Cloud clearing techniques over land for land surface temperature retrieval from the Advanced Along Track Scanning Radiometer

We present five new cloud detection algorithms over land based on dynamic threshold or Bayesian techniques, applicable to the Advanced Along Track Scanning Radiometer (AATSR) instrument and compare these with the standard threshold based SADIST cloud detection scheme. We use a manually classified dataset as a reference to assess algorithm performance and quantify the impact of each cloud detection scheme on land surface temperature (LST) retrieval. The use of probabilistic Bayesian cloud detection methods improves algorithm true skill scores by 8-9 % over SADIST (maximum score of 77.93 % compared to 69.27 %). We present an assessment of the impact of imperfect cloud masking, in relation to the reference cloud mask, on the retrieved AATSR LST imposing a 2 K tolerance over a 3x3 pixel domain. We find an increase of 5-7 % in the observations falling within this tolerance when using Bayesian methods (maximum of 92.02 % compared to 85.69 %). We also demonstrate that the use of dynamic thresholds in the tests employed by SADIST can significantly improve performance, applicable to cloud-test data to provided by the Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometer (SLSTR) due to be launched on the Sentinel 3 mission (estimated 2014)

Rotary atomizer drop size distribution database

Wind tunnel measurements of drop Size distributions from Micronair A U4000 and A U5000 rotary atomizers were collected to develop a database for model use. The measurements varied tank mix, flow rate, air speed, and blade angle conditions, which were correlated by multiple regressions (average R-2 = 0.995 for A U4000 and 0.988 for AU5000). This database replaces an outdated set of rotary atomizer data measured in the 1980s by the USDA Forest Service and fills in a gap in data measured in the 1990s by the Spray Drift Task Force. Since current USDA Forest Service spray projects rely on rotary atomizers, the creation of the database (and its multiple regression interpolation) satisfies a need seen for ten years

Forest dynamics following spruce budworm outbreaks in the northern and southern mixedwoods of central Quebec

The effects of 20th century spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana (Clem.)) outbreaks on forest dynamics was examined in the southern and northern parts of the mixedwood forest zone in central Quebec, Canada. In each region, three study areas were placed in unmanaged stands that had not burned for more than 200 years. Disturbance impacts and forest succession were evaluated using aerial photographs and dendrochronology. Spruce budworm outbreaks occurred around 1910, 1950, and 1980 in both regions. The 1910 outbreak seemed to have limited impact in both regions, and the 1950 outbreak caused heavy mortality in conifer stands (mostly of balsam fir, Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.) in the southern region. The 1980 outbreak caused major mortality in the northern region, but had little impact in the southern region. Successive spruce budworm outbreaks led to a massive invasion by hardwood species in the last century in the southern region but not in the northern region. The reason for such contrasting dynamics between regions is unknown, but we hypothesize that differences in disturbance intensities, influenced by climate, played a major role. Results from this study emphasize that generalizations about the effect of spruce budworm outbreaks on forest dynamics cannot be derived from observations made during a single outbreak or at a single location

‘Not a country at all’: landscape and Wuthering Heights

This article explores the issue of women’s representational genealogies through an analysis of Andrea Arnold’s 2011 Wuthering Heights. Beginning with 1970s feminist arguments for a specifically female literary tradition, it argues that running through both these early attempts to construct an alternative female literary tradition and later work in feminist philosophy, cultural geography and film history is a concern with questions of ‘alternative landscapes’: of how to represent, and how to encounter, space differently. Adopting Mary Jacobus’ notion of intertextual ‘correspondence’ between women’s texts, and taking Arnold’s film as its case study, it seeks to trace some of the intertextual movements – the reframings, deframings and spatial reorderings – that link Andrea Arnold’s film to Emily Brontë’s original novel. Focusing on two elements of her treatment of landscape – her use of ‘unframed’ landscape and her focus on visceral textural detail – it points to correspondences in other women’s writing, photography and film-making. It argues that these intensely tactile close-up sequences which puncture an apparently realist narrative constitute an insistent presence beneath, or within, the ordered framing which is our more usual mode of viewing landscape. As the novel Wuthering Heights is unmade in Arnold’s adaptation and its framings ruptured, it is through this disturbance of hierarchies of time, space and landscape that we can trace the correspondences of an alternative genealogy

Disaggregation of SMOS soil moisture over West Africa using the Temperature and Vegetation Dryness Index based on SEVIRI land surface parameters

The overarching objective of this study was to produce a disaggregated SMOS Soil Moisture (SM) product using land surface parameters from a geostationary satellite in a region covering a diverse range of ecosystem types. SEVIRI data at 15 minute temporal resolution were used to derive the Temperature and Vegetation Dryness Index (TVDI) that served as SM proxy within the disaggregation process. West Africa (3 N, 26 W; 28 N, 26 E) was selected as a case study as it presents both an important North-South climate gradient and a diverse range of ecosystem types. The main challenge was to set up a methodology applicable over a large area that overcomes the constraints of SMOS (low spatial resolution) and TVDI (requires similar atmospheric forcing and triangular shape formed when plotting morning rise temperature versus fraction of vegetation cover) in order to produce a 0.05 degree resolution disaggregated SMOS SM product at sub-continental scale. Consistent cloud cover appeared as one of the main constraints for deriving TVDI, especially during the rainy season and in the southern parts of the region and a large adjustment window (105x105 SEVIRI pixels) was therefore deemed necessary. Both the original and the disaggregated SMOS SM products described well the seasonal dynamics observed at six locations of in situ observations. However, there was an overestimation in both products for sites in the humid southern regions; most likely caused by the presence of forest. Both TVDI and the associated disaggregated SM product was found to be highly sensitive to algorithm input parameters; especially of conditions of high fraction of vegetation cover. Additionally, seasonal dynamics in TVDI did not follow the seasonal patters of SM. Still, its spatial heterogeneity was found to be a good proxy for disaggregating SMOS SM data; main river networks and spatial patterns of SM extremes (i.e. droughts and floods) not seen in the original SMOS SM product were revealed in the disaggregated SM product for a test case of July-September 2012. The disaggregation methodology thereby successfully increased the spatial resolution of SMOS SM, with potential application for local drought/flood monitoring of importance for the livelihood of the population of West Africa

The Effect of Partial Retirement on Labor Supply, Public Balances and the Income Distribution: Evidence from a Structural Analysis

This paper develops a structural dynamic retirement model to investigate effects and corresponding underlying mechanisms of a partial retirement program on labor supply, fiscal balances, and the pension income distribution. The structural approach allows for disentangling the two counteracting mechanisms that drive the employment effects of partial retirement: 1) the crowding-out from full-time employment, and 2) the movement from early retirement or unemployment to partial retirement. It also allows for investigating the role of financial compensations in a partial retirement program. Based on a unique German administrative dataset, I perform counterfactual policy simulations that analyze the role of partial retirement combined with financial subsidies and an increased normal retirement age. The results show that partial retirement extends working lives but reduces the overall employment volume. The fiscal consequences of partial retirement are negative but substantially less so when wages and pensions in partial retirement remain uncompensated. Partial retirement decreases inequality in pension income and provides a way to smooth consumption especially for retirees in lower income deciles in the context of an increased normal retirement age

Mountain maple and balsam fir early response to partial and clear-cut harvesting under aspen stands of northern Quebec

This study is a component of the Sylviculture et am

A case report and brief review of the literature on bilateral retinal infarction following cardiopulmonary bypass for coronary artery bypass grafting

Postoperative visual loss is a devastating perioperative complication. The commonest aetiologies are anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy (AION), posterior ischaemic optic neuropathy (PION), and central retinal artery occlusion (CRAO). These appear to be related to certain types of operation, most commonly spinal and cardiac bypass procedures; with the rest divided between: major trauma causing excessive blood loss; head/neck and nasal or sinus surgery; major vascular procedures (aortic aneurysm repair, aorto-bifemoral bypass); general surgery; urology; gynaecology; liposuction; liver transplantation and duration of surgery. The non-surgical risk factors are multifactorial: advanced age, prolonged postoperative anaemia, positioning (supine v prone), alteration of venous drainage of the retina, hypertension, smoking, atherosclerosis, hyperlipidaemia, diabetes, hypercoagulability, hypotension, blood loss and large volume resuscitation. Other important cardiac causes are septic emboli from bacterial endocarditis and emboli caused by atrial myxomata. The majority of AION cases occur during CPB followed by head/neck surgery and prone spine surgery. CPB is used to allow coronary artery bypass grafting on a motionless heart. It has many side-effects and complications associated with its use and we report here a case of bilateral retinal infarction during routine coronary artery bypass grafting in a young male patient with multiple risk factors for developing this complication despite steps to minimise its occurrence