Coseismic surface deformation from air photos: The Kickapoo step over in the 1992 Landers rupture

Coseismic deformation of the ground can be measured from aerial views taken before and after an earthquake. We chose the area of the Kickapoo-Landers step over along the 1992 Landers earthquake zone, using air photos (scale 1:40,000) scanned at 0.4 m resolution. Two photos acquired after the earthquake are used to assess the accuracy and to evaluate various sources of noise. Optical distortions, film deformation, scanning errors, or errors in viewing parameters can yield metric bias at wavelength larger than 1 km. Offset field at shorter wavelength is more reliable and mainly affected by temporal decorrelation of the images induced by changes in radiometry with time. Temporal decorrelation and resulting uncertainty on offsets are estimated locally from the correlation degree between the images. Relative surface displacements are measured independently every about 15 m and with uncertainty typically below 10 cm (RMS). The offset field reveals most of the surface ruptures mapped in the field. The fault slip is accurate to about 7 cm (RMS) and measured independently every 200 m from stacked profiles. Slip distribution compares well with field measurements at the kilometric scale but reveals local discrepancies suggesting that deformation is generally, although not systematically, localized on the major fault zone located in the field. This type of data can provide useful insight into the fault zone's mechanical properties. Our measurements indicate that elastic coseismic strain near the fault zone can be as large as 0.5 × 10^(−3), while anelastic yielding was attained for strain in excess of about 1–2 × 10^(−3)

Interpretation techniques development

Processing, interpretation, classification, recognition, and enhancement techniques for use with ERTS-1 multispectral-imagery - Conferenc

The French Atlantic littoral and the Massif Armoricain, part 1

The author has identified the following significant results. For interpretation of Isle of Jersey imagery, two types of taxons were defined according to their variability in time. On the whole, taxons with a similar spectral signature were opposed to those with strongly varying spectral signature. The taxon types were low diachronic variations and strong diachronic variation. Imagery interpretation was restricted to the landward part of the Fromentine area, including the sand beaches which were often difficult to spectrally separate from the barren coastal dunes in the southern part of Noirmoutier Island as well as along the Breton marsh. From 1972 to 1976, sandbanks reduced in area. Two high river discharge images showed over a two year period an identical outline for the Bilho bank to seaward, whereas upstream, the bank has receeded in the same time to a line joining Paimboeuf to Montoir. The Brillantes bank has receeded at both ends, partly due to dredging operations in the access channel to Donges harbor

Research on physical and physiological aspects of visual optics in space flight

Physical and physiological aspects of visual optics in space fligh

Education as a Complex System: Conceptual and Methodological Implications

Education is a complex system, which has conceptual and methodological implications for education research and policy. In this article, an overview is first provided of the Complex Systems Conceptual Framework for Learning (CSCFL), which consists of a set of conceptual perspectives that are generally shared by educational complex systems, organized into two focus areas: collective behaviors of a system, and behaviors of individual agents in a system. Complexity and research methodologies for education are then considered, and it is observed that commonly used quantitative and qualitative techniques are generally appropriate for studying linear dynamics of educational systems. However, it is proposed that computational modeling approaches, being extensively used for studying nonlinear characteristics of complex systems in other fields, can provide a methodological complement to quantitative and qualitative education research approaches. Two research case studies of this approach are discussed. We conclude with a consideration of how viewing education as a complex system using complex systems’ conceptual and methodological tools can help advance education research and also inform policy

Colour constancy using von Kries transformations: colour constancy "goes to the Lab"

Colour constancy algorithms aim at correcting colour towards a correct perception within scenes. To achieve this goal they estimate a white point (the illuminant's colour), and correct the scene for its in uence. In contrast, colour management performs on input images colour transformations according to a pre-established input pro le (ICC pro le) for the given con- stellation of input device (camera) and conditions (illumination situation). The latter case presents a much more analytic approach (it is not based on an estimation), and is based on solid colour science and current industry best practises, but it is rather in exible towards cases with altered conditions or capturing devices. The idea as outlined in this paper is to take up the idea of working on visually linearised and device independent CIE colour spaces as used in colour management, and to try to apply them in the eld of colour constancy. For this purpose two of the most well known colour constancy algorithms White Patch Retinex and Grey World Assumption have been ported to also work on colours in the CIE LAB colour space. Barnard's popular benchmarking set of imagery was corrected with the original imple- mentations as a reference and the modi ed algorithms. The results appeared to be promising, but they also revealed strengths and weaknesses

Endoscopic inspection using a panoramic annular lens

The objective of this one year study was to design, build, and demonstrate a prototype system for cavity inspection. A cylindrical view of the cavity interior was captured in real time through a compound lens system consisting of a unique panoramic annular lens and a collector lens. Images, acquired with a digitizing camera and stored in a desktop computer, were manipulated using image processing software to aid in visual inspection and qualitative analysis. A detailed description of the lens and its applications is given

From a Competition for Self-Driving Miniature Cars to a Standardized Experimental Platform: Concept, Models, Architecture, and Evaluation

Context: Competitions for self-driving cars facilitated the development and research in the domain of autonomous vehicles towards potential solutions for the future mobility. Objective: Miniature vehicles can bridge the gap between simulation-based evaluations of algorithms relying on simplified models, and those time-consuming vehicle tests on real-scale proving grounds. Method: This article combines findings from a systematic literature review, an in-depth analysis of results and technical concepts from contestants in a competition for self-driving miniature cars, and experiences of participating in the 2013 competition for self-driving cars. Results: A simulation-based development platform for real-scale vehicles has been adapted to support the development of a self-driving miniature car. Furthermore, a standardized platform was designed and realized to enable research and experiments in the context of future mobility solutions. Conclusion: A clear separation between algorithm conceptualization and validation in a model-based simulation environment enabled efficient and riskless experiments and validation. The design of a reusable, low-cost, and energy-efficient hardware architecture utilizing a standardized software/hardware interface enables experiments, which would otherwise require resources like a large real-scale test track.Comment: 17 pages, 19 figues, 2 table

Quantifying mixed adaptation in cross-media color reproduction

This paper describes an investigation undertaken to address the goal set by the CIE Technical committee TC8- 04: To investigate the state of adaptation of the visual system when comparing soft-copy images on self-luminous displays and hard copy images viewed under various ambient lighting conditions. A set of psychophysical experiments have been conducted for the determination of corresponding colors between printed stimuli under CIE Illuminant D50 simulators and CRT displayed stimuli with a D93 white point. The experiments were completed with 15 observers and 6 different viewing conditions. Analysis was completed to quantify any systematic effects of viewing configuration and to identify the extent to which existing adaptation and appearance models can predict the results. After examining a number of adaptation transforms, preliminary results showed how a simple von Kries type adaptation transform provided the best predictions for all conditions while subsequent iterations of the von Kries transform using simple ratios between the adapting and ambient illuminants improved upon these results. The results also indicated how the CIECAM97s model, given certain conditions, could provide results equal to or better than the von Kries model

Pure iron grains are rare in the universe

The abundant forms in which the major elements in the universe exist have been determined from numerous astronomical observations and meteoritic analyses. Iron (Fe) is an exception, in that only depletion of gaseous Fe has been detected in the interstellar medium, suggesting that Fe is condensed into a solid, possibly the astronomically invisible metal. To determine the primary form of Fe, we replicated the formation of Fe grains in gaseous ejecta of evolved stars by means of microgravity experiments. We found that the sticking probability for formation of Fe grains is extremely small; only several atoms will stick per hundred thousand collisions, so that homogeneous nucleation of metallic Fe grains is highly ineffective, even in the Fe-rich ejecta of Type Ia supernovae. This implies that most Fe is locked up as grains of Fe compounds or as impurities accreted onto other grains in the interstellar medium