Automated Production of Schematic Maps for Mobile Applications

The advent of high‐end miniature technology, together with the increasing availability of large scale digital geographic data products, has created a demand for techniques and methodologies that assist in the automated generation of maps specifically tailored to mobile GIS applications. This paper concerns itself with the problem of automatic generation of schematic maps. Schematic maps are diagrammatic representations based on linear abstractions of networks. In the context of mobile mapping they are seen as being a particularly useful means of displaying transportation networks. This paper describes an algorithm that automates the production of schematic maps. The algorithm makes use of the simulated annealing optimisation technique. An implementation of the algorithm is also presented, together with experimental results.     

Segmentation-based classification of hyperspectral imagery using projected and correlation clustering techniques

A partitional clustering-based segmentation is used to carry out supervised classification for hyperspectral images. The main contribution of this study lies in the use of projected and correlation partitional clustering techniques to perform image segmentation. These types of clustering techniques have the capability to concurrently perform clustering and feature/band reduction, and are also able to identify different sets of relevant features for different clusters. Using these clustering techniques segmentation map is obtained, which is combined with the pixel-level support vector machines (SVM) classification result, using majority voting. Experiments are conducted over two hyperspectral images. Combination of pixel-level classification result with the segmentation maps leads to significant improvement of accuracies in both the images. Additionally, it is also observed that, classified maps obtained using SVM combined with projected and correlation clustering techniques results in higher accuracies as compared to classified maps obtained from SVM combined with other partitional clustering techniques.     

Coastal upwelling off the southwest coast of India: observations and simulations

Spatial hydrographic data collected from August 2007 through May 2008 and the Princeton Ocean Model (POM) are utilized to explain and document the upwelling in the south eastern Arabian Sea (SEAS). The decrease in the magnitude of winds towards the coast favors local anti-cyclonic vorticity, resulting in the formation of cyclonic eddy and reversal of coastal currents. The Ekman transport due to alongshore winds, Ekman pumping due to wind stress curl, cyclonic eddy and southward West Indian Coastal Currents play different roles in the SEAS upwelling. In the offshore, wind stress curl leads to the formation of meso-scale eddies, resulting in Ekman pumping at the center and consequent upwelling. The rapid depth variation on the western side of Quilon Mount intensifies upwelling in the offshore. The upwelling Kelvin waves generated at the equator terminates in the Bay of Bengal and do not contribute to the SEAS upwelling. The possible role of local and remote winds, especially around Sri Lanka on the upwelling dynamics of SEAS is described utilizing POM. The Kelvin waves generated off the coast of Sri Lanka during the active phase of the summer monsoon also contribute to the upwelling dynamics off the west coast of India.     

Spatially Clustered Associations in Health Related Geospatial Data

Overlaying maps using a desktop GIS is often the first step of a multivariate spatial analysis. The potential of this operation has increased considerably as data sources and Web services to manipulate them are becoming widely available via the Internet. Standards from the OGC enable such geospatial ‘mashups’ to be seamless and user driven, involving discovery of thematic data. The user is naturally inclined to look for spatial clusters and ‘correlation’ of outcomes. Using classical cluster detection scan methods to identify multivariate associations can be problematic in this context, because of a lack of control on or knowledge about background populations. For public health and epidemiological mapping, this limiting factor can be critical but often the focus is on spatial identification of risk factors associated with health or clinical status. In this article we point out that this association itself can ensure some control on underlying populations, and develop an exploratory scan statistic framework for multivariate associations. Inference using statistical map methodologies can be used to test the clustered associations. The approach is illustrated with a hypothetical data example and an epidemiological study on community MRSA. Scenarios of potential use for online mashups are introduced but full implementation is left for further research.     

Bringing communities at the Centre of Impact Assessment of Road Projects: integrating AHP with qualitative research

GeoJournal - This paper proposes a framework for measuring impacts associated with road projects on rural communities situated on either side of the road alignment. The extant approaches for...     

Wavelet frame-based feature extraction technique for improving classification accuracy

Classification of textures in remotely-sensed data has received considerable attention during the past decades. One difficulty of texture analysis in the past was lack of adequate tools to characterize different scales of textures effectively. Recent space-frequency analytical tools like the wavelet transform can effectively characterize the coupling of different scales in texture and helps to overcome the difficulty. This paper presents a wavelet-based texture classification technique that was applied to a Multi-Spectral Scanner (MSS) image of Madurai City, Tamil Nadu, India The feature extraction stage of the technique uses Lemarie-Battle orthogonal wavelets to derive a texture feature vector and this vector is input to a fuzzy-c means classifier, an unsupervised classification procedure. Four indices (user’s accuracy, producer’s accuracy, overall accuracy and Kappa co-efficient) are used to assess the accuracy of the classified data. The experiment results show that the performance of the presented technique is superior to the classical techniques.     

Mid-infrared spectra of differentiated meteorites (achondrites): Comparison with astronomical observations of dust in protoplanetary and debris disks

Mid-infrared (5–25 μm) transmission/absorption spectra of differentiated meteorites (achondrites) were measured to permit comparison with astronomical observations of dust in different stages of evolution of young stellar objects. In contrast to primitive chondrites, achondrites underwent heavy metamorphism and/or extensive melting and represent more advanced stages of planetesimal evolution. Spectra were obtained from primitive achondrites (acapulcoite, winonaite, ureilite, and brachinite) and differentiated achondrites (eucrite, diogenite, aubrite, and mesosiderite silicates). The ureilite and brachinite show spectra dominated by olivine features, and the diogenite and aubrite by pyroxene features. The acapulcoite, winonaite, eucrite, and mesosiderite silicates exhibit more complex spectra, reflecting their multi-phase bulk mineralogy.Mixtures of spectra of the primitive achondrites and differentiated achondrites in various proportions show good similarities to the spectra of the few Myr old protoplanetary disks HD104237A and V410 Anon 13. A spectrum of the differentiated mesosiderite silicates is similar to the spectra of the mature debris disks HD172555 and HD165014. A mixture of spectra of the primitive ureilite and brachinite is similar to the spectrum of the debris disk HD113766. The results raise the possibility that materials produced in the early stage of planetesimal differentiation occur in the protoplanetary and debris disks.     

Adsorption of Cadmium from Aqueous Solution by Ficus religiosa Leaf Powder and Characterization of Loaded Biosorbent

The present investigation evaluates the adsorption effectiveness of Cd(II) ions on Ficus religiosa leaf powder (FRL). The experimental parameters chosen included time, pH, particle size, temperature, adsorbate, anion, and Pb(II) concentrations. The time data followed pseudo‐second‐order kinetics. Cd(II) adsorption increased from 1.38 to 75.17% with the increase in pH from 2 to 4 and further increase in pH to 5.5 resulted in its marginal increase to 77.52%. Based on regression coefficient values, the isothermic data fitted the various models in the order Langmuir > Redlich–Peterson > Temkin > Freundlich model. The maximum loading capacity of FRL was estimated to be 27.14 mg g^?1. The presence of Cl^?, , or Pb²⁺ exhibited adverse effect on Cd(II) uptake. The thermodynamic parameters of enthalpy (ΔH⁰) and entropy (ΔS⁰) were estimated to be 8.31 kJ mol^?1 and 38.22 J mol^?1 K^?1, respectively. SEM‐EPMA of the loaded FRL showed Cd(II) distribution at specific sites. The XRD patterns of Cd(II) loaded FRL sample showed disappearance of some peaks corresponding to β‐Ca(PO₃)₂; shifting of peaks and decrease in %RI corresponding to γ‐CaSO₄ phase. Positive shift of IR bands for the Cd(II) loaded sample was observed.     

An estimate of the energy spectrum of gamma rays from the central region of the Galaxy and some implications

High resolution surveys of the galactic centre suggest the existence of an extended nonthermal source (Bulge) with an intensity much larger than the total background radiation in that direction. In this paper, we have first evaluated the physical conditions existing in this restricted region of space from an analysis of the radio spectrum and shown that if the distribution of matter, magnetic fieldB(r) and cosmic ray densityk(r) in the plane of the Galaxy is of gaussian type then at the centreB (0)=25–30 G andk(0)=25–35 times that in the near interstellar space. It is also found that most of the absorption in the Sagittarius A spectrum at low frequencies takes place in the Bulge and one requires a small additional absorption to take place in the line of sight corresponding to n _e ²10 cm^–6 pc at a temperature typically of clouds 100 K. The gamma ray spectra from the Bulge arising from interactions of cosmic rays with matter and radiation are then calculated in detail. A comparison made with the estimated background gamma ray spectra from the disk reveals that a detector with angular resolution 6° having a threshold of a few times 10^–6 photons cm^–2 s^–1 can detect this source; this bulge is not found to be a good X-ray source for detection. From a comparison of these calculations with the observed flux above 100 MeV, the following inferences have been deduced: (i) the lower limit to the magnetic field strength at the centre is 12 G, (ii) the observed gamma ray flux towards the Anti-centre can be well explained as due to interactions of cosmic rays with matter alone and a similar explanation towards the center reveals that cloud complexes could be more in the inner parts of the Galaxy than in the outer parts, and (iii) the observed flux values are found to be inconsistent with the existence of submillimeter radiation in the galactic scale.     

Diamonds: time capsules from the Siberian Mantle

Diamonds are thought to be “time capsules” from the Earth's mantle. However, by themselves, consisting of nearly pure carbon, diamonds provide little geochemical information about their conditions of formation and the nature of their mantle hosts. This obstacle to studying the origin of diamonds and their hosts can be overcome by using two main approaches that focus on studying: (1) the rocks that contain diamonds, i.e., diamondiferous xenoliths; and (2) mineral inclusions within the diamonds, the time capsule's little treasures, if you will. Diamondiferous xenoliths, their diamonds, and mineral inclusions within the diamonds are the subject of this review, focusing on studies of samples from the Yakutian kimberlites in the Siberian Platform.Studies of diamondiferous eclogite xenoliths significantly enhance our understanding of the complex petrogenesis of this important group of rocks and their diamonds. Such studies involve various geochemical and petrological investigations of these eclogites, including major and trace-element, radiogenic as well as stable isotopic analyses of whole rocks and minerals. The results from these studies have clearly established that the Group A-C eclogites originate from subduction of ancient oceanic crust. This theory is probably applicable worldwide.Within the last several years, our research group at Tennessee has undertaken the systematic dissection (pull apart) of diamondiferous eclogites from Siberia, consisting of the following steps: (1) high-resolution computed X-ray tomography of the xenoliths to produce 3D images that relate the minerals of the xenoliths to their diamonds; (2) detailed dissection of the entire xenolith to reveal the diamonds inside, followed by characterization of the setting of the diamonds within their enclosing minerals; and (3) extraction of diamonds from the xenolith for further investigation of the diamonds and their inclusions. In this last step, it is important that the nature and relative positions of the diamond inclusions are carefully noted in order to maximize the number of inclusions that can be exposed simultaneously on one polished surface. In this modus operandi, cathodoluminescence imaging, plus FTIR/N aggregation and C/N isotopic analyses are performed on polished diamond surfaces to reveal their internal growth zones and the spatial relationship of the mineral inclusions to these zones.Knowledge gained by such detailed, albeit work-intensive, studies continues to add immensely to the constantly evolving models of the origin of diamonds and their host rocks in the Earth's mantle, as well as to lithospheric stability models in cratonic areas. Multiple lines of evidence indicate the ultimate crustal origin for the majority of mantle eclogites. Similar pieces of evidence, particularly from δ¹³C in P-type diamonds and δ¹⁸O in peridotitic garnets lead to the suggestion that at least some of the mantle peridotites, including diamondiferous ones, as well as inclusions in P-type diamonds, may have had a crustal protolith as well.