An OGC Web Processing Service for assessing the quality of solar radiation measurements

International audienceA service is presented that assesses the quality of measurements of daily global irradiation or means of global irradi-ance acquired by a ground station. Measurements are checked against models resulting in a measure of plausibility. This on-line service obeys the WPS (Web Processing Service) standard of the Open Geospatial Consortium. It is free of use and can be integrated into routine operations and Web portals thanks due its interoperability capability

Emotional Voice Areas: Anatomic Location, Functional Properties, and Structural Connections Revealed by Combined fMRI/DTI

We determined the location, functional response profile, and structural fiber connections of auditory areas with voice- and emotion-sensitive activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and diffusion tensor imaging. Bilateral regions responding to emotional voices were consistently found in the superior temporal gyrus, posterolateral to the primary auditory cortex. Event-related fMRI showed stronger responses in these areas to voices-expressing anger, sadness, joy, and relief, relative to voices with neutral prosody. Their neural responses were primarily driven by prosodic arousal, irrespective of valence. Probabilistic fiber tracking revealed direct structural connections of these "emotional voice areas” (EVA) with ipsilateral medial geniculate body, which is the major input source of early auditory cortex, as well as with the ipsilateral inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and inferior parietal lobe (IPL). In addition, vocal emotions (compared with neutral prosody) increased the functional coupling of EVA with the ipsilateral IFG but not IPL. These results provide new insights into the neural architecture of the human voice processing system and support a crucial involvement of IFG in the recognition of vocal emotions, whereas IPL may subserve distinct auditory spatial functions, consistent with distinct anatomical substrates for the processing of "how” and "where” information within the auditory pathway

Benefits and limits of OGC-Web Services to the new SoDa Service on Solar Energy

International audienceThe SoDa Service (website: www.soda-is.com) is providing an easy and standardized access to valuable information related to solar energy for professionals. Several providers offer via the SoDa Service an access to for-free and for-pay Web services and off-line services delivering data on solar radiation, atmospheric optics, position of the sun and many others. Since the launch of the Service in 2003, the SoDa team is making efforts to improve the quality of the service to customers. After the duplication of the whole system in 2010 for a better reliability, and the development of a more esthetic website in summer 2012, the team is now populating the new SoDa Service with new Web ser-vices. This is a perfect opportunity to explore different standards in order to increase the dissemination and accepta-tion of the existing and new services by the community of users. After several trials, the Open Geospatial Consorti-um (OGC) standards were selected. This communication discusses the OGC-compliant Web services and how the decision for developments within the new SoDa website was taken

High spatial resolution solar atlas in Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur

International audienceConsidering the spatial resolution of satellite-based databases of surface solar irradiation such as HelioClim-3, the geographic scale of solar mapping that can be derived is approx. 1 / 5 000 000. This geographic scale is suitable for continent or country solar mapping. Nevertheless, customers' feedback notably states that there is a need of spatial resolution improvement. In this context of spatial resolution improvement of solar resource estimation, the project solar atlas in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (PACA), finalized in December 2010, aims at increasing spatial resolution of HelioClim-3 to derive 250 m resolution solar maps. The solar atlas accounts for the global, direct and diffuse on inclined plane or in normal incidence irradiations and their temporal variations intra and inter-annual, on a monthly basis, since February 2004. The Digital Elevation Model SRTM-V4 is used to get topographic data with a spatial resolution of approximately 100 m and a localization accuracy of typically 10 m. This topographic data is used to estimate high resolution terrain effects on HelioClim-3 derived solar radiation fields, taking into account orographic effects: * Effects of optical path length variations due to terrain elevation; * Shadow effects on direct and circumsolar diffuse radiation computed from local horizon estimation; * Horizon effects on isotropic diffuse radiation with the sky view factor estimation. These orographic phenomena are indeed the source of significant local spatial variations in solar radiation values and potentially discriminating in choosing the location, the calculation of profitability or the sizing of photovoltaic or thermodynamic solar power systems. Solar mapping with a geographic scale of 1 / 3 000 000 or more does not represent properly these local phenomena. In order to establish an accurate mapping at 250 m with associated uncertainty using HelioClim-3 data, procedures of calibration has been established with meteorological ground stations. The global horizontal irradiation is calibrated thanks to the Météo France meteorological network comprising, in PACA, about 30 automatic ground stations delivering at least daily global irradiation on horizontal plane. A strict data quality control has been applied to these ground data to guarantee their quality as reference ground-based daily irradiation data. The diffuse and direct irradiations are calibrated thanks to three specific ground stations dedicated expressly to the project, delivering one year of simultaneous 10-min global and diffuse irradiations on the horizontal plan and direct irradiation on normal incidence. Statistical analysis of direct and cross-validation estimation errors after calibration with the pyranometric ground stations has been made to establish the uncertainties associated with the solar atlas. The root mean square error of monthly irradiation estimation is about 5% (c. 5 kWh / m2) for global, direct and diffuse components on horizontal plane, without significant bias error. The accuracy of monthly direct normal irradiation is about 10% (c. 15 kWh/m2). Data from the solar atlas in PACA is available for free at www.atlas-solaire.fr. In particular, a Web Map Service (WMS), based on the Open Geographical Consortium standards, has been set up to deliver maps from the solar atlas in an interoperable and standard way

HelioClim-3: a near-real time and long-term surface solar irradiance database

International audienceHelioClim-3 is a database containing surface solar irradiance assessed every 15 min from images taken by the Meteosat series of satellites since 2004. It covers Europe, Africa and Atlantic Ocean. In average, comparison with hourly measurements made in meteorological stations yields a correlation coefficient greater than 0.9, a relative root mean square error (rRMSE) around 20% of the mean measured irradiance and a relative mean bias error (rMBE) below 2%. HelioClim-3 can be accessed via the SoDa Service (www.soda- is.org). The availability and quality of HelioClim-3 data should help in performing steps towards a better knowledge of the surface solar irradiance and its variations over recent years

Effects of a salsa dance training on balance and strength performance in older adults

Deficits in static and particularly dynamic postural control and force production have frequently been associated with an increased risk of falling in older adults.; The objectives of this study were to investigate the effects of salsa dancing on measures of static/dynamic postural control and leg extensor power in seniors.; Twenty-eight healthy older adults were randomly assigned to an intervention group (INT, n = 14, age 71.6 ± 5.3 years) to conduct an 8-week progressive salsa dancing programme or a control group (CON, n = 14, age 68.9 ± 4.7 years). Static postural control was measured during one-legged stance on a balance platform and dynamic postural control was obtained while walking on an instrumented walkway. Leg extensor power was assessed during a countermovement jump on a force plate.; Programme compliance was excellent with participants of the INT group completing 92.5% of the dancing sessions. A tendency towards an improvement in the selected measures of static postural control was observed in the INT group as compared to the CON group. Significant group × test interactions were found for stride velocity, length and time. Post hoc analyses revealed significant increases in stride velocity and length, and concomitant decreases in stride time. However, salsa dancing did not have significant effects on various measures of gait variability and leg extensor power.; Salsa proved to be a safe and feasible exercise programme for older adults accompanied with a high adherence rate. Age-related deficits in measures of static and particularly dynamic postural control can be mitigated by salsa dancing in older adults. High physical activity and fitness/mobility levels of our participants could be responsible for the nonsignificant findings in gait variability and leg extensor power

The HelioClim-1 database of daily solar radiation at Earth surface: an example of the benefits of GEOSS Data-CORE

International audienceThe HelioClim-1 database contains daily values of the solar radiation reaching the ground. This GEOSS (Global Earth Observation System of Systems) Data Collection of Open Resources for Everyone (Data-CORE) covers Europe, Africa and the Atlantic Ocean, from 1985 to 2005. It is freely accessible at no cost through the SoDa Service (www.soda-is.com). Several assessments of the HelioClim-1 data against measurements made in meteorological networks reveal that the HelioClim-1 database offers a reliable and accurate knowledge of the solar radiation and its daily, seasonal and annual variations over recent years. The HelioClim-1 data may help in qualifying in situ measurements and may supplement them, thus offering 21 years of accurate daily means of surface solar irradiance. Several published works benefited from openness, availability and accuracy of the HelioClim-1 database in various domains: oceanography, climate, energy production, life cycle analysis, agriculture, forestry, architecture, health and air quality. This demonstration of the benefit of the HelioClim-1 database draws attention to resources open to everyone such as those labeled GEOSS Data-CORE

Exploring user experience and technology acceptance for a fall prevention system: results from a randomized clinical trial and a living lab

Background: Falls are common in older adults and can result in serious injuries. Due to demographic changes, falls and related healthcare costs are likely to increase over the next years. Participation and motivation of older adults in fall prevention measures remain a challenge. The iStoppFalls project developed an information and communication technology (ICT)-based system for older adults to use at home in order to reduce common fall risk factors such as impaired balance and muscle weakness. The system aims at increasing older adults’ motivation to participate in ICT-based fall prevention measures. This article reports on usability, user-experience and user-acceptance aspects affecting the use of the iStoppFalls system by older adults. Methods: In the course of a 16-week international multicenter study, 153 community-dwelling older adults aged 65+ participated in the iStoppFalls randomized controlled trial, of which half used the system in their home to exercise and assess their risk of falling. During the study, 60 participants completed questionnaires regarding the usability, user experience and user acceptance of the iStoppFalls system. Usability was measured with the System Usability Scale (SUS). For user experience the Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale (PACES) was applied. User acceptance was assessed with the Dynamic Acceptance Model for the Re-evaluation of Technologies (DART). To collect more detailed data on usability, user experience and user acceptance, additional qualitative interviews and observations were conducted with participants. Results: Participants evaluated the usability of the system with an overall score of 62 (Standard Deviation, SD 15.58) out of 100, which suggests good usability. Most users enjoyed the iStoppFalls games and assessments, as shown by the overall PACES score of 31 (SD 8.03). With a score of 0.87 (SD 0.26), user acceptance results showed that participants accepted the iStoppFalls system for use in their own home. Interview data suggested that certain factors such as motivation, complexity or graphical design were different for gender and age. Conclusions: The results suggest that the iStoppFalls system has good usability, user experience and user acceptance. It will be important to take these along with factors such as motivation, gender and age into consideration when designing and further developing ICT-based fall prevention systems