Comparison of regression-based and combined versions of Inverse Distance Weighted methods for spatial interpolation of daily mean temperature data

This paper focuses on the performance of two regression-based and one Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW) and two combined versions of IDW methods for interpolation of daily mean temperature at the Black Sea Region of Turkey. Simple linear regression (SLR) and multiple linear regression (MLR) are used as regression-based methods. Combinations of IDW with TLR (temperature lapse rate) and gradient plus inverse distance squared (GIDS) are used as combined versions of IDW. This study targets to compare five spatial interpolation methods based on RMSE (root-mean-square error) statistics of interpolation errors for daily mean temperatures from 1981 to 2012. In order to compare the interpolation errors of the five methods, the leave-one-out cross-validation method was applied over long periods of 32 years on 52 different sites. The algorithms of the five interpolation methods’ codes were written in MATLAB by the authors of the paper.     

Estimation of Crown Closure and Tree Density Using Landsat TM Satellite Images in Mixed Forest Stands

The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between crown closure and tree density in mixed forest stands using Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) reflectance values (TM 1- TM 5 and TM 7) and six vegetation indices (SR, DVI, SAVI, NDVI, TVI and NLI). In this study, multiple regression analysis was used to estimate the relationships between the crown closure and tree density (number of tree stems per hectare) using reflectance values and vegetation indices (VIs). The results demonstrated that the model that used SR and DVI had the best performances in terms of crown closure (R²?=?0.674) and the model that used the DVI and SAVI had the best performances in terms of tree density (R²?=?0.702). The regression model that used TM 1, TM 3 together with TM 4 showed the performances of the crown closure (R²?=?0.610) and the regression model that used TM 1 showed the performances of the tree density (0.613). Results obtained from this research show that vegetation indices (VIs) were a better predictor of crown closure and tree density than other TM bands.     

Interacting Kasner-type cosmologies

It is well known that Kasner-type cosmologies provide a useful framework for analyzing the three-dimensional anisotropic expansion because of the simplification of the anisotropic dynamics. In this paper relativistic multi-fluid Kasner-type scenarios are studied. We first consider the general case of a superposition of two ideal cosmic fluids, as well as the particular cases of non-interacting and interacting ones, by introducing a phenomenological coupling function q(t). For two-fluid cosmological scenarios there exist only cosmological scaling solutions, while for three-fluid configurations there exist not only cosmological scaling ones, but also more general solutions. In the case of triply interacting cosmic fluids we can have energy transfer from two fluids to a third one, or energy transfer from one cosmic fluid to the other two. It is shown that by requiring the positivity of energy densities there always is a matter component which violates the dominant energy condition in this kind of anisotropic cosmological scenarios.     

Highly radiative shock experiments driven by GEKKO XII

In this paper, recent results obtained on highly radiative shocks generated in a xenon filled gas cell using the GEKKO XII laser facility are presented. Data show extremely high shock velocity (??150 km/s) never achieved before in gas. Preliminary analyses based on theoretical dimensionless numbers and numerical simulations suggest that these radiative shocks reach a new radiative regime where the radiative pressure plays a role in the dynamics and structure of the shock. A major effect observed is a strong anisotropic emission in the downstream gas. This unexpected feature is discussed and compared to available 2D radiation hydrodynamic simulations.