Global energy budgets and ‘Trenberth diagrams’ for the climates of terrestrial and gas giant planets

The climate on Earth is generally determined by the amount and distribution of incoming solar radiation, which must be balanced in equilibrium by the emission of thermal radiation from the surface and atmosphere. The precise routes by which incoming energy is transferred from the surface and within the atmosphere and back out to space, however, are important features that characterize the current climate. This has been analysed in the past by several groups over the years, based on combinations of numerical model simulations and direct observations of the Earths climate system. The results are often presented in schematic form to show the main routes for the transfer of energy into, out of and within the climate system. Although relatively simple in concept, such diagrams convey a great deal of information about the climate systemin a compact form. Such an approach has not so far been widely adopted in any systematic way for other planets of the Solar System, let alone beyond, although quite detailed climate models of several planets are now available, constrained by many new observations and measurements. Here we present an analysis of the global transfers of energy within the climate systems of a range of planets within the Solar System, including Mars, Titan, Venus and Jupiter, as modelled by relatively comprehensive radiative transfer and (in some cases) numerical circulationmodels. These results are presented in schematic form for comparison with the classical global energy budget analyses (e.g. Trenberth et al. 2009; Stephens et al. 2012; Wild et al. 2013; IPCC 2013) for the Earth, highlighting important similarities and differences. We also take the first steps towards extending this approach to other Solar System and extra-solar planets, including Mars, Venus, Titan, Jupiter and the ‘hot Jupiter’ exoplanet HD189733b, presenting a synthesis of both previously published and new calculations for all of these planets

Comparative global energy budgets for the climates of terrestrial and gas giant planets

The weather and climate on Earth are generally determined by the amount and distribution of incoming solar radiation. This must be balanced in equilibrium by the emission of thermal radiation from the surface and atmosphere, but the precise routes by which incoming energy is transferred from the surface and within the atmosphere and back out to space are important features that characterize the current climate. This has been analysed in the past by several groups over the years, based on combinations of numerical model simulations and direct observations of the Earth’s climate system. The results are often presented in schematic form[1] to show the main routes for the transfer of energy into, out of and within the climate system. Although relatively simple in concept, such diagrams convey a great deal of information about the climate system in a compact form, and are especially valuable pedagogically at school and undergraduate level. Such an approach has not so far been adopted in any systematic way for other planets of the Solar System, let alone beyond, although quite detailed climate models of several planets are now available, constrained by many new observations and measurements. Here we analyse the global transfers of energy within the climate systems of a range of terrestrial planets within the Solar System, including Mars, Titan and Venus, as simulated by relatively comprehensive numerical circulation models of such planets. These results will then be presented in schematic form for comparison with the ‘classical’ global energy budget analysis of Trenberth et al.[1] for the Earth, highlighting the important similarities and differences. We also consider how to extend this approach towards other Solar System and extra-solar planets, including Jupiter, Saturn and hot Jupiter exoplanets. [1] Trenberth, K. E., Fasullo, J. T. and Kiehl, J.: Earth’s global energy budget, BAMS, Vol. 90, 311-323, 2009

Assessing water footprint and associated water scarcity indicators at different spatial scales : a case study of concrete manufacture in New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Environmental Management, Massey University, Manawatu Campus, New Zealand

Water scarcity is a growing issue of concern across the globe. In recent times a complex suite of water footprint impact assessment tools and concepts have supplemented traditional management approaches. There are several methods proposed in the literature to both quantify water use and assess its environmental impacts at defined spatial scales. In New Zealand, case studies in the water footprinting space are sparse, and are for the majority focused on the agricultural industry. This thesis focused on evaluation of different water footprint methods and their associated water scarcity indicators to assess water use impacts for the building and construction sector of New Zealand. The water footprints of 1 m³ ready mix concrete manufactured at 27 concrete batching plants throughout New Zealand were calculated at three distinct spatial scales: the freshwater management zone scale, catchment scale, and regional scale. Four water footprint characterisation factors (blue water scarcity (WSblue) (Hoekstra et al., 2011), water stress index (WSI) (Pfister et al., 2009), water depletion index (WDI) (Berger et al., 2014), and available water minus demand (AMD) (Boulay et al., 2016)) were used to assess the environmental impact of water use for 1 m³ ready mix concrete at the three spatial scales. The average volumetric blue water footprint of the 27 ready mix batching plants was quantified at 0.18 m3 (180 litres) of water per m³ of concrete, and ranged from 0.15 (150 litres) to 0.29 m³ (290 litres) of freshwater per m³ of concrete. For three of the four water footprint methods used (WDI, WSI and WSblue), and across the three spatial, the Ashburton boundary ranked highest in terms of the environmental impacts of a specified quantity of water use. In contrast, the AMD method ranked the Palmerston North boundary highest across the three spatial scales. At the freshwater management zone and catchment scales, the WDI, WSI and WSblue methods ranked the Wanganui area lowest, and the AMD method ranked the Greymouth area lowest. At the regional scale, all the four water footprint methods ranked the West Coast region lowest in terms of the environmental impact of water use, due mainly to the fact that the West Coast has more available water and a lower allocation demand than other regions studied. The analysis indicated that volumetric water use varied by a factor of two across the different plants (per m3 concrete). For three of the four WF methods (WDI, WSI and WSblue), the WF results were similar in their rankings of the different plants at all the geographical scales; however, the AMD method resulted in different rankings at all the geographical scales. Overall, the WDI and WSI water scarcity indices calculated by Berger et al. (2014) and Pfister et al. (2009) were less readily adaptable to the finer resolution in New Zealand. The WSblue and AMD calculated by Hoekstra et al. (2011) and Boulay et al. (2016) however, were found to be more readily adaptable. It is recommended that these methods be explored further with respect to their potential use at the finer resolution in New Zealand

General properties of phase diagrams of heavy-fermion metals

We study the temperature-magnetic field T-B phase diagrams of heavy fermion (HF) metals, and show that at sufficiently high temperatures outside the ordered phase the crossover temperature T*(B), regarded as the energy scale, follows a linear B-dependence, crossing the origin of the T-B phase diagram. This behavior of T*(B) constitutes the general property, and is formed by the presence of fermion condensation quantum phase transition hidden within the ordered phase. Our result is in good agreement with the experimental T-B phase diagram of the HF metals YbRh2Si2, Yb(Rh{0.93}Co{0.07})2Si2, and Yb(Rh{0.94}Ir{0.06})2Si2. To support our observations, we analyze the isothermal magnetization M, and demonstrate that dM/dT exhibits a universal temperature behavior over magnetic field scaling. The obtained results are in good agreement with the corresponding data collected on YbRh2Si2 as a function of magnetic field at different temperatures under hydrostatic pressure.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1311.062

Multiple configuration shell-core structured robotic manipulator with interchangeable mechatronic joints : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Engineering in Mechatronics at Massey University, Turitea Campus, Palmerston North, New Zealand

With the increase of robotic technology utilised throughout industry, the need for skilled labour in this area has increased also. As a result, education dealing with robotics has grown at both the high-school and tertiary educational level. Despite the range of pedagogical robots currently on the market, there seems to be a low variety of these systems specifically related to the types of robotic manipulator arms popular for industrial applications. Furthermore, a fixed-arm system is limited to only serve as an educational supplement for that specific configuration and therefore cannot demonstrate more than one of the numerous industrial-type robotic arms. The Shell-Core structured robotic manipulator concept has been proposed to improve the quality and variety of available pedagogical robotic arm systems on the market. This is achieved by the reconfigurable nature of the concept, which incorporates shell and core structural units to make the construction of at least 5 mainstream industrial arms possible. The platform will be suitable, but not limited to use within the educational robotics industry at high-school and higher educational levels and may appeal to hobbyists. Later dubbed SMILE (Smart Manipulator with Interchangeable Links and Effectors), the system utilises core units to provide either rotational or linear actuation in a single plane. A variety of shell units are then implemented as the body of the robotic arm, serving as appropriate offsets to achieve the required configuration. A prototype consisting of a limited number of ‘building blocks’ was developed for proof-of-concept, found capable of achieving several of the proposed configurations. The outcome of this research is encouraging, with a Massey patent search confirming the unique features of the proposed concept. The prototype system is an economic, easy to implement, plug and play, and multiple-configuration robotic manipulator, suitable for various applications

Theoretical vs. Empirical Classification and Prediction of Congested Traffic States

Starting from the instability diagram of a traffic flow model, we derive conditions for the occurrence of congested traffic states, their appearance, their spreading in space and time, and the related increase in travel times. We discuss the terminology of traffic phases and give empirical evidence for the existence of a phase diagram of traffic states. In contrast to previously presented phase diagrams, it is shown that "widening synchronized patterns" are possible, if the maximum flow is located inside of a metastable density regime. Moreover, for various kinds of traffic models with different instability diagrams it is discussed, how the related phase diagrams are expected to approximately look like. Apart from this, it is pointed out that combinations of on- and off-ramps create different patterns than a single, isolated on-ramp.Comment: See http://www.helbing.org for related wor

A Graphic Representation of States for Quantum Copying Machines

The aim of this paper is to introduce a new graphic representation of quantum states by means of a specific application: the analysis of two models of quantum copying machines. The graphic representation by diagrams of states offers a clear and detailed visualization of quantum information's flow during the unitary evolution of not too complex systems. The diagrams of states are exponentially more complex in respect to the standard representation and this clearly illustrates the discrepancy of computational power between quantum and classical systems. After a brief introductive exposure of the general theory, we present a constructive procedure to illustrate the new representation by means of concrete examples. Elementary diagrams of states for single-qubit and two-qubit systems and a simple scheme to represent entangled states are presented. Quantum copying machines as imperfect cloners of quantum states are introduced and the quantum copying machines of Griffiths and Niu and of Buzek and Hillery are analyzed, determining quantum circuits of easier interpretation. The method has indeed shown itself to be extremely successful for the representation of the involved quantum operations and it has allowed to point out the characteristic aspects of the quantum computations examined.Comment: 30 pages, 22 figure

A Method for the Symbolic Representation of Neurons

The field of neuroanatomy has progressed considerably in recent decades, thanks to the emergence of novel methods which provide new insights into the organization of the nervous system. These new methods have produced a wealth of data that needs to be analyzed, shifting the bottleneck from the acquisition to the analysis of data. In other disciplines, such as in many engineering areas, scientists and engineers are dealing with increasingly complex systems, using hierarchical decompositions, graphical models and simplified schematic diagrams for analysis and design processes. This approach makes it possible for users to simultaneously combine global system views and very detailed representations of specific areas of interest, by selecting appropriate representations for each of these views. In this way, users can concentrate on specific details while also maintaining a general system overview — a capability that is essential for understanding structure and function whenever complexity is an issue. Following this approach, this paper focuses on a graphical tool designed to help neuroanatomists to better understand and detect morphological characteristics of neuronal cells. The method presented here, based on a symbolic representation that can be tailored to enhance a particular range of features of a neuron or neuron set, has proven to be useful for highlighting particular geometries that may be hidden due to the complexity of the analysis tasks and the richness of neuronal morphologies. A software tool has been developed to generate graphical representations of neurons from 3D computer-aided reconstruction files

Automatic Metro Map Layout Using Multicriteria Optimization

This paper describes an automatic mechanism for drawing metro maps. We apply multicriteria optimization to find effective placement of stations with a good line layout and to label the map unambiguously. A number of metrics are defined, which are used in a weighted sum to find a fitness value for a layout of the map. A hill climbing optimizer is used to reduce the fitness value, and find improved map layouts. To avoid local minima, we apply clustering techniques to the map the hill climber moves both stations and clusters when finding improved layouts. We show the method applied to a number of metro maps, and describe an empirical study that provides some quantitative evidence that automatically-drawn metro maps can help users to find routes more efficiently than either published maps or undistorted maps. Moreover, we found that, in these cases, study subjects indicate a preference for automatically-drawn maps over the alternatives