Evaluation of the ERBE scene identification algo-rithm

The sensitivity of the radiation budget parameters and the scene selection process to different factors is evaluated. The use of ERB-7 CLE models provides instantaneous albedo and longwave flux values which are in essential agreement in the 70 deg cutoff case with those from the SAB method. The increase in albedo with increasing satellite zenith angle cutoff is not apparent at the target area level for different surface types. GOES models seem to show an increase in instantaneous albedo at the global level with satellite zenith angle of the same nature as the ERB-7 models investigated in a previous report and are, therefore, probably not an improvement. The use of recently derived NCLE models did not make a noticeable change in the budget parameters; but the cloud classification did show hemispherical differences and caused a day-night readjustment of cloudiness amounts. Preliminary results for an additional month (December 1979) indicate good agreement between the SAB and MLE methods. Additional work is required to establish the agreement for all seasons. Comparison of derived cloud amounts with other data sets such as THIR/TOMS indicates good zonal agreement. Sampling adequacy investigations at different temporal averaging intervals with the SAB method, indicate large uncertainties in small time average cases. For a 6-day averaging period, sampling is very poor with only 23% of the globe contributing toward the global mean albedo. Effect of modifications to the MLE procedure seem to have little effect on the derived budget quantities in an averaged sense. Significant differences in the flux values due to differences in scene selection are apparent in individual target areas studies. A modification of the MLE procedure to mimic the perpendicular bisector algorithm indicated no effect on the gross radiation budget quantities

Follow-up methods for autonomic repairing process

This thesis explores the highly nonlinear profile of the modern financial world and assesses its relevance in monetary policy conduct and macroprudential supervision. It focuses on three possible different origins of nonlinear structures. Firstly, we study the role of the heterogeneous and boundedly rational expectations in driving the aggregate economic dynamics. Secondly, we investigate the irregularities of probability distributions and their consequences for quantitative inference. Thirdly, we assess the behavior of the global asset network through a prism of complex systems. Because of its extraordina1y relevance in the real world, a lot of attention is being paid to the banking side of the economy. The practical goal of this thesis is to provide the tools and general directions on how to incorporate possible nonlinear dependencies into existing economic modeling techniques. In times of very non-standard policy actions, these tools might prove to be of great importance as they offer more robust and flexible approaches to financial modeling and forecasting

Follow-up methods for autonomic repairing process

The technical maintenance of civil concrete structures is not really cheap. A way to reduce maintenance- related costs is to have a concrete capable of repairing itself when damaged. This paper presents a cybernetic engineering approach for self-healing in concrete. The approach is inspired by the biological self-healing principle to make self-repairing possible in concrete. It consists of adding biological and chemical agents (bacteria) to concrete mix along with Shape Memory Alloys (SMA) to get an improved self-healing effect. A challenging issues related to this approach is that effective monitoring of the progress of the self-healing process. The main challenge is the diagnosis and even prognosis of the cybernetic concrete health. This paper proposes different testing methods to monitor the self-healing in cybernetic concrete. These methods allow for diagnosis and prognosis of the self-healing process in the above concrete. Experimental results from the above tests carried out in conventional and cybernetic concrete samples are shown. Conclusions and future work are also presented