A Theoretical Framework for Hyperspectral Anomaly Detection Using Spectral and Spatial A Priori Information

This letter presents a new theoretical approach for anomaly detection using a priori information about targets. This a priori knowledge deals with the general spectral behavior and the spatial distribution of targets. In this letter, we consider subpixel and isolated targets that are spectrally anomalous in one region of the spectrum but not in another. This method is totally different from matched filters that suffer from a relative sensitivity to low errors in the target spectral signature. We incorporate the spectral a priori knowledge in a new detection distance, and we propose a Bayesian approach with a Markovian regularization to suppress the potential targets that do not respect the spatial a priori. The interest of the method is illustrated on simulated data consisting in realistic anomalies that are superimposed on a real HyMap hyperspectral image.     

Chemical Aspects of Fractional Crystallization of Fatty Acid Methyl Esters Produced from Waste Fats

Fractional crystallization of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) produced from waste cooking oil or animal fats was performed in a laboratory-scale facility. The raw esters and the “winterization” products were analyzed by determining the FAME pattern, iodine and peroxide numbers as well as oxidation stabilities and element concentrations. Fractionation experiments under air and nitrogen were conducted, but no differences concerning oxidative stability were observed. By improvement of the winterization and washing the filtration residue with methanol, the enrichment of saturated FAME in one step was raised up to a technically sufficient rate of 85%. Absorption of oxygen by FAME at different temperatures was measurable. Volatile decomposition products were registrated after heating the FAME at different temperatures. It was shown that antioxidants like butylhydroxytoluene or α-tocopherol were enriched in the phase of unsaturated FAME. This effect obviously affected the oxidative stability of the fraction of saturated FAME during winterization, although no oxidative damage of FAME was detectable at temperatures up to 20°C.     

Fate and effects of picric acid and 2,6-DNT in marine environments: toxicity of degradation products

The toxicity of transformation products of 2,6-dinitrotoluene (2,6-DNT) and 2,4,6-trinitrophenol (picric acid) were assessed in spiked sandy and fine-grained marine sediments and in seawater. Toxicity of pore water from sediments spiked with 2,6-DNT decreased for the macro-alga, Ulva fasciata, zoospores as biotransformation proceeded, but increased for the copepod, Schizopera knabeni, nauplii. The primary biotransformation product of 2,6-DNT, 2-amino-6-nitrotoluene, was also more toxic than the parent compound to copepod nauplii, but not to alga zoospores, in spiked seawater tests. Two biotransformation products of picric acid, picramic acid and 2,4-DNP, were more toxic than their parent compound. Porewater toxicity from picric acid-spiked sediments decreased significantly at the end of six-months incubation. Fine-grained sediment spiked with either ordnance compound had lower toxicity than its sandy counterpart after six months, suggesting faster microbial transformation in the former and production of less toxic products. Photo-transformation of 2,6-DNT in seawater resulted in a reduction in toxicity.     

Three-dimensional finite-element modelling of magnetotelluric data with a divergence correction

A finite-element method for computing the electric field in a 3-D conductivity model of the Earth for plane wave sources, thus enabling magnetotelluric responses to be calculated, is presented. The method incorporates in the iterative solution of the electric-field system of equations the divergence correction technique introduced for finite-difference solutions by Smith (1996). The correction technique accelerates the development of the discontinuity of the normal component of the approximate electric field across conductivity discontinuities. The convergence rate of the iterative solution is improved significantly, especially for low frequencies. The correction technique involves computing the divergence of the current density for the approximate electric field, computing the static potential whose source is this divergence of the current density, and ‘correcting’ the approximate electric field by subtracting from it the gradient of the potential. This is repeated at regular intervals during the iterative solution of the electric-field system of equations. For the method presented here, the Earth model is discretised using a rectilinear mesh comprising uniform cells. Edge-element basis functions are used to approximate the electric field and nodal basis functions are used to approximate the correction potential. The Galerkin method is used to derive the systems of equations for the approximate electric field and correction potential from the respective differential equations. A bi-conjugate gradient solver was found to be adequate for the system of equations for the correction potential; a generalised minimum residual solver was found to be better for the electric-field system of equations. The method is illustrated using the COMMEMI 3D-1A and 3D-2A models.     

Deciphering the weathering processes using environmental mineralogy and geochemistry: Towards an integrated model of laterite and podzol genesis in the Upper Amazon Basin

This article reports major results from collaborative research between France and Brazil on soil and water systems, carried out in the Upper Amazon Basin. It reveals the weathering processes acting in the partly inundated, low elevation plateaus of the Basin, mostly covered by evergreen forest. Our findings are based on geochemical data and mineral spectroscopy that probe the crystal chemistry of Fe and Al in mineral phases (mainly kaolinite, Al- and Fe-(hydr)oxides) of tropical soils (laterites). These techniques reveal crystal alterations in mineral populations of different ages and changes of metal speciation associated with mineral or organic phases. These results provide an integrated model of soil formation and changes (from laterites to podzols) in distinct hydrological compartments of the Amazon landscapes and under altered water regimes.     

Impact of the Doha outcome on surplus emission allowances and their effect on developed country emissions

The outcome from the December 2012 climate negotiations in Doha has clarified the rules regarding surplus units for the Kyoto Protocol. We summarize these new rules and estimate the resulting effective emissions during the second commitment period using our unit trade model. Other options to deal with surplus emission allowances are employed as benchmarks to assess the Doha outcome. The effective emissions for developed countries as a group under the Doha outcome could be 10–11 % below 1990 levels or 4–5 % points below business-as-usual levels for the second commitment period if we assume that non-Kyoto Protocol countries domestically achieve their targets. However, if mechanisms exist where non-Kyoto Protocol countries can trade units, their emissions could increase and effective emissions for developed countries could be 7–8 % below 1990 levels. In this low-ambition situation we find the main impact of the Doha surplus rules to be the introduction of the historical cap on emissions allowances. Without the effect of the cap, the Doha outcome allows the Parties to the second commitment period to emit at business-as-usual levels until 2020, while still leaving surplus units at the end of the second commitment period.     

Rosat observations of pleiades flare stars

The X-ray data of a sample of 104 flare stars (FSs) in the Pleiades cluster region obtained by Stauffer et al. [1] on the basis of deep ROSAT PSPC observations are analyzed. If we divide the X-ray emission detected in late-type stars of the Pleiades cluster into FSs and non-FSs, we find that X-ray luminosities of stars of both groups can be considered as coming from the same parent population. Moreover, in order to classify stars in a sample of 23 late-type Pleiades stars of unknown nature discriminant analysis in a four-dimensional parameter space (log (L_x, log (L_x/L_bol), and ROSAT hardness ratios HR1 and HR2) has been used. It can be shown that the majority of these stars (16) are very likely FSs rather than non-FSs. Published in Astrofizika, Vol. 40, No. 4, pp. 545–557, October-December, 1997.     

Environmental and cultural changes in highland Guatemala inferred from Lake Amatitlán sediments

We inferred the late Holocene environmental history of the Guatemala highlands from multiple lines of evidence in a sediment core from Lake Amatitlán. Inferred environmental changes are generally synchronous with archaeologically documented highland Maya cultural shifts. Population increases in the Middle Preclassic, Early Classic, and Late Postclassic are associated with deforestation and soil erosion. Land abandonment in the Late Preclassic, Late Classic, and Early Postclassic is associated with evidence for reforestation and soil stabilization. Diatoms indicate relatively lower lake level and greater trophic status at times of reduced human impact, from ca. 250 B.C. to A.D. 125 and from ca. A.D. 875 to 1375. Decreased water levels were probably due to drier climate, to reforestation, or both. Lake eutrophication was caused by reduced water volume combined with a legacy of long‐term agricultural activity. Our data contribute to the understanding of relations among ancient Maya culture, climate, and environment. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.