Three-image matching. For 3-D linear object tracking

This paper will discuss strategies for trinocular image rectification and matching for linear object tracking. It is well known that a pair of stereo images generates two epipolar images. Three overlapped images can yield six epipolar images in situations where any two are required to be rectified for the purpose of image matching. In this case, the search for feature correspondences is computationally intensive and matching complexity increases. A special epipolar image rectification for three stereo images, which simplifies the image matching process, is therefore proposed. This method generates only three rectified images, with the result that the search for matching features becomes more straightforward. With the three rectified images, a particular line-segment-based correspondence strategy is suggested. The primary characteristics of the feature correspondence strategy include application of specific epipolar geometric constraints and reference to three-ray triangulation residuals in object space.     

The Impact of Hurricane Katrina on Reported Crimes in Louisiana: A Spatial and Temporal Analysis

This research assesses the impact that one natural disaster—Hurricane Katrina—and subsequent population movements have had on crime in the state of Louisiana. Using Index Crimes from the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement and population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, time series of violent and nonviolent crime rates were first analyzed using autoregressive, integrated, and moving average (ARIMA) models. Cumulative percentile maps were created next to analyze spatial trends of crime hot and cold spots in the study area. Overall, results from this research support theories that suggest that crime rates remain stable or actually decline in regions receiving evacuees from areas hardest hit by the hurricane. In the case of Orleans Parish, results are inconclusive due to unreliable crime rates for the period following Hurricane Katrina until the beginning of 2006. It is suggested that crime rates in Orleans Parish fell drastically after the storm. However, some crime types, including robbery, burglary, and larceny, returned to pre-Katrina levels and murder and aggravated assault even exceeded prestorm averages by the end of December 2007.     

Chemical Characterisation of Natural Ilmenite: A Possible New Reference Material

Seven ilmenite (FeTiO₃) megacrysts derived from alnöite pipes (Island of Malaita, Solomon Islands) were characterised for their major and trace element compositions in relation to their potential use as secondary reference materials for in situ microanalysis. Abundances of thirteen trace elements obtained by laser ablation ICP‐MS analyses (using the NIST SRM 610 glass reference material) were compared with those determined by solution‐mode ICP‐MS measurements, and these indicated good agreement for most elements. The accuracy of the LA‐ICP‐MS protocol employed here was also assessed by repeated analysis of MPI‐DING international glass reference materials ML3B‐G and KL2‐G. Several of the Malaitan ilmenite megacrysts exhibited discrepancies between laser ablation and solution‐mode ICP‐MS analyses, primarily attributed to the presence of a titano‐magnetite exsolution phase (at the grain boundaries), which were incorporated solely in the solution‐mode runs. Element abundances obtained by LA‐ICP‐MS for three of the ilmenite megacrysts (CRN63E, CRN63H and CRN63K) investigated here had RSD (2s) values of < 20% and therefore can be considered as working values for reference purposes during routine LA‐ICP‐MS analyses of ilmenite.     

Cone morphologies associated with shallow marine eruptions: east Pico Island, Azores

Eruptions in shallow water typically produce cones of volcaniclastic material. In order to identify any systematic effects of water depth and other environmental parameters on cone morphology, we have measured the heights and widths of cones in multibeam echo-sounder data from a submarine ridge extending southeast from Pico Island, Azores. XRF analyses of dredged samples show that lavas here vary compositionally from alkali basalt to trachybasalt and trachyandesite. Cones in deeper water are generally steep-sided with upper flanks close to 30°, the dip of talus at the angle of repose. However, height/width ratios of cones vary more in shallow water (200?C400-m summit depth) with extreme values below 0.1; while some shallow-water cones are steep-sided as in deep water, others are much flatter. Three such cones lie on a bench at 300-m depth immediately east of Pico Island and have flank slopes of only 10?C20°. We speculate that exceptionally shallow cone slopes here were produced by forced spreading of the erupting columns on reaching the water?Cair density barrier.     

Social studies of volcanology: knowledge generation and expert advice on active volcanoes

This paper examines the philosophy and evolution of volcanological science in recent years, particularly in relation to the growth of volcanic hazard and risk science. It uses the lens of Science and Technology Studies to examine the ways in which knowledge generation is controlled and directed by social forces, particularly during eruptions, which constitute landmarks in the development of new technologies and models. It also presents data from a survey of volcanologists carried out during late 2008 and early 2009. These data concern the felt purpose of the science according to the volcanologists who participated and their impressions of the most important eruptions in historical time. It demonstrates that volcanologists are motivated both by the academic science environment and by a social concern for managing the impact of volcanic hazards on populations. Also discussed are the eruptions that have most influenced the discipline and the role of scientists in policymaking on active volcanoes. Expertise in volcanology can become the primary driver of public policy very suddenly when a volcano erupts, placing immense pressure on volcanologists. In response, the epistemological foundations of volcanology are on the move, with an increasing volume of research into risk assessment and management. This requires new, integrated methodologies for knowledge collection that transcend scientific disciplinary boundaries.     

Water quality of a lowland stream in a New Zealand dairy farming catchment

A small stream in a predominantly dairying catchment in the Waikato region of New Zealand was monitored for 2 years at three sites. Total nitrogen (TN) concentrations were up to 7.09 g m^‐3 in winter, with the bulk comprising nitrate nitrogen (NO^‐ ₃‐N). During summer NO^‐ ₃‐N was near zero and TN mostly comprised organic nitrogen. Maximum concentrations of total phosphorus (TP) and dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP) were 1.64 and 0.555 g m^‐3, respectively, and peaks coincided with spring and autumn applications of phosphorus fertiliser. Ammoniacal nitrogen concentrations exceeded 1 g m^‐3 on several occasions and mean concentrations at the three sites were 0.165–0.272 g m^‐3. Faecal coliform and enterococci bacteria concentrations were 64–26000 and 7–23000 cfu per 100 ml, respectively. Specific yields of TN and NO^‐ ₃‐N (35.3 and 30.7 kg ha yr^‐1, respectively) were much greater than any previously reported for New Zealand pasture catchments, whereas TP and DRP yields (1.16 and 0.54 kg ha yr^‐1, respectively) were more in accord with other studies. Greater use of land treatment of liquid wastes will reduce stream inputs of faecal organisms, NH₄‐N and P.     

Remarkable geochemical changes and degassing at Voui crater lake,Ambae volcano,Vanuatu

Ambae (also known as Aoba), is a 38 × 16 km² lozenge-shaped island volcano with a coastal population of around 10 000. At the summit of the volcano is lake Voui — one of the largest active crater lakes worldwide, with 40 × 10⁶ m³ of acidic water perched 1400 m a.s.l. After more than 300 years of dormancy, Ambae volcano reawakened with phreatic eruptions through Voui in 1995, and culminating in a series of surtseyan eruptions in 2005, followed by a rapid and spectacular colour change of the lake from light blue to red in 2006. Integrating lake water chemistry with new measurements of SO₂ emissions from the volcano during the 2005–2006 eruptive period helps to explain the unusual and spectacular volcanic activity of Ambae — initially, a degassed magma approached the lake bed and triggered the surtseyan eruption. Depressurization of the conduit facilitated ascent of volatile-rich magma from the deeper plumbing system. The construction of a cone during eruption and the high degassing destabilised the equilibrium of lake stratification leading to a limnic event and subsequently the spectacular colour change.     

A new laboratory technique for determining the compressional wave properties of marine sediments at sonic frequencies and in situ pressures

We describe a new laboratory technique for measuring the compressional wave velocity and attenuation of jacketed samples of unconsolidated marine sediments within the acoustic (sonic) frequency range 1–10 kHz and at elevated differential (confining – pore) pressures up to 2.413 MPa (350 psi). The method is particularly well suited to attenuation studies because the large sample length (up to 0.6 m long, diameter 0.069 m) is equivalent to about one wavelength, thus giving representative bulk values for heterogeneous samples. Placing a sediment sample in a water‐filled, thick‐walled, stainless steel Pulse Tube causes the spectrum of a broadband acoustic pulse to be modified into a decaying series of maxima and minima, from which the Stoneley and compressional wave, velocity and attenuation of the sample can be determined. Experiments show that PVC and copper jackets have a negligible effect on the measured values of sediment velocity and attenuation, which are accurate to better than ± 1.5% for velocity and up to ± 5% for attenuation. Pulse Tube velocity and attenuation values for sand and silty‐clay samples agree well with published data for similar sediments, adjusted for pressure, temperature, salinity and frequency using standard equations. Attenuation in sand decreases with pressure to small values below Q^?1 = 0.01 (Q greater than 100) for differential pressures over 1.5 MPa, equivalent to sub‐seafloor depths of about 150 m. By contrast, attenuation in silty clay shows little pressure dependence and intermediate Q^?1 values between 0.0206–0.0235 (Q = 49–43). The attenuation results fill a notable gap in the grain size range of published data sets. Overall, we show that the Pulse Tube method gives reliable acoustic velocity and attenuation results for typical marine sediments.     

Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry Methodology for Isotopic Ratio Measurement of Micro‐Grains in Thin Sections: True Grain Size Estimation and Deconvolution of Inter‐Grain Size Gradients and Intra‐Grain Radial Gradients

In a thin section, grains that were approximately spherical in situ appear circular in cross section, and the distribution of apparent diameters frequently assumed to be their size distribution. Scanning ion imaging by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) is capable of providing precise (< 1‰) stable isotope ratio measurements of such grains, but, importantly, also registers their rate of evolution in apparent size as they are ablated by the primary beam. By assessing rates of radius change with depth, the described methodology enables the ‘true’ size of grains to be estimated, as well as the distance of the sectioned surface from the original grain centre. Transects in three dimensions are made possible, and this capability enables better identification (and thus separation) of both inter‐grain chemical signatures as a function of grain size, and intra‐grain radial trends. In this example, we highlight the specific application to pyrite (FeS₂) minerals, which are frequently analysed by SIMS to determine their inter‐grain and intra‐grain geochemical variations, particularly in their sulfur stable isotopic ratios (δ³⁴S). Benefits of the new methodology over the Faraday cup ‘spot mode’ are described. Data correction algorithms and precision considerations are discussed.