A Lie algebra attached to a projective variety

Each choice of a K\"ahler class on a compact complex manifold defines an action of the Lie algebra \slt on its total complex cohomology. If a nonempty set of such K\"ahler classes is given, then we prove that the corresponding \slt-copies generate a semisimple Lie algebra. We investigate the formal properties of the resulting representation and we work things out explicitly in the case of complex tori, hyperk\"ahler manifolds and flag varieties. We pay special attention to the cases where this leads to a Jordan algebra structure or a graded Frobenius algebra.Comment: AMSTeX v2.1, 46 page

Geobase Information System Impacts on Space Image Formats

As Geobase Information Systems increase in number, size and complexity, the format compatability of satellite remote sensing data becomes increasingly more important. Because of the vast and continually increasing quantity of data available from remote sensing systems the utility of these data is increasingly dependent on the degree to which their formats facilitate, or hinder, their incorporation into Geobase Information Systems. To merge satellite data into a geobase system requires that they both have a compatible geographic referencing system. Greater acceptance of satellite data by the user community will be facilitated if the data are in a form which most readily corresponds to existing geobase data structures. The conference addressed a number of specific topics and made recommendations

LANDSAT-D investigations in snow hydrology

Work undertaken during the contract and its results are described. Many of the results from this investigation are available in journal or conference proceedings literature - published, accepted for publication, or submitted for publication. For these the reference and the abstract are given. Those results that have not yet been submitted separately for publication are described in detail. Accomplishments during the contract period are summarized as follows: (1) analysis of the snow reflectance characteristics of the LANDSAT Thematic Mapper, including spectral suitability, dynamic range, and spectral resolution; (2) development of a variety of atmospheric models for use with LANDSAT Thematic Mapper data. These include a simple but fast two-stream approximation for inhomogeneous atmospheres over irregular surfaces, and a doubling model for calculation of the angular distribution of spectral radiance at any level in an plane-parallel atmosphere; (3) incorporation of digital elevation data into the atmospheric models and into the analysis of the satellite data; and (4) textural analysis of the spatial distribution of snow cover

Compound-specific isotope analysis of diesel fuels in a forensic investigation

Compound-specific isotope analysis (CSIA) offers great potential as a tool to provide chemical evidence in a forensic investigation. Many attempts to trace environmental oil spills were successful where isotopic values were particularly distinct. However, difficulties arise when a large data set is analyzed and the isotopic differences between samples are subtle. In the present study, discrimination of diesel oils involved in a diesel theft case was carried out to infer the relatedness of the samples to potential source samples. This discriminatory analysis used a suite of hydrocarbon diagnostic indices, alkanes, to generate carbon and hydrogen isotopic data of the compositions of the compounds which were then processed using multivariate statistical analyses to infer the relatedness of the data set. The results from this analysis were put into context by comparing the data with the δ13C and δ2H of alkanes in commercial diesel samples obtained from various locations in the South Island of New Zealand. Based on the isotopic character of the alkanes, it is suggested that diesel fuels involved in the diesel theft case were distinguishable. This manuscript shows that CSIA when used in tandem with multivariate statistical analysis provide a defensible means to differentiate and source-apportion qualitatively similar oils at the molecular level. This approach was able to overcome confounding challenges posed by the near single-point source of origin, i.e., the very subtle differences in isotopic values between the samples

Remote sensing applications to hydrologic modeling in the southern Sierra Nevada and portions of the San Joaquin Valley, volume 1

The author has identified the following significant results. Characteristics of LANDSAT MSS imagery present problems in using satellite radiation measurements to estimate the shortwave albedo of an alpine snow cover. Every 15 minute USGS quadrangle contains over 100,000 pixels which poses a computation problem if each pixel is to be evaluated individually. The sampling interval may be sufficiently great to mask some effects of terrain and vegetation on reflectance. Three frames of LANDSAT imagery are needed for complete coverage of the study area, yet less than one third of the area coverage from each frame covers an area of interest. Because of distortions inherent in the imagery, information regarding spacecraft altitude, attitude, and position must be statistically derived with respect to ground control points in the image whose geodetic locations are known. An inspection of shade points indicates that up to one third of the most heavily snow covered areas may saturate in bands 4 through 6. LANDSAT's 9 day repeat cycle is not optimum for snow cover reflectance modeling because the most pronounced changes in albedo occur most nearly following a new snowfall. Such a snowfall, occurring between overpasses, is inadequately represented by extrapolation from the previous overpasses

Forensic differentiation of diesel fuels using hydrocarbon isotope fingerprints

Abstract Compound-specific isotope analysis (CSIA) is fast becoming an important tool to provide chemical evidence in a forensic investigation. Attempts to trace environmental oil spills were successful where isotopic values were particularly distinct. However, difficulties arise when a large dataset is analyzed and the isotopic differences between samples are subtle. Thus, this study intends to demonstrate any linkages between diesel fuels in a large number of datasets where subtlety in the isotopic values is accentuated by the near single-point source of origin. Diesel fuels were obtained from various locations in the South Island of New Zealand. Aliquots of these samples were diluted with n-pentane and subsequently analyzed with gas chromatography-isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC-IRMS) for carbon and hydrogen isotope values. The data obtained were subjected to principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical clustering. A wide range of δ13C and δ2H values were determined for the ubiquitous alkane compounds (the greatest values being −4.5‰ and −40‰, respectively). Based on the isotopic character of the alkanes it is suggested that diesel fuels from different locations were distinguishable and that the key components in the differentiation are the δ2H values of the shorter chain-length alkanes. However, while the stable isotope measurements may provide information to classify a sample at a broad scale, much more detailed information is required on the temporal and spatial variability of diesel compositions. The subtle differences of the stable isotope values within the alkanes of different diesel fuels highlighted the power of CSIA as a means of differentiating petroleum products of different origins, even more so when two or more stable isotopes data are combined. This paper shows that CSIA when used in tandem with multivariate statistical methods can provide suitable tools for source apportionment of hydrocarbons by demonstrating a straightforward approach, thus eliminating lengthy analytical processes

Sea ice–ocean feedbacks in the Antarctic shelf seas

Observed changes in Antarctic sea ice are poorly understood, in part due to the complexity of its interactions with the atmosphere and ocean. A highly simplified, coupled sea ice–ocean mixed layer model has been developed to investigate the importance of sea ice–ocean feedbacks on the evolution of sea ice and the ocean mixed layer in two contrasting regions of the Antarctic continental shelf ocean: the Amundsen Sea, which has warm shelf waters, and the Weddell Sea, which has cold and saline shelf waters. Modeling studies where we deny the feedback response to surface air temperature perturbations show the importance of feedbacks on the mixed layer and ice cover in the Weddell Sea to be smaller than the sensitivity to surface atmospheric conditions. In the Amundsen Sea the effect of surface air temperature perturbations on the sea ice are opposed by changes in the entrainment of warm deep waters into the mixed layer. The net impact depends on the relative balance between changes in sea ice growth driven by surface perturbations and basal-driven melting. The changes in the entrainment of warm water in the Amundsen Sea were found to have a much larger impact on the ice volume than perturbations in the surface energy budget. This creates a net negative ice albedo feedback in the Amundsen Sea, reversing the sign of this typically positive feedback mechanism

Remote sensing applications to hydrologic modeling

An energy balance snowmelt model for rugged terrain was devised and coupled to a flow model. A literature review of remote sensing applications to hydrologic modeling was included along with a software development outline

Precision Pointing Control System (PPCS) system design and analysis

The precision pointing control system (PPCS) is an integrated system for precision attitude determination and orientation of gimbaled experiment platforms. The PPCS concept configures the system to perform orientation of up to six independent gimbaled experiment platforms to design goal accuracy of 0.001 degrees, and to operate in conjunction with a three-axis stabilized earth-oriented spacecraft in orbits ranging from low altitude (200-2500 n.m., sun synchronous) to 24 hour geosynchronous, with a design goal life of 3 to 5 years. The system comprises two complementary functions: (1) attitude determination where the attitude of a defined set of body-fixed reference axes is determined relative to a known set of reference axes fixed in inertial space; and (2) pointing control where gimbal orientation is controlled, open-loop (without use of payload error/feedback) with respect to a defined set of body-fixed reference axes to produce pointing to a desired target

Investigations of air-sea gas exchange in the CoOP Coastal Air-Sea Chemical Exchange project

Author Posting. © Oceanography Society, 2008. This article is posted here by permission of Oceanography Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Oceanography 21, 4 (2008): 34-45.The exchange of CO2 and other gases across the ocean-air interface is an extremely important component in global climate dynamics, photosynthesis and respiration, and the absorption of anthropogenically produced CO2. The many different mechanisms and properties that control the air-sea flux of CO2 can have large spatial and temporal variability, particularly in the coastal environment. The need for making short-time-scale and small-spatial-scale estimates of gas transfer velocity, along with the physical and chemical parameters that affect it, provided a framework for the field experiments of the Coastal Ocean Processes Program (CoOP) Coastal Air-Sea Chemical Exchange (CASCEX) program. As such, the CASCEX project provided an opportunity to develop some of the first in situ techniques to estimate gas fluxes using micrometeorological and thermal imagery techniques. The results reported from the CASCEX experiments represent the first step toward reconciling the indirect but widely accepted estimates of gas exchange with these more direct, higher-resolution estimates over the coastal ocean. These results and the advances in sensor technology initiated during the CASCEX project have opened up even larger regions of the global ocean to investigation of gas exchange and its role in climate change.Funding for this work was provided by the National Science Foundation (NSF) CoOP program under grants OCE-9410534 and OCE-9711285