Integrated optimization and simulation model for resource acquisition and utilization : an application to ocean/river articulated tug/barge system

Thesis (Sc. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Ocean Engineering, 1997.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 199-203).by Ming Qi.Sc.D

Construction of a large-scale maritime element semantic schema based on knowledge graph models for unmanned automated decision-making

In maritime logistics optimization, considerable research efforts are focused on the extraction of deep behavioral characteristics from comprehensive shipping data to discern patterns in maritime vessel behavior. The effective linkage of these characteristics with maritime infrastructure, such as berths, is critical for the enhancement of ship navigation systems. This endeavor is paramount not only as a research focus within maritime information science but also for the progression of intelligent maritime systems. Traditional methodologies have primarily emphasized the analysis of navigational paths of vessels without an extensive consideration of the geographical dynamics between ships and port infrastructure. However, the introduction of knowledge graphs has enabled the integration of disparate data sources, facilitating new insights that propel the development of intelligent maritime systems. This manuscript presents a novel framework using knowledge graph technology for profound analysis of maritime data. Utilizing automatic identification system (AIS) data alongside spatial information from port facilities, the framework forms semantic triplet connections among ships, anchorages, berths, and waterways. This enables the semantic modeling of maritime behaviors, offering precise identification of ships through their diverse semantic information. Moreover, by exploiting the semantic relations between ships and berths, a reverse semantic knowledge graph for berths is constructed, which is specifically tailored to ship type, size, and category. The manuscript critically evaluates a range of graph embedding techniques, dimensionality reduction methods, and classification strategies through experimental frameworks to determine the most efficacious methodologies. The findings reveal that the maritime knowledge graph significantly enhances the semantic understanding of unmanned maritime equipment, thereby improving decision-making capabilities. Additionally, it establishes a semantic foundation for the development of expansive maritime models, illustrating the potential of knowledge graph technology in advancing intelligent maritime systems

Intermodal transportation in major asian ports

Master'sMASTER OF ENGINEERIN

Agroecological Approaches for Soil Health and Water Management

In the last century, innovations in agricultural technologies centered on maximizing food production to feed the growing population have contributed to significant changes in agroecosystem processes, including carbon, nutrients, and water cycling. There are growing concerns regarding soil fertility depletion, soil carbon loss, greenhouse gas emissions, irrigational water scarcity, and water pollution, affecting soil health, agricultural productivity, systems sustainability, and environmental quality. Soils provide the foundation for food production, soil water and nutrient cycling, and soil biological activities. Therefore, an improved understanding of biochemical pathways of soil organic matter and nutrient cycling, microbial community involved in regulating soil health, and soil processes associated with water flow and retention in soil profile helps design better agricultural systems and ultimately support plant growth and productivity. This book, Agroecological Approaches in Soil and Water Management, presents a collection of original research and review papers studying physical, chemical, and biological processes in soils and discusses multiple ecosystem services, including carbon sequestration, nutrients and water cycling, greenhouse gas emissions, and agro-environmental sustainability. We covered tillage, nutrients, irrigation, amendments, crop rotations, crop residue management practices for improving soil health, soil C and nutrient cycling, greenhouse gas emissions, soil water dynamics, and hydrological processes

River-Sea Freight Transport in Major Logistic Gateways: A Performance Evaluation of The United Kingdom And Continental Europe’s Inland Waterways

Globalisation and commercialisation have greatly expanded the growth, complexity, and competitiveness of logistic chains. Due to this growth, the high demand for intermodal transport systems has led to the need for continued and integrated transport planning to enhance transport reliability and efficiency. The ever-increasing acknowledgement of the external outcomes of transport has necessitated the development of a more sustainable transport mode. Inland Waterway Transport (IWT) has reinforced its reliance on maritime access even more strongly than in the past. According to the rhythms of increasing pressure from the globalisation market flow, European seaports with suitable inland waterway network connectivity form an interface. As a direct result, the IWT players have become more integrated into modern logistics systems due to increased freight volume and the integration of supply chains. The advancements are compelling the IWT industry to adapt and redefine its operations and strategic positionings. Incorporating waterways into the freight transportation network has led to the development of increasingly complex organisational structures that leverage cost, capacity, and regularity advantages. The expanding supply chain and the increasing need for efficiency and reliability require enhanced performance and assessment measures. Therefore, the study aims to develop a system model that shows how all pertinent aspects and factors influencing performance perception in IWT can be identified and modelled. This study undertakes empirical studies in the IWT sector of the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France, and the UK in order to accomplish the research objectives. The study design is segmented into three sections. First, various IWT performance factors were identified through a systematic literature review. Next, the identified performance factors are validated through a series of empirical studies (experts were consulted using advanced questionnaires and semi-structured interviews). Finally, the performance factors are prioritised using a fuzzy analytic hierarchy process. The performance level of the case study countries was benchmarked using the technique for order performance by similarity to the ideal solution method based on the critical success factor. Their relative ranking has been determined according to the benchmark. This study categorises and verifies performance criteria into eight categories and forty-three subcategories. The novel eight categories are mobility and reliability, efficiency and profitability, infrastructure conditions, environmental impact and decarbonisation, safety and security, efficiency and profitability, innovative transport technology, and policy formulation and implementation. The capacity of IWT to provide efficient and reliable transportation services is crucial for the seamless operations of the supply chain. The findings indicate that performance associated with mobility and reliability has the highest priority and is of the utmost importance, followed by infrastructure condition, which, to the competitiveness of IWT, largely depends significantly on the quality of waterway infrastructure as missing links and bottlenecks limits the effectiveness of the transportation network. Finally, the performance approaches were ranked. The Netherlands (Rotterdam gateway) has the highest performance in terms of freight transportation via waterways, followed by Germany (Hamburg gateway), Belgium (Antwerp gateway) came third, next was France (Seine gateway), and the least among these gateways was the UK (Thames/Liverpool/Manchester) with a distance rating among the case studies. Statistics revealed that while the four European case study countries were high, the corresponding value for the UK regional gateways remained very low. The margin by which the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, and France lead the UK shows how these countries and their strategic positioning have adapted inland shipping operations, aligning with the demands and dynamics of the global market. This study offers a more effective, robust, and efficient way to identify performance factors and enhance the efficiency of IWT operations. The study is the first to systematically identify, evaluate, categorise, and provide a detailed analysis of all pertinent performance measures in the field of IWT. Policymakers and industry practitioners can utilise the research findings to identify essential performance factors for enhancing decision-making and advancing progress. These performance index metrics can serve as new methods and tools, allowing stakeholders to measure the performance of their IWT

Urbanization, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services: Challenges and Opportunities

Urbanization is a global phenomenon and the book emphasizes that this is not just a social-technological process. It is also a social-ecological process where cities are places for nature, and where cities also are dependent on, and have impacts on, the biosphere at different scales from local to global. The book is a global assessment and delivers four main conclusions: Urban areas are expanding faster than urban populations. Half the increase in urban land across the world over the next 20 years will occur in Asia, with the most extensive change expected to take place in India and China Urban areas modify their local and regional climate through the urban heat island effect and by altering precipitation patterns, which together will have significant impacts on net primary production, ecosystem health, and biodiversity Urban expansion will heavily draw on natural resources, including water, on a global scale, and will often consume prime agricultural land, with knock-on effects on biodiversity and ecosystem services elsewhere Future urban expansion will often occur in areas where the capacity for formal governance is restricted, which will constrain the protection of biodiversity and management of ecosystem service

Sustainability science for water: Bibliometric analysis and social-ecological resilience thinking

Incorporating resilience thinking, the thesis uses bibliometric analysis to identify emerging approaches and technology in sustainability science for water resources. It conducts a resilience-based assessment of a Chinese freshwater lake exposed to the disturbances and impacts of the Three Gorges Dam. A new resilience assessment framework is developed and applied in the case of Dongting Lake. Social networks for community resilience to the environmental changes triggered by the dam are also explored

Urbanization, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services: Challenges and Opportunities: A Global Assessment

Urban Ecology; Urbanism; Sustainable Development; Complex Systems; Science, general; International Environmental La

A History of Materials and Technologies Development

The purpose of the book is to provide the students with the text that presents an introductory knowledge about the development of materials and technologies and includes the most commonly available information on human development. The idea of the publication has been generated referring to the materials taken from the organic and non-organic evolution of nature. The suggested texts might be found a purposeful tool for the University students proceeding with studying engineering due to the fact that all subjects in this particular field more or less have to cover the history and development of the studied object. It is expected that studying different materials and technologies will help the students with a better understanding of driving forces, positive and negative consequences of technological development, etc