Period-luminosity relations for Cepheid variables: from mid-infrared to multi-phase

This paper discusses two aspects of current research on the Cepheid period-luminosity (P-L) relation: the derivation of mid-infrared (MIR) P-L relations and the investigation of multi-phase P-L relations.     

Machine learning for cross-gazetteer matching of natural features

ABSTRACT

Defining and identifying duplicate records in a dataset is a challenging task which grows more complex when the modeled entities themselves are hard to delineate. In the geospatial domain, it may not be clear where a mountain, stream, or valley ends and begins, a problem carried over when such entities are catalogued in gazetteers. In this paper, we take two gazetteers, GeoNames and SwissNames3D, and perform matching – identifying records in each that are about the same entity – across a sample of natural feature records. We first perform rule-based matching, establishing competitive results, then apply machine learning using Random Forests, a method well-suited to the matching task. We report on the performance of a wider array of matching features than has been previously studied, including domain-specific ones such as feature type, land cover class, and elevation. Our results show an increase in performance using machine learning over rules, with a notable performance gain from considering feature types, but negligible gains from other specialized matching features. We argue that future work in this area should strive to be more reproducible and report results on a realistic testing pipeline including candidate selection, feature extraction, and classification.     

Electrical resistivity and seismic refraction tomography to detect buried cavities

Near‐surface cavities can pose serious hazards to human safety, especially in highly urbanized town centres. The location of subsurface voids, the estimation of their size and the evaluation of the overburden thickness are necessary to assess the risk of collapse. In this study, electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) and seismic refraction tomography data are integrated in a joint interpretation process for cavity location in the city of Rome. ERT is a well established and widely employed method for cavity detection. However, additional information provided by seismic refraction tomography is capable of eliminating some potential pitfalls in resistivity data interpretation. We propose that the structure of the cavities defined by ERT can be used as a base to optimize seismic refraction tomography investigations within the framework of a joint interpretation process. Data integration and the insertion of a priori information are key issues for reducing the uncertainties associated with the inversion process and for optimizing both acquisition procedures and computation time. Herein, the two geophysical methods are tested on both synthetic and real data and the integration of the results is found to be successful in detecting isolated cavities and in assessing their geometrical characteristics. The cavity location inferred by geophysical non‐invasive methods has been subsequently confirmed by direct inspection.     

Visibility Graph Analysis of the 2003–2012 Earthquake Sequence in the Kachchh Region of Western India

A visibility graph (VG) is a rather novel statistical method in earthquake sequence analysis; it maps a time series into networks or graphs, converting dynamical properties of the time series into topological properties of networks. By using the VG approach, we defined the parameter window mean interval connectivity time <T_c>, that informs about the mean linkage time between earthquakes. We analysed the time variation of <T_c> in the aftershock-depleted catalogue of Kachchh Gujarat (Western India) seismicity from 2003 to 2012, and we found that <T_c>: i) changes through time, indicating that the topological properties of the earthquake network are not stationary; and, ii) appeared to significantly decrease before the largest shock (M5.7) that occurred on March 7, 2006 near the Gedi fault, an active fault in the Kachchh region.     

A numerical model for the dynamic analysis of inclined pile groups

The paper presents a numerical model for the dynamic analysis of pile groups with inclined piles in horizontally layered soil deposits. Piles are modelled with Euler–Bernoulli beams, while the soil is supposed to be constituted by independent infinite viscoelastic horizontal layers. The pile–soil–pile interaction as well as the hysteretic and geometric damping is taken into account by means of two‐dimensional elastodynamic Green's functions. Piles cap is considered by introducing a rigid constraint; the condensation of the problem permits a consistent derivation of both the dynamic impedance matrix of the soil–foundation system and the foundation input motion. These quantities are those used to perform inertial soil–structure interaction analyses in the framework of the substructure approach. Furthermore, the model allows evaluating the kinematic stress resultants in piles resulting from waves propagating in the soil deposit, taking into account the pile–soil–pile interactions. The model validation is carried out by performing accuracy analyses and comparing results in terms of dynamic impedance functions, kinematic response parameters and pile stress resultants, with those furnished by 3D refined finite element models. To this purpose, classical elastodynamic solutions are adopted to define the soil–pile interaction problem. The model results in low computational demands without significant loss of precision, compared with more rigorous approaches or refined finite element models. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Bedform effect on the reorganization of surface and subsurface grain size distribution in gravel bedded channels

Quantification of river bedform variability and complexity is important for sediment transport modeling as well as for characterization of river morphology. Alluvial bedforms are shown to exhibit highly nonlinear dynamics across a range of scales, affect local bed roughness, and vary with local hydraulic, hydrologic, and geomorphic properties. This paper examines sediment sorting on the crest and trough of gravel bedforms and relates it to bed elevation statistics. The data analysed here are the spatial and temporal series of bed elevation, grain size distribution of surface and subsurface bed materials, and sediment transport rates from flume experiments. We describe surface topography through bedform variability in height and wavelength and multiscale analysis of bed elevations as a function of discharge. We further relate bedform migration to preferential distribution of coarse and fine sediments on the troughs and crests, respectively, measuring directly surface and subsurface grain size distributions, and indirectly the small scale roughness variations as estimated from high resolution topographic scans.     

Simplified seismic performance assessment and implications for seismic design

The last decade or so has seen the development of refined performance-based earthquake engineering (PBEE) approaches that now provide a framework for estimation of a range of important decision variables, such as repair costs, repair time and number of casualties. This paper reviews current tools for PBEE, including the PACT software, and examines the possibility of extending the innovative displacement-based assessment approach as a simplified structural analysis option for performance assessment. Details of the displacement-based s+eismic assessment method are reviewed and a simple means of quickly assessing multiple hazard levels is proposed. Furthermore, proposals for a simple definition of collapse fragility and relations between equivalent single-degree-of-freedom characteristics and multi-degree-of-freedom story drift and floor acceleration demands are discussed, highlighting needs for future research. To illustrate the potential of the methodology, performance measures obtained from the simplified method are compared with those computed using the results of incremental dynamic analyses within the PEER performance-based earthquake engineering framework, applied to a benchmark building. The comparison illustrates that the simplified method could be a very effective conceptual seismic design tool. The advantages and disadvantages of the simplified approach are discussed and potential implications of advanced seismic performance assessments for conceptual seismic design are highlighted through examination of different case study scenarios including different structural configurations.