Web-enabled spatial decision analysis using Ordered Weighted Averaging (OWA)

 This paper presents a spatial decision support tool that implements the Ordered Weighted Averaging (OWA) method. OWA is a family of multicriteria evaluation operators characterised by two sets of weights: criterion importance weights and order weights. We propose a highly interactive way of choosing, modifying, and fine-tuning the decision strategy defined by the order weights. This exploratory approach to OWA is supported by a graphical representation of the operator's behaviour in terms of decision risk and tradeoff/dispersion between criteria. Our prototype implementation is based on the CommonGIS software, and thus, Web-enabled and working with vector data. We successfully demonstrate online, exploratory support of spatial decision strategies using a data set of skiing resorts in Wallis, Switzerland. Received: 24 September 2002 / Accepted: 10 January 2003     

Assessment of the stability of H/V spectral ratios from ambient noise and comparison with earthquake data in the Cologne area (Germany)

Situated in an active tectonic region the highly industrialised Cologne area (Germany) suffers from moderate-sized earthquakes. Our contribution to the mitigation of earthquake risk includes a microzonation study using ambient seismic noise and earthquake recordings from two field campaigns. An analysis of these data using the horizontal-to-vertical (H/V) as well as the classical spectral ratio (CSR) technique led to the following observations and conclusions: (1) The spatial variation in the thickness of the sedimentary cover is reliably retrieved using the fundamental resonance frequency estimated from the peak in the (H/V) ratio of ambient noise. (2) This fundamental resonance frequency is stable in time, but the amplitude of the peak (the amplification factor) is not. (3) The relative amplification variation of the H/V ratio in the area should therefore be checked systematically with repeated measurements before drawing conclusions about its significance. (4) The analysis of the H/V ratio of ambient noise provides the lower frequency bound, above which amplification may occur. (5) The shapes of the spectral ratios obtained by the different methods are generally in good agreement. However, the analysis of earthquake data shows that significant amplification of ground motion may also occur at frequencies higher than the fundamental one even when thick sediments are present.     

Atmospheric transmission at Davos,Switzerland 1909–1979

Pyrheliometric measurements at Davos, Switzerland from 1909 to 1979 are used to reconstruct the time history of atmospheric transmission. Measurements were numerous enough to allow yearly and seasonal values of atmospheric transmission to be determined. Other than the eruptions of Katmai in 1912 and Agung in 1963, there are no significant long-term changes in atmospheric transmission observed at this central European site. The implications of this result upon those theories of climatic change which depend upon changes in atmospheric transmission are briefly considered.     

远场地震引起地下水化学异常模拟

通过对亚美尼亚Kajaran的一口自流井流量数据和电导率数据的多年分析,我们发现这口井对远场大震的响应非常敏感。一般同震流量增加,震后大约滞后一小时传导率减小。传导率在震后大约三周时趋于最小,然后需要数月时间来恢复震前水平。例如,1999年8月17土耳其Izm itMW7.6级地震,相距1 400 km,引起流量增加25%,传导率减小6%。流量也可以显示潮汐的波动,这种波动的幅度(顶点到顶点)约为水井产生的平均波动的5%,但传导率数据的潮汐信号并不明显,且不稳定。监测期11次地震引起最大同震静态应变异常的估算均低于10-9,只有一次正常状态小于潮汐应变。所以,远震相关的井水异常是地震地面振动引起的,而非同震变形。我们提出混有地下水的模型来解释观察到的现象,此模型考虑了这个特殊的地下水系统的特殊状态:封闭的含水层含两类在水化组分上具有很大差异的地下水,地下水和微破裂的混合区域与自流井的液压相互关联。认为与地震相关的异常,是由自流井附近的局部水头增加产生的,而局部水头的增加是由于地震波的通过引起的。本文讨论了可能的机制,对异常的时间变化曲线进行了模拟。     

Forensic view on two Raspberry Shake burglargrams

Journal of Seismology - A steadily increasing number of citizen seismological stations, often located in populated areas, record a plethora of man-made events. These events are especially of...     

Elsterian‐Holsteinian deposits at Kås Hoved,northern Denmark: sediments,foraminifera, ostracods,and stable isotopes

The coastal cliff section at Kås Hoved in northern Denmark represents one of the largest exposures of marine interglacial deposits in Europe. High‐resolution analyses of sediments, foraminifera, ostracods, and stable isotopes (oxygen and carbon) in glacial‐interglacial marine sediments from this section, as well as from two adjacent boreholes, are the basis for an interpretation of marine environmental and climatic change through the Late Elsterian‐Holsteinian glacial‐interglacial cycle. The overlying glacial deposits show two ice advances during the Saalian and Weichselian glaciations. The assemblages in the initial glacier‐proximal part of the marine Late Elsterian succession reveal fluctuations in the inflow of sediment‐loaded meltwater to the area. This is followed by faunal indication of glacier‐distal, open marine conditions, coinciding with a gradual climatic change from arctic to subarctic environments. Continuous marine sedimentation during the glacial‐interglacial transition is presumably a result of a large‐scale isostatic subsidence caused by the preceding extended Elsterian glaciation. The similarity of the climatic signature of the interglacial Holsteinian and Holocene assemblages in this region indicates that the Atlantic Ocean circulation was similar during these two interglacials, whereas Eemian interglacial assemblages indicate a comparatively high water temperature associated with an enhanced North Atlantic Current. The foraminiferal zones are correlated with other Elsterian‐Holsteinian sites in Denmark, as well as those in the type area for the Holsteinian interglacial in northern Germany and the southern North Sea. Correlation of the NW European Holsteinian succession with the marine isotope stages MIS 7, 9 or 11 is still unresolved.     

Exploring the Boundaries of Web Map Services: The Example of the Online Injury Atlas for Ontario

Injury from causes such as falls, traffic accidents, or violence is a major public health issue globally. Injury prevention research aims to identify vulnerable populations and places by analyzing the spatial patterns of demographic and socio‐economic risk factors associated with elevated injury rates. The stakeholders in injury prevention and control are often distributed across government and public health institutions, non‐profits, and even the private sector (e.g. insurance firms). While this situation calls for distributed, online research tools, their implementation may conflict with health data confidentiality and license limitations for socio‐economic data. In this article, we present the Online Injury Atlas for Ontario, which was designed with the explicit goal of making use of, and contributing to, the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure. We propose a service‐based architecture that integrates publicly accessible map services with protected data layers. Thereby, we demonstrate the benefits of using spatial data infrastructures alongside private data at different levels of protection. In addition, we discuss the extensive data processing needs and specific cartographic design requirements of a Web atlas in the health and social sciences domain.     

Large and small numbers: options for quantifying the costs of extremes on transport now and in 40 years

The past 15 years has been characterized by a high density of record-breaking weather extremes in Europe. These include the extratropical cyclones Lothar, Kyrill and Xynthia across western and mid Europe; the major floods in the UK, Germany and eastern Europe; the heat waves in 2003 and 2007 and, after a long period of mild winters, the heavy winter seasons in 2009/2010 and 2010/2011. Inspired by the rising trends in weather-related damages worldwide and the studies on the topic carried out in overseas, the EC funded the sister projects such as Weather Extremes-Assessing the Impacts on Transport and Hazards for European Regions (WEATHER), EWENT and ECCONET to determine the magnitude of current and future risks to the European transport sector and to assess suitable adaptation strategies. This paper presents the assessment framework of the WEATHER project and the results of weather-inflicted damage costs now and in 2040–2050. Total annual damages are found to be around €2.5 billion, which largely attribute to road traffic. However, broken down to passenger and ton kilometers the highest risk is borne by rail traffic due to its expensive infrastructures and its comparably complex operating structure. This indication even amplifies when looking four decades ahead: while average road transport costs will only raise by 7 % due to milder winters, rail traffic costs may increase by up to 80 % due to more floods and less predictable winter periods. A comparison with the results of the EWENT study uncovers a high range of uncertainty concerning methodological approaches and data treatment. Thus, the final figures might even be much higher.     

Dielectric properties of iron-bearing trioctahedral phyllosilicates

Measurements of the real part of conductivity (σ′) and dielectric function (?′) were performed on large crystal flakes of biotite (Moen) and vermiculite (Benahavis), at variable frequencies (0.1 to 1000 kHz) and as a function of temperature (300 K<T<900 K). By heating, cooling and repeated heating experiments under inert atmospheric conditions effects involving water (H₂O) diffusion and electrical transport were separated. The effect of dehydration dominates the functional dependence of ?′ on T at frequencies below about 100 kHz, within the first heating run. Six dehydration steps for vermiculite Benahavis and two broad features for biotite Moen are observed, the water being transported effectively only in the interlayers. Electrical transport occurs along Fe paths within the octahedral layers and can be described by σ′=σ_dc+A·w^s. Values of s are between 0.45 and 0.8. σ_dc shows a temperature dependence according to exp(?E_a(T)/kT) with E_a(T) between 0.3 and 0.6 eV. E_a is suggested to be composed of a polaron plus disorder contribution.     

Total Solar Irradiance Variation During Rapid Sunspot Growth

Large sunspot areas correspond to dips in the total solar irradiance (TSI), a phenomenon associated with the local suppression of convective energy transport in the spot region. This results in a strong correlation between sunspot area and TSI. During the growth phase of a sunspot other physics may affect this correlation; if the physical growth of the sunspot resulted in surface flows affecting the temperature, for example, we might expect to see an anomalous variation in TSI. In this paper we study NOAA active region 8179, in which large sunspots suddenly appeared near disk center, at a time (March 1998) when few competing sunspots or plage regions were present on the visible hemisphere. We find that the area/TSI correlation does not significantly differ from the expected pattern of correlation, a result consistent with a large thermal conductivity in solar convection zone. In addition we have searched for a smaller-scale effect by analyzing white-light images from MDI (the Michelson Doppler Imager) on SOHO. A representative upper-limit energy consistent with the images is on the order of 3×10³¹ ergs, assuming the time scale of the actual spot area growth. This is of the same order of magnitude as the buoyant energy of the spot emergence even if it is shallow. We suggest that detailed image analyses of sunspot growth may therefore show `transient bright rings' at a detectable level.