Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Individual Tree Delineation in Deciduous Forest Areas with LiDAR Point Clouds

Abstract Detection and delineation of individual trees is important for the estimation of forest information using Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) point clouds. However, over-segmentation of canopy height models (CHMs) is frequently caused by subcrowns and branches, whereas under-segmentation is caused by adjacent crowns, especially in deciduous forests. To eliminate such problems, an approach for delineating individual trees based on curvature attributes derived from LiDAR data is proposed. To detect accurate treetops for reducing over-segmentation, the dominant sizes of tree crowns are first determined and used to fit the dome-shaped tree crowns in CHMs, and then the minimum curvature values of fitted CHMs at different scales are calculated for treetop detection. For delineation of individual trees, tree features such as height variation and curvature are chosen to form a feature vector as a pixel-level logistic regression classifier. Then an ensemble classifier combining multiple logistic regression classifiers is trained to analyze the similarity between neighboring points to reduce under-segmentation. Finally, segment maps at different scales are integrated to generate the final segment map. Our experimental results on 2 test areas demonstrate that the proposed method has promising applications for eliminating over-segmentation and under-segmentation in deciduous forests.
Using a H∞ filter assimilation procedure to estimate root zone soil water content

Root zone soil water content impacts plant water availability, land energy and water balances. Because of unknown hydrological model error, observation errors and the statistical characteristics of the errors, the widely used Kalman filter (KF) and its extensions are challenged to retrieve the root zone soil water content using the surface soil water content. If the soil hydraulic parameters are poorly estimated, the KF and its extensions fail to accurately estimate the root zone soil water. The H‐infinity filter (HF) represents a robust version of the KF. The HF is widely used in data assimilation and is superior to the KF, especially when the performance of the model is not well understood. The objective of this study is to study the impact of uncertain soil hydraulic parameters, initial soil moisture content and observation period on the ability of HF assimilation to predict in situ soil water content. In this article, we study seven cases. The results show that the soil hydraulic parameters hold a critical role in the course of assimilation. When the soil hydraulic parameters are poorly estimated, an accurate estimation of root soil water content cannot be retrieved by the HF assimilation approach. When the estimated soil hydraulic parameters are similar to actual values, the soil water content at various depths can be accurately retrieved by the HF assimilation. The HF assimilation is not very sensitive to the initial soil water content, and the impact of the initial soil water content on the assimilation scheme can be eliminated after about 5–7 days. The observation interval is important for soil water profile distribution retrieval with the HF, and the shorter the observation interval, the shorter the time required to achieve actual soil water content. However, the retrieval results are not very accurate at a depth of 100 cm. Also it is complex to determine the weighting coefficient and the error attenuation parameter in the HF assimilation. In this article, the trial‐and‐error method was used to determine the weighting coefficient and the error attenuation parameter. After the first establishment of limited range of the parameters, ‘the best parameter set’ was selected from the range of values. For the soil conditions investigated, the HF assimilation results are better than the open‐loop results. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Connections of Siberian snow onset dates to the following summer's monsoon conditions over Southeast Asia

This is an exploratory study of possible links between the conditions of early season Eurasian snowfall and the following year's Southeast Asian summer monsoon. Forty years (1950–1995) of historical records are used to examine the statistical connections between early season snow cover onset dates over northern Eurasia and the following year's summer monsoon over Southeast Asia. We found that the time of snow onset is significantly associated with warm season rainfall over Southeast Asia. The most persistent connection is between northeastern Siberian snow onsets and summer monsoon strength over India and northeastern China. This connection seems to be more clearly shown during the mature stage and monsoon withdrawal and is reflected in all three aspects of monsoon characteristics. In other words, the earlier snow cover onset (more snow cover during the early season) over northeastern Siberia, the more precipitation and moisture convergence, the higher prevalence of a southwesterly monsoon wind, and the later monsoon withdrawal over Southeast Asia. The revealed connection is likely through atmospheric circulation associated with early season land surface snow cover processes independent of El Ñino conditions. The authors suggest that more studies are needed to fully understand the circuitous connections between Eurasian snowfall and the Southeastern Asian monsoon. Copyright © 2005 Royal Meteorological Society.
New data on speleothem deposition and palaeoclimate in Britain over the last forty thousand years

230Th/234U dates are presented for 26 speleothems from three areas in Britain: Assynt, N.W. Scotland; N.W. Yorkshire; Mendip Hills, Somerset. These dates suggest that speleothem growth was widespread but rare in the period from 40 to 26 Ka, absent from 26 to 15 Ka, and abundant from 15 Ka to the present. The absence of speleothems between 26 and 15 Ka is attributed to glaciation in Yorkshire and Assynt and, tentatively, to continuous permafrost development in the Mendip Hills. The occurrence of speleothems before 26 Ka places restrictions on the extent of any ice sheet which may have been present in Scotland, and indicates that N.W. Scotland was not subjected to continuous permafrost at that time.
Constraints to Nitrogen Fixation by Cryptogamic Crusts in a Polar Desert Ecosystem, Devon Island, N.W.T., Canada

Polar desert ecosystems, which dominate the landscape throughout much of the High Arctic, are environmentally stressed and limited in their development. Scattered intermittently over these landscapes are areas of cryptogamic crust development that are associated with increased vascular plant abundance. Since nutrient limitation, especially nitrogen, is significant in these ecosystems, I wished to examine the role of these cryptogamic crusts in the supply of fixed nitrogen and the constraints to that fixation. Nitrogen fixation rates (as measured by acetylene reduction) were highest in sites with a well-developed cryptogamic crust, lowest in sites with only bare mineral soil, and intermediate in sites with a partially developed crust. Highest rates of acetylene reduction (i.e., nitrogen fixation) were seen within a few days of snowmelt (late June to early July) and declined as the season progressed, until near the end of the growing season (1–5 August) when rates were approximately 50% of early season rates. Late season precipitation events restored acetylene reduction rates to near original levels. In manipulative experiments, acetylene reduction rates dropped dramatically as crust moisture content declined and rates increased as soil surface temperature increased to 24°C. A significant finding was that acetylene reduction at 3°C was 40% of that found at 12 to 13°C. Thus, there is a potential for nitrogen accumulation even during the colder periods of the growing season. As calculations show, the quantity of nitrogen fixed by these cryptogamic crusts was adequate to support the nitrogen needs of the mosses and vascular plants of these developing ecosystems.
New look at the Siberian connection: No SWEAT

The Proterozoic connection between northeastern Siberia and western Laurentia that we proposed in 1978 is strongly supported by several new lines of evidence. New age data and refined structural trends in predrift basement rocks improve the resolution of the fit between the cratons. The mouth of the large river that is inferred to have provided the point source for the lower part of the Mesoproterozoic Belt-Purcell Supergroup in western Laurentia aligns with the Mesoproterozoic Udzha trough of Siberia. The elbow bend in the Udzha trough bypasses the Archean Wyoming Province to link the Belt-Purcell basin with Paleoproterozoic regions in southwest Laurentia having appropriate Nd crustal-residence ages and zircon crystallization ages to have provided sources for much of the sediment. The Grenville and Granite-Rhyolite provinces of southwest Laurentia provide sources for detrital zircons and felsic volcanic fragments in the east-derived Mesoproterozoic Mayamkan Formation of Siberia. The ages of mafic sills in the Sette-Daban region of Siberia overlap those in southwest Laurentia. Ediacara occur in off-shelf environments on both margins. The two margins have very similar latest Neoproterozoic–earliest Cambrian rift-drift signatures, including a breakup unconformity and Tommotian shelf assemblages that record the onset of thermally driven subsidence. Two possible submarine volcanoes with archeocyathan caps may confirm the establishment of Early Cambrian seafloor spreading. The Siberian–west Laurentian connection provides better correlations among prerift terranes than does the southwest United States–East Antarctic connection (SWEAT), and is more compatible with the overall geologic history of Laurentia and Gondwana.
Lacustrine shore platforms at Lake Waikaremoana, North Island, New Zealand

This paper examines the morphology and processes governing the development of shore platforms at Lake Waikaremoana, North Island, New Zealand. Shore platforms at Lake Waikaremoana are recent features, and were formed when a new sequence of shoreline development was initiated, due to lowering of the lake by 5 m in 1946 for hydroelectric power development. Three predominant platform morphologies were identified around the lake. These include gently sloping platforms (c.1·5 to 3·9°), ramp platforms (c.6·8 to 9·2°), and concave ramp platforms (c.7·9 to 12°). Platform widths ranged from 11 to 31 m, with the gently sloping platforms characterized by the widest morphologies. Erosion rates were estimated using perched sandstone boulders and were found to range from 3·4 to 12·5 mm a−1, with a mean erosion rate of 5·9 mm a−1. Higher rates of erosion were identified at lower platform elevations, due to a greater frequency of wetting and drying cycles coincident with storm waves, while lower erosion rates were identified at higher elevations. Field evidence suggests that shore platforms at Lake Waikaremoana were likely initiated and continue to develop as a result of subaerial wetting and drying cycles. Waves, coincident with fluctuating lake levels, play an important role by removing the weathered material from the platforms, and appear to control the width of the platforms. A conceptual model of platform development is presented, and analogies are drawn between this model, and the formation of shore platforms in oceanic environments. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
New high‐resolution alkenone record of last glacial to holocene sea‐surface temperature change in the east‐equatorial south atlantic ocean

ABSTRACT. A new high‐resolution, alkenone‐de‐rived record of sea‐surface temperature (SST) change covering the last 26000 years was obtained from the east‐equatorial Atlantic off the Congo River. Temperature fluctuations correspond to climate change recorded in other marine and terrestrial archives of the region. The maximum temperature difference between 26000 years BP ago and the Holocene climate optimum around 6000 years BP was 4.3°C, corroborating other SST estimates from the same area. The coldest conditions were followed by a warming that began at 24000 calendar years BP, a time when Northern Hemisphere ice sheets were still at their maximal position. This comparatively early warming is in agreement with previous findings from the east‐equatorial South Atlantic. After a relatively stable period between 21500 and 14500 calendar years BP, a second warming began at 14500 calendar years BP which coincides with the onset of the African Humid Period. A cool period at 11500 calendar years BP halted this warming but the trend of increasing temperatures began again at 10000 calendar years BP, this time through large‐scale oscillations. The warmest time, around 6000 calendar years BP, was followed by a modest cooling that coincides with the end of the African Humid Period and the onset of Neoglaciation on the African continent. Following this the record shows two distinct warming‐cooling cycles during the late Holocene.
Horton's Law of Stream Numbers

The possibilities for obtaining a rational explanation of Horton's law of stream numbers are reviewed. The previous explanations of the stream-number law by (1) a growth model referring to generations of rivers and by (2) statistical graph-theory are compared. The graph-theoretical explanation seems superior to the other model of Horton's law, inasmuch as it produces not only the form of the law, but even, numerically, the naturally observed bifurcation ratio. It is also independent of the structural properties of the river net.
The Effects of Bank Lending in an Open Economy

This article assesses the effects of bank lending in a small open economy with a floating exchange rate and sticky prices. A theoretical model with costly financial intermediation is developed for New Zealand. The results show that the long-run and business cycle effects of bank lending are small. Whether firms borrow from financial intermediaries or public debt markets is unlikely to affect economic activity. In other words, the financial structure, or degree to which a country's financial system is intermediary based or market based, does not matter. Copyright 2007 The Ohio State University.
The direct impact of quality, satisfaction and benefits on tourist intentions: the interactions among the exogenous constructs

By modelling the direct influences of quality, satisfaction and benefits on tourist intentions, the current paper aims to examine the interactions among the exogenous constructs within the formative models. The models were tested on a sample of 703 tourists, who visited six coastal tourist destinations in Montenegro. The empirical results for different formative models indicated that the best-fitted model was achieved with measures within exogenous formative construct covarying with other measures within the formative construct and all other exogenous constructs. These research findings contribute to a better understanding of how to model the exogenous constructs within the formative structural model.
Combined MAO-inhibitor and Tri-(Tetra) Cyclic Antidepressant Treatment in Therapy Resistant Depression

Once hardly ever prescribed due to the fear of severe complications such as hypertensive crises, the monoamineoxidase inhibitor antidepressants (MAOrs) have gained renewed interest in the therapy of depressive disorders. On the one hand this might be due to the fact that prevention through strong dietary precautions has decreased the incidence of adverse reactions (Tollefsan 1983, Pore 1985), on the other hand there is evidence that MAO inhibitors may have a unique role in the therapy of many depressed patients poorly responding to alternative treatments (Quitkin et al. 1979, Tollefsan 1983, Pore 1985). One aspect of using MAO inhibotrs combining them with tricyclic antidepressants in the treatment of therapy-resistant depression has always been controversely discussed in regard to its unusual toxicity and efficacy. Theoretical considerations suggest that such a combined regimen might lead to a more frequent, more rapid, and more pronounced improvement in depressive symptomatology in comparison to a monotherapy. The mechanisms, assumed for the possible potentiation of tricyclics by MAO inhibitors, is the combined effect of tricyclic induced uptake inhibition and enzyme inhibition following the MAO inhibitor.
Geology of the oceanic crust: Magnetic properties of oceanic rocks

A diverse suite of rocks has been sampled from ocean basin escarpments in the North Atlantic and the Caribbean: fresh and weathered basalts, metabasalts (zeolite and greenschist facies), gabbros, metagabbros (greenschist and amphiolite facies), serpentinized peridotites, and actinolite rocks. One hundred and three representative specimens were chosen from this diverse suite of rocks, and the natural remanent magnetization (NRM) intensity and susceptibility for each specimen were measured in the laboratory. Unaltered and unweathered basalts had the highest measured NRM intensities (geometric mean, 10.69 × 10−3 emu/cm3). The weathered basalts, metamorphosed basalts, gabbros, metagabbros, and actinolite rocks all had NRM intensities much lower than those of the fresh basalts (geometric means, 0.11–1.60 × 10−3 emu/cm3). The serpentinized peridotites, however, are strongly magnetic, the geometric mean intensity being 7.86 × 10−3 emu/cm3. The serpentinized peridotites also had high susceptibilities (geometric mean, 3.298 × 10−3 emu/cm3), whereas all the other rock types had low susceptibilities (geometric means, 0.047–0.480 × 10−3 emu/cm3). The measured magnetic parameters for the several rock types are compared with published models of the oceanic crust based on measurements of the magnetic field over the oceans. These geophysical models suggest that the upper part of the oceanic crust is a strongly magnetized layer of basalt and the majority of the crust below is weakly magnetized. The fresh basalts measured in this study have intensities and susceptibilities compatible with those in the geophysical models. The metabasalts, gabbros, metagabbros, and actinolite rocks have weak intensities and therefore could be, on the basis solely of their magnetic character, volumetrically important components of the weakly magnetized part of the oceanic crust. Serpentinized peridotite has intensities and susceptibilities too high to be an important component of the oceanic crust.
Venus surface thermal emission at 1 μm in VIRTIS imaging observations: Evidence for variation of crust and mantle differentiation conditions

[1] The Venus Express spacecraft images the nightside thermal emissions using the Visible and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer (VIRTIS). At 1.02, 1.10, and 1.18 μm, thermal emission from the surface is observed. The signal is attenuated by scattering and absorption in the dense atmosphere. The measured flux at the top of the atmosphere is positively correlated with surface temperature and surface emissivity. The surface temperature of Venus is relatively well constrained as being mainly a function of altitude with a gradient lesser or equal to the adiabatic lapse rate. This study examines the correlation of VIRTIS images showing a signal of the surface at 1.02 μm with viewing geometry, stray sunlight, cloud opacity, and topography and applies semiempirical relations to remove their influence. The remaining contrast can be either ascribed to surface emissivity or unexpected temperature variations. Temperature variations due to active volcanism are unlikely to be persistent over the time of observations; therefore, the mosaic of all processed images is here interpreted in terms of surface emissivity variation. The emissivity variation found is correlated with geomorphological features established from Magellan synthetic aperture radar images. It is generally lower at tessera terrain. Some, but not all, volcanic edifices show increased emissivity. Large lava flows in the Lada terra-Lavinia planitia region also show an increased thermal emission. This might indicate a more felsic surface composition of tessera highlands and large-scale extrusive volcanism of ultramafic composition.
Environmental susceptibility model for predicting forest fire occurrence in the Western Ghats of India

Forest fires are a recurrent management problem in the Western Ghats of India. Although most fires occur during the dry season, information on the spatial distribution of fires is needed to improve fire prevention. We used the MODIS Hotspots database and Maxent algorithm to provide a quantitative understanding of the environmental controls regulating the spatial distribution of forest fires over the period 2003–07 in the entire Western Ghats and in two nested subregions with contrasting characteristics. We used hierarchical partitioning to assess the independent contributions of climate, topography and vegetation to the goodness-of-fit of models and to build the most parsimonious fire susceptibility model in each study area. Results show that although areas predicted as highly prone to forest fires were mainly localised on the eastern slopes of the Ghats, spatial predictions and model accuracies differed significantly between study areas. We suggest accordingly a two-step approach to identify: first, large fire-prone areas by paying special attention to the climatic conditions of the monsoon season before the fire season, which determine the fuels moisture content during the fire season; second, the most vulnerable sites within the fire-prone areas using local models mainly based on the type of vegetation.
Velocity anisotropy estimation for brine-saturated sandstone and shale

Velocity anisotropy is an important parameter in seismic analyses, especially for deviated wells in offshore fields when the velocity anisotropy effect must be corrected to obtain a realistic sonic log response equivalent to seismic data for small incident angles. However, there is no method for an anisotropy correction when only standard log data from a single well are available. We compiled experimental data of core velocity anisotropy from several recent publications to explore heuristic relationships between anisotropy parameters and general well log information and found a clear trend of velocity anisotropy in the crossplot domain between velocity and porosity. Subsequently, we developed a method to estimate Thomsen's anisotropy parameters e and γ by a regression in this domain. In this paper, we first show an application result of the method to demonstrate the significance of the correction. Then we summarize how we developed the method. We also discuss an alternative approach using neural networks.
Late Proterozoic to Early Palaeozoic platform deposits of Southern Moravia (Czech Republic)

Integrated sedimentological and palaeontological study of borehole cores through platform siliciclastic deposits of the southernmost part of Brunovistulicum (S Moravia) shows convincing evidence for the Cambrian age of a considerable portion of the succession. Well-preserved organic-walled microfossils of Late Proterozoic (Ediacaran) age have been found in a sample from the Mnin-1 borehole. Thirty genera characteristic of the Ediacaran have been recognized. Part, though, of the siliciclastic succession of S Brunovistulicum is Devonian in age. The platform deposits studied are considered to have the same source area but the degree of maturity of the Devonian clastics rocks is generally higher than that of the older strata. Facies analysis indicates a predominance of deltaic settings (braided and fan deltas); similar sedimentary environments are suggested for both the Ediacaran/Cambrian and Devonian successions.