Intelligent Transportation Systems and Travel Behavior in Connecticut

In the past decade, there has been significant investment in Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) technologies that provide information to both en‐route and pre‐trip travelers. However, there is no definitive evidence that en‐route travelers actually use the information and alter their travel patterns. Previous research employed surveys that relied on motorists' written or spoken responses to questions involving travel information and hypothetical roadway scenarios. This research examines travel behavior on freeways equipped with ITS technologies in Connecticut using collected real‐time traffic count data from the diversionary roadways. Results find that more travel is occurring on the diversionary routes during periods of variable message sign (VMS) messages than during equivalent periods having no messages, indicating a motorist travel response to these messages.     

UTAH'S GREAT SALT LAKE: A COMPLEX ENVIRONMENTAL‐SOCIETAL SYSTEM*

ABSTRACT. The Great Salt Lake in Utah is a highly complex system, consisting of physical and chemical lake properties and environmental and societal subsystems. Components of these subsystems interact in many nonintuitive ways, with the result that changes and management decisions in one part of the lake system can produce unexpected changes elsewhere. The management history of the lake does not show serious consideration of these interconnections, although recent efforts suggest that this may be changing. Legislative and financial support will be required if integrated management of this unique resource is to succeed.     

Theoretical investigation of convective instability in inclined and fluid-saturated three-dimensional fault zones

The convective instability of pore-fluid flow in inclined and fluid-saturated three-dimensional fault zones has been theoretically investigated in this paper. Due to the consideration of the inclined three-dimensional fault zone with any values of the inclined angle, it is impossible to use the conventional linear stability analysis method for deriving the critical condition (i.e., the critical Rayleigh number) which can be used to investigate the convective instability of the pore-fluid flow in an inclined three-dimensional fault zone system. To overcome this mathematical difficulty, a combination of the variable separation method and the integration elimination method has been used to derive the characteristic equation, which depends on the Rayleigh number and the inclined angle of the inclined three-dimensional fault zone. Using this characteristic equation, the critical Rayleigh number of the system can be numerically found as a function of the inclined angle of the three-dimensional fault zone. For a vertically oriented three-dimensional fault zone system, the critical Rayleigh number of the system can be explicitly derived from the characteristic equation. Comparison of the resulting critical Rayleigh number of the system with that previously derived in a vertically oriented one has demonstrated that the characteristic equation of the Rayleigh number is correct and useful for investigating the convective instability of pore-fluid flow in the inclined three-dimensional fault zone system. The related numerical results from this investigation have indicated that: (1) the convective pore-fluid flow may take place in the inclined three-dimensional fault zone; (2) if the height of the fault zone is used as the characteristic length of the system, a decrease in the inclined angle of the inclined fault zone stabilizes the three-dimensional fundamental convective flow in the inclined three-dimensional fault zone system; (3) if the thickness of the stratum is used as the characteristic length of the system, a decrease in the inclined angle of the inclined fault zone destabilizes the three-dimensional fundamental convective flow in the inclined three-dimensional fault zone system; and that (4) the shape of the inclined three-dimensional fault zone may affect the convective instability of pore-fluid flow in the system.     

Beyond Modelling: Linking Models with GIS for Flood Risk Management

Spatially explicit hydrodynamic flood models can play animportant role in natural hazard risk reduction. A key element of these models that make them suitable for riskreduction is the ability to provide time-series inundation information about the onset, duration and passingof a hazard event. Such information can be critical for landuse planning, for mapping evacuation egress routes,and for locating suitable emergency shelters to name only a few risk treatments. This research contends that abarrier to effective risk reduction is providing disaster managers with access to model results in a structured andflexible framework that allows consequences of different hazard scenarios to be assessed and mapped. Toaddress these limitations, a framework has been developed that links a commercial relational databasemanagement system with a GIS-based decision support system. The framework utilises industry standard dataexchange protocols and results in efficient time-series hazard data management. A case study based in Cairns,in far-north coastal Australia is presented to illustrate how the system has been developed. Results show that theframework reduces data volumes significantly, while making pre-run modelled inundation results rapidly accessibleto disaster managers. Of note is the ability of the framework to present results in terms of risk to buildings,roads and other spatial features in urban regions, and to provide answers to relatively complex risk questions.     

Confronted by Insurmountable Opportunities: Geography in Society at the AAG's Centennial*

Geographers at the AAG's centennial are challenged with exceptional opportunities to create a more central place for geography in society and in the university. Realizing these opportunities requires identifying and leveraging key emerging trends in the formation and uses of geographic knowledge. Better integration of geography's profound technological innovations with its core traditions also is necessary to strengthen the discipline's research capacity, and to more effectively engage with and contribute to the needs of society. Trends toward multidisciplinary research and integrative science, and the heightened need for geographic understanding in today's world, hold further promise for advancing the discipline while sustaining its historic strengths and diversity.     

合肥—潢川盆地南缘中生代冲积沉积及其构造意义

合肥—潢川盆地南缘中生代地层被划分为4个年代体（Chronsome）。年代体Ⅰ包括早侏罗世防虎山组和中晚侏罗世圆筒山组下部，由辫状河、曲流河以及滨一浅湖沉积体系组成，局限于盆地东端；年代体Ⅱ包括中晚侏罗世三尖铺组、朱集组和圆筒山组上部，下部为冲积扇沉积，中、上部为辫状河沉积，早期属于横向水流系统（南北方向），晚期是纵向水流系统（东西方向），近EW向的信阳—金寨—舒城断裂是其南部边界；年代体Ⅲ包括早白垩世早期凤凰台组、段集组、周公山组，前两组为冲积扇沉积，后者为辫状河和越岸沉积，粗碎屑明显向盆进积达数公里，南部边缘发育横向水流，而往盆地方向发育纵向水流。年代体Ⅳ为早白垩世晚期黑石渡组和陈棚组，南部边界是磨子潭晓天断裂和桐柏-商城断裂，断裂以伸展走滑为主，东段早期为冲积扇-扇三角洲沉积，晚期为深湖浊积岩沉积。晚白垩世沉积仅发育在西段局部地区，其余处于隆升状态。平行于大别山造山带的近EW向纵向断裂控制着年代体的南部边界，NE向郯城庐江断裂和商城麻城断裂控制着年代体侧向相的变化。合肥潢川盆地南缘沉积从东往西逐渐超覆，揭示大别造山带折返具有自东而西的递进特征。郯城—庐江断裂和商城—麻城断裂对年代体的发育有明显影响，郯城—庐江断裂控制着早侏罗世沉积，表明构造活动至少始于早侏罗世。     

埋地管道震害预测方法简述

埋地管道是城市生命线工程的重要组成部分,在地震时较易发生震害。影响埋地管道在地震中破坏特点的因素,主要是强烈的地面运动或场地失效以及管材、管径等因素。研究方法以基于经验统计的方法在实际应用中比较多。本文分别对基于理论计算和经验统计的震害预测方法进行了简述和比较,最后提出了基于综合概率的埋地管道分析预测模型。     

The Integrated Global Geodetic Observing System (IGGOS) viewed from the perspective of history

Towards the end of the 19th century, geodetic observation techniques allowed it to create geodetic networks of continental size. The insight that big networks can only be set up through international collaboration led to the establishment of an international collaboration called “Central European Arc Measurement”, the predecessor of the International Association of Geodesy (IAG), in 1864. The scope of IAG activities was extended already in the 19th century to include gravity.At the same time, astrometric observations could be made with an accuracy of a few tenths of an arcsecond. The accuracy stayed roughly on this level, till the space age opened the door for milliarcsecond (mas) astrometry. Astrometric observations allowed it at the end of the 19th century to prove the existence of polar motion. The insight that polar motion is almost unpredictable led to the establishment of the International Latitude Service (ILS) in 1899.The IAG and the ILS were the tools (a) to establish and maintain the terrestrial and the celestial reference systems, including the transformation parameters between the two systems, and (b) to determine the Earth's gravity field.Satellite-geodetic techniques and astrometric radio-interferometric techniques revolutionized geodesy in the second half of the 20th century. Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) and methods based on the interferometric exploitation of microwave signals (stemming from Quasars and/or from satellites) allow it to realize the celestial reference frame with (sub-)mas accuracy, the global terrestrial reference frame with (sub-)cm accuracy, and to monitor the transformation between the systems with a high time resolution and (sub-)mas accuracy. This development led to the replacement of the ILS through the IERS, the International Earth Rotation Service in 1989.In the pre-space era, the Earth's gravity field could “only” be established by terrestrial methods. The determination of the Earth's gravitational field was revolutionized twice in the space era, first by observing geodetic satellites with optical, Laser, and Doppler techniques, secondly by implementing a continuous tracking with spaceborne GPS receivers in connection with satellite gradiometry. The sequence of the satellite gravity missions CHAMP, GRACE, and GOCE allow it to name the first decade of the 21st century the “decade of gravity field determination”.The techniques to establish and monitor the geometric and gravimetric reference frames are about to reach a mature state and will be the prevailing geodetic tools of the following decades. It is our duty to work in the spirit of our forefathers by creating similarly stable organizations within IAG with the declared goal to produce the geometric and gravimetric reference frames (including their time evolution) with the best available techniques and to make accurate and consistent products available to wider Earth sciences community as a basis for meaningful research in global change. IGGOS, the Integrated Global Geodetic Observing System, is IAG's attempt to achieve these goals. It is based on the well-functioning and well-established network of IAG services.     

Multiple criteria decision making and decision support systems for flood risk management

Multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) is a collection of methodologies to compare, select, or rank multiple alternatives that typically involve incommensurate attributes. MCDM is well-suited for eliciting and modeling the flood preferences of stakeholders and for improving the coordination among flood agencies, organizations and affected citizens. A flood decision support system (DSS) architecture is put forth that integrates the latest advances in MCDM, remote sensing, GIS, hydrologic models, and real-time flood information systems. The analytic network process (ANP) is discussed with application to short-term flood management options for the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. It is shown that DSS and MCDM can improve flood risk planning and management under uncertainty by providing data displays, analytical results, and model output to summarize critical flood information.