A framework for a joint hydro-meteorological-social analysis of drought

This article presents an innovative framework for analysing environmental governance challenges by focusing on their Drivers, Responses and Impacts (DRI). It builds on and modifies the widely applied Drivers, Pressures, States, Impacts and Responses (DPSIR) model. It suggests, firstly and most importantly, that the various temporal and spatial scales at which Drivers, Responses and Impacts operate should be included in the DRI conceptual framework. Secondly, the framework focuses on Drivers, Impacts and Responses in order to provide a parsimonious account of a drought system that can be informed by a range of social science, humanities and science data. ‘Pressures’ are therefore considered as a sub-category of ‘Drivers’. ‘States’ are a sub-category of ‘Impacts’. Thirdly, and most fundamentally in order to facilitate cross-disciplinary research of droughts, the DRI framework defines each of its elements, ‘Drivers’, ‘Pressures’, ‘States’, ‘Impacts’ and ‘Responses’ as capable of being shaped by both linked natural and social factors. This is different from existing DPSIR models which often see ‘Responses’ and ‘Impacts’ as located mainly in the social world, while ‘States’ are considered to be states within the natural environment only. The article illustrates this argument through an application of the DRI framework to the 1976 and 2003–6 droughts. The article also starts to address how - in cross-disciplinary research that encompasses physical and social sciences – claims about relationships between Drivers as well as Impacts of and Responses to drought over time can be methodologically justified. While the DRI framework has been inductively developed out of research on droughts we argue that it can be applied to a range of environmental governance challenges

Planck pre-launch status: The HFI instrument, from specification to actual performance

Context. The High Frequency Instrument (HFI) is one of the two focal instruments of the Planck mission. It will observe the whole sky in six bands in the 100 GHz−1 THz range. Aims. The HFI instrument is designed to measure the cosmic microwave background (CMB) with a sensitivity limited only by fundamental sources: the photon noise of the CMB itself and the residuals left after the removal of foregrounds. The two high frequency bands will provide full maps of the submillimetre sky, featuring mainly extended and point source foregrounds. Systematic effects must be kept at negligible levels or accurately monitored so that the signal can be corrected. This paper describes the HFI design and its characteristics deduced from ground tests and calibration. Methods. The HFI instrumental concept and architecture are feasible only by pushing new techniques to their extreme capabilities, mainly: (i) bolometers working at 100 mK and absorbing the radiation in grids; (ii) a dilution cooler providing 100 mK in microgravity conditions; (iii) a new type of AC biased readout electronics and (iv) optical channels using devices inspired from radio and infrared techniques. Results. The Planck-HFI instrument performance exceeds requirements for sensitivity and control of systematic effects. During ground-based calibration and tests, it was measured at instrument and system levels to be close to or better than the goal specification

Entanglement genesis by ancilla-based parity measurement in 2D circuit QED

We present an indirect two-qubit parity meter in planar circuit quantum electrodynamics, realized by discrete interaction with an ancilla and a subsequent projective ancilla measurement with a dedicated, dispersively coupled resonator. Quantum process tomography and successful entanglement by measurement demonstrate that the meter is intrinsically quantum non-demolition. Separate interaction and measurement steps allow commencing subsequent data qubit operations in parallel with ancilla measurement, offering time savings over continuous schemes.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures; supplemental material with 5 figure

Furfural manufacture and valorization – A selection of recent developments

Despite early promises, Furfural failed to become a major chemical intermediate as it could not compete with cheap and abundant petrochemicals. But recent societal pressures to replace fossil resources with renewable ones, combined with recent technology developments may give it a second chance today. This paper presents recent developments in furfural manufacture and valorization that I have been personally involved in. Specifically, it will first discuss advanced furfural manufacture that integrate biomass fractionation with xylose dehydration. Attention will then be devoted to furfural upgrading to aviation fuels and to chemical intermediates such as BDO/THF and FDCA.</p

Quantifying Service Accessibility/Transport Disadvantage for Older People in Non-Metropolitan South Australia

The proportion of Australia’s population aged 65 years and over is increasing. In a highly mobile society that relies on car transportation for obtaining essential goods and services, challenges exist for the ageing population when their ability to utilise a car as a form of transport diminishes. Limited transport is a particular concern for those living in non-metropolitan areas due to reduced service accessibility. This research aimed to develop a spatial index to quantify the degree of service accessibility/transport disadvantage for the population aged 65 years and over living in the Murray and Mallee region of South Australia. The index developed comprised two components. The first component incorporated accessibility to key services utilised by older people. The second component quantified public transport options. Together, these components formed a composite index that can be used independently or in conjunction with other spatial datasets. The index methodology developed has the capacity to be broadly applied through the adaptation of key parameters specific to other population cohorts and would benefit from application in other non-metropolitan regions within Australia and abroad

Composite infrared bolometers with Si_3N_4 micromesh absorbers

We report the design and performance of 300-mK composite bolometers that use micromesh absorbers and support structures patterned from thin films of low-stress silicon nitride. The small geometrical filling factor of the micromesh absorber provides 20× reduction in heat capacity and cosmic ray cross section relative to a solid absorber with no loss in IR-absorption efficiency. The support structure is mechanically robust and has a thermal conductance, G < 2 × 10^(−11) W/K, which is four times smaller than previously achieved at 300 mK. The temperature rise of the bolometer is measured with a neutron transmutation doped germanium thermistor attached to the absorbing mesh. The dispersion in electrical and thermal parameters of a sample of 12 bolometers optimized for the Sunyaev–Zel’dovich Infrared Experiment is ±7% in R (T), ±5% in optical efficiency, and ±4% in G

Systematic challenges for future gravitational wave measurements of precessing binary black holes

The properties of precessing, coalescing binary black holes are presently inferred through comparison with two approximate models of compact binary coalescence. In this work we show these two models often disagree substantially when binaries have modestly large spins ($a\gtrsim 0.4$) and modest mass ratios ($q\gtrsim 2$). We demonstrate these disagreements using standard figures of merit and the parameters inferred for recent detections of binary black holes. By comparing to numerical relativity, we confirm these disagreements reflect systematic errors. We provide concrete examples to demonstrate that these systematic errors can significantly impact inferences about astrophysically significant binary parameters. For the immediate future, parameter inference for binary black holes should be performed with multiple models (including numerical relativity), and carefully validated by performing inference under controlled circumstances with similar synthetic events.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figure