1,256 research outputs found
Potential of Retrofitting Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems Using an Integrated Geographical Information System Remote Sensing Based Approach
Flooding is a major problem in urban areas worldwide. Methodologies that can rapidly assess the scale and identify the reasons causing these flooding events at minimal cost are urgently required. This study has used the City of Kingston-upon-Hull to evaluate the capability of an integrated remote sensing and geographical information system based approach to provide the critical information on the spatial extent of flooding and flood water volumes and overcome the limitations in current monitoring based on ground-based visual mapping and household flooding surveys. Airborne and Terrestrial LiDAR datasets were combined with digital aerial photography, flood assessment surveys, and maps of housing, infrastructure and the sewer network. The integration of these datasets provided an enhanced understanding of the sources and pathways of the flood water runoff, accurate quantification of the water volumes associated with each flooding event and the identification of the optimum locations and size of potential retrofit Sustainable Urban Drainage systems.n/
Mapping of Hydrothermal Alteration in Mount Berecha Area of Main Ethiopian Rift using Hyperspectral Data
Airborne Imaging Spectroradiometer for Applications (AISA) Hawk data was used to identify and map hydrothermal alteration mineralogy in Mount Berecha area of Main Ethiopian Rift valley. The Airborne image mapping was coupled with laboratory analysis involving reflectance spectroscopic measurements with the use of ASD FieldSpec for mineral and rock samples. The study was based in the shortwave infrared wavelength (SWIR) region. Laboratory spectra acquired from field data analysis served as guide in selecting image endmembers which were used as input in Spectral Angle Mapper (SAM) classification for mineral mapping. SWIR spectroscopy was able to detect the main very fine grained mineral assemblages which occur in the study area, including kaolinite, halloysite, opal, montmorillonite, nontronite, calcite, K-alunite, palygorskite, MgChlorite, zoisite, illite and mixtures of these minerals. SAM classification algorithm gives the overall classification of the alteration minerals of Berecha area and was used to generate the surficial mineral map of the study area. Berecha alteration is related to low sulfidation system and the most widespread alteration effects are represented essentially in advanced argillic alteration assemblage consisting mainly of kaolinite + opal + smectite + alunite which is likely of steam heated origin. Keywords: Hyperspectral, Imaging Spectrometry, AISA Hawk, Berecha, ASD FieldSpec, Spectral Angle Mappe
Magnetic field resistant quantum interferences in bismuth nanowires based Josephson junctions
We investigate proximity induced superconductivity in micrometer-long bismuth
nanowires con- nected to superconducting electrodes with a high critical field.
At low temperature we measure a supercurrent that persists in magnetic fields
as high as the critical field of the electrodes (above 11 T). The critical
current is also strongly modulated by the magnetic field. In certain samples we
find regular, rapid SQUID-like periodic oscillations occurring up to high
fields. Other samples ex- hibit less periodic but full modulations of the
critical current on Tesla field scales, with field-caused extinctions of the
supercurrent. These findings indicate the existence of low dimensionally, phase
coherent, interfering conducting regions through the samples, with a subtle
interplay between orbital and spin contributions. We relate these surprising
results to the electronic properties of the surface states of bismuth, strong
Rashba spin-orbit coupling, large effective g factors, and their effect on the
induced superconducting correlations.Comment: 5 page
Direct measurement of the phase coherence length in a GaAs/GaAlAs square network
The low temperature magnetoconductance of a large array of quantum
coherentloops exhibits Altshuler-Aronov-Spivak oscillations which
periodicitycorresponds to 1/2 flux quantum per loop.We show that the
measurement of the harmonics content in a square networkprovides an accurate
way to determine the electron phase coherence length in units of the
lattice length without any adjustableparameters.We use this method to determine
in a network realised from a 2Delectron gas (2DEG) in a GaAS/GaAlAs
heterojunction. The temperaturedependence follows a power law from
1.3 K to 25 mK with nosaturation, as expected for 1D diffusive electronic
motion andelectron-electron scattering as the main decoherence mechanism.Comment: Additional experimental data in version
Acromegaly, Mr Punch and caricature.
The origin of Mr Punch from the Italian Pulcinella of the Commedia dell'arte is well known but his feature, large hooked nose, protruding chin, kyphosis and sternal protrusion all in an exaggerated form also suggest the caricature of an acromegalic. This paper looks at the physical characteristics of acromegaly, the origin of Mr Punch and the development of caricature linking them together in the acromegalic caricature that now has a life of its own
Non-monotonic temperature evolution of dynamic correlations in glass-forming liquids
The viscosity of glass-forming liquids increases by many orders of magnitude
if their temperature is lowered by a mere factor of 2-3 [1,2]. Recent studies
suggest that this widespread phenomenon is accompanied by spatially
heterogeneous dynamics [3,4], and a growing dynamic correlation length
quantifying the extent of correlated particle motion [5-7]. Here we use a novel
numerical method to detect and quantify spatial correlations which reveal a
surprising non-monotonic temperature evolution of spatial dynamical
correlations, accompanied by a second length scale that grows monotonically and
has a very different nature. Our results directly unveil a dramatic qualitative
change in atomic motions near the mode-coupling crossover temperature [8] which
involves no fitting or indirect theoretical interpretation. Our results impose
severe new constraints on the theoretical description of the glass transition,
and open several research perspectives, in particular for experiments, to
confirm and quantify our observations in real materials.Comment: 7 page
Dynamic heterogeneities in attractive colloids
We study the formation of a colloidal gel by means of Molecular Dynamics
simulations of a model for colloidal suspensions. A slowing down with gel-like
features is observed at low temperatures and low volume fractions, due to the
formation of persistent structures. We show that at low volume fraction the
dynamic susceptibility, which describes dynamic heterogeneities, exhibits a
large plateau, dominated by clusters of long living bonds. At higher volume
fraction, where the effect of the crowding of the particles starts to be
present, it crosses over towards a regime characterized by a peak. We introduce
a suitable mean cluster size of clusters of monomers connected by "persistent"
bonds which well describes the dynamic susceptibility.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Probing microwave fields and enabling in-situ experiments in a transmission electron microscope.
A technique is presented whereby the performance of a microwave device is evaluated by mapping local field distributions using Lorentz transmission electron microscopy (L-TEM). We demonstrate the method by measuring the polarisation state of the electromagnetic fields produced by a microstrip waveguide as a function of its gigahertz operating frequency. The forward and backward propagating electromagnetic fields produced by the waveguide, in a specimen-free experiment, exert Lorentz forces on the propagating electron beam. Importantly, in addition to the mapping of dynamic fields, this novel method allows detection of effects of microwave fields on specimens, such as observing ferromagnetic materials at resonance
The key physical parameters governing frictional dissipation in a precipitating atmosphere
Precipitation generates small-scale turbulent air flows the energy of which
ultimately dissipates to heat. The power of this process has previously been
estimated to be around 2-4 W m-2 in the tropics: a value comparable in
magnitude to the dynamic power of the global circulation. Here we suggest that
this previous power estimate is approximately double the true figure. Our
result reflects a revised evaluation of the mean precipitation path length Hp.
We investigate the dependence of Hp on surface temperature,relative
humidity,temperature lapse rate and degree of condensation in the ascending
air. We find that the degree of condensation,defined as the relative change of
the saturated water vapor mixing ratio in the region of condensation, is a
major factor determining Hp. We estimate from theory that the mean large-scale
rate of frictional dissipation associated with total precipitation in the
tropics lies between 1 and 2 W m-2 and show that our estimate is supported by
empirical evidence. We show that under terrestrial conditions frictional
dissipation constitutes a minor fraction of the dynamic power of
condensation-induced atmospheric circulation,which is estimated to be at least
2.5 times larger. However,because Hp increases with surface temperature Ts, the
rate of frictional dissipation would exceed that of condensation-induced
dynamics, and thus block major circulation, at Ts >~320 K in a moist adiabatic
atmosphere.Comment: 12 pp, 2 figure
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