Real-Time Water Vapor Maps from a GPS Surface Network: Construction, Validation, and Applications

In this paper the construction of real-time integrated water vapor (IWV) maps from a surface network of global positioning system (GPS) receivers is presented. The IWV maps are constructed using a twodimensional variational technique with a persistence background that is 15 min old. The background error covariances are determined using a novel two-step method, which is based on the Hollingsworth¿Lonnberg method. The quality of these maps is assessed by comparison with radiosonde observations and IWV maps from a numerical weather prediction (NWP) model. The analyzed GPS IWV maps have no bias against radiosonde observations and a small bias against NWP analysis and forecasts up to 9 h. The standard deviation with radiosonde observations is around 2 kg m-2, and the standard deviation with NWP increases with increasing forecast length (from 2 kg m-2 for the NWP analysis to 4 kg m-2 for a forecast length of 48 h). To illustrate the additional value of these real-time products for nowcasting, three thunderstorm cases are discussed. The constructed GPS IWV maps are combined with data from the weather radar, a lightning detection network, and surface wind observations. All cases show that the location of developing thunderstorms can be identified 2 h prior to initiation in the convergence of moist air

Exact Markovian kinetic equation for a quantum Brownian oscillator

We derive an exact Markovian kinetic equation for an oscillator linearly coupled to a heat bath, describing quantum Brownian motion. Our work is based on the subdynamics formulation developed by Prigogine and collaborators. The space of distribution functions is decomposed into independent subspaces that remain invariant under Liouville dynamics. For integrable systems in Poincar\'e's sense the invariant subspaces follow the dynamics of uncoupled, renormalized particles. In contrast for non-integrable systems, the invariant subspaces follow a dynamics with broken-time symmetry, involving generalized functions. This result indicates that irreversibility and stochasticity are exact properties of dynamics in generalized function spaces. We comment on the relation between our Markovian kinetic equation and the Hu-Paz-Zhang equation.Comment: A few typos in the published version are correcte

Legal and Actual Central Bank Independence: A Case Study of Bank Indonesia

Indicators of central bank independence (CBI) based on the interpretation central bank laws in place may not capture the actual independence of the central bank. This paper develops an indicator of actual independence of the Bank Indonesia (BI), the central bank of Indonesia, for the period 1953-2008 and compares it with a new legal CBI indicator based on Cukierman (1992). The indicator of actual independence captures institutional and economic factors that affect CBI. We find that before 1999, legal and actual independence of BI diverged substantially. After a new central bank law was enacted, the legal independence of BI increased and converged to actual independence.

The effects of pulse stimulation on biota - Research in relation to ICES advice - Effects on dogfish

Onderzoek naar het welzijn van hondshaaien bij de vangst. Er is onderzocht of de methode van het gebruik van stroom wel diervriendelijk is. De conclusie is dat dit geen beletsel voor de diervriendelijkheid oplever

Video coding and decoding devices and methods preserving PPG relevant information

The present invention relates to a video encoding device (10, 10', 10") and method for encoding video data and to a corresponding video decoding device (60, 60') and method. To preserve PPG relevant information after encoding without requiring a large amount of additional data for the video encoder output stream, the proposed video encoding device comprises a selection unit (20, 20') for selecting in input video data (100) skin areas as one or more regions of interest (101), that can be used to provide a strong PPG signal, based on one or more predetermined selection criteria including the spatial size, temporal stability, illumination stability and/or color stability or based on the quality and/or content of PPG signals extracted from skin areas potentially usable as region of interest,, a first encoding unit (30,30') for encoding said one or more regions of interest (101) of said input video data (100) according to a predetermined encoding scheme with a first setting of the encoding to preserve PPG-relevant information in the encoded one or more regions of interest, wherein said first encoding unit (30) is adapted for encoding only the chrominance components (101a) of said one or more regions of interest (101) or for encoding said one or more regions of interest (101) by intra-block coding,, a second encoding unit (40, 40') for encoding remaining parts (103) of said input video data (100) according to said predetermined encoding scheme with a second setting of the encoding, and an encoder combination unit (50) for combining the encoded one or more regions of interest (102) and the encoded remaining parts (104) of said input video data into an encoder output video stream (105).</p