Remote sensing-based mapping of the destruction to Aleppo during the Syrian Civil War between 2011 and 2017

Accurate assessment of damage caused by conflict can be difficult to determine from ground-based surveys, particularly in the context of violence and unsafe conditions. Earth Observation data provides a non-invasive method for rapid damage assessment over wide geographic areas. In this study we use Landsat Imagery captured between 2011 and 2017 to assess the damage in Aleppo, Syria caused by conflict during the Syrian Civil War. Extracting temporal changes in urban environments is complex and the capabilities of traditional spectral-based methodologies are limited. We examined the effectiveness of the Gray-Level Co-Occurrence Matrix (GLCM) and two texture-based metrics (correlation and homogeneity) at classifying changes in reflectance characteristics within urban environments caused by building damage and consequent changes in surface orientation. Homogeneity was a more effective texture measure than correlation (overall accuracy of 79% vs 50%). Results indicated that between 45% and 57% of Aleppo was damaged during the study period, including up to 57% of former rebel held areas and between 34% and 46% of government areas and their surrounds. We used SPOT-6 imagery for accuracy assessment. Damage to Aleppo has yet to be fully quantified and several parts of the city remain unsafe and inaccessible. The results of this study highlight the potential offered by texture analysis for mapping damage to urban areas with freely available imagery and can be readily applied to natural disasters such as earthquakes and the aftermath of extreme weather events

Predicting QSO Continua in the Ly Alpha Forest

We present a method to make predictions with sets of correlated data values, in this case QSO flux spectra. We predict the continuum in the Lyman-Alpha forest of a QSO, from 1020 -- 1216 A, using the spectrum of that QSO from 1216 -- 1600 A . We find correlations between the unabsorbed flux in these two wavelengths regions in the HST spectra of 50 QSOs. We use principal component analysis (PCA) to summarize the variety of these spectra and we relate the weights of the principal components for 1020 -- 1600 A to the weights for 1216 -- 1600 A, and we apply this relation to make predictions. We test the method on the HST spectra, and we find an average absolute flux error of 9%, with a range 3 -- 30%, where individual predictions are systematically too low or too high. We mention several ways in which the predictions might be improved.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Ap

The Dipole Observed in the COBE DMR Four-Year Data

The largest anisotropy in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) is the $\approx 3$ mK dipole assumed to be due to our velocity with respect to the CMB. Using the four year data set from all six channels of the COBE Differential Microwave Radiometers (DMR), we obtain a best-fit dipole amplitude $3.358 \pm 0.001 \pm 0.023$ mK in the direction $(l,b)=(264\deg.31 \pm 0\deg.04 \pm 0\deg.16, +48\deg.05 \pm 0\deg.02 \pm 0\deg.09)$, where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second include calibration and combined systematic uncertainties. This measurement is consistent with previous DMR and FIRAS resultsComment: New and improved version; to be published in ApJ next mont

Resolving the Beta-Discrepancy for Clusters of Galaxies

Previous comparisons of optical and X-ray observations of clusters of galaxies have lead to the so-called ``$\beta$ - discrepancy'' that has persisted for the last decade. The standard hydrostatic-isothermal model for clusters predicts that the parameter $\beta_{spec} = \sigma_{r}^{2}/(kT/\mu m_{p})$, which describes the ratio of energy per unit mass in galaxies to that in the gas, should equal the parameter $\beta_{fit}$ (where $\rho_{gas}(r) \propto \rho_{gal}(r)^{\beta_{fit}}$) determined from the X-ray surface brightness distribution. The observations suggest an apparent discrepancy : $\beta_{spec} \sim 1.2$ (i.e., the galaxies are ``hotter'' than the gas) while $\beta_{fit} \sim 0.65$ (i.e., the gas is ``hotter'' and more extended than the galaxies). Here we show that the discrepancy is resolved when the actual observed galaxy distribution in clusters is used, $\rho_{gal}(r) \propto r^{-2.4 \pm 0.2}$, instead of the previously assumed steeper King approximation, $\rho_{gal}(r) \propto r^{-3}$. Using a large sample of clusters, we find best-fit mean values of $\beta_{spec} = 0.94 \pm 0.08$ and $\beta_{fit}^{corrected} = 1.25 \times \beta_{fit} = 0.84 \pm 0.10$. These results resolve the $\beta$ - discrepancy and provide support for the hydrostatic cluster model.Comment: (to appear in ApJ May 10, 1994), 10 pages of TeX, 3 figures available on request to [email protected]

Search For Unresolved Sources In The COBE-DMR Two-Year Sky Maps

We have searched the temperature maps from the COBE Differential Microwave Radiometers (DMR) first two years of data for evidence of unresolved sources. The high-latitude sky (|b| > 30\deg) contains no sources brighter than 192 uK thermodynamic temperature (322 Jy at 53 GHz). The cumulative count of sources brighter than threshold T, N(> T), is consistent with a superposition of instrument noise plus a scale-invariant spectrum of cosmic temperature fluctuations normalized to Qrms-PS = 17 uK. We examine the temperature maps toward nearby clusters and find no evidence for any Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect, \Delta y < 7.3 x 10^{-6} (95% CL) averaged over the DMR beam. We examine the temperature maps near the brightest expected radio sources and detect no evidence of significant emission. The lack of bright unresolved sources in the DMR maps, taken with anisotropy measurements on smaller angular scales, places a weak constraint on the integral number density of any unresolved Planck-spectrum sources brighter than flux density S, n(> S) < 2 x 10^4 (S/1 Jy)^{-2} sr^{-1}.Comment: 16 pages including 2 figures, uuencoded PostScript, COBE preprint 94-0

The CFH Optical PDCS survey (COP) I: The Data

This paper presents and gives the COP (COP: CFHT Optical PDCS; CFHT: Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope; PDCS: Palomar Distant Cluster Survey) survey data. We describe our photometric and spectroscopic observations with the MOS multi-slit spectrograph at the CFH telescope. A comparison of the photometry from the PDCS (Postman et al. 1996) catalogs and from the new images we have obtained at the CFH telescope shows that the different magnitude systems can be cross-calibrated. After identification between the PDCS catalogues and our new images, we built catalogues with redshift, coordinates and V, I and Rmagnitudes. We have classified the galaxies along the lines of sight into field and structure galaxies using a gap technique (Katgert et al. 1996). In total we have observed 18 significant structures along the 10 lines of sight.Comment: 40 pages, 13 figures, accepted in A