INVESTIGATING THE USE OF COASTAL BLUE IMAGERY FOR BATHYMETRIC MAPPING OF INLAND WATER BODIES

In this contribution, we report on an experimental airborne data acquisition with two medium format cameras (Coastal Blue, RGB) and a topo-bathymetric laser scanner for capturing the bathymetry of a dozen of groundwater supplied lakes located near Augsburg, Germany. The specific research question was to investigate whether the use of high-resolution Coastal Blue imagery (λ = 400–460 nm) provides added value for mapping bathymetry and characterization of water bottom features. While data processing is still in progress, preliminary results indicate that the blue (λ = 420–500 nm) and green (λ = 490–570 nm) color channels of the RGB camera are better suited for estimating bathymetry, but the Coastal Blue channel adds an additional water penetrating band increasing the number of useful band combinations with a positive effect on the water bottom classification capabilities. Whereas Coastal Blue channels are rather used from satellite platforms (Landsat 8, WorldView-2) with spatial resolutions in the meter range, our experiment aims at using higher resolution Coastal Blue imagery with a ground sampling distance of around 5 cm enabling not only spectrally based shallow water depth mapping but also the application of multi-media photogrammetry in high spatial resolution. To the best of our knowledge the use of high-resolution Coastal Blue captured from airborne platforms is novel in the context of mapping shallow water bathymetry

TransCom N2O model inter-comparison - Part 2:Atmospheric inversion estimates of N2O emissions

This study examines N2O emission estimates from five different atmospheric inversion frameworks based on chemistry transport models (CTMs). The five frameworks differ in the choice of CTM, meteorological data, prior uncertainties and inversion method but use the same prior emissions and observation data set. The posterior modelled atmospheric N2O mole fractions are compared to observations to assess the performance of the inversions and to help diagnose problems in the modelled transport. Additionally, the mean emissions for 2006 to 2008 are compared in terms of the spatial distribution and seasonality. Overall, there is a good agreement among the inversions for the mean global total emission, which ranges from 16.1 to 18.7 TgN yr(-1) and is consistent with previous estimates. Ocean emissions represent between 31 and 38% of the global total compared to widely varying previous estimates of 24 to 38%. Emissions from the northern mid- to high latitudes are likely to be more important, with a consistent shift in emissions from the tropics and subtropics to the mid- to high latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere; the emission ratio for 0-30A degrees N to 30-90A degrees N ranges from 1.5 to 1.9 compared with 2.9 to 3.0 in previous estimates. The largest discrepancies across inversions are seen for the regions of South and East Asia and for tropical and South America owing to the poor observational constraint for these areas and to considerable differences in the modelled transport, especially inter-hemispheric exchange rates and tropical convective mixing. Estimates of the seasonal cycle in N2O emissions are also sensitive to errors in modelled stratosphere-to-troposphere transport in the tropics and southern extratropics. Overall, the results show a convergence in the global and regional emissions compared to previous independent studies

Containment structures and port configurations

This article describes the DEMO cryostat, the vacuum vessel, and the tokamak building as well as the system configurations to integrate the main in-vessel components and auxiliary systems developed during the Pre-Conceptual Design Phase. The vacuum vessel is the primary component for radiation shielding and containment of tritium and other radioactive material. Various systems required to operate the plasma are integrated in its ports. The vessel together with the external magnetic coils is located inside the even larger cryostat that has the primary function to provide a vacuum to enable the operation of the superconducting coils in cryogenic condition. The cryostat is surrounded by a thick concrete structure: the bioshield. It protects the external areas from neutron and gamma radiation emitted from the tokamak. The tokamak building layout is aligned with the VV ports implementing floors and separate rooms, so-called port cells, that can be sealed to provide a secondary confinement when a port is opened during in-vessel maintenance. The ports of the torus-shaped VV have to allow for the replacement of in-vessel components but also incorporate plasma limiters and auxiliary heating and diagnostic systems. The divertor is replaced through horizontal ports at the lower level, the breeding blanket (BB) through upper vertical ports. The pipe work of these in-vessel components is also routed through these ports. To facilitate the vertical replacement of the BB, it is divided into large vertical segments. Their mechanical support during operation relies on vertically clamping them inside the vacuum vessel by a combination of obstructed thermal expansion and radial pre-compression due to the ferromagnetic force acting on the breeding blanket structural material in the toroidal magnetic field

Long-Term Changes in Lower Tropospheric Baseline Ozone Concentrations:

Two recent papers have quantified long-term ozone (O3) changes observed at northernmidlatitude sites that are believed to represent baseline (here understood as representative of continental to hemispheric scales) conditions. Three chemistry-climate models (NCAR CAM-chem, GFDL-CM3, and GISS-E2-R) have calculated retrospective tropospheric O3 concentrations as part of the Atmospheric Chemistry and Climate Model Intercomparison Project and Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 model intercomparisons. We present an approach for quantitative comparisons of model results with measurements for seasonally averaged O3 concentrations. There is considerable qualitative agreement between the measurements and the models, but there are also substantial and consistent quantitative disagreements. Most notably, models (1) overestimate absolute O3 mixing ratios, on average by approximately 5 to 17 ppbv in the year 2000, (2) capture only approximately 50% of O3 changes observed over the past five to six decades, and little of observed seasonal differences, and (3) capture approximately 25 to 45% of the rate of change of the long-term changes. These disagreements are significant enough to indicate that only limited confidence can be placed on estimates of present-day radiative forcing of tropospheric O3 derived from modeled historic concentration changes and on predicted future O3 concentrations. Evidently our understanding of tropospheric O3, or the incorporation of chemistry and transport processes into current chemical climate models, is incomplete. Modeled O3 trends approximately parallel estimated trends in anthropogenic emissions of NO(sub x), an important O3 precursor, while measured O3 changes increase more rapidly than these emission estimates

Progress in the development of the in-vessel transporter and the upper port cask for the remote replacement of the DEMO breeding blanket

The breeding blanket (BB) segments are by far the largest in-vessel components of DEMO. For their remote replacement through the upper vertical ports of the vacuum vessel (VV) recently a new concept has been developed. The concept minimizes the spread of contamination as all in-vessel operations are carried out from within a cask that is sealed to the VV and located within a sealed room providing a second confinement barrier inside the nuclear building. The removal of the BB segments from the VV is carried out by a BB transporter that is operated on the elevator system of the >20m higher cask. The limited available space makes the compact design solutions that have been developed critical to the overall concept. The BB transporter is designed according to nuclear design codes and for high payloads since the BB segments may weigh up to 180 tons. Due to the eccentric engagement points on the backside of the BB segments and due to seismic accelerations, that need to be considered, too, the BB transporter resists also to bending moments. It can carry out translational as well as tilting movements as required to disengage the BB segments from their supports and to remove them through the upper VV port. The main requirements regarding integration, BB manipulation and structural integrity have been verified. Next development steps need to include further design improvements, integration of in-vessel position survey, definition and control of motion actuations, supply cable routing, the development of rescue and recovery scenarios as well as the validation in relevant test facilities. This article describes the design of the BB lifting tools including several modifications following a set of analyses that were recently performed.peer-reviewe

Credit Contagion in Financial Markets: A Network-Based Approach

We propose a network-based model of credit contagion and examine the e�ects of idiosyncratic and systemic shocks to individual banks and the banking system. The banking system is built as a network in which banks are connected to each other through the interbank market. The microstructure captures the relation between debtors and creditors, and the macroeconomic events capture the sensitivity of the banks' �nancial strenght to macroeconomic events, such as housing. We have demonstrated that while idiosyncratic shocks do not have a potential to substantially disturb the banking system, macroeconomic events of higher magnitudes could be highly harmful, especially if they also spur contagion. In a concerted default of more banks, the stability of a banking system tends to decrease disproportionately. In addition, credit risk analysis is highly sensitive to the network topology and exhibits a nonlinear characteristic. Capital ratio and recovery rates are two additional factors that contribute to the stability of the �nancial system

Inverse modelling of European N2O emissions: assimilating observations from different networks

We describe the setup and first results of an inverse modelling system for atmospheric N₂O, based on a four-dimensional variational (4DVAR) technique and the atmospheric transport zoom model TM5. We focus in this study on the European domain, utilizing a comprehensive set of quasi-continuous measurements over Europe, complemented by N₂O measurements from the Earth System Research Laboratory of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA/ESRL) cooperative global air sampling network. Despite ongoing measurement comparisons among networks parallel measurements at a limited number of stations show that significant offsets exist among the different laboratories. Since the spatial gradients of N₂O mixing ratios are of the same order of magnitude as these biases, the direct use of these biased datasets would lead to significant errors in the derived emissions. Therefore, in order to also use measurements with unknown offsets, a new bias correction scheme has been implemented within the TM5-4DVAR inverse modelling system, thus allowing the simultaneous assimilation of observations from different networks. The N₂O bias corrections determined in the TM5-4DVAR system agree within ~0.1 ppb (dry-air mole fraction) with the bias derived from the measurements at monitoring stations where parallel NOAA discrete air samples are available. The N₂O emissions derived for the northwest European and east European countries for 2006 show good agreement with the bottom-up emission inventories reported to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Moreover, the inverse model can significantly narrow the uncertainty range reported in N₂O emission inventories for these countries, while the lack of measurements does not allow to reduce the uncertainties of emission estimates in southern Europe. <br><br> Several sensitivity experiments were performed to test the robustness of the results. It is shown that also inversions without detailed a priori spatio-temporal emission distributions are capable to reproduce major regional emission patterns within the footprint of the existing atmospheric network, demonstrating the strong constraints of the atmospheric observations on the derived emissions

Engendering harm: a critique of sex selection for 'family balancing'

The most benign rationale for sex-selection is deemed to be “family balancing.” On this view, provided the sex-distribution of an existing offspring group is “unbalanced,” one may legitimately use reproductive technologies to select the sex of the next child. I present four novel concerns with granting “family balancing” as a justification for sex-selection: (a) families or family subsets should not be subject to medicalization; (b) sex selection for “family balancing” entrenches heteronormativity, inflicting harm in at least three specific ways; (c) the logic of affirmative action is appropriated; (d) the moral mandate of reproductive autonomy is misused. I conclude that the harms caused by “family balancing” are sufficiently substantive to over-ride any claim arising from a supposed right to sex selection as an instantiation of procreative autonomy