bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Some virtual limit groups
Authors: Wise Daniel T.
Published: November 2018

We show that certain graphs of free groups with cyclic edge groups have a finite index subgroup that is fully residually free.
Development of a Data Acquisition System for Autonomous Vehicle Systems
Authors: Liu Yucheng , Le Clair Andrew , Doude Matthew , Burch V. Reuben F.
Published: November 2018

A data acquisition system along with a sensor package was designed and installed on an existing mechanically-controlled system to gather more data on their usage patterns. The data collected through the developed system include GPS route, vehicle speed and acceleration, engine state, transmission state, seat occupancy, fuel level, and video recording. The sensor package was designed and integrated in a way that does not interfere with the driverâ€™s operation of the system. Cellular network connectivity was employed to retrieve sensor data so as to minimize human effort and maintain typical usage patterns of the outfitted systems. Testing and validation results showed that the developed system can correctly and effectively record data necessary for further analysis and optimization. The collected data will significantly promote system activity simulations in order to facilitate optimizing work flow at large industrial facilities and improving energy efficiency.
Investigating the Role of Fatty Acid Methyl Ester Composition on Engine Performance and Emission Characteristics
Authors: Jeeva B. , Rajashekar C.R.
Published: November 2018

This experimental study is focused on the significance of Fatty Acid Methyl Ester (FAME) composition for usage of biodiesel in diesel engines. Karanja Oil Methyl Esters (KOME) from two different feed stocks were selected for the study. FAME composition was analysed by gas chromatography and physical, chemical properties were evaluated. KOME 30% blends with diesel were analysed for performance and Emission characteristics. The present work predicted that H30 sample 1 with higher unsaturation has resulted in higher peak pressure, higher NOx emissions, as compared to H30 sample 2 with lower unsaturation fatty acid methyl ester composition.
Study and Realization of a Prototype Octocopter System with PID Controller
Authors: Hemza Saidi , Boualem Djebri
Published: November 2018

In this work, the mechanical and electrical components are designed and realised for an octocopter. The designed system dynamic model is supported with Euler-Lagrangian model and Newton-Euler model respectively for the rotational and transnational movements of the drone. The prototype octocopter is also equipped with a proportional integral derivative controller to feedback both location and respond to the external environment.
Comparative Approaches for Fatigue Life Estimation of Aluminium Alloy for Aerospace Applications
Authors: Vijayanandh R. , Naveen Kumar K. , Raj Kumar G. , Sanjeev B. , Balachander Hariharan , Guru Prasad S.
Published: November 2018

The objective of this paper is to estimate the fatigue life behaviour of Al 7075-T6 using experimental and numerical methods for the purpose of aerospace applications. In this paper, initially static properties for the specimens are determined using Universal Testing Machine (UTM) under tensile loading. The cyclic bending load is applied on the material using fatigue test and the dynamic properties are determined. Experimental and numerical studies are carried out to determine the fatigue strength and endurance limit values of aluminium alloy 7075-T6 at different types of loading. The fatigue strength and structural integrity of the aluminium alloy 7075 - T6 are investigated using S-N curve. In numerical simulation, the reference model of this paper has been modelled by CATIA and thereby it is imported into ANSYS workbench 16.2 to investigate the stress distribution and number of cycles to failure of an aluminium alloy 7075-T6 under tensile loading. The mechanical properties are evaluated using both the approaches and finally the comparative study is carried out.
Numerical Study on Stress Distribution in Ultrasonically Welded Electrical Contacts used in Automotives
Authors: Pradeep Kumar J. , Arun Kumar M.S. , Gowsalya Devi N. , Naveen Kumar M. , Pavith Raja S.M.
Published: November 2018

Numerical stress analysis while joining an electrical contact comprising of copper wire and copper sheet using ultrasonic metal welding process is vital in many of the automotive applications. During ultrasonic metal welding, shear and normal force act at the interface between the welded specimens. These forces are the result of ultrasonic vibrations transmitted by Sonotrode onto the welded specimens. In this work, the distribution of the stress developed at the interface and the correlation of the developed stress with strength of joint are studied. The theoretical stress values are determined using various levels of ultrasonic metal welding process parameters such as clamping force, vibration amplitude and weld time to validate the results of stress obtained from finite element analysis. The results of stress from numerical analysis are found to be in good agreement with that of results obtained from the theoretical calculations.
Optimized Fractional-Order Proportional Integral Derivative Controller for Active Vehicle Suspension System Performance Enhancement
Authors: Emam A.S. , Metered H. , Abdel Ghany A.M.
Published: November 2018

In this paper, an optimal Fractional Order Proportional Integral Derivative (FOPID) controller is applied in vehicle active suspension system to improve the ride comfort and vehicle stability without consideration of the actuator. The optimal values of the five gains of FOPID controller to minimize the objective function are tuned using a Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithm (MOGA). A half vehicle suspension system is modelled mathematically as 6 degrees-of-freedom mechanical system and then simulated using Matlab/Simulink software. The performance of the active suspension with FOPID controller is compared with passive suspension system under bump road excitation to show the efficiency of the proposed controller. The simulation results show that the active suspension system using the FOPID controller can offer a significant enhancement of ride comfort and vehicle stability.
Numerical Analysis of a Semi-Infinite Solid with Temperature Dependent Thermal Conductivity using Truly Meshfree Method
Authors: Garg Rajul , Thakur Harishchandra , Tripathi Brajesh
Published: November 2018

This article presents Meshless Local Petrov-Galerkin (MLPG) method to obtain the numerical solution of linear and non-linear heat conduction in a semi-infinite solid object with specific heat flux. Moving least square approximants are used to approximate the unknown function of temperature T(x) with Th(x). These approximants are constructed by using a linear basis, a weight function and a set of non-constant coefficients. Essential boundary condition is imposed by the penalty function method. A predictor-corrector scheme based on direct substitution iteration has been applied to address the non-linearity and two-level ï± method for temporal discretization. The accuracy of MLPG method is verified by comparing the results for the simplified versions of the present model with the exact solutions. Once the accuracy of MLPG method is established, the method is further extended to investigate the effects of temperature-dependent properties.
De lessen van de crisis van 2008 in terugblik
Authors: Duffhues Piet
Published: November 2018

niet van toepassing
EU GAAP first!
Authors: Ter Hoeven Ralph
Published: November 2018

N.v.t.
Particle number size distribution and new particle formation under the influence of biomass burning at a high altitude background site at Mt. Yulong (3410 m), China
Authors: Shang Dongjie , Hu Min , Zheng Jing , Qin Yanhong , Du Zhuofei , Li Mengren , Fang Jingyao , Peng Jianfei , Wu Yusheng , Lu Sihua , Guo Song
Published: November 2018

Abstract. Biomass burning (BB) activities have a great impact on the particle number size distribution
(PNSD) in the upper troposphere of the Tibetan Plateau, which could affect
regional and global climate. An intensive campaign focused on the measurement
of the PNSD, gaseous pollutants, and meteorological parameters was conducted
at Mt. Yulong, a high-altitude site (3410 m a.s.l.) on the southeastern
Tibetan Plateau during the pre-monsoon season (22 March to 15 April). During
this period, intensive BB activities in southern Asia were detected by fire
maps. The long-range transport of BB pollutants can increase the accumulation mode
particles in the background atmosphere at Mt. Yulong. As a consequence, the
cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentration was found to be 2–8 times
higher during BB periods than during clean periods. Apart from BB, variations
of the planet boundary layer (PBL) and new particle formation (NPF) were
other factors that influenced the PNSD. However, only three NPF events (with
a frequency of 14 %) were observed at Mt. Yulong. The occurrence of NPF
events during clean episodes corresponded to an elevated PBL or transported
BB pollutants. Due to the lack of condensable vapors including sulfuric acid
and organic compounds, the newly formed particles were not able to grow to
CCN size. Our study emphasizes the influences of BB on the aerosol and CCN
concentration in the atmosphere of the Tibetan Plateau. These results also
have the potential to improve our understanding of the variation of the
particle concentration in the upper troposphere, and provide information for
regional and global climate models.
Relaxation times of Arctic mixed-phase clouds to short-term aerosol
perturbations under different surface forcings
Authors: Eirund Gesa K. , Possner Anna , Lohmann Ulrike
Published: November 2018

Abstract. The formation and persistence of low lying mixed-phase clouds (MPCs) in the Arctic depends on a multitude of processes, such as surface conditions, the environmental state, air mass advection and the ambient aerosol concentration. In this study, we focus on the relative importance of different aerosol perturbations (cloud condensation nuclei and ice nucleating particles; CCN and INP, respectively) on MPC properties in the central Arctic. To address this topic, we performed high resolution large eddy simulations (LES) using the COSMO model and designed a case study for the Aerosol-Cloud Coupling and Climate Interactions in the Arctic (ACCACIA) campaign in March 2013. Motivated by ongoing sea ice retreat, we additionally contrast the simulated MPC that formed over an open ocean surface and a sea ice surface. We find that surface conditions highly impact cloud dynamics: over sea ice, a rather homogeneous, optically thin, mixed-phase stratus cloud forms. In contrast, the MPC over the open ocean has a stratocumulus-like cloud structure. With cumuli feeding moisture into the stratus layer, the cloud features a higher liquid (LWC) and ice water content (IWC) and has a lifted cloud base compared to the cloud over sea ice. Furthermore, we analyzed the aerosol impact on these two dynamically different regimes. Perturbations in the INP concentration increase the IWC and decrease the LWC consistently in both regimes. The cloud microphysical response to potential CCN perturbations occurs faster in the stratocumulus regime over the ocean, where the increased moisture flux favors rapid cloud droplet formation and growth, leading to an increase in LWC following the aerosol injection. In addition, the IWC increases through increased immersion freezing and subsequent growth by deposition. Over sea ice, the maximum response is delayed by a factor of 2.5 compared to open ocean surface. However, independent of the cloud regime and aerosol perturbation, the cloud regains its original state after at most 12 h for an aerosol perturbation of 1000 cm−3. Cloud microphysical and macrophysical peoperties relax to their unperturbed range, and any aerosol perturbation is efficiently buffered. A substantial fraction of the aerosol is transported out of the boundary layer into the capping inversion, where the supersaturation is insufficient for aerosol activation. Our results are robust across different temperature ranges and insensitive to the aerosol injection period. Based on these results we postulate an efficient aerosol processing and transport mechanism that appears to inhibit any long-term aerosol impact on Arctic MPC properties.
Insights into the morphology of multicomponent
organic/inorganic aerosols from molecular
dynamics simulations
Authors: Karadima Katerina S. , Mavrantzas Vlasis G. , Pandis Spyros N.
Published: November 2018

Abstract. We explore the morphologies of multicomponent nanoparticles through atomistic molecular dynamics simulations under atmospherically relevant conditions. The particles investigated consist of both organic (cis-pinonic acid/CPA, 3-methyl-1,2,3-butanetricarboxylic acid/MBTCA, n-C20H42, n-C24H50, n-C30H62 or mixtures thereof) and inorganic (sulfate, ammonium and water) compounds. The effect of relative humidity, organic mass content and type of organic compound present in the nanoparticle is investigated. Phase separation is predicted for almost all simulated nanoparticles either between organics and inorganics or between hydrophobic and hydrophilic constituents. For oxygenated organics, our simulations predict an enrichment of the nanoparticle surface in organics, often in the form of islands depending on the level of humidity and organic mass fraction, giving rise to core–shell structures. In several cases the organics separate from the inorganics, especially from the ions. For particles containing water–insoluble linear alkanes, separate hydrophobic and hydrophilic domains are predicted to develop. The surface partitioning of organics is enhanced as the humidity increases. The presence of organics in the interior of the nanoparticle increases as their overall mass fraction in the nanoparticle increases, but this depends also on the humidity conditions. Apart from the organics–inorganics and hydrophobics–hydrophilics separation, our simulations predict a third type of separation (layering) between CPA and MBTCA molecules under certain conditions.
Inter-comparison of Atmospheric Trace Gas Dispersion Models:
Barnett Shale Case Study
Authors: Karion Anna , Lauvaux Thomas , Lopez Coto Israel , Sweeney Colm , Mueller Kimberly , Gourdji Sharon , Angevine Wayne , Barkley Zachary , Deng Aijun , Andrews Arlyn , Stein Ariel , Whetstone James
Published: November 2018

Abstract. Greenhouse gas emissions mitigation requires understanding dominant processes controlling fluxes of these trace gases at increasingly finer spatial and temporal scales. Trace gas fluxes can be estimated using a variety of approaches that translate observed atmospheric species mole fractions into fluxes or emission rates, often identifying the spatial and temporal characteristics of the emissions sources as well. Meteorological models are commonly combined with tracer dispersion models to estimate fluxes using an inverse approach that optimizes emissions to best fit the trace gas mole fraction observations. One way to evaluate the accuracy of atmospheric flux estimation methods is to compare results from independent methods, including approaches in which different meteorological and tracer dispersion models are used. In this work, we use a rich data set of atmospheric methane observations collected during an intensive airborne campaign to compare different methane emissions estimates from the Barnett Shale oil and natural gas production basin in Texas, U.S.A. We estimate emissions based on a variety of different meteorological and dispersion models. Previous estimates of methane emissions from this region relied on a simple model (a mass balance analysis) as well as on ground-based measurements and statistical data analysis (an inventory). We find that in addition to meteorological model choice, the choice of tracer dispersion model also has a significant impact on the predicted downwind methane concentrations given the same emissions field. The dispersion models tested often under-predicted the observed methane enhancements with significant variability between different models and between different days. We examine possible causes for this result and find that the models differ in their simulation of vertical dispersion, indicating that additional work is needed to evaluate and improve vertical mixing in the tracer dispersion models commonly used in regional trace gas flux inversions.
Isotopic fractionation corrections for the radiocarbon composition of
CO2 in the soil gas environment must include diffusion and mixing
Authors: Egan Jocelyn E. , Bowling David R. , Risk David A.
Published: November 2018

Abstract. Earth system scientists working with radiocarbon in organic samples use a stable carbon isotope (δ13C) correction to account for mass-dependent fractionation caused primarily by photosynthesis. Although researchers apply this correction routinely, it has not been evaluated for the soil gas environment, where both diffusive gas transport and diffusive mixing are important. Towards this end we applied an analytical soil gas transport model across a range of soil diffusivities and biological CO2 production rates, allowing us to control the radiocarbon (Δ14C) and stable isotope (δ13C) compositions of modeled soil CO2 production and atmospheric CO2. This approach allowed us to assess the bias that results from using the conventional correction method for estimating Δ14C of soil production. We found that the conventional correction is inappropriate for interpreting the radio-isotopic composition of CO2 from biological production, because it does not account for diffusion and diffusive mixing. The resultant Δ14C bias associated with the traditional correction is highest (up to 150 ‰) in soils with low biological production and/or high soil diffusion rates. We propose a new solution for radiocarbon applications in the soil gas environment that fully accounts for diffusion and diffusive mixing.
Influence of radiative forcing factors on ground–air temperature coupling during the last millennium: implications for borehole climatology
Authors: Melo-Aguilar Camilo , González-Rouco J. Fidel , García-Bustamante Elena , Navarro-Montesinos Jorge , Steinert Norman
Published: November 2018

Abstract. Past climate variations may be uncovered via reconstruction methods
that use proxy data as predictors. Among them, borehole reconstruction is a
well-established technique to recover the long-term past surface air
temperature (SAT) evolution. It is based on the assumption that SAT changes
are strongly coupled to ground surface temperature (GST) changes and
transferred to the subsurface by thermal conduction. We evaluate the SAT–GST
coupling during the last millennium (LM) using simulations from the Community
Earth System Model LM Ensemble (CESM-LME). The validity of such a premise is
explored by analyzing the structure of the SAT–GST covariance during the LM
and also by investigating the evolution of the long-term SAT–GST
relationship. The multiple and single-forcing simulations in the CESM-LME are
used to analyze the SAT–GST relationship within different regions and spatial
scales and to derive the influence of the different forcing factors on producing
feedback mechanisms that alter the energy balance at the surface. The results
indicate that SAT–GST coupling is strong at global and above multi-decadal
timescales in CESM-LME, although a relatively small variation in the
long-term SAT–GST relationship is also represented. However, at a global scale
such variation does not significantly impact the SAT–GST coupling, at local
to regional scales this relationship experiences considerable long-term
changes mostly after the end of the 19th century. Land use land cover changes
are the main driver for locally and regionally decoupling SAT and GST, as
they modify the land surface properties such as albedo, surface roughness and
hydrology, which in turn modifies the energy fluxes at the surface. Snow cover feedbacks
due to the influence of other external forcing are also important for
corrupting the long-term SAT–GST coupling. Our findings suggest that such
local and regional SAT–GST decoupling processes may represent a source of
bias for SAT reconstructions from borehole measurement, since the thermal
signature imprinted in the subsurface over the affected regions is not fully
representative of the long-term SAT variations.
Mapping soil hydraulic properties using random forest based
pedotransfer functions and geostatistics
Authors: Tóth Brigitta , Szatmári Gábor , Takács Katalin , Laborczi Annamária , Makó András , Rajkai Kálmán , Pásztor László
Published: November 2018

Abstract. Spatial 3D information on soil hydraulic properties for areas larger than plot scale are usually derived with indirect methods due to lacking measured information on those. Soil hydraulic properties are calculated with applying pedotransfer functions (PTFs) – which describe the relationship between the desired soil hydraulic parameter and easily available soil properties determined on a soil hydraulic point dataset – on available soil maps. Our aim was to analyse difference in performance and spatial patterns between soil hydraulic maps derived with indirect (using PTFs) and direct (geostatistical) mapping methods. We performed the study on Balaton catchment in Hungary, where density of measured soil hydraulic data fulfils the requirements of geostatistical methods. Maps of saturated water content (THS), field capacity (FC) and wilting point (WP) for 0–30, 30–60 and 60–90 cm soil depth were prepared. PTFs were derived with random forest method on the whole Hungarian soil hydraulic dataset (MARTHA: soil chemical, physical, taxonomical and hydraulic information of some 12000 samples) complemented with information on topography, climate, parent material, vegetation and land use. As a direct method random forest combined with kriging (RFK) was applied on 359 MARTHA soil profiles located in the Balaton catchment. There was no significant difference between the direct and indirect methods in case of six out of nine maps having root mean squared error values between 0.052 and 0.074 cm3 cm−3, which is in accordance with the internationally accepted performance of hydraulic PTFs. The PTFs based mapping method performed significantly better than the RFK for the THS at 30–60 and 60–90 cm soil depth, in case of WP the RFK outperformed the PTFs at 60–90 cm depth. Difference between the PTF based and RFK mapped values are less than 0.025 cm3 cm−3 for 65–86 % of the catchment. In RFK uncertainty of input environmental covariate layers is less influential on the mapped values which is preferable. In the PTFs based method the uncertainty mapping of the soil hydraulic properties is less computational intensive. Detailed comparison of the maps derived by the PTF based and the RFK is presented in the paper.
HESS Opinions: Incubating deep-learning-powered hydrologic science advances as a community
Authors: Shen Chaopeng , Laloy Eric , Elshorbagy Amin , Albert Adrian , Bales Jerad , Chang Fi-John , Ganguly Sangram , Hsu Kuo-Lin , Kifer Daniel , Fang Zheng , Fang Kuai , Li Dongfeng , Li Xiaodong , Tsai Wen-Ping
Published: November 2018

Abstract. Recently, deep learning (DL) has emerged as a revolutionary and
versatile tool transforming industry applications and generating new and
improved capabilities for scientific discovery and model building. The
adoption of DL in hydrology has so far been gradual, but the field is now
ripe for breakthroughs. This paper suggests that DL-based methods can open up a
complementary avenue toward knowledge discovery in hydrologic sciences. In
the new avenue, machine-learning algorithms present competing hypotheses that
are consistent with data. Interrogative methods are then invoked to interpret
DL models for scientists to further evaluate. However, hydrology presents
many challenges for DL methods, such as data limitations, heterogeneity
and co-evolution, and the general inexperience of the hydrologic field with
DL. The roadmap toward DL-powered scientific advances will require the
coordinated effort from a large community involving scientists and citizens.
Integrating process-based models with DL models will help alleviate data
limitations. The sharing of data and baseline models will improve the
efficiency of the community as a whole. Open competitions could serve as the
organizing events to greatly propel growth and nurture data science education
in hydrology, which demands a grassroots collaboration. The area of
hydrologic DL presents numerous research opportunities that could, in turn,
stimulate advances in machine learning as well.
IMAGE CLASSIFICATION FOR MAPPING OIL PALM DISTRIBUTION VIA SUPPORT VECTOR MACHINE USING SCIKIT-LEARN MODULE
Authors: Shaharum N. S. N. , Shafri H. Z. M. , Ghani W. A. W. A. K. , Samsatli S. , Yusuf B. , Al-Habshi M. M. A. , Prince H. M.
Published: November 2018

Abstract. The world has been alarmed with the global warming effects. Global warming has been a distress towards the environment, thus shorten the Earth’s lifespan. It is a challenging task to reduce the global warming effects in a short period, knowing that the human population is increasing along with the electricity and energy demand. In order to reduce the effects, renewable energy is presented as an alternative method to produce energy in a way that will not harm the environment. Oil palm is one of the agricultural crops that produces huge amount of biomass which can be processed and used as a renewable energy source. In 2016, Malaysia has reported over 5 million hectares of land were covered by oil palm plantations. Placing Malaysia as the second largest country of oil palm producer in the world has given it an advantage to produce renewable energy source. However, there is a need to monitor the sustainability of oil palm plantations in Malaysia via effective mapping approaches. This study utilised two different platforms (open source and commercial) using a machine learning algorithm namely Support Vector Machine (SVM) to perform oil palm mapping. An open source Python programming-based technique utilising Scikit-learn module was performed to map the oil palm distribution and the result produced had an overall accuracy of 91.39%. To support and validate the efficiency of the Python programming-based image classification, a commercial remote sensing software (ENVI) was used and compared by implementing the same SVM algorithm and the result showed an overall accuracy of 98.21%.
ASSESSMENT OF SEASONAL VARIABILITY FOR WIND SPEED AND SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHT USING SATELLITE ALTIMETER OVER MALAYSIAN SEAS
Authors: Uti M. N. , Din A. H. M. , Omar A. H.
Published: November 2018

Abstract. Malaysia is located in the equatorial region and experienced climate hot, humid and rainy throughout the year. These have brought four monsoon seasons to Malaysia which can be categorised as Northeast monsoon, Southwest monsoon, First-inter monsoon and Second-inter monsoon. Although Malaysia is surrounded by large scale marine resources, the lack of understanding in seasonal variability has affected the spatial and temporal analysis. Thus, this study will highlight the assessment of seasonal variability of wind speed and significant wave height over the Malaysian seas. For more than two decades satellite altimeter data were used to generate a prolonged trend of regional ocean wind speed and significant wave height in order to study the monsoons in Malaysia. A set of wind speed and significant wave height data are compared with the in-situ measurement to validate the accuracy of the wind speed and significant wave height observation using the satellite altimeter. Two selected buoys were using as benchmarks and assessed using the statistical analysis by conducting a root mean square error and a correlation calculation. Seasonal variations assessment is conducted with significance to analyse the monsoon effect towards the wind speed and significant wave height condition. As a result, both ocean parameters present a good value of root mean square error and positive correlation which were 0.7976 (wind speed) and 0.92 (significant wave height), which proves the measurement from satellite altimeter is reliable to use. In addition, the seasonal variation assessment illustrates during the Northeast monsoon, each part of the Malaysian seas experienced with great wind speed and significant wave height.
MONITORING OF AGRICULTURAL DROUGHT USING FORTNIGHTLY VARIATION OF VEGETATION CONDITION INDEX (VCI) FOR THE STATE OF TAMIL NADU, INDIA
Authors: Vaani N. , Porchelvan P.
Published: November 2018

Abstract. India being an agrarian nation widely depends upon rainfall for its agricultural productivity. The failure of rainfall and hence shortfall of productivity badly affects national economy. With an intricate nature of drought, the planning and management requires rigid monitoring for better understanding. The occurrence of drought and its severity varies in a regional level. The process of monitoring agricultural drought in a regional level requires long term analysis of vegetation. In this present work, the attempt has been carried out to study and monitor the spatial and temporal variation of agricultural drought for the state of Tamilnadu, India which is more prone to drought especially due to monsoon failure or change in monsoon. The long term Normalized differenced vegetation index (NDVI) of Global Inventory Modelling and Mapping Studies (GIMMS) for the period of 20 years (1984–2003) was used to compute the most popular index called vegetation condition index (VCI) to identify the vegetation vigour. The fortnightly variation of VCI during major crop growing period of Kharif season (June to September) was used to monitor the spatio-temporal drought conditions of Tamil Nadu. The results proved that there is wide variation of drought intensity among the districts within the state. The keen observation of fortnightly variation of long term agricultural drought helps finding the onset, period and spatial extent of drought in various districts of the state. The districts which are most often prone to moderate to severe drought conditions during the analysis period were recognized in order to develop various strategies to improve the agricultural productivity in that region. The persistent drought in the state necessitates the government to take appropriate preventive measures to evade drought in future. Based on the severity of the drought level observed from the agricultural drought intensity maps prepared using VCI, the action plans could be prioritized by identifying the high risk zones.
ASSIMILATING GEOSPATIAL METAMODEL AND INVENTORY MAPPING FOR NON-STRUCTURAL MITIGATION OF LANDSLIDE
Authors: Nasir N. S. , Abdul Khanan M. F. , Othman S. H. , Abdul Rahman M. Z. , Razak K. A. , Mohd Salleh M. R. , Umar H. A. , Abdul Razak A. N.
Published: November 2018

Abstract. In Malaysia, issues related to disaster management are always given attention in society and by the responsible parties. However, in general, citizen do not think of the consequential impact of disaster due to less of knowledge regarding the early phase in disaster management. Therefore, citizen in those areas will be more vulnerable to landslide as the citizen face difficulties in identifying specific areas with the tendency of landslides. This paper presents a geospatial metamodel approach for non-structural mitigation of landslide using data from airborne LiDAR and aerial photograph. Disaster management metamodel with geospatial element combines activity for managing disaster along with geospatial database that makes it handy for appreciating the metamodel. On the other hand, the digital terrain model (DTM) from LiDAR and aerial photograph is required to produce landslide inventory mapping. The case study area is located in Kundasang, Sabah, where landslides occur frequently. In order to get better visual in identifying landslides in the study area, three types of data are required to carry out image interpretation. The three types of data are hillshade, topographic openness and colour composite. The result of the landslide inventory map shows that there are five types of landslide, which is debris flow, debris fall, mud flow, deep-seated landslide and shallow landslide. Finally, the result of landslide inventory map will be integrated into the developed metamodel for presentation to the users. This landslide inventory map is used as a non-structural mitigation step in one of disaster management phases that is suitable to prepare and use in mitigating the landslide hazard impact.
DEVELOPMENT OF A FRAMEWORK FOR IMPLEMENTING 3D SPATIAL DATA INFRASTRUCTURE IN OMAN – ISSUES AND CHALLENGES
Authors: Al Kalbani K. , Abdul Rahman A. , Al Awadhi T. , Alshannaq F.
Published: November 2018

Abstract. The paper reviews that there are several issues and challenges in order to implement full 2D and 3D Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) in Oman. The state of current 2D SDI and 3D geospatial data has been investigated. Currently, Oman has made noticeable progress in 2D SDI but not yet in 3D domain. To date, there are no serious efforts and initiatives by the authority to materialize the 3D SDI. This paper ends by describing a framework for implementing the 3D SDI. We expect, these issues and challenges of 3D SDI in Oman can prompt better services for several potential users.
ESTABLISHMENT OF NEW FITTED GEOID MODEL IN UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA
Authors: Ismail M. K. , Din A. H. M. , Uti M. N. , Omar A. H.
Published: November 2018

Abstract. The purpose of this study is to produce fitted geoid for Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Johor Bahru by using precise levelling and 3D GNSS control network technique. This study focuses on the theory, computation method and analysis of fitted geoid around Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. The computation of accuracy fitted geoid model is based on the GNSS levelling and Precise Levelling. The achieved accuracy of UTM Fitted Geoid Model is at 8 mm. In conclusion, this research can contribute to Universiti Teknologi Malaysia by providing good UTM fitted geoid model that can give better accuracy for various purposes of work related to surveying and mapping.
GIS AND BIM INTEGRATION AT DATA LEVEL: A REVIEW
Authors: Sani M. J. , Abdul Rahman A.
Published: November 2018

Abstract. City Geography Markup Language (CityGML) and Industry Foundation Class (IFC) are the two most popular data exchange format for the integration of Geographic Information System (GIS) and Building Information Modelling (BIM) respectively and has been identified by many researchers as an auspicious means of data interoperability between the two domains but with challenges on the compatibility between them. The main issue is the data loss in the process of information transformation. The success of integrating these two domains (GIS and BIM objects) is a great achievement toward solving problems in Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC), Facility Management (FM), Disaster Management (DM) sectors. Nevertheless, as we all know GIS and BIM are different fields used by different professionals using different software packages, used for different purposes, it is definitely face with many challenges including data interoperability, mismatch and loss of semantic information are bound to occur during the process of integration. In order to comprehend the two domains and their data models of CityGML and IFC. This paper review existing models on GIS and BIM developed by different researchers, the complementarity and compatibility of GIS and BIM on the previous integration techniques were also reviewed and finally, the paper review the integration of GIS and BIM at the data level aimed at solving different problems surrounding it by considering the transformation of coordinates at geometric level from CityGML to IFC, in order to achieve flow of information between GIS and BIM.
PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF SISPELSAT MSK-DGNSS RADIO SIGNAL IN PENINSULAR MALAYSIA
Authors: Razak M. S. A. , Musa T. A. , Othman R. , Yazair M. F. , Sha’ameri A. Z. , Amirudin A. , Yusof R. M.
Published: November 2018

Abstract. The use of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) has become essential in providing location based information and navigation. Due to low accuracy of navigation solution, differential technique such as radio-beacon DGNSS has been used widely to augment the user single positioning using GPS. The Sistem Pelayaran Satelit (SISPELSAT) is a national DGNSS radio-beacon system in Malaysia consists of four broadcasting and two monitoring stations operated and managed by Marine Department of Malaysia. It provides a range of frequency from 283.5 to 325 kHz Minimum Shift Keying (MSK) radio-beacon DGNSS correction service within the shore of Peninsular Malaysia. In this study, the performance of SISPELSAT radio signal was assessed on-board of the Malaysian Vessel (MV) Pedoman and MV Pendamar. The study area covers 20 km shore distance extending from shoreline of Peninsular Malaysia with continuous tracking from SISPELSAT radio beacon signal. The DGPS observation data as well as the coverage of the signal strength, signal-to-noise ratio, accuracy and DGPS status were recorded for data processing and further analysis of SISPELSAT radio signal performance.
THE SUITABILITY OF TERRESTRIAL LASER SCANNING FOR STRATA BUILDING
Authors: Russhakim N. A. S. , Ariff M. F. M. , Darwin N. , Majid Z. , Idris K. M. , Abbas M. A. , Zainuddin N. K. , Yusoff A. R.
Published: November 2018

Abstract. During the recent years, the used of terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) is becoming rapidly popular because of its ability in several applications, especially the ability to observe complex documentation of complex building and observe millions of point cloud in three-dimensional in a short period. Users of strata plan usually find it difficult to translate the traditional two-dimensional (2D) data on maps they see on a flat piece of paper to three-dimensional (3D). The TLS is able to record thousands of point clouds which contains very rich of geometry details and made the processing usually takes longer time. In addition, the demand of strata survey work has made the surveyors need to obtain the data with full of accuracy and time saves. Therefore, the aim of this study is to study the limitation uses of TLS and its suitability for strata building survey. In this study, the efficiency of TLS Leica C10 for strata building survey was determined in term of its accuracy and comparing with Zeb-Revo Handheld Mobile Laser Scanning (MLS) and the distometer. The accuracy for scanned data from both, TLS and MLS were compared with the Distometer by using root mean square error (RMSE) formula. Then, the 3D model of the building for both data, TLS and MLS were produced to analyze the visualization for different type of scanners. The software used; Autodesk Recap, Autodesk Revit, Leica Cyclone Software, Autocad Software and Geo Slam Software. The RMSE for TLS technique is 0.001m meanwhile, RMSE for MLS technique is 0.007 m. The difference between these two techniques is 0.006 m. The 3D model of building for both models did not have too much different but the scanned data from TLS is much easier to process and generate the 3D model compared to scanned data from MLS. It is because the scanned data from TLS comes with an image, while none from MLS scanned data. There are limitations of TLS for strata building survey such as water and glass window but this study proved that acquiring data by TLS is better than using MLS.
Predicting Ocean Waves along the U.S. East Coast During
Energetic Winter Storms: sensitivity to
Whitecapping
parameterizations
Authors: Allahdadi Mohammad Nabi , He Ruoying , Neary Vincent S.
Published: November 2018

Abstract. The performance of two methods for quantifying whitecapping dissipation incorporated in the SWAN wave model is evaluated for waves generated along and off the U.S. East Coast under energetic winter storms with a predominantly westerly wind. Parameterizing the whitecapping effect can be done using the Komen-type schemes, which are based on mean spectral parameters, or the saturation-based (SB) approach of van der Westhuysen (2007), which is based on local wave parameters and the saturation level concept of the wave spectrum (we use Komen and Westhuysen to denote these two approaches). Observations of wave parameters and frequency spectra at four NDBC buoys are used to evaluate simulation results. Model-data comparisons show that when using the default parameters in SWAN, both Komen and Westhuysen methods underestimate wave height. Simulations of mean wave period using the Komen method agree with observations, but those using the Westhuysen method are substantially lower. Examination of source terms shows that the Westhuysen method underestimates the total energy transferred into the wave action equations, especially in the lower frequency bands that contain higher spectral energy. Several causes for this underestimation are identified. The primary reason is the difference between the wave growth conditions along the East Coast during winter storms and the conditions used for the original whitecapping formula calibration. In addition, some deficiencies in simulation results are caused along the coast by the slanting fetch effect that adds low-frequency components to the 2-D wave spectra. These components cannot be simulated partly or entirely by available wind input formulations. Further, the effect of boundary layer instability that is not considered in the Komen and Westhuysen whitecapping wind input formulas may cause additional underestimation.
Soil lacquer peel DIY: simply capturing beauty
Authors: Stoof Cathelijne R. , Candel Jasper H. J. , van der Wal Laszlo , Peek Gert
Published: November 2018

Abstract. Visualization can greatly benefit understanding of concepts and processes, which in soil science and geology can be done using real life snapshots of soils and sediments in lacquer peels and glue peels. While it may seem complicated, anyone can make such a soil peel for use in classrooms, public places, homes and offices for teaching, outreach, decoration and awareness. Technological development has considerably simplified the making of soil peels, but this methodological innovation has not been described in the literature. Here, we report on a thoroughly tested and simple method for taking peels of sandy soils using readily available tools and materials. Our method follows the main previously published steps of preparing a soil face, impregnating the soil face with a fixation agent in the field, extracting the resulting peel and mounting it on a wooden panel. Yet instead of using lacquers and thinning agents, we use strong though flexible contact adhesive (glue), which has the major advantage that it no longer requires use and mixing of toxic chemicals in the field or reinforcement of the peel to prevent breaking. Moreover, the preservation potential is much higher than with the old method. This new twist to old methods makes creating of soil peels more safe, simple and successful, and a thereby true DIY (do it yourself) activity. The resulting increased accessibility of making soil and sediment peels can benefit research, teaching, and science communication and can thereby bring the value and beauty of the ground below our feet to students, schools, policy makers, and the general public.
Ice cliff contribution to the tongue-wide ablation of Changri Nup Glacier, Nepal, central Himalaya
Authors: Brun Fanny , Wagnon Patrick , Berthier Etienne , Shea Joseph M. , Immerzeel Walter W. , Kraaijenbrink Philip D. A. , Vincent Christian , Reverchon Camille , Shrestha Dibas , Arnaud Yves
Published: November 2018

Abstract. Ice cliff backwasting on debris-covered glaciers is recognized
as an important mass-loss process that is potentially responsible for the
“debris-cover anomaly”, i.e. the fact that debris-covered and
debris-free glacier tongues appear to have similar thinning rates in the
Himalaya. In this study, we quantify the total contribution of ice cliff
backwasting to the net ablation of the tongue of Changri Nup Glacier, Nepal,
between 2015 and 2017. Detailed backwasting and surface thinning rates were
obtained from terrestrial photogrammetry collected in November 2015 and 2016,
unmanned air vehicle (UAV) surveys conducted in November 2015, 2016 and 2017,
and Pléiades tri-stereo imagery obtained in November 2015, 2016 and 2017.
UAV- and Pléiades-derived ice cliff volume loss estimates were
3 % and 7 % less than the value calculated from the
reference terrestrial photogrammetry. Ice cliffs cover between 7 % and
8 % of the total map view area of the Changri Nup tongue. Yet from
November 2015 to November 2016 (November 2016 to November 2017), ice cliffs
contributed to 23±5 % (24±5 %) of the total ablation observed
on the tongue. Ice cliffs therefore have a net ablation rate 3.1±0.6
(3.0±0.6) times higher than the average glacier tongue surface.
However, on Changri Nup Glacier, ice cliffs still cannot compensate for the
reduction in ablation due to debris-cover. In addition to cliff enhancement,
a combination of reduced ablation and lower emergence velocities could be
responsible for the debris-cover anomaly on debris-covered tongues.
Student Perceptions of the Importance of Athletic Teams in Creating Soft Skills: The Case of Rodeo
Authors: Walker Ben , Mehlhorn Joey , Mehlhorn Sandy , Tewari Rachna , Smartt Philip
Published: November 2018

Being a collegiate student athlete is known to be more difficult and hindering on grade point averages then being the typical full-time student. However, it is also thought that being a part of a team can help improve communication skills and thus, assist in receiving a job or simply be more organized in life’s day to day activities. This study surveyed alumni and current members of the University of Tennessee at Martin Rodeo Team on their views of how being a student athlete affected their college experience. In this survey, 77 participants were asked questions about the social, academic, and athletic views on being a student athlete at the University of Tennessee at Martin. Another extension to this survey is to show the positive and/or negative effects athletic teams bring a university. This survey questioned athletes on why they chose the university and if they if they perceived being part of the team helped them succeed in future careers. The study gave insight on how student athletes experience college and how universities can help improve the student athlete experience. The study revealed that rodeo had a positive impact on student time management skills and ability to work with others. Results show that a majority of survey participants had a positive and valuable experience being a student athlete at the University of Tennessee at Martin.