Using air photos to parameterise landscape predictors of channel wetted width at baseflow

Evasion of carbon dioxide from the surface of freshwater channels accounts for a substantial proportion of its flux from the terrestrial biosphere to the atmosphere; accurate estimates of channel wetted width (WW) are required to improve predictions of this flux. We investigated which landscape and climate-related data were statistically significant predictors of WW at baseflow across a large region (2200 km2) of north Wales and western England (UK) where habitat surveys suggest the majority of channels are in a near natural state. We used 25 cm pixel resolution air photos to measure channel WW at baseflow, and quantified the magnitude of the errors in these measurements. We used flow information from local gauging stations to ensure that channels were at or close to baseflow for the days on which the air photos were captured. The root mean squared difference between the fieldbased and air photo measurements of WW (n=28 sites) was small (0.14 m) in comparison to the median channel WW (3.07 m), and there was very little bias between the two sets of measurements (0.026 m). We created a set of points along those sections of channels which were visible in air photos and used a digital terrain model to create the drainage catchments for the points and computed their catchment area (CA).We removed points with CA <1 km2 and selected a random subset from the remaining points (n=472). We measured channel WW at these points from air photos and computed landscape and climate-related data for each of their catchments (mean slope, mean annual rainfall, land cover type, elevation) and also mean BFIHOST, a quantitative index relating to hydrological source of flow. We also computed the local slope at each of the selected points on the channel. As these data were not independent random variables, we used the linear mixed model framework with WW as the predictand and included the various landscape and climate-related data (including CA0:5) as fixed effects. We included a spatial covariance function using residual maximum likelihood which computes unbiased estimates of the predictors and accounts for clustering in the sample data. There was no evidence for retaining the spatial covariance function and so we computed a linear model by ordinary least squares and selected predictors using a stepwise procedure.With the exception of land cover, all the predictors were statistically significant and accounted for 76% of the variance of channelWW. When CA0:5 alone was used as a predictor it captured 54% of the variance. The vast majority of this difference was due to inclusion of an interaction between CA and hydrological source of flow (BFIHOST). As catchment area increases, those channels with larger mean catchment BFIHOST values (greater baseflow) have narrower channel WW by comparison to those with smaller mean BFIHOST for the same CA

Effect of side-mode suppression ratio on the performance of self-seeded gain-switched optical pulses in lightwave communications systems

The side-mode suppression ratio (SMSR) of self-seeded gain-switched optical pulses is shown to be an extremely important factor for the use of these pulses in optical communications systems. Experiments carried out involving pulse propagation through dispersion-shifted fiber and a bandpass optical filter demonstrate that, for SMSR values of less than 25 dB, the buildup of noise due to the mode partition effect may render these pulses unsuitable for use in optical communications system

Remote downconversion scheme for uplink configuration in radio/fiber systems

The authors present a novel technology for uplink transmission in radio over fiber (RoF) distribution systems. The technique employs remote downconversion of the uplink data to intermediate frequency (IF) in the base station (BS). The local oscillator (LO) signal for the downconversion is optically generated in the central station (CS) and sent to the BS via optical fiber. The IF uplink data is then modulated onto an optical carrier and sent to the CS, where the baseband conversion takes place. By employing this method of uplink connection simplicity and cost efficiency of the BS is achieved

Cost-based burst dropping strategy in optical burst switching networks

Optical burst switching (OBS) is a new paradigm for future all-optical networks. Intentional burst dropping is one of techniques used to achieve desired quality of service. In this paper we note that some bursts are more likely to cause contention. We propose a cost function that can be used to predict the likelihood that a given burst will interfere with other traffic, then we explain how, by using this information a new burst dropping strategy can be designed. We compare our method with a random burst dropping technique and show that the cost-based approach offers a significant performance improvement

Remote downconversion with wavelength reuse for the radio/fiber uplink connection

The authors present a novel technology for uplink transmission in radio-over-fiber distribution systems. The technique employs remote downconversion of the uplink data to intermediate frequency (IF) in the base station (BS). The local oscillator signal for the downconversion is optically generated in the central station (CS) and sent to the BS via optical fiber. The IF uplink data is then modulated onto an optical carrier, retrieved from the downlink signal, and sent to the CS, where the baseband conversion takes place. By employing this method of uplink connection, simplicity and cost efficiency of the BS is achieved

Pump-probe detuning dependence of four-wave mixing pulse in an SOA

Four-wave mixing (FWM) between 2-ps pulses in a multiquantum-well semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) is presented. The conjugate pulses are fully characterized using the frequency-resolved optical gating technique. The detuning between the pump and probe is varied, leading to a compression of the FWM signal from 3.71 to 2.77 ps as the detuning is increased from 5 to 25 nm. The output conjugate pulse is always broader than the injected probe signal due to gain saturation effects. A reshaping of the conjugate pulse is also measured. However, large nonlinearities are introduced to the frequency chirp across the pulse for large detunings which may degrade the performance of four-wave-mixing-based all-optical processing applications in SOAs

Equivalent random analysis of a buffered optical switch with general interarrival times

We propose an approximate analytic model of an optical switch with fibre delay lines and wavelength converters by employing Equivalent Random Theory. General arrival traffic is modelled by means of Gamma-distributed interarrival times. The analysis is formulated in terms of virtual traffic flows within the optical switch from which we derive expressions for burst blocking probability, fibre delay line occupancy and mean delay. Emphasis is on approximations that give good numerical efficiency so that the method can be useful for formulating dimensioning problems for large-scale networks. Numerical solution values from the proposed analysis method compare well with results from a discrete-event simulation of an optical burst switch

Effects of weak input side mode suppression ratio and output filtration on the intensity noise of a self-seeded gain switched optical pulses at 2.5 GHz

Mode partition noise is shown to be a cause for concern in terms of the intensity noise induced on a self-seeded gain-switched pulse when filtering is used to increase the side mode suppression ratio (SMSR) of the output signal to >30 dB. The inherent SMSR of a self-seeded gain switched pulse is revealed to be a vital parameter especially when output filtration is used. Our results portray the fact that such a procedure would lead to an introduction of noise on the SSGS pulses if the inherent SMSR is weak, and may ultimately determine whether or not a source is suitable for use in WDM or OTDM optical communication networks