Modeling Economic Impacts of the Inland Waterway Transportation System

The inland waterway transportation system of the United States (U.S.) handles 11.7 billion tons of freight annually and connects the heartland of the U.S. with the rest of the world by providing a fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly mode of transportation. This dissertation aims to create decision support tools for maritime stakeholders to measure the economic impacts of the inland waterway transportation systems under real world scenarios including disruptions, demand changes, port expansion decisions, and channel deepening investments. Monte Carlo simulation, system dynamics, discrete-event simulation, agent-based modeling, and multiregional input-output modeling techniques are utilized to analyze the complex relationships between inland waterway transportation system components and regional economic impact factors. The first research contribution illustrates that the expected duration of a disruption determines whether decision makers are better off waiting for the waterway system to reopen or switching to an alternative mode of transportation. Moreover, total disruption cost can be reduced by increasing estimation accuracy of disruption duration. The second research contribution shows that without future investment in inland waterway infrastructure, a sustainable system and associate economic impacts cannot be generated in the long-term. The third research contribution illustrates that investing in bottleneck system components results in higher economic impact than investing in non-bottleneck components. The developed models can be adapted to any inland waterway transportation system in the U.S. by utilizing data obtained by publically available sources to measure the economic impacts under various scenarios to inform capital investment decisions and support an economically sustainable inland waterway transportation system

Simulating Maritime Chokepoint Disruption in the Global Food Supply

The three food crops of wheat, maize, and rice make up almost two-thirds of the world\u27s dietary energy needs. Of these three, just six countries provide 70% of the global supply. Furthermore, soybeans account for three-quarters of global livestock feed, and only three countries provide 80% of the global supply. Considering over half of the world\u27s exported supply of these four commodities are exported via maritime means, the free ow of marine traffic becomes paramount. Current models lack the ability to capture the inherent variance displayed in the maritime transport system, which can lead to inaccurate assumptions about how the system functions - assumptions that could ultimately bring chaos to an importing economy. To capture this inherent variance, a discrete-event simulation was built to better understand how disruptions in this system impact those who rely on its unhindered functionality. Monthly export data is used, and the maritime chokepoints of the Panama Canal, the Suez Canal, and the Strait of Gibraltar are modeled for disruption. Results indicate significant food shortages for all importers studied, with some receiving 97% less of a commodity in a given month. China is particularly sensitive to a closure of the Panama Canal in the months of September - January. Egypt and Spain could expect significant food decreases if the Strait of Gibraltar were to close in any month, with Spain experiencing its worst declines should a disruption occur in September. Marine traffic through the Strait of Malacca was also significantly impacted when any of the three chokepoints studied were closed

Expert system for ship lock control based on computational intelligence

U disertaciji je dato jedno rešenje automatskog operativnog upravljanja dvosmernom brodskom prevodnicom sa jednom komorom. Kreiran je ekspertski sistem zasnovan na rasplinutoj (fuzzy) logici. Upravljački sistem je testiran na modelu brodske prevodnice koji je kreiran na osnovu statističkih podataka o gustini saobraćaja na hidrosistemu DTD (Dunav-Tisa-Dunav), na osnovu tehničke dokumentacije brodske prevodnice i na osnovu razgovora sa operaterima. Sistem je zatim optimizovan globalnim algoritmima optimizacije. Dobijeno rešenje se pokazalo značajno bolje u poređenju sa standardnim algoritmima odluke.This thesis presents a solution to automatic control of a two-way one-channel ship lock. Expert system based on fuzzy logic is designed. This control system is tested on model of ship lock created using statistical data of transportation density on DTD (Danube-Tisa-Danube) channel, using technical documentation of ship lock and interview with operators. The system is further optimized with global optimization techniques. Given solution proved to be significantly better than standard decision algorithms

Desarrollo de un modelo de simulación para la creación de una política de tarifas en el Transporte Fluvial en la Cuenca del Magdalena

Ingeniería IndustrialEn esta investigación se propone simular un modelo determinístico en el cual no se contempla el azar y la información de entrada resultará en las mismas salidas, con datos hidrodinámicos y datos históricos de número de viajes fluviales, para la creación de una política de tarifas en el transporte fluvial en la cuenca del Magdalena supliendo así la necesidad que tienen las empresas de transporte fluvial de ser más precisas al momento de la asignación de tarifas, lo que les permitirá formalizar sus costos variables los cuales son afectados por el caudal del rio, por los distintos fenómenos de El Niño y La Niña y la magnitud de estos en el año, teniendo en cuenta que estas variables no controlables influyen directamente en los costos más representativos de la operación como el consumo de combustible y tiempo de operación. El modelo determinístico se realiza en cuatro etapas, la primera donde se definen las variables compuestas por condiciones hidro-meteorológicas, flota de remolcadores, convoyes, sectores de la cuenca del Rio Magdalena, puertos de salida y entrada Barranquilla, Cartagena y Barrancabermeja. En la segunda etapa se diseñó el modelo e incluyen datos reales de las variables anteriores. En la tercera etapa se corre el modelo realizado en RockWell Software Arena® obteniendo una solución optimizada y por último se adquieren los resultados. La validación se realiza con controles dentro del modelo y consulta a un experto lo que arrojo como óptimo las tarifas proporcionadas y un ahorro de tiempo y consumo de combustible en la operación aumentado así la rentabilidad de la misma, no es posible mencionar un porcentaje especifico porque cada operación es distinta y las condiciones meteorológicas inestables.This research purposes to simulate a deterministic model in which randomness is not contemplated and the inputs will result in the same outlets, using hydrodynamic data and historical data regarding the inland waterway trips in order to design a policy rates for load transportation through the Magdalena river basin, supplying the needs of inland waterway transportation companies to provide rates that are more accurate to their customers. This will allow them to formalize their variable costs which are affected by the river’s flow, the El Niño and La Niña Phenomenon and their magnitude in the year; considering that, these uncontrollable variables affect directly the most representative operating costs like fuel consumption and times of operation. The deterministic model is divided into four stages, the first stage where are defined the variables that consist of hydro-meteorological conditions, tugboat fleet, convoys, sectors of the Magdalena River basin, inlet and outlet ports of Barranquilla, Cartagena and Barrancabermeja. In the second stage, the model was designed including real data of the variables mentioned before. In the third stage, the model built in Rockwell Software Arena is run obtaining an optimized solution and finally the results are acquired. Validation is performed with controls within the model and consulting an expert, which gave as optimal results the rates provided, saving time and fuel consumption in the operation, increasing the profitability of this. It is not possible to mention a specific percentage because each operation is different and the unstable weather conditions

Cumulative index to NASA Tech Briefs, 1986-1990, volumes 10-14

Tech Briefs are short announcements of new technology derived from the R&D activities of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. These briefs emphasize information considered likely to be transferrable across industrial, regional, or disciplinary lines and are issued to encourage commercial application. This cumulative index of Tech Briefs contains abstracts and four indexes (subject, personal author, originating center, and Tech Brief number) and covers the period 1986 to 1990. The abstract section is organized by the following subject categories: electronic components and circuits, electronic systems, physical sciences, materials, computer programs, life sciences, mechanics, machinery, fabrication technology, and mathematics and information sciences

Technology and the American Economic Transition: Choices for the Future

The report highlights strategic choices available to Americans as we negotiate a period of major transformation. The choices we make will have profound consequences for the quality of work and the amenities available to Americans and for America’s role of leadership in the free world

Maritime expressions:a corpus based exploration of maritime metaphors

This study uses a purpose-built corpus to explore the linguistic legacy of Britain’s maritime history found in the form of hundreds of specialised ‘Maritime Expressions’ (MEs), such as TAKEN ABACK, ANCHOR and ALOOF, that permeate modern English. Selecting just those expressions commencing with ’A’, it analyses 61 MEs in detail and describes the processes by which these technical expressions, from a highly specialised occupational discourse community, have made their way into modern English. The Maritime Text Corpus (MTC) comprises 8.8 million words, encompassing a range of text types and registers, selected to provide a cross-section of ‘maritime’ writing. It is analysed using WordSmith analytical software (Scott, 2010), with the 100 million-word British National Corpus (BNC) as a reference corpus. Using the MTC, a list of keywords of specific salience within the maritime discourse has been compiled and, using frequency data, concordances and collocations, these MEs are described in detail and their use and form in the MTC and the BNC is compared. The study examines the transformation from ME to figurative use in the general discourse, in terms of form and metaphoricity. MEs are classified according to their metaphorical strength and their transference from maritime usage into new registers and domains such as those of business, politics, sports and reportage etc. A revised model of metaphoricity is developed and a new category of figurative expression, the ‘resonator’, is proposed. Additionally, developing the work of Lakov and Johnson, Kovesces and others on Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT), a number of Maritime Conceptual Metaphors are identified and their cultural significance is discussed