Research & Development User Interface Engineering (UIE)

Flyer about User Interface Engineering (UIE) at the MPDL

Earth Observation – A Fundamental Input for Crisis Information Systems

Space-borne and airborne earth observation (EO) is a highly valuable source of spatio-temporal information promoting the ability for a rapid up-to-date assessment and (near-) real-time monitoring of natural or and man-made hazards and disasters. Such information has become indispensable in present-day disaster management activities. Thereby, EO based technologies have a role to play in each of the four phases of the disaster management cycle (i.e. mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery) with applications grouped into three main stages: - Pre-disaster (preparedness and mitigation): EO-based information extraction for assessing potential spatial distributions and severities of hazards as well as the vulnerability of a focus region for disaster risk evaluation and subsequent mitigation and preparedness activities. - Event crisis (response): Assessment and monitoring of regional extent and severities of the characteristics and impacts of a disaster to assist rapid crisis management. - Post-disaster (recovery): EO based information extraction to assist recovery activities. Within the PHAROS system a wide range of data products are used, which are varying in temporal, spatial and spectral resolution and coverage. The used sensor platforms comprise space-borne satellites and airborne systems, i.e. aircrafts as well as unmanned aerial systems (UAS)

Superconductivity in hole-doped C60 from electronic correlations

We derive a model for the highest occupied molecular orbital band of a C60 crystal which includes on-site electron-electron interactions. The form of the interactions are based on the icosahedral symmetry of the C60 molecule together with a perturbative treatment of an isolated C60 molecule. Using this model we do a mean-field calculation in two dimensions on the [100] surface of the crystal. Due to the multi-band nature we find that electron-electron interactions can have a profound effect on the density of states as a function of doping. The doping dependence of the transition temperature can then be qualitatively different from that expected from simple BCS theory based on the density of states from band structure calculations

Tagebuchaufzeichnungen: Untersuchung der Integrationsverläufe von Aussiedlerfamilien

Die Autoren entwickeln ein alternatives Verfahren zur standardisierten Befragung, um die Integrationsverläufe von Aussiedlern besser erfassen zu können. Aus einem Grundsample von 100 zu befragenden Familien wird ein Teilsample ausgewählt, das - zunächst über einen Zeitraum von sechs Monaten - mittels periodisch vorzunehmender Aufzeichnungen in vorstrukturierten 'Tagebüchern' genauere und zusammenhängendere Angaben zum Alltag der Migranten liefert. Mit Hilfe dieser Methode ist es vor allem möglich, Lebenssituationen und deren Veränderungen zu verfolgen. Da es sich bei den Daten - im Unterschied zur 'klassischen' Analyse von Tagebüchern und Briefen - um von den Untersuchungspersonen bewusst und eigens für die Forschungsfragestellung produzierte Aufzeichnungen handelt, ist eine reflektierte Kontrolle der Methode erforderlich, damit von den Probanden Ereignisse nicht 'erfunden' werden. (ICA

Trialing Innovative Technologies in Crisis Management - “Airborne and Terrestrial Situational Awareness” as Support Tool in Flood Response

Flooding represents the most-occurring and deadliest threats worldwide among natural disasters. Consequently, new technologies are constantly developed to improve response capacities in crisis management. The remaining challenge for practitioner organizations is not only to identify the best solution to their individual demands, but also to test and evaluate its benefit in a realistic environment before the disaster strikes. To bridge the gap between theoretic potential and actual integration into practice, the EU-funded project DRIVER+ has designed a methodical and technical environment to assess innovation in a realistic but non-operational setup through trials. The German Aerospace Center (DLR) interdisciplinary merged mature technical developments into the “Airborne and terrestrial situational awareness” system and applied it in a DRIVER+ Trial to promote a sustainable and demand-oriented R&D. Experienced practitioners assessed the added value of its modules “KeepOperational” and “ZKI” in the context of large-scale flooding in urban areas. The solution aimed at providing contextual route planning in police operations and extending situational awareness based on information derived through aerial image processing. The user feedback and systematically collected data through the DRIVER + Test-bed approved that DLR’s system could improve transport planning and situational awareness across organizations. However, the results show a special need to consider, for example, cross-domain data-fusion techniques to provide essential 3D geo-information to effectively support specific response tasks during flooding