A New Satellite-Based Retrieval of Low-Cloud Liquid-Water Path Using Machine Learning and Meteosat SEVIRI Data

Clouds are one of the major uncertainties of the climate system. The study of cloud processes requires information on cloud physical properties, in particular liquid water path (LWP). This parameter is commonly retrieved from satellite data using look-up table approaches. However, existing LWP retrievals come with uncertainties related to assumptions inherent in physical retrievals. Here, we present a new retrieval technique for cloud LWP based on a statistical machine learning model. The approach utilizes spectral information from geostationary satellite channels of Meteosat Spinning-Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI), as well as satellite viewing geometry. As ground truth, data from CloudNet stations were used to train the model. We found that LWP predicted by the machine-learning model agrees substantially better with CloudNet observations than a current physics-based product, the Climate Monitoring Satellite Application Facility (CM SAF) CLoud property dAtAset using SEVIRI, edition 2 (CLAAS-2), highlighting the potential of such approaches for future retrieval developments

Aid on Demand: African Leaders and the Geography of China s Foreign Assistance

We investigate whether the political leaders of aid-receiving countries use foreign aid inflows to further their own political or personal interests. Aid allocation biased by leaders selfish interests arguably reduces the effectiveness of aid, negatively affecting development outcomes. We examine whether more Chinese aid is allocated to the political leaders birth regions and regions populated by the ethnic group to which the leader belongs, controlling for objective indicators of need. We have collected data on 117 African leaders birthplaces and ethnic groups and geocoded 1,955 Chinese development finance projects across 3,553 physical locations in Africa over the 2000-2012 period. The results from various fixed-effects regressions show that current political leaders birth regions receive substantially larger financial flows than other regions. We do not find evidence that leaders shift aid to regions populated by groups who share their ethnicity

Are African leaders misusing Chinese development finance? The price of country ownership

In a 2012 blog post, MIT’s Daron Acemoglu and Harvard’s James Robinson call attention to a “fancy school” built in a small village in Sierra Leone and financed by Chinese development aid. They ask a pointed question: “Why would anyone want to build a wonderful school in the middle of what Africans call ‘the bush’?” As Acemoglu and Robinson explain, “Yoni is the home village of Sierra Leone’s president, Ernest Bai Koroma.

Factors influencing on-scene time in a physician-staffed helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS): a retrospective observational study.

BACKGROUND For helicopter emergency service systems (HEMS), the prehospital time consists of response time, on-scene time and transport time. Little is known about the factors that influence on-scene time or about differences between adult and paediatric missions in a physician-staffed HEMS. METHODS We analysed the HEMS electronic database of Swiss Air-Rescue from 01-01-2011 to 31-12-2021 (N = 110,331). We included primary missions and excluded missions with National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics score (NACA) score 0 or 7, resulting in 68,333 missions for analysis. The primary endpoint 'on-scene time' was defined as first physical contact with the patient until take-off to the hospital. A multivariable linear regression model was computed to examine the association of diagnosis, type and number of interventions and monitoring, and patient's characteristics with the primary endpoint. RESULTS The prehospital time and on-scene time of the missions studied were, respectively, 50.6 [IQR: 41.0-62.0] minutes and 21.0 [IQR: 15.0-28.6] minutes. Helicopter hoist operations, resuscitation, airway management, critical interventions, remote location, night-time, and paediatric patients were associated with longer on-scene times. CONCLUSIONS Compared to adult patients, the adjusted on-scene time for paediatric patients was longer. Besides the strong impact of a helicopter hoist operation on on-scene time, the dominant factors contributing to on-scene time are the type and number of interventions and monitoring: improving individual interventions or performing them in parallel may offer great potential for reducing on-scene time. However, multiple clinical interventions and monitoring interact and are not single interventions. Compared to the impact of interventions, non-modifiable factors, such as NACA score, type of diagnosis and age, make only a minor contribution to overall on-scene time

IAB-Prognose 2013/2014: Arbeitslosigkeit sinkt trotz Beschäftigungsrekord nur wenig

Die Schuldenkrise in Europa hat die deutsche Konjunktur im vergangenen Winterhalbjahr in Mitleidenschaft gezogen. Im zweiten Quartal 2013 setzte aber eine kräftige Erholung ein, die Erwartungen für die weitere Entwicklung sind moderat positiv. Am Arbeitsmarkt konnte die Beschäftigung ihren Aufwärtstrend fortsetzen. Die Arbeitslosigkeit sinkt allerdings seit längerer Zeit nicht mehr nennenswert. Hier treten strukturelle Probleme mehr und mehr zu Tage. Die aktuelle IAB-Prognose zeigt, mit welcher Entwicklung bis zum Jahresende und im Jahr 2014 zu rechnen ist

IAB-Prognose 2013: Der Arbeitsmarkt bekommt konjunkturellen Rückenwind

Die europäische Schuldenkrise hat die deutsche Konjunktur im Jahr 2012 mehr und mehr in Mitleidenschaft gezogen. Das Tal scheint nun aber durchschritten zu sein, Frühindikatoren legen kräftig zu. Der Ausblick ist positiv, auch wenn - trotz deutlicher Beruhigung auf den Finanzmärkten - das Risiko eines erneuten Aufflammens der Krise fortbesteht. Der Arbeitsmarkt blieb nicht unbeeindruckt von der wirtschaftlichen Abschwächung, zeigte sich aber in einer guten Grundverfassung. Weitere Verbesserungen sind möglich, allerdings nicht im Umfang der vergangenen Jahre. Die IAB-Prognose zeigt, mit welchen Entwicklungen im Jahr 2013 zu rechnen ist

IAB-Prognose 2016/2017: Arbeitslosigkeit sinkt weiter

In Deutschland setzte sich der Beschäftigungsaufschwung bis zuletzt fort. Die Konjunktur ist trotz weltwirtschaftlicher Risiken aufwärts gerichtet. Nachdem die Flüchtlingszuwanderung inzwischen stark zurückgegangen ist, stellt sich nun die Herausforderung der Integration der anerkannten bzw. geduldeten Geflüchteten in den Arbeitsmarkt. Die aktuelle IAB-Prognose blickt auf die zu erwartenden Entwicklungen in den Jahren 2016 und 2017