NOAA Seamless Raster Navigational Charts (RNC)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The NOAA Seamless Raster Chart Server provides a seamless collarless mosaic of the NOAA Raster Navigational Charts (RNC). The RNC are a collection of approximately...

Raster images vectorization system

OpenAIRE

Genytė, Jurgita

2006-01-01

The problem of raster images vectorization was analyzed and researched in this work. Existing vectorization systems are quite expensive, the results are inaccurate, and the manual vectorization of a large number of drafts is impossible. That‘s why our goal was to design and develop a new raster images vectorization system using our suggested automatic vectorization algorithm and the way to record results in a new universal vectorial file format. The work consists of these main parts: analysis...

Application of raster-based GIS techniques in the siting of landfills in Trabzon Province, Turkey: a case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Yildirim, Volkan

2012-09-01

One of the most important steps in solid waste management is the selection of an appropriate landfill site. The site selection process requires the evaluation and analysis of several criteria. However, the traditional evaluation method is not sufficient for the site selection process. Geographical information system (GIS) technologies are effectively used in the process of site selection, which is a spatial problem. This article describes a raster GIS-based landfill site selection (LSS) method. This method utilizes a raster-based spatial database in which the factors affect the landfill site selection. The final product in this method is the cost surface map showing pixel-based values of the appropriate areas. Furthermore, this GIS-based LSS method was applied for the evaluation of two landfill sites in Trabzon Province in Turkey, for which the traditional evaluation method for site selection was used. The suitability values on the cost surface map of these two landfills have shown that these sites are not appropriate for a solid waste landfill. In conclusion, it was demonstrated that the method of raster GIS-based site selection gives more effective results than traditional methods.

Combining satellite photographs and raster lidar data for channel connectivity in tidal marshes.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Zhi; Hodges, Ben

2017-04-01

High resolution airborne lidar is capable of providing topographic detail down to the 1 x 1 m scale or finer over large tidal marshes of a river delta. Such data sets can be challenging to develop and ground-truth due to the inherent complexities of the environment, the relatively small changes in elevation throughout a marsh, and practical difficulties in accessing the variety of flooded, dry, and muddy regions. Standard lidar point-cloud processing techniques (as typically applied in large lidar data collection program) have a tendency to mis-identify narrow channels and water connectivity in a marsh, which makes it difficult to directly use such data for modeling marsh flows. Unfortunately, it is not always practical, or even possible, to access the point cloud and re-analyze the raw lidar data when discrepancies have been found in a raster work product. Faced with this problem in preparing a model of the Trinity River delta (Texas, USA), we developed an approach to integrating analysis of a lidar-based raster with satellite images. Our primary goal was to identify the clear land/water boundaries needed to identify channelization in the available rasterized lidar data. The channel extraction method uses pixelized satellite photographs that are stretched/distorted with image-processing techniques to match identifiable control features in both lidar and photographic data sets. A kmeans clustering algorithm was applied cluster pixels based on their colors, which is effective in separating land and water in a satellite photograph. The clustered image was matched to the lidar data such that the combination shows the channel network. In effect, we are able to use the fact that the satellite photograph is higher resolution than the lidar data, and thus provides connectivity in the clustering at a finer scale. The principal limitation of the method is the where the satellite image and lidar suffer from similar problems For example, vegetation overhanging a narrow

Investigation of Optimal Integrated Circuit Raster Image Vectorization Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leonas Jasevičius

2011-03-01

Full Text Available Visual analysis of integrated circuit layer requires raster image vectorization stage to extract layer topology data to CAD tools. In this paper vectorization problems of raster IC layer images are presented. Various line extraction from raster images algorithms and their properties are discussed. Optimal raster image vectorization method was developed which allows utilization of common vectorization algorithms to achieve the best possible extracted vector data match with perfect manual vectorization results. To develop the optimal method, vectorized data quality dependence on initial raster image skeleton filter selection was assessed.Article in Lithuanian

Designing a New Raster Sub-System for GRASS-7

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martin Hruby

2012-03-01

Full Text Available The paper deals with a design of a new raster sub-system intended for modern GIS systems open for client and server operation, database connection and strong application interface (API. Motivation for such a design comes from the current state of API working in GRASS 6. If found attractive, the here presented design and its implementation (referred as RG7 may be integrated to the future new generation of the GRASS Geographical Information System version 7-8. The paper describes in details the concept of raster tiling, computer storage of rasters and basic raster access procedures. Finally, the paper gives a simple benchmarking experiment of random read access to raster files imported from the Spearfish dataset. The experiment compares the early implementation of RG7 with the current implementation of rasters in GRASS 6. As the result, the experiment shows the RG7 to be significantly faster than GRASS in random read access to large raster files.

THE DESIGN OF A HIGH PERFORMANCE EARTH IMAGERY AND RASTER DATA MANAGEMENT AND PROCESSING PLATFORM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Q. Xie

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This paper summarizes the general requirements and specific characteristics of both geospatial raster database management system and raster data processing platform from a domain-specific perspective as well as from a computing point of view. It also discusses the need of tight integration between the database system and the processing system. These requirements resulted in Oracle Spatial GeoRaster, a global scale and high performance earth imagery and raster data management and processing platform. The rationale, design, implementation, and benefits of Oracle Spatial GeoRaster are described. Basically, as a database management system, GeoRaster defines an integrated raster data model, supports image compression, data manipulation, general and spatial indices, content and context based queries and updates, versioning, concurrency, security, replication, standby, backup and recovery, multitenancy, and ETL. It provides high scalability using computer and storage clustering. As a raster data processing platform, GeoRaster provides basic operations, image processing, raster analytics, and data distribution featuring high performance computing (HPC. Specifically, HPC features include locality computing, concurrent processing, parallel processing, and in-memory computing. In addition, the APIs and the plug-in architecture are discussed.

The Design of a High Performance Earth Imagery and Raster Data Management and Processing Platform

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Qingyun

2016-06-01

This paper summarizes the general requirements and specific characteristics of both geospatial raster database management system and raster data processing platform from a domain-specific perspective as well as from a computing point of view. It also discusses the need of tight integration between the database system and the processing system. These requirements resulted in Oracle Spatial GeoRaster, a global scale and high performance earth imagery and raster data management and processing platform. The rationale, design, implementation, and benefits of Oracle Spatial GeoRaster are described. Basically, as a database management system, GeoRaster defines an integrated raster data model, supports image compression, data manipulation, general and spatial indices, content and context based queries and updates, versioning, concurrency, security, replication, standby, backup and recovery, multitenancy, and ETL. It provides high scalability using computer and storage clustering. As a raster data processing platform, GeoRaster provides basic operations, image processing, raster analytics, and data distribution featuring high performance computing (HPC). Specifically, HPC features include locality computing, concurrent processing, parallel processing, and in-memory computing. In addition, the APIs and the plug-in architecture are discussed.

Monthly Composite Chlorophyll Concentrations - Gulf of Maine

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This personal geodatabase contains raster images of chlorophyll concentrations in the Gulf of Maine. These raster images are monthly composites, and were calculated...

A Comparison of Vector and Raster GIS Methods for Calculating Landscape Metrics Used in Environmental Assessments

Science.gov (United States)

Timothy G. Wade; James D. Wickham; Maliha S. Nash; Anne C. Neale; Kurt H. Riitters; K. Bruce Jones

2003-01-01

AbstractGIS-based measurements that combine native raster and native vector data are commonly used in environmental assessments. Most of these measurements can be calculated using either raster or vector data formats and processing methods. Raster processes are more commonly used because they can be significantly faster computationally...

Digital Raster Graphics (DRG) UTM NAD 83 Clipped

Data.gov (United States)

Kansas Data Access and Support Center — The Digital Raster Graphic (DRG) is a raster image of a scanned USGS topographic map including the collar information, georeferenced to the UTM grid. For display...

Digital Raster Graphics (DRG) UTM NAD 27 Clipped

Data.gov (United States)

Kansas Data Access and Support Center — The Digital Raster Graphic (DRG) is a raster image of a scanned USGS topographic map including the collar information, georeferenced to the UTM grid. For display...

Rasdaman for Big Spatial Raster Data

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, F.; Huang, Q.; Scheele, C. J.; Yang, C. P.; Yu, M.; Liu, K.

2015-12-01

Spatial raster data have grown exponentially over the past decade. Recent advancements on data acquisition technology, such as remote sensing, have allowed us to collect massive observation data of various spatial resolution and domain coverage. The volume, velocity, and variety of such spatial data, along with the computational intensive nature of spatial queries, pose grand challenge to the storage technologies for effective big data management. While high performance computing platforms (e.g., cloud computing) can be used to solve the computing-intensive issues in big data analysis, data has to be managed in a way that is suitable for distributed parallel processing. Recently, rasdaman (raster data manager) has emerged as a scalable and cost-effective database solution to store and retrieve massive multi-dimensional arrays, such as sensor, image, and statistics data. Within this paper, the pros and cons of using rasdaman to manage and query spatial raster data will be examined and compared with other common approaches, including file-based systems, relational databases (e.g., PostgreSQL/PostGIS), and NoSQL databases (e.g., MongoDB and Hive). Earth Observing System (EOS) data collected from NASA's Atmospheric Scientific Data Center (ASDC) will be used and stored in these selected database systems, and a set of spatial and non-spatial queries will be designed to benchmark their performance on retrieving large-scale, multi-dimensional arrays of EOS data. Lessons learnt from using rasdaman will be discussed as well.

Digital Raster Graphics (DRG) UTM NAD 83 County

Data.gov (United States)

Kansas Data Access and Support Center — The Digital Raster Graphic (DRG) is a raster image of a scanned USGS topographic map including the collar information, georeferenced to the UTM grid and tiled by...

The effect of choosing three different C factor formulae derived from NDVI on a fully raster-based erosion modelling

Science.gov (United States)

Sulistyo, Bambang

2016-11-01

The research was aimed at studying the efect of choosing three different C factor formulae derived from NDVI on a fully raster-based erosion modelling of The USLE using remote sensing data and GIS technique. Methods applied was by analysing all factors affecting erosion such that all data were in the form of raster. Those data were R, K, LS, C and P factors. Monthly R factor was evaluated based on formula developed by Abdurachman. K factor was determined using modified formula used by Ministry of Forestry based on soil samples taken in the field. LS factor was derived from Digital Elevation Model. Three C factors used were all derived from NDVI and developed by Suriyaprasit (non-linear) and by Sulistyo (linear and non-linear). P factor was derived from the combination between slope data and landcover classification interpreted from Landsat 7 ETM+. Another analysis was the creation of map of Bulk Density used to convert erosion unit. To know the model accuracy, model validation was done by applying statistical analysis and by comparing Emodel with Eactual. A threshold value of ≥ 0.80 or ≥ 80% was chosen to justify. The research result showed that all Emodel using three formulae of C factors have coeeficient of correlation value of > 0.8. The results of analysis of variance showed that there was significantly difference between Emodel and Eactual when using C factor formula developed by Suriyaprasit and Sulistyo (non-linear). Among the three formulae, only Emodel using C factor formula developed by Sulistyo (linear) reached the accuracy of 81.13% while the other only 56.02% as developed by Sulistyo (nonlinear) and 4.70% as developed by Suriyaprasit, respectively.

Fast generation of multiple resolution instances of raster data sets

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Arge, L.; Haverkort, H.J.; Tsirogiannis, C.P.

2012-01-01

In many GIS applications it is important to study the characteristics of a raster data set at multiple resolutions. Often this is done by generating several coarser resolution rasters from a fine resolution raster. In this paper we describe efficient algorithms for different variants of this

Designing Raster Cells as the Basis for Developing Personal Graphic Language

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jana Z. Vujić

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Continuous work in creating new designer solutions points towards the need to create personal routines as personalcommunication in the relation comprising design, algorithms, and original computer graphics. This paper showsprocedures for developing a control language for creating graphic designs with individual raster elements (screeningelement obtaint by halftoning. Personal commands should set routines in a language understood by the printer andthe designer. The PostScript basis is used because we mix vector and pixel graphics in the same program stream, aswell as different colour systems, and our own raster forms. The printing raster is set with the target of special designmulti-use, and this includes the field of security graphics and art computer reproduction. Each raster form assumesmodifications, creating their raster family. The raster cell content is transformed with PostScript, allowing the settingof basic values, angle and liniature for each pixel separately. Raster cells are mixed in multi-colour graphics to thelevel of individual designs with variable values of parameters determining them.

Fast generation of multiple resolution instances of raster data sets

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Arge, Lars; Haverkort, Herman; Tsirogiannis, Constantinos

2012-01-01

In many GIS applications it is important to study the characteristics of a raster data set at multiple resolutions. Often this is done by generating several coarser resolution rasters from a fine resolution raster. In this paper we describe efficient algorithms for different variants of this prob......In many GIS applications it is important to study the characteristics of a raster data set at multiple resolutions. Often this is done by generating several coarser resolution rasters from a fine resolution raster. In this paper we describe efficient algorithms for different variants...... in the main memory of the computer. We also provide two algorithms that solve this problem in external memory, that is when the input raster is larger than the main memory. The first external algorithm is very easy to implement and requires O(sort(N)) data block transfers from/to the external memory....... For this variant we describe an algorithm that runs in (U logN) time in internal memory, where U is the size of the output. We show how this algorithm can be adapted to perform efficiently in the external memory using O(sort(U)) data transfers from the disk. We have also implemented two of the presented algorithms...

Slow beam raster system at CEBAF

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yan, C.; Beaufait, J.; Carlini, R.; Cuevas, C.; Vulcan, W.; Wines, R.

1994-01-01

A bedstead air-core raster magnet is being installed now, it will be used at CEBAF to scan the beam on the Hall C polarized target and the beam dump with fixed frequency 60 Hz in horizontal, 103.4 Hz in vertical. The x and y raster magnets are driven by Variac transformer and SUMIT-OMO inverter respectively. Both of them provide an approximate sine current waveform with peak current 20 A, corresponding to a maximum deflection angle 1 mr

Development of a raster electronics system for expanding the APT proton beam

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chapelle, S.; Hubbard, E.L.; Smith, T.L. [General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States); Schulze, M.E.; Shafer, R.E. [General Atomics, Los Alamos, NM (United States)

1998-12-31

A 1700 MeV, 100 mA proton linear accelerator is being designed for Accelerator Production of Tritium (APT). A beam expansion system is required to uniformly irradiate a 19 x 190 cm tritium production target. This paper describes a beam expansion system consisting of eight ferrite dipole magnets to raster the beam in the x- and y-planes and also describes the salient features of the design of the electronics that are unique to the expander. Eight Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT)-based modulators drive the raster magnets with triangular current waveforms that are synchronized using phase-locked loops (PLLs) and voltage controlled crystal oscillators (VCXOs). Fault detection circuitry shuts down the beam before the target can be damaged by a failure of the raster system. Test data are presented for the prototype system.

Mapping Monthly Water Scarcity in Global Transboundary Basins at Country-Basin Mesh Based Spatial Resolution.

Science.gov (United States)

Degefu, Dagmawi Mulugeta; Weijun, He; Zaiyi, Liao; Liang, Yuan; Zhengwei, Huang; Min, An

2018-02-01

Currently fresh water scarcity is an issue with huge socio-economic and environmental impacts. Transboundary river and lake basins are among the sources of fresh water facing this challenge. Previous studies measured blue water scarcity at different spatial and temporal resolutions. But there is no global water availability and footprint assessment done at country-basin mesh based spatial and monthly temporal resolutions. In this study we assessed water scarcity at these spatial and temporal resolutions. Our results showed that around 1.6 billion people living within the 328 country-basin units out of the 560 we assessed in this study endures severe water scarcity at least for a month within the year. In addition, 175 country-basin units goes through severe water scarcity for 3-12 months in the year. These sub-basins include nearly a billion people. Generally, the results of this study provide insights regarding the number of people and country-basin units experiencing low, moderate, significant and severe water scarcity at a monthly temporal resolution. These insights might help these basins' sharing countries to design and implement sustainable water management and sharing schemes.

Raster microdiffraction with synchrotron radiation of hydrated biopolymers with nanometre step-resolution: case study of starch granules

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Riekel, C.; Burghammer, M.; Davies, R. J.; Di Cola, E.; König, C.; Lemke, H.T.; Putaux, J.-L.; Schöder, S.

2010-01-01

Radiation damage propagation was examined in starch granules by synchrotron radiation micro- and nano-diffraction techniques from cryo- to room temperatures. Careful dose limitation allowed raster-diffraction experiments with 500 nm step resolution to be performed. X-ray radiation damage propagation is explored for hydrated starch granules in order to reduce the step resolution in raster-microdiffraction experiments to the nanometre range. Radiation damage was induced by synchrotron radiation microbeams of 5, 1 and 0.3 µm size with ∼0.1 nm wavelength in B-type potato, Canna edulis and Phajus grandifolius starch granules. A total loss of crystallinity of granules immersed in water was found at a dose of ∼1.3 photons nm −3 . The temperature dependence of radiation damage suggests that primary radiation damage prevails up to about 120 K while secondary radiation damage becomes effective at higher temperatures. Primary radiation damage remains confined to the beam track at 100 K. Propagation of radiation damage beyond the beam track at room temperature is assumed to be due to reactive species generated principally by water radiolysis induced by photoelectrons. By careful dose selection during data collection, raster scans with 500 nm step-resolution could be performed for granules immersed in water

Integrated Storage and Management of Vector and Raster Data Based on Oracle Database

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

WU Zheng

2017-05-01

Full Text Available At present, there are many problems in the storage and management of multi-source heterogeneous spatial data, such as the difficulty of transferring, the lack of unified storage and the low efficiency. By combining relational database and spatial data engine technology, an approach for integrated storage and management of vector and raster data is proposed on the basis of Oracle in this paper. This approach establishes an integrated storage model on vector and raster data and optimizes the retrieval mechanism at first, then designs a framework for the seamless data transfer, finally realizes the unified storage and efficient management of multi-source heterogeneous data. By comparing experimental results with the international leading similar software ArcSDE, it is proved that the proposed approach has higher data transfer performance and better query retrieval efficiency.

BOREAS TGB-12 Soil Carbon and Flux Data of NSA-MSA in Raster Format

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Forrest G. (Editor); Knapp, David E. (Editor); Rapalee, Gloria; Davidson, Eric; Harden, Jennifer W.; Trumbore, Susan E.; Veldhuis, Hugo

2000-01-01

The BOREAS TGB-12 team made measurements of soil carbon inventories, carbon concentration in soil gases, and rates of soil respiration at several sites. This data set provides: (1) estimates of soil carbon stocks by horizon based on soil survey data and analyses of data from individual soil profiles; (2) estimates of soil carbon fluxes based on stocks, fire history, drain-age, and soil carbon inputs and decomposition constants based on field work using radiocarbon analyses; (3) fire history data estimating age ranges of time since last fire; and (4) a raster image and an associated soils table file from which area-weighted maps of soil carbon and fluxes and fire history may be generated. This data set was created from raster files, soil polygon data files, and detailed lab analysis of soils data that were received from Dr. Hugo Veldhuis, who did the original mapping in the field during 1994. Also used were soils data from Susan Trumbore and Jennifer Harden (BOREAS TGB-12). The binary raster file covers a 733-km 2 area within the NSA-MSA.

Raster Vs. Point Cloud LiDAR Data Classification

Science.gov (United States)

El-Ashmawy, N.; Shaker, A.

2014-09-01

Airborne Laser Scanning systems with light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technology is one of the fast and accurate 3D point data acquisition techniques. Generating accurate digital terrain and/or surface models (DTM/DSM) is the main application of collecting LiDAR range data. Recently, LiDAR range and intensity data have been used for land cover classification applications. Data range and Intensity, (strength of the backscattered signals measured by the LiDAR systems), are affected by the flying height, the ground elevation, scanning angle and the physical characteristics of the objects surface. These effects may lead to uneven distribution of point cloud or some gaps that may affect the classification process. Researchers have investigated the conversion of LiDAR range point data to raster image for terrain modelling. Interpolation techniques have been used to achieve the best representation of surfaces, and to fill the gaps between the LiDAR footprints. Interpolation methods are also investigated to generate LiDAR range and intensity image data for land cover classification applications. In this paper, different approach has been followed to classifying the LiDAR data (range and intensity) for land cover mapping. The methodology relies on the classification of the point cloud data based on their range and intensity and then converted the classified points into raster image. The gaps in the data are filled based on the classes of the nearest neighbour. Land cover maps are produced using two approaches using: (a) the conventional raster image data based on point interpolation; and (b) the proposed point data classification. A study area covering an urban district in Burnaby, British Colombia, Canada, is selected to compare the results of the two approaches. Five different land cover classes can be distinguished in that area: buildings, roads and parking areas, trees, low vegetation (grass), and bare soil. The results show that an improvement of around 10 % in the

Geospatial data sharing, online spatial analysis and processing of Indian Biodiversity data in Internet GIS domain - A case study for raster based online geo-processing

Science.gov (United States)

Karnatak, H.; Pandey, K.; Oberai, K.; Roy, A.; Joshi, D.; Singh, H.; Raju, P. L. N.; Krishna Murthy, Y. V. N.

2014-11-01

National Biodiversity Characterization at Landscape Level, a project jointly sponsored by Department of Biotechnology and Department of Space, was implemented to identify and map the potential biodiversity rich areas in India. This project has generated spatial information at three levels viz. Satellite based primary information (Vegetation Type map, spatial locations of road & village, Fire occurrence); geospatially derived or modelled information (Disturbance Index, Fragmentation, Biological Richness) and geospatially referenced field samples plots. The study provides information of high disturbance and high biological richness areas suggesting future management strategies and formulating action plans. The study has generated for the first time baseline database in India which will be a valuable input towards climate change study in the Indian Subcontinent. The spatial data generated during the study is organized as central data repository in Geo-RDBMS environment using PostgreSQL and POSTGIS. The raster and vector data is published as OGC WMS and WFS standard for development of web base geoinformation system using Service Oriented Architecture (SOA). The WMS and WFS based system allows geo-visualization, online query and map outputs generation based on user request and response. This is a typical mashup architecture based geo-information system which allows access to remote web services like ISRO Bhuvan, Openstreet map, Google map etc., with overlay on Biodiversity data for effective study on Bio-resources. The spatial queries and analysis with vector data is achieved through SQL queries on POSTGIS and WFS-T operations. But the most important challenge is to develop a system for online raster based geo-spatial analysis and processing based on user defined Area of Interest (AOI) for large raster data sets. The map data of this study contains approximately 20 GB of size for each data layer which are five in number. An attempt has been to develop system using

The effect of monitor raster latency on VEPs, ERPs and Brain-Computer Interface performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Nagel, Sebastian; Dreher, Werner; Rosenstiel, Wolfgang; Spüler, Martin

2018-02-01

Visual neuroscience experiments and Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) control often require strict timings in a millisecond scale. As most experiments are performed using a personal computer (PC), the latencies that are introduced by the setup should be taken into account and be corrected. As a standard computer monitor uses a rastering to update each line of the image sequentially, this causes a monitor raster latency which depends on the position, on the monitor and the refresh rate. We technically measured the raster latencies of different monitors and present the effects on visual evoked potentials (VEPs) and event-related potentials (ERPs). Additionally we present a method for correcting the monitor raster latency and analyzed the performance difference of a code-modulated VEP BCI speller by correcting the latency. There are currently no other methods validating the effects of monitor raster latency on VEPs and ERPs. The timings of VEPs and ERPs are directly affected by the raster latency. Furthermore, correcting the raster latency resulted in a significant reduction of the target prediction error from 7.98% to 4.61% and also in a more reliable classification of targets by significantly increasing the distance between the most probable and the second most probable target by 18.23%. The monitor raster latency affects the timings of VEPs and ERPs, and correcting resulted in a significant error reduction of 42.23%. It is recommend to correct the raster latency for an increased BCI performance and methodical correctness. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

PEMODELAN FAKTOR K BERBASIS RASTER SEBAGAI MASUKAN PEMODELAN EROSI DI DAS MERAWU, BANJARNEGARA, PROVINSI JAWA TENGAH (Modeling of Raster-Based of K Factor as Input for Erosion Modeling at Merawu Catchment, Banjarnegara, Central Java Province

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bambang Sulistyo

2015-07-01

Full Text Available ABSTRAK Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengkaji ketelitian absolut pemodelan faktor K berbasis raster sebagai masukan dalam pemodelan erosi Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE di Daerah Aliran Sungai (DAS Merawu, Banjarnegara, Provinsi Jawa Tengah.Metode yang digunakan adalah dengan mengambil 30 sampel tanah secara stratified random sampling berdasarkan bentuklahan DAS Merawu. Sampel tanah tersebut kemudian dianalisis di laboratorium sehingga diperoleh tekstur, permeabilitas, bahan organik, dan struktur yang diperlukan untuk menghitung faktor K menggunakan rumus yang sudah ada. Dari 30 sampel yang diambil, 24 sampel digunakan untuk menghitung faktor K dalam pemodelan, sedangkan 6 sampel lainnya digunakan sebagai uji model. Pengeplotan nilai K pada sampel di atas peta dilakukan sesuai dengan lokasi sampel, kemudian dilakukan digitasi dan rasterisasi dan dilakukan interpolasi spasial untuk memperoleh Peta K untuk setiap piksel dengan metode Kriging. Hasil pemodelan K tersebut (Kmodel kemudian diuji pada 6 lokasi (Kaktual untuk mengetahui ketelitian pemodelan. Kmodel dikatakan teliti jika memiliki nilai ≥ 80% terhadap Kaktual.Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa pemodelan faktor K berbasis raster di DAS Merawu mempunyai ketelitian melebihi nilai ambang yang ditetapkan, yaitu sebesar 89,068%, yang menunjukkan bahwa peta hasil pemodelan menggunakan analisis Kriging dapat digunakan untuk analisis lebih lanjut dalam menghitung erosi. ABSTRACT The research was aimed at knowing the absolute accuracy of modeling of raster-based K factor as input for Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE erosion modeling at Merawu Catchment, Banjarnegara, Central Java Province. Methodology applied was by taking 30 soil samples of stratified random sampling based on landform of Merawu Catchment. Those 30 soil samples then were analised in a laboratory to get their texture, permeability, organic matter, and structure for K factor computation using the existing formula. From 30

Height drift correction in non-raster atomic force microscopy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Meyer, Travis R. [Department of Mathematics, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095 (United States); Ziegler, Dominik [Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Brune, Christoph [Institute for Computational and Applied Mathematics, University of Münster (Germany); Chen, Alex [Statistical and Applied Mathematical Sciences Institute, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709 (United States); Farnham, Rodrigo; Huynh, Nen; Chang, Jen-Mei [Department of Mathematics and Statistics, California State University Long Beach, Long Beach, CA 90840 (United States); Bertozzi, Andrea L., E-mail: bertozzi@math.ucla.edu [Department of Mathematics, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095 (United States); Ashby, Paul D., E-mail: pdashby@lbl.gov [Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States)

2014-02-01

We propose a novel method to detect and correct drift in non-raster scanning probe microscopy. In conventional raster scanning drift is usually corrected by subtracting a fitted polynomial from each scan line, but sample tilt or large topographic features can result in severe artifacts. Our method uses self-intersecting scan paths to distinguish drift from topographic features. Observing the height differences when passing the same position at different times enables the reconstruction of a continuous function of drift. We show that a small number of self-intersections is adequate for automatic and reliable drift correction. Additionally, we introduce a fitness function which provides a quantitative measure of drift correctability for any arbitrary scan shape. - Highlights: • We propose a novel height drift correction method for non-raster SPM. • Self-intersecting scans enable the distinction of drift from topographic features. • Unlike conventional techniques our method is unsupervised and tilt-invariant. • We introduce a fitness measure to quantify correctability for general scan paths.

Fishing Revenue-Intensity Raster Database, 2007-2012

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — These revenue-intensity rasters were built as part of an effort to improve upon the spatial precision of self-reported Vessel Trip Report (VTR) fishing locations....

Laser direct marking applied to rasterizing miniature Data Matrix Code on aluminum alloy

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xia-Shuang; He, Wei-Ping; Lei, Lei; Wang, Jian; Guo, Gai-Fang; Zhang, Teng-Yun; Yue, Ting

2016-03-01

Precise miniaturization of 2D Data Matrix (DM) Codes on Aluminum alloy formed by raster mode laser direct part marking is demonstrated. The characteristic edge over-burn effects, which render vector mode laser direct part marking inadequate for producing precise and readable miniature codes, are minimized with raster mode laser marking. To obtain the control mechanism for the contrast and print growth of miniature DM code by raster laser marking process, the temperature field model of long pulse laser interaction with material is established. From the experimental results, laser average power and Q frequency have an important effect on the contrast and print growth of miniature DM code, and the threshold of laser average power and Q frequency for an identifiable miniature DM code are respectively 3.6 W and 110 kHz, which matches the model well within normal operating conditions. In addition, the empirical model of correlation occurring between laser marking parameters and module size is also obtained, and the optimal processing parameter values for an identifiable miniature DM code of different but certain data size are given. It is also found that an increase of the repeat scanning number effectively improves the surface finish of bore, the appearance consistency of modules, which has benefit to reading. The reading quality of miniature DM code is greatly improved using ultrasonic cleaning in water by avoiding the interference of color speckles surrounding modules.

Multidirectional Scanning Model, MUSCLE, to Vectorize Raster Images with Straight Lines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ibrahim Baz

2008-04-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a new model, MUSCLE (Multidirectional Scanning for Line Extraction, for automatic vectorization of raster images with straight lines. The algorithm of the model implements the line thinning and the simple neighborhood methods to perform vectorization. The model allows users to define specified criteria which are crucial for acquiring the vectorization process. In this model, various raster images can be vectorized such as township plans, maps, architectural drawings, and machine plans. The algorithm of the model was developed by implementing an appropriate computer programming and tested on a basic application. Results, verified by using two well known vectorization programs (WinTopo and Scan2CAD, indicated that the model can successfully vectorize the specified raster data quickly and accurately.

Raster-scanning serial protein crystallography using micro- and nano-focused synchrotron beams

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Coquelle, Nicolas [Université Grenoble Alpes, IBS, 38044 Grenoble (France); CNRS, IBS, 38044 Grenoble (France); CEA, IBS, 38044 Grenoble (France); Brewster, Aaron S. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Kapp, Ulrike; Shilova, Anastasya; Weinhausen, Britta [European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, BP 220, 38043 Grenoble (France); Burghammer, Manfred, E-mail: burgham@esrf.fr [European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, BP 220, 38043 Grenoble (France); Ghent University, Ghent B-9000 (Belgium); Colletier, Jacques-Philippe, E-mail: burgham@esrf.fr [Université Grenoble Alpes, IBS, 38044 Grenoble (France); CNRS, IBS, 38044 Grenoble (France); CEA, IBS, 38044 Grenoble (France)

2015-05-01

A raster scanning serial protein crystallography approach is presented, that consumes as low ∼200–700 nl of sedimented crystals. New serial data pre-analysis software, NanoPeakCell, is introduced. High-resolution structural information was obtained from lysozyme microcrystals (20 µm in the largest dimension) using raster-scanning serial protein crystallography on micro- and nano-focused beamlines at the ESRF. Data were collected at room temperature (RT) from crystals sandwiched between two silicon nitride wafers, thereby preventing their drying, while limiting background scattering and sample consumption. In order to identify crystal hits, new multi-processing and GUI-driven Python-based pre-analysis software was developed, named NanoPeakCell, that was able to read data from a variety of crystallographic image formats. Further data processing was carried out using CrystFEL, and the resultant structures were refined to 1.7 Å resolution. The data demonstrate the feasibility of RT raster-scanning serial micro- and nano-protein crystallography at synchrotrons and validate it as an alternative approach for the collection of high-resolution structural data from micro-sized crystals. Advantages of the proposed approach are its thriftiness, its handling-free nature, the reduced amount of sample required, the adjustable hit rate, the high indexing rate and the minimization of background scattering.

Global monthly water stress: II. Water demand and severity of water

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wada, Y.; Beek, L.P.H. van; Viviroli, D.; Dürr, H.H.; Weingartner, R.; Bierkens, M.F.P.

2011-01-01

This paper assesses global water stress at a finer temporal scale compared to conventional assessments. To calculate time series of global water stress at a monthly time scale, global water availability, as obtained from simulations of monthly river discharge from the companion paper, is confronted

1:100k Digital Raster Graphic - Collars Removed

Data.gov (United States)

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources — A digital raster graphic (DRG) is a scanned image of an U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) standard series topographic map, including all map collar information. The...

A Raster Based Approach To Solar Pressure Modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, Theodore

2014-01-01

The impact of photons upon a spacecraft introduces small forces and moments. The magnitude and direction of the forces depend on the material properties of the spacecraft components being illuminated. Which components are being lit depends on the orientation of the craft with respect to the Sun as well as the gimbal angles for any significant moving external parts (solar arrays, typically). Some components may shield others from the Sun.To determine solar pressure in the presence overlapping components, a 3D model can be used to determine which components are illuminated. A view (image) of the model as seen from the Sun shows the only contributors to solar pressure. This image can be decomposed into pixels, each of which can be treated as a non-overlapping flat plate as far as solar pressure calculations are concerned. The sums of the pressures and moments on these plates approximate the solar pressure and moments on the entire vehicle.The image rasterization technique can also be used to compute other spacecraft attributes that are dependent on attitude and geometry, including solar array power generation capability and free molecular flow drag.

Evaluating the Open Source Data Containers for Handling Big Geospatial Raster Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fei Hu

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Big geospatial raster data pose a grand challenge to data management technologies for effective big data query and processing. To address these challenges, various big data container solutions have been developed or enhanced to facilitate data storage, retrieval, and analysis. Data containers were also developed or enhanced to handle geospatial data. For example, Rasdaman was developed to handle raster data and GeoSpark/SpatialHadoop were enhanced from Spark/Hadoop to handle vector data. However, there are few studies to systematically compare and evaluate the features and performances of these popular data containers. This paper provides a comprehensive evaluation of six popular data containers (i.e., Rasdaman, SciDB, Spark, ClimateSpark, Hive, and MongoDB for handling multi-dimensional, array-based geospatial raster datasets. Their architectures, technologies, capabilities, and performance are compared and evaluated from two perspectives: (a system design and architecture (distributed architecture, logical data model, physical data model, and data operations; and (b practical use experience and performance (data preprocessing, data uploading, query speed, and resource consumption. Four major conclusions are offered: (1 no data containers, except ClimateSpark, have good support for the HDF data format used in this paper, requiring time- and resource-consuming data preprocessing to load data; (2 SciDB, Rasdaman, and MongoDB handle small/mediate volumes of data query well, whereas Spark and ClimateSpark can handle large volumes of data with stable resource consumption; (3 SciDB and Rasdaman provide mature array-based data operation and analytical functions, while the others lack these functions for users; and (4 SciDB, Spark, and Hive have better support of user defined functions (UDFs to extend the system capability.

USGS 24k Digital Raster Graphic (DRG) Metadata

Data.gov (United States)

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources — Metadata for the scanned USGS 24k Topograpic Map Series (also known as 24k Digital Raster Graphic). Each scanned map is represented by a polygon in the layer and the...

Custom-made raster method for fistula and graft.

Science.gov (United States)

Blokker, C

2005-01-01

Unfamiliarity with fistula and graft characteristics can lead to failed punctures, haematomas and sometimes access occlusion. The Custom-made Raster Method provides detailed shunt visualisation and angiographic images by using photo-editing software. Access veins of an individual shunt and an adapted raster are projected on a digital picture of the arm. During angiography the shunt arm is fixated and a digital picture is taken from a fixed vertical angle and distance. Reference points are marked on the shunt arm, which serves as a fixation to draw a raster with coordination points. In this way a picture is created similar to a roadmap with veins. There is complete integration of digital and radiological images by using software programmes Adobe Photoshop + Illustrator or Agfa Web 1000 under Windows XP. All illustrations fit 1:1 by scaling up or down without distortion. Editing with Photoshop gives a precise projection of shunt veins on the real coloured background of the digital photograph. In this projection the grey angiography background is made completely transparent. The system can contain more detailed information in combination with echo (duplex) images of depth and diameter. This visualisation method is a useful tool for multi disciplinary access meetings with intervention radiologists, access surgeons and nephrologists. Access malfunction, aneurysms and stenosis can be projected at the exact location. The system leads to clear and concrete puncture advice. Transfer of access information and communication to other dialysis centres is facilitated.

Target raster system at CEBAF

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yan, C.; Adderley, P.; Carlini, R.; Cuevas, C.; Vulcan, W.; Wines, R.

1995-01-01

A fast raster (FR) system consisting of two Litz cable air-core magnets (x, y) has been installed and tested in the Hall C beam line tunnel, 21 m from the cryogenic target. The system provides a maximum deflection of 0.06 mrad at a frequency range of 15-45 kHz for a 6 GeV electron beam. The FR magnets are driven by a MOSFET bipolar switching power source with a triangle current waveform, the peak-to-peak current is 40 A. (orig.)

Grand Composite Raster Images of Turbidity in the Gulf of Maine for Stellwagen Bank NMS

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This personal geodatabase contains raster images of turbidity in the Gulf of Maine. These raster images are a composite of several years (1997-2005) binned by season...

Mesh-to-raster region-of-interest-based nonrigid registration of multimodal images.

Science.gov (United States)

Tatano, Rosalia; Berkels, Benjamin; Deserno, Thomas M

2017-10-01

Region of interest (RoI) alignment in medical images plays a crucial role in diagnostics, procedure planning, treatment, and follow-up. Frequently, a model is represented as triangulated mesh while the patient data is provided from computed axial tomography scanners as pixel or voxel data. Previously, we presented a 2-D method for curve-to-pixel registration. This paper contributes (i) a general mesh-to-raster framework to register RoIs in multimodal images; (ii) a 3-D surface-to-voxel application, and (iii) a comprehensive quantitative evaluation in 2-D using ground truth (GT) provided by the simultaneous truth and performance level estimation (STAPLE) method. The registration is formulated as a minimization problem, where the objective consists of a data term, which involves the signed distance function of the RoI from the reference image and a higher order elastic regularizer for the deformation. The evaluation is based on quantitative light-induced fluoroscopy (QLF) and digital photography (DP) of decalcified teeth. STAPLE is computed on 150 image pairs from 32 subjects, each showing one corresponding tooth in both modalities. The RoI in each image is manually marked by three experts (900 curves in total). In the QLF-DP setting, our approach significantly outperforms the mutual information-based registration algorithm implemented with the Insight Segmentation and Registration Toolkit and Elastix.

Experimental determination of chosen document elements parameters from raster graphics sources

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiří Rybička

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Visual appearance of documents and their formal quality is considered to be as important as the content quality. Formal and typographical quality of documents can be evaluated by an automated system that processes raster images of documents. A document is described by a formal model that treats a page as an object and also as a set of elements, whereas page elements include text and graphic object. All elements are described by their parameters depending on elements’ type. For future evaluation, mainly text objects are important. This paper describes the experimental determination of chosen document elements parameters from raster images. Techniques for image processing are used, where an image is represented as a matrix of dots and parameter values are extracted. Algorithms for parameter extraction from raster images were designed and were aimed mainly at typographical parameters like indentation, alignment, font size or spacing. Algorithms were tested on a set of 100 images of paragraphs or pages and provide very good results. Extracted parameters can be directly used for typographical quality evaluation.

Global monthly water scarcity: blue water footprints versus blue water availability.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoekstra, Arjen Y; Mekonnen, Mesfin M; Chapagain, Ashok K; Mathews, Ruth E; Richter, Brian D

2012-01-01

Freshwater scarcity is a growing concern, placing considerable importance on the accuracy of indicators used to characterize and map water scarcity worldwide. We improve upon past efforts by using estimates of blue water footprints (consumptive use of ground- and surface water flows) rather than water withdrawals, accounting for the flows needed to sustain critical ecological functions and by considering monthly rather than annual values. We analyzed 405 river basins for the period 1996-2005. In 201 basins with 2.67 billion inhabitants there was severe water scarcity during at least one month of the year. The ecological and economic consequences of increasing degrees of water scarcity--as evidenced by the Rio Grande (Rio Bravo), Indus, and Murray-Darling River Basins--can include complete desiccation during dry seasons, decimation of aquatic biodiversity, and substantial economic disruption.

Fast Computation of Categorical Richness on Raster Data Sets and Related Problems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

de Berg, Mark; Tsirogiannis, Constantinos; Wilkinson, Bryan

2015-01-01

that runs in O(n) time and one for circular windows that runs in O((1+K/r)n) time, where K is the number of different categories appearing in G. The algorithms are not only very efficient in theory, but also in practice: our experiments show that our algorithms can handle raster data sets of hundreds...... of millions of cells. The categorical richness problem is related to colored range counting, where the goal is to preprocess a colored point set such that we can efficiently count the number of colors appearing inside a query range. We present a data structure for colored range counting in R^2 for the case......In many scientific fields, it is common to encounter raster data sets consisting of categorical data, such as soil type or land usage of a terrain. A problem that arises in the presence of such data is the following: given a raster G of n cells storing categorical data, compute for every cell c...

Digital Geological Model (DGM): a 3D raster model of the subsurface of the Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gunnink, J.L.; Maljers, D.; Gessel, S.F. van; Menkovic, A.; Hummelman, H.J.

2013-01-01

A 3D geological raster model has been constructed of the onshore of the Netherlands. The model displays geological units for the upper 500 m in 3D in an internally consistent way. The units are based on the lithostratigraphical classification of the Netherlands. This classification is used to

Seasonal Composite Raster Images for Sea Surface Temperature in the Gulf of Maine for Stellwagen Bank NMS

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This personal geodatabase contains raster images of sea surface temperature (SST) in the Gulf of Maine. These raster images are seasonal composites, and were...

Grand Composite Raster Images for Sea Surface Temperature in the Gulf of Maine for Stellwagen Bank NMS

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This personal geodatabase contains raster images of sea surface temperature (SST) in the Gulf of Maine. These raster images are a composite of several years...

iRaster: a novel information visualization tool to explore spatiotemporal patterns in multiple spike trains.

Science.gov (United States)

Somerville, J; Stuart, L; Sernagor, E; Borisyuk, R

2010-12-15

Over the last few years, simultaneous recordings of multiple spike trains have become widely used by neuroscientists. Therefore, it is important to develop new tools for analysing multiple spike trains in order to gain new insight into the function of neural systems. This paper describes how techniques from the field of visual analytics can be used to reveal specific patterns of neural activity. An interactive raster plot called iRaster has been developed. This software incorporates a selection of statistical procedures for visualization and flexible manipulations with multiple spike trains. For example, there are several procedures for the re-ordering of spike trains which can be used to unmask activity propagation, spiking synchronization, and many other important features of multiple spike train activity. Additionally, iRaster includes a rate representation of neural activity, a combined representation of rate and spikes, spike train removal and time interval removal. Furthermore, it provides multiple coordinated views, time and spike train zooming windows, a fisheye lens distortion, and dissemination facilities. iRaster is a user friendly, interactive, flexible tool which supports a broad range of visual representations. This tool has been successfully used to analyse both synthetic and experimentally recorded datasets. In this paper, the main features of iRaster are described and its performance and effectiveness are demonstrated using various types of data including experimental multi-electrode array recordings from the ganglion cell layer in mouse retina. iRaster is part of an ongoing research project called VISA (Visualization of Inter-Spike Associations) at the Visualization Lab in the University of Plymouth. The overall aim of the VISA project is to provide neuroscientists with the ability to freely explore and analyse their data. The software is freely available from the Visualization Lab website (see www.plymouth.ac.uk/infovis). Copyright © 2010

Epidemiological geomatics in evaluation of mine risk education in Afghanistan: introducing population weighted raster maps

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andersson Neil

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Evaluation of mine risk education in Afghanistan used population weighted raster maps as an evaluation tool to assess mine education performance, coverage and costs. A stratified last-stage random cluster sample produced representative data on mine risk and exposure to education. Clusters were weighted by the population they represented, rather than the land area. A "friction surface" hooked the population weight into interpolation of cluster-specific indicators. The resulting population weighted raster contours offer a model of the population effects of landmine risks and risk education. Five indicator levels ordered the evidence from simple description of the population-weighted indicators (level 0, through risk analysis (levels 1–3 to modelling programme investment and local variations (level 4. Using graphic overlay techniques, it was possible to metamorphose the map, portraying the prediction of what might happen over time, based on the causality models developed in the epidemiological analysis. Based on a lattice of local site-specific predictions, each cluster being a small universe, the "average" prediction was immediately interpretable without losing the spatial complexity.

The U.S. Geological Survey Monthly Water Balance Model Futures Portal

Science.gov (United States)

Bock, Andrew R.; Hay, Lauren E.; Markstrom, Steven L.; Emmerich, Christopher; Talbert, Marian

2017-05-03

The U.S. Geological Survey Monthly Water Balance Model Futures Portal (https://my.usgs.gov/mows/) is a user-friendly interface that summarizes monthly historical and simulated future conditions for seven hydrologic and meteorological variables (actual evapotranspiration, potential evapotranspiration, precipitation, runoff, snow water equivalent, atmospheric temperature, and streamflow) at locations across the conterminous United States (CONUS).The estimates of these hydrologic and meteorological variables were derived using a Monthly Water Balance Model (MWBM), a modular system that simulates monthly estimates of components of the hydrologic cycle using monthly precipitation and atmospheric temperature inputs. Precipitation and atmospheric temperature from 222 climate datasets spanning historical conditions (1952 through 2005) and simulated future conditions (2020 through 2099) were summarized for hydrographic features and used to drive the MWBM for the CONUS. The MWBM input and output variables were organized into an open-access database. An Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc., Web Feature Service allows the querying and identification of hydrographic features across the CONUS. To connect the Web Feature Service to the open-access database, a user interface—the Monthly Water Balance Model Futures Portal—was developed to allow the dynamic generation of summary files and plots  based on plot type, geographic location, specific climate datasets, period of record, MWBM variable, and other options. Both the plots and the data files are made available to the user for download 

Estimating FIA plot characteristics using NAIP imagery, function modeling, and the RMRS raster utility coding library

Science.gov (United States)

John S. Hogland; Nathaniel M. Anderson

2015-01-01

Raster modeling is an integral component of spatial analysis. However, conventional raster modeling techniques can require a substantial amount of processing time and storage space, often limiting the types of analyses that can be performed. To address this issue, we have developed Function Modeling. Function Modeling is a new modeling framework that streamlines the...

Conception and Implementation of an OGC-Compliant Sensor Observation Service for a Standardized Access to Raster Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juergen Sorg

2015-07-01

Full Text Available The target of the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC is interoperability of geographic information, which means creating opportunities to access geodata in a consistent, standardized way. In the domain of sensor data, the target will be picked up within the OGC Sensor Web Enablement Initiative and especially reached through the Sensor Observation Service (SOS standard. This one defines a service for a standardized access to time series data and is usually used for in situ sensors (like discharge gauges and climate stations. Although the standard considers raster data, no implementation of the standard for raster data exists presently. In this paper an OGC-compliant Sensor Observation Service for a standardized access to raster data is described. A data model was developed that enables effective storage of the raster data with the corresponding metadata in a database, reading this data in an efficient way, and encoding it with result formats that the SOS-standard provides.

Raster-based outranking method: a new approach for municipal solid waste landfill (MSW) siting.

Science.gov (United States)

Hamzeh, Mohamad; Abbaspour, Rahim Ali; Davalou, Romina

2015-08-01

MSW landfill siting is a complicated process because it requires integration of several factors. In this paper, geographic information system (GIS) and multiple criteria decision analysis (MCDA) were combined to handle the municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill siting. For this purpose, first, 16 input data layers were prepared in GIS environment. Then, the exclusionary lands were eliminated and potentially suitable areas for the MSW disposal were identified. These potentially suitable areas, in an innovative approach, were further examined by deploying Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluations (PROMETHEE) II and analytic network process (ANP), which are two of the most recent MCDA methods, in order to determine land suitability for landfilling. PROMETHEE II was used to determine a complete ranking of the alternatives, while ANP was employed to quantify the subjective judgments of evaluators as criteria weights. The resulting land suitability was reported on a grading scale of 1-5 from 1 to 5, which is the least to the most suitable area, respectively. Finally, three optimal sites were selected by taking into consideration the local conditions of 15 sites, which were candidates for MSW landfilling. Research findings show that the raster-based method yields effective results.

Wildfire spread, hazard and exposure metric raster grids for central Catalonia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fermín J. Alcasena

2018-04-01

Full Text Available We provide 40 m resolution wildfire spread, hazard and exposure metric raster grids for the 0.13 million ha fire-prone Bages County in central Catalonia (northeastern Spain corresponding to node influence grid (NIG, crown fraction burned (CFB and fire transmission to residential houses (TR. Fire spread and behavior data (NIG, CFB and fire perimeters were generated with fire simulation modeling considering wildfire season extreme fire weather conditions (97th percentile. Moreover, CFB was also generated for prescribed fire (Rx mild weather conditions. The TR smoothed grid was obtained with a geospatial analysis considering large fire perimeters and individual residential structures located within the study area. We made these raster grids available to assist in the optimization of wildfire risk management plans within the study area and to help mitigate potential losses from catastrophic events. Keywords: Catalonia, Wildfire exposure, Fire transmission, Crown fire activity, Prescribed fires

Geographic information system datasets of regolith-thickness data, regolith-thickness contours, raster-based regolith thickness, and aquifer-test and specific-capacity data for the Lost Creek Designated Ground Water Basin, Weld, Adams, and Arapahoe Counties, Colorado

Science.gov (United States)

Arnold, L. Rick

2010-01-01

These datasets were compiled in support of U.S. Geological Survey Scientific-Investigations Report 2010-5082-Hydrogeology and Steady-State Numerical Simulation of Groundwater Flow in the Lost Creek Designated Ground Water Basin, Weld, Adams, and Arapahoe Counties, Colorado. The datasets were developed by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Lost Creek Ground Water Management District and the Colorado Geological Survey. The four datasets are described as follows and methods used to develop the datasets are further described in Scientific-Investigations Report 2010-5082: (1) ds507_regolith_data: This point dataset contains geologic information concerning regolith (unconsolidated sediment) thickness and top-of-bedrock altitude at selected well and test-hole locations in and near the Lost Creek Designated Ground Water Basin, Weld, Adams, and Arapahoe Counties, Colorado. Data were compiled from published reports, consultant reports, and from lithologic logs of wells and test holes on file with the U.S. Geological Survey Colorado Water Science Center and the Colorado Division of Water Resources. (2) ds507_regthick_contours: This dataset consists of contours showing generalized lines of equal regolith thickness overlying bedrock in the Lost Creek Designated Ground Water Basin, Weld, Adams, and Arapahoe Counties, Colorado. Regolith thickness was contoured manually on the basis of information provided in the dataset ds507_regolith_data. (3) ds507_regthick_grid: This dataset consists of raster-based generalized thickness of regolith overlying bedrock in the Lost Creek Designated Ground Water Basin, Weld, Adams, and Arapahoe Counties, Colorado. Regolith thickness in this dataset was derived from contours presented in the dataset ds507_regthick_contours. (4) ds507_welltest_data: This point dataset contains estimates of aquifer transmissivity and hydraulic conductivity at selected well locations in the Lost Creek Designated Ground Water Basin, Weld, Adams, and

A Monthly Water-Balance Model Driven By a Graphical User Interface

Science.gov (United States)

McCabe, Gregory J.; Markstrom, Steven L.

2007-01-01

This report describes a monthly water-balance model driven by a graphical user interface, referred to as the Thornthwaite monthly water-balance program. Computations of monthly water-balance components of the hydrologic cycle are made for a specified location. The program can be used as a research tool, an assessment tool, and a tool for classroom instruction.

EXTRACTING SPATIOTEMPORAL OBJECTS FROM RASTER DATA TO REPRESENT PHYSICAL FEATURES AND ANALYZE RELATED PROCESSES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. A. Zollweg

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Numerous ground-based, airborne, and orbiting platforms provide remotely-sensed data of remarkable spatial resolution at short time intervals. However, this spatiotemporal data is most valuable if it can be processed into information, thereby creating meaning. We live in a world of objects: cars, buildings, farms, etc. On a stormy day, we don’t see millions of cubes of atmosphere; we see a thunderstorm ‘object’. Temporally, we don’t see the properties of those individual cubes changing, we see the thunderstorm as a whole evolving and moving. There is a need to represent the bulky, raw spatiotemporal data from remote sensors as a small number of relevant spatiotemporal objects, thereby matching the human brain’s perception of the world. This presentation reveals an efficient algorithm and system to extract the objects/features from raster-formatted remotely-sensed data. The system makes use of the Python object-oriented programming language, SciPy/NumPy for matrix manipulation and scientific computation, and export/import to the GeoJSON standard geographic object data format. The example presented will show how thunderstorms can be identified and characterized in a spatiotemporal continuum using a Python program to process raster data from NOAA’s High-Resolution Rapid Refresh v2 (HRRRv2 data stream.

Extracting Spatiotemporal Objects from Raster Data to Represent Physical Features and Analyze Related Processes

Science.gov (United States)

Zollweg, J. A.

2017-10-01

Numerous ground-based, airborne, and orbiting platforms provide remotely-sensed data of remarkable spatial resolution at short time intervals. However, this spatiotemporal data is most valuable if it can be processed into information, thereby creating meaning. We live in a world of objects: cars, buildings, farms, etc. On a stormy day, we don't see millions of cubes of atmosphere; we see a thunderstorm `object'. Temporally, we don't see the properties of those individual cubes changing, we see the thunderstorm as a whole evolving and moving. There is a need to represent the bulky, raw spatiotemporal data from remote sensors as a small number of relevant spatiotemporal objects, thereby matching the human brain's perception of the world. This presentation reveals an efficient algorithm and system to extract the objects/features from raster-formatted remotely-sensed data. The system makes use of the Python object-oriented programming language, SciPy/NumPy for matrix manipulation and scientific computation, and export/import to the GeoJSON standard geographic object data format. The example presented will show how thunderstorms can be identified and characterized in a spatiotemporal continuum using a Python program to process raster data from NOAA's High-Resolution Rapid Refresh v2 (HRRRv2) data stream.

Automated extraction of chemical structure information from digital raster images

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shedden Kerby A

2009-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background To search for chemical structures in research articles, diagrams or text representing molecules need to be translated to a standard chemical file format compatible with cheminformatic search engines. Nevertheless, chemical information contained in research articles is often referenced as analog diagrams of chemical structures embedded in digital raster images. To automate analog-to-digital conversion of chemical structure diagrams in scientific research articles, several software systems have been developed. But their algorithmic performance and utility in cheminformatic research have not been investigated. Results This paper aims to provide critical reviews for these systems and also report our recent development of ChemReader – a fully automated tool for extracting chemical structure diagrams in research articles and converting them into standard, searchable chemical file formats. Basic algorithms for recognizing lines and letters representing bonds and atoms in chemical structure diagrams can be independently run in sequence from a graphical user interface-and the algorithm parameters can be readily changed-to facilitate additional development specifically tailored to a chemical database annotation scheme. Compared with existing software programs such as OSRA, Kekule, and CLiDE, our results indicate that ChemReader outperforms other software systems on several sets of sample images from diverse sources in terms of the rate of correct outputs and the accuracy on extracting molecular substructure patterns. Conclusion The availability of ChemReader as a cheminformatic tool for extracting chemical structure information from digital raster images allows research and development groups to enrich their chemical structure databases by annotating the entries with published research articles. Based on its stable performance and high accuracy, ChemReader may be sufficiently accurate for annotating the chemical database with links

Using raster and vector data to identify objects for classify in flood risk. A case study: Raciborz

Science.gov (United States)

Porczek, Mariusz; Rucińska, Dorota; Lewiński, Stanisław

2018-01-01

The severe flood of 1997, which seriously affected Polish, Czech and German territories, gave impetus to research into the management of flood-prone areas. The material losses caused by the "Flood of the Millennium" totalled billions of Polish zloty. The extent of the disaster and of infrastructure repair costs changed the attitude of many branches of the economy, and of science. This is the direct result of consideration of the introduction of changes into spatial management and crisis management. At the same time, it focused the interest of many who were trained in analysing the vulnerability of land-use features to natural disasters such as floods. Research into the spatial distribution of geographic environmental features susceptible to flood in the Odra valley was conducted at the Faculty of Geography and Regional Studies of the University of Warsaw using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). This study seeks to examine the possibility of adapting vector and raster data and using them for land-use classification in the context of risk of flood and inundation damage. The analysed area of the city and surrounding area of Raciborz, on the upper Odra River, is a case study for identifying objects and lands susceptible to natural hazards based on publicly available satellite databases of the highest resolution, which is a very important factor in the quality of further risk analyses for applied use. The objective of the research was to create a 10×10-m-pixel raster network using raster data made available by ESA (Copernicus Land Monitoring Service) and vector data from Open Street Map.

Pemodelan Spasial Erosi Kualitatif Berbasis Raster Studi Kasus di DAS Serang, Kabupaten Kulonprogo

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nursida Arif

2018-01-01

Citation: Arif, N., Danoedoro, P., dan Hartono. (2017. Pemodelan Spasial Erosi Kualitatif Berbasis Raster Studi Kasus di DAS Serang, Kabupaten Kulonprogo. Jurnal Ilmu Lingkungan, 15(2,127-134, doi:10.14710/jil.15.2.127-134

Population weighted raster maps can communicate findings of social audits: examples from three continents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mitchell Steven

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Maps can portray trends, patterns, and spatial differences that might be overlooked in tabular data and are now widely used in health research. Little has been reported about the process of using maps to communicate epidemiological findings. Method Population weighted raster maps show colour changes over the study area. Similar to the rasters of barometric pressure in a weather map, data are the health occurrence – a peak on the map represents a higher value of the indicator in question. The population relevance of each sentinel site, as determined in the stratified last stage random sample, combines with geography (inverse-distance weighting to provide a population-weighted extension of each colour. This transforms the map to show population space rather than simply geographic space. Results Maps allowed discussion of strategies to reduce violence against women in a context of political sensitivity about quoting summary indicator figures. Time-series maps showed planners how experiences of health services had deteriorated despite a reform programme; where in a country HIV risk behaviours were improving; and how knowledge of an economic development programme quickly fell off across a region. Change maps highlighted where indicators were improving and where they were deteriorating. Maps of potential impact of interventions, based on multivariate modelling, displayed how partial and full implementation of programmes could improve outcomes across a country. Scale depends on context. To support local planning, district maps or local government authority maps of health indicators were more useful than national maps; but multinational maps of outcomes were more useful for regional institutions. Mapping was useful to illustrate in which districts enrolment in religious schools – a rare occurrence - was more prevalent. Conclusions Population weighted raster maps can present social audit findings in an accessible and compelling

Population weighted raster maps can communicate findings of social audits: examples from three continents.

Science.gov (United States)

Mitchell, Steven; Cockcroft, Anne; Andersson, Neil

2011-12-21

Maps can portray trends, patterns, and spatial differences that might be overlooked in tabular data and are now widely used in health research. Little has been reported about the process of using maps to communicate epidemiological findings. Population weighted raster maps show colour changes over the study area. Similar to the rasters of barometric pressure in a weather map, data are the health occurrence--a peak on the map represents a higher value of the indicator in question. The population relevance of each sentinel site, as determined in the stratified last stage random sample, combines with geography (inverse-distance weighting) to provide a population-weighted extension of each colour. This transforms the map to show population space rather than simply geographic space. Maps allowed discussion of strategies to reduce violence against women in a context of political sensitivity about quoting summary indicator figures. Time-series maps showed planners how experiences of health services had deteriorated despite a reform programme; where in a country HIV risk behaviours were improving; and how knowledge of an economic development programme quickly fell off across a region. Change maps highlighted where indicators were improving and where they were deteriorating. Maps of potential impact of interventions, based on multivariate modelling, displayed how partial and full implementation of programmes could improve outcomes across a country. Scale depends on context. To support local planning, district maps or local government authority maps of health indicators were more useful than national maps; but multinational maps of outcomes were more useful for regional institutions. Mapping was useful to illustrate in which districts enrolment in religious schools--a rare occurrence--was more prevalent. Population weighted raster maps can present social audit findings in an accessible and compelling way, increasing the use of evidence by planners with limited numeracy

Geometrical E-beam proximity correction for raster scan systems

Science.gov (United States)

Belic, Nikola; Eisenmann, Hans; Hartmann, Hans; Waas, Thomas

1999-04-01

High pattern fidelity is a basic requirement for the generation of masks containing sub micro structures and for direct writing. Increasing needs mainly emerging from OPC at mask level and x-ray lithography require a correction of the e-beam proximity effect. The most part of e-beam writers are raster scan system. This paper describes a new method for geometrical pattern correction in order to provide a correction solution for e-beam system that are not able to apply variable doses.

Software-based data path for raster-scanned multi-beam mask lithography

Science.gov (United States)

Rajagopalan, Archana; Agarwal, Ankita; Buck, Peter; Geller, Paul; Hamaker, H. Christopher; Rao, Nagswara

2016-10-01

According to the 2013 SEMATECH Mask Industry Survey,i roughly half of all photomasks are produced using laser mask pattern generator ("LMPG") lithography. LMPG lithography can be used for all layers at mature technology nodes, and for many non-critical and semi-critical masks at advanced nodes. The extensive use of multi-patterning at the 14-nm node significantly increases the number of critical mask layers, and the transition in wafer lithography from positive tone resist to negative tone resist at the 14-nm design node enables the switch from advanced binary masks back to attenuated phase shifting masks that require second level writes to remove unwanted chrome. LMPG lithography is typically used for second level writes due to its high productivity, absence of charging effects, and versatile non-actinic alignment capability. As multi-patterning use expands from double to triple patterning and beyond, the number of LMPG second level writes increases correspondingly. The desire to reserve the limited capacity of advanced electron beam writers for use when essential is another factor driving the demand for LMPG capacity. The increasing demand for cost-effective productivity has kept most of the laser mask writers ever manufactured running in production, sometimes long past their projected lifespan, and new writers continue to be built based on hardware developed some years ago.ii The data path is a case in point. While state-ofthe- art when first introduced, hardware-based data path systems are difficult to modify or add new features to meet the changing requirements of the market. As data volumes increase, design styles change, and new uses are found for laser writers, it is useful to consider a replacement for this critical subsystem. The availability of low-cost, high-performance, distributed computer systems combined with highly scalable EDA software lends itself well to creating an advanced data path system. EDA software, in routine production today, scales

User Guide and Documentation for Five MODFLOW Ground-Water Modeling Utility Programs

Science.gov (United States)

Banta, Edward R.; Paschke, Suzanne S.; Litke, David W.

2008-01-01

This report documents five utility programs designed for use in conjunction with ground-water flow models developed with the U.S. Geological Survey's MODFLOW ground-water modeling program. One program extracts calculated flow values from one model for use as input to another model. The other four programs extract model input or output arrays from one model and make them available in a form that can be used to generate an ArcGIS raster data set. The resulting raster data sets may be useful for visual display of the data or for further geographic data processing. The utility program GRID2GRIDFLOW reads a MODFLOW binary output file of cell-by-cell flow terms for one (source) model grid and converts the flow values to input flow values for a different (target) model grid. The spatial and temporal discretization of the two models may differ. The four other utilities extract selected 2-dimensional data arrays in MODFLOW input and output files and write them to text files that can be imported into an ArcGIS geographic information system raster format. These four utilities require that the model cells be square and aligned with the projected coordinate system in which the model grid is defined. The four raster-conversion utilities are * CBC2RASTER, which extracts selected stress-package flow data from a MODFLOW binary output file of cell-by-cell flows; * DIS2RASTER, which extracts cell-elevation data from a MODFLOW Discretization file; * MFBIN2RASTER, which extracts array data from a MODFLOW binary output file of head or drawdown; and * MULT2RASTER, which extracts array data from a MODFLOW Multiplier file.

Delineating Individual Trees from Lidar Data: A Comparison of Vector- and Raster-based Segmentation Approaches

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Maggi Kelly

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Light detection and ranging (lidar data is increasingly being used for ecosystem monitoring across geographic scales. This work concentrates on delineating individual trees in topographically-complex, mixed conifer forest across the California’s Sierra Nevada. We delineated individual trees using vector data and a 3D lidar point cloud segmentation algorithm, and using raster data with an object-based image analysis (OBIA of a canopy height model (CHM. The two approaches are compared to each other and to ground reference data. We used high density (9 pulses/m2, discreet lidar data and WorldView-2 imagery to delineate individual trees, and to classify them by species or species types. We also identified a new method to correct artifacts in a high-resolution CHM. Our main focus was to determine the difference between the two types of approaches and to identify the one that produces more realistic results. We compared the delineations via tree detection, tree heights, and the shape of the generated polygons. The tree height agreement was high between the two approaches and the ground data (r2: 0.93–0.96. Tree detection rates increased for more dominant trees (8–100 percent. The two approaches delineated tree boundaries that differed in shape: the lidar-approach produced fewer, more complex, and larger polygons that more closely resembled real forest structure.

Capabilities and diagnostics of the Sandia Pelletron-raster system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buckalew, W.H.; Lockwood, G.J.; Luker, S.M.; Ruggles, L.E.; Wyant, F.J.

1984-07-01

The radiation capabilities of the PELLETRON Electron Beam Accelerator have been expanded to include a controllable, variable dimension, beam diffusion option. This rastered beam option has been studied in detail. Beam characteristics have been determined as a function of incident electron beam energy, current, and deflection system parameters. The beam diagnostics required to define any given diffuse beam pattern are accurate and predictable. Recently, utility of this added PELLETRON capability was demonstrated by simulating the effects of complex nuclear reactor accident electron environments on electrical insulation materials similar to those used in nuclear power plants

FTCRP: file format for the device-independent transfer of colored raster pictures

Science.gov (United States)

Hofmann, Georg R.; Kromker, Detlef

1989-04-01

Research institutes, industrial companies, computer animation studios and printing facilities are often equipped with a lot of different machines for the rendering and display of raster pictures. The output devices (monitors, recording devices, printers) differ in their geometric and color resolution, in the picture format, and in the chromaticity of the color primaries. There is a need to transfer pictures via local networks (LAN) from one device to another at studios and laboratories without having to compromise for the quality of the pictures. And there is a need to transfer pictures via tape, floppy or networks (WAN) from one institute to another, or from an institute to the publisher, and so forth. For these purposes, a special format for the transfer of raster pictures has been developed which is independent of differences in pixel resolution, color resolution, color primaries, number of colors per device, and scan direction. For its use in the networks and on tapes, the file format has to initially have a character encoding to prevent any collision of pixel or image data with control sequences of terminal servers, network controllers, and other hardware devices. Binary encodings are still to be developed; the format is open for different data compressions and other data encodings according to different application profiles. The format is called FTCRP - File for the Transfer of Colored Raster Pictures. Historically, a Version 0 of FTCRP was first developed. Several insights were gained in the imple-mentation of FTCRP driver programs and in the acceptance of the new format. Here, we present the conception of Version 1 of FTCRP, which is an extension and an enhancement of the former version. Unfortunately, the syntax of FTCRP Version 1 was not definitivly determined before the submission of this text. Therefore we concentrate on conceptual considerations. This paper is intended to encourage further discussion and refinements.

Gold removal rate by ion sputtering as a function of ion-beam voltage and raster size using Auger electron spectroscopy. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boehning, C.W.

1983-01-01

Gold removal rate was measured as a function of ion beam voltage and raster size using Auger electron spectroscopy (AES). Three different gold thicknesses were developed as standards. Two sputter rate calibration curves were generated by which gold sputter rate could be determined for variations in ion beam voltage or raster size

Mixed raster content segmentation, compression, transmission

CERN Document Server

Pavlidis, George

2017-01-01

This book presents the main concepts in handling digital images of mixed content, traditionally referenced as mixed raster content (MRC), in two main parts. The first includes introductory chapters covering the scientific and technical background aspects, whereas the second presents a set of research and development approaches to tackle key issues in MRC segmentation, compression and transmission. The book starts with a review of color theory and the mechanism of color vision in humans. In turn, the second chapter reviews data coding and compression methods so as to set the background and demonstrate the complexity involved in dealing with MRC. Chapter three addresses the segmentation of images through an extensive literature review, which highlights the various approaches used to tackle MRC segmentation. The second part of the book focuses on the segmentation of color images for optimized compression, including multi-layered decomposition and representation of MRC and the processes that can be employed to op...

The wildland-urban interface raster dataset of Catalonia.

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Alcasena, Fermín J; Evers, Cody R; Vega-Garcia, Cristina

2018-04-01

We provide the wildland urban interface (WUI) map of the autonomous community of Catalonia (Northeastern Spain). The map encompasses an area of some 3.21 million ha and is presented as a 150-m resolution raster dataset. Individual housing location, structure density and vegetation cover data were used to spatially assess in detail the interface, intermix and dispersed rural WUI communities with a geographical information system. Most WUI areas concentrate in the coastal belt where suburban sprawl has occurred nearby or within unmanaged forests. This geospatial information data provides an approximation of residential housing potential for loss given a wildfire, and represents a valuable contribution to assist landscape and urban planning in the region.

DISPLAY OF PIXEL LOSS AND REPLICATION IN REPROJECTING RASTER DATA FROM THE SINUSOIDAL PROJECTION

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Recent studies show the sinusoidal projection to be a superior planar projection for representing global raster datasets. This study uses the sinusoidal projection as a basis for evaluating pixel loss and replication in eight other planar map projections. The percent of pixels ...

Neutron-induced damage evolution under Beam Raster Scanner conditions for IFMIF

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mota, Fernando; Ortiz, Christophe J.; Ibarra, Angel; Vila, Rafael

2011-01-01

The formation and evolution of defects in materials irradiated with a homogeneous neutron source and with the Beam Raster Scanner (BRS) solution was investigated. The intensity neutron source fluctuations inherent to the BRS system were determined using the neutron transport McDeLicious code. Defects generated during irradiation were calculated using the binary collision approximation MARLOWE code, using the primary knock-on atom (PKA) energy spectrum resulting from neutron interactions with the material. In order to predict the evolution of defects during irradiation, a Rate Theory model based on ab initio parameters was developed. Our model accounts for the migration of mobile defects, the formation of clusters and their recombination. As an example, we investigated defect evolution in Fe irradiated at room temperature in both beam configurations. Simulation results clearly indicate that the defect evolution expected in the BRS configuration is nearly the same as the one expected in a homogeneous irradiation system.

The wildland-urban interface raster dataset of Catalonia

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Fermín J. Alcasena

2018-04-01

Full Text Available We provide the wildland urban interface (WUI map of the autonomous community of Catalonia (Northeastern Spain. The map encompasses an area of some 3.21 million ha and is presented as a 150-m resolution raster dataset. Individual housing location, structure density and vegetation cover data were used to spatially assess in detail the interface, intermix and dispersed rural WUI communities with a geographical information system. Most WUI areas concentrate in the coastal belt where suburban sprawl has occurred nearby or within unmanaged forests. This geospatial information data provides an approximation of residential housing potential for loss given a wildfire, and represents a valuable contribution to assist landscape and urban planning in the region. Keywords: Wildland-urban interface, Wildfire risk, Urban planning, Human communities, Catalonia

Imaging melanin cancer growth in-vivo using raster-scan optoacoustic mesoscopy (RSOM) at 50 MHz and 100 MHz

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Omar, Murad; Schwarz, Mathias; Soliman, Dominik; Symvoulidis, Panagiotis; Ntziachristos, Vasilis

2016-03-01

We used raster-scan optoacoustic mesoscopy (RSOM) at 50 MHz, and at 100 MHz, to monitor tumor growth, and tumor angiogenesis, which is a central hallmark of cancer, in-vivo. In this study we compared the performance, and the effect of the 50 MHz, and the 100 MHz frequencies on the quality of the final image. The system is based on a reflection-mode implementation of RSOM. The detectors used are custom made, ultrawideband, and spherically focused. The use of such detectors enables light coupling from the same side as the detector, thus reflection-mode. Light is in turn coupled using a fiber bundle, and the detector is raster scanned in the xy-plane. Subsequently, to retrieve small features, the raw data are reconstructed using a multi-bandwidth, beamforming reconstruction algorithm. Comparison of the system performance at the different frequencies shows as expected a higher resolution in case of the 100 MHz detector compared to the 50 MHz. On the other hand the 50 MHz has a better SNR, can detect features from deeper layers, and has higher angular acceptance. Based on these characteristics the 50 MHz detector was mostly used. After comparing the performance we monitored the growth of B16F10 cells, melanin tumor, over the course of 9 days. We see correspondence between the optoacoustic measurements and the cryoslice validations. Additionally, in areas close to the tumor we see sprouting of new vessels, starting at day 4-5, which corresponds to tumor angiogenesis.

Estimated Depth to Bedrock of Iowa as a 110 meter pixel_32bit Imagine Format Raster Dataset

Data.gov (United States)

Iowa State University GIS Support and Research Facility — This raster dataset represents the depth to bedrock from the land surface. It was derived by subtracting a bedrock surface elevation layer from the NED 30 meter...

AVALIAÇÃO DOS INTERPOLADORES KRIGAGEM E TOPO TO RASTER PARA GERAÇÃO DE MODELOS DIGITAIS DE ELEVAÇÃO A PARTIR DE UM "AS BUILT"

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Edilson José do Carmo

Full Text Available O presente trabalho objetiva realizar o "as built" de uma caixa de decantação de estação de tratamento de água e avaliar o uso dos métodos de interpolação krigagem e Topo to Raster na geração de Modelo Digital de Elevação (MDE do fundo de uma caixa de decantação de uma Estação de Tratamento de Água levantado com estação total. Para interpolação com o Topo to Raster foram usadas duas metodologias, uma usando como arquivo de entrada linhas de contorno e pontos cotados, conhecido como Topo to Raster padrão, e outra usando somente pontos cotados, conhecido como Topo to Raster condicionado. A interpolação por krigagem foi feita utilizando krigagem ordinária e krigagem simples. Foi utilizado como referência 50 pontos extraídos do MDE gerado pelo método Triangular Irregular Network (TIN. Para cada amostra de discrepância foram calculados indicadores estatísticos. O Modelo gerado por Topo to Raster condicionado apresentou visíveis distorções nas bordas e no centro da área de estudo, devendo ser descartado. Aplicando o teste z, conclui-se que as médias das discrepâncias dos interpoladores krigagem ordinária e krigagem simples não são significativas à um nível de confiança de 95%, ou seja, não diferem do TIN. Já os interpoladores Topo to Raster padrão e Topo to Raster condicionado apresentam diferenças significativas nas médias. Para profundidades médias de 3,21 m, foram encontrados os seguintes valores para os indicadores estatísticos: discrepância média de 1 cm, discrepância máxima de 10 cm, desvio padrão da amostra de 3 cm e RMS das discrepâncias de 3 cm.

Presolar SiC Abundances in Primitive Meteorites by NanoSIMS Raster Ion Imaging of Insoluble Organic Matter

Science.gov (United States)

Davidson, J.; Busemann, H.; Alexander, C. M. O'd.; Nittler, L. R.; Schrader, D. L.; Orthous-Daunay, F. R.; Quirico, E.; Franchi, I. A.; Grady, M. M.

2009-03-01

We present results obtained with NanoSIMS raster ion imaging to determine the abundance of presolar SiC in the insoluble organic matter (IOM) extracted from a number of different classes of chondrites (both carbonaceous and ordinary).

Use of raster-based data layers to model spatial variation of seismotectonic data in probabilistic seismic hazard assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Zolfaghari, Mohammad R.

2009-07-01

Recent achievements in computer and information technology have provided the necessary tools to extend the application of probabilistic seismic hazard mapping from its traditional engineering use to many other applications. Examples for such applications are risk mitigation, disaster management, post disaster recovery planning and catastrophe loss estimation and risk management. Due to the lack of proper knowledge with regard to factors controlling seismic hazards, there are always uncertainties associated with all steps involved in developing and using seismic hazard models. While some of these uncertainties can be controlled by more accurate and reliable input data, the majority of the data and assumptions used in seismic hazard studies remain with high uncertainties that contribute to the uncertainty of the final results. In this paper a new methodology for the assessment of seismic hazard is described. The proposed approach provides practical facility for better capture of spatial variations of seismological and tectonic characteristics, which allows better treatment of their uncertainties. In the proposed approach, GIS raster-based data models are used in order to model geographical features in a cell-based system. The cell-based source model proposed in this paper provides a framework for implementing many geographically referenced seismotectonic factors into seismic hazard modelling. Examples for such components are seismic source boundaries, rupture geometry, seismic activity rate, focal depth and the choice of attenuation functions. The proposed methodology provides improvements in several aspects of the standard analytical tools currently being used for assessment and mapping of regional seismic hazard. The proposed methodology makes the best use of the recent advancements in computer technology in both software and hardware. The proposed approach is well structured to be implemented using conventional GIS tools.

Module greenhouse with high efficiency of transformation of solar energy, utilizing active and passive glass optical rasters

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Korečko, J.; Jirka, V.; Sourek, B.; Červený, Jan

2010-01-01

Roč. 84, č. 10 (2010), s. 1794-1808 ISSN 0038-092X Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z60870520 Keywords : rasters made of glass * greenhouse * solar architecture * fresnel lens * mathematical simulation Subject RIV: BH - Optics, Masers, Lasers Impact factor: 2.135, year: 2010

Monthly-Diurnal Water Budget Variability Over Gulf of Mexico-Caribbean Sea Basin from Satellite Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, E. A.; Santos, P.

2006-01-01

This study presents results from a multi-satellite/multi-sensor retrieval system design d to obtain the atmospheric water budget over the open ocean. A combination of hourly-sampled monthly datasets derived from the GOES-8 5-channel Imager, the TRMM TMI radiometer, and the DMSP 7-channel passive microwave radiometers (SSM/I) have been acquired for the combined Gulf of Mexico-Caribbean Sea basin. Whereas the methodology has been tested over this basin, the retrieval system is designed for portability to any open-ocean region. Algorithm modules using the different datasets to retrieve individual geophysical parameters needed in the water budget equation are designed in a manner that takes advantage of the high temporal resolution of the GOES-8 measurements, as well as the physical relationships inherent to the TRMM and SSM/I passive microwave measurements in conjunction with water vapor, cloud liquid water, and rainfall. The methodology consists of retrieving the precipitation, surface evaporation, and vapor-cloud water storage terms in the atmospheric water balance equation from satellite techniques, with the water vapor advection term being obtained as the residue needed for balance. Thus, the intent is to develop a purely satellite-based method for obtaining the full set of terms in the atmospheric water budget equation without requiring in situ sounding information on the wind profile. The algorithm is validated by cross-checking all the algorithm components through multiple-algorithm retrieval intercomparisons. A further check on the validation is obtained by directly comparing water vapor transports into the targeted basin diagnosed from the satellite algorithms to those obtained observationally from a network of land-based upper air stations that nearly uniformly surround the basin, although it is fair to say that these checks are more effective in identifying problems in estimating vapor transports from a "leaky" operational radiosonde network than in

A modular class of multisite monthly rainfall generators for water resource management and impact studies

Science.gov (United States)

Serinaldi, Francesco; Kilsby, Chris G.

2012-09-01

SummaryThis study introduces a class of stochastic multisite monthly rainfall generators devised for application in water resources management problems, such as the sensitivity analysis of droughts and extreme rainfall scenarios under external climatic and non-climatic forcing mechanisms. The modelling framework relies on three elements: (1) a classical deseasonalisation scheme based on log-transformed observations, (2) the nonparametric bootstrap resampling approach and (3) parametric Generalized Additive Models for Location, Scale and Shape (GAMLSS). As the bootstrap and GAMLSS modules are alternative techniques for simulating each month, the free choice between them makes the structure of the model modular and flexible, so that it can be easily adapted to different climatic conditions, and can be customized based on the specific water resource problem. The model was set up and calibrated to simulate monthly rainfall from six locations in England and Wales to produce a suitable input for drought analysis. The results of the case study point out that the model can capture several characteristics of the rainfall series. In particular, it enables the simulation of low and high rainfall scenarios more extreme than those observed as well as the reproduction of the distribution of the annual accumulated rainfall, and of the relationship between the rainfall and circulation indices such as North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and Sea Surface Temperature (SST), thus making the framework well-suited for sensitivity analysis under alternative climate scenarios and additional forcing variables.

A blue/green water-based accounting framework for assessment of water security

Science.gov (United States)

Rodrigues, Dulce B. B.; Gupta, Hoshin V.; Mendiondo, Eduardo M.

2014-09-01

A comprehensive assessment of water security can incorporate several water-related concepts, while accounting for Blue and Green Water (BW and GW) types defined in accordance with the hydrological processes involved. Here we demonstrate how a quantitative analysis of provision probability and use of BW and GW can be conducted, so as to provide indicators of water scarcity and vulnerability at the basin level. To illustrate the approach, we use the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to model the hydrology of an agricultural basin (291 km2) within the Cantareira Water Supply System in Brazil. To provide a more comprehensive basis for decision making, we analyze the BW and GW-Footprint components against probabilistic levels (50th and 30th percentile) of freshwater availability for human activities, during a 23 year period. Several contrasting situations of BW provision are distinguished, using different hydrological-based methodologies for specifying monthly Environmental Flow Requirements (EFRs), and the risk of natural EFR violation is evaluated by use of a freshwater provision index. Our results reveal clear spatial and temporal patterns of water scarcity and vulnerability levels within the basin. Taking into account conservation targets for the basin, it appears that the more restrictive EFR methods are more appropriate than the method currently employed at the study basin. The blue/green water-based accounting framework developed here provides a useful integration of hydrologic, ecosystem and human needs information on a monthly basis, thereby improving our understanding of how and where water-related threats to human and aquatic ecosystem security can arise.

Six-month evaluation of a resin/dentin interface created by methacrylate and silorane-based materials

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Renata Kirita Doi SAMPAIO

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Objectives This study aimed to compare the micro-tensile bond strength of methacrylate resin systems to a silorane-based restorative system on dentin after 24 hours and six months water storage. Material and Methods The restorative systems Adper Single Bond 2/Filtek Z350 (ASB, Clearfil SE Bond/Z350 (CF, Adper SE Plus/Z350 (ASEP and P90 Adhesive System/Filtek P90 (P90 were applied on flat dentin surfaces of 20 third molars (n=5. The restored teeth were sectioned perpendicularly to the bonding interface to obtain sticks (0.8 mm2 to be tested after 24 hours (24 h and 6 months (6 m of water storage, in a universal testing machine at 0.5 mm/min. The data was analyzed via two-way Analysis of Variance/Bonferroni post hoc tests at 5% global significance. Results Overall outcomes did not indicate a statistical difference for the resin systems (p=0.26 nor time (p=0.62. No interaction between material × time was detected (p=0.28. Mean standard-deviation in MPa at 24 h and 6 m were: ASB 31.38 (4.53 and 30.06 (1.95, CF 34.26 (3.47 and 32.75 (4.18, ASEP 29.54 (4.14 and 33.47 (2.47, P90 30.27 (2.03 and 31.34 (2.19. Conclusions The silorane-based system showed a similar performance to methacrylate-based materials on dentin. All systems were stable in terms of bond strength up to 6 month of water storage.

Determination of Dynamics of Plant Plasma Membrane Proteins with Fluorescence Recovery and Raster Image Correlation Spectroscopy

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Laňková, Martina; Humpolíčková, Jana; Vosolsobě, S.; Cit, Zdeněk; Lacek, Jozef; Čovan, Martin; Čovanová, Milada; Hof, Martin; Petrášek, Jan

2016-01-01

Roč. 22, č. 2 (2016), s. 290-299 ISSN 1431-9276 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GAP305/11/2476; GA ČR(CZ) GPP501/12/P951 Institutional support: RVO:61389030 ; RVO:61388955 Keywords : raster image correlation spectroscopy * fluorescence recovery after photobleaching * auxin influx Subject RIV: EB - Genetics ; Molecular Biology; CF - Physical ; Theoretical Chemistry (UFCH-W) Impact factor: 1.891, year: 2016

Surface Water Quality Evaluation Based on a Game Theory-Based Cloud Model

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Bing Yang

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Water quality evaluation is an essential measure to analyze water quality. However, excessive randomness and fuzziness affect the process of evaluation, thus reducing the accuracy of evaluation. Therefore, this study proposed a cloud model for evaluating the water quality to alleviate this problem. Analytic hierarchy process and entropy theory were used to calculate the subjective weight and objective weight, respectively, and then they were coupled as a combination weight (CW via game theory. The proposed game theory-based cloud model (GCM was then applied to the Qixinggang section of the Beijiang River. The results show that the CW ranks fecal coliform as the most important factor, followed by total nitrogen and total phosphorus, while biochemical oxygen demand and fluoride were considered least important. There were 19 months (31.67% at grade I, 39 months (65.00% at grade II, and one month at grade IV and grade V during 2010–2014. A total of 52 months (86.6% of GCM were identical to the comprehensive evaluation result (CER. The obtained water quality grades of GCM are close to the grades of the analytic hierarchy process weight (AHPW due to the weight coefficient of AHPW set to 0.7487. Generally, one or two grade gaps exist among the results of the three groups of weights, suggesting that the index weight is not particularly sensitive to the cloud model. The evaluated accuracy of water quality can be improved by modifying the quantitative boundaries. This study could provide a reference for water quality evaluation, prevention, and improvement of water quality assessment and other applications.

Disruption simulation experiment using high-frequency rastering electron beam as the heat source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamazaki, S.; Seki, M.

1987-01-01

The disruption is a serious event which possibly reduces the lifetime of plasm interactive components, so the effects of the resulting high heat flux on the wall materials must be clearly identified. The authors performed disruption simulation experiments to investigate melting, evaporation, and crack initiation behaviors using an electron beam facility as the heat source. The facility was improved with a high-frequency beam rastering system which provided spatially and temporally uniform heat flux on wider test surfaces. Along with the experiments, thermal and mechanical analyses were also performed. A two-dimensional disruption thermal analysis code (DREAM) was developed for the analyses

Water-level and recoverable water in storage changes, High Plains aquifer, predevelopment to 2015 and 2013–15

Science.gov (United States)

McGuire, Virginia L.

2017-06-01

The High Plains aquifer underlies 111.8 million acres (about 175,000 square miles) in parts of eight States—Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming. Water-level declines began in parts of the High Plains aquifer soon after the beginning of substantial irrigation with groundwater in the aquifer area (about 1950). This report presents water-level changes and change in recoverable water in storage in the High Plains aquifer from predevelopment (about 1950) to 2015 and from 2013 to 2015.The methods to calculate area-weighted, average water-level changes; change in recoverable water in storage; and total recoverable water in storage used geospatial data layers organized as rasters with a cell size of 500 meters by 500 meters, which is an area of about 62 acres. Raster datasets of water-level changes are provided for other uses.Water-level changes from predevelopment to 2015, by well, ranged from a rise of 84 feet to a decline of 234 feet. Water-level changes from 2013 to 2015, by well, ranged from a rise of 24 feet to a decline of 33 feet. The area-weighted, average water-level changes in the aquifer were an overall decline of 15.8 feet from predevelopment to 2015 and a decline of 0.6 feet from 2013 to 2015. Total recoverable water in storage in the aquifer in 2015 was about 2.91 billion acre-feet, which was a decline of about 273.2 million acre-feet since predevelopment and a decline of 10.7 million acre-feet from 2013 to 2015.

Operational results for the raster scanning power supply system constructed at the Bevalac Biomedical Facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stover, G.; Halliwell, J.; Nyman, M.; Dwinell, R.

1989-03-01

A raster scanning power supply for controlling an 8.0 Tesla-meter relativistic heavy-ion beam at the Biomedical Facility has been recently completed and is undergoing electrical testing before on- line operation in 1989. The scanner system will provide tightly controlled beam uniformity and off-axis treatment profiles with large aspect ratios and unusual dimensions. This article will discuss original specifications, agreement with measured results and special device performance (i.e. GTOs, FET actuator assembly, etc.). 5 refs., 4 figs

Ontology for cell-based geographic information

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Bin; Huang, Lina; Lu, Xinhai

2009-10-01

Inter-operability is a key notion in geographic information science (GIS) for the sharing of geographic information (GI). That requires a seamless translation among different information sources. Ontology is enrolled in GI discovery to settle the semantic conflicts for its natural language appearance and logical hierarchy structure, which are considered to be able to provide better context for both human understanding and machine cognition in describing the location and relationships in the geographic world. However, for the current, most studies on field ontology are deduced from philosophical theme and not applicable for the raster expression in GIS-which is a kind of field-like phenomenon but does not physically coincide to the general concept of philosophical field (mostly comes from the physics concepts). That's why we specifically discuss the cell-based GI ontology in this paper. The discussion starts at the investigation of the physical characteristics of cell-based raster GI. Then, a unified cell-based GI ontology framework for the recognition of the raster objects is introduced, from which a conceptual interface for the connection of the human epistemology and the computer world so called "endurant-occurrant window" is developed for the better raster GI discovery and sharing.

Video raster stereography back shape reconstruction: a reliability study for sagittal, frontal, and transversal plane parameters.

Science.gov (United States)

Schroeder, J; Reer, R; Braumann, K M

2015-02-01

As reliability of raster stereography was proved only for sagittal plane parameters with repeated measures on the same day, the present study was aiming at investigating variability and reliability of back shape reconstruction for all dimensions (sagittal, frontal, transversal) and for different intervals. For a sample of 20 healthy volunteers, intra-individual variability (SEM and CV%) and reliability (ICC ± 95% CI) were proved for sagittal (thoracic kyphosis, lumbar lordosis, pelvis tilt angle, and trunk inclination), frontal (pelvis torsion, pelvis and trunk imbalance, vertebral side deviation, and scoliosis angle), transversal (vertebral rotation), and functional (hyperextension) spine shape reconstruction parameters for different test-retest intervals (on the same day, between-day, between-week) by means of video raster stereography. Reliability was high for the sagittal plane (pelvis tilt, kyphosis and lordosis angle, and trunk inclination: ICC > 0.90), and good to high for lumbar mobility (0.86 < ICC < 0.97). Apart from sagittal plane spinal alignment, there was a lack of certainty for a high reproducibility indicated by wider ICC confidence intervals. So, reliability was fair to high for vertebral side deviation and the scoliosis angle (0.71 < ICC < 0.95), and poor to good for vertebral rotation values as well as for frontal plane upper body and pelvis position parameters (0.65 < ICC < 0.92). Coefficients for the between-day and between-week interval were a little lower than for repeated measures on the same day. Variability (SEM) was less than 1.5° or 1.5 mm, except for trunk inclination. Relative variability (CV) was greater in global trunk position and pelvis parameters (35-98%) than in scoliosis (14-20%) or sagittal sway parameters (4-8 %). Although we found a lower reproducibility for the frontal plane, raster stereography is considered to be a reliable method for the non-invasive, three-dimensional assessment of spinal alignment in normal non

TerraClimate, a high-resolution global dataset of monthly climate and climatic water balance from 1958-2015

Science.gov (United States)

Abatzoglou, John T.; Dobrowski, Solomon Z.; Parks, Sean A.; Hegewisch, Katherine C.

2018-01-01

We present TerraClimate, a dataset of high-spatial resolution (1/24°, ~4-km) monthly climate and climatic water balance for global terrestrial surfaces from 1958-2015. TerraClimate uses climatically aided interpolation, combining high-spatial resolution climatological normals from the WorldClim dataset, with coarser resolution time varying (i.e., monthly) data from other sources to produce a monthly dataset of precipitation, maximum and minimum temperature, wind speed, vapor pressure, and solar radiation. TerraClimate additionally produces monthly surface water balance datasets using a water balance model that incorporates reference evapotranspiration, precipitation, temperature, and interpolated plant extractable soil water capacity. These data provide important inputs for ecological and hydrological studies at global scales that require high spatial resolution and time varying climate and climatic water balance data. We validated spatiotemporal aspects of TerraClimate using annual temperature, precipitation, and calculated reference evapotranspiration from station data, as well as annual runoff from streamflow gauges. TerraClimate datasets showed noted improvement in overall mean absolute error and increased spatial realism relative to coarser resolution gridded datasets.

BOREAS Forest Cover Data Layers of the NSA in Raster Format

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Forrest G. (Editor); Knapp, David; Tuinhoff, Manning

2000-01-01

This data set was processed by BORIS staff from the original vector data of species, crown closure, cutting class, and site classification/subtype into raster files. The original polygon data were received from Linnet Graphics, the distributor of data for MNR. In the case of the species layer, the percentages of species composition were removed. This reduced the amount of information contained in the species layer of the gridded product, but it was necessary in order to make the gridded product easier to use. The original maps were produced from 1:15,840-scale aerial photography collected in 1988 over an area of the BOREAS NSA MSA. The data are stored in binary, image format files and they are available from Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The data files are available on a CD-ROM (see document number 20010000884).

Monthly Variation of Taiwan Strait Through-flow Transports and Associated Water Masses

Science.gov (United States)

Jan, S.; Sheu, D.; Kuo, H.

2005-05-01

Through-flow transports and associated water masses are analyzed using current data measured by bottom-mounted and ship-board ADCP (1999-2001) across the central Taiwan Strait and strait-wide hydrographic data acquired from 79 CTD survey cruises (1986-2003). The East Asian monsoon, from southwest in July to August and northeast in October to March, controls the transport fluctuation which peaks in August (2.34 Sv northward), is hampered by the northeast monsoon after September and diminishes to the minimum (0.26 Sv southward) in December. The standard deviation of the calculated transport ranges from 0.56 to 1.05 Sv during northeast monsoon months and is relatively small in other months. A cluster analysis together with conventional T-S diagrams identifies the saline and warm Kuroshio Branch Water (KBW), the less saline South China Sea Surface Water (SCSSW), the brackish and cold China Coastal Water (CCW), the saline Subsurface Water (SW) (depth > 100 m) and the Diluted Coastal Water (DCW). The majority of the northward transport in summer carries the SCSSW to the East China Sea. Meanwhile, the DCW appears off the northwest bank of the strait and the SW resides in the bottom layer of a deep trench in the southeastern strait. The onset of the northeast monsoon in September drives the CCW from the Yangtze river mouth to the northern strait. In the southern strait, the northward-moving KBW replaces the SCSSW and meets the southward-intruding CCW in the middle strait during November to April.

Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) Monthly Mean Atmospheric Liquid Water (ALW) By Prabhakara

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — SMMR_ALW_PRABHAKARA data are Special Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) Monthly Mean Atmospheric Liquid Water (ALW) data by Prabhakara.The Prabhakara Scanning...

Climatological Modeling of Monthly Air Temperature and Precipitation in Egypt through GIS Techniques

Science.gov (United States)

El Kenawy, A.

2009-09-01

This paper describes a method for modeling and mapping four climatic variables (maximum temperature, minimum temperature, mean temperature and total precipitation) in Egypt using a multiple regression approach implemented in a GIS environment. In this model, a set of variables including latitude, longitude, elevation within a distance of 5, 10 and 15 km, slope, aspect, distance to the Mediterranean Sea, distance to the Red Sea, distance to the Nile, ratio between land and water masses within a radius of 5, 10, 15 km, the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), the Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI), the Normalized Difference Temperature Index (NDTI) and reflectance are included as independent variables. These variables were integrated as raster layers in MiraMon software at a spatial resolution of 1 km. Climatic variables were considered as dependent variables and averaged from quality controlled and homogenized 39 series distributing across the entire country during the period of (1957-2006). For each climatic variable, digital and objective maps were finally obtained using the multiple regression coefficients at monthly, seasonal and annual timescale. The accuracy of these maps were assessed through cross-validation between predicted and observed values using a set of statistics including coefficient of determination (R2), root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute error (MAE), mean bias Error (MBE) and D Willmott statistic. These maps are valuable in the sense of spatial resolution as well as the number of observatories involved in the current analysis.

Monthly hydroclimatology of the continental United States

Science.gov (United States)

Petersen, Thomas; Devineni, Naresh; Sankarasubramanian, A.

2018-04-01

Physical/semi-empirical models that do not require any calibration are of paramount need for estimating hydrological fluxes for ungauged sites. We develop semi-empirical models for estimating the mean and variance of the monthly streamflow based on Taylor Series approximation of a lumped physically based water balance model. The proposed models require mean and variance of monthly precipitation and potential evapotranspiration, co-variability of precipitation and potential evapotranspiration and regionally calibrated catchment retention sensitivity, atmospheric moisture uptake sensitivity, groundwater-partitioning factor, and the maximum soil moisture holding capacity parameters. Estimates of mean and variance of monthly streamflow using the semi-empirical equations are compared with the observed estimates for 1373 catchments in the continental United States. Analyses show that the proposed models explain the spatial variability in monthly moments for basins in lower elevations. A regionalization of parameters for each water resources region show good agreement between observed moments and model estimated moments during January, February, March and April for mean and all months except May and June for variance. Thus, the proposed relationships could be employed for understanding and estimating the monthly hydroclimatology of ungauged basins using regional parameters.

Special raster scanning for reduction of charging effects in scanning electron microscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Suzuki, Kazuhiko; Oho, Eisaku

2014-01-01

A special raster scanning (SRS) method for reduction of charging effects is developed for the field of SEM. Both a conventional fast scan (horizontal direction) and an unusual scan (vertical direction) are adopted for acquiring raw data consisting of many sub-images. These data are converted to a proper SEM image using digital image processing techniques. About sharpness of the image and reduction of charging effects, the SRS is compared with the conventional fast scan (with frame-averaging) and the conventional slow scan. Experimental results show the effectiveness of SRS images. By a successful combination of the proposed scanning method and low accelerating voltage (LV)-SEMs, it is expected that higher-quality SEM images can be more easily acquired by the considerable reduction of charging effects, while maintaining the resolution. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Potential Release Site Sediment Concentrations Correlated to Storm Water Station Runoff through GIS Modeling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McLean, C.T.

2005-01-01

This research examined the relationship between sediment sample data taken at Potential Release Sites (PRSs) and storm water samples taken at selected sites in and around Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The PRSs had been evaluated for erosion potential and a matrix scoring system implemented. It was assumed that there would be a stronger relationship between the high erosion PRSs and the storm water samples. To establish the relationship, the research was broken into two areas. The first area was raster-based modeling, and the second area was data analysis utilizing the raster based modeling results and the sediment and storm water sample results. Two geodatabases were created utilizing raster modeling functions and the Arc Hydro program. The geodatabase created using only Arc Hydro functions contains very fine catchment drainage areas in association with the geometric network and can be used for future contaminant tracking. The second geodatabase contains sub-watersheds for all storm water stations used in the study along with a geometric network. The second area of the study focused on data analysis. The analytical sediment data table was joined to the PRSs spatial data in ArcMap. All PRSs and PRSs with high erosion potential were joined separately to create two datasets for each of 14 analytes. Only the PRSs above the background value were retained. The storm water station spatial data were joined to the table of analyte values that were either greater than the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Multi-Sector General Permit (MSGP) benchmark value, or the Department of Energy (DOE) Drinking Water Defined Contribution Guideline (DWDCG). Only the storm water stations were retained that had sample values greater than the NPDES MSGP benchmark value or the DOE DWDCG. Separate maps were created for each analyte showing the sub-watersheds, the PRSs over background, and the storm water stations greater than the NPDES MSGP benchmark value or the

Volumetric three-dimensional display system with rasterization hardware

Science.gov (United States)

Favalora, Gregg E.; Dorval, Rick K.; Hall, Deirdre M.; Giovinco, Michael; Napoli, Joshua

2001-06-01

An 8-color multiplanar volumetric display is being developed by Actuality Systems, Inc. It will be capable of utilizing an image volume greater than 90 million voxels, which we believe is the greatest utilizable voxel set of any volumetric display constructed to date. The display is designed to be used for molecular visualization, mechanical CAD, e-commerce, entertainment, and medical imaging. As such, it contains a new graphics processing architecture, novel high-performance line- drawing algorithms, and an API similar to a current standard. Three-dimensional imagery is created by projecting a series of 2-D bitmaps ('image slices') onto a diffuse screen that rotates at 600 rpm. Persistence of vision fuses the slices into a volume-filling 3-D image. A modified three-panel Texas Instruments projector provides slices at approximately 4 kHz, resulting in 8-color 3-D imagery comprised of roughly 200 radially-disposed slices which are updated at 20 Hz. Each slice has a resolution of 768 by 768 pixels, subtending 10 inches. An unusual off-axis projection scheme incorporating tilted rotating optics is used to maintain good focus across the projection screen. The display electronics includes a custom rasterization architecture which converts the user's 3- D geometry data into image slices, as well as 6 Gbits of DDR SDRAM graphics memory.

BOREAS TE-20 Soils Data Over the NSA-MSA and Tower Sites in Raster Format

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Forrest G. (Editor); Veldhuis, Hugo; Knapp, David; Veldhuis, Hugo

2000-01-01

The BOREAS TE-20 team collected several data sets for use in developing and testing models of forest ecosystem dynamics. This data set was gridded from vector layers of soil maps that were received from Dr. Hugo Veldhuis, who did the original mapping in the field during 1994. The vector layers were gridded into raster files that cover the NSA-MSA and tower sites. The data are stored in binary, image format files. The data files are available on a CD-ROM (see document number 20010000884), or from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Distributed Active Center (DAAC).

Customized altitude-azimuth mount for a raster-scanning Fourier transform spectrometer

Science.gov (United States)

Durrenberger, Jed E.; Gutman, William M.; Gammill, Troy D.; Grover, Dennis H.

1996-10-01

Applications of the Army Research Laboratory Mobile Atmospheric Spectrometer Remote Sensing Rover required development of a customized computer-controlled mount to satisfy a variety of requirements within a limited budget. The payload was designed to operate atop a military electronics shelter mounted on a 4-wheel drive truck to be above most atmospheric ground turbulence. Pointing orientation in altitude is limited by constraints imposed by use of a liquid nitrogen detector Dewar in the spectrometer. Stepper motor drives and control system are compatible with existing custom software used with other instrumentation for controlled incremental raster stepping. The altitude axis passes close to the center of gravity of the complete payload to minimize load eccentricity and drive torque requirements. Dovetail fixture mounting enables quick service and fine adjustment of balance to minimize stepper/gearbox drive backlash through the limited orientation range in altitude. Initial applications to characterization of remote gas plumes have been successful.

Monthly progress report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1975-03-01

This monthly report of the SCPRI exposes an interpretation of the principal results concerning the surveillance of radioactivity in the environment: atmospheric dusts (air at ground level, high altitude air), rainwater, surface water, underground water, irrigation water, drinking water, food chain (milk, plants, cattle, fish), sea water around nuclear plant sites and other sites. The activities of various radioisotopes are presented in tables ( 7 Be, 95 Zr and 95 Nb, 103 Ru, 131 I, 137 Cs, 140 Ba and 140 La, 90 Sr, 106 Ru and 106 Rh, 226 Ra, 54 Mn, U and T). A monthly bibliographic selection is also presented [fr

Monthly progress report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1975-06-01

This monthly report of the SCPRI exposes an interpretation of the principal results concerning the surveillance of radioactivity in the environment: atmospheric dusts(air at ground level, high altitude air), rainwater, surface water, underground water, irrigation water, drinking water, food chain (milk, plants, cattle, fish), sea water around nuclear plant sites and other sites. The activities of various radioisotopes are presented in tables ( 7 Be, 95 Zr and 95 Nb, 103 Ru, 131 I, 137 Cs, 140 Ba and 140 La, 90 Sr, 106 Ru and 106 Rh, 226 Ra, 54 Mn, U and T). A monthly bibliographic selection is also presented [fr

Monthly progress report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1975-01-01

This monthly report of the SCPRI exposes an interpretation of the principal results concerning the surveillance of radioactivity in the environment: atmospheric dusts (air at ground level, high altitude air), rainwater, surface water, underground water, irrigation water, drinking water, food chain (milk, plants, cattle, fish), sea water around nuclear plant sites and other sites. The activities of various radioisotopes are presented in tables ( 7 Be, 95 Zr and 95 Nb, 103 Ru, 131 I, 137 Cs, 140 Ba and 140 La, 90 Sr, 106 Ru and 106 Rh, 226 Ra, 54 Mn, U and T). A monthly bibliographic selection is also presented [fr

Monthly progress report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1975-02-01

This monthly report of the SCPRI exposes an interpretation of the principal results concerning the surveillance of radioactivity in the environment: atmospheric dusts (air at ground level, high altitude air), rainwater, surface water, underground water, irrigation water, drinking water, food chain (milk, plants, cattle, fish), sea water around nuclear plant sites and other sites. The activities of various radioisotopes are presented in tables ( 7 Be, 95 Zr and 95 Nb, 103 Ru, 131 I, 137 Cs, 140 Ba and 140 La, 90 Sr, 106 Ru and 106 Rh, 226 Ra, 54 Mn, U and T). A monthly bibliographic selection is also presented [fr

Surface modification of ceramic and metallic alloy substrates by laser raster-scanning

Science.gov (United States)

Ramos Grez, Jorge Andres

This work describes the feasibility of continuous wave laser-raster scan-processing under controlled atmospheric conditions as employed in three distinct surface modification processes: (a) surface roughness reduction of indirect-Selective Laser Sintered 420 martensitic stainless steel-40 wt. % bronze infiltrated surfaces; (b) Si-Cr-Hf-C coating consolidation over 3D carbon-carbon composites cylinders; (c) dendritic solidification structures of Mar-M 247 confined powder precursor grown from polycrystalline Alloy 718 substrates. A heat transfer model was developed to illustrate that the aspect ratio of the laser scanned pattern and the density of scanning lines play a significant role in determining peak surface temperature, heating and cooling rates and melt resident times. Comprehensive characterization of the surface of the processed specimens was performed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), optical metallography, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and, in certain cases, tactile profilometry. In Process (a), it was observed that a 24% to 37% roughness Ra reduction could be accomplished from the as-received value of 2.50+/-0.10 microns for laser energy densities ranging from 350 to 500 J/cm2. In Process (b), complete reactive wetting of carbon-carbon composite cylinders surface was achieved by laser melting a Si-Cr-Hf-C slurry. Coatings showed good thermal stability at 1000°C in argon, and, when tested in air, a percent weight reduction rate of -6.5 wt.%/hr was achieved. A soda-glass overcoat applied over the coated specimens by conventional means revealed a percent weight reduction rate between -1.4 to -2.2 wt.%/hr. Finally, in Process (c), microstructure of the Mar-M 247 single layer deposits, 1 mm in height, grown on Alloy 718 polycrystalline sheets, resulted in a sound metallurgical bond, low porosity, and uniform thickness. Polycrystalline dendrites grew preferentially along the [001] direction from the substrate up to 400

Monthly progress report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1975-04-01

This monthly report of the SCPRI exposes an interpretation of the principal results concerning the surveillance of radioactivity in the environment: atmospheric dusts (air at ground level, high altitude air), rainwater, surface water, underground water, irrigation water, drinking water, food chain (milk plants, cattle, fish), seawater around nuclear plant sites and other sites. The activities of various radioisotopes are presented in tables ( 7 Be, 95 Zr and 95 Nb, 103 Ru, 131 I, 137 Cs, 140 Ba and 140 La, 90 Sr, 106 Ru and 106 Rh, 226 Ra, 54 Mn U and T). A monthly bibliographic selection is also presented [fr

Combined risk assessment of nonstationary monthly water quality based on Markov chain and time-varying copula.

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Wei; Xia, Jun

2017-02-01

Water quality risk management is a global hot research linkage with the sustainable water resource development. Ammonium nitrogen (NH 3 -N) and permanganate index (COD Mn ) as the focus indicators in Huai River Basin, are selected to reveal their joint transition laws based on Markov theory. The time-varying moments model with either time or land cover index as explanatory variables is applied to build the time-varying marginal distributions of water quality time series. Time-varying copula model, which takes the non-stationarity in the marginal distribution and/or the time variation in dependence structure between water quality series into consideration, is constructed to describe a bivariate frequency analysis for NH 3 -N and COD Mn series at the same monitoring gauge. The larger first-order Markov joint transition probability indicates water quality state Class V w , Class IV and Class III will occur easily in the water body of Bengbu Sluice. Both marginal distribution and copula models are nonstationary, and the explanatory variable time yields better performance than land cover index in describing the non-stationarities in the marginal distributions. In modelling the dependence structure changes, time-varying copula has a better fitting performance than the copula with the constant or the time-trend dependence parameter. The largest synchronous encounter risk probability of NH 3 -N and COD Mn simultaneously reaching Class V is 50.61%, while the asynchronous encounter risk probability is largest when NH 3 -N and COD Mn is inferior to class V and class IV water quality standards, respectively.

Influence of Layer Thickness and Raster Angle on the Mechanical Properties of 3D-Printed PEEK and a Comparative Mechanical Study between PEEK and ABS.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Wenzheng; Geng, Peng; Li, Guiwei; Zhao, Di; Zhang, Haibo; Zhao, Ji

2015-09-01

Fused deposition modeling (FDM) is a rapidly growing 3D printing technology. However, printing materials are restricted to acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) or poly (lactic acid) (PLA) in most Fused deposition modeling (FDM) equipment. Here, we report on a new high-performance printing material, polyether-ether-ketone (PEEK), which could surmount these shortcomings. This paper is devoted to studying the influence of layer thickness and raster angle on the mechanical properties of 3D-printed PEEK. Samples with three different layer thicknesses (200, 300 and 400 μm) and raster angles (0°, 30° and 45°) were built using a polyether-ether-ketone (PEEK) 3D printing system and their tensile, compressive and bending strengths were tested. The optimal mechanical properties of polyether-ether-ketone (PEEK) samples were found at a layer thickness of 300 μm and a raster angle of 0°. To evaluate the printing performance of polyether-ether-ketone (PEEK) samples, a comparison was made between the mechanical properties of 3D-printed polyether-ether-ketone (PEEK) and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) parts. The results suggest that the average tensile strengths of polyether-ether-ketone (PEEK) parts were 108% higher than those for acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), and compressive strengths were 114% and bending strengths were 115%. However, the modulus of elasticity for both materials was similar. These results indicate that the mechanical properties of 3D-printed polyether-ether-ketone (PEEK) are superior to 3D-printed ABS.

Estimating monthly temperature using point based interpolation techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Saaban, Azizan; Mah Hashim, Noridayu; Murat, Rusdi Indra Zuhdi

2013-04-01

This paper discusses the use of point based interpolation to estimate the value of temperature at an unallocated meteorology stations in Peninsular Malaysia using data of year 2010 collected from the Malaysian Meteorology Department. Two point based interpolation methods which are Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW) and Radial Basis Function (RBF) are considered. The accuracy of the methods is evaluated using Root Mean Square Error (RMSE). The results show that RBF with thin plate spline model is suitable to be used as temperature estimator for the months of January and December, while RBF with multiquadric model is suitable to estimate the temperature for the rest of the months.

A framework for unravelling the complexities of unsustainable water resource use

Science.gov (United States)

Dermody, Brian; Bierkens, Marc; Wassen, Martin; Dekker, Stefan

2016-04-01

The majority of unsustainable water resource use is associated with food production, with the agricultural sector accounting for up to 70% of total freshwater use by humans. Water resource use in food production emerges as a result of dynamic interactions between humans and their environment in importing and exporting regions as well as the physical and socioeconomic trade infrastructure linking the two. Thus in order to understand unsustainable water resource use, it is essential to understand the complex socioecological food production and trade system. We present a modelling framework of the food production and trade system that facilitates an understanding of complex socioenvironmental processes that lead to unsustainable water resource use. Our framework is based on a coupling of the global hydrological model PC Raster Global Water Balance (PCR-GLOBWB) with a multi-agent socioeconomic food production and trade network. In our framework, agents perceive environmental conditions. They make food supply decisions based upon those perceptions and the heterogeneous socioeconomic conditions in which they exist. Agent decisions modify land and water resources. Those environmental changes feedback to influence decision making further. The framework presented has the potential to go beyond a diagnosis of the causes of unsustainable water resource and provide pathways towards a sustainable food system in terms of water resources.

Analyzing rasters, vectors and time series using new Python interfaces in GRASS GIS 7

Science.gov (United States)

Petras, Vaclav; Petrasova, Anna; Chemin, Yann; Zambelli, Pietro; Landa, Martin; Gebbert, Sören; Neteler, Markus; Löwe, Peter

2015-04-01

GRASS GIS 7 is a free and open source GIS software developed and used by many scientists (Neteler et al., 2012). While some users of GRASS GIS prefer its graphical user interface, significant part of the scientific community takes advantage of various scripting and programing interfaces offered by GRASS GIS to develop new models and algorithms. Here we will present different interfaces added to GRASS GIS 7 and available in Python, a popular programming language and environment in geosciences. These Python interfaces are designed to satisfy the needs of scientists and programmers under various circumstances. PyGRASS (Zambelli et al., 2013) is a new object-oriented interface to GRASS GIS modules and libraries. The GRASS GIS libraries are implemented in C to ensure maximum performance and the PyGRASS interface provides an intuitive, pythonic access to their functionality. GRASS GIS Python scripting library is another way of accessing GRASS GIS modules. It combines the simplicity of Bash and the efficiency of the Python syntax. When full access to all low-level and advanced functions and structures from GRASS GIS library is required, Python programmers can use an interface based on the Python ctypes package. Ctypes interface provides complete, direct access to all functionality as it would be available to C programmers. GRASS GIS provides specialized Python library for managing and analyzing spatio-temporal data (Gebbert and Pebesma, 2014). The temporal library introduces space time datasets representing time series of raster, 3D raster or vector maps and allows users to combine various spatio-temporal operations including queries, aggregation, sampling or the analysis of spatio-temporal topology. We will also discuss the advantages of implementing scientific algorithm as a GRASS GIS module and we will show how to write such module in Python. To facilitate the development of the module, GRASS GIS provides a Python library for testing (Petras and Gebbert, 2014) which

Implementation and evaluation of a monthly water balance model over the US on an 800 m grid

Science.gov (United States)

Hostetler, Steven W.; Alder, Jay R.

2016-01-01

We simulate the 1950–2010 water balance for the conterminous U.S. (CONUS) with a monthly water balance model (MWBM) using the 800 m Parameter-elevation Regression on Independent Slopes Model (PRISM) data set as model input. We employed observed snow and streamflow data sets to guide modification of the snow and potential evapotranspiration components in the default model and to evaluate model performance. Based on various metrics and sensitivity tests, the modified model yields reasonably good simulations of seasonal snowpack in the West (range of bias of ±50 mm at 68% of 713 SNOTEL sites), the gradients and magnitudes of actual evapotranspiration, and runoff (median correlation of 0.83 and median Nash-Sutcliff efficiency of 0.6 between simulated and observed annual time series at 1427 USGS gage sites). The model generally performs well along the Pacific Coast, the high elevations of the Basin and Range and over the Midwest and East, but not as well over the dry areas of the Southwest and upper Plains regions due, in part, to the apportioning of direct versus delayed runoff. Sensitivity testing and application of the MWBM to simulate the future water balance at four National Parks when driven by 30 climate models from the Climate Model Intercomparison Program Phase 5 (CMIP5) demonstrate that the model is useful for evaluating first-order, climate driven hydrologic change on monthly and annual time scales.

Active raster scanning with carbon ions. Reirradiation in patients with recurrent skull base chordomas and chondrosarcomas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Uhl, Matthias; Welzel, Thomas; Oelmann, Jan; Habl, Gregor; Hauswald, Henrik; Jensen, Alexandra; Debus, Juergen; Herfarth, Klaus [University of Heidelberg, Department of Radiation Oncology, Heidelberg (Germany); Ellerbrock, Malte [Heidelberg Ion Therapy Center (HIT), Heidelberg (Germany)

2014-07-15

To evaluate the safety and efficacy of reirradiation with carbon ions in patients with relapse of skull base chordoma and chondrosarcoma. Reirradiation with carbon ions was performed on 25 patients with locally recurrent skull base chordoma (n = 20) or chondrosarcoma (n = 5). The median time between the last radiation exposure and the reirradiation with carbon ions was 7 years. In the past, 23 patients had been irradiated once, two patients twice. Reirradiation was delivered using the active raster scanning method. The total median dose was 51.0 GyE carbon ions in a weekly regimen of five to six fractions of 3 GyE. Local progression-free survival (LPFS) was evaluated using the Kaplan-Meier method; toxicity was evaluated using the NCI Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE v.4.03). The treatment could be finished in all patients without interruption. In 80 % of patients, symptom control was achieved after therapy. The 2-year-LPFS probability was 79.3 %. A PTV volume of < 100 ml or a total dose of > 51 GyE was associated with a superior local control rate. The therapy was associated with low acute toxicity. One patient developed grade 2 mucositis during therapy. Furthermore, 12 % of patients had tympanic effusion with mild hypacusis (grade 2), while 20 % developed an asymptomatic temporal lobe reaction after treatment (grade 1). Only one patient showed a grade 3 osteoradionecrosis. Reirradiation with carbon ions is a safe and effective method in patients with relapsed chordoma and chondrosarcoma of the skull base. (orig.) [German] Evaluierung der Sicherheit und Wirksamkeit einer Re-Bestrahlung mittels Kohlenstoffionen bei Patienten mit Lokalrezidiv eines Chordoms und Chondrosarkoms der Schaedelbasis. Bei 25 Patienten mit einem Lokalrezidiv eines Chordoms (n = 20) oder Chondrosarkoms (n = 5) der Schaedelbasis erfolgte eine Re-Bestrahlung mittels Kohlenstoffionen. Die mediane Zeit zwischen letzter Bestrahlung und Re-Bestrahlung mit Kohlenstoffionen

Effects of replacing diet beverages with water on weight loss and weight maintenance: 18-month follow-up, randomized clinical trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Madjd, A; Taylor, M A; Delavari, A; Malekzadeh, R; Macdonald, I A; Farshchi, H R

2018-04-01

Beneficial effects of replacing diet beverages (DBs) with water on weight loss, during a 24-week hypoenergetic diet were previously observed. However, it is not known whether this difference is sustained during a subsequent 12-month weight maintenance period. To evaluate effects of replacing DBs with water on body weight maintenance over a 12-month period in participants who undertook a 6-month weight loss plan. Seventy-one obese and overweight adult women (body mass index (BMI): 27-40 kg m -2 ; age: 18-50 years) who usually consumed DBs in their diet were randomly assigned to either substitute water for DBs (water group: 35) or continue drinking DBs five times per week (DBs group: 36) after their lunch for the 6-month weight loss intervention and subsequent 12-month weight maintenance program. A total of 71 participants who were randomly assigned were included in the study by using an intention-to-treat analysis. Greater additional weight loss (mean±s.d.) in the water group was observed compared with the DBs group after the 12-month follow-up period (-1.7±2.8 vs -0.1±2.7 kg, P=0.001). BMI decreased more in the water group than in the DBs group (-0.7±1 vs -0.05±1.1 kg m - 2 , P=0.003). There was also a greater reduction in fasting insulin levels (-0.5±1.4 vs -0.02±1.5 mmol l -1 , P=0.023), better improvement in homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (-0.2±0.4 vs -0.1±0.3, P=0.013) and a greater decrease in 2-h postprandial plasma glucose (-0.2±0.3 vs -0.1±0.3 mmol l -1 , Pwater group compared with the DBs over the 12-month weight maintenance period. Replacement of DBs with water after the main meal in women who were regular users of DBs may cause further weight reduction during a 12-month weight maintenance program. It may also offer benefits in carbohydrate metabolism including improvement of insulin resistance over the long-term weight maintenance period.

A model for water discharge based on energy consumption data (WATEN).

Science.gov (United States)

Moyano, María Carmen; Tornos, Lucía; Juana, Luis

2014-05-01

As the need for water conservation is becoming a major water concern, a lumped model entitled WATEN has been proposed to analyse the water balance in the B-XII Irrigation Sector of the Lower Guadalquivir Irrigated Area, one of the largest irrigated areas in Spain. The aim of this work is to approach the hydrological study of an irrigation district lacking of robust data in such a manner that the water balance is performed from less to more process complexity. WATEN parameters are the total and readily available moisture in the soil, a fix percentage for effective precipitation, and the irrigation efficiency. The Sector presents six different drainage pumping stations, with particular pumping groups and with no water flow measurement devices. Energy consumption depends on the working pumping stations and groups, and on the variable water level to discharge. Energy consumed in the drainage pumping stations has been used for calibration The study has relied on two monthly series of data: the volume of drainage obtained from the model and the energy consumed in the pumping stations. A double mass analysis has permitted the detection of data tendencies. The two resulting series of data have been compared to assess model performance, particularly the Pearson's product moment correlation coefficient and the Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient of efficiency, e2, determined for monthly data and for annual and monthly average data. For model calibration, we have followed a classical approach based on objective functions optimization, and a robust approach based on Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation process, driven in a similar manner to genetic algorithms, entitled Parameters Estimation on Driven Trials (PEDT), and aiming to reduce computational requirements. WATEN has been parameterised maintaining its physical and conceptual rationality. The study approach is outlined as a progressive introduction of data. In this manner, we can observe its effect on the studied objective

Forecast of Frost Days Based on Monthly Temperatures

Science.gov (United States)

Castellanos, M. T.; Tarquis, A. M.; Morató, M. C.; Saa-Requejo, A.

2009-04-01

Although frost can cause considerable crop damage and mitigation practices against forecasted frost exist, frost forecasting technologies have not changed for many years. The paper reports a new method to forecast the monthly number of frost days (FD) for several meteorological stations at Community of Madrid (Spain) based on successive application of two models. The first one is a stochastic model, autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA), that forecasts monthly minimum absolute temperature (tmin) and monthly average of minimum temperature (tminav) following Box-Jenkins methodology. The second model relates these monthly temperatures to minimum daily temperature distribution during one month. Three ARIMA models were identified for the time series analyzed with a stational period correspondent to one year. They present the same stational behavior (moving average differenced model) and different non-stational part: autoregressive model (Model 1), moving average differenced model (Model 2) and autoregressive and moving average model (Model 3). At the same time, the results point out that minimum daily temperature (tdmin), for the meteorological stations studied, followed a normal distribution each month with a very similar standard deviation through years. This standard deviation obtained for each station and each month could be used as a risk index for cold months. The application of Model 1 to predict minimum monthly temperatures showed the best FD forecast. This procedure provides a tool for crop managers and crop insurance companies to asses the risk of frost frequency and intensity, so that they can take steps to mitigate against frost damage and estimated the damage that frost would cost. This research was supported by Comunidad de Madrid Research Project 076/92. The cooperation of the Spanish National Meteorological Institute and the Spanish Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentation (MAPA) is gratefully acknowledged.

Monthly Fluctuations of Insomnia Symptoms in a Population-Based Sample

Science.gov (United States)

Morin, Charles M.; LeBlanc, M.; Ivers, H.; Bélanger, L.; Mérette, Chantal; Savard, Josée; Jarrin, Denise C.

2014-01-01

Study Objectives: To document the monthly changes in sleep/insomnia status over a 12-month period; to determine the optimal time intervals to reliably capture new incident cases and recurrent episodes of insomnia and the likelihood of its persistence over time. Design: Participants were 100 adults (mean age = 49.9 years; 66% women) randomly selected from a larger population-based sample enrolled in a longitudinal study of the natural history of insomnia. They completed 12 monthly telephone interviews assessing insomnia, use of sleep aids, stressful life events, and physical and mental health problems in the previous month. A total of 1,125 interviews of a potential 1,200 were completed. Based on data collected at each assessment, participants were classified into one of three subgroups: good sleepers, insomnia symptoms, and insomnia syndrome. Results: At baseline, 42 participants were classified as good sleepers, 34 met criteria for insomnia symptoms, and 24 for an insomnia syndrome. There were significant fluctuations of insomnia over time, with 66% of the participants changing sleep status at least once over the 12 monthly assessments (51.5% for good sleepers, 59.5% for insomnia syndrome, and 93.4% for insomnia symptoms). Changes of status were more frequent among individuals with insomnia symptoms at baseline (mean = 3.46, SD = 2.36) than among those initially classified as good sleepers (mean = 2.12, SD = 2.70). Among the subgroup with insomnia symptoms at baseline, 88.3% reported improved sleep (i.e., became good sleepers) at least once over the 12 monthly assessments compared to 27.7% whose sleep worsened (i.e., met criteria for an insomnia syndrome) during the same period. Among individuals classified as good sleepers at baseline, risks of developing insomnia symptoms and syndrome over the subsequent months were, respectively, 48.6% and 14.5%. Monthly assessment over an interval of 6 months was found most reliable to estimate incidence rates, while an

Effect of long-term water immersion or thermal shock on mechanical properties of high-impact acrylic denture base resins.

Science.gov (United States)

Sasaki, Hirono; Hamanaka, Ippei; Takahashi, Yutaka; Kawaguchi, Tomohiro

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of long-term water immersion or thermal shock on the mechanical properties of high-impact acrylic denture base resins. Two high-impact acrylic denture base resins were selected for the study. Specimens of each denture base material tested were fabricated according to the manufacturers' instructions (n=10). The flexural strength at the proportional limit, the elastic modulus and the impact strength of the specimens were evaluated. The flexural strength at the proportional limit of the high-impact acrylic denture base resins did not change after six months' water immersion or thermocycling 50,000 times. The elastic moduli of the high-impact acrylic denture base resins significantly increased after six months' water immersion or thermocycling 50,000 times. The impact strengths of the high-impact acrylic denture base resins significantly decreased after water immersion or thermocycling as described above.

Monthly water balance model for climate change analysis in agriculture with R

Science.gov (United States)

Kalicz, Péter; Herceg, András; Gribovszki, Zoltán

2015-04-01

For Hungary regional climate models projections suggest a warmer climate and some changes in annual precipitation distribution. These changes force the whole agrarian sector to consider the traditional cropping technologies. This situation is more serious in forestry because some forest populations are on their xeric distributional limits (Gálos et. al, 2014). Additionally, a decision has an impact sometimes longer than one hundred years. To support the stakeholder there is a project which develops a GIS (Geographic Information System) based decision support system. Hydrology plays significant role in this system because water is often one of the most important limiting factor in Hungary. A modified Thorntwaite-type monthly water balance model was choosen to produce hydrological estimations for the GIS modules. This model is calibrated with the available data between 2000 and 2008. Beside other meteorological data we used mainly an actual evapotranspiration map in the calibration phase, which was derived with the Complementary-relationship-based evapotranspiration mapping (CREMAP; Szilágyi and Kovács, 2011) technique. The calibration process is pixel based and it has several stochastic steps. We try to find a flexible solution for the model implementation which easy to automatize and can be integrate in GIS systems. The open source R programming language was selected which well satisfied these demands. The result of this development is summarized as an R package. This publication has been supported by AGRARKLIMA.2 VKSZ_12-1-2013-0034 project. References Gálos B., Antal V., Czimber K., Mátyás Cs. (2014) Forest ecosystems, sewage works and droughts - possibilities for climate change adaptation. In: Santamarta J.C., Hernandez-Gutiérrez L.E., Arraiza M.P. (eds) 2014. Natural Hazards and Climate Change/Riesgos Naturales y Cambio Climático. Madrid: Colegio de Ingenieros de Montes. ISBN 978-84-617-1060-7, D.L. TF 565-2014, 91-104 pp Szilágyi J., Kovács Á. (2011

The relative biological effectiveness for carbon and oxygen ion beams using the raster-scanning technique in hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Habermehl

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Aim of this study was to evaluate the relative biological effectiveness (RBE of carbon (12C and oxygen ion (16O-irradiation applied in the raster-scanning technique at the Heidelberg Ion beam Therapy center (HIT based on clonogenic survival in hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines compared to photon irradiation. METHODS: Four human HCC lines Hep3B, PLC, HepG2 and HUH7 were irradiated with photons, 12C and 16O using a customized experimental setting at HIT for in-vitro trials. Cells were irradiated with increasing physical photon single doses of 0, 2, 4 and 6 Gy and heavy ion-single doses of 0, 0.125, 0.5, 1, 2, 3 Gy (12C and 16O. SOBP-penetration depth and extension was 35 mm +/-4 mm and 36 mm +/-5 mm for carbon ions and oxygen ions respectively. Mean energy level and mean linear energy transfer (LET were 130 MeV/u and 112 keV/um for 12C, and 154 MeV/u and 146 keV/um for 16O. Clonogenic survival was computated and relative biological effectiveness (RBE values were defined. RESULTS: For all cell lines and both particle modalities α- and β-values were determined. As expected, α-values were significantly higher for 12C and 16O than for photons, reflecting a steeper decline of the initial slope of the survival curves for high-LET beams. RBE-values were in the range of 2.1-3.3 and 1.9-3.1 for 12C and 16O, respectively. CONCLUSION: Both irradiation with 12C and 16O using the raster-scanning technique leads to an enhanced RBE in HCC cell lines. No relevant differences between achieved RBE-values for 12C and 16O were found. Results of this work will further influence biological-adapted treatment planning for HCC patients that will undergo particle therapy with 12C or 16O.

Two Monthly Continuous Dynamic Model Based on Nash Bargaining Theory for Conflict Resolution in Reservoir System.

Science.gov (United States)

Homayounfar, Mehran; Zomorodian, Mehdi; Martinez, Christopher J; Lai, Sai Hin

2015-01-01

So far many optimization models based on Nash Bargaining Theory associated with reservoir operation have been developed. Most of them have aimed to provide practical and efficient solutions for water allocation in order to alleviate conflicts among water users. These models can be discussed from two viewpoints: (i) having a discrete nature; and (ii) working on an annual basis. Although discrete dynamic game models provide appropriate reservoir operator policies, their discretization of variables increases the run time and causes dimensionality problems. In this study, two monthly based non-discrete optimization models based on the Nash Bargaining Solution are developed for a reservoir system. In the first model, based on constrained state formulation, the first and second moments (mean and variance) of the state variable (water level in the reservoir) is calculated. Using moment equations as the constraint, the long-term utility of the reservoir manager and water users are optimized. The second model is a dynamic approach structured based on continuous state Markov decision models. The corresponding solution based on the collocation method is structured for a reservoir system. In this model, the reward function is defined based on the Nash Bargaining Solution. Indeed, it is used to yield equilibrium in every proper sub-game, thereby satisfying the Markov perfect equilibrium. Both approaches are applicable for water allocation in arid and semi-arid regions. A case study was carried out at the Zayandeh-Rud river basin located in central Iran to identify the effectiveness of the presented methods. The results are compared with the results of an annual form of dynamic game, a classical stochastic dynamic programming model (e.g. Bayesian Stochastic Dynamic Programming model, BSDP), and a discrete stochastic dynamic game model (PSDNG). By comparing the results of alternative methods, it is shown that both models are capable of tackling conflict issues in water allocation

Two Monthly Continuous Dynamic Model Based on Nash Bargaining Theory for Conflict Resolution in Reservoir System.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mehran Homayounfar

Full Text Available So far many optimization models based on Nash Bargaining Theory associated with reservoir operation have been developed. Most of them have aimed to provide practical and efficient solutions for water allocation in order to alleviate conflicts among water users. These models can be discussed from two viewpoints: (i having a discrete nature; and (ii working on an annual basis. Although discrete dynamic game models provide appropriate reservoir operator policies, their discretization of variables increases the run time and causes dimensionality problems. In this study, two monthly based non-discrete optimization models based on the Nash Bargaining Solution are developed for a reservoir system. In the first model, based on constrained state formulation, the first and second moments (mean and variance of the state variable (water level in the reservoir is calculated. Using moment equations as the constraint, the long-term utility of the reservoir manager and water users are optimized. The second model is a dynamic approach structured based on continuous state Markov decision models. The corresponding solution based on the collocation method is structured for a reservoir system. In this model, the reward function is defined based on the Nash Bargaining Solution. Indeed, it is used to yield equilibrium in every proper sub-game, thereby satisfying the Markov perfect equilibrium. Both approaches are applicable for water allocation in arid and semi-arid regions. A case study was carried out at the Zayandeh-Rud river basin located in central Iran to identify the effectiveness of the presented methods. The results are compared with the results of an annual form of dynamic game, a classical stochastic dynamic programming model (e.g. Bayesian Stochastic Dynamic Programming model, BSDP, and a discrete stochastic dynamic game model (PSDNG. By comparing the results of alternative methods, it is shown that both models are capable of tackling conflict issues in

Hydrologic, Water-Quality, and Meteorological Data for the Cambridge, Massachusetts, Drinking-Water Source Area, Water Year 2005

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Kirk P.

2007-01-01

Records of water quantity, water quality, and meteorological parameters were continuously collected from three reservoirs, two primary streams, and four subbasin tributaries in the Cambridge, Massachusetts, drinking-water source area during water year 2005 (October 2004 through September 2005). Water samples were collected during base-flow conditions and storms in the subbasins of the Cambridge Reservoir and Stony Brook Reservoir drainage areas and analyzed for selected elements, organic constituents, suspended sediment, and Escherichia coli bacteria. These data were collected to assist watershed administrators in managing the drinking-water source area and to identify potential sources of contaminants and trends in contaminant loading to the water supply. Monthly reservoir capacities for the Cambridge Reservoir varied from about 59 to 98 percent during water year 2005, while monthly reservoir capacities for the Stony Brook Reservoir and the Fresh Pond Reservoir were maintained at capacities greater than 84 and 96 percent, respectively. Assuming a water demand of 15 million gallons per day by the city of Cambridge, the volume of water released from the Stony Brook Reservoir to the Charles River during the 2005 water year is equivalent to an annual water surplus of about 119 percent. Recorded precipitation in the source area for the 2005 water year was within 2 inches of the total annual precipitation for the previous 2 water years. The monthly mean specific conductances for the outflow of the Cambridge Reservoir were similar to historical monthly mean values. However, monthly mean specific conductances for Stony Brook near Route 20, in Waltham (U.S. Geological Survey station 01104460), which is the principal tributary feeding the Stony Brook Reservoir, were generally higher than the medians of the monthly mean specific conductances for the period of record. Similarly, monthly mean specific conductances for a small tributary to Stony Brook (U.S. Geological Survey

Global monthly water scarcity: Blue water footprints versus blue water availability

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hoekstra, Arjen Ysbert; Mekonnen, Mesfin; Chapagain, Ashok; Mathews, R.E.; Richter, B.D.

2012-01-01

Freshwater scarcity is a growing concern, placing considerable importance on the accuracy of indicators used to characterize and map water scarcity worldwide. We improve upon past efforts by using estimates of blue water footprints (consumptive use of ground- and surface water flows) rather than

Synoptic Bi-monthly and Storm Response Water Quality Sampling in Southern Kaneohe Bay, HI 2005-2007 (NODC Accession 0060061)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Synoptic sampling including water column profiles and collected surface water samples was conducted on a bi-monthly basis throughout the rainy season(October-May)...

Reconstruction of global gridded monthly sectoral water withdrawals for 1971-2010 and analysis of their spatiotemporal patterns

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Zhongwei; Hejazi, Mohamad; Li, Xinya; Tang, Qiuhong; Vernon, Chris; Leng, Guoyong; Liu, Yaling; Döll, Petra; Eisner, Stephanie; Gerten, Dieter; Hanasaki, Naota; Wada, Yoshihide

2018-04-01

Human water withdrawal has increasingly altered the global water cycle in past decades, yet our understanding of its driving forces and patterns is limited. Reported historical estimates of sectoral water withdrawals are often sparse and incomplete, mainly restricted to water withdrawal estimates available at annual and country scales, due to a lack of observations at seasonal and local scales. In this study, through collecting and consolidating various sources of reported data and developing spatial and temporal statistical downscaling algorithms, we reconstruct a global monthly gridded (0.5°) sectoral water withdrawal dataset for the period 1971-2010, which distinguishes six water use sectors, i.e., irrigation, domestic, electricity generation (cooling of thermal power plants), livestock, mining, and manufacturing. Based on the reconstructed dataset, the spatial and temporal patterns of historical water withdrawal are analyzed. Results show that total global water withdrawal has increased significantly during 1971-2010, mainly driven by the increase in irrigation water withdrawal. Regions with high water withdrawal are those densely populated or with large irrigated cropland production, e.g., the United States (US), eastern China, India, and Europe. Seasonally, irrigation water withdrawal in summer for the major crops contributes a large percentage of total annual irrigation water withdrawal in mid- and high-latitude regions, and the dominant season of irrigation water withdrawal is also different across regions. Domestic water withdrawal is mostly characterized by a summer peak, while water withdrawal for electricity generation has a winter peak in high-latitude regions and a summer peak in low-latitude regions. Despite the overall increasing trend, irrigation in the western US and domestic water withdrawal in western Europe exhibit a decreasing trend. Our results highlight the distinct spatial pattern of human water use by sectors at the seasonal and annual

Monthly fluctuations of insomnia symptoms in a population-based sample.

Science.gov (United States)

Morin, Charles M; Leblanc, M; Ivers, H; Bélanger, L; Mérette, Chantal; Savard, Josée; Jarrin, Denise C

2014-02-01

To document the monthly changes in sleep/insomnia status over a 12-month period; to determine the optimal time intervals to reliably capture new incident cases and recurrent episodes of insomnia and the likelihood of its persistence over time. Participants were 100 adults (mean age = 49.9 years; 66% women) randomly selected from a larger population-based sample enrolled in a longitudinal study of the natural history of insomnia. They completed 12 monthly telephone interviews assessing insomnia, use of sleep aids, stressful life events, and physical and mental health problems in the previous month. A total of 1,125 interviews of a potential 1,200 were completed. Based on data collected at each assessment, participants were classified into one of three subgroups: good sleepers, insomnia symptoms, and insomnia syndrome. At baseline, 42 participants were classified as good sleepers, 34 met criteria for insomnia symptoms, and 24 for an insomnia syndrome. There were significant fluctuations of insomnia over time, with 66% of the participants changing sleep status at least once over the 12 monthly assessments (51.5% for good sleepers, 59.5% for insomnia syndrome, and 93.4% for insomnia symptoms). Changes of status were more frequent among individuals with insomnia symptoms at baseline (mean = 3.46, SD = 2.36) than among those initially classified as good sleepers (mean = 2.12, SD = 2.70). Among the subgroup with insomnia symptoms at baseline, 88.3% reported improved sleep (i.e., became good sleepers) at least once over the 12 monthly assessments compared to 27.7% whose sleep worsened (i.e., met criteria for an insomnia syndrome) during the same period. Among individuals classified as good sleepers at baseline, risks of developing insomnia symptoms and syndrome over the subsequent months were, respectively, 48.6% and 14.5%. Monthly assessment over an interval of 6 months was found most reliable to estimate incidence rates, while an interval of 3 months proved the most

TerraClimate, a high-resolution global dataset of monthly climate and climatic water balance from 1958–2015

OpenAIRE

Abatzoglou, John T.; Dobrowski, Solomon Z.; Parks, Sean A.; Hegewisch, Katherine C.

2018-01-01

We present TerraClimate, a dataset of high-spatial resolution (1/24°, ~4-km) monthly climate and climatic water balance for global terrestrial surfaces from 1958–2015. TerraClimate uses climatically aided interpolation, combining high-spatial resolution climatological normals from the WorldClim dataset, with coarser resolution time varying (i.e., monthly) data from other sources to produce a monthly dataset of precipitation, maximum and minimum temperature, wind speed, vapor pressure, and sol...

Estimating the monthly discharge of a photovoltaic water pumping system: Model verification

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amer, E.H.; Younes, M.A.

2006-01-01

A simple algorithm has been adopted for estimating the long term performance of a photovoltaic water pumping system without battery storage. The method uses the standard solar utilizability correlation equation to calculate the flow rate of the system, knowing an insolation threshold value. The method uses the monthly average solar radiation as the only input. The nonlinear relation between flow rate and solar insolation has been obtained experimentally in a first step and then used for performance prediction. The meteorological data collected instantaneously at the site of the pumping system has been used to obtain the monthly average values for solar radiation that are needed by the method. The method has been validated by predicting the performance of two PV pumping systems. The average output of the systems predicted by the method has been compared with experimental measurements. The estimated discharge differs by about 5% from the experimental measurements

ARSENIC REMOVAL FROM DRINKING WATER BY ADSORPTIVE MEDIA. U.S. EPA DEMONSTRATION PROJECT AT BOW, NH , SIX MONTH EVALUATION REPORT

Science.gov (United States)

This report documents the activities performed during and the results obtained from the first six months of the arsenic removal treatment technology demonstration project at the White Rock Water Company (WRWC) public water system, a small residential drinking water facility in Bo...

An index approach to performance-based payments for water quality.

Science.gov (United States)

Maille, Peter; Collins, Alan R

2012-05-30

In this paper we describe elements of a field research project that presented farmers with economic incentives to control nitrate runoff. The approach used is novel in that payments are based on ambient water quality and water quantity produced by a watershed rather than proxies for water quality conservation. Also, payments are made based on water quality relative to a control watershed, and therefore, account for stochastic fluctuations in background nitrate levels. Finally, the program pays farmers as a group to elicit team behavior. We present our approach to modeling that allowed us to estimate prices for water and resulting payment levels. We then compare these preliminary estimates to the actual values recorded over 33 months of fieldwork. We find that our actual payments were 29% less than our preliminary estimates, due in part to the failure of our ecological model to estimate discharge accurately. Despite this shortfall, the program attracted the participation of 53% of the farmers in the watershed, and resulted in substantial nitrate abatement activity. Given this favorable response, we propose that research efforts focus on implementing field trials of group-level performance-based payments. Ideally these programs would be low risk and control for naturally occurring contamination. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

MODIS/Terra Aerosol Cloud Water Vapor Ozone Monthly L3 Global 1Deg CMG V006

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — MODIS/Terra Aerosol Cloud Water Vapor Ozone Monthly L3 Global 1Deg CMG (MOD08_M3). MODIS was launched aboard the Terra satellite on December 18, 1999 (10:30 am...

A New Approach to Line Simplification Based on Image Processing: A Case Study of Water Area Boundaries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yilang Shen

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Line simplification is an important component of map generalization. In recent years, algorithms for line simplification have been widely researched, and most of them are based on vector data. However, with the increasing development of computer vision, analysing and processing information from unstructured image data is both meaningful and challenging. Therefore, in this paper, we present a new line simplification approach based on image processing (BIP, which is specifically designed for raster data. First, the key corner points on a multi-scale image feature are detected and treated as candidate points. Then, to capture the essence of the shape within a given boundary using the fewest possible segments, the minimum-perimeter polygon (MPP is calculated and the points of the MPP are defined as the approximate feature points. Finally, the points after simplification are selected from the candidate points by comparing the distances between the candidate points and the approximate feature points. An empirical example was used to test the applicability of the proposed method. The results showed that (1 when the key corner points are detected based on a multi-scale image feature, the local features of the line can be extracted and retained and the positional accuracy of the proposed method can be maintained well; and (2 by defining the visibility constraint of geographical features, this method is especially suitable for simplifying water areas as it is aligned with people’s visual habits.

TENSOR MODELING BASED FOR AIRBORNE LiDAR DATA CLASSIFICATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. Li

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Feature selection and description is a key factor in classification of Earth observation data. In this paper a classification method based on tensor decomposition is proposed. First, multiple features are extracted from raw LiDAR point cloud, and raster LiDAR images are derived by accumulating features or the “raw” data attributes. Then, the feature rasters of LiDAR data are stored as a tensor, and tensor decomposition is used to select component features. This tensor representation could keep the initial spatial structure and insure the consideration of the neighborhood. Based on a small number of component features a k nearest neighborhood classification is applied.

GIS-based two-dimensional numerical simulation of rainfall-induced debris flow

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Wang

2008-02-01

Full Text Available This paper aims to present a useful numerical method to simulate the propagation and deposition of debris flow across the three dimensional complex terrain. A depth-averaged two-dimensional numerical model is developed, in which the debris and water mixture is assumed to be continuous, incompressible, unsteady flow. The model is based on the continuity equations and Navier-Stokes equations. Raster grid networks of digital elevation model in GIS provide a uniform grid system to describe complex topography. As the raster grid can be used as the finite difference mesh, the continuity and momentum equations are solved numerically using the finite difference method. The numerical model is applied to simulate the rainfall-induced debris flow occurred in 20 July 2003, in Minamata City of southern Kyushu, Japan. The simulation reproduces the propagation and deposition and the results are in good agreement with the field investigation. The synthesis of numerical method and GIS makes possible the solution of debris flow over a realistic terrain, and can be used to estimate the flow range, and to define potentially hazardous areas for homes and road section.

Reconstruction of global gridded monthly sectoral water withdrawals for 1971–2010 and analysis of their spatiotemporal patterns

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Z. Huang

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Human water withdrawal has increasingly altered the global water cycle in past decades, yet our understanding of its driving forces and patterns is limited. Reported historical estimates of sectoral water withdrawals are often sparse and incomplete, mainly restricted to water withdrawal estimates available at annual and country scales, due to a lack of observations at seasonal and local scales. In this study, through collecting and consolidating various sources of reported data and developing spatial and temporal statistical downscaling algorithms, we reconstruct a global monthly gridded (0.5° sectoral water withdrawal dataset for the period 1971–2010, which distinguishes six water use sectors, i.e., irrigation, domestic, electricity generation (cooling of thermal power plants, livestock, mining, and manufacturing. Based on the reconstructed dataset, the spatial and temporal patterns of historical water withdrawal are analyzed. Results show that total global water withdrawal has increased significantly during 1971–2010, mainly driven by the increase in irrigation water withdrawal. Regions with high water withdrawal are those densely populated or with large irrigated cropland production, e.g., the United States (US, eastern China, India, and Europe. Seasonally, irrigation water withdrawal in summer for the major crops contributes a large percentage of total annual irrigation water withdrawal in mid- and high-latitude regions, and the dominant season of irrigation water withdrawal is also different across regions. Domestic water withdrawal is mostly characterized by a summer peak, while water withdrawal for electricity generation has a winter peak in high-latitude regions and a summer peak in low-latitude regions. Despite the overall increasing trend, irrigation in the western US and domestic water withdrawal in western Europe exhibit a decreasing trend. Our results highlight the distinct spatial pattern of human water use by sectors at

Effect of Storage in Distilled Water for Three Months on the Antimicrobial Properties of Poly(methyl methacrylate Denture Base Material Doped with Inorganic Filler

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Grzegorz Chladek

2016-04-01

Full Text Available The colonization of poly(methyl methacrylate (PMMA denture base materials by pathogenic microorganisms is a major problem associated with the use of prostheses, and the incorporation of antimicrobial fillers is a method of improving the antimicrobial properties of these materials. Numerous studies have demonstrated the initial in vitro antimicrobial effectiveness of this type of material; however, reports demonstrating the stability of these fillers over longer periods are not available. In this study, silver sodium hydrogen zirconium phosphate was introduced into the powder component of a PMMA denture base material at concentrations of 0.25%, 0.5%, 1%, 2%, 4%, and 8% (w/w. The survival rates of the gram-positive bacterium Staphylococcus aureus, gram-negative bacterium Escherichia coli and yeast-type fungus Candida albicans were established after fungal or bacterial suspensions were incubated with samples that had been previously stored in distilled water. Storage over a three-month period led to the progressive reduction of the initial antimicrobial properties. The results of this study suggest that additional microbiological tests should be conducted for materials that are treated with antimicrobial fillers and intended for long-term use. Future long-term studies of the migration of silver ions from the polymer matrix and the influence of different media on this ion emission are required.

Estimating Evapotranspiration Using an Observation Based Terrestrial Water Budget

Science.gov (United States)

Rodell, Matthew; McWilliams, Eric B.; Famiglietti, James S.; Beaudoing, Hiroko K.; Nigro, Joseph

2011-01-01

Evapotranspiration (ET) is difficult to measure at the scales of climate models and climate variability. While satellite retrieval algorithms do exist, their accuracy is limited by the sparseness of in situ observations available for calibration and validation, which themselves may be unrepresentative of 500m and larger scale satellite footprints and grid pixels. Here, we use a combination of satellite and ground-based observations to close the water budgets of seven continental scale river basins (Mackenzie, Fraser, Nelson, Mississippi, Tocantins, Danube, and Ubangi), estimating mean ET as a residual. For any river basin, ET must equal total precipitation minus net runoff minus the change in total terrestrial water storage (TWS), in order for mass to be conserved. We make use of precipitation from two global observation-based products, archived runoff data, and TWS changes from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment satellite mission. We demonstrate that while uncertainty in the water budget-based estimates of monthly ET is often too large for those estimates to be useful, the uncertainty in the mean annual cycle is small enough that it is practical for evaluating other ET products. Here, we evaluate five land surface model simulations, two operational atmospheric analyses, and a recent global reanalysis product based on our results. An important outcome is that the water budget-based ET time series in two tropical river basins, one in Brazil and the other in central Africa, exhibit a weak annual cycle, which may help to resolve debate about the strength of the annual cycle of ET in such regions and how ET is constrained throughout the year. The methods described will be useful for water and energy budget studies, weather and climate model assessments, and satellite-based ET retrieval optimization.

Six-month color change and water sorption of 9 new-generation flowable composites in 6 staining solutions.

Science.gov (United States)

Arregui, Maria; Giner, Luis; Ferrari, Marco; Vallés, Marta; Mercadé, Montserrat

2016-11-28

Color match and water sorption are two factors that affect restorative materials. Discoloration is essential in the lifespan of restorations. The aim of this study was to evaluate color change and water sorption of nine flowable composites at multiple time points over 6 months. 60 samples of each composite were divided into two groups (Color Change and Water Sorption/Solubility). Each Color Change group was divided into six subgroups, which were immersed in distilled water (DW), coffee (CF), Coca-Cola (CC), red wine (RW), tea (TE) and orange juice (OJ). The color was measured at the baseline, 1, 2, 3 and 4 weeks, and 3 and 6 months and color change values (ΔE) were calculated. Each Water Sorption [WS]/Solubility [WL] group was tested according to ISO 4049:2009. The data were evaluated using two-way ANOVA, Fisher's post-hoc test and Pearson's correlation test. The composite with the lowest ΔE differed for each solution: Filtek™ Bulk Fill in DW (∆E = 0.73 (0.17-1.759)); Vertise Flow in CF (∆E = 14.75 (7.91-27.41)), in TE (∆E = 7.27 (2.81-24.81)) and OJ (∆E = 3.17 (0.87-9.92)); Tetric EvoFlow® in CC (∆E = 1.27 (0.45-4.02)); and Filtek™ Supreme XTE in RW (∆E = 8.88 (5.23-19.59)). RW caused the most discoloration (∆E = 23.62 (4.93-51.36)). Vertise Flow showed the highest water sorption (WS = 69.10 ± 7.19). The Pearson test showed statistically significant positive correlations between water sorption and solubility and between water sorption and ∆E; the positive solubility-∆E correlation was not statistically significant. The findings suggest that water sorption is one factor associated with the ability of composites to discolor; however, discoloration is a multifactorial problem.

Data Descriptor: TerraClimate, a high-resolution global dataset of monthly climate and climatic water balance from 1958-2015

Science.gov (United States)

John T. Abatzoglou; Solomon Z. Dobrowski; Sean A. Parks; Katherine C. Hegewisch

2018-01-01

We present TerraClimate, a dataset of high-spatial resolution (1/24°, ~4-km) monthly climate and climatic water balance for global terrestrial surfaces from 1958–2015. TerraClimate uses climatically aided interpolation, combining high-spatial resolution climatological normals from the WorldClim dataset, with coarser resolution time varying (i.e., monthly) data from...

Improving data management and dissemination in web based information systems by semantic enrichment of descriptive data aspects

Science.gov (United States)

Gebhardt, Steffen; Wehrmann, Thilo; Klinger, Verena; Schettler, Ingo; Huth, Juliane; Künzer, Claudia; Dech, Stefan

2010-10-01

The German-Vietnamese water-related information system for the Mekong Delta (WISDOM) project supports business processes in Integrated Water Resources Management in Vietnam. Multiple disciplines bring together earth and ground based observation themes, such as environmental monitoring, water management, demographics, economy, information technology, and infrastructural systems. This paper introduces the components of the web-based WISDOM system including data, logic and presentation tier. It focuses on the data models upon which the database management system is built, including techniques for tagging or linking metadata with the stored information. The model also uses ordered groupings of spatial, thematic and temporal reference objects to semantically tag datasets to enable fast data retrieval, such as finding all data in a specific administrative unit belonging to a specific theme. A spatial database extension is employed by the PostgreSQL database. This object-oriented database was chosen over a relational database to tag spatial objects to tabular data, improving the retrieval of census and observational data at regional, provincial, and local areas. While the spatial database hinders processing raster data, a "work-around" was built into WISDOM to permit efficient management of both raster and vector data. The data model also incorporates styling aspects of the spatial datasets through styled layer descriptions (SLD) and web mapping service (WMS) layer specifications, allowing retrieval of rendered maps. Metadata elements of the spatial data are based on the ISO19115 standard. XML structured information of the SLD and metadata are stored in an XML database. The data models and the data management system are robust for managing the large quantity of spatial objects, sensor observations, census and document data. The operational WISDOM information system prototype contains modules for data management, automatic data integration, and web services for data

The Effects of Water Parameters on Monthly Seagrass Percentage Cover in Lawas, East Malaysia

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmad-Kamil, E. I.; Ramli, R.; Jaaman, S. A.; Bali, J.; Al-Obaidi, J. R.

2013-01-01

Seagrass is a valuable marine ecosystem engineer. However, seagrass population is declining worldwide. The lack of seagrass research in Malaysia raises questions about the status of seagrasses in the country. The seagrasses in Lawas, which is part of the coral-mangrove-seagrass complex, have never been studied in detail. In this study, we examine whether monthly changes of seagrass population in Lawas occurred. Data on estimates of seagrass percentage cover and water physicochemical parameters (pH, turbidity, salinity, temperature, and dissolved oxygen) were measured at 84 sampling stations established within the study area from June 2009 to May 2010. Meteorological data such as total rainfall, air temperature, and Southern Oscillation Index were also investigated. Our results showed that (i) the monthly changes of seagrass percentage cover are significant, (ii) the changes correlated significantly with turbidity measurements, and (iii) weather changes affected the seagrass populations. Our study indicates seagrass percentage increased during the El-Nino period. These results suggest that natural disturbances such as weather changes affect seagrass populations. Evaluation of land usage and measurements of other water physicochemical parameters (such as heavy metal, pesticides, and nutrients) should be considered to assess the health of seagrass ecosystem at the study area. PMID:24163635

Synoptic Bi-monthly and Storm Response Water Quality Sampling in Southern Kaneohe Bay, HI November 2007 - April 2009 (NODC Accession 0062644)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Synoptic sampling including water column profiles and collected surface water samples was conducted on a bi-monthly basis throughout the rainy season(October-May)...

Monthly streamflow forecasting based on hidden Markov model and Gaussian Mixture Regression

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Yongqi; Ye, Lei; Qin, Hui; Hong, Xiaofeng; Ye, Jiajun; Yin, Xingli

2018-06-01

Reliable streamflow forecasts can be highly valuable for water resources planning and management. In this study, we combined a hidden Markov model (HMM) and Gaussian Mixture Regression (GMR) for probabilistic monthly streamflow forecasting. The HMM is initialized using a kernelized K-medoids clustering method, and the Baum-Welch algorithm is then executed to learn the model parameters. GMR derives a conditional probability distribution for the predictand given covariate information, including the antecedent flow at a local station and two surrounding stations. The performance of HMM-GMR was verified based on the mean square error and continuous ranked probability score skill scores. The reliability of the forecasts was assessed by examining the uniformity of the probability integral transform values. The results show that HMM-GMR obtained reasonably high skill scores and the uncertainty spread was appropriate. Different HMM states were assumed to be different climate conditions, which would lead to different types of observed values. We demonstrated that the HMM-GMR approach can handle multimodal and heteroscedastic data.

Average monthly and annual climate maps for Bolivia

KAUST Repository

Vicente-Serrano, Sergio M.

2015-02-24

This study presents monthly and annual climate maps for relevant hydroclimatic variables in Bolivia. We used the most complete network of precipitation and temperature stations available in Bolivia, which passed a careful quality control and temporal homogenization procedure. Monthly average maps at the spatial resolution of 1 km were modeled by means of a regression-based approach using topographic and geographic variables as predictors. The monthly average maximum and minimum temperatures, precipitation and potential exoatmospheric solar radiation under clear sky conditions are used to estimate the monthly average atmospheric evaporative demand by means of the Hargreaves model. Finally, the average water balance is estimated on a monthly and annual scale for each 1 km cell by means of the difference between precipitation and atmospheric evaporative demand. The digital layers used to create the maps are available in the digital repository of the Spanish National Research Council.

New watershed-based climate forecast products for hydrologists and water managers

Science.gov (United States)

Baker, S. A.; Wood, A.; Rajagopalan, B.; Lehner, F.; Peng, P.; Ray, A. J.; Barsugli, J. J.; Werner, K.

2017-12-01

Operational sub-seasonal to seasonal (S2S) climate predictions have advanced in skill in recent years but are yet to be broadly utilized by stakeholders in the water management sector. While some of the challenges that relate to fundamental predictability are difficult or impossible to surmount, other hurdles related to forecast product formulation, translation, relevance, and accessibility can be directly addressed. These include products being misaligned with users' space-time needs, products disseminated in formats users cannot easily process, and products based on raw model outputs that are biased relative to user climatologies. In each of these areas, more can be done to bridge the gap by enhancing the usability, quality, and relevance of water-oriented predictions. In addition, water stakeholder impacts can benefit from short-range extremes predictions (such as 2-3 day storms or 1-week heat waves) at S2S time-scales, for which few products exist. We present interim results of a Research to Operations (R2O) effort sponsored by the NOAA MAPP Climate Testbed to (1) formulate climate prediction products so as to reduce hurdles to in water stakeholder adoption, and to (2) explore opportunities for extremes prediction at S2S time scales. The project is currently using CFSv2 and National Multi-­Model Ensemble (NMME) reforecasts and forecasts to develop real-time watershed-based climate forecast products, and to train post-processing approaches to enhance the skill and reliability of raw real-time S2S forecasts. Prototype S2S climate data products (forecasts and associated skill analyses) are now being operationally staged at NCAR on a public website to facilitate further product development through interactions with water managers. Initial demonstration products include CFSv2-based bi-weekly climate forecasts (weeks 1-2, 2-3, and 3-4) for sub-regional scale hydrologic units, and NMME-based monthly and seasonal prediction products. Raw model mean skill at these time

Six-month color change and water sorption of 9 new-generation flowable composites in 6 staining solutions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria ARREGUI

Full Text Available Abstract Color match and water sorption are two factors that affect restorative materials. Discoloration is essential in the lifespan of restorations. The aim of this study was to evaluate color change and water sorption of nine flowable composites at multiple time points over 6 months. 60 samples of each composite were divided into two groups (Color Change and Water Sorption/Solubility. Each Color Change group was divided into six subgroups, which were immersed in distilled water (DW, coffee (CF, Coca-Cola (CC, red wine (RW, tea (TE and orange juice (OJ. The color was measured at the baseline, 1, 2, 3 and 4 weeks, and 3 and 6 months and color change values (ΔE were calculated. Each Water Sorption [WS]/Solubility [WL] group was tested according to ISO 4049:2009. The data were evaluated using two-way ANOVA, Fisher’s post-hoc test and Pearson’s correlation test. The composite with the lowest ΔE differed for each solution: Filtek™ Bulk Fill in DW (∆E = 0.73 (0.17–1.759; Vertise Flow in CF (∆E = 14.75 (7.91–27.41, in TE (∆E = 7.27 (2.81–24.81 and OJ (∆E = 3.17 (0.87–9.92; Tetric EvoFlow® in CC (∆E = 1.27 (0.45–4.02; and Filtek™ Supreme XTE in RW (∆E = 8.88 (5.23–19.59. RW caused the most discoloration (∆E = 23.62 (4.93–51.36. Vertise Flow showed the highest water sorption (WS = 69.10 ± 7.19. The Pearson test showed statistically significant positive correlations between water sorption and solubility and between water sorption and ∆E; the positive solubility-∆E correlation was not statistically significant. The findings suggest that water sorption is one factor associated with the ability of composites to discolor; however, discoloration is a multifactorial problem.

O.P.R.I. Monthly Bulletin. August 1998

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1998-08-01

The OPRI Monthly Report, August 1998 Issue, reports the measurement results concerning activity levels obtained from atmospheric sampling (air at ground and high-altitude level and the atmospheric tritium concentration at VALDUC), from rain water, ground, underground and sea waters. Also, radioactivity levels are given for drinking water, food chains (particularly in cow milk and fish available on national market) and vegetables. Data resulted from radiation surveillance of industrial nuclear facilities and waste waters from non-industrial units like hospitals and research institutions are also given. The report presents the system of environmental gamma radiation monitoring based on the TELERAY Network consisting of 174 stations throughout French territory as well as the medical control for professionals and the radioactivity control following radiation incidents

Glophymed: an index to establish the ecological status for the Water Framework Directive based on phytoplankton in coastal waters.

Science.gov (United States)

Romero, I; Pachés, M; Martínez-Guijarro, R; Ferrer, J

2013-10-15

Phytoplankton and its attributes (biomass, abundance, composition, and frequency and intensity of phytoplankton blooms) are essential to establish the ecological status in the Water Frame Directive. The aim of this study is to develop an index "Glophymed" based on all phytoplankton attributes for coastal water bodies according to the directive requirements. It is also developed an anthropogenic pressure index that takes into account population density, tourism, urbanization, industry, agriculture, fisheries and maritime transport for Comunitat Valenciana (Spain). Both indexes (Glophymed and human pressure index) based on a multisampling dataset collected monthly during several years, show a significant statistical correlation (r2 0.75 α<0.01) for typology IIA and (r2 0.93 α<0.01) for typology III-W. The relation between these indexes provides suitable information about the integrated management plans and protection measures of water resources since the Glophymed index is very sensitive to human pressures. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Trends in annual, seasonal, and monthly streamflow characteristics at 227 streamgages in the Missouri River watershed, water years 1960-2011

Science.gov (United States)

Norton, Parker A.; Anderson, Mark T.; Stamm, John F.

2014-01-01

The Missouri River and its tributaries are an important resource that serve multiple uses including agriculture, energy, recreation, and municipal water supply. Understanding historical streamflow characteristics provides relevant guidance to adaptive management of these water resources. Streamflow records in the Missouri River watershed were examined for trends in time series of annual, seasonal, and monthly streamflow. A total of 227 streamgages having continuous observational records for water years 1960–2011 were examined. Kendall’s tau nonparametric test was used to determine statistical significance of trends in annual, seasonal, and monthly streamflow. A trend was considered statistically significant for a probability value less than or equal to 0.10 that the Kendall’s tau value equals zero. Significant trends in annual streamflow were indicated for 101 out of a total of 227 streamgages. The Missouri River watershed was divided into six watershed regions and trends within regions were examined. The western and the southern parts of the Missouri River watershed had downward trends in annual streamflow (56 streamgages), whereas the eastern part of the watershed had upward trends in streamflow (45 streamgages). Seasonal and monthly streamflow trends reflected prevailing annual streamflow trends within each watershed region.

Can we use Earth Observations to improve monthly water level forecasts?

Science.gov (United States)

Slater, L. J.; Villarini, G.

2017-12-01

Dynamical-statistical hydrologic forecasting approaches benefit from different strengths in comparison with traditional hydrologic forecasting systems: they are computationally efficient, can integrate and `learn' from a broad selection of input data (e.g., General Circulation Model (GCM) forecasts, Earth Observation time series, teleconnection patterns), and can take advantage of recent progress in machine learning (e.g. multi-model blending, post-processing and ensembling techniques). Recent efforts to develop a dynamical-statistical ensemble approach for forecasting seasonal streamflow using both GCM forecasts and changing land cover have shown promising results over the U.S. Midwest. Here, we use climate forecasts from several GCMs of the North American Multi Model Ensemble (NMME) alongside 15-minute stage time series from the National River Flow Archive (NRFA) and land cover classes extracted from the European Space Agency's Climate Change Initiative 300 m annual Global Land Cover time series. With these data, we conduct systematic long-range probabilistic forecasting of monthly water levels in UK catchments over timescales ranging from one to twelve months ahead. We evaluate the improvement in model fit and model forecasting skill that comes from using land cover classes as predictors in the models. This work opens up new possibilities for combining Earth Observation time series with GCM forecasts to predict a variety of hazards from space using data science techniques.

Synoptic Bi-monthly and storm response water quality sampling in Southern Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, from November 2007 - April 2009 (NODC Accession 0062644)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Synoptic sampling including water column profiles and collected surface water samples was conducted on a bi-monthly basis throughout the rainy season (October-May)...

A raster scanning power supply system for controlling relativistic heavy ion beams at the Bevalac Biomedical Facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stover, G.; Nyman, M.; Halliwell, J.; Lutz, I.; Dwinell, R.

1987-03-01

A power supply system is currently being designed and constructed to sweep an 8.0 Tesla-meter relativistic heavy ion beam in a raster scanning mode for radiotherapy use. Two colinear dipole magnets with orthogonally oriented magnetic fields are driven by the system to produce a rectangular field (40 x 40 cm max.) with a uniform dose (+-2.5%) to a target volume 6 meters away. The ''fast'' horizontal scanning magnet is driven by a single power supply which in conjunction with a triac bridge network and a current regulated linear actuator will produce a 1200 cm/sec max. sweep rate. The ''slow'' (40 cm/sec) vertical scanning magnet will be controlled by dual current regulated linear actuators in a push-pull configuration. The scanner system can provide off-axis treatment profiles with large aspect ratios and unusual dimensions

A METEOROLOGICAL RISK ASSESSMENT METHOD FOR POWER LINES BASED ON GIS AND MULTI-SENSOR INTEGRATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Z. Lin

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Power lines, exposed in the natural environment, are vulnerable to various kinds of meteorological factors. Traditional research mainly deals with the influence of a single meteorological condition on the power line, which lacks of comprehensive effects evaluation and analysis of the multiple meteorological factors. In this paper, we use multiple meteorological monitoring data obtained by multi-sensors to implement the meteorological risk assessment and early warning of power lines. Firstly, we generate meteorological raster map from discrete meteorological monitoring data using spatial interpolation. Secondly, the expert scoring based analytic hierarchy process is used to compute the power line risk index of all kinds of meteorological conditions and establish the mathematical model of meteorological risk. By adopting this model in raster calculator of ArcGIS, we will have a raster map showing overall meteorological risks for power line. Finally, by overlaying the power line buffer layer to that raster map, we will get to know the exact risk index around a certain part of power line, which will provide significant guidance for power line risk management. In the experiment, based on five kinds of observation data gathered from meteorological stations in Guizhou Province of China, including wind, lightning, rain, ice, temperature, we carry on the meteorological risk analysis for the real power lines, and experimental results have proved the feasibility and validity of our proposed method.

Temporal variation and scaling of parameters for a monthly hydrologic model

Science.gov (United States)

Deng, Chao; Liu, Pan; Wang, Dingbao; Wang, Weiguang

2018-03-01

The temporal variation of model parameters is affected by the catchment conditions and has a significant impact on hydrological simulation. This study aims to evaluate the seasonality and downscaling of model parameter across time scales based on monthly and mean annual water balance models with a common model framework. Two parameters of the monthly model, i.e., k and m, are assumed to be time-variant at different months. Based on the hydrological data set from 121 MOPEX catchments in the United States, we firstly analyzed the correlation between parameters (k and m) and catchment properties (NDVI and frequency of rainfall events, α). The results show that parameter k is positively correlated with NDVI or α, while the correlation is opposite for parameter m, indicating that precipitation and vegetation affect monthly water balance by controlling temporal variation of parameters k and m. The multiple linear regression is then used to fit the relationship between ε and the means and coefficient of variations of parameters k and m. Based on the empirical equation and the correlations between the time-variant parameters and NDVI, the mean annual parameter ε is downscaled to monthly k and m. The results show that it has lower NSEs than these from model with time-variant k and m being calibrated through SCE-UA, while for several study catchments, it has higher NSEs than that of the model with constant parameters. The proposed method is feasible and provides a useful tool for temporal scaling of model parameter.

From oil-based mud to water-based mud

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Christiansen, C.

1991-01-01

Maersk Olie og Gas AS has used low toxic oil-based muds extensively since 1982 for drilling development wells and later in the development of horizontal well drilling techniques. However, in view of the strong drive towards a reduction in the amount of oil discharged to the North Sea from the oil industry, Maersk Olie og Gas AS initiated trials with new or improved types of water-based mud, first in deviated wells (1989) and then in horizontal wells (1990). The paper reviews Maersk Olie og Gas As experience with oil-based mud since the drilling of the first horizontal well in 1987, specifically with respect to cuttings washing equipment, oil retention on cuttings, and the procedure for monitoring of this parameter. It describes the circumstances leading to the decision to revert to water-based mud systems. Finally, it reviews the experience gained so far with the new improved types of water-based mud systems, mainly glycol and KCl/polymer mud systems. Comparison of operational data, such as rate of penetration, torque and drag, etc., is made between wells drilled with oil-based mud and water-based mud. The trials with the new improved types of water-based mud systems have been positive, i.e. horizontal wells can be drilled successfully with water-based mud. As a result, Maersk Olie og and Gas AS has decided to discontinue the use of low toxic oil-based muds in the Danish sector of the North Sea

Water-Based Pressure Sensitive Paint

Science.gov (United States)

Oglesby, Donald M.; Ingram, JoAnne L.; Jordan, Jeffrey D.; Watkins, A. Neal; Leighty, Bradley D.

2004-01-01

Preparation and performance of a water-based pressure sensitive paint (PSP) is described. A water emulsion of an oxygen permeable polymer and a platinum porphyrin type luminescent compound were dispersed in a water matrix to produce a PSP that performs well without the use of volatile, toxic solvents. The primary advantages of this PSP are reduced contamination of wind tunnels in which it is used, lower health risk to its users, and easier cleanup and disposal. This also represents a cost reduction by eliminating the need for elaborate ventilation and user protection during application. The water-based PSP described has all the characteristics associated with water-based paints (low toxicity, very low volatile organic chemicals, and easy water cleanup) but also has high performance as a global pressure sensor for PSP measurements in wind tunnels. The use of a water-based PSP virtually eliminates the toxic fumes associated with the application of PSPs to a model in wind tunnels.

Water-Based Pressure-Sensitive Paints

Science.gov (United States)

Jordan, Jeffrey D.; Watkins, A. Neal; Oglesby, Donald M.; Ingram, JoAnne L.

2006-01-01

Water-based pressure-sensitive paints (PSPs) have been invented as alternatives to conventional organic-solvent-based pressure-sensitive paints, which are used primarily for indicating distributions of air pressure on wind-tunnel models. Typically, PSPs are sprayed onto aerodynamic models after they have been mounted in wind tunnels. When conventional organic-solvent-based PSPs are used, this practice creates a problem of removing toxic fumes from inside the wind tunnels. The use of water-based PSPs eliminates this problem. The waterbased PSPs offer high performance as pressure indicators, plus all the advantages of common water-based paints (low toxicity, low concentrations of volatile organic compounds, and easy cleanup by use of water).

A GIS based district information system for water resources management and planning

Science.gov (United States)

Tzabiras, John; Spiliotopoulos, Marios; Kokkinos, Kostantinos; Fafoutis, Chrysostomos; Sidiropoulos, Pantelis; Vasiliades, Lampros; Loukas, Athanasios; Mylopoulos, Nikitas

2014-05-01

In many watersheds of the Mediterranean Countries, water resources are presently fully or overcommitted. Irrigators are the largest consumers of fresh water in Mediterranean Countries using up to 80% of all allocated water in some regions. Administrative efforts should be directed towards an integrated policy of water allocation which accounts for the characteristics and specificity of each farm, requiring the availability of data bases and management tools (decision support systems) specifically designed to fulfil the objectives of maximizing water use efficiency. The overall objective of this program was the development of a District Information System (DIS) which could be used by stakeholders at purposes of irrigation district day-to-day management as well as for planning and strategic decision-making. The DIS was developed from a GIS-based modelling approach which integrates a generic crop model, a hydraulic module for the water transfer/distribution system and uses remote sensing information. The main sub-objectives were: (i) the development of an operational algorithm to retrieve crop evapotranspiration from remote sensing data, (ii) the development of an information system with friendly user interface for the data base, the crop module and the hydraulic module and (iii) the analysis and validation of management scenarios from model simulations predicting the respective behaviour. Surface Energy Balance Algorithm for Land (SEBAL) was used to derive monthly actual evapotranspiration (ET) values from Landsat TM imagery. Meteorological data from the archive of the Institute for Research and Technology, Thessaly (I.RE.TE.TH) have also been used. The methodology was developed using high quality Landsat TM images during 2007 growing season. Monthly ET values are then used as an input to CROPWAT model. Outputs of CROPWAT model are then used as input for the hydraylic module consisted of TECHNOLOGISMIKI, WATERCAD and WEAP model. Hence, a reference scenario was

ARSENIC REMOVAL FROM DRINKING WATER BY ADSORPTIVE MEDIA -- USEPA DEMONSTRATION PROJECT AT ROLLINSFORD, NH, SIX MONTH EVALUTION REPORT

Science.gov (United States)

This report documents the activities performed during and the results obtained from the first six months of the arsenic removal treatment technology demonstration project at the Rollinsford Water and Sewer District facility in Rollinsford, NH. The objectives of the project are to...

GOZCARDS Merged Data for Water Vapor Monthly Zonal Means on a Geodetic Latitude and Pressure Grid V1.01

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The GOZCARDS Merged Data for Water Vapor Monthly Zonal Averages on a Geodetic Latitude and Pressure Grid product (GozMmlpH2O) contains zonal means and related...

Optimizing placements of ground-based snow sensors for areal snow cover estimation using a machine-learning algorithm and melt-season snow-LiDAR data

Science.gov (United States)

Oroza, C.; Zheng, Z.; Glaser, S. D.; Bales, R. C.; Conklin, M. H.

2016-12-01

We present a structured, analytical approach to optimize ground-sensor placements based on time-series remotely sensed (LiDAR) data and machine-learning algorithms. We focused on catchments within the Merced and Tuolumne river basins, covered by the JPL Airborne Snow Observatory LiDAR program. First, we used a Gaussian mixture model to identify representative sensor locations in the space of independent variables for each catchment. Multiple independent variables that govern the distribution of snow depth were used, including elevation, slope, and aspect. Second, we used a Gaussian process to estimate the areal distribution of snow depth from the initial set of measurements. This is a covariance-based model that also estimates the areal distribution of model uncertainty based on the independent variable weights and autocorrelation. The uncertainty raster was used to strategically add sensors to minimize model uncertainty. We assessed the temporal accuracy of the method using LiDAR-derived snow-depth rasters collected in water-year 2014. In each area, optimal sensor placements were determined using the first available snow raster for the year. The accuracy in the remaining LiDAR surveys was compared to 100 configurations of sensors selected at random. We found the accuracy of the model from the proposed placements to be higher and more consistent in each remaining survey than the average random configuration. We found that a relatively small number of sensors can be used to accurately reproduce the spatial patterns of snow depth across the basins, when placed using spatial snow data. Our approach also simplifies sensor placement. At present, field surveys are required to identify representative locations for such networks, a process that is labor intensive and provides limited guarantees on the networks' representation of catchment independent variables.

Raster-Based Approach to Solar Pressure Modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, Theodore W. II

2013-01-01

shown on the computer screen is composed of up to millions of pixels. Each of those pixels is associated with a small illuminated area of the spacecraft. For each pixel, it is possible to compute its position, angle (surface normal) from the view direction, and the spacecraft material (and therefore, optical coefficients) associated with that area. With this information, the area associated with each pixel can be modeled as a simple flat plate for calculating solar pressure. The vector sum of these individual flat plate models is a high-fidelity approximation of the solar pressure forces and torques on the whole vehicle. In addition to using optical coefficients associated with each spacecraft material to calculate solar pressure, a power generation coefficient is added for computing solar array power generation from the sum of the illuminated areas. Similarly, other area-based calculations, such as free molecular flow drag, are also enabled. Because the model rendering is separated from other calculations, it is relatively easy to add a new model to explore a new vehicle or mission configuration. Adding a new model is performed by adding OpenGL code, but a future version might read a mesh file exported from a computer-aided design (CAD) system to enable very rapid turnaround for new designs

Sustained Uptake of a Hospital-Based Handwashing with Soap and Water Treatment Intervention (Cholera-Hospital-Based Intervention for 7 Days [CHoBI7]): A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Science.gov (United States)

George, Christine Marie; Jung, Danielle S; Saif-Ur-Rahman, K M; Monira, Shirajum; Sack, David A; Mahamud-ur Rashid; Mahmud, Md Toslim; Mustafiz, Munshi; Rahman, Zillur; Bhuyian, Sazzadul Islam; Winch, Peter J; Leontsini, Elli; Perin, Jamie; Begum, Farzana; Zohura, Fatema; Biswas, Shwapon; Parvin, Tahmina; Sack, R Bradley; Alam, Munirul

2016-02-01

Diarrhea is the second leading cause of death in children under 5 years of age globally. The time patients and caregivers spend at a health facility for severe diarrhea presents the opportunity to deliver water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) interventions. We recently developed Cholera-Hospital-Based Intervention for 7 days (CHoBI7), a 1-week hospital-based handwashing with soap and water treatment intervention, for household members of cholera patients. To investigate if this intervention could lead to sustained WASH practices, we conducted a follow-up evaluation of 196 intervention household members and 205 control household members enrolled in a randomized controlled trial of the CHoBI7 intervention 6 to 12 months post-intervention. Compared with the control arm, the intervention arm had four times higher odds of household members' handwashing with soap at a key time during 5-hour structured observation (odds ratio [OR]: 4.71, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.61, 8.49) (18% versus 50%) and a 41% reduction in households in the World Health Organization very high-risk category for stored drinking water (OR: 0.38, 95% CI: 0.15, 0.96) (58% versus 34%) 6 to 12 months post-intervention. Furthemore, 71% of observed handwashing with soap events in the intervention arm involved the preparation and use of soapy water, which was promoted during the intervention, compared to 9% of control households. These findings demonstrate that the hospital-based CHoBI7 intervention can lead to significant increases in handwashing with soap practices and improved stored drinking water quality 6 to 12 months post-intervention. © The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

Gripe Water Administration in Infants 1-6 months of Age-A Cross-sectional Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Jain, Keerthi; Gunasekaran, Dhandapany; Venkatesh, Chandrasekaran; Soundararajan, Palanisamy

2015-11-01

Gripe water (GW) administration to young infants is common practice in this part of country. In order to ascertain why mothers administer gripe water to their infants and to find out what benefits or health risks it poses, we proposed to study the practice of mothers giving GW to their babies. Three hundred and thirty five eligible mothers of infants aged 1-6 months (who after qualifying inclusion and exclusion criteria of the study) who attended the well baby clinic during the study period, were interviewed using a semi structured questionnaire which contained both open and close ended questions after obtaining informed written consent. The study population was then divided into two groups based on administration of GW or not and the results were compared and analysed among the two groups using odds ratio with 95% C.I. For calculation of statistics, the statistical package SPSS 13 was used. 64.18% of the mothers were administering GW for their infants. Most mothers believed that GW helps in digestion and prevents stomach ache. Infantile colic, vomiting and constipation were common in GW administered infants, when compared to those who did not receive GW and the difference was significant with p-values of 0.0001, 0.0373, 0.0007respectively. GW administration is a common problem in infants and remains a significant challenge that thwarts exclusive breast feeding. More over GW administration does not seem to prevent infantile colic and on the other hand, may be associated with vomiting and constipation. Misconceptions prevailing among mothers have to be removed by effective counseling so that the mothers are aware of safe and healthy feeding practices to be adopted for feeding their babies.

Parallelised photoacoustic signal acquisition using a Fabry-Perot sensor and a camera-based interrogation scheme

Science.gov (United States)

Saeb Gilani, T.; Villringer, C.; Zhang, E.; Gundlach, H.; Buchmann, J.; Schrader, S.; Laufer, J.

2018-02-01

Tomographic photoacoustic (PA) images acquired using a Fabry-Perot (FP) based scanner offer high resolution and image fidelity but can result in long acquisition times due to the need for raster scanning. To reduce the acquisition times, a parallelised camera-based PA signal detection scheme is developed. The scheme is based on using a sCMOScamera and FPI sensors with high homogeneity of optical thickness. PA signals were acquired using the camera-based setup and the signal to noise ratio (SNR) was measured. A comparison of the SNR of PA signal detected using 1) a photodiode in a conventional raster scanning detection scheme and 2) a sCMOS camera in parallelised detection scheme is made. The results show that the parallelised interrogation scheme has the potential to provide high speed PA imaging.

Earth observation based assessment of the water production and water consumption of Nile Basin agro-ecosystems

Science.gov (United States)

Bastiaanssen, Wim G.M.; Karimi, Poolad; Rebelo, Lisa-Maria; Duan, Zheng; Senay, Gabriel; Muthuwatte, Lal; Smakhtin, Vladimir

2014-01-01

The increasing competition for water resources requires a better understanding of flows, fluxes, stocks, and the services and benefits related to water consumption. This paper explains how public domain Earth Observation data based on Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), Second Generation Meteosat (MSG), Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) and various altimeter measurements can be used to estimate net water production (rainfall (P) > evapotranspiration (ET)) and net water consumption (ET > P) of Nile Basin agro-ecosystems. Rainfall data from TRMM and the Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS-NET) RainFall Estimates (RFE) products were used in conjunction with actual evapotranspiration from the Operational Simplified Surface Energy Balance (SSEBop) and ETLook models. Water flows laterally between net water production and net water consumption areas as a result of runoff and withdrawals. This lateral flow between the 15 sub-basins of the Nile was estimated, and partitioned into stream flow and non-stream flow using the discharge data. A series of essential water metrics necessary for successful integrated water management are explained and computed. Net water withdrawal estimates (natural and humanly instigated) were assumed to be the difference between net rainfall (Pnet) and actual evapotranspiration (ET) and some first estimates of withdrawals—without flow meters—are provided. Groundwater-dependent ecosystems withdraw large volumes of groundwater, which exceed water withdrawals for the irrigation sector. There is a strong need for the development of more open-access Earth Observation databases, especially for information related to actual ET. The fluxes, flows and storage changes presented form the basis for a global framework to describe monthly and annual water accounts in ungauged river basins.

ARSENIC REMOVAL FROM DRINKING WATER BY ADSORPTIVE MEDIA - USEPA DEMONSTRATION PROJECT AT DESERT SANDS MDWCA, NM SIX MONTH EVALUATION

Science.gov (United States)

This report documents the activities performed during, and the results obtained from, the first six months of the arsenic removal treatment technology demonstration project at the Desert Sands Mutual Domestic Water Consumers Association (MDWCA) facility in Anthony, NM. The object...

USGS Hill Shade Base Map Service from The National Map

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior — USGS Hill Shade (or Shaded Relief) is a tile cache base map created from the National Elevation Dataset (NED), a seamless dataset of best available raster elevation...

Regional parametrisation of a monthly hydrological model for estimating discharges in ungaued catchments

Science.gov (United States)

Hlavcova, K.; Szolgay, J.; Kohnova, S.; Kalas, M.

2003-04-01

In the case of the absence of measured runoff optimisation techniques cannot be used to estimate the parameters of monthly rainfall-runoff models. In such a case usually empirical regression methods were used for relating the model parameters to the catchment characteristics in a given region. In the paper a different method for the regional calibration of a monthly water balance model, which can be used for planning purposes, is proposed. Instead of using the regional regression approach a method is proposed, which involves the calibration of a monthly water balance model to gauged sites in the given region simultaneously. A regional objective function was constructed and for the calibration a genetic programming algorithm was employed. It is expected, that the regionally calibrated model parameters can be used in ungauged basins with similar physiographic conditions. The comparison of the performance of such a regional calibration scheme was compared with two single site calibration methods in a region of West Slovakia. The results are based on a study that aimed at computing surface water inflow into a lowland area with valuable groundwater resources. Monthly discharge time series had to be estimated in small ungauged rivers entering the study area.

Analysis of Water and Energy Budgets and Trends Using the NLDAS Monthly Data Sets

Science.gov (United States)

Vollmer, Bruce E.; Rui, Hualan; Mocko, David M.; Teng, William L.; Lei, Guang-Dih

2012-01-01

The North American Land Data Assimilation System (NLDAS) is a collaborative project between NASA GSFC, NOAA, Princeton University, and the University of Washington. NLDAS has created surface meteorological forcing data sets using the best-available observations and reanalyses. The forcing data sets are used to drive four separate land-surface models (LSMs), Mosaic, Noah, VIC, and SAC, to produce data sets of soil moisture, snow, runoff, and surface fluxes. NLDAS hourly data, accessible from the NASA GES DISC Hydrology Data Holdings Portal, http://disc.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/hydrology/data-holdings, are widely used by various user communities in modeling, research, and applications, such as drought and flood monitoring, watershed and water quality management, and case studies of extreme events. More information is available at http://ldas.gsfc.nasa.gov/. To further facilitate analysis of water and energy budgets and trends, NLDAS monthly data sets have been recently released by NASA GES DISC.

Modeling the monthly mean soil-water balance with a statistical-dynamical ecohydrology model as coupled to a two-component canopy model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. P. Kochendorfer

2010-10-01

to be most productive in sandier soils despite their lower water holding capacity. Although the determination of LAI based on complete or near-complete utilization of soil moisture is not a new approach in ecohydrology, this paper demonstrates its use for the first time with a new monthly statistical-dynamical model of the water balance. Accordingly, the SDEM provides a new framework for studying the controls of soil texture and climate on vegetation density and evapotranspiration.

A Hierarchical Approach for Measuring the Consistency of Water Areas between Multiple Representations of Tile Maps with Different Scales

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yilang Shen

2017-08-01

Full Text Available In geographic information systems, the reliability of querying, analysing, or reasoning results depends on the data quality. One central criterion of data quality is consistency, and identifying inconsistencies is crucial for maintaining the integrity of spatial data from multiple sources or at multiple resolutions. In traditional methods of consistency assessment, vector data are used as the primary experimental data. In this manuscript, we describe the use of a new type of raster data, tile maps, to access the consistency of information from multiscale representations of the water bodies that make up drainage systems. We describe a hierarchical methodology to determine the spatial consistency of tile-map datasets that display water areas in a raster format. Three characteristic indices, the degree of global feature consistency, the degree of local feature consistency, and the degree of overlap, are proposed to measure the consistency of multiscale representations of water areas. The perceptual hash algorithm and the scale-invariant feature transform (SIFT descriptor are applied to extract and measure the global and local features of water areas. By performing combined calculations using these three characteristic indices, the degrees of consistency of multiscale representations of water areas can be divided into five grades: exactly consistent, highly consistent, moderately consistent, less consistent, and inconsistent. For evaluation purposes, the proposed method is applied to several test areas from the Tiandi map of China. In addition, we identify key technologies that are related to the process of extracting water areas from a tile map. The accuracy of the consistency assessment method is evaluated, and our experimental results confirm that the proposed methodology is efficient and accurate.

ARSENIC REMOVAL FROM DRINKING WATER BY ADSORPTIVE MEDIA USEPA DEMONSTRATION PROJECT AT VALLEY VISTA, AZ SIX-MONTH EVALUATION REPORT

Science.gov (United States)

This report documents the activities performed and the results obtained from the first six months of the EPA arsenic removal technology demonstration project at the Arizona Water Company (AWC) facility in Sedona, AZ, commonly referred to as Valley Vista. The main objective of the...

Daytime Water Detection Based on Sky Reflections

Science.gov (United States)

Rankin, Arturo; Matthies, Larry; Bellutta, Paolo

2011-01-01

A water body s surface can be modeled as a horizontal mirror. Water detection based on sky reflections and color variation are complementary. A reflection coefficient model suggests sky reflections dominate the color of water at ranges > 12 meters. Water detection based on sky reflections: (1) geometrically locates the pixel in the sky that is reflecting on a candidate water pixel on the ground (2) predicts if the ground pixel is water based on color similarity and local terrain features. Water detection has been integrated on XUVs.

Hardware Algorithms For Tile-Based Real-Time Rendering

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Crisu, D.

2012-01-01

In this dissertation, we present the GRAphics AcceLerator (GRAAL) framework for developing embedded tile-based rasterization hardware for mobile devices, meant to accelerate real-time 3-D graphics (OpenGL compliant) applications. The goal of the framework is a low-cost, low-power, high-performance

Estimating restorable wetland water storage at landscape scales

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Charles Nathan; Evenson, Grey R.; McLaughlin, Daniel L.; Vanderhoof, Melanie; Lang, Megan W.; McCarty, Greg W.; Golden, Heather E.; Lane, Charles R.; Alexander, Laurie C.

2018-01-01

Globally, hydrologic modifications such as ditching and subsurface drainage have significantly reduced wetland water storage capacity (i.e., volume of surface water a wetland can retain) and consequent wetland functions. While wetland area has been well documented across many landscapes and used to guide restoration efforts, few studies have directly quantified the associated wetland storage capacity. Here, we present a novel raster-based approach to quantify both contemporary and potential (i.e., restorable) storage capacities of individual depressional basins across landscapes. We demonstrate the utility of this method by applying it to the Delmarva Peninsula, a region punctuated by both depressional wetlands and drainage ditches. Across the entire peninsula, we estimated that restoration (i.e., plugging ditches) could increase storage capacity by 80%. Focusing on an individual watershed, we found that over 59% of restorable storage capacity occurs within 20 m of the drainage network, and that 93% occurs within 1 m elevation of the drainage network. Our demonstration highlights widespread ditching in this landscape, spatial patterns of both contemporary and potential storage capacities, and clear opportunities for hydrologic restoration. In Delmarva and more broadly, our novel approach can inform targeted landscape-scale conservation and restoration efforts to optimize hydrologically mediated wetland functions.

A Subdivision-Based Representation for Vector Image Editing.

Science.gov (United States)

Liao, Zicheng; Hoppe, Hugues; Forsyth, David; Yu, Yizhou

2012-11-01

Vector graphics has been employed in a wide variety of applications due to its scalability and editability. Editability is a high priority for artists and designers who wish to produce vector-based graphical content with user interaction. In this paper, we introduce a new vector image representation based on piecewise smooth subdivision surfaces, which is a simple, unified and flexible framework that supports a variety of operations, including shape editing, color editing, image stylization, and vector image processing. These operations effectively create novel vector graphics by reusing and altering existing image vectorization results. Because image vectorization yields an abstraction of the original raster image, controlling the level of detail of this abstraction is highly desirable. To this end, we design a feature-oriented vector image pyramid that offers multiple levels of abstraction simultaneously. Our new vector image representation can be rasterized efficiently using GPU-accelerated subdivision. Experiments indicate that our vector image representation achieves high visual quality and better supports editing operations than existing representations.

Estimated monthly streamflows for selected locations on the Kabul and Logar Rivers, Aynak copper, cobalt, and chromium area of interest, Afghanistan, 1951-2010

Science.gov (United States)

Vining, Kevin C.; Vecchia, Aldo V.

2014-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Defense Task Force for Business and Stability Operations, used the stochastic monthly water-balance model and existing climate data to estimate monthly streamflows for 1951–2010 for selected streamgaging stations located within the Aynak copper, cobalt, and chromium area of interest in Afghanistan. The model used physically based, nondeterministic methods to estimate the monthly volumetric water-balance components of a watershed. A comparison of estimated and recorded monthly streamflows for the streamgaging stations Kabul River at Maidan and Kabul River at Tangi-Saidan indicated that the stochastic water-balance model was able to provide satisfactory estimates of monthly streamflows for high-flow months and low-flow months even though withdrawals for irrigation likely occurred. A comparison of estimated and recorded monthly streamflows for the streamgaging stations Logar River at Shekhabad and Logar River at Sangi-Naweshta also indicated that the stochastic water-balance model was able to provide reasonable estimates of monthly streamflows for the high-flow months; however, for the upstream streamgaging station, the model overestimated monthly streamflows during periods when summer irrigation withdrawals likely occurred. Results from the stochastic water-balance model indicate that the model should be able to produce satisfactory estimates of monthly streamflows for locations along the Kabul and Logar Rivers. This information could be used by Afghanistan authorities to make decisions about surface-water resources for the Aynak copper, cobalt, and chromium area of interest.

Identification of groundwater potential zones in the Machuca River in the Central Pacific of Costa Rica using a GIS-Multi-criteria analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Bonilla, J. P.; Stefan, C.

2015-12-01

Water supply systems in the Machuca River basin in the Central Pacific of Costa Rica are subject to fluctuations in their production capacity at the end of the dry season; especially in the lower part of the basin. The urban development - and water demand -- is expected to increase because of a newly build highway. In order to understand the actual water resources and to asses new ones, the identification of groundwater potential zones is done using a geographical information system (GIS) based on thematic raster using fixed score and weight computed by the multi influencing factor (MIF) technique. The thematic layers used in the analysis are lithology, slope, land-use, lineament, drainage, soil and rainfall. The results were compared with the results of the Modified Thornthwaite-Mather model used to perform the water balance on a monthly scale. The groundwater potential was divided into three categories: no suitable, suitable, and very suitable zones. The resulting map is a decision support tool for the planning and management of groundwater resources in the Machuca River basin.

Understanding satellite-based monthly-to-seasonal reservoir outflow estimation as a function of hydrologic controls

Science.gov (United States)

Bonnema, Matthew; Sikder, Safat; Miao, Yabin; Chen, Xiaodong; Hossain, Faisal; Ara Pervin, Ismat; Mahbubur Rahman, S. M.; Lee, Hyongki

2016-05-01

Growing population and increased demand for water is causing an increase in dam and reservoir construction in developing nations. When rivers cross international boundaries, the downstream stakeholders often have little knowledge of upstream reservoir operation practices. Satellite remote sensing in the form of radar altimetry and multisensor precipitation products can be used as a practical way to provide downstream stakeholders with the fundamentally elusive upstream information on reservoir outflow needed to make important and proactive water management decisions. This study uses a mass balance approach of three hydrologic controls to estimate reservoir outflow from satellite data at monthly and annual time scales: precipitation-induced inflow, evaporation, and reservoir storage change. Furthermore, this study explores the importance of each of these hydrologic controls to the accuracy of outflow estimation. The hydrologic controls found to be unimportant could potentially be neglected from similar future studies. Two reservoirs were examined in contrasting regions of the world, the Hungry Horse Reservoir in a mountainous region in northwest U.S. and the Kaptai Reservoir in a low-lying, forested region of Bangladesh. It was found that this mass balance method estimated the annual outflow of both reservoirs with reasonable skill. The estimation of monthly outflow from both reservoirs was however less accurate. The Kaptai basin exhibited a shift in basin behavior resulting in variable accuracy across the 9 year study period. Monthly outflow estimation from Hungry Horse Reservoir was compounded by snow accumulation and melt processes, reflected by relatively low accuracy in summer and fall, when snow processes control runoff. Furthermore, it was found that the important hydrologic controls for reservoir outflow estimation at the monthly time scale differs between the two reservoirs, with precipitation-induced inflow being the most important control for the Kaptai

Water-based vs. non-water-based physiotherapy for rehabilitation of postural deformities in Parkinson's disease: a randomized controlled pilot study.

Science.gov (United States)

Volpe, Daniele; Giantin, Maria Giulia; Manuela, Pilleri; Filippetto, Consuelo; Pelosin, Elisa; Abbruzzese, Giovanni; Antonini, Angelo

2017-08-01

To compare the efficacy of two physiotherapy protocols (water-based vs. non-water-based) on postural deformities of patients with Parkinson's disease. A single blind, randomized controlled pilot study. Inpatient (Rehabilitative Department). A total of 30 patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two eight-week treatment groups: Water-based ( n = 15) or non-water-based physiotherapy exercises ( n = 15). Changes in the degree of cervical and dorsal flexion and in the angle of lateral inclination of the trunk (evaluated by means of a posturographic system) were used as primary outcomes. Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale section III, Time Up and Go Test, Berg Balance Scale, Activities-specific Balance Confidence, Falls Efficacy Scale and the Parkinson's disease quality of life questionnaire (39 items) were the secondary outcomes. All outcomes were assessed at baseline, at the end of training and eight weeks after treatment. Patients were always tested at the time of their optimal antiparkinsonian medication ('on' phase). After the treatment, only Parkinson's disease subjects randomized to water-based treatment showed a significant improvement of trunk posture with a significant reduction of cervical flexion (water-based group: -65.2°; non-water-based group: +1.7°) and dorsal flexion (water-based group: -22.5°; non-water-based group: -6.5°) and lateral inclination of the trunk (water-based group: -2.3°; non-water-based group: +0.3°). Both groups presented significant improvements in the secondary clinical outcomes without between-group differences. Our results show that water-based physiotherapy was effective for improving postural deformities in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Prediction of monthly regional groundwater levels through hybrid soft-computing techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Fi-John; Chang, Li-Chiu; Huang, Chien-Wei; Kao, I.-Feng

2016-10-01

Groundwater systems are intrinsically heterogeneous with dynamic temporal-spatial patterns, which cause great difficulty in quantifying their complex processes, while reliable predictions of regional groundwater levels are commonly needed for managing water resources to ensure proper service of water demands within a region. In this study, we proposed a novel and flexible soft-computing technique that could effectively extract the complex high-dimensional input-output patterns of basin-wide groundwater-aquifer systems in an adaptive manner. The soft-computing models combined the Self Organized Map (SOM) and the Nonlinear Autoregressive with Exogenous Inputs (NARX) network for predicting monthly regional groundwater levels based on hydrologic forcing data. The SOM could effectively classify the temporal-spatial patterns of regional groundwater levels, the NARX could accurately predict the mean of regional groundwater levels for adjusting the selected SOM, the Kriging was used to interpolate the predictions of the adjusted SOM into finer grids of locations, and consequently the prediction of a monthly regional groundwater level map could be obtained. The Zhuoshui River basin in Taiwan was the study case, and its monthly data sets collected from 203 groundwater stations, 32 rainfall stations and 6 flow stations during 2000 and 2013 were used for modelling purpose. The results demonstrated that the hybrid SOM-NARX model could reliably and suitably predict monthly basin-wide groundwater levels with high correlations (R2 > 0.9 in both training and testing cases). The proposed methodology presents a milestone in modelling regional environmental issues and offers an insightful and promising way to predict monthly basin-wide groundwater levels, which is beneficial to authorities for sustainable water resources management.

Web-based modelling of energy, water and matter fluxes to support decision making in mesoscale catchments??the integrative perspective of GLOWA-Danube

Science.gov (United States)

Ludwig, R.; Mauser, W.; Niemeyer, S.; Colgan, A.; Stolz, R.; Escher-Vetter, H.; Kuhn, M.; Reichstein, M.; Tenhunen, J.; Kraus, A.; Ludwig, M.; Barth, M.; Hennicker, R.

The GLOWA-initiative (Global Change of the water cycle), funded by the German Ministry of Research and Education (BMBF), has been established to address the manifold consequences of Global Change on regional water resources in a variety of catchment areas with different natural and cultural characteristics. Within this framework, the GLOWA-Danube project is dealing with the Upper Danube watershed as a representative mesoscale test site (∼75.000 km 2) for mountain-foreland regions in the temperate mid-latitudes. The principle objective is to identify, examine and develop new techniques of coupled distributed modelling for the integration of natural and socio-economic sciences. The transdisciplinary research in GLOWA-Danube develops an integrated decision support system, called DANUBIA, to investigate the sustainability of future water use. GLOWA-Danube, which is scheduled for a total run-time of eight years to operationally implement and establish DANUBIA, comprises a university-based network of experts with water-related competence in the fields of engineering, natural and social sciences. Co-operation with a network of stakeholders in water resources management of the Upper Danube catchment ensures that practical issues and future problems in the water sector of the region can be addressed. In order to synthesize a common understanding between the project partners, a standardized notation of parameters and functions and a platform-independent structure of computational methods and interfaces has been established, by making use of the unified modelling language, an industry standard for the structuring and co-ordination of large projects in software development [Booch et al., The Unified Modelling Language User Guide, Addison-Wesley, Reading, 1999]. DANUBIA is object-oriented, spatially distributed and raster-based at its core. It applies the concept of “proxels” (process pixels) as its basic objects, which have different dimensions depending on the viewing

Sediment transport modelling in a distributed physically based hydrological catchment model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Konz

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Bedload sediment transport and erosion processes in channels are important components of water induced natural hazards in alpine environments. A raster based distributed hydrological model, TOPKAPI, has been further developed to support continuous simulations of river bed erosion and deposition processes. The hydrological model simulates all relevant components of the water cycle and non-linear reservoir methods are applied for water fluxes in the soil, on the ground surface and in the channel. The sediment transport simulations are performed on a sub-grid level, which allows for a better discretization of the channel geometry, whereas water fluxes are calculated on the grid level in order to be CPU efficient. Several transport equations as well as the effects of an armour layer on the transport threshold discharge are considered. Flow resistance due to macro roughness is also considered. The advantage of this approach is the integrated simulation of the entire basin runoff response combined with hillslope-channel coupled erosion and transport simulation. The comparison with the modelling tool SETRAC demonstrates the reliability of the modelling concept. The devised technique is very fast and of comparable accuracy to the more specialised sediment transport model SETRAC.

Water deficit and water surplus maps for Brazil, based on FAO Penman-Monteith potential evapotranspiration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ronalton Evandro Machado

2008-12-01

Full Text Available The climatological water balance (CWB proposed by Thornthwaite and Mather (1957 is a useful tool for agricultural planning. This method requires the soil water holding capacity (SWHC, rainfall (R and potential evapotranspiration (PET data as input. Among the methods used to estimate PET, the one proposed by Thornthwaite (1948 is the simplest and the most used in Brazil, however it presents limitations of use, which is caused by its empirical relationships. When Thornthwaite PET method is used into the CWB, the errors associated to PET are transferred to the output variables, mainly water deficit (WD and water surplus (WS. As all maps of WD and WS for Brazil are based on Thornthwaite PET, the objective of this study was to produce new maps of these variables considering Penman-Monteith PET. For this purpose, monthly normal climate data base (1961-1990 from Brazilian Meteorological Service (INMET, with 219 locations in all country, was used. PET data were estimated by Thornthwaite (TH and FAO Penman-Monteith (PM methods. PET, from both methods, and R data were used to estimate the CWB for a SWHC of 100 mm, having as results actual ET (AET, WD and WS. Results obtained with PET from the two methods were compared by regression analysis. The results showed that TH method underestimated annual PM PET by 13% in 84% of the places. Such underestimation also led to AET and WD underestimations of 7% (in 69% of places and 40% (in 83% of places, respectively. For WS, the use of TH PET data in the CWB resulted in overestimations of about 80% in 78% of places. The differences observed in the CWB variables resulted in changes in the maps of WD and WS for Brazil. These new maps, based on PM PET, provide more accurate information, mainly for agricultural and hydrological planning and irrigation and drainage projects purposes.

Monthly results of measurements, September 1986, with supplement related to the three months, July, August, September 1986

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1986-10-01

This report of the SCPRI exposes an interpretation of the principal results concerning the routine monitoring of environmental radioactivity in France: atmospheric dusts, rainwater, surface water, underground water, sewage water, drinking water, food chain (milk, vegetables, fishes) seawater around nuclear plant sites and other sites. The activities of various radioisotopes are presented in tables. This report exposes also the results of special radiation measurements resulting from the Chernobyl accident and complementary results related to the three months July, August, September 1986 [fr

A data base approach for prediction of deforestation-induced mass wasting events

Science.gov (United States)

Logan, T. L.

1981-01-01

A major topic of concern in timber management is determining the impact of clear-cutting on slope stability. Deforestation treatments on steep mountain slopes have often resulted in a high frequency of major mass wasting events. The Geographic Information System (GIS) is a potentially useful tool for predicting the location of mass wasting sites. With a raster-based GIS, digitally encoded maps of slide hazard parameters can be overlayed and modeled to produce new maps depicting high probability slide areas. The present investigation has the objective to examine the raster-based information system as a tool for predicting the location of the clear-cut mountain slopes which are most likely to experience shallow soil debris avalanches. A literature overview is conducted, taking into account vegetation, roads, precipitation, soil type, slope-angle and aspect, and models predicting mass soil movements. Attention is given to a data base approach and aspects of slide prediction.

Use of Agent Based Modelling to Investigate the Dynamics of Slum ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

pnyamhute

of such settlements is in itself not a random process but is geometry of ... Figure 1. Raster based urban sprawl ABM in progress (Source: Felsen et al., 2007) ..... 2007 in “NetLogo Urban Suite - Sprawl Effect model”Center for connected learning.

Phase behaviour and microstructure of the micro-emulsions composed of cholinium-based ionic liquid, Triton X-100 and water

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pei, Yuanchao; Huang, Yanjie; Li, Lin; Wang, Jianji

2014-01-01

Highlights: • The microemulsions composed of cholinium-based ionic liquid, Triton X-100 and water have been prepared and characterised. • Ternary phase diagrams of the microemulsions have been established at T = 298.15 K. • The microemulsions exhibit IL-in-water, bicontinuous and water-in-IL microstructures. • Droplets with the size smaller than 20 nm are formed in these IL-based microemulsions. - Abstract: In this paper, micro-emulsions composed of cholinium-based ionic liquids (ILs), octylphenol ethoxylate (Triton X-100) and water were prepared. These ternary systems were found to be stable over 12 months at room temperature. Their phase behaviour was investigated by using cloud titrations, and their microstructures were characterised by means of cyclic voltammetry and electrical conductance measurements at T = 298.15 K. It was shown that the micro-emulsions exhibited IL-in-water, bi-continuous and water-in-IL microstructures. Dynamic light scattering data suggest that Triton X-100 forms micelles in water, which were swelled by the ILs added. Droplets with the size about 20 nm were formed in these IL-based micro-emulsions, and the droplet size increased with the increase of the IL concentrations. These IL-based micro-emulsions may have potential in drug delivery, chemical reactions and nanomaterial preparation as a new type of nanoreactors

Tunable Water-based Microwave Metasurface

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kapitanova, Polina; Odit, Mikhail; Dobrykh, Dmitry

2017-01-01

A water-based dynamically tunable microwave metasurface is developed and experimentally investigated. A simple approach to tune the metasurface properties by changing the shape of water-based unit cells by gravitation force is proposed. The transmission spectra of the metasurface for linear...... angle. The proposed approach can be used to design cheap metasurfaces for electromagnetic wave control in the microwave frequency range....

ARSENIC REMOVAL FROM DRINKING WATER BY ION EXCHANGE. U.S. EPA DEMONSTRATION PROJECT AT FRUITLAND, ID SIX-MONTH EVALUATION REPORT

Science.gov (United States)

This report documents the activities performed during and the results obtained from the first six months of the performance evaluation of a Kinetico ion exchange (IX) system to remove arsenic (As) and nitrate from source water at the City of Fruitland in Idaho. The 250-gal/min (g...

Earthquake countermeasure work on water intake structure based on post-construction shear reinforcement method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Satou, Yoshihito; Wani, Masaaki; Wachi, Takamitsu

2017-01-01

Hamaoka Nuclear Power Station set up 'earthquake motion as the base for remodeling work' by referring to the strong earthquake fault model assumed by the 'Study meeting for Nankai Trough's mega thrust earthquake model' of the Cabinet Office. Based on this earthquake, it implemented seismic countermeasure work using ceramic fixing type post-construction shear reinforcement bars by targeting the Unit 4 water intake tank screen room. This construction work was carried out in a short period of about nine months due to a restriction in the drainage period of the water intake tank. Thanks to the improvement of process control, such as adoption of a two-shift (day and night) system, this work was completed. On the other hand, the quality of construction was secured by adopting a drilling machine with a resistance sensor at the time of drilling and plastic grout at the time of grout filling, as well as through quality inspection based on Construction Technology Review and Certification. (A.O.)

Structural and dynamical aspects of skin studied by multiphoton excitation fluorescence microscopy-based methods

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bloksgaard, Maria; Brewer, Jonathan R.; Bagatolli, Luis

2013-01-01

' parameters. Specifically, by applying these methods, spatially resolved maps of water dipolar relaxation (generalized polarization function using the 6-lauroyl-2-(N,N-dimethylamino)naphthale probe), activity of protons (fluorescence lifetime imaging using a proton sensitive fluorescence probe--2,7-bis-(2......-carboxyethyl)-5-(and-6)-carboxyfluorescein) and diffusion coefficients of distinct fluorescence probes (raster imaging correlation spectroscopy) can be obtained from different regions of the tissue. Comparative studies of different tissue strata, but also between equivalent regions of normal and abnormal......This mini-review reports on applications of particular multiphoton excitation microscopy-based methodologies employed in our laboratory to study skin. These approaches allow in-depth optical sectioning of the tissue, providing spatially resolved information on specific fluorescence probes...

Scenario-based Water Resources Management Using the Water Value Concept

Science.gov (United States)

Hassanzadeh, Elmira; Elshorbagy, Amin; Wheater, Howard

2013-04-01

The Saskatchewan River is the key water resource for the 3 prairie provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba in Western Canada, and thus it is necessary to pursue long-term regional and watershed-based planning for the river basin. The water resources system is complex because it includes multiple components, representing various demand sectors, including the environment, which impose conflicting objectives, and multiple jurisdictions. The biophysical complexity is exacerbated by the socioeconomic dimensions associated for example with impacts of land and water management, value systems including environmental flows, and policy and governance dimensions.. We focus on the South Saskatchewan River Basin (SSRB) in Alberta and Saskatchewan, which is already fully allocated in southern Alberta and is subject to increasing demand due to rapid economic development and a growing population. Multiple sectors and water uses include agricultural, municipal, industrial, mining, hydropower, and environmental flow requirements. The significant spatial variability in the level of development and future needs for water places different values on water across the basin. Water resources planning and decision making must take these complexities into consideration, yet also deal with a new dimension—climate change and its possible future impacts on water resources systems. There is a pressing need to deal with water in terms of its value, rather than a mere commodity subject to traditional quantitative optimization. In this research, a value-based water resources system (VWRS) model is proposed to couple the hydrological and the societal aspects of water resources in one integrated modeling tool for the SSRB. The objective of this work is to develop the VWRS model as a negotiation, planning, and management tool that allows for the assessment of the availability, as well as the allocation scenarios, of water resources for competing users under varying conditions. The proposed

Frequency of different lifestyle modification measures among patients with GERD based on monthly income.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Philumena; Khan, Mahnoor Saeed; Naseem, Sajida

2017-11-01

A cross-sectional study was carried out at Shifa International Hospital Islamabad over a period of 6 months, to determine the frequency and compare the different lifestyle modifications among patients with Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) of different monthly income groups. Two hundred patients of GERD were enrolled in the study and divided into two groups based on monthly income less than and more than Rs. 30,000 respectively. Data was analyzed using SPSS 21. Descriptive statistics were calculated. Chi-square test was applied keeping p-value modifications to reduce GERD symptoms and stop sole reliance on medications.

Geometrical correction of the e-beam proximity effect for raster scan systems

Science.gov (United States)

Belic, Nikola; Eisenmann, Hans; Hartmann, Hans; Waas, Thomas

1999-06-01

Increasing demands on pattern fidelity and CD accuracy in e- beam lithography require a correction of the e-beam proximity effect. The new needs are mainly coming from OPC at mask level and x-ray lithography. The e-beam proximity limits the achievable resolution and affects neighboring structures causing under- or over-exposion depending on the local pattern densities and process settings. Methods to compensate for this unequilibrated does distribution usually use a dose modulation or multiple passes. In general raster scan systems are not able to apply variable doses in order to compensate for the proximity effect. For system of this kind a geometrical modulation of the original pattern offers a solution for compensation of line edge deviations due to the proximity effect. In this paper a new method for the fast correction of the e-beam proximity effect via geometrical pattern optimization is described. The method consists of two steps. In a first step the pattern dependent dose distribution caused by back scattering is calculated by convolution of the pattern with the long range part of the proximity function. The restriction to the long range part result in a quadratic sped gain in computing time for the transformation. The influence of the short range part coming from forward scattering is not pattern dependent and can therefore be determined separately in a second step. The second calculation yields the dose curve at the border of a written structure. The finite gradient of this curve leads to an edge displacement depending on the amount of underground dosage at the observed position which was previously determined in the pattern dependent step. This unintended edge displacement is corrected by splitting the line into segments and shifting them by multiples of the writers address grid to the opposite direction.

Solar based water treatment technologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahmad, I.; Hyder, M.J.

2000-01-01

In developing countries, the quality of drinking water is so poor that reports of 80% diseases from water-related causes is no surprise (Tebbet, 90). Frequently, there are reports in press of outbreak of epidemics in cities due to the unhygienic drinking-water. The state of affairs in the rural areas can be well imagined, where majority of the people live with no piped water. This paper describes the solar-based methods of removing organic pollutants from waste-water (also called Advanced Oxidation Technologies) and solar desalination. Experimental results of a simple solar water-sterilization technique have been discussed, along with suggestions to enhance the performance of this technique. (author)

Bridging the climate-induced water gap in the twenty-first century: adaptation support based on water supply, demand, adaptation and financing.

Science.gov (United States)

Straatsma, Menno; Droogers, Peter; Brandsma, Jaïrus; Buytaert, Wouter; Karssenberg, Derek; Van Beek, Rens; Wada, Yoshihide; Sutanudjaja, Edwin; Vitolo, Claudia; Schmitz, Oliver; Meijer, Karen; Van Aalst, Maaike; Bierkens, Marc

2014-05-01

Water scarcity affects large parts of the world. Over the course of the twenty-first century, water demand is likely to increase due to population growth and associated food production, and increased economic activity, while water supply is projected to decrease in many regions due to climate change. Despite recent studies that analyze the effect of climate change on water scarcity, e.g. using climate projections under representative concentration pathways (RCP) of the fifth assessment report of the IPCC (AR5), decision support for closing the water gap between now and 2100 does not exist at a meaningful scale and with a global coverage. In this study, we aimed (i) to assess the joint impact of climatic and socio-economic change on water scarcity, (ii) to integrate impact and potential adaptation in one workflow, (iii) to prioritize adaptation options to counteract water scarcity based on their financial, regional socio-economic and environmental implications, and (iv) to deliver all this information in an integrated user-friendly web-based service. To enable the combination of global coverage with local relevance, we aggregated all results for 1604 water provinces (food producing units) delineated in this study, which is five times smaller than previous food producing units. Water supply was computed using the PCR-GLOBWB hydrological and water resources model, parameterized at 5 arcminutes for the whole globe, excluding Antarctica and Greenland. We ran PCR-GLOBWB with a daily forcing derived from five different GCM models from the CMIP5 (GFDL-ESM2M, Hadgem2-ES, IPSL-CMA5-LR, MIROC-ESM-CHEM, NorESM1-M) that were bias corrected using observation-based WATCH data between 1960-1999. For each of the models all four RCPs (RCP 2.6, 4.5, 6.0, and 8.5) were run, producing the ensemble of 20 future projections. The blue water supply was aggregated per month and per water province. Industrial, domestic and irrigation water demands were computed for a limited number of

New implementation of OGC Web Processing Service in Python programming language. PyWPS-4 and issues we are facing with processing of large raster data using OGC WPS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Čepický

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The OGC® Web Processing Service (WPS Interface Standard provides rules for standardizing inputs and outputs (requests and responses for geospatial processing services, such as polygon overlay. The standard also defines how a client can request the execution of a process, and how the output from the process is handled. It defines an interface that facilitates publishing of geospatial processes and client discovery of processes and and binding to those processes into workflows. Data required by a WPS can be delivered across a network or they can be available at a server. PyWPS was one of the first implementations of OGC WPS on the server side. It is written in the Python programming language and it tries to connect to all existing tools for geospatial data analysis, available on the Python platform. During the last two years, the PyWPS development team has written a new version (called PyWPS-4 completely from scratch. The analysis of large raster datasets poses several technical issues in implementing the WPS standard. The data format has to be defined and validated on the server side and binary data have to be encoded using some numeric representation. Pulling raster data from remote servers introduces security risks, in addition, running several processes in parallel has to be possible, so that system resources are used efficiently while preserving security. Here we discuss these topics and illustrate some of the solutions adopted within the PyWPS implementation.

Estimation of monthly-mean daily global solar radiation based on MODIS and TRMM products

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qin, Jun; Chen, Zhuoqi; Yang, Kun; Liang, Shunlin; Tang, Wenjun

2011-01-01

Global solar radiation (GSR) is required in a large number of fields. Many parameterization schemes are developed to estimate it using routinely measured meteorological variables, since GSR is directly measured at a limited number of stations. Even so, meteorological stations are sparse, especially, in remote areas. Satellite signals (radiance at the top of atmosphere in most cases) can be used to estimate continuous GSR in space. However, many existing remote sensing products have a relatively coarse spatial resolution and these inversion algorithms are too complicated to be mastered by experts in other research fields. In this study, the artificial neural network (ANN) is utilized to build the mathematical relationship between measured monthly-mean daily GSR and several high-level remote sensing products available for the public, including Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) monthly averaged land surface temperature (LST), the number of days in which the LST retrieval is performed in 1 month, MODIS enhanced vegetation index, Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite (TRMM) monthly precipitation. After training, GSR estimates from this ANN are verified against ground measurements at 12 radiation stations. Then, comparisons are performed among three GSR estimates, including the one presented in this study, a surface data-based estimate, and a remote sensing product by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Validation results indicate that the ANN-based method presented in this study can estimate monthly-mean daily GSR at a spatial resolution of about 5 km with high accuracy.

Factors affecting exclusive breastfeeding of healthy babies aged zero to four months: a community-based study of Turkish women.

Science.gov (United States)

Karaçam, Zekiye

2008-02-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the factors that affect exclusive breastfeeding of healthy babies aged 0-4 months. Both the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF recommend feeding babies of 0-6 months exclusively with breast milk and starting complementary foods after the sixth month. In Turkey, however, a vast majority of babies 1-5 months of age (89.4%) are given complementary foods. This cross-sectional study was conducted in central Ankara province, with a sampling of 514 individuals who were selected using the convenience sampling method. Of the 514 mothers who participated in my research, 260 (50.6%) were found to be feeding their babies exclusively with breast milk; 77 (15.0%), with breast milk + water; 87 (16.9%), with breast milk + baby formula; 70 (13.6%), with breast milk + baby formula + other foods; and 20 (3.9%), baby formula + other foods. Based on multivariate logistic regression analysis results, the mother's employment [odds ratio (OR) = 0.488; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.288-0.827) considerably reduced the incidence of complementary foods, while frequent crying of the baby (OR = 1.687; 95% CI = 1.125-2.530) significantly increased the use of supplementary foods in infant nutrition. This study concluded that frequent crying of the baby increases the likelihood of giving the baby complementary foods. Midwives and nurses can encourage exclusive breastfeeding behaviour by providing individual education and counselling to women whose babies cry frequently. Exclusive breastfeeding of babies aged 0-6 months is crucial for the development and growth of the baby and instrumental in reducing infant morbidities and mortalities. One factor that increases the likelihood of provision of complementary foods is frequent crying of the baby. Midwives and nurses can encourage exclusive breastfeeding behaviour by providing individual education and counselling to women whose babies cry frequently.

Feasibility of sequential adjuvant chemotherapy with a 3-month oxaliplatin-based regimen followed by 3 months of capecitabine in patients with stage III and high-risk stage II colorectal cancer: JSWOG-C2 study.

Science.gov (United States)

Tsuruta, Atsushi; Yamashita, Kazuki; Tanioka, Hiroaki; Tsuji, Akihito; Inukai, Michio; Yamakawa, Toshiki; Yamatsuji, Tomoki; Yoshimitsu, Masanori; Toyota, Kazuhiro; Yamano, Taketoshi; Nagasaka, Takeshi; Okajima, Masazumi

2016-01-01

Six months of oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy is the standard adjuvant chemotherapy for completely resected stage III colorectal cancer (CRC). Also, patients with stage II CRC who are considered to be at high risk of disease recurrence often receive the same adjuvant chemotherapy treatment. We prospectively investigated the extent and degree of neuropathy suffered by stage III and high-risk stage II resectable CRC patients who underwent sequential approach involving 3 months of an oxaliplatin-based regimen followed by 3 months of capecitabine. Patients with completely resected stage III and high-risk stage II CRC aged ≥20 years were eligible. Patients were treated with folinic acid, fluorouracil, and oxaliplatin (FOLFOX) or capecitabine and oxaliplatin (CAPOX) for 3 months followed by capecitabine (2,500 mg/m 2 on days 1-14 every 3 weeks) for 3 months. Primary end points were frequency and the grade of oxaliplatin-induced neurotoxicity as evaluated using the physician-based Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 4.0 (CTCAE) grading and the patient-based scale, self-reported Patient Neurotoxicity Questionnaire. Ninety-one patients were enrolled and 86 patients assessed. Eighty-four percent of patients completed the planned oxaliplatin-based therapy for 3 months, and 63% of patients completed all treatments for the full 6 months. Overall incidences of grade 3 or 4 peripheral sensory or motor neuropathy according to the CTCAE were 3.5% and 1.2%, respectively. Regarding the peripheral sensory neuropathy, the proportion of Patient Neurotoxicity Questionnaire (grade C-E) and CTCAE (grade 2-4) at months 1.5/3/6 were 11.3/22.1/29.4% and 5.3/4.4/11.3%, respectively (Spearman correlation coefficient: 0.47). A sequential approach to adjuvant chemotherapy with 3 months of an oxaliplatin-based regimen followed by 3 months of capecitabine was tolerated by patients and associated with a low incidence of neuropathy.

Hydrologic, Water-Quality, and Meteorological Data for the Cambridge, Massachusetts, Drinking-Water Source Area, Water Year 2006

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Kirk P.

2008-01-01

Records of water quantity, water quality, and meteorological parameters were continuously collected from three reservoirs, two primary streams, and four subbasin tributaries in the Cambridge, Massachusetts, drinking-water source area during water year 2006 (October 2005 through September 2006). Water samples were collected during base-flow conditions and storms in the subbasins of the Cambridge Reservoir and Stony Brook Reservoir drainage areas and analyzed for dissolved calcium, sodium, chloride, and sulfate; total nitrogen and phosphorus; and polar pesticides and metabolites. These data were collected to assist watershed administrators in managing the drinking-water source area and to identify potential sources of contaminants and trends in contaminant loading to the water supply. Monthly reservoir contents for the Cambridge Reservoir varied from about 59 to 98 percent of capacity during water year 2006, while monthly reservoir contents for the Stony Brook Reservoir and the Fresh Pond Reservoir was maintained at greater than 83 and 94 percent of capacity, respectively. If water demand is assumed to be 15 million gallons per day by the city of Cambridge, the volume of water released from the Stony Brook Reservoir to the Charles River during the 2006 water year is equivalent to an annual water surplus of about 127 percent. Recorded precipitation in the source area was about 16 percent greater for the 2006 water year than for the previous water year and was between 12 and 73 percent greater than for any recorded amount since water year 2002. The monthly mean specific-conductance values for all continuously monitored stations within the drinking-water source area were generally within the range of historical data collected since water year 1997, and in many cases were less than the historical medians. The annual mean specific conductance of 738 uS/cm (microsiemens per centimeter) for water discharged from the Cambridge Reservoir was nearly identical to the annual

Modeling seasonal water balance based on catchments' hedging strategy on evapotranspiration for climate seasonality

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, S.; Zhao, J.; Wang, H.

2017-12-01

This paper develops a seasonal water balance model based on the hypothesis that natural catchments utilize hedging strategy on evapotranspiration for climate seasonality. According to the monthly aridity index, one year is split into wet season and dry season. A seasonal water balance model is developed by analogy to a two-stage reservoir operation model, in which seasonal rainfall infiltration, evapotranspiration and saturation-excess runoff is corresponding to the inflow, release and surplus of the catchment system. Then the optimal hedging between wet season and dry season evapotranspiration is analytically derived with marginal benefit principle. Water budget data sets of 320 catchments in the United States covering the period from 1980 to 2010 are used to evaluate the performance of this model. The Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency coefficient for evapotranspiration is higher than 0.5 in 84% of the study catchments; while the runoff is 87%. This paper validates catchments' hedging strategy on evapotranspiration for climate seasonality and shows its potential application for seasonal water balance, which is valuable for water resources planning and management.

Determination of Dynamics of Plant Plasma Membrane Proteins with Fluorescence Recovery and Raster Image Correlation Spectroscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Laňková, Martina; Humpolíčková, Jana; Vosolsobě, Stanislav; Cit, Zdeněk; Lacek, Jozef; Čovan, Martin; Čovanová, Milada; Hof, Martin; Petrášek, Jan

2016-04-01

A number of fluorescence microscopy techniques are described to study dynamics of fluorescently labeled proteins, lipids, nucleic acids, and whole organelles. However, for studies of plant plasma membrane (PM) proteins, the number of these techniques is still limited because of the high complexity of processes that determine the dynamics of PM proteins and the existence of cell wall. Here, we report on the usage of raster image correlation spectroscopy (RICS) for studies of integral PM proteins in suspension-cultured tobacco cells and show its potential in comparison with the more widely used fluorescence recovery after photobleaching method. For RICS, a set of microscopy images is obtained by single-photon confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). Fluorescence fluctuations are subsequently correlated between individual pixels and the information on protein mobility are extracted using a model that considers processes generating the fluctuations such as diffusion and chemical binding reactions. As we show here using an example of two integral PM transporters of the plant hormone auxin, RICS uncovered their distinct short-distance lateral mobility within the PM that is dependent on cytoskeleton and sterol composition of the PM. RICS, which is routinely accessible on modern CLSM instruments, thus represents a valuable approach for studies of dynamics of PM proteins in plants.

A superhydrophobic chip based on SU-8 photoresist pillars suspended on a silicon nitride membrane

KAUST Repository

Marinaro, Giovanni; Accardo, Angelo; De Angelis, Francesco; Dane, Thomas; Weinhausen, Britta; Burghammer, Manfred; Riekel, Christian

2014-01-01

We developed a new generation of superhydrophobic chips optimized for probing ultrasmall sample quantities by X-ray scattering and fluorescence techniques. The chips are based on thin Si3N4 membranes with a tailored pattern of SU-8 photoresist pillars. Indeed, aqueous solution droplets can be evaporated and concentrated at predefined positions using a non-periodic pillar pattern. We demonstrated quantitatively the deposition and aggregation of gold glyconanoparticles from the evaporation of a nanomolar droplet in a small spot by raster X-ray nanofluorescence. Further, raster nanocrystallography of biological objects such as rod-like tobacco mosaic virus nanoparticles reveals crystalline macro-domain formation composed of highly oriented nanorods. © 2014 the Partner Organisations.

A superhydrophobic chip based on SU-8 photoresist pillars suspended on a silicon nitride membrane

KAUST Repository

Marinaro, Giovanni

2014-07-28

We developed a new generation of superhydrophobic chips optimized for probing ultrasmall sample quantities by X-ray scattering and fluorescence techniques. The chips are based on thin Si3N4 membranes with a tailored pattern of SU-8 photoresist pillars. Indeed, aqueous solution droplets can be evaporated and concentrated at predefined positions using a non-periodic pillar pattern. We demonstrated quantitatively the deposition and aggregation of gold glyconanoparticles from the evaporation of a nanomolar droplet in a small spot by raster X-ray nanofluorescence. Further, raster nanocrystallography of biological objects such as rod-like tobacco mosaic virus nanoparticles reveals crystalline macro-domain formation composed of highly oriented nanorods. © 2014 the Partner Organisations.

Reconstructing Historical VOC Concentrations in Drinking Water for Epidemiological Studies at a U.S. Military Base: Summary of Results

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Morris L. Maslia

2016-10-01

Full Text Available A U.S. government health agency conducted epidemiological studies to evaluate whether exposures to drinking water contaminated with volatile organic compounds (VOC at U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, were associated with increased health risks to children and adults. These health studies required knowledge of contaminant concentrations in drinking water—at monthly intervals—delivered to family housing, barracks, and other facilities within the study area. Because concentration data were limited or unavailable during much of the period of contamination (1950s–1985, the historical reconstruction process was used to quantify estimates of monthly mean contaminant-specific concentrations. This paper integrates many efforts, reports, and papers into a synthesis of the overall approach to, and results from, a drinking-water historical reconstruction study. Results show that at the Tarawa Terrace water treatment plant (WTP reconstructed (simulated tetrachloroethylene (PCE concentrations reached a maximum monthly average value of 183 micrograms per liter (μg/L compared to a one-time maximum measured value of 215 μg/L and exceeded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s current maximum contaminant level (MCL of 5 μg/L during the period November 1957–February 1987. At the Hadnot Point WTP, reconstructed trichloroethylene (TCE concentrations reached a maximum monthly average value of 783 μg/L compared to a one-time maximum measured value of 1400 μg/L during the period August 1953–December 1984. The Hadnot Point WTP also provided contaminated drinking water to the Holcomb Boulevard housing area continuously prior to June 1972, when the Holcomb Boulevard WTP came on line (maximum reconstructed TCE concentration of 32 μg/L and intermittently during the period June 1972–February 1985 (maximum reconstructed TCE concentration of 66 μg/L. Applying the historical reconstruction process to quantify contaminant

Climate proofing water and sanitation services and applying integrated water resource management in slums

OpenAIRE

Heath, Thomas

2011-01-01

This thesis assesses how climate change impacts water resources and communities and reviews how the resource can be managed in an integrated manner for small water and sanitation providers. This thesis was based upon a 10 month Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) between Cranfield University and Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP). The aim of the project was to assess the opportunities and vulnerabilities presented by climate change and how Integrated Water Resource ...

Water Detection Based on Object Reflections

Science.gov (United States)

Rankin, Arturo L.; Matthies, Larry H.

2012-01-01

Water bodies are challenging terrain hazards for terrestrial unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) for several reasons. Traversing through deep water bodies could cause costly damage to the electronics of UGVs. Additionally, a UGV that is either broken down due to water damage or becomes stuck in a water body during an autonomous operation will require rescue, potentially drawing critical resources away from the primary operation and increasing the operation cost. Thus, robust water detection is a critical perception requirement for UGV autonomous navigation. One of the properties useful for detecting still water bodies is that their surface acts as a horizontal mirror at high incidence angles. Still water bodies in wide-open areas can be detected by geometrically locating the exact pixels in the sky that are reflecting on candidate water pixels on the ground, predicting if ground pixels are water based on color similarity to the sky and local terrain features. But in cluttered areas where reflections of objects in the background dominate the appearance of the surface of still water bodies, detection based on sky reflections is of marginal value. Specifically, this software attempts to solve the problem of detecting still water bodies on cross-country terrain in cluttered areas at low cost.

Exploring the effects of climatic variables on monthly precipitation variation using a continuous wavelet-based multiscale entropy approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Roushangar, Kiyoumars; Alizadeh, Farhad; Adamowski, Jan

2018-08-01

Understanding precipitation on a regional basis is an important component of water resources planning and management. The present study outlines a methodology based on continuous wavelet transform (CWT) and multiscale entropy (CWME), combined with self-organizing map (SOM) and k-means clustering techniques, to measure and analyze the complexity of precipitation. Historical monthly precipitation data from 1960 to 2010 at 31 rain gauges across Iran were preprocessed by CWT. The multi-resolution CWT approach segregated the major features of the original precipitation series by unfolding the structure of the time series which was often ambiguous. The entropy concept was then applied to components obtained from CWT to measure dispersion, uncertainty, disorder, and diversification of subcomponents. Based on different validity indices, k-means clustering captured homogenous areas more accurately, and additional analysis was performed based on the outcome of this approach. The 31 rain gauges in this study were clustered into 6 groups, each one having a unique CWME pattern across different time scales. The results of clustering showed that hydrologic similarity (multiscale variation of precipitation) was not based on geographic contiguity. According to the pattern of entropy across the scales, each cluster was assigned an entropy signature that provided an estimation of the entropy pattern of precipitation data in each cluster. Based on the pattern of mean CWME for each cluster, a characteristic signature was assigned, which provided an estimation of the CWME of a cluster across scales of 1-2, 3-8, and 9-13 months relative to other stations. The validity of the homogeneous clusters demonstrated the usefulness of the proposed approach to regionalize precipitation. Further analysis based on wavelet coherence (WTC) was performed by selecting central rain gauges in each cluster and analyzing against temperature, wind, Multivariate ENSO index (MEI), and East Atlantic (EA) and

The Fish Assemblage of a Newfoundland Estuary: Diel, Monthly and Annual Variation

Science.gov (United States)

Methven, D. A.; Haedrich, R. L.; Rose, G. A.

2001-06-01

Twice monthly sampling over two 16 month periods at a shallow site on Newfoundland's east coast showed the fish assemblage to be dominated by four taxa ( Gasterosteus aculeatus, G. wheatlandi, Osmerus mordax, Gadus spp.) that accounted for 96% of the individuals collected. Of the 16 479 fish measured, 65% were adults based on the estimated size of first spawning. The fish assemblage was dominated (86%) by species with demersal eggs, several of which spawn at the same shallow sites used by juveniles as nursery sites. Coastal spawning and demersal eggs maintain offspring in coastal nursery areas where survival is thought to be increased. Number of species and number of fish were both correlated with water temperature being highest from mid-summer to early autumn and lowest in winter. Temperature, time of spawning, and movements of juveniles and adults facilitated grouping species into five assemblages based on seasonal abundance: seasonal periodic species (summer and winter), regular species, regular species collected in all seasons except winter, and occasional (rare) species. At the diel scale, two consistent species groupings were observed: species that showed no significant difference between day and night and species caught primarily at night. Number of night species exceeded day species by a factor of two. No seine-caught species in shallow water exhibited significantly higher catches during the day. Observations by SCUBA divers indicated some species were more abundant during day time at slightly deeper depths. This observation in conjunction with day and night seining in shallower water, suggests these species aggregate in deeper water during day and move to shallow waters at night.

Nanotechnology-based water treatment strategies.

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Sandeep; Ahlawat, Wandit; Bhanjana, Gaurav; Heydarifard, Solmaz; Nazhad, Mousa M; Dilbaghi, Neeraj

2014-02-01

The most important component for living beings on the earth is access to clean and safe drinking water. Globally, water scarcity is pervasive even in water-rich areas as immense pressure has been created by the burgeoning human population, industrialization, civilization, environmental changes and agricultural activities. The problem of access to safe water is inevitable and requires tremendous research to devise new, cheaper technologies for purification of water, while taking into account energy requirements and environmental impact. This review highlights nanotechnology-based water treatment technologies being developed and used to improve desalination of sea and brackish water, safe reuse of wastewater, disinfection and decontamination of water, i.e., biosorption and nanoadsorption for contaminant removal, nanophotocatalysis for chemical degradation of contaminants, nanosensors for contaminant detection, different membrane technologies including reverse osmosis, nanofiltration, ultrafiltration, electro-dialysis etc. This review also deals with the fate and transport of engineered nanomaterials in water and wastewater treatment systems along with the risks associated with nanomaterials.

Risk-based water resources planning: Coupling water allocation and water quality management under extreme droughts

Science.gov (United States)

Mortazavi-Naeini, M.; Bussi, G.; Hall, J. W.; Whitehead, P. G.

2016-12-01

The main aim of water companies is to have a reliable and safe water supply system. To fulfil their duty the water companies have to consider both water quality and quantity issues and challenges. Climate change and population growth will have an impact on water resources both in terms of available water and river water quality. Traditionally, a distinct separation between water quality and abstraction has existed. However, water quality can be a bottleneck in a system since water treatment works can only treat water if it meets certain standards. For instance, high turbidity and large phytoplankton content can increase sharply the cost of treatment or even make river water unfit for human consumption purposes. It is vital for water companies to be able to characterise the quantity and quality of water under extreme weather events and to consider the occurrence of eventual periods when water abstraction has to cease due to water quality constraints. This will give them opportunity to decide on water resource planning and potential changes to reduce the system failure risk. We present a risk-based approach for incorporating extreme events, based on future climate change scenarios from a large ensemble of climate model realisations, into integrated water resources model through combined use of water allocation (WATHNET) and water quality (INCA) models. The annual frequency of imposed restrictions on demand is considered as measure of reliability. We tested our approach on Thames region, in the UK, with 100 extreme events. The results show increase in frequency of imposed restrictions when water quality constraints were considered. This indicates importance of considering water quality issues in drought management plans.

Area- and depth- weighted averages of selected SSURGO variables for the conterminous United States and District of Columbia

Science.gov (United States)

Wieczorek, Michael

2014-01-01

percent sand, silt, and clay (AVG_SAND, AVG_SILT, and AVG_CLAY). The soil characteristics in the WTDEP table are the annual minimum water table depth (WTDEP_MIN), available water storage in the 0-25 cm soil horizon (AWS025), the minimum water table depth for the months April, May and June (WTDEPAMJ), the available water storage in the first 25 centimeters of the soil horizon (AWS25), the dominant drainage class (DRCLSD), the wettest drainage class (DRCLSWET), and the hydric classification (HYDCLASS), which is an indication of the proportion of the map unit, expressed as a class, that is "hydric", based on the hydric classification of a given MUKEY. (See Entity_Description for more detail). The tables were created with a set of arc macro language (aml) and awk (awk was created at Bell Labsin the 1970s and its name is derived from the first letters of the last names of its authors – Alfred Aho, Peter Weinberger, and Brian Kernighan) scripts. Send an email to mewieczo@usgs.gov to obtain copies of the computer code (See Process_Description.) The methods used are outlined in NRCS's "SSURGO Data Packaging and Use" (NRCS, 2011). The tables can be related or joined to the gSSURGO rasters of MUKEYs by the item 'MUKEY.' Joining or relating the tables to a MUKEY grid allows the creation of grids of area- and depth-weighted soil characteristics. A 90-meter raster of MUKEYs is provided which can be used to produce rasters of soil attributes. More detailed resolution rasters are available through NRCS via the link above.

Impact of an Outdoor Smoking Ban at Secondary Schools on Cigarettes, E-Cigarettes and Water Pipe Use among Adolescents: An 18-Month Follow-Up

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrea D. Rozema

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract: The effectiveness of outdoor smoking bans on smoking behavior among adolescents remains inconclusive. This study evaluates the long-term impact of outdoor school ground smoking bans among adolescents at secondary schools on the use of conventional cigarettes, e-cigarettes (with/without nicotine and water pipes. Outdoor smoking bans at 19 Dutch secondary schools were evaluated using a quasi-experimental design. Data on 7733 adolescents were obtained at baseline, and at 6 and 18-month follow-up. The impact of outdoor smoking bans on ‘ever use of conventional cigarettes’, ‘smoking onset’, ‘ever use of e-cigarette with nicotine’, ‘e-cigarette without nicotine’, and ‘water pipe’ was measured. Multilevel logistic regression analysis was used. At schools with a ban, implementation fidelity was checked. At schools where a ban was implemented, at 18-month follow-up more adolescents had started smoking compared to the control condition. No effect of implementation of the ban was found for smoking prevalence, e-cigarettes with/without nicotine, and water pipe use. Implementation fidelity was sufficient. No long-term effects were found of an outdoor smoking ban, except for smoking onset. The ban might cause a reversal effect when schools encounter difficulties with its enforcement or when adolescents still see others smoking. Additional research is required with a longer follow-up than 18 months.

Impact of an Outdoor Smoking Ban at Secondary Schools on Cigarettes, E-Cigarettes and Water Pipe Use among Adolescents: An 18-Month Follow-Up.

Science.gov (United States)

Rozema, Andrea D; Hiemstra, Marieke; Mathijssen, Jolanda J P; Jansen, Maria W J; van Oers, Hans J A M

2018-01-25

Abstract : The effectiveness of outdoor smoking bans on smoking behavior among adolescents remains inconclusive. This study evaluates the long-term impact of outdoor school ground smoking bans among adolescents at secondary schools on the use of conventional cigarettes, e-cigarettes (with/without nicotine) and water pipes. Outdoor smoking bans at 19 Dutch secondary schools were evaluated using a quasi-experimental design. Data on 7733 adolescents were obtained at baseline, and at 6 and 18-month follow-up. The impact of outdoor smoking bans on 'ever use of conventional cigarettes', 'smoking onset', 'ever use of e-cigarette with nicotine', 'e-cigarette without nicotine', and 'water pipe' was measured. Multilevel logistic regression analysis was used. At schools with a ban, implementation fidelity was checked. At schools where a ban was implemented, at 18-month follow-up more adolescents had started smoking compared to the control condition. No effect of implementation of the ban was found for smoking prevalence, e-cigarettes with/without nicotine, and water pipe use. Implementation fidelity was sufficient. No long-term effects were found of an outdoor smoking ban, except for smoking onset. The ban might cause a reversal effect when schools encounter difficulties with its enforcement or when adolescents still see others smoking. Additional research is required with a longer follow-up than 18 months.

FULLY AUTOMATED GIS-BASED INDIVIDUAL TREE CROWN DELINEATION BASED ON CURVATURE VALUES FROM A LIDAR DERIVED CANOPY HEIGHT MODEL IN A CONIFEROUS PLANTATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. J. L. Argamosa

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The generation of high resolution canopy height model (CHM from LiDAR makes it possible to delineate individual tree crown by means of a fully-automated method using the CHM’s curvature through its slope. The local maxima are obtained by taking the maximum raster value in a 3 m x 3 m cell. These values are assumed as tree tops and therefore considered as individual trees. Based on the assumptions, thiessen polygons were generated to serve as buffers for the canopy extent. The negative profile curvature is then measured from the slope of the CHM. The results show that the aggregated points from a negative profile curvature raster provide the most realistic crown shape. The absence of field data regarding tree crown dimensions require accurate visual assessment after the appended delineated tree crown polygon was superimposed to the hill shaded CHM.

Repeated and random components in Oklahoma's monthly precipitation record

Science.gov (United States)

Precipitation across Oklahoma exhibits a high degree of spatial and temporal variability and creates numerous water resources management challenges. The monthly precipitation record of the Central Oklahoma climate division was evaluated in a proof-of-concept to establish whether a simple monthly pre...

Monthly to seasonal low flow prediction: statistical versus dynamical models

Science.gov (United States)

Ionita-Scholz, Monica; Klein, Bastian; Meissner, Dennis; Rademacher, Silke

2016-04-01

While the societal and economical impacts of floods are well documented and assessable, the impacts of lows flows are less studied and sometimes overlooked. For example, over the western part of Europe, due to intense inland waterway transportation, the economical loses due to low flows are often similar compared to the ones due to floods. In general, the low flow aspect has the tendency to be underestimated by the scientific community. One of the best examples in this respect is the facts that at European level most of the countries have an (early) flood alert system, but in many cases no real information regarding the development, evolution and impacts of droughts. Low flows, occurring during dry periods, may result in several types of problems to society and economy: e.g. lack of water for drinking, irrigation, industrial use and power production, deterioration of water quality, inland waterway transport, agriculture, tourism, issuing and renewing waste disposal permits, and for assessing the impact of prolonged drought on aquatic ecosystems. As such, the ever-increasing demand on water resources calls for better a management, understanding and prediction of the water deficit situation and for more reliable and extended studies regarding the evolution of the low flow situations. In order to find an optimized monthly to seasonal forecast procedure for the German waterways, the Federal Institute of Hydrology (BfG) is exploring multiple approaches at the moment. On the one hand, based on the operational short- to medium-range forecasting chain, existing hydrological models are forced with two different hydro-meteorological inputs: (i) resampled historical meteorology generated by the Ensemble Streamflow Prediction approach and (ii) ensemble (re-) forecasts of ECMWF's global coupled ocean-atmosphere general circulation model, which have to be downscaled and bias corrected before feeding the hydrological models. As a second approach BfG evaluates in cooperation with

Water vapor movement in freezing aggregate base materials.

Science.gov (United States)

2014-06-01

The objectives of this research were to 1) measure the extent to which water vapor movement results in : water accumulation in freezing base materials; 2) evaluate the effect of soil stabilization on water vapor movement : in freezing base materials;...

Water Detection Based on Color Variation

Science.gov (United States)

Rankin, Arturo L.

2012-01-01

This software has been designed to detect water bodies that are out in the open on cross-country terrain at close range (out to 30 meters), using imagery acquired from a stereo pair of color cameras mounted on a terrestrial, unmanned ground vehicle (UGV). This detector exploits the fact that the color variation across water bodies is generally larger and more uniform than that of other naturally occurring types of terrain, such as soil and vegetation. Non-traversable water bodies, such as large puddles, ponds, and lakes, are detected based on color variation, image intensity variance, image intensity gradient, size, and shape. At ranges beyond 20 meters, water bodies out in the open can be indirectly detected by detecting reflections of the sky below the horizon in color imagery. But at closer range, the color coming out of a water body dominates sky reflections, and the water cue from sky reflections is of marginal use. Since there may be times during UGV autonomous navigation when a water body does not come into a perception system s field of view until it is at close range, the ability to detect water bodies at close range is critical. Factors that influence the perceived color of a water body at close range are the amount and type of sediment in the water, the water s depth, and the angle of incidence to the water body. Developing a single model of the mixture ratio of light reflected off the water surface (to the camera) to light coming out of the water body (to the camera) for all water bodies would be fairly difficult. Instead, this software detects close water bodies based on local terrain features and the natural, uniform change in color that occurs across the surface from the leading edge to the trailing edge.

In vitro evaluation of photon and raster-scanned carbon ion radiotherapy in combination with gemcitabine in pancreatic cancer cell lines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shafie, Rami A. El; Habermehl, Daniel; Rieken, Stefan

2013-01-01

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths, being responsible for 6% of all cancer-related deaths. Conventional radiotherapy with or without additional chemotherapy has been applied in the past in the context of neoadjuvant or adjuvant therapy concepts with only modest results, however new radiation modalities, such as particle therapy with promising physical and biological characteristics, present an alternative treatment option for patients with pancreatic cancer. Up until now the raster scanning technique employed at our institution for the application of carbon ions has been unique, and no radiobiological data using pancreatic cancer cells has been available yet. The aim of this study was to evaluate cytotoxic effects that can be achieved by treating pancreatic cancer cell lines with combinations of X-rays and gemcitabine, or alternatively with carbon ion irradiation and gemcitabine, respectively. Human pancreatic cancer cell lines AsPC-1, BxPC-3 and Panc-1 were irradiated with photons and carbon ions at various doses and treated with gemcitabine. Photon irradiation was applied with a biological cabin X-ray irradiator, and carbon ion irradiation was applied with an extended Bragg peak (linear energy transfer (LET) 103 keV/μm) using the raster scanning technique at the Heidelberg Ion Therapy Center (HIT). Responsiveness of pancreatic cancer cells to the treatment was measured by clonogenic survival. Clonogenic survival curves were then compared to predicted curves that were calculated employing the local effect model (LEM). Cell survival curves were calculated from the surviving fractions of each combination experiment and compared to a drug control that was only irradiated with X-rays or carbon ions, without application of gemcitabine. In terms of cytotoxicity, additive effects were achieved for the cell lines Panc-1 and BxPC-3, and a slight radiosensitizing effect was observed for AsPC-1. Relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of carbon

Estimating Green Water Footprints in a Temperate Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tim Hess

2010-07-01

Full Text Available The “green” water footprint (GWF of a product is often considered less important than the “blue” water footprint (BWF as “green” water generally has a low, or even negligible, opportunity cost. However, when considering food, fibre and tree products, is not only a useful indicator of the total appropriation of a natural resource, but from a methodological perspective, blue water footprints are frequently estimated as the residual after green water is subtracted from total crop water use. In most published studies, green water use (ETgreen has been estimated from the FAO CROPWAT model using the USDA method for effective rainfall. In this study, four methods for the estimation of the ETgreen of pasture were compared. Two were based on effective rainfall estimated from monthly rainfall and potential evapotranspiration, and two were based on a simulated water balance using long-term daily, or average monthly, weather data from 11 stations in England. The results show that the effective rainfall methods significantly underestimate the annual ETgreen in all cases, as they do not adequately account for the depletion of stored soil water during the summer. A simplified model, based on annual rainfall and reference evapotranspiration (ETo has been tested and used to map the average annual ETgreen of pasture in England.

Synoptic bi-monthly and storm response water quality sampling in Southern Kaneohe Bay, HI, 2005-2007 in support of the Coral Reef Instrumented Monitoring Platform (CRIMP) (NODC Accession 0060061)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Synoptic sampling including water column profiles and collected surface water samples was conducted on a bi-monthly basis throughout the rainy season (October-May)...

A Longitudinal Study of Household Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Characteristics and Environmental Enteropathy Markers in Children Less than 24 Months in Iquitos, Peru.

Science.gov (United States)

Exum, Natalie G; Lee, Gwenyth O; Olórtegui, Maribel Paredes; Yori, Pablo Peñataro; Salas, Mery Siguas; Trigoso, Dixner Rengifo; Colston, Josh M; Schwab, Kellogg J; McCormick, Benjamin J J; Kosek, Margaret N

2018-04-01

Poor child gut health, resulting from a lack of access to an improved toilet or clean water, has been proposed as a biological mechanism underlying child stunting and oral vaccine failure. Characteristics related to household sanitation, water use, and hygiene were measured among a birth cohort of 270 children from peri-urban Iquitos Peru. These children had monthly stool samples and urine samples at four time points and serum samples at (2-4) time points analyzed for biomarkers related to intestinal inflammation and permeability. We found that less storage of fecal matter near the household along with a reliable water connection were associated with reduced inflammation, most prominently the fecal biomarker myeloperoxidase (MPO) (no sanitation facility compared with those with an onsite toilet had -0.43 log MPO, 95% confidence interval [CI]: -0.74, -0.13; and households with an intermittent connection versus those with a continuous supply had +0.36 log MPO, 95% CI: 0.08, 0.63). These results provide preliminary evidence for the hypothesis that children less than 24 months of age living in unsanitary conditions will have elevated gut inflammation.

A method of groundwater quality assessment based on fuzzy network-CANFIS and geographic information system (GIS)

Science.gov (United States)

Gholami, V.; Khaleghi, M. R.; Sebghati, M.

2017-11-01

The process of water quality testing is money/time-consuming, quite important and difficult stage for routine measurements. Therefore, use of models has become commonplace in simulating water quality. In this study, the coactive neuro-fuzzy inference system (CANFIS) was used to simulate groundwater quality. Further, geographic information system (GIS) was used as the pre-processor and post-processor tool to demonstrate spatial variation of groundwater quality. All important factors were quantified and groundwater quality index (GWQI) was developed. The proposed model was trained and validated by taking a case study of Mazandaran Plain located in northern part of Iran. The factors affecting groundwater quality were the input variables for the simulation, whereas GWQI index was the output. The developed model was validated to simulate groundwater quality. Network validation was performed via comparison between the estimated and actual GWQI values. In GIS, the study area was separated to raster format in the pixel dimensions of 1 km and also by incorporation of input data layers of the Fuzzy Network-CANFIS model; the geo-referenced layers of the effective factors in groundwater quality were earned. Therefore, numeric values of each pixel with geographical coordinates were entered to the Fuzzy Network-CANFIS model and thus simulation of groundwater quality was accessed in the study area. Finally, the simulated GWQI indices using the Fuzzy Network-CANFIS model were entered into GIS, and hence groundwater quality map (raster layer) based on the results of the network simulation was earned. The study's results confirm the high efficiency of incorporation of neuro-fuzzy techniques and GIS. It is also worth noting that the general quality of the groundwater in the most studied plain is fairly low.

Application of EOF/PCA-based methods in the post-processing of GRACE derived water variations

Science.gov (United States)

Forootan, Ehsan; Kusche, Jürgen

2010-05-01

Two problems that users of monthly GRACE gravity field solutions face are 1) the presence of correlated noise in the Stokes coefficients that increases with harmonic degree and causes ‘striping', and 2) the fact that different physical signals are overlaid and difficult to separate from each other in the data. These problems are termed the signal-noise separation problem and the signal-signal separation problem. Methods that are based on principal component analysis and empirical orthogonal functions (PCA/EOF) have been frequently proposed to deal with these problems for GRACE. However, different strategies have been applied to different (spatial: global/regional, spectral: global/order-wise, geoid/equivalent water height) representations of the GRACE level 2 data products, leading to differing results and a general feeling that PCA/EOF-based methods are to be applied ‘with care'. In addition, it is known that conventional EOF/PCA methods force separated modes to be orthogonal, and that, on the other hand, to either EOFs or PCs an arbitrary orthogonal rotation can be applied. The aim of this paper is to provide a common theoretical framework and to study the application of PCA/EOF-based methods as a signal separation tool due to post-process GRACE data products. In order to investigate and illustrate the applicability of PCA/EOF-based methods, we have employed them on GRACE level 2 monthly solutions based on the Center for Space Research, University of Texas (CSR/UT) RL04 products and on the ITG-GRACE03 solutions from the University of Bonn, and on various representations of them. Our results show that EOF modes do reveal the dominating annual, semiannual and also long-periodic signals in the global water storage variations, but they also show how choosing different strategies changes the outcome and may lead to unexpected results.

An improved water budget for the El Yunque National Forest, Puerto Rico, as determined by the Water Supply Stress Index Model

Science.gov (United States)

Liangxia Zhang; Ge Sun; Erika Cohen; Steven McNulty; Peter Caldwell; Suzanne Krieger; Jason Christian; Decheng Zhou; Kai Duan; Keren J. Cepero-Pérez

2018-01-01

Quantifying the forest water budget is fundamental to making science-based forest management decisions. This study aimed at developing an improved water budget for the El Yunque National Forest (ENF) in Puerto Rico, one of the wettest forests in the United States. We modified an existing monthly scale water balance model, Water Supply Stress Index (WaSSI), to reflect...

Global water scarcity: the monthly blue water footprint compared to blue water availability for the world's major river basins

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hoekstra, Arjen Ysbert; Mekonnen, Mesfin

Conventional blue water scarcity indicators suffer from four weaknesses: they measure water withdrawal instead of consumptive water use, they compare water use with actual runoff rather than natural (undepleted) runoff, they ignore environmental flow requirements and they evaluate scarcity on an

Small drinking water systems under spatiotemporal water quality variability: a risk-based performance benchmarking framework.

Science.gov (United States)

Bereskie, Ty; Haider, Husnain; Rodriguez, Manuel J; Sadiq, Rehan

2017-08-23

Traditional approaches for benchmarking drinking water systems are binary, based solely on the compliance and/or non-compliance of one or more water quality performance indicators against defined regulatory guidelines/standards. The consequence of water quality failure is dependent on location within a water supply system as well as time of the year (i.e., season) with varying levels of water consumption. Conventional approaches used for water quality comparison purposes fail to incorporate spatiotemporal variability and degrees of compliance and/or non-compliance. This can lead to misleading or inaccurate performance assessment data used in the performance benchmarking process. In this research, a hierarchical risk-based water quality performance benchmarking framework is proposed to evaluate small drinking water systems (SDWSs) through cross-comparison amongst similar systems. The proposed framework (R WQI framework) is designed to quantify consequence associated with seasonal and location-specific water quality issues in a given drinking water supply system to facilitate more efficient decision-making for SDWSs striving for continuous performance improvement. Fuzzy rule-based modelling is used to address imprecision associated with measuring performance based on singular water quality guidelines/standards and the uncertainties present in SDWS operations and monitoring. This proposed R WQI framework has been demonstrated using data collected from 16 SDWSs in Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec, Canada, and compared to the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment WQI, a traditional, guidelines/standard-based approach. The study found that the R WQI framework provides an in-depth state of water quality and benchmarks SDWSs more rationally based on the frequency of occurrence and consequence of failure events.

Extreme Sea Conditions in Shallow Water: Estimation based on in-situ measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Le Crom, Izan; Saulnier, Jean-Baptiste

2013-04-01

The design of marine renewable energy devices and components is based, among others, on the assessment of the environmental extreme conditions (winds, currents, waves, and water level) that must be combined together in order to evaluate the maximal loads on a floating/fixed structure, and on the anchoring system over a determined return period. Measuring devices are generally deployed at sea over relatively short durations (a few months to a few years), typically when describing water free surface elevation, and extrapolation methods based on hindcast data (and therefore on wave simulation models) have to be used. How to combine, in a realistic way, the action of the different loads (winds and waves for instance) and which correlation of return periods should be used are highly topical issues. However, the assessment of the extreme condition itself remains a not-fully-solved, crucial, and sensitive task. Above all in shallow water, extreme wave height, Hmax, is the most significant contribution in the dimensioning process of EMR devices. As a case study, existing methodologies for deep water have been applied to SEMREV, the French marine energy test site. The interest of this study, especially at this location, goes beyond the simple application to SEMREV's WEC and floating wind turbines deployment as it could also be extended to the Banc de Guérande offshore wind farm that are planned close by. More generally to pipes and communication cables as it is a redundant problematic. The paper will first present the existing measurements (wave and wind on site), the prediction chain that has been developed via wave models, the extrapolation methods applied to hindcast data, and will try to formulate recommendations for improving this assessment in shallow water.

O.P.R.I. Monthly Bulletin. August 1998; Tableaux mensuels des mesures. Aout 1998

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1998-08-01

The OPRI Monthly Report, August 1998 Issue, reports the measurement results concerning activity levels obtained from atmospheric sampling (air at ground and high-altitude level and the atmospheric tritium concentration at VALDUC), from rain water, ground, underground and sea waters. Also, radioactivity levels are given for drinking water, food chains (particularly in cow milk and fish available on national market) and vegetables. Data resulted from radiation surveillance of industrial nuclear facilities and waste waters from non-industrial units like hospitals and research institutions are also given. The report presents the system of environmental gamma radiation monitoring based on the TELERAY Network consisting of 174 stations throughout French territory as well as the medical control for professionals and the radioactivity control following radiation incidents 2 figs., 64 tabs.

Comparing Class-based and Home-based Exercise for Older Adults with Chronic Health Conditions: 12-month Follow-up of a Randomized Clinical Trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Fisher, Koren L; Reeder, Bruce A; Harrison, Elizabeth L; Bruner, Brenda G; Ashworth, Nigel L; Pahwa, Punam; Sari, Nazmi; Sheppard, M Suzanne; Shields, Christopher A; Chad, Karen E

2017-11-01

To assess the maintenance of physical activity (PA) and health gains among participants in a class-based (CB) or home-based (HB) PA intervention over a 12-month study period. 172 adults over age 50 were randomly allocated to either a CB or HB intervention, each involving an intensive 3-month phase with 9 months follow-up. Measures at baseline, 3, 6 and 12 months included: self-reported PA and health, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), blood pressure, cardiovascular endurance (6MWT), physical function, and functional fitness (SFT). Outcomes were analyzed using generalized estimating equations. Maximum improvement was typically observed at 3 or 6 months followed by a modest diminution, with no differences between groups. For BMI, WC, 6MWT, SFT, there was progressive improvement through the study period. Greater improvement was seen in the CB group compared to the HB group on three items on the SFT (lower body (LB) strength and endurance (29% vs. 21%, p<.01), LB flexibility (2.8 cm vs. 0.4 cm, p<.05), and dynamic agility (14% vs. 7%, p<.05). The interventions were largely comparable; thus, availability, preferences, and cost may better guide program choice.

Modeling of the Monthly Rainfall-Runoff Process Through Regressions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Campos-Aranda Daniel Francisco

2014-10-01

Full Text Available To solve the problems associated with the assessment of water resources of a river, the modeling of the rainfall-runoff process (RRP allows the deduction of runoff missing data and to extend its record, since generally the information available on precipitation is larger. It also enables the estimation of inputs to reservoirs, when their building led to the suppression of the gauging station. The simplest mathematical model that can be set for the RRP is the linear regression or curve on a monthly basis. Such a model is described in detail and is calibrated with the simultaneous record of monthly rainfall and runoff in Ballesmi hydrometric station, which covers 35 years. Since the runoff of this station has an important contribution from the spring discharge, the record is corrected first by removing that contribution. In order to do this a procedure was developed based either on the monthly average regional runoff coefficients or on nearby and similar watershed; in this case the Tancuilín gauging station was used. Both stations belong to the Partial Hydrologic Region No. 26 (Lower Rio Panuco and are located within the state of San Luis Potosi, México. The study performed indicates that the monthly regression model, due to its conceptual approach, faithfully reproduces monthly average runoff volumes and achieves an excellent approximation in relation to the dispersion, proved by calculation of the means and standard deviations.

Modelling monthly runoff generation processes following land use changes: groundwater–surface runoff interactions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Bari

2004-01-01

Full Text Available A conceptual water balance model is presented to represent changes in monthly water balance following land use changes. Monthly rainfall–runoff, groundwater and soil moisture data from four experimental catchments in Western Australia have been analysed. Two of these catchments, 'Ernies' (control, fully forested and 'Lemon' (54% cleared are in a zone of mean annual rainfall of 725 mm, while 'Salmon' (control, fully forested and 'Wights' (100% cleared are in a zone with mean annual rainfall of 1125 mm. At the Salmon forested control catchment, streamflow comprises surface runoff, base flow and interflow components. In the Wights catchment, cleared of native forest for pasture development, all three components increased, groundwater levels rose significantly and stream zone saturated area increased from 1% to 15% of the catchment area. It took seven years after clearing for the rainfall–runoff generation process to stabilise in 1984. At the Ernies forested control catchment, the permanent groundwater system is 20 m below the stream bed and so does not contribute to streamflow. Following partial clearing of forest in the Lemon catchment, groundwater rose steadily and reached the stream bed by 1987. The streamflow increased in two phases: (i immediately after clearing due to reduced evapotranspiration, and (ii through an increase in the groundwater-induced stream zone saturated area after 1987. After analysing all the data available, a conceptual monthly model was created, comprising four inter-connecting stores: (i an upper zone unsaturated store, (ii a transient stream zone store, (ii a lower zone unsaturated store and (iv a saturated groundwater store. Data such as rooting depth, Leaf Area Index, soil porosity, profile thickness, depth to groundwater, stream length and surface slope were incorporated into the model as a priori defined attributes. The catchment average values for different stores were determined through matching observed and

Screening for autistic spectrum disorder at the 18-month developmental assessment: a population-based study

OpenAIRE

VanDenHeuvel, A.; Fitzgerald, M.; Greiner, Birgit A.; Perry, Ivan J.

2007-01-01

VanDenHeuvel A, Fitzgerald M, Greiner B, Perry IJ. Screening for autistic spectrum disorder at the 18-month developmental assessment: a population-based study. Ir Med J. 2007;100(8):565-7. The objectives of this study were to assess the feasibility of administering the CHecklist for Autism in Toddlers (CHAT) at the 18-month developmental check, estimate the prevalence of screening positive for autism at the first and second administrations of the CHAT and estimate the prevalence of diagnos...

The added value of water footprint assessment for national water policy: a case study for Morocco.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joep F Schyns

Full Text Available A Water Footprint Assessment is carried out for Morocco, mapping the water footprint of different activities at river basin and monthly scale, distinguishing between surface- and groundwater. The paper aims to demonstrate the added value of detailed analysis of the human water footprint within a country and thorough assessment of the virtual water flows leaving and entering a country for formulating national water policy. Green, blue and grey water footprint estimates and virtual water flows are mainly derived from a previous grid-based (5 × 5 arc minute global study for the period 1996-2005. These estimates are placed in the context of monthly natural runoff and waste assimilation capacity per river basin derived from Moroccan data sources. The study finds that: (i evaporation from storage reservoirs is the second largest form of blue water consumption in Morocco, after irrigated crop production; (ii Morocco's water and land resources are mainly used to produce relatively low-value (in US$/m3 and US$/ha crops such as cereals, olives and almonds; (iii most of the virtual water export from Morocco relates to the export of products with a relatively low economic water productivity (in US$/m3; (iv blue water scarcity on a monthly scale is severe in all river basins and pressure on groundwater resources by abstractions and nitrate pollution is considerable in most basins; (v the estimated potential water savings by partial relocation of crops to basins where they consume less water and by reducing water footprints of crops down to benchmark levels are significant compared to demand reducing and supply increasing measures considered in Morocco's national water strategy.

The Added Value of Water Footprint Assessment for National Water Policy: A Case Study for Morocco

Science.gov (United States)

Schyns, Joep F.; Hoekstra, Arjen Y.

2014-01-01

A Water Footprint Assessment is carried out for Morocco, mapping the water footprint of different activities at river basin and monthly scale, distinguishing between surface- and groundwater. The paper aims to demonstrate the added value of detailed analysis of the human water footprint within a country and thorough assessment of the virtual water flows leaving and entering a country for formulating national water policy. Green, blue and grey water footprint estimates and virtual water flows are mainly derived from a previous grid-based (5×5 arc minute) global study for the period 1996–2005. These estimates are placed in the context of monthly natural runoff and waste assimilation capacity per river basin derived from Moroccan data sources. The study finds that: (i) evaporation from storage reservoirs is the second largest form of blue water consumption in Morocco, after irrigated crop production; (ii) Morocco’s water and land resources are mainly used to produce relatively low-value (in US$/m3 and US$/ha) crops such as cereals, olives and almonds; (iii) most of the virtual water export from Morocco relates to the export of products with a relatively low economic water productivity (in US$/m3); (iv) blue water scarcity on a monthly scale is severe in all river basins and pressure on groundwater resources by abstractions and nitrate pollution is considerable in most basins; (v) the estimated potential water savings by partial relocation of crops to basins where they consume less water and by reducing water footprints of crops down to benchmark levels are significant compared to demand reducing and supply increasing measures considered in Morocco’s national water strategy. PMID:24919194

IMPLEMENTATION OF GIS-BASED MULTICRITERIA DECISION ANALYSIS WITH VB IN ArcGIS

OpenAIRE

DERYA OZTURK; FATMAGUL BATUK

2011-01-01

This article focuses on the integration of multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) and geographical information systems (GIS) and introduces a tool, GIS–MCDA, written in visual basic in ArcGIS for GIS-based MCDA. The GIS–MCDA deals with raster-based data sets and includes standardization, weighting and decision analysis methods, and sensitivity analysis. Simple additive weighting, weighted product method, technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution, compromise programming, a...

From research to management: A remote sensing based water quality decision matrix (WQDM) for Tampa Bay, Florida

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, C.; Le, C.; English, D.; Cannizzaro, J.; Kovach, C.

2012-12-01

Significant advances have been made in ocean color remote sensing of water turbidity and water clarity of estuarine waters, yet accurate estimate of the water column chlorophyll-a concentrations (Chla in mg m-3) has been problematic. Here, a novel empirical Chla algorithm was developed and validated for MODIS and SeaWiFS observations between 1998 and 2011 for Tampa Bay, the largest estuary (~1000 km2) in the state of Florida, USA. The algorithm showed robust performance with two independent datasets, with relative mean uncertainties of ~30% and ~50% and RMS uncertainties of ~40% and ~65%,respectively, for Chla ranging between 1.0 and > 30.0 mg m-3. Together with other bio-optical parameters measured from this moderately turbid estuary, these data showed that although the total light absorption in the blue-green wavelengths is dominated by dissolved organic matter, the variability in light penetration (or water clarity) is mainly determined by particulate absorption rather than CDOM absorption. Thus, nutrient reduction management actions that reduce phytoplankton blooms can effectively increase the light availability on the bottom. Long-term Chla time series from SeaWiFS and MODIS observations showed both seasonal and inter-annual variations. On average, river discharge could explain ~60% of the seasonal changes and ~90% of the inter-annual changes, with the latter mainly driven by climate variability (e.g. El Niño and La Niño years) and anomaly events (e.g. tropical cyclones). Significant correlation was found between monthly mean Chla anomalies and monthly Multivariate ENSO Index (MEI) (Pearson correlation coefficient = 0.43, p<0.01, N=147), with high Chla associated with El Niño and lower Chla associated with La Niño. Further, a Water Quality Decision Matrix (WQDM) has been established from the satellite-based Chla and water clarity estimates. The WQDM provides complementary and more reliable information to the existing WQDM based on less synoptic and less

Changes in water absorptivity of slag based cement mortars exposed to sulphur-oxidising A. thiooxidans bacteria

Science.gov (United States)

Estokova, A.; Smolakova, M.; Luptakova, A.; Strigac, J.

2017-10-01

Water absorptivity is heavily influenced by the volume and connectivity of pores in the pore network of cement composites and has been used as an important parameter for quantifying their durability. To improve the durability and permeability of mortars, various mineral admixtures such as furnace slag, silica fume or fly ash are added into the mortar and concrete mixtures. These admixtures provide numerous important advantages such as corrosion control, improvement of mechanical and physical properties and better workability. This study investigated the changes in absorptivity of cement mortars with different amounts of mineral admixture, represented by granulated blast furnace slag, under aggressive bacterial influence. The water absorptivity of mortars specimens exposed to sulphur-oxidising bacteria A. thiooxidans for the period of 3 and 6 months has changed due to bio-corrosion-based degradation process. The differences in water absorptivity in dependence on the mortars composition have been observed.

Lake Nasser evaporation reduction study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hala M.I. Ebaid

2010-10-01

Full Text Available This study aims to evaluate the reduction of evaporation of Lake Nasser’s water caused by disconnecting (fully or partially some of its secondary channels (khors. This evaluation integrates remote sensing, Geographic Information System (GIS techniques, aerodynamic principles, and Landsat7 ETM+ images. Three main procedures were carried out in this study; the first derived the surface temperature from Landsat thermal band; the second derived evaporation depth and approximate evaporation volume for the entire lake, and quantified evaporation loss to the secondary channels’ level over one month (March by applied aerodynamic principles on surface temperature of the raster data; the third procedure applied GIS suitability analysis to determine which of these secondary channels (khors should be disconnected. The results showed evaporation depth ranging from 2.73 mm/day at the middle of the lake to 9.58 mm/day at the edge. The evaporated water-loss value throughout the entire lake was about 0.86 billion m3/month (March. The analysis suggests that it is possible to save an approximate total evaporation volume loss of 19.7 million m3/month (March, and thus 2.4 billion m3/year, by disconnecting two khors with approximate construction heights of 8 m and 15 m. In conclusion, remote sensing and GIS are useful for applications in remote locations where field-based information is not readily available and thus recommended for decision makers remotely planning in water conservation and management.

A comparison of the accuracy of pixel based and object based classifications of integrated optical and LiDAR data

Science.gov (United States)

Gajda, Agnieszka; Wójtowicz-Nowakowska, Anna

2013-04-01

A comparison of the accuracy of pixel based and object based classifications of integrated optical and LiDAR data Land cover maps are generally produced on the basis of high resolution imagery. Recently, LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) data have been brought into use in diverse applications including land cover mapping. In this study we attempted to assess the accuracy of land cover classification using both high resolution aerial imagery and LiDAR data (airborne laser scanning, ALS), testing two classification approaches: a pixel-based classification and object-oriented image analysis (OBIA). The study was conducted on three test areas (3 km2 each) in the administrative area of Kraków, Poland, along the course of the Vistula River. They represent three different dominating land cover types of the Vistula River valley. Test site 1 had a semi-natural vegetation, with riparian forests and shrubs, test site 2 represented a densely built-up area, and test site 3 was an industrial site. Point clouds from ALS and ortophotomaps were both captured in November 2007. Point cloud density was on average 16 pt/m2 and it contained additional information about intensity and encoded RGB values. Ortophotomaps had a spatial resolution of 10 cm. From point clouds two raster maps were generated: intensity (1) and (2) normalised Digital Surface Model (nDSM), both with the spatial resolution of 50 cm. To classify the aerial data, a supervised classification approach was selected. Pixel based classification was carried out in ERDAS Imagine software. Ortophotomaps and intensity and nDSM rasters were used in classification. 15 homogenous training areas representing each cover class were chosen. Classified pixels were clumped to avoid salt and pepper effect. Object oriented image object classification was carried out in eCognition software, which implements both the optical and ALS data. Elevation layers (intensity, firs/last reflection, etc.) were used at segmentation stage due to

Impact of a Six-Month Empowerment-Based Exercise Intervention Programme in Non-Physically Active Adolescent Swedish Girls

Science.gov (United States)

Lindgren, Eva-Carin; Baigi, Amir; Apitzsch, Erwin; Bergh, Hakan

2011-01-01

Objective: This study evaluated changes in self-efficacy in non-physically active adolescent girls (13-19 years old) who participated in a six-month, empowerment-based exercise intervention programme (EIP). Design: The study used a pre- and post-test randomized group design and included one pre- and one post-test (at six months) and non-physically…

Optimal Allocation of Water Resources Based on Water Supply Security

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jianhua Wang

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Under the combined impacts of climate change and human activities, a series of water issues, such as water shortages, have arisen all over the world. According to current studies in Science and Nature, water security has become a frontier critical topic. Water supply security (WSS, which is the state of water resources and their capacity and their capacity to meet the demand of water users by water supply systems, is an important part of water security. Currently, WSS is affected by the amount of water resources, water supply projects, water quality and water management. Water shortages have also led to water supply insecurity. WSS is now evaluated based on the balance of the supply and demand under a single water resources condition without considering the dynamics of the varying conditions of water resources each year. This paper developed an optimal allocation model for water resources that can realize the optimal allocation of regional water resources and comprehensively evaluate WSS. The objective of this model is to minimize the duration of water shortages in the long term, as characterized by the Water Supply Security Index (WSSI, which is the assessment value of WSS, a larger WSSI value indicates better results. In addition, the simulation results of the model can determine the change process and dynamic evolution of the WSS. Quanzhou, a city in China with serious water shortage problems, was selected as a case study. The allocation results of the current year and target year of planning demonstrated that the level of regional comprehensive WSS was significantly influenced by the capacity of water supply projects and the conditions of the natural water resources. The varying conditions of the water resources allocation results in the same year demonstrated that the allocation results and WSSI were significantly affected by reductions in precipitation, decreases in the water yield coefficient, and changes in the underlying surface.

Supramolecular water oxidation with rubda-based catalysts

KAUST Repository

Richmond, Craig J.

2014-11-05

Extremely slow and extremely fast new water oxidation catalysts based on the Rubda (bda = 2,2′-bipyri-dine-6,6′-dicarboxylate) systems are reported with turnover frequencies in the range of 1 and 900 cycless"1, respectively. Detailed analyses of the main factors involved in the water oxidation reaction have been carried out and are based on a combination of reactivity tests, electrochemical experiments, and DFT calculations. These analyses give a convergent interpretation that generates a solid understanding of the main factors involved in the water oxidation reaction, which in turn allows the design of catalysts with very low energy barriers in all the steps involved in the water oxidation catalytic cycle. We show that for this type of system p-stacking interactions are the key factors that influence reactivity and by adequately controlling them we can generate exceptionally fast water oxidation catalysts.

Tantalum-based semiconductors for solar water splitting.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Peng; Zhang, Jijie; Gong, Jinlong

2014-07-07

Solar energy utilization is one of the most promising solutions for the energy crises. Among all the possible means to make use of solar energy, solar water splitting is remarkable since it can accomplish the conversion of solar energy into chemical energy. The produced hydrogen is clean and sustainable which could be used in various areas. For the past decades, numerous efforts have been put into this research area with many important achievements. Improving the overall efficiency and stability of semiconductor photocatalysts are the research focuses for the solar water splitting. Tantalum-based semiconductors, including tantalum oxide, tantalate and tantalum (oxy)nitride, are among the most important photocatalysts. Tantalum oxide has the band gap energy that is suitable for the overall solar water splitting. The more negative conduction band minimum of tantalum oxide provides photogenerated electrons with higher potential for the hydrogen generation reaction. Tantalates, with tunable compositions, show high activities owning to their layered perovskite structure. (Oxy)nitrides, especially TaON and Ta3N5, have small band gaps to respond to visible-light, whereas they can still realize overall solar water splitting with the proper positions of conduction band minimum and valence band maximum. This review describes recent progress regarding the improvement of photocatalytic activities of tantalum-based semiconductors. Basic concepts and principles of solar water splitting will be discussed in the introduction section, followed by the three main categories regarding to the different types of tantalum-based semiconductors. In each category, synthetic methodologies, influencing factors on the photocatalytic activities, strategies to enhance the efficiencies of photocatalysts and morphology control of tantalum-based materials will be discussed in detail. Future directions to further explore the research area of tantalum-based semiconductors for solar water splitting

Wild boar mapping using population-density statistics: From polygons to high resolution raster maps.

Science.gov (United States)

Pittiglio, Claudia; Khomenko, Sergei; Beltran-Alcrudo, Daniel

2018-01-01

The wild boar is an important crop raider as well as a reservoir and agent of spread of swine diseases. Due to increasing densities and expanding ranges worldwide, the related economic losses in livestock and agricultural sectors are significant and on the rise. Its management and control would strongly benefit from accurate and detailed spatial information on species distribution and abundance, which are often available only for small areas. Data are commonly available at aggregated administrative units with little or no information about the distribution of the species within the unit. In this paper, a four-step geostatistical downscaling approach is presented and used to disaggregate wild boar population density statistics from administrative units of different shape and size (polygons) to 5 km resolution raster maps by incorporating auxiliary fine scale environmental variables. 1) First a stratification method was used to define homogeneous bioclimatic regions for the analysis; 2) Under a geostatistical framework, the wild boar densities at administrative units, i.e. subnational areas, were decomposed into trend and residual components for each bioclimatic region. Quantitative relationships between wild boar data and environmental variables were estimated through multiple regression and used to derive trend components at 5 km spatial resolution. Next, the residual components (i.e., the differences between the trend components and the original wild boar data at administrative units) were downscaled at 5 km resolution using area-to-point kriging. The trend and residual components obtained at 5 km resolution were finally added to generate fine scale wild boar estimates for each bioclimatic region. 3) These maps were then mosaicked to produce a final output map of predicted wild boar densities across most of Eurasia. 4) Model accuracy was assessed at each different step using input as well as independent data. We discuss advantages and limits of the method and its

Randomised controlled trial of the cost-effectiveness of water-based therapy for lower limb osteoarthritis.

Science.gov (United States)

Cochrane, T; Davey, R C; Matthes Edwards, S M

2005-08-01

To determine the efficacy of community water-based therapy for the management of lower limb osteoarthritis (OA) in older patients. A pre-experimental matched-control study was used to estimate efficacy of water-based exercise treatment, to check design assumptions and delivery processes. The main study was a randomised controlled trial of the effectiveness of water-based exercise (treatment) compared with usual care (control) in older patients with hip and/or knee OA. The latter was accompanied by an economic evaluation comparing societal costs and consequences of the two treatments. Water exercise was delivered in public swimming pools in the UK. Physical function assessments were carried out in established laboratory settings. 106 patients (93 women, 13 men) over the age of 60 years with confirmed hip and/or knee OA took part in the preliminary study. A similar, but larger, group of 312 patients (196 women, 116 men) took part in the main study, randomised into control (159) and water exercise (153) groups. Control group patients received usual care with quarterly semi-structured telephone interview follow-up only. The intervention in the main study lasted for 1 year, with a further follow-up period of 6 months. Pain score on the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities OA index (WOMAC). Additional outcome measures were included to evaluate effects on quality of life, cost-effectiveness and physical function measurements. Short-term efficacy of water exercise in the management of lower limb OA was confirmed, with effect sizes ranging from 0.44 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.03 to 0.85] on WOMAC pain to 0.76 (95% CI 0.33 to 1.17) on WOMAC physical function. Of 153 patients randomised to treatment, 82 (53.5%) were estimated to have complied satisfactorily with their treatment at the 1-year point. This had declined to 28 (18%) by the end of the 6-month follow-up period, during which support for the intervention had been removed and those wishing to continue

Ground-water contamination at Wurtsmith Air Force Base, Michigan

Science.gov (United States)

Stark, J.R.; Cummings, T.R.; Twenter, F.R.

1983-01-01

A sand and gravel aquifer of glacial origin underlies Wurtsmith Air Force Base in northeastern lower Michigan. The aquifer overlies a thick clay layer at an average depth of 65 feet. The water table is about 10 feet below land surface in the western part of the Base and about 25 feet below land surface in the eastern part. A ground-water divide cuts diagonally across the Base from northwest to southeast. South of the divide, ground water flows to the Au Sable River; north of the divide, it flows to Van Etten Creek and Van Etten Lake. Mathematical models were used to aid in calculating rates of groundwater flow. Rates range from about 0.8 feet per day in the eastern part of the Base to about 0.3 feet per day in the western part. Models also were used as an aid in making decisions regarding purging of contaminated water from the aquifer. In 1977, trichloroethylene was detected in the Air Force Base water-supply system. It had leaked from a buried storage tank near Building 43 in the southeastern part of the Base and moved northeastward under the influence of the natural ground-water gradient and the pumping of Base water-supply wells. In the most highly contaminated part of the plume, concentrations are greater than 1,000 micrograms per liter. Current purge pumping is removing some of the trichloroethylene, and seems to have arrested its eastward movement. Pumping of additional purge wells could increase the rate of removal. Trichloroethylene has also been detected in ground water in the vicinity of the Base alert apron, where a plume from an unknown source extends northeastward off Base. A smaller, less well-defined area of contamination also occurs just north of the larger plume. Trichloroethylene, identified near the waste-treatment plant, seepage lagoons, and the northern landfill area, is related to activities and operations in these areas. Dichloroethylene and trichloroethylene occur in significant quantities westward of Building 43, upgradient from the major

U.S. Monthly Climate Normals (1971-2000)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — U.S. Monthly Climate Normals (1971-2000) (DSI-9641C) include climatological normals based on monthly maximum, minimum, and mean temperature and monthly total...

Monthly Rainfall Erosivity Assessment for Switzerland

Science.gov (United States)

Schmidt, Simon; Meusburger, Katrin; Alewell, Christine

2016-04-01

Water erosion is crucially controlled by rainfall erosivity, which is quantified out of the kinetic energy of raindrop impact and associated surface runoff. Rainfall erosivity is often expressed as the R-factor in soil erosion risk models like the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) and its revised version (RUSLE). Just like precipitation, the rainfall erosivity of Switzerland has a characteristic seasonal dynamic throughout the year. This inter-annual variability is to be assessed by a monthly and seasonal modelling approach. We used a network of 86 precipitation gauging stations with a 10-minute temporal resolution to calculate long-term average monthly R-factors. Stepwise regression and Monte Carlo Cross Validation (MCCV) was used to select spatial covariates to explain the spatial pattern of R-factor for each month across Switzerland. The regionalized monthly R-factor is mapped by its individual regression equation and the ordinary kriging interpolation of its residuals (Regression-Kriging). As covariates, a variety of precipitation indicator data has been included like snow height, a combination of hourly gauging measurements and radar observations (CombiPrecip), mean monthly alpine precipitation (EURO4M-APGD) and monthly precipitation sums (Rhires). Topographic parameters were also significant explanatory variables for single months. The comparison of all 12 monthly rainfall erosivity maps showed seasonality with highest rainfall erosivity in summer (June, July, and August) and lowest rainfall erosivity in winter months. Besides the inter-annual temporal regime, a seasonal spatial variability was detectable. Spatial maps of monthly rainfall erosivity are presented for the first time for Switzerland. The assessment of the spatial and temporal dynamic behaviour of the R-factor is valuable for the identification of more susceptible seasons and regions as well as for the application of selective erosion control measures. A combination with monthly vegetation

Feasibility of Rainwater Harvesting to fulfill potable water demand using quantitative water management in low-lying delta regions of Asia

Science.gov (United States)

Mahmood, A.; Hossain, F.

2016-12-01

Low-lying deltas of Asian region are usually densely populated and located in developing countries situated at the downstream end of major rivers. Extensive dam construction by the upstream countries has now caused water scarcity in large portions of low-lying deltas. Most inhabitants depend on shallow tube well for safe drinking water that tend to suffer from water quality issues (e.g. Arsenic contamination). In addition, people also get infected from water borne diseases like Cholera and Typhoid due to lack of safe drinking water. Developing a centralized piped network based water supply system is often not a feasible option in rural regions. Due to social acceptability, environment friendliness, lower capital and maintenance cost, rainwater harvesting can be the most sustainable option to supply safe drinking water in rural areas. In this study, first we estimate the monthly rainfall variability using long precipitation climatology from satellite precipitation data. The upper and lower bounds of monthly harvestable rainwater were estimated for each satellite precipitation grid. Taking this lower bound of monthly harvestable rainwater as input, we use quantitative water management concept to determine the percent of the time of the year potable water demand can be fulfilled. Analysis indicates that a 6 m³ reservoir tank can fulfill the potable water demand of a 6 person family throughout a year in almost all parts of this region.

Cartographic Production for the FLaSH Map Study: Generation of Rugosity Grids, 2008

Science.gov (United States)

Robbins, Lisa L.; Knorr, Paul O.; Hansen, Mark

2010-01-01

Project Summary This series of raster data is a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Data Series release from the Florida Shelf Habitat Project (FLaSH). This disc contains two raster images in Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI) raster grid format, jpeg image format, and Geo-referenced Tagged Image File Format (GeoTIFF). Data is also provided in non-image ASCII format. Rugosity grids at two resolutions (250 m and 1000 m) were generated for West Florida shelf waters to 250 m using a custom algorithm that follows the methods of Valentine and others (2004). The Methods portion of this document describes the specific steps used to generate the raster images. Rugosity, also referred to as roughness, ruggedness, or the surface-area ratio (Riley and others, 1999; Wilson and others, 2007), is a visual and quantitative measurement of terrain complexity, a common variable in ecological habitat studies. The rugosity of an area can affect biota by influencing habitat, providing shelter from elements, determining the quantity and type of living space, influencing the type and quantity of flora, affecting predator-prey relationships by providing cover and concealment, and, as an expression of vertical relief, can influence local environmental conditions such as temperature and moisture. In the marine environment rugosity can furthermore influence current flow rate and direction, increase the residence time of water in an area through eddying and current deflection, influence local water conditions such as chemistry, turbidity, and temperature, and influence the rate and nature of sedimentary deposition. State-of-the-art computer-mapping techniques and data-processing tools were used to develop shelf-wide raster and vector data layers. Florida Shelf Habitat (FLaSH) Mapping Project (http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/flash) endeavors to locate available data, identify data gaps, synthesize existing information, and expand our understanding of geologic processes in our dynamic

Trigger release mechanism for release of mine water to Magela Creek

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McQuade, C.V.; McGill, R.A.

1988-01-01

The Ranger Uranium Mine is surrounded by a World Heritage National Park. The strict environmental controls under which the mine operates are based on scientific and social requirements. Release of non-process storm runoff water to the Magela Creek during flood discharge and under controlled conditions has been identified as best practicable technology for the operation of the water management system. Social and political factors have limited this release to a wet season with an annual exceedance probability of one in ten. The first-generation trigger mechanism was based on a percentile analysis of monthly rainfall. The second-generation trigger is based on cumulative monthly volume increase in the retention ponds and is considered to be more applicable to the operation of the mine water management system. 6 figs., 2 tabs

Probability of occurrence of monthly and seasonal winter precipitation over Northwest India based on antecedent-monthly precipitation

Science.gov (United States)

Nageswararao, M. M.; Mohanty, U. C.; Dimri, A. P.; Osuri, Krishna K.

2018-05-01

Winter (December, January, and February (DJF)) precipitation over northwest India (NWI) is mainly associated with the eastward moving mid-latitude synoptic systems, western disturbances (WDs), embedded within the subtropical westerly jet (SWJ), and is crucial for Rabi (DJF) crops. In this study, the role of winter precipitation at seasonal and monthly scale over NWI and its nine meteorological subdivisions has been analyzed. High-resolution (0.25° × 0.25°) gridded precipitation data set of India Meteorological Department (IMD) for the period of 1901-2013 is used. Results indicated that the seasonal precipitation over NWI is below (above) the long-term mean in most of the years, when precipitation in any of the month (December/January/February) is in deficit (excess). The contribution of December precipitation (15-20%) to the seasonal (DJF) precipitation is lesser than January (35-40%) and February (35-50%) over all the subdivisions. December (0.60), January (0.57), and February (0.69) precipitation is in-phase (correlation) with the corresponding winter season precipitation. However, January precipitation is not in-phase with the corresponding December (0.083) and February (-0.03) precipitation, while December is in-phase with the February (0.21). When monthly precipitation (December or January or December-January or February) at subdivision level over NWI is excess (deficit); then, the probability of occurrence of seasonal excess (deficit) precipitation is high (almost nil). When antecedent-monthly precipitation is a deficit or excess, the probability of monthly (January or February or January + February) precipitation to be a normal category is >60% over all the subdivisions. This study concludes that the December precipitation is a good indicator to estimate the performance of January, February, January-February, and the seasonal (DJF) precipitation.

Modeling and forecasting monthly movement of annual average solar insolation based on the least-squares Fourier-model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Zong-Chang

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Introduce a finite Fourier-series model for evaluating monthly movement of annual average solar insolation. • Present a forecast method for predicting its movement based on the extended Fourier-series model in the least-squares. • Shown its movement is well described by a low numbers of harmonics with approximately 6-term Fourier series. • Predict its movement most fitting with less than 6-term Fourier series. - Abstract: Solar insolation is one of the most important measurement parameters in many fields. Modeling and forecasting monthly movement of annual average solar insolation is of increasingly importance in areas of engineering, science and economics. In this study, Fourier-analysis employing finite Fourier-series is proposed for evaluating monthly movement of annual average solar insolation and extended in the least-squares for forecasting. The conventional Fourier analysis, which is the most common analysis method in the frequency domain, cannot be directly applied for prediction. Incorporated with the least-square method, the introduced Fourier-series model is extended to predict its movement. The extended Fourier-series forecasting model obtains its optimums Fourier coefficients in the least-square sense based on its previous monthly movements. The proposed method is applied to experiments and yields satisfying results in the different cities (states). It is indicated that monthly movement of annual average solar insolation is well described by a low numbers of harmonics with approximately 6-term Fourier series. The extended Fourier forecasting model predicts the monthly movement of annual average solar insolation most fitting with less than 6-term Fourier series

Monthly paleostreamflow reconstruction from annual tree-ring chronologies

Science.gov (United States)

Stagge, J. H.; Rosenberg, D. E.; DeRose, R. J.; Rittenour, T. M.

2018-02-01

Paleoclimate reconstructions are increasingly used to characterize annual climate variability prior to the instrumental record, to improve estimates of climate extremes, and to provide a baseline for climate-change projections. To date, paleoclimate records have seen limited engineering use to estimate hydrologic risks because water systems models and managers usually require streamflow input at the monthly scale. This study explores the hypothesis that monthly streamflows can be adequately modeled by statistically decomposing annual flow reconstructions. To test this hypothesis, a multiple linear regression model for monthly streamflow reconstruction is presented that expands the set of predictors to include annual streamflow reconstructions, reconstructions of global circulation, and potential differences among regional tree-ring chronologies related to tree species and geographic location. This approach is used to reconstruct 600 years of monthly streamflows at two sites on the Bear and Logan rivers in northern Utah. Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiencies remain above zero (0.26-0.60) for all months except April and Pearson's correlation coefficients (R) are 0.94 and 0.88 for the Bear and Logan rivers, respectively, confirming that the model can adequately reproduce monthly flows during the reference period (10/1942 to 9/2015). Incorporating a flexible transition between the previous and concurrent annual reconstructed flows was the most important factor for model skill. Expanding the model to include global climate indices and regional tree-ring chronologies produced smaller, but still significant improvements in model fit. The model presented here is the only approach currently available to reconstruct monthly streamflows directly from tree-ring chronologies and climate reconstructions, rather than using resampling of the observed record. With reasonable estimates of monthly flow that extend back in time many centuries, water managers can challenge systems models with a

Risk assessment of agricultural water requirement based on a multi-model ensemble framework, southwest of Iran

Science.gov (United States)

Zamani, Reza; Akhond-Ali, Ali-Mohammad; Roozbahani, Abbas; Fattahi, Rouhollah

2017-08-01

Water shortage and climate change are the most important issues of sustainable agricultural and water resources development. Given the importance of water availability in crop production, the present study focused on risk assessment of climate change impact on agricultural water requirement in southwest of Iran, under two emission scenarios (A2 and B1) for the future period (2025-2054). A multi-model ensemble framework based on mean observed temperature-precipitation (MOTP) method and a combined probabilistic approach Long Ashton Research Station-Weather Generator (LARS-WG) and change factor (CF) have been used for downscaling to manage the uncertainty of outputs of 14 general circulation models (GCMs). The results showed an increasing temperature in all months and irregular changes of precipitation (either increasing or decreasing) in the future period. In addition, the results of the calculated annual net water requirement for all crops affected by climate change indicated an increase between 4 and 10 %. Furthermore, an increasing process is also expected regarding to the required water demand volume. The most and the least expected increase in the water demand volume is about 13 and 5 % for A2 and B1 scenarios, respectively. Considering the results and the limited water resources in the study area, it is crucial to provide water resources planning in order to reduce the negative effects of climate change. Therefore, the adaptation scenarios with the climate change related to crop pattern and water consumption should be taken into account.

Daily and seasonal trends of electricity and water use on pasture-based automatic milking dairy farms.

Science.gov (United States)

Shortall, J; O'Brien, B; Sleator, R D; Upton, J

2018-02-01

the early morning period (0300-0600 h), followed by spikes in consumption between 1100 and 1400 h. Seasonal water trends followed the seasonal milk production curve, except for the month of May, when water consumption was reduced due to above-average rainfall. This study provides a useful insight into the consumption of electricity and water on a pasture-based AM farms, while also facilitating the development of future strategies and technologies likely to increase the sustainability of AM systems. The Authors. Published by the Federation of Animal Science Societies and Elsevier Inc. on behalf of the American Dairy Science Association®. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/).

Study of acid-base properties in various water-salt and water-organic solvent mixtures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lucas, M.

1969-01-01

Acid-base reactions have been studied in water-salt mixtures and water organic solvent-mixtures. It has been possible to find some relations between the displacement of the equilibria and the numerical value of water activity in the mixture. First have been studied some equilibria H + + B ↔ HB + in salt-water mixtures and found a relation between the pK A value, the solubility of the base and water activity. The reaction HO - + H + ↔ H 2 O has been investigated and a relation been found between pK i values, water activity and the molar concentration of the salt in the mixture. This relation is the same for every mixture. Then the same reactions have been studied in organic solvent-water mixtures and a relation found in the first part of the work have been used with success. So it has been possible to explain easily some properties of organic water-mixture as the shape of the curves of the Hammett acidity function Ho. (authors) [fr

A 25-month database of stratus cloud properties generated from ground-based measurements at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Southern Great Plains Site

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dong, Xiquan; Minnis, Patrick; Ackerman, Thomas P.; Clothiaux, Eugene E.; Mace, Gerald G.; Long, Charles N.; Liljegren, James C.

2000-01-01

A 25-month database of the macrophysical, microphysical, and radiative properties of isolated and overcast low-level stratus clouds has been generated using a newly developed parameterization and surface measurements from the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement central facility in Oklahoma. The database (5-min resolution) includes two parts: measurements and retrievals. The former consist of cloud base and top heights, layer-mean temperature, cloud liquid water path, and solar transmission ratio measured by a ground-based lidar/ceilometer and radar pair, radiosondes, a microwave radiometer, and a standard Eppley precision spectral pyranometer, respectively. The retrievals include the cloud-droplet effective radius and number concentration and broadband shortwave optical depth and cloud and top-of-atmosphere albedos. Stratus without any overlying mid or high-level clouds occurred most frequently during winter and least often during summer. Mean cloud-layer altitudes and geometric thicknesses were higher and greater, respectively, in summer than in winter. Both quantities are positively correlated with the cloud-layer mean temperature. Mean cloud-droplet effective radii range from 8.1 μm in winter to 9.7 μm during summer, while cloud-droplet number concentrations during winter are nearly twice those in summer. Since cloud liquid water paths are almost the same in both seasons, cloud optical depth is higher during the winter, leading to greater cloud albedos and lower cloud transmittances. (c) 2000 American Geophysical Union

Eight-month of physical training in warm water improves physical and mental health in women with fibromyalgia: a randomized controlled trial

OpenAIRE

Tomas-Carus, Pablo; Gusi, Narcis; Häkkinen, Arja; Häkkinen, Keijo; Leal, Alejo; Ortega-Alonso, Alfredo

2008-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the feasibility of 8 months of supervised exercise therapy in warm water and its effects on the impact of fibromyalgia on physical and mental health and physical fitness in affected women. METHODS: Thirty women with fibromyalgia were randomly assigned to an exercise therapy group (n = 15) or a control group (inactive) (n = 15). The impact of fibromyalgia on physical and mental health was assessed using the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire and the anxiety state with...

A VLSI-Based High-Performance Raster Image System.

Science.gov (United States)

1986-05-08

and data in broadcast form to the array of memory -hips in the frame buffer, shown in the bottom block. This is simply a physical structure to hold up...Principal Investigator: John Poulton Collaboration on algorithm development: Prof. Jack Goldfeather (Dept. of Mathematics, Carleton Collge ...1983) Cheng-Hong Hsieh (MS, Computer Science, May, 1985) Jeff P. Hultquist Susan Spach Undergraduate ResearLh Assistant: Sonya Holder (BS, Physics , May

DNA-based asymmetric organometallic catalysis in water

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Oelerich, Jens; Roelfes, Gerard

2013-01-01

Here, the first examples of DNA-based organometallic catalysis in water that give rise to high enantioselectivities are described. Copper complexes of strongly intercalating ligands were found to enable the asymmetric intramolecular cyclopropanation of alpha-diazo-beta-keto sulfones in water. Up to

Water-soluble resorcin[4]arene based cavitands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Grote gansey, M.H.B.; Grote Gansey, Marcel H.B.; Bakker, Frank K.G.; Feiters, Martinus C.; Geurts, Hubertus P.M.; Verboom, Willem; Reinhoudt, David

1998-01-01

Water-soluble resorcin[4]arene based cavitands were obtained in good yields by reaction of bromomethylcavitands with pyridine. Their solubility was determined by conductometry. The behaviour in water depends on the alkyl chain length; the methylcavitand does not aggregate, whereas the pentyl- and

Monthly Optimal Reservoirs Operation for Multicrop Deficit Irrigation under Fuzzy Stochastic Uncertainties

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liudong Zhang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available An uncertain monthly reservoirs operation and multicrop deficit irrigation model was proposed under conjunctive use of underground and surface water for water resources optimization management. The objective is to maximize the total crop yield of the entire irrigation districts. Meanwhile, ecological water remained for the downstream demand. Because of the shortage of water resources, the monthly crop water production function was adopted for multiperiod deficit irrigation management. The model reflects the characteristics of water resources repetitive transformation in typical inland rivers irrigation system. The model was used as an example for water resources optimization management in Shiyang River Basin, China. Uncertainties in reservoir management shown as fuzzy probability were treated through chance-constraint parameter for decision makers. Necessity of dominance (ND was used to analyse the advantages of the method. The optimization results including reservoirs real-time operation policy, deficit irrigation management, and the available water resource allocation could be used to provide decision support for local irrigation management. Besides, the strategies obtained could help with the risk analysis of reservoirs operation stochastically.

Nanocellulose-Based Materials for Water Purification.

Science.gov (United States)

Voisin, Hugo; Bergström, Lennart; Liu, Peng; Mathew, Aji P

2017-03-05

Nanocellulose is a renewable material that combines a high surface area with high strength, chemical inertness, and versatile surface chemistry. In this review, we will briefly describe how nanocellulose is produced, and present-in particular, how nanocellulose and its surface modified versions affects the adsorption behavior of important water pollutants, e.g., heavy metal species, dyes, microbes, and organic molecules. The processing of nanocellulose-based membranes and filters for water purification will be described in detail, and the uptake capacity, selectivity, and removal efficiency will also be discussed. The processing and performance of nanocellulose-based membranes, which combine a high removal efficiency with anti-fouling properties, will be highlighted.

Modeling monthly meteorological and agronomic frost days, based on minimum air temperature, in Center-Southern Brazil

Science.gov (United States)

Alvares, Clayton Alcarde; Sentelhas, Paulo César; Stape, José Luiz

2017-09-01

Although Brazil is predominantly a tropical country, frosts are observed with relative high frequency in the Center-Southern states of the country, affecting mainly agriculture, forestry, and human activities. Therefore, information about the frost climatology is of high importance for planning of these activities. Based on that, the aims of the present study were to develop monthly meteorological (F MET) and agronomic (F AGR) frost day models, based on minimum shelter air temperature (T MN), in order to characterize the temporal and spatial frost days variability in Center-Southern Brazil. Daily minimum air temperature data from 244 weather stations distributed across the study area were used, being 195 for developing the models and 49 for validating them. Multivariate regression models were obtained to estimate the monthly T MN, once the frost day models were based on this variable. All T MN regression models were statistically significant (p Brazilian region are the first zoning of these variables for the country.

Mercury, monomethyl mercury, and dissolved organic carbon concentrations in surface water entering and exiting constructed wetlands treated with metal-based coagulants, Twitchell Island, California

Science.gov (United States)

Stumpner, Elizabeth B.; Kraus, Tamara E.C.; Fleck, Jacob A.; Hansen, Angela M.; Bachand, Sandra M.; Horwath, William R.; DeWild, John F.; Krabbenhoft, David P.; Bachand, Philip A.M.

2015-09-02

Coagulation with metal-based salts is a practice commonly employed by drinking-water utilities to decrease particle and dissolved organic carbon concentrations in water. In addition to decreasing dissolved organic carbon concentrations, the effectiveness of iron- and aluminum-based coagulants for decreasing dissolved concentrations both of inorganic and monomethyl mercury in water was demonstrated in laboratory studies that used agricultural drainage water from the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta of California. To test the effectiveness of this approach at the field scale, nine 15-by-40‑meter wetland cells were constructed on Twitchell Island that received untreated water from island drainage canals (control) or drainage water treated with polyaluminum chloride or ferric sulfate coagulants. Surface-water samples were collected approximately monthly during November 2012–September 2013 from the inlets and outlets of the wetland cells and then analyzed by the U.S. Geological Survey for total concentrations of mercury and monomethyl mercury in filtered (less than 0.3 micrometers) and suspended-particulate fractions and for concentrations of dissolved organic carbon.

Mechanism of high-temperature resistant water-base mud

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Luo, P

1981-01-01

Based on experiments, the causes and laws governing the changes in the performance of water-base mud under high temperature are analyzed, and the requisites and mechanism of treating agents resisting high temperature are discussed. Ways and means are sought for inhibiting, delaying and making use of the effect of high temperature on the performance of mud, while new ideas and systematic views have been expressed on the preparation of treating agents and set-up of a high temperature resistant water-base mud system. High temperature dispersion and high temperature surface inactivation of clay in the mud, as well as their effect and method of utilization are reviewed. Subjects also touched upon include degradation and cross-linking of the high-temperature resistant treating agents, their use and effect. Based on the above, the preparation of a water-base and system capable of resisting 180 to 250/sup 0/C is recommended.

Effectiveness of water-based Liuzijue exercise on respiratory muscle strength and peripheral skeletal muscle function in patients with COPD

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wu W

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Weibing Wu,1,* Xiaodan Liu,2,* Jingxin Liu,1 Peijun Li,1 Zhenwei Wang3 1Department of Sports Medicine, Shanghai University of Sport, 2School of Rehabilitation Medicine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 3Department of Respiratory Medicine, Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China *These authors contributed equally to this work Objects: The purpose of this study was to quantitatively assess the effects of water-based Liuzijue exercise on patients with COPD and compare it with land-based Liuzijue exercise.Materials and methods: Participants were randomly allocated to one of three groups: the water-based Liuzijue exercise group (WG, the land-based Liuzijue exercise group (LG, and the control group (CG. CG participants accepted no exercise intervention, while training groups performed Liuzijue exercise according to Health Qigong Liuzijue (People’s Republic of China in different environments for 60-min sessions twice a week for 3 months.Results: Of the 50 patients enrolled, 45 (90% completed the 3-month intervention. The CG showed decreased expiratory muscle strength, extensor and flexor endurance ratio (ER of the elbow joints and flexor peak torque (PT, total work (TW, and ER of the knee joints (p<0.05. Both training groups showed improved respiratory muscle strength, which differed from the CG (p<0.001. In addition, extensor and flexor TW of the elbow joints in the training groups were increased (p<0.01, and the WG differed from the CG in extensor TW and ER and flexor TW (p<0.01, while the LG differed from the CG in flexor TW and extensor ER (p<0.05. PT, PT/body weight (BW, and TW in the knee joint extensor in the training groups were increased as well (PT and PT/BW: p<0.05, TW: p<0.01, and the WG differed from the CG in terms of knee joints outcomes, while the LG differed from the CG in flexor TW only (p<0.05.Conclusion: Water-based Liuzijue exercise has

Solar water heating system for a lunar base

Science.gov (United States)

Somers, Richard E.; Haynes, R. Daniel

1992-01-01

An investigation of the feasibility of using a solar water heater for a lunar base is described. During the investigation, computer codes were developed to model the lunar base configuration, lunar orbit, and heating systems. Numerous collector geometries, orientation variations, and system options were identified and analyzed. The results indicate that the recommended solar water heater could provide 88 percent of the design load and would not require changes in the overall lunar base design. The system would give a 'safe-haven' water heating capability and use only 7 percent to 10 percent as much electricity as an electric heating system. As a result, a fixed position photovoltaic array can be reduced by 21 sq m.

Hydrogeology, simulated ground-water flow, and ground-water quality, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio

Science.gov (United States)

Dumouchelle, D.H.; Schalk, C.W.; Rowe, G.L.; De Roche, J.T.

1993-01-01

Ground water is the primary source of water in the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base area. The aquifer consists of glacial sands and gravels that fill a buried bedrock-valley system. Consolidated rocks in the area consist of poorly permeable Ordovician shale of the Richmondian stage, in the upland areas, the Brassfield Limestone of Silurian age. The valleys are filled with glacial sediments of Wisconsinan age consisting of clay-rich tills and coarse-grained outwash deposits. Estimates of hydraulic conductivity of the shales based on results of displacement/recovery tests range from 0.0016 to 12 feet per day; estimates for the glacial sediments range from less than 1 foot per day to more than 1,000 feet per day. Ground water flow from the uplands towards the valleys and the major rivers in the region, the Great Miami and the Mad Rivers. Hydraulic-head data indicate that ground water flows between the bedrock and unconsolidated deposits. Data from a gain/loss study of the Mad River System and hydrographs from nearby wells reveal that the reach of the river next to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is a ground-water discharge area. A steady-state, three-dimensional ground-water-flow model was developed to simulate ground-water flow in the region. The model contains three layers and encompasses about 100 square miles centered on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Ground water enters the modeled area primarily by river leakage and underflow at the model boundary. Ground water exits the modeled area primarily by flow through the valleys at the model boundaries and through production wells. A model sensitivity analysis involving systematic changes in values of hydrologic parameters in the model indicates that the model is most sensitive to decreases in riverbed conductance and vertical conductance between the upper two layers. The analysis also indicates that the contribution of water to the buried-valley aquifer from the bedrock that forms the valley walls is about 2 to 4

Water-based woody biorefinery.

Science.gov (United States)

Amidon, Thomas E; Liu, Shijie

2009-01-01

The conversion of biomass into chemicals and energy is essential in order to sustain our present way of life. Fossil fuels are currently the predominant energy source, but fossil deposits are limited and not renewable. Biomass is a reliable potential source of materials, chemicals and energy that can be replenished to keep pace with our needs. A biorefinery is a concept for the collection of processes used to convert biomass into materials, chemicals and energy. The biorefinery is a "catch and release" method for using carbon that is beneficial to both the environment and the economy. In this study, we discuss three elements of a wood-based biorefinery, as proposed by the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF): hot-water extraction, hydrolysis, and membrane separation/concentration. Hemicelluloses are the most easily separable main component of woody biomass and thus form the bulk of the extracts obtained by hot-water extraction of woody biomass. Hot-water extraction is an important step in the processes of woody biomass and product generation, replacing alternative costly pre-treatment methods. The hydrolysis of hemicelluloses produces 5-carbon sugars (mainly xylose), 6-carbon sugars (mainly glucose and mannose), and acetic acid. The use of nano-filtration membranes is an efficient technology that can be employed to fractionate hot-water extracts and wood hydrolysate. The residual solid mass after hot-water extraction has a higher energy content and contains fewer easily degradable components. This allows for more efficient subsequent processing to convert cellulose and lignin into conventional products.

Graphic filter library implemented in CUDA language

OpenAIRE

Peroutková, Hedvika

2009-01-01

This thesis deals with the problem of reducing computation time of raster image processing by parallel computing on graphics processing unit. Raster image processing thereby refers to the application of graphic filters, which can be applied in sequence with different settings. This thesis evaluates the suitability of using parallelization on graphic card for raster image adjustments based on multicriterial choice. Filters are implemented for graphics processing unit in CUDA language. Opacity ...

Efficacy of conventional drinking water treatment processes in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

2013-10-07

Oct 7, 2013 ... that pose a health risk to the consumers of drinking water (Du. Preez et al., 2007 ... are based on source water quality and jar stirring tests. The optimum ... ent occasions (dominant for 19 months of the study period). The highest ... producing toxic substances which may be harmful (even lethal) to consumers ...

Application of Ant-Colony-Based Algorithms to Multi-Reservoir Water Resources Problems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alireza Borhani Darian

2011-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, the continuous Ant Colony Optimization Algorithm (ACOR is used to investigate the optimum operation of complex multi-reservoir systems. The results are compared with those of the well-known Genetic Algorithm (GA. For this purpose, GA and ACOR are used to solve the long-term operation of a three-reservoir system in Karkheh Basin, southwestern Iran. The solution must determine monthly releases from the three reservoirs and their optimum allocations among the four agricultural demand areas. Meanwhile, a minimum discharge must be maintained within the river reaches for environmental concerns. Review of past research shows that only a few applications of Ant Colony have been generally made in water resources system problems; however, up to the time of initiating this paper, we found no other application of the ACOR in this area. Therefore, unlike GA, application of Ant-Colony-based algorithms in water resources systems has not been thoroughly evaluated and deserves  serious study. In this paper, the ACOR is stuided as the most recent Ant-Colony-based algorithm and its application in a multi-reservoir system is evaluated. The results indicate that with when the number of decision variables increases, a longer computational time is required and the optimum solutions found are inferior. Therefore, the ACOR would be unable to solve complex water resources problems unless some modifications are considered. To overcome a part of these drawbacks, a number of techniques are introduced in this paper that considerably improve the quality of the method by decreasing the required computation time and by enhancing optimum solutions found.

Diode-laser-based water vapor differential absorption lidar (DIAL) profiler evaluation

Science.gov (United States)

Spuler, S.; Weckwerth, T.; Repasky, K. S.; Nehrir, A. R.; Carbone, R.

2012-12-01

We are in the process of evaluating the performance of an eye-safe, low-cost, diode-laser-based, water vapor differential absorption lidar (DIAL) profiler. This class of instrument may be capable of providing continuous water vapor and aerosol backscatter profiles at high vertical resolution in the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) for periods of months to years. The technology potentially fills a national long term observing facility gap and could greatly benefit micro- and meso-meteorology, water cycle, carbon cycle and, more generally, biosphere-hydrosphere-atmosphere interaction research at both weather and climate variability time scales. For the evaluation, the Montana State University 3rd generation water vapor DIAL was modified to enable unattended operation for a period of several weeks. The performance of this V3.5 version DIAL was tested at MSU and NCAR in June and July of 2012. Further tests are currently in progress with Howard University at Beltsville, Maryland; and with the National Weather Service and Oklahoma University at Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas. The presentation will include a comparison of DIAL profiles against meteorological "truth" at the aforementioned locations including: radiosondes, Raman lidars, microwave and IR radiometers, AERONET and SUOMINET systems. Instrument reliability, uncertainty, systematic biases, detection height statistics, and environmental complications will be evaluated. Performance will be judged in the context of diverse scientific applications that range from operational weather prediction and seasonal climate variability, to more demanding climate system process studies at the land-canopy-ABL interface. Estimating the extent to which such research and operational applications can be satisfied with a low cost autonomous network of similar instruments is our principal objective.

Modeling water flow, depth and inundation extent over the rivers of the Contiguous US within a Catchment-based Land Surface Modeling Framework

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Z.; David, C. H.; Famiglietti, J. S.

2013-12-01

With population growth and increasing demand of water supply, the need for integrated continental and global scale surface water dynamics simulation systems relying on both observations and models is ever increasing. In this study we characterize how accurately we can estimate river discharge, river depth and the corresponding inundation extent over the contiguous U.S. by combining observations and models. We present a continental-scale implementation of the Catchment-based Hydrological And Routing Modeling System (CHARMS) that includes an explicit representation of the river networks from a Geographic Information System (GIS) dataset. The river networks and contributing catchment boundaries of the Contiguous U.S are upscaled from the NHDPlus dataset. The average upscaled catchment size is 2773 km2 and the unique main river channel contained in each catchment consists of several river reaches of average length 1.6 km. We derive 18 sets of empirical relationship between channel dimension (bankfull depth and bankfull width) and drainage area based on USGS gauge observations to describe river dynamics for the 18 water resource regions of the NHDPlus representation of the United States. These relationships are used to separate the main river channel and floodplain. Modeled monthly and daily streamflow show reasonable agreement with gauge observations and initial results show that basins with fewer anthropogenic modifications are more accurately simulated. Modeled monthly and daily river depth and floodplain extent associated with each river reach are also explicitly estimated over the U.S., although such simulations are more challenging to validate. Our results have implications for capturing the seasonal-to-interannual dynamics of surface water in climate models. Such a continental-scale modeling framework development would, by design, facilitate the use of existing in situ observations and be suitable for integrating the upcoming NASA Surface Water and Ocean

[Production of a carp-based hamburger-like product by reducing the water activity].

Science.gov (United States)

Santillán, M; Morales, L J

1992-06-01

The experimental conditions were determined in order to conserve lean fish by means of combined factors based on Aw and pH reduction as well as the addition of an antifungal. Theoretical Aw was determined in formulas containing fish, sodium chloride, glycerol and sorbitol applying a mathematic model. From the results of the prediction, 4 formulas were prepared experimentally with (Cyprinus carpio). Phosphoric acid was added to the products in order to obtain a 5.5-6.0 pH. The final formulas were packed in plastic bags and stored with a control product (100% carp pulp) at 25 +/- 2 degrees C and 38 +/- 3% R.H. during one month. Aw, water content and pH determinations were carried at weekly intervals. Results indicated a slight but significative (P < 0.025) lowering of Aw, water content and pH. Microbiological analysis showed an increase in MAB count with no growth of pathogens. A control product (100% carp pulp) was deteriorated in a five day period. Sensory evaluation of the products indicated a slight acceptance among an inexperienced panel.

Survey on monthly variations of water quality in the Tajan River (Sari ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

user

The aims of the study were to evaluate water quality of Tajan River in Sari in terms of chemical pollution and the impact of pollutant ... qualities of water from Tajan River were within the acceptable limits for agricultural consumptions. In addition, Tajan River water ..... Water and Return Flow Reuse. No. 535. Zazouli et al. 3991.

Solar-Based Fuzzy Intelligent Water Sprinkle System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Riza Muhida

2012-03-01

Full Text Available A solar-based intelligent water sprinkler system project that has been developed to ensure the effectiveness in watering the plant is improved by making the system automated. The control system consists of an electrical capacitance soil moisture sensor installed into the ground which is interfaced to a controller unit of Motorola 68HC11 Handy board microcontroller. The microcontroller was programmed based on the decision rules made using fuzzy logic approach on when to water the lawn. The whole system is powered up by the solar energy which is then interfaced to a particular type of irrigation timer for plant fertilizing schedule and rain detector through a simple design of rain dual-collector tipping bucket. The controller unit automatically disrupted voltage signals sent to the control valves whenever irrigation was not needed. Using this system we combined the logic implementation in the area of irrigation and weather sensing equipment, and more efficient water delivery can be made possible. 

Drinking Water Contamination Due To Lead-based Solder

Science.gov (United States)

Garcia, N.; Bartelt, E.; Cuff, K. E.

2004-12-01

The presence of lead in drinking water creates many health hazards. Exposure to lead-contaminated water can affect the brain, the central nervous system, blood cells, and kidneys, causing such problems as mental retardation, kidney disease, heart disease, stroke, and death. One way in which lead can contaminate our water supply is through the use of lead solder to join pipes. Lead solder was widely used in the past because of its ease of application as well as its low cost. Lead contamination in residential areas has previously been found to be a particularly serious problem in first-draw samples, of water that has sat stagnant in pipes overnight. To investigate the time-dependence of drinking water lead contamination, we analyzed samples taken hourly of water exposed to lead solder. While our preliminary data was insufficient to show more than a rough correlation between time of exposure and lead concentration over short periods (1-3 hours), we were able to confirm that overnight exposure of water to lead-based solder results in the presence high levels of lead. We also investigated other, external factors that previous research has indicated contribute to increased concentrations of lead. Our analysis of samples of lead-exposed water at various pH and temperatures suggests that these factors can be equally significant in terms of their contribution to elevated lead concentration levels. In particular, water that is slightly corrosive appears to severely impact the solubility of lead. As this type of water is common in much of the Northeast United States, the presence of lead-based solder in residential areas there is especially problematic. Although lead-based solder has been banned since the 1980s, it remains a serious concern, and a practical solution still requires further research.

Hanford Ground-Water Data Base management guide

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rieger, J.T.; Mitchell, P.J.; Muffett, D.M.; Fruland, R.M.; Moore, S.B.; Marshall, S.M.

1990-02-01

This guide describes the Hanford Ground-Water Data Base (HGWDB), a computerized data base used to store hydraulic head, sample analytical, temperature, geologic, and well-structure information for ground-water monitoring wells on the Hanford Site. These data are stored for the purpose of data retrieval for report generation and also for historical purposes. This guide is intended as an aid to the data base manager and the various staff authorized to enter and verify data, maintain the data base, and maintain the supporting software. This guide focuses on the structure of the HGWDB, providing a fairly detailed description of the programs, files, and parameters. Data-retrieval instructions for the general user of the HGWDB will be found in the HGWDB User's Manual. 6 figs

Cytogenotoxicity screening of source water, wastewater and treated water of drinking water treatment plants using two in vivo test systems: Allium cepa root based and Nile tilapia erythrocyte based tests.

Science.gov (United States)

Hemachandra, Chamini K; Pathiratne, Asoka

2017-01-01

Biological effect directed in vivo tests with model organisms are useful in assessing potential health risks associated with chemical contaminations in surface waters. This study examined the applicability of two in vivo test systems viz. plant, Allium cepa root based tests and fish, Oreochromis niloticus erythrocyte based tests for screening cytogenotoxic potential of raw source water, water treatment waste (effluents) and treated water of drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs) using two DWTPs associated with a major river in Sri Lanka. Measured physico-chemical parameters of the raw water, effluents and treated water samples complied with the respective Sri Lankan standards. In the in vivo tests, raw water induced statistically significant root growth retardation, mitodepression and chromosomal abnormalities in the root meristem of the plant and micronuclei/nuclear buds evolution and genetic damage (as reflected by comet scores) in the erythrocytes of the fish compared to the aged tap water controls signifying greater genotoxicity of the source water especially in the dry period. The effluents provoked relatively high cytogenotoxic effects on both test systems but the toxicity in most cases was considerably reduced to the raw water level with the effluent dilution (1:8). In vivo tests indicated reduction of cytogenotoxic potential in the tested drinking water samples. The results support the potential applications of practically feasible in vivo biological test systems such as A. cepa root based tests and the fish erythrocyte based tests as complementary tools for screening cytogenotoxicity potential of the source water and water treatment waste reaching downstream of aquatic ecosystems and for evaluating cytogenotoxicity eliminating efficacy of the DWTPs in different seasons in view of human and ecological safety. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Nanocellulose-Based Materials for Water Purification

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hugo Voisin

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Nanocellulose is a renewable material that combines a high surface area with high strength, chemical inertness, and versatile surface chemistry. In this review, we will briefly describe how nanocellulose is produced, and present—in particular, how nanocellulose and its surface modified versions affects the adsorption behavior of important water pollutants, e.g., heavy metal species, dyes, microbes, and organic molecules. The processing of nanocellulose-based membranes and filters for water purification will be described in detail, and the uptake capacity, selectivity, and removal efficiency will also be discussed. The processing and performance of nanocellulose-based membranes, which combine a high removal efficiency with anti-fouling properties, will be highlighted.

The case for regime-based water quality standards

Science.gov (United States)

G.C. Poole; J.B. Dunham; D.M. Keenan; S.T. Sauter; D.A. McCullough; C. Mebane; J.C. Lockwood; D.A. Essig; M.P. Hicks; D.J. Sturdevant; E.J. Materna; S.A. Spalding; J. Risley; M. Deppman

2004-01-01

Conventional water quality standards have been successful in reducing the concentration of toxic substances in US waters. However, conventional standards are based on simple thresholds and are therefore poorly structured to address human-caused imbalances in dynamic, natural water quality parameters, such as nutrients, sediment, and temperature. A more applicable type...

Analysis of self-organized In(Ga)As quantum structures with the scanning transmission electron microscope; Analyse selbstorganisierter In(Ga)As-Quantenstrukturen mit dem Raster-Transmissionselektronenmikroskop

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sauerwald, Andres

2008-05-27

Aim of this thesis was to apply the analytical methods of the scanning transmission electron microscopy to the study of self-organized In(Ga)As quantum structures. With the imaging methods Z contrast and bright field (position resolutions in the subnanometer range) and especially with the possibilities of the quantitative chemical EELS analysis of the scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) fundamental questions concerning morphology and chemical properties of self-organized quantum structures should be answered. By the high position resolution of the STEM among others essentail morphological and structural parameters in the growth behaviour of 'dot in a well' (DWell) structures and of vertically correlated quantum dots (QDs) could be analyzed. For the optimization of DWell structures samples were studied, the nominal InAs-QD growth position was directedly varied within the embedding InGaAs quantum wells. The STEM offers in connection with the EELS method a large potential for the chemical analysis of quantum structures. Studied was a sample series of self-organized InGaAs/GaAs structures on GaAs substrate, the stress of which was changed by varying the Ga content of the INGaAs material between 2.4 % and 4.3 %. [German] Ziel dieser Arbeit war es, die analytischen Methoden der Raster-Transmissionselektronenmikroskopie zur Untersuchung selbstorganisierter In(Ga)As-Quantenstrukturen anzuwenden. Mit den abbildenden Methoden Z-Kontrast und Hellfeld (Ortsaufloesungen im Subnanometerbereich) und insbesondere mit den Moeglichkeiten der quantitativen chemischen EELS-Analyse des Raster-Transmissionselektronenmikroskops (RTEMs) sollten grundsaetzliche Fragestellungen hinsichtlich der Morphologie und der chemischen Eigenschaften selbstorganisierter Quantenstrukturen beantwortet werden. Durch die hohe Ortsaufloesung des RTEMs konnten u.a. essentielle morphologische und strukturelle Parameter im Wachstumsverhalten von 'Dot in a Well

Water-based exercise for adults with asthma.

Science.gov (United States)

Grande, Antonio Jose; Silva, Valter; Andriolo, Brenda N G; Riera, Rachel; Parra, Sergio A; Peccin, Maria S

2014-07-17

Asthma is a common condition characterised by airway inflammation and airway narrowing, which can result in intermittent symptoms of wheezing, coughing and chest tightness, possibly limiting activities of daily life. Water-based exercise is believed to offer benefits for people with asthma through pollen-free air, humidity and effects of exercise on physical function. To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of water-based exercise for adults with asthma. We searched the Cochrane Airways Group Specialised Register of Trials (CAGR), the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), the Allied and Complementary Medicine Database (AMED), PsycINFO, the Latin American and Caribbean Health Science Information Database (LILACS), the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro), the System for Information on Grey Literature in Europe (SIGLE) and Google Scholar on 13 May 2014. We handsearched ongoing clinical trial registers and meeting abstracts of the American Thoracic Society (ATS), the European Respiratory Society (ERS) and the British Thoracic Society (BTS). We included all randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of adults with asthma comparing a water-based exercise group versus one or more of the following groups: usual care, land-based exercise, non-exercise. Two review authors (AJG, VS) independently extracted data from the primary studies using a standard form developed for this purpose, which includes methods, participants, interventions and outcomes. We contacted trial authors to request additional data. Data were input by one review author and were double-checked by a second review author. In this systematic review, we provide a narrative synthesis of available evidence from three small studies including 136 adult participants. The studies were at high risk of bias. No meta-analysis was possible because of methodological and interventional heterogeneity between included

Feasibility of sequential adjuvant chemotherapy with a 3-month oxaliplatin-based regimen followed by 3 months of capecitabine in patients with stage III and high-risk stage II colorectal cancer: JSWOG-C2 study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tsuruta A

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Atsushi Tsuruta,1,* Kazuki Yamashita,2,* Hiroaki Tanioka,3 Akihito Tsuji,4,5 Michio Inukai,6 Toshiki Yamakawa,7 Tomoki Yamatsuji,8 Masanori Yoshimitsu,9 Kazuhiro Toyota,10 Taketoshi Yamano,11 Takeshi Nagasaka,12 Masazumi Okajima13 On behalf of the Japan Southwest Oncology Group (JSWOG 1Department of Digestive Surgery, Kawasaki Medical School Hospital, 2Department of Surgery, 3Department of Medical Oncology, Okayama Rosai Hospital, Okayama, 4Department of Medical Oncology, Kobe City Medical Center General Hospital, Kobe, 5Department of Clinical Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, Kagawa University Hospital, Kagawa, 6Department of Medicine, Okayama Saiseikai General Hospital, Okayama, 7Department of Surgery, Kagawa Prefectural Central Hospital, Takamatsu, 8Department of General Surgery, Kawasaki Medical School, Okayama, 9Department of Surgery, Hiroshima City Asa Hospital, Hiroshima, 10Department of Surgery, National Hospital Organization Higashihirosima Medical Center, Higashihiroshima, 11Department of Surgery, Kurashiki Medical Center, 12Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama, 13Department of Surgery, Hiroshima City Hospital, Hiroshima, Japan *These authors contributed equally to this work Background: Six months of oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy is the standard adjuvant chemotherapy for completely resected stage III colorectal cancer (CRC. Also, patients with stage II CRC who are considered to be at high risk of disease recurrence often receive the same adjuvant chemotherapy treatment. We prospectively investigated the extent and degree of neuropathy suffered by stage III and high-risk stage II resectable CRC patients who underwent sequential approach involving 3 months of an oxaliplatin-based regimen followed by 3 months of capecitabine. Patients and methods: Patients with completely resected stage III and high-risk stage II CRC aged ≥20 years were

Effect of Water Chemistry Variations on Corrosion of Zr-Alloys for BWR Applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Young-Jin; Yang- Lin, Pi; Lutz, Dan; Kucuk, Aylin; Cheng, Bo

2012-09-01

Two reference water chemistry conditions (60 ppb Zn and 60 μg/cm 2 Pt/Rh with either 500 ppb O 2 and 500 ppb H 2 O 2 , or 150 ppb H 2 ) were chosen for testing at 300 deg. C in refreshed autoclaves. For each reference water chemistry, the potential effects due to three chemical impurities of interest to BWRs (33 ppm Na, 10 ppm Li, and 10 ppm EHC fluid) were evaluated. Zircaloy-2 and GNF-Ziron (a Zr-based alloy with higher Fe additions than Zircaloy-2) cladding tubes were tested and the effects of tubing process variation and pre-filming were investigated. Tested channel materials included Zircaloy-2, Zircaloy-4, GNF-Ziron and NSF (a Zr-based alloy with Sn, Nb and Fe additions). The corrosion weight gain and hydrogen absorption were measured up to 12 months of exposure for a given water chemistry condition. Tests under 150 ppb H 2 based water chemistry, with or without chemical impurities, generally resulted in greater amounts of corrosion after 12 month exposure compared with 500 ppb O 2 and 500 ppb H 2 O 2 based water chemistries. Of the added chemical impurities, only 33 ppm Na addition produced slightly increased corrosion. Under various test conditions, the presence of a thin pre-film resulted in some initial corrosion benefits, but the benefits were no longer evident after 12 months exposure; however, slight hydrogen benefits remained. For GNF-Ziron cladding, hydrogen absorption was generally lower compared with similarly processed Zircaloy-2 under 150 ppb H 2 based water chemistry, when corrosion was generally higher. Of the channel material tested, NSF developed the lowest level of hydrogen absorption, particularly under 150 ppb H 2 based water chemistries. (authors)

The Impact of a School-Based Hygiene, Water Quality and Sanitation Intervention on Soil-Transmitted Helminth Reinfection: A Cluster-Randomized Trial

Science.gov (United States)

Freeman, Matthew C.; Clasen, Thomas; Brooker, Simon J.; Akoko, Daniel O.; Rheingans, Richard

2013-01-01

We conducted a cluster-randomized trial to assess the impact of a school-based water treatment, hygiene, and sanitation program on reducing infection with soil-transmitted helminths (STHs) after school-based deworming. We assessed infection with STHs at baseline and then at two follow-up rounds 8 and 10 months after deworming. Forty government primary schools in Nyanza Province, Kenya were randomly selected and assigned to intervention or control arms. The intervention reduced reinfection prevalence (odds ratio [OR] 0.56, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.31–1.00) and egg count (rate ratio [RR] 0.34, CI 0.15–0.75) of Ascaris lumbricoides. We found no evidence of significant intervention effects on the overall prevalence and intensity of Trichuris trichiura, hookworm, or Schistosoma mansoni reinfection. Provision of school-based sanitation, water quality, and hygiene improvements may reduce reinfection of STHs after school-based deworming, but the magnitude of the effects may be sex- and helminth species-specific. PMID:24019429

Water Footprints of Cassava- and Molasses-Based Ethanol Production in Thailand

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mangmeechai, Aweewan; Pavasant, Prasert

2013-01-01

The Thai government has been promoting renewable energy as well as stimulating the consumption of its products. Replacing transport fuels with bioethanol will require substantial amounts of water and enhance water competition locally. This study shows that the water footprint (WF) of molasses-based ethanol is less than that of cassava-based ethanol. The WF of molasses-based ethanol is estimated to be in the range of 1,510–1,990 L water/L ethanol, while that of cassava-based ethanol is estimated at 2,300–2,820 L water/L ethanol. Approximately 99% of the water in each of these WFs is used to cultivate crops. Ethanol production requires not only substantial amounts of water but also government interventions because it is not cost competitive. In Thailand, the government has exploited several strategies to lower ethanol prices such as oil tax exemptions for consumers, cost compensation for ethanol producers, and crop price assurances for farmers. For the renewable energy policy to succeed in the long run, the government may want to consider promoting molasses-based ethanol production as well as irrigation system improvements and sugarcane yield-enhancing practices, since molasses-based ethanol is more favorable than cassava-based ethanol in terms of its water consumption, chemical fertilizer use, and production costs

Water Footprints of Cassava- and Molasses-Based Ethanol Production in Thailand

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mangmeechai, Aweewan, E-mail: aweewan.m@nida.ac.th [National Institute of Development Administration, International College (Major in Public Policy and Management) (Thailand); Pavasant, Prasert [Chulalongkorn University, Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering (Thailand)

2013-12-15

The Thai government has been promoting renewable energy as well as stimulating the consumption of its products. Replacing transport fuels with bioethanol will require substantial amounts of water and enhance water competition locally. This study shows that the water footprint (WF) of molasses-based ethanol is less than that of cassava-based ethanol. The WF of molasses-based ethanol is estimated to be in the range of 1,510-1,990 L water/L ethanol, while that of cassava-based ethanol is estimated at 2,300-2,820 L water/L ethanol. Approximately 99% of the water in each of these WFs is used to cultivate crops. Ethanol production requires not only substantial amounts of water but also government interventions because it is not cost competitive. In Thailand, the government has exploited several strategies to lower ethanol prices such as oil tax exemptions for consumers, cost compensation for ethanol producers, and crop price assurances for farmers. For the renewable energy policy to succeed in the long run, the government may want to consider promoting molasses-based ethanol production as well as irrigation system improvements and sugarcane yield-enhancing practices, since molasses-based ethanol is more favorable than cassava-based ethanol in terms of its water consumption, chemical fertilizer use, and production costs.

Early weaning food for infants (0-6 months old) in madurese people based on transcultural nursing theory

Science.gov (United States)

Has, Eka Mishbahatul M.; Syaltut, M.; Kusumaningrum, Tiyas; Efendi, Ferry

2018-02-01

The World Health Organization recommend weaning food is given to infants aged 624 months. In Madura culture still exist the practice of giving weaning food before infants reach six months old. The purpose of this study was to analyze the factors of giving weaning food for infants (0-6 months old) based on transcultural nursing theory. Design used was descriptive with cross-sectional approach. Population was Madurese mothers who have infants (0-6 months old) who has been given early weaning food. A total of 61 respondents were chosen by cluster sampling method. Variables in this study were education, economic, political and legal, cultural values and lifestyles, kinship and social, religious and philosophical, and technology. Data were collected by using structured interview and described by using frequency and percentage distribution. The results had showed educational mostly were primary and middle education (92%). Economic mostly come from low economic status (70%). Political and legal mostly positive (54%). Cultural values and lifestyles mostly negative (62%). Kinship and social mostly negative (64%). Religious and philosophical mostly positive (64%). Technology factor dominantly low (56%). Based on transcultural nursing theory it is shown a diversity in positive and negative values. Further research was suggested to reduce the practice of giving weaning food behavior of Madurese mothers which suits with local culture.

A system-theory-based model for monthly river runoff forecasting: model calibration and optimization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wu Jianhua

2014-03-01

Full Text Available River runoff is not only a crucial part of the global water cycle, but it is also an important source for hydropower and an essential element of water balance. This study presents a system-theory-based model for river runoff forecasting taking the Hailiutu River as a case study. The forecasting model, designed for the Hailiutu watershed, was calibrated and verified by long-term precipitation observation data and groundwater exploitation data from the study area. Additionally, frequency analysis, taken as an optimization technique, was applied to improve prediction accuracy. Following model optimization, the overall relative prediction errors are below 10%. The system-theory-based prediction model is applicable to river runoff forecasting, and following optimization by frequency analysis, the prediction error is acceptable.

Evaluation method for regional water cycle health based on nature-society water cycle theory

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Shanghong; Fan, Weiwei; Yi, Yujun; Zhao, Yong; Liu, Jiahong

2017-08-01

Regional water cycles increasingly reflect the dual influences of natural and social processes, and are affected by global climate change and expanding human activities. Understanding how to maintain a healthy state of the water cycle has become an important proposition for sustainable development of human society. In this paper, natural-social attributes of the water cycle are synthesized and 19 evaluation indices are selected from four dimensions, i.e., water-based ecosystem integrity, water quality, water resource abundance and water resource use. A hierarchical water-cycle health evaluation system is established. An analytic hierarchy process is used to set the weight of the criteria layer and index layer, and the health threshold for each index is defined. Finally, a water-cycle health composite-index assessment model and fuzzy recognition model are constructed based on the comprehensive index method and fuzzy mathematics theory. The model is used to evaluate the state of health of the water cycle in Beijing during 2010-2014 and in the planning year (late 2014), considering the transfer of 1 billion m3 of water by the South-to-North Water Diversion Project (SNWDP). The results show health scores for Beijing of 2.87, 3.10, 3.38, 3.11 and 3.02 during 2010-2014. The results of fuzzy recognition show that the sub-healthy grade accounted for 54%, 49%, 61% and 49% of the total score, and all years had a sub-healthy state. Results of the criteria layer analysis show that water ecosystem function, water quality and water use were all at the sub-healthy level and that water abundance was at the lowest, or sick, level. With the water transfer from the SNWDP, the health score of the water cycle in Beijing reached 4.04. The healthy grade accounted for 60% of the total score, and the water cycle system was generally in a healthy state. Beijing's water cycle health level is expected to further improve with increasing water diversion from the SNWDP and industrial

Bread Water Content Measurement Based on Hyperspectral Imaging

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Liu, Zhi; Møller, Flemming

2011-01-01

Water content is one of the most important properties of the bread for tasting assesment or store monitoring. Traditional bread water content measurement methods mostly are processed manually, which is destructive and time consuming. This paper proposes an automated water content measurement...... for bread quality based on near-infrared hyperspectral imaging against the conventional manual loss-in-weight method. For this purpose, the hyperspectral components unmixing technology is used for measuring the water content quantitatively. And the definition on bread water content index is presented...

Optimizing a Water Simulation based on Wavefront Parameter Optimization

OpenAIRE

Lundgren, Martin

2017-01-01

DICE, a Swedish game company, wanted a more realistic water simulation. Currently, most large scale water simulations used in games are based upon ocean simulation technology. These techniques falter when used in other scenarios, such as coastlines. In order to produce a more realistic simulation, a new one was created based upon the water simulation technique "Wavefront Parameter Interpolation". This technique involves a rather extensive preprocess that enables ocean simulations to have inte...

radio frequency based radio frequency based water level monitor

African Journals Online (AJOL)

eobe

ABSTRACT. This paper elucidates a radio frequency (RF) based transmission and reception system used to remotely monitor and .... range the wireless can cover but in this prototype, it ... power supply to the system, the sensed water level is.

Environmental aspect of oil and water-based drilling muds and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Administrator

2010-03-19

Mar 19, 2010 ... both oil based and water-based drilling wastes collected from the same depth were analyzed for metals. (iron, copper ... include well cuttings, drilling muds, formation water, cement slurry ..... in the drill wastes (2.38 mg/kg) (Figure 3d). The water .... Organization, International Programme on Chemical Safety.

Evaluation of three energy balance-based evaporation models for estimating monthly evaporation for five lakes using derived heat storage changes from a hysteresis model

Science.gov (United States)

Duan, Zheng; Bastiaanssen, W. G. M.

2017-02-01

The heat storage changes (Q t) can be a significant component of the energy balance in lakes, and it is important to account for Q t for reasonable estimation of evaporation at monthly and finer timescales if the energy balance-based evaporation models are used. However, Q t has been often neglected in many studies due to the lack of required water temperature data. A simple hysteresis model (Q t = a*Rn + b + c* dRn/dt) has been demonstrated to reasonably estimate Q t from the readily available net all wave radiation (Rn) and three locally calibrated coefficients (a-c) for lakes and reservoirs. As a follow-up study, we evaluated whether this hysteresis model could enable energy balance-based evaporation models to yield good evaporation estimates. The representative monthly evaporation data were compiled from published literature and used as ground-truth to evaluate three energy balance-based evaporation models for five lakes. The three models in different complexity are De Bruin-Keijman (DK), Penman, and a new model referred to as Duan-Bastiaanssen (DB). All three models require Q t as input. Each model was run in three scenarios differing in the input Q t (S1: measured Q t; S2: modelled Q t from the hysteresis model; S3: neglecting Q t) to evaluate the impact of Q t on the modelled evaporation. Evaluation showed that the modelled Q t agreed well with measured counterparts for all five lakes. It was confirmed that the hysteresis model with locally calibrated coefficients can predict Q t with good accuracy for the same lake. Using modelled Q t as inputs all three evaporation models yielded comparably good monthly evaporation to those using measured Q t as inputs and significantly better than those neglecting Q t for the five lakes. The DK model requiring minimum data generally performed the best, followed by the Penman and DB model. This study demonstrated that once three coefficients are locally calibrated using historical data the simple hysteresis model can offer

Modern Estimates of Global Water Cycle Fluxes

Science.gov (United States)

Rodell, M.; Beaudoing, H. K.; L'Ecuyer, T. S.; Olson, W. S.

2014-12-01

The goal of the first phase of the NASA Energy and Water Cycle Study (NEWS) Water and Energy Cycle Climatology project was to develop "state of the global water cycle" and "state of the global energy cycle" assessments based on data from modern ground and space based observing systems and data integrating models. Here we describe results of the water cycle assessment, including mean annual and monthly fluxes over continents and ocean basins during the first decade of the millennium. To the extent possible, the water flux estimates are based on (1) satellite measurements and (2) data-integrating models. A careful accounting of uncertainty in each flux was applied within a routine that enforced multiple water and energy budget constraints simultaneously in a variational framework, in order to produce objectively-determined, optimized estimates. Simultaneous closure of the water and energy budgets caused the ocean evaporation and precipitation terms to increase by about 10% and 5% relative to the original estimates, mainly because the energy budget required turbulent heat fluxes to be substantially larger in order to balance net radiation. In the majority of cases, the observed annual, surface and atmospheric water budgets over the continents and oceans close with much less than 10% residual. Observed residuals and optimized uncertainty estimates are considerably larger for monthly surface and atmospheric water budget closure, often nearing or exceeding 20% in North America, Eurasia, Australia and neighboring islands, and the Arctic and South Atlantic Oceans. The residuals in South America and Africa tend to be smaller, possibly because cold land processes are a non-issue. Fluxes are poorly observed over the Arctic Ocean, certain seas, Antarctica, and the Australasian and Indonesian Islands, leading to reliance on atmospheric analysis estimates. Other details of the study and future directions will be discussed.

How does higher frequency monitoring data affect the calibration of a process-based water quality model?

Science.gov (United States)

Jackson-Blake, Leah; Helliwell, Rachel

2015-04-01

Process-based catchment water quality models are increasingly used as tools to inform land management. However, for such models to be reliable they need to be well calibrated and shown to reproduce key catchment processes. Calibration can be challenging for process-based models, which tend to be complex and highly parameterised. Calibrating a large number of parameters generally requires a large amount of monitoring data, spanning all hydrochemical conditions. However, regulatory agencies and research organisations generally only sample at a fortnightly or monthly frequency, even in well-studied catchments, often missing peak flow events. The primary aim of this study was therefore to investigate how the quality and uncertainty of model simulations produced by a process-based, semi-distributed catchment model, INCA-P (the INtegrated CAtchment model of Phosphorus dynamics), were improved by calibration to higher frequency water chemistry data. Two model calibrations were carried out for a small rural Scottish catchment: one using 18 months of daily total dissolved phosphorus (TDP) concentration data, another using a fortnightly dataset derived from the daily data. To aid comparability, calibrations were carried out automatically using the Markov Chain Monte Carlo - DiffeRential Evolution Adaptive Metropolis (MCMC-DREAM) algorithm. Calibration to daily data resulted in improved simulation of peak TDP concentrations and improved model performance statistics. Parameter-related uncertainty in simulated TDP was large when fortnightly data was used for calibration, with a 95% credible interval of 26 μg/l. This uncertainty is comparable in size to the difference between Water Framework Directive (WFD) chemical status classes, and would therefore make it difficult to use this calibration to predict shifts in WFD status. The 95% credible interval reduced markedly with the higher frequency monitoring data, to 6 μg/l. The number of parameters that could be reliably auto

Supramolecular water oxidation with Ru-bda-based catalysts.

Science.gov (United States)

Richmond, Craig J; Matheu, Roc; Poater, Albert; Falivene, Laura; Benet-Buchholz, Jordi; Sala, Xavier; Cavallo, Luigi; Llobet, Antoni

2014-12-22

Extremely slow and extremely fast new water oxidation catalysts based on the Ru-bda (bda=2,2'-bipyridine-6,6'-dicarboxylate) systems are reported with turnover frequencies in the range of 1 and 900 cycles s(-1) , respectively. Detailed analyses of the main factors involved in the water oxidation reaction have been carried out and are based on a combination of reactivity tests, electrochemical experiments, and DFT calculations. These analyses give a convergent interpretation that generates a solid understanding of the main factors involved in the water oxidation reaction, which in turn allows the design of catalysts with very low energy barriers in all the steps involved in the water oxidation catalytic cycle. We show that for this type of system π-stacking interactions are the key factors that influence reactivity and by adequately controlling them we can generate exceptionally fast water oxidation catalysts. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

The scientific base of heating water by microwave

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Akdoğan, Ender, E-mail: ender.akdogan@tpe.gov.tr [Department of Physics Engineering, Ankara University, Dögol St. Tandoğan Ankara 06560 Türkiye (Turkey); Çiftçi, Muharrem, E-mail: muharrem-ciftci@windowslive.com [Author" 1 Department of Physics, Ankara University, Dögol St. Tandoğan Ankara 06560 Türkiye (Turkey)

2016-03-25

This article is based on the master thesis [4] related to our invention which was published in World Intellectual Property Organization (WO/2011/048506) as a microwave water heater. In the project, a prototype was produced to use microwave in industrial heating. In order to produce the prototype, the most appropriate material kind for microwave-water experiments was determined by a new energy loss rate calculation technique. This new energy loss calculation is a determinative factor for material permeability at microwave frequency band (1-100 GHz). This experimental series aim to investigate the rationality of using microwave in heating industry. Theoretically, heating water by microwave (with steady frequency 2.45 GHz) is analyzed from sub-molecular to Classical Mechanic results of heating. In the study, we examined Quantum Mechanical base of heating water by microwave experiments. As a result, we derived a Semi-Quantum Mechanical equation for microwave-water interactions and thus, Wien displacement law can be derived to verify experimental observations by this equation.

Semiconductor Metal Oxide Sensors in Water and Water Based Biological Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marina V. Strobkova

2003-10-01

Full Text Available The results of implementation of In2O3-based semiconductor sensors for oxygen concentration evaluation in water and the LB-nutrient media (15.5 g/l Luria Broth Base, Miller (Sigma, Lot-1900 and NaCl without bacteria and with E.coli bacteria before and after UV-irradiation are presented.

Comparison Between Water Quality Index (WQI) and Biological Water Quality Index (BWQI) for Water Quality Assessment: Case Study of Melana River, Johor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nor Zaiha Arman; Mohd Ismid Mohd Said; Shamila Azman; Muhammad Hazim Mat Hussin

2013-01-01

A study of water quality in Melana River, Johor was carried out in three consecutive months (March - May 2012). This study aims to determine the comparative results through biological monitoring as well as conventional method (physical and chemical analysis). Assessment is carried out through collection and identification of the biological indicator which comprises of macro benthos based on Biological Water Quality Index (BWQI). Comparison was done based on two methods namely invertebrate analysis and also laboratory analysis. For invertebrate analysis, Melana River consist of three types of Family groups namely Nymphs, Larvae and Molluscs. The result for Water Quality Index (WQI) and also Biological Water Quality Index (BWQI) analysis showed that the level of Melana River is polluted and classified in Class III. This study shows that even though different methods were used, the similar results were obtained for both rivers and can be applied to any river to identify their level of cleanliness. (author)

An Improved Method of Mitigating Laser Induced Surface Damage Growth in Fused Silica Using a Rastered, Pulsed CO2 Laser

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bass, I L; Guss, G M; Nostrand, M J; Wegner, P L

2010-10-21

A new method of mitigating (arresting) the growth of large (>200 m diameter and depth) laser induced surface damage on fused silica has been developed that successfully addresses several issues encountered with our previously-reported large site mitigation technique. As in the previous work, a tightly-focused 10.6 {micro}m CO{sub 2} laser spot is scanned over the damage site by galvanometer steering mirrors. In contrast to the previous work, the laser is pulsed instead of CW, with the pulse length and repetition frequency chosen to allow substantial cooling between pulses. This cooling has the important effect of reducing the heat-affected zone capable of supporting thermo-capillary flow from scale lengths on the order of the overall scan pattern to scale lengths on the order of the focused laser spot, thus preventing the formation of a raised rim around the final mitigation site and its consequent down-stream intensification. Other advantages of the new method include lower residual stresses, and improved damage threshold associated with reduced amounts of redeposited material. The raster patterns can be designed to produce specific shapes of the mitigation pit including cones and pyramids. Details of the new technique and its comparison with the previous technique will be presented.

Mapping monthly rainfall erosivity in Europe.

Science.gov (United States)

Ballabio, Cristiano; Borrelli, Pasquale; Spinoni, Jonathan; Meusburger, Katrin; Michaelides, Silas; Beguería, Santiago; Klik, Andreas; Petan, Sašo; Janeček, Miloslav; Olsen, Preben; Aalto, Juha; Lakatos, Mónika; Rymszewicz, Anna; Dumitrescu, Alexandru; Tadić, Melita Perčec; Diodato, Nazzareno; Kostalova, Julia; Rousseva, Svetla; Banasik, Kazimierz; Alewell, Christine; Panagos, Panos

2017-02-01

Rainfall erosivity as a dynamic factor of soil loss by water erosion is modelled intra-annually for the first time at European scale. The development of Rainfall Erosivity Database at European Scale (REDES) and its 2015 update with the extension to monthly component allowed to develop monthly and seasonal R-factor maps and assess rainfall erosivity both spatially and temporally. During winter months, significant rainfall erosivity is present only in part of the Mediterranean countries. A sudden increase of erosivity occurs in major part of European Union (except Mediterranean basin, western part of Britain and Ireland) in May and the highest values are registered during summer months. Starting from September, R-factor has a decreasing trend. The mean rainfall erosivity in summer is almost 4 times higher (315MJmmha -1 h -1 ) compared to winter (87MJmmha -1 h -1 ). The Cubist model has been selected among various statistical models to perform the spatial interpolation due to its excellent performance, ability to model non-linearity and interpretability. The monthly prediction is an order more difficult than the annual one as it is limited by the number of covariates and, for consistency, the sum of all months has to be close to annual erosivity. The performance of the Cubist models proved to be generally high, resulting in R 2 values between 0.40 and 0.64 in cross-validation. The obtained months show an increasing trend of erosivity occurring from winter to summer starting from western to Eastern Europe. The maps also show a clear delineation of areas with different erosivity seasonal patterns, whose spatial outline was evidenced by cluster analysis. The monthly erosivity maps can be used to develop composite indicators that map both intra-annual variability and concentration of erosive events. Consequently, spatio-temporal mapping of rainfall erosivity permits to identify the months and the areas with highest risk of soil loss where conservation measures should be

Assessment of water sources to plant growth in rice based cropping systems by stable water isotopes

Science.gov (United States)

Mahindawansha, Amani; Kraft, Philipp; Racela, Heathcliff; Breuer, Lutz

2016-04-01

Rice is one of the most water-consuming crops in the world. Understanding water source utilization of rice will help us to improve water use efficiency (WUE) in paddy management. The objectives of our study are to evaluate the isotopic compositions of surface ponded water, soil water, irrigation water, groundwater, rain water and plant water and based on stable water isotope signatures to evaluate the contributions of various water sources to plant growth (wet rice, aerobic rice and maize) together with investigating the contribution of water from different soil horizons for plant growth in different maturity periods during wet and dry seasons. Finally we will compare the water balances and crop yields in both crops during both seasons and calculate the water use efficiencies. This will help to identify the most efficient water management systems in rice based cropping ecosystems using stable water isotopes. Soil samples are collected from 9 different depths at up to 60 cm in vegetative, reproductive and matured periods of plant growth together with stem samples. Soil and plant samples are extracted by cryogenic vacuum extraction. Root samples are collected up to 60 cm depth from 10 cm intercepts leading calculation of root length density and dry weight. Groundwater, surface water, rain water and irrigation water are sampled weekly. All water samples are analyzed for hydrogen and oxygen isotope ratios (d18O and dD) using Los Gatos Research DLT100. Rainfall records, ground water level, surface water level fluctuations and the amount of water irrigated in each field will be measured during the sampling period. The direct inference approach which is based on comparing isotopic compositions (dD and d18O) between plant stem water and soil water will be used to determine water sources taken up by plant. Multiple-source mass balance assessment can provide the estimated range of potential contributions of water from each soil depth to root water uptake of a crop. These

Water chemistry of surface waters affected by the Fourmile Canyon wildfire, Colorado, 2010-2011

Science.gov (United States)

McCleskey, R. Blaine; Writer, Jeffrey H.; Murphy, Sheila F.

2012-01-01

In September 2010, the Fourmile Canyon fire burned about 23 percent of the Fourmile Creek watershed in Boulder County, Colo. Water-quality sampling of Fourmile Creek began within a month after the wildfire to assess its effects on surface-water chemistry. Water samples were collected from five sites along Fourmile Creek (above, within, and below the burned area) monthly during base flow, twice weekly during snowmelt runoff, and at higher frequencies during storm events. Stream discharge was also monitored. Water-quality samples were collected less frequently from an additional 6 sites on Fourmile Creek, from 11 tributaries or other inputs, and from 3 sites along Boulder Creek. The pH, electrical conductivity, temperature, specific ultraviolet absorbance, total suspended solids, and concentrations (dissolved and total) of major cations (calcium, magnesium, sodium, and potassium), anions (chloride, sulfate, alkalinity, fluoride, and bromide), nutrients (nitrate, ammonium, and phosphorus), trace metals (aluminum, arsenic, boron, barium, beryllium, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, iron, mercury, lithium, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, lead, rubidium, antimony, selenium, strontium, vanadium, and zinc), and dissolved organic carbon are here reported for 436 samples collected during 2010 and 2011.

Evaluating Water Demand Using Agent-Based Modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Lowry, T. S.

2004-12-01

The supply and demand of water resources are functions of complex, inter-related systems including hydrology, climate, demographics, economics, and policy. To assess the safety and sustainability of water resources, planners often rely on complex numerical models that relate some or all of these systems using mathematical abstractions. The accuracy of these models relies on how well the abstractions capture the true nature of the systems interactions. Typically, these abstractions are based on analyses of observations and/or experiments that account only for the statistical mean behavior of each system. This limits the approach in two important ways: 1) It cannot capture cross-system disruptive events, such as major drought, significant policy change, or terrorist attack, and 2) it cannot resolve sub-system level responses. To overcome these limitations, we are developing an agent-based water resources model that includes the systems of hydrology, climate, demographics, economics, and policy, to examine water demand during normal and extraordinary conditions. Agent-based modeling (ABM) develops functional relationships between systems by modeling the interaction between individuals (agents), who behave according to a probabilistic set of rules. ABM is a "bottom-up" modeling approach in that it defines macro-system behavior by modeling the micro-behavior of individual agents. While each agent's behavior is often simple and predictable, the aggregate behavior of all agents in each system can be complex, unpredictable, and different than behaviors observed in mean-behavior models. Furthermore, the ABM approach creates a virtual laboratory where the effects of policy changes and/or extraordinary events can be simulated. Our model, which is based on the demographics and hydrology of the Middle Rio Grande Basin in the state of New Mexico, includes agent groups of residential, agricultural, and industrial users. Each agent within each group determines its water usage

Effect of long-time immersion of soft denture liners in water on viscoelastic properties.

Science.gov (United States)

Iwasaki, Naohiko; Yamaki, Chisato; Takahashi, Hidekazu; Oki, Meiko; Suzuki, Tetsuya

2017-09-26

Aim of this study was to investigate the effect of long-time immersion of soft denture liners in 37°C water on viscoelastic properties. Six silicone-based and two acrylic resin-based soft denture liners were selected. Cylindrical specimens were stored in distilled water at 37°C for 6 months. Viscoelastic properties, which were instantaneous and delayed elastic displacements, viscous flow, and residual displacement, were determined using a creep meter, and analyzed with 2-way analysis of variance and Tukey's comparison (α=0.05). Viscoelastic properties and their time-dependent changes were varied among materials examined. The observed viscoelastic properties of three from six silicone-based liners did not significantly change after 6-month immersion, but those of two acrylic resin-based liners significantly changed with the increase of immersion time. However, the sum of initial instantaneous elastic displacement and delayed elastic displacement of two acrylic resin-based liners during 6-month immersion changed less than 10%, which might indicate clinically sufficient elastic performance.

Assessment of Early Toxicity and Response in Patients Treated With Proton and Carbon Ion Therapy at the Heidelberg Ion Therapy Center Using the Raster Scanning Technique

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rieken, Stefan; Habermehl, Daniel; Nikoghosyan, Anna; Jensen, Alexandra [Department of Radiation Oncology, University Hospital of Heidelberg, Heidelberg (Germany); Haberer, Thomas [Heidelberg Ion Therapy Center, Heidelberg (Germany); Jaekel, Oliver [Heidelberg Ion Therapy Center, Heidelberg (Germany); Department of Medical Physics, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg (Germany); Muenter, Marc W.; Welzel, Thomas; Debus, Juergen [Department of Radiation Oncology, University Hospital of Heidelberg, Heidelberg (Germany); Combs, Stephanie E., E-mail: Stephanie.Combs@med.uni-hedielberg.de [Department of Radiation Oncology, University Hospital of Heidelberg, Heidelberg (Germany)

2011-12-01

Puropose: To asses early toxicity and response in 118 patients treated with scanned ion beams to validate the safety of intensity-controlled raster scanning at the Heidelberg Ion Therapy Center. Patients and Methods: Between November 2009 and June 2010, we treated 118 patients with proton and carbon ion radiotherapy (RT) using active beam delivery. The main indications included skull base chordomas and chondrosarcomas, salivary gland tumors, and gliomas. We evaluated early toxicity within 6 weeks after RT and the initial clinical and radiologic response for quality assurance in our new facility. Results: In all 118 patients, few side effects were observed, in particular, no high numbers of severe acute toxicity were found. In general, the patients treated with particle therapy alone showed only a few single side effects, mainly Radiation Therapy Oncology Group/Common Terminology Criteria grade 1. The most frequent side effects and cumulative incidence of single side effects were observed in the head-and-neck patients treated with particle therapy as a boost and photon intensity-modulated RT. The toxicities included common radiation-attributed reactions known from photon RT, including mucositis, dysphagia, and skin erythema. The most predominant imaging responses were observed in patients with high-grade gliomas and those with salivary gland tumors. For skull base tumors, imaging showed a stable tumor outline in most patients. Thirteen patients showed improvement of pre-existing clinical symptoms. Conclusions: Side effects related to particle treatment were rare, and the overall tolerability of the treatment was shown. The initial response was promising. The data have confirmed the safe delivery of carbon ions and protons at the newly opened Heidelberg facility.

Health Benefits of Water-based Exercise

Science.gov (United States)

... Pools Operating Public Hot Tubs/Spas Recommendations for Hydrotherapy Tanks Preventing Pool Chemical-Associated Health Events Chloramines & ... arthritis have more health improvements after participating in hydrotherapy than with other activities 8 . Water-based exercise ...

Sociobehavioral Factors Associated with Caries Increment: A Longitudinal Study from 24 to 36 Months Old Children in Thailand

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karl Peltzer

2014-10-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study is to investigate sociobehavioral risk factors from the prenatal period until 36 months of age, and the caries increment from 24 to 36 months of the child in Thailand. The data utilized in this study come from the prospective cohort study of Thai children (PCTC from prenatal to 36 months of the child in Mueang Nan district, Northern Thailand. The total sample size recruited was 783 infants. The sample size with dental caries data was 603 and 597, at 24 months and at 36 months, respectively. The sample size of having two assessment points with a dental examination (at 24 months and at 36 months was 597. Results indicate that the caries increment was 52.9%, meaning from 365 caries free children at 24 months 193 had developed dental caries at 36 months. The prevalence of dental caries was 34.2% at 24 months (n = 206 and 68.5% at 36 months of age (n = 409. In bivariate analysis, higher education of the mother, lower household income, bottle feeding of the infant, frequent sweet candy consumptions, and using rain or well water as drinking water were associated with dental caries increment, while in multivariate conditional logistic regression analysis lower household income, higher education of the mother, and using rain or well water as drinking water remained associated with dental caries increment. In conclusion, a very significant increase in caries development was observed, and oral health may be influenced by sociobehavioural risk factors.

Network-based Modeling of Mesoscale Catchments - The Hydrology Perspective of Glowa-danube

Science.gov (United States)

Ludwig, R.; Escher-Vetter, H.; Hennicker, R.; Mauser, W.; Niemeyer, S.; Reichstein, M.; Tenhunen, J.

Within the GLOWA initiative of the German Ministry for Research and Educa- tion (BMBF), the project GLOWA-Danube is funded to establish a transdisciplinary network-based decision support tool for water related issues in the Upper Danube wa- tershed. It aims to develop and validate integration techniques, integrated models and integrated monitoring procedures and to implement them in the network-based De- cision Support System DANUBIA. An accurate description of processes involved in energy, water and matter fluxes and turnovers requires an intense collaboration and exchange of water related expertise of different scientific disciplines. DANUBIA is conceived as a distributed expert network and is developed on the basis of re-useable, refineable, and documented sub-models. In order to synthesize a common understand- ing between the project partners, a standardized notation of parameters and functions and a platform-independent structure of computational methods and interfaces has been established using the Unified Modeling Language UML. DANUBIA is object- oriented, spatially distributed and raster-based at its core. It applies the concept of "proxels" (Process Pixel) as its basic object, which has different dimensions depend- ing on the viewing scale and connects to its environment through fluxes. The presented study excerpts the hydrological view point of GLOWA-Danube, its approach of model coupling and network based communication (using the Remote Method Invocation RMI), the object-oriented technology to simulate physical processes and interactions at the land surface and the methodology to treat the issue of spatial and temporal scal- ing in large, heterogeneous catchments. The mechanisms applied to communicate data and model parameters across the typical discipline borders will be demonstrated from the perspective of a land-surface object, which comprises the capabilities of interde- pendent expert models for snowmelt, soil water movement, runoff formation, plant

A stepwise model to predict monthly streamflow

Science.gov (United States)

Mahmood Al-Juboori, Anas; Guven, Aytac

2016-12-01

In this study, a stepwise model empowered with genetic programming is developed to predict the monthly flows of Hurman River in Turkey and Diyalah and Lesser Zab Rivers in Iraq. The model divides the monthly flow data to twelve intervals representing the number of months in a year. The flow of a month, t is considered as a function of the antecedent month's flow (t - 1) and it is predicted by multiplying the antecedent monthly flow by a constant value called K. The optimum value of K is obtained by a stepwise procedure which employs Gene Expression Programming (GEP) and Nonlinear Generalized Reduced Gradient Optimization (NGRGO) as alternative to traditional nonlinear regression technique. The degree of determination and root mean squared error are used to evaluate the performance of the proposed models. The results of the proposed model are compared with the conventional Markovian and Auto Regressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) models based on observed monthly flow data. The comparison results based on five different statistic measures show that the proposed stepwise model performed better than Markovian model and ARIMA model. The R2 values of the proposed model range between 0.81 and 0.92 for the three rivers in this study.

Hanford ground-water data base management guide and user's manual

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mitchell, P.J.; Argo, R.S.; Bradymire, S.L.; Newbill, C.A.

1985-05-01

This management guide and user's manual is a working document for the computerized Hanford Ground-water Data Base maintained by the Geosciences Research and Engineering Department at Pacific Northwest Laboratory for the Hanford Ground-Water Surveillance Program. The program is managed by the Occupational and Environmental Protection Department for the US Department of Energy. The data base is maintained to provide rapid access to data that are rountinely collected from ground-water monitoring wells at the Hanford site. The data include water levels, sample analyses, geologic descriptions and well construction information of over 3000 existing or destroyed wells. These data are used to monitor water quality and for the evaluation of ground-water flow and pollutant transport problems. The management guide gives instructions for maintenance of the data base on the Digital Equipment Corporation PDP 11/70 Computer using the CIRMIS (Comprehensive Information Retrieval and Model Input Sequence) data base management software developed at Pacific Northwest Laboratory. Maintenance activities include inserting, modifying and deleting data, making back-up copies of the data base, and generating tables for annual monitoring reports. The user's guide includes instructions for running programs to retrieve the data in the form of listings of graphical plots. 3 refs

Diel patterns of water potential components for the crassulacean acid metabolism plant Opuntia ficus-indica when well-watered or droughted

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Goldstein, G.; Ortega, J.K.E.; Nerd, A.; Nobel, P.S. (Univ. of California, Los Angeles (United States))

1991-01-01

Under well-watered conditions, chlorenchyma acidity in cladodes of Opuntia ficus-indica increased substantially at night, fully accounting for the 0.26-megapascal nocturnal increase in osmotic pressure in the outer 2 millimeters. Osmotic pressure in the inner part of the chlorenchyma and in the water-storage parenchyma did not change significantly over 24-hour periods. Three months of drought decreased nocturnal acid accumulation by 73% and essentially abolished transpiration; also, 27% of the chlorenchyma water and 61% of the parenchyma water was lost during such drought, but the average tissue osmotic pressure was little affected. Turgor pressure was maintained in the chlorenchyma after 3 months of drought, although it decreased sevenfold in the water-storage parenchyma compared with the well-watered condition. Moreover, the nocturnal increases in turgor pressure of about 0.08 megapascal in the outer part of the chlorenchyma was also unchanged by such drought. The water potential magnitudes favored water movement from the parenchyma to the chlorenchyma at the end of the night and in the reverse direction during the late afternoon. Experiments with tritiated water support this pattern of water movement, which is also in agreement with predictions based on electric-circuit analog models for Crassulacean acid metabolism plants.

Water-based Tourism and Leisure Product Audit 2006

OpenAIRE

Huskyes, E.; O Connor, K.

2006-01-01

In consultation with key agencies and stakeholders, the Marine Institute is drafting a Development Strategy for the marine/water-based tourism and leisure sector for the period 2007-2013. Preparation and research for this has involved the completion of a Water-based Tourism and Leisure Product Audit. The Institute worked in collaboration with Royal Haskoning, spatial planning consultants, and Kevin O’Connor, Donegal County Council, to complete the audit. The objective of the audit is to syste...

A Web-Based GIS for Reporting Water Usage in the High Plains Underground Water Conservation District

Science.gov (United States)

Jia, M.; Deeds, N.; Winckler, M.

2012-12-01

The High Plains Underground Water Conservation District (HPWD) is the largest and oldest of the Texas water conservation districts, and oversees approximately 1.7 million irrigated acres. Recent rule changes have motivated HPWD to develop a more automated system to allow owners and operators to report well locations, meter locations, meter readings, the association between meters and wells, and contiguous acres. INTERA, Inc. has developed a web-based interactive system for HPWD water users to report water usage and for the district to better manage its water resources. The HPWD web management system utilizes state-of-the-art GIS techniques, including cloud-based Amazon EC2 virtual machine, ArcGIS Server, ArcSDE and ArcGIS Viewer for Flex, to support web-based water use management. The system enables users to navigate to their area of interest using a well-established base-map and perform a variety of operations and inquiries against their spatial features. The application currently has six components: user privilege management, property management, water meter registration, area registration, meter-well association and water use report. The system is composed of two main databases: spatial database and non-spatial database. With the help of Adobe Flex application at the front end and ArcGIS Server as the middle-ware, the spatial feature geometry and attributes update will be reflected immediately in the back end. As a result, property owners, along with the HPWD staff, collaborate together to weave the fabric of the spatial database. Interactions between the spatial and non-spatial databases are established by Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) services to record water-use report, user-property associations, owner-area associations, as well as meter-well associations. Mobile capabilities will be enabled in the near future for field workers to collect data and synchronize them to the spatial database. The entire solution is built on a highly scalable cloud

Annual summary of the Oak Ridge Environmental Information System 1994 data base contents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

James, T.L.; Zygmunt, B.C.; Hines, J.F.

1995-04-01

The environmental measurements and geographic data bases of the Oak Ridge Environmental Information System (OREIS) contain data of known quality that can be accessed by OREIS users. The data within OREIS include environmental measurements data from the following environmental media: groundwater, surface water, sediment, soils, air, and biota. The types of environmental data within OREIS include but are not limited to chemical, biological, ecological, radiological, geophysical, and lithological data. Coordinate data within the environmental measurements data base provide the spatial context of the measurements data and are used to link the measurements data to the geographic data base. Descriptive and qualifier metadata are also part of the data bases. As of 30 September 1994, the OREIS environmental measurements data base consisted of approximately 380,000 rows associated with data generated by environmental restoration projects. The data base also contained 3,400 supporting codes and other reference data rows. Geographic data included the S-16A base map for the Oak Ridge Reservation, boundaries for operable units and ORNL waste area groupings, boundaries of groundwater coordination areas, contours generated as a result of the gamma radiation survey, representations of the environmentally sensitive areas, information received as part of the remedial investigation of East Fork Poplar Creek, high resolution background raster images for the three ORR installations, and locations of wells and other point features generated from ORACLE tables

URANIUM REMOVAL FROM DRINKING WATER USING A SMALL FULL-SCALE SYSTEM

Science.gov (United States)

This report presents background and history of water quality, the basis for design and nine months of actual operating data for a small, full-scale strong-base ion exchange system that is used to remove uranium from a water supply serving a school in Jefferson County, CO. Informa...

Taking water-based mud to extremes : new ultra-high temperature water-based mud development and applications in Europe

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Conn, L.; Cullum, D.; Ray, R.; Marinescu, P. [Mi SWACO, Calgary, AB (Canada)

2008-07-01

The design, development and field applications of an ultra-high temperature water-based mud used for drilling very deep and hot wells in continental Europe was described. Basin-centred gas production from unconventional tight sands represents a significant resources that may revive exploration and gas production. However, these accumulations lie deep down from normal-pressure reservoirs and the bottom hole static temperatures are greater than 200 degrees C. In addition, they host acid gases such as carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide. As such, there are severe limitations on the design and choice of drilling fluids. This paper also described the extensive laboratory work that is needed to optimize the formulation of drilling fluids for high densities and extreme high temperatures. The lessons learned were described with reference to critical engineering guidelines for running a water-based system in such harsh conditions. The effectiveness of new fluids in delivering optimum drilling in extreme high temperature high pressure (HTHP) conditions were demonstrated using a unique software program that predicted the rheological behaviour, pressure losses, equivalent circulating density and equivalent static density. The new water-based system proved to be effective in drilling HTHP wells in areas where invert emulsion drilling fluid systems are not allowed.

Balancing food security and water demand for freshwater ecosystems

Science.gov (United States)

Pastor, Amandine; Palazzo, Amanda; Havlik, Petr; Obersteiner, Michael; Biemans, Hester; Wada, Yoshihide; Kabat, Pavel; Ludwig, Fulco

2017-04-01

Water is not an infinite resource and demand from irrigation, household and industry is constantly increasing. This study focused on including global water availability including environmental flow requirements with water withdrawal from irrigation and other sectors at a monthly time-step in the GLOBIOM model. This model allows re-adjustment of land-use allocation, crop management, consumption and international trade. The GLOBIOM model induces an endogenous change in water price depending on water supply and demand. In this study, the focus was on how the inclusion of water resources affects land-use and, in particular, how global change will influence repartition of irrigated and rainfed lands at global scale. We used the climate change scenario including a radiative forcing of 8.5 W/m2 (RCP8.5), the socio-economic scenario (SSP2: middle-of-road), and the environmental flow method based on monthly flow allocation (the Variable Monthly Flow method) with high and low restrictions. Irrigation withdrawals were adjusted to a monthly time-step to account for biophysical water limitations at finer time resolution. Our results show that irrigated land might decrease up to 40% on average depending on the choice of EFR restrictions. Several areas were identified as future hot-spots of water stress such as the Mediterranean and Middle-East regions. Other countries were identified to be in safe position in terms of water stress such as North-European countries. Re-allocation of rainfed and irrigated land might be useful information for land-use planners and water managers at an international level to decide on appropriate legislations on climate change mitigation/adaptation when exposure and sensitivity to climate change is high and/or on adaptation measures to face increasing water demand. For example, some countries are likely to adopt measures to increase their water use efficiencies (irrigation system, soil and water conservation practices) to face water shortages, while

TECHNOLOGICAL PROCESS ASSESSMENT OF THE DRINKING WATER TREATMENT AT TARGU-MURES WATER TREATMENT PLANT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

CORNELIA DIANA HERTIA

2011-03-01

Full Text Available This paper intends to assess the technological process of obtaining drinking water at Targu-Mures water treatment plant. The assessment was performed before changing the technological process and four months were chosen to be analized during 2008: January, April, July and October for its efficiency analysis on treatment steps. Mures River is the water source for the water treatment plant, being characterized by unsteady flow and quality parameters with possible important variability in a very short period of time. The treatment technological process is the classic one, represented by coagulation, sedimentation, filtration and disinfection, but also prechlorination was constantly applied as additional treatment during 2008. Results showed that for the measured parameters, raw water at the water treatment plant fits into class A3 for surface waters, framing dictated by the bacterial load. The treatment processes efficiency is based on the performance calculation for sedimentation, filtration, global and for disinfection, a better conformation degree of technological steps standing out in January in comparison to the other three analyzed months. A variable non-compliance of turbidity and residual chlorine levels in the disinfected water was observed constantly. Previous treatment steps managed to maintain a low level of oxidisability, chlorine consumption and residual chlorine levels being also low. 12% samples were found inconsistent with the national legislation in terms of bacteriological quality. Measures for the water treatment plant retechnologization are taken primarily for hyperchlorination elimination, which currently constitutes a discomfort factor (taste, smell, and a generating factor of chlorination by-products.

Eight month post program completion; change in risk factors for chronic disease amongst participants in a four-month pedometer-based workplace health program

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Freak-Poli, Rosanne; Wolfe, Rory; Brand, Margaret

2013-01-01

-months. RESULTS: 76% of participants returned at twelve-months. Sustained improvements at twelve-months were observed for self-reported vegetable intake, self-reported sitting time and independently measured blood pressure. Modest improvements from baseline in self-reported physical activity and independently...

Helping Mothers Survive Bleeding After Birth: retention of knowledge, skills, and confidence nine months after obstetric simulation-based training.

Science.gov (United States)

Nelissen, Ellen; Ersdal, Hege; Mduma, Estomih; Evjen-Olsen, Bjørg; Broerse, Jacqueline; van Roosmalen, Jos; Stekelenburg, Jelle

2015-08-25

It is important to know the decay of knowledge, skills, and confidence over time to provide evidence-based guidance on timing of follow-up training. Studies addressing retention of simulation-based education reveal mixed results. The aim of this study was to measure the level of knowledge, skills, and confidence before, immediately after, and nine months after simulation-based training in obstetric care in order to understand the impact of training on these components. An educational intervention study was carried out in 2012 in a rural referral hospital in Northern Tanzania. Eighty-nine healthcare workers of different cadres were trained in "Helping Mothers Survive Bleeding After Birth", which addresses basic delivery skills including active management of third stage of labour and management of postpartum haemorrhage (PPH). Knowledge, skills, and confidence were tested before, immediately after, and nine months after training amongst 38 healthcare workers. Knowledge was tested by completing a written 26-item multiple-choice questionnaire. Skills were tested in two simulated scenarios "basic delivery" and "management of PPH". Confidence in active management of third stage of labour, management of PPH, determination of completeness of the placenta, bimanual uterine compression, and accessing advanced care was self-assessed using a written 5-item questionnaire. Mean knowledge scores increased immediately after training from 70 % to 77 %, but decreased close to pre-training levels (72 %) at nine-month follow-up (p = 0.386) (all p-levels are compared to pre-training). The mean score in basic delivery skills increased after training from 43 % to 51 %, and was 49 % after nine months (p = 0.165). Mean scores of management of PPH increased from 39 % to 51 % and were sustained at 50 % at nine months (p = 0.003). Bimanual uterine compression skills increased from 19 % before, to 43 % immediately after, to 48 % nine months after training (p = 0

Emergy evaluation of water utilization benefits in water-ecological-economic system based on water cycle process

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, X.; Wu, Z.; Lv, C.

2017-12-01

The water utilization benefits are formed by the material flow, energy flow, information flow and value stream in the whole water cycle process, and reflected along with the material circulation of inner system. But most of traditional water utilization benefits evaluation are based on the macro level, only consider the whole material input and output and energy conversion relation, and lack the characterization of water utilization benefits accompanying with water cycle process from the formation mechanism. In addition, most studies are from the perspective of economics, only pay attention to the whole economic output and sewage treatment economic investment, but neglect the ecological function benefits of water cycle, Therefore, from the perspective of internal material circulation in the whole system, taking water cycle process as the process of material circulation and energy flow, the circulation and flow process of water and other ecological environment, social economic elements were described, and the composition of water utilization positive and negative benefits in water-ecological-economic system was explored, and the performance of each benefit was analyzed. On this basis, the emergy calculation method of each benefit was proposed by emergy quantitative analysis technique, which can realize the unified measurement and evaluation of water utilization benefits in water-ecological-economic system. Then, taking Zhengzhou city as an example, the corresponding benefits of different water cycle links were calculated quantitatively by emergy method, and the results showed that the emergy evaluation method of water utilization benefits can unify the ecosystem and the economic system, achieve uniform quantitative analysis, and measure the true value of natural resources and human economic activities comprehensively.

Selenium Adsorption To Aluminum-Based Water Treatment Residuals

Science.gov (United States)

Aluminum-based water treatment residuals (WTR) can adsorb water-and soil-borne P, As(V), As(III), and perchlorate, and may be able to adsorb excess environmental selenium. WTR, clay minerals, and amorphous aluminum hydroxide were shaken for 24 hours in selenate or selenite solut...

Gelatin-hydroxypropyl methylcellulose water-in-water emulsions as a new bio-based packaging material.

Science.gov (United States)

Esteghlal, Sara; Niakosari, Mehrdad; Hosseini, Seyed Mohammad Hashem; Mesbahi, Gholam Reza; Yousefi, Gholam Hossein

2016-05-01

Gelatin and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) are two incompatible and immiscible biopolymers which cannot form homogeneous composite films using usual methods. In this study, to prevent phase separation, gelatin-HPMC water-in-water (W/W) emulsion was utilized to from transparent composite films by entrapment the HPMC dispersed droplets in gelatin continuous network. The physicochemical and mechanical properties of emulsion-based films containing different amounts (5-30%) of dispersed phase were determined and compared with those of individual polymer-based films. Incorporating HPMC into W/W emulsion-based films had no significant effect on the tensile strength. The flexibility of composite films decreased at HPMC concentrations below 20%. The depletion layer at the droplets interface reduced the diffusion of water vapor molecules because of its hydrophobic nature, so the water vapor permeability remained constant. Increasing the HPMC content in the emulsion films increased the swelling and decreased the transparency. The entrapment of HPMC in continuous gelatin phase decreased its solubility. Therefore, W/W emulsions are capable of holding two incompatible polymers alongside each other within a homogeneous film network without weakening the physical properties. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Recent Advances in Bismuth-Based Nanomaterials for Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting.

Science.gov (United States)

Bhat, Swetha S M; Jang, Ho Won

2017-08-10

In recent years, bismuth-based nanomaterials have drawn considerable interest as potential candidates for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting owing to their narrow band gaps, nontoxicity, and low costs. The unique electronic structure of bismuth-based materials with a well-dispersed valence band comprising Bi 6s and O 2p orbitals offers a suitable band gap to harvest visible light. This Review presents significant advancements in exploiting bismuth-based nanomaterials for solar water splitting. An overview of the different strategies employed and the new ideas adopted to improve the PEC performance of bismuth-based nanomaterials are discussed. Morphology control, the construction of heterojunctions, doping, and co-catalyst loading are several approaches that are implemented to improve the efficiency of solar water splitting. Key issues are identified and guidelines are suggested to rationalize the design of efficient bismuth-based materials for sunlight-driven water splitting. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

An Agent-based Modeling of Water-Food Nexus towards Sustainable Management of Urban Water Resources

Science.gov (United States)

Esmaeili, N.; Kanta, L.

2017-12-01

Growing population, urbanization, and climate change have put tremendous stress on water systems in many regions. A shortage in water system not only affects water users of a municipality but also that of food system. About 70% of global water is withdrawn for agriculture; livestock and dairy productions are also dependent on water availability. Although researchers and policy makers have identified and emphasized the water-food (WF) nexus in recent decade, most existing WF models offer strategies to reduce trade-offs and to generate benefits without considering feedback loops and adaptations between those systems. Feedback loops between water and food system can help understand long-term behavioral trends between water users of the integrated WF system which, in turn, can help manage water resources sustainably. An Agent-based modeling approach is applied here to develop a conceptual framework of WF systems. All water users in this system are modeled as agents, who are capable of making decisions and can adapt new behavior based on inputs from other agents in a shared environment through a set of logical and mathematical rules. Residential and commercial/industrial consumers are represented as municipal agents; crop, livestock, and dairy farmers are represented as food agents; and water management officials are represented as policy agent. During the period of water shortage, policy agent will propose/impose various water conservation measures, such as adapting water-efficient technologies, banning outdoor irrigation, implementing supplemental irrigation, using recycled water for livestock/dairy production, among others. Municipal and food agents may adapt conservation strategies and will update their demand accordingly. Emergent properties of the WF nexus will arise through dynamic interactions between various actors of water and food system. This model will be implemented to a case study for resource allocation and future policy development.

Using stochastic dynamic programming to support catchment-scale water resources management in China

Science.gov (United States)

Davidsen, Claus; Pereira-Cardenal, Silvio Javier; Liu, Suxia; Mo, Xingguo; Rosbjerg, Dan; Bauer-Gottwein, Peter

2013-04-01

A hydro-economic modelling approach is used to optimize reservoir management at river basin level. We demonstrate the potential of this integrated approach on the Ziya River basin, a complex basin on the North China Plain south-east of Beijing. The area is subject to severe water scarcity due to low and extremely seasonal precipitation, and the intense agricultural production is highly dependent on irrigation. Large reservoirs provide water storage for dry months while groundwater and the external South-to-North Water Transfer Project are alternative sources of water. An optimization model based on stochastic dynamic programming has been developed. The objective function is to minimize the total cost of supplying water to the users, while satisfying minimum ecosystem flow constraints. Each user group (agriculture, domestic and industry) is characterized by fixed demands, fixed water allocation costs for the different water sources (surface water, groundwater and external water) and fixed costs of water supply curtailment. The multiple reservoirs in the basin are aggregated into a single reservoir to reduce the dimensions of decisions. Water availability is estimated using a hydrological model. The hydrological model is based on the Budyko framework and is forced with 51 years of observed daily rainfall and temperature data. 23 years of observed discharge from an in-situ station located downstream a remote mountainous catchment is used for model calibration. Runoff serial correlation is described by a Markov chain that is used to generate monthly runoff scenarios to the reservoir. The optimal costs at a given reservoir state and stage were calculated as the minimum sum of immediate and future costs. Based on the total costs for all states and stages, water value tables were generated which contain the marginal value of stored water as a function of the month, the inflow state and the reservoir state. The water value tables are used to guide allocation decisions in

Preliminary research on quantitative methods of water resources carrying capacity based on water resources balance sheet

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yanqiu; Huang, Xiaorong; Gao, Linyun; Guo, Biying; Ma, Kai

2018-06-01

Water resources are not only basic natural resources, but also strategic economic resources and ecological control factors. Water resources carrying capacity constrains the sustainable development of regional economy and society. Studies of water resources carrying capacity can provide helpful information about how the socioeconomic system is both supported and restrained by the water resources system. Based on the research of different scholars, major problems in the study of water resources carrying capacity were summarized as follows: the definition of water resources carrying capacity is not yet unified; the methods of carrying capacity quantification based on the definition of inconsistency are poor in operability; the current quantitative research methods of water resources carrying capacity did not fully reflect the principles of sustainable development; it is difficult to quantify the relationship among the water resources, economic society and ecological environment. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a better quantitative evaluation method to determine the regional water resources carrying capacity. This paper proposes a new approach to quantifying water resources carrying capacity (that is, through the compilation of the water resources balance sheet) to get a grasp of the regional water resources depletion and water environmental degradation (as well as regional water resources stock assets and liabilities), figure out the squeeze of socioeconomic activities on the environment, and discuss the quantitative calculation methods and technical route of water resources carrying capacity which are able to embody the substance of sustainable development.

Predictions of soil-water potentials in the north-western Sonoran Desert

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Young, D.R.; Nobel, P.S.

1986-03-01

A simple computer model was developed to predict soil-water potential at a Sonoran Desert site. The variability of precipitation there, coupled with the low water-holding capacity of the sandy soil, result in large temporal and spatial variations in soil-water potential. Predicted soil-water potentials for depths of 5, 10 and 20 cm were in close agreement with measured values as the soil dried after an application of water. Predicted values at a depth of 10 cm, the mean rooting depth of Agave deserti and other succulents common at the study site, also agreed with soil-water potentials measured in the field throughout 1 year. Both soil-water potential and evaporation from the soil surface were very sensitive to simulated changes in the hydraulic conductivity of the soil. The annual duration of soil moisture adequate for succulents was dependent on the rainfall as well as on the spacing and amount of individual rainfalls. The portion of annual precipitation evaporated from the soil surface varied from 73% in a dry year (77 mm precipitation) to 59% in a wet year (597 mm). Besides using the actual precipitation events, simulations were performed using the figures for total monthly precipitation. Based on the average number of rainfalls for a particular month, the rainfall was distributed throughout the month in the model. Predictions using both daily and monthly inputs were in close agreement, especially for the number of days during a year when the soil-water potential was sufficient for water absorption by the succulent plants (above -0.5 MPa).

Validation of a spatial model used to locate fish spawning reef construction sites in the St. Clair–Detroit River system

Science.gov (United States)

Fischer, Jason L.; Bennion, David; Roseman, Edward F.; Manny, Bruce A.

2015-01-01

Lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) populations have suffered precipitous declines in the St. Clair–Detroit River system, following the removal of gravel spawning substrates and overfishing in the late 1800s to mid-1900s. To assist the remediation of lake sturgeon spawning habitat, three hydrodynamic models were integrated into a spatial model to identify areas in two large rivers, where water velocities were appropriate for the restoration of lake sturgeon spawning habitat. Here we use water velocity data collected with an acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) to assess the ability of the spatial model and its sub-models to correctly identify areas where water velocities were deemed suitable for restoration of fish spawning habitat. ArcMap 10.1 was used to create raster grids of water velocity data from model estimates and ADCP measurements which were compared to determine the percentage of cells similarly classified as unsuitable, suitable, or ideal for fish spawning habitat remediation. The spatial model categorized 65% of the raster cells the same as depth-averaged water velocity measurements from the ADCP and 72% of the raster cells the same as surface water velocity measurements from the ADCP. Sub-models focused on depth-averaged velocities categorized the greatest percentage of cells similar to ADCP measurements where 74% and 76% of cells were the same as depth-averaged water velocity measurements. Our results indicate that integrating depth-averaged and surface water velocity hydrodynamic models may have biased the spatial model and overestimated suitable spawning habitat. A model solely integrating depth-averaged velocity models could improve identification of areas suitable for restoration of fish spawning habitat.

TAO/TRITON, RAMA, and PIRATA Buoys, Monthly, 1988-2015, ADCP

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This dataset has monthly Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) water currents data from the TAO/TRITON (Pacific Ocean, https://www.pmel.noaa.gov/gtmba/ ), RAMA...

Shallow Water Optical Water Quality Buoy

Science.gov (United States)

Bostater, Charles

1998-01-01

This NASA grant was funded as a result of an unsolicited proposal submission to Kennedy Space Center. The proposal proposed the development and testing of a shallow water optical water quality buoy. The buoy is meant to work in shallow aquatic systems (ponds, rivers, lagoons, and semi-enclosed water areas where strong wind wave action is not a major environmental During the project period of three years, a demonstration of the buoy was conducted. The last demonstration during the project period was held in November, 1996 when the buoy was demonstrated as being totally operational with no tethered communications line. During the last year of the project the buoy was made to be solar operated by large gel cell batteries. Fund limitations did not permit the batteries in metal enclosures as hoped for higher wind conditions, however the system used to date has worked continuously for in- situ operation of over 18 months continuous deployment. The system needs to have maintenance and somewhat continuous operational attention since various components have limited lifetime ages. For example, within the last six months the onboard computer has had to be repaired as it did approximately 6 months after deployment. The spectrograph had to be repaired and costs for repairs was covered by KB Science since no ftmds were available for this purpose after the grant expired. Most recently the computer web page server failed and it is currently being repaired by KB Science. In addition, the cell phone operation is currently being ftmded by Dr. Bostater in order to maintain the system's operation. The above points need to be made to allow NASA to understand that like any sophisticated measuring system in a lab or in the field, necessary funding and maintenance is needed to insure the system's operational state and to obtain quality factor. The proposal stated that the project was based upon the integration of a proprietary and confidential sensor and probe design that was developed by

An Agent Based Model of Household Water Use

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Clinton J. Andrews

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Households consume a significant fraction of total potable water production. Strategies to improve the efficiency of water use tend to emphasize technological interventions to reduce or shift water demand. Behavioral water use reduction strategies can also play an important role, but a flexible framework for exploring the “what-ifs” has not been available. This paper introduces such a framework, presenting an agent-based model of household water-consuming behavior. The model simulates hourly water-using activities of household members within a rich technological and behavioral context, calibrated with appropriate data. Illustrative experiments compare the resulting water usage of U.S. and Dutch households and their associated water-using technologies, different household types (singles, families with children, and retired couples, different water metering regimes, and educational campaigns. All else equal, Dutch and metered households use less water. Retired households use more water because they are more often at home. Water-saving educational campaigns are effective for the part of the population that is receptive. Important interactions among these factors, both technological and behavioral, highlight the value of this framework for integrated analysis of the human-technology-water system.

Hydrology and Water Quality of the Rio Chama River, Northern New Mexico: Establishing a Base Line to Manage Flows

Science.gov (United States)

Salvato, L.; Crossey, L. J.

2013-12-01

The Rio Chama is the largest stream tributary to the Rio Grande in northern New Mexico. The river's geographic location in a semiarid region results in high rates of evapotranspiration and highly variable streamflow. The Rio Chama is part of the San Juan-Chama Drinking Water Project, in which water from the San Juan River, southern Colorado, is diverted across the continental divide to the Rio Chama. Surface water moves through Abiquiu, El Vado and Heron Reservoirs to the Rio Grande to supply Albuquerque with potable drinking water. The results of these anthropogenic influences are a modified flow regime, less variability, greater base-flows, and smaller peak flows. We examined selected locations throughout the Rio Chama system to provide base-line water quality data for ongoing studies. This information will contribute to the development of the best plan to optimize flow releases and maximize benefits of the stakeholders and especially the riparian and stream ecosystems. We report results of two sampling trips representing extremes of the hydrograph in summer 2012 and fall 2012. We collected field parameters, processed water samples, and analyzed them for major anions and cations. The geochemistry enables us to better understand the impact of monthly releases of San Juan river water. We captured two points of the river's streamflow range, 54 cubic feet per second in October 2012 and 1,000 cubic feet per second in August 2012 and looked for variability within the results. We found that the reservoirs exhibit varying anion concentrations from samples taken at different depths. We compared stream waters and selected well samples at a stream transect. These samples allowed us to compare shallow ground water with the stream, and they indicated that the changes in ground water are attributed to sulfate reduction. The anion and cation inputs were most likely derived from gypsum, calcite, and salts, as there are many creeks discharging into the Rio Chama whose drainage

Chitosan-based water-propelled micromotors with strong antibacterial activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Delezuk, Jorge A M; Ramírez-Herrera, Doris E; Esteban-Fernández de Ávila, Berta; Wang, Joseph

2017-02-09

A rapid and efficient micromotor-based bacteria killing strategy is described. The new antibacterial approach couples the attractive antibacterial properties of chitosan with the efficient water-powered propulsion of magnesium (Mg) micromotors. These Janus micromotors consist of Mg microparticles coated with the biodegradable and biocompatible polymers poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA), alginate (Alg) and chitosan (Chi), with the latter responsible for the antibacterial properties of the micromotor. The distinct speed and efficiency advantages of the new micromotor-based environmentally friendly antibacterial approach have been demonstrated in various control experiments by treating drinking water contaminated with model Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria. The new dynamic antibacterial strategy offers dramatic improvements in the antibacterial efficiency, compared to static chitosan-coated microparticles (e.g., 27-fold enhancement), with a 96% killing efficiency within 10 min. Potential real-life applications of these chitosan-based micromotors for environmental remediation have been demonstrated by the efficient treatment of seawater and fresh water samples contaminated with unknown bacteria. Coupling the efficient water-driven propulsion of such biodegradable and biocompatible micromotors with the antibacterial properties of chitosan holds great considerable promise for advanced antimicrobial water treatment operation.

The Impact of a Community-Based Intervention Including a Monthly Food Ration on Food Insecurity Among HIV-Positive Adults During the First Year of Antiretroviral Therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Rothman, Jessica; Kayigamba, Felix; Hills, Victoria; Gupta, Neil; Machara, Faustin; Niyigena, Peter; Franke, Molly F

2018-01-01

The objective of this study was to examine how food insecurity changed among HIV-positive adults during the first 12 months of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) and whether any change differed according to the receipt of food support, which was provided in the context of a comprehensive community-based intervention. We conducted secondary data analyses of data from a prospective cohort study of the effectiveness of a community-based cART delivery model when added to clinic-based cART delivery in Rwanda. We included patients from four health centers that implemented a clinic-based cART delivery model alone and five health centers that additionally implemented the intervention, which included 10 months of food support. We compared food insecurity at 3, 6, and 12 months, relative to baseline, and stratified by receipt of the intervention. Relative to baseline, median food insecurity score decreased after 3, 6, and 12 months (p value insecurity scores remained unchanged at 3 and 12 months and were significantly higher after 6 months. In adjusted analyses, participants enrolled in the community-based intervention with a food ration had a lower risk of severe food insecurity and a lower risk of moderate or severe food insecurity after 12 months. A comprehensive community-based HIV program including a food ration likely contributes to an alleviation of food insecurity among adults newly initiating cART.

Six-month storage-time evaluation of one-bottle adhesive systems to dentin.

Science.gov (United States)

Giannini, Marcelo; Seixas, Carla Alessandra Marcelino; Reis, Andre Figueiredo; Pimenta, Luiz André Freire

2003-01-01

The goal of this study was to evaluate the 1-week, 3-month, and 6-month performance of eight commercially available one-bottle adhesive systems to dentin. Lingual and buccal surfaces from human third molars were ground wet on 600-grit SiC paper to obtain a flat dentinal surface. The specimens were randomly divided into 24 groups (n = 10), which were established to measure the shear bond strengths of Bond-1 (B1), ONE-STEP (OS), OptiBond SOLO (OP), Prime & Bond 2.1 (PB), Single Bond (SB), STAE (ST), Syntac Sprint (SS), and Tenure Quick (TQ) after 1-week, 3-month, and 6-month water storage at 37 degrees C. One-bottle adhesives were applied according to manufacturers' instructions and Z100 composite cylinders were applied on the bonded dentinal surfaces. The 3-month water-storage groups were thermocycled for 1500 cycles at 5 degrees C and 55 degrees C and 6-month groups for 3000 cycles. After storage periods, specimens were tested in shear in a universal testing machine (0.5 mm/min). were statistically analyzed by analysis of variance and Tukey test. Results: The changes in shear bond strengths were not uniform over time. Over the test period, OS, PB, SB, and SS exhibited bond strength stability, however, SS presented low bond strengths on all tested periods. A significant decrease in bond strength was observed for B1, OP, ST, and TQ after the 6-month storage period.

Boundary lubrication of bearing steel in water-based lubricants with functional additives

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wu, Y.

2017-01-01

This thesis focuses on the effect of additives on boundary lubrication of bearing steel for water-based lubrication systems. The oil-in-water (O/W) emulsion and the water-glycol based liquid were selected as the base fluids for research. Sulfur compounds, nitrogen heterocycles and graphene

Annual summary of the contents of the Oak Ridge Environmental Information System (OREIS) 1993 data base

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McCord, R.A.; Herr, D.D.; Durfee, R.C.; Land, M.L.; Monroe, F.E.; Olson, R.J.; Thomas, J.K.; Tinnel, E.P.

1994-06-01

The data base of the Oak Ridge Environmental Information System (OREIS) contains data of known quality that can be accessed by OREIS users. OREIS meets data management/access requirements for environmental data as specified in the Federal Facility Agreement for the Oak Ridge Reservation and the State Oversight Agreement between the State of Tennessee and the Department of Energy. The types of environmental data within OREIS include measurement data from the following environmental disciplines: groundwater, surface water, sediment, soils, air, and biota. In addition to measurement data, the OREIS data base contains extensive descriptive and qualifier metadata to help define data quality and to enable end users to analyze the appropriateness of data for their purposes. Another important aspect of measurement data is their spatial context; OREIS maintains a comprehensive library of geographic data and tools to analyze and display spatial relationships of the data. As of November 1993, the OREIS data base consists of approximately 100,000 records associated with three environmental restoration projects along with coordinate data and background map data. The data base also contains 2,700 supporting codes and other reference data records. Geographic data include the S-16A base map for the Oak Ridge Reservation, boundaries for operable units, and high-resolution raster images for each of the sites

Towards Plasma-Based Water Purification: Challenges and Prospects for the Future

Science.gov (United States)

Foster, John

2016-10-01

Freshwater scarcity derived from climate change, pollution, and over-development has led to serious consideration for water reuse. Advanced water treatment technologies will be required to process wastewater slated for reuse. One new and emerging technology that could potentially address the removal micropollutants in both drinking water as well as wastewater slated for reuse is plasma-based water purification. Plasma in contact with liquid water generates reactive species that attack and ultimately mineralize organic contaminants in solution. This interaction takes place in a boundary layer centered at the plasma-liquid interface. An understanding of the physical processes taking place at this interface, though poorly understood, is key to the optimization of plasma water purifiers. High electric field conditions, large density gradients, plasma-driven chemistries, and fluid dynamic effects prevail in this multiphase region. The region is also the source function for longer-lived reactive species that ultimately treat the water. Here, we review the need for advanced water treatment methods and in the process, make the case for plasma-based methods. Additionally, we survey the basic methods of interacting plasma with liquid water (including a discussion of breakdown processes in water), the current state of understanding of the physical processes taking place at the plasma-liquid interface, and the role that these processes play in water purification. The development of diagnostics usable in this multiphase environment along modeling efforts aimed at elucidating physical processes taking place at the interface are also detailed. Key experiments that demonstrate the capability of plasma-based water treatment are also reviewed. The technical challenges to the implementation of plasma-based water reactors are also discussed. NSF CBET 1336375 and DOE DE-SC0001939.

Towards risk-based drought management in the Netherlands: making water supply levels transparent to water users

Science.gov (United States)

Maat Judith, Ter; Marjolein, Mens; Vuren Saskia, Van; der Vat Marnix, Van

2016-04-01

To prepare the Dutch Delta for future droughts and water scarcity, a nation-wide 4-year project, called Delta Programme, assessed the impact of climate change and socio-economic development, and explored strategies to deal with these impacts. The Programme initiated a joint approach to water supply management with stakeholders and developed a national adaptation plan that is able to adapt to future uncertain conditions. The adaptation plan consists of a set of preferred policy pathways - sequences of possible actions and measures through time - to achieve targets while responding in a flexible manner to uncertain developments over time, allowing room to respond to new opportunities and insights. With regard to fresh water allocation, the Delta Programme stated that supplying water of sufficient quality is a shared responsibility that requires cohesive efforts among users in the main and regional water system. The national and local authorities and water users involved agreed that the water availability and, where relevant, the water quality should be as transparent and predictable as possible under normal, dry and extremely dry conditions. They therefore introduced the concept of "water supply service levels", which should describe water availability and quality that can be delivered with a certain return period, for all regions and all relevant water users in the Netherlands. The service levels form an addition to the present policy and should be decided on by 2021. At present water allocation during periods of (expected) water shortage occurs according to a prearranged ranking system (a water hierarchy scheme based on a list of priorities), if water availability drops below a critical low level. The aim is to have supply levels available that are based on the probability of occurrence and economic impact of water shortage, and that are transparent for all water users in the regional water systems and the main water system. As part of the European project

Using stochastic dynamic programming to support catchment-scale water resources management in China

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Davidsen, Claus; Cardenal, Silvio Javier Pereira; Liu, Suxia

2013-01-01

contain the marginal value of stored water as a function of the month, the inflow state and the reservoir state. The water value tables are used to guide allocation decisions in simulation mode. The performance of the operation rules based on water value tables was evaluated. The approach was used......A hydro-economic modelling approach is used to optimize reservoir management at river basin level. We demonstrate the potential of this integrated approach on the Ziya River basin, a complex basin on the North China Plain south-east of Beijing. The area is subject to severe water scarcity due...... to low and extremely seasonal precipitation, and the intense agricultural production is highly dependent on irrigation. Large reservoirs provide water storage for dry months while groundwater and the external South-to-North Water Transfer Project are alternative sources of water. An optimization model...

Assessment of Mining Extent and Expansion in Myanmar Based on Freely-Available Satellite Imagery

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katherine J. LaJeunesse Connette

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Using freely-available data and open-source software, we developed a remote sensing methodology to identify mining areas and assess recent mining expansion in Myanmar. Our country-wide analysis used Landsat 8 satellite data from a select number of mining areas to create a raster layer of potential mining areas. We used this layer to guide a systematic scan of freely-available fine-resolution imagery, such as Google Earth, in order to digitize likely mining areas. During this process, each mining area was assigned a ranking indicating our certainty in correct identification of the mining land use. Finally, we identified areas of recent mining expansion based on the change in albedo, or brightness, between Landsat images from 2002 and 2015. We identified 90,041 ha of potential mining areas in Myanmar, of which 58% (52,312 ha was assigned high certainty, 29% (26,251 ha medium certainty, and 13% (11,478 ha low certainty. Of the high-certainty mining areas, 62% of bare ground was disturbed (had a large increase in albedo since 2002. This four-month project provides the first publicly-available database of mining areas in Myanmar, and it demonstrates an approach for large-scale assessment of mining extent and expansion based on freely-available data.

Hydrogen Production from Semiconductor-based Photocatalysis via Water Splitting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jeffrey C. S. Wu

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Hydrogen is the ideal fuel for the future because it is clean, energy efficient, and abundant in nature. While various technologies can be used to generate hydrogen, only some of them can be considered environmentally friendly. Recently, solar hydrogen generated via photocatalytic water splitting has attracted tremendous attention and has been extensively studied because of its great potential for low-cost and clean hydrogen production. This paper gives a comprehensive review of the development of photocatalytic water splitting for generating hydrogen, particularly under visible-light irradiation. The topics covered include an introduction of hydrogen production technologies, a review of photocatalytic water splitting over titania and non-titania based photocatalysts, a discussion of the types of photocatalytic water-splitting approaches, and a conclusion for the current challenges and future prospects of photocatalytic water splitting. Based on the literatures reported here, the development of highly stable visible–light-active photocatalytic materials, and the design of efficient, low-cost photoreactor systems are the key for the advancement of solar-hydrogen production via photocatalytic water splitting in the future.

Modelling monthly runoff generation processes following land use changes: groundwater-surface runoff interactions

Science.gov (United States)

Bari, M.; Smettem, K. R. J.

A conceptual water balance model is presented to represent changes in monthly water balance following land use changes. Monthly rainfall-runoff, groundwater and soil moisture data from four experimental catchments in Western Australia have been analysed. Two of these catchments, "Ernies" (control, fully forested) and "Lemon" (54% cleared) are in a zone of mean annual rainfall of 725 mm, while "Salmon" (control, fully forested) and "Wights" (100% cleared) are in a zone with mean annual rainfall of 1125 mm. At the Salmon forested control catchment, streamflow comprises surface runoff, base flow and interflow components. In the Wights catchment, cleared of native forest for pasture development, all three components increased, groundwater levels rose significantly and stream zone saturated area increased from 1% to 15% of the catchment area. It took seven years after clearing for the rainfall-runoff generation process to stabilise in 1984. At the Ernies forested control catchment, the permanent groundwater system is 20 m below the stream bed and so does not contribute to streamflow. Following partial clearing of forest in the Lemon catchment, groundwater rose steadily and reached the stream bed by 1987. The streamflow increased in two phases: (i) immediately after clearing due to reduced evapotranspiration, and (ii) through an increase in the groundwater-induced stream zone saturated area after 1987. After analysing all the data available, a conceptual monthly model was created, comprising four inter-connecting stores: (i) an upper zone unsaturated store, (ii) a transient stream zone store, (ii) a lower zone unsaturated store and (iv) a saturated groundwater store. Data such as rooting depth, Leaf Area Index, soil porosity, profile thickness, depth to groundwater, stream length and surface slope were incorporated into the model as a priori defined attributes. The catchment average values for different stores were determined through matching observed and predicted

Response of cyanobacteria to the fountain-based water aeration system in Jeziorak Mały urban lake

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zębek Elżbieta

2014-03-01

Full Text Available This study of cyanobacteria phytoplankton was conducted from May to August in 2002, 2003 and 2005 during fountain-based water aeration in the pelagial of the Jeziorak Mały urban lake in Poland. Additional water mixing by this installation’s activity changed the cyanobacterial growth conditions. Although less of their proportion was noted in total phytoplankton abundance, higher mean abundance and biomass were recorded at the fountain than at the lake centre. Higher water temperature in the surface layer favoured cyanobacterial growth at the fountain, while higher iron concentration stimulated their development in the lake’s centre. This was supported by positive correlations between their abundance and these water parameters. Moreover, the fountain’s activity contributed to the cyanobacteria sinking in the water column. The higher abundance of cyanobacteria was found at 1m depth in May, July and August than in the fountain surface layer. Additional water mixing during fountain activity caused also a shift in their abundance maximum (C - June and F - August and contributed to intensive organic matter decomposition. These conditions promoted cyanobacterial nutrient uptake from the water at the fountain, and this is supported by the negative correlation between their abundance and orthophosphate and total nitrogen concentrations. Generally, water mixing during the fountain’s activity does not inhibit the growth of cyanobacteria. This phenomenon disturbed abundance dynamics of the cyanobacteria in summer months but didn’t contribute to their abundance decrease. It is important for these results to be considered in future management of shallow urban lakes.

Analysing monthly sectorial water use and its influence on salt intrusion induced water shortage in urbanized deltas

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Yao, Mingtian; Yan, Dan; Kabat, Pavel; Huang, Heqing; Hutjes, Ronald W.A.; Werners, Saskia E.

2016-01-01

Urbanizing delta regions face seasonal water shortages induced by rising salt intrusion. Decreasing river discharge is readily listed as the major cause of water shortage events. Yet, observations of river discharge often fail to support this attribution. Evidence of the association between

Water-bearing explosive containing nitrogen-base salt

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dunglinson, C.; Lyerly, W.M.

1968-10-21

A water-bearing explosive composition consists of an oxidizing salt component, a fuel component, and water. A sensitizer is included having an oxygen balance more positive than -150%, and consisting of a salt of an inorganic oxidizing acid and of an acyclic nitrogen base having no more than 2 hydrogen atoms bonded to the basic nitrogen and up to 3 carbons per basic nitrogen, and/or of a phenyl amine. 41 claims.

Research on water management system based on Android

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Dongjiang; Hu, Songlin

2018-04-01

With the rapid development of Smart city, Smart water is an important part of Smart city, which is paid more and more attention. It obtains and deals with urban water information through information technology. It can effectively manage urban water supply, The sale of water and other processes. At the same time, due to the popularity of Smartphones, Smartphone applications have covered every aspect of life and become an indispensable part of people's daily life. Through the Smartphone applications, the user can achieve online mobile water purchase, query the water situation, water quality and other basic situation, greatly facilitate the use of the user, for wisdom water construction is of great significance. In this paper, the water management system based on Android is designed and implemented according to the user's needs. It includes intelligent water meter terminal, monitoring center server, Smartphone application and wireless communication network. The user can use the Smartphone at any time and at any place to view the user's water information in real time providing great convenience for users. So its application prospect is very broad as an important part of smart city.

Evaluation of some vanillin-modified polyoxyethylene surfactants as additives for water based mud

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M.M.A. El-Sukkary

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Water-based drilling fluids are increasingly being used for oil and gas exploration and are generally considered to be more environmentally acceptable than oil-based or synthetic-based fluids. In this study, new types of vanillin-modified polyoxyethylene surfactants were evaluated as additives in water-based mud. Their rheological properties in water-based mud were investigated which included the apparent viscosity, the plastic viscosity, the yield point, the gel strength, the thixotropy as well as the filtration properties. Also, the effect of high temperature on the rheology of the formulated water based mud was studied. The tested ethoxylated non-ionic surfactants showed good results when utilized in the formulation of water-based mud.

The Martian Water Cycle Based on 3-D Modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Houben, H.; Haberle, R. M.; Joshi, M. M.

1999-01-01

Understanding the distribution of Martian water is a major goal of the Mars Surveyor program. However, until the bulk of the data from the nominal missions of TES, PMIRR, GRS, MVACS, and the DS2 probes are available, we are bound to be in a state where much of our knowledge of the seasonal behavior of water is based on theoretical modeling. We therefore summarize the results of this modeling at the present time. The most complete calculations come from a somewhat simplified treatment of the Martian climate system which is capable of simulating many decades of weather. More elaborate meteorological models are now being applied to study of the problem. The results show a high degree of consistency with observations of aspects of the Martian water cycle made by Viking MAWD, a large number of ground-based measurements of atmospheric column water vapor, studies of Martian frosts, and the widespread occurrence of water ice clouds. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.

The effect of three-monthly albendazole treatment on malarial parasitemia and allergy: a household-based cluster-randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wiria, Aprilianto E.; Hamid, Firdaus; Wammes, Linda J.; Kaisar, Maria M. M.; May, Linda; Prasetyani, Margaretta A.; Wahyuni, Sitti; Djuardi, Yenny; Ariawan, Iwan; Wibowo, Heri; Lell, Bertrand; Sauerwein, Robert; Brice, Gary T.; Sutanto, Inge; van Lieshout, Lisette; de Craen, Anton J. M.; van Ree, Ronald; Verweij, Jaco J.; Tsonaka, Roula; Houwing-Duistermaat, Jeanine J.; Luty, Adrian J. F.; Sartono, Erliyani; Supali, Taniawati; Yazdanbakhsh, Maria

2013-01-01

Helminth infections are proposed to have immunomodulatory activities affecting health outcomes either detrimentally or beneficially. We evaluated the effects of albendazole treatment, every three months for 21 months, on STH, malarial parasitemia and allergy. A household-based cluster-randomized,

Reproducibility of Carbon and Water Cycle by an Ecosystem Process Based Model Using a Weather Generator and Effect of Temporal Concentration of Precipitation on Model Outputs

Science.gov (United States)

Miyauchi, T.; Machimura, T.

2014-12-01

GCM is generally used to produce input weather data for the simulation of carbon and water cycle by ecosystem process based models under climate change however its temporal resolution is sometimes incompatible to requirement. A weather generator (WG) is used for temporal downscaling of input weather data for models, where the effect of WG algorithms on reproducibility of ecosystem model outputs must be assessed. In this study simulated carbon and water cycle by Biome-BGC model using weather data measured and generated by CLIMGEN weather generator were compared. The measured weather data (daily precipitation, maximum, minimum air temperature) at a few sites for 30 years was collected from NNDC Online weather data. The generated weather data was produced by CLIMGEN parameterized using the measured weather data. NPP, heterotrophic respiration (HR), NEE and water outflow were simulated by Biome-BGC using measured and generated weather data. In the case of deciduous broad leaf forest in Lushi, Henan Province, China, 30 years average monthly NPP by WG was 10% larger than that by measured weather in the growing season. HR by WG was larger than that by measured weather in all months by 15% in average. NEE by WG was more negative in winter and was close to that by measured weather in summer. These differences in carbon cycle were because the soil water content by WG was larger than that by measured weather. The difference between monthly water outflow by WG and by measured weather was large and variable, and annual outflow by WG was 50% of that by measured weather. The inconsistency in carbon and water cycle by WG and measured weather was suggested be affected by the difference in temporal concentration of precipitation, which was assessed.

Water resources assessment and prediction in China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

W. Guangsheng

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Water resources assessment in China, can be classified into three groups: (i comprehensive water resources assessment, (ii annual water resources assessment, and (iii industrial project water resources assessment. Comprehensive water resources assessment is the conventional assessment where the frequency distribution of water resources in basins or provincial regions are analyzed. For the annual water resources assessment, water resources of the last year in basins or provincial regions are usually assessed. For the industrial project water resources assessment, the water resources situation before the construction of industrial project has to be assessed. To address the climate and environmental changes, hydrological and statistical models are widely applied for studies on assessing water resources changes. For the water resources prediction in China usually the monthly runoff prediction is used. In most low flow seasons, the flow recession curve is commonly used as prediction method. In the humid regions, the rainfall-runoff ensemble prediction (ESP has been widely applied for the monthly runoff prediction. The conditional probability method for the monthly runoff prediction was also applied to assess next month runoff probability under a fixed initial condition.

Well successfully drilled with high performance water-based fluid: Santos Basins, offshore Brazil

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fornasier, Frank C.; Luzardo, Juan P. [Halliburton Company, Houston, TX (United States); Bishnoi, M.L. [Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltda. (ONGC), Dehradun (India)

2012-07-01

Santos Basin is a 352,260 square kilometers (136,010 sq mi) offshore pre-salt basin. It is located in the South Atlantic Ocean, some 300 kilometers (190 mi) South East of Sao Paulo, Brazil. One of the largest Brazilian sedimentary basins, it is the site of several recent significant oil fields, including Tupi and Jupiter. The criteria for drilling fluid selection is based upon the following factors: maximum cost efficiency, environmental friendliness, optimum borehole stability, and ease of use. The recommended drilling fluid formulation takes into consideration the experience gained during the drilling of wells in the Santos Basin area. The operator wanted to use a high-performance water-based fluid (HPWBF) that could provide shale inhibition, wellbore stability, lubricity and improved rate of penetration (ROP) as an alternative to synthetic-based drilling fluids to present value in terms of economics and environmental friendliness. The HPWBF consists of three synergistic products: a hydration suppressant, a dispersion suppressant, and an accretion suppressant. The system is formulated based on customized solutions for managing the clay reactivity. High logistics costs require drilling fluids that can be prepared with sea water and discharged to the sea without environmental impact. The HPWBF is a clay-free system designed for maximum shale inhibition in highly reactive formations. The system can provide wellbore stability, high rates of penetration, and acceptable rheological properties over a wide range of temperatures, with the added benefit of allowing cuttings discharge based upon water base environmental restrictions. Since no oil is used in the formulation, the HPWBF eliminates the need for cuttings processing and monitoring equipment, and exceeds the environmental requirements by achieving an LC50 value of 345,478.22 ppm in comparison with the minimum requirement (LC50 > 30,000 ppm in 96 hr), permitting use and discharge to the sea. The HPWBF selected

The NEWS Water Cycle Climatology

Science.gov (United States)

Rodell, M.; Beaudoing, H. K.; L'Ecuyer, T.; Olson, W. S.

2012-12-01

NASA's Energy and Water Cycle Study (NEWS) program fosters collaborative research towards improved quantification and prediction of water and energy cycle consequences of climate change. In order to measure change, it is first necessary to describe current conditions. The goal of the first phase of the NEWS Water and Energy Cycle Climatology project was to develop "state of the global water cycle" and "state of the global energy cycle" assessments based on data from modern ground and space based observing systems and data integrating models. The project was a multi-institutional collaboration with more than 20 active contributors. This presentation will describe the results of the water cycle component of the first phase of the project, which include seasonal (monthly) climatologies of water fluxes over land, ocean, and atmosphere at continental and ocean basin scales. The requirement of closure of the water budget (i.e., mass conservation) at various scales was exploited to constrain the flux estimates via an optimization approach that will also be described. Further, error assessments were included with the input datasets, and we examine these in relation to inferred uncertainty in the optimized flux estimates in order to gauge our current ability to close the water budget within an expected uncertainty range.

The NEWS Water Cycle Climatology

Science.gov (United States)

Rodell, Matthew; Beaudoing, Hiroko Kato; L'Ecuyer, Tristan; William, Olson

2012-01-01

NASA's Energy and Water Cycle Study (NEWS) program fosters collaborative research towards improved quantification and prediction of water and energy cycle consequences of climate change. In order to measure change, it is first necessary to describe current conditions. The goal of the first phase of the NEWS Water and Energy Cycle Climatology project was to develop "state of the global water cycle" and "state of the global energy cycle" assessments based on data from modern ground and space based observing systems and data integrating models. The project was a multi-institutional collaboration with more than 20 active contributors. This presentation will describe the results of the water cycle component of the first phase of the project, which include seasonal (monthly) climatologies of water fluxes over land, ocean, and atmosphere at continental and ocean basin scales. The requirement of closure of the water budget (i.e., mass conservation) at various scales was exploited to constrain the flux estimates via an optimization approach that will also be described. Further, error assessments were included with the input datasets, and we examine these in relation to inferred uncertainty in the optimized flux estimates in order to gauge our current ability to close the water budget within an expected uncertainty range.

Employment-based reinforcement of adherence to oral naltrexone in unemployed injection drug users: 12-month outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Dunn, Kelly; DeFulio, Anthony; Everly, Jeffrey J; Donlin, Wendy D; Aklin, Will M; Nuzzo, Paul A; Leoutsakos, Jeannie-Marie S; Umbricht, Annie; Fingerhood, Michael; Bigelow, George E; Silverman, Kenneth

2015-06-01

Oral naltrexone could be a promising relapse-prevention pharmacotherapy for recently detoxified opioid-dependent patients; however, interventions are often needed to promote adherence with this treatment approach. We recently conducted a study to evaluate a 26-week employment-based reinforcement intervention of oral naltrexone in unemployed injection drug users (Dunn et al., 2013). Participants were randomly assigned into a contingency (n = 35) group required to ingest naltrexone under staff observation to gain entry into a therapeutic workplace or a prescription (n = 32) group given a take-home supply of oral naltrexone and access to the workplace without observed ingestion. Monthly urine samples were collected and analyzed for evidence for naltrexone adherence, opioid use, and cocaine use. As previously reported, contingency participants provided significantly more naltrexone-positive urine samples than prescription participants during the 26-week intervention period. The goal of this current study is to report the 12-month outcomes, which occurred 6 months after the intervention ended. Results at the 12-month visit showed no between-groups differences in naltrexone-positive, opioid-negative, or cocaine-negative urine samples and no participant self-reported using naltrexone at the follow-up visit. These results show that even after a period of successfully reinforced oral naltrexone adherence, longer-term naltrexone use is unlikely to be maintained after reinforcement contingencies are discontinued. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Feasibility study of a wind powered water pumping system for rural Ethiopia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Misrak Girma

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Water is the primary source of life for mankind and one of the most basic necessities for rural development. Most of the rural areas of Ethiopia do not have access to potable water. Is some regions of the country access potable water is available through use of manual pumping and Diesel engine. In this research, wind water pump is designed to supply drinking water for three selected rural locations in Ethiopia. The design results show that a 5.7 m diameter windmill is required for pumping water from borehole through a total head of 75, 66 and 44 m for Siyadberand Wayu, Adami Tulu and East Enderta to meet the daily water demand of 10, 12 and 15 m3, respectively. The simulation for performance of the selected wind pump is conducted using MATLAB software and the result showed that monthly water discharge is proportional to the monthly average wind speed at the peak monthly discharge of 685 m3 in June, 888 m3 in May and 1203 m3 in March for Siyadberand Wayu, Adami Tulu and East Enderta sites, respectively. An economic comparison is conducted, using life cycle cost analysis, for wind mill and Diesel water pumping systems and the results show that windmill water pumping systems are more feasible than Diesel based systems.

Air-sea fluxes and satellite-based estimation of water masses formation

Science.gov (United States)

Sabia, Roberto; Klockmann, Marlene; Fernandez-Prieto, Diego; Donlon, Craig

2015-04-01

and monthly water mass formation rates for different SST and SSS ranges are presented. The formation peaks are remapped geographically, to analyze the extent of the formation area. Water mass formation derived from SMOS and OSTIA compares well with the results obtained from in-situ data, although slight differences in magnitude and peak location occur. Known water masses can then be identified. Ongoing/future work aims at extending this study along different avenues by: 1) expand systematically the spatial and temporal domain of the study to additional ocean basins and to the entire time period of available SSS observations from SMOS/Aquarius; 2) perform a thorough error propagation to assess how errors in satellite SSS and SST translate into errors in water masses formation rates and geographical areas extent; and 3) explore the different options to connect the surface information to the vertical buoyancy structure to assess potential density instability (e.g., Turner angle). References [1] Sabia, R., M. Klockmann, D. Fernández-Prieto, and C. Donlon (2014), A first estimation of SMOS-based ocean surface T-S diagrams, J. Geophys. Res. Oceans, 119, 7357-7371, doi:10.1002/2014JC010120. [2] Klockmann, M., R. Sabia, D. Fernández-Prieto, C. Donlon, J. Font; Towards an estimation of water masses formation areas from SMOS-based T-S diagrams; EGU general assembly 2014, April 27-May 2, 2014. [3] Klockmann, M., R. Sabia, D. Fernández-Prieto, C. Donlon, Linking satellite SSS and SST to water mass formation; Ocean salinity science and salinity remote sensing workshop, Exeter, UK, November 26-28, 2014. [4] Font, J., A. Camps, A. Borges, M. Martín-Neira, J. Boutin, N. Reul, Y. H. Kerr, A. Hahne, and S. Mecklenburg, "SMOS: The challenging sea surface salinity measurement from space," Proceedings of the IEEE, vol. 98, pp. 649-665, 2010. [5] Le Vine, D.M.; Lagerloef, G.S.E.; Torrusio, S.E.; "Aquarius and Remote Sensing of Sea Surface Salinity from Space," Proceedings of the IEEE

An assessment of twelve- versus eighteen-month cycles for PWRs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Momsen, B.F.; Dale, R.

1983-01-01

This paper discusses the technical and economic factors involved in 18-month cycles for Zion pressurized water reactors (PWRs). The technical factors are divided into the factors that define input to the economic analysis and factors that are combined with the economic results in the final decisionmaking process. The economic analysis was performed by using a Present Value of the Revenue Requirements (PVRR) method and a complementary cash flow examination. The PVRR analysis examined total costs associated with both the 12- and 18-month cycles. The only significant technical problem that was identified was the relatively low new fuel enrichment limit of 3.2 w/o U 235 . The economic analysis demonstrated that 18-month cycles yielded significant PVRR savings over the 15-year study period. The economic benefits of 18-month cycles decreased as the fuel cost increased, the operating capacity factor decreased, the refueling outage length decreased, the differential 18-month cycle outage length increased, the replacement power cost decreased, and the escalation rate decreased

Trends and variation in monthly rainfall and temperature in Suriname

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Raid, Nurmohamed

2004-01-01

As Surinam lies within the equatorial trough zone, climate is mainly influenced by the movement and intensity of the Inter-tropical Convergence Zone and the El Nino Southern Oscillation. Scientist predict that global climate change will directly effect the hydrological cycle such as rainfall and temperature, and extreme events such as a El Nino and La Nina. The aim of this study is to analyze historical changes in monthly rainfall and temperature and to predict future changes, with respect to climate change (doubling of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) by 2100) and variability. Linear extrapolation and five Global Circulations Models (GCMS) (HadCM2, ECHAM4, GFDL-TR, CSIRO2-EQ, CCSR-NIES) will be used. Results of GCMs have showed that under global climate change by 2100, the monthly rainfall is predicted to change with -82 to 66 mm during January and August, and -36 to 47 mm during September and November. The monthly temperature is predicted to increase with 1.3 to 4.3 C by 2100. El Nino events have showed that along the coastal zone and in the center of Surinam, most months (>50%) during the year are drier than normal (88 to 316 mm), while in the west part of Surinam, most months (>50%) are wetter than normal (110 to 220 mm). La Nina events have showed that over entire Surinam, most of the months are wetter than normal (19 to 122 mm), with respect to the minimum rainfall. It can be concluded that the changes in rainfall due to El Nino and La Nina events may have significant impacts on the design, planning and management of water resources systems in Surinam and should therefore be incorporated in future water resources planning. (Author)

GNSS-Reflectometry based water level monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Beckheinrich, Jamila; Schön, Steffen; Beyerle, Georg; Apel, Heiko; Semmling, Maximilian; Wickert, Jens

2013-04-01

Due to climate changing conditions severe changes in the Mekong delta in Vietnam have been recorded in the last years. The goal of the German Vietnamese WISDOM (Water-related Information system for the Sustainable Development Of the Mekong Delta) project is to build an information system to support and assist the decision makers, planners and authorities for an optimized water and land management. One of WISDOM's tasks is the flood monitoring of the Mekong delta. Earth reflected L-band signals from the Global Navigation Satellite System show a high reflectivity on water and ice surfaces or on wet soil so that GNSS-Reflectometry (GNSS-R) could contribute to monitor the water level in the main streams of the Mekong delta complementary to already existing monitoring networks. In principle, two different GNSS-R methods exist: the code- and the phase-based one. As the latter being more accurate, a new generation of GORS (GNSS Occultation, Reflectometry and Scatterometry) JAVAD DELTA GNSS receiver has been developed with the aim to extract precise phase observations. In a two week lasting measurement campaign, the receiver has been tested and several reflection events at the 150-200 m wide Can Tho river in Vietnam have been recorded. To analyze the geometrical impact on the quantity and quality of the reflection traces two different antennas height were tested. To track separately the direct and the reflected signal, two antennas were used. To derive an average height of the water level, for a 15 min observation interval, a phase model has been developed. Combined with the coherent observations, the minimum slope has been calculated based on the Least- Squares method. As cycle slips and outliers will impair the results, a preprocessing of the data has been performed. A cycle slip detection strategy that allows for automatic detection, identification and correction is proposed. To identify outliers, the data snooping method developed by Baarda 1968 is used. In this

Improving Agricultural Water Resources Management Using Ground-based Infrared Thermometry

Science.gov (United States)

Taghvaeian, S.

2014-12-01

Irrigated agriculture is the largest user of freshwater resources in arid/semi-arid parts of the world. Meeting rapidly growing demands in food, feed, fiber, and fuel while minimizing environmental pollution under a changing climate requires significant improvements in agricultural water management and irrigation scheduling. Although recent advances in remote sensing techniques and hydrological modeling has provided valuable information on agricultural water resources and their management, real improvements will only occur if farmers, the decision makers on the ground, are provided with simple, affordable, and practical tools to schedule irrigation events. This presentation reviews efforts in developing methods based on ground-based infrared thermometry and thermography for day-to-day management of irrigation systems. The results of research studies conducted in Colorado and Oklahoma show that ground-based remote sensing methods can be used effectively in quantifying water stress and consequently triggering irrigation events. Crop water use estimates based on stress indices have also showed to be in good agreement with estimates based on other methods (e.g. surface energy balance, root zone soil water balance, etc.). Major challenges toward the adoption of this approach by agricultural producers include the reduced accuracy under cloudy and humid conditions and its inability to forecast irrigation date, which is a critical knowledge since many irrigators need to decide about irrigations a few days in advance.

Community Based Educational Model on Water Conservation Program

Science.gov (United States)

Sudiajeng, L.; Parwita, I. G. L.; Wiraga, I. W.; Mudhina, M.

2018-01-01

The previous research showed that there were indicators of water crisis in the northern and eastern part of Denpasar city and most of coastal area experienced on seawater intrusion. The recommended water conservation programs were rainwater harvesting and educate the community to develop a water saving and environmentally conscious culture. This research was conducted to built the community based educational model on water conservation program through ergonomics SHIP approach which placed the human aspect as the first consideration, besides the economic and technically aspects. The stakeholders involved in the program started from the problem analyses to the implementation and the maintenance as well. The model was built through three main steps, included determination of accepted design; building the recharge wells by involving local communities; guidance and assistance in developing a water saving and environmentally conscious culture for early childhood, elementary and junior high school students, community and industry. The program was implemented based on the “TRIHITA KARANA” concept, which means the relationship between human to God, human-to-human, and human to environment. Through the development of the model, it is expected to grow a sense of belonging and awareness from the community to maintain the sustainability of the program.

The application and testing of diatom-based indices of stream water ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The application and testing of diatom-based indices of stream water quality in Chinhoyi Town, Zimbabwe. ... PROMOTING ACCESS TO AFRICAN RESEARCH ... test the applicability of foreign diatom-based water quality assessment indices to ...

Cement/bentonite interaction. Results from 16 month laboratory tests

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Karnland, O. [Clay Technology AB, Lund (Sweden)

1997-12-01

The work concerns possible bentonite clay mineral alteration in constructions with bentonite in close contact with cement, and the effect of such changes on bentonite buffer properties. The investigation comprises a 16 months laboratory test series with hydrothermal cell tests, percolation tests and diffusion tests. MX-80 Wyoming bentonite was used in all tests. Two types of artificial cement pore water solutions were used in the percolation and diffusion tests. The swelling pressure and the hydraulic conductivity were measured continuously in the percolation tests. After termination, the clay was analyzed with respect to changes in element distribution, mineralogy and shear strength. The water solutions were analyzed with respect to pH, cations and major anions. The results concerning chemical and mineralogical changes are in summary: Ion exchange in the montmorillonite until equilibrium with cement pore-water ions was reached; Increase in cation exchange capacity; Dissolution of original cristobalite; Increase in quartz content; Minor increase in illite content; Minor formation of chlorite; Formation of CSH(I); Wash away of CSH-gel into surrounding water. A large decrease in swelling pressure and a moderate increase in hydraulic conductivity were recorded in the samples percolated by SULFACEM pore-water solution. The mineralogical alterations only concerned a minor part of the total bentonite mass and the changes in physical properties were therefore most likely due to the replacement of the original charge balancing cation by cement pore-water cations. Comparisons between the current test result and results from 4 month tests indicate that the rates of illite and chlorite formation were reduced during the tests. The presence of zeolites in the clay could not be ensured. However, the discovery of CSH material is important since CSH is expected to precede the formation of zeolites 5 refs, 48 figs, 11 tabs

Modelling land use changes according to transportation scenarios using raster based GIS indicators

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fuglsang, Morten; Münier, Bernd; Hansen, Henning Sten

2012-01-01

the cellular automata model LUCIA. An Eastern Danish case area was selected, comprising the Copenhagen metropolitan area and its hinterland. The different scenarios are described using a range of different GIS datasets. These include mapping of accessibility based on public and private transportation, urban....... In the EU-FP7 research project PASHMINA (Paradigm Shift modelling and innovative approaches), three storylines of future transportation paradigm shifts towards 2050 are created. These storylines are translated into spatial planning strategies and their implication on land use changes were modelled via...... in urban distribution that different spatial planning strategies may initiate, and thus change the shape of the urban landscape. The scenarios outline different planning strategies, leading to a more homogenous urban structure, targeted at a reduction of transportation work and thus energy consumption...

Uncertainty in a monthly water balance model using the generalized ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Laboratory of Comparative Policy in Water Resources Management, University of .... 2014). All parameters have physical meaning, but not all of them have a well- ... See text and table 1 for details. ..... Part I: A discussion of principles;. J. Hydrol ...

Impact of an outdoor smoking ban at secondary schools on cigarettes, e-cigarettes and water pipe use among adolescents: An 18-Month Follow-Up

OpenAIRE

Rozema, A.D.; Hiemstra, J.M.; Mathijssen, J.J.P.; Jansen, M.W.J.; Van Oers, J.A.M.

2018-01-01

The effectiveness of outdoor smoking bans on smoking behavior among adolescents remains inconclusive. This study evaluates the long-term impact of outdoor school ground smoking bans among adolescents at secondary schools on the use of conventional cigarettes, e-cigarettes (with/without nicotine) and water pipes. Outdoor smoking bans at 19 Dutch secondary schools were evaluated using a quasi-experimental design. Data on 7733 adolescents were obtained at baseline, and at 6 and 18-month follow-u...

Petroleum supply monthly, March 1994

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1994-03-30

Data presented in the Petroleum Supply Monthly (PSM) describe the supply and disposition of petroleum products in the United States and major US geographic regions. The data series describe production, imports and exports, inter-Petroleum Administration for Defense (PAD) District movements, and inventories by the primary suppliers of petroleum products in the United States (50 States and the District of Columbia). The reporting universe includes those petroleum sectors in primary supply. Included are: petroleum refiners, motor gasoline blenders, operators of natural gas processing plants and fractionators, inter-PAD transporters, importers, and major inventory holders of petroleum products and crude oil. When aggregated, the data reported by these sectors approximately represent the consumption of petroleum products in the United States. Data presented in the PSM are divided into two sections: Summary Statistics and Detailed Statistics. The tables and figures in the Summary Statistics section of the PSM present a time series of selected petroleum data on a US level. Most time series include preliminary estimates for one month based on the Weekly Petroleum Supply Reporting System; statistics based on the most recent data from the Monthly Petroleum Supply Reporting System (MPSRS); and statistics published in prior issues of the PSM and PSA. The Detailed Statistics tables of the PSM present statistics for the most current month available as well as year-to-date. In most cases, the statistics are presented for several geographic areas -- the United States (50 States and the District of Columbia), five PAD Districts, and 12 Refining Districts. At the US and PAD District level, the total volume and the daily rate of activities are presented. The statistics are developed from monthly survey forms submitted by respondents to the EIA and from data provided from other sources.

Household-based ceramic water filters for the prevention of diarrhea: a randomized, controlled trial of a pilot program in Colombia.

Science.gov (United States)

Clasen, Thomas; Garcia Parra, Gloria; Boisson, Sophie; Collin, Simon

2005-10-01

Household water treatment is increasingly recognized as an effective means of reducing the burden of diarrheal disease among low-income populations without access to safe water. Oxfam GB undertook a pilot project to explore the use of household-based ceramic water filters in three remote communities in Colombia. In a randomized, controlled trial over a period of six months, the filters were associated with a 75.3% reduction in arithmetic mean thermotolerant coliforms (TTCs) (P Health Organization limits for low risk (1-10 TTCs/100 mL), respectively, compared with 0.9% and 7.3% for control group samples. Overall, prevalence of diarrhea was 60% less among households using filters than among control households (odds ratio = 0.40, 95% confidence interval = 0.25, 0.63, P < 0.0001). However, the microbiologic performance and protective effect of the filters was not uniform throughout the study communities, suggesting the need to consider the circumstances of the particular setting before implementing this intervention.

The Model of Lake Operation in Water Transfer Projects Based on the Theory of Water- right

Science.gov (United States)

Bi-peng, Yan; Chao, Liu; Fang-ping, Tang

the lake operation is a very important content in Water Transfer Projects. The previous studies have not any related to water-right and water- price previous. In this paper, water right is divided into three parts, one is initialization waterright, another is by investment, and the third is government's water- right re-distribution. The water-right distribution model is also build. After analyzing the cost in water transfer project, a model and computation method for the capacity price as well as quantity price is proposed. The model of lake operation in water transfer projects base on the theory of water- right is also build. The simulation regulation for the lake was carried out by using historical data and Genetic Algorithms. Water supply and impoundment control line of the lake was proposed. The result can be used by south to north water transfer projects.

Changes in vegetative communities and water table dynamics following timber harvesting in small headwater streams

Science.gov (United States)

B. Choi; J.C. Dewey; J. A. Hatten; A.W. Ezell; Z. Fan

2012-01-01

In order to better understand the relationship between vegetation communities and water table in the uppermost portions (ephemeral–intermittent streams) of headwater systems, seasonal plot-based field characterizations of vegetation were used in conjunction with monthly water table measurements. Vegetation, soils, and water table data were examined to determine...

Regionalization of monthly rainfall erosivity patternsin Switzerland

Science.gov (United States)

Schmidt, Simon; Alewell, Christine; Panagos, Panos; Meusburger, Katrin

2016-10-01

One major controlling factor of water erosion is rainfall erosivity, which is quantified as the product of total storm energy and a maximum 30 min intensity (I30). Rainfall erosivity is often expressed as R-factor in soil erosion risk models like the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) and its revised version (RUSLE). As rainfall erosivity is closely correlated with rainfall amount and intensity, the rainfall erosivity of Switzerland can be expected to have a regional characteristic and seasonal dynamic throughout the year. This intra-annual variability was mapped by a monthly modeling approach to assess simultaneously spatial and monthly patterns of rainfall erosivity. So far only national seasonal means and regional annual means exist for Switzerland. We used a network of 87 precipitation gauging stations with a 10 min temporal resolution to calculate long-term monthly mean R-factors. Stepwise generalized linear regression (GLM) and leave-one-out cross-validation (LOOCV) were used to select spatial covariates which explain the spatial and temporal patterns of the R-factor for each month across Switzerland. The monthly R-factor is mapped by summarizing the predicted R-factor of the regression equation and the corresponding residues of the regression, which are interpolated by ordinary kriging (regression-kriging). As spatial covariates, a variety of precipitation indicator data has been included such as snow depths, a combination product of hourly precipitation measurements and radar observations (CombiPrecip), daily Alpine precipitation (EURO4M-APGD), and monthly precipitation sums (RhiresM). Topographic parameters (elevation, slope) were also significant explanatory variables for single months. The comparison of the 12 monthly rainfall erosivity maps showed a distinct seasonality with the highest rainfall erosivity in summer (June, July, and August) influenced by intense rainfall events. Winter months have the lowest rainfall erosivity. A proportion of 62 % of

Savannah River Plant, Works Technical Department monthly progress report for March 1956

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1956-01-01

This document details activities of the Works Technical Department during the month of March 1956. It covers reactor technology, separations technology, engineering assistance and heavy water technology

Silicone-Based Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Water Wave Energy Harvesting.

Science.gov (United States)

Xiao, Tian Xiao; Jiang, Tao; Zhu, Jian Xiong; Liang, Xi; Xu, Liang; Shao, Jia Jia; Zhang, Chun Lei; Wang, Jie; Wang, Zhong Lin

2018-01-31

Triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) has been proven to be efficient for harvesting water wave energy, which is one of the most promising renewable energy sources. In this work, a TENG with a silicone rubber/carbon black composite electrode was designed for converting the water wave energy into electricity. The silicone-based electrode with a soft texture provides a better contact with the dielectric film. Furthermore, a spring structure is introduced to transform low-frequency water wave motions into high-frequency vibrations. They together improve the output performance and efficiency of TENG. The output performances of TENGs are further enhanced by optimizing the triboelectric material pair and tribo-surface area. A spring-assisted TENG device with the segmented silicone rubber-based electrode structure was sealed into a waterproof box, which delivers a maximum power density of 2.40 W m -3 , as triggered by the water waves. The present work provides a new strategy for fabricating high-performance TENG devices by coupling flexible electrodes and spring structure for harvesting water wave energy.

Evaluation of implementation 18-month cycle in NPP Krsko

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Novsak, M.; Bilic Zabric, T.

2003-01-01

The feasibility study, which evaluates the impacts of the transition to the 18-month cycle on plant design bases, operational and maintenance requirements, long-term economics of the operation, is performed. Activities, which have to be implemented for adopting 18- month cycle, are presented. The study shows that implementation of 18-month cycle is possible with some investments through transition 15-month cycle. (author)

Optimal and Learning-Based Demand Response Mechanism for Electric Water Heater System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bo Lin

2017-10-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates how to develop a learning-based demand response approach for electric water heater in a smart home that can minimize the energy cost of the water heater while meeting the comfort requirements of energy consumers. First, a learning-based, data-driven model of an electric water heater is developed by using a nonlinear autoregressive network with external input (NARX using neural network. The model is updated daily so that it can more accurately capture the actual thermal dynamic characteristics of the water heater especially in real-life conditions. Then, an optimization problem, based on the NARX water heater model, is formulated to optimize energy management of the water heater in a day-ahead, dynamic electricity price framework. A genetic algorithm is proposed in order to solve the optimization problem more efficiently. MATLAB (R2016a is used to evaluate the proposed learning-based demand response approach through a computational experiment strategy. The proposed approach is compared with conventional method for operation of an electric water heater. Cost saving and benefits of the proposed water heater energy management strategy are explored.