bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Cross Cultural Collaboration and Leadership
Authors: Campa Kenneth
Published: June 2015

A specific multi-tiered community-based system within urban Los Angeles can be used to create a particular cross cultural collaboration and leadership model. This chapter focuses on a case study where cross cultural aspects of collaboration and leadership exist and work together within a particular community. By analyzing the historical to present-day context of this community-based system, this chapter reveals a strong correlation with relevant theoretical framework and practice strategies from the interdisciplinary field of Negotiation, Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding (NCRP). The system for collaborating across difference presented within this chapter alludes to the capacity of effectively creating optimal solutions for educational and other organizational community development. It makes a proposal how a combination of certain collaborative dynamics and aspects of the field of NCRP have the capacity to create effective means of support for students in the public school system
Principal Leadership in Diverse Cultures
Authors: Walker Allan , Qian Haiyan
Published: June 2015

This chapter draws empirical findings from a larger study that compared principals' leadership across three different international cultural contexts (Hong Kong, Singapore and Perth, Australia) and explored the influence of culture on leadership. Data were collected using interviews and structured vignettes from a purposive sample of 21 principals across three different cultures and were analyzed to arrive at a set of site-specific and cross-cultural comparative propositions. One set of these propositions is reported in the chapter. Societal culture was found to act as a filter and mediator to create substantial differences in leadership behaviors relevant to collaboration. The paper suggests re-thinking in the preparation, training, hiring and selection, of principals, all of which – given multi-ethnic, diverse societies – require more culturally aware and sensitive policies and practices.
Cross-Cultural Collaboration for Community-Oriented Policing and Restorative Justice
Authors: Normore Anthony H. , Ellis Brian , Clamp Kerry , Paterson Craig
Published: June 2015

This chapter proposes ways to actively shape future cross-cultural police leadership and collaboration within and across police cultures. The ideas presented are intended to create dialogue across modern police organizations and those who lead them. All four authors are connected with police work either as police officers, police researchers, or criminology instructors. We highlight the impact of restorative justice in policing, community-oriented policing, and collaboration of the law enforcement community within US and UK. Examples of these efforts are embedded throughout the chapter to corroborate our argument for more collaboration within and across cultures if contemporary policing is to be successful. Future research directions are presented.
The Philosophy of Using Communicative Intelligence for Cross-Cultural Collaboration
Authors: Zoller Kendall
Published: June 2015

This chapter describes Communicative Intelligence (CI) from a philosophical lens. The author explains its cognitive, emotional and actionable elements. CI is the deliberate and intentional deployment of verbal and nonverbal communication patterns in ways that aspire to develop relationships across and within cultures in the unpredictably dynamic arena of human interactions (see Zoller, 2008). Further, the author suggests that CI is a consciously mindful state where the deliberate application of verbal and nonverbal skills and moves are used to achieve an alignment between the intended message and the manner in which it is perceived to build rapport, model empathy, and impact trust. By using the strategies and ways of thinking found in CI, leaders can improve the quality of their relationships resulting in new possibilities and solutions to the issues facing organizations. Key areas of interest will be discussed including how CI can be used to impact cross-cultural collaboration and leadership.
Beyond Environment, Economy, and Equity
Authors: Sourial Jill
Published: June 2015

Future global leadership requires skills and capacities that go beyond the leadership of one individual or a select few who hold the majority of power and responsibility for making decisions on behalf of their organizations or constituencies. The challenges of the 21st century demand not only a more collaborative and distributed approach, but also one that encourages empathy, resonance, and vulnerability. This chapter focuses on climate change and the capacities needed to address it. A holistic approach to sustainability is often referred to as the “3E's” of Environment, Economy, and Equity. Given the complex nature of the challenges facing our planet and its governance systems, I argue that we have reached a critical point where it is necessary to add a fourth “E” to the sustainability framework. I would call this fourth “E” Empathy, which in very real terms encompasses a broad range of practices such a transformative conflict resolution, valuing diversity, cross-cultural dialogue, reconciliation, consensus building, collaboration, interdependency, negotiation, mediation, civic engagement, democratic governance, and social justice.
Giving Up Smoking Using SMS Messages on your Mobile Phone
Authors: Cacho-Elizondo Silvia , Shahidi Niousha , Tossan Vesselina
Published: June 2015

The current tendency to use cell phones or other mobile devices for healthcare purposes offers a huge opportunity to improve public health worldwide. In that direction, mobile devices make it easier to offer coaching services through text/video messages, to support individuals trying to break addictions such as smoking. Given that use of such services is still low in France and other countries, it is important to have greater understanding of what leads users to adopt them. Therefore, we propose and validate an explanatory model for the intention to adopt a mobile coaching service to help people to stop smoking. This chapter uses the concepts of vicarious innovativeness, social influence, perceived monetary value, perceived enjoyment, and perceived irritation.
Effects of Display Characteristics on Presence and Emotional Responses of Game Players
Authors: Wu Zhiming , Lin Tao , Tang Ningjiu , Wu Shaomei
Published: June 2015

Large displays are becoming ubiquitous and one important property of large displays is that they afford larger visual angles and physically larger screen sizes. However, there has been little investigation of the effects of large displays on users; furthermore, few studies have employed physiological measures, nor isolated the effects on presence and emotional responses of large visual angle and physically large screen size. This study, then, examines specifically the effects of these two properties of large displays on presence and emotional responses, using physiological as well as subjective methods. The results indicate that the larger visual angle offered by a large display can increase the sense of presence, engagement, and emotional responses when players are playing games. More interestingly, the physically larger sizes offered by a large display seem to also be able to affect these player experiences, even at identical visual angles with small displays.
Towards Intelligent Window Layout Management
Authors: Chen Rui , Lin Tao , Xie Tiantian
Published: June 2015

Large displays are becoming increasingly pervasive. Larger screen size provides an opportunity for users to see more information simultaneously, but at the cost of managing a larger amount of screen space, which is a great burden declining task performance and user experience. User would do/feel better if this burden could be takeover by the computer itself employing techniques that automate the management of screen space. Some studies on automatic window management have been carried out with some success. However, they mainly focus on utilization of empty screen space and/or overlap elimination while ignore preservation of the mental map of users, which tends to cause user confusion and disorientation in practical use. In this chapter, an empirical model is proposed to identifying the degree of mental map preservation for a window layout rearrangement. Furthermore, a method combining high-level window importance with a genetic multi-objective optimization algorithm is presented to generate recommended window layouts featuring a tradeoff among several conflicting goals: (1) better usage of screen space, (2) lower degree of window overlaps, and (3) better mental map preservation. Results suggest that the method is capable of generating suitable window layouts for users and takes a key step toward developing an automated windows manager.
Developing a Successful Facebook Fan Page Based on Costumers' Needs
Authors: Manthiou Aikaterini , Chiang Lanlung Luke , Tang Liang Rebecca
Published: June 2015

In this chapter, we determine possible needs that customers are fulfilling by participating in the Facebook fan pages. Understanding the needs that customers aim to pursue is the priority of marketing communications. Therefore, the chapter analyzes a theoretical approach to identify and respond to the needs that consumers seek to satisfy on fan pages. The customer needs are evaluated from functional, hedonic, social, and psychological perspectives and all four of the need components make significant contributions to the overall need on fan pages. Businesses in the food service industry are advised to build an emotional bond with consumers, enhance two-way communication, provide useful information and encourage entertainment on their fan pages. Managers of brands that operate fan pages can be guided by our research with regards to deciding which characteristics or content consumers find important in the these pages.
Do College Students Benefit from Their Social Media Experience?
Authors: Fang Ling , Ha Louisa
Published: June 2015

As young people are increasingly dependent on Social Networking sites (SNS) to socialize, seek information, and self-broadcast, their SNS consumption has been found to be associated with social capital and social support in a positive way especially among individuals with low psychological assets. This exploratory study investigated SNS involvement in relation to college students' perceived self-efficacy change afterwards based on the social cognitive theory and literature review on social media effects studies. Undergraduate students (N = 395) in a Midwest U.S. public university participated in a web survey in September 2012. Results indicated a positive potential of involving in SNS activities to strengthen users' self-efficacy. Research data also point to the mediating roles of social support and social learning on SNS involvement and self-efficacy, especially among low self-efficacy college students with homogenous SNS networks. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
What Motivates Online Shoppers to “Like” Brands' Facebook Fan Pages?
Authors: Abuljadail Mohammad Hatim , Ha Louisa , Wang Fang , Yang Liu
Published: June 2015

Brands' Facebook fan pages have been frequently used as a marketing tool to reach to more individuals; however, Facebook users' motivations to participate in those fan pages are still unclear. This paper investigates the motives that stimulate online shoppers to “like” brands' Facebook fan pages. This study is interested in knowing if online shoppers' proclivity to “like” brands' Facebook fan pages is based on their hedonic or utilitarian motivations. The authors propose a model based on hedonic and utilitarian motivations and uses and gratifications theoretical framework. An online survey was conducted among college students who shopped online in Northwest Ohio (N=198). The findings show that utilitarian motivations have positive significant relationships with “liking” brands' Facebook fan pages.
An OR Practitioner's Solution Approach for the Set Covering Problem
Authors: Lu Yun , Vasko Francis J.
Published: June 2015

The set covering problem (SCP) is an NP-complete problem that has many important industrial applications. Since industrial applications are typically large in scale, exact solution algorithms are not feasible for operations research (OR) practitioners to use when called on to solve real-world problems involving SCPs. However, the best performing heuristics for the SCP reported in the literature are not usually straightforward to implement. Additionally, these heuristics usually require the fine-tuning of several parameters. In contrast, simple greedy or even randomized greedy heuristics typically do not give as good results as the more sophisticated heuristics. In this paper, the authors present a compromise; a straightforward to implement, population-based solution approach for the SCP. It uses a randomized greedy approach to generate an initial population and then uses a genetic-based two phase approach to improve the population solutions. This two-phase approach uses transformation equations based on a Teaching-Learning based optimization approach developed by Rao, Savsani and Vakharia (2011, 2012) for continuous nonlinear optimization problems. Empirical results using set covering problems from Beasley's OR-library demonstrate the competitiveness of this approach both in terms of solution quality and execution time. The advantage to this approach is its relative simplicity for the practitioner to implement.
Bio-Inspired Techniques in the Clustering of Texts
Authors: Hamou Reda Mohamed , Bouarara Hadj Ahmed , Amine Abdelmalek
Published: June 2015

Today, the development of a large scale access network internet/intranet has increased the amount of textual information available online/offline, where billions of documents have been created. In the last few years, bio inspired techniques which invaded the world of text-mining such, as clustering, represents a critical problem in the digital society especially over the world of information retrieval (IR). The content of this article is a recapitulation of a set of works as a comparative study between the authors' experiments realized by applying a set of bio-inspired techniques (social spiders(SS), 2D Cellular automata (2D-CA), 3D cellular automata (3D-CA), Artificial immune system (AIS), Particle swarm optimization (PSO)) and other techniques founded in literature (Ants Colony Optimization (ACO) and Genetic algorithms (GAs)) for solving the text clustering challenge by using the benchmark Reuter 21785. They analyse the different results in term of entropy, f-measure, execution time, and clusters number in order to find the ideal configuration (similarity measure and text representation method) for each technique. Their objectives are to improve the efficiency of text clustering systems and make decisions that can be the starting point for other researchers.
Exploring Consumer Empowerment in Consumption Communities Based in Social Media
Authors: Ben Yahia Imene , El Ferci Lilia
Published: June 2015

In spite of the keen interest in empowerment, few authors have applied the concept to the characteristics of the Internet. This paper approaches it within consumption communities based in social media and explores its effects on consumers' behaviors towards firms. A participant observation was carried out and has lasted one year and a half in two consumption communities based in Facebook. Additionally, distant in-depth interviews have been conducted. Results give evidence for the existence of consumer empowerment online and highlight its complex multidimensional structure. Four dimensions are identified: informational, technological, social, and psychological. Results also underline that empowered consumers assess firms and call to reward some and to boycott others (1); negotiate to get better offerings (2) and demand cooperation (3).
Automated ERP Category Configuration Support for Small Businesses
Authors: Wölfel Klaus
Published: June 2015

Disruptive business models, such as software as a service and open source software, have made Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) packages and related software more accessible for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). However, the consulting required to configure an ERP to meet the specific needs of an organization remains a major financial burden for SMEs. One configuration task which is common to many ERPs is category configuration. With the help of automated category configuration support, managers of small businesses can perform category configuration on their own and reduce part of the consulting cost. This paper presents the design of a generic automation approach for ERP category configuration, its implementation and its application to the open source ERP package ERP5. The approach is based on similarity of example data, automatic vocabulary consolidation through Wikipedia redirects and (meta-) templates. The empirical evaluation through a laboratory experiment with one hundred test persons and a survey supports the validity, effectiveness and utility of the designed artefact.
Metrology of Al2O3 Barrier Film for Flexible CIGS Solar Cells
Authors: Elrawemi Mohamed , Blunt Liam , Fleming Leigh , Sweeney Francis , Robbins David , Bird David
Published: June 2015

Flexible Cu (In, Ga) Se2 (CIGS) solar cells are very attractive renewable energy sources because of their high conversion efficiencies, their low cost potential and their many application possibilities. However, they are at present highly susceptible to long term environmental degradation as a result of water vapor ingress through the protective encapsulation layer to the absorber (CIGS) layer. The basic methodology to prevent the water vapor permeation is to combine an oxide layer (e.g. AlOx) coating with suitable polymer substrates. Nevertheless, micro and nano-scale defects can appear at any stage of the coating process thus affecting the module efficiency and lifespan. The main aim of this research paper is to use surface metrology techniques including: White Light Scanning Interferometry (WLSI), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy (ESEM) to characterise the aluminum oxide (Al2O3) barrier film defects, which appear to be directly responsible for the water vapor permeability. This paper reports on the development of a characterisation method for defect detection based on “Wolf Pruning” method and then correlates this with measured water vapor transmission rates (WVTRs) using standard MOCON® test. The results presented in this paper provided a detailed knowledge of the nature of micro and nano-scale defects on the Al2O3 barrier films which are responsible for water vapor and oxygen ingress. This result can then be used to provide the basis for developing roll-to-roll in process metrology devices for quality control of flexible PV module manufacture.
Facilitating Learning Resource Retrieval for Students with Disabilities through an Ontology-Driven and Disability-Aware Virtual Learning Environment
Authors: Nganji Julius T. , Brayshaw Mike
Published: June 2015

Existing virtual learning environments (VLEs) in educational institutions are not designed with the expectation that students with disabilities will use them. Consequently, retrieving relevant information by some students with disabilities is a challenging task. The focus of this study was to propose the design of VLEs to incorporate ontologies that facilitate information retrieval by students with disabilities in their learning, thus serving as a semantic web-based assistive technology in education. An Ontology-Driven Disability-Aware Personalised E-Learning System (ONTODAPS) was designed and then used to recommend specific learning materials to learners based on their learning goal and disability type. Preliminary results of the evaluation of ONTODAPS, by 30 students with disabilities, indicate that 70% of the participants found ONTODAPS to offer a better personalisation, better access to learning materials (68%) and is easier to use (63%) in retrieving learning materials than Sakai. Thus ONTODAPS serves as an assistive tool in their education through retrieval of relevant learning materials in a suitable format which is compatible with their disability.
Probabilistic Approach to Arabic Speech Correction for Peoples with Language Disabilities
Authors: Terbeh Naim , Ben Mohamed Mohamed Achraf , Zrigui Mounir
Published: June 2015

This work consists in achieving an automatic speech correction system for continuous Arabic speech with large vocabulary in mono-speaker mode. Two vectors to be generated: the first is an Arabic speech standard (probability of occurrence of each Arabic bi-phoneme), the second gives a probabilistic representation of the speech sequence to be corrected. Using these two vectors, phonemes that pose pronunciation problems to speakers and their replacements can be identified. The rest is a game of substitutions and belonging tests to an Arabic lexicon. For that, an acoustic model for Arabic speech and a lexicon of 4 million distinct words have been built. Results of the work were encouraging and present a reference for other works for people with language disabilities. A correction rate of 97% is reached.
Performance Evaluation of Hierarchical SOAP Based Web Service in Load Balancing Cluster-Based and Non-Cluster-Based Web Server
Authors: Bezboruah Tulshi , Bora Abhijit
Published: June 2015

Evaluating the implementation techniques of web service and analysing their performance in load balancing cluster-based and non-cluster-based web server is necessary from the perspective of web service developer, researchers as well as users. As such the authors propose to develop and implement a SOAP based hierarchical web service using load balancing cluster-based and non-cluster based Apache Tomcat web server to study the web service performance metrics. The performance of overall system is tested using the load testing tool Mercury Load runner and a comparative investigation is carried out using the stability, load and performance metrics of both services. In this paper, the authors present, in detail, the methodology of experiment, comparative testing results, and statistical analysis on performance metrics.
Context Window Based Co-occurrence Approach for Improving Feedback Based Query Expansion in Information Retrieval
Authors: Singh Jagendra , Sharan Aditi
Published: June 2015

Pseudo-relevance feedback (PRF) is a type of relevance feedback approach of query expansion that considers the top ranked retrieved documents as relevance feedback. In this paper the authors focus is to capture the limitation of co-occurrence and PRF based query expansion approach and the authors proposed a hybrid method to improve the performance of PRF based query expansion by combining query term co-occurrence and query terms contextual information based on corpus of top retrieved feedback documents in first pass. Firstly, the paper suggests top retrieved feedback documents based query term co-occurrence approach to select an optimal combination of query terms from a pool of terms obtained using PRF based query expansion. Second, contextual window based approach is used to select the query context related terms from top feedback documents. Third, comparisons were made among baseline, co-occurrence and contextual window based approaches using different performance evaluating metrics. The experiments were performed on benchmark data and the results show significant improvement over baseline approach.
Data Compression and Transmission Method of Vehicle Monitoring Information Collection Based on CAN Bus
Authors: Liu Yingji , Zhao Kan , Ding Chen , Yao Yu
Published: June 2015

Real-time remote monitoring and fault diagnosis for commercial buses has important significance in reducing the occurrence of potential accidents. This paper presents a real-time remote monitoring system for the running state of commercial passenger buses. The vehicle Controller Area Network (CAN) bus is able to collect the information of key indicators being monitored, such as brake pressure, oil pressure and fault code. Then, the collected data are uploaded to the central remote monitoring platform through a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) module for further analysis and decision-making. In this work, a classification based data acquisition method and a hybrid configuration data transmission method are proposed to improve the efficiency of data acquisition and transmission. The authors also proposed a Run-length based relative coding algorithm to compress the massive monitoring data. Experimental results shows the average data compression ratio is 32.17%, which effectively reduces the data transmission cost.
An Experimental Evaluation of Debayering Algorithms on GPUs for Recording Panoramic Video in Real-Time
Authors: Langseth Ragnar , Gaddam Vamsidhar Reddy , Stensland Håkon Kvale , Griwodz Carsten , Halvorsen Pål , Johansen Dag
Published: June 2015

Modern video cameras often only capture a single color per pixel in a single pass operation. This process is called ltering, where pixels are ltered through a color lter array, and the Bayer lter is perhaps the most common lter used today. This means that the missing color channels must be restored in the image or the video frame in a post-processing step, i.e., a process referred to as debayering. In a live video scenario, this operation must be performed eciently in order to output each video frame in real-time, while also yielding acceptable visual quality. Here, the authors evaluate debayering algorithms implemented on a GPU for real-time panoramic video recordings using multiple 2K-resolution cameras.
Using Mobile Touch Devices to Provide Flexible Classroom Assessment Techniques
Authors: McLoone Séamus C. , Villing Rudi , O'Keeffe Simon
Published: June 2015

Classroom assessment techniques (CATs) are ungraded activities in a classroom setting that provide feedback to the teacher and to the students themselves, on the current state of student learning and understanding, which can subsequently drive corrective actions where necessary. Student response systems (SRSs) provide a technological solution for CATs whereby students can respond anonymously and instructors can provide instant feedback. However, existing systems have tended to suffer from constrained input, limiting the quality of the student responses. In particular, existing SRSs typically only employ well known form based input metaphors such as the multiple-choice selection and text-box input. These input types are not well suited to responses that require significant graphic or symbolic elements such as equations, circuit diagrams, and other drawings. These SRSs also have logistical issues in relation to portability and ownership of the equipment. In this paper, the authors present an SRS designed from the ground up to support CATs with freeform input to fulfil the needs of the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) classroom, though the solution is applicable to any learning environment in which freeform input is valuable. To mitigate logistical issues, the solution employs touch based Android tablets and smart phones commonly owned by students and a freely downloadable student app. This paper details the design of teacher and student interaction, including instructor preparation prior to class. The authors also examine some of the issues surrounding freeform graphic and symbolic input on a range of device form factors and the particular solutions that they found effective. A summary of their ongoing evaluation of this system is also outlined within.
AudioAuth
Authors: Said Karim , Kuber Ravi , Murphy Emma
Published: June 2015

In this paper, the authors describe a novel design alternative to the traditional PIN-based user authentication process, through the selection of a sequence of abstract sounds. The authors conducted two studies as part of the research. The first study examines a user's ability to discriminate between sounds based on the manipulation of various sound characteristics. Results highlighted the benefits of timbre and spatial positioning as differentiators. They also found manipulations of pitch, rhythm, and spatial position further compliment a capacity for discerning between sounds. Using findings from the first study, they conducted a second study, which examined the usability of a sound-based authentication interface, AudioAuth. Finally, the authors conducted retrospective interviews with study participants to investigate the potential applicability of AudioAuth design concepts in a mobile context. The authors' insights gained from the research, including methodological lessons, offer guidance to interface designers interested in exploiting the potential of abstract sounds to support the user authentication workflows.
A Prototype Audio-Tactile Map System with an Advanced Auditory Display
Authors: O'Sullivan Liam , Picinali Lorenzo , Gerino Andrea , Cawthorne Douglas
Published: June 2015

Tactile surfaces can display information in a variety of applications for all users, but can be of particular benefit to blind and visually impaired individuals. One example is the use of paper-based tactile maps as navigational aids for interior and exterior spaces; visually impaired individuals may use these to practice and learn a route prior to journeying. The addition of an interactive auditory display can enhance such interfaces by providing additional information. This article presents a prototype system which tracks the actions of a user's hands over a tactile surface and responds with sonic feedback. The initial application is an Audio-Tactile Map (ATM); the auditory display provides verbalised information as well as environmental sounds useful for navigation. Two versions of the interface are presented; a desktop version intended as a large-format information point and a mobile version which uses a tablet computer overlain with tactile paper. Details of these implementations are provided, including observations drawn from the participation of a partially-sighted individual in the design process. A usability test with five visually impaired subjects also gives a favourable assessment of the mobile version.
Protective Effect of Piper aduncum Capsule on DMBA-induced Breast Cancer in Rats
Authors: Arroyo-Acevedo J. , Chávez-Asmat R.J. , Anampa-Guzmán A. , Donaires R. , Ráez-Gonzáles Josέ
Published: June 2015

The possible protective effect of Piper aduncum capsule on DMBA (dimethylbenz[α]anthracene)-induced breast cancer in rats was assessed by monitoring the tumor and lung metastases incidence and recording hematological and biochemical parameters and frequency of micronuclei. Mammary carcinogenesis was induced in 36 female Holtzman rats by providing a single subcutaneous injection of DMBA. Oral administration of P. aduncum capsule lowered adenocarcinoma and lymph node metastases incidence. Pulmonary metastasis was significantly lowered ( P < 0.05). Hematological indicators showed that the triglyceride level was significantly lowered ( P < 0.01) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) level was significantly increased ( P < 0.01). Also, P. aduncum capsule significantly lowered the C reactive protein (CRP) level ( P < 0.01) and malondialdehyde level ( P < 0.05). There was a significant decrease in the frequency of DMBA-induced micronucleated polychromatic erythrocyte ( P < 0.01). Considering the antitumorigenic, hypolipidemic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antigenotoxic properties of P. aduncum capsule, we conclude that it has a protective effect on DMBA-induced breast cancer in rats.
Simulation of the isotopic composition of stratospheric water vapour – Part 2: Investigation of HDO / H2O variations
Authors: Eichinger R. , Jöckel P. , Lossow S.
Published: June 2015

Abstract. Studying the isotopic composition of water vapour in the lower stratosphere can reveal the driving mechanisms of changes in the stratospheric water vapour budget and therefore help to explain the trends and variations of stratospheric water vapour during recent decades. We equipped a global chemistry climate model with a description of the water isotopologue HDO, comprising its physical and chemical fractionation effects throughout the hydrological cycle. We use this model to improve our understanding of the processes which determine the patterns in the stratospheric water isotope composition and in the water vapour budget itself. The link between the water vapour budget and its isotopic composition in the tropical stratosphere is presented through their correlation in a simulated 21-year time series. The two quantities depend on the same processes; however, they are influenced with different strengths. A sensitivity experiment shows that fractionation effects during the oxidation of methane have a damping effect on the stratospheric tape recorder signal in the water isotope ratio. Moreover, the chemically produced high water isotope ratios overshadow the tape recorder in the upper stratosphere. Investigating the origin of the boreal-summer signal of isotopically enriched water vapour reveals that in-mixing of old stratospheric air from the extratropics and the intrusion of tropospheric water vapour into the stratosphere complement each other in order to create the stratospheric isotope ratio tape recorder signal. For this, the effect of ice lofting in monsoon systems is shown to play a crucial role. Furthermore, we describe a possible pathway of isotopically enriched water vapour through the tropopause into the tropical stratosphere.
Built-up Areas Extraction in High Resolution SAR Imagery based on the method of Multiple Feature Weighted Fusion
Authors: Liu X. , Zhang J. X. , Zhao Z. , Ma A. D.
Published: June 2015

Abstract. Synthetic aperture radar in the application of remote sensing technology is becoming more and more widely because of its all-time and all-weather operation, feature extraction research in high resolution SAR image has become a hot topic of concern. In particular, with the continuous improvement of airborne SAR image resolution, image texture information become more abundant. It’s of great significance to classification and extraction. In this paper, a novel method for built-up areas extraction using both statistical and structural features is proposed according to the built-up texture features. First of all, statistical texture features and structural features are respectively extracted by classical method of gray level co-occurrence matrix and method of variogram function, and the direction information is considered in this process. Next, feature weights are calculated innovatively according to the Bhattacharyya distance. Then, all features are weighted fusion. At last, the fused image is classified with K-means classification method and the built-up areas are extracted after post classification process. The proposed method has been tested by domestic airborne P band polarization SAR images, at the same time, two groups of experiments based on the method of statistical texture and the method of structural texture were carried out respectively. On the basis of qualitative analysis, quantitative analysis based on the built-up area selected artificially is enforced, in the relatively simple experimentation area, detection rate is more than 90%, in the relatively complex experimentation area, detection rate is also higher than the other two methods. In the study-area, the results show that this method can effectively and accurately extract built-up areas in high resolution airborne SAR imagery.
Development of a fusion approach selection tool
Authors: Pohl C. , Zeng Y.
Published: June 2015

Abstract. During the last decades number and quality of available remote sensing satellite sensors for Earth observation has grown significantly. The amount of available multi-sensor images along with their increased spatial and spectral resolution provides new challenges to Earth scientists. With a Fusion Approach Selection Tool (FAST) the remote sensing community would obtain access to an optimized and improved image processing technology. Remote sensing image fusion is a mean to produce images containing information that is not inherent in the single image alone. In the meantime the user has access to sophisticated commercialized image fusion techniques plus the option to tune the parameters of each individual technique to match the anticipated application. This leaves the operator with an uncountable number of options to combine remote sensing images, not talking about the selection of the appropriate images, resolution and bands. Image fusion can be a machine and time-consuming endeavour. In addition it requires knowledge about remote sensing, image fusion, digital image processing and the application. FAST shall provide the user with a quick overview of processing flows to choose from to reach the target. FAST will ask for available images, application parameters and desired information to process this input to come out with a workflow to quickly obtain the best results. It will optimize data and image fusion techniques. It provides an overview on the possible results from which the user can choose the best. FAST will enable even inexperienced users to use advanced processing methods to maximize the benefit of multi-sensor image exploitation.
Ground subsidence monitoring over Jiaxing region, Zhejiang province from 2006 to 2010 using time series InSAR technique
Authors: Wu H. A. , Zhang Y. H. , Luo G. F. , Mao W. H. , Kang Y. H. , Jin Y.
Published: June 2015

Abstract. Because of over-exploration of groundwater for a long time, Jiaxing region, northeast of Zhejiang province has suffering serious ground subsidence during the past several decades. In this paper, we investigate the time series InSAR technique for the generation of subsidence maps over Jiaxing region. 25 ENVISAT ASAR images acquired from Jan 2006 to Aug 2010 are used. The results show that serious subsidence has taken place in Xiuzhou district, Jiashan county, Pinghu county and Haiyan county. 4 subsidence centers, namely Huanggu town in Pinghu, Wangjiangting town in Xiuzhou, Tianning townin Jiashan, and Wuyuan town in Haiyan. 3 obvious subsidence belts are distributed in Jiaxing. Meanwhile in Tongxiang county, Haining county and Nanhu district, there is relatively seldom subsidence. The results are compared with 35 levelling measurements. The standard deviation of the error between the two data is 4.25 mm/year, which demonstrate that time series InSAR technique has good accuracy for subsidence monitoring in Zhejiang province, southeast of China, covered with lots of vegetation and waters.
Improvement of Forest Height Retrieval By Integration of Dual-Baseline PolInSAR Data And External DEM Data
Authors: Xie Q. , Wang C. , Zhu J. , Fu H. , Wang C.
Published: June 2015

Abstract. In recent years, a lot of studies have shown that polarimetric synthetic aperture radar interferometry (PolInSAR) is a powerful technique for forest height mapping and monitoring. However, few researches address the problem of terrain slope effect, which will be one of the major limitations for forest height inversion in mountain forest area. In this paper, we present a novel forest height retrieval algorithm by integration of dual-baseline PolInSAR data and external DEM data. For the first time, we successfully expand the S-RVoG (Sloped-Random Volume over Ground) model for forest parameters inversion into the case of dual-baseline PolInSAR configuration. In this case, the proposed method not only corrects terrain slope variation effect efficiently, but also involves more observations to improve the accuracy of parameters inversion. In order to demonstrate the performance of the inversion algorithm, a set of quad-pol images acquired at the P-band in interferometric repeat-pass mode by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) with the Experimental SAR (E-SAR) system, in the frame of the BioSAR2008 campaign, has been used for the retrieval of forest height over Krycklan boreal forest in northern Sweden. At the same time, a high accuracy external DEM in the experimental area has been collected for computing terrain slope information, which subsequently is used as an inputting parameter in the S-RVoG model. Finally, in-situ ground truth heights in stand-level have been collected to validate the inversion result. The preliminary results show that the proposed inversion algorithm promises to provide much more accurate estimation of forest height than traditional dualbaseline inversion algorithms.
High resolution remote sensing image segmentation based on graph theory and fractal net evolution approach
Authors: Yang Y. , Li H. T. , Han Y. S. , Gu H. Y.
Published: June 2015

Abstract. Image segmentation is the foundation of further object-oriented image analysis, understanding and recognition. It is one of the key technologies in high resolution remote sensing applications. In this paper, a new fast image segmentation algorithm for high resolution remote sensing imagery is proposed, which is based on graph theory and fractal net evolution approach (FNEA). Firstly, an image is modelled as a weighted undirected graph, where nodes correspond to pixels, and edges connect adjacent pixels. An initial object layer can be obtained efficiently from graph-based segmentation, which runs in time nearly linear in the number of image pixels. Then FNEA starts with the initial object layer and a pairwise merge of its neighbour object with the aim to minimize the resulting summed heterogeneity. Furthermore, according to the character of different features in high resolution remote sensing image, three different merging criterions for image objects based on spectral and spatial information are adopted. Finally, compared with the commercial remote sensing software eCognition, the experimental results demonstrate that the efficiency of the algorithm has significantly improved, and the result can maintain good feature boundaries.
The Research of Spatial-Temporal Analysis and Decision-Making Assistant System for Disabled Person Affairs Based on Mapworld
Authors: Zhang J. H. , Yang J. , Sun Y. S.
Published: June 2015

Abstract. This system combines the Mapworld platform and informationization of disabled person affairs, uses the basic information of disabled person as center frame. Based on the disabled person population database, the affairs management system and the statistical account system, the data were effectively integrated and the united information resource database was built. Though the data analysis and mining, the system provides powerful data support to the decision making, the affairs managing and the public serving. It finally realizes the rationalization, normalization and scientization of disabled person affairs management. It also makes significant contributions to the great-leap-forward development of the informationization of China Disabled Person's Federation.
Sparse unmixing via variable splitting and augmented Lagrangian for vegetation and urban area classification using Landsat data
Authors: Kumar U. , Milesi C. , Nemani R. R. , Kumar Raja S. , Ganguly S. , Wang W.
Published: June 2015

Abstract. In this paper, we explore the possibility of sparse regression, a new direction in unmixing, for vegetation and urban area classification. SUnSAL (Sparse unmixing via variable splitting and augmented Lagrangian) in both unconstrained and constrained forms (with the abundance non-negativity and abundance sum-to-one constraints) were used with a set of global endmembers (substrate, vegetation and dark objects) to unmix a set of computer simulated noise-free and noisy data (with Gaussian noise of different signal-to-noise ratio) in order to judge the robustness of the algorithm. The error in the fractional estimate was examined for varying noise power (variance): 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128 and 256. In the second set of experiments, a spectrally diverse collection of 11 scenes of Level 1 terrain corrected, cloud free Landsat-5 TM data representing an agricultural setup in Fresno, California, USA were used. The corresponding ground data for validation were collected on the same days of satellite overpass. Finally in the third set of experiments, a clear sky Landsat-5 TM data for an area near the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco (an urbanized landscape), California, USA were used to assess the algorithm. The fractional estimates of the 30 m Landsat-5 TM data were compared with the fractional estimates of a high-resolution World View-2 data (2 m spatial resolution) obtained using a fully constrained least squares algorithm. The results were evaluated using descriptive statistics, correlation coefficient, RMSE, probability of success and bivariate distribution function, which showed that constrained model was better than unconstrained form.
Research On The Classification Of High Resolution Image Based On Object-oriented And Class Rule
Authors: Li C. K. , Fang W. , Dong X. J.
Published: June 2015

Abstract. With the development of remote sensing technology, the spatial resolution, spectral resolution and time resolution of remote sensing data is greatly improved. How to efficiently process and interpret the massive high resolution remote sensing image data for ground objects, which with spatial geometry and texture information, has become the focus and difficulty in the field of remote sensing research. An object oriented and rule of the classification method of remote sensing data has presents in this paper. Through the discovery and mining the rich knowledge of spectrum and spatial characteristics of high-resolution remote sensing image, establish a multi-level network image object segmentation and classification structure of remote sensing image to achieve accurate and fast ground targets classification and accuracy assessment. Based on worldview-2 image data in the Zangnan area as a study object, using the object-oriented image classification method and rules to verify the experiment which is combination of the mean variance method, the maximum area method and the accuracy comparison to analysis, selected three kinds of optimal segmentation scale and established a multi-level image object network hierarchy for image classification experiments. The results show that the objectoriented rules classification method to classify the high resolution images, enabling the high resolution image classification results similar to the visual interpretation of the results and has higher classification accuracy. The overall accuracy and Kappa coefficient of the object-oriented rules classification method were 97.38%, 0.9673; compared with object-oriented SVM method, respectively higher than 6.23%, 0.078; compared with object-oriented KNN method, respectively more than 7.96%, 0.0996. The extraction precision and user accuracy of the building compared with object-oriented SVM method, respectively higher than 18.39%, 3.98%, respectively better than the object-oriented KNN method 21.27%, 14.97%.
La gestión del utillaje óseo de la Edad del Bronce en el yacimiento de El Portalón de Cueva Mayor, Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos
Authors: Pérez Romero Amalia , Carretero Díaz José Miguel , Alday Ruiz Alfonso , Galindo Pellicena María Ángeles , Adán Álvarez Gema , Juez Aparicio Laura , Arsuaga Ferreras Juan Luis
Published: June 2015

Se analiza el utillaje óseo de la Edad del Bronce recuperado en el yacimiento arqueológico de El Portalón de Cueva Mayor, en la sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos). A día de hoy la Edad del Bronce es el periodo cultural mejor representado en la cavidad y su estudio nos ha obligado a unificar los distintos criterios de excavación y definición estratigráfica seguidos desde las primeras actuaciones arqueológicas de J.M. Apellániz hasta las del actual equipo de investigación de Atapuerca (EIA). Se han correlacionado, por primera vez, el inicial sistema de “lechos” de Apellániz y la reciente lectura sedimentaria que reconoce 11 niveles cuyas dataciones radiométricas se encadenan desde fines del Pleistoceno a la Edad Media. El conjunto óseo recuperado de la Edad del Bronce incluye útiles y elementos de adorno muy variados con características tanto autóctonas como alóctonas, que indican la existencia de relaciones a corta y larga distancia en el seno de las poblaciones prehistóricas del interior peninsular.