2,751 research outputs found

    Improving Population Assumptions in Greenhouse Emissions Models

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    It is no surprise that population plays an important role in long-term models of greenhouse gas emissions and global climate change. Population represents both a primary scale factor for the size of the human economy and the fundamental unit at which societal welfare is measured. This paper surveys the population assumptions in several important models of global warming in the 1990s, including energy models, integrated emissions models, and economic policy models. Choice of population inputs, the role of population variables in model equations, sensitivity analyses, and consideration of population policy are all described. The paper finds room for improvement in the following areas: choice and provision of population projections, consistent treatment of age structure and urbanization, specification of relationship between per capita income and population, and the consideration of population policy in economic policy models. It is suggested that improvement in these areas would be greatly aided by interdisciplinary cooperation, especially between demographers, economists, and energy modelers

    Decomposing Models of Demographic Impact on the Environment

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    Demographic Impact (DI) models are multiplicative identities used to decompose environmental impacts into components due to population, economic and technological change. While such decompositions have played an important role in the population-environment literature, inconsistent and ambiguous methods have made their results difficult to interpret and nearly impossible to compare. This paper demonstrates and clarifies the differences between these methods using the example of anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This paper locates two distinct approaches to DI model decomposition: The annual growth rate decomposition and the multiplicative decomposition. Stable indices are provided for each approach. Finally, the Divisia Index -- a common price index used by economists -- is suggested as an appropriate method to aggregate DI model results

    Albedo climatology analysis and the determination of fractional cloud cover

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    Monthly and zonally averaged surface cover climatology data are presented which are used to construct monthly and zonally averaged surface albedos. The albedo transformations are then applied to the surface albedos, using solar zenith angles characteristic of the Nimbus 6 satellite local sampling times, to obtain albedos at the top of clear and totally cloud covered atmospheres. These albedos are then combined with measured albedo data to solve for the monthly and zonally averaged fractional cloud cover. The measured albedo data were obtained from the wide field of view channels of the Nimbus 6 Earth Radiation Budget experiment, and consequently the fractional cloud cover results are representative of the local sampling times. These fractional cloud cover results are compared with recent studies. The cloud cover results not only show peaks near the intertropical convergence zone, but the monthly migration of the position of these peaks follows general predictions of atmospheric circulation studies

    Evaluation of the cardiovascular system during various circulatory stresses Progress report, 1 Sep. 1968 - 1 May 1969

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    Cardiac response to chemotherapy after myocardial infraction and diagnostic methods of heart disease in man and animal

    A multi-sensor analysis of Nimbus 5 data on 22 January 1973

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    The Nimbus 5 meteorological satellite carried aloft a full complement of radiation sensors, the data from which were analyzed and intercompared during orbits 569-570 on 22 January 1973. The electrically scanning microwave radiometer (ESMR) which sensed passive microwave radiation in the 19.35 GHz region, delineated rain areas over the ocean off the U.S. east coast, in good agreement with WSR-57 and FPS-77 radar imagery and permitted the estimation of rainfall rates in this region. Residual ground water in the lower Mississippi Valley, which resulted from abnormal rainfall in previous months, was indicated under clear sky conditions by soil brightness temperature values in the Nimbus 5 ESMR and U.S. Air Force Data Acquisition and Processing Program (DAPP) IR data. The temperature-humidity infrared radiometer showed the height and spatial configuration of frontal clouds along the east coast and outlined the confluence of a polar jet stream with a broad sub-tropical jet stream along the U.S. Gulf Coast. Temperature profiles from three vertical temperature sounders, the infrared temperature profile radiometer (ITPR), the Nimbus E microwave spectrometer (NEMS) and the selective chopper radiometer (SCR) were found to be in good agreement with related radiosonde ascents along orbit 569 from the sub-tropics to the Arctic Circle

    Remote sensing of the atmosphere from environmental satellites

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    Various applications of satellite remote sensing of the earth are reviewed, including (1) the use of meteorological satellites to obtain photographic and radiometric data for determining weather conditions; (2) determination of the earth radiation budget from measurements of reflected solar radiation and emitted long wave terrestrial radiation; (3) the use of microwave imagery for measuring ice and snow cover; (4) LANDSAT visual and near infrared observation of floods and crop growth; and (5) the use of the Nimbus 4 backscatter ultraviolet instrument to measure total ozone and vertical ozone distribution. Plans for future activities are also discussed

    A multisensor analysis of Nimbus-5 data recorded on 22 January 1973

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    The Nimbus 5 meteorological satellite has a full complement of radiation sensors. Data from these sensors were analyzed and intercompared for orbits 569 and 570. The electrically-scanning microwave radiometer (19.35-GHz region) delineated rain areas over the ocean off the U.S. east coast, in good agreement with radar imagery, and permitted the estimation of rainfall rates in this region. Residual ground water, from abnormal rainfall in the lower Mississippi Valley, was indicated under clear sky conditions by soil brightness temperature values in the Nimbus 5 electrically scanning microwave radiometer and U.S. Air Force Data Acquisition and Processing Program infrared data. The temperature-humidity infrared radiometer (6.7 micron and 11 micron) showed the height and spatial configuration of frontal clouds along the east coast and outlined the confluence of a polar jet stream with a broad subtropical jet stream along the U.S. Gulf Coast. Temperature profiles from three vertical temperature sounders are found to be in good agreement with related radiosonde ascents along orbit 569 from the subtropics to the Arctic Circle

    Generalized Movement Representation in Haptic Perception

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    The extraction of spatial information by touch often involves exploratory movements, with tactile and kinesthetic signals combined to construct a spatial haptic percept. However, the body has many sensory surfaces that can move independently, giving rise to the source binding problem: when there are multiple tactile signals originating from sensory surfaces with multiple movements, are the tactile and kinesthetic signals bound to one another? We studied haptic signal combination by applying the tactile signal to a stationary fingertip while another body part (the other hand or a foot) or a visual target moves, and using a task that can only be done if the tactile and kinesthetic signals are combined. We found that both direction and speed of movement transfer across limbs, but only direction transfers between visual target motion and the tactile signal. In control experiments, we excluded the role of explicit reasoning or knowledge of motion kinematics in this transfer. These results demonstrate the existence of two motion representations in the haptic system—one of direction and another of speed or amplitude—that are both source-free or unbound from their sensory surface of origin. These representations may well underlie our flexibility in haptic perception and sensorimotor control

    The Image of Business on Canadian-Produced Television

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