1,501 research outputs found
Application transfer activity in Missouri
Experimental demonstrations and workshop instructional courses were conducted to transfer the technology of satellite remote sensing to a wide audience of resource managers. This audience included planning commissions, state agencies, federal agencies, and special councils of the Governor. Some of the experiments and workshops are outlined
Mapping land cover from satellite images: A basic, low cost approach
Simple, inexpensive methodologies developed for mapping general land cover and land use categories from LANDSAT images are reported. One methodology, a stepwise, interpretive, direct tracing technique was developed through working with university students from different disciplines with no previous experience in satellite image interpretation. The technique results in maps that are very accurate in relation to actual land cover and relative to the small investment in skill, time, and money needed to produce the products
Earth observational research using multistage EOS-like data
This grant is funded as a part of a program in which both research and educational impact are intended. Research work under this grant is directed at the understanding and use of future hyperspectral data such as that from imaging spectrometers. Specifically, the objectives of the work are (1) to prepare suitable means for analyzing data from sensors which have large numbers of spectral bands, (2) to advance the fundamental understanding of the manner in which soils and vegetative materials reflect high spectral resolution optical wavelength radiation, and (3) to maximize the impact of the results on the educational community. Over the life of the grant, the work has thus involved basic Earth science research and information system technique understanding and development in a mutually supportive way, however, more recently it has become necessary to focus the work primarily on areas (1) and (3). During the last year, the level of effort on this grant has been reduced to half its previous value. We have also been advised that this grant will end with the current year, thus this will be the penultimate semiannual progress summary
Sediment type unsupervised classification of the Molenplaat, Westerschelde estuary, The Netherlands
Sediment stability or erosion resistance of intertidal zones depend on sediment physical characteristics and on biological factors. Obtaining accurate data on the basic biological, chemical and physical processes in sediments is expensive and difficult. Remote sensing methods can produce detailed information on ecological functioning in a cost-effective manner. A hyperspectral image of the Molenplaat, an intertidal flat in the Westerschelde estuary, the Netherlands, was acquired with the HyMap sensor in June 2004. The goal of this research is to perform, analyse and evaluate unsupervised classification methods for sediment types on the imagery. The unsupervised methods are based on Principal Component Analysis (PCA) or Iterative Self-Organizing Data Analysis Technique (ISODATA), and consist of three steps: (a) classification into spectrally distinct clusters, (b) post-clustering treatment, and (c) assignment of labels to the clusters. The result consists of 13 clusters after the post-clustering treatment, and of 8 or 9 classes after labelling for either the PCA or ISODATA method. A supervised Spectral Angle Mapper (SAM) classification was performed using field data to evaluate the unsupervised classification results. The labelling of the unsupervised clusters was also partly based on the SAM results, due to limited field data.The comparison of the results reveals that 69% and 73% of the pixels of PCA and ISODATA classification respectively were identically labelled in the supervised classification. Moreover, the mismatches were mainly found in two classes, while the other classes showed high similarities, indicating the plausibility of using unsupervised classification methods for intertidal sediment types. Additional strengths of the unsupervised classification methods are (a) the distinction of classes that were not visited during field work and not classified in the supervised classification, (b) the identification of spectrally distinct areas that should be characterised during field campaigns, and (c) the user-friendliness thanks to limited required field knowledge and short calculation time
A Metric for Rapidly Spinning Black Holes Suitable for Strong-Field Tests of the No-Hair Theorem
According to the no-hair theorem, astrophysical black holes are uniquely
characterized by their masses and spins and are described by the Kerr metric.
Several parametric deviations from the Kerr metric have been suggested to study
observational signatures in both the electromagnetic and gravitational-wave
spectra that differ from the expected Kerr signals. Due to the no-hair theorem,
however, such spacetimes cannot be regular everywhere outside the event
horizons, if they are solutions to the Einstein field equations; they are often
characterized by naked singularities or closed time-like loops in the regions
of the spacetime that are accessible to an external observer. For observational
tests of the no-hair theorem that involve phenomena in the vicinity of the
circular photon orbit or the innermost stable circular orbit around a black
hole, these pathologies limit the applicability of the metrics only to compact
objects that do not spin rapidly. In this paper, we construct a Kerr-like
metric which depends on a set of free parameters in addition to its mass and
spin and which is regular everywhere outside of the event horizon. We derive
expressions for the energy and angular momentum of a particle on a circular
equatorial orbit around the black hole and compute the locations of the
innermost stable circular orbit and the circular photon orbit. We demonstrate
that these orbits change significantly for even moderate deviations from the
Kerr metric. The properties of our metric make it an ideally suited spacetime
to carry out strong-field tests of the no-hair theorem in the electromagnetic
spectrum using the properties of accretion flows around astrophysical black
holes of arbitrary spin.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in PR
Evidence of reduced surface electron-phonon scattering in the conduction band of Bi_{2}Se_{3} by non-equilibrium ARPES
The nature of the Dirac quasiparticles in topological insulators calls for a
direct investigation of the electron-phonon scattering at the \emph{surface}.
By comparing time-resolved ARPES measurements of the TI Bi_{2}Se_{3} with
different probing depths we show that the relaxation dynamics of the electronic
temperature of the conduction band is much slower at the surface than in the
bulk. This observation suggests that surface phonons are less effective in
cooling the electron gas in the conduction band.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Non-Linear Effects in Non-Kerr spacetimes
There is a chance that the spacetime around massive compact objects which are
expected to be black holes is not described by the Kerr metric, but by a metric
which can be considered as a perturbation of the Kerr metric. These non-Kerr
spacetimes are also known as bumpy black hole spacetimes. We expect that, if
some kind of a bumpy black hole exists, the spacetime around it should possess
some features which will make the divergence from a Kerr spacetime detectable.
One of the differences is that these non-Kerr spacetimes do not posses all the
symmetries needed to make them integrable. We discuss how we can take advantage
of this fact by examining EMRIs into the Manko-Novikov spacetime.Comment: 8 pages, 3 Figures; to appear in the proceedings of the conference
"Relativity and Gravitation: 100 Years after Einstein in Prague" (2012
The momentum and photon energy dependence of the circular dichroic photoemission in the bulk Rashba semiconductors BiTeX (X = I, Br, Cl)
Bulk Rashba systems BiTeX (X = I, Br, Cl) are emerging as important
candidates for developing spintronics devices, because of the coexistence of
spin-split bulk and surface states, along with the ambipolar character of the
surface charge carriers. The need of studying the spin texture of strongly
spin-orbit coupled materials has recently promoted circular dichroic Angular
Resolved Photoelectron Spectroscopy (cd-ARPES) as an indirect tool to measure
the spin and the angular degrees of freedom. Here we report a detailed photon
energy dependent study of the cd-ARPES spectra in BiTeX (X = I, Br and Cl). Our
work reveals a large variation of the magnitude and sign of the dichroism.
Interestingly, we find that the dichroic signal modulates differently for the
three compounds and for the different spin-split states. These findings show a
momentum and photon energy dependence for the cd-ARPES signals in the bulk
Rashba semiconductor BiTeX (X = I, Br, Cl). Finally, the outcome of our
experiment indicates the important relation between the modulation of the
dichroism and the phase differences between the wave-functions involved in the
photoemission process. This phase difference can be due to initial or final
state effects. In the former case the phase difference results in possible
interference effects among the photo-electrons emitted from different atomic
layers and characterized by entangled spin-orbital polarized bands. In the
latter case the phase difference results from the relative phases of the
expansion of the final state in different outgoing partial waves.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure
RUNX super-enhancer control through the Notch pathway by Epstein-Barr virus transcription factors regulates B cell growth
In B cells infected by the cancer-associated Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), RUNX3 and RUNX1 transcription is manipulated to control cell growth. The EBV-encoded EBNA2 transcription factor (TF) activates RUNX3 transcription leading to RUNX3-mediated repression of the RUNX1 promoter and the relief of RUNX1-directed growth repression. We show that EBNA2 activates RUNX3 through a specific element within a −97 kb super-enhancer in a manner dependent on the expression of the Notch DNA-binding partner RBP-J. We also reveal that the EBV TFs EBNA3B and EBNA3C contribute to RUNX3 activation in EBV-infected cells by targeting the same element. Uncovering a counter-regulatory feed-forward step, we demonstrate EBNA2 activation of a RUNX1 super-enhancer (−139 to −250 kb) that results in low-level RUNX1 expression in cells refractory to RUNX1-mediated growth inhibition. EBNA2 activation of the RUNX1 super-enhancer is also dependent on RBP-J. Consistent with the context-dependent roles of EBNA3B and EBNA3C as activators or repressors, we find that these proteins negatively regulate the RUNX1 super-enhancer, curbing EBNA2 activation. Taken together our results reveal cell-type-specific exploitation of RUNX gene super-enhancers by multiple EBV TFs via the Notch pathway to fine tune RUNX3 and RUNX1 expression and manipulate B-cell growth
Dispersion enhancement and damping by buoyancy driven flows in 2D networks of capillaries
The influence of a small relative density difference on the displacement of
two miscible liquids is studied experimentally in transparent 2D networks of
micro channels. Both stable displacements in which the denser fluid enters at
the bottom of the cell and displaces the lighter one and unstable displacements
in which the lighter fluid is injected at the bottom and displaces the denser
one are realized. Except at the lowest mean flow velocity U, the average
of the relative concentration satisfies a convection-dispersion
equation. The dispersion coefficient is studied as function of the relative
magnitude of fluid velocity and of the velocity of buoyancy driven fluid
motion. A model is suggested and its applicability to previous results obtained
in 3D media is discussed
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