Between Bath and Heaven

Second Prize - 2013 Stephen Crane Fiction Priz

Two Steps Forward and One Step Back: An Assessment of How Uneven Economic Development Affects the Number of Civil Wars

The effects of economic development are enormously important in understanding the causes of civil war and the requirements for successful post-conflict reconstruction. In recent decades we have seen an increase in the number of civil wars because of a phenomenon known as the conflict trap. I question why we see an increase in civil wars and what role unstable economic development plays in contributing to the conflict trap. This paper offers evidence to support the hypothesis that uneven economic development increases the risk of multiple civil wars occurring in a short amount of time. Based on the results of testing my hypothesis I suggest that the conflict trap can be broken, and the risk of civil war decreased, when economic growth is stabilized. I suggest participation in the global economic community as a mechanism for stabilizing economic growth

Extrapolation of Airborne Polarimetric and Interferometric SAR Data for Validation of Bio-Geo-Retrieval Algorithms for Future Spaceborne SAR Missions

Spaceborne SAR system concepts and mission design is often based on algorithms developed and the experience gathered from airborne SAR experiments and associated dedicated campaigns. However, airborne SAR systems have better performance parameters than their future space-borne counterparts as their design is not impacted by mass, power, and storage constraints. This paper describes a methodology to extrapolate spaceborne quality SAR image products from long wavelength airborne polarimetric SAR data which were acquired especially for the development and validation of bio/geo-retrieval algorithms in forested regions. For this purpose not only system (sensor) related parameters are altered, but also those relating to the propagation path (ionosphere) and to temporal decorrelation

Calvin und die Freiheit

Nach Möglichkeit vermeidet es Calvin, dem Menschen Willensfreiheit zuzuschreiben; wo er dennoch von Willensfreiheit spricht, ist die Bedeutung schillernd. Diese Untersuchung zeigt auf, dass sich dahinter nicht ungelöste Widersprüche verbergen, sondern zum einen eine nach >>Heilsständen<< differenzierte Wahrnehmung dessen, wie es um die Willensfreiheit des Menschen bestellt ist, und zum anderen der Konflikt zwischen einem von Calvin positiv besetzten Verständnis von Willensfreiheit als der Möglichkeit, aus den rechten Gründen das Gute zu wählen und seiner berechtigten Befürchtung, dass gemeinhin unter Willensfreiheit etwas anderes verstanden wird, nämlich die Fähigkeit, eigenmächtig zwischen Gut und Böse zu wähle

Analysis Methods of Errors (Motion and Atmospheric) in Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Images

A method to allow the analysis of the effects of motion and atmospheric errors in SAR images is here presented. The objective of the method is to allow the visualization of the effects of motion errors and atmospheric artefacts on the processed (focused) SAR image. The method is intended to allow the analysis of the interaction of motion and atmospheric errors with the adopted SAR processing procedure and motion compensation algorithms. In this article the analysis method has been applied and tested to a C-Band E-SAR (DLR airborne SAR system) data set where we see that the effects of linear and non-linear phase errors observed are in agreement with the theory