From Effects of Linear Transport Infrastructures on Amphibians to Mitigation Measures

Linear transport infrastructures (e.g., roads, highways, railways) are affecting biodiversity by habitat loss and fragmentation, degraded or suppressed connectivity, and direct and indirect mortality. In response, planners try to propose mitigation or compensatory measures. Amphibians are particularly impacted by these infrastructures, in terms of habitat loss but also because their obligatory migration to breeding sites exposed them to the barrier effect of infrastructure (direct mortality and loss of connection among sub-populations). Several compensatory (e.g., creation of new ponds) and mitigation measures (construction of wildlife passage) have been proposed specifically for amphibians. This chapter aims to describe measures implemented for amphibian populations and tries to evaluate their efficiency in terms of frequentation (wildlife passage) and population persistence

Multifractal Analysis of inhomogeneous Bernoulli products

We are interested to the multifractal analysis of inhomogeneous Bernoulli products which are also known as coin tossing measures. We give conditions ensuring the validity of the multifractal formalism for such measures. On another hand, we show that these measures can have a dense set of phase transitions

"Sa mère l'allaita" dans tous ses états

"Sa mère l'allaita" dans tous ses état

Estimation of cavitation limits from local head loss coefficient

Cavitation effects in valves and other sudden transitions in water distribution systems are studied as their better understanding and quantification is needed for design and analysis purposes and for predicting and controlling their operation. Two dimensionless coefficients are used to characterize and verify local effects under cavitating flow conditions: the coefficient of local head losses and the minimum value of the cavitation number. In principle, both coefficients must be determined experimentally, but a semianalytical relationship between them is here proposed so that if one of them is known, its value can be used to estimate the corresponding value of the other one. This relationship is experimentally contrasted by measuring head losses and flow rates. It is also shown that cavitation number values, called cavitation limits, such as the critical cavitation limit, can be related in a simple but practical way with the mentioned minimum cavitation number and with a given pressure fluctuation level. Head losses under conditions of cavitation in sharp-edged orifices and valves are predicted for changes in upstream and downstream boundary conditions. An experimental determination of the coefficient of local head losses and the minimum value of the cavitation number is not dependent on the boundary conditions even if vapor cavity extends far enough to reach a downstream pressure tap. Also, the effects of cavitation and displacement of moving parts of valves on head losses can be split. A relatively simple formulation for local head losses including cavitation influence is presented. It can be incorporated to water distribution analysis models to improve their results when cavitation occurs. Likewise, it can also be used to elaborate information about validity limits of head losses in valves and other sudden transitions and to interpret the results of head loss tests

Theory and observations of ice particle evolution in cirrus using Doppler radar: evidence for aggregation

Vertically pointing Doppler radar has been used to study the evolution of ice particles as they sediment through a cirrus cloud. The measured Doppler fall speeds, together with radar-derived estimates for the altitude of cloud top, are used to estimate a characteristic fall time tc for the `average' ice particle. The change in radar reflectivity Z is studied as a function of tc, and is found to increase exponentially with fall time. We use the idea of dynamically scaling particle size distributions to show that this behaviour implies exponential growth of the average particle size, and argue that this exponential growth is a signature of ice crystal aggregation.Comment: accepted to Geophysical Research Letter

Wave activity at ionospheric heights above the Andes Mountains detected from FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC GPS radio occultation data

An estimation of the ionospheric wave activity, derived from 4 years of FORMOSAT-3/ COSMIC GPS (Taiwan's Formosa Satellite Mission 3/Constellation Observing System for Meteorology—Global Positioning System) radio occultation electron density data, is presented. A systematic enhancement at the eastern side of the Andes range with respect to the western side is observed. A fitting method to remove the wavelike component from each measured profile and estimate the wave activity is described. The differential effect introduced by the action of orography on the generation, to the eastern side of the Andes, of mountain waves, deep convection waves, or even secondary waves aloft after momentum deposition in the middle atmosphere, is suggested.Fil: de la Torre, Alejandro. Universidad Austral. Facultad de Ingeniería; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Alexander, Pedro Manfredo. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Física; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Llamedo Soria, Pablo Martin. Universidad Austral. Facultad de Ingeniería; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Hierro, Rodrigo Federico. Universidad Austral. Facultad de Ingeniería; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Nava, B.. The Abdus Salam; ItaliaFil: Radicella, S.. The Abdus Salam; ItaliaFil: Schmidt, T.. Helmholtz Centre Potsdam; AlemaniaFil: Wickert, J.. Helmholtz Centre Potsdam; Alemani