Assessment of the performance of X-band satellite radar data for landslide mapping and monitoring: Upper Tena Valley case study.

Abstract. The aim of this work is to analyse the advantages and disadvantages of using the new X-band SAR data acquired by TerraSAR-X sensors for landslides mapping. This dataset has been processed using a Persistent Scatterer Interferometry technique over the Upper Tena Valley (Central Pyrenees, Spain). In the first section, the geological and geomorphological setting of the study area is introduced, focusing on the description of the landslide inventory. Then the Stable Point Network technique is briefly described, followed by the assessment of the performance of the X-band SAR dataset. In this context, we present first a model to predict the distribution of Persistent Scatterers based on the slope geometry and the land use information, which has then been validated with X-band data results. On a second stage, we have assessed the performance of X-band dataset to detect and monitor mapped landslides. Finally some illustrative case studies are shown demonstrating the potential of using X-band SAR data not only for landslide mapping but also to detect and monitor deformations affecting human infrastructures

Gamma Ray Bursts: Observations and Theoretical Conjectures

Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) are short bursts of very high energy photons which were discovered in the late 1960s. Ever since their discovery, scientists have wondered about their origin. Nowadays it is known that they originate outside the Milky Way because of their high red shift rst measured in the afterglows thanks to the Beppo-SAX satellite and ground-based observations. However, theoreticians still do not agree about the mechanism that generates the bursts, and different competing models are animatedly debated. Current GRB experiments include the Swift satellite and the Pierre Auger Observatory that could detect GRBs with an increase of the background. A forthcoming dedicated experiment is GLAST, a satellite observatory for detecting gamma rays with energies up to 300 GeV, whose launch is scheduled for early 2008

Clustering Techniques Performance for the Coordination of Adaptive Overcurrent Protections

Inclusion of distributed generation and topological changes in a network originate several operating scenarios. For this reason, techniques that adjust the configuration of overcurrent relays have been developed in order to provide protection coordination strategies capable of operating in different schemes. However, the adjustments allowed by these devices are limited. Thus, scenario grouping techniques are proposed to reduce the number of required configurations. This paper aims to evaluate the performance of different grouping techniques with input parameters for coordination strategies of electrical overcurrent protections, where it is required to associate the different modes of operation of a distribution network. For the clustering process, unsupervised learning techniques such as K-means, K-medoids and Agglomerative Hierarchical Clustering were employed. Additionally, for the input characteristics, fault currents, nominal currents and other parameters obtained from the electrical system were taken into account. From the results obtained when evaluating different combinations of techniques and inputs, it is important to mention that the characteristics that describe the different modes of operation necessary for the grouping are decisive for the coordination strategies of electrical protections and that it is not possible to establish a significant difference between the clustering techniques evaluated. Lastly, the combination that presents the best performance was K-means: Manhattan and maximum short-circuit phase currents per relay with a sum of operation time of 428.72s and zero restriction violation. © 2022 IEEE

Assessment of the performance of X-band satellite radar data for landslide mapping and monitoring: Upper Tena Valley case study

The aim of this work is to analyse the advantages and disadvantages of using the new X-band SAR data acquired by TerraSAR-X sensors for landslides mapping. This dataset has been processed using a Persistent Scatterer Interferometry technique over the Upper Tena Valley (Central Pyrenees, Spain). In the first section, the geological and geomorphological setting of the study area is introduced, focusing on the description of the landslide inventory. Then the Stable Point Network technique is briefly described, followed by the assessment of the performance of the X-band SAR dataset. In this context, we present first a model to predict the distribution of Persistent Scatterers based on the slope geometry and the land use information, which has then been validated with X-band data results. On a second stage, we have assessed the performance of X-band dataset to detect and monitor mapped landslides. Finally some illustrative case studies are shown demonstrating the potential of using X-band SAR data not only for landslide mapping but also to detect and monitor deformations affecting human infrastructures

Scale dependence of the quark masses and mixings: leading order

We consider the Renormalization Group Equations (RGE) for the couplings of the Standard Model and its extensions. Using the hierarchy of the quark masses and of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix our argument is that a consistent approximation for the RGE should be based on the parameter $\lambda= |\hat{V}_{ud}| \approx0.22$. We consider the RGE in the approximation where we neglect all the relative terms of the order $\sim\lambda^{4}$ and higher. Within this approximation we find the exact solution of the evolution equations of the quark Yukawa couplings and of the vacuum expectation value of the Higgs field. Then we derive the evolution of the observables: quark masses, CKM matrix, Jarlskog invariant, Wolfenstein parameters of the CKM matrix and the unitarity triangle. We show that the angles of the unitarity triangle remain constant. This property may restrict the possibility of new symmetries or textures at the grand unification scale.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures, author of one reference adde

Localization of gravity on a de Sitter thick braneworld without scalar fields

In this work we present a simple thick braneworld model that is generated by an intriguing interplay between a 5D cosmological constant with a de Sitter metric induced in the 3-brane without the inclusion of scalar fields. We show that 4D gravity is localized on this brane, provide analytic expressions for the massive Kaluza-Klein (KK) fluctuation modes and also show that the spectrum of metric excitations displays a mass gap. We finally present the corrections to Newton's law due to these massive modes. This model has no naked singularities along the fifth dimension despite the existence of a mass gap in the graviton spectrum as it happens in thick branes with 4D Poincare symmetry, providing a simple model with very good features: the curvature is completely smooth along the fifth dimension, it localizes 4D gravity and the spectrum of gravity fluctuations presents a mass gap, a fact that rules out the existence of phenomenologically dangerous ultralight KK excitations in the model. We finally present our solution as a limit of scalar thick branes.Comment: 11 pages in latex, no figures, title and abstract changed, a new section and some references adde

Geoenvironmental Analysis of Oil Extraction Activities in Urban and Rural Zones of Santa Elena Province, Ecuador

From an environmental viewpoint, oil wells can be considered a potential source of pollution when improperly managed. The Santa Elena province (Ecuador), located on the Pacific coast, currently has a residual crude oil extraction compared to production generated in the Amazon region of the country. However, this activity in the coastal zone is very near to urban and rural populations. Therefore, a detailed influence analysis of these wells on the environment is necessary. This work aims to analyse, from a geoenvironmental perspective, the oil wells impact located in a pilot zone (urban and rural) of the oil field studied and, complementarily, to describe their incidence on the community and territory. The methodological process includes (i) oil wells compilation and inventory within the study zone and selection of a pilot zone; (ii) contaminating factors identification generated by the wells infrastructure (mechanical and territorial) and their current state of activity (production or abandoned); (iii) environmental impacts analysis generated through the development of a cause-effect matrix and, finally, the evaluation of a method and results found through a focus group technique. The results reflect a negative impact on the land cover and vegetative-animal environment in the vicinity of the wells, caused by the continuous release of gases, metallic oxidation and bituminous exhumation. The overall impacts interpretation compiled indicates that comprehensive action is needed at the wells to control and minimise them. The implementation of new environmental strategies through zoning can help to achieve adequate land-use planning, thus combining the safe and sustainable use of the resource with the development of other community activities (urbanisation, tourism, industry, agriculture and fishing) and environmental protection.This work was carried out in collaboration with the ‘Peninsula Santa Elena Geopark Project’ with code no. 91870000.0000.381017, and ‘Factores Geoambientales de los pozos petroleros y su incidencia en el desarrollo territorial en los cantones Salinas y La Libertad de la provincia de Santa Elena’, with code no: 91870000.0000.385428, by UPSE University. Support for the project was also provided by the ‘Registry of geological and mining heritage and its impact on the defence and preservation of geodiversity in Ecuador’, academic research project by ESPOL University, CIPAT-01-2018

Radon and material radiopurity assessment for the NEXT double beta decay experiment

The Neutrino Experiment with a Xenon TPC (NEXT), intended to investigate the neutrinoless double beta decay using a high-pressure xenon gas TPC filled with Xe enriched in 136Xe at the Canfranc Underground Laboratory in Spain, requires ultra-low background conditions demanding an exhaustive control of material radiopurity and environmental radon levels. An extensive material screening process is underway for several years based mainly on gamma-ray spectroscopy using ultra-low background germanium detectors in Canfranc but also on mass spectrometry techniques like GDMS and ICPMS. Components from shielding, pressure vessel, electroluminescence and high voltage elements and energy and tracking readout planes have been analyzed, helping in the final design of the experiment and in the construction of the background model. The latest measurements carried out will be presented and the implication on NEXT of their results will be discussed. The commissioning of the NEW detector, as a first step towards NEXT, has started in Canfranc; in-situ measurements of airborne radon levels were taken there to optimize the system for radon mitigation and will be shown too.Comment: Proceedings of the Low Radioactivity Techniques 2015 workshop (LRT2015), Seattle, March 201