Bias adjustment of satellite precipitation estimation using ground-based measurement: A case study evaluation over the southwestern United States

Reliable precipitation measurement is a crucial component in hydrologic studies. Although satellite-based observation is able to provide spatial and temporal distribution of precipitation, the measurements tend to show systematic bias. This paper introduces a grid-based precipitation merging procedure in which satellite estimates from the Precipitation Estimation from Remotely Sensed Information using Artificial Neural Networks-Cloud Classification System (PERSIANN-CCS) are adjusted based on the Climate Prediction Center (CPC) daily rain gauge analysis. To remove the bias, the hourly CCS estimates were spatially and temporally accumulated to the daily 1°×1° scale, the resolution of CPC rain gauge analysis. The daily CCS bias was then downscaled to the hourly temporal scale to correct hourly CCS estimates. The bias corrected CCS estimates are called the adjusted CCS (CCSA) product. With the adjustment from the gauge measurement, CCSA data have been generated to provide more reliable high temporal/spatial-resolution precipitation estimates. In the case study, the CCSA precipitation estimates from the proposed approach are compared against ground-based measurements in high-density gauge networks located in the southwestern United States. © 2009 American Meteorological Society

Influence of spatial resolution on diurnal variability during the north American monsoon

Diurnal variability is an important yet poorly understood aspect of the warm-season precipitation regime over southwestern North America. In an effort to improve its understanding, diurnal variability is investigated numerically using the fifth-generation Pennsylvania State University (PSU)-NCAR Mesoscale Model (MM5). The goal herein is to determine the possible influence of spatial resolution on the diurnal cycle. The model is initialized every 48 h using the operational NCEP Eta Model 212 grid (40 km) model analysis. Model simulations are carried out at horizontal resolutions of both 9 and 3 km. Overall, the model reproduces the basic features of the diurnal cycle of rainfall over the core monsoon region of northwestern Mexico and the southwestern United States. In particular, the model captures the diurnal amplitude and phase, with heavier rainfall at high elevations along the Sierra Madre Occidental in the early-afternoon that shifts to lower elevations along the west slopes in the evening. A comparison to observations (gauge and radar data) shows that the high-resolution (3 km) model generates better rainfall distributions on time scales from monthly to hourly than the coarse-resolution (9 km) model, especially along the west slopes of the Sierra Madre Occidental. The model has difficulty with nighttime rainfall along the slopes, over the Gulf of California, and over Arizona. A comparison of surface wind data from three NCAR Integrated Sounding System (ISS) stations and the Quick Scatterometer (QuikSCAT) to the model reveals a low bias in the strength of the Gulf of California low-level jet, even at high resolution. The model results indicate that outflow from convection over northwestern Mexico can modulate the low-level jet, though the extent to which these relationships occur in nature was not investigated. © 2008 American Meteorological Society

A simplified procedure for correcting both errors and erasures of a Reed-Solomon code using the Euclidean algorithm

It is well known that the Euclidean algorithm or its equivalent, continued fractions, can be used to find the error locator polynomial and the error evaluator polynomial in Berlekamp's key equation needed to decode a Reed-Solomon (RS) code. A simplified procedure is developed and proved to correct erasures as well as errors by replacing the initial condition of the Euclidean algorithm by the erasure locator polynomial and the Forney syndrome polynomial. By this means, the errata locator polynomial and the errata evaluator polynomial can be obtained, simultaneously and simply, by the Euclidean algorithm only. With this improved technique the complexity of time domain RS decoders for correcting both errors and erasures is reduced substantially from previous approaches. As a consequence, decoders for correcting both errors and erasures of RS codes can be made more modular, regular, simple, and naturally suitable for both VLSI and software implementation. An example illustrating this modified decoding procedure is given for a (15, 9) RS code

Unitarity and the Hilbert space of quantum gravity

Under the premises that physics is unitary and black hole evaporation is complete (no remnants, no topology change), there must exist a one-to-one correspondence between states on future null and timelike infinity and on any earlier spacelike Cauchy surface (e.g., slices preceding the formation of the hole). We show that these requirements exclude a large set of semiclassical spacetime configurations from the Hilbert space of quantum gravity. In particular, the highest entropy configurations, which account for almost all of the volume of semiclassical phase space, would not have quantum counterparts, i.e. would not correspond to allowed states in a quantum theory of gravity.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, revtex; minor changes in v2 (version published in Class. Quant. Grav.

Concurrent Design Strategy in Modeling and Structure of Electric Scooter for Young Disabilities

Disabled people often use the electric scooter as a means of transport. However, the electric scooter designed for disabilities is too bulky and not light in shape. It is not only awkward on the road but brings inconvenience to young people with disabilities. In the first phase of the study, first the electric scooter with a higher market share as a design reference was collected; then we use the image scale analysis to determine the market position of the electric scooter. Combine each major component and derive detail design of the product through Morphological chart method and Finite Structure Method (FSM). This study uses this method to complete the development of product modeling and analyze the configuration of the product as the main function in the structural and main function in space. Let function and appearance have the efficient combination. Then use Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to obtain objective decision results. The use of Concurrent Design Strategy can effectively shorten the development process and increase the chance of product success.     Keywords: concurrent design, electric scooter, morphological chart method, finite structure method, analytical hierarchy proces

Thermal gravity, black holes and cosmological entropy

Taking seriously the interpretation of black hole entropy as the logarithm of the number of microstates, we argue that thermal gravitons may undergo a phase transition to a kind of black hole condensate. The phase transition proceeds via nucleation of black holes at a rate governed by a saddlepoint configuration whose free energy is of order the inverse temperature in Planck units. Whether the universe remains in a low entropy state as opposed to the high entropy black hole condensate depends sensitively on its thermal history. Our results may clarify an old observation of Penrose regarding the very low entropy state of the universe.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, RevTex. v4: to appear in Phys. Rev.

Majorana zero modes in a quantum Ising chain with longer-ranged interactions

A one-dimensional Ising model in a transverse field can be mapped onto a system of spinless fermions with p-wave superconductivity. In the weak-coupling BCS regime, it exhibits a zero energy Majorana mode at each end of the chain. Here, we consider a variation of the model, which represents a superconductor with longer ranged kinetic energy and pairing amplitudes, as is likely to occur in more realistic systems. It possesses a richer zero temperature phase diagram and has several quantum phase transitions. From an exact solution of the model these phases can be classified according to the number of Majorana zero modes of an open chain: 0, 1, or 2 at each end. The model posseses a multicritical point where phases with 0, 1, and 2 Majorana end modes meet. The number of Majorana modes at each end of the chain is identical to the topological winding number of the Anderson's pseudospin vector that describes the BCS Hamiltonian. The topological classification of the phases requires a unitary time-reversal symmetry to be present. When this symmetry is broken, only the number of Majorana end modes modulo 2 can be used to distinguish two phases. In one of the regimes, the wave functions of the two phase shifted Majorana zero modes decays exponentially in space but but in an oscillatory manner. The wavelength of oscillation is identical to the asymptotic connected spin-spin correlation of the XY-model in a transverse field to which our model is dual.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures; brief clarifying comments added; few new references; this version is accepted in Phys. Rev.

Surface optical Raman modes in InN nanostructures

Raman spectroscopic investigations are carried out on one-dimensional nanostructures of InN,such as nanowires and nanobelts synthesized by chemical vapor deposition. In addition to the optical phonons allowed by symmetry; A1, E1 and E2(high) modes, two additional Raman peaks are observed around 528 cm-1 and 560 cm-1 for these nanostructures. Calculations for the frequencies of surface optical (SO) phonon modes in InN nanostructures yield values close to those of the new Raman modes. A possible reason for large intensities for SO modes in these nanostructures is also discussed.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, Submitted in Journa