Preliminary Survey of Air Quality and Related Health Studies Conducted in the Vicinity of Ground Zero

This document represents the first survey by the research community of the impact of the collapse of the World Trade Center in New York on air quality and public health in lower Manhattan

Air Quality Forecasting: A Review of Federal Programs and Research Needs

This report provides a brief overview of the state of science of air quality forecasting. The report was composed to guide future federal research in air quality forecasting

An algorithm to compare two‐dimensional footwear outsole images using maximum cliques and speeded‐up robust feature

Footwear examiners are tasked with comparing an outsole impression (Q) left at a crime scene with an impression (K) from a database or from the suspect\u27s shoe. We propose a method for comparing two shoe outsole impressions that relies on robust features (speeded‐up robust feature; SURF) on each impression and aligns them using a maximum clique (MC). After alignment, an algorithm we denote MC‐COMP is used to extract additional features that are then combined into a univariate similarity score using a random forest (RF). We use a database of shoe outsole impressions that includes images from two models of athletic shoes that were purchased new and then worn by study participants for about 6 months. The shoes share class characteristics such as outsole pattern and size, and thus the comparison is challenging. We find that the RF implemented on SURF outperforms other methods recently proposed in the literature in terms of classification precision. In more realistic scenarios where crime scene impressions may be degraded and smudged, the algorithm we propose—denoted MC‐COMP‐SURF—shows the best classification performance by detecting unique features better than other methods. The algorithm can be implemented with the R‐package shoeprintr

A Report of the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources National Science and Technology Council

This national scientific assessment integrates and interprets the findings of the U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) and synthesizes findings from previous assessments, including reports and products by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It analyzes current natural and human-induced trends in global change, and projects future trends impacting the natural environment, agriculture, water resources, social systems, energy production and use, transportation, and human health. It is intended to help inform discussion of the relevant issues by decisionmakers, stakeholders, and the public. As such, this report addresses the requirements for assessment in the Global Change Research Act of 1990.

Effective Disaster Warnings - Report by the Working Group on Natural Disaster Information Systems Subcommittee on Natural Disaster Reduction

This report describes and recommends ways to improve alert systems in order to reduce loss of lives, property, and economic activity caused by natural and man-made disasters

Scientific Collections: Mission-Critical Infrastructure for Federal Science Agencies

This report describes the nature and state of federally-held scientific collections which exist for scientific study to provide insight about historical trends in biodiversity, climate, and ecosystems