bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Simulation of Water Use Dynamics by Salix Bush in a Semiarid Shallow Groundwater Area of the Chinese Erdos Plateau
Authors: Huang Jinting , Zhou Yangxiao , Hou Rongze , Wenninger Jochen
Published: December 2015

This study analyzed the water use of the Salix psammophila bush in a semi-arid area in northwest China using a Hydrus-1D model. The model incorporated the effect of thermally driven water flow coupling liquid water, water vapor and heat transport. The model was calibrated and validated using hourly field measurements of soil water content and temperature at different depths for a growing season of 154 days. Furthermore, another Hydrus-1D model was established to simulate environments with decreased heat, rainfall or temperature and an increased leaf area index using calibrated and validated parameters. Our results show that upward and downward thermally driven water vapor fluxes account for 0.11% and 0.28%, respectively, of the corresponding direction of total water flux during the bush’s growing season. Although the vapor flux is very small, simulations incorporating heat flow revealed alterations in the temperature and pressure head gradients over the root zone, especially during dry periods. Consequently, the cumulative contributions of groundwater to evapotranspiration (ETg) with heat flow and without heat flow were 26.9% and 40.6%, respectively, during the simulation period. Therefore, the cumulative contribution of groundwater to ETg is overestimated when heat flow is excluded. Thus, we recommended that heat transport be incorporated when evaluating ETg in arid and semi-arid areas.
Microsatellites for Carpotroche brasiliensis (Flacourtiaceae), a useful species for agroforestry and ecosystem conservation
Authors: Bittencourt Flora , Alves Jackeline S. , Gaiotto Fernanda A.
Published: December 2015

Premise of the study:

We developed microsatellite markers for Carpotroche brasiliensis (Flacourtiaceae), a dioecious tree that is used as a food resource by midsize animals of the Brazilian fauna.

Methods and Results:

We designed 30 primer pairs using next‐generation sequencing and classified 25 pairs as polymorphic. Observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.5 to 1.0, and expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.418 to 0.907. The combined probability of exclusion was greater than 0.999 and the combined probability of identity was less than 0.001, indicating that these microsatellites are appropriate for investigations of genetic structure, individual identification, and paternity testing.

Conclusions:

The developed molecular tools may contribute to future studies of population genetics, answering ecological and evolutionary questions regarding efficient conservation strategies for C. brasiliensis.
Command and Control as the ability of Commander
Authors: Zůna Pavel
Published: December 2015

The French "Centre de Doctrine d'Emploi des Forces" (CDEF) has published new doctrine FT-05 The Tactical Commander's Guide to Command and Control in Operations. The global action of land forces is now carried out within a strategic environment that has dramatically changed for 15 years. In this new environment, the French Army asserts and implements a double requirement: that of power and the control of force. The article presents the fundamental conclusions of this doctrine and compares them with the Czech national doctrinal documents. Author concludes that in comparison with the French doctrine, Czech doctrines are much more focused on the procedural and technological part of the Command and Control Systems than the ability of commanders to command.
The Problems with the Translation of Military Ranks
Authors: Chaloupský Ladislav
Published: December 2015

The conversion of military ranks poses an enormous difficulty due to great differences in hierarchical structures between different national armies. This article written by the Director of Defence Language Institute Vyškov will give a short overview of most common troubles. The problem here is that national armies mostly represent national cultures as well. Translations of titles of high-rank military personnel are not too complicated. More problematic is finding equivalents for less-known, more specific ranks or those of other national Armed Forces. NATO has agreed upon a common standard for their translation, the norm STANAG 2116, based on NATO codes representing levels of ranks according to their duties, responsibilities, and career requirements.
Cost Analysis: Nourishment in Time of Crisis Situation
Authors: Lukášková Eva , Velichová Helena
Published: December 2015

The inseparable parts of sustenance costs are expenses for nutrition of members of Integrated Rescue System (IRS) and evacuated civil population. The system covers distribution of foodstuff above all into evacuation centres, preparation of food (cooking), disposing wastes, remnants and leftovers. The collected data were used for calculating and analysis of overall costs spent for all discussed groups. Upon this analyses the authoresses draw final conclusions.
Les conditions du suicide des professionnels agricoles
Authors: Prévitali Clément
Published: December 2015

Ayant pour objectif de traiter du suicide des professionnels agricoles, nous partons de l’idée, partagée par tous les spécialistes de la question, qui fait de l’agriculture un secteur professionnel à risque. Pour autant, cet article donne l’occasion de nuancer ce constat puisque nous englobons cette étude dans une réflexion plus globale du milieu rural. Dans un premier temps, nous apportons quelques éléments de réflexion quant à l’impact du milieu de vie, notamment rural, sur le suicide. En effet, contrairement à ce qu’avait mis en évidence Durkheim, le milieu rural semble aujourd’hui plus touché par le suicide que le milieu urbain ; conséquence de la recomposition de la société rurale à travers la propagation d’un genre de vie urbain d’après Halbwachs. Dans un second temps, nous abordons plus précisément le suicide en agriculture. Étant entendu que la conduite suicidaire est un processus complexe, soumis à de multiples facteurs (économiques, sociaux, psychologiques, etc.), nous complétons notre analyse en proposant une nouvelle typologie des conditions des suicides chez les agriculteurs.
L’épreuve des « erreurs de cadre ». Le chercheur face à ses bourdes
Authors: Frétigné Cédric
Published: December 2015

Le chercheur commet régulièrement des « erreurs de cadre » lorsqu’il mène ses investigations. Généralement, ces bourdes sont tues dans les productions académiques. On peut supposer qu’elles sont généralement vécues comme autant d’épreuves douloureuses par le chercheur. Le propos de cet article est de faire état de l’intérêt cognitif qu’il y a à analyser ses « erreurs de cadre ».
Intuición, razón y cálculo en el análisis estructural en la bóveda de crucería de la capilla de San Antonio en Candás (Asturias)
Authors: Suárez F.
Published: December 2015

El análisis de sistemas constructivos tradicionales está comenzando a confiarse a potentes medios de simulación numérica. La precisión de cálculo y su expresividad visual son un reclamo al que resulta difícil sustraerse. El empleo de estos medios no puede olvidar el hecho de que estos sistemas constructivos y sus materiales constituyentes resultan difícilmente evaluables desde conceptos elásticos, convirtiéndose en sistemas hiperestáticos de orden creciente. El desmontaje de la bóveda de crucería de una capilla del siglo XVI ha permitido conocer con precisión esa serie de factores geométricos y de composición material que tantas veces resultan simples supuestos. Este conocimiento permite abordar un análisis comparado de las diferentes metodologías empleadas a lo largo de la historia. Analizar los resultados de las arcaicas razones de proporción geométrica, con metodologías como las de rigidez elástica o las de equilibrio fundamental, ha determinado que todas ellas lejos de ser excluyentes resultan complementarias.
Regularidad superficial y adherencia en vías ciclistas - recomendaciones de diseño disponibles
Authors: Barbudo A. , Jiménez J. R. , Ledesma E. F. , Sierra Mª. J.
Published: December 2015

Este trabajo presenta una revisión de diferentes normativas y recomendaciones nacionales e internacionales de diseño de pavimentos de vías ciclistas y analiza las especificaciones en cuanto a regularidad superficial y resistencia al deslizamiento/ derrape contempladas en las mismas. Tras un estudio comparativo, se pone de manifiesto la carencia de criterios específicos de diseño y la necesidad de unificar métodos de ensayo normalizados y valores límites de aceptación y/o rechazo que garanticen la seguridad y comodidad de los nuevos tramos construidos, favoreciendo así la movilidad ciclista en las ciudades.
The application of Coarse-Grained Parallel Genetic Algorithm with Hadoop in University Intelligent Course-Timetabling System
Authors: Wu Liping
Published: December 2015

The university course-timetabling problem is a NP-C problem. The traditional method of arranging course is inefficient, causes a high conflict rate of teacher resource or classroom resource, and is poor satisfaction in students. So it does not meet the requirements of modern university educational administration management. However, parallel genetic algorithm (PGA) not only have the advantages of the traditional genetic algorithm(GA), but also take full advantage of the computing power of parallel computing. It can improve the quality and speed of solving effectively, and have a broad application prospect in solving the problem of university course-timetabling problem. In this paper, based on the cloud computing platform of Hadoop, an improved method of fusing coarse-grained parallel genetic algorithm (CGPGA) and Map/Reduce programming model is deeply researched, and which is used to solve the problem of university intelligent courses arrangement. The simulation experiment results show that, compared with the traditional genetic algorithm, the coarse-grained parallel genetic algorithm not only improves the efficiency of the course arrangement and the success rate of the course, but also reduces the conflict rate of the course. At the same time, this research makes full use of the high parallelism of Map/Reduce to improve the efficiency of the algorithm, and also solves the problem of university scheduling problem more effectively.
The Application of Grey-TOPSIS Method on Teaching Quality Evaluation of the Higher Education
Authors: Song Jing , Zheng Junhui
Published: December 2015

The teaching quality of the higher school is not only related to the development of the students, but also related to the future of our country. It can find out the problems of the higher education for colleges to evaluate the teaching quality of the higher education. And it can provide the reference for the students to apply for the colleges. In this paper, we combine the grey correlation with TOPSIS

method and provide the improved Grey-TOPSIS method.

Then, we evaluate the teaching quality of the higher education. The results show that the comprehensive evaluation model can evaluate reasonably the teaching quality of the higher education. And it proves the validity and reliability of the method.
A Benchmarking Algorithm for Maximum Bottleneck Node Trust Score-based Data Gathering Trees in Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Meghanathan Natarajan
Published: December 2015

The author proposes a benchmarking algorithm to determine maximum bottleneck node trust score-based data gathering trees (MaxBNT-DG trees) for wireless sensor networks (WSNs) wherein the bottleneck node trust score of a path (minimum trust score for any node on the path, including those of the end nodes) from any node to the root node of the DG tree is the maximum. He compares the performance of the MaxBNT-DG trees with that of the maximum bottleneck link weight-based data gathering trees (MaxBLT-DG trees) for which the bottleneck link trust score (minimum trust score for constituent links) of a path from any node to the root node is the maximum. The author observes the MaxBNT-DG trees to incur a smaller tree diameter, a larger percentage of nodes as leaf nodes and a larger trust score per intermediate node; whereas, the MaxBLT-DG trees incur a lower aggregation delay, indicating a trust-aggregation delay tradeoff in WSNs. The MaxBNT-DG algorithm is also generic and can be extended to any other node criterion like residual energy, wake-up frequency, etc
Work-family and family-work conflicts amongst African nurses caring for patients with AIDS
Authors: Makola Lehlogonolo , Mashegoane Solomon , Debusho Legesse K.
Published: December 2015

Background: South African nursing environments are marked by various incapacitating stressors. This study explores work-family (W-F) and family-work (F-W) conflicts as aspects of stress amongst nurses working with patients who have AIDS.Objectives: The study sought to determine the value of W-F and F-W conflicts as predictors of work and family satisfaction, as well as turnover intentions and the moderating role of supervisor and significant other support, amongst nurses caring for patients with AIDS in public hospitals within the Capricorn and Mopani districts, Limpopo Province.Methods: The study used a cross-sectional design, with data collected at one point only. Ninety-one nursing staff provided the data for the study by completing structured, self-administered surveys. Analysis involved computing correlations of all study variables. Thereafter, associated variables were used as predictors. In each predictive analysis, the nurses’ stress served as a control variable, W-F and F-W conflicts were the independent variables and significant others and supervisor supports were moderators. Interaction terms were derived from independent and moderator variables.Results: Although the findings of the study were not generally supportive of the hypotheses advanced, they nevertheless showed, amongst other findings, that F-W conflict predicted work satisfaction whilst W-F conflict predicted turnover intentions. Moreover, significant other support had a direct effect on family satisfaction whilst supervisor support moderated reports of W-F conflict and experiences of work satisfaction.Conclusions: The study showed that inter-role models that appear to be established in the context of developed societies require some further investigations in South Africa.
Uniting Christian Students� Association�s pilgrimage to overcome colonial racism: A southern African postcolonial missiological dialogue
Authors: Nel R.W.
Published: December 2015

World Christianity has been enriched by Christian student movements such as the Uniting Christian Students� Association (UCSA) from South Africa. This article, based on my recent doctoral research, starts with the affirmation of the ambiguous relations of these movements with colonial racism. However, faced with new challenges in a postcolonial context, there are key impulses to be gained by an inter-subjective, but also interdisciplinary dialogue with these movements as they negotiate their calling. By focussing on one movement within the southern African context, UCSA, in particular its formation and development since the demise of apartheid in South Africa, the article aims to present an attempt to understand the missionary praxis of UCSA through a postcolonial missiological matrix. The article draws on the theological disciplines of missiology, systematic theology, church history, contextual theology, as well as the methodologies in non-theologic disciplines like sociology, in particular social movement studies, and history. The findings show, amongst others, a growing complexity in relation to its agency, how it frames its world and also how it used its authoritative sources to discern its calling. The article closes with some key insights and pointers relevant for faith communities in their mission to overcome colonial racism.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The teaching and research in missiology and systematic theology in how the challenge of colonial racism is addressed, methodologically.
The poor in the Psalms: A variety of views
Authors: Scheffler Eben H.
Published: December 2015

Since the psalms are religious, poetic, existential expressions of life, entailing both extreme joy and intense suffering, it stands to reason that poverty (in its literal sense and otherwise) would receive considerable attention. Focussing on material poverty and challenging the idea of a homogeneous view on poverty (e.g. Armenfr�mmigkeit) in the psalms, the diversity of views on poverty in the psalms is explored. Attention is paid to YHWH or God caring for the poor, the (Israelite) king as champion for the poor, the gods (heavenly assembly) (non)caring for the poor, caring for the poor in Zion theology, God as crusher of the poor and mutual human charity. The article concludes with some remarks regarding the possible present-day appropriation of the views in the psalms.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The article challenges the traditional notion on Armenfr�mmigkeit in the psalms. This is important for contexts where identifying with the poor are fed by selfish interest and actually feeds exploitation. It also propounds that various views on poverty exist, demanding creative and contextual applicable measures to combat poverty in the present-day world.
Variability of air ion concentrations in urban Paris
Authors: Dos Santos V. N. , Herrmann E. , Manninen H. E. , Hussein T. , Hakala J. , Nieminen T. , Aalto P. P. , Merkel M. , Wiedensohler A. , Kulmala M. , Petäjä T. , Hämeri K.
Published: December 2015

Abstract. Air ion concentrations influence new particle formation and consequently the global aerosol as potential cloud condensation nuclei. We aimed to evaluate air ion concentrations and characteristics of new particle formation events (NPF) in the megacity of Paris, France, within the MEGAPOLI (Megacities: Emissions, urban, regional and Global Atmospheric Pollution and climate effects, and Integrated tools for assessment and mitigation) project. We measured air ion number size distributions (0.8–42 nm) with an air ion spectrometer and fine particle number concentrations (> 6 nm) with a twin differential mobility particle sizer in an urban site of Paris between 26 June 2009 and 4 October 2010. Air ions were size classified as small (0.8–2 nm), intermediate (2–7 nm), and large (7–20 nm). The median concentrations of small and large ions were 670 and 680 cm−3, respectively, (sum of positive and negative polarities), whereas the median concentration of intermediate ions was only 20 cm−3, as these ions were mostly present during new particle formation bursts, i.e. when gas-to-particle conversion produced fresh aerosol particles from gas phase precursors. During peaks in traffic-related particle number, the concentrations of small and intermediate ions decreased, whereas the concentrations of large ions increased. Seasonal variations affected the ion population differently, with respect to their size and polarity. NPF was observed in 13 % of the days, being most frequent in spring and late summer (April, May, July, and August). The results also suggest that NPF was favoured on the weekends in comparison to workdays, likely due to the lower levels of condensation sinks in the mornings of weekends (CS weekdays 09:00: 18 × 10−3 s−1; CS weekend 09:00: 8 × 10−3 s−1). The median growth rates (GR) of ions during the NPF events varied between 3 and 7 nm h−1, increasing with the ion size and being higher on workdays than on weekends for intermediate and large ions. The median GR of small ions on the other hand were rather similar on workdays and weekends. In general, NPF bursts changed the diurnal cycle of particle number as well as intermediate and large ions by causing an extra peak between 09:00 and 14:00. On average, during the NPF bursts the concentrations of intermediate ions were 8.5–10 times higher than on NPF non-event days, depending on the polarity, and the concentrations of large ions and particles were 1.5–1.8 and 1.2 times higher, respectively. Because the median concentrations of intermediate ions were considerably higher on NPF event days in comparison to NPF non-event days, the results indicate that intermediate ion concentrations could be used as an indication for NPF in Paris. The results suggest that NPF was a source of ions and aerosol particles in Paris and therefore contributed to both air quality degradation and climatic effects, especially in the spring and summer.
Analysis of CO2 mole fraction data: first evidence of large-scale changes in CO2 uptake at high northern latitudes
Authors: Barlow J. M. , Palmer P. I. , Bruhwiler L. M. , Tans P.
Published: December 2015

Abstract. Atmospheric variations of carbon dioxide (CO2) mole fraction reflect changes in atmospheric transport and regional patterns of surface emission and uptake. Here we present a study of changes in the observed high northern latitude CO2 seasonal cycle. We report new estimates for changes in the phase and amplitude of the seasonal variations, indicative of biospheric changes, by spectrally decomposing multi-decadal records of surface CO2 mole fraction using a wavelet transform to isolate the changes in the observed seasonal cycle. We also perform similar analysis of the first derivative of CO2 mole fraction, ΔtCO2, that is a crude proxy for changes in CO2 flux. Using numerical experiments, we quantify the aliasing error associated with independently identifying trends in phase and peak uptake and release to be 10–25 %, with the smallest biases in phase associated with the analysis of ΔtCO2. We report our analysis from Barrow, Alaska (BRW), during 1973–2013, which is representative of the broader Arctic region. We determine an amplitude trend of 0.09 ± 0.02 ppm yr-1, which is consistent with previous work. Using ΔtCO2 we determine estimates for the timing of the onset of net uptake and release of CO2 of −0.14 ± 0.14 and −0.25 ± 0.08 days yr-1 respectively and a corresponding net uptake period of −0.11 ± 0.16 days yr-1, which are significantly different to previously reported estimates. We find that the wavelet transform method has significant skill in characterizing changes in the peak uptake and release. We find a trend of 0.65 ± 0.34 % yr-1 (p < 0.01) and 0.42 ± 0.34 % yr-1 (p < 0.05) for rates of peak uptake and release respectively. Our analysis does not provide direct evidence about the balance between uptake and release of carbon when integrated throughout the year, but the increase in the seasonal amplitude of CO2 together with an invariant net carbon uptake period provides evidence that high northern latitude ecosystems are progressively taking up more carbon during spring and early summer.
Phase, composition and growth mechanism for secondary organic aerosol from the ozonolysis of α-cedrene
Authors: Zhao Y. , Wingen L. M. , Perraud V. , Finlayson-Pitts B. J.
Published: December 2015

Abstract. Sesquiterpenes are an important class of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) and have a high secondary organic aerosol (SOA) forming potential. However, SOA formation from sesquiterpene oxidation has received less attention compared to other BVOCs such as monoterpenes, and the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. In this work, we present a comprehensive experimental investigation of the ozonolysis of α-cedrene both in a glass flow reactor (27–44 s reaction times) and in static Teflon chambers (30–60 min reaction times). The SOA was collected by impaction or filters, followed by analysis using attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), or measured on line using direct analysis in real time (DART-MS) and aerosol mass spectrometry (AMS). The slow evaporation of 2-ethylhexyl nitrate that was incorporated into the SOA during its formation and growth gives an estimated diffusion coefficient of 3 × 10−15 cm2 s−1 and shows that SOA is a highly viscous semi-solid. Possible structures of four newly observed low molecular weight (MW ≤ 300 Da) reaction products with higher oxygen content than those previously reported were identified. High molecular weight (HMW) products formed in the early stages of the oxidation have structures consistent with aldol condensation products, peroxyhemiacetals, and esters. The size-dependent distributions of HMW products in the SOA, as well as the effects of stabilized Criegee intermediate (SCI) scavengers on HMW products and particle formation, confirm that HMW products and reactions of Criegee intermediates play a crucial role in early stages of particle formation. Our studies provide new insights into mechanisms of SOA formation and growth in α-cedrene ozonolysis and the important role of sesquiterpenes in new particle formation as suggested by field measurements.
First continuous ground-based observations of long period oscillations in strato-/mesospheric wind profiles
Authors: Rüfenacht R. , Hocke K. , Kämpfer N.
Published: December 2015

Abstract. Direct measurements of middle-atmospheric wind oscillations with periods between 5 and 50 days in the altitude range between mid-stratosphere (5 hPa) and upper mesosphere (0.02 hPa) have been made using a novel ground-based Doppler wind radiometer. The oscillations were not inferred from measurements of tracers, as the radiometer offers the unique capability of near-continuous horizontal wind profile measurements. Observations from four campaigns at high, mid and low latitudes with an average duration of 10 months have been analyzed. The dominant oscillation has mostly been found to lie in the extra-long period range (20–40 days), while the well-known atmospheric normal modes around 5, 10 and 16 days have also been observed. Comparisons of our results with ECMWF operational analysis model data revealed remarkably good agreement below 0.3 hPa but discrepancies above.
The tropical Atlantic surface wind divergence belt and its effect on clouds
Authors: Tubul Y. , Koren I. , Altaratz O.
Published: December 2015

Abstract. A well-defined surface wind divergence (SWD) belt with distinct cloud properties forms over the equatorial Atlantic during the boreal summer months. This belt separates the deep convective clouds of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) from the shallow marine stratocumulus cloud decks forming over the cold-water subtropical region of the southern branch of the Hadley cell in the Atlantic. Using the QuikSCAT-SeaWinds and Aqua-MODIS instruments, we examined the large-scale spatiotemporal variability in the SWD belt during a 6-year period (2003–2008) and the related links to cloud properties over the Atlantic Ocean. The Atlantic SWD belt was found to be most pronounced from May to August, between the Equator and 2° N latitude. A positive correlation and a strong link were observed between formation of the SWD belt and a sharp sea-surface temperature gradient on the northern border of the cold tongue, supporting Wallace's vertical-mixing mechanism. The dominant cloud type over this region was shallow cumulus. Cloud properties were shown to be strongly linked to the formation and strength of the SWD zone. The findings will help to understand the link between ocean–atmosphere dynamics and cloud properties over this region, and suggest that the SWD zone be considered a unique cloud belt of the southern branch of the Atlantic Hadley cell.
EARTHQUAKE VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT FOR HOSPITAL BUILDINGS USING A GIS-BASED GROUP MULTI CRITERIA DECISION MAKING APPROACH: A CASE STUDY OF TEHRAN, IRAN
Authors: Delavar M. R. , Moradi M. , Moshiri B.
Published: December 2015

Abstract. Nowadays, urban areas are threatened by a number of natural hazards such as flood, landslide and earthquake. They can cause huge damages to buildings and human beings which necessitates disaster mitigation and preparation. One of the most important steps in disaster management is to understand all impacts and effects of disaster on urban facilities. Given that hospitals take care of vulnerable people reaction of hospital buildings against earthquake is vital. In this research, the vulnerability of hospital buildings against earthquake is analysed. The vulnerability of buildings is related to a number of criteria including age of building, number of floors, the quality of materials and intensity of the earthquake. Therefore, the problem of seismic vulnerability assessment is a multi-criteria assessment problem and multi criteria decision making methods can be used to address the problem. In this paper a group multi criteria decision making model is applied because using only one expert’s judgments can cause biased vulnerability maps. Sugeno integral which is able to take into account the interaction among criteria is employed to assess the vulnerability degree of buildings. Fuzzy capacities which are similar to layer weights in weighted linear averaging operator are calculated using particle swarm optimization. Then, calculated fuzzy capacities are included into the model to compute a vulnerability degree for each hospital.
MODELING THE SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF ESHNAN (SEIDLITZIA ROSMARINUS) SHRUBS TO EXPLORING THEIR ECOLOGICAL INTERACTIONS IN DRYLANDS OF CENTRAL IRAN
Authors: Erfanifard Y. , Khosravi E.
Published: December 2015

Abstract. Evaluating the interactions of woody plants has been a major research topic of ecological investigations in arid ecosystems. Plant-plant interactions can shift from positive (facilitation) to negative (competition) depending on levels of environmental stress and determine the spatial pattern of plants. The spatial distribution analysis of plants via different summary statistics can reveal the interactions of plants and how they influence one another. An aggregated distribution indicates facilitative interactions among plants, while dispersion of species reflects their competition for scarce resources. This study was aimed to explore the intraspecific interactions of eshnan (Seidlitzia rosmarinus) shrubs in arid lands, central Iran, using different summary statistics (i.e., pair correlation function g(r), O-ring function O(r), nearest neighbour distribution function D(r), spherical contact distribution function Hs(r)). The observed pattern of shrubs showed significant spatial heterogeneity as compared to inhomogeneous Poisson process (α=0.05). The results of g(r) and O(r) revealed the significant aggregation of eshnan shrubs up to scale of 3 m (α=0.05). The results of D(r) and Hs(r) also showed that maximum distance to nearest shrub was 6 m and the distribution of the sizes of gaps was significantly different from random distribution up to this spatial scale. In general, it was concluded that there were positive interactions between eshnan shrubs at small scales and they were aggregated due to their intraspecific facilitation effects in the study area.
SEMANTIC INDEXING OF TERRASAR-X AND IN SITU DATA FOR URBAN ANALYTICS
Authors: Espinoza Molina D. , Alonso K. , Datcu M.
Published: December 2015

Abstract. This paper presents the semantic indexing of TerraSAR-X images and in situ data. Image processing together with machine learning methods, relevance feedback techniques, and human expertise are used to annotate the image content into a land use land cover catalogue. All the generated information is stored into a geo-database supporting the link between different types of information and the computation of queries and analytics. We used 11 TerraSAR-X scenes over Germany and LUCAS as in situ data. The semantic index is composed of about 73 land use land cover categories found in TerraSAR-X test dataset and 84 categories found in LUCAS dataset.
DEVELOPING GIS-BASED DEMAND-RESPONSIVE TRANSIT SYSTEM IN TEHRAN CITY
Authors: Faroqi H. , Sadeghi-Niaraki A.
Published: December 2015

Abstract. Create, maintain and development of public transport network in metropolitan are important problems in the field of urban transport management. In public transport, maximize the efficient use of public fleet capacity has been considered. Concepts and technologies of GIS have provided suitable way for management and optimization of the public transports systems. In demand-responsive public transportation system, firstly fellow traveller groups have been established for applicants based on spatial concepts and tools of GIS, second for each group according to its’ members and their paths, a public vehicle has been allocated to them then based on dynamic routing, the fellow passenger group has been gathered from their origins and has been moved to their destinations through optimal route. The suggested system has been implemented based on network data and commuting trips statistics of 1 to 6 districts in Tehran city. Evaluation performed on the results show the 34% increase using of Taxi capacity, 13% increase using of Van capacity and 10% increase using of Bus capacity in comparison between current public transport system and suggested public transportation system has been improved.
A MODIFIED H-α PLANE FOR THE EXTRACTION OF SCATTERING MECHANISMS FROM DUAL CIRCULAR POLARIZATION SAR DATA
Authors: Ghods S. , Shojaeddini V. , Maghsoudi Y.
Published: December 2015

Abstract. Cloude–Pottier entropy and α-angle are two important parameters for the interpretation of fully polarimetric data. They indicate the randomness of the polarisation of the back scattered waves and the scattering mechanisms of the targets respectively. For fully polarimetric data the H-α plane is presented which using the borders of it the full polarimetric data can be classified into 8 different physical scattering mechanisms. In recent years new approaches have proposed H-α classification spaces by mapping the points which are belong to each PSMs of FP data into the space of H/α for CP data and approximate borders were extracted for the classification purpose. In this paper a novel approach for defining H/α classification plane has been presented which maximizes the producer’s accuracy. The optimum borders have been found and the results of classification using the new plane have been compared with the rival method and the superiority of the new proposed method has been revealed.
A NEW FRAMEWORK FOR OBJECT-BASED IMAGE ANALYSIS BASED ON SEGMENTATION SCALE SPACE AND RANDOM FOREST CLASSIFIER
Authors: Hadavand A. , Saadatseresht M. , Homayouni S.
Published: December 2015

Abstract. In this paper a new object-based framework is developed for automate scale selection in image segmentation. The quality of image objects have an important impact on further analyses. Due to the strong dependency of segmentation results to the scale parameter, choosing the best value for this parameter, for each class, becomes a main challenge in object-based image analysis. We propose a new framework which employs pixel-based land cover map to estimate the initial scale dedicated to each class. These scales are used to build segmentation scale space (SSS), a hierarchy of image objects. Optimization of SSS, respect to NDVI and DSM values in each super object is used to get the best scale in local regions of image scene. Optimized SSS segmentations are finally classified to produce the final land cover map. Very high resolution aerial image and digital surface model provided by ISPRS 2D semantic labelling dataset is used in our experiments. The result of our proposed method is comparable to those of ESP tool, a well-known method to estimate the scale of segmentation, and marginally improved the overall accuracy of classification from 79% to 80%.
SPATIAL QUERIES ENTITY RECOGNITION AND DISAMBIGUATION USING RULE-BASED APPROACH
Authors: Hamzei E. , Hakimpour F. , Forati A.
Published: December 2015

Abstract. In the digital world, search engines have been proposed as one of challenging research areas. One of the main issues in search engines studies is query processing, which its aim is to understand user’s needs. If unsuitable spatial query processing approach is employed, the results will be associated with high degree of ambiguity. To evade such degree of ambiguity, in this paper we present a new algorithm which depends on rule-based systems to process queries. Our algorithm is implemented in the three basic steps including: deductively iterative splitting the query; finding candidates for the location names, the location types and spatial relationships; and finally checking the relationships logically and conceptually using a rule based system. As we finally present in the paper using our proposed method have two major advantages: the search engines can provide the capability of spatial analysis based on the specific process and secondly because of its disambiguation technique, user reaches the more desirable result.
COMBINATION OF BIOCHEMICAL AND HYPERSPECTRAL REMOTE SENSING METHODS FOR DETECTION OF HEAVY METAL POLLUTIONS IN EUCALYPTUS LEAVES (CASE STUDY: THE CITY OF BAM)
Authors: Khalili R. , Anvari S. , Honarmand M.
Published: December 2015

Abstract. Environmental pollution may be caused due to mines and mineral deposits. The accumulation of the associated heavy metals in soil and especially at the root zone of plants would result in plant contamination. This paper aims to detect the dominant heavy metals in Eucalyptus leaves using both biochemical and hyperspectral techniques for northern part of Bam in Iran. In this regards, using biochemical approach, some Eucalyptus leaf samples were collected, and their laboratory data containing the concentration of heavy metals were measured by Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (GF-AAS). Using ASD FieldSpec3 Pro spectrometer (Analytical Spectral Devices) also, the spectral profile of leaf samples was measured and compared with healthy ones namely control samples. Finally, using supervised classification methods, the spatial distribution of heavy metals was determined by combination of biochemical results, spectral measurements of samples and hyperspectral images of EO-1 satellite. Results showed that Eucalyptus trees accumulates the heavy metals of As and Pb with the average concentrations equalling 9.98 and 14.31 ppb while compared with the relevant control samples equalling 2.32 and 8.98 ppb, respectively. Combination of biochemical and hyperspectral data analysis also proved by increasing heavy metals concentrations in all samples, their spectral profiles for the visible and near infrared regions will be changed in comparison with those obtained from the control sample.
OPTIMAL EXTRACTION OF TROPOSPHERIC OZONE COLUMN BY SIMULTANEOUS USE OF OMI AND TES DATA AND THE SURFACE TEMPERATURE
Authors: Mobasheri M. R. , Shirazi H.
Published: December 2015

Abstract. This article aims to increase the accuracy of Ozone data from tropospheric column (TOC) of the OMI and TES satellite instruments. To validate the estimated amount of satellite data, Ozonesonde data is used. The vertical resolution in both instruments in the tropospheric atmosphere decreases so that the degree of freedom signals (DOFS) on the average for TES is reduced to 2 and for OMI is reduced to1. But this decline in accuracy in estimation of tropospheric ozone is more obvious in urban areas so that estimated ozone in both instruments alone in non-urban areas show a high correlation with Ozonesonde. But in urban areas this correlation is significantly reduced, due to the ozone pre-structures and consequently an increase on surface-level ozone in urban areas. In order to improve the accuracy of satellite data, the average tropospheric ozone data from the two instruments were used. The aim is to increase the vertical resolution of ozone profile and the results clearly indicate an increase in correlations, but nevertheless the satellite data have a positive bias towards the earth data. To reduce the bias, with the solar flux and nitrogen dioxide values and surface temperatures are calculated as factors of ozone production on the earth’s surface and formation of mathematical equations based on coefficients for each of the mentioned values and multiplication of these coefficients by satellite data and repeated comparison with the values of Ozonesonde, the results showed that bias in urban areas is greatly reduced.
THE RATIONAL POLYNOMIAL COEFFICIENTS MODIFICATION USING DIGITAL ELEVATION MODELS
Authors: Alidoost F. , Azizi A. , Arefi H.
Published: December 2015

Abstract. The high-resolution satellite imageries (HRSI) are as primary dataset for different applications such as DEM generation, 3D city mapping, change detection, monitoring, and deformation detection. The geo-location information of HRSI are stored in metadata called Rational Polynomial Coefficients (RPCs). There are many methods to improve and modify the RPCs in order to have a precise mapping. In this paper, an automatic approach is presented for the RPC modification using global Digital Elevation Models. The main steps of this approach are: relative digital elevation model generation, shift parameters calculation, sparse point cloud generation and shift correction, and rational polynomial fitting. Using some ground control points, the accuracy of the proposed method is evaluated based on statistical descriptors in which the results show that the geo-location accuracy of HRSI can be improved without using Ground Control Points (GCPs).
COMPARISON OF TARGET- AND MUTUAL INFORMATON BASED CALIBRATION OF TERRESTRIAL LASER SCANNER AND DIGITAL CAMERA FOR DEFORMATION MONITORING
Authors: Omidalizarandi M. , Neumann I.
Published: December 2015

Abstract. In the current state-of-the-art, geodetic deformation analysis of natural and artificial objects (e.g. dams, bridges,...) is an ongoing research in both static and kinematic mode and has received considerable interest by researchers and geodetic engineers. In this work, due to increasing the accuracy of geodetic deformation analysis, a terrestrial laser scanner (TLS; here the Zoller+Fröhlich IMAGER 5006) and a high resolution digital camera (Nikon D750) are integrated to complementarily benefit from each other. In order to optimally combine the acquired data of the hybrid sensor system, a highly accurate estimation of the extrinsic calibration parameters between TLS and digital camera is a vital preliminary step. Thus, the calibration of the aforementioned hybrid sensor system can be separated into three single calibrations: calibration of the camera, calibration of the TLS and extrinsic calibration between TLS and digital camera. In this research, we focus on highly accurate estimating extrinsic parameters between fused sensors and target- and targetless (mutual information) based methods are applied. In target-based calibration, different types of observations (image coordinates, TLS measurements and laser tracker measurements for validation) are utilized and variance component estimation is applied to optimally assign adequate weights to the observations. Space resection bundle adjustment based on the collinearity equations is solved using Gauss-Markov and Gauss-Helmert model. Statistical tests are performed to discard outliers and large residuals in the adjustment procedure. At the end, the two aforementioned approaches are compared and advantages and disadvantages of them are investigated and numerical results are presented and discussed.
TREND ASSESSMENT OF SPATIO-TEMPORAL CHANGE OF TEHRAN HEAT ISLAND USING SATELLITE IMAGES
Authors: Saradjian M. R. , Sherafati Sh.
Published: December 2015

Abstract. Numerous investigations on Urban Heat Island (UHI) show that land cover change is the main factor of increasing Land Surface Temperature (LST) in urban areas, especially conversion of vegetation and bare soil to concrete, asphalt and other man-made structures. On the other hand, other human activities like those which cause to burning fossil fuels, that increase the amount of carbon dioxide, may raise temperature in global scale in comparison with small scales (urban areas). In this study, multiple satellite images with different spatial and temporal resolutions have been used to determine Land Surface Temperature (LST) variability in Tehran metropolitan area. High temporal resolution of AVHRR images have been used as the main data source when investigating temperature variability in the urban area. The analysis shows that UHI appears more significant at afternoon and night hours. But the urban class temperature is almost equal to its surrounding vegetation and bare soil classes at around noon. It also reveals that there is no specific difference in UHI intense during the days throughout the year. However, it can be concluded that in the process of city expansion in years, UHI has been grown both spatially and in magnitude. In order to locate land-cover types and relate them to LST, Thematic Mapper (TM) images have been exploited. The influence of elevation on the LST has also been studied, using digital elevation model derived from SRTM database.
LAND COVER CHANGE DETECTION BASED ON GENETICALLY FEATURE AELECTION AND IMAGE ALGEBRA USING HYPERION HYPERSPECTRAL IMAGERY
Authors: Seydi S. T. , Hasanlou M.
Published: December 2015

Abstract. The Earth has always been under the influence of population growth and human activities. This process causes the changes in land use. Thus, for optimal management of the use of resources, it is necessary to be aware of these changes. Satellite remote sensing has several advantages for monitoring land use/cover resources, especially for large geographic areas. Change detection and attribution of cultivation area over time present additional challenges for correctly analyzing remote sensing imagery. In this regards, for better identifying change in multi temporal images we use hyperspectral images. Hyperspectral images due to high spectral resolution created special placed in many of field. Nevertheless, selecting suitable and adequate features/bands from this data is crucial for any analysis and especially for the change detection algorithms. This research aims to automatically feature selection for detect land use changes are introduced. In this study, the optimal band images using hyperspectral sensor using Hyperion hyperspectral images by using genetic algorithms and Ratio bands, we select the optimal band. In addition, the results reveal the superiority of the implemented method to extract change map with overall accuracy by a margin of nearly 79% using multi temporal hyperspectral imagery.
CLUSTERING OF MULTI-TEMPORAL FULLY POLARIMETRIC L-BAND SAR DATA FOR AGRICULTURAL LAND COVER MAPPING
Authors: Tamiminia H. , Homayouni S. , Safari A.
Published: December 2015

Abstract. Recently, the unique capabilities of Polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar (PolSAR) sensors make them an important and efficient tool for natural resources and environmental applications, such as land cover and crop classification. The aim of this paper is to classify multi-temporal full polarimetric SAR data using kernel-based fuzzy C-means clustering method, over an agricultural region. This method starts with transforming input data into the higher dimensional space using kernel functions and then clustering them in the feature space. Feature space, due to its inherent properties, has the ability to take in account the nonlinear and complex nature of polarimetric data. Several SAR polarimetric features extracted using target decomposition algorithms. Features from Cloude-Pottier, Freeman-Durden and Yamaguchi algorithms used as inputs for the clustering. This method was applied to multi-temporal UAVSAR L-band images acquired over an agricultural area near Winnipeg, Canada, during June and July in 2012. The results demonstrate the efficiency of this approach with respect to the classical methods. In addition, using multi-temporal data in the clustering process helped to investigate the phenological cycle of plants and significantly improved the performance of agricultural land cover mapping.