bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effect of a Smoking Cessation Motivational Program for Adolescents.
Authors: Shin Sung Rae , Lee Chung Ok , Jeong Goo Churl
Published: May 2013

PURPOSE: In this study an examination was done of the effects of a adolescent smoking cessation motivational program on smoking temptation, internal motivation, stage of smoking cessation and quit rate. The study was done with a nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design.METHODS: Participants in the experimental group were adolescents who smoked and were referred to the program by their high school teachers. They participated in the smoking cessation motivational program for 60 minutes per session, once or twice a week for six weeks. Participants in the control group were selected from the same age group within the school and the program was provided after the posttest was completed. t-test, Mann-Whitney test, and chi2-test were used to analyze data.RESULTS: The level of smoking temptation, internal motivation and stage of smoking cessation had significant change in comparison to the pretest whereas the control group did not exhibit these changes.CONCLUSION: The results of the study indicate that a smoking cessation motivational program for adolescents is an effective strategy to increase smoking cessation motivation in adolescents, and can be utilized as an effective intervention for adolescents who smoke.
Trend and Perspectives of Studies on Paternal Parenting in Pediatric Nursing.
Authors: Kwon In Soo
Published: May 2013

The significance of father's parenting has been considered as a critical factor in facilitating growth and development and in promoting well-being of children. Pediatric nursing is a pertinent science to develop parenting roles, because it deals with knowledge and skills on growth and development and health of child. For this paper current studies were reviewed related to consequences to the family, content and factors influencing paternal parenting, and father's reactions to child rearing participation. Perspectives of future studies in pediatric nursing are summarized as follows. First, paternal parenting has to be studied more actively to contribute to family health and to meet the academic responsibility of pediatric nursing. Second, it is necessary to study the consequences to child's health and health behavior of paternal parenting. Also it is necessary to be concerned about fathers' reactions, like stress in parenting behavior, to understand the parenting father himself. Third, an objective measure of caregiving behavior (not self-reporting) is needed to determine whether the father is behaving appropriately. Further, experimental research has to be implemented to develop intervention programs for paternal parenting. It is hoped that the examination of these studies leads to develop of knowledge and practice in paternal parenting.
Breastfeeding Knowledge, Attitude, and Nursing Practice of Nurses in Neonatal Intensive Care Units.
Authors: Ra Jin Suk , Chae Sun Mi
Published: May 2013

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to describe breastfeeding knowledge, attitude and nursing practice of neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) nurses.METHODS: Survey methodology using a self administered questionnaire was employed as the research design. A total of 153 questionnaires from 7 university hospital NICUs in Seoul, Daejeon, and Daegu were used for data analysis.RESULTS: The percentage of correct answers on the breastfeeding knowledge questions for the NICU nurses was 59.3%. The nurses in NICU reported a somewhat positive attitude to breastfeeding, mean per item 3.70+/-0.41 on a scale of 5 points. Their breastfeeding nursing practice was at a moderate level, mean per item, 3.26+/-0.74.Breastfeeding knowledge had significant correlations with breastfeeding attitude (r=.554, p<.001) and nursing practice (r=.203, p=.002). Also, There was a significant correlation between breastfeeding attitude and nursing practice (r=.243, p=.002).CONCLUSION: These results suggest that breastfeeding educational programs and strategies for NICU nurses should be developed to increase their breastfeeding knowledge, attitude, and nursing practice.
Pollen morphology of Prototulbaghia Vosa: A comparative palynological study of the Southern African Alliaceae.
Authors: Andriessen Melissa , Struwig Madeleen , Siebert Stefan J.
Published: May 2013

The  Southern  African  Alliaceae  Borkh.  is  represented  by  four genera (Allium L., Nothoscordum Kunth, Tulbaghia L. and Prototulbaghia Vosa) and 28 species. The  pollen  morphology  of  the  endangered  monotypic  genus Prototulbaghia has  not  been described  before.  A  comparative  study  of  the  pollen  morphology  of Prototulbaghia  siebertii Vosa, Nothoscordum  borbonicum Kunth, Tulbaghia  simmleri P.Beauv.  and T.  violaceae Harv.  is presented in this article. Scanning electron microscopy, as well as light microscopy, were used to examine the pollen. The pollen morphology of the species can be described as perprolate and monosulcate, and the surface sculpture as reticulate and heterobrochate. However, the pollen of Prototulbaghia siebertii displays a unique characteristic as the grains are folded in their breadth with the tips touching, hence causing the grain to display a triangular and disulcate appearance. It might be possible to ascribe this fold to the process of harmomegathy or a still unknown event that occurs during the development of the pollen grain. This phenomenon should be further investigated to determine the cause of folding and whether it is a unique taxonomic  characteristic  of  this  genus,  and  if  it  could  be  of  evolutionary  significance  for the Alliaceae.
Weighted Carleson Measure Spaces Associated with Different Homogeneities
Authors: Wu Xinfeng
Published: May 2013

In this paper, we introduce weighted Carleson measure spaces associated with different homogeneities and prove that these spaces are the dual spaces of weighted Hardy spaces studied in a forthcoming paper. As an application, we establish the boundedness of composition of two Calderón–Zygmund operators with different homogeneities on the weighted Carleson measure spaces; this, in particular, provides the weighted endpoint estimates for the operators studied by Phong–Stein.
Blood Stage of Plasmodium vivax in Central China Is Still Susceptible to Chloroquine Plus Primaquine Combination Therapy
Authors: Zhu Guoding , Lu Feng , Cao Jun , Zhou Huayun , Liu Yaobao , Han Eun-Taek , Gao Qi
Published: May 2013

In central China, Plasmodium vivax accounts for all of the native reported cases of malaria. Chloroquine (CQ) plus primaquine (PQ) have been used for more than 60 years as the frontline drugs, but the risk of treatment failure remains unknown. To measure the effectiveness and safety of CQ-PQ among vivax malaria patients, a total of 39 subjects with monoinfection vivax malaria was enrolled in a study from 2008 to 2009. There were no recrudescence or danger signs observed within the 28-day follow-up period, showing that blood stage of P. vivax isolates from central China is still susceptible to CQ plus PQ combination therapy. However, the antirelapse efficacy of PQ is difficult to assess because of the high rate of loss to follow-up after 28 days; also, parasites persisted in a single case at 3 days post-antimalarial drug treatment, indicating that continuous annual monitoring is needed in central China.
Association Between CD4+ T-Lymphocyte Counts and Fecal Excretion of Schistosoma mansoni Eggs in Patients Coinfected with S. mansoni and Human Immunodeficiency Virus Before and After Initiation of Antiretroviral Therapy
Authors: Muok Erick M. O. , Simiyu Elses W. , Ochola Elizabeth A. , Ng'ang'a Zipporah W. , Secor W. Evan , Karanja Diana M. S. , Mwinzi Pauline N. M.
Published: May 2013

Previously, we have shown that persons with human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) infection and reduced CD4+ T-lymphocyte counts excrete significantly fewer Schistosoma mansoni eggs than HIV-1–negative persons with similar intensities of schistosome infections. To determine how antiretroviral therapy (ART) might affect egg excretion, we conducted a study of HIV+ adults living in an area highly endemic for S. mansoni as they began an ART program. Fecal egg excretion and CD4+ T-lymphocyte counts were evaluated at enrollment as well as 2 and 4 weeks after initiation of ART. Fourteen individuals who were Kato–Katz-negative at enrollment subsequently started excreting S. mansoni eggs accompanied by a significant increase in CD4+ T lymphocytes (P = 0.004). Study participants who were S. mansoni egg-positive at enrollment and received both praziquantel and ART also showed significantly increased CD4+ T-lymphocyte counts compared with baseline (P < 0.0001). Our data support a role for CD4+ T lymphocytes in S. mansoni egg excretion.
Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis Treatment Complicated by Antiretroviral Resistance in HIV Coinfected Patients: A Report of Six Cases in Lesotho
Authors: Satti Hind , McLaughlin Megan M. , Seung Kwonjune J.
Published: May 2013

Treating drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) is particularly challenging in high human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevalence settings. Neither antiretroviral resistance testing nor viral load monitoring is widely available in sub-Saharan Africa, and antiretroviral resistance can complicate the clinical management for DR-TB/HIV coinfected patients. We describe six cases of antiretroviral resistance in DR-TB patients with HIV coinfection in Lesotho. Two patients died before or immediately after antiretroviral resistance was detected by genotyping; the remaining four patients were switched to effective antiretroviral therapy (ART) regimens. Favorable DR-TB treatment outcomes in coinfected patients require successful management of their HIV infection, including treatment with an effective ART regimen. Coinfected patients undergoing DR-TB treatment may require closer monitoring of their response to ART, including routine viral load testing, to ensure that they receive an effective ART regimen concurrent with DR-TB treatment.
Linkages between ozone-depleting substances, tropospheric oxidation and aerosols
Authors: Voulgarakis A. , Shindell D. T. , Faluvegi G.
Published: May 2013

Abstract. Coupling between the stratosphere and the troposphere allows changes in stratospheric ozone abundances to affect tropospheric chemistry. Large-scale effects from such changes on chemically produced tropospheric aerosols have not been systematically examined in past studies. We use a composition-climate model to investigate potential past and future impacts of changes in stratospheric ozone depleting substances (ODS) on tropospheric oxidants and sulfate aerosols. In most experiments, we find significant responses in tropospheric photolysis and oxidants, with small but significant effects on methane radiative forcing. The response of sulfate aerosols is sizeable when examining the effect of increasing future nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. We also find that without the regulation of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) through the Montreal Protocol, sulfate aerosols could have increased by 2050 by a comparable amount to the decreases predicted due to relatively stringent sulfur emissions controls. The individual historical radiative forcings of CFCs and N2O through their indirect effects on methane (−22.6 mW m−2 for CFCs and −6.7 mW m−2 for N2O) and sulfate aerosols (−3.0 mW m−2 for CFCs and +6.5 mW m−2 for N2O when considering the direct aerosol effect) discussed here are non-negligible when compared to known historical ODS forcing. Our results stress the importance of accounting for stratosphere-troposphere, gas-aerosol and composition-climate interactions when investigating the effects of changing emissions on atmospheric composition and climate.
The mass and number size distributions of black carbon aerosol over Europe
Authors: Reddington C. L. , McMeeking G. , Mann G. W. , Coe H. , Frontoso M. G. , Liu D. , Flynn M. , Spracklen D. V. , Carslaw K. S.
Published: May 2013

Abstract. Black carbon-containing aerosol particles play an important role in the direct and indirect radiative forcing of climate. However, the magnitude and sign of the net radiative effect is strongly dependent on the physical properties of the black carbon (BC) component of the particles, such as mass concentration, number size distribution and mixing state. Here we use a global aerosol model combined with aircraft measurements of BC particle number and size from the Single Particle Soot Photometer (SP2) to assess the realism with which these physical properties are predicted by global models. The comparison reveals a substantial mismatch between the measured and modelled BC size distribution over the size range of the SP2 instrument (90–400 nm BC diameter). The model predicts BC particle number concentrations a factor ~3.5–5.7 higher than measured and a mode diameter that is ~40–65 nm smaller than observed. More than ~90% of the model particles with dry diameters ≳260 nm contain BC, while the observations suggest only 14% on average. These model–observation biases in the BC properties are considerably greater than for the overall particle distribution, suggesting that the discrepancy is associated with model assumptions about the size and mixing state of the emitted carbonaceous particles. We expect the discrepancy in BC size distribution to be common among most global aerosol models, with implications for model estimates of absorption optical depth and direct radiative forcing.
Continuous atmospheric boundary layer observations in the coastal urban area of Barcelona during SAPUSS
Authors: Pandolfi M. , Martucci G. , Querol X. , Alastuey A. , Wilsenack F. , Frey S. , O'Dowd C. D. , Dall'Osto M.
Published: May 2013

Abstract. Continuous measurements of surface mixed layer (SML), decoupled residual/convective layer (DRCL) and aerosol backscatter coefficient were performed within the Barcelona (Spain) boundary layer from September to October 2010 (30 days) in the framework of the SAPUSS (Solving Aerosol Problems by Using Synergistic Strategies) field campaign. Two near-infrared ceilometers (Jenoptik CHM15K), vertically and horizontally probing (only vertical profiles are herein discussed), were deployed. Ceilometer-based DRCLs (1761 ± 363 m a.g.l.) averaged over the campaign duration were twice as high as the mean SML (904 ± 273 m a.g.l.). Both DRCL and SML showed a marked SML diurnal cycle. Ceilometer data were compared with potential temperature profiles measured by daily radiosounding (twice a day, midnight and midday) to interpret the boundary layer structure in the coastal urban area of Barcelona. The overall agreement (R2 = 0.80) between the ceilometer-retrieved and radiosounding-based SML heights (h) revealed overestimation of the SML by the ceilometer (Δh=145 ± 145 m). After separating the data in accordance with different atmospheric scenarios, the lowest SML (736 ± 183 m) and DRCL (1573 ± 428 m) were recorded during warm North African (NAF) advected air mass. By contrast, higher SML and DRCL were observed during stagnant Regional (REG) (911 ± 234 m and 1769 ± 314 m, respectively) and cold Atlantic (ATL) (965 ± 222 m and 1878 ± 290 m, respectively) air masses. In addition to being the lowest, the SML during the NAF scenario frequently showed a flat upper boundary throughout the day possibly because of the strong winds from the Mediterranean Sea limiting the midday SML convective growth. The mean backscatter coefficients were calculated at two selected heights representative of middle and top SML portions, i.e. β500 = 0.59 ± 0.45 Mm−1 sr−1 and β800 = 0.87 ± 0.68 Mm−1 sr−1 at 500 m and 800 m a.g.l., respectively. The highest backscatter coefficients were observed during NAF (β500 = 0.77 ± 0.57 Mm−1 sr−1) when compared with ATL (β500 = 0.51 ± 0.44 Mm−1 sr−1) and REG (β500 = 0.64 ± 0.39 Mm−1 sr−1). The relationship between the vertical change in backscatter coefficient and atmospheric stability (∂θ/∂z) was investigated in the first 3000 m a.g.l., aiming to study how the unstable, stable or neutral atmospheric conditions of the atmosphere alter the distribution of aerosol backscatter with height over Barcelona. A positive correlation between unstable conditions and enhanced backscatter and vice versa was found.
Trends in stratospheric ozone profiles using functional mixed models
Authors: Park A. Y. , Guillas S. , Petropavlovskikh I.
Published: May 2013

Abstract. This paper is devoted to the modeling of altitude-dependent patterns of ozone variations over time. Umkher ozone profiles (quarter of Umkehr layer) from 1978 to 2011 are investigated at two locations: Boulder (USA) and Arosa (Switzerland). The study consists of two statistical stages. First we approximate ozone profiles employing an appropriate basis. To capture primary modes of ozone variations without losing essential information, a functional principal component analysis is performed as it penalizes roughness of the function and smooths excessive variations in the shape of the ozone profiles. As a result, data driven basis functions are obtained. Secondly we estimate the effects of covariates – month, year (trend), quasi biennial oscillation, the Solar cycle, arctic oscillation and the El Niño/Southern Oscillation cycle – on the principal component scores of ozone profiles over time using generalized additive models. The effects are smooth functions of the covariates, and are represented by knot-based regression cubic splines. Finally we employ generalized additive mixed effects models incorporating a more complex error structure that reflects the observed seasonality in the data. The analysis provides more accurate estimates of influences and trends, together with enhanced uncertainty quantification. We are able to capture fine variations in the time evolution of the profiles such as the semi-annual oscillation. We conclude by showing the trends by altitude over Boulder. The strongly declining trends over 2003–2011 for altitudes of 32–64 hPa show that stratospheric ozone is not yet fully recovering.
Eddy covariance fluxes and vertical concentration gradient measurements of NO and NO2 over a ponderosa pine ecosystem: observational evidence for within canopy removal of NOx
Authors: Min K.-E. , Pusede S. E. , Browne E. C. , LaFranchi B. W. , Wooldridge P. J. , Cohen R. C.
Published: May 2013

Abstract. Exchange of NOx (NO+NO2) between the atmosphere and biosphere is important for air quality, climate change, and ecosystem nutrient dynamics. There are few direct ecosystem scale measurements of the direction and rate of atmosphere-biosphere exchange of NOx. As a result, a complete description of the processes affecting NOx following emission from soils and/or plants as they transit from within the plant/forest canopy to the free atmosphere remains poorly constrained and debated. Here, we describe measurements of NO and NO2 fluxes and vertical concentration gradients made during the Biosphere Effects on AeRosols and Photochemistry EXperiment 2009. In general, during daytime we observe upward fluxes of NO and NO2 with counter-gradient fluxes of NO. We find that NOx fluxes from the forest canopy are smaller than calculated using observed flux-gradient relationships for conserved tracers and also smaller than measured soil NO emissions. We interpret these differences as evidence for the existence of a "canopy reduction factor". We suggest that at this site it is primarily due to chemistry converting NOx to higher nitrogen oxides within the forest canopy.
Evaluating global emission inventories of biogenic bromocarbons
Authors: Hossaini R. , Mantle H. , Chipperfield M. P. , Montzka S. A. , Hamer P. , Ziska F. , Quack B. , Krüger K. , Tegtmeier S. , Atlas E. , Sala S. , Engel A. , Bönisch H. , Keber T. , Oram D. , Mills G. , Ordóñez C. , Saiz-Lopez A. , Warwick N. , Liang Q. , Feng W. , Moore F. , Miller B. R. , Marécal V. , Richards N. A. D. , Dorf M. , Pfeilsticker K.
Published: May 2013

Abstract. Emissions of halogenated very short-lived substances (VSLS) are poorly constrained. However, their inclusion in global models is required to simulate a realistic inorganic bromine (Bry) loading in both the troposphere, where bromine chemistry perturbs global oxidizing capacity, and in the stratosphere, where it is a major sink for ozone (O3). We have performed simulations using a 3-D chemical transport model (CTM) including three top-down and a single bottom-up derived emission inventory of the major brominated VSLS bromoform (CHBr3) and dibromomethane (CH2Br2). We perform the first concerted evaluation of these inventories, comparing both the magnitude and spatial distribution of emissions. For a quantitative evaluation of each inventory, model output is compared with independent long-term observations at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) ground-based stations and with aircraft observations made during the NSF HIAPER Pole-to-Pole Observations (HIPPO) project. For CHBr3, the mean absolute deviation between model and surface observation ranges from 0.22 (38%) to 0.78 (115%) parts per trillion (ppt) in the tropics, depending on emission inventory. For CH2Br2, the range is 0.17 (24%) to 1.25 (167%) ppt. We also use aircraft observations made during the 2011 "Stratospheric Ozone: Halogen Impacts in a Varying Atmosphere" (SHIVA) campaign, in the tropical West Pacific. Here, the performance of the various inventories also varies significantly, but overall the CTM is able to reproduce observed CHBr3 well in the free troposphere using an inventory based on observed sea-to-air fluxes. Finally, we identify the range of uncertainty associated with these VSLS emission inventories on stratospheric bromine loading due to VSLS (BryVSLS). Our simulations show BryVSLS ranges from ~ 4.0 to 8.0 ppt depending on the inventory. We report an optimised estimate at the lower end of this range (~ 4 ppt) based on combining the CHBr3 and CH2Br2 inventories which give best agreement with the compilation of observations in the tropics.
Feasibility study of using a "travelling" CO2 and CH4 instrument to validate continuous in situ measurement stations
Authors: Hammer S. , Konrad G. , Vermeulen A. T. , Laurent O. , Delmotte M. , Jordan A. , Hazan L. , Conil S. , Levin I.
Published: May 2013

Abstract. In the course of the ICOS (Integrated Carbon Observation System) Demonstration Experiment a feasibility study on the usefulness of a travelling comparison instrument (TCI) was conducted in order to evaluate continuous atmospheric CO2 and CH4 measurements at two European stations. The aim of the TCI is to independently measure ambient air in parallel to the standard station instrumentation, thus providing a comprehensive comparison that includes the sample intake system, the instrument itself as well as its calibration and data evaluation. Observed differences between the TCI and a gas chromatographic system, which acted as a reference for the TCI, were −0.02 ± 0.08 μmol mol−1 for CO2 and −0.3 ± 2.3 nmol mol−1 for CH4. Over a period of two weeks each, the continuous CO2 and CH4 measurements at two ICOS field stations, Cabauw (CBW), the Netherlands and Houdelaincourt (Observatoire Pérenne de l'Environnement, OPE), France, were compared to co-located TCI measurements. At Cabauw mean differences of 0.21 ± 0.06 μmol mol−1 for CO2 and 0.41 ± 0.50 nmol mol−1 for CH4 were found. For OPE the mean differences were 0.13 ± 0.07 μmol mol−1 for CO2 and 0.44 ± 0.36 nmol mol−1 for CH4. Offsets arising from differences in the working standard calibrations or leakages/contaminations in the drying systems are too small to explain the observed differences. Hence the most likely causes of these observed differences are leakages or contaminations in the intake lines and/or their flushing pumps. For the Cabauw instrument an additional error contribution originates from insufficient flushing of standard gases. Although the TCI is an extensive quality control approach it cannot replace other quality control systems. Thus, a comprehensive quality management strategy for atmospheric monitoring networks is proposed as well.
Design and performance of a Nafion dryer for continuous operation at CO2 and CH4 air monitoring sites
Authors: Welp L. R. , Keeling R. F. , Weiss R. F. , Paplawsky W. , Heckman S.
Published: May 2013

Abstract. In preparation for routine deployment in a network of greenhouse gas monitoring stations, we have designed and tested a simple method for drying ambient air to near or below 0.2% (2000 ppm) mole fraction H2O using a Nafion dryer. The inlet system was designed for use with cavity ring-down spectrometer (CRDS) analyzers such as the Picarro model G2301 that measure H2O in addition to their principal analytes, in this case CO2 and CH4. These analyzers report dry-gas mixing ratios without drying the sample by measuring H2O mixing ratio at the same frequency as the main analytes, and then correcting for the dilution and peak broadening effects of H2O on the mixing ratios of the other analytes measured in moist air. However, it is difficult to accurately validate the water vapor correction in the field. By substantially lowering the amount of H2O in the sample, uncertainties in the applied water vapor corrections can be reduced by an order of magnitude or more, thus eliminating the need to determine instrument-specific water vapor correction coefficients and to verify the stability over time. Our Nafion drying inlet system takes advantage of the extra capacity of the analyzer pump to redirect 30% of the dry gas exiting the Nafion to the outer shell side of the dryer and has no consumables. We tested the Nafion dryer against a cryotrap (−97 °C) method for removing H2O and found that in wet-air tests, the Nafion reduces the CO2 dry-gas mixing ratios of the sample gas by as much as 0.1 ± 0.01 ppm due to leakage across the membrane. The effect on CH4 was smaller and varied within ± 0.2 ppb, with an approximate uncertainty of 0.1 ppb. The Nafion-induced CO2 bias is partially offset by sending the dry reference gases through the Nafion dryer as well. The residual bias due to the impact of moisture differences between sample and reference gas on the permeation through the Nafion was approximately −0.05 ppm for CO2 and varied within ± 0.2 ppb for CH4. The uncertainty of this partial drying method is within the WMO compatibility guidelines for the Northern Hemisphere, 0.1 ppm for CO2 and 2 ppb for CH4, and is comparable to experimentally determining water vapor corrections for each instrument but less subject to concerns of possible drift in these corrections.
Ground-based remote sensing of thin clouds in the Arctic
Authors: Garrett T. J. , Zhao C.
Published: May 2013

Abstract. This paper describes a method for using interferometer measurements of downwelling thermal radiation to retrieve the properties of single-layer clouds. Cloud phase is determined from ratios of thermal emission in three "micro-windows" at 862.5 cm−1, 935.8 cm−1, and 988.4 cm−1 where absorption by water vapour is particularly small. Cloud microphysical and optical properties are retrieved from thermal emission in the first two of these micro-windows, constrained by the transmission through clouds of primarily stratospheric ozone emission at 1040 cm−1. Assuming a cloud does not approximate a blackbody, the estimated 95% confidence retrieval errors in effective radius re, visible optical depth τ, number concentration N, and water path WP are, respectively, 10%, 20%, 38% (55% for ice crystals), and 16%. Applied to data from the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement programme (ARM) North Slope of Alaska – Adjacent Arctic Ocean (NSA-AAO) site near Barrow, Alaska, retrievals show general agreement with both ground-based microwave radiometer measurements of liquid water path and a method that uses combined shortwave and microwave measurements to retrieve re, τ and N. Compared to other retrieval methods, advantages of this technique include its ability to characterise thin clouds year round, that water vapour is not a primary source of retrieval error, and that the retrievals of microphysical properties are only weakly sensitive to retrieved cloud phase. The primary limitation is the inapplicability to thicker clouds that radiate as blackbodies and that it relies on a fairly comprehensive suite of ground based measurements.
Improvement of OMI ozone profile retrievals in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere by the use of a tropopause-based ozone profile climatology
Authors: Bak J. , Liu X. , Wei J. C. , Pan L. L. , Chance K. , Kim J. H.
Published: May 2013

Abstract. Motivated by the need of obtaining a more accurate global ozone distribution in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS), we have investigated the use of a tropopause-based (TB) ozone climatology in ozone profile retrieval from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI). Due to the limited vertical ozone information in the UTLS region from OMI backscattered ultraviolet radiances, better climatological a priori information is important for improving ozone profile retrievals. We present the new TB climatology and evaluate the result of retrievals against previous work. The improved TB climatology is created using ozonesonde profiles from 1983 through 2008 extended with climatological ozone data above sonde burst altitude (~35 km) with the corresponding temperature profiles used to identify the thermal tropopause. The TB climatology consists of the mean states and 1σ standard deviations every month for each 10° latitude band. Three additional processes are applied in deriving our climatology: (1) using a variable shifting offset to define the TB coordinate, (2) separating ozonesonde profiles into tropical and extratropical regimes based on a threshold of 14 km in the thermal tropopause height, and (3) merging with an existing climatology from 5–10 km above the tropopause. The first process changes the reference of profiles to variable position between local and mean tropopause heights within ±5 km at the tropopause and to the mean tropopause elsewhere. The second helps to preserve characteristics of either tropical or extratropical ozone structures depending on tropopause height, especially in the subtropical region. The third improves the climatology above ozonesonde burst altitudes and in the stratosphere by using climatology derived from many more satellite observations of ozone profiles. With aid from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Global Forecast System (GFS) tropopause height, the new climatology and retrieval can better represent the dynamical variability of ozone in the tropopause region. The new retrieval result demonstrates significant improvement of UTLS ozone, especially in the extratropical UTLS, when evaluated using ozonesonde measurements and the meteorological data. The use of TB climatology significantly enhances the spatial consistency and the statistically relationship between ozone and potential vorticity/tropopause height in the extratropical UTLS region. Comparisons with ozonesonde measurements show substantial improvements in both mean biases and their standard deviations over the extratropical lowermost stratosphere and UT. Overall, OMI retrievals with the TB climatology show improved ability in capturing ozone gradients across the tropopause demonstrated by tropical/extratropical ozonesonde measurements.
INTEGRATION OF DIFFERENT FILTER ALGORITHMS FOR IMPROVING THE GROUND SURFACE EXTRACTION FROM AIRBORNE LIDAR DATA
Authors: Deng S. S. , Shi W. Z.
Published: May 2013

Abstract. An important step for processing airborne Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) data is point cloud filtering. Points striking on vegetation and man-made objects and low points (points significantly lower than neighboring points) are filtered out, leaving ground points for generation of digital terrain models (DTM). A variety of filter algorithms have been developed, which have disparate performance in different landscape and environment. This study investigates the potential of integrating the results of different filter algorithms for improving the ground surface extraction from the LiDAR point cloud. A simple procedure was proposed based on a statistical approach to identify and remove filtering errors and combine ground points from each filtering result. The procedure was tested in an area with rugged terrain covered by dense vegetation of variable heights. The filtering results of two popular filter algorithms, progressive TIN (Triangulated Irregular Network) densification and hierarchical robust interpolation, were integrated. The filtering results of two algorithms and the integration result were qualitatively evaluated. The evaluation results indicated that the proposed integration procedure can remove most vegetation points that were not filtered out by filter algorithms, and combine ground points from each filtering result.
THE GEOMETRIC ACCURACY VALIDATION OF THE ZY-3 MAPPING SATELLITE
Authors: Gao X. , Tang X. , Zhang G. , Zhu X.
Published: May 2013

Abstract. ZiYuan-3 (ZY-3) mapping satellite is the first civilian high-resolution stereo mapping satellite of China. The satellite’s objective is oriented towards plotting 1:50,000 and 1:25,000 topographic maps. This article proposes ZY-3 mapping satellite Rigorous Image Geometry Model and Rational Function Model (RFM). In addition, this paper utilizes the image of the ZY-3 satellite with the region of flatlands, hills and mountains for the block adjustment experiment. Different ground control points are selected and the accuracy is validated by check points, and the some Digital Surface Model (DSM), Digital Orthophoto Map (DOM) are generated and the accuracy is also validated by check points. The experiment reveals that the planar accuracy of DOM and vertical accuracy of DSM are better than 3m and 2 m, respectively. The experiment demonstrates the effectiveness of ZY-3 mapping satellite image geometry model.
QUALITY MANAGEMENT OF REFERENCE GEO-INFORMATION
Authors: Jakobsson A. , Hopfstock A. , Beare M. , Patrucco R.
Published: May 2013

Abstract. This paper will introduce how quality of geo-information can be managed when the production environment is no longer inside one organization (e.g. collection of data is contracted out) or data is compiled from various sources like in case of Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDIs). The bases for quality management of reference geo-information are discussed using three viewpoints; data, process and organization and user centric viewpoints. These viewpoints can be met using ISO 19157 and ISO 19158 standards together with ESDIN developed Quality Model and Data Quality Services Framework (DQSF). Two different services are identified a Data Quality Web Service and a Data User Web Service. We discuss how these principles and services are implemented now within EuroGeographics and Ordnance Survey of Great Britain. Further development will be done during the European Location Framework (ELF) project, which is providing a single source of reference geo-information for Europe during 2013-2016.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION FOR THE VALIDATION OF REMOTE SENSING PRODUCTS
Authors: Ge Y. , Li X. , Hu M. G. , Wang J. H. , Jin R. , Wang J. F. , Zhang R. H.
Published: May 2013

Abstract. The validation of remote sensing products (RSPs) is fundamental work before the proper use of RSPs. This paper mainly introduces the technical specification for the validation of remote sensing product, which is used to guide user how to validate the available products. The validation of remote sensing products (VRSP) mainly there are two levels. The first level focuses on the validation at pixel scale and the other is the product level which contains a number of pixels that are distributed in different land use types which are selected to represent both the space-time characteristics of surface parameters investigated. At pixel scale, the validation procedure mainly consists of three steps: sampling design for ground observation, data collection and estimation the mean value at pixel scale. The data types of ground observation include the wireless sensor network, which are used to capture multi-scale heterogeneities of surface parameters, and the footprint which could be a flux observation such as eddy covariance (EC) and large aperture scintillometer (LAS). After finishing the validation at pixel scale, the second-level validation for the whole remote sensing product is followed. The assessment with indexes is then used to evaluate the performance of the validation. Last, a validation report on the description of the validation will be included in the technical specification.
IMPROVING VOLUNTEERED GEOGRAPHIC DATA QUALITY USING SEMANTIC SIMILARITY MEASUREMENTS
Authors: Vandecasteele A. , Devillers R.
Published: May 2013

Abstract. Studies have analysed the quality of volunteered geographic information (VGI) datasets, assessing the positional accuracy of features and the completeness of specific attributes. While it has been shown that VGI can, in some context, reach a high positional accuracy, these works have also highlighted a large spatial heterogeneity in positional accuracy, completeness but also with regards to the semantics of the objects. Such high semantic heterogeneity of VGI datasets becomes a significant obstacle to a number of possible uses that could be made of the data. This paper proposes an approach for both improving the semantic quality and reducing the semantic heterogeneity of VGI dat asets. The improvement of the semantic quality is achieved by automatically suggesting attributes to contributors during the editing process. The reduction of semantic heterogeneity is achieved by automatically notifying contributors when two attributes are too similar or too dissimilar. The approach was implemented into a plugin for OpenStreetMap and different examples illustrate how this plugin can be used to improve the quality of VGI data.
QUALITY ANALYSIS OF OPEN STREET MAP DATA
Authors: Wang M. , Li Q. , Hu Q. , Zhou M.
Published: May 2013

Abstract. Crowd sourcing geographic data is an opensource geographic data which is contributed by lots of non-professionals and provided to the public. The typical crowd sourcing geographic data contains GPS track data like OpenStreetMap, collaborative map data like Wikimapia, social websites like Twitter and Facebook, POI signed by Jiepang user and so on. These data will provide canonical geographic information for pubic after treatment. As compared with conventional geographic data collection and update method, the crowd sourcing geographic data from the non-professional has characteristics or advantages of large data volume, high currency, abundance information and low cost and becomes a research hotspot of international geographic information science in the recent years. Large volume crowd sourcing geographic data with high currency provides a new solution for geospatial database updating while it need to solve the quality problem of crowd sourcing geographic data obtained from the non-professionals. In this paper, a quality analysis model for OpenStreetMap crowd sourcing geographic data is proposed. Firstly, a quality analysis framework is designed based on data characteristic analysis of OSM data. Secondly, a quality assessment model for OSM data by three different quality elements: completeness, thematic accuracy and positional accuracy is presented. Finally, take the OSM data of Wuhan for instance, the paper analyses and assesses the quality of OSM data with 2011 version of navigation map for reference. The result shows that the high-level roads and urban traffic network of OSM data has a high positional accuracy and completeness so that these OSM data can be used for updating of urban road network database.
UNCERTAINTIES IN NAVIGATION OF ELDERLY PEOPLE IN TOWNS – THE ASSISTANT PROJECT
Authors: Kainz W. , Kalian K.
Published: May 2013

Abstract. The ASSISTANT project contributes to maintaining the mobility of older people in Europe, in order to safeguard their social and economic participation in an increasingly ageing society. It does this by helping them to travel safely and independently by public transport. This three-year project develops an application for the home PC and smartphone that designed to help older travelers to plan their public transport journeys and then receive guidance during their journey. This guidance will help them to find the vehicle they need, warn them when to get off, when and where to change to another route, and will provide assistance if something goes wrong. There are several stages in the guidance where uncertainties play a major role and have an effect on the quality of the trip. The major uncertainty is with the location services when GPS reception in poor or impossible due to urban canyons or the user being under ground or in a tunnel. In addition, when waiting at a stop where for instance several buses might arrive at the same time, it could be difficult to identify the correct bus to board. This paper explains the overall design of the ASSISTANT project and addresses some of the issues related to positional uncertainties.
CLOUD DETECTION METHOD BASED ON FEATURE EXTRACTION IN REMOTE SENSING IMAGES
Authors: Changhui Y. , Yuan Y. , Minjing M. , Menglu Z.
Published: May 2013

Abstract. In remote sensing images, the existence of the clouds has a great impact on the image quality and subsequent image processing, as the images covered with clouds contain little useful information. Therefore, the detection and recognition of clouds is one of the major problems in the application of remote sensing images. Present there are two categories of method to cloud detection. One is setting spectrum thresholds based on the characteristics of the clouds to distinguish them. However, the instability and uncertainty of the practical clouds makes this kind of method complexity and weak adaptability. The other method adopts the features in the images to identify the clouds. Since there will be significant overlaps in some features of the clouds and grounds, the detection result is highly dependent on the effectiveness of the features. This paper presented a cloud detection method based on feature extraction for remote sensing images. At first, find out effective features through training pattern, the features are selected from gray, frequency and texture domains. The different features in the three domains of the training samples are calculated. Through the result of statistical analysis of all the features, the useful features are picked up to form a feature set. In concrete, the set includes three feature vectors, respectively, the gray feature vector constituted of average gray, variance, first-order difference, entropy and histogram, the frequency feature vector constituted of DCT high frequency coefficient and wavelet high frequency coefficient, and the texture feature vector constituted of the hybrid entropy and difference of the gray-gradient co-occurrence matrix and the image fractal dimension. Secondly, a thumbnail will be obtained by down sampling the original image and its features of gray, frequency and texture are computed. Last but not least, the cloud region will be judged by the comparison between the actual feature values and the thresholds determined by the sample training process. Experimental results show that the clouds and ground objects can be separated efficiently, and our method can implement rapid clouds detection and cloudiness calculation.
QUALITY ASSESSMENT – EXAMPLE OF DIGITAL PRODUCTS OF FUNDAMENTAL GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION OF CHINA
Authors: Guoqing D. , Ping X.
Published: May 2013

Abstract. Digital products of fundamental geographic information are the main components of Digital China Geo-spatial Framework (DCGSF for short). More and more mass data were produced and distributed to various users by different agencies and organizations with continuous implementation of fundamental surveying and mapping activities and various specified projects within national Administration of Surveying, Mapping & Geoinformation. Therefore, what about the description and quality assessment used for these products will directly effect the acquisition, delivery, share, and application of data. A quality model, by which quality is assessed through 3 levels of classification of quality elements, quality subelements, and check items, was built in this paper based on ISO 19113 and ISO 19114 so that to make the quality of digital products of fundamental geographic information to be assessed reasonably, and to make the quality assessment tools to be operable in practice. Quality assessment methods respectively for each of quality elements, quality subelements, and check items are presented. Fundamental data of Digital Line Graphs, Digital Elevation Models, Digital Orthophoto Maps, and Digital Raster Maps at the scale of 1:50,000 in DCGSF were used as examples to determine the quality of 9 quality elements, 24 quality subelements, and 68 check items considering the contents and the requirements of various users for these data, as well as the practical experiences in quality assessment. 300 DLGs selected from national key projects of surveying and mapping engineering were used for testing to validate the operability of the results mentioned in this paper. Random sampling is used, when sampling, for each layer, which is layered based on production unit and level of difficulty. Quality checking and quality assessment, and statistical analysis was done for samples in terms of item product and lot products respectively. The results from this test indicated that quality model and quality assessment methods introduced in this paper is of good operability, and results from it are reasonably good. Finally, the quality model and quality assessment methods introduced in this paper is applied in the development of national standards.
THE DESIGN OF INTELLIGENT WORKFLOW FOR GIS FUNCTIONS: A DATA QUALITY PERSPECTIVE
Authors: Hong J.-H. , Huang M.-L.
Published: May 2013

Abstract. Despite data quality has been long recognized as an essential component of geospatial data, it didn’t receive its deserved attention in the GIS-based applications. Due to the lack of a comprehensive framework for modelling, distribution and analysis of data quality of heterogeneous geospatial data, users are often forced to deal with data of unknown or unclear quality, an unpredictable level of risk is hence inevitable. With the rapid growth of data sharing mechanism, a close link between data producers and domain users must be established. We argue the use of quality information must be fully integrated with the commonly used GIS functions and further extended to the visualization of operation results. This is especially necessary for users who do not possess the required knowledge to correctly interpret the illustrated results in GIS-based interface. We first proposed a quality-aware workflow driven by standardized quality information, then use "data select" function as an example to demonstrate how the consideration of quality information can be assimilated into the design of GIS functions to ensure the correct interpretation of final results. The proposed workflow will not only improve the interoperability when integrating geospatial data from different resources, but also tremendously upgrade the intelligence of GIS-based operations to avoid wrong decision making.