1,037 research outputs found
Sharing Geographic Data: How to Update Distributed or Replicated Data
Geographic data is expensive to collect and maintain and sharing data is crucial for its effective use in urban planning at all levels. For a few hardly ever changing themes the simple distribution of copies of data is feasible, but for other data, access to “live” data and updating, sometimes even distributed updating, of the data is necessary.
The organization of sharing data can be separated into three sets of issues: (1) Interpretation: how to understand the data, (2) Authorization: is a user permitted to use the data, and (3) Access: how to achieve effective and non-disturbing use and updating of data by several users? Solutions must take threats into account: hackers may try to steal or disturb the use of data, and the revelations of Snowden's documents only emphasize the danger of others reading data not intended for their eyes.
Effective sharing geographic data without conflicts requires integrating results from different areas of computer science research, including at least: cryptography, computer security, database management, and computer networking
Why Is Cartographic Generalization So Hard?
I remember first presentations about cartographic generalizations (Spiess 1971), where tools for generalization were shown, but the conclusions stated, more or less clearly, that fully automated cartographic generalization was not possible. There has been an impressive stream of research documenting methods to generalize maps. The consensus today seems to be that automated tools under control of a cartographer are the most effective means (Buttenfield et al. 1991; Weibel 1995).
In this contribution some fundamental aspects of map making, including generalizations are analyzed. Map generalization is studied by most map producers, especially the National Mapping Agencies, because they have to maintain maps at different scale and it appears economical to derive a map at smaller from a map of a larger scale by an automated process. Equally important is the production of maps at arbitrary scales for the illustration of web pages. These tasks are the backdrop for the following abstract analysis
Constraints on Assembly Bias from Galaxy Clustering
We constrain the newly-introduced decorated Halo Occupation Distribution
(HOD) model using SDSS DR7 measurements of projected galaxy clustering or
r-band luminosity threshold samples. The decorated HOD is a model for the
galaxy-halo connection that augments the HOD by allowing for the possibility of
galaxy assembly bias: galaxy luminosity may be correlated with dark matter halo
properties besides mass, Mvir. We demonstrate that it is not possible to rule
out galaxy assembly bias using DR7 measurements of galaxy clustering alone.
Moreover, galaxy samples with Mr < -20 and Mr < -20.5 favor strong central
galaxy assembly bias. These samples prefer scenarios in which
high-concentration are more likely to host a central galaxy relative to
low-concentration halos of the same mass. We exclude zero assembly bias with
high significance for these samples. Satellite galaxy assembly bias is
significant for the faintest sample, Mr < -19. We find no evidence for assembly
bias in the Mr < -21 sample. Assembly bias should be accounted for in galaxy
clustering analyses or attempts to exploit galaxy clustering to constrain
cosmology. In addition to presenting the first constraints on HOD models that
accommodate assembly bias, our analysis includes several improvements over
previous analyses of these data. Therefore, our inferences supersede
previously-published results even in the case of a standard HOD analysis.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures. To be submitted to MNRAS. Comments Welcome.
Python scripts to perform this analysis and MCMC chains will all be made
publicly availabl
Expropriation in the Simple Cadastre
In this paper we investigate the necessary interaction between expropriation and the cadastre. We investigate first the role of expropriation in modern society and the stake holders and then analyze the interaction with land registration and cadastre. The "simple cadastre" framework allows a treatment independent of national particulars. A simple cadastre is a minimal model that satisfies the needs of the users of the cadastre and abstracts from non-essential aspects, any national legislation is full of. In this paper we investigate how a cadastre supports expropriation and what the necessary interface is. We conclude that the expropriation procedures need access to registration data and a process to register a transfer of ownership effectuated by a court judgment, but no special arrangements that would only serve expropriation procedures
Brightest galaxies as halo centre tracers in SDSS DR7
Determining the positions of halo centres in large-scale structure surveys is
crucial for many cosmological studies. A common assumption is that halo centres
correspond to the location of their brightest member galaxies. In this paper,
we study the dynamics of brightest galaxies with respect to other halo members
in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey DR7. Specifically, we look at the line-of-sight
velocity and spatial offsets between brightest galaxies and their neighbours.
We compare those to detailed mock catalogues, constructed from high-resolution,
dark-matter-only -body simulations, in which it is assumed that satellite
galaxies trace dark matter subhaloes. This allows us to place constraints on
the fraction of haloes in which the brightest galaxy is not the
central. Compared to previous studies we explicitly take into account the
unrelaxed state of the host haloes, velocity offsets of halo cores and
correlations between and the satellite occupation. We find that
strongly decreases with the luminosity of the brightest galaxy
and increases with the mass of the host halo. Overall, in the halo mass range
we find , in good
agreement with a previous study by Skibba et al. We discuss the implications of
these findings for studies inferring the galaxy--halo connection from satellite
kinematics, models of the conditional luminosity function and galaxy formation
in general.Comment: 24 pages, 15 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA
Maturing Satellite Kinematics into a Competitive Probe of the Galaxy-Halo Connection
The kinematics of satellite galaxies moving in a dark matter halo are a
direct probe of the underlying gravitational potential. Thus, the phase-space
distributions of satellites represent a powerful tool to determine the
galaxy-halo connection from observations. By stacking the signal of a large
number of satellite galaxies this potential can be unlocked even for haloes
hosting a few satellites on average. In this work, we test the impact of
various modelling assumptions on constraints derived from analysing satellite
phase-space distributions in the non-linear, 1-halo regime. We discuss their
potential to explain the discrepancy between average halo masses derived from
satellite kinematics and gravitational lensing previously reported.
Furthermore, we develop an updated, more robust analysis to extract constraints
on the galaxy-halo relation from satellite properties in spectroscopic galaxy
surveys such as the SDSS. We test the accuracy of this approach using a large
number of realistic mock catalogues. Furthermore, we find that constraints
derived from such an analysis are complementary and competitive with respect to
the commonly used galaxy clustering and galaxy-galaxy lensing observables.Comment: 24 pages, 15 figures; resubmitted to MNRAS after first referee repor
Updated Results on the Galaxy-Halo Connection from Satellite Kinematics in SDSS
We present new results on the relationship between central galaxies and dark
matter haloes inferred from observations of satellite kinematics in the Sloan
Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) DR7. We employ an updated analysis framework that
includes detailed mock catalogues to model observational effects in SDSS. Our
results constrain the colour-dependent conditional luminosity function (CLF) of
dark matter haloes, as well as the radial profile of satellite galaxies.
Confirming previous results, we find that red central galaxies live in more
massive haloes than blue galaxies at fixed luminosity. Additionally, our
results suggest that satellite galaxies have a radial profile less centrally
concentrated than dark matter but not as cored as resolved subhaloes in dark
matter-only simulations. Compared to previous works using satellite kinematics
by More et al., we find much more competitive constraints on the galaxy-halo
connection, on par with those derived from a combination of galaxy clustering
and galaxy-galaxy lensing. We compare our results on the galaxy-halo connection
to other studies using galaxy clustering and group catalogues, showing very
good agreement between these different techniques. We discuss future
applications of satellite kinematics in the context of constraining cosmology
and the relationship between galaxies and dark matter haloes.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures, submitted to MNRAS, comments welcom
How to Optimally Constrain Galaxy Assembly Bias: Supplement Projected Correlation Functions with Count-in-cells Statistics
Most models for the connection between galaxies and their haloes ignore the
possibility that galaxy properties may be correlated with halo properties other
than mass, a phenomenon known as galaxy assembly bias. Yet, it is known that
such correlations can lead to systematic errors in the interpretation of survey
data. At present, the degree to which galaxy assembly bias may be present in
the real Universe, and the best strategies for constraining it remain
uncertain. We study the ability of several observables to constrain galaxy
assembly bias from redshift survey data using the decorated halo occupation
distribution (dHOD), an empirical model of the galaxy--halo connection that
incorporates assembly bias. We cover an expansive set of observables, including
the projected two-point correlation function ,
the galaxy--galaxy lensing signal , the void
probability function , the distributions of
counts-in-cylinders , and counts-in-annuli
, and the distribution of the ratio of counts in cylinders
of different sizes . We find that despite the frequent use of the
combination in
interpreting galaxy data, the count statistics, and
, are generally more efficient in constraining galaxy
assembly bias when combined with . Constraints
based upon and
share common degeneracy directions in the parameter space, while combinations
of with the count statistics are more
complementary. Therefore, we strongly suggest that count statistics should be
used to complement the canonical observables in future studies of the
galaxy--halo connection.Comment: Figures 3 and 4 show the main results. Published in Monthly Notices
of the Royal Astronomical Societ
The Galaxy Clustering Crisis in Abundance Matching
Galaxy clustering on small scales is significantly under-predicted by
sub-halo abundance matching (SHAM) models that populate (sub-)haloes with
galaxies based on peak halo mass, . SHAM models based on the peak
maximum circular velocity, , have had much better success. The
primary reason based models fail is the relatively low abundance
of satellite galaxies produced in these models compared to those based on
. Despite success in predicting clustering, a simple based SHAM model results in predictions for galaxy growth that are at
odds with observations. We evaluate three possible remedies that could "save"
mass-based SHAM: (1) SHAM models require a significant population of "orphan"
galaxies as a result of artificial disruption/merging of sub-haloes in modern
high resolution dark matter simulations; (2) satellites must grow significantly
after their accretion; and (3) stellar mass is significantly affected by halo
assembly history. No solution is entirely satisfactory. However, regardless of
the particulars, we show that popular SHAM models based on
cannot be complete physical models as presented. Either truly is
a better predictor of stellar mass at and it remains to be seen how
the correlation between stellar mass and comes about, or SHAM
models are missing vital component(s) that significantly affect galaxy
clustering.Comment: 25 pages, 22 figures, submitted to MNRAS, comments welcom
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