Using Points of Presence to Measure Accessibility to the Commercial Internet

As the Internet continues to grow, questions of accessibility and infrastructure equity persist. In the increasingly competitive telecommunications industry, profit-seeking firms continue to upgrade infrastructure in select market areas creating an uneven spatial distribution of access opportunities. This article utilizes a longitudinal database of Internet infrastructure development, highlighting fiber-optic backbone points of presence (POP) established by commercial Internet service providers to examine city accessibility to the commercial Internet. Results indicate that many larger metropolitan areas maintain dominant shares of telecom infrastructure, but several midsized metros are emerging as important centers for telecommunication interconnection.     

Using Points of Presence to Measure Accessibility to the Commercial Internet

As the Internet continues to grow, questions of accessibility and infrastructure equity persist. In the increasingly competitive telecommunications industry, profit-seeking firms continue to upgrade infrastructure in select market areas creating an uneven spatial distribution of access opportunities. This article utilizes a longitudinal database of Internet infrastructure development, highlighting fiber-optic backbone points of presence (POP) established by commercial Internet service providers to examine city accessibility to the commercial Internet. Results indicate that many larger metropolitan areas maintain dominant shares of telecom infrastructure, but several midsized metros are emerging as important centers for telecommunication interconnection.     

Introduction to Special Issue on the Symposium on the Application of Neural Networks to the Earth Sciences

Natural Resources Research -     

The Use of the Weights-of-Evidence Modeling Technique to Estimate the Vulnerability of Groundwater to Nitrate Contamination

The occurrence of elevated nitrate (NO₃⁻) concentration in the aquifer of the Province of Milan (northern Italy) is related to both natural and anthropogenic variables. Using the weights-of-evidence modeling technique a specific vulnerability assessment has been performed. This study presents an evolution of previous applications of the proposed methodology as a consequence of an updating of the available database, in terms of data type, quality, and accuracy, and of a more specific and enhanced statistical controls onto the final results. A comparison between the spatial distribution of vulnerability classes and the frequency of occurrences of nitrate in wells shows a high degree of correlation, both for low and high nitrate concentration. Similar results may be evidenced considering the correlation between posterior probability classes and mean nitrate concentrations in wells located in each of these classes: a high R ² value (0.99) and the agreement with the threshold concentration value used to define prior probability testifies a general good quality of results. Groundwater-specific vulnerability has been classified in terms of vulnerability classes and, according to the outcomes of the model, the density of population can be considered the most impacting source of nitrate. Mean annual irrigation and groundwater depth can be identified as influencing factors in the distribution of nitrate, while agricultural practice appears a negligible factor.     

On the use of satellite altimetry to infer the earthquake rupture characteristics: application to the 2004 Sumatra event

Standard data and methods, such as the inversion of seismic and GPS data, have been used extensively to infer the details of the 2004 December 26 earthquake. The unprecedented large size of this event gave the opportunity to modern altimeters to provide the first clear records of a tsunami in deep ocean, therefore allowing us to study the rupture history from an independent perspective. We invert the Jason-1 and Topex–Poseidon altimetry records, considering the new constraints available on the geometry of the fault plane, and taking them into account in a 3-D rupture model. The data are corrected for the non-negligible effect of satellite motion during measurements. Our results show that the rupture propagated over the 1500 km of subduction zone initially identified by the aftershock distribution, with a magnitude of   M _w= 9.1  . Our solution compares well with the latitudinal distribution of slip inferred from other data sets, with a maximum of energy release north of Sumatra, and two other slip patches near the Nicobar and Andaman islands. Based on waveform comparison, we assert that the shallow portion of the megathrust offshore Banda Aceh had slip amplitudes of more than 20 m. Also, we find that significant amounts of slip (about 10 m) concentrated below the Andaman islands and did not propagate on the shallow portion of the interface. Although synthetic tests tend to show less resolution in the northern part of the rupture, this solution is compatible with the near-field data (GPS, coral heads and imagery), and would allow one to explain the apparent paradox between the large local displacements and the moderate tsunami observed locally. Finally, we demonstrate the rapidly dominating effect of propagation and slip distribution over the rupture velocity, and how it precludes the direct estimate of this latter parameter.     

A Pedagogic Framework to Link GIS to the Intellectual Core of Geography

Abstract

This paper aims to develop a new pedagogic framework for teaching GIS at the college and university level using Berry's geographic matrix. By synthesizing different schools of thought, this paper argues that GIS education essentially involves two aspects—how to teach about GIS and how to teach with GIS. Berry's geographic matrix can be used to tie these dual aspects of GIS education together neatly. As an abstract representation of geographical phenomena, the geographic matrix embeds all three entities of GIS—location, attribute, time—and thus can help GIS instructors teach about GIS. As a synthesis of geographical approaches, the geographic matrix can assist GIS instructors teach with GIS. This paper demonstrates that GIS is actually an implementation of Berry's geographic matrix. Furthermore, the 10 approaches to geographical analysis, originally proposed by Berry for the geographic matrix, can be executed routinely in a GIS environment. By incorporating Berry's geographic matrix into GIS education, teachers can enable students to surpass technical issues and to appreciate the conceptual and functional linkages between GIS and geography's intellectual core.     

面向游客的旅游信息系统研究

在讨论旅游信息与旅游决策,游消费关系的基础上,对游客关心的旅游信息进行分类,提出基于旅客的旅游信息系统功能的结构和基于因特网的旅游信息方案,指出目前构建旅游信息系统有待研究和解决的三个基本问题。     

Second-Order Correction to the Reed-Otterman Theory

Summary The theory of Reed and Otterman, which describes the propagation of a weak shock wave in an inhomogeneous medium, is extended to include the next higher-order term of relative overpressure. This extension allows a matching of theory to initial starting conditions of the shock at a point closer to the source than the Reed-Otterman theory itself. The modified theory gives a value of the shock pressure that agrees well with the numerical calculation performed by Greene and Whitaker for the upward moving shock wave from a low altitude detonation.