Generating statistical distributions without maximizing the entropy

We show here how to use pieces of thermodynamics' first law to generate probability distributions for generalized ensembles when only level-population changes are involved. Such microstate occupation modifications, if properly constrained via first law ingredients, can be associated not exclusively to heat and acquire a more general meaning.Comment: 6 pages, no figures, Conferenc

An integrated remote sensing approach for identifying ecological range sites

A model approach for identifying ecological range sites was applied to high elevation sagebrush-dominated rangelands on Parker Mountain, in south-central Utah. The approach utilizes map information derived from both high altitude color infrared photography and LANDSAT digital data, integrated with soils, geological, and precipitation maps. Identification of the ecological range site for a given area requires an evaluation of all relevant environmental factors which combine to give that site the potential to produce characteristic types and amounts of vegetation. A table is presented which allows the user to determine ecological range site based upon an integrated use of the maps which were prepared. The advantages of identifying ecological range sites through an integrated photo interpretation/LANDSAT analysis are discussed

Effective use of remote sensing products in litigation

A boiled-down version of major legal principles affecting the admissibility of data and products from remote sensing devices is presented. It is suggested that enhancements or classifications of digital data (from scanning devices or from digitized aerial photography) be proffered as evidence in a fashion similar to the manner in which maps from photogrammetric techniques are introduced as evidence. Every effort should be made to illucidate the processes by which digital data are analytically treated or manipulated. Remote sensing expert witnesses should be practiced in providing concise and clear explanations of both data and methods. Special emphasis should be placed on being prepared to provide a detailed accounting of steps taken to calibrate and verify spectral characteristics with ground truth

Detection of variations in aspen forest habitat from LANDSAT digital data: Bear River Range, Utah

The aspen forests of the Bear River Range were analyzed and mapped using data recorded on July 2, 1979 by the LANDSAT III satellite; study efforts yielded sixty-seven light signatures for the study area, of which three groups were identified as aspen and mapped at a scale of 1:24,000. Analysis and verification of the three groups were accomplished by random location of twenty-six field study plots within the LANDSAT-defined aspen areas. All study plots are included within the Cache portion of the Wasatch-Cache National Forest. The following selected site characteristics were recorded for each study plot: a list of understory species present; average percent cover density for understory species; aspen canopy cover estimates and stem measurements; and general site topographic characteristics. The study plot data were then analyzed with respect to corresponding Landsat spectral signatures. Field studies show that all twenty-six study plots are associated with one of the three aspen groups. Further study efforts concentration on characterizing the differences between the site characteristics of plots falling into each of the three aspen groups

MaxEnt and dynamical information

The MaxEnt solutions are shown to display a variety of behaviors (beyond the traditional and customary exponential one) if adequate dynamical information is inserted into the concomitant entropic-variational principle. In particular, we show both theoretically and numerically that power laws and power laws with exponential cut-offs emerge as equilibrium densities in proportional and other dynamics

Mapping of wildlife habitat in Farmington Bay, Utah

Mapping was accomplished through the interpretation of high-altitude color infrared photography. The feasibility of utilizing LANDSAT digital data to augment the analysis was explored; complex patterns of wildlife habitat and confusion of spectral classes resulted in the decision to make limited use of LANDSAT data in the analysis. The final product is a map which delineates wildlife habitat at a scale of 1:24,000. The map is registered to and printed on a screened U.S.G.S. quadrangle base map. Screened delineations of shoreline contours, mapped from a previous study, are also shown on the map. Intensive field checking of the map was accomplished for the Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area in August 1981; other areas on the map received only spot field checking

Correlated Gaussian systems exhibiting additive power-law entropies

We show, on purely statistical grounds and without appeal to any physical model, that a power-law $q-$entropy $S_q$, with $0<q<1$, can be {\it extensive}. More specifically, if the components $X_i$ of a vector $X \in \mathbb{R}^N$ are distributed according to a Gaussian probability distribution $f$, the associated entropy $S_q(X)$ exhibits the extensivity property for special types of correlations among the $X_i$. We also characterize this kind of correlation.Comment: 2 figure

Detection of aspen/conifer forest mixes from multitemporal LANDSAT digital data

Aspen, conifer and mixed aspen/conifer forests were mapped for a 15-quadrangle study area in the Utah-Idaho Bear River Range using LANDSAT multispectral scanner (MSS) data. The digital MSS data were utilized to devise quantitative indices which correlate with apparently stable and seral aspen forests. The extent to which a two-date LANDSAT MSS analysis may permit the delineation of different categories of aspen/conifer forest mix was explored. Multitemporal analyses of MSS data led to the identification of early, early to mid, mid to late, and late seral stages of aspen/conifer forest mixing

Detecting agricultural to urban land use change from multi-temporal MSS digital data

Conversion of agricultural land to a variety of urban uses is a major problem along the Wasatch Front, Utah. Although LANDSAT MSS data is a relatively coarse tool for discriminating categories of change in urban-size plots, its availability prompts a thorough test of its power to detect change. The procedures being applied to a test area in Salt Lake County, Utah, where the land conversion problem is acute are presented. The identity of land uses before and after conversion was determined and digital procedures for doing so were compared. Several algorithms were compared, utilizing both raw data and preprocessed data. Verification of results involved high quality color infrared photography and field observation. Two data sets were digitally registered, specific change categories internally identified in the software, results tabulated by computer, and change maps printed at 1:24,000 scale

Comparing Infrared Dirac-Born-Infeld Brane Inflation to Observations

We compare the Infrared Dirac-Born-Infeld (IR DBI) brane inflation model to observations using a Bayesian analysis. The current data cannot distinguish it from the \LambdaCDM model, but is able to give interesting constraints on various microscopic parameters including the mass of the brane moduli potential, the fundamental string scale, the charge or warp factor of throats, and the number of the mobile branes. We quantify some distinctive testable predictions with stringy signatures, such as the large non-Gaussianity, and the large, but regional, running of the spectral index. These results illustrate how we may be able to probe aspects of string theory using cosmological observations.Comment: 54 pages, 13 figures. v2: non-Gaussianity constraint has been applied to the model; parameter constraints have tightened significantly, conclusions unchanged. References added; v3, minor revision, PRD versio