Optimization of filament antennas using the Gauss-Newton method

The project of the Yagi-Uda antenna was optimized using the Gauss-Newton method. The optimization consisted of specifying value interval for directivity, front-to-back ratio and beamwidth and, starting from a pre-defined initial model, the best values for the length and spacing of the elements were determined. For the direct modeling, the method of moments on the integral Pocklington equation was used, which consisted of obtaining the values of directivity, front-to-back ratio and beamwidth from the length and spacing between known elements. The procedure was applied to the synthesis of Yagi-Uda antennas with five and six elements and the results were found to be as good as those obtained in the literature using other optimization methods

Optimization method applied to decision-making on intermodal alternative for soybean outflow in the State of Pará-Brazil

In Brazil, the sector of agribusiness suffers with the lack of infrastructure for the production outflow and as transportation costs increase, they affect its competitiveness in the world scenario. In this work, an optimization model was developed to support decision-making to soybeans transport for export, in regions in the state of Para (Brazil) near to Tocantins-Araguaia waterway. The study applied a Linear Programming model, adopting the transport problem, in search of minimizing the costs of alternative routes, restricted to the respective supply and demand limitations. The model aimed to minimize the transport costs from the production centers to the exporting port, through the current infrastructure and suggesting the road and waterway intermodal alternative by means of the interior navigation, considering diverse points for transshipment. The results showed a cost reduction for production outflow in the base year of the study when the intermodal transport was used. Furthermore, the new routes only by waterway created a new transport network configuration, decreasing the road distances for the municipalities production outflow, supporting the increasing of competitiveness of the state, as well as providing wealth generation in the region

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF BOX JENKINS MODELS AND ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORKS IN FORECASTING PLUVIOMETRIC FLOWS AND PRECIPITATIONS OF ARAGUAIA-TOCANTINS BASIN/BRAZIL

Estudar a variabilidade dos parâmetros hidroclimáticos locais em baciashidrográficas é importante para melhorar o gerenciamento dos recursos hídricos.Para tal, foram utilizados o modelo estatístico baseado na metodologia Box-Jenkins, adotado por muitas empresas na análise de séries temporais, inclusivetodo o setor elétrico brasileiro, e a tecnologia de redes neurais, que se apresentacomo poderosa ferramenta para previsões. Na comparação entre as duas técnicas,foram utilizadas observações de médias mensais de duas estações meteorológicasda Bacia Araguaia-Tocantins, Brasil, uma de vazões mensais (m3/s) e outra deprecipitações pluviométricas mensais (mm), da Agência Nacional de Águas (ANA),com registros contínuos nos períodos de 1969 a 2017 e 1974 a 2017. As previsõesforam testadas para 12 e 24 meses. Uma comparação entre os dois métodos,usando o teste de hipótese a partir de intervalos de confiança de 95%, mostrouque não houve diferenças estatisticamente significativas nas previsões individuaistanto de precipitações pluviométricas como de vazões. Entretanto, o uso do rootmean square error (RMSE) mostrou que o método de Box-Jenkins apresentamelhores resultados. A maior dificuldade nesse método é na construção domodelo, sobretudo em séries com alta variabilidade. O método de redes neurais,em geral, consome mais tempo computacional em relação ao Box-Jenkins.Studying the variability of local hydro-climatic parameters in river basins is important for the better management of water resources. In order to do so, we used two methods: Box-Jenkins methodology, adopted by many companies in the time series analysis, including the entire Brazilian electric sector, and the Neural Networks technology, which presents itself as a powerful tool for forecasting. Observations of monthly averages of two meteorological stations of the Araguaia-Tocantins basin (Brazil) were made for comparation purposes, one of monthly flows (m3/s) and one of monthly rainfall (mm), of the National Waters Agency (Agência Nacional de Águas — ANA) with continuous records from 1969 to 2017 and 1974 to 2017. The forecasts were tested for twelve and twenty- four months. A comparison between the two methods using a hypothesis test from 95% confidence intervals, showed that there were no statistically significant differences between them in individual rainfall and flow forecasts. However, if the RMSE method is used, the Box-Jenkins method presented better results in the forecasts. The main difficulty in the Box-Jenkins method is the construction of the model, especially in high variability series. The method of Neural Networks, in general, consumes more computational time compared to the Box-Jenkins model

Aplicação dos métodos eletromagnéticos VLF e HLEM na prospecção hidrogeológica no município de São Domingos do Araguaia-PA

This work deals with the geological mapping using the electromagnetic methods VLF and HLEM to hidrogeological study of the county São Domingos do Araguaia in the southest of the State of Pará. It was carried out within the cooperation agreement between the Fundação Nacional de Saúde and the Universidade Federal do Pará, through the Geophysics Department and the Curso de Pós-Graduação em Geofísica. Also, we studied the quantitative performance of the VLF method, applied to ground water prospecting. First, we analysed the VLF response, by means of the parameters (tilt angle and ellipticity) of the ellipse of polarization of various geological situations likely to be found in the local under study, and for hidrogeological studies of other areal as well. Also, we evaluated the influence of different physical parameters of selected models using finite elements method. The quantitative analyse of the field data was carried out by trial and error using theoretical curves obtained by means of model simulation suggested by the qualitative interpretation using Fraser's filter and profiles of the HLEM method. The results showed the existence of structural features with trends N-S and NE-SW which correlated with the regional geology are normal and transference faults, respectivily. Based on these results, it was selected several sites for drilling of well with maximum probability of sucess.UFPA - Universidade Federal do ParáPETROBRAS - Petróleo Brasileiro S.A.FADESP - Fundação de Amparo e Desenvolvimento da PesquisaCNPq - Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e TecnológicoFINEP - Financiadora de Estudos e ProjetosInserido no convênio de cooperação firmado entre a Fundação Nacional de Saúde e a Universidade Federal do Pará, através do Departamento de Geofísica e do Curso de Pós-Graduação em Geofísica, este trabalho tem como objetivo o mapeamento geológico com a aplicação dos métodos eletromagnéticos VLF e HLEM, visando o estudo hidrogeológico do Município de São Domingos do Araguaia no Sudeste do Estado do Pará. Também, estudamos o desempenho quantitativo do método VLF, no que diz respeito a prospecção de água subterrânea. Primeiramente, analisamos a resposta VLF, através dos parâmetros da elipse de polarização (inclinação e elipsidade), de diferentes situações geológicas possíveis de serem encontradas no local de estudo e voltadas a hidrogeologia. Também, avaliamos a influência que os parâmetro físicos do modelo exercem na anomalia, utilizando para estas finalidades modelagem numérica por elemento finito. A análise quantitativa foi realizada através de ajuste, por tentativa e erro, com curvas teóricas obtidas da simulação de modelos idealizados na interpretação qualitativa, a qual fizemos com o auxilio da técnica de filtragem de Fraser e com perfís do método HLEM. Os resultados mostraram a existência de feições estruturais de "trends" N-S e NE-SW, que correlacionadas à geologia regional são falhas normais e de transferências, respectivamente. Com base nesses resultados, foram selecionados alguns locais com maiores probabilidades de sucesso na captação de água subterrânea através de poços