669 research outputs found
The Effects of High Liquid Water Content on Thunderstorm Charging
Charge transfer to a riming graupel target during interactions with ice crystals has been investigated in the laboratory. When liquid water contents sufficiently high to cause wet growth are achieved, the charge transfer falls to values which are insignificant to thunderstorm electrification. The implications of this null result to a recent analysis of thunderstorm-charging processes by Wiliams et al. (1991) are discussed
Cosmological Radiation Hydrodynamics with ENZO
We describe an extension of the cosmological hydrodynamics code ENZO to
include the self-consistent transport of ionizing radiation modeled in the
flux-limited diffusion approximation. A novel feature of our algorithm is a
coupled implicit solution of radiation transport, ionization kinetics, and gas
photoheating, making the timestepping for this portion of the calculation
resolution independent. The implicit system is coupled to the explicit
cosmological hydrodynamics through operator splitting and solved with scalable
multigrid methods. We summarize the numerical method, present a verification
test on cosmological Stromgren spheres, and then apply it to the problem of
cosmological hydrogen reionization.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, to appear in Recent Directions in Astrophysical
Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiation Hydrodynamics, Ed. I. Hubeny,
American Institute of Physics (2009
Maternal obesity during pregnancy and premature mortality from cardiovascular event in adult offspring : follow-up of 1 323 275 person years
Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Combining decision support approaches for optimizing the selection of bundles of ecosystem services
This study examines the potential of combining decision support approaches to identify
optimal bundles of ecosystem services in a framework characterized by multiple decision-makers.
A forested landscape, Zona de Intervenção Florestal of Paiva and Entre-Douro and Sousa (ZIF_VS)
in Portugal, is used to test and demonstrate this potential. The landscape extends over 14,388 ha,
representing 1976 stands. The property is fragmented into 376 holdings. The overall analysis was
performed in three steps. First, we selected six alternative solutions (A to F) in a Pareto frontier
generated by a multiple-criteria method within a web-based decision support system (SADfLOR)
for subsequent analysis. Next, an aspatial strategic multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) was
performed with the Criterium DecisionPlus (CDP) component of the Ecosystem Management
Decision Support (EMDS) system to assess the aggregate performance of solutions A to F for the
entire forested landscape with respect to their utility for delivery of ecosystem services. For the CDP
analysis, SADfLOR data inputs were grouped into two sets of primary criteria: Wood Harvested and
Other Ecosystem Services. Finally, a spatial logic-based assessment of solutions A to F for individual
stands of the study area was performed with the NetWeaver component of EMDS. The NetWeaver
model was structurally and computationally equivalent to the CDP model, but the key NetWeaver
metric is a measure of the strength of evidence that solutions for specific stands were optimal for
the unit. We conclude with a discussion of how the combination of decision support approaches
encapsulated in the two systems could be further automated in order to rank several efficient solutions
in a Pareto frontier and generate a consensual solutioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
A Participatory and Spatial Multicriteria Decision Approach to Prioritize the Allocation of Ecosystem Services to Management Units
Forest management planning can be challenging when allocating multiple ecosystem
services (ESs) to management units (MUs), given the potentially conflicting management priorities of
actors. We developed a methodology to spatially allocate ESs to MUs, according to the objectives
of four interest groups—civil society, forest owners, market agents, and public administration. We
applied a Group Multicriteria Spatial Decision Support System approach, combining (a) Multicriteria
Decision Analysis to weight the decision models; (b) a focus group and a multicriteria Pareto
frontier method to negotiate a consensual solution for seven ESs; and (c) the Ecosystem Management
Decision Support (EMDS) system to prioritize the allocation of ESs to MUs. We report findings
from an application to a joint collaborative management area (ZIF of Vale do Sousa) in northwestern
Portugal. The forest owners selected wood production as the first ES allocation priority, with lower
priorities for other ESs. In opposition, the civil society assigned the highest allocation priorities to
biodiversity, cork, and carbon stock, with the lowest priority being assigned to wood production. The
civil society had the highest mean rank of allocation priority scores. We found significant differences
in priority scores between the civil society and the other three groups, highlighting the civil society
and market agents as the most discordant groups. We spatially evaluated potential for conflicts
among group ESs allocation priorities. The findings suggest that this approach can be helpful to
decision makers, increasing the effectiveness of forest management plan implementationinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Five New Millisecond Pulsars From a Radio Survey of 14 Unidentified Fermi-LAT Gamma-ray Sources
We have discovered five millisecond pulsars (MSPs) in a survey of 14
unidentified Fermi-LAT sources in the southern sky using the Parkes radio
telescope. PSRs J0101-6422, J1514-4946, and J1902-5105 reside in binaries,
while PSRs J1658-5324 and J1747-4036 are isolated. Using an ephemeris derived
from timing observations of PSR J0101-6422 (P =2.57 ms, DM=12 pc cm-3), we have
detected {\gamma}-ray pulsations and measured its proper motion. Its
{\gamma}-ray spectrum (a power law of {\Gamma} = 0.9 with a cutoff at 1.6 GeV)
and efficiency are typical of other MSPs, but its radio and {\gamma}-ray light
curves challenge simple geometric models of emission. The high success rate of
this survey-enabled by selecting {\gamma}-ray sources based on their detailed
spectral characteristics-and other similarly successful searches indicate that
a substantial fraction of the local population of MSPs may soon be known.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables, accepted by ApJ
Pulsar Timing with the Parkes Radio Telescope for the Fermi Mission
We report here on two years of timing of 168 pulsars using the Parkes radio
telescope. The vast majority of these pulsars have spin-down luminosities in
excess of 10^34 erg/s and are prime target candidates to be detected in
gamma-rays by the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope. We provide the ephemerides
for the ten pulsars being timed at Parkes which have been detected by Fermi in
its first year of operation. These ephemerides, in conjunction with the
publicly available photon list, can be used to generate gamma-ray profiles from
the Fermi archive. We will make the ephemerides of any pulsars of interest
available to the community upon request. In addition to the timing ephemerides,
we present the parameters for 14 glitches which have occurred in 13 pulsars,
seven of which have no previously known glitch history. The Parkes timing
programme, in conjunction with Fermi observations, is expected to continue for
at least the next four years.Comment: Accepted for publication in PASA.12 page
Multicriteria Decision Analysis and Group Decision-Making to Select Stand-Level Forest Management Models and Support Landscape-Level Collaborative Planning
Forest management planning is a challenge due to the diverse criteria that need to be
considered in the underlying decision-making process. This challenge becomes more complex in
joint collaborative management areas (ZIF) because the decision now may involve numerous actors
with diverse interests, preferences, and goals. In this research, we present an approach to identifying
and quantifying the most relevant criteria that actors consider in a forest management planning
process in a ZIF context, including quantifying the performance of seven alternative stand-level forest
management models (FMM). Specifically, we developed a combined multicriteria decision analysis
and group decision-making process by (a) building a cognitive map with the actors to identify the
criteria and sub-criteria; (b) structuring the decision tree; (c) structuring a questionnaire to elicit
the importance of criteria and sub-criteria in a pairwise comparison process, and to evaluate the
FMM alternatives; and (d) applying a Delphi survey to gather actors’ preferences. We report results
from an application to a case study area, ZIF of Vale do Sousa, in North-Western Portugal. Actors
assigned the highest importance to the criteria income (56.8% of all actors) and risks (21.6% of all
actors) and the lowest to cultural services (27.0% of all actors). Actors agreed on their preferences for
the sub-criteria of income (diversification of income sources), risks (wildfires) and cultural services
(leisure and recreation activities). However, there was a poor agreement among actors on the subcriteria
of the wood demand and biodiversity criteria. For 27.0% of all actors the FMM with the
highest performance was the pedunculate oak and for 43.2% of all actors the eucalypt FMM was
the least preferable alternative. The findings indicate that this approach can support ZIF managers
in enhancing forest management planning by improving its utility for actors and facilitating its
implementationinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Some geochemical constraints upon models for the crystallization of the upper critical zone-main zone interval, northwestern Bushveld complex
Ratios between elements Mg, Fe, Co, Cr, Ni, V, and Sc are consistently different in mafic rocks of the upper critical zone, and those above the Bastard unit. Within the 300 m section above the Merensky Reef, 87Sr/86Sr ratios increase from c.0.7063 to c.0.7087, irrespective of rock type. Decoupling of Mg/(Mg + Fe2+) ratios and the Ca contents of plagioclase, and wide variations in the proportions of anorthosite within the Bastard, Merensky, and Merensky Footwall units, are inconsistent with anorthosite formation by simple fractional crystallization of magma batches of limited volume
Web-based forest resources management decision support system
In this paper, we present a web-based decision support system (DSS)—wSADfLOR—to
facilitate the access of stakeholders to tools that may contribute to enhancing forest management
planning. The emphasis is on a web-based architecture and a web graphic user interface (wGUI)
that may effectively support the analysis of trade-offs between ecosystem services in order to
address participatory and sustainable forest management objectives. For that purpose, the wGUI
provides remote access to a management information system, enabling users to analyze
environmental and biometric data and topological information as well. Moreover, the wGUI
provides remote access to forest simulators so that users may define and simulate prescriptions such
as chronological sequences of management options and the corresponding forest ecosystem services
outcomes. Remote access to management planning methods is further provided so that users may
input their objectives and constraints. The wGUI delivers information about tradeoffs between
ecosystem services in the form of decision maps so that users in different locations may negotiate
bundles of ecosystem services as well as the plan needed to provide them. The multiple criteria
programming routines provide proposals for management plans that may be assessed further, using
geographical and alphanumeric information provided by the wGUI. Results for an application to a
forested landscape extending to 14,388 ha are presented and discussed. This landscape provides
several ecosystem services and the development of its management plan involves multiple
stakeholders. Results show that the web-based architecture and the wGUI provide effective access
for stakeholders to information about the forest management planning area and to decision support
tools that may contribute to addressing complex multi-objective and multiple-decision-maker
management planning contexts. They also highlight that the involvement and participation of
stakeholders in the design of the web-based architecture contributes to assuring the quality and the
usability of the systeminfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
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