Asteroid surface materials: Mineralogical characterizations from reflectance spectra

Mineral assemblages analogous to most meteorite types, with the exception of ordinary chondritic assemblages, have been found as surface materials of Main Belt asteroids. C1- and C2-like assemblages (unleached, oxidized meteoritic clay minerals plus opaques such as carbon) dominate the population throughout the Belt, especially in the outer Belt. A smaller population of asteroids exhibit surface materials similar to C3 (CO, CV) meteoritic assemblages (olivine plus opaque, probably carbon) and are also distributed throughout the Belt. The majority of remaining studied asteroids (20) of 65 asteroids exhibit spectral reflectance curves dominated by the presence of metallic nickel-iron in their surface materials. The C2-like materials which dominate the main asteroid belt population appear to be relatively rare on earth-approaching asteroids

Multispectral mapping of the lunar surface using groundbased telescopes

Images of the lunar surface were obtained at several wavelengths using a silicon vidicon imaging system and groundbased telescopes. These images were recorded and processed in digital form so that quantitative information is preserved. The photometric precision of the images is shown to be better than 1 percent. Ratio images calculated by dividing images obtained at two wavelengths (0.40/0.56 micrometer) and 0.95/0.56 micrometer are presented for about 50 percent of the lunar frontside. Spatial resolution is about 2 km at the sub-earth point. A complex of distinct units is evident in the images. Earlier work with the reflectance spectrum of lunar materials indicates that for the most part these units are compositionally distinct. Digital images of this precision are extremely useful to lunar geologists in disentangling the history of the lunar surface

A proposal for a SPARK Park site selection process in East Baton Rouge Parish

A Proposal for a SPARK Park Site Selection Process in East Baton Rouge Parish is the topic of this study to assist Parish schools and local governmental agencies in creating community parks. The SPARK Park program uses underutilized municipal properties to create community-use parks in lower-income urban areas. SPARK Parks originated in Houston, Texas. The Houston SPARK Park process was adapted for developing a site selection process for East Baton Rouge Parish. East Baton Rouge Parish dedicated their first SPARK Park in 2000. The park was built in an attempt to reduce the Parish’s open space deficit. Many more parks are needed for any significant reduction of the deficit. A prioritization process of need for park development is required since most Parish communities qualify as SPARK Park candidates. The proposed site selection process will expedite the park acquisition process and objectively locate those sites of greatest need for park development in the Parish. An easy-to-use checklist and a site selection prioritization map are the two tools created for the proposed site selection process. They were designed to involve a school and the surrounding community early in the park development process, save vital resources of local agencies so several parks can be built simultaneously, and be a model for similar park initiatives, other agencies, and school grant writing

Is energy performance too taxing? A CAMA approach to modelling residential energy in housing in Northern Ireland

Purpose Buildings contribute significantly to CO2 production. They are also subject to considerable taxation based on value. Analysis shows that while similar attributes contribute to both value and CO2 production, there is only a loose relationship between the two. If we wish to use taxation to affect policy change (drive energy efficiency behaviour), we are unlikely to achieve this using only the current tax base (value), or by increasing the tax take off this current tax base (unlike extra taxation of cigarettes to discourage smoking, for example). Taxation of buildings on the basis of energy efficiency is hampered by the lack of current evidence of performance. This paper aims to model the now-obligatory (at sale or letting) energy performance certificate (EPC) data to derive an acceptable appraisal model (marked to market, being the EPC scores) and deploys this to the entire population of properties. This provides an alternative tax base with which to model the effects of a tax base switch to energy efficiency and to understand the tax incidence effects of such a policy. Design/methodology/approach The research uses a multiplicative hedonic approach to model energy efficiency utilising EPC holding properties in a UK jurisdiction [Northern Ireland (NI)] as the sample. This model is then used to estimate discrete energy assessments for each property in the wider population, using attributes held in the domestic rating (property tax) database for NI (700,000+ properties). This produces a robust estimate of the EPC for every property in its current condition and its cost-effective improved condition. This energy assessment based tax base is further used to estimate a new millage rate and property tax bill (green property tax) which is compared against the existing property tax based on value to allow tax incidence changes to be analysed. Findings The findings show that such a policy would significantly redistribute the tax burden and would have a variety of expected and some unexpected effects. The results indicate that while assessing the energy performance of houses can be a complex process involving many parameters, much of the explanatory power can be achieved via a relatively small number of input variables, often already held by property tax jurisdictions. This offers the opportunity for useful housing stock modelling – such as the savings possible from power switching. The research also identifies that whilst urban areas display the expected “heat island” effect in terms of energy consumption, urban properties are on average more efficient than suburban/rural properties. This facilitates spatial targeting of policy messages and initiatives. Research limitations/implications Analogous with other studies, data deficiencies introduce the risk of omitted variable bias. Modelling of the energy efficiency in the sample is limited to property attributes that are available for the wider population of properties. While this limits the modelling exercise, it is a perennial issue facing mass appraisal worldwide (where knowledge of the transacted sample attributes generally exceeds knowledge of the unsold properties). That said, the research demonstrates the benefits of sharing data and improving knowledge of the housing stock, as taxation databases would be stronger, augmented with EPC-derived property attributes for example. Originality/value The EPC lead in time for wide residential coverage is likely to be considerable. The paper contributes to emerging literature and policy debate surrounding the effect, performance measurement and implementation of energy efficiency certification, through a greater understanding of the sectorial and geographical dispersion of energy efficiency. It provides high level research to help guide policy and decision-making, identifying key locales where there is more of a physical problem and locations where there is more to gain in terms of targeting energy improvement and/or encouraging behavioural change. The paper also allows a glimpse of the implications of a change towards a taxation regime based on energy efficiency, which contributes to the debate surrounding the “greening” of property based taxes. </jats:sec

Third Party Assurances: Mapping the Road to Trust in eRetailing

Consumer trust of Internet vendors is a major factor influencing the success of e-commerce. To enhance consumer trust, many e-retailers are experimenting with various trust-building strategies, including participation in third-party assurance programs. This study presents a model describing the relationship between third-party assurance seals, trust, and online purchasing intentions. Five manipulations of a simulated retail website were used to test eight model-derived hypotheses. Initial results do support hypothesized relationships between disposition to trust, trust of the e-retailer, perceived risk, attitude toward purchasing from the e-retailer, and intention to purchase. Hypotheses addressing a positive relationship between the viewing of assurance seals and consumer trust of a specific e-retailer are not supported. Contrary to early studies, post hoc results reveal that one seal type, the privacy assurance seal, did have a small, but significant, positive impact on consumer trust of an unfamiliar e-retailer

House prices and neighbourhood amenities: beyond the norm?

PURPOSE : Understanding the key locational and neighbourhood determinants and their accessibility is a topic of great interest to policymakers, planners and property valuers. In Northern Ireland, the high level of market segregation means that it is problematic to understand the nature of the relationship between house prices and the accessibility to services and prominent neighbourhood landmarks and amenities. Therefore, this paper aims to quantify and measure the (dis)amenity effects on house pricing levels within particular geographic housing sub-markets. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH : Most hedonic models are estimated using regression techniques which produce one coefficient for the entirety of the pricing distribution, culminating in a single marginal implicit price. This paper uses a quantile regression (QR) approach that provides a “more complete” depiction of the marginal impacts for different quantiles of the price distribution using sales data obtained from 3,780 house sales transactions within the Belfast Housing market over 2014. FINDINGS : The findings emerging from this research demonstrate that housing and market characteristics are valued differently across the quantile values and that conditional quantiles are asymmetrical. Pertinently, the findings demonstrate that ordinary least squares (OLS) coefficient estimates have a tendency to over or under specify the marginal mean conditional pricing effects because of their inability to adequately capture and comprehend the complex spatial relationships which exist across the pricing distribution. ORIGINALITY/VALUE : Numerous studies have used OLS regression to measure the impact of key housing market externalities on house prices, providing a single estimate. This paper uses a QR approach to examine the impact of local amenities on house prices across the house price distribution.http://www.emeraldinsight.com/loi/ijhmahj2019Taxatio