Coordination and control in project-based work: digital objects and infrastructures for delivery

A major infrastructure project is used to investigate the role of digital objects in the coordination of engineering design work. From a practice-based perspective, research emphasizes objects as important in enabling cooperative knowledge work and knowledge sharing. The term ‘boundary object’ has become used in the analysis of mutual and reciprocal knowledge sharing around physical and digital objects. The aim is to extend this work by analysing the introduction of an extranet into the public–private partnership project used to construct a new motorway. Multiple categories of digital objects are mobilized in coordination across heterogeneous, cross-organizational groups. The main findings are that digital objects provide mechanisms for accountability and control, as well as for mutual and reciprocal knowledge sharing; and that different types of objects are nested, forming a digital infrastructure for project delivery. Reconceptualizing boundary objects as a digital infrastructure for delivery has practical implications for management practices on large projects and for the use of digital tools, such as building information models, in construction. It provides a starting point for future research into the changing nature of digitally enabled coordination in project-based work.

A policy critique of Stansted Airport's expansion to 25 million passengers per annum (MPPA)

In this paper we undertake a preliminary assessment of the regional planning and development implications of BAA Stansted Airport’s planning permission to grow to 25 million passengers per annum (mppa) by 2010. Our concern is not simply to consider the overall growth of the airport on the airport site itself but the nature and type of growth both on- and off-site. In this document we focus on the submitted planning permission documents and test them. The methodology we employed was to draw on published and unpublished numerical estimates of the airport’s growth – particularly including estimates produced by the airport owner, BAA, and their economic and planning consultants DTZ Pieda - and critically, and systematically analyse their figures. We adopted this approach because unless the figures which were employed in the initial calculations were correct then all of the subsequent projections which flow from them - and the polices which could then be based on them – could be flawed. The analysis is divided into two parts – firstly, are the growth forecasts correct?; and secondly, what do these forecasts actually mean in developmental terms? In effect, what we have done is to produce a critique of the existing body of evidence by questioning underpinning assumptions and then draw some preliminary conclusions for the region based on this analysis. A major focus of this report has been analyse the figures involved in the planning application to expand Stansted to 25mppa. Ironically, one of our key findings, that the local impact of Stansted’s proposed expansion in employment terms might well be less than was originally thought, might make it easier to gain the acceptance of the relevant local authorities involved to allow the development to take place. Our main overall findings are that the BAA projections over-estimate the local employment impact of the airport’s proposed growth and under-estimate its potential regional ‘transportation’ employment effect. These two findings are, of course, related to each other in important ways, and we also feel that they have potentially significant medium and long-term economic, competitiveness and planning policy implications for the East of England region

Securing critical infrastructures and critical control systems: approaches for threat protection

The increased use of technology is necessary in order for industrial control systems to maintain and monitor industrial, infrastructural, or environmental processes. The need to secure and identify threats to the system is equally critical. Securing Critical Infrastructures and Critical Control Systems: Approaches for Threat Protection provides a full and detailed understanding of the vulnerabilities and security threats that exist within an industrial control system. This collection of research defines and analyzes the technical, procedural, and managerial responses to securing these systems.

Peroxy radicals and ozone photochemistry in air masses undergoing long-range transport

Concentrations of peroxy radicals (HO2+ΣiRiO2) in addition to other trace gases were measured onboard the UK Meteorological Office/Natural Environment Research Council British Aerospace 146-300 atmospheric research aircraft during the Intercontinental Transport of Ozone and Precursors (ITOP) campaign based at Horta Airport, Faial, Azores (38.58° N, 28.72° W) in July/August 2004. The overall peroxy radical altitude profile displays an increase with altitude that is likely to have been impacted by the effects of long-range transport. The peroxy radical altitude profile for air classified as of marine origin shows no discernable altitude profile. A range of air-masses were intercepted with varying source signatures, including those with aged American and Asian signatures, air-masses of biomass burning origin, and those that originated from the east coast of the United States. Enhanced peroxy radical concentrations have been observed within this range of air-masses indicating that long-range transported air-masses traversing the Atlantic show significant photochemical activity. The net ozone production at clear sky limit is in general negative, and as such the summer mid-Atlantic troposphere is at limit net ozone destructive. However, there is clear evidence of positive ozone production even at clear sky limit within air masses undergoing long-range transport, and during ITOP especially between 5 and 5.5 km, which in the main corresponds to a flight that extensively sampled air with a biomass burning signature. Ozone production was NOx limited throughout ITOP, as evidenced by a good correlation (r2=0.72) between P(O3) and NO. Strong positive net ozone production has also been seen in varying source signature air-masses undergoing long-range transport, including but not limited to low-level export events, and export from the east coast of the United States.

Incorporating Legacy Soil pH Databases into Digital Soil Maps

Soil data and reliable soil maps are imperative for environmental management. conservation and policy. Data from historical point surveys, e.g. experiment site data and farmers fields can serve this purpose. However, legacy soil information is not necessarily collected for spatial analysis and mapping such that the data may not have immediately useful geo-references. Methods are required to utilise these historical soil databases so that we can produce quantitative maps of soil propel-ties to assess spatial and temporal trends but also to assess where future sampling is required. This paper discusses two such databases: the Representative Soil Sampling Scheme which has monitored the agricultural soil in England and Wales from 1969 to 2003 (between 400 and 900 bulked soil samples were taken annually from different agricultural fields); and the former State Chemistry Laboratory, Victoria, Australia where between 1973 and 1994 approximately 80,000 soil samples were submitted for analysis by farmers. Previous statistical analyses have been performed using administrative regions (with sharp boundaries) for both databases, which are largely unrelated to natural features. For a more detailed spatial analysis that call be linked to climate and terrain attributes, gradual variation of these soil properties should be described. Geostatistical techniques such as ordinary kriging are suited to this. This paper describes the format of the databases and initial approaches as to how they can be used for digital soil mapping. For this paper we have selected soil pH to illustrate the analyses for both databases.

Overview of observations from the RADAGAST experiment in Niamey, Niger: 2. Radiative fluxes and divergences

Broadband shortwave and longwave radiative fluxes observed both at the surface and from space during the Radiative Atmospheric Divergence using ARM Mobile Facility, GERB data and AMMA Stations (RADAGAST) experiment in Niamey, Niger, in 2006 are presented. The surface fluxes were measured by the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program Mobile Facility (AMF) at Niamey airport, while the fluxes at the top of the atmosphere (TOA) are from the Geostationary Earth Radiation Budget (GERB) instrument on the Meteosat-8 satellite. The data are analyzed as daily averages, in order to minimize sampling differences between the surface and top of atmosphere instruments, while retaining the synoptic and seasonal changes that are the main focus of this study. A cloud mask is used to identify days with cloud versus those with predominantly clear skies. The influence of temperature, water vapor, aerosols, and clouds is investigated. Aerosols are ubiquitous throughout the year and have a significant impact on both the shortwave and longwave fluxes. The large and systematic seasonal changes in temperature and column integrated water vapor (CWV) through the dry and wet seasons are found to exert strong influences on the longwave fluxes. These influences are often in opposition to each other, because the highest temperatures occur at the end of the dry season when the CWV is lowest, while in the wet season the lowest temperatures are associated with the highest values of CWV. Apart from aerosols, the shortwave fluxes are also affected by clouds and by the seasonal changes in CWV. The fluxes are combined to provide estimates of the divergence of radiation across the atmosphere throughout 2006. The longwave divergence shows a relatively small variation through the year, because of a partial compensation between the seasonal variations in the outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) and surface net longwave radiation. A simple model of the greenhouse effect is used to interpret this result in terms of the dependence of the normalized greenhouse effect at the TOA and of the effective emissivity of the atmosphere at the surface on the CWV. It is shown that, as the CWV increases, the atmosphere loses longwave energy to the surface with about the same increasing efficiency with which it traps the OLR. When combined with the changes in temperature, this maintains the atmospheric longwave divergence within the narrow range that is observed. The shortwave divergence is mainly determined by the CWV and aerosol loadings and the effect of clouds is much smaller than on the component fluxes.

Making ecological science policy relevant: issues of scale and disciplinary integration

In this paper, we ask why so much ecological scientific research does not have a greater policy impact in the UK. We argue that there are two potentially important and related reasons for this failing. First, much current ecological science is not being conducted at a scale that is readily meaningful to policy-makers. Second, to make much of this research policy-relevant requires collaborative interdisciplinary research between ecologists and social scientists. However, the challenge of undertaking useful interdisciplinary research only re-emphasises the problems of scale: ecologists and social scientists traditionally frame their research questions at different scales and consider different facets of natural resource management, setting different objectives and using different language. We argue that if applied ecological research is to have greater impact in informing environmental policy, much greater attention needs to be given to the scale of the research efforts as well as to the interaction with social scientists. Such an approach requires an adjustment in existing research and funding infrastructures.

Toxicity testing of groundwater quality

Groundwater is an important resource in the UK, with 45% of public water supplies in the Thames Water region derived from subterranean sources. In urban areas, groundwater has been affected by onthropogenic activities over 0 long period of time and from a multitude of sources, At present, groundwater quality is assessed using a range of chemical species to determine the extent of contamination. However, analysing a complex mixture of chemicals is time-consuming and expensive, whereas the use of an ecotoxicity test provides information on (a) the degree of pollution present in the groundwater and (b) the potential effect of that pollution. Microtox (TM), Eclox (TM) and Daphnia magna microtests were used in conjunction with standard chemical protocols to assess the contamination of groundwaters from sites throughout the London Borough of Hounslow and nearby Heathrow Airport. Because of their precision, range of responses and ease of use, Daphnia magna and Microfox (TM) tests are the bioassays that appear to be most effective for assessing groundwater toxicity However, neither test is ideal because it is also essential to monitor water hardness. Eclox (TM) does not appear to be suitable for use in groundwater-quality assessment in this area, because it is adversely affected by high total dissolved solids and electrical conductivity.

Reaching for the skies: Time and turbulence in digital technologies and practices

This research examines dynamics associated with new representational technologies in complex organizations through a study of the use of a Single Model Environment, prototyping and simulation tools in the mega-project to construct Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport, London. The ambition of the client, BAA. was to change industrial practices reducing project costs and time to delivery through new contractual arrangements and new digitally-enabled collaborative ways of working. The research highlights changes over time and addresses two areas of 'turbulence' in the use of: 1) technologies, where there is a dynamic tension between desires to constantly improve, change and update digital technologies and the need to standardise practices, maintaining and defending the overall integrity of the system; and 2) representations, where dynamics result from the responsibilities and liabilities associated with sharing of digital representations and a lack of trust in the validity of data from other firms. These dynamics are tracked across three stages of this well-managed and innovative project and indicate the generic need to treat digital infrastructure as an ongoing strategic issue.

Parallel performance and scalability experiments with the Danish Eulerian Model on the EPCC supercomputers

The Danish Eulerian Model (DEM) is a powerful air pollution model, designed to calculate the concentrations of various dangerous species over a large geographical region (e.g. Europe). It takes into account the main physical and chemical processes between these species, the actual meteorological conditions, emissions, etc.. This is a huge computational task and requires significant resources of storage and CPU time. Parallel computing is essential for the efficient practical use of the model. Some efficient parallel versions of the model were created over the past several years. A suitable parallel version of DEM by using the Message Passing Interface library (AIPI) was implemented on two powerful supercomputers of the EPCC - Edinburgh, available via the HPC-Europa programme for transnational access to research infrastructures in EC: a Sun Fire E15K and an IBM HPCx cluster. Although the implementation is in principal, the same for both supercomputers, few modifications had to be done for successful porting of the code on the IBM HPCx cluster. Performance analysis and parallel optimization was done next. Results from bench marking experiments will be presented in this paper. Another set of experiments was carried out in order to investigate the sensitivity of the model to variation of some chemical rate constants in the chemical submodel. Certain modifications of the code were necessary to be done in accordance with this task. The obtained results will be used for further sensitivity analysis Studies by using Monte Carlo simulation.