Effective Dissipation and Turbulence in Spectrally Truncated Euler Flows

A new transient regime in the relaxation towards absolute equilibrium of the conservative and time-reversible 3-D Euler equation with high-wavenumber spectral truncation is characterized. Large-scale dissipative effects, caused by the thermalized modes that spontaneously appear between a transition wavenumber and the maximum wavenumber, are calculated using fluctuation dissipation relations. The large-scale dynamics is found to be similar to that of high-Reynolds number Navier-Stokes equations and thus to obey (at least approximately) Kolmogorov scaling.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures new version with only 4 figures; title changed; manuscript changed; accepted by PR

Modern Heritage between Care and Risk

The International Conference “Modern Heritage between Care and Risk” (Venice, 4-5th May 2021) was held at Università Iuav di Venezia, in collaboration with Fondation Le Corbusier and Docomomo Italia. The event offered an opportunity for an international exchange on crucial issues of documentation and preservation of the 20th century architectural heritage in a time of rapid social, cultural and political changes. The first day has been dedicated to “Ahmedabad. Laboratory of Modern Architecture”, a site-manifesto threatened today by the demolition of relevant dormitories of the Indian Institute of Management by Louis I. Kahn. The second day has been dedicated to “Living the Architectural Preservation. Modern Houses in the Conservation of 20th Century Heritage”, focused on recent conservation/restoration works of Modern authorial houses and neighbourhoods. The proceedings collect selected papers presented by international researchers and architects involved in the fields of History of Architecture and Architectural Preservation

Real time GIS decision support system

Presented at Meeting irrigation demands in a water-challenged environment: SCADA and technology: tools to improve production: a USCID water management conference held on September 28 - October 1, 2010 in Fort Collins, Colorado.Includes bibliographical references.GIS technology has been utilized in the past years by drainage and irrigation districts mostly for organization of spatial data, and as decision support system. However in some cases, GIS has not reached its full potential due to such factors as lack of interest after initial set up, effort required for and the high costs of keeping the system updated, and a disconnect with daily management. This paper discusses the development of a real time GIS decision support system for the Brownsville Irrigation District of Texas (District). The objectives were to provide the District with a simple tool that would improve the management of water orders, allow access of data by landowners through the internet, and to improve the availability of pump flow data from the existing SCADA system. An important component of the project was to interact and train District personnel. The final product of the project is a website, where water orders and pump operations information are displayed in real-time, along with links to related historical data, and other information. The activity resulted in an expanded interest on the use of GIS as a real time decision support system by District personnel, the identification of solutions for limits in the existing database, and recommendations for further improvement. In this paper, we present the steps that were taken with District personnel to set up the system, the website features, and the initial benefits that have been identified by District personnel and the manager

Evaluation of the CRITERIA Irrigation Scheme Soil Water Balance Model in Texas – Initial Results

The CRITERIA model was created in the 1990s in Italy, and is based on the soil water balance computation procedures developed at the Wageningen University in the Netherlands in the 1980s. CRITERIA has been used as an analysis and regional water planning tool (e.g seasonal crop yield and water use predictions, impact of climate change scenarios), and is currently used in Northern Italy to update the regional water balance on a weekly base. The model can handle a multilayered soils and computes daily average values related to the soil water balance (actual evaporation and transpiration, water flow between layers, deep percolation, surface runoff, and subsurface runoff). Automatic algorithms allow for calculation and scaling of data which may not be available such as detailed meteorological data and soil-water properties. Outputs can be readily used in a Geographic Information System (GIS). The required inputs are precipitation, air temperature, soil texture, and crop management data (planting and harvesting dates, irrigation method and applied volumes). The model allows for input of additional data such as actual ET, soil conductivity, and soil-water characteristics. If this data is not available, the model can estimate them. The model requires calibration using a combination of measured soil moisture and actual ET. The purpose of the study was to: Evaluate the performances of CRITERIA in predicting soil water moisture; and, Evaluate its potential for predicting crop water requirement in real time within irrigation schemes using minimal input data We calibrated the model for two (2) sites: the Texas High Plains with conditions representative of the southern Great Plains, and the semi-tropical Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV). Additionally, we evaluated the model without calibration for use at the irrigation district level, by simultaneously simulating many fields with different crops and water management strategies. In the Texas High Plains, the model was calibrated and compared to lysimetric data for soybean production at the USDA-ARS Laboratory, Bushland, on soybean, over a two year period (2002 and 2003). In the LRGV, data was collected from a 27-ha sugarcane field within the Delta Lake Irrigation District, over a three years period (2007-2009). As sugar cane was not present in the CRITERIA database, we used one of the available crops (Actinidia) and we modified the default values for some parameters. Data on ETo and soil-water characteristics were not available, therefore we estimated them with the model. We also measured soil-water characteristics in laboratory from undisturbed soil cores collected in the field, and compared them to the values estimated with CRITERIA, and the Soil Water Characteristics Calculator (SWCC), an easy to use tool by USDA and Washington State University. The developed district scale evaluation was carried out at the Brownsville Irrigation District (BID) over a season’s worth of data (year 2010) for approximately 170 individual fields. Soil moisture prediction at the Bushland and Delta Lake sites was in good agreement with measured data (R2 of correlations ranged between 0.7 and 0.8). At the Bushland site, the root growth model did not describe well the actual soybean growth below 30 cm of depth, probably due to the existence of the thick clay layer at 30 cm of depth which caused an atypical shaped root zone. When applied at district scale, CRITERIA accurately predicted changes in soil moisture with estimated input data such as crop planting and harvesting dates, and actual irrigation volumes. One product of this study was a soil moisture status map that could be updated on a daily base. CRITERIA needs additional improvements for application at field level in Texas conditions, particularly the crop management component (e.g. add crops and irrigation methods, improve root growth model). In order to apply the model as real time decision support system at regional scale, additional improvements are needed, including in the scaling algorithms and the automation of data and GIS output. Finally, further evaluation should be carried out to evaluate model algorithms currently used to estimate soil water properties

Use of GIS as a Real Time Decision Support System for Irrigation Districts

The objectives were to provide the districts with a simple tool that would improve the availability of pumps and gates data from the existing SCADA system, improve the management of water orders, and allow access of data by account holders through the internet. An important component of the project was to interact and train District personnel. The final product of the project is a website, where pump and gates operations and water orders information are displayed in real-time, along with links to related historical data and other information. The on-line tool has three main components: 1) possibility to query real time and historic data from a new reorganized database created in our server; 2) status maps for display in real time of selected spatial information and alarms; 3) interactive maps for display of desired spatial information in real time and query historic spatial information. The main meaning of the status maps is to enable a friendlier and quicker access to the frequently used data. SCADA data include On/Off, current flow, upstream and downstream water level, and gate position. Water account data include pending orders, payment delinquents, and water balances

Methodologies for Analyzing Impact of Urbanization on Irrigation Districts

The region of Texas along the Mexican border has been experiencing rapid urban growth. This has caused fragmentation of many irrigation districts who are struggling to address the resulting challenges. In this paper, we analyze the growth of urban area and its impact on water distribution networks in three Texas border counties over the ten year period, 1996 to 2006. In particular, we discuss alternative procedures to assess such impacts, and we evaluate their effectiveness in identifying critical areas. Identification of urbanized areas was carried out starting from aerial photographs using two different approaches: manual identification of areas “no longer in agricultural use” and automatic extraction based on the analysis of radiometric and structural image information. By overlapping urbanization maps to the water distribution network, we identified critical areas of impact. This impact was expressed as density of network fragments per unit area, or Network Fragmentation Index (NFI). A synthetic index per each district, District Fragmentation Index (DFI) was obtained by dividing the number of network fragments by the total district length of network. Results obtained starting from manual and automatic maps were comparable, indicating that the automatic urbanization analysis can be used to evaluate impact on the water distribution network. To further identify critical areas of impact, we categorized urban areas with the Morphological Segmentation method, using a software available online (GUIDOS). The obtained categories (Core, Edge, Bridge, Loop, Branch, and Islet) not only improved the description of urban fragmentation, but also permitted assigning different weights to further describe the impact on the irrigation distribution networks. The application of this procedure slightly shifted the areas of impact and grouped them in more easy-to-interpret clusters. We simplified urbanization analysis by identifying a probability of network fragmentation from network and urbanization density maps. Although results were comparable to the ones obtained with the other methods, additional validation is recommended. These methods look promising in improving the analysis of the impact of urban growth on irrigation district activity. They help to identify urbanization and areas of impact, interpret growth dynamics, and allow for partial automation of analysis. It would be interesting to collaborate with irrigation districts to determine the correlation between the real impact on the district operation and the elements of the water distribution network included in the analysis

Computing algorithm for dairy sire evaluation on several lactations considered as the same trait

A computing algorithm is suggested for dairy sire evaluation on several lactations considered as the same trait when the model must include herd-year (HY), cow and sire as well as other environmental effects that HY (ENV). After description of equations leading to estimates of the different effects and of available computing methods, some improvements are proposed : 1) A method for cow equations absorption is described. 2) Instead of absorption of HY equations which is highly time consuming, computing of HY, ENV and sire effects by a block iterative procedure, is suggested. 3) Expressing all the former records as deviations from previous HY and ENV estimates, is proposed to combine former and recent data sets for sire evaluation without increasing too much the computing length.Une méthode de calcul est proposée pour l’indexation des taureaux laitiers sur plusieurs lactations, considérées comme un seul caractère, quand le modèle d’analyse doit tenir compte des effets troupeau-année (HY), d’environnement autres que HY (ENV), vache et père. Après une présentation des équations conduisant aux estimations des différents effets et des méthodes de résolution, quelques améliorations sont proposées : 1) Une méthode est décrite pour l’absorption des équations vache. 2) Au lieu de recourir à l’absorption des équations HY, qui. serait trop longue, il est possible d’obtenir les solutions correspondantes aux effets HY, ENV et père par une procédure itérative. 3) En exprimant les performances antérieures en écart aux effets HY et ENV, à l’aide des solutions obtenues lors des calculs antérieurs on propose de combiner les données anciennes et récentes pour l’estimation de la valeur génétique des taureaux sans trop augmenter la complexité des calculs

New life for Mondonico: from "Ghost Village" to Agro-forest University Campus

La conservazione e la valorizzazione di Mondonico, il vecchio borgo del Comune di Dorio ubicato sulla riva orientale del Lago di Como, è un esempio di cura e protezione del patrimonio culturale. La rivitalizzazione del piccolo centro del paese, oggi in stato di abbandono, ha generato un’analisi multidisciplinare tra Politecnico di Milano e Ball State University dell’Indiana e in alcuni corsi di studio di Ingegneria Edile-Architettura del Politecnico di Milano (sede territoriale di Lecco).L’obiettivo della ricerca è fornire un esempio di applicazione del processo di conservazione del tessuto storico del costruito finalizzata al rilancio del territorio.La metodologia utilizzata durante il percorso didattico è quella di comparare strumenti di analisi quali la documentazione storico-archivistica, la ricostruzione della trasformazione nel tempo degli edifici e dei percorsi, l'analisi visiva del paesaggio, la valutazione dello stato di conservazione, le informazioni sulla popolazione e le aspettative degli abitanti mediante l’analisi FDOM (forze, debolezze, opportunità, minacce).Per ridare vita al borgo di Mondonico e ai suoi edifici abbandonati si propone di insediare un campus universitario agro-forestale. Il progetto vuole preservare le tecniche agricole e costruttive.Il progetto mira a mantenere il “valore ambientale del borgo” cercando di trasformare ed adattare gli edifici esistenti al nuovo uso e alle normative vigenti senza dimenticare di conservare l’integrità del luogo. New Life for Mondonico: from “Ghost Village” to Agro-forest University CampusThe project of preservation and revitalization of Mondonico, an ancient village of the Municipality of Dorio located on the eastern shore of Como lake, is an example of care and protection of Cultural heritage.The development of the small village that was in a state of neglect, has generated a multidisciplinary collaborative analysis between Politecnico di Milano and Ball State University of Indiana, during some courses of Architecture and Building Engineering at Politecnico di Milano in Lecco.The goal of this research is to give an example of protection of historical built landscape aimed at reviving the territory.The methodology applied during the academic course is the comparison of analysis tools such as historical-archival research, investigation on buildings and paths’ modifications over time, visual analysis of the landscape, evaluation of the state of conservation, information about people and citizens’ expectations through SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats).The proposal is for an Agro-forest university campus, which would revitalize the village of Mondonico and its abandoned buildings. The project aims to preserve the agricultural and construction techniques.The project would preserve the “environmental value of the village” by adapting existing buildings to the new use and current regulations without forgetting the entirety of the place.The project of preservation and revitalization of Mondonico, an ancient village of the Municipality of Dorio located on the eastern shore of Como lake, is an example of care and protection of Cultural heritage.The development of the small village that was in a state of neglect, has generated a multidisciplinary collaborative analysis between Politecnico di Milano and Ball State University of Indiana, during some courses of Architecture and Building Engineering at Politecnico di Milano in Lecco.The goal of this research is to give an example of protection of historical built landscape aimed at reviving the territory.The methodology applied during the academic course is the comparison of analysis tools such as historical-archival research, investigation on buildings and paths’ modifications over time, visual analysis of the landscape, evaluation of the state of conservation, information about people and citizens’ expectations through SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats).The proposal is for an Agro-forest university campus, which would revitalize the village of Mondonico and its abandoned buildings. The project aims to preserve the agricultural and construction techniques.The project would preserve the “environmental value of the village” by adapting existing buildings to the new use and current regulations without forgetting the entirety of the place. Nuova vita per Mondonico: da "Ghost Village" a polo universitario agro-forestale La conservazione e la valorizzazione di Mondonico, il vecchio borgo del Comune di Dorio ubicato sulla riva orientale del Lago di Como, è un esempio di cura e protezione del patrimonio culturale. La rivitalizzazione del piccolo centro del paese, oggi in stato di abbandono, ha generato un’analisi multidisciplinare tra Politecnico di Milano e Ball State University dell’Indiana e in alcuni corsi di studio di Ingegneria Edile-Architettura del Politecnico di Milano (sede territoriale di Lecco).L’obiettivo della ricerca è fornire un esempio di applicazione del processo di conservazione del tessuto storico del costruito finalizzata al rilancio del territorio.La metodologia utilizzata durante il percorso didattico è quella di comparare strumenti di analisi quali la documentazione storico-archivistica, la ricostruzione della trasformazione nel tempo degli edifici e dei percorsi, l'analisi visiva del paesaggio, la valutazione dello stato di conservazione, le informazioni sulla popolazione e le aspettative degli abitanti mediante l’analisi FDOM (forze, debolezze, opportunità, minacce).Per ridare vita al borgo di Mondonico e ai suoi edifici abbandonati si propone di insediare un campus universitario agro-forestale. Il progetto vuole preservare le tecniche agricole e costruttive.Il progetto mira a mantenere il “valore ambientale del borgo” cercando di trasformare ed adattare gli edifici esistenti al nuovo uso e alle normative vigenti senza dimenticare di conservare l'integrità del luogo