EPANET Input Files of New York tunnels and Pacific City used in a metamodel-based optimization study

Metamodels have proven be very useful when it comes to reducing the computational requirements of Evolutionary Algorithm-based optimization by acting as quick-solving surrogates for slow-solving fitness functions. The relationship between metamodel scope and objective function varies between applications, that is, in some cases the metamodel acts as a surrogate for the whole fitness function, whereas in other cases it replaces only a component of the fitness function. This paper presents a formalized qualitative process to evaluate a fitness function to determine the most suitable metamodel scope so as to increase the likelihood of calibrating a high-fidelity metamodel and hence obtain good optimization results in a reasonable amount of time. The process is applied to the risk-based optimization of water distribution systems; a very computationally-intensive problem for real-world systems. The process is validated with a simple case study (modified New York Tunnels) and the power of metamodelling is demonstrated on a real-world case study (Pacific City) with a computational speed-up of several orders of magnitude.

SADA and DESYRE DSSs descriptive classification criteria (main issues related to DSS's)

Brownfield rehabilitation is an essential step for sustainable land-use planning and management in the European Union. In brownfield regeneration processes, the legacy contamination plays a significant role, firstly because of the persistent contaminants in soil or groundwater which extends the existing hazards and risks well into the future; and secondly, problems from historical contamination are often more difficult to manage than contamination caused by new activities. Due to the complexity associated with the management of brownfield site rehabilitation, Decision Support Systems (DSSs) have been developed to support problem holders and stakeholders in the decision-making process encompassing all phases of the rehabilitation. This paper presents a comparative study between two DSSs, namely SADA (Spatial Analysis and Decision Assistance) and DESYRE (Decision Support System for the Requalification of Contaminated Sites), with the main objective of showing the benefits of using DSSs to introduce and process data and then to disseminate results to different stakeholders involved in the decision-making process. For this purpose, a former car manufacturing plant located in the Brasov area, Central Romania, contaminated chiefly by heavy metals and total petroleum hydrocarbons, has been selected as a case study to apply the two examined DSSs. Major results presented here concern the analysis of the functionalities of the two DSSs in order to identify similarities, differences and complementarities and, thus, to provide an indication of the most suitable integration options.

Silicate mineralogy of basalts at DSDP Leg 54 Holes

Basalts drilled from the East Pacific Rise, OCP Ridge, and Siqueiros fracture zone during Leg 54 are texturally diverse. Dolerites are equigranular at Sites 422 and 428 and porphyritic, with phenocrysts of plagioclase (An69.73) and Ca-rich clinopyroxene (Ca42Mg48Fe10) at Site 427. The East Pacific Rise lavas and some of those from the OCP Ridge are fine-grained and porphyritic. The majority of the large crystals are clustered skeletal glomerocrysts of plagioclase An64-77), together with olivine (Fo80-87), Ca-rich clinopyroxene, or both. Euhedral phenocrysts of plagioclase, together with olivine, Carich clinopyroxene, and Cr-Al spinel in some cases, occur in most of the fine-grained lavas. These phenocrysts are small (maximum dimension <1 mm in all but one sample), sparse (combined modal amount <1% in all samples), and distinctive from the megacrysts which characterize many ocean-floor lavas. In two East Pacific Rise lavas, zoned plagioclase (An83 cores) is the sole phenocryst phase. In other porphyritic lavas from all the main East Pacific Rise and OCP Ridge units drilled during Leg 54, the plagioclase phenocrysts contain cores of bytownite (An79-87) surrounded by more-sodic feldspar (An67-77). Core/rim relationships vary from continuous normal zoning, through discontinuous zoning, to extensive resorption of the calcic cores in some samples. The compositions of the plagioclase calcic cores are systematically related to those of the glomerophyric plagioclase and olivine in the lavas containing them. Furthermore, only one compositional population of calcic cores occurs in each rock. The possible causes of these relationships are far from clear. Magma mixing, although superficially applicable, is inconsistent with important aspects of the phenocryst mineralogy of these particular lavas. A more satisfactory model to explain both phenocryst zoning and rapid glomerocryst growth immediately before extrusion may be constructed by postulating influx of water into the upwelling magmas within Layer 3 of the oceanic crust beneath the East Pacific Rise, and subsequent loss of part of this water during effervescence within feeder dykes between Layer 3 and the ocean floor. It is shown that this model is fully consistent with published data on water and carbon dioxide contents and ratios in the pillow-margin glasses, vesicles, and phenocryst inclusions of ocean-floor basalts. The evidence for the precipitation of plagioclase- dominated crystalline assemblages from these magmas in the upper part of Layer 3 is concordant with recent geophysically based modeling of the structure of the East Pacific Rise. Calcium-rich clinopyroxenes in dolerites from the OCP Ridge and Siqueiros fracture zone show radial, oscillatory, and sector-zoning. In Sample 428A-5-2 (Piece 5a), the compositional trends resulting from this zoning closely resemble those of the pyroxenes in some lunar lavas. The controls on crystallization of interstitial pigeonite - epitaxial upon augite - in this rock are discussed. Both sector-zoning of the augite and nucleation of pigeonite within microvolumes of magma with a low Ca(Mg + Fe) ratio appear to be important factors.