Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Relationship between satellite microwave radiometric data, antecedent precipitation index, and regional soil moisture

Abstract Satellite microwave brightness temperatures (TB 'S) have been shown, in previous studies for semi-arid environments, to correlate well with the antecedent precipitation index (API), a soil moisture indicator. The current study, using the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I), continued this work for parts of the U.S. Corn and Wheat Belts, which included areas with a more humid climate, a denser natural vegetation cover, and a different mix of agricultural crop types. Four years (1987-1990) of SSM/I data at 19 and 37GHz, daily precipitation and temperature data from weather stations, and API calculated from the weather data were processed, geo-referenced, and averaged to equation pending latitude-longitude grid quadrants. Correlation results between TB at 19 GHz and API were highly dependent on geographical location. Correlation coefficients (r values) ranged from —0-6 to —0-85 for the semi-arid parts of the study area and from —03 to —0-7 for the more humid and more densely vegetated parts. R v.
A baseline climatology of sounding‐derived parameters associated with heavy rainfall over Gauteng, South Africa

Irene weather office sounding data are considered a proximity sounding for the Gauteng province of South Africa. Sounding‐derived parameters are analysed for 35 austral summers from 1977 to 2012. The goal of this study is to provide a climatology of sounding‐derived parameters commonly used as ingredients to forecast heavy rainfall. The emphasis is placed on identifying those variables that distinguish between climatology and heavy rainfall events. Special attention is given to how the critical values associated with heavy rainfall change from early to late summer.
Characterizing Movements of the U.S. Current Account Deficit

It is unclear whether the exceptionally highU.S. current account deficit can be sustained for a prolonged period. In this paper we approach the topic whether a gradual adjustment or a pronounced reduction of the deficit is likely to occur. We therefore characterize the dynamics of the current account deficit movements by a three-regime Markov-Switching model. Our finding is that it is possible to distinguish a regime of a strong increasing deficit, a just slightly increasing deficit and a regime of a deficit reduction. Furthermore we find that movements of the deficit are asymmetric.Whereas expansions of the current account deficit are long lasting, reductions of the deficit are rather short. This implies that a pronounced reduction is not likely to occur. Secondly we try to uncover determinants of regime shifts of the current account. Applying ordered Logit models we conclude that a combination of U.S. inflation, U.S. investment and share prices predicts pronounced changes in the current account deficit quite reliably.
Top-down estimate of anthropogenic emission inventories and their interannual variability in Houston using a mesoscale inverse modeling technique

The 2000 and 2006 Texas Air Quality Study (TexAQS 2000 and 2006) field campaigns took place in eastern Texas in August-October of 2000 and 2006. Several flights of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) research aircraft were dedicated to characterizing anthropogenic emissions over Houston. Houston is known for having serious problems with non-attainment of air quality standards. We present a method that uses three models and aircraft observations to assess and improve existing emission inventories using an inverse modeling technique. We used 3-dimensional and 4-dimensional variational (3D-VAR and 4D-VAR) inverse modeling techniques based on a least-squares method to improve the spatial and temporal distribution of CO, NOy (sum of all reactive nitrogen compounds), and SO2 emissions predicted by the 4-km-resolution U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) National Emission Inventory (NEI) for 2005. Differences between the prior and posterior inventories are discussed in detail. We found that in 2006 the prior daytime emissions in the urban area of Houston have to be reduced by 40% {+-} 12% for CO and 7% {+-} 13% for NOy. Over the Houston Ship Channel, where industrial emissions are predominant, the prior emissions have to be reduced by 41%more » {+-} 15% for CO and 51% {+-} 9% for NOy. Major ports around Houston have their NOy emissions reduced as well, probably due to uncertainties in near-shore ship emissions in the EPA NEI inventory. Using the measurements from the two field campaigns, we assessed the interannual emission variability between 2000 and 2006. Daytime CO emissions from the Houston urban area have been reduced by 8% {+-} 20%, while the NOy emissions have increased by 20% {+-} 12% from 2000 to 2006. In the Houston Ship Channel, the daytime NOy emissions have increased by 13% {+-} 17%. Our results show qualitative consistencies with known changes in Houston emissions sources. « less
Comparison of Grid-2-Grid and TRIP runoff routing schemes

The purpose of this report is to compare two river flow routing schemes, TRIP and G2G, for use in global and regional climate models. TRIP is the Total Runoff Integrating Pathways scheme developed by [Oki et al., 1999]; G2G is the Grid-to-Grid routing scheme designed by [Bell et al., 2007]. In this report, the two routing schemes are tested offline using surface and sub-surface runoff data from JULES forced with GSWP-2 data. The performance of each routing model is evaluated against observed data, where available, for ten of the largest river catchments globally. The model outputs are also compared when forced with runoff data produced by HadGEM3.
Overview of the TREC 2001 Question Answering Track

The TREC question answering track is an effort to bring the benefits of large-scale evaluation to bear on the question answering problem. In its third year, the track continued to focus on retrieving small snippets of text that contain an answer to a question. However, several new conditions were added to increase the realism, and the difficulty, of the task. In the main task, questions were no longer guaranteed to have an answer in the collection; systems returned a response of 'NIL' to indicate their belief that no answer was present. In the new list task, systems assembled a set of instances as the response for a question, requiring the ability to distinguish among instances found in multiple documents. Another new task, the context task, required systems to track discourse objects through a series of questions.
Gradient Descent-based D-optimal Design for the Least-Squares Polynomial Approximation

In this work, we propose a novel sampling method for Design of Experiments. This method allows to sample such input values of the parameters of a computational model for which the constructed surrogate model will have the least possible approximation error. High efficiency of the proposed method is demonstrated by its comparison with other sampling techniques (LHS, Sobol' sequence sampling, and Maxvol sampling) on the problem of least-squares polynomial approximation. Also, numerical experiments for the Lebesgue constant growth for the points sampled by the proposed method are carried out.
A method of generating moving objects on the constrained network

Moving objects databases have become an important research issue in recent years. In case large real data sets acquired by GPS, PDA or other mobile devices are not available, benchmarking requires the generation of artificial data sets following the real-world behavior of spatial objects that change their locations over time. In the field of spatiotemporal databases, a number of publications about the generation of test data are restricted to few papers. However, most of the existing moving-object generators assume a fixed and often unrealistic mobility model and do not consider several important characteristics of the network. In this paper, a new generator is presented to solve these problems. First of all, the network is realistic transportation network of Guangzhou. Second, the observation records of vehicle flow are available. Third, in order to simplify the whole simulation process and to help us visualize the process, this framework is built under . Net development platform of Microsoft and ArcEngine9 environment.
Holocene climate variability in the denmark strait region ‐ a land‐sea correlation of new and existing climate proxy records

ABSTRACT. Two well dated Holocene sediment records bordering the Denmark Strait region have been used to reconstruct past climate variability. The content of biogenic silica, classic and organic material and moss in a lacustrine record from Lake N14 has been used to infer past variability in precipitation and temperature in southern Greenland. Sedimentologic and petrologic composition of sand in a shelf sediment record from the Djúpáll trough is used to infer past variability in the northwestern storm activity on northwestern Iceland, which probably also affected the inflow of polar waters from the East Greenland Current. Our evaluation of these records with a number of previous studies from the region documents Holocene climatic optimum conditions peaking between 8000 and 6500 calendar years before present (cal yr BP). Mid‐Holocene climate deterioration set in around 5000 cal yr BP followed by a further marked setback around 3500 cal yr BP. A stacking of climate variability on a centennial timescale from previous studies in the area shows a fairly good correspondence to the timing of marked cold and warm events as evidenced from the Lake N14 and the Djúpáll trough records. Cooler periods are explained as the response to marked incursions of ice‐laden polar water from the Arctic Ocean to the Denmark Strait region. Cool northerly and northwesterly winds along the East Greenland coast in relation to frequent strong atmospheric low pressure in the Barents Sea, coupled with strong high pressure over Greenland, would have favoured southward export of polar waters. A comparison with the proxy records of nuclide production (14C and 10Be) suggests that solar activity may have had some influence on the atmospheric pressure distribution in the Denmark Strait region.
Bridging the gap between the north and south of the world: the case of treatment response in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Minimal residual disease (MRD) analyses provide strong prognostic information and can be used to identify a majority of patients with childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia at a high risk of relapse. In this perspective article, Drs. Stanulla and Schrauder comprehensively summarize the current knowledge in the field and how simplified MRD analyses can be successfully implemented also in countries with limited economic resources. See related articles on page 781 and 870.
Accessing the Lunar Poles for Human Exploration Missions

The National Vision for Space Exploration calls for an American return to the Moon in preparation for the human exploration of Mars and other destinations. The surface environment of the Moon is a challenge for human operations, but recent findings from robotic and Earth-based studies have indicated that the polar regions of the Moon may offer advantages in terms of thermal conditions, availability of solar energy, and access to local resources. While accessing these regions represents a challenge due to orbital dynamics and propulsive performance, methods for accessing the regions with humans are being actively pursued, and environmental data gathering is planned through future robotic missions.
Edinburgh Research Explorer Efficacy and Safety of Fondaparinux Versus Enoxaparin in Patients With Acute Coronary Syndromes Treated With Glycoprotein IIb/IIIa Inhibitors or Thienopyridines Results From the OASIS 5 (Fifth Organization to Assess Strategies in Ischemic Syndromes) Trial

,* Objectives This study sought to evaluate the relative safety and efﬁcacy of fondaparinux and enoxaparin in patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) treated with glycoprotein (GP) IIb/IIIa inhibitors or thienopyridines. Background The OASIS 5 (Fifth Organization to Assess Strategies in Ischemic Syndromes) trial showed that fondaparinux reduced major bleeding by 50% compared with enoxaparin while preserving similar efﬁcacy. Whether this beneﬁt is consistent in the presence or absence of concurrent antiplatelet therapy with clopidogrel and GP IIb/IIIa inhibitors is unknown. Methods Patients with ACS (n (cid:1) 20,078) were randomized as a part of the OASIS 5 trial to receive either fondaparinux or enoxaparin. The use of GP IIb/IIIa inhibitors or thienopyridines was at the discretion of the treating physician. A Cox proportional hazard model was used to compare outcomes. Results Of the 20,078 patients randomized, 2004;292:45–54.
Gauging short‐term volcanic hazards at Popocatépetl

During late December 2000, the giant volcano Popocatepetl near Mexico City exhibited violent explosions. About 20,000 people evacuated their homes for a week to 10 days before returning. On January 22, 2001, an even larger explosion occurred. This article explores the short-term hazards that are probable at this volcano.
Face super-resolution reconstruction from real low-resolution video sequences

Extraction of high-resolution face image is crucial to detect suspect from low-resolution surveillance videos. Though previously published super-resolution image reconstruction techniques could produce a qualified high-resolution image from a set of simulated low-resolution images, but the reconstructed image from real low-resolution videos is always blurring. Two main reasons contribute for this: the process of image registration is ill-posed in nature and the sub-pixel information provided by the real video sequences is far less sufficient. In this paper, a joint image registration and face pattern-based high-resolution image reconstruction algorithm was proposed to tackle these two problems. Experimental results are also provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.
Global space‐time statistics of sea surface temperature estimated from AMSR‐E data

Sea surface temperature (SST) data of one year from Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for EOS (AMSR‐E) are used to estimate statistically spatial and temporal scales of the global SST field. Using anomalies from the climatological annual SST variation, correlation coefficients in the horizontal space and time are calculated. Decorrelation scales, defined as an e‐folding scale of SST anomalies, and signal‐to‐noise ratio are derived as functions of regional positions and calendar months. We assumed that the autocorrelation function of SST anomaly has anisotropic Gaussian characteristics in space‐time domain. We evaluated the space‐time scales and statistical errors in the SST data by fitting Gaussian function to the correlation coefficients using a least square method. Resultant zonal, meridional and temporal decorrelation scales range 1.5–3.0 degree, 1.2–2.0 degree and 1.5–3 day, respectively. The scales show geographical and seasonal differences, which means that dominant SST variability in the global oceans depends on regions and seasons.
Atmospheric CO2 and climate: Importance of the transient response

Preliminary studies suggest that the thermal inertia of the upper layers of the oceans, combined with vertical mixing of deeper oceanic waters, could delay the response of the globally averaged surface temperature to an increasing atmospheric CO/sub 2/ concentration by a decade or so relative to equilibrium calculations. This study extends the global analysis of the transient response to zonal averages, using a hierarchy of simple energy balance models and vertical mixing assumptions for water exchange between upper and deeper oceanic layers. It is found that because of the latitudinal dependence of both thermal inertia and radiative and dynamic energy exchange mechanisms, the approach toward equilibrium of the surface temperature of various regions of the earth will be significantly different from the global average approach. This suggests that the actual time evolution of the horizontal surface temperature gradients--and any associated regional climatic anomalies-may well be significantly different from that suggested by equilibrium climatic modeling simulations (or those computed with a highly unrealistic geographic distribution of ocean thermal capacity). Also, the transient response as a function of latitude is significantly different between globally equivalent CO/sub 2/ and solar constant focusing runs. It is suggested that the nature of the transient responsemore » is a major uncertainty in characterizing the CO/sub 2/ problem and that study of this topic should become a major priority for future research. An appendix puts this issue in the context of the overall CO/sub 2/ problem. « less
FORCinel: An improved algorithm for calculating first‐order reversal curve distributions using locally weighted regression smoothing

We describe a modification to existing algorithms for the calculation of first‐order reversal curve (FORC) diagrams using locally weighted regression smoothing (often referred to as “LOESS” smoothing). The new algorithm offers several advantages over current methods: (1) it allows the FORC distribution to be calculated using a constant smoothing factor all the way to the Hc = 0 axis; (2) noninteger values of the smoothing factor can be specified, enabling finer control over the degree of smoothing and the development of a graphical method for automated selection of the optimum smoothing factor; (3) it performs automated extrapolation across gaps or undefined regions of FORC space. This has two applications: first, bad curves or outlying data points caused by instrumental instabilities can be removed from the data, eliminating artifacts from the final FORC diagram; second, specific regions of interest in the FORC measurement can be masked out in order to investigate their contribution to the final FORC diagram. The new algorithm forms the basis of FORCinel, a new user‐friendly suite of FORC analysis tools with graphical user interface.
Cloud detection from thermal infrared images using a segmentation technique

In this paper, a fast and accurate method is proposed for two cloud detection tests on thermal infrared (IR) data obtained from satellite images over sea; an IR gross cloud test and a spatial coherence test. The proposed method is based on a regional segmentation technique. After the segmentation of an IR image, small regions were regarded as cloudy due to their high spatial variability in temperature. This technique preserved the spatial resolution of the detected cloud image which would be degraded by the conventional spatial coherence test. It also reduced the computation dramatically, compared to the conventional spatial coherence test. An accurate temperature threshold between clear sea and clouds was determined directly from the segmented image. This post-determined threshold was found to be more accurate than pre-determined temperature thresholds. Since this algorithm does not require any human interaction, it can be combined with other tests in an automatic cloud detection algorithm.
Characterization of the principal tidal current constituents on the Texas‐Louisiana shelf

We analyzed 81 current meter records of varying lengths (3 to 30 months) to describe the principal diurnal (O1, K1, P1, and Q1) and semidiurnal (S2, M2, K2, and N2) tidal current constituents on the Texas-Louisiana continental shelf. The Louisiana-Texas Shelf Physical Oceanography Program (LATEX) had 81 current meters at 31 sites and varying depths from April 1992 to December 1994. The local inertial period range across the shelf (24.4 hours to 26.2 hours) and thermal diurnal cycling during the summer season make it difficult to estimate the diurnal tidal constituents. Dominant tidal modes on the shelf are K1, O1, and M2. Absolute and relative energy contained in each tidal constituent varies with shelf location. The northeast corner of the shelf, near Atchafalaya Bay, has the largest tidal currents with maximum surface current amplitudes (at 3 m depth) of about 9 cm s−1, while typical maximum tidal surface currents near the shelf break are between 1 and 2 cm s−1 for each of the K1, O1, and M2 components. In general, the surface tidal currents decrease in magnitude as water depth increases toward the shelf break, although the semidiurnal components are amplified more at midshelf locations than the diurnal components. Examination of tidal ellipses at different depths suggests that the M2 tide has less vertical structure, while the diurnal tides exhibit more shear, particularly at the more shallow locations. Sea surface height constituents estimated at five locations along the Texas-Louisiana coast are in agreement with historical values.
Isotope ratios of precipitation and water vapor observed in Typhoon Shanshan

[1] Isotope ratios of precipitation and water vapor were observed during the passage of Typhoon Shanshan at Ishigaki Island, southwestern Japan, on 15–16 September 2006. Such high-resolution isotopic observations allow for qualitative understanding of atmospheric moisture cycling; they revealed that isotope ratios of both the precipitation and water vapor decreased radially inward in the cyclone's outer region; anomalously high isotope ratios appeared in the cyclone's inner region; and d-excess tended to decrease in the cyclone's inner region. In the cyclone's outer region, the water vapor was isotopically depleted due to the rainout effect which involves both condensation efficiency as reflected in inwardly increasing cloud thickness and isotopic exchange between falling droplets and the ambient water vapor. In contrast, water vapor in the cyclone's inner region was isotopically enriched due to weak rainout effect in conjunction with intensive isotopic recharge from the sea spray and sea surface with heavy isotope ratios. Since water vapor mainly acts as a source of precipitation, the isotope ratios of precipitation also had systematic variation. A unique circumstance is the intensity of isotopic exchange with almost saturated surface air and high winds, causing anomalously high isotope ratios and low d-excess values in the cyclone's inner region.
Substitution effects in private debt: Evidence from SMEs

The external finance of smalland medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is limited to private debt such as bank credit and trade credit. SMEs generally prefer bank credit over trade credit because the former tends to be less expensive and more flexible than the latter. We investigate whether SMEs with positive demand for debt finance increase trade credit when they experience a negative shock to bank credit. We base our analysis on a large sample of SMEs from France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. First, SMEs’ ability to substitute largely depends on their credit quality. Second, substitution was less likely during the financial crisis of 2007-09 and declined as the crisis deepened. Third, high credit quality firms with intermediate financial constraints are the most likely to substitute. We confirm these results on a rich subsample with matched bank-firm data. The evidence suggests that policymakers should stabilize bank credit supply to mitigate adverse economic effects rather than promote trade credit as an alternative. JEL classification: G1, G20, G30, G32