3D-Monitoring Big Geo Data on a seaport infrastructure based on FIWARE

Many organizations of all kinds are using new technologies to assist the acquisition and analysis of data. Seaports are a good example of this trend. Seaports generate data regarding the management of marine traffic and other elements, as well as environmental conditions given by meteorological sensors and buoys. However, this enormous amount of data, also known as Big Data, is useless without a proper system to organize, analyze and visualize it. SmartPort is an online platform for the visualization and management of a seaport data that has been built as a GIS application. This work offers a Rich Internet Application that allows the user to visualize and manage the different sources of information produced in a port environment. The Big Data management is based on the FIWARE platform, as well as “The Internet of Things” solutions for the data acquisition. At the same time, Glob3 Mobile (G3M) framework has been used for the development of map requirements. In this way, SmartPort supports 3D visualization of the ports scenery and its data sources.     

Thermal diffusivity of olivine

The thermal diffusivity of a naturally occurring polycrystalline olivine (Fo₉₁Fa₀₉) was measured by the Flash technique in the temperature range of 450–1500 K. At 450 K the thermal diffusivity was 10.7 × 10^?7 m²/s and decreased as a function of reciprocal temperature to 7.0 × 10^?7 m²/s at 800 K. From that temperature, the values gradually increased to a maximum of 7.8 × 10^?7 m²/s at 1000 K, and then steadily decreased to 5.6 × 10^?7 m²/s at 1500 K. The unusual decrease above 1000 K was caused by a reduction of the previously oxidized samples. The olivine's oxidation state plays a significant role in the value of thermal diffusivity at high temperatures.     

Density models for the upper atmosphere

Modeling the effects of atmospheric drag is one of the more important problems associated with the determination of the orbit of a near-earth satellite. Errors in the drag model can lead to significant errors in the determination and prediction of the satellite motion. The uncertainty in the drag acceleration can be attributed to three separate effects: (a) errors in the atmospheric density model, (b) errors in the ballistic coefficient, and (c) errors in the satellite relative velocity. In a number of contemporary satellite missions, the requirements for performing the orbit determination and predictions in near real-time has placed an emphasis on density model computation time as well as the model accuracy. In this investigation, a comparison is made of three contemporary atmospheric density models which are candidates for meeting the current orbit computation requirements. The models considered are the analytic Jacchia-Roberts model, the modified Harris-Priester model, and the USSR Cosmos satellite derived density model. The computational characteristics of each of the models are compared and a modification to the modified Harris-Priester model is proposed which improves its ability to represent the diurnal variation in the atmospheric density.This investigation was supported by the NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center under contract NAS5-20946 and Contract NSG 5154.     

The mitigation of the vibration effects caused by tunnel blasts in urban areas: a case study in Istanbul

Ground vibrations generated by commercial explosives in tunnel construction may cause structural damage in urban areas. Therefore, suppressing the vibration effects and mitigating the possible hazard after blasting is important. We present a new method of controlled blasting that is environmentally friendly, and easy to utilize for tunnel construction. Small charges in this method are detonated sequentially to produce minimum side effects. The efficiency of the charges may be increased based on the previously monitored shots. This method is utilized in a tunnel construction in Istanbul with five experimental shots. In these experiments, the duration and also the quantity of explosives were carefully controlled. We were able to obtain better results with short durations (480 ms) instead of long durations (9,000 ms) although the vibration levels defined as peak particle velocity (PPV) became bigger while the quantity of the explosive charge increased from 3.088 to 9.264 kg.     

A renaissance in studies of ancient life

In the Origin of Species, published a century‐and‐a‐half ago, Darwin was mystified by the lack of a ‘pre‐Cambrian’ fossil record, the existence of which he regarded as pivotal to his theory of evolution. For the next 100 years, this ‘missing’ fossil record—unknown and thought unknowable'stood out as arguably the single greatest blemish to Darwin's theory. Beginning in the 1950s, the answer to Darwin's problem began to be unearthed, a Precambrian record of flourishing communities of microscopic organisms now known to extend to 3500 million years ago. During recent years, studies of such ancient microbes have markedly increased, spurred by an influx of new workers and, especially, by the introduction of new analytical techniques, three of which are featured here: confocal laser scanning microscopy, and Raman‐spectral and fluorescence‐spectral imagery. Used together, these techniques provide evidence of the three‐dimensional form, cellular anatomy, and molecular structure of rock‐embedded microscopic fossils and of the minerals in which they are entombed that is unavailable by any other means.     

Role of land-surface temperature feedback on model performance for the stable boundary layer

At present a variety of boundary-layer schemes is in use in numerical models and often a large variation of model results is found. This is clear from model intercomparisons, such as organized within the GEWEX Atmospheric Boundary Layer Study (GABLS). In this paper we analyze how the specification of the land-surface temperature affects the results of a boundary-layer scheme, in particular for stable conditions. As such we use a well established column model of the boundary layer and we vary relevant parameters in the turbulence scheme for stable conditions. By doing so, we can reproduce the outcome for a variety of boundary-layer models. This is illustrated with the original set-up of the second GABLS intercomparison study using prescribed geostrophic winds and land-surface temperatures as inspired by (but not identical to) observations of CASES-99 for a period of more than two diurnal cycles. The model runs are repeated using a surface temperature that is calculated with a simple land-surface scheme. In the latter case, it is found that the range of model results in stable conditions is reduced for the sensible heat fluxes, and the profiles of potential temperature and wind speed. However, in the latter case the modelled surface temperatures are rather different than with the original set-up, which also impacts on near-surface air temperature and wind speed. As such it appears that the model results in stable conditions are strongly influenced by non-linear feedbacks in which the magnitude of the geostrophic wind speed and the related land-surface temperature play an important role.     

The occurrence of nocturnal low‐level jets In new England and the Canadian maritimes

Abstract

Detailed low‐level wind data collected in southern New Brunswick each summer since 1973 have revealed the existence of a significant low‐level jet during the evening on many occasions. The major contributing factor is considered to be an opposing thermal wind generated by the land/sea surface temperature difference when the low‐level airflow parallels the coastline. The maximum wind is characteristically located between 300 and 500 m above msl. Intensities have been found as great as 15 m s^‐1 in excess of the 1000‐m wind speed. A detailed study is presented for a well‐documented case on 8 July 1975, using hourly information from three stations near Fredericton, N.B., and Doppler measurements of the drift of a specially equipped research aircraft. There is clear evidence of an undulation in the altitude of the “nose” of the low‐level jet and of a progressive increase in intensity from early evening until midnight.     

Small and large scale fluctuations in atmospheric wind speeds

Atmospheric wind speeds and their fluctuations at different locations (onshore and offshore) are examined. One of the most striking features is the marked intermittency of probability density functions (PDF) of velocity differences, no matter what location is considered. The shape of these PDFs is found to be robust over a wide range of scales which seems to contradict the mathematical concept of stability where a Gaussian distribution should be the limiting one. Motivated by the non-stationarity of atmospheric winds it is shown that the intermittent distributions can be understood as a superposition of different subsets of isotropic turbulence. Thus we suggest a simple stochastic model to reproduce the measured statistics of wind speed fluctuations.     

The late Tonian Zhaunkar granite complex of the Ulutau sialic massif,Central Kazakhstan

The crystallization age of Zhaunkar granites (829 ± 10 Ma) was determined by U–Pb zircon dating. Taking into account the data obtained earlier on the granite age (791 ± 7 Ma) in the Aktas Complex and the syenite age (673 ± 2 Ma) in the Karsakpai Complex, the Ulutau sialic massif is assumed to be composed of three igneous complexes formed during the Tonian–Cryogenian periods of the Neoproterozoic.