An improved segmentation approach for planar surfaces from unstructured 3D point clouds

The extraction of object features from massive unstructured point clouds with different local densities, especially in the presence of random noisy points, is not a trivial task even if that feature is a planar surface. Segmentation is the most important step in the feature extraction process. In practice, most segmentation approaches use geometrical information to segment the 3D point cloud. The features generally include the position of each point (X, Y and Z), locally estimated surface normals and residuals of best fitting surfaces; however, these features could be affected by noisy points and in consequence directly affect the segmentation results. Therefore, massive unstructured and noisy point clouds also lead to bad segmentation (over-segmentation, under-segmentation or no segmentation). While the RANSAC (random sample consensus) algorithm is effective in the presence of noise and outliers, it has two significant disadvantages, namely, its efficiency and the fact that the plane detected by RANSAC may not necessarily belong to the same object surface; that is, spurious surfaces may appear, especially in the case of parallel-gradual planar surfaces such as stairs. The innovative idea proposed in this paper is a modification for the RANSAC algorithm called Seq-NV-RANSAC. This algorithm checks the normal vector (NV) between the existing point clouds and the hypothesised RANSAC plane, which is created by three random points, under an intuitive threshold value. After extracting the first plane, this process is repeated sequentially (Seq) and automatically, until no planar surfaces can be extracted from the remaining points under the existing threshold value. This prevents the extraction of spurious surfaces, brings an improvement in quality to the computed attributes and increases the degree of automation of surface extraction. Thus the best fit is achieved for the real existing surfaces.     

Prevalence of Bacillus sp. among the biofilm forming community on Ti surface in marine environment

Prevalence of bacterial species involved in biomineralization of manganese on titanium (Ti) surfaces in marine environment was revealed in this research work. This study involves one year sea water exposure of Ti and their periodical biofilm characterization was carried out to quantify the manganese oxidizing bacterial (MOB) presence in the biofilm formed on titanium surfaces. The total viable count study of Ti coupons exposed to sea water for one year resulted in 60% of the MOB in overall biofilm population. The biochemical characterization of MOB isolates were performed for the genus level identification of the seven bacterial isolates. Further, the seven strains were subjected to 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Evolutionary analysis was performed using MEGA 7 to obtain closely related strains within the groups. The manganese oxidizing ability of the bacterial isolates were determined with Leucoberbelin Blue Assay (LBB) and Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy studies (AAS). The results show that among the isolated marine MOB species, Bacillus sp. and Leptothrix sp. have the maximum Mn oxidizing property. The microtitre plate assay was performed to determine the biofilm forming ability of the isolated marine MOB species. All the results have confirmed the prevalence of Bacillus sp. among the biofilm colonizers on Ti surfaces when exposed in sea water.     

基于众源轨迹数据的人造地表覆盖增量信息提取

目前,我国已研制出2000年、2010年两期30m分辨率全球地表覆盖数据集。为了保持该数据集的现势性,需要及时发现全球地表覆盖增量信息并更新相应数据。采用遥感影像、测绘数据提取全球地表覆盖变化信息的传统方式,存在费用高,不及时等问题。近年来众源地理数据迅猛发展,特别是由于众源轨迹数据具有免费共享、可靠性强与准实时等优点被广泛应用在交通道路信息提取的应用中。经分析我们发现轨迹数据与人造地表覆盖之间存在一定的对应关系,因此,本文研究提出了一种采用众源轨迹提取人造地表覆盖增量信息的方法。该方法首先对原始轨迹数据进行预处理,然后将轨迹数据栅格化,再依据轨迹点栅格覆盖比率进行人造地表覆盖数据粗提取并去除微小孔洞及独立栅格单元,最后将其与全球人造地表覆盖数据作栅格运算提取人造地表覆盖增量信息,并用纽约市实际轨迹数据验证了该方法的可行性。     

Quantifying the suspended sediment discharge to the ocean from the Markham River,Papua New Guinea

The Markham River is a small river draining a tropical mountain range with altitudes between 1000 and 3000 m and discharges directly into a submarine canyon, the head of which is at 30 m depth and reaches depths of 500 m only 4 km from the shore. As such, the Markham discharge system serves as a possible analogue for rivers discharging onto margins during low stands of sea-level. Located in a tectonically active area and with high rainfall, sediment supply is high and episodic and is sometimes related to catastrophic mountain landslides. The river has an estimated sediment load of 12 Mt yr⁻¹. Occasionally, high energy flows are generated at the river mouth which is evident from the channel morphology and sediment distribution. Profiles of salinity and suspended sediment concentrations (SSC) show that sediment is dispersed via a plume with components at both the surface, intermediate depth along isopycnal surfaces and near the sea bed. The dispersal pattern of the surface freshwater plume is largely determined by the buoyancy force. The surface plume is very thin with salinity gradients 15 ppt m⁻¹ while a Richardson number greater than unity suggested that the mixing zone is highly stratified. Estimates of the horizontal sediment flux gradient of the surface plume along the estuary axis suggest that about 80% of the sediment discharged is lost from the plume within a distance of 2 km from the river mouth. Particle fall velocities estimated from the vertical flux indicate values less than those of flocculated material. Layers of sediment with SSCs between 500 and 1000 mg l⁻¹ were observed at intermediate depths and near the seabed during periods of both high and intermediate discharge. The mass of sediment in a SSC layer at intermediate depths between 150 and 250 m within the canyon channel was estimated to be equivalent to an average of 2 to 3 days of Markham sediment discharge. SSCs near the seabed of between 250 and 750 mg l⁻¹ suggest that layers of significantly elevated density exist near the seabed, moving under the influence of gravity down steep seabed slopes of the Markham canyon.     

双重孔隙介质中P1波在自由边界上的反射

对双重孔隙介质波动中的体波及P1波在半空间自由透水和不透水边界上的反射问题进行了详细的理论求解。通过数值计算,对双重孔隙介质中4种体波的弥散和衰减特性,以及不同边界上反射波振幅反射系数随P1波入射角和频率的变化进行了分析。结果表明：（1）P1、P2、P3和S波均具有弥散和衰减特性,P1波传播最快而衰减最慢,P3波传播最慢而衰减最快;（2）随着入射角的增大,反射P2、P3和S波的振幅反射系数均先增大后减小,反射P1波则先减小后增大,且边界透水条件对反射P2和P3波的振幅反射系数影响显著,对P1和S波的影响较小,但透水和不透水边界下振幅反射系数随入射角的变化趋势一致;（3）反射P2、P3波的振幅反射系数均随频率的增大而增大,且不透水边界下反射P2波的振幅反射系数大于透水边界下的反射系数,而反射P3波则相反;（4）随着频率增大,透水边界下反射P1波的振幅反射系数先增大后减小,不透水边界下先减小后增大再减小,反射S波的振幅反射系数随频率变化情况则与P1波相反。     

不同地表条件下土壤冻结、融化规律分析

土壤温度是土壤热状况的综合表征指标,以深耕休闲裸地作为对照,分析了不同地表条件下土壤的冻融过程。结果表明,土壤的冻融作用具有阶段性,不同冻融阶段,土壤具有不同的冻结、融化特点。不同地表处理条件土壤的冻结、融化特点亦不同。     

Global photometric properties of Asteroid (4) Vesta observed with Dawn Framing Camera

Dawn spacecraft orbited Vesta for more than one year and collected a huge volume of multispectral, high-resolution data in the visible wavelengths with the Framing Camera. We present a detailed disk-integrated and disk-resolved photometric analysis using the Framing Camera images with the Minnaert model and the Hapke model, and report our results about the global photometric properties of Vesta. The photometric properties of Vesta show weak or no dependence on wavelengths, except for the albedo. At 554 nm, the global average geometric albedo of Vesta is 0.38 ± 0.04, and the Bond albedo range is 0.20 ± 0.02. The bolometric Bond albedo is 0.18 ± 0.01. The phase function of Vesta is similar to those of S-type asteroids. Vesta’s surface shows a single-peaked albedo distribution with a full-width-half-max ∼17% relative to the global average. This width is much smaller than the full range of albedos (from ∼0.55× to >2× global average) in localized bright and dark areas of a few tens of km in sizes, and is probably a consequence of significant regolith mixing on the global scale. Rheasilvia basin is ∼10% brighter than the global average. The phase reddening of Vesta measured from Dawn Framing Camera images is comparable or slightly stronger than that of Eros as measured by the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous mission, but weaker than previous measurements based on ground-based observations of Vesta and laboratory measurements of HED meteorites. The photometric behaviors of Vesta are best described by the Hapke model and the Akimov disk-function, when compared with the Minnaert model, Lommel–Seeliger model, and Lommel–Seeliger–Lambertian model. The traditional approach for photometric correction is validated for Vesta for >99% of its surface where reflectance is within ±30% of global average.     

Efficient 3D nonlinear Winkler model for shallow foundations

This paper presents a new practical modeling approach, based on the beam-on-a-nonlinear Winkler foundation (BNWF) model, to simulate the 3D rocking, vertical and horizontal responses of shallow foundations using structural elements that are readily available in the element library of commercially available structural analysis programs. An assemblage of a moment-rotation hinge, shear hinge connected in series with an elastic frame member attached to the bottom end of ground story columns was proposed to model the response of the footing under combined action of vertical, horizontal and moment loading. To couple the responses of these hinges, two bounding surfaces equations were introduced and derived mathematically: a surface that defines the interaction between the rocking and vertical capacities of the footing along its width and length; and a surface that defines the interaction between the horizontal capacities of the footing along its width and length. Simple calculation steps to evaluate the geometric and mechanical properties of the proposed assemblage of structural elements are provided. The proposed modeling approach was verified using experimental results from large scale model foundations subjected to cyclic loading. Based on this study, it was found that the proposed assemblage can be reliably used in modeling the rocking and horizontal responses of shallow foundations under cyclic loading.     

2008年广西严重低温雨雪冰冻天气过程分析

利用T213、ECMW F数值预报资料和MICAPS提供的常规观测资料,对这次极端天气事件成因进行分析,表明造成这次长时间低温雨雪冰冻天气的主要原因有:(1)北半球东亚倒Ω流型使大气环流长时间稳定,使北支、南支锋区偏南,极地冷空气不断补充南下影响到江南、华南,华南静止锋在沿海长时间维持,锋区强度大;(2)南支槽活跃,西南暖湿气流持续向我国南方输送,冷暖空气在华南上空交汇,导致广西出现长时间的降水;(3)逆温层维持时间长,长时间的降水普遍以小雨为主,容易形成过冷水滴,雨淞范围从贵州、湖南南扩至广西北部,造成道路结冰、电线积冰等次生灾害,灾情严重。     

基于大涡模拟的小区气候态精细化风环境模拟试验

对具有复杂下垫面的小区精细化风环境进行数值模拟是当前城市气象研究的热点,而针对具有复杂地形的山地型城市（如重庆）的研究还比较匮乏。本文采用能显式分辨下垫面陡峭地形和复杂建筑物的计算流体力学（CFD）模式对重庆市渝北区龙湖社区气候态下的精细化风环境进行高分辨率的数值模拟。结果表明,下垫面能显著调节小区内风场的分布,风速大值区主要出现在九龙湖等开阔区域以及与中尺度背景入流方向一致的街道中。在夏季,小区整体风场以东南风为主,而其他3个季节则以偏东风为主。4个季节中,夏季小区内的风速最大,平均风速为0.3 m/s左右,局地能出现大于背景风的风速,可达0.8 m/s;其他3个季节的风速则较弱,区域平均的风速在0.2 m/s左右。不同的建筑物布局对局地风环境的影响也不同:单个孤立高层建筑迎风面的近地面存在明显地绕流,局地风速有所增加,而在背风面则形成尾流区,水平风速较低;在低矮分散的建筑群,建筑物的整体高度不高,区域内流场相对来说比较一致,风速较大,有利于小区的通风;在密集高层建筑群内,由于建筑物群本身的布局比较封闭,加之不同建筑物的环流场存在相互干扰及影响,使得小区近地面风速几乎为零,不利于小区通风和污染物扩散。建筑物的这些影响在城市冠层内尤为明显,高度越高这种影响越弱。