Radar studies of arctic ice and development of a real-time Arctic ice type identification system

Studies were conducted to develop a real-time Arctic ice type identification system. Data obtained by NASA Mission 126, conducted at Pt. Barrow, Alaska (Site 93) in April 1970 was analyzed in detail to more clearly define the major mechanisms at work affecting the radar energy illuminating a terrain cell of sea ice. General techniques for reduction of the scatterometer data to a form suitable for application of ice type decision criteria were investigated, and the electronic circuit requirements for implementation of these techniques were determined. Also, consideration of circuit requirements are extended to include the electronics necessary for analog programming of ice type decision algorithms. After completing the basic circuit designs a laboratory model was constructed and a preliminary evaluation performed. Several system modifications for improved performance are suggested. (Modified author abstract

Monitoring vegetation conditions from LANDSAT for use in range management

A summary of the LANDSAT Great Plains Corridor projects and the principal results are presented. Emphasis is given to the use of satellite acquired phenological data for range management and agri-business activities. A convenient method of reducing LANDSAT MSS data to provide quantitative estimates of green biomass on rangelands in the Great Plains is explained. Suggestions for the use of this approach for evaluating range feed conditions are presented. A LANDSAT Follow-on project has been initiated which will employ the green biomass estimation method in a quasi-operational monitoring of range readiness and range feed conditions on a regional scale

Monitoring the vernal advancement and retrogradation (green wave effect) of natural vegetation

The author has identified the following significant results. The Great Plains Corridor rangeland project utilizes natural vegetation systems as phenological indicators of seasonal development and climatic effects upon regional growth conditions. A method has been developed for quantitative measurement of vegetation conditions over broad regions using ERTS-1 MSS data. Radiance values recorded in ERTS-1 spectral bands 5 and 7, corrected for sun angle, are used to compute a band ratio parameter which is shown to be correlated with green biomass and vegetation moisture content. This report details the progress being made toward determining factors associated with the transformed vegetation index (TVI) and limitations on the method. During the first year of ERTS-1 operation (cycles 1-20), an average of 50% usable ERTS-1 data was obtained for the ten Great Plains Corridor test sites

Monitoring vegetation systems in the Great Plains with ERTS

The Great Plains Corridor rangeland project utilizes natural vegetation systems as phenological indicators of seasonal development and climatic effects upon regional growth conditions. A method has been developed for quantitative measurement of vegetation conditions over broad regions using ERTS-1 MSS data. Radiance values recorded in ERTS-1 spectral bands 5 and 7, corrected for sun angle, are used to compute a band ratio parameter which is shown to be correlated with aboveground green biomass on rangelands

Glass Transition Phenomena Semiannual Status Report

Multiple glass transitions, heat capacities, and equation of state properties of polymer system

Monitoring the Vernal Advancement and Retrogradation (Green Wave Effect) of Natural Vegetation

The author has identified the following significant results. The Great Plains Corridor rangeland project successfully utilized natural vegetation systems as phenological indicators of seasonal development and climatic effects upon regional growth conditions. An effective method was developed for quantitative measurement of vegetation conditions, including green biomass estimates, recorded in bands 5 and 6, corrected for sun angle, were used to compute a ratio parameter (TV16) which is shown to be highly correlated with green biomass and vegatation moisture content. Analyses results of ERTS-1 digital data and correlated ground data are summarized. Attention was given to analyzing weather influences and test site variables on vegetation condition measurements with ERTS-1 data

Radar studies of Arctic ice

Identification of Arctic ice types by measurements of radar backscatte

Institutional context: What elements shape how community occupational therapists think about their clients’ care?

Abstract : Clinical reasoning (CR) is the cognitive process that therapists use to plan, direct, perform and reflect on client care. Linked to intervention efficiency and quality, CR is a core competency that occurs within an institutional context (legal, regulatory, administrative and organisational elements). Because this context can shape how community therapists think about their clients’ care, its involvement in their CR could have a major impact on the interventions delivered. However, little is known about this involvement. Our study thus aimed to describe the elements of the institutional context involved in community therapists’ CR. From March 2012 to June 2014, we conducted an institutional ethnography (IE) inquiry in three Health and Social Services Centres in Québec (Canada). We observed participants and conducted semi-structured interviews with 10 occupational therapists. We also interviewed 12 secondary key informants (colleagues and managers) and collected administrative documents (n = 50). We analysed data using the IE process. Of the 13 elements of the institutional context identified, we found that four are almost constantly involved in participants’ CR. These four elements, that is, institutional procedures, organisation's basket of services, occupational therapists’ mandate and wait times for their services, restrictively shape CR. Specifically, occupational therapists restrict their representation of the client's situation and exploration of potential solutions to what is possible within the bounds of these four elements. In light of such restrictions on the way they think about their clients’ care, therapists should pay close attention to the elements of their own institutional context and how they are involved in their CR. Because of its potentially important impact on the future of professions (e.g. further restrictions on professionals’ role, reduced contribution to population health and well-being), this involvement of the institutional context in CR concerns all professionals, be they clinicians, educators, researchers or regulatory college officers

The Bell Theorem as a Special Case of a Theorem of Bass

The theorem of Bell states that certain results of quantum mechanics violate inequalities that are valid for objective local random variables. We show that the inequalities of Bell are special cases of theorems found ten years earlier by Bass and stated in full generality by Vorob'ev. This fact implies precise necessary and sufficient mathematical conditions for the validity of the Bell inequalities. We show that these precise conditions differ significantly from the definition of objective local variable spaces and as an application that the Bell inequalities may be violated even for objective local random variables.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figure