sensors, we have expanded our work by observing multiple sites within a neighborhood to understand spatial and temporal exposures. We have deployed a high-density sensor network around urban arterial corridors in SE Portland, Oregon. This network consisted of ten nodes measuring CO, NO, NO2 and O3, and ten nodes measuring CO, CO2, VOC and PM2.5. The co-location of standard measurement instruments provided insight towards the utility of our low-cost sensor network, as the different nodes varied in cost, and potentially in quality. We have identified near-real-time temporal trends and local-scale spatial patterns during the summer of 2017. Meteorological and traffic data were included to further characterize these patterns, exploring the potential for pollution mitigation.

Effectiveness of finish materials and room air-conditioner on the reduction of indoor radon concentration in Hong Kong

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ma, A.K.; Man, C.K.; Ho, E.; Pang, S.W.

1995-01-01

Four different kinds of finish material were investigated: wallpaper, paint, plaster and tile. When applied to the bare concrete walls of uninhabited rooms in flats of a building under construction, all of them were found to reduce indoor radon concentration. The magnitude of reduction by these finish materials ranged from 20% to 80%. Wallpaper was found to provide the best protection against radon emission from bare concrete walls in a bedroom with a size of 19.3 m 3 . Wallpaper can reduce the indoor radon concentration about twice as much as paint (water-based) or plaster in this investigation. Tile was also found to be a good material against radon emission from concrete walls in a bathroom with a size of 6.3 m 3 . Indoor radon concentration was found to decrease with elevation from the ground level, and was affected strongly by mechanical ventilation. Another 30% to 50% reduction in indoor radon concentration in addition to finish material can be achieved by a room air-conditioner. It was also found that indoor radon concentrations were not affected by turning the fresh air shutter to the 'on' or 'off' position in the room air-conditioner. (author)

The Research on Programmable Control System of Lithium-Bromide Absorption Refrigerating Air Conditioner Based on the Network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sun Lunan

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This article regard the solar lithium-bromide absorption refrigerating air conditioning system as the research object, and it was conducting adequate research of the working principle of lithium bromide absorption refrigerating machine, also it was analyzing the requirements of control system about solar energy air conditioning. Then the solar energy air conditioning control system was designed based on PLC, this system was given priority to field bus control system, and the remote monitoring is complementary, which was combining the network remote monitoring technology. So that it realized the automatic control and intelligent control of new lithium bromide absorption refrigerating air conditioning system with solar energy, also, it ensured the control system can automatically detect and adjust when the external conditions was random changing, to make air conditioning work effectively and steadily, ultimately ,it has great research significance to research the air conditioning control system with solar energy.

1ARTICLES 2Community-based forest management in Côte d'Ivoire ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

impoverishment; air pollution; the loss of ozone layer; climate change and, in ... data indicate that the rhythm of the world's yearly deforestation, estimated at about .... For defenders of this 'forest conservation' approach, some uninhabited ...

Dynamic Sleep Scheduling on Air Pollution Levels Monitoring with Wireless Sensor Network

OpenAIRE

Gezaq Abror; Rusminto Tjatur Widodo; M. Udin Harun Al Rasyid

2018-01-01

Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) can be applied for Air Pollution Level Monitoring System that have been determined by the Environmental Impact Management Agency which is  PM10, SO2, O3, NO2 and CO. In WSN, node system is constrained to a limited power supply, so that the node system has a lifetime. To doing lifetime maximization, power management scheme is required and sensor nodes should use energy efficiently. This paper proposes dynamic sleep scheduling using Time Category-Fuzzy Logic (Time-...

Complexity in human transportation networks: a comparative analysis of worldwide air transportation and global cargo-ship movements

Science.gov (United States)

Woolley-Meza, O.; Thiemann, C.; Grady, D.; Lee, J. J.; Seebens, H.; Blasius, B.; Brockmann, D.

2011-12-01

We present a comparative network-theoretic analysis of the two largest global transportation networks: the worldwide air-transportation network (WAN) and the global cargo-ship network (GCSN). We show that both networks exhibit surprising statistical similarities despite significant differences in topology and connectivity. Both networks exhibit a discontinuity in node and link betweenness distributions which implies that these networks naturally segregate into two different classes of nodes and links. We introduce a technique based on effective distances, shortest paths and shortest path trees for strongly weighted symmetric networks and show that in a shortest path tree representation the most significant features of both networks can be readily seen. We show that effective shortest path distance, unlike conventional geographic distance measures, strongly correlates with node centrality measures. Using the new technique we show that network resilience can be investigated more precisely than with contemporary techniques that are based on percolation theory. We extract a functional relationship between node characteristics and resilience to network disruption. Finally we discuss the results, their implications and conclude that dynamic processes that evolve on both networks are expected to share universal dynamic characteristics.

Hybrid Power Forecasting Model for Photovoltaic Plants Based on Neural Network with Air Quality Index

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Idris Khan

2017-01-01

Full Text Available High concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has increased dependency on photovoltaic (PV power, but its random nature poses a challenge for system operators to precisely predict and forecast PV power. The conventional forecasting methods were accurate for clean weather. But when the PV plants worked under heavy haze, the radiation is negatively impacted and thus reducing PV power; therefore, to deal with haze weather, Air Quality Index (AQI is introduced as a parameter to predict PV power. AQI, which is an indication of how polluted the air is, has been known to have a strong correlation with power generated by the PV panels. In this paper, a hybrid method based on the model of conventional back propagation (BP neural network for clear weather and BP AQI model for haze weather is used to forecast PV power with conventional parameters like temperature, wind speed, humidity, solar radiation, and an extra parameter of AQI as input. The results show that the proposed method has less error under haze condition as compared to conventional model of neural network.

Vulnerability of network of networks

Science.gov (United States)

Havlin, S.; Kenett, D. Y.; Bashan, A.; Gao, J.; Stanley, H. E.

2014-10-01

Our dependence on networks - be they infrastructure, economic, social or others - leaves us prone to crises caused by the vulnerabilities of these networks. There is a great need to develop new methods to protect infrastructure networks and prevent cascade of failures (especially in cases of coupled networks). Terrorist attacks on transportation networks have traumatized modern societies. With a single blast, it has become possible to paralyze airline traffic, electric power supply, ground transportation or Internet communication. How, and at which cost can one restructure the network such that it will become more robust against malicious attacks? The gradual increase in attacks on the networks society depends on - Internet, mobile phone, transportation, air travel, banking, etc. - emphasize the need to develop new strategies to protect and defend these crucial networks of communication and infrastructure networks. One example is the threat of liquid explosives a few years ago, which completely shut down air travel for days, and has created extreme changes in regulations. Such threats and dangers warrant the need for new tools and strategies to defend critical infrastructure. In this paper we review recent advances in the theoretical understanding of the vulnerabilities of interdependent networks with and without spatial embedding, attack strategies and their affect on such networks of networks as well as recently developed strategies to optimize and repair failures caused by such attacks.

Circularly Polarized Antenna Array Fed by Air-Bridge Free CPW-Slotline Network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yilin Liu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available A novel design of 1×2 and 2×2 circularly polarized (CP microstrip patch antenna arrays is presented in this paper. The two CP antenna arrays are fed by sequentially rotated coplanar waveguide (CPW to slotline networks and are processed on 1 mm thick single-layer FR4 substrates. Both of the two arrays are low-profile and lightweight. An air-bridge free CPW-slotline power splitter is appropriately designed to form the feeding networks and realize the two CP antenna arrays. The mechanism of circular polarization in this design is explained. The simulated and measured impedance bandwidths as well as the 3 dB axial ratio bandwidths and the radiation patterns of the two proposed antenna arrays are presented. This proposed design can be easily extended to form a larger plane array with good performance owing to its simple structure.

Transportation Network Topologies

Science.gov (United States)

Holmes, Bruce J.; Scott, John

2004-01-01

A discomforting reality has materialized on the transportation scene: our existing air and ground infrastructures will not scale to meet our nation's 21st century demands and expectations for mobility, commerce, safety, and security. The consequence of inaction is diminished quality of life and economic opportunity in the 21st century. Clearly, new thinking is required for transportation that can scale to meet to the realities of a networked, knowledge-based economy in which the value of time is a new coin of the realm. This paper proposes a framework, or topology, for thinking about the problem of scalability of the system of networks that comprise the aviation system. This framework highlights the role of integrated communication-navigation-surveillance systems in enabling scalability of future air transportation networks. Scalability, in this vein, is a goal of the recently formed Joint Planning and Development Office for the Next Generation Air Transportation System. New foundations for 21st thinking about air transportation are underpinned by several technological developments in the traditional aircraft disciplines as well as in communication, navigation, surveillance and information systems. Complexity science and modern network theory give rise to one of the technological developments of importance. Scale-free (i.e., scalable) networks represent a promising concept space for modeling airspace system architectures, and for assessing network performance in terms of scalability, efficiency, robustness, resilience, and other metrics. The paper offers an air transportation system topology as framework for transportation system innovation. Successful outcomes of innovation in air transportation could lay the foundations for new paradigms for aircraft and their operating capabilities, air transportation system architectures, and airspace architectures and procedural concepts. The topology proposed considers air transportation as a system of networks, within which

Optimal Design of Air Quality Monitoring Network and its Application in an Oil Refinery Plant: An Approach to Keep Health Satus of Workers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Khaled ZoroufchiBenis

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Background: Industrial air pollution is a growing challenge to humane health, especially in developing countries, where there is no systematic monitoring of air pollution. Given the importance of the availabil­ity of valid information on population exposure to air pollutants, it is important to design an optimal Air Quality Monitoring Network (AQMN for assessing population exposure to air pollution and predicting the magnitude of the health risks to the population. Methods: A multi-pollutant method (implemented as a MATLAB program was explored for configur­ing an AQMN to detect the highest level of pollution around an oil refinery plant. The method ranks potential monitoring sites (grids according to their ability to represent the ambient concentra­tion. The term of cluster of contiguous grids that exceed a threshold value was used to calculate the Station Dosage. Selection of the best configuration of AQMN was done based on the ratio of a sta­tion’s dosage to the total dosage in the network. Results: Six monitoring stations were needed to detect the pollutants concentrations around the study area for estimating the level and distribution of exposure in the population with total network effi­ciency of about 99%. An analysis of the design procedure showed that wind regimes have greatest effect on the location of monitoring stations. Conclusion: The optimal AQMN enables authorities to implement an effective program of air quality management for protecting human health.

Most atolls will be uninhabitable by the mid-21st century because of sea-level rise exacerbating wave-driven flooding

Science.gov (United States)

Storlazzi, Curt; Gingerich, Stephen B.; van Dongeren, Ap; Cheriton, Olivia; Swarzenski, Peter W.; Quataert, Ellen; Voss, Clifford I.; Field, Donald W.; Annamalai, Hariharasubramanian; Piniak, Greg A.; McCall, Robert T.

2018-01-01

Sea levels are rising, with the highest rates in the tropics, where thousands of low-lying coral atoll islands are located. Most studies on the resilience of these islands to sea-level rise have projected that they will experience minimal inundation impacts until at least the end of the 21st century. However, these have not taken into account the additional hazard of wave-driven overwash or its impact on freshwater availability. We project the impact of sea-level rise and wave-driven flooding on atoll infrastructure and freshwater availability under a variety of climate change scenarios. We show that, on the basis of current greenhouse gas emission rates, the nonlinear interactions between sea-level rise and wave dynamics over reefs will lead to the annual wave-driven overwash of most atoll islands by the mid-21st century. This annual flooding will result in the islands becoming uninhabitable because of frequent damage to infrastructure and the inability of their freshwater aquifers to recover between overwash events. This study provides critical information for understanding the timing and magnitude of climate change impacts on atoll islands that will result in significant, unavoidable geopolitical issues if it becomes necessary to abandon and relocate low-lying island states.

Competitive allocation of resources on a network: an agent-based model of air companies competing for the best routes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gurtner, Gérald; Valori, Luca; Lillo, Fabrizio

2015-01-01

We present a stylized model of the allocation of resources on a network. By considering as a concrete example the network of sectors of the airspace, where each node is a sector characterized by a maximal number of simultaneously present aircraft, we consider the problem of air companies competing for the allocation of the airspace. Each company is characterized by a cost function, weighting differently punctuality and length of the flight. We consider the model in the presence of pure and mixed populations of types of airline companies and we study how the equilibria depends on the characteristics of the network. (paper)

Design and application of air-conditioning suit based on eddy current cooling principle for distribution network working with power uninterrupted

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Li; Liu, Lanlan; Niu, Jie; Tang, Li; Li, Jinliang; Zhou, Zhanfan; Long, Chenhai; Yang, Qi; Yi, Ziqi; Guo, Hao; Long, Yang; Fu, Yanyi

2017-05-01

As social requirement of power supply reliability keeps rising, distribution network working with power uninterrupted has been widely carried out, while the high - temperature operating environment in summer can easily lead to physical discomfort for the operators, and then lead to safety incidents. Aiming at above problem, air-conditioning suit for distribution network working with power uninterrupted has been putted forward in this paper, and the structure composition and cooling principle of which has been explained, and it has been ultimately put to on-site application. The results showed that, cooling effect of air-conditioning suits was remarkable, and improved the working environment for the operators effectively, which is of great significance to improve Chinese level of working with power uninterrupted, reduce the probability of accidents and enhance the reliability of power supply.

The Air Force Academy’s Falcon Telescope Network: An Educational and Research Network for K-12 and Higher Education

Science.gov (United States)

Chun, Francis; Tippets, Roger; Della-Rose, Devin J.; Polsgrove, Daniel; Gresham, Kimberlee; Barnaby, David A.

2015-01-01

The Falcon Telescope Network (FTN) is a global network of small aperture telescopes developed by the Center for Space Situational Awareness Research in the Department of Physics at the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA). Consisting of commercially available equipment, the FTN is a collaborative effort between USAFA and other educational institutions ranging from two- and four-year colleges to major research universities. USAFA provides the equipment (e.g. telescope, mount, camera, filter wheel, dome, weather station, computers and storage devices) while the educational partners provide the building and infrastructure to support an observatory. The user base includes USAFA along with K-12 and higher education faculty and students. The diversity of the users implies a wide variety of observing interests, and thus the FTN collects images on diverse objects, including satellites, galactic and extragalactic objects, and objects popular for education and public outreach. The raw imagery, all in the public domain, will be accessible to FTN partners and will be archived at USAFA. USAFA cadets use the FTN to continue a tradition of satellite characterization and astronomical research; this tradition is the model used for designing the network to serve undergraduate research needs. Additionally, cadets have led the development of the FTN by investigating observation priority schemes and conducting a 'day-in-the-life' study of the FTN in regards to satellite observations. With respect to K-12 outreach, cadets have provided feedback to K-12 students and teachers through evaluation of first-light proposals. In this paper, we present the current status of the network and results from student participation in the project.

Saturday Morning Television Advertisements Aired on English and Spanish Language Networks along the Texas-Mexico Border.

Science.gov (United States)

Barroso, Cristina S; Rodriguez, Dianeth; Camacho, Perla L

2011-10-18

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this content analysis study is to characterize the TV advertisements aired to an at-risk child population along the Texas-Mexico border. METHODS: We characterized the early Saturday morning TV advertisements aired by three broadcast network categories (U.S. English language, U.S. Spanish language, and Mexican Spanish language) in Spring 2010. The number, type (food related vs. non-food related), target audience, and persuasion tactics used were recorded. Advertised foods, based on nutrition content, were categorized as meeting or not meeting current dietary guidelines. RESULTS: Most commercials were non-food related (82.7%, 397 of 480). The majority of the prepared foods (e.g., cereals, snacks, and drinks) advertised did not meet the current U.S. Dietary Guidelines. Additionally, nutrition content information was not available for many of the foods advertised on the Mexican Spanish language broadcast network category. CONCLUSIONS: For U.S. children at risk for obesity along the Texas-Mexico border exposure to TV food advertisements may result in the continuation of sedentary behavior as well as an increased consumption of foods of poor nutritional quality. An international regulatory effort to monitor and enforce the reduction of child-oriented food advertising is needed.

Saturday Morning Television Advertisements Aired on English and Spanish Language Networks along the Texas-Mexico Border

Science.gov (United States)

Barroso, Cristina S.; Rodriguez, Dianeth; Camacho, Perla L.

2011-01-01

Objectives The aim of this content analysis study is to characterize the TV advertisements aired to an at-risk child population along the Texas-Mexico border. Methods We characterized the early Saturday morning TV advertisements aired by three broadcast network categories (U.S. English language, U.S. Spanish language, and Mexican Spanish language) in Spring 2010. The number, type (food related vs. non-food related), target audience, and persuasion tactics used were recorded. Advertised foods, based on nutrition content, were categorized as meeting or not meeting current dietary guidelines. Results Most commercials were non-food related (82.7%, 397 of 480). The majority of the prepared foods (e.g., cereals, snacks, and drinks) advertised did not meet the current U.S. Dietary Guidelines. Additionally, nutrition content information was not available for many of the foods advertised on the Mexican Spanish language broadcast network category. Conclusions For U.S. children at risk for obesity along the Texas-Mexico border exposure to TV food advertisements may result in the continuation of sedentary behavior as well as an increased consumption of foods of poor nutritional quality. An international regulatory effort to monitor and enforce the reduction of child-oriented food advertising is needed. PMID:22209760

Single Operator Control of Multiple Uninhabited Air Vehicles: Situational Awareness Requirement

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Sebalj, Derek

2008-01-01

... > 1. The ultimate goal, and the object of much research, is the technology to lower, or even invert the control ratio from many people to one vehicle to one operator of several vehicles, e.g., 1...

Operator State Estimation for Adaptive Aiding in Uninhabited Combat Air Vehicles

Science.gov (United States)

2005-09-01

1992). Van Boxtel, A., W. Waterink, and I.J.T. Veldhuizen . “Tonic Facial EMG Activity As An Index of Mental Effort: Effects of Work Rate, Time-On...the ‘normal’ functioning of brain activity (Beaumont, Burov, Carter, Cheuvront, Sawka, Wilson, Van Orden, Hockey, Balkin and Gundel, 2004). For...by the sympathetic nervous system. Electromyographic activity has been shown to predict arousal accurately ( Veldhuizen , Gaillard, and de Vries, 2003

High Electricity Demand in the Northeast U.S.: PJM Reliability Network and Peaking Unit Impacts on Air Quality.

Science.gov (United States)

Farkas, Caroline M; Moeller, Michael D; Felder, Frank A; Henderson, Barron H; Carlton, Annmarie G

2016-08-02

On high electricity demand days, when air quality is often poor, regional transmission organizations (RTOs), such as PJM Interconnection, ensure reliability of the grid by employing peak-use electric generating units (EGUs). These "peaking units" are exempt from some federal and state air quality rules. We identify RTO assignment and peaking unit classification for EGUs in the Eastern U.S. and estimate air quality for four emission scenarios with the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model during the July 2006 heat wave. Further, we population-weight ambient values as a surrogate for potential population exposure. Emissions from electricity reliability networks negatively impact air quality in their own region and in neighboring geographic areas. Monitored and controlled PJM peaking units are generally located in economically depressed areas and can contribute up to 87% of hourly maximum PM2.5 mass locally. Potential population exposure to peaking unit PM2.5 mass is highest in the model domain's most populated cities. Average daily temperature and national gross domestic product steer peaking unit heat input. Air quality planning that capitalizes on a priori knowledge of local electricity demand and economics may provide a more holistic approach to protect human health within the context of growing energy needs in a changing world.

Wireless Distributed Environmental Sensor Networks for Air Pollution Measurement-The Promise and the Current Reality.

Science.gov (United States)

Broday, David M

2017-10-02

The evaluation of the effects of air pollution on public health and human-wellbeing requires reliable data. Standard air quality monitoring stations provide accurate measurements of airborne pollutant levels, but, due to their sparse distribution, they cannot capture accurately the spatial variability of air pollutant concentrations within cities. Dedicated in-depth field campaigns have dense spatial coverage of the measurements but are held for relatively short time periods. Hence, their representativeness is limited. Moreover, the oftentimes integrated measurements represent time-averaged records. Recent advances in communication and sensor technologies enable the deployment of dense grids of Wireless Distributed Environmental Sensor Networks for air quality monitoring, yet their capability to capture urban-scale spatiotemporal pollutant patterns has not been thoroughly examined to date. Here, we summarize our studies on the practicalities of using data streams from sensor nodes for air quality measurement and the required methods to tune the results to different stakeholders and applications. We summarize the results from eight cities across Europe, five sensor technologies-three stationary (with one tested also while moving) and two personal sensor platforms, and eight ambient pollutants. Overall, few sensors showed an exceptional and consistent performance, which can shed light on the fine spatiotemporal urban variability of pollutant concentrations. Stationary sensor nodes were more reliable than personal nodes. In general, the sensor measurements tend to suffer from the interference of various environmental factors and require frequent calibrations. This calls for the development of suitable field calibration procedures, and several such in situ field calibrations are presented.

Flexible Tube-Based Network Control, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The Innovation Laboratory, Inc. builds a control system which controls the topology of an air traffic flow network and the network flow properties which enables Air...

RadNet-Air Near Real Time Data

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — RadNet-Air is a national network of air monitoring stations that regularly collect air samples for near real time analysis of radioactivity. The data is transmitted...

Network modeling of PM10 concentration in Malaysia

Science.gov (United States)

Supian, Muhammad Nazirul Aiman Abu; Bakar, Sakhinah Abu; Razak, Fatimah Abdul

2017-08-01

Air pollution is not a new phenomenon in Malaysia. The Department of Environment (DOE) monitors the country's ambient air quality through a network of 51 stations. The air quality is measured using the Air Pollution Index (API) which is mainly recorded based on the concentration of particulate matter, PM10 readings. The Continuous Air Quality Monitoring (CAQM) stations are located in various places across the country. In this study, a network model of air quality based on PM10 concen tration for selected CAQM stations in Malaysia has been developed. The model is built using a graph formulation, G = (V, E) where vertex, V is a set of CAQM stations and edges, E is a set of correlation values for each pair of vertices. The network measurements such as degree distributions, closeness centrality, and betweenness centrality are computed to analyse the behaviour of the network. As a result, a rank of CAQM stations has been produced based on their centrality characteristics.

RadNet Air Data From Sacramento, CA

Science.gov (United States)

This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Sacramento, CA from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

RadNet Air Data From Honolulu, HI

Science.gov (United States)

This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Honolulu, HI from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

RadNet Air Data From Houston, TX

Science.gov (United States)

This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Houston, TX from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

RadNet Air Data From Austin, TX

Science.gov (United States)

This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Austin, TX from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

RadNet Air Data From Orlando, FL

Science.gov (United States)

This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Orlando, FL from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

Forecasting PM10 in metropolitan areas: Efficacy of neural networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fernando, H.J.S.; Mammarella, M.C.; Grandoni, G.; Fedele, P.; Di Marco, R.; Dimitrova, R.; Hyde, P.

2012-01-01

Deterministic photochemical air quality models are commonly used for regulatory management and planning of urban airsheds. These models are complex, computer intensive, and hence are prohibitively expensive for routine air quality predictions. Stochastic methods are becoming increasingly popular as an alternative, which relegate decision making to artificial intelligence based on Neural Networks that are made of artificial neurons or ‘nodes’ capable of ‘learning through training’ via historic data. A Neural Network was used to predict particulate matter concentration at a regulatory monitoring site in Phoenix, Arizona; its development, efficacy as a predictive tool and performance vis-à-vis a commonly used regulatory photochemical model are described in this paper. It is concluded that Neural Networks are much easier, quicker and economical to implement without compromising the accuracy of predictions. Neural Networks can be used to develop rapid air quality warning systems based on a network of automated monitoring stations.Highlights: ► Neural Network is an alternative technique to photochemical modelling. ► Neutral Networks can be as effective as traditional air photochemical modelling. ► Neural Networks are much easier and quicker to implement in health warning system. - Neutral networks are as effective as photochemical modelling for air quality predictions, but are much easier, quicker and economical to implement in air pollution (or health) warning systems.

Risk Management in Air Protection in the Republic of Croatia

OpenAIRE

Peternel, Renata; Toth, Ivan; Hercog, Predrag

2014-01-01

In the Republic of Croatia, according to the Air Protection Act, air pollution assessment is obligatory on the whole State territory. For individual regions and populated areas in the State a network has been established for permanent air quality monitoring. The State network consists of stations for measuring background pollution, regional and cross-border remote transfer and measurements as part of international government liabilities, then stations for measuring air quality in areas of cul...

CityAir app: Mapping air-quality perception using people as sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Castell, Nuria; Fredriksen, Mirjam; Cole-Hunter, Thomas; Robinson, Johanna; Keune, Hans; Nieuwenhuijsen, Mark; Bartonova, Alena

2016-04-01

Outdoor air pollution is a major environmental health problem affecting all people in developed and developing countries alike. Ambient (outdoor) air pollution in both cities and rural areas was estimated to cause 3.7 million premature deaths worldwide in 2012. In modern society, people are expending an increasing amount of time in polluted urban environments, thus increasing their exposure and associated health responses. Some cities provide information about air pollution levels to their citizens using air quality monitoring networks. However, due to their high cost and maintenance, the density of the monitoring networks is very low and not capable to capture the high temporal and spatial variability of air pollution. Thus, the citizen lacks a specific answer to the question of "how the air quality is in our surroundings". In the framework of the EU-funded CITI-SENSE project the innovative concept of People as Sensors is being applied to the field of outdoor air pollution. This is being done in eight European cities, including Barcelona, Belgrade, Edinburgh, Haifa, Ljubljana, Oslo, Ostrava and Vienna. People as Sensors defines a measurement model, in which measurements are not only taken by hardware sensors, but in which also humans can contribute with their individual "measurements" such as their subjective perception of air quality and other personal observations. In order to collect the personal observations a mobile app, CityAir, has been developed. CityAir allows citizens to rate the air quality in their surroundings with colour at their current location: green if air quality is very good, yellow if air quality is good, orange if air quality is poor and red if air quality is very poor. The users have also the possibility of indicating the source of pollution (i.e. traffic, industry, wood burning) and writing a comment. The information is on-line and accessible for other app users, thus contributing to create an air-quality map based on citizens' perception

Wireless Sensor Network for Indoor Air Quality Monitoring

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jun Li

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Indoor air quality monitoring system consists of wireless sensor device, nRF24L01 wireless transceiver modules, C8051MCU, STM32103 remote monitoring platform, alarm device and data server. Distributed in the interior space of wireless sensors measure parameters of the local air quality, wireless transceiver module of the MCU to transmit data to the remote monitoring platform for analysis which displayed and stored field environment data or charts. The data collecting from wireless sensors to be send by wireless Access Point to the remote data server based on B/S architecture, intelligent terminals such as mobile phone, laptop, tablet PC on the Internet monitor indoor air quality in real-time. When site environment air quality index data exceeds the threshold in the monitoring device, the remote monitoring platform sends out the alarm SMS signal to inform user by GSM module. Indoor air quality monitoring system uses modular design method, has the portability and scalability has the low manufacture cost, real-time monitoring data and man-machine interaction.

The community takes charge : story and success of Clean Air Hamilton

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McCarry, B.

2004-01-01

Clean Air Hamilton was established in 2001 to identify priority air quality issues, pollution sources, and evaluate impacts and solutions for air quality issues. Clean Air Hamilton also assesses the human health effects of ambient air exposures in Hamilton. A 1997 survey of Hamilton residents showed that most citizens were extremely concerned about health effects, black fallout, smog visibility, and odours. Clean Air Hamilton has established an air monitoring network which includes 19 member companies and 22 industrial sites. The objective is to determine recent contaminant trends in upwind/downwind air quality. The timeline for establishing the Hamilton air monitoring network was presented. The network, which serves as a model for Ontario and Canada, monitors the impact of vehicular and industrial emissions and establishes ten-year air quality trends for benzo(a)pyrene, sulphur, nitrogen dioxide, and ozone at industrial sites and the downtown core. Analysis of air quality trends shows that there has been improvement in levels of some locally-generated contaminants. The data has also been used for epidemiological studies to determine the health effects of industry on Hamiltonians. figs

Computer network time synchronization the network time protocol

CERN Document Server

Mills, David L

2006-01-01

What started with the sundial has, thus far, been refined to a level of precision based on atomic resonance: Time. Our obsession with time is evident in this continued scaling down to nanosecond resolution and beyond. But this obsession is not without warrant. Precision and time synchronization are critical in many applications, such as air traffic control and stock trading, and pose complex and important challenges in modern information networks.Penned by David L. Mills, the original developer of the Network Time Protocol (NTP), Computer Network Time Synchronization: The Network Time Protocol

Node-to-node field calibration of wireless distributed air pollution sensor network.

Science.gov (United States)

Kizel, Fadi; Etzion, Yael; Shafran-Nathan, Rakefet; Levy, Ilan; Fishbain, Barak; Bartonova, Alena; Broday, David M

2018-02-01

Low-cost air quality sensors offer high-resolution spatiotemporal measurements that can be used for air resources management and exposure estimation. Yet, such sensors require frequent calibration to provide reliable data, since even after a laboratory calibration they might not report correct values when they are deployed in the field, due to interference with other pollutants, as a result of sensitivity to environmental conditions and due to sensor aging and drift. Field calibration has been suggested as a means for overcoming these limitations, with the common strategy involving periodical collocations of the sensors at an air quality monitoring station. However, the cost and complexity involved in relocating numerous sensor nodes back and forth, and the loss of data during the repeated calibration periods make this strategy inefficient. This work examines an alternative approach, a node-to-node (N2N) calibration, where only one sensor in each chain is directly calibrated against the reference measurements and the rest of the sensors are calibrated sequentially one against the other while they are deployed and collocated in pairs. The calibration can be performed multiple times as a routine procedure. This procedure minimizes the total number of sensor relocations, and enables calibration while simultaneously collecting data at the deployment sites. We studied N2N chain calibration and the propagation of the calibration error analytically, computationally and experimentally. The in-situ N2N calibration is shown to be generic and applicable for different pollutants, sensing technologies, sensor platforms, chain lengths, and sensor order within the chain. In particular, we show that chain calibration of three nodes, each calibrated for a week, propagate calibration errors that are similar to those found in direct field calibration. Hence, N2N calibration is shown to be suitable for calibration of distributed sensor networks. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All

Journal Article: Atmospheric Measurements of CDDs, CDFs, and Coplanar PCBs in Rural and Remote Locations of the U.S. for the Years 1998-2001 from the National Dioxin Air Monitoring Network (Ndamn)

Science.gov (United States)

The U.S. EPA established a National Dioxin Air Monitoring Network (NDAMN) to determine background air concentrations of PCDDs, PCDFs, and cp-PCBs in rural and remote areas of the United States. Background is defined as average ambient air concentrations inferred from long-term a...

Comparison for Air Kerma from Radiation Protection Gamma-ray Beams with Brazilian Network - 2016/2017

Science.gov (United States)

Cabral, TS; da Silva, CNM; Potiens, MPA; Soares, CMA; Silveira, RR; Khoury, H.; Saito, V.; Fernandes, E.; Cardoso, WF; de Oliveira, HPS; Pires, MA; de Amorim, AS; Balthar, M.

2018-03-01

The results of the comparison involving 9 laboratories in Brazil are reported. The measured quantity was the air kerma in 137Cs and 60Co, at the level of radioprotection. The comparison was conducted by the National Laboratory Metrology of Ionizing Radiation (LNMRI/IRD) from October 2016 to March 2017. The largest deviation between the calibration coefficients was 0.8% for 137Cs and 0.7% for 60Co. This proficiency exercise proved the technical capacity of the Brazilian calibration network in radiation monitors and the results were used by some in the implementation of the standard ISO/IEC 17025.

Actions to reduce the impact of construction products on indoor air: Outcomes of the European Project HealthyAir

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bluyssen, P.M.; Richemont, S.de; Crump, D.; Maupetit, F.; Witterseh, T.; Gajdos, P.

2010-01-01

The European project - HealthyAir is a network project involving six institutions in Europe on actions and activities that address the effects of construction products on indoor air. Different ways to improve indoor air quality were reviewed, ranging from source control to education of occupants on

Urban air pollution in megacities of the world

Science.gov (United States)

Mage, David; Ozolins, Guntis; Peterson, Peter; Webster, Anthony; Orthofer, Rudi; Vandeweerd, Veerle; Gwynne, Michael

Urban air pollution is a major environmental problem in the developing countries of the world. WHO and UNEP created an air pollution monitoring network as part of the Global Environment Monitoring System. This network now covers over 50 cities in 35 developing and developed countries throughout the world. The analyses of the data reported by the network over the past 15-20 yr indicate that the lessons of the prior experiences in the developed countries (U.S.A., U.K.) have not been learned. A study of air pollution in 20 of the 24 megacities of the world (over 10 million people by year 2000) shows that ambient air pollution concentrations are at levels where serious health effects are reported. The expected rise of population in the next century, mainly in the developing countries with a lack of capital for air pollution control, means that there is a great potential that conditions will worsen in many more cities that will reach megacity status. This paper maps the potential for air pollution that cities will experience in the future unless control strategies are developed and implemented during the next several decades.

RadNet Air Data From Fort Smith, AR

Science.gov (United States)

This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Fort Smith, AR from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

RadNet Air Data From Little Rock, AR

Science.gov (United States)

This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Little Rock, AR from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

RadNet Air Data From Mason City, IA

Science.gov (United States)

This page presents radiation air monitoring and air filter analysis data for Mason City, IA from EPA's RadNet system. RadNet is a nationwide network of monitoring stations that measure radiation in air, drinking water and precipitation.

Will Jakarta Be The Next Atlantis? Excessive Groundwater Use Resulting From A Failing Piped Water Network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicola Colbran

2009-06-01

Full Text Available This article examines the connection between a failing piped water network and excessive groundwater use in Jakarta. It discusses the political history of the city's piped water network, which was privatised in 1998, and how privatisation was intended to increase access to clean, safe water for its residents. The article asserts that this has not eventuated, and that tap water remains costly, unreliable and does not provide noticeable benefits when compared with groundwater. The result is that households, industry, businesses, luxury apartment complexes and hotels choose alternative water sources and distribution methods, in particular groundwater. This is having an unsustainable impact on groundwater levels and Jakarta 's natural environment, causing significant land subsidence, pollution and salinisation of aquifers, and increased levels of flooding. The effect is so severe that the World Bank has predicted much of Jakarta will be inundated by seawater in 2025, rendering one third of the city uninhabitable and displacing millions. The article concludes by discussing and assessing the steps the government has taken to address excessive and unlicensed groundwater use. These steps include new regulations on groundwater, a public awareness campaign on the importance of groundwater and a commitment to improve the raw water supplied to the piped water network. However, the article observes that the government is yet to develop long term policies for improvement of the network itself. The question therefore remains, has the government done enough, or will groundwater use continue unabated making Jakarta the next lost city of Atlantis?

Comparison for air kerma from radiation protection gamma-ray beams with Brazilian network: 2016/2017

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cabral, T.S.; Silva, C.N.M. da, E-mail: tschirn@ird.gov.br [Instituto de Radioproteção e Dosimetria (IRD/CNEN-RJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Potiens, M.P.A. [Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares (IPEN/CNEN-SP), São Paulo, SP (Brazil); Soares, C.M.A. [Centro de Desenvolvimento de Tecnologia Nuclear (CDTN/CNEN-MG), Belo Horizonte, MG (Brazil); Silveira, R.R. [Centro Regional de Ciencias Nucleares do Nordeste (CRCN-NE/CNEN-PE), Recife, PE (Brazil); Khoury, H.; Saito, V. [Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE), PE (Brazil). Departamento de Energia Nuclear; Fernandes, E. [Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), RJ (Brazil). Laboratório de Ciências Radiológicas; Cardoso, W.F.; Oliveira, H.P.S. de [Eletrobrás Termonuclear S.A. (Eletronuclear), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Borges, J.C.; Pires, M.A. [MRA Comércio de Instrumentos Eletrônicos Ltda, SP (Brazil); Amorim, A.S. de; Balthar, M. [Centro Tecnológico do Exercito (CTEx), RJ (Brazil)

2017-07-01

The results of the comparison involving 9 laboratories in Brazil are reported. The measured quantity was the air kerma in {sup 137}Cs and {sup 60}Co, at the level of radioprotection. The comparison was conducted by the National Laboratory Metrology of Ionizing Radiation (LNMRI/IRD) from October 2016 to March 2017. The largest deviation between the calibration coefficients was 0.8% for {sup 137}Cs and 0.7% for {sup 60}Co. This proficiency exercise proved the technical capacity of the Brazilian calibration network in radiation monitors and the results were used by some in the implementation of the standard ISO / IEC 17025. (author)

Development of hybrid genetic-algorithm-based neural networks using regression trees for modeling air quality inside a public transportation bus.

Science.gov (United States)

Kadiyala, Akhil; Kaur, Devinder; Kumar, Ashok

2013-02-01

The present study developed a novel approach to modeling indoor air quality (IAQ) of a public transportation bus by the development of hybrid genetic-algorithm-based neural networks (also known as evolutionary neural networks) with input variables optimized from using the regression trees, referred as the GART approach. This study validated the applicability of the GART modeling approach in solving complex nonlinear systems by accurately predicting the monitored contaminants of carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), nitric oxide (NO), sulfur dioxide (SO2), 0.3-0.4 microm sized particle numbers, 0.4-0.5 microm sized particle numbers, particulate matter (PM) concentrations less than 1.0 microm (PM10), and PM concentrations less than 2.5 microm (PM2.5) inside a public transportation bus operating on 20% grade biodiesel in Toledo, OH. First, the important variables affecting each monitored in-bus contaminant were determined using regression trees. Second, the analysis of variance was used as a complimentary sensitivity analysis to the regression tree results to determine a subset of statistically significant variables affecting each monitored in-bus contaminant. Finally, the identified subsets of statistically significant variables were used as inputs to develop three artificial neural network (ANN) models. The models developed were regression tree-based back-propagation network (BPN-RT), regression tree-based radial basis function network (RBFN-RT), and GART models. Performance measures were used to validate the predictive capacity of the developed IAQ models. The results from this approach were compared with the results obtained from using a theoretical approach and a generalized practicable approach to modeling IAQ that included the consideration of additional independent variables when developing the aforementioned ANN models. The hybrid GART models were able to capture majority of the variance in the monitored in-bus contaminants. The genetic

RadNet Air Quality (Fixed Station) Data

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — RadNet is a national network of monitoring stations that regularly collect air for analysis of radioactivity. The RadNet network, which has stations in each State,...

Take control of your 802.11n airport network

CERN Document Server

Fleishman, Glenn

2009-01-01

Make your 802.11n-based AirPort network fast, reliable, and secure! Find real-world advice from Wi-Fi wizard Glenn Fleishman on setting up the 802.11n models of Apple's AirPort Express, AirPort Extreme, and Time Capsule, with full information about the simultaneous dual-band models introduced in early 2009. You'll get help with all the special networking details, such as how to set the best band and channel for your network, use pre-802.11n base stations and clients without hurting performance, set up complex Int

Air quality modelling using chemometric techniques | Azid | Journal ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study presents that the chemometric techniques and modelling become an excellent tool in API assessment, air pollution source identification, apportionment and can be setbacks in designing an API monitoring network for effective air pollution resources management. Keywords: air pollutant index; chemometric; ANN; ...

Some results of turbidity networks

OpenAIRE

Volz, F. E.

2011-01-01

Turbidity networks to obtain daily values of haze attenuation from measurements of solar radiation, mostly by means of sun photometers, were established in 1961 in the USA by the National Center for Air Pollution Control, Cincinnati, Ohio, and in Western Europe from 1963 to 1967 by the author. The course of turbidity in the two networks during interesting periods is presented. Discussion of synoptic variations of turbidity is rather difficult, when referring to periods of rapid change of air ...

Cordon Pricing Considering Air Pollutants Emission

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shahriar Afandizadeh

2016-04-01

Full Text Available This paper considers the issue of air pollutants emission for the optimal and sustainable determination of cordon location, toll level, and price of park and ride (P&R. Although air pollutants emission decreases within the cordon by the implementation of cordon pricing scheme, it may increase outside the cordon and the whole network. Hence, air pollutants emission may only transfer from inside of the cordon to its outside. Therefore, in this paper, a multi-objective bi-level optimization model is developed. A solution algorithm is also presented based on the second version of strength Pareto evolutionary algorithm (SPEA2. The results reveal that this multi-objective model can be a useful tool for the sustainable and optimal design of the cordon and P&R scheme. In addition, cordon pricing is a multi-objective problem. Therefore, it is necessary to consider air pollutants emission. By choosing another non-dominated result in the solution space, air pollutants emission outside the cordon and the whole network can be reduced without a significant reduction in social welfare.

2D-HB-Network at the air-water interface: A structural and dynamical characterization by means of ab initio and classical molecular dynamics simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Pezzotti, Simone; Serva, Alessandra; Gaigeot, Marie-Pierre

2018-05-01

Following our previous work where the existence of a special 2-Dimensional H-Bond (2D-HB)-Network was revealed at the air-water interface [S. Pezzotti et al., J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 8, 3133 (2017)], we provide here a full structural and dynamical characterization of this specific arrangement by means of both Density Functional Theory based and Force Field based molecular dynamics simulations. We show in particular that water at the interface with air reconstructs to maximize H-Bonds formed between interfacial molecules, which leads to the formation of an extended and non-interrupted 2-Dimensional H-Bond structure involving on average ˜90% of water molecules at the interface. We also show that the existence of such an extended structure, composed of H-Bonds all oriented parallel to the surface, constrains the reorientional dynamics of water that is hence slower at the interface than in the bulk. The structure and dynamics of the 2D-HB-Network provide new elements to possibly rationalize several specific properties of the air-water interface, such as water surface tension, anisotropic reorientation of interfacial water under an external field, and proton hopping.

Monitoring urban air quality using a high-density network of low-cost sensor nodes in Oslo, Norway.

Science.gov (United States)

Castell, Nuria; Schneider, Philipp; Vogt, Matthias; Dauge, Franck R.; Lahoz, William; Bartonova, Alena

2017-04-01

Urban air quality represents a major public health burden and is a long-standing concern to citizens. Air pollution is associated with a range of diseases, symptoms and conditions that impair health and quality of life. In Oslo, traffic, especially exhaust from heavy-duty and private diesel vehicles and dust resuspension from studded tyres, together with wood burning in winter, are the main sources of pollution. Norway, as part of the European Economic Area, is obliged to comply with the European air quality regulations and ensure clean air. Despite this, Oslo has exceeded both the NO2 and PM10 thresholds for health protection defined in the Directive 2008/50/EC. The air quality in the Oslo area is continuously monitored in 12 compliance monitoring stations. These stations provide reliable and accurate data but their density is too low to provide a detailed spatial distribution of air quality. The emergence of low-cost nodes enables observations at high spatial resolution, providing the opportunity to enhance existing monitoring systems. However, the data generated by these nodes is significantly less accurate and precise than the data provided by reference equipment. We have conducted an evaluation of low-cost nodes to monitor NO2 and PM10, comparing the data collected with low-cost nodes against CEN (European Standardization Organization) reference analysers. During January and March 2016, a network of 24 nodes was deployed in Oslo. During January, high NO2 levels were observed for several days in a row coinciding with the formation of a thermal inversion. During March, we observed an episode with high PM10 levels due to road dust resuspension. Our results show that there is a major technical challenge associated with current commercial low-cost sensors, regarding the sensor robustness and measurement repeatability. Despite this, low-cost sensor nodes are able to reproduce the NO2 and PM10 variability. The data from the sensors was employed to generate detailed

Rerouting algorithms solving the air traffic congestion

Science.gov (United States)

Adacher, Ludovica; Flamini, Marta; Romano, Elpidio

2017-06-01

Congestion in the air traffic network is a problem with an increasing relevance for airlines costs as well as airspace safety. One of the major issue is the limited operative capacity of the air network. In this work an Autonomous Agent approach is proposed to solve in real time the problem of air traffic congestion. The air traffic infrastructures are modeled with a graph and are considered partitioned in different sectors. Each sector has its own decision agent dealing with the air traffic control involved in it. Each agent sector imposes a real time aircraft scheduling to respect both delay and capacity constrains. When a congestion is predicted, a new aircraft scheduling is computed. Congestion is solved when the capacity constrains are satisfied once again. This can be done by delaying on ground aircraft or/and rerouting aircraft and/or postponing the congestion. We have tested two different algorithms that calculate K feasible paths for each aircraft involved in the congestion. Some results are reported on North Italian air space.

Assessment of the Atmospheric Suspended Particles Pollution in the Madrid Air Quality Networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Salvador, P.; Artinano, B.

2000-01-01

Suspended particles are a very complex type of atmospheric pollution because of their chemical composition and size. In fact, there are a quite high number of particles sources which are linked to different physicochemical processes that determine their size. At present particles smaller than 10 μm are considered the most dangerous, as has been recently pointed out by numerous epidemiologic studies. In this way, more restrictive concentration limit values have been approved in the EU countries, so an assessment of present airborne concentration values and the sources apportionment in their most representative areas is needed. In the Madrid Community a first approaching of these and other aims, has been carried out from an analysis of the Madrid Air Quality networks data. This will contribute to the establishment of concentration levels abatement strategies. (Author) 111 refs

Neural network and its application to CT imaging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nikravesh, M.; Kovscek, A.R.; Patzek, T.W. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab., CA (United States)] [and others

1997-02-01

We present an integrated approach to imaging the progress of air displacement by spontaneous imbibition of oil into sandstone. We combine Computerized Tomography (CT) scanning and neural network image processing. The main aspects of our approach are (I) visualization of the distribution of oil and air saturation by CT, (II) interpretation of CT scans using neural networks, and (III) reconstruction of 3-D images of oil saturation from the CT scans with a neural network model. Excellent agreement between the actual images and the neural network predictions is found.

Static and mobile networks design for atmospheric accidental releases monitoring

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abida, R.

2010-01-01

The global context of my PhD thesis work is the optimization of air pollution monitoring networks, but more specifically it concerns the monitoring of accidental releases of radionuclides in air. The optimization problem of air quality measuring networks has been addresses in the literature. However, it has not been addresses in the context of surveillance of accidental atmospheric releases. The first part of my thesis addresses the optimization of a permanent network of monitoring of radioactive aerosols in the air, covering France. The second part concerns the problem of targeting of observations in case of an accidental release of radionuclides from a nuclear plant. (author)

Optimization of an FPGA Trigger Based on an Artificial Neural Network for the Detection of Neutrino-Induced Air Showers

Science.gov (United States)

Szadkowski, Zbigniew; Głas, Dariusz; Pytel, Krzysztof; Wiedeński, Michał

2017-06-01

Neutrinos play a fundamental role in the understanding of the origin of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays. They interact through charged and neutral currents in the atmosphere generating extensive air showers. However, the very low rate of events potentially generated by neutrinos is a significant challenge for detection techniques and requires both sophisticated algorithms and high-resolution hardware. Air showers initiated by protons and muon neutrinos at various altitudes, angles, and energies were simulated in CORSIKA and the Auger OffLine event reconstruction platforms, giving analog-to-digital convertor (ADC) patterns in Auger water Cherenkov detectors on the ground. The proton interaction cross section is high, so proton “old” showers start their development early in the atmosphere. In contrast to this, neutrinos can generate “young” showers deeply in the atmosphere relatively close to the detectors. Differences between “old” proton and “young” neutrino showers are visible in attenuation factors of ADC waveforms. For the separation of “old” proton and “young” neutrino ADC traces, many three-layer artificial neural networks (ANNs) were tested. They were trained in MATLAB (in a dedicated way -only “old” proton and “young” neutrino showers as patterns) by simulated ADC traces according to the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm. Unexpectedly, the recognition efficiency is found to be almost independent of the size of the networks. The ANN trigger based on a selected 8-6-1 network was tested in the Cyclone V E FPGA 5CEFA9F31I7, the heart of prototype front-end boards developed for testing new algorithms in the Pierre Auger surface detectors.

A discrimination technique for extensive air showers based on multiscale, lacunarity and neural network analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pagliaro, Antonio; D'Ali Staiti, G.; D'Anna, F.

2011-01-01

We present a new method for the identification of extensive air showers initiated by different primaries. The method uses the multiscale concept and is based on the analysis of multifractal behaviour and lacunarity of secondary particle distributions together with a properly designed and trained artificial neural network. In the present work the method is discussed and applied to a set of fully simulated vertical showers, in the experimental framework of ARGO-YBJ, to obtain hadron to gamma primary separation. We show that the presented approach gives very good results, leading, in the 1-10 TeV energy range, to a clear improvement of the discrimination power with respect to the existing figures for extended shower detectors.

Sistem Pemantauan Kadar pH, Suhu dan Warna pada Air Sungai Melalui Web Berbasis Wireless Sensor Network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmad Sabiq

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Water is a very important natural resource for human life and other living things. Water pollution, especially in river water, should be controlled because of the rapid development. One technology to monitor multiple physical quantities scattered in a region is the Wireless Sensor Network (WSN. WSN technology has the ability to transmit data from sensor readings and forward data received from other nodes. In this study, prototype monitoring system of pH level, temperature, and color based on WSN that can be monitored through the developed web. The sensors at each node are connected to Arduino Uno as a processing unit, data read from the sensor is sent to the sync node via XBee wireless device. In the sink, the PC also serves as a database server and a web server is used. Test results with two different dispersion indicate that sensor readings can be read by all nodes and received by the sync node and can be displayed on web pages that have been built. Air merupakan sumber daya alam yang sangat penting bagi kehidupan manusia dan mahluk hidup lainnya. Pencemaran air khususnya air sungai perlu dikendalikan seiring makin cepatnya pembangunan. Salah satu teknologi untuk melakukan pemantauan besaran fisik dalam wilayah yang tersebar adalah Wireless Sensor Network (WSN, yang memiliki kemampuan untuk mengirimkan data hasil pembacaan sensor serta meneruskan data yang diterima dari node lain. Pada penelitian ini dikembangkan purwarupa sistem pemantauan kadar pH, suhu dan warna berbasis WSN yang dapat dipantau melalui web. Sensor pada setiap node dihubungkan ke Arduino Uno sebagai unit pemroses, data yang dibaca dari sensor dikirimkan ke node sink melalui perangkat XBee nirkabel. Pada sink digunakan PC yang berfungsi juga sebagai database server dan web server. Hasil dari pengujian dengan dua penyebaran yang berbeda didapatkan hasil bahwa pembacaan sensor dapat dibaca oleh seluruh node dan diterima oleh sink serta dapat ditampilkan melalui laman web yang

Measurement results obtained from air quality monitoring system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Turzanski, P.K.; Beres, R. [Provincial Inspection of Environmental Protection, Cracow (Poland)

1995-12-31

An automatic system of air pollution monitoring operates in Cracow since 1991. The organization, assembling and start-up of the network is a result of joint efforts of the US Environmental Protection Agency and the Cracow environmental protection service. At present the automatic monitoring network is operated by the Provincial Inspection of Environmental Protection. There are in total seven stationary stations situated in Cracow to measure air pollution. These stations are supported continuously by one semi-mobile (transportable) station. It allows to modify periodically the area under investigation and therefore the 3-dimensional picture of creation and distribution of air pollutants within Cracow area could be more intelligible.

UNMANNED AIR VEHICLE STABILIZATION BASED ON NEURAL NETWORK REGULATOR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. S. Andropov

2016-09-01

Full Text Available A problem of stabilizing for the multirotor unmanned aerial vehicle in an environment with external disturbances is researched. A classic proportional-integral-derivative controller is analyzed, its flaws are outlined: inability to respond to changing of external conditions and the need for manual adjustment of coefficients. The paper presents an adaptive adjustment method for coefficients of the proportional-integral-derivative controller based on neural networks. A neural network structure, its input and output data are described. Neural networks with three layers are used to create an adaptive stabilization system for the multirotor unmanned aerial vehicle. Training of the networks is done with the back propagation method. Each neural network produces regulator coefficients for each angle of stabilization as its output. A method for network training is explained. Several graphs of transition process on different stages of learning, including processes with external disturbances, are presented. It is shown that the system meets stabilization requirements with sufficient number of iterations. Described adjustment method for coefficients can be used in remote control of unmanned aerial vehicles, operating in the changing environment.

Security for the Mythical Air-Dropped Sensor Network

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gamage, C.D.; Bicakci, K.; Crispo, B.; Tanenbaum, A.S.

2006-01-01

The research area of very large scale wireless sensor networks made of low-cost sensors is gaining a lot of interest as witnessed by the large number of published papers. The security aspects of such networks are addressed as well, and in particular many security papers investigating the security

Air Quality Monitoring Programme

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kemp, K.; Palmgren, F.

The air quality in Danish cities has been monitored continuously since 1982 within the Danish Air Quality (LMP) network. The aim has been to follow the concentration levels of toxic pollutants in the urban atmosphere and to provide the necessary knowledge to assess the trends, to perform source...... apportionment, and to evaluate the chemical reactions and the dispersion of the pollutants in the atmosphere. In 2002 the air quality was measured in four Danish cities and at two background sites. NO2 and PM10 were at several stations found in concentrations above the new EU limit values, which the Member...

Neuro-models for discharge air temperature system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zaheer-uddin, M.; Tudoroiu, N.

2004-01-01

Nonlinear neuro-models for a discharge air temperature (DAT) system are developed. Experimental data gathered in a heating ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) test facility is used to develop multi-input multi-output (MIMO) and single-input single-output (SISO) neuro-models. Several different network architectures were explored to build the models. Results show that a three layer second order neural network structure is necessary to achieve good accuracy of the predictions. Results from the developed models are compared, and some observations on sensitivity and standard deviation errors are presented

A new air quality monitoring and early warning system: Air quality assessment and air pollutant concentration prediction.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Zhongshan; Wang, Jian

2017-10-01

Air pollution in many countries is worsening with industrialization and urbanization, resulting in climate change and affecting people's health, thus, making the work of policymakers more difficult. It is therefore both urgent and necessary to establish amore scientific air quality monitoring and early warning system to evaluate the degree of air pollution objectively, and predict pollutant concentrations accurately. However, the integration of air quality assessment and air pollutant concentration prediction to establish an air quality system is not common. In this paper, we propose a new air quality monitoring and early warning system, including an assessment module and forecasting module. In the air quality assessment module, fuzzy comprehensive evaluation is used to determine the main pollutants and evaluate the degree of air pollution more scientifically. In the air pollutant concentration prediction module, a novel hybridization model combining complementary ensemble empirical mode decomposition, a modified cuckoo search and differential evolution algorithm, and an Elman neural network, is proposed to improve the forecasting accuracy of six main air pollutant concentrations. To verify the effectiveness of this system, pollutant data for two cities in China are used. The result of the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation shows that the major air pollutants in Xi'an and Jinan are PM 10 and PM 2.5 respectively, and that the air quality of Xi'an is better than that of Jinan. The forecasting results indicate that the proposed hybrid model is remarkably superior to all benchmark models on account of its higher prediction accuracy and stability. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Spatio-temporal modelling of atmospheric pollution based on observations provided by an air quality monitoring network at a regional scale

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coman, A.

2008-01-01

This study is devoted to the spatio-temporal modelling of air pollution at a regional scale using a set of statistical methods in order to treat the measurements of pollutant concentrations (NO 2 , O 3 ) provided by an air quality monitoring network (AIRPARIF). The main objective is the improvement of the pollutant fields mapping using either interpolation methods based on the spatial or spatio-temporal structure of the data (spatial or spatio-temporal kriging) or some algorithms taking into account the observations, in order to correct the concentrations simulated by a deterministic model (Ensemble Kalman Filter). The results show that nitrogen dioxide mapping based only on spatial interpolation (kriging) gives the best results, while the spatial repartition of the monitoring sites is good. For the ozone mapping it is the sequential data assimilation that leads us to a better reconstruction of the plume's form and position for the analyzed cases. Complementary to the pollutant mapping, another objective was to perform a local prediction of ozone concentrations on a 24-hour horizon; this task was performed using Artificial Neural Networks. The performance indices obtained using two types of neural architectures indicate a fair accuracy especially for the first 8 hours of prediction horizon. (author)

Transformations in Air Transportation Systems For the 21st Century

Science.gov (United States)

Holmes, Bruce J.

2004-01-01

Globally, our transportation systems face increasingly discomforting realities: certain of the legacy air and ground infrastructures of the 20th century will not satisfy our 21st century mobility needs. The consequence of inaction is diminished quality of life and economic opportunity for those nations unable to transform from the 20th to 21st century systems. Clearly, new thinking is required regarding business models that cater to consumers value of time, airspace architectures that enable those new business models, and technology strategies for innovating at the system-of-networks level. This lecture proposes a structured way of thinking about transformation from the legacy systems of the 20th century toward new systems for the 21st century. The comparison and contrast between the legacy systems of the 20th century and the transformed systems of the 21st century provides insights into the structure of transformation of air transportation. Where the legacy systems tend to be analog (versus digital), centralized (versus distributed), and scheduled (versus on-demand) for example, transformed 21st century systems become capable of scalability through technological, business, and policy innovations. Where air mobility in our legacy systems of the 20th century brought economic opportunity and quality of life to large service markets, transformed air mobility of the 21st century becomes more equitable available to ever-thinner and widely distributed populations. Several technological developments in the traditional aircraft disciplines as well as in communication, navigation, surveillance and information systems create new foundations for 21st thinking about air transportation. One of the technological developments of importance arises from complexity science and modern network theory. Scale-free (i.e., scalable) networks represent a promising concept space for modeling airspace system architectures, and for assessing network performance in terms of robustness

Feasibility of a Networked Air Traffic Infrastructure Validation Environment for Advanced NextGen Concepts

Science.gov (United States)

McCormack, Michael J.; Gibson, Alec K.; Dennis, Noah E.; Underwood, Matthew C.; Miller,Lana B.; Ballin, Mark G.

2013-01-01

Abstract-Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) applications reliant upon aircraft data links such as Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) offer a sweeping modernization of the National Airspace System (NAS), but the aviation stakeholder community has not yet established a positive business case for equipage and message content standards remain in flux. It is necessary to transition promising Air Traffic Management (ATM) Concepts of Operations (ConOps) from simulation environments to full-scale flight tests in order to validate user benefits and solidify message standards. However, flight tests are prohibitively expensive and message standards for Commercial-off-the-Shelf (COTS) systems cannot support many advanced ConOps. It is therefore proposed to simulate future aircraft surveillance and communications equipage and employ an existing commercial data link to exchange data during dedicated flight tests. This capability, referred to as the Networked Air Traffic Infrastructure Validation Environment (NATIVE), would emulate aircraft data links such as ADS-B using in-flight Internet and easily-installed test equipment. By utilizing low-cost equipment that is easy to install and certify for testing, advanced ATM ConOps can be validated, message content standards can be solidified, and new standards can be established through full-scale flight trials without necessary or expensive equipage or extensive flight test preparation. This paper presents results of a feasibility study of the NATIVE concept. To determine requirements, six NATIVE design configurations were developed for two NASA ConOps that rely on ADS-B. The performance characteristics of three existing in-flight Internet services were investigated to determine whether performance is adequate to support the concept. Next, a study of requisite hardware and software was conducted to examine whether and how the NATIVE concept might be realized. Finally, to determine a business case

Air pollution assessment in the Slovak Republic in 2004

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon

2005-07-01

Slovak air protection legislation is fully identical with the relevant EU legislation. The results of air pollution monitoring in Slovakia in 2004 are summarised in the presented report. The territory of Slovakia was partitioned into 8 zones (identical with administrative counties) and 2 agglomerations (the largest towns Bratislava and Kosice). In 2004 were specified 17 areas with controlled air quality, which totally include 2 774 km 2 and 1 460 000 inhabitants (27 % of population). The Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute (SHMU) maintains national air pollution monitoring network in Slovakia. In 2004, it consisted of 29 real-time monitoring stations, 6 real-time ground level ozone monitoring stations only and 5 regional background stations. The monitoring network was built in accordance with the rules given in EU directives. Only reference or equivalence measuring methods are used. (authors))

Prediction of air-to-blood partition coefficients of volatile organic compounds using genetic algorithm and artificial neural network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Konoz, Elahe; Golmohammadi, Hassan

2008-01-01

An artificial neural network (ANN) was constructed and trained for the prediction of air-to-blood partition coefficients of volatile organic compounds. The inputs of this neural network are theoretically derived descriptors that were chosen by genetic algorithm (GA) and multiple linear regression (MLR) features selection techniques. These descriptors are: R maximal autocorrelation of lag 1 weighted by atomic Sanderson electronegativities (R1E+), electron density on the most negative atom in molecule (EDNA), maximum partial charge for C atom (MXPCC), surface weighted charge partial surface area (WNSA1), fractional charge partial surface area (FNSA2) and atomic charge weighted partial positive surface area (PPSA3). The standard errors of training, test and validation sets for the ANN model are 0.095, 0.148 and 0.120, respectively. Result obtained showed that nonlinear model can simulate the relationship between structural descriptors and the partition coefficients of the molecules in data set accurately

Detecting Faults in Southern California using Computer-Vision Techniques and Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR) Interferometry

Science.gov (United States)

Barba, M.; Rains, C.; von Dassow, W.; Parker, J. W.; Glasscoe, M. T.

2013-12-01

Knowing the location and behavior of active faults is essential for earthquake hazard assessment and disaster response. In Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) images, faults are revealed as linear discontinuities. Currently, interferograms are manually inspected to locate faults. During the summer of 2013, the NASA-JPL DEVELOP California Disasters team contributed to the development of a method to expedite fault detection in California using remote-sensing technology. The team utilized InSAR images created from polarimetric L-band data from NASA's Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR) project. A computer-vision technique known as 'edge-detection' was used to automate the fault-identification process. We tested and refined an edge-detection algorithm under development through NASA's Earthquake Data Enhanced Cyber-Infrastructure for Disaster Evaluation and Response (E-DECIDER) project. To optimize the algorithm we used both UAVSAR interferograms and synthetic interferograms generated through Disloc, a web-based modeling program available through NASA's QuakeSim project. The edge-detection algorithm detected seismic, aseismic, and co-seismic slip along faults that were identified and compared with databases of known fault systems. Our optimization process was the first step toward integration of the edge-detection code into E-DECIDER to provide decision support for earthquake preparation and disaster management. E-DECIDER partners that will use the edge-detection code include the California Earthquake Clearinghouse and the US Department of Homeland Security through delivery of products using the Unified Incident Command and Decision Support (UICDS) service. Through these partnerships, researchers, earthquake disaster response teams, and policy-makers will be able to use this new methodology to examine the details of ground and fault motions for moderate to large earthquakes. Following an earthquake, the newly discovered faults can

a Web Api and Web Application Development for Dissemination of Air Quality Information

Science.gov (United States)

Şahin, K.; Işıkdağ, U.

2017-11-01

Various studies have been carried out since 2005 under the leadership of Ministry of Environment and Urbanism of Turkey, in order to observe the quality of air in Turkey, to develop new policies and to develop a sustainable air quality management strategy. For this reason, a national air quality monitoring network has been developed providing air quality indices. By this network, the quality of the air has been continuously monitored and an important information system has been constructed in order to take precautions for preventing a dangerous situation. The biggest handicap in the network is the data access problem for instant and time series data acquisition and processing because of its proprietary structure. Currently, there is no service offered by the current air quality monitoring system for exchanging information with third party applications. Within the context of this work, a web service has been developed to enable location based querying of the current/past air quality data in Turkey. This web service is equipped with up-todate and widely preferred technologies. In other words, an architecture is chosen in which applications can easily integrate. In the second phase of the study, a web-based application was developed to test the developed web service and this testing application can perform location based acquisition of air-quality data. This makes it possible to easily carry out operations such as screening and examination of the area in the given time-frame which cannot be done with the national monitoring network.

Computer network time synchronization the network time protocol on earth and in space

CERN Document Server

Mills, David L

2010-01-01

Carefully coordinated, reliable, and accurate time synchronization is vital to a wide spectrum of fields-from air and ground traffic control, to buying and selling goods and services, to TV network programming. Ill-gotten time could even lead to the unimaginable and cause DNS caches to expire, leaving the entire Internet to implode on the root servers.Written by the original developer of the Network Time Protocol (NTP), Computer Network Time Synchronization: The Network Time Protocol on Earth and in Space, Second Edition addresses the technological infrastructure of time dissemination, distrib

Large-site air-storage gas-turbine plants in electricity networks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Herbst, H C

1980-08-01

The article gives a detailed description of the construction and the operation of the 290 MW air-storage gas-turbine power station at the town of Huntorf. The cavities of a 300,000 cbm storage capacity needed for accomodating compressed air have been solution-mined in a salt dome at a depth of c. 700 m. The air-mass-flow-controlled gas turbine consists of a 6-stage HP part and a 5-stage LP part with a combustion chamber each. The turbine is used to cover peak loads, whereas slack periods are covered by the generator which drives to air compressors connected in series to refill the underground compressed-air stores. Since December 1978, the plant has been in operation. As a gas turbine, it has attained a high level of start frequency, indeed, with its 400 starts within the first 5 months. Energy cost of this power station range within the optimum (between half and full load) at about 70% of the energy cost required by a conventionally natural-gas-fired turbine.

Team performance in networked supervisory control of unmanned air vehicles: effects of automation, working memory, and communication content.

Science.gov (United States)

McKendrick, Ryan; Shaw, Tyler; de Visser, Ewart; Saqer, Haneen; Kidwell, Brian; Parasuraman, Raja

2014-05-01

Assess team performance within a net-worked supervisory control setting while manipulating automated decision aids and monitoring team communication and working memory ability. Networked systems such as multi-unmanned air vehicle (UAV) supervision have complex properties that make prediction of human-system performance difficult. Automated decision aid can provide valuable information to operators, individual abilities can limit or facilitate team performance, and team communication patterns can alter how effectively individuals work together. We hypothesized that reliable automation, higher working memory capacity, and increased communication rates of task-relevant information would offset performance decrements attributed to high task load. Two-person teams performed a simulated air defense task with two levels of task load and three levels of automated aid reliability. Teams communicated and received decision aid messages via chat window text messages. Task Load x Automation effects were significant across all performance measures. Reliable automation limited the decline in team performance with increasing task load. Average team spatial working memory was a stronger predictor than other measures of team working memory. Frequency of team rapport and enemy location communications positively related to team performance, and word count was negatively related to team performance. Reliable decision aiding mitigated team performance decline during increased task load during multi-UAV supervisory control. Team spatial working memory, communication of spatial information, and team rapport predicted team success. An automated decision aid can improve team performance under high task load. Assessment of spatial working memory and the communication of task-relevant information can help in operator and team selection in supervisory control systems.

Networking Multiple Autonomous Air and Ocean Vehicles for Oceanographic Research and Monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

McGillivary, P. A.; Borges de Sousa, J.; Rajan, K.

2013-12-01

Autonomous underwater and surface vessels (AUVs and ASVs) are coming into wider use as components of oceanographic research, including ocean observing systems. Unmanned airborne vehicles (UAVs) are now available at modest cost, allowing multiple UAVs to be deployed with multiple AUVs and ASVs. For optimal use good communication and coordination among vehicles is essential. We report on the use of multiple AUVs networked in communication with multiple UAVs. The UAVs are augmented by inferential reasoning software developed at MBARI that allows UAVs to recognize oceanographic fronts and change their navigation and control. This in turn allows UAVs to automatically to map frontal features, as well as to direct AUVs and ASVs to proceed to such features and conduct sampling via onboard sensors to provide validation for airborne mapping. ASVs can also act as data nodes for communication between UAVs and AUVs, as well as collecting data from onboard sensors, while AUVs can sample the water column vertically. This allows more accurate estimation of phytoplankton biomass and productivity, and can be used in conjunction with UAV sampling to determine air-sea flux of gases (e.g. CO2, CH4, DMS) affecting carbon budgets and atmospheric composition. In particular we describe tests in July 2013 conducted off Sesimbra, Portugal in conjunction with the Portuguese Navy by the University of Porto and MBARI with the goal of tracking large fish in the upper water column with coordinated air/surface/underwater measurements. A thermal gradient was observed in the infrared by a low flying UAV, which was used to dispatch an AUV to obtain ground truth to demonstrate the event-response capabilities using such autonomous platforms. Additional field studies in the future will facilitate integration of multiple unmanned systems into research vessel operations. The strength of hardware and software tools described in this study is to permit fundamental oceanographic measurements of both ocean

Air ambulance services--integrated emergency care.

Science.gov (United States)

Ferdinand, M

1994-10-01

In the name of cost-conscious care, air ambulance program directors and service contractors are seeing the dawn of integrated networks as a boon to their business. As integrated networks form, facilities will become increasingly specialized in the types of services they provide. Patients will need to be moved around the system, resulting in more frequent patient transport and more points of transfer. Many programs are considering aircraft replacement and additions, rather than leasing. Financial benefits could come on depreciation and the high resale value of aircraft. Unless reimbursement levels increase, more program mergers and affiliations may take place to spread and reduce cost. Air ambulance services will increasingly become part of a facility's strategic plan.

Intraurban Spatiotemporal Variability of Ambient Air Pollutants across Metropolitan St. Louis

Science.gov (United States)

Du, Li

Ambient air monitoring networks have been established in the United States since the 1970s to comply with the Clean Air Act. The monitoring networks are primarily used to determine compliance but also provide substantive support to air quality management and air quality research including studies on health effects of air pollutants. The Roxana Air Quality Study (RAQS) was conducted at the fenceline of a petroleum refinery in Roxana, Illinois. In addition to providing insights into air pollutant impacts from the refinery, these measurements increased the St. Louis area monitoring network density for gaseous air toxics and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) speciation and thus provided an opportunity to examine intraurban spatiotemporal variability for these air quality parameters. This dissertation focused on exploring and assessing aspects of ambient air pollutant spatiotemporal variability in the St. Louis area from three progressively expanded spatial scales using a suite of methods and metrics. RAQS data were used to characterize air quality conditions in the immediate vicinity of the petroleum refinery. For example, PM2.5 lanthanoids were used to track impacts from refinery fluidized bed catalytic cracker emissions. RAQS air toxics data were interpreted by comparing to network data from the Blair Street station in the City of St. Louis which is a National Air Toxics Trends Station. Species were classified as being spatially homogeneous (similar between sites) or heterogeneous (different between sites) and in the latter case these differences were interpreted using surface winds data. For PM 2.5 species, there were five concurrently operating sites in the St. Louis area - including the site in Roxana - which are either formally part of the national Chemical Speciation Network (CSN) or rigorously follow the CSN sampling and analytical protocols. This unusually large number of speciation sites for a region the size of St. Louis motivated a detailed examination of

Validation of low-cost ozone measurement instruments suitable for use in an air-quality monitoring network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Williams, David E; Henshaw, Geoff S; Bart, Mark; Laing, Greer; Wagner, John; Naisbitt, Simon; Salmond, Jennifer A

2013-01-01

This paper presents a novel low-cost instrument that uses a sensor based on conductivity changes of heated tungstic oxide, which is capable of accurately measuring ambient concentrations of ozone. A combination of temperature steps and air flow-rate steps is used to continually reset and re-zero the sensor. A two-stage calibration procedure is presented, in which a nonlinear transformation converts sensor resistance to a signal linear in ozone concentration, then a linear correlation is used to align the calibration with a reference instrument. The required calibration functions specific for the sensor, and control system for air flow rate and sensor temperature, are housed with the sensor in a compact, simple-to-exchange assembly. The instrument can be operated on solar power and uses cell phone technology to enable monitoring in remote locations. Data from field trials are presented here to demonstrate that both the accuracy and the stability of the instrument over periods of months are within a few parts-per-billion by volume. We show that common failure modes can be detected through measurement of signals available from the instrument. The combination of long-term stability, self-diagnosis, and simple, inexpensive repair means that the cost of operation and calibration of the instruments is significantly reduced in comparison with traditional reference instrumentation. These instruments enable the economical construction and operation of ozone monitoring networks of accuracy, time resolution and spatial density sufficient to resolve the local gradients that are characteristic of urban air pollution. (paper)

Forest fires and air quality issues in southern Europe

Science.gov (United States)

Ana Isabel Miranda; Enrico Marchi; Marco Ferretti; Millán M. Millán

2009-01-01

Each summer forest fires in southern Europe emit large quantities of pollutants to the atmosphere. These fires can generate a number of air pollution episodes as measured by air quality monitoring networks. We analyzed the impact of forest fires on air quality of specific regions of southern Europe. Data from several summer seasons were studied with the aim of...

A WEB API AND WEB APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT FOR DISSEMINATION OF AIR QUALITY INFORMATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. Şahin

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Various studies have been carried out since 2005 under the leadership of Ministry of Environment and Urbanism of Turkey, in order to observe the quality of air in Turkey, to develop new policies and to develop a sustainable air quality management strategy. For this reason, a national air quality monitoring network has been developed providing air quality indices. By this network, the quality of the air has been continuously monitored and an important information system has been constructed in order to take precautions for preventing a dangerous situation. The biggest handicap in the network is the data access problem for instant and time series data acquisition and processing because of its proprietary structure. Currently, there is no service offered by the current air quality monitoring system for exchanging information with third party applications. Within the context of this work, a web service has been developed to enable location based querying of the current/past air quality data in Turkey. This web service is equipped with up-todate and widely preferred technologies. In other words, an architecture is chosen in which applications can easily integrate. In the second phase of the study, a web-based application was developed to test the developed web service and this testing application can perform location based acquisition of air-quality data. This makes it possible to easily carry out operations such as screening and examination of the area in the given time-frame which cannot be done with the national monitoring network.

METHODOLOGY FOR ANALYSIS OF DECISION MAKING IN AIR NAVIGATION SYSTEM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Volodymyr Kharchenko

2011-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract. In the research of Air Navigation System as a complex socio-technical system the methodologyof analysis of human-operator's decision-making has been developed. The significance of individualpsychologicalfactors as well as the impact of socio-psychological factors on the professional activities of ahuman-operator during the flight situation development from normal to catastrophic were analyzed. On thebasis of the reflexive theory of bipolar choice the expected risks of decision-making by the Air NavigationSystem's operator influenced by external environment, previous experience and intentions were identified.The methods for analysis of decision-making by the human-operator of Air Navigation System usingstochastic networks have been developed.Keywords: Air Navigation System, bipolar choice, human operator, decision-making, expected risk, individualpsychologicalfactors, methodology of analysis, reflexive model, socio-psychological factors, stochastic network.

Dynamic Sleep Scheduling on Air Pollution Levels Monitoring with Wireless Sensor Network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gezaq Abror

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Wireless Sensor Network (WSN can be applied for Air Pollution Level Monitoring System that have been determined by the Environmental Impact Management Agency which is  PM10, SO2, O3, NO2 and CO. In WSN, node system is constrained to a limited power supply, so that the node system has a lifetime. To doing lifetime maximization, power management scheme is required and sensor nodes should use energy efficiently. This paper proposes dynamic sleep scheduling using Time Category-Fuzzy Logic (Time-Fuzzy Scheduling as a reference for calculating time interval for sleep and activated node system to support power management scheme. This research contributed in power management design to be applied to the WSN system to reduce energy expenditure. From the test result in real hardware node system, it can be seen that Time-Fuzzy Scheduling is better in terms of using the battery and it is better in terms of energy consumption too because it is more efficient 51.85% when it is compared with Fuzzy Scheduling, it is more efficient 68.81% when it is compared with Standard Scheduling and it is more efficient 85.03% when compared with No Scheduling.

Forecasting Urban Air Quality via a Back-Propagation Neural Network and a Selection Sample Rule

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yonghong Liu

2015-07-01

Full Text Available In this paper, based on a sample selection rule and a Back Propagation (BP neural network, a new model of forecasting daily SO2, NO2, and PM10 concentration in seven sites of Guangzhou was developed using data from January 2006 to April 2012. A meteorological similarity principle was applied in the development of the sample selection rule. The key meteorological factors influencing SO2, NO2, and PM10 daily concentrations as well as weight matrices and threshold matrices were determined. A basic model was then developed based on the improved BP neural network. Improving the basic model, identification of the factor variation consistency was added in the rule, and seven sets of sensitivity experiments in one of the seven sites were conducted to obtain the selected model. A comparison of the basic model from May 2011 to April 2012 in one site showed that the selected model for PM10 displayed better forecasting performance, with Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE values decreasing by 4% and R2 values increasing from 0.53 to 0.68. Evaluations conducted at the six other sites revealed a similar performance. On the whole, the analysis showed that the models presented here could provide local authorities with reliable and precise predictions and alarms about air quality if used at an operational scale.

Using soft computing techniques to predict corrected air permeability using Thomeer parameters, air porosity and grain density

Science.gov (United States)

Nooruddin, Hasan A.; Anifowose, Fatai; Abdulraheem, Abdulazeez

2014-03-01

Soft computing techniques are recently becoming very popular in the oil industry. A number of computational intelligence-based predictive methods have been widely applied in the industry with high prediction capabilities. Some of the popular methods include feed-forward neural networks, radial basis function network, generalized regression neural network, functional networks, support vector regression and adaptive network fuzzy inference system. A comparative study among most popular soft computing techniques is presented using a large dataset published in literature describing multimodal pore systems in the Arab D formation. The inputs to the models are air porosity, grain density, and Thomeer parameters obtained using mercury injection capillary pressure profiles. Corrected air permeability is the target variable. Applying developed permeability models in recent reservoir characterization workflow ensures consistency between micro and macro scale information represented mainly by Thomeer parameters and absolute permeability. The dataset was divided into two parts with 80% of data used for training and 20% for testing. The target permeability variable was transformed to the logarithmic scale as a pre-processing step and to show better correlations with the input variables. Statistical and graphical analysis of the results including permeability cross-plots and detailed error measures were created. In general, the comparative study showed very close results among the developed models. The feed-forward neural network permeability model showed the lowest average relative error, average absolute relative error, standard deviations of error and root means squares making it the best model for such problems. Adaptive network fuzzy inference system also showed very good results.

Air Pollution Monitoring and Mining Based on Sensor Grid in London

OpenAIRE

Ma, Yajie; Richards, Mark; Ghanem, Moustafa; Guo, Yike; Hassard, John

2008-01-01

In this paper, we present a distributed infrastructure based on wireless sensors network and Grid computing technology for air pollution monitoring and mining, which aims to develop low-cost and ubiquitous sensor networks to collect real-time, large scale and comprehensive environmental data from road traffic emissions for air pollution monitoring in urban environment. The main informatics challenges in respect to constructing the high-throughput sensor Grid are discussed in this paper. We pr...

Analysis of the Connectivity and Centralization of Regional Air Freight Networks.

Science.gov (United States)

1978-08-01

economic efficiency. Pegrum char- acterized the CAB’s ratemaking policy as thirty years of in- decision. In surveys comparing regulated and unregulated b...cipants in the air freight system are basically the shippers, the surface carriers, and the air carriers. Air freight forwarders are "indirect carriers...aircraft characteristics which I will raise the break-even load factor are its shape and design density. Aircraft fuselages are basically cylindrical

Network-Centric Maritime Radiation Awareness and Interdiction Experiments

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Bordetsky, Alex; Dougan, Arden D; Nekoogar, Faranak

2006-01-01

.... This joint NPS-LLNL project is based on the NPS Tactical Network Topology (TNT) comprised of long-haul OFDM networks combined with self-forming wireless mesh links to air, surface, ground, and underwater unmanned vehicles...

Central Air-Conditioning Plant (CAP) extension

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shetty, P.S.; Kaul, S.K.; Mishra, H.

2017-01-01

Central Air-Conditioning Plant (CAP) and its associated chilled water network of BARC is one among the largest central plants in India for such application. The plant was planned in 1960s to cater to the air-conditioning and process water requirements of laboratories, workshops and buildings spread over a distance of 1.5 Km in three directions from CAP through underground network of chilled water pipelines. The plant was designed for a total capacity of 6600 TR. The present installed capacity of the plant is 7250 TR. The connected load at present is 9800 TR. After the XII plan capacity will be augmented to 7650 TR. The connected load is expected to cross 11,000 TR after the commissioning of new Engg. Halls 9, 10 and 11

An objective methodology for the evaluation of the air quality stations positioning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Benassi, A.; Marson, G.; Baraldo, E.; Dalan, F.; Lorenzet, K.; Bellasio, R.; Bianconi, R.

2006-01-01

This work describes a methodology for the evaluation of the correct positioning of the monitoring stations of an air quality network. The methodology is based on the Italian legislation, the European Directives and on some technical documents used as guidelines at European level. The paper describes all the assumption on which the methodology is based and the results of its application to the air quality network of Region Veneto (Italy) [it

Journal Article: Average Method Blank Quantities of Dioxin-Like Congeners and Their Relationship to the Detection Limits of the U.S. EPA's National Dioxin Air Monitoring Network (Ndamn)

Science.gov (United States)

The U.S. EPA established a National Dioxin Air Monitoring Network (NDAMN) to determine the temporal and geographical variability of atmospheric CDDs, CDFs and coplanar PCBs throughout the United States. Currently operating at 33 stations, NDAMN has, as one of its tasks, the dete...

MODELS OF AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS ERRORS PREVENTION IN TERMINAL CONTROL AREAS UNDER UNCERTAINTY CONDITIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Volodymyr Kharchenko

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Purpose: the aim of this study is to research applied models of air traffic controllers’ errors prevention in terminal control areas (TMA under uncertainty conditions. In this work the theoretical framework descripting safety events and errors of air traffic controllers connected with the operations in TMA is proposed. Methods: optimisation of terminal control area formal description based on the Threat and Error management model and the TMA network model of air traffic flows. Results: the human factors variables associated with safety events in work of air traffic controllers under uncertainty conditions were obtained. The Threat and Error management model application principles to air traffic controller operations and the TMA network model of air traffic flows were proposed. Discussion: Information processing context for preventing air traffic controller errors, examples of threats in work of air traffic controllers, which are relevant for TMA operations under uncertainty conditions.

Trajectories of martian habitability.

Science.gov (United States)

Cockell, Charles S

2014-02-01

Beginning from two plausible starting points-an uninhabited or inhabited Mars-this paper discusses the possible trajectories of martian habitability over time. On an uninhabited Mars, the trajectories follow paths determined by the abundance of uninhabitable environments and uninhabited habitats. On an inhabited Mars, the addition of a third environment type, inhabited habitats, results in other trajectories, including ones where the planet remains inhabited today or others where planetary-scale life extinction occurs. By identifying different trajectories of habitability, corresponding hypotheses can be described that allow for the various trajectories to be disentangled and ultimately a determination of which trajectory Mars has taken and the changing relative abundance of its constituent environments.

Safety evaluation of large ventilation networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barrocas, M.; Pruchon, P.; Robin, J.P.; Rouyer, J.L.; Salmon, P.

1981-01-01

For large ventilation networks, it is necessary to make a safety evaluation of their responses to perturbations such as blower failure, unexpected transfers, local pressurization. This evaluation is not easy to perform because of the many interrelationships between the different parts of the networks, interrelationships coming from the circulations of workers and matetials between cells and rooms and from the usefulness of air transfers through zones of different classifications. This evaluation is all the more necessary since new imperatives in energy savings push for minimizing the air flows, which tends to render the network more sensitive to perturbations. A program to evaluate safety has been developed by the Service de Protection Technique in cooperation with operators and designers of big nuclear facilities and the first applications presented here show the weak points of the installation studied from the safety view point

Interference-robust Air Interface for 5G Small Cells

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tavares, Fernando Menezes Leitão

the existing wireless network infrastructure to the limit. Mobile network operators must invest in network expansion to deal with this problem, but the predicted network requirements show that a new Radio Access Technology (RAT) standard will be fundamental to reach the future target performance. This new 5th...... to the fundamental role of inter-cell interference in this type of networks, the inter-cell interference problem must be addressed since the beginning of the design of the new standard. This Ph.D. thesis deals with the design of an interference-robust air interface for 5G small cell networks. The interference...

Optical Neural Network Classifier Architectures

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Getbehead, Mark

1998-01-01

We present an adaptive opto-electronic neural network hardware architecture capable of exploiting parallel optics to realize real-time processing and classification of high-dimensional data for Air...

Analysis of the airport network of India as a complex weighted network

Science.gov (United States)

Bagler, Ganesh

2008-05-01

Transportation infrastructure of a country is one of the most important indicators of its economic growth. Here we study the Airport Network of India (ANI) which represents India’s domestic civil aviation infrastructure as a complex network. We find that ANI, a network of domestic airports connected by air links, is a small-world network characterized by a truncated power-law degree distribution and has a signature of hierarchy. We investigate ANI as a weighted network to explore its various properties and compare them with their topological counterparts. The traffic in ANI, as in the World-wide Airport Network (WAN), is found to be accumulated on interconnected groups of airports and is concentrated between large airports. In contrast to WAN, ANI is found to be having disassortative mixing which is offset by the traffic dynamics. The analysis indicates possible mechanism of formation of a national transportation network, which is different from that on a global scale.

Air Pollution Monitoring and Mining Based on Sensor Grid in London.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Yajie; Richards, Mark; Ghanem, Moustafa; Guo, Yike; Hassard, John

2008-06-01

In this paper, we present a distributed infrastructure based on wireless sensors network and Grid computing technology for air pollution monitoring and mining, which aims to develop low-cost and ubiquitous sensor networks to collect real-time, large scale and comprehensive environmental data from road traffic emissions for air pollution monitoring in urban environment. The main informatics challenges in respect to constructing the high-throughput sensor Grid are discussed in this paper. We present a twolayer network framework, a P2P e-Science Grid architecture, and the distributed data mining algorithm as the solutions to address the challenges. We simulated the system in TinyOS to examine the operation of each sensor as well as the networking performance. We also present the distributed data mining result to examine the effectiveness of the algorithm.

Termite mounds harness diurnal temperature oscillations for ventilation.

Science.gov (United States)

King, Hunter; Ocko, Samuel; Mahadevan, L

2015-09-15

Many species of millimetric fungus-harvesting termites collectively build uninhabited, massive mound structures enclosing a network of broad tunnels that protrude from the ground meters above their subterranean nests. It is widely accepted that the purpose of these mounds is to give the colony a controlled microclimate in which to raise fungus and brood by managing heat, humidity, and respiratory gas exchange. Although different hypotheses such as steady and fluctuating external wind and internal metabolic heating have been proposed for ventilating the mound, the absence of direct in situ measurement of internal air flows has precluded a definitive mechanism for this critical physiological function. By measuring diurnal variations in flow through the surface conduits of the mounds of the species Odontotermes obesus, we show that a simple combination of geometry, heterogeneous thermal mass, and porosity allows the mounds to use diurnal ambient temperature oscillations for ventilation. In particular, the thin outer flutelike conduits heat up rapidly during the day relative to the deeper chimneys, pushing air up the flutes and down the chimney in a closed convection cell, with the converse situation at night. These cyclic flows in the mound flush out CO2 from the nest and ventilate the colony, in an unusual example of deriving useful work from thermal oscillations.

Aeronautical telecommunications network advances, challenges, and modeling

CERN Document Server

Musa, Sarhan M

2015-01-01

Addresses the Challenges of Modern-Day Air Traffic Air traffic control (ATC) directs aircraft in the sky and on the ground to safety, while the Aeronautical Telecommunications Network (ATN) comprises all systems and phases that assist in aircraft departure and landing. The Aeronautical Telecommunications Network: Advances, Challenges, and Modeling focuses on the development of ATN and examines the role of the various systems that link aircraft with the ground. The book places special emphasis on ATC-introducing the modern ATC system from the perspective of the user and the developer-and provides a thorough understanding of the operating mechanism of the ATC system. It discusses the evolution of ATC, explaining its structure and how it works; includes design examples; and describes all subsystems of the ATC system. In addition, the book covers relevant tools, techniques, protocols, and architectures in ATN, including MIPv6, air traffic control (ATC), security of air traffic management (ATM), very-high-frequenc...

Application of ESE Data and Tools to Air Quality Management: Services for Helping the Air Quality Community use ESE Data (SHAirED)

Science.gov (United States)

Falke, Stefan; Husar, Rudolf

2011-01-01

The goal of this REASoN applications and technology project is to deliver and use Earth Science Enterprise (ESE) data and tools in support of air quality management. Its scope falls within the domain of air quality management and aims to develop a federated air quality information sharing network that includes data from NASA, EPA, US States and others. Project goals were achieved through a access of satellite and ground observation data, web services information technology, interoperability standards, and air quality community collaboration. In contributing to a network of NASA ESE data in support of particulate air quality management, the project will develop access to distributed data, build Web infrastructure, and create tools for data processing and analysis. The key technologies used in the project include emerging web services for developing self describing and modular data access and processing tools, and service oriented architecture for chaining web services together to assemble customized air quality management applications. The technology and tools required for this project were developed within DataFed.net, a shared infrastructure that supports collaborative atmospheric data sharing and processing web services. Much of the collaboration was facilitated through community interactions through the Federation of Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP) Air Quality Workgroup. The main activities during the project that successfully advanced DataFed, enabled air quality applications and established community-oriented infrastructures were: develop access to distributed data (surface and satellite), build Web infrastructure to support data access, processing and analysis create tools for data processing and analysis foster air quality community collaboration and interoperability.

Network-Centric Operations Case Study: Air-to-Air Combat With and Without Link 16

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Gonzales, Daniel; Hollywood, John; Kingston, Gina; Signori, David

2005-01-01

...) Operational Special Project. In this exercise, the capabilities of F-15 air superiority aircraft equipped with voice-only communications were compared with F-15s equipped with voice and JTIDS Link 16 data link communications...

Method for prejudging intention of warship to attack air target

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ZHAO Handong

2018-02-01

Full Text Available [Objectives] This paper proposes a heterogeneous integrated learner to solve the problem of fuzzy uncertainty classification in order to judge the target intention of air attack in a short time. [Methods] First, a limit learning machine, decision tree, Skohonen neural network and LVQ neural network are selected to construct the heterogeneous integrated learner using the integrated learning strategy. Next, the training program is trained 100 times using the integrated learner to obtain the classification experiment average accuracy and calculation time. In order to improve the accuracy, integrated pruning is carried out to eliminate the "poor quality" LVQ neural network, and a more efficient heterogeneous integrated learner is reconstructed. The experimental results are extremely accurate but the calculation is time-consuming. In this paper, the Skohonen neural network sub-classifier is proposed as an "offline training and online call". [Results] Simulation experiments show that the time consumed from detecting the air targets to prejudging the intention of each incoming target is 4.972 s with an accuracy of 99.93%, which is excellent for meeting accuracy and real-time requirements. [Conclusions] This study provides a new and effective method for air defense decision-making. The method used in this paper also provides a better way of realizing the classification problem of small samples.

Air Pollution Monitoring and Mining Based on Sensor Grid in London

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Yajie; Richards, Mark; Ghanem, Moustafa; Guo, Yike; Hassard, John

2008-01-01

In this paper, we present a distributed infrastructure based on wireless sensors network and Grid computing technology for air pollution monitoring and mining, which aims to develop low-cost and ubiquitous sensor networks to collect real-time, large scale and comprehensive environmental data from road traffic emissions for air pollution monitoring in urban environment. The main informatics challenges in respect to constructing the high-throughput sensor Grid are discussed in this paper. We present a two-layer network framework, a P2P e-Science Grid architecture, and the distributed data mining algorithm as the solutions to address the challenges. We simulated the system in TinyOS to examine the operation of each sensor as well as the networking performance. We also present the distributed data mining result to examine the effectiveness of the algorithm. PMID:27879895

Air Pollution Monitoring and Mining Based on Sensor Grid in London

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John Hassard

2008-06-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we present a distributed infrastructure based on wireless sensors network and Grid computing technology for air pollution monitoring and mining, which aims to develop low-cost and ubiquitous sensor networks to collect real-time, large scale and comprehensive environmental data from road traffic emissions for air pollution monitoring in urban environment. The main informatics challenges in respect to constructing the high-throughput sensor Grid are discussed in this paper. We present a twolayer network framework, a P2P e-Science Grid architecture, and the distributed data mining algorithm as the solutions to address the challenges. We simulated the system in TinyOS to examine the operation of each sensor as well as the networking performance. We also present the distributed data mining result to examine the effectiveness of the algorithm.

Study of the full-service and low-cost carriers network configuration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oriol Lordan

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The network strategies used by airline carriers have been a recurring subject in air transport research. The aim of this paper is to investigate the relationship between the different operational characteristics of the airline and its route network configuration. Design/methodology/approach: The two main airline carrier typologies - Full-Service and Low-Cost carriers – are analysed using empirical models developed on complex network research relating them to the business model of the airlines. Findings and Originality/value: Just in Europe, one can differentiate between Full-Service and Low-Cost Carriers by complex network analyses. In this process, it has been also found that new concept Low-Cost Carriers, such as Vueling, have network properties closer to Full-Service Carriers. Research limitations/implications: This paper has a limited sample, as includes 26 airline case studies from Europe, United States and Asia. Practical implications: The analysis carried out in this research can help to the assessment of the evolution of the strategies of airline carriers, and has also operational implications, since the configuration of an airline route network can determine its resilience to attacks and errors. Social implications: A better understanding of the properties of airline route networks can benefit airlines, passengers and another stakeholders of the air transport industry. Originality/value: Current research on air transport networks has only considered the global or regional level, but few studies have addressed the study of airline transport networks, and its relationship with their business model.

Design of a particulate-monitoring network for the Y-12 plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hougland, E.S.; Oakes, T.W.; Underwood, J.N.

1982-01-01

An Air Quality Monitoring Network Design (AQMND) with multiple objectives is being developed for the Y-12 Plant production facilities. The objectives are: Y-12 facility surveillance; monitoring the transport of Y-12 generated airborne effluents towards either the Oak Ridge National Laboratory or the developed region of the City of Oak Ridge; and monitoring population exposure in residential areas close to the Y-12 Plant. A two step design process was carried out, using the Air Quality Monitor Network Design Model (AQMND) previously used for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory network. In the first step of the design we used existing air quality monitor locations, subjectively designated locations, and grid intersections as a set of potential monitor sites. The priority sites from the first step (modified to account for terrain and accessibility), and subjectively designated sites, were used as the potential monitor sites for the second step of the process which produced the final design recommendations for the monitor network

DANIDA; Air Quality Monitoring Programme. Mission 2 Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sivertsen, B.

1996-06-01

The report deals with the EIMP (Environmental Information and Monitoring Programme for the Arab Republic of Egypt). The programme is funded by Danida which is a cooperation project between Norway and Denmark. The programme covers the monitoring of air pollution, coastal water monitoring, and the monitoring of pollution sources and emissions. This report pays the attention to the Norwegian part of the programme executed by NILU (Norwegian Institute for Air Research) which covers the development air quality monitoring network. 14 refs., 51 figs., 18 tabs.

Sensor Data Air Pollution Prediction by Machine Learning Methods

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Vidnerová, Petra; Neruda, Roman

submitted 25. 1. (2018) ISSN 1530-437X R&D Projects: GA ČR GA15-18108S Grant - others:GA MŠk(CZ) LM2015042 Institutional support: RVO:67985807 Keywords : machine learning * sensors * air pollution * deep neural networks * regularization networks Subject RIV: IN - Informatics, Computer Science Impact factor: 2.512, year: 2016

Violence on canadian television networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Paquette, Guy

2004-02-01

Over the past twenty years, the question of the effects of violence on television has figured prominently in public opinion and hundreds of studies have been devoted to this subject. Many researchers have determined that violence has a negative impact on behavior. The public, broadcasters and political figures all support the idea of reducing the total amount of violence on television - in particular in shows for children. A thousand programs aired between 1993 and 2001 on major non-specialty television networks in Canada were analyzed: TVA, TQS, as well as CTV and Global, private French and English networks, as well as the English CBC Radio and French Radio-Canada for the public networks. The methodology consists of a classic analysis of content where an act of violence constitutes a unit of analysis. The data collected revealed that the amount of violence has increased regularly since 1993 despite the stated willingness on the part of broadcasters to produce programs with less violence. The total number of violent acts, as well as the number of violent acts per hour, is increasing. Private networks deliver three times more violence than public networks. Researchers have also noted that a high proportion of violence occurs in programs airing before 21:00 hours, thereby exposing a large number of children to this violence. Psychological violence is taking on a more significant role in Canadian Television.

Web-based GIS: the vector-borne disease airline importation risk (VBD-AIR) tool.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Zhuojie; Das, Anirrudha; Qiu, Youliang; Tatem, Andrew J

2012-08-14

Over the past century, the size and complexity of the air travel network has increased dramatically. Nowadays, there are 29.6 million scheduled flights per year and around 2.7 billion passengers are transported annually. The rapid expansion of the network increasingly connects regions of endemic vector-borne disease with the rest of the world, resulting in challenges to health systems worldwide in terms of vector-borne pathogen importation and disease vector invasion events. Here we describe the development of a user-friendly Web-based GIS tool: the Vector-Borne Disease Airline Importation Risk Tool (VBD-AIR), to help better define the roles of airports and airlines in the transmission and spread of vector-borne diseases. Spatial datasets on modeled global disease and vector distributions, as well as climatic and air network traffic data were assembled. These were combined to derive relative risk metrics via air travel for imported infections, imported vectors and onward transmission, and incorporated into a three-tier server architecture in a Model-View-Controller framework with distributed GIS components. A user-friendly web-portal was built that enables dynamic querying of the spatial databases to provide relevant information. The VBD-AIR tool constructed enables the user to explore the interrelationships among modeled global distributions of vector-borne infectious diseases (malaria. dengue, yellow fever and chikungunya) and international air service routes to quantify seasonally changing risks of vector and vector-borne disease importation and spread by air travel, forming an evidence base to help plan mitigation strategies. The VBD-AIR tool is available at http://www.vbd-air.com. VBD-AIR supports a data flow that generates analytical results from disparate but complementary datasets into an organized cartographical presentation on a web map for the assessment of vector-borne disease movements on the air travel network. The framework built provides a flexible

EPA scientists develop Federal Reference & Equivalent Methods for measuring key air pollutants

Science.gov (United States)

EPA operates a nationwide air monitoring network to measure six primary air pollutants: carbon monoxide, lead, sulfur dioxide, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and particulate matter as part of its mission to protect human health and the environment.

On Applicability of Network Coding Technique for 6LoWPAN-based Sensor Networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Amanowicz, Marek; Krygier, Jaroslaw

2018-05-26

In this paper, the applicability of the network coding technique in 6LoWPAN-based sensor multihop networks is examined. The 6LoWPAN is one of the standards proposed for the Internet of Things architecture. Thus, we can expect the significant growth of traffic in such networks, which can lead to overload and decrease in the sensor network lifetime. The authors propose the inter-session network coding mechanism that can be implemented in resource-limited sensor motes. The solution reduces the overall traffic in the network, and in consequence, the energy consumption is decreased. Used procedures take into account deep header compressions of the native 6LoWPAN packets and the hop-by-hop changes of the header structure. Applied simplifications reduce signaling traffic that is typically occurring in network coding deployments, keeping the solution usefulness for the wireless sensor networks with limited resources. The authors validate the proposed procedures in terms of end-to-end packet delay, packet loss ratio, traffic in the air, total energy consumption, and network lifetime. The solution has been tested in a real wireless sensor network. The results confirm the efficiency of the proposed technique, mostly in delay-tolerant sensor networks.

An Optimization of the Maintenance Assets Distribution Network in the Argentine Air Force

Science.gov (United States)

2015-03-26

Air Force (2010). Manual de Conduccion Logistica . Buenos Aires: HQ Argentine Air Force. Argentine Air Force (2012). El vuelo del condor: 1912-2012...recommendation was made to consider organic or private transportation and reduce transportation time in order to improve responsiveness and drive down...determine overall transportation demand and capacity required for a defined level of service, and to evaluate the tradeoffs between costs and service

The BErkeley Atmospheric CO2 Observation Network: field calibration and evaluation of low-cost air quality sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Jinsol; Shusterman, Alexis A.; Lieschke, Kaitlyn J.; Newman, Catherine; Cohen, Ronald C.

2018-04-01

The newest generation of air quality sensors is small, low cost, and easy to deploy. These sensors are an attractive option for developing dense observation networks in support of regulatory activities and scientific research. They are also of interest for use by individuals to characterize their home environment and for citizen science. However, these sensors are difficult to interpret. Although some have an approximately linear response to the target analyte, that response may vary with time, temperature, and/or humidity, and the cross-sensitivity to non-target analytes can be large enough to be confounding. Standard approaches to calibration that are sufficient to account for these variations require a quantity of equipment and labor that negates the attractiveness of the sensors' low cost. Here we describe a novel calibration strategy for a set of sensors, including CO, NO, NO2, and O3, that makes use of (1) multiple co-located sensors, (2) a priori knowledge about the chemistry of NO, NO2, and O3, (3) an estimate of mean emission factors for CO, and (4) the global background of CO. The strategy requires one or more well calibrated anchor points within the network domain, but it does not require direct calibration of any of the individual low-cost sensors. The procedure nonetheless accounts for temperature and drift, in both the sensitivity and zero offset. We demonstrate this calibration on a subset of the sensors comprising BEACO2N, a distributed network of approximately 50 sensor nodes, each measuring CO2, CO, NO, NO2, O3 and particulate matter at 10 s time resolution and approximately 2 km spacing within the San Francisco Bay Area.

Mathematical Modeling of Air Flowfield at Urban Environment: the Case of Road Network at the Historical Centre of Kifissia's Municipality

Science.gov (United States)

Papakonstantinou, K.; Belias, C.

2008-09-01

The present paper refers to the numerical analysis of air flowfield at urban environments and the conducting thermal comfort after the evaluation of the examined space using CFD methods, taking into account bioclimatic principles at the architectural design. More specially, the paper draws attention to the physical procedures governing air movement at an urban environment (a road network) at Kifissia (a Municipality of north Athens), trying to form them in such way that will lead to the thermal comfort of the area's users. The study presents a mathematical model, implemented in a general computer code that can provide detailed information on velocity, prevailing in three-dimensional spaces of any geometrical complexity. Turbulent flow is simulated and buoyancy effects are taken into account. This simulation procedure is intended to contribute to the effort towards designing urban environments, using thermal comfort criteria at the bioclimatic design. A computer model of this kind will provide the architects or the environmental engineers with powerful and economical means of evaluating alternative spaces' designs.

Fabricating Ir/C Nanofiber Networks as Free-Standing Air Cathodes for Rechargeable Li-CO2 Batteries.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Chengyi; Zhang, Qinming; Zhang, Xin; Wang, Xin-Gai; Xie, Zhaojun; Zhou, Zhen

2018-06-07

Li-CO 2 batteries are promising energy storage systems by utilizing CO 2 at the same time, though there are still some critical barriers before its practical applications such as high charging overpotential and poor cycling stability. In this work, iridium/carbon nanofibers (Ir/CNFs) are prepared via electrospinning and subsequent heat treatment, and are used as cathode catalysts for rechargeable Li-CO 2 batteries. Benefitting from the unique porous network structure and the high activity of ultrasmall Ir nanoparticles, Ir/CNFs exhibit excellent CO 2 reduction and evolution activities. The Li-CO 2 batteries present extremely large discharge capacity, high coulombic efficiency, and long cycling life. Moreover, free-standing Ir/CNF films are used directly as air cathodes to assemble Li-CO 2 batteries, which show high energy density and ultralong operation time, demonstrating great potential for practical applications. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Advanced communication and network requirements in Europe

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Falch, Morten; Enemark, Rasmus

The report address diffusion of new tele-application, focusing on potential use and potential tele-trafic genrated as a consequense. The applications investigated are: Teleworking, distance learning, research and university network, applications aimed at SMEs, health networks, a trans European pu...... public administation network, city information highway, road-trafic manegement, air traffic control and electronic quotation.......The report address diffusion of new tele-application, focusing on potential use and potential tele-trafic genrated as a consequense. The applications investigated are: Teleworking, distance learning, research and university network, applications aimed at SMEs, health networks, a trans European...

The mechanism of selective molecular capture in carbon nanotube networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Wan, Yu; Guan, Jun; Yang, Xudong; Zheng, Quanshui; Xu, Zhiping

2014-07-28

Recently, air pollution issues have drawn significant attention to the development of efficient air filters, and one of the most promising materials for this purpose is nanofibers. We explore here the mechanism of selective molecular capture of volatile organic compounds in carbon nanotube networks by performing atomistic simulations. The results are discussed with respect to the two key parameters that define the performance of nanofiltration, i.e. the capture efficiency and flow resistance, which demonstrate the advantages of carbon nanotube networks with high surface-to-volume ratio and atomistically smooth surfaces. We also reveal the important roles of interfacial adhesion and diffusion that govern selective gas transport through the network.

Hourly air pollution concentrations and their important predictors over Houston, Texas using deep neural networks: case study of DISCOVER-AQ time period

Science.gov (United States)

Eslami, E.; Choi, Y.; Roy, A.

2017-12-01

Air quality forecasting carried out by chemical transport models often show significant error. This study uses a deep-learning approach over the Houston-Galveston-Brazoria (HGB) area to overcome this forecasting challenge, for the DISCOVER-AQ period (September 2013). Two approaches, deep neural network (DNN) using a Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) and Restricted Boltzmann Machine (RBM) were utilized. The proposed approaches analyzed input data by identifying features abstracted from its previous layer using a stepwise method. The approaches predicted hourly ozone and PM in September 2013 using several predictors of prior three days, including wind fields, temperature, relative humidity, cloud fraction, precipitation along with PM, ozone, and NOx concentrations. Model-measurement comparisons for available monitoring sites reported Indexes of Agreement (IOA) of around 0.95 for both DNN and RBM. A standard artificial neural network (ANN) (IOA=0.90) with similar architecture showed poorer performance than the deep networks, clearly demonstrating the superiority of the deep approaches. Additionally, each network (both deep and standard) performed significantly better than a previous CMAQ study, which showed an IOA of less than 0.80. The most influential input variables were identified using their associated weights, which represented the sensitivity of ozone to input parameters. The results indicate deep learning approaches can achieve more accurate ozone forecasting and identify the important input variables for ozone predictions in metropolitan areas.

Air pollution and public health: a guidance document for risk managers.

Science.gov (United States)

Craig, Lorraine; Brook, Jeffrey R; Chiotti, Quentin; Croes, Bart; Gower, Stephanie; Hedley, Anthony; Krewski, Daniel; Krupnick, Alan; Krzyzanowski, Michal; Moran, Michael D; Pennell, William; Samet, Jonathan M; Schneider, Jurgen; Shortreed, John; Williams, Martin

2008-01-01

This guidance document is a reference for air quality policymakers and managers providing state-of-the-art, evidence-based information on key determinants of air quality management decisions. The document reflects the findings of five annual meetings of the NERAM (Network for Environmental Risk Assessment and Management) International Colloquium Series on Air Quality Management (2001-2006), as well as the results of supporting international research. The topics covered in the guidance document reflect critical science and policy aspects of air quality risk management including i) health effects, ii) air quality emissions, measurement and modeling, iii) air quality management interventions, and iv) clean air policy challenges and opportunities.

Détente from the Air: Monitoring Air Pollution during the Cold War.

Science.gov (United States)

Rothschild, Rachel

During the period of détente in the 1970s, a Norwegian proposal to construct an air pollution monitoring network for the European continent resulted in the first concrete collaboration between the communist and capitalist blocs after the 1975 Helsinki Accords. Known as the "European-wide monitoring programme" or EMEP, the network earned considerable praise from diplomats for facilitating cooperation across the Iron Curtain. Yet as this article argues, EMEP was strongly influenced by the politics of détente and the constraints of the Cold War even as it helped to decrease tensions. Concerns about national security and sharing data with the enemy shaped both the construction of the monitoring network and the modeling of pollution transport. The article also proposes that environmental monitoring systems like EMEP reveal the ways in which observational technologies can affect conceptions of the natural world and the role of science in public policy.

Flexible network wireless transceiver and flexible network telemetry transceiver

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Kenneth D.

2008-08-05

A transceiver for facilitating two-way wireless communication between a baseband application and other nodes in a wireless network, wherein the transceiver provides baseband communication networking and necessary configuration and control functions along with transmitter, receiver, and antenna functions to enable the wireless communication. More specifically, the transceiver provides a long-range wireless duplex communication node or channel between the baseband application, which is associated with a mobile or fixed space, air, water, or ground vehicle or other platform, and other nodes in the wireless network or grid. The transceiver broadly comprises a communication processor; a flexible telemetry transceiver including a receiver and a transmitter; a power conversion and regulation mechanism; a diplexer; and a phased array antenna system, wherein these various components and certain subcomponents thereof may be separately enclosed and distributable relative to the other components and subcomponents.

Advances in Air Quality Monitoring via Nanotechnology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baraton, Marie-Isabelle; Merhari, Lhadi

2004-01-01

Urban air pollution has become an inescapable issue due to its serious consequences on public health and, therefore, needs more accurate tracking through denser networks of air quality monitoring (AQM) stations. A higher density of these networks can be afforded by cities only if the costs of future individual AQM stations decrease. We review here the outcome of two European projects where our objective was to provide an alternative approach consisting in the development of cost-effective mobile microstations based on semiconductor sensors and capable of complementing the expensive and bulky current AQM stations. Improvement of the sensor sensitivity to detect very low levels of pollutants (CO, NO, NO 2 , O 3 ) in air was the major challenge to take up. This was achieved by using metal oxide nanosized particles with both controlled size and surface chemistry, and by adapting the screen-printing process to the nanometer size specificity. The detection thresholds for NO 2 , NO and O 3 of our nanoparticles-based sensors have been decreased by a factor of 3-5 compared to currently commercialized sensors. The lowest detectable concentration of CO has been reduced from 5 to 3 ppm without affecting the selectivity. In terms of sensitivity performance, our sensor prototypes can now meet the criteria for outdoor AQM whereas the commercial semiconductor and electrochemical sensors still cannot. As for the implementation of the network as a whole, our technological approach is outlined

TEHRAN AIR POLLUTANTS PREDICTION BASED ON RANDOM FOREST FEATURE SELECTION METHOD

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Shamsoddini

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Air pollution as one of the most serious forms of environmental pollutions poses huge threat to human life. Air pollution leads to environmental instability, and has harmful and undesirable effects on the environment. Modern prediction methods of the pollutant concentration are able to improve decision making and provide appropriate solutions. This study examines the performance of the Random Forest feature selection in combination with multiple-linear regression and Multilayer Perceptron Artificial Neural Networks methods, in order to achieve an efficient model to estimate carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and PM2.5 contents in the air. The results indicated that Artificial Neural Networks fed by the attributes selected by Random Forest feature selection method performed more accurate than other models for the modeling of all pollutants. The estimation accuracy of sulfur dioxide emissions was lower than the other air contaminants whereas the nitrogen dioxide was predicted more accurate than the other pollutants.

Tehran Air Pollutants Prediction Based on Random Forest Feature Selection Method

Science.gov (United States)

Shamsoddini, A.; Aboodi, M. R.; Karami, J.

2017-09-01

Air pollution as one of the most serious forms of environmental pollutions poses huge threat to human life. Air pollution leads to environmental instability, and has harmful and undesirable effects on the environment. Modern prediction methods of the pollutant concentration are able to improve decision making and provide appropriate solutions. This study examines the performance of the Random Forest feature selection in combination with multiple-linear regression and Multilayer Perceptron Artificial Neural Networks methods, in order to achieve an efficient model to estimate carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and PM2.5 contents in the air. The results indicated that Artificial Neural Networks fed by the attributes selected by Random Forest feature selection method performed more accurate than other models for the modeling of all pollutants. The estimation accuracy of sulfur dioxide emissions was lower than the other air contaminants whereas the nitrogen dioxide was predicted more accurate than the other pollutants.

Toward Optimal Transport Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Alexandrov, Natalia; Kincaid, Rex K.; Vargo, Erik P.

2008-01-01

Strictly evolutionary approaches to improving the air transport system a highly complex network of interacting systems no longer suffice in the face of demand that is projected to double or triple in the near future. Thus evolutionary approaches should be augmented with active design methods. The ability to actively design, optimize and control a system presupposes the existence of predictive modeling and reasonably well-defined functional dependences between the controllable variables of the system and objective and constraint functions for optimization. Following recent advances in the studies of the effects of network topology structure on dynamics, we investigate the performance of dynamic processes on transport networks as a function of the first nontrivial eigenvalue of the network's Laplacian, which, in turn, is a function of the network s connectivity and modularity. The last two characteristics can be controlled and tuned via optimization. We consider design optimization problem formulations. We have developed a flexible simulation of network topology coupled with flows on the network for use as a platform for computational experiments.

Towards Optimal Transport Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Erik P. Vargo

2010-08-01

Full Text Available Our ultimate goal is to design transportation net- works whose dynamic performance metrics (e.g. pas- senger throughput, passenger delay, and insensitivity to weather disturbances are optimized. Here the fo- cus is on optimizing static features of the network that are known to directly affect the network dynamics. First, we present simulation results which support a connection between maximizing the first non-trivial eigenvalue of a network's Laplacian and superior air- port network performance. Then, we explore the ef- fectiveness of a tabu search heuristic for optimizing this metric by comparing experimental results to the- oretical upper bounds. We also consider generating upper bounds on a network's algebraic connectivity via the solution of semidefinite programming (SDP relaxations. A modification of an existing subgraph extraction algorithm is implemented to explore the underlying regional structures in the U.S. airport net- work, with the hope that the resulting localized struc- tures can be optimized independently and reconnected via a "backbone" network to achieve superior network performance.

Airport Network Flow Simulator

Science.gov (United States)

1978-10-01

The Airport Network Flow Simulator is a FORTRAN IV simulation of the flow of air traffic in the nation's 600 commercial airports. It calculates for any group of selected airports: (a) the landing and take-off (Type A) delays; and (b) the gate departu...

Thermal behavior studies in building using artificial neural network for non air conditioned terrace house in Malaysia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zainazlan Md Zain; Mohd Nasir Taib; Shahrizam Mohd Shah Baki

2006-01-01

Strategies to improve energy efficiency in buildings have continuously being improved and becoming more effective as new knowledge on the building behavior and technology continue to develop. Nevertheless, effort to explore for further improvement must continuously undertake to seek more energy efficient and cost effective systems. Artificial Neural Network (ANN) is currently one of the most popular mechanisms to forecast any form of behavior and phenomena. Building thermal behavior can be studied and potential for energy utilization improvement without compromising thermal comfort can be explored using ANN. This paper explores the possibility of monitoring, predicting and forecasting the thermal behavior inside a building space and the optimization of building design. Typical result of experimental data and simulated data is presented. The sample house used adopted various thermal comfort strategies like cross ventilation and space air flow consideration

Settlement patterns and communication routes of the western Maya wetlands: An archaeological and remote-sensing survey, Chunchucmil, Yucatan, Mexico

Science.gov (United States)

Hixson, David R.

This dissertation investigates the role of the seasonal wetlands in the political economy and subsistence strategies of the ancient Maya of Chunchucmil, Yucatan, Mexico. A combination of pedestrian surveys and remote-sensing tasks were performed in order to better understand the settlement patterns and potential communication routes in and through the wetlands between Chunchucmil and the Gulf of Mexico. These western wetlands had been proposed as the principal avenue for interregional trade between coastal merchants and inland consumers, yet were thought to be uninhabited and uncultivable. Following the survey tasks outlined in this dissertation, these wetlands were found to contain an abundance of archaeological settlements and features indicating habitation, utilization, and trade throughout this diverse ecological zone. The remote-sensing platforms utilized in this study include both multispectral (Landsat) and synthetic aperture radar (AirSAR), combined with additional remotely sensed resources. One of the goals of this survey was to test the capabilities of these two sensors for the direct detection of archaeological features from air and space. The results indicate that Landsat can be highly successful at detecting site location and measuring site size under certain environmental conditions. The Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar proved to be adept at detecting large mounded architecture within the Yucatecan karstic plain, but its further utility is hampered by limitations of resolution, scale, and land cover. One of the salient features of the landscape west of Chunchucmil is a network of stone pathways called andadores. These avenues through the wetlands outline a dendritic network of communication, trade, and extraction routes. The following dissertation places this network and its associated settlements (from suburban centers to diminutive camps) within their regional context, examining the roles they may have played in supporting a large mercantile

Indoor-air microbiome in an urban subway network: diversity and dynamics.

Science.gov (United States)

Leung, Marcus H Y; Wilkins, David; Li, Ellen K T; Kong, Fred K F; Lee, Patrick K H

2014-11-01

Subway systems are indispensable for urban societies, but microbiological characteristics of subway aerosols are relatively unknown. Previous studies investigating microbial compositions in subways employed methodologies that underestimated the diversity of microbial exposure for commuters, with little focus on factors governing subway air microbiology, which may have public health implications. Here, a culture-independent approach unraveling the bacterial diversity within the urban subway network in Hong Kong is presented. Aerosol samples from multiple subway lines and outdoor locations were collected. Targeting the 16S rRNA gene V4 region, extensive taxonomic diversity was found, with the most common bacterial genera in the subway environment among those associated with skin. Overall, subway lines harbored different phylogenetic communities based on α- and β-diversity comparisons, and closer inspection suggests that each community within a line is dependent on architectural characteristics, nearby outdoor microbiomes, and connectedness with other lines. Microbial diversities and assemblages also varied depending on the day sampled, as well as the time of day, and changes in microbial communities between peak and nonpeak commuting hours were attributed largely to increases in skin-associated genera in peak samples. Microbial diversities within the subway were influenced by temperature and relative humidity, while carbon dioxide levels showed a positive correlation with abundances of commuter-associated genera. This Hong Kong data set and communities from previous studies conducted in the United States formed distinct community clusters, indicating that additional work is required to unravel the mechanisms that shape subway microbiomes around the globe. Copyright © 2014, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

The role of the railways in the future of air transport

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Givoni, M.; Banister, D.

2007-01-01

The role of the railways in the air transport industry is usually limited to provision of access to airports. However, the development of high-speed rail networks and the congestion and environmental problems faced by the air transport industry suggest the railways could have a greater role in

The air pollution index system in Hong Kong

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, F.Y.P.; Gervat, G.P. [Hong Kong Government, Wanchai (Hong Kong). Environmental Protection Dept.

1995-12-31

The Hong Kong Environmental Protection Department (EPD) is currently operating an air quality monitoring network in the territory. There are nine monitoring stations, each with air quality monitoring equipment, meteorological instruments and a data logger. Five minute averaged data are transmitted through telephone lines to the central computer at the EPD Air Laboratory and are also stored in the data logger on site, as backup. At present, the EPD releases its air quality measurements to the public via monthly and special press releases, and annual reports. However, as public awareness of air pollution problems has increased, there has been an urgent need for timely and simpler information about air pollution levels. The development and operation of an Air Pollution Index (API) system has addressed that need. This presentation discusses the API computation, the information and advice released to the general public and how they can access the API information. Some API results are also presented. (author)

The air pollution index system in Hong Kong

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, F Y.P.; Gervat, G P [Hong Kong Government, Wanchai (Hong Kong). Environmental Protection Dept.

1996-12-31

The Hong Kong Environmental Protection Department (EPD) is currently operating an air quality monitoring network in the territory. There are nine monitoring stations, each with air quality monitoring equipment, meteorological instruments and a data logger. Five minute averaged data are transmitted through telephone lines to the central computer at the EPD Air Laboratory and are also stored in the data logger on site, as backup. At present, the EPD releases its air quality measurements to the public via monthly and special press releases, and annual reports. However, as public awareness of air pollution problems has increased, there has been an urgent need for timely and simpler information about air pollution levels. The development and operation of an Air Pollution Index (API) system has addressed that need. This presentation discusses the API computation, the information and advice released to the general public and how they can access the API information. Some API results are also presented. (author)

Intraregional links between the trends in air pollutants observed at the EANET network sites for 2000-2014

Science.gov (United States)

Gromov, Sergey A.; Trifonova-Yakovleva, Alisa; Gromov, Sergey S.

2016-04-01

Recent changes in economic development tendencies and environmental protection policies in the East Asian countries raise hopes for improvement of regional air quality in this vast region populated by more than 3 billion people. To recognize anticipated changes in atmospheric pollutants levels, deposition rates and impact on the environment, the Acid Deposition Monitoring Network in East Asia (EANET, http://www.eanet.asia/) is regularly operating region-wide since 2000 in 13 countries. The network provides continuous monitoring data on the air quality and precipitation (including gas-phase and particulate chemistry) at 55 monitoring sites, including 20 remote and 14 rural sites. Observation of soil and inland water environments are performed at more than 30 monitoring sites [1]. In this study we focus on 1) the data quality assessment and preparation and 2) analysis of temporal trends of compositions observed at selected 26 non-urban EANET stations. Speciation includes gas-phase (SO2, HNO3, HCl, NH3) and particulate matter (SO42-, NO3-, Cl-, NH4+, Na+, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+) abundances analysed in samples collected using filterpack technique with sampling duration/frequency of one-two weeks. Data quality assessment (distribution test and manual inspection) allowed us to remove/repair random and operator errors. Wrong sample timing was found for 0.37% (severe) and 34% (mild inconsistency) of the total of 7630 samples regarded. Erroneous data flagging (e.g. missing or below the detection limit) was repaired for 9.3%, respectively. Some 1.8% of severely affected data were corrected (where possible) or removed. Thus refined 15-year dataset is made available for the scientific community. For convenience, we also provide data in netCDF format (per station or in an assembly). Based on this refined dataset, we performed trend analysis using several statistical approaches including quantile regression which provides robust results against outliers and better understanding of trend

Cooperative Electronic Attack using Unmanned Air Vehicles

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Mears, Mark J

2006-01-01

... that are salient in the context of cooperative control. The utility of electronic attack is described in the context of integrated air defense systems that rely on RADAR sites that act as a network to gather information about potential airborne threats...

A Neural Network Based Intelligent Predictive Sensor for Cloudiness, Solar Radiation and Air Temperature

Science.gov (United States)

Ferreira, Pedro M.; Gomes, João M.; Martins, Igor A. C.; Ruano, António E.

2012-01-01

Accurate measurements of global solar radiation and atmospheric temperature, as well as the availability of the predictions of their evolution over time, are important for different areas of applications, such as agriculture, renewable energy and energy management, or thermal comfort in buildings. For this reason, an intelligent, light-weight and portable sensor was developed, using artificial neural network models as the time-series predictor mechanisms. These have been identified with the aid of a procedure based on the multi-objective genetic algorithm. As cloudiness is the most significant factor affecting the solar radiation reaching a particular location on the Earth surface, it has great impact on the performance of predictive solar radiation models for that location. This work also represents one step towards the improvement of such models by using ground-to-sky hemispherical colour digital images as a means to estimate cloudiness by the fraction of visible sky corresponding to clouds and to clear sky. The implementation of predictive models in the prototype has been validated and the system is able to function reliably, providing measurements and four-hour forecasts of cloudiness, solar radiation and air temperature. PMID:23202230

AIR QUALITY IN THE CITY OF TG JIU

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adina TĂTAR

2014-05-01

Full Text Available One of the most important problems of the modern age is the air pollution. Within this work I realized a description of Tgjiu City: geographic location, climate, hydrographical network, variations in temperature, terrain, sources of pollution. On the basis of registered values for the air quality indicator, sedimentable powders, and interpretation of results on the basis of the provisions of the standards in force, the comments were made in relation to particulate air pollution in the city area of sedimentableTg Jiu, identifying the polluters in the area, the proposed solutions for the reduction of pollution.

Annual report 1999 of the air pollution monitoring network of the German Federal Environmental Agency; Jahresbericht 1999 aus dem Messnetz des Umweltbundesamtes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Beilke, S.; Uhse, K. [comps.

2000-12-01

In this annual report the results of the air pollution monitoring network of the German Federal Environmental Agency (FEA) are presented for the year 1999. The network consists of 23 stations (9 stations with personnel and 14 automatically working container stations) which are situated in rural areas. As the data set was thoroughly quality controlled reliable statements on trends can be made. (orig.) [German] Im vorliegenden Jahresbericht werden die Ergebnisse aus dem Messnetz des Umweltbundesamtes fuer das Jahr 1999 vorgestellt, interpretiert und mit den Messungen aus frueheren Jahren verglichen. Das UBA-Messnetz besteht heute aus insgesamt 23 in laendlichen Regionen gelegenen Stationen, wovon 9 Messstellen personell besetzt und 14 automatisch arbeitende Containerstationen sind. Die Datensaetze sind in sich homogen, d.h. es wurden im Verlauf der Jahre keine gravierenden Veraenderungen an den Messbedingungen vorgenommen, weder bei der Probenahme noch bei der Analytik. Die Daten wurden einer eingehenden Qualitaetspruefung unterzogen, sowohl intern als auch bei internationalen Ringvergleichen der Analysenverfahren. (orig.)

An expert system for configuring a network for a Milstar terminal

Science.gov (United States)

Mahoney, Melissa J.; Wilson, Elizabeth J.

1994-01-01

This paper describes a rule-based expert system which assists the user in configuring a network for Air Force terminals using the Milstar satellite system. The network configuration expert system approach uses CLIPS. The complexity of network configuration is discussed, and the methods used to model it are described.

Control of 12-Cylinder Camless Engine with Neural Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ashhab Moh’d Sami

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The 12-cyliner camless engine breathing process is modeled with artificial neural networks (ANN’s. The inputs to the net are the intake valve lift (IVL and intake valve closing timing (IVC whereas the output of the net is the cylinder air charge (CAC. The ANN is trained with data collected from an engine simulation model which is based on thermodynamics principles and calibrated against real engine data. A method for adapting single-output feed-forward neural networks is proposed and applied to the camless engine ANN model. As a consequence the overall 12-cyliner camless engine feedback controller is upgraded and the necessary changes are implemented in order to contain the adaptive neural network with the objective of tracking the cylinder air charge (driver’s torque demand while minimizing the pumping losses (increasing engine efficiency. All the needed measurements are extracted only from the two conventional and inexpensive sensors, namely, the mass air flow through the throttle body (MAF and the intake manifold absolute pressure (MAP sensors. The feedback controller’s capability is demonstrated through computer simulation.

Journal Article: the National Dioxin Air Monitoring Network (Ndamn): Measurements of CDDs, CDFs and Coplanar PCBs at 15 Rural and 6 National Park Areas of the U.S.: June 1998-December 1999.

Science.gov (United States)

The U.S. EPA has established a National Dioxin Air Monitoring Network (NDAMN) to determine the temporal and geographical variability of atmospheric CDDs, CDFs and coplanar PCBs at rural and nonimpacted locations throughout the United States. Currently operating at 32 sampling st...

Support surfaces for pressure ulcer prevention: A network meta-analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Dumville, Jo C.; Cullum, Nicky

2018-01-01

Background Pressure ulcers are a prevalent and global issue and support surfaces are widely used for preventing ulceration. However, the diversity of available support surfaces and the lack of direct comparisons in RCTs make decision-making difficult. Objectives To determine, using network meta-analysis, the relative effects of different support surfaces in reducing pressure ulcer incidence and comfort and to rank these support surfaces in order of their effectiveness. Methods We conducted a systematic review, using a literature search up to November 2016, to identify randomised trials comparing support surfaces for pressure ulcer prevention. Two reviewers independently performed study selection, risk of bias assessment and data extraction. We grouped the support surfaces according to their characteristics and formed evidence networks using these groups. We used network meta-analysis to estimate the relative effects and effectiveness ranking of the groups for the outcomes of pressure ulcer incidence and participant comfort. GRADE was used to assess the certainty of evidence. Main results We included 65 studies in the review. The network for assessing pressure ulcer incidence comprised evidence of low or very low certainty for most network contrasts. There was moderate-certainty evidence that powered active air surfaces and powered hybrid air surfaces probably reduce pressure ulcer incidence compared with standard hospital surfaces (risk ratios (RR) 0.42, 95% confidence intervals (CI) 0.29 to 0.63; 0.22, 0.07 to 0.66, respectively). The network for comfort suggested that powered active air-surfaces are probably slightly less comfortable than standard hospital mattresses (RR 0.80, 95% CI 0.69 to 0.94; moderate-certainty evidence). Conclusions This is the first network meta-analysis of the effects of support surfaces for pressure ulcer prevention. Powered active air-surfaces probably reduce pressure ulcer incidence, but are probably less comfortable than standard

Support surfaces for pressure ulcer prevention: A network meta-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Chunhu; Dumville, Jo C; Cullum, Nicky

2018-01-01

Pressure ulcers are a prevalent and global issue and support surfaces are widely used for preventing ulceration. However, the diversity of available support surfaces and the lack of direct comparisons in RCTs make decision-making difficult. To determine, using network meta-analysis, the relative effects of different support surfaces in reducing pressure ulcer incidence and comfort and to rank these support surfaces in order of their effectiveness. We conducted a systematic review, using a literature search up to November 2016, to identify randomised trials comparing support surfaces for pressure ulcer prevention. Two reviewers independently performed study selection, risk of bias assessment and data extraction. We grouped the support surfaces according to their characteristics and formed evidence networks using these groups. We used network meta-analysis to estimate the relative effects and effectiveness ranking of the groups for the outcomes of pressure ulcer incidence and participant comfort. GRADE was used to assess the certainty of evidence. We included 65 studies in the review. The network for assessing pressure ulcer incidence comprised evidence of low or very low certainty for most network contrasts. There was moderate-certainty evidence that powered active air surfaces and powered hybrid air surfaces probably reduce pressure ulcer incidence compared with standard hospital surfaces (risk ratios (RR) 0.42, 95% confidence intervals (CI) 0.29 to 0.63; 0.22, 0.07 to 0.66, respectively). The network for comfort suggested that powered active air-surfaces are probably slightly less comfortable than standard hospital mattresses (RR 0.80, 95% CI 0.69 to 0.94; moderate-certainty evidence). This is the first network meta-analysis of the effects of support surfaces for pressure ulcer prevention. Powered active air-surfaces probably reduce pressure ulcer incidence, but are probably less comfortable than standard hospital surfaces. Most prevention evidence was of low or

Support surfaces for pressure ulcer prevention: A network meta-analysis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chunhu Shi

Full Text Available Pressure ulcers are a prevalent and global issue and support surfaces are widely used for preventing ulceration. However, the diversity of available support surfaces and the lack of direct comparisons in RCTs make decision-making difficult.To determine, using network meta-analysis, the relative effects of different support surfaces in reducing pressure ulcer incidence and comfort and to rank these support surfaces in order of their effectiveness.We conducted a systematic review, using a literature search up to November 2016, to identify randomised trials comparing support surfaces for pressure ulcer prevention. Two reviewers independently performed study selection, risk of bias assessment and data extraction. We grouped the support surfaces according to their characteristics and formed evidence networks using these groups. We used network meta-analysis to estimate the relative effects and effectiveness ranking of the groups for the outcomes of pressure ulcer incidence and participant comfort. GRADE was used to assess the certainty of evidence.We included 65 studies in the review. The network for assessing pressure ulcer incidence comprised evidence of low or very low certainty for most network contrasts. There was moderate-certainty evidence that powered active air surfaces and powered hybrid air surfaces probably reduce pressure ulcer incidence compared with standard hospital surfaces (risk ratios (RR 0.42, 95% confidence intervals (CI 0.29 to 0.63; 0.22, 0.07 to 0.66, respectively. The network for comfort suggested that powered active air-surfaces are probably slightly less comfortable than standard hospital mattresses (RR 0.80, 95% CI 0.69 to 0.94; moderate-certainty evidence.This is the first network meta-analysis of the effects of support surfaces for pressure ulcer prevention. Powered active air-surfaces probably reduce pressure ulcer incidence, but are probably less comfortable than standard hospital surfaces. Most prevention evidence was

Atlanta Rail Yard Study: Evaluation of local-scale air pollution ...

Science.gov (United States)

Intermodal rail yards are important nodes in the freight transportation network, where freight is organized and moved from one mode of transport to another, critical equipment is serviced, and freight is routed to its next destination. Rail yard environments are also areas with multiple sources of air pollutant emissions (e.g., heavy-duty vehicles, locomotives, cranes), which may affect local air quality in residential areas nearby. In order to understand emissions and related air quality impacts, two field studies took place over the time span of 2010-2012 to measure air pollution trends in close proximity to the Inman and Tilford rail yard complex in Atlanta, GA. One field study involved long-term stationary monitoring of black carbon, fine particles, and carbon dioxide at two stations nearby the rail yard. In addition, a second field study performed intensive mobile air monitoring for a one month period in the summer of 2012 at a roadway network surrounding the rail yard complex and measured a comprehensive array of pollutants. Real-time mobile particulate measurements included particle counts, extinction coefficient, black carbon via light-absorption and particle incandescence, and particle composition derived by aerosol mass spectrometry. Gas-phase measurements included oxides of nitrogen, sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, and air toxics (e.g., benzene). Both sets of measurements determined detectable local influence from rail yard-related emissions.

Targeting and design of chilled water network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Foo, Dominic C.Y.; Ng, Denny K.S.; Leong, Malwynn K.Y.; Chew, Irene M.L.; Subramaniam, Mahendran; Aziz, Ramlan; Lee, Jui-Yuan

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Minimum flowrate targeting for chilled water network. • Mixed series/parallel configuration of chilled water-using units. • Integrated cooling and chilled water networks. - Abstract: Chilled water is a common cooling agent used in various industrial, commercial and institutional facilities. In conventional practice, chilled water is distributed via chilled water networks (CHWNs) in parallel configuration to provide required air conditioning and/or equipment cooling in the heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) system. In this paper, process integration approach based on pinch analysis technique is used to address energy efficiency issues in the CHWN system for grassroots design problem. Graphical and algebraic targeting techniques are developed to identify the minimum chilled water flowrate needed to remove a given amount of heat load from the CHWN. Doing this leads to higher chilled water return temperature and enhanced energy efficiency of the HVAC system. A recent proposed network design technique is extended to synthesize the CHWN in a mixed series/parallel configuration. A novel concept of integrated cooling and chilled water networks (IWN) is also proposed in this work, with its targeting and design techniques presented. Hypothetical examples and an industrial case study are solved to elucidate the proposed approaches

Army Air and Missile Defense Network Design Facility (AAMDNDF)

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Laboratory Consortium — This facility provides JTIDS network designs and platform initialization load files for all Joint and Army-only tests, exercises, operations, and contingency events...

Research on Electronic-nose Application Based on Wireless Sensor Networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao, A; Wang, L; Yao, C H

2006-01-01

The paper proposed a structure of Wireless Sensor Networks based Electronic-nose system to monitors air quality in the building. In the study, the authors researched a data processing algorithm: fuzzy neural network based on RBF(Radial Basis Function) network model, to quantitatively analyze the gas ingredient and put forward a routing protocol for the system

Impact of preferential sampling on exposure prediction and health effect inference in the context of air pollution epidemiology.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, A; Szpiro, A; Kim, S Y; Sheppard, L

2015-06-01

Preferential sampling has been defined in the context of geostatistical modeling as the dependence between the sampling locations and the process that describes the spatial structure of the data. It can occur when networks are designed to find high values. For example, in networks based on the U.S. Clean Air Act monitors are sited to determine whether air quality standards are exceeded. We study the impact of the design of monitor networks in the context of air pollution epidemiology studies. The effect of preferential sampling has been illustrated in the literature by highlighting its impact on spatial predictions. In this paper, we use these predictions as input in a second stage analysis, and we assess how they affect health effect inference. Our work is motivated by data from two United States regulatory networks and health data from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis and Air Pollution. The two networks were designed to monitor air pollution in urban and rural areas respectively, and we found that the health analysis results based on the two networks can lead to different scientific conclusions. We use preferential sampling to gain insight into these differences. We designed a simulation study, and found that the validity and reliability of the health effect estimate can be greatly affected by how we sample the monitor locations. To better understand its effect on second stage inference, we identify two components of preferential sampling that shed light on how preferential sampling alters the properties of the health effect estimate.

Impact of preferential sampling on exposure prediction and health effect inference in the context of air pollution epidemiology

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, A.; Szpiro, A.; Kim, S.Y.; Sheppard, L.

2018-01-01

Summary Preferential sampling has been defined in the context of geostatistical modeling as the dependence between the sampling locations and the process that describes the spatial structure of the data. It can occur when networks are designed to find high values. For example, in networks based on the U.S. Clean Air Act monitors are sited to determine whether air quality standards are exceeded. We study the impact of the design of monitor networks in the context of air pollution epidemiology studies. The effect of preferential sampling has been illustrated in the literature by highlighting its impact on spatial predictions. In this paper, we use these predictions as input in a second stage analysis, and we assess how they affect health effect inference. Our work is motivated by data from two United States regulatory networks and health data from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis and Air Pollution. The two networks were designed to monitor air pollution in urban and rural areas respectively, and we found that the health analysis results based on the two networks can lead to different scientific conclusions. We use preferential sampling to gain insight into these differences. We designed a simulation study, and found that the validity and reliability of the health effect estimate can be greatly affected by how we sample the monitor locations. To better understand its effect on second stage inference, we identify two components of preferential sampling that shed light on how preferential sampling alters the properties of the health effect estimate. PMID:29576734

77 FR 46911 - Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; Michigan; Regional Haze State...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-08-06

...-air quality environmental impacts of compliance; (3) any existing pollution control technology in use... relying on EPA's Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) to address these requirements. EPA is also taking...) monitoring network, show that visibility impairment caused by air pollution occurs virtually all the time at...

The Value of Partial Resource Pooling: Should a Service Network Be Integrated or Product-Focused?

OpenAIRE

Bar{\\i}\\c{s} Ata; Jan A. Van Mieghem

2009-01-01

We investigate how dynamic resource substitution in service systems impacts capacity requirements and responsiveness. Inspired by the contrasting network strategies of FedEx and United Parcel Service (UPS), we study when two service classes (e.g., express or regular) should be served by dedicated resources (e.g., air or ground) or by an integrated network (e.g., air also serves regular). Using call center terminology, the question is whether to operate two independent queues or one N-network....

Analyzing the multilevel structure of the European airport network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oriol Lordan

2017-04-01

Full Text Available The multilayered structure of the European airport network (EAN, composed of connections and flights between European cities, is analyzed through the k-core decomposition of the connections network. This decomposition allows to identify the core, bridge and periphery layers of the EAN. The core layer includes the best-connected cities, which include important business air traffic destinations. The periphery layer includes cities with lesser connections, which serve low populated areas where air travel is an economic alternative. The remaining cities form the bridge of the EAN, including important leisure travel origins and destinations. The multilayered structure of the EAN affects network robustness, as the EAN is more robust to isolation of nodes of the core, than to the isolation of a combination of core and bridge nodes.

A state of the art regarding urban air quality prediction models

Science.gov (United States)

Croitoru, Cristiana; Nastase, Ilinca

2018-02-01

Urban pollution represents an increasing risk to residents of urban regions, particularly in large, over-industrialized cities knowing that the traffic is responsible for more than 25% of air gaseous pollutants and dust particles. Air quality modelling plays an important role in addressing air pollution control and management approaches by providing guidelines for better and more efficient air quality forecasting, along with smart monitoring sensor networks. The advances in technology regarding simulations, forecasting and monitoring are part of the new smart cities which offers a healthy environment for their occupants.

A state of the art regarding urban air quality prediction models

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Croitoru Cristiana

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Urban pollution represents an increasing risk to residents of urban regions, particularly in large, over-industrialized cities knowing that the traffic is responsible for more than 25% of air gaseous pollutants and dust particles. Air quality modelling plays an important role in addressing air pollution control and management approaches by providing guidelines for better and more efficient air quality forecasting, along with smart monitoring sensor networks. The advances in technology regarding simulations, forecasting and monitoring are part of the new smart cities which offers a healthy environment for their occupants.

Networked ATM for Efficient Routing, Phase II

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — We developed a EFB Data Communication Network (EDCN) concept that offers a more capable air-ground communications architecture. The solution takes full advantage of...

WMO background air pollution monitoring network (BAPMON)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Koehler, A

1980-01-01

The objectives of the network include the establishment of baseline measurements of the global troposphere against which subsequent changes can be measured. The minimum program includes analysis of wet precipitation, observation of the aerosol optical depth, and sampling of suspended particulates. Standardization efforts have resulted in accuracies in rainwater samples to within 10%. Pollutant levels are shown for regional, urban and continental stations. The possibility of establishing median values for different modes of operation at a station (background and nonbackground mode) is examined. The interference of water vapor with CO/sub 2/ measurements is discussed.

Cooperative Team Networks

Science.gov (United States)

2016-06-01

team processes, such as identifying motifs of dynamic communication exchanges which goes well beyond simple dyadic and triadic configurations; as well...new metrics and ways to formulate team processes, such as identifying motifs of dynamic communication exchanges which goes well beyond simple dyadic ...sensing, communication , information, and decision networks - Darryl Ahner (AFIT: Air Force Inst Tech) Panel Session: Mathematical Models of

Quantifying the value of redundant measurements at GCOS Reference Upper-Air Network sites

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. Madonna

2014-11-01

Full Text Available The potential for measurement redundancy to reduce uncertainty in atmospheric variables has not been investigated comprehensively for climate observations. We evaluated the usefulness of entropy and mutual correlation concepts, as defined in information theory, for quantifying random uncertainty and redundancy in time series of the integrated water vapour (IWV and water vapour mixing ratio profiles provided by five highly instrumented GRUAN (GCOS, Global Climate Observing System, Reference Upper-Air Network stations in 2010–2012. Results show that the random uncertainties on the IWV measured with radiosondes, global positioning system, microwave and infrared radiometers, and Raman lidar measurements differed by less than 8%. Comparisons of time series of IWV content from ground-based remote sensing instruments with in situ soundings showed that microwave radiometers have the highest redundancy with the IWV time series measured by radiosondes and therefore the highest potential to reduce the random uncertainty of the radiosondes time series. Moreover, the random uncertainty of a time series from one instrument can be reduced by ~ 60% by constraining the measurements with those from another instrument. The best reduction of random uncertainty is achieved by conditioning Raman lidar measurements with microwave radiometer measurements. Specific instruments are recommended for atmospheric water vapour measurements at GRUAN sites. This approach can be applied to the study of redundant measurements for other climate variables.

OSCAR experiment high-density network data report: Event 3 - April 16-17, 1981

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dana, M.T.; Easter, R.C.; Thorp, J.M.

1984-12-01

The OSCAR (Oxidation and Scavenging Characteristics of April Rains) experiment, conducted during April 1981, was a cooperative field investigation of wet removal in cyclonic storm systems. The high-density component of OSCAR was located in northeast Indiana and included sequential precipitation chemistry measurements on a 100 by 100 km network, as well as airborne air chemistry and cloud chemistry measurements, surface air chemistry measurements, and supporting meteorological measurements. Four separate storm events were studied during the experiment. This report summarizes data taken by Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) during the third storm event, April 16-17. The report contains the high-density network precipitation chemistry data, air chemistry and cloud chemistry data from the PNL aircraft, and meteorological data for the event, including standard National Weather Service products and radar and rawindsonde data from the network. 4 references, 76 figures, 6 tables.

OSCAR experiment high-density network data report: Event 1 - April 8-9, 1981

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dana, M.T.; Easter, R.C.; Thorp, J.M.

1984-12-01

The OSCAR (Oxidation and Scavenging Characteristics of April Rains) experiment, conducted during April 1981, was a cooperative field investigation of wet removal in cyclonic storm systems. The high-densiy component of OSCAR was located in northeast Indiana and included sequential precipitation chemistry measurements on a 100 by 100 km network, as well as airborne air chemistry and cloud chemistry measurements, surface air chemistry measurements, and supporting meteorological measurements. Four separate storm events were studied during the experiment. This report summarizes data taken by Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) during the first storm event, April 8-9. The report contains the high-density network precipitation chemistry data, air chemistry data from the PNL aircraft, and meteorological data for the event, including standard National Weather Service products and radar data from the network. 4 references, 72 figures, 5 tables.

Assessing the Performance of a Network of Low Cost Particulate Matter Sensors Deployed in Sacramento, California

Science.gov (United States)

Mukherjee, A. D.; Brown, S. G.; McCarthy, M. C.

2017-12-01

A new generation of low cost air quality sensors have the potential to provide valuable information on the spatial-temporal variability of air pollution - if the measurements have sufficient quality. This study examined the performance of a particulate matter sensor model, the AirBeam (HabitatMap Inc., Brooklyn, NY), over a three month period in the urban environment of Sacramento, California. Nineteen AirBeam sensors were deployed at a regulatory air monitoring site collocated with meteorology measurements and as a local network over an 80 km2 domain in Sacramento, CA. This study presents the methodology to evaluate the precision, accuracy, and reliability of the sensors over a range of meteorological and aerosol conditions. The sensors demonstrated a robust degree of precision during collocated measurement periods (R2 = 0.98 - 0.99) and a moderate degree of correlation against a Beta Attenuation Monitor PM2.5 monitor (R2 0.6). A normalization correction is applied during the study period so that each AirBeam sensor in the network reports a comparable value. The role of the meteorological environment on the accuracy of the sensor measurements is investigated, along with the possibility of improving the measurements through a meteorology weighted correction. The data quality of the network of sensors is examined, and the spatial variability of particulate matter through the study domain derived from the sensor network is presented.

76 FR 53853 - Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans and Designation of Areas for Air Quality...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-08-30

... Action Network (LEAN) v. EPA, No. 02-60991). The issues raised concerned EPA's decision to approve... Ambient Air Quality Standard,'' Memorandum from John S. Seitz, Director, Office of Air Quality Planning...

Thermoelectric air-cooling module for electronic devices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chang, Yu-Wei; Chang, Chih-Chung; Ke, Ming-Tsun; Chen, Sih-Li

2009-01-01

This article investigates the thermoelectric air-cooling module for electronic devices. The effects of heat load of heater and input current to thermoelectric cooler are experimentally determined. A theoretical model of thermal analogy network is developed to predict the thermal performance of the thermoelectric air-cooling module. The result shows that the prediction by the model agrees with the experimental data. At a specific heat load, the thermoelectric air-cooling module reaches the best cooling performance at an optimum input current. In this study, the optimum input currents are from 6 A to 7 A at the heat loads from 20 W to 100 W. The result also demonstrates that the thermoelectric air-cooling module performs better performance at a lower heat load. The lowest total temperature difference-heat load ratio is experimentally estimated as -0.54 W K -1 at the low heat load of 20 W, while it is 0.664 W K -1 at the high heat load of 100 W. In some conditions, the thermoelectric air-cooling module performs worse than the air-cooling heat sink only. This article shows the effective operating range in which the cooling performance of the thermoelectric air-cooling module excels that of the air-cooling heat sink only.

A global airport-based risk model for the spread of dengue infection via the air transport network.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lauren Gardner

Full Text Available The number of travel-acquired dengue infections has seen a consistent global rise over the past decade. An increased volume of international passenger air traffic originating from regions with endemic dengue has contributed to a rise in the number of dengue cases in both areas of endemicity and elsewhere. This paper reports results from a network-based risk assessment model which uses international passenger travel volumes, travel routes, travel distances, regional populations, and predictive species distribution models (for the two vector species, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus to quantify the relative risk posed by each airport in importing passengers with travel-acquired dengue infections. Two risk attributes are evaluated: (i the risk posed by through traffic at each stopover airport and (ii the risk posed by incoming travelers to each destination airport. The model results prioritize optimal locations (i.e., airports for targeted dengue surveillance. The model is easily extendible to other vector-borne diseases.

Air quality in urban, industrial and rural areas of France

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stroebel, R. [Agence de l`Environnement et de la Maitrise de l`Energie, Paris (France)

1995-12-31

With the financial support of the parafiscal tax on air pollution and with a view to better appraise both the nationwide traffic exhausts and the photochemical air pollution, the national ambient air monitoring equipment is in the process of being renewed. Some networks have been recently created other networks have been thoroughly modernized. The commissioning of new equipments, supplemented by the measurement quality-assurance programme implemented by the National Central Network Laboratory, lead to both a better coverage of the nationwide surveillance and more reliable data. The monitoring programme still has to be enlarged as numerous airborne substances (aromatics, organic micropollutants, heavy metals) are not still systematically measured nowadays. The average concentrations of pollutants in 1992 are similar to the levels recorded in 1991, although the peak levels are slightly lower in 1992. The meteorological conditions have not exhibited winter or summer excess liable to bring about large air pollution episodes. The decrease in SO{sub 2} concentrations, originating mainly from combustion, is noticeable in 1992. The concentrations dropped by 12 % between 1991 and 1992. For the first time in many years, NO{sub x} and CO emissions are levelling off. The peak NO{sub 2} and CO concentrations are lower in 1992 compared to 1991. Partly due to short measurement data sets, it is not possible to identify any clear-cut trend pattern of ozone concentrations. In fact, most of the ozone monitoring stations are in the process of being relocalized and the density of the measurement sites is being strengthened

Air quality in urban, industrial and rural areas of France

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stroebel, R [Agence de l` Environnement et de la Maitrise de l` Energie, Paris (France)

1996-12-31

With the financial support of the parafiscal tax on air pollution and with a view to better appraise both the nationwide traffic exhausts and the photochemical air pollution, the national ambient air monitoring equipment is in the process of being renewed. Some networks have been recently created other networks have been thoroughly modernized. The commissioning of new equipments, supplemented by the measurement quality-assurance programme implemented by the National Central Network Laboratory, lead to both a better coverage of the nationwide surveillance and more reliable data. The monitoring programme still has to be enlarged as numerous airborne substances (aromatics, organic micropollutants, heavy metals) are not still systematically measured nowadays. The average concentrations of pollutants in 1992 are similar to the levels recorded in 1991, although the peak levels are slightly lower in 1992. The meteorological conditions have not exhibited winter or summer excess liable to bring about large air pollution episodes. The decrease in SO{sub 2} concentrations, originating mainly from combustion, is noticeable in 1992. The concentrations dropped by 12 % between 1991 and 1992. For the first time in many years, NO{sub x} and CO emissions are levelling off. The peak NO{sub 2} and CO concentrations are lower in 1992 compared to 1991. Partly due to short measurement data sets, it is not possible to identify any clear-cut trend pattern of ozone concentrations. In fact, most of the ozone monitoring stations are in the process of being relocalized and the density of the measurement sites is being strengthened

A Flexible Spatio-Temporal Model for Air Pollution with Spatial and Spatio-Temporal Covariates

OpenAIRE

Lindström, Johan; Szpiro, Adam A; Sampson, Paul D; Oron, Assaf P; Richards, Mark; Larson, Tim V; Sheppard, Lianne

2013-01-01

The development of models that provide accurate spatio-temporal predictions of ambient air pollution at small spatial scales is of great importance for the assessment of potential health effects of air pollution. Here we present a spatio-temporal framework that predicts ambient air pollution by combining data from several different monitoring networks and deterministic air pollution model(s) with geographic information system (GIS) covariates. The model presented in this paper has been implem...

The airborne radioactivity and electrical properties of ground level air

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Myslek-Laurikainen, B.; Matul, M.; Mikolajewski, S.; Trzaskowska, H.; Kubicki, M.

2001-01-01

The data presented in this work are the result of systematic measurements of radionuclide concentrations in air and density of vertical current. The airborne 7 Be concentration changes similar to the electrical conductivity of air, collected with an ASS-500 high volume air sampler of the ground atr monitoring network supervised by the Central Laboratory for Radiological Protection. Sampling has been done since March 1991. Simultaneously, the routine complex meteorological observations were performed. In particular, the electrical properties of ground level atmospheric air were studied with measurements of electrical field intensity, positive and negative conductivity of the air,while other isotopes, anthropogenic or originating from the ground are correlated with dust and other meteorological factors like watering and wind. (author)

Cooling energy efficiency and classroom air environment of a school building operated by the heat recovery air conditioning unit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Yang; Zhao, Fu-Yun; Kuckelkorn, Jens; Liu, Di; Liu, Li-Qun; Pan, Xiao-Chuan

2014-01-01

The recently-built school buildings have adopted novel heat recovery ventilator and air conditioning system. Heat recovery efficiency of the heat recovery facility and energy conservation ratio of the air conditioning unit were analytically modeled, taking the ventilation networks into account. Following that, school classroom displacement ventilation and its thermal stratification and indoor air quality indicated by the CO 2 concentration have been numerically modeled concerning the effects of delivering ventilation flow rate and supplying air temperature. Numerical results indicate that the promotion of mechanical ventilation rate can simultaneously boost the dilution of indoor air pollutants and the non-uniformity of indoor thermal and pollutant distributions. Subsequent energy performance analysis demonstrates that classroom energy demands for ventilation and cooling could be reduced with the promotion of heat recovery efficiency of the ventilation facility, and the energy conservation ratio of the air conditioning unit decreases with the increasing temperatures of supplying air. Fitting correlations of heat recovery ventilation and cooling energy conservation have been presented. - Highlights: • Low energy school buildings and classroom environment. • Heat recovery facility operating with an air conditioning unit. • Displacement ventilation influenced by the heat recovery efficiency. • Energy conservation of cooling and ventilation through heat recovery. • Enhancement of classroom environment with reduction of school building energy

Hourly indoor radon measurements in a research house.

Science.gov (United States)

Sesana, Lucia; Begnini, Stefania

2004-01-01

This paper reports and discusses the behaviour of radon concentration with time in an uninhabited dwelling. The relationship between variations in radon concentrations and indoor-outdoor temperatures and wind intensity has also been discussed. Radon concentration was measured hourly in a house located at a height of 800 m in the Lombard Prealps, at the top of the Valassina valley. The wind velocity and indoor-outdoor temperatures were measured by means of a meteorological station located on the terrace of the house. The data were analysed using the LBL model for indoor-outdoor air exchange and the models for the indoor accumulation of radon due to exhalation from building materials and pressure-driven infiltrations located underground. The role of wind and indoor-outdoor temperatures were analysed. The agreement of measurements with modelling clearly demonstrates the importance of the different sources of indoor radon. As the investigation was conducted in an uninhabited house, the measurements were not affected by the behaviour of people, e.g. opening and closing of windows. Measurements of the outdoor atmospheric concentrations of (222)Rn provide an index of the atmospheric stability, the formation of thermal inversions and convective turbulence.

Hourly indoor radon measurements in a research house

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sesana, L.; Begnini, S.

2004-01-01

This paper reports and discusses the behaviour of radon concentration with time in an uninhabited dwelling. The relationship between variations in radon concentrations and indoor-outdoor temperatures and wind intensity has also been discussed. Radon concentration was measured hourly in a house located at a height of 800 m in the Lombard Pre-alps, at the top of the Valassina valley. The wind velocity and indoor-outdoor temperatures were measured by means of a meteorological station located on the terrace of the house. The data were analysed using the LBL model for indoor-outdoor air exchange and the models for the indoor accumulation of radon due to exhalation from building materials and pressure-driven infiltrations located underground. The role of wind and indoor-outdoor temperatures were analysed. The agreement of measurements with modelling clearly demonstrates the importance of the different sources of indoor radon. As the investigation was conducted in an uninhabited house, the measurements were not affected by the behaviour of people, e.g. opening and closing of windows. Measurements of the outdoor atmospheric concentrations of 222 Rn provide an index of the atmospheric stability, the formation of thermal inversions and convective turbulence. (authors)

Which energy networks for tomorrow?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lenoir, D.; Couturier, Ch.; Batot, Ph.; Jedliczka, M.; Belon, D.; Goy, E.; Bureau, L.

2010-01-01

A set of brief articles outlines the importance of energy networks of all kinds for the future of energy conservation. Thus, all networks (communication, data, production command and control) will have a role to play to make all energy networks (electricity, gas, heat, cold, water, sewage, telecommunications) communicate with each other, and a new consumption/production model will have to be developed for each territory by taking into account its capacities to improve energy efficiency and valorize renewable energies. The authors also propose a historical perspective of network development and of their trend to become interconnected and complementary, comment the governance issue in terms of concession, evoke the supply of public networks with biogas (legal framework under development), discuss the value of the project of development of smart grids, suggest that a better electricity demand management could be an efficient alternative to grid development, comment the context and implications of the European directive Linky, outline that heat networks will contribute to the reduction of the environmental impact of buildings, evoke the issue of cold water networks and their impact on air conditioning, present the original heat network which is about to be built in Saint-Brieuc, etc.

National Dioxin Air Monitoring Network (Ndamn) Report of the Results of Atmospheric Measurements of Pcdds, Pcdfs, and Dioxin-Like PCBs in Rural and Remote Areas of the U.S. from June 1998 Through November 2004

Science.gov (United States)

In 1998, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) established the National Dioxin Air Monitoring Network (NDAMN) to help characterize the ubiquitous presence of dioxins in the environment. This final report represents the 2013 update to NDAMN.

Wireless sensor network adaptive cooling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mitchell, T. [SynapSense Corp., Folsom, CA (United States)

2009-07-01

Options for reducing data centre cooling energy requirements and their cost savings were discussed with particular reference to a wireless control solution developed by SynapSense Corporation. The wireless sensor network reduces cooling energy use at data centres by providing improved air flow management through the installation of cold aisle containment. The use of this low cost, non-invasive wireless sensor network has reduced the cooling energy use in a data center at BC Hydro by 30 per cent. The system also reduced the server and storage fan energy by 3 per cent by maintaining inlet air temperature below ASHRAE recommended operating range. The distribution of low power, low cost wireless sensors has enabled visualization tools that are changing the way that data centres are managed. The annual savings have been estimated at 4,560,000 kWh and the annual carbon dioxide abatement is approximately 1,400 metric tons. tabs., figs.

Hydrogen application dynamics and networks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schmidt, E. [Air Liquide Large Industries, Champigny-sur-Marne (France)

2010-12-30

The Chemical Industry consumes large volumes of hydrogen as raw material for the manufacture of numerous products (e.g. polyamides and polyurethanes account for 60% of hydrogen demand). The hydrogen demand was in the recent past and will continue to be driven by the polyurethane family. China will host about 60% of new hydrogen needs over the period 2010-2015 becoming the first hydrogen market next year and reaching 25% of market share by 2015 (vs. only 4% in 2001). Air Liquide supplies large volumes of Hydrogen (and other Industrial Gases) to customers by on-site plants and through pipeline networks which offer significant benefits such as higher safety, reliability and flexibility of supply. Thanks to its long term strategy and heavy investment in large units and pipeline networks, Air Liquide is the Industrial Gas leader in most of the world class Petrochemical basins (Rotterdam, Antwerp, US Gulf Coast, Yosu, Caojing,..) (orig.)

Comparison of Available Bandwidth Estimation Techniques in Packet-Switched Mobile Networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

López Villa, Dimas; Ubeda Castellanos, Carlos; Teyeb, Oumer Mohammed

2006-01-01

The relative contribution of the transport network towards the per-user capacity in mobile telecommunication systems is becoming very important due to the ever increasing air-interface data rates. Thus, resource management procedures such as admission, load and handover control can make use...... of information regarding the available bandwidth in the transport network, as it could end up being the bottleneck rather than the air interface. This paper provides a comparative study of three well known available bandwidth estimation techniques, i.e. TOPP, SLoPS and pathChirp, taking into account...

Air Temperature Error Correction Based on Solar Radiation in an Economical Meteorological Wireless Sensor Network.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Xingming; Yan, Shuangshuang; Wang, Baowei; Xia, Li; Liu, Qi; Zhang, Hui

2015-07-24

Air temperature (AT) is an extremely vital factor in meteorology, agriculture, military, etc., being used for the prediction of weather disasters, such as drought, flood, frost, etc. Many efforts have been made to monitor the temperature of the atmosphere, like automatic weather stations (AWS). Nevertheless, due to the high cost of specialized AT sensors, they cannot be deployed within a large spatial density. A novel method named the meteorology wireless sensor network relying on a sensing node has been proposed for the purpose of reducing the cost of AT monitoring. However, the temperature sensor on the sensing node can be easily influenced by environmental factors. Previous research has confirmed that there is a close relation between AT and solar radiation (SR). Therefore, this paper presents a method to decrease the error of sensed AT, taking SR into consideration. In this work, we analyzed all of the collected data of AT and SR in May 2014 and found the numerical correspondence between AT error (ATE) and SR. This corresponding relation was used to calculate real-time ATE according to real-time SR and to correct the error of AT in other months.

Air Temperature Error Correction Based on Solar Radiation in an Economical Meteorological Wireless Sensor Network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xingming Sun

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Air temperature (AT is an extremely vital factor in meteorology, agriculture, military, etc., being used for the prediction of weather disasters, such as drought, flood, frost, etc. Many efforts have been made to monitor the temperature of the atmosphere, like automatic weather stations (AWS. Nevertheless, due to the high cost of specialized AT sensors, they cannot be deployed within a large spatial density. A novel method named the meteorology wireless sensor network relying on a sensing node has been proposed for the purpose of reducing the cost of AT monitoring. However, the temperature sensor on the sensing node can be easily influenced by environmental factors. Previous research has confirmed that there is a close relation between AT and solar radiation (SR. Therefore, this paper presents a method to decrease the error of sensed AT, taking SR into consideration. In this work, we analyzed all of the collected data of AT and SR in May 2014 and found the numerical correspondence between AT error (ATE and SR. This corresponding relation was used to calculate real-time ATE according to real-time SR and to correct the error of AT in other months.

Spatial variability of POPs in European background air

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. K. Halse

2011-02-01

Full Text Available Passive air samplers (PAS were deployed at 86 European background sites during summer 2006 in order (i to gain further insight into spatial patterns of persistent organic pollutants (POPs in European background air and, (ii to evaluate PAS as an alternative sampling technique under EMEP (Co-operative programme for monitoring and evaluation of the long-range transmissions of air pollutants in Europe. The samples were analyzed for selected PCBs, HCHs, DDTs, HCB, PAHs and chlordanes, and air concentrations were calculated on the basis of losses of performance reference compounds. Air concentrations of PCBs were generally lowest in more remote areas of northern Europe with elevated levels in more densely populated areas. γ-HCH was found at elevated levels in more central parts of Europe, whereas α-HCH, β-HCH and DDTs showed higher concentrations in the south-eastern part. There was no clear spatial pattern in the concentrations for PAHs, indicative of influence by local sources, rather than long range atmospheric transport (LRAT. HCB was evenly distributed across Europe, while the concentrations of chlordanes were typically low or non-detectable. A comparison of results obtained on the basis of PAS and active air sampling (AAS illustrated that coordinated PAS campaigns have the potential serve as useful inter-comparison exercises within and across existing monitoring networks. The results also highlighted limitations of the current EMEP measurement network with respect to spatial coverage. We finally adopted an existing Lagrangian transport model (FLEXPART as recently modified to incorporate key processes relevant for POPs to evaluate potential source regions affecting observed concentrations at selected sites. Using PCB-28 as an example, the model predicted concentrations which agreed within a factor of 3 with PAS measurements for all except 1 out of the 17 sites selected for this analysis.

The Conference Proceedings of the 2003 Air Transport Research Society (ATRS) World Conference, Volume 5

Science.gov (United States)

Bowen, Brent (Editor); Gudmundsson, Sveinn (Editor); Oum, Tae (Editor)

2003-01-01

The UNO Aviation Institute Monograph Series began in 1994 as a key component of the education outreach and information transfer missions of the Aviation Institute and the NASA Nebraska Space Grant & EPSCoR Programs. The series is an outlet for aviation materials to be indexed and disseminated through an efficient medium. Publications are welcome in all aspects of aviation. Publication formats may include, but are not limited to, conference proceedings, bibliographies, research reports, manuals, technical reports, and other documents that should be archived and indexed for future reference by the aviation and world wide communities. The Conference proceedings of the 2003 Air Transport Research Society (ATRS) world conference, volume 5 is presented. The topics include: 1) The Temporal Configuration of Airline Networks in Europe; 2) Determination and Applications of Environmental Costs at Different Sized Airports-Aircraft Noise and Engine Emissions; 3) Cost Effective Measures to Reduce CO2 Emissions in the Air Freight Sector; 4) An Assessment of the Sustainability of Air Transport System: Quantification of Indicators; 5) Regulation, Competition and Network Evolution in Aviation; 6) Regulation in the Air: Price and Frequency Cap; 7) Industry Consolidation and Future Airline Network Structures in Europe; 8) Application of Core Theory to the U.S. Airline Industry; 9) Air Freight Transshipment Route Choice Analysis; 10) A Fuzzy Approach of the Competition on Air Transport Market; and 11) Developing Passenger Demand Models for International Aviation from/to Egypt: A Case Study of Cairo Airport and Egyptair.

Transactional Network Platform: Applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Katipamula, Srinivas; Lutes, Robert G.; Ngo, Hung; Underhill, Ronald M.

2013-10-31

In FY13, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) with funding from the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Building Technologies Office (BTO) designed, prototyped and tested a transactional network platform to support energy, operational and financial transactions between any networked entities (equipment, organizations, buildings, grid, etc.). Initially, in FY13, the concept demonstrated transactions between packaged rooftop air conditioners and heat pump units (RTUs) and the electric grid using applications or "agents" that reside on the platform, on the equipment, on a local building controller or in the Cloud. The transactional network project is a multi-lab effort with Oakridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) also contributing to the effort. PNNL coordinated the project and also was responsible for the development of the transactional network (TN) platform and three different applications associated with RTUs. This document describes two applications or "agents" in details, and also summarizes the platform. The TN platform details are described in another companion document.

High Efficiency, Transparent, Reusable, and Active PM2.5 Filters by Hierarchical Ag Nanowire Percolation Network.

Science.gov (United States)

Jeong, Seongmin; Cho, Hyunmin; Han, Seonggeun; Won, Phillip; Lee, Habeom; Hong, Sukjoon; Yeo, Junyeob; Kwon, Jinhyeong; Ko, Seung Hwan

2017-07-12

Air quality has become a major public health issue in Asia including China, Korea, and India. Particulate matters are the major concern in air quality. We present the first environmental application demonstration of Ag nanowire percolation network for a novel, electrical type transparent, reusable, and active PM2.5 air filter although the Ag nanowire percolation network has been studied as a very promising transparent conductor in optoelectronics. Compared with previous particulate matter air filter study using relatively weaker short-range intermolecular force in polar polymeric nanofiber, Ag nanowire percolation network filters use stronger long-range electrostatic force to capture PM2.5, and they are highly efficient (>99.99%), transparent, working on an active mode, low power consumption, antibacterial, and reusable after simple washing. The proposed new particulate matter filter can be applied for a highly efficient, reusable, active and energy efficient filter for wearable electronics application.

Design, deployment and performance of 4G-LTE networks a practical approach

CERN Document Server

ElNashar, Ayman; Sherif, Mahmoud

2014-01-01

This book provides an insight into the key practical aspects and best practice of 4G-LTE network design, performance, and deployment Design, Deployment and Performance of 4G-LTE Networks addresses the key practical aspects and best practice of 4G networks design, performance, and deployment. In addition, the book focuses on the end-to-end aspects of the LTE network architecture and different deployment scenarios of commercial LTE networks. It describes the air interface of LTE focusing on the access stratum protocol layers: PDCP, RLC, MAC, and Physical Layer. The air interface described in this book covers the concepts of LTE frame structure, downlink and uplink scheduling, and detailed illustrations of the data flow across the protocol layers. It describes the details of the optimization process including performance measurements and troubleshooting mechanisms in addition to demonstrating common issues and case studies based on actual field results. The book provides detailed performance analysis of key fe...

Characterization and biological effect of Buenos Aires urban air particles on mice lungs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martin, Susana; Dawidowski, Laura; Mandalunis, Patricia; Cereceda-Balic, Francisco; Tasat, Deborah Ruth

2007-01-01

Exposure to increased levels of ambient air particulate matter (PM) is associated with increased cardiopulmonary morbidity and mortality. Its association with adverse health effects and the still unclear mechanisms of action are of concern worldwide. Our objective was to analyze air PM from downtown Buenos Aires (UAP-BA), and evaluate its biological impact on normal airways. We studied the inflammatory response to intranasal instillation of UAP-BA in a short-term-exposure mouse model. We analyzed UAP-BA morphology by scanning electron microscopy and characterized particle chemical composition by energy dispersive X-ray analysis and capillary gas chromatography. We evaluated lung changes by histomorphometry and histochemical methods. Regarding size, surface area and distribution, UAP-BA proved to be small spherical ultrafine particles: free, in clusters and associated to a matrix. The particles contained polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls and almost no metal traces. Histologically, UAP-BA induced the recruitment of phagocytes, a reduction in air spaces, an increase in mucous PAS positive cells and weak incomplete elastic fiber network. Our results demonstrate that UAP-BA causes adverse biological effects on the respiratory tract generating inflammation that, in turn, may cause tissue injury or organ dysfunction and may contribute to the pathogenesis of lung diseases

Selecting Optimal Parameters of Random Linear Network Coding for Wireless Sensor Networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Heide, J; Zhang, Qi; Fitzek, F H P

2013-01-01

This work studies how to select optimal code parameters of Random Linear Network Coding (RLNC) in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). With Rateless Deluge [1] the authors proposed to apply Network Coding (NC) for Over-the-Air Programming (OAP) in WSNs, and demonstrated that with NC a significant...... reduction in the number of transmitted packets can be achieved. However, NC introduces additional computations and potentially a non-negligible transmission overhead, both of which depend on the chosen coding parameters. Therefore it is necessary to consider the trade-off that these coding parameters...... present in order to obtain the lowest energy consumption per transmitted bit. This problem is analyzed and suitable coding parameters are determined for the popular Tmote Sky platform. Compared to the use of traditional RLNC, these parameters enable a reduction in the energy spent per bit which grows...

Resilience and rewiring of the passenger airline networks in the United States

Science.gov (United States)

Wuellner, Daniel R.; Roy, Soumen; D'Souza, Raissa M.

2010-11-01

The air transportation network, a fundamental component of critical infrastructure, is formed from a collection of individual air carriers, each one with a methodically designed and engineered network structure. We analyze the individual structures of the seven largest passenger carriers in the USA and find that networks with dense interconnectivity, as quantified by large k cores for high values of k , are extremely resilient to both targeted removal of airports (nodes) and random removal of flight paths (edges). Such networks stay connected and incur minimal increase in an heuristic travel time despite removal of a majority of nodes or edges. Similar results are obtained for targeted removal based on either node degree or centrality. We introduce network rewiring schemes that boost resilience to different levels of perturbation while preserving total number of flight and gate requirements. Recent studies have focused on the asymptotic optimality of hub-and-spoke spatial networks under normal operating conditions, yet our results indicate that point-to-point architectures can be much more resilient to perturbations.

Air travel and vector-borne disease movement.

Science.gov (United States)

Tatem, A J; Huang, Z; Das, A; Qi, Q; Roth, J; Qiu, Y

2012-12-01

Recent decades have seen substantial expansions in the global air travel network and rapid increases in traffic volumes. The effects of this are well studied in terms of the spread of directly transmitted infections, but the role of air travel in the movement of vector-borne diseases is less well understood. Increasingly however, wider reaching surveillance for vector-borne diseases and our improving abilities to map the distributions of vectors and the diseases they carry, are providing opportunities to better our understanding of the impact of increasing air travel. Here we examine global trends in the continued expansion of air transport and its impact upon epidemiology. Novel malaria and chikungunya examples are presented, detailing how geospatial data in combination with information on air traffic can be used to predict the risks of vector-borne disease importation and establishment. Finally, we describe the development of an online tool, the Vector-Borne Disease Airline Importation Risk (VBD-Air) tool, which brings together spatial data on air traffic and vector-borne disease distributions to quantify the seasonally changing risks for importation to non-endemic regions. Such a framework provides the first steps towards an ultimate goal of adaptive management based on near real time flight data and vector-borne disease surveillance.

In-Band full-duplex transceiver technology for 5G mobile networks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Deballie, B.; van Liempd, B.; Hershberg, B.; Craninckx, J.; Rikkinen, K.; van den Broek, Dirk-Jan; Klumperink, Eric A.M.; Nauta, Bram

2015-01-01

In-band full-duplex is a promising air interface technique to tackle several of the key challenges of next generation (5G)mobile networks. Simultaneous transmission and reception in the same frequency band increases the throughput and spectral efficiency, and reduces the air interface delay. Its

Fast predictive control for air-fuel ratio of SI engines using a ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

In this paper MPC based on an adaptive neural network model is attempted for air fuel ratio (AFR), in which the model is adapted on-line to cope with nonlinear dynamics and parameter uncertainties. A radial basis function (RBF) network is employed and the recursive least squares (RLS) algorithm is used for weight ...

Journal Article: the National Dioxin Air Monitoring Network (Ndamn): Measurements of CDDs, CDFs, and Coplanar PCBs at 18 Rural, 8 National Parks, and 2 Suburban Areas of the U.S.: Results for the Year 2000.

Science.gov (United States)

In June, 1998, the U.S. EPA established the National Dioxin Air Monitoring Network (NDAMN). The primary goal of NDAMN is determine the temporal and geographical variability of atmospheric CDDs, CDFs, and coplanar PCBs at rural and nonimpacted locations throughout the United Stat...

Air defense planning for an area with the use of very short range air defense sets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tadeusz Pietkiewicz

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a heuristic method of planning the deployment of very short-range anti-air missile and artillery sets (VSHORAD around an area (‘protected area’ in order to protect it. A function dependent on the distance between the earliest feasible points of destroying targets and the centre of the protected area was taken as an objective function. This is a different indicator from those commonly used in the literature, and based on the likelihood of a defense zone penetration by means of an air attack (MAA: the kill probability of the MAA and the probability of area losses. The model constraints resulted directly from the restrictions imposed by real air defense systems and the nature of the area being defended. This paper assumes that the VSHORAD system operates as a part of a general, superordinate air defense command and control system based on the idea of network-centric warfare, which provides the VSHORAD system with a recognized air picture, air defense plans, and combat mission specifications. The presented method has been implemented. The final part of the paper presents the computational results. Keywords: optimal planning, air defense system, area installation protection, deployment of very short range anti-air missile and artillery sets (VSHORAD

Thermodynamic analysis of an open cycle solid desiccant cooling system using Artificial Neural Network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koronaki, I.P.; Rogdakis, E.; Kakatsiou, T.

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► A neural network model based on experimental data was developed. ► Description of the experimental setup. ► Prediction of the state conditions of air at the process and regeneration stream. ► Sensitivity Analysis performed on these predicted results. ► Predicted output values in line with correlation model based on data from industry. - Abstract: This paper examines the performance of an installed open cycle air-conditioning system with a silica gel desiccant wheel which uses a conventional heat pump and heat exchangers for the improvement of the outlet air of the system. A neural network model based on the training of a black box model with experimental data was developed as a method based on experimental results predicting the state conditions of air at the process and regeneration stream. The model development was followed by a Sensitivity Analysis performed on these predicted results. The key parameters were the thermodynamic condition of process and regeneration air streams, the sensible heat factor of the room, and the mass air flow ratio of the regeneration and process streams. The results of this analysis revealed that all investigated parameters influenced the performance of the desiccant unit. Predicted output values of the proposed Neural Network Model for Desiccant Systems are in line with results from other correlation models based on the interpolation of experimental data obtained from industrial air conditioning installations.

Forecasting air quality time series using deep learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Freeman, Brian S; Taylor, Graham; Gharabaghi, Bahram; Thé, Jesse

2018-04-13

This paper presents one of the first applications of deep learning (DL) techniques to predict air pollution time series. Air quality management relies extensively on time series data captured at air monitoring stations as the basis of identifying population exposure to airborne pollutants and determining compliance with local ambient air standards. In this paper, 8 hr averaged surface ozone (O 3 ) concentrations were predicted using deep learning consisting of a recurrent neural network (RNN) with long short-term memory (LSTM). Hourly air quality and meteorological data were used to train and forecast values up to 72 hours with low error rates. The LSTM was able to forecast the duration of continuous O 3 exceedances as well. Prior to training the network, the dataset was reviewed for missing data and outliers. Missing data were imputed using a novel technique that averaged gaps less than eight time steps with incremental steps based on first-order differences of neighboring time periods. Data were then used to train decision trees to evaluate input feature importance over different time prediction horizons. The number of features used to train the LSTM model was reduced from 25 features to 5 features, resulting in improved accuracy as measured by Mean Absolute Error (MAE). Parameter sensitivity analysis identified look-back nodes associated with the RNN proved to be a significant source of error if not aligned with the prediction horizon. Overall, MAE's less than 2 were calculated for predictions out to 72 hours. Novel deep learning techniques were used to train an 8-hour averaged ozone forecast model. Missing data and outliers within the captured data set were replaced using a new imputation method that generated calculated values closer to the expected value based on the time and season. Decision trees were used to identify input variables with the greatest importance. The methods presented in this paper allow air managers to forecast long range air pollution

Monitoring air quality in Southeast Alaska’s National Parks and Forests: Linking atmospheric pollutants with ecological effects

Science.gov (United States)

D. Schirokauer; L. Geiser; A. Bytnerowicz; M. Fenn; K. Dillman

2014-01-01

Air quality and air quality related values are important resources to the National Park Service (NPS) units and Wilderness areas in northern Southeast Alaska. Air quality monitoring was prioritized as a high-priority Vital Sign at the Southeast Alaska Network’s (SEAN) Inventory and Monitoring Program’s terrestrial scoping workshop (Derr and Fastie 2006). Air quality...

Photochemical and other air pollutions in the Netherlands

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Floor, H.

1975-01-01

Together with the State Institute of Public Health and the Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute, the Institute of Phytopathological Research continued investigations on incidence of air pollution in the country. The main purpose is to measure the effects of air pollution on indicator plants and to detect over the years which components separately or perhaps together damage indicator plants. In 1974, the network of experimental fields in the Netherlands was completed. From April until October, 29 fields were inspected weekly for typical symptoms of air pollution. Just as in the preceding year O3 caused most injury of the photochemical air pollutants, as shown by Spinacia oleracea and Nicotiana tabacum. Other photochemical air pollutants like PAN, and the pollutants SO2, NO/sub x/ and ethylene caused little injury to the indicator plants Urtica urens, Poa annua, Medicago sativa, Petunia nyctaginiflora and Solanum tuberosum. Symptoms of damage on Tulipa gesneriana, Gladiolus gandavensis and Freesia refracta indicated air pollution by HF in all experimental fields, but especially in the south of the country. The F determination in the air by means of the limed paper method established the results with the indicator plants.

Solutions Network Formulation Report. NASA's Potential Contributions for Using Solar Ultraviolet Radiation in Conjunction with Photocatalysis for Urban Air Pollution Mitigation and Increasing Air Quality

Science.gov (United States)

Underwood, Lauren; Ryan, Robert E.

2007-01-01

This Candidate Solution is based on using NASA Earth science research on atmospheric ozone and aerosols data as a means to predict and evaluate the effectiveness of photocatalytically created surfaces (building materials like glass, tile and cement) for air pollution mitigation purposes. When these surfaces are exposed to near UV light, organic molecules, like air pollutants and smog precursors, will degrade into environmentally friendly compounds. U.S. EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) is responsible for forecasting daily air quality by using the Air Quality Index (AQI) that is provided by AIRNow. EPA is partnered with AIRNow and is responsible for calculating the AQI for five major air pollutants that are regulated by the Clean Air Act. In this Solution, UV irradiance data acquired from the satellite mission Aura and the OMI Surface UV algorithm will be used to help understand both the efficacy and efficiency of the photocatalytic decomposition process these surfaces facilitate, and their ability to reduce air pollutants. Prediction models that estimate photocatalytic function do not exist. NASA UV irradiance data will enable this capability, so that air quality agencies that are run by state and local officials can develop and implement programs that utilize photocatalysis for urban air pollution control and, enable them to make effective decisions about air pollution protection programs.

Cells on Gels: Cell Behavior at the Air-Gel Interface

Science.gov (United States)

O'Bryan, Christopher; Hormel, Tristan; Bhattacharjee, Tapomoy; Sawyer, W.; Angelini, Thomas

Numerous different types of cells are often grown at air-liquid interfaces. For example, a common way to create cell spheroids is to disperse cells in a droplet of liquid media that hangs from the lid of a culture dish - the ``hanging drop'' method. Some types of epithelial cells form monolayers at the bottom of hanging drops, instead of spheroids. Corneal epithelial cells stratify and exhibit a tissue-like phenotype when attached to liquid permeable culture surfaces positioned at the air-liquid media interface (air-lifted culture). These widely used culture methods make experimentation challenging - imaging through hanging drops and air-lifted culture dishes is prohibitive. However, similar results may be achieved by culturing cells on hydrogel surfaces at the air-gel interface. In this talk we will describe a method for culturing cells at air-gel interfaces. We seed human corneal epithelial cells (hTCEpi) onto the surfaces of hydrogel networks and jammed microgels, exposed to air. Preliminary observations of cell behavior at the air-gel interface will be presented.

A new air quality modelling approach at the regional scale using lidar data assimilation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Y.

2013-01-01

Assimilation of lidar observations for air quality modelling is investigated via the development of a new model, which assimilates ground-based lidar network measurements using optimal interpolation (OI) in a chemistry transport model. First, a tool for assimilating PM 10 (particulate matter with a diameter lower than 10 μm) concentration measurements on the vertical is developed in the air quality modelling platform POLYPHEMUS. It is applied to western Europe for one month from 15 July to 15 August 2001 to investigate the potential impact of future ground-based lidar networks on analysis and short-term forecasts (the description of the future) of PM 10 . The efficiency of assimilating lidar network measurements is compared to the efficiency of assimilating concentration measurements from the AirBase ground network, which includes about 500 stations in western Europe. A sensitivity study on the number and location of required lidars is also performed to help define an optimal lidar network for PM 10 forecasts. Secondly, a new model for simulating normalised lidar signals (PR 2 ) is developed and integrated in POLYPHEMUS. Simulated lidar signals are compared to hourly ground-based mobile and in-situ lidar observations performed during the MEGAPOLI (Mega-cities: Emissions, urban, regional and Global Atmospheric Pollution and climate effects, and Integrated tools for assessment and mitigation) summer experiment in July 2009. It is found that the model correctly reproduces the vertical distribution of aerosol optical properties and their temporal variability. Additionally, two new algorithms for assimilating lidar signals are presented and evaluated during MEGAPOLI. The aerosol simulations without and with lidar data assimilation are evaluated using the AIRPARIF (a regional operational network in charge of air quality survey around the Paris area) database to demonstrate the feasibility and the usefulness of assimilating lidar profiles for aerosol forecasts. Finally

Social networks in the history of innovation and invention

CERN Document Server

Moon, Francis C

2014-01-01

This book integrates history of science and technology with modern social network theory. Using examples from the history of machines, as well as case studies from wireless, radio and chaos theory, the author challenges the genius model of invention. Network analysis concepts are presented to demonstrate the societal nature of invention in areas such as steam power, internal combustion engines, early aviation, air conditioning and more. Using modern measures of network theory, the author demonstrates that the social networks of invention from the 19th and early 20th centuries have similar characteristics to modern 21st C networks such as the World Wide Web. The book provides evidence that exponential growth in technical innovation is linked to the growth of historical innovation networks.

Bayesian Computational Sensor Networks for Aircraft Structural Health Monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

2016-02-02

Virginia 22203 Air Force Research Laboratory Air Force Materiel Command 1 Final Performance Report: AFOSR T.C. Henderson , V.J. Mathews, and D...AFRL-AFOSR-VA-TR-2016-0094 Bayesian Computational Sensor Networks for Aircraft Structural Health Monitoring. Thomas Henderson UNIVERSITY OF UTAH SALT...The people who worked on this project include: Thomas C. Henderson , John Mathews, Jingru Zhou, Daimei Zhij, Ahmad Zoubi, Sabita Nahata, Dan Adams

Air quality remote sensing over alpine regions with METEOSAT SEVIRI

Science.gov (United States)

Emili, E.; Popp, C.; Petitta, M.; Riffler, M.; Wunderle, S.

2009-04-01

It is well demonstrated that small aerosol particles or particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) affect air quality and can have severe effects on human's health. Hence, it is of great interest for public institutions to have an efficient PM monitoring network. In the last decades this data has been provided from ground-based instruments. Moreover, due to the fast development of space-borne remote sensing instruments, we can now be able to take advantage of air pollution measurements from space, which bears the potential to fill up the gap of spatial coverage from ground-based networks. This also improves the capability to assess air pollutants transport properties together with a better implementation in forecasting data assimilation procedures. In this study we examine the possibility of using data from the Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI), on-board of the geostationary Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) platform, to provide PM concentrations values over Switzerland. SEVIRI's high temporal resolution (15 minutes) could be very useful in investigating the daily behaviour of air pollutants and therefore be a good complement to measurements from polar orbiting sensors (e.g. MODIS). Switzerland is of particular interest because of its mountainous orography that hampers pollutants dispersion. Further, major transalpine connection routes, often characterised by high traffic load, act as a significant air pollution source. The south of Switzerland is also occasionally influenced by pollutants transported from the highly industrialised Po Valley in northern Italy. We investigate the existence of a linear relation between the SEVIRI retrieved AOD (Aerosol Optical Depth) and the PM concentration obtained from the ground-based air quality network NABEL (Nationales Beobachtungsnetz fuer Luftfremdstoffe). The temporal trend of this two quantities shows a significant relationship over various locations. The correlation coefficient is in some cases higher than 0

Comparison of the orogenic displacement of sodium caseinate with the caseins from the air-water interface by nonionic surfactants.

Science.gov (United States)

Woodward, N C; Gunning, A P; Mackie, A R; Wilde, P J; Morris, V J

2009-06-16

Displacement of sodium caseinate from the air-water interface by nonionic surfactants Tween 20 and Tween 60 was observed by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The interfacial structure was sampled by Langmuir-Blodgett deposition onto freshly cleaved mica substrates. Protein displacement occurred through an orogenic mechanism: it involved the nucleation and growth of surfactant domains within the protein network, followed by failure of the protein network. The surface pressure at which failure of the protein network occurred was essentially independent of the type of surfactant. The major component of sodium caseinate is beta-casein, and previous studies at the air-water interface have shown that beta-casein networks are weak, failing at surface pressures below that observed for sodium caseinate. The other components of sodium caseinate are alpha(s)- and kappa-caseins. Studies of the displacement of alpha(s)-caseins from air-water interfaces show that these proteins also form weak networks that fail at surface pressures below that observed for sodium caseinate. However, kappa-casein was found to form strong networks that resisted displacement and failed at surface pressures comparable to those observed for sodium caseinate. The AFM images of the displacement suggest that, despite kappa-casein being a minor component, it dominates the failure of sodium caseinate networks: alpha(s)-casein and beta-casein are preferentially desorbed at lower surface pressures, allowing the residual kappa-casein to control the breakdown of the sodium caseinate network at higher surface pressures.

Amperometric Gas Sensors as a Low Cost Emerging Technology Platform for Air Quality Monitoring Applications: A Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Baron, Ronan; Saffell, John

2017-11-22

This review examines the use of amperometric electrochemical gas sensors for monitoring inorganic gases that affect urban air quality. First, we consider amperometric gas sensor technology including its development toward specifically designed air quality sensors. We then review recent academic and research organizations' studies where this technology has been trialed for air quality monitoring applications: early studies showed the potential of electrochemical gas sensors when colocated with reference Air Quality Monitoring (AQM) stations. Spatially dense networks with fast temporal resolution provide information not available from sparse AQMs with longer recording intervals. We review how this technology is being offered as commercial urban air quality networks and consider the remaining challenges. Sensors must be sensitive, selective, and stable; air quality monitors/nodes must be electronically and mechanically well designed. Data correction is required and models with differing levels of sophistication are being designed. Data analysis and validation is possibly the biggest remaining hurdle needed to deliver reliable concentration readings. Finally, this review also considers the roles of companies, urban infrastructure requirements, and public research in the development of this technology.

The OpenAIRE Guide for Research Institutions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gültekin Gürdal

2013-11-01

Full Text Available This text is transcript of OpenAIRE Guide which is prepared in order to help research institutions was released on 13.04.2011and translated with the cooperation of ANKOS Open Access and Institutional Repositories Grup members and OpenAIREplus project team of Turkey which is coordinated from Izmir Institute of Technology Library. OpenAIRE Project aims to support researchers in complying with the European Commission Seventh Framework Programme Open Access Pilot through a European Helpdesk System; support researchers in depositing their research publications in an institutional or disciplinary repository; build up an OpenAIRE portal and e-infrastructure for repository networks. The project will work in tadem with OpeanAIREplus Project which has the principal goal of creating a robust, participatory service for the cross-linking of peer-reviewed scientific publications and associated datasets.

Towards an agent based traffic regulation and recommendation system for the on-road air quality control.

Science.gov (United States)

Sadiq, Abderrahmane; El Fazziki, Abdelaziz; Ouarzazi, Jamal; Sadgal, Mohamed

2016-01-01

This paper presents an integrated and adaptive problem-solving approach to control the on-road air quality by modeling the road infrastructure, managing traffic based on pollution level and generating recommendations for road users. The aim is to reduce vehicle emissions in the most polluted road segments and optimizing the pollution levels. For this we propose the use of historical and real time pollution records and contextual data to calculate the air quality index on road networks and generate recommendations for reassigning traffic flow in order to improve the on-road air quality. The resulting air quality indexes are used in the system's traffic network generation, which the cartography is represented by a weighted graph. The weights evolve according to the pollution indexes and path properties and the graph is therefore dynamic. Furthermore, the systems use the available pollution data and meteorological records in order to predict the on-road pollutant levels by using an artificial neural network based prediction model. The proposed approach combines the benefits of multi-agent systems, Big data technology, machine learning tools and the available data sources. For the shortest path searching in the road network, we use the Dijkstra algorithm over Hadoop MapReduce framework. The use Hadoop framework in the data retrieve and analysis process has significantly improved the performance of the proposed system. Also, the agent technology allowed proposing a suitable solution in terms of robustness and agility.

A Minimax Network Flow Model for Characterizing the Impact of Slot Restrictions

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Douglas W.; Patek, Stephen D.; Alexandrov, Natalia; Bass, Ellen J.; Kincaid, Rex K.

2010-01-01

This paper proposes a model for evaluating long-term measures to reduce congestion at airports in the National Airspace System (NAS). This model is constructed with the goal of assessing the global impacts of congestion management strategies, specifically slot restrictions. We develop the Minimax Node Throughput Problem (MINNTHRU), a multicommodity network flow model that provides insight into air traffic patterns when one minimizes the worst-case operation across all airports in a given network. MINNTHRU is thus formulated as a model where congestion arises from network topology. It reflects not market-driven airline objectives, but those of a regulatory authority seeking a distribution of air traffic beneficial to all airports, in response to congestion management measures. After discussing an algorithm for solving MINNTHRU for moderate-sized (30 nodes) and larger networks, we use this model to study the impacts of slot restrictions on the operation of an entire hub-spoke airport network. For both a small example network and a medium-sized network based on 30 airports in the NAS, we use MINNTHRU to demonstrate that increasing the severity of slot restrictions increases the traffic around unconstrained hub airports as well as the worst-case level of operation over all airports.

Systemic Analysis Approaches for Air Transportation

Science.gov (United States)

Conway, Sheila

2005-01-01

Air transportation system designers have had only limited success using traditional operations research and parametric modeling approaches in their analyses of innovations. They need a systemic methodology for modeling of safety-critical infrastructure that is comprehensive, objective, and sufficiently concrete, yet simple enough to be used with reasonable investment. The methodology must also be amenable to quantitative analysis so issues of system safety and stability can be rigorously addressed. However, air transportation has proven itself an extensive, complex system whose behavior is difficult to describe, no less predict. There is a wide range of system analysis techniques available, but some are more appropriate for certain applications than others. Specifically in the area of complex system analysis, the literature suggests that both agent-based models and network analysis techniques may be useful. This paper discusses the theoretical basis for each approach in these applications, and explores their historic and potential further use for air transportation analysis.

Adaptive neuro-fuzzy based inferential sensor model for estimating the average air temperature in space heating systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jassar, S.; Zhao, L. [Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, ON (Canada); Liao, Z. [Department of Architectural Science, Ryerson University (Canada)

2009-08-15

The heating systems are conventionally controlled by open-loop control systems because of the absence of practical methods for estimating average air temperature in the built environment. An inferential sensor model, based on adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system modeling, for estimating the average air temperature in multi-zone space heating systems is developed. This modeling technique has the advantage of expert knowledge of fuzzy inference systems (FISs) and learning capability of artificial neural networks (ANNs). A hybrid learning algorithm, which combines the least-square method and the back-propagation algorithm, is used to identify the parameters of the network. This paper describes an adaptive network based inferential sensor that can be used to design closed-loop control for space heating systems. The research aims to improve the overall performance of heating systems, in terms of energy efficiency and thermal comfort. The average air temperature results estimated by using the developed model are strongly in agreement with the experimental results. (author)

Secure, Mobile, Wireless Network Technology Designed, Developed, and Demonstrated

Science.gov (United States)

Ivancic, William D.; Paulsen, Phillip E.

2004-01-01

The inability to seamlessly disseminate data securely over a high-integrity, wireless broadband network has been identified as a primary technical barrier to providing an order-of-magnitude increase in aviation capacity and safety. Secure, autonomous communications to and from aircraft will enable advanced, automated, data-intensive air traffic management concepts, increase National Air Space (NAS) capacity, and potentially reduce the overall cost of air travel operations. For the first time ever, secure, mobile, network technology was designed, developed, and demonstrated with state-ofthe- art protocols and applications by a diverse, cooperative Government-industry team led by the NASA Glenn Research Center. This revolutionary technology solution will make fundamentally new airplane system capabilities possible by enabling secure, seamless network connections from platforms in motion (e.g., cars, ships, aircraft, and satellites) to existing terrestrial systems without the need for manual reconfiguration. Called Mobile Router, the new technology autonomously connects and configures networks as they traverse from one operating theater to another. The Mobile Router demonstration aboard the Neah Bay, a U.S. Coast Guard vessel stationed in Cleveland, Ohio, accomplished secure, seamless interoperability of mobile network systems across multiple domains without manual system reconfiguration. The Neah Bay was chosen because of its low cost and communications mission similarity to low-Earth-orbiting satellite platforms. This technology was successfully advanced from technology readiness level (TRL) 2 (concept and/or application formation) to TRL 6 (system model or prototype demonstration in a relevant environment). The secure, seamless interoperability offered by the Mobile Router and encryption device will enable several new, vehicle-specific and systemwide technologies to perform such things as remote, autonomous aircraft performance monitoring and early detection and

Climate Prediction Center (CPC) U.S. Daily Minimum Air Temperature Observations

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Observational reports of daily air temperature (1200 UTC to 1200 UTC) are made by members of the NWS Automated Surface Observing Systems (ASOS) network; NWS...

Climate Prediction Center (CPC) U.S. Daily Maximum Air Temperature Observations

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Observational reports of daily air temperature (1200 UTC to 1200 UTC) are made by members of the NWS Automated Surface Observing Systems (ASOS) network; NWS...

The Anti-Landscape

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

There have always been some uninhabitable places, but in the last century human beings have produced many more of them. These anti-landscapes have proliferated to include the sandy wastes of what was once the Aral Sea, severely polluted irrigated lands, open pit mines, blighted nuclear zones...... that no longer sustain life. This history includes T. S. Eliot’s Wasteland and Cormac McCarthy’s The Road as well as air pollution, recycled railway lines, photography and landfills. It links theories of aesthetics, politics, tourism, history, geography, and literature into the new synthesis of the environmental...

A framework for visualization of battlefield network behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Perzov, Yury; Yurcik, William

2006-05-01

An extensible network simulation application was developed to study wireless battlefield communications. The application monitors node mobility and depicts broadcast and unicast traffic as expanding rings and directed links. The network simulation was specially designed to support fault injection to show the impact of air strikes on disabling nodes. The application takes standard ns-2 trace files as an input and provides for performance data output in different graphical forms (histograms and x/y plots). Network visualization via animation of simulation output can be saved in AVI format that may serve as a basis for a real-time battlefield awareness system.

Critical cooperation range to improve spatial network robustness.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vitor H P Louzada

Full Text Available A robust worldwide air-transportation network (WAN is one that minimizes the number of stranded passengers under a sequence of airport closures. Building on top of this realistic example, here we address how spatial network robustness can profit from cooperation between local actors. We swap a series of links within a certain distance, a cooperation range, while following typical constraints of spatially embedded networks. We find that the network robustness is only improved above a critical cooperation range. Such improvement can be described in the framework of a continuum transition, where the critical exponents depend on the spatial correlation of connected nodes. For the WAN we show that, except for Australia, all continental networks fall into the same universality class. Practical implications of this result are also discussed.

Prediction of Air Pollutants Concentration Based on an Extreme Learning Machine: The Case of Hong Kong.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Jiangshe; Ding, Weifu

2017-01-24

With the development of the economy and society all over the world, most metropolitan cities are experiencing elevated concentrations of ground-level air pollutants. It is urgent to predict and evaluate the concentration of air pollutants for some local environmental or health agencies. Feed-forward artificial neural networks have been widely used in the prediction of air pollutants concentration. However, there are some drawbacks, such as the low convergence rate and the local minimum. The extreme learning machine for single hidden layer feed-forward neural networks tends to provide good generalization performance at an extremely fast learning speed. The major sources of air pollutants in Hong Kong are mobile, stationary, and from trans-boundary sources. We propose predicting the concentration of air pollutants by the use of trained extreme learning machines based on the data obtained from eight air quality parameters in two monitoring stations, including Sham Shui Po and Tap Mun in Hong Kong for six years. The experimental results show that our proposed algorithm performs better on the Hong Kong data both quantitatively and qualitatively. Particularly, our algorithm shows better predictive ability, with R 2 increased and root mean square error values decreased respectively.

Prediction of Air Pollutants Concentration Based on an Extreme Learning Machine: The Case of Hong Kong

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiangshe Zhang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available With the development of the economy and society all over the world, most metropolitan cities are experiencing elevated concentrations of ground-level air pollutants. It is urgent to predict and evaluate the concentration of air pollutants for some local environmental or health agencies. Feed-forward artificial neural networks have been widely used in the prediction of air pollutants concentration. However, there are some drawbacks, such as the low convergence rate and the local minimum. The extreme learning machine for single hidden layer feed-forward neural networks tends to provide good generalization performance at an extremely fast learning speed. The major sources of air pollutants in Hong Kong are mobile, stationary, and from trans-boundary sources. We propose predicting the concentration of air pollutants by the use of trained extreme learning machines based on the data obtained from eight air quality parameters in two monitoring stations, including Sham Shui Po and Tap Mun in Hong Kong for six years. The experimental results show that our proposed algorithm performs better on the Hong Kong data both quantitatively and qualitatively. Particularly, our algorithm shows better predictive ability, with R 2 increased and root mean square error values decreased respectively.

Comments on prospects of fully adaptive aircraft wings

Science.gov (United States)

Inman, Daniel J.; Gern, Frank H.; Robertshaw, Harry H.; Kapania, Rakesh K.; Pettit, Greg; Natarajan, Anand; Sulaeman, Erwin

2001-06-01

New generations of highly maneuverable aircraft, such as Uninhabited Combat Air Vehicles (UCAV) or Micro Air Vehicles (MAV) are likely to feature very flexible lifting surfaces. To enhance stealth properties and performance, the replacement of hinged control surfaces by smart wings and morphing airfoils is investigated. This requires a fundamental understanding of the interaction between aerodynamics, structures, and control systems. The goal is to build a model consistent with distributed control and to exercise this model to determine the progress possible in terms of flight control (lift, drag and maneuver performance) with an adaptive wing. Different modeling levels are examined and combined with a variety of distributed control approaches to determine what types of maneuvers and flight regimes may be possible. This paper describes the current progress of the project and highlights some recent findings.

Automatic Web-Based, Radio-Network System To Monitor And Control Equipment For Investigating Gas Flux At Water - Air Interfaces

Science.gov (United States)

Duc, N. T.; Silverstein, S.; Wik, M.; Beckman, P.; Crill, P. M.; Bastviken, D.; Varner, R. K.

2015-12-01

Aquatic ecosystems are major sources of greenhouse gases (GHG). Robust measurements of natural GHG emissions are vital for evaluating regional to global carbon budgets and for assessing climate feedbacks on natural emissions to improve climate models. Diffusive and ebullitive (bubble) transport are two major pathways of gas release from surface waters. To capture the high temporal variability of these fluxes in a well-defined footprint, we designed and built an inexpensive automatic device that includes an easily mobile diffusive flux chamber and a bubble counter, all in one. Besides a function of automatically collecting gas samples for subsequent various analyses in the laboratory, this device utilizes low cost CO2 sensor (SenseAir, Sweden) and CH4 sensor (Figaro, Japan) to measure GHG fluxes. To measure the spatial variability of emissions, each of the devices is equipped with an XBee module to enable a local radio communication DigiMesh network for time synchronization and data readout at a server-controller station on the lakeshore. Software of this server-controller is operated on a low cost Raspberry Pi computer which has a 3G connection for remote monitoring - controlling functions from anywhere in the world. From field studies in Abisko, Sweden in summer 2014 and 2015, the system has resulted in measurements of GHG fluxes comparable to manual methods. In addition, the deployments have shown the advantage of a low cost automatic network system to study GHG fluxes on lakes in remote locations.

Improving the security of the Hwang-Su protocol for mobile networks ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The mobile networks are experiencing a growing success. This success is mainly due to the fact that these networks providing the mobility of users, the transmission of data through open air and the requirement of low power. But, it is threatened by weak security, especially at the level of authentication. Hwang and Su have ...

Key technologies and concepts for beyond-3G networks

Science.gov (United States)

Pehkonen, Kari; Uskela, Sami; Kalliojarvi, Kari; Oksanen, Lauri; Rikkinen, Kari

2001-10-01

Standardization of 3rd Generation (3G) mobile communication systems has produced the first specification releases and the commercial deployment of the 3G systems has started. Whereas 1G and 2G focused on efficiently providing voice services, in 3G a lot of attention has been devoted to solutions that support both Circuit Switched (CS) and Packet Switched (PS) communication. That has called for very flexible air interface and network solutions. 3G will continue to evolve and there are already on-going standardization activities that will, for example, boost the peak data rates up to 5-10 Mbps and improve spectral efficiency by 2-4 times. In the future, 3G evolution will be going towards 10/100 Mbps peak data rates in wide/local are coverage, respectively. This will take place partly because of technical improvements of 3G radio interface solutions, but also due to network evolution which will allow the integration other radio access methods like radio LANs into the 3G system. In longer term the 3G network evolution will be going towards ALL-IP networks. As 3G evolution seems to be going towards 10 Mbps/100 Mbps peak data rates and ALL-IP networks any beyond 3G air interface or network solution should be clearly better in order to justify its technical and commercial feasibility. Given the long evolution time of 3G and integration of other radio access schemes with 3G radio we may not even see a new, complete beyond 3G system being developed. Maybe we will just witness the emergence of a new, more advanced radio access solution which will then be connected to the evolving 3G network. As 3G evolution will continue for several years to come the research targets for any beyond 3G solutions must be set very high. When it comes to air interface, we should aim at 100 Mbps peak data rates for wide area access with high mobility, and at 1 Gbps for local area access with low mobility. Regarding possible commercial launches of any beyond 3G systems or solutions they could then

On the Secrecy Capacity of 5G New Radio Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ke Xiao

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The new radio technology for the fifth-generation wireless system has been extensively studied all over the world. Specifically, the air interface protocols for 5G radio access network will be standardized by the 3GPP in the coming years. In the next-generation 5G new radio (NR networks, millimeter wave (mmWave communications will definitely play a critical role, as new NR air interface (AI is up to 100 GHz just like mmWave. The rapid growth of mmWave systems poses a variety of challenges in physical layer (PHY security. This paper investigates those challenges in the context of several 5G new radio communication technologies, including multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO and nonorthogonal multiple access (NOMA. In particular, we introduce a ray-tracing (RT based 5G NR network channel model and reveal that the secrecy capacity in mmWave band widely depends on the richness of radio frequency (RF environment through numerical experiments.

Air Quality Pattern Assessment in Malaysia Using Multivariate Techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hamza Ahmad Isiyaka; Azman Azid

2015-01-01

This study aims to investigate the spatial characteristics in the pattern of air quality monitoring sites, identify the most discriminating parameters contributing to air pollution, and predict the level of air pollution index (API) in Malaysia using multivariate techniques. Five parameters observed for five years (2000-2004) were used. Hierarchical agglomerative cluster analysis classified the five air quality monitoring sites into two independent groups based on the characteristics of activities in the monitoring stations. Discriminate analysis for standard, backward stepwise and forward stepwise mode gave a correct assignation of more than 87 % in the confusion matrix. This result indicates that only three parameters (PM_1_0, SO_2 and NO_2) with a p<0.0001 discriminate best in polluting the air. The major possible sources of air pollution were identified using principal component analysis that account for more than 58 % and 60 % in the total variance. Based on the findings, anthropogenic activities (vehicular emission, industrial activities, construction sites, bush burning) have a strong influence in the source of air pollution. Furthermore, artificial neural network (ANN) was used to predict the level of air pollution index at R"2 = 0.8493 and RMSE = 5.9184. This indicates that ANN can predict more than 84 % of the API. (author)

IMT-2000 Satellite Standards with Applications to Mobile Air Traffic Communications Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Shamma, Mohammed A.

2004-01-01

The International Mobile Telecommunications - 2000 (IMT-2000) standard and more specifically the Satellite component of it, is investigated as a potential alternative for communications to aircraft mobile users en-route and in terminal area. Its application to Air Traffic Management (ATM) communication needs is considered. A summary of the specifications of IMT-2000 satellite standards are outlined. It is shown via a system research analysis that it is possible to support most air traffic communication needs via an IMT-2000 infrastructure. This technology can compliment existing, or future digital aeronautical communications technologies such as VDL2, VDL3, Mode S, and UAT.

Study of air pollution scavenging. Fourteenth progress report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Semonin, R.G.

1976-04-01

The field experiments were continued to estimate convective storm particulate scavenging efficiency in proximity to the St. Louis, Missouri urban-industrial complex. Complementary studies of the urban aerosol characterization, source strength, and removal processes were also studied. The 1975 field effort shifted emphasis from the immediate St. Louis area to the Alton-Wood River industrial complex. Along with the change in size and configuration of the network, there were increases in the numbers of most types of samplers. The new network yielded the following types of samples for analysis and interpretation: 1065 total rain samples from 85 sites; 68 sequential rainwater samples from 2 locations; 272 wet/dry samples from 7 locations; 216 air filter samples from 7 locations; 36 air filter samples from aircraft; and raindrop spectrometer data from 11 sites for the period 17 June-18 August. The analysis procedures require that all water samples undergo filtering for separate analyses of soluble and insoluble fractions of the elemental concentrations. This data collection effort provided a record number of samples for chemical analysis. Approximately 4000 pibals and over 370 radiosondes were released in the operational period, providing wind and thermodynamic data on 33 days. Aircraft missions were flown on 24 days, with one air tracer release of cesium on 19 July 1975. The status of the analysis of all types of data is described.

Neuro-PID tracking control of a discharge air temperature system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zaheer-uddin, M.; Tudoroiu, N.

2004-01-01

In this paper, the problem of improving the performance of a discharge air temperature (DAT) system using a PID controller and augmenting it with neural network based tuning and tracking functions is explored. The DAT system is modeled as a SISO (single input single output) system. The architecture of the real time neuro-PID controller and simulation results obtained under realistic operating conditions are presented. The neural network assisted PID tuning method is simple to implement. Results show that the network assisted PID controller is able to track both constant and variable set point trajectories efficiently in the presence of disturbances acting on the DAT system

Zenith-100 Microcomputer Network for Air Command and Staff College.

Science.gov (United States)

1987-04-01

34 AD-A182 495 ZENI T-ipo ml CROCOMFUT E NET WOR( FOR AIR COMAND AND h SAFF CoLLG (U) AIl COMMAND ANDCSTAFF COLL MAX(WELL AFS "CAL W L GALWAY El AL...processing of documents by eliminating the time required to physically move the documents from one office to the next. Reproduction Savings. Information

Early warning network of the Czech Republic

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Drabova, D.; Kuca, P.; Prouza, Z.

1998-01-01

The Early Warning Network encompasses 48 measuring sites covering the whole territory of the Czech Republic; 38 of them are located at observatories of the Czech Hydro-Meteorological Institute (28 at round-the-clock manned observatories, 10 at unmanned, automated observatories) and 10 are located at air contamination measuring points operated by the National Radiation Protection Institute and Regional Centres of the State Office for Nuclear Safety. The network operates in one of 3 modes: the standard mode, alert mode, and emergency mode. (P.A.)

Thermal computations for electronics conductive, radiative, and convective air cooling

CERN Document Server

Ellison, Gordon

2010-01-01

IntroductionPrimary mechanisms of heat flowConductionApplication example: Silicon chip resistance calculationConvectionApplication example: Chassis panel cooled by natural convectionRadiationApplication example: Chassis panel cooled only by radiation 7Illustrative example: Simple thermal network model for a heat sinked power transistorIllustrative example: Thermal network circuit for a printed circuit boardCompact component modelsIllustrative example: Pressure and thermal circuits for a forced air cooled enclosureIllustrative example: A single chip package on a printed circuit board-the proble

Integrating adjustable autonomy in an intelligent control framework

Science.gov (United States)

DeKoven, Elyon A. M.; Wood, Scott D.

2005-10-01

Currently, multiple humans are needed to operate a single uninhabited aerial vehicle (UAV). In the near future, combat techniques will involve single operators controlling multiple uninhabited ground and air vehicles. This situation creates both technological hurdles as well as interaction design challenges that must be addressed to support future fighters. In particular, the system will need to negotiate with the operator about proper task delegation, keeping the operator appropriately apprised of autonomous actions. This in turn implies that the system must know what the user is doing, what needs to be done in the present situation, and the comparative strengths for of the human and the system in each task. Towards building such systems, we are working on an Intelligent Control Framework (ICF) that provides a layer of intelligence to support future warfighters in complex task environments. The present paper presents the Adjustable Autonomy Module (AAM) in ICF. The AAM encapsulates some capabilities for user plan recognition, situation reasoning, and authority delegation control. The AAM has the knowledge necessary to support operator-system dialogue about autonomy changes, and it also provides the system with the ability to act on this knowledge. Combined with careful interaction design, planning and plan-execution capabilities, the AAM enables future design and development of effective human-robot teams.

The effect of transport on air quality in urban areas of Syria

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Almasri, Radwan; Muneer, Tariq; Cullinane, Kevin

2011-01-01

Statistics show that the number of cars per capita in Syria is still low, but that the figure has more than doubled since 2004. Syria also suffers from inadequate public transport provision, poor infrastructure and the absence of suitable traffic management systems, with the average speed of road transport in Damascus at about 4-5 km/h. Only until very recently, a comprehensive network for the continuous monitoring of air pollutants has been lacking. This paper reviews, collates and synthesises the results of numerous studies of Syrian road transport, with an emphasis on air pollution from Syria's transport and energy production sectors. It is revealed that what studies that have been done show that the air quality in Syrian urban areas falls below established national air quality standards, especially during winter when the demand for heating is high. The paper proposes a number of suggestions to improve air quality in Syria by using greener and more public transport, promoting and incentivising rational and efficient energy consumption in all sectors, taking advantage of available renewable energy resources, establishing an active network for routine measurement of pollution, setting local emissions standards that are in line with international standards and which are supported by the imposition of penalties, fines or taxation on polluting agents. - Highlights: → Car ownership in Syria is low, but has more than doubled since 2004. → Air pollution from Syria's transport and energy production sectors are analysed. → Air quality can be improved by using greener and more public transport. → Policy should incentivise efficient energy consumption in all sectors. → The use of renewable energy resources should be promoted.

Low-cost airlines consolidation as a feature of air transpoet globalization

OpenAIRE

Maltsev Andrey A.; Matveeva Anastasiya V.

2017-01-01

The increased industry consolidation resulting in the formation of new highly organized forms of cooperation is referred as one of the main features of air transport globalization at the present stage. Consolidation allows carriers to overcome the excessive competition and to strengthen their market position. It also helps them to optimize the route network and organizational structure of the company. This article includes the analysis of the dynam-ics of global air passenger traffic by low-c...

Wireless networking and its application in nuclear safeguards.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Goncalves, Joao G. M. (Joint Research Centre, Italy); Smartt, Heidi Anne; Conti, Michele (Joint Research Centre, Italy); Caskey, Susan Adele; Rossini, Angelo (Joint Research Centre, Italy); Glidewell, Donnie Dwight

2004-07-01

Wireless networking can provide a cost effective and convenient method for installing and operating an unattended or remote monitoring system in an established facility. There is concern, however, that wireless devices can interfere with each other and with other radio systems within the facility. Additionally, there is concern that these devices add a potential risk to the security of the network. Since all data is transmitted in the air, it is possible for an unauthorized user to intercept the data transmissions and/or insert data onto the network if proper security is not in place. This paper describes a study being undertaken to highlight the benefits of wireless networking, evaluate interference and methods for mitigation, recommend security architectures, and present the results of a wireless network demonstration between Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) and the Joint Research Centre (JRC).

Air pollution: a potentially modifiable risk factor for lung cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Fajersztajn, Laís; Veras, Mariana; Barrozo, Ligia Vizeu; Saldiva, Paulo

2013-09-01

Economic growth and increased urbanization pose a new risk for cancer development: the exposure of high numbers of people to ambient air pollution. Epidemiological evidence that links air pollution to mortality from lung cancer is robust. An ability to produce high-quality scientific research that addresses these risks and the ability of local health authorities to understand and respond to these risks are basic requirements to solve the conflict between economic development and the preservation of human health. However, this is currently far from being achieved. Thus, this Science and Society article addresses the possibilities of expanding scientific networking to increase awareness of the risk of lung cancer that is promoted by air pollution.

Analysis Of A Neuro-Fuzzy Approach Of Air Pollution: Building A Case Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ciprian-Daniel NEAGU

2001-12-01

Full Text Available This work illustrates the necessity of an Artificial Intelligence (AI-based approach of air quality in urban and industrial areas. Some related results of Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs and Fuzzy Logic (FL for environmental data are considered: ANNs are proposed to the problem of short-term predicting of air pollutant concentrations in urban/industrial areas, with a special focus in the south-eastern Romania. The problems of designing a database about air quality in an urban/industrial area are discussed. First results confirm ANNs as an improvement of classical models and show the utility of ANNs in a well built air monitoring center.

Summary and recommendations for the NASA/MIT workshop on short haul air transport

Science.gov (United States)

Simpson, R. W.

1971-01-01

The material is summarized that was covered by the MIT/NASA Waterville Valley workshop which dealt with the institutional, socio-economic, operational and technological problems associated with introducing new forms of short haul domestic air transportation. It was found that future air systems hold great potential in satisfying society's needs for a low noise, low landspace, high access, high speed, large network system for public travel over distances between 5 and 500 miles. It is concluded that quiet air systems are necessary for obtaining community approval, and is recommended that extremely high priority be assigned to the development of quiet aircraft for future short haul air systems.

An Airborne Wireless Sensor System for Near-Real Time Air Pollution Monitoring

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Orestis EVANGELATOS

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Over the last decades with the rapid growth of industrial zones, manufacturing plants and the substantial urbanization, environmental pollution has become a crucial health, environmental and safety concern. In particular, due to the increased emissions of various pollutants caused mainly by human sources, the air pollution problem is elevated in such extent where significant measures need to be taken. Towards the identification and the qualification of that problem, we present in this paper an airborne wireless sensor network system for automated monitoring and measuring of the ambient air pollution. Our proposed system is comprised of a pollution-aware wireless sensor network and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs. It is designed for monitoring the pollutants and gases of the ambient air in three-dimensional spaces without the human intervention. In regards to the general architecture of our system, we came up with two schemes and algorithms for an autonomous monitoring of a three-dimensional area of interest. To demonstrate our solution, we deployed the system and we conducted experiments in a real environment measuring air pollutants such as: NH3, CH4, CO2, O2 along with temperature, relative humidity and atmospheric pressure. Lastly, we experimentally evaluated and analyzed the two proposed schemes.

climatology of air mass trajectories and aerosol optical thickness ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

George

We present in this paper a climatological study of back trajectories of air masses ... obtained by inversion of photometric measurements of AERONET network. ... the arid Sahel region adjacent in the north to the Sahara ... the city a strategic position in the study of the .... atmospheric emergencies, diagnostic case studies and.

Position estimation of transceivers in communication networks

Science.gov (United States)

Kent, Claudia A [Pleasanton, CA; Dowla, Farid [Castro Valley, CA

2008-06-03

This invention provides a system and method using wireless communication interfaces coupled with statistical processing of time-of-flight data to locate by position estimation unknown wireless receivers. Such an invention can be applied in sensor network applications, such as environmental monitoring of water in the soil or chemicals in the air where the position of the network nodes is deemed critical. Moreover, the present invention can be arranged to operate in areas where a Global Positioning System (GPS) is not available, such as inside buildings, caves, and tunnels.

76 FR 70940 - Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; Oklahoma; Infrastructure...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-11-16

...). Oklahoma's monitoring network includes the State and Local Air Monitoring Stations (SLAMS), which measure... and PM 2.5 monitor locations and current and historical data, including ozone design values for...

Iterative Available Bandwidth Estimation for Mobile Transport Networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ubeda Castellanos, Carlos; López Villa, Dimas; Teyeb, Oumer Mohammed

2007-01-01

Available bandwidth estimation has lately been proposed to be used for end-to-end resource management in existing and emerging mobile communication systems, whose transport networks could end up being the bottleneck rather than the air interface. Algorithms for admission control, handover...

A Data-Driven Air Transportation Delay Propagation Model Using Epidemic Process Models

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. Baspinar

2016-01-01

Full Text Available In air transport network management, in addition to defining the performance behavior of the system’s components, identification of their interaction dynamics is a delicate issue in both strategic and tactical decision-making process so as to decide which elements of the system are “controlled” and how. This paper introduces a novel delay propagation model utilizing epidemic spreading process, which enables the definition of novel performance indicators and interaction rates of the elements of the air transportation network. In order to understand the behavior of the delay propagation over the network at different levels, we have constructed two different data-driven epidemic models approximating the dynamics of the system: (a flight-based epidemic model and (b airport-based epidemic model. The flight-based epidemic model utilizing SIS epidemic model focuses on the individual flights where each flight can be in susceptible or infected states. The airport-centric epidemic model, in addition to the flight-to-flight interactions, allows us to define the collective behavior of the airports, which are modeled as metapopulations. In network model construction, we have utilized historical flight-track data of Europe and performed analysis for certain days involving certain disturbances. Through this effort, we have validated the proposed delay propagation models under disruptive events.

Mapping change in large networks.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martin Rosvall

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Change is a fundamental ingredient of interaction patterns in biology, technology, the economy, and science itself: Interactions within and between organisms change; transportation patterns by air, land, and sea all change; the global financial flow changes; and the frontiers of scientific research change. Networks and clustering methods have become important tools to comprehend instances of these large-scale structures, but without methods to distinguish between real trends and noisy data, these approaches are not useful for studying how networks change. Only if we can assign significance to the partitioning of single networks can we distinguish meaningful structural changes from random fluctuations. Here we show that bootstrap resampling accompanied by significance clustering provides a solution to this problem. To connect changing structures with the changing function of networks, we highlight and summarize the significant structural changes with alluvial diagrams and realize de Solla Price's vision of mapping change in science: studying the citation pattern between about 7000 scientific journals over the past decade, we find that neuroscience has transformed from an interdisciplinary specialty to a mature and stand-alone discipline.

The use of hierarchical clustering for the design of optimized monitoring networks

Science.gov (United States)

Soares, Joana; Makar, Paul Andrew; Aklilu, Yayne; Akingunola, Ayodeji

2018-05-01

Associativity analysis is a powerful tool to deal with large-scale datasets by clustering the data on the basis of (dis)similarity and can be used to assess the efficacy and design of air quality monitoring networks. We describe here our use of Kolmogorov-Zurbenko filtering and hierarchical clustering of NO2 and SO2 passive and continuous monitoring data to analyse and optimize air quality networks for these species in the province of Alberta, Canada. The methodology applied in this study assesses dissimilarity between monitoring station time series based on two metrics: 1 - R, R being the Pearson correlation coefficient, and the Euclidean distance; we find that both should be used in evaluating monitoring site similarity. We have combined the analytic power of hierarchical clustering with the spatial information provided by deterministic air quality model results, using the gridded time series of model output as potential station locations, as a proxy for assessing monitoring network design and for network optimization. We demonstrate that clustering results depend on the air contaminant analysed, reflecting the difference in the respective emission sources of SO2 and NO2 in the region under study. Our work shows that much of the signal identifying the sources of NO2 and SO2 emissions resides in shorter timescales (hourly to daily) due to short-term variation of concentrations and that longer-term averages in data collection may lose the information needed to identify local sources. However, the methodology identifies stations mainly influenced by seasonality, if larger timescales (weekly to monthly) are considered. We have performed the first dissimilarity analysis based on gridded air quality model output and have shown that the methodology is capable of generating maps of subregions within which a single station will represent the entire subregion, to a given level of dissimilarity. We have also shown that our approach is capable of identifying different

Calibration of low-cost gas sensors for an urban air quality monitoring network

Science.gov (United States)

Scott, A.; Kelley, C.; He, C.; Ghugare, P.; Lehman, A.; Benish, S.; Stratton, P.; Dickerson, R. R.; Zuidema, C.; Azdoud, Y.; Ren, X.

2017-12-01

In a warming world, environmental pollution may be exacerbated by anthropogenic activities, such as climate change and the urban heat island effect, as well as natural phenomena such as heat waves. However, monitoring air pollution at federal reference standards (approximately 1 part per billion or ppb for ambient ozone) is cost-prohibitive in heterogeneous urban areas as many expensive devices are required to fully capture a region's geo-spatial variability. Innovation in low-cost sensors provide a potential solution, yet technical challenges remain to overcome possible imprecision in the data. We present the calibrations of ozone and nitrous dioxide from a low-cost air quality monitoring device designed for the Baltimore Open Air Project. The sensors used in this study are commercially available thin film electrochemical sensors from SPEC Sensor, which are amperometric, meaning they generate current proportional to volumetric fraction of gas. The results of sensor calibrations in the laboratory and field are presented.

Mapping urban air quality in near real-time using observations from low-cost sensors and model information.

Science.gov (United States)

Schneider, Philipp; Castell, Nuria; Vogt, Matthias; Dauge, Franck R; Lahoz, William A; Bartonova, Alena

2017-09-01

The recent emergence of low-cost microsensors measuring various air pollutants has significant potential for carrying out high-resolution mapping of air quality in the urban environment. However, the data obtained by such sensors are generally less reliable than that from standard equipment and they are subject to significant data gaps in both space and time. In order to overcome this issue, we present here a data fusion method based on geostatistics that allows for merging observations of air quality from a network of low-cost sensors with spatial information from an urban-scale air quality model. The performance of the methodology is evaluated for nitrogen dioxide in Oslo, Norway, using both simulated datasets and real-world measurements from a low-cost sensor network for January 2016. The results indicate that the method is capable of producing realistic hourly concentration fields of urban nitrogen dioxide that inherit the spatial patterns from the model and adjust the prior values using the information from the sensor network. The accuracy of the data fusion method is dependent on various factors including the total number of observations, their spatial distribution, their uncertainty (both in terms of systematic biases and random errors), as well as the ability of the model to provide realistic spatial patterns of urban air pollution. A validation against official data from air quality monitoring stations equipped with reference instrumentation indicates that the data fusion method is capable of reproducing city-wide averaged official values with an R 2 of 0.89 and a root mean squared error of 14.3 μg m -3 . It is further capable of reproducing the typical daily cycles of nitrogen dioxide. Overall, the results indicate that the method provides a robust way of extracting useful information from uncertain sensor data using only a time-invariant model dataset and the knowledge contained within an entire sensor network. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published

Complex networks from multivariate time series

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Paluš, Milan; Hartman, David; Vejmelka, Martin

2010-01-01

Roč. 12, - (2010), A-14382 ISSN 1607-7962. [General Asembly of the European Geophysical Society. 02.05.2010-07.05.2010, Vienna] R&D Projects: GA AV ČR IAA300420805 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10300504 Keywords : complex network * surface air temperature * reanalysis data * global change Subject RIV: BB - Applied Statistics, Operational Research

Biomass burning aerosol detection over Buenos Aires City, August 2009

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Otero, L A; Ristori, P R; Pawelko, E E; Pallotta, J V; D'Elia, R L; Quel, E J

2011-01-01

At the end of August 2009, a biomass burning aerosol intrusion event was detected at the Laser and Applications Research Center, CEILAP (CITEFA-CONICET) (34.5 deg. S - 58.5 deg. W) at Villa Martelli, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. This center has a sunphotometer from the AERONET-NASA global network, UV solar radiation sensors, a meteorological station and an aerosol lidar system. The aerosol origin was determined by means of back-trajectories and satellite images. This work studies the aerosol air mass optical characterization and their effect in UV solar radiation.

Evaluation of air pollution-related risks for Austrian mountain forests

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smidt, Stefan; Herman, Friedl

2004-01-01

The present paper describes air pollution status and evaluation of risks related to effects of phytotoxic pollutants in the Austrian mountain forests. The results are based on Austrian networks (Forest Inventory, Forest Damage Monitoring System, Austrian Bioindicator Grid), the Austrian sample plots of the European networks of the UN-ECE (ICP Forests, Level I and Level II) and interdisciplinary research approaches. Based on the monitoring data and on modelling and mapping of Critical Thresholds, the evaluation of risk factors was possible. Cause-effect relationships between air pollution and tree responses were shown by tree-physiological measurements. Sulfur impact, proton and lead input, concentrations of nitrogen oxides, nitrogen input and ozone were evaluated. The risk was demonstrated at a regional and large-scale national level. Especially the increasing O 3 level and the accumulation of Pb with altitude present most serious risk for mountain forests. - Despite strong reduction of emissions in Europe, pollutants are still a potential stress factor, especially for sensitive mountain forest ecosystems in Austria

Reducing Wind Tunnel Data Requirements Using Neural Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Ross, James C.; Jorgenson, Charles C.; Norgaard, Magnus

1997-01-01

The use of neural networks to minimize the amount of data required to completely define the aerodynamic performance of a wind tunnel model is examined. The accuracy requirements for commercial wind tunnel test data are very severe and are difficult to reproduce using neural networks. For the current work, multiple input, single output networks were trained using a Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm for each of the aerodynamic coefficients. When applied to the aerodynamics of a 55% scale model of a U.S. Air Force/ NASA generic fighter configuration, this scheme provided accurate models of the lift, drag, and pitching-moment coefficients. Using only 50% of the data acquired during, the wind tunnel test, the trained neural network had a predictive accuracy equal to or better than the accuracy of the experimental measurements.

State of progress of the national data base for the quality of air

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vidal, J.P.; Daubon, P.

1991-01-01

A new air quality data base have been created in France with the aim to collect all the air quality measuring results and provide information for synthesis and research. The main hardware equipment have been implemented in October 1990 but the practical application of the data bank is heavily relied to harmonization and standardization of the control equipment, files structures, measuring characteristics and communication systems for the various measuring networks

Computer program for compressible flow network analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Wilton, M. E.; Murtaugh, J. P.

1973-01-01

Program solves problem of an arbitrarily connected one dimensional compressible flow network with pumping in the channels and momentum balancing at flow junctions. Program includes pressure drop calculations for impingement flow and flow through pin fin arrangements, as currently found in many air cooled turbine bucket and vane cooling configurations.

Tunable photonic bandgap fiber based devices for optical networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Alkeskjold, Thomas Tanggaard; Scolari, Lara; Rottwitt, Karsten

2005-01-01

In future all optical networks one of the enabling technologies is tunable elements including reconfigurable routers, switches etc. Thus, the development of a technology platform that allows construction of tuning components is critical. Lately, microstructured optical fibers, filled with liquid......, for example a liquid crystal that changes optical properties when subjected to, for example, an optical or an electrical field. The utilization of these two basic properties allows design of tunable optical devices for optical networks. In this work, we focus on applications of such devices and discuss recent...... crystals, have proven to be a candidate for such a platform. Microstructured optical fibers offer unique wave-guiding properties that are strongly related to the design of the air holes in the cladding of the fiber. These wave-guiding properties may be altered by filling the air holes with a material...

Cognitive radio and networking for heterogeneous wireless networks recent advances and visions for the future

CERN Document Server

Cattoni, Andrea; Fiorina, Jocelyn; Bader, Faouzi; Nardis, Luca

2015-01-01

This book, written by leading experts from academia and industry, offers a condensed overview on hot topics among the Cognitive Radios and Networks scientific and industrial communities (including those considered within the framework of the European COST Action IC0902) and presents exciting visions for the future. Examples of the subjects considered include the design of new filter bank-based air interfaces for spectrum sharing, medium access control design protocols, the design of cloud-based radio access networks, an evolutionary vision for the development and deployment of cognitive TCP/IP, and regulations relevant to the development of a spectrum sharing market. The concluding chapter comprises a practical, hands-on tutorial for those interested in developing their own research test beds. By focusing on the most recent advances and future avenues, this book will assist researchers in understanding the current issues and solutions in Cognitive Radios and Networks designs.

Transportation Network Topologies

Science.gov (United States)

Alexandrov, Natalia (Editor)

2004-01-01

The existing U.S. hub-and-spoke air transportation system is reaching saturation. Major aspects of the current system, such as capacity, safety, mobility, customer satisfaction, security, communications, and ecological effects, require improvements. The changing dynamics - increased presence of general aviation, unmanned autonomous vehicles, military aircraft in civil airspace as part of homeland defense - contributes to growing complexity of airspace. The system has proven remarkably resistant to change. NASA Langley Research Center and the National Institute of Aerospace conducted a workshop on Transportation Network Topologies on 9-10 December 2003 in Williamsburg, Virginia. The workshop aimed to examine the feasibility of traditional methods for complex system analysis and design as well as potential novel alternatives in application to transportation systems, identify state-of-the-art models and methods, conduct gap analysis, and thus to lay a foundation for establishing a focused research program in complex systems applied to air transportation.

Real-Time Alpine Measurement System Using Wireless Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sami A. Malek

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Monitoring the snow pack is crucial for many stakeholders, whether for hydro-power optimization, water management or flood control. Traditional forecasting relies on regression methods, which often results in snow melt runoff predictions of low accuracy in non-average years. Existing ground-based real-time measurement systems do not cover enough physiographic variability and are mostly installed at low elevations. We present the hardware and software design of a state-of-the-art distributed Wireless Sensor Network (WSN-based autonomous measurement system with real-time remote data transmission that gathers data of snow depth, air temperature, air relative humidity, soil moisture, soil temperature, and solar radiation in physiographically representative locations. Elevation, aspect, slope and vegetation are used to select network locations, and distribute sensors throughout a given network location, since they govern snow pack variability at various scales. Three WSNs were installed in the Sierra Nevada of Northern California throughout the North Fork of the Feather River, upstream of the Oroville dam and multiple powerhouses along the river. The WSNs gathered hydrologic variables and network health statistics throughout the 2017 water year, one of northern Sierra’s wettest years on record. These networks leverage an ultra-low-power wireless technology to interconnect their components and offer recovery features, resilience to data loss due to weather and wildlife disturbances and real-time topological visualizations of the network health. Data show considerable spatial variability of snow depth, even within a 1 km 2 network location. Combined with existing systems, these WSNs can better detect precipitation timing and phase in, monitor sub-daily dynamics of infiltration and surface runoff during precipitation or snow melt, and inform hydro power managers about actual ablation and end-of-season date across the landscape.

Real-Time Alpine Measurement System Using Wireless Sensor Networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Malek, Sami A; Avanzi, Francesco; Brun-Laguna, Keoma; Maurer, Tessa; Oroza, Carlos A; Hartsough, Peter C; Watteyne, Thomas; Glaser, Steven D

2017-11-09

Monitoring the snow pack is crucial for many stakeholders, whether for hydro-power optimization, water management or flood control. Traditional forecasting relies on regression methods, which often results in snow melt runoff predictions of low accuracy in non-average years. Existing ground-based real-time measurement systems do not cover enough physiographic variability and are mostly installed at low elevations. We present the hardware and software design of a state-of-the-art distributed Wireless Sensor Network (WSN)-based autonomous measurement system with real-time remote data transmission that gathers data of snow depth, air temperature, air relative humidity, soil moisture, soil temperature, and solar radiation in physiographically representative locations. Elevation, aspect, slope and vegetation are used to select network locations, and distribute sensors throughout a given network location, since they govern snow pack variability at various scales. Three WSNs were installed in the Sierra Nevada of Northern California throughout the North Fork of the Feather River, upstream of the Oroville dam and multiple powerhouses along the river. The WSNs gathered hydrologic variables and network health statistics throughout the 2017 water year, one of northern Sierra's wettest years on record. These networks leverage an ultra-low-power wireless technology to interconnect their components and offer recovery features, resilience to data loss due to weather and wildlife disturbances and real-time topological visualizations of the network health. Data show considerable spatial variability of snow depth, even within a 1 km 2 network location. Combined with existing systems, these WSNs can better detect precipitation timing and phase in, monitor sub-daily dynamics of infiltration and surface runoff during precipitation or snow melt, and inform hydro power managers about actual ablation and end-of-season date across the landscape.

Miniaturized Air Dropped Sensors for Environmental Monitoring of Heavy Metals in Water, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — This NASA SBIR program would develop air-dropped wireless networked sensors using miniaturized chemical field effect transistors (ChemFET) for the detection and...

Exploring the potential relationship between indoor air quality and the concentration of airborne culturable fungi: a combined experimental and neural network modeling study.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Zhijian; Cheng, Kewei; Li, Hao; Cao, Guoqing; Wu, Di; Shi, Yunjie

2018-02-01

Indoor airborne culturable fungi exposure has been closely linked to occupants' health. However, conventional measurement of indoor airborne fungal concentration is complicated and usually requires around one week for fungi incubation in laboratory. To provide an ultra-fast solution, here, for the first time, a knowledge-based machine learning model is developed with the inputs of indoor air quality data for estimating the concentration of indoor airborne culturable fungi. To construct a database for statistical analysis and model training, 249 data groups of air quality indicators (concentration of indoor airborne culturable fungi, indoor/outdoor PM 2.5 and PM 10 concentrations, indoor temperature, indoor relative humidity, and indoor CO 2 concentration) were measured from 85 residential buildings of Baoding (China) during the period of 2016.11.15-2017.03.15. Our results show that artificial neural network (ANN) with one hidden layer has good prediction performances, compared to a support vector machine (SVM). With the tolerance of ± 30%, the prediction accuracy of the ANN model with ten hidden nodes can at highest reach 83.33% in the testing set. Most importantly, we here provide a quick method for estimating the concentration of indoor airborne fungi that can be applied to real-time evaluation.

Air quality monitoring programme. Annual summary for 2004

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kemp, K.; Ellermann, T.; Palmgren, F.; Waehlin, P.; Berkowicz, R. Brandt. j.

2005-07-15

The air quality in Danish cities has been monitored continuously since 1982 within the Danish Air Quality (LMP) network. The aim has been to follow the concentration levels of toxic pollutants in the urban atmosphere and to provide the necessary knowledge to assess the trends, to perform source apportionment, and to evaluate the chemical reactions and the dispersion of the pollutants in the atmosphere. In 2004 the air quality was measured in four Danish cities and at two background sites. NO{sup 2} and PM10 were at several stations found in concentrations above EU limit values, which the Member States have to comply with in 2005 and 2010. While the concentrations for most other pollutants have been strongly decreasing since 1982, only a slight decrease has been observed for NO{sup 2}. The measurement has been supplemented with dispersion models for a number of streets in Copenhagen and Aalborg. (au)

Reluctance network modelling of surface permanent magnet motor considering iron nonlinearities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Raminosoa, T.; Farooq, J.A.; Djerdir, A.; Miraoui, A.

2009-01-01

This paper presents a simple, quick and precise nonlinear reluctance network modelling of an in-wheel surface permanent magnet motor. The saturation of the ferromagnetic materials is considered and a simple air-gap length function is used to take the slotting effect into account. The topology and the reluctance values of the air-gap network are automatically computed for any rotor position. Thus, the proposed technique allows a steady state time stepping simulation. For any saturation level, there is a good accordance with the finite element method for the torque and back EMF. Moreover, the model accurately predicts the effect of the demagnetization. The proposed model can be advantageously used for a geometry optimization as well as for the diagnosis of demagnetization.

Comparison of precipitation chemistry measurements obtained by the Canadian Air and Precipitation Monitoring Network and National Atmospheric Deposition Program for the period 1995-2004

Science.gov (United States)

Wetherbee, Gregory A.; Shaw, Michael J.; Latysh, Natalie E.; Lehmann, Christopher M.B.; Rothert, Jane E.

2010-01-01

Precipitation chemistry and depth measurements obtained by the Canadian Air and Precipitation Monitoring Network (CAPMoN) and the US National Atmospheric Deposition Program/National Trends Network (NADP/NTN) were compared for the 10-year period 1995–2004. Colocated sets of CAPMoN and NADP instrumentation, consisting of precipitation collectors and rain gages, were operated simultaneously per standard protocols for each network at Sutton, Ontario and Frelighsburg, Ontario, Canada and at State College, PA, USA. CAPMoN samples were collected daily, and NADP samples were collected weekly, and samples were analyzed exclusively by each network’s laboratory for pH, H + , Ca2+  , Mg2+  , Na + , K + , NH+4 , Cl − , NO−3 , and SO2−4 . Weekly and annual precipitation-weighted mean concentrations for each network were compared. This study is a follow-up to an earlier internetwork comparison for the period 1986–1993, published by Alain Sirois, Robert Vet, and Dennis Lamb in 2000. Median weekly internetwork differences for 1995–2004 data were the same to slightly lower than for data for the previous study period (1986–1993) for all analytes except NO−3 , SO2−4 , and sample depth. A 1994 NADP sampling protocol change and a 1998 change in the types of filters used to process NADP samples reversed the previously identified negative bias in NADP data for hydrogen-ion and sodium concentrations. Statistically significant biases (α = 0.10) for sodium and hydrogen-ion concentrations observed in the 1986–1993 data were not significant for 1995–2004. Weekly CAPMoN measurements generally are higher than weekly NADP measurements due to differences in sample filtration and field instrumentation, not sample evaporation, contamination, or analytical laboratory differences.

Prediction of Air Pollutants Concentration Based on an Extreme Learning Machine: The Case of Hong Kong

OpenAIRE

Zhang, Jiangshe; Ding, Weifu

2017-01-01

With the development of the economy and society all over the world, most metropolitan cities are experiencing elevated concentrations of ground-level air pollutants. It is urgent to predict and evaluate the concentration of air pollutants for some local environmental or health agencies. Feed-forward artificial neural networks have been widely used in the prediction of air pollutants concentration. However, there are some drawbacks, such as the low convergence rate and the local minimum. The e...

Smartphone Air Quality and Atmospheric Aerosol Characterization for Public Health Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Strong, S. B.; Brown, D. M.; Brown, A.

2014-12-01

Air quality is a major global concern. Tracking and monitoring air quality provides individuals with the knowledge to make personal decisions about their health and investigate the environment in which they live. Satellite remote sensing and ground-based observations (e.g. Environmental Protection Agency, NASA Aerosol Robotic Network) of air quality is spatially and temporarlly limited and often neglects to provide individuals with the freedom to understand their own personal environment using their personal observations. Given the ubiquitous nature of smartphones, individuals have access to powerful processing and sensing capabilities. When coupled with the appropriate sensor parameters, filters, and algorithms, smartphones can be used both for 'citizen science' air quality applications and 'professional' scientific atmospheric investigations, alike, simplifying data analysis, processing, and improving deployment efficiency. We evaluate the validity of smartphone technology for air quality investigations using standard Cimel CE 318 sun photometry and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroradiometer (FTIR) observations at specific locations.

L’Aquila Smart Clean Air City: The Italian Pilot Project for Healthy Urban Air

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alessandro Avveduto

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Exposure to atmospheric pollution is a major concern for urban populations. Currently, no effective strategy has been adopted to tackle the problem. The paper presents the Smart Clean Air City project, a pilot experiment concerning the improvement in urban air quality. Small wet scrubber systems will be operating in a network configuration in suitable urban areas of L’Aquila city (Italy. The purpose of this work is to describe the project and show the preliminary results obtained in the characterization of two urban sites before the remediation test; the main operating principles of the wet scrubber system will be discussed, as well as the design of the mobile treatment plant for the processing of wastewater resulting from scrubber operation. Measurements of particle size distributions in the range of 0.30–25 µm took place in the two sites of interest, an urban background and a traffic area in the city of L’Aquila. The mean number concentration detected was 2.4 × 107 and 4.5 × 107 particles/m3, respectively. Finally, theoretical assessments, performed by Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD codes, will show the effects of the wet scrubber operation on air pollutants under different environmental conditions and in several urban usage patterns.

Supervised Learning Applied to Air Traffic Trajectory Classification

Science.gov (United States)

Bosson, Christabelle; Nikoleris, Tasos

2018-01-01

Given the recent increase of interest in introducing new vehicle types and missions into the National Airspace System, a transition towards a more autonomous air traffic control system is required in order to enable and handle increased density and complexity. This paper presents an exploratory effort of the needed autonomous capabilities by exploring supervised learning techniques in the context of aircraft trajectories. In particular, it focuses on the application of machine learning algorithms and neural network models to a runway recognition trajectory-classification study. It investigates the applicability and effectiveness of various classifiers using datasets containing trajectory records for a month of air traffic. A feature importance and sensitivity analysis are conducted to challenge the chosen time-based datasets and the ten selected features. The study demonstrates that classification accuracy levels of 90% and above can be reached in less than 40 seconds of training for most machine learning classifiers when one track data point, described by the ten selected features at a particular time step, per trajectory is used as input. It also shows that neural network models can achieve similar accuracy levels but at higher training time costs.

Matrix Factorisation-based Calibration For Air Quality Crowd-sensing

Science.gov (United States)

Dorffer, Clement; Puigt, Matthieu; Delmaire, Gilles; Roussel, Gilles; Rouvoy, Romain; Sagnier, Isabelle

2017-04-01

Internet of Things (IoT) is extending internet to physical objects and places. The internet-enabled objects are thus able to communicate with each other and with their users. One main interest of IoT is the ease of production of huge masses of data (Big Data) using distributed networks of connected objects, thus making possible a fine-grained yet accurate analysis of physical phenomena. Mobile crowdsensing is a way to collect data using IoT. It basically consists of acquiring geolocalized data from the sensors (from or connected to the mobile devices, e.g., smartphones) of a crowd of volunteers. The sensed data are then collectively shared using wireless connection—such as GSM or WiFi—and stored on a dedicated server to be processed. One major application of mobile crowdsensing is environment monitoring. Indeed, with the proliferation of miniaturized yet sensitive sensors on one hand and, on the other hand, of low-cost microcontrollers/single-card PCs, it is easy to extend the sensing abilities of smartphones. Alongside the conventional, regulated, bulky and expensive instruments used in authoritative air quality stations, it is then possible to create a large-scale mobile sensor network providing insightful information about air quality. In particular, the finer spatial sampling rate due to such a dense network should allow air quality models to take into account local effects such as street canyons. However, one key issue with low-cost air quality sensors is the lack of trust in the sensed data. In most crowdsensing scenarios, the sensors (i) cannot be calibrated in a laboratory before or during their deployment and (ii) might be sparsely or continuously faulty (thus providing outliers in the data). Such issues should be automatically handled from the sensor readings. Indeed, due to the masses of generated data, solving the above issues cannot be performed by experts but requires specific data processing techniques. In this work, we assume that some mobile

User guide for the Air Force Base Automotive Transportation Simulation Model - BATS. Volume 2. Documentation. Final report Jun 78-Sep 79

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sandys, R.

1979-09-01

The Base Automotive Transportation Simulation (BATS) Model is a transportation planning and traffic flow model designed to simulate traffic volumes and flows on an air base. The principal model inputs are a road network, land use zones, demographic varibles, and gate counts. The land use zones and demographic variables are used to assign volumes to the road network, and these volumes are calibrated using the gate counts. The flow characteristics on each road in the network are simulated using the volumes assigned. Average speed and volumes are the results of the model and these may be directly input to the Air Quality Assessment Model (AQAM) to estimate pollutant emissions and dispersion from traffic sources. A volume flow plot of the network is an optional output of the model.

Lichen communities as bioindicators of the Aburra Valley air quality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jaramillo C, Margarita M; Botero B, Liliana R

2010-01-01

Lichens have been used as bioindicators of air quality. They are sensitive to changes in air composition at any given site affecting their abundance, biomass and vitality.This study evaluated lichen affectation as a consequence of air pollution. Two study areas within the Aburra Valley and the RedAire network were selected: Miguel Aguinaga (high pollution station) and the Medellin University (low pollution station). Four phorophytic tree species were chosen at each site Terminalia catappa Linneaus, Eritrina fusca Loureiro, Mangifera indica Linneaus y Fraxinus chinensis Roxb. The lichen cover by species, the vitality and the fructification were used to analyze the effect of air pollution. Finally, the lichen cover information was used to calculate the index of atmospheric purity (IAP) and the Q factor determination. Total qualitative and quantitative information obtained made evident that Canoparmelia sp. and Parmotrema austrosinensis (Zahlbr) Hale. lichen species are the most sensitive, and therefore appropriate to assess air quality. Additionally, the statistical analysis carried out using the relative abundances by phorophytic trees, showed that Fraxinus chinensis Roxb is the most appropriate tree species for bioindicator lichens studies into the Aburra valley.

Correlation of gravestone decay and air quality 1960-2010

Science.gov (United States)

Mooers, H. D.; Carlson, M. J.; Harrison, R. M.; Inkpen, R. J.; Loeffler, S.

2017-03-01

Evaluation of spatial and temporal variability in surface recession of lead-lettered Carrara marble gravestones provides a quantitative measure of acid flux to the stone surfaces and is closely related to local land use and air quality. Correlation of stone decay, land use, and air quality for the period after 1960 when reliable estimates of atmospheric pollution are available is evaluated. Gravestone decay and SO2 measurements are interpolated spatially using deterministic and geostatistical techniques. A general lack of spatial correlation was identified and therefore a land-use-based technique for correlation of stone decay and air quality is employed. Decadally averaged stone decay is highly correlated with land use averaged spatially over an optimum radius of ≈7 km even though air quality, determined by records from the UK monitoring network, is not highly correlated with gravestone decay. The relationships among stone decay, air-quality, and land use is complicated by the relatively low spatial density of both gravestone decay and air quality data and the fact that air quality data is available only as annual averages and therefore seasonal dependence cannot be evaluated. However, acid deposition calculated from gravestone decay suggests that the deposition efficiency of SO2 has increased appreciably since 1980 indicating an increase in the SO2 oxidation process possibly related to reactions with ammonia.

Correlation between meteorological conditions and the concentration of radionuclides in the ground layer of atmospheric air

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krajny, E.; Osrodka, L.; Wojtylak, M.; Michalik, B.; Skowronek, J.

2001-01-01

The main goal of this work was to find correlation between the concentrations of radionuclides in outdoor air and the meteorological conditions like: atmospheric pressure, wind velocity and amount of precipitation. Because the sampling period of radionuclides concentrations in air was relatively long (7 days), the average levels of meteorological parameters have been calculated within the same time. Data of radionuclide concentrations and meteorological data have been analyzed in order to find statistical correlation. The regression analysis and one of AI methods, known as neural network, were applied. In general, analysis of the gathered data does not show any strong correlation between the meteorological conditions and the concentrations of the radionuclides in air. A slightly stronger correlation we found for radionuclides with relatively short half-lives. The only positive correlation has been found between the 7 Be concentration and air temperature (at the significance level α = 0.05). In our opinion, the lack of correlation was caused by a too long sampling time in measurements of radionuclides in outdoor air (a whole week). Results of analysis received by means of the artificial neuron network are better. We were able to find certain groups of meteorological conditions, related with the corresponding concentrations of particular radionuclides in air. Preliminary measurements of radon progeny concentration support the thesis that the link between changes of meteorological parameters and concentrations of radionuclides in ambient air must exist. (author)

Intercontinental Transport of Aerosols: Implication for Regional Air Quality

Science.gov (United States)

Chin, Mian; Diehl, Thomas; Ginoux, Paul

2006-01-01

Aerosol particles, also known as PM2.5 (particle diameter less than 2.5 microns) and PM10 (particle diameter less than 10 microns), is one of the key atmospheric components that determine ambient air quality. Current US air quality standards for PM10 (particles with diameter air pollution problems, aerosols can be transported on a hemispheric or global scale. In this study, we use the Goddard Chemistry Aerosol Radiation and Transport (GOCART) model to quantify contributions of long-range transport vs. local/regional pollution sources and from natural vs. anthropogenic sources to PM concentrations different regions. In particular, we estimate the hemispheric impact of anthropogenic sulfate aerosols and dust from major source areas on other regions in the world. The GOCART model results are compared with satellite remote sensing and ground-based network measurements of aerosol optical depth and concentrations.

First results from the oil sands passive air monitoring network for polycyclic aromatic compounds.

Science.gov (United States)

Schuster, Jasmin K; Harner, Tom; Su, Ky; Mihele, Cristian; Eng, Anita

2015-03-03

Results are reported from an ongoing passive air monitoring study for polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs) in the Athabasca oil sands region in Alberta, Canada. Polyurethane foam (PUF) disk passive air samplers were deployed for consecutive 2-month periods from November 2010 to June 2012 at 17 sites. Samples were analyzed for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), alkylated PAHs, dibenzothiophene and its alkylated derivatives (DBTs). Relative to parent PAHs, alkylated PAHs and DBTs are enriched in bitumen and therefore considered to be petrogenic markers. Concentrations in air were in the range 0.03-210 ng/m(3), 0.15-230 ng/m(3) and 0.01-61 ng/m(3) for ∑PAHs, ∑alkylated PAHs and ΣDBTs, respectively. An exponential decline of the PAC concentrations in air with distance from mining areas and related petrogenic sources was observed. The most significant exponential declines were for the alkylated PAHs and DBTs and attributed to their association with mining-related emissions and near-source deposition, due to their lower volatility and greater association with depositing particles. Seasonal trends in concentrations in air for PACs were not observed for any of the compound classes. However, a forest fire episode during April to July 2011 resulted in greatly elevated PAH levels at all passive sampling locations. Alkylated PAHs and DBTs were not elevated during the forest fire period, supporting their association with petrogenic sources. Based on the results of this study, an "Athabasca PAC profile" is proposed as a potential source marker for the oil sands region. The profile is characterized by ∑PAHs/∑Alkylated PAHs = ∼0.2 and ∑PAHs/∑DBTs = ∼5.

Control of 12-Cylinder Camless Engine with Neural Networks

OpenAIRE

Ashhab Moh’d Sami

2017-01-01

The 12-cyliner camless engine breathing process is modeled with artificial neural networks (ANN’s). The inputs to the net are the intake valve lift (IVL) and intake valve closing timing (IVC) whereas the output of the net is the cylinder air charge (CAC). The ANN is trained with data collected from an engine simulation model which is based on thermodynamics principles and calibrated against real engine data. A method for adapting single-output feed-forward neural networks is proposed and appl...

Replacing the AMOR with the miniDOAS in the ammonia monitoring network in the Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Berkhout, Augustinus J. C.; Swart, Daan P. J.; Volten, Hester; Gast, Lou F. L.; Haaima, Marty; Verboom, Hans; Stefess, Guus; Hafkenscheid, Theo; Hoogerbrugge, Ronald

2017-01-01

In this paper we present the continued development of the miniDOAS, an active differential optical absorption spectroscopy (DOAS) instrument used to measure ammonia concentrations in ambient air. The miniDOAS has been adapted for use in the Dutch National Air Quality Monitoring Network. The miniDOAS

Ambient Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Observations in the San Francisco Bay Area of California Using a Fixed-site Monitoring Network

Science.gov (United States)

Martien, P. T.; Guha, A.; Bower, J.; Perkins, I.; Randall, S.; Young, A.; Hilken, H.; Stevenson, E.

2016-12-01

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District is the greater San Francisco Bay metropolitan area's chief air quality regulatory agency. Aligning itself with the Governor's Executive Order S-3-05, the Air District has set a goal to reduce the region's GHG emissions by 80% below 1990 levels by the year 2050. The Air District's 2016 Clean Air Plan will lay out the agency's vision and actions to put the region on a path forward towards achieving the 2050 goal while also reducing air pollution and related health impacts. The 2016 Plan has three overarching objectives: 1) develop a multi-pollutant emissions control strategy, (2) reduce population exposure to harmful air pollutants, especially in vulnerable communities, and (3) protect climate through a comprehensive Regional Climate Protection Strategy. To accomplish one of 2016 Plan's control measures (SL3 - Greenhouse Gas Monitoring and Measurement Network), the Air District has set up a long-term, ambient GHG monitoring network at four sites. The first site is located north and upwind of the urban core at Bodega Bay by the Pacific Coast. It mostly receives clean marine inflow and serves as the regional background site. The other three sites are strategically located at regional exit points for Bay Area plumes that presumably contain well-mixed GHG enhancements from local sources. CO2 and CH4are being measured continuously at the fixed-sites, along with combustion tracer CO and other air pollutants. In the longer term, the network will allow the Air District to monitor ambient concentrations of GHGs and thus evaluate the effectiveness of its policy, regulation and enforcement efforts. We present data trends from the first year of operation of the fixed-site monitoring network including monthly and seasonal patterns, diurnal variations and regional enhancements at individual sites above background concentrations. We also locate an isotopic methane instrument (Picarro, G132-i) for a short duration (a week) at each of the

A cascade reaction network mimicking the basic functional steps of acquired immune response

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Da; Wu, Cuichen; You, Mingxu; Zhang, Tao; Wan, Shuo; Chen, Tao; Qiu, Liping; Zheng, Zheng; Liang, Hao; Tan, Weihong

2015-01-01

Biological systems use complex ‘information processing cores’ composed of molecular networks to coordinate their external environment and internal states. An example of this is the acquired, or adaptive, immune system (AIS), which is composed of both humoral and cell-mediated components. Here we report the step-by-step construction of a prototype mimic of the AIS which we call Adaptive Immune Response Simulator (AIRS). DNA and enzymes are used as simple artificial analogues of the components of the AIS to create a system which responds to specific molecular stimuli in vitro. We show that this network of reactions can function in a manner which is superficially similar to the most basic responses of the vertebrate acquired immune system, including reaction sequences that mimic both humoral and cellular responses. As such, AIRS provides guidelines for the design and engineering of artificial reaction networks and molecular devices. PMID:26391084

A cascade reaction network mimicking the basic functional steps of adaptive immune response.

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Da; Wu, Cuichen; You, Mingxu; Zhang, Tao; Wan, Shuo; Chen, Tao; Qiu, Liping; Zheng, Zheng; Liang, Hao; Tan, Weihong

2015-10-01

Biological systems use complex 'information-processing cores' composed of molecular networks to coordinate their external environment and internal states. An example of this is the acquired, or adaptive, immune system (AIS), which is composed of both humoral and cell-mediated components. Here we report the step-by-step construction of a prototype mimic of the AIS that we call an adaptive immune response simulator (AIRS). DNA and enzymes are used as simple artificial analogues of the components of the AIS to create a system that responds to specific molecular stimuli in vitro. We show that this network of reactions can function in a manner that is superficially similar to the most basic responses of the vertebrate AIS, including reaction sequences that mimic both humoral and cellular responses. As such, AIRS provides guidelines for the design and engineering of artificial reaction networks and molecular devices.

Experimental apparatus to test air trap valves

Science.gov (United States)

Lemos De Lucca, Y. de F.; de Aquino, G. A.; Filho, J. G. D.

2010-08-01

It is known that the presence of trapped air within water distribution pipes can lead to irregular operation or even damage to the distribution systems and their components. The presence of trapped air may occur while the pipes are being filled with water, or while the pumping systems are in operation. The formation of large air pockets can produce the water hammer phenomenon, the instability and the loss of pressure in the water distribution networks. As a result, it can overload the pumps, increase the consumption of electricity, and damage the pumping system. In order to avoid its formation, all of the trapped air should be removed through "air trap valves". In Brazil, manufacturers frequently have unreliable sizing charts, which cause malfunctioning of the "air trap valves". The result of these malfunctions causes accidents of substantial damage. The construction of a test facility will provide a foundation of technical information that will be used to help make decisions when designing a system of pipelines where "air trap valves" are used. To achieve this, all of the valve characteristics (geometric, mechanic, hydraulic and dynamic) should be determined. This paper aims to describe and analyze the experimental apparatus and test procedure to be used to test "air trap valves". The experimental apparatus and test facility will be located at the University of Campinas, Brazil at the College of Civil Engineering, Architecture, and Urbanism in the Hydraulics and Fluid Mechanics laboratory. The experimental apparatus will be comprised of various components (pumps, steel pipes, butterfly valves to control the discharge, flow meter and reservoirs) and instrumentation (pressure transducers, anemometer and proximity sensor). It should be emphasized that all theoretical and experimental procedures should be defined while taking into consideration flow parameters and fluid properties that influence the tests.

Experimental apparatus to test air trap valves

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lemos De Lucca, Y de F [CTH-DAEE-USP/FAAP/UNICAMP (Brazil); Aquino, G A de [SABESP/UNICAMP (Brazil); Filho, J G D, E-mail: yvone.lucca@gmail.co [Water Resources Department, University of Campinas-UNICAMP, Av. Albert Einstein, 951, Cidade Universitaria-Barao Geraldo-Campinas, S.P., 13083-852 (Brazil)

2010-08-15

It is known that the presence of trapped air within water distribution pipes can lead to irregular operation or even damage to the distribution systems and their components. The presence of trapped air may occur while the pipes are being filled with water, or while the pumping systems are in operation. The formation of large air pockets can produce the water hammer phenomenon, the instability and the loss of pressure in the water distribution networks. As a result, it can overload the pumps, increase the consumption of electricity, and damage the pumping system. In order to avoid its formation, all of the trapped air should be removed through 'air trap valves'. In Brazil, manufacturers frequently have unreliable sizing charts, which cause malfunctioning of the 'air trap valves'. The result of these malfunctions causes accidents of substantial damage. The construction of a test facility will provide a foundation of technical information that will be used to help make decisions when designing a system of pipelines where 'air trap valves' are used. To achieve this, all of the valve characteristics (geometric, mechanic, hydraulic and dynamic) should be determined. This paper aims to describe and analyze the experimental apparatus and test procedure to be used to test 'air trap valves'. The experimental apparatus and test facility will be located at the University of Campinas, Brazil at the College of Civil Engineering, Architecture, and Urbanism in the Hydraulics and Fluid Mechanics laboratory. The experimental apparatus will be comprised of various components (pumps, steel pipes, butterfly valves to control the discharge, flow meter and reservoirs) and instrumentation (pressure transducers, anemometer and proximity sensor). It should be emphasized that all theoretical and experimental procedures should be defined while taking into consideration flow parameters and fluid properties that influence the tests.

Understanding the Emergence of Disruptive Innovation in Air Force Science and Technology Organizations

Science.gov (United States)

2008-03-01

Enabling processes Business models Brand Networks and alliances Product systems Channel 15.2% 11.6 12.4 12.2 11.8 10.6 8.4 8.1 4.7 3.6...Caregiver The Storyteller Brings new learning and insights into the organization by observing human behavior and developing a deep...an engaging experience with those customers. The comparison identified two large differences in the results. Air Force S&T ranked networks and

Providing QoS guarantee in 3G wireless networks

Science.gov (United States)

Chuah, MooiChoo; Huang, Min; Kumar, Suresh

2001-07-01

The third generation networks and services present opportunities to offer multimedia applications and services that meet end-to-end quality of service requirements. In this article, we present UMTS QoS architecture and its requirements. This includes the definition of QoS parameters, traffic classes, the end-to-end data delivery model, and the mapping of end-to-end services to the services provided by the network elements of the UMTS. End-to-end QoS of a user flow is achieved by the combination of the QoS control over UMTS Domain and the IP core Network. In the Third Generation Wireless network, UMTS bearer service manager is responsible to manage radio and transport resources to QoS-enabled applications. The UMTS bearer service consists of the Radio Access Bearer Service between Mobile Terminal and SGSN and Core Network bearer service between SGSN and GGSN. The Radio Access Bearer Service is further realized by the Radio Bearer Service (mostly air interface) and Iu bearer service. For the 3G air interface, one can provide differentiated QoS via intelligent burst allocation scheme, adaptive spreading factor control and weighted fair queueing scheduling algorithms. Next, we discuss the requirements for the transport technologies in the radio access network to provide differentiated QoS to multiple classes of traffic. We discuss both ATM based and IP based transport solutions. Last but not least, we discuss how QoS mechanism is provided in the core network to ensure e2e quality of service requirements. We discuss how mobile terminals that use RSVP as QoS signaling mechanisms can be are supported in the 3G network which may implement only IETF diffserv mechanism. . We discuss how one can map UMTS QoS classes with IETF diffserv code points. We also discuss 2G/3G handover scenarios and how the 2G/3G QoS parameters can be mapped.

Universal bursty behavior in the air transportation system.

Science.gov (United States)

Ito, Hidetaka; Nishinari, Katsuhiro

2015-12-01

Social activities display bursty behavior characterized by heavy-tailed interevent time distributions. We examine the bursty behavior of airplanes' arrivals in hub airports. The analysis indicates that the air transportation system universally follows a power-law interarrival time distribution with an exponent α=2.5 and an exponential cutoff. Moreover, we investigate the mechanism of this bursty behavior by introducing a simple model to describe it. In addition, we compare the extent of the hub-and-spoke structure and the burstiness of various airline networks in the system. Remarkably, the results suggest that the hub-and-spoke network of the system and the carriers' strategy to facilitate transit are the origins of this universality.

New Brunswick air quality monitoring results for the year 2000

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hughes, R.

2002-01-01

Monitoring data for air quality in New Brunswick in 2000 is presented in this document. Designed for the general public, it summarizes the air quality results for 2000 and focuses on air quality assessment as it relates to existing air quality standards and objectives. The report also contains the long term trend data for representative sites. The New Brunswick Air Quality Regulation of the Clean Air Act specifies the air quality standards applicable for carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, hydrogen sulphide, nitrogen dioxide and total suspended particulate. The monitoring was conducted at 58 sites in 8 regional monitoring networks throughout the province. Thirteen additional sites were selected for the measurement of acid rain. Despite the fact that no standards were in effect in 2000 in New Brunswick for several substances, including inhalable particulate matter, ground-level ozone, volatile organic compounds, selected semi-volatile organic compounds, trace elements in particulate matter and mercury in air and precipitation, their levels were measured at some locations. The results indicate that emissions trends, variations in industrial output, changing process or emission control technologies, and weather conditions throughout the year explain most of the variations in results between regions. As a rule, compliance with standards is good. Acid rain continued to impact, especially in the southwestern districts of the province. Since 1996, the levels of mercury in precipitation has slightly declined. 39 refs., 43 figs

Optimisation of key performance measures in air cargo demand management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexander May

2014-04-01

Full Text Available This article sought to facilitate the optimisation of key performance measures utilised for demand management in air cargo operations. The focus was on the Revenue Management team at Virgin Atlantic Cargo and a fuzzy group decision-making method was used. Utilising intelligent fuzzy multi-criteria methods, the authors generated a ranking order of ten key outcome-based performance indicators for Virgin Atlantic air cargo Revenue Management. The result of this industry-driven study showed that for Air Cargo Revenue Management, ‘Network Optimisation’ represents a critical outcome-based performance indicator. This collaborative study contributes to existing logistics management literature, especially in the area of Revenue Management, and it seeks to enhance Revenue Management practice. It also provides a platform for Air Cargo operators seeking to improve reliability values for their key performance indicators as a means of enhancing operational monitoring power.

Estimating the burden of disease attributable to urban outdoor air ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

PM10 and PM2.5 data from air-quality assessment studies in areas not covered by the network were also included. Population-attributable fractions calculated using risk coefficients presented in the WHO study were weighted by the proportion of the total population (33%) in urban environments, and applied to revised ...

The Danish air quality monitoring programme. Annual summary for 2005

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kemp, K.; Ellermann, T.; Palmgren, F.; Waehlin, P.

2006-06-01

The air quality in Danish cities has been monitored continuously since 1982 within the Danish Air Quality (LMP) network. The aim has been to follow the concentration levels of toxic pollutants in the urban atmosphere and to provide the necessary knowledge to assess the trends, to perform source apportionment, and to evaluate the chemical reactions and the dispersion of the pollutants in the atmosphere. In 2005 the air quality was measured in four Danish cities and at two background sites. NO 2 and PM 10 were at several stations found in concentrations above EU limit values, which the Member States have to comply with in 2005 and 2010. While the concentrations for most other pollutants have been strongly decreasing since 1982, only a slight decrease has been observed for NO 2 . (au)

The Danish air quality monitoring programme. Annual summary for 2005

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kemp, K.; Ellermann, T.; Palmgren, F.; Waehlin, P.

2006-06-15

The air quality in Danish cities has been monitored continuously since 1982 within the Danish Air Quality (LMP) network. The aim has been to follow the concentration levels of toxic pollutants in the urban atmosphere and to provide the necessary knowledge to assess the trends, to perform source apportionment, and to evaluate the chemical reactions and the dispersion of the pollutants in the atmosphere. In 2005 the air quality was measured in four Danish cities and at two background sites. NO{sub 2} and PM{sub 10} were at several stations found in concentrations above EU limit values, which the Member States have to comply with in 2005 and 2010. While the concentrations for most other pollutants have been strongly decreasing since 1982, only a slight decrease has been observed for NO{sub 2}. (au)

Climate, air and energy - Issue 2014. Key figures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2015-01-01

After having recalled international objectives (Kyoto protocol), European objectives (directives related to energy efficiency and renewable energies, greenhouse gas emissions and adaptation, air quality, wastes) and French national (plans, laws) and sector-based objectives (for buildings, transports, agriculture, renewable energies, industry, office building and local communities, air quality), this publication presents and comments numerous tables and graphs of data and indicators (and of their evolution) regarding energy consumptions and intensities (primary and final energy), greenhouse gas emissions and climate change, emissions of pollutants and air quality in France and in European countries, but also the implementation of various plans and tools (Agenda 21 for example), the creation of specific public bodies, jobs and markets related to renewable energies in France. The other chapters propose detailed data related to energy consumption or production, energy efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions, and so on for different sectors: housing, tertiary sector, transport, industry, agriculture and forest, renewable energies and heat networks, wastes, individuals

High Dimensional Modulation and MIMO Techniques for Access Networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Binti Othman, Maisara

Exploration of advanced modulation formats and multiplexing techniques for next generation optical access networks are of interest as promising solutions for delivering multiple services to end-users. This thesis addresses this from two different angles: high dimensionality carrierless...... the capacity per wavelength of the femto-cell network. Bit rate up to 1.59 Gbps with fiber-wireless transmission over 1 m air distance is demonstrated. The results presented in this thesis demonstrate the feasibility of high dimensionality CAP in increasing the number of dimensions and their potentially......) optical access network. 2 X 2 MIMO RoF employing orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) with 5.6 GHz RoF signaling over all-vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSEL) WDM passive optical networks (PONs). We have employed polarization division multiplexing (PDM) to further increase...

Pandemics and networks : The case of the Mexican flu

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Omic, J.; Van Mieghem, P.

2010-01-01

The recent widespread of the new Mexican flu and SARS show the high dependency on contemporary traveling patterns. The air transport network is recognized as an important channel of epidemic propagation for different diseases. In order to predict epidemic spreading and the influence of protection

Resolving uncertainties in the urban air quality, climate, and vegetation nexus through citizen science, satellite imagery, and atmospheric modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Jenerette, D.; Wang, J.; Chandler, M.; Ripplinger, J.; Koutzoukis, S.; Ge, C.; Castro Garcia, L.; Kucera, D.; Liu, X.

2017-12-01

Large uncertainties remain in identifying the distribution of urban air quality and temperature risks across neighborhood to regional scales. Nevertheless, many cities are actively expanding vegetation with an expectation to moderate both climate and air quality risks. We address these uncertainties through an integrated analysis of satellite data, atmospheric modeling, and in-situ environmental sensor networks maintained by citizen scientists. During the summer of 2017 we deployed neighborhood-scale networks of air temperature and ozone sensors through three campaigns across urbanized southern California. During each five-week campaign we deployed six sensor nodes that included an EPA federal equivalent method ozone sensor and a suite of meteorological sensors. Each node was further embedded in a network of 100 air temperature sensors that combined a randomized design developed by the research team and a design co-created by citizen scientists. Between 20 and 60 citizen scientists were recruited for each campaign, with local partners supporting outreach and training to ensure consistent deployment and data gathering. We observed substantial variation in both temperature and ozone concentrations at scales less than 4km, whole city, and the broader southern California region. At the whole city scale the average spatial variation with our ozone sensor network just for city of Long Beach was 26% of the mean, while corresponding variation in air temperature was only 7% of the mean. These findings contrast with atmospheric model estimates of variation at the regional scale of 11% and 1%. Our results show the magnitude of fine-scale variation underestimated by current models and may also suggest scaling functions that can connect neighborhood and regional variation in both ozone and temperature risks in southern California. By engaging citizen science with high quality sensors, satellite data, and real-time forecasting, our results help identify magnitudes of climate and

Air filtration and indoor air quality

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bekö, Gabriel

2006-01-01

Demands for better indoor air quality are increasing, since we spend most of our time indoors and we are more and more aware of indoor air pollution. Field studies in different parts of the world have documented that high percentage of occupants in many offices and buildings find the indoor air...... decent ventilation and air cleaning/air filtration, high indoor air quality cannot be accomplished. The need for effective air filtration has increased with increasing evidence on the hazardous effects of fine particles. Moreover, the air contains gaseous pollutants, removal of which requires various air...... cleaning techniques. Supply air filter is one of the key components in the ventilation system. Studies have shown that used ventilation filters themselves can be a significant source of indoor air pollution with consequent impact on perceived air quality, sick building syndrome symptoms and performance...

Direct Adaptive Aircraft Control Using Dynamic Cell Structure Neural Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Jorgensen, Charles C.

1997-01-01

A Dynamic Cell Structure (DCS) Neural Network was developed which learns topology representing networks (TRNS) of F-15 aircraft aerodynamic stability and control derivatives. The network is integrated into a direct adaptive tracking controller. The combination produces a robust adaptive architecture capable of handling multiple accident and off- nominal flight scenarios. This paper describes the DCS network and modifications to the parameter estimation procedure. The work represents one step towards an integrated real-time reconfiguration control architecture for rapid prototyping of new aircraft designs. Performance was evaluated using three off-line benchmarks and on-line nonlinear Virtual Reality simulation. Flight control was evaluated under scenarios including differential stabilator lock, soft sensor failure, control and stability derivative variations, and air turbulence.

Assessment of the Atmospheric Suspended Particles Pollution in the Madrid Air Quality Networks; Evaluacion de la Contaminacion Atmosferica producida por Particulas en Suspension en las Redes de Calidad del Aire de la Comunidad de Madrid

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Salvador, P; Artinano, B

2000-07-01

Suspended particles are a very complex type of atmospheric pollution because of their chemical composition and size. In fact, there are a quite high number of particles sources which are linked to different physico-chemical processes that determine their size. At present particles smaller than 10 {mu}m are considered the most dangerous, as has been recently pointed out by numerous epidemiologic studies. In this way, more restrictive concentration limit values have been approved in the EU countries, so an assessment of present airborne concentration values and the sources apportionment in their most representative areas is needed. In the Madrid Community a first approaching of these and other aims, has been carried out from an analysis of the Madrid Air Quality networks data. This will contribute to the stablishment of concentration levels abatement strategies. (Author) 111 refs.

A Modular IoT Platform for Real-Time Indoor Air Quality Monitoring

OpenAIRE

Mohieddine Benammar; Abderrazak Abdaoui; Sabbir H.M. Ahmad; Farid Touati; Abdullah Kadri

2018-01-01

The impact of air quality on health and on life comfort is well established. In many societies, vulnerable elderly and young populations spend most of their time indoors. Therefore, indoor air quality monitoring (IAQM) is of great importance to human health. Engineers and researchers are increasingly focusing their efforts on the design of real-time IAQM systems using wireless sensor networks. This paper presents an end-to-end IAQM system enabling measurement of CO2, CO, SO2, NO2, O3, Cl2, am...

Quality-of-service provisioning for dynamic heterogeneous wireless sensor networks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Steine, M.

2013-01-01

A Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) consists of a large collection of spatially dis- tributed autonomous devices with sensors to monitor physical or environmental conditions, such as air-pollution, temperature and traffic flow. By cooperatively processing and communicating information to central

Air flow distribution in and around a single-sided naturally ventilated room

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Eftekhari, M.M.; Marjanovic, L.D.; Pinnock, D.J. [Loughborough University (United Kingdom). Dept. of Civil and Building Engineering

2002-03-01

The objective of this research is to compare calculated and measured air flow distributions inside a test room which is naturally ventilated. The test room is situated in a relatively sheltered location and to visualise the resultant local wind pattern around the room for all prevailing wind directions, wind tunnel trials were carried out. Both the wind tunnel and full-scale measurements show that the wind direction at the test cell was generally restricted to either a westerly or an easterly direction. To investigate air flow inside the room, the air pressures and velocities across the openings together with indoor air temperature and velocity at four locations and six different levels are measured. The experimental results demonstrate that for both winter and summer the air was entering the test room at bottom and leaving at the top louvre. Separate air flow and thermal modelling programs are used to predict the spatial distribution of the air flow and thermal comfort. The air flow distribution was predicted using a network air flow program. The predicted flow showed similar trends and the simulation results were in agreement with the measured data. An explicit finite-difference thermal modeling simulation package was used to predict the thermal comfort indices.(author)

Using AIRS retrievals in the WRF-LETKF system to improve regional numerical weather prediction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Takemasa Miyoshi

2012-09-01

Full Text Available In addition to conventional observations, atmospheric temperature and humidity profile data from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS Version 5 retrieval products are assimilated into the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF model, using the local ensemble transform Kalman filter (LETKF. Although a naive assimilation of all available quality-controlled AIRS retrieval data yields an inferior analysis, the additional enhancements of adaptive inflation and horizontal data thinning result in a general improvement of numerical weather prediction skill due to AIRS data. In particular, the adaptive inflation method is enhanced so that it no longer assumes temporal homogeneity of the observing network and allows for a better treatment of the temporally inhomogeneous AIRS data. Results indicate that the improvements due to AIRS data are more significant in longer-lead forecasts. Forecasts of Typhoons Sinlaku and Jangmi in September 2008 show improvements due to AIRS data.

A dynamic ventilation model for gravity sewer networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Y C; Nobi, N; Nguyen, T; Vorreiter, L

2012-01-01

To implement any effective odour and corrosion control technology in the sewer network, it is imperative that the airflow through gravity sewer airspaces be quantified. This paper presents a full dynamic airflow model for gravity sewer systems. The model, which is developed using the finite element method, is a compressible air transport model. The model has been applied to the North Head Sewerage Ocean Outfall System (NSOOS) and calibrated using the air pressure and airflow data collected during October 2008. Although the calibration is focused on forced ventilation, the model can be applied to natural ventilation as well.

Association between air pollution and general practitioner visits for respiratory diseases in Hong Kong

OpenAIRE

Wong, TW; Tam, W; Wun, YT; Wong, CM; Yu, ITS; Wong, AHS

2006-01-01

Background: Few studies have explored the relation between air pollution and general practitioner (GP) consultations in Asia. Clinic attendance data from a network of GPs were studied, and the relationship between daily GP consultations for upper respiratory tract infections (URTI) and non-URTI respiratory diseases and daily air pollutant concentrations measured in their respective districts was examined. Methods: A time series study was performed in 2000-2002 using data on daily patient cons...

Impact of cercal air currents on singing motor pattern generation in the cricket (Gryllus bimaculatus DeGeer)

Science.gov (United States)

2015-01-01

The cercal system of crickets detects low-frequency air currents produced by approaching predators and self-generated air currents during singing, which may provide sensory feedback to the singing motor network. We analyzed the effect of cercal stimulation on singing motor pattern generation to reveal the response of a singing interneuron to predator-like signals and to elucidate the possible role of self-generated air currents during singing. In fictive singing males, we recorded an interneuron of the singing network while applying air currents to the cerci; additionally, we analyzed the effect of abolishing the cercal system in freely singing males. In fictively singing crickets, the effect of short air stimuli is either to terminate prematurely or to lengthen the interchirp interval, depending on their phase in the chirp cycle. Within our stimulation paradigm, air stimuli of different velocities and durations always elicited an inhibitory postsynaptic potential in the singing interneuron. Current injection in the singing interneuron elicited singing motor activity, even during the air current-evoked inhibitory input from the cercal pathway. The disruptive effects of air stimuli on the fictive singing pattern and the inhibitory response of the singing interneuron point toward the cercal system being involved in initiating avoidance responses in singing crickets, according to the established role of cerci in a predator escape pathway. After abolishing the activity of the cercal system, the timing of natural singing activity was not significantly altered. Our study provides no evidence that self-generated cercal sensory activity has a feedback function for singing motor pattern generation. PMID:26334014

Prediction of SO{sub 2} levels using neural networks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Belen M. Fernandez de Castro; Jose Manuel Prada Sanchez; Wenceslao Gonzalez Manteiga [and others] [University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago (Spain). Department of Statistics and Operations Research, Faculty of Mathematics

2003-05-01

The paper presents an adaptation of the air pollution control help system in the neighbourhood of a coal-fired power plant in As Pontes (A Coruna, Spain), property of Endesa Generacion S.A., to the European Council Directive 1999/30/CE. This system contains a statistical prediction made half an hour before the measurement, and it helps the staff in the power plant prevent air quality level episodes. The prediction is made using neural network models. This prediction is compared with one made by a semiparametric model. 11 refs., 6 figs., 4 tabs.

Monitoring Indoor Air Quality for Enhanced Occupational Health.

Science.gov (United States)

Pitarma, Rui; Marques, Gonçalo; Ferreira, Bárbara Roque

2017-02-01

Indoor environments are characterized by several pollutant sources. Because people spend more than 90% of their time in indoor environments, several studies have pointed out the impact of indoor air quality on the etiopathogenesis of a wide number of non-specific symptoms which characterizes the "Sick Building Syndrome", involving the skin, the upper and lower respiratory tract, the eyes and the nervous system, as well as many building related diseases. Thus, indoor air quality (IAQ) is recognized as an important factor to be controlled for the occupants' health and comfort. The majority of the monitoring systems presently available is very expensive and only allow to collect random samples. This work describes the system (iAQ), a low-cost indoor air quality monitoring wireless sensor network system, developed using Arduino, XBee modules and micro sensors, for storage and availability of monitoring data on a web portal in real time. Five micro sensors of environmental parameters (air temperature, humidity, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and luminosity) were used. Other sensors can be added for monitoring specific pollutants. The results reveal that the system can provide an effective indoor air quality assessment to prevent exposure risk. In fact, the indoor air quality may be extremely different compared to what is expected for a quality living environment. Systems like this would have benefit as public health interventions to reduce the burden of symptoms and diseases related to "sick buildings".

SAMIRA - SAtellite based Monitoring Initiative for Regional Air quality

Science.gov (United States)

Schneider, Philipp; Stebel, Kerstin; Ajtai, Nicolae; Diamandi, Andrei; Horalek, Jan; Nicolae, Doina; Stachlewska, Iwona; Zehner, Claus

2016-04-01

Here, we present a new ESA-funded project entitled Satellite based Monitoring Initiative for Regional Air quality (SAMIRA), which aims at improving regional and local air quality monitoring through synergetic use of data from present and upcoming satellites, traditionally used in situ air quality monitoring networks and output from chemical transport models. Through collaborative efforts in four countries, namely Romania, Poland, the Czech Republic and Norway, all with existing air quality problems, SAMIRA intends to support the involved institutions and associated users in their national monitoring and reporting mandates as well as to generate novel research in this area. Despite considerable improvements in the past decades, Europe is still far from achieving levels of air quality that do not pose unacceptable hazards to humans and the environment. Main concerns in Europe are exceedances of particulate matter (PM), ground-level ozone, benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). While overall sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions have decreased in recent years, regional concentrations can still be high in some areas. The objectives of SAMIRA are to improve algorithms for the retrieval of hourly aerosol optical depth (AOD) maps from SEVIRI, and to develop robust methods for deriving column- and near-surface PM maps for the study area by combining satellite AOD with information from regional models. The benefit to existing monitoring networks (in situ, models, satellite) by combining these datasets using data fusion methods will be tested for satellite-based NO2, SO2, and PM/AOD. Furthermore, SAMIRA will test and apply techniques for downscaling air quality-related EO products to a spatial resolution that is more in line with what is generally required for studying urban and regional scale air quality. This will be demonstrated for a set of study sites that include the capitals of the four countries and the highly polluted areas along the border of Poland and the

Multicontaminant air pollution in Chinese cities.

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Lijian; Zhou, Weiqi; Pickett, Steward Ta; Li, Weifeng; Qian, Yuguo

2018-04-01

To investigate multicontaminant air pollution in Chinese cities, to quantify the urban population affected and to explore the relationship between air pollution and urban population size. We obtained data for 155 cities with 276 million inhabitants for 2014 from China's air quality monitoring network on concentrations of fine particulate matter measuring under 2.5 μm (PM 2.5 ), coarse particulate matter measuring 2.5 to 10 μm (PM 10 ), nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) and ozone (O 3 ). Concentrations were considered as high, if they exceeded World Health Organization (WHO) guideline limits. Overall, 51% (142 million) of the study population was exposed to mean annual multicontaminant concentrations above WHO limits - east China and the megacities were worst affected. High daily levels of four-contaminant mixtures of PM 2.5 , PM 10 , SO 2 and O 3 and PM 2.5 , PM 10 , SO 2 and NO 2 occurred on up to 110 days in 2014 in many cities, mainly in Shandong and Hebei Provinces. High daily levels of PM 2.5 , PM 10 and SO 2 occurred on over  146 days in 110 cities, mainly in east and central China. High daily levels of mixtures of PM 2.5 and PM 10 , PM 2.5 and SO 2 , and PM 10 and SO 2 occurred on over  146 days in 145 cities, mainly in east China. Surprisingly, multicontaminant air pollution was less frequent in cities with populations over 10 million than in smaller cities. Multicontaminant air pollution was common in Chinese cities. A shift from single-contaminant to multicontaminant evaluations of the health effects of air pollution is needed. China should implement protective measures during future urbanization.

Calibration of an air monitor prototype for a radiation surveillance network based on gamma spectrometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baeza, A.; Caballero, J.M.; Corbacho, J.Á.; Ontalba-Salamanca, M.Á.; Vasco, J.

2014-01-01

The objective of this work is to present the improvements that have been made in quasi-real-time air radioactivity concentration monitors which were initially based on overall activity determinations, by incorporating gamma spectrometry into the current prototype. To this end it was necessary to develop a careful efficiency calibration procedure for both the particulate and the gaseous fractions of the air being sampled. The work also reports the values of the minimum detectable activity calculated for different isotopes and acquisition times. - Highlights: • Deficiencies of a commercial air monitoring system are detailed. • Gamma spectrometry introduction is the basis of the new prototype. • Efficiency calibration procedure is described for aerosol and gaseous fractions. • MDA is evaluated for different isotopes and acquisition times

The Use of Remote Sensing Data for Modeling Air Quality in the Cities

Science.gov (United States)

Putrenko, V. V.; Pashynska, N. M.

2017-12-01

Monitoring of environmental pollution in the cities by the methods of remote sensing of the Earth is actual area of research for sustainable development. Ukraine has a poorly developed network of monitoring stations for air quality, the technical condition of which is deteriorating in recent years. Therefore, the possibility of obtaining data about the condition of air by remote sensing methods is of great importance. The paper considers the possibility of using the data about condition of atmosphere of the project AERONET to assess the air quality in Ukraine. The main pollution indicators were used data on fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) content in the atmosphere. The main indicator of air quality in Ukraine is the air pollution index (API). We have built regression models the relationship between indicators of NO2, which are measured by remote sensing methods and ground-based measurements of indicators. There have also been built regression models, the relationship between the data given to the land of NO2 and API. To simulate the relationship between the API and PM2.5 were used geographically weighted regression model, which allows to take into account the territorial differentiation between these indicators. As a result, the maps that show the distribution of the main types of pollution in the territory of Ukraine, were constructed. PM2.5 data modeling is complicated with using existing indicators, which requires a separate organization observation network for PM2.5 content in the atmosphere for sustainable development in cities of Ukraine.

Application of artificial neural network method to exergy and energy analyses of fluidized bed dryer for potato cubes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Azadbakht, Mohsen; Aghili, Hajar; Ziaratban, Armin; Torshizi, Mohammad Vahedi

2017-01-01

Drying the samples was performed in the inlet temperatures of 45, 50, and 55 °C, air velocity of 3.2, 6.8, and 9.1 m s"−"1, and bed depth of 1.5, 2.2, and 3 cm. The effects of these parameters were evaluated on energy utilization, energy efficiency and utilization ratio and exergy loss and efficiency. Furthermore, artificial neural network was employed in order to predict the energy and exergy parameters, and simulation of thermodynamic drying process was carried out, using the ANN created. A network was constructed from learning algorithms and transfer functions that could predict, with good accuracy, the exergy and energy parameters related to the drying process. The results revealed that energy utilization, efficiency, and utilization ratio increased by increasing the air velocity and depth of the bed; however, energy utilization and efficiency were augmented by increasing the temperature; additionally, energy utilization ratio decreased along with the rise in temperature. Also was found that exergy loss and efficiency improved by increasing the air velocity, temperature, and depth of the bed. Finally, the results of the statistical analyses indicated that neural networks can be utilized in intelligent drying process which has a large share of energy utilization in the food industry. - Highlights: • Energy utilization increased by increasing temperature, air velocity and depth of the bed. • Exergy loss increased with increasing the air velocity, temperature and depth of the bed. • Prediction by a trained neural network is faster than usual mathematical models. • ANN it is a suitable method to predict the energy and exergy in various driers.

Dynamic assessment of exposure to air pollution using mobile phone data.

Science.gov (United States)

Dewulf, Bart; Neutens, Tijs; Lefebvre, Wouter; Seynaeve, Gerdy; Vanpoucke, Charlotte; Beckx, Carolien; Van de Weghe, Nico

2016-04-21

Exposure to air pollution can have major health impacts, such as respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. Traditionally, only the air pollution concentration at the home location is taken into account in health impact assessments and epidemiological studies. Neglecting individual travel patterns can lead to a bias in air pollution exposure assessments. In this work, we present a novel approach to calculate the daily exposure to air pollution using mobile phone data of approximately 5 million mobile phone users living in Belgium. At present, this data is collected and stored by telecom operators mainly for management of the mobile network. Yet it represents a major source of information in the study of human mobility. We calculate the exposure to NO2 using two approaches: assuming people stay at home the entire day (traditional static approach), and incorporating individual travel patterns using their location inferred from their use of the mobile phone network (dynamic approach). The mean exposure to NO2 increases with 1.27 μg/m(3) (4.3%) during the week and with 0.12 μg/m(3) (0.4%) during the weekend when incorporating individual travel patterns. During the week, mostly people living in municipalities surrounding larger cities experience the highest increase in NO2 exposure when incorporating their travel patterns, probably because most of them work in these larger cities with higher NO2 concentrations. It is relevant for health impact assessments and epidemiological studies to incorporate individual travel patterns in estimating air pollution exposure. Mobile phone data is a promising data source to determine individual travel patterns, because of the advantages (e.g. low costs, large sample size, passive data collection) compared to travel surveys, GPS, and smartphone data (i.e. data captured by applications on smartphones).

End-user perspective of low-cost sensors for outdoor air pollution monitoring.

Science.gov (United States)

Rai, Aakash C; Kumar, Prashant; Pilla, Francesco; Skouloudis, Andreas N; Di Sabatino, Silvana; Ratti, Carlo; Yasar, Ansar; Rickerby, David

2017-12-31

Low-cost sensor technology can potentially revolutionise the area of air pollution monitoring by providing high-density spatiotemporal pollution data. Such data can be utilised for supplementing traditional pollution monitoring, improving exposure estimates, and raising community awareness about air pollution. However, data quality remains a major concern that hinders the widespread adoption of low-cost sensor technology. Unreliable data may mislead unsuspecting users and potentially lead to alarming consequences such as reporting acceptable air pollutant levels when they are above the limits deemed safe for human health. This article provides scientific guidance to the end-users for effectively deploying low-cost sensors for monitoring air pollution and people's exposure, while ensuring reasonable data quality. We review the performance characteristics of several low-cost particle and gas monitoring sensors and provide recommendations to end-users for making proper sensor selection by summarizing the capabilities and limitations of such sensors. The challenges, best practices, and future outlook for effectively deploying low-cost sensors, and maintaining data quality are also discussed. For data quality assurance, a two-stage sensor calibration process is recommended, which includes laboratory calibration under controlled conditions by the manufacturer supplemented with routine calibration checks performed by the end-user under final deployment conditions. For large sensor networks where routine calibration checks are impractical, statistical techniques for data quality assurance should be utilised. Further advancements and adoption of sophisticated mathematical and statistical techniques for sensor calibration, fault detection, and data quality assurance can indeed help to realise the promised benefits of a low-cost air pollution sensor network. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Consensus-Based Cooperative Control Based on Pollution Sensing and Traffic Information for Urban Traffic Networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Artuñedo, Antonio; Del Toro, Raúl M; Haber, Rodolfo E

2017-04-26

Nowadays many studies are being conducted to develop solutions for improving the performance of urban traffic networks. One of the main challenges is the necessary cooperation among different entities such as vehicles or infrastructure systems and how to exploit the information available through networks of sensors deployed as infrastructures for smart cities. In this work an algorithm for cooperative control of urban subsystems is proposed to provide a solution for mobility problems in cities. The interconnected traffic lights controller ( TLC ) network adapts traffic lights cycles, based on traffic and air pollution sensory information, in order to improve the performance of urban traffic networks. The presence of air pollution in cities is not only caused by road traffic but there are other pollution sources that contribute to increase or decrease the pollution level. Due to the distributed and heterogeneous nature of the different components involved, a system of systems engineering approach is applied to design a consensus-based control algorithm. The designed control strategy contains a consensus-based component that uses the information shared in the network for reaching a consensus in the state of TLC network components. Discrete event systems specification is applied for modelling and simulation. The proposed solution is assessed by simulation studies with very promising results to deal with simultaneous responses to both pollution levels and traffic flows in urban traffic networks.

Consensus-Based Cooperative Control Based on Pollution Sensing and Traffic Information for Urban Traffic Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Antonio Artuñedo

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Nowadays many studies are being conducted to develop solutions for improving the performance of urban traffic networks. One of the main challenges is the necessary cooperation among different entities such as vehicles or infrastructure systems and how to exploit the information available through networks of sensors deployed as infrastructures for smart cities. In this work an algorithm for cooperative control of urban subsystems is proposed to provide a solution for mobility problems in cities. The interconnected traffic lights controller (TLC network adapts traffic lights cycles, based on traffic and air pollution sensory information, in order to improve the performance of urban traffic networks. The presence of air pollution in cities is not only caused by road traffic but there are other pollution sources that contribute to increase or decrease the pollution level. Due to the distributed and heterogeneous nature of the different components involved, a system of systems engineering approach is applied to design a consensus-based control algorithm. The designed control strategy contains a consensus-based component that uses the information shared in the network for reaching a consensus in the state of TLC network components. Discrete event systems specification is applied for modelling and simulation. The proposed solution is assessed by simulation studies with very promising results to deal with simultaneous responses to both pollution levels and traffic flows in urban traffic networks.

The ASAC Flight Segment and Network Cost Models

Science.gov (United States)

Kaplan, Bruce J.; Lee, David A.; Retina, Nusrat; Wingrove, Earl R., III; Malone, Brett; Hall, Stephen G.; Houser, Scott A.

1997-01-01

To assist NASA in identifying research art, with the greatest potential for improving the air transportation system, two models were developed as part of its Aviation System Analysis Capability (ASAC). The ASAC Flight Segment Cost Model (FSCM) is used to predict aircraft trajectories, resource consumption, and variable operating costs for one or more flight segments. The Network Cost Model can either summarize the costs for a network of flight segments processed by the FSCM or can be used to independently estimate the variable operating costs of flying a fleet of equipment given the number of departures and average flight stage lengths.

Air System Information Management

Science.gov (United States)

Filman, Robert E.

2004-01-01

I flew to Washington last week, a trip rich in distributed information management. Buying tickets, at the gate, in flight, landing and at the baggage claim, myriad messages about my reservation, the weather, our flight plans, gates, bags and so forth flew among a variety of travel agency, airline and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) computers and personnel. By and large, each kind of information ran on a particular application, often specialized to own data formats and communications network. I went to Washington to attend an FAA meeting on System-Wide Information Management (SWIM) for the National Airspace System (NAS) (http://www.nasarchitecture.faa.gov/Tutorials/NAS101.cfm). NAS (and its information infrastructure, SWIM) is an attempt to bring greater regularity, efficiency and uniformity to the collection of stovepipe applications now used to manage air traffic. Current systems hold information about flight plans, flight trajectories, weather, air turbulence, current and forecast weather, radar summaries, hazardous condition warnings, airport and airspace capacity constraints, temporary flight restrictions, and so forth. Information moving among these stovepipe systems is usually mediated by people (for example, air traffic controllers) or single-purpose applications. People, whose intelligence is critical for difficult tasks and unusual circumstances, are not as efficient as computers for tasks that can be automated. Better information sharing can lead to higher system capacity, more efficient utilization and safer operations. Better information sharing through greater automation is possible though not necessarily easy.

Small photovoltaic setup for the air conditioning system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Masiukiewicz Maciej

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The increasing interest in air conditioning systems for residential applications in Poland will certainly increase the demand for electricity during the summer period. Due to this fact a growing interest in solutions that help to lower the electricity consumption in this sector is observed. The problem of increased energy demand for air conditioning purposes can be solved by transfer the consumption of electricity from the grid system to renewable energy sources (RES. The greatest demand for cooling occurs during the biggest sunlight. This is the basis for the analysis of technical power system based on photovoltaic cells (PV to power the split type air conditioner. The object of the study was the commercial residential airconditioning inverter units with a capacity of 2.5kW. A network electricity production system for their own use with the possibility of buffering energy in batteries (OFF-GRID system. Currently, on the Polish market, there are no developed complete solutions dedicated to air conditioning systems based on PV. In Poland, solar energy is mainly used for heat production in solar collectors. The proposed solution will help to increase the popularity of PV systems in the Polish market as an alternative to other RES. The basic conclusion is that the amount of PV energy generated was sufficient to cover the daily energy requirement of the air conditioner.

Small photovoltaic setup for the air conditioning system

Science.gov (United States)

Masiukiewicz, Maciej

2017-10-01

The increasing interest in air conditioning systems for residential applications in Poland will certainly increase the demand for electricity during the summer period. Due to this fact a growing interest in solutions that help to lower the electricity consumption in this sector is observed. The problem of increased energy demand for air conditioning purposes can be solved by transfer the consumption of electricity from the grid system to renewable energy sources (RES). The greatest demand for cooling occurs during the biggest sunlight. This is the basis for the analysis of technical power system based on photovoltaic cells (PV) to power the split type air conditioner. The object of the study was the commercial residential airconditioning inverter units with a capacity of 2.5kW. A network electricity production system for their own use with the possibility of buffering energy in batteries (OFF-GRID system). Currently, on the Polish market, there are no developed complete solutions dedicated to air conditioning systems based on PV. In Poland, solar energy is mainly used for heat production in solar collectors. The proposed solution will help to increase the popularity of PV systems in the Polish market as an alternative to other RES. The basic conclusion is that the amount of PV energy generated was sufficient to cover the daily energy requirement of the air conditioner.

Photochemical and other air pollutants in the Netherlands

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Floor, H.

1976-01-01

In 1975, together with the State Institute of Public Health and the Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute, The Institute of Phytopathological Research continued investigations on incidence of air pollution throughout the Netherlands. Culture vessels with indicator plants were placed on 31 test plots of the National Air Pollution Monitoring Network. During the growing season from May until October, the indicator plants were inspected weekly for typical symptoms of air pollution. Until July, photochemical air pollution by ozone caused less injury to Spinacia oleracea than in the preceding year. On Nicotiana tabacum there was as much injury as in 1974, especially in the 33rd, 36th and 37th week, all over the country. An increasing number of injurious effects by peroxyacetyl nitrate was observed on Petunia nyctaginiflora, Poa annua and Urtica urens. Medicago sativa, Fagopyrum esculentuma nd Petunia nyctaginiflora, indicator plants for the pollutants SO2, NO/sub x/ and ethylene, showed little and Solanum tuberosum, possible indicator plant for ethylene and ozone, no injury in 1975. Finally air pollution by HG occurred on the same scale as in 1974, as shown by Tulipa gesneriana in spring and Gladiolus gandavensis in summer. These results corresponded with the figures for F from the limed paper method. As in 1974, data on injury to the plants and from the limed paper method showed a decline from south to north.

The MedCLIVAR Network

Science.gov (United States)

Lionello, Piero; Medclivar sg, The

2013-04-01

The MedCLIVAR initiative was first proposed at the 2003 European Geosciences Union assembly in Nice, France. In 2005, it was endorsed by the International Climate Variability and Predictability (CLIVAR) office. Subsequently, the MedCLIVAR Research Network Project was formally approved by the European Science Foundation and launched in May 2006 with the support of funding agencies from 12 countries. Since then, MedCLIVAR has served as a scientific network to promote interaction among different scientific disciplines and to develop a multidisciplinary vision of the evolution of the Mediterranean climate through studies that integrate atmospheric, marine, and terrestrial climate components at time scales ranging from paleoreconstructions to future climate scenarios. Presently, the network continues dealing with scientific issues including past climate variability; connections between the Mediterranean and global climate; the Mediterranean Sea circulation and sea level; feedbacks on the global climate system; and regional responses to greenhouse gas, air pollution, and aerosols. Its present activities include the publication of a newsletter, the organization of the next MedCLIVAR conference in 2014 and the publication of a special issue of Regional Environmental Change devoted to the climate of the Mediterranean region.

Physical approach to air pollution climatological modelling in a complex site

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bonino, G [Torino, Universita; CNR, Istituto di Cosmo-Geofisica, Turin, Italy); Longhetto, A [Ente Nazionale per l' Energia Elettrica, Centro di Ricerca Termica e Nucleare, Milan; CNR, Istituto di Cosmo-Geofisica, Turin, Italy); Runca, E [International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg, Austria

1980-09-01

A Gaussian climatological model which takes into account physical factors affecting air pollutant dispersion, such as nocturnal radiative inversion and mixing height evolution, associated with land breeze and sea breeze regimes, has been applied to the topographically complex area of La Spezia. The measurements of the dynamic and thermodynamic structure of the lower atmosphere obtained by field experiments are utilized in the model to calculate the SO/sub 2/ seasonal average concentrations. The model has been tested on eight three-monthly periods by comparing the simulated values with the ones measured at the SO/sub 2/ stations of the local air pollution monitoring network. Comparison of simulated and measured values was satisfactory and proved the applicability of the model for urban planning and establishment of air quality strategies.

Air quality and use of natural gas fuels: Assessment of improvement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Riva, A.; Andreetto, B.

1992-01-01

This paper describes the application of the ARICOM code in the evaluation of air pollution and air quality in the Italian district of Verona. The study compared the environmental effects resulting from the use of natural gas, diesel fuels and fuel oils in a variety of real and simulated consumption schemes involving different mixes of fuels for space heating, automobile operation and industrial processes. The Verona district was divided into one square kilometer sections and the exhaust emission data were utilized in a dispersion model to calculate ground level pollution concentration levels. Real condition scenario pollution concentration levels calculated with this code were validated by actual measurements taken with an air quality monitoring network. The results evidenced the reduction in sulfur oxide pollution levels which can be obtained with the increased use of natural gas

Transcriptomic network analysis of micronuclei-related genes: a case study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

van Leeuwen, D. M.; Pedersen, Marie; Knudsen, Lisbeth E.

2011-01-01

checkpoint and aneuploidy. The MN-related gene network was tested against a transcriptomics case study associated with MN measurements. In this case study, transcriptomic data from children and adults differentially exposed to ambient air pollution in the Czech Republic were analysed and visualised......Mechanistically relevant information on responses of humans to xenobiotic exposure in relation to chemically induced biological effects, such as micronuclei (MN) formation can be obtained through large-scale transcriptomics studies. Network analysis may enhance the analysis and visualisation...... of such data. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a 'MN formation' network based on a priori knowledge, by using the pathway tool MetaCore. The gene network contained 27 genes and three gene complexes that are related to processes involved in MN formation, e.g. spindle assembly checkpoint, cell cycle...

33 CFR 334.1280 - Bristol Bay, Alaska; air-to-air weapon range, Alaskan Air Command, U.S. Air Force.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Bristol Bay, Alaska; air-to-air weapon range, Alaskan Air Command, U.S. Air Force. 334.1280 Section 334.1280 Navigation and Navigable... REGULATIONS § 334.1280 Bristol Bay, Alaska; air-to-air weapon range, Alaskan Air Command, U.S. Air Force. (a...

Design of Sensor Data Processing Steps in an Air Pollution Monitoring System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kwang Woo Nam

2011-11-01

Full Text Available Environmental monitoring is required to understand the effects of various kinds of phenomena such as a flood, a typhoon, or a forest fire. To detect the environmental conditions in remote places, monitoring applications employ the sensor networks to detect conditions, context models to understand phenomena, and computing technology to process the large volumes of data. In this paper, we present an air pollution monitoring system to provide alarm messages about potentially dangerous areas with sensor data analysis. We design the data analysis steps to understand the detected air pollution regions and levels. The analyzed data is used to track the pollution and to give an alarm. This implemented monitoring system is used to mitigate the damages caused by air pollution.

Neuro-optimal operation of a variable air volume HVAC and R system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ning Min; Zaheeruddin, M.

2010-01-01

Low operational efficiency especially under partial load conditions and poor control are some reasons for high energy consumption of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC and R) systems. To improve energy efficiency, HVAC and R systems should be efficiently operated to maintain a desired indoor environment under dynamic ambient and indoor conditions. This study proposes a neural network based optimal supervisory operation strategy to find the optimal set points for chilled water supply temperature, discharge air temperature and VAV system fan static pressure such that the indoor environment is maintained with the least chiller and fan energy consumption. To achieve this objective, a dynamic system model is developed first to simulate the system behavior under different control schemes and operating conditions. A multi-layer feed forward neural network is constructed and trained in unsupervised mode to minimize the cost function which is comprised of overall energy cost and penalty cost when one or more constraints are violated. After training, the network is implemented as a supervisory controller to compute the optimal settings for the system. Simulation results show that compared to the conventional night reset operation scheme, the optimal operation scheme saves around 10% energy under full load condition and 19% energy under partial load conditions.

Royal Danish Air Force. Air Operations Doctrine

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nørby, Søren

This brief examines the development of the first Danish Air Force Air Operations Doctrine, which was officially commissioned in October 1997 and remained in effect until 2010. The development of a Danish air power doctrine was heavily influenced by the work of Colonel John Warden (USAF), both...... through his book ”The Air Campaign” and his subsequent planning of the air campaign against Iraq in 1990-1991. Warden’s ideas came to Denmark and the Danish Air Force by way of Danish Air Force students attending the United States Air Force Air University in Alabama, USA. Back in Denmark, graduates from...... the Air University inspired a small number of passionate airmen, who then wrote the Danish Air Operations Doctrine. The process was supported by the Air Force Tactical Command, which found that the work dovetailed perfectly with the transformation process that the Danish Air Force was in the midst...

Impact Analysis of Air Pollutant Emission Policies on Thermal Coal Supply Chain Enterprises in China

OpenAIRE

Xiaopeng Guo; Xiaodan Guo; Jiahai Yuan

2014-01-01

Spurred by the increasingly serious air pollution problem, the Chinese government has launched a series of policies to put forward specific measures of power structure adjustment and the control objectives of air pollution and coal consumption. Other policies pointed out that the coal resources regional blockades will be broken by improving transportation networks and constructing new logistics nodes. Thermal power takes the largest part of China’s total installed power generation capacity, s...

Journal Article: Quality Assurance Considerations for An Ambient Dioxin Monitoring Network

Science.gov (United States)

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency initiated the National Dioxin Air Monitoring Network (NDAMN) in 1998. NDAMN has three primary purposes: 1. To provide measurements of background atmospheric levels of dioxin-like compounds in different geographic regions of the Unite...

The communications in early warning network for radiation monitoring

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oyoun, M.B.; Al-Hussin, Mohamad; Fares, Adnan; Al-Oulabi, Yasser; Othman, Ibrahim

1992-07-01

The objectives of early warning network are: The determination of gamma radiation (background) levels in air which depend on location and time, evaluation of any situation resulting from radiation or nuclear accident out of boarder, and after that reporting the emergency situation to relevant authorities on the national and international levels. Monitoring stations were installed using Gm tubes to cover boarder lines from south to north and east to west as follows: Damascus, Darra, Latakia, Tartous, Aleppo, Kamishly, Ragaa, and Qunitra. The following modes of communication: Telephone line, leased line, direct connection, and Syrian data network were used in the Syrian early network. This project was carried out in cooperation with IAEA under project no. RER/9/003. (author). 22 figs., 1 tab

The Danish air quality monitoring programme. Annual summary for 2012

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ellermann, T.; Klenoe Noejgaard, J.; Nordstroem, C.; Brandt, J.; Christensen, Jesper; Ketzel, M.; Jansen, S.; Massling, A.; Solvang Jensen, S.

2013-10-15

The air quality in Danish cities has been monitored continuously since 1982 within the Danish Air Quality Monitoring network. The aim is to follow the concentration levels of toxic pollutants in the urban atmosphere and to provide the necessary knowledge to assess the trends, to perform source apportionment, and to understand the governing processes that determine the level of air pollution in Denmark. In 2012 the air quality was measured in four Danish cities and at two background sites. In addition model calculations were carried out to supplement the measurements. At one street station (H.C. Andersens Boulevard) in Copenhagen NO{sub 2} was found in concentrations above EU limit values while NO{sub 2} levels in Odense, Aarhus and Aalborg were below the limit value. Model calculations indicate exceedances of NO{sub 2} limit values at several streets in Copenhagen. Annual averages of PM{sub 10} and PM{sub 2.5} were below limit values at all stations. The concentrations for most pollutants have been decreasing during the last decades. (Author)

Aerial surveys adjusted by ground surveys to estimate area occupied by black-tailed prairie dog colonies

Science.gov (United States)

Sidle, John G.; Augustine, David J.; Johnson, Douglas H.; Miller, Sterling D.; Cully, Jack F.; Reading, Richard P.

2012-01-01

Aerial surveys using line-intercept methods are one approach to estimate the extent of prairie dog colonies in a large geographic area. Although black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) construct conspicuous mounds at burrow openings, aerial observers have difficulty discriminating between areas with burrows occupied by prairie dogs (colonies) versus areas of uninhabited burrows (uninhabited colony sites). Consequently, aerial line-intercept surveys may overestimate prairie dog colony extent unless adjusted by an on-the-ground inspection of a sample of intercepts. We compared aerial line-intercept surveys conducted over 2 National Grasslands in Colorado, USA, with independent ground-mapping of known black-tailed prairie dog colonies. Aerial line-intercepts adjusted by ground surveys using a single activity category adjustment overestimated colonies by ≥94% on the Comanche National Grassland and ≥58% on the Pawnee National Grassland. We present a ground-survey technique that involves 1) visiting on the ground a subset of aerial intercepts classified as occupied colonies plus a subset of intercepts classified as uninhabited colony sites, and 2) based on these ground observations, recording the proportion of each aerial intercept that intersects a colony and the proportion that intersects an uninhabited colony site. Where line-intercept techniques are applied to aerial surveys or remotely sensed imagery, this method can provide more accurate estimates of black-tailed prairie dog abundance and trends

Automated Aerial Refueling Hitches a Ride on AFF

Science.gov (United States)

Hansen, Jennifer L.; Murray, James E.; Bever, Glenn; Campos, Norma V.; Schkolnik, Gerard

2007-01-01

The recent introduction of uninhabited aerial vehicles [UAVs (basically, remotely piloted or autonomous aircraft)] has spawned new developments in autonomous operation and posed new challenges. Automated aerial refueling (AAR) is a capability that will enable UAVs to travel greater distances and loiter longer over targets. NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, in cooperation with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), the Naval Air Force Pacific Fleet, and the Air Force Research Laboratory, rapidly conceived and accomplished an AAR flight research project focused on collecting a unique, high-quality database on the dynamics of the hose and drogue of an aerial refueling system. This flight-derived database would be used to validate mathematical models of the dynamics in support of design and analysis of AAR systems for future UAVs. The project involved the use of two Dryden F/A-18 airplanes and an S-3 hose-drogue refueling store on loan from the Navy. In this year-long project, which was started on October 1, 2002, 583 research maneuvers were completed during 23 flights.

The association of air temperature with cardiac arrhythmias

Science.gov (United States)

Čulić, Viktor

2017-11-01

The body response to meteorological influences may activate pathophysiological mechanisms facilitating the occurrence of cardiac arrhythmias in susceptible patients. Putative underlying mechanisms include changes in systemic vascular resistance and blood pressure, as well as a network of proinflammatory and procoagulant processes. Such a chain reaction probably occurs within the time window of several hours, so use of daily average values of meteorological elements do not seem appropriate for investigation in this area. In addition, overall synoptic situation, and season-specific combinations of meteorological elements and air pollutant levels probably cause the overall effect rather than a single atmospheric element. Particularly strong interrelations have been described among wind speed, air pressure and temperature, relative air humidity, and suspended particulate matter. This may be the main reason why studies examining the association between temperature and ventricular arrhythmias have found linear positive, negative, J-shaped or no association. Further understanding of the pathophysiological adaptation to atmospheric environment may help in providing recommendations for protective measures during "bad" weather conditions in patients with cardiac arrhythmias.

A Wavelet Analysis Approach for Categorizing Air Traffic Behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Drew, Michael; Sheth, Kapil

2015-01-01

In this paper two frequency domain techniques are applied to air traffic analysis. The Continuous Wavelet Transform (CWT), like the Fourier Transform, is shown to identify changes in historical traffic patterns caused by Traffic Management Initiatives (TMIs) and weather with the added benefit of detecting when in time those changes take place. Next, with the expectation that it could detect anomalies in the network and indicate the extent to which they affect traffic flows, the Spectral Graph Wavelet Transform (SGWT) is applied to a center based graph model of air traffic. When applied to simulations based on historical flight plans, it identified the traffic flows between centers that have the greatest impact on either neighboring flows, or flows between centers many centers away. Like the CWT, however, it can be difficult to interpret SGWT results and relate them to simulations where major TMIs are implemented, and more research may be warranted in this area. These frequency analysis techniques can detect off-nominal air traffic behavior, but due to the nature of air traffic time series data, so far they prove difficult to apply in a way that provides significant insight or specific identification of traffic patterns.

Prediction of Full-Scale Propulsion Power using Artificial Neural Networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Benjamin Pjedsted; Larsen, Jan

2009-01-01

Full scale measurements of the propulsion power, ship speed, wind speed and direction, sea and air temperature from four different loading conditions, together with hind cast data of wind and sea properties; and noon report data has been used to train an Artificial Neural Network for prediction...

A Reduced-Complexity Investigation of Blunt Leading-Edge Separation Motivated by UCAV Aerodynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Luckring, James M.; Boelens, Okko J.

2015-01-01

A reduced complexity investigation for blunt-leading-edge vortical separation has been undertaken. The overall approach is to design the fundamental work in such a way so that it relates to the aerodynamics of a more complex Uninhabited Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) concept known as SACCON. Some of the challenges associated with both the vehicle-class aerodynamics and the fundamental vortical flows are reviewed, and principles from a hierarchical complexity approach are used to relate flow fundamentals to system-level interests. The work is part of roughly 6-year research program on blunt-leading-edge separation pertinent to UCAVs, and was conducted under the NATO Science and Technology Organization, Applied Vehicle Technology panel.