DORIS: Processing and management of Sound Velocity Profiles for echosounding applications

If a bathymetric echosounder is the essential device to carry on hydrographic surveys, other external sensors are absolutely also necessary (positioning system, motion unit or sound velocity profiler). And because sound doesn‛t go straight away into the whole bathymetric swath its measurement and processing are very sensitive for all the water column. DORIS is the very answer for an operational sound velocity profile processing.

Caracterização 3D de movimentos de massa em terrenos com permafrost nas Ilhas Shetland do Sul (1956 - 2010) através de detecção remota, na banda do visível

Dissertação de Mestrado, Geomática, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade do Algarve, 2015

LA CRISIS FINANCIERA: ¿ESTAFA, MALA GESTIÓN EMPRESARIAL, MAL MANEJO MACROECONÓMICO O UNA FALTA DE REGULACIONES? DE NUEVO LAS ENSEÑANZAS

Resumen La intensificación de la crisis a nivel global, luego de la bancarrota de Lehman Brothers en septiembre del 2008, ha provocado que el actual entorno económico y financiero sea complicado para la economía mundial, el sector financiero a nivel global y para los bancos centrales. La actual crisis deriva de muchas causas; no obstante las principales son tres: primero, aspectos macroeconómicos; segundo, la inadecuada regulación de los entes encargados, y tercero, los reguladores estimularon el rápido crecimiento de los derivados en el mercado OTC. Abstract The amplification of the global financial crisis, following the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers in September 2008, has made the present economic and financial environment a not easy time for the world economy, the global financial system and for central banks. There are many causes from the recent financial crisis. Main could be three. First, there were macroeconomic components. Second, the inadequate oversight/regulation provided by financial market regulators. And third, federal regulators have actively encouraged the rapid growth of over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives and securities by all types of financial institutions.

Climate variability of the last 1000 years in the NW Pacific: high resolution, multi-biomarker records from Lake Toyoni

The East Asian Monsoon (EAM) is an active component of the global climate system and has a profound social and economic impact in East Asia and its surrounding countries. Its impact on regional hydrological processes may influence society through industrial water supplies, food productivity and energy use. In order to predict future rates of climate change, reliable and accurate reconstructions of regional temperature and rainfall are required from all over the world to test climate models and better predict future climate variability. Hokkaido is a region which has limited palaeo-climate data and is sensitive to climate change. Instrumental data show that the climate in Hokkaido is influenced by the East Asian Monsoon (EAM), however, instrumental data is limited to the past ~150 years. Therefore down-core climate reconstructions, prior to instrumental records, are required to provide a better understanding of the long-term behaviour of the climate drivers (e.g. the EAM, Westerlies, and teleconnections) in this region. The present study develops multi-proxy reconstructions to determine past climatic and hydrologic variability in Japan over the past 1000 years and aid in understanding the effects of the EAM and the Westerlies independently and interactively. A 250-cm long sediment core from Lake Toyoni, Hokkaido was retrieved to investigate terrestrial and aquatic input, lake temperature and hydrological changes over the past 1000-years within Lake Toyoni and its catchment using X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) data, alkenone palaeothermometry, the molecular and hydrogen isotopic composition of higher plant waxes (δD(HPW)). Here, we conducted the first survey for alkenone biomarkers in eight lakes in the Hokkaido, Japan. We detected the occurrence of alkenones within the sediments of Lake Toyoni. We present the first lacustrine alkenone record from Japan, including genetic analysis of the alkenone producer. C37 alkenone concentrations in surface sediments are 18µg C37 g−1 of dry sediment and the dominant alkenone is C37:4. 18S rDNA analysis revealed the presence of a single alkenone producer in Lake Toyoni and thus a single calibration is used for reconstructing lake temperature based on alkenone unsaturation patterns. Temperature reconstructions over the past 1000 years suggest that lake water temperatures varies between 8 and 19°C which is in line with water temperature changes observed in the modern Lake Toyoni. The alkenone-based temperature reconstruction provides evidence for the variability of the EAM over the past 1000 years. The δD(HPW) suggest that the large fluctuations (∼40‰) represent changes in temperature and source precipitation in this region, which is ultimately controlled by the EAM system and therefore a proxy for the EAM system. In order to complement the biomarker reconstructions, the XRF data strengthen the lake temperature and hydrological reconstructions by providing information on past productivity, which is controlled by the East Asian Summer monsoon (EASM) and wind input into Lake Toyoni, which is controlled by the East Asian Winter Monsoon (EAWM) and the Westerlies. By combining the data generated from XRF, alkenone palaeothermometry and the δD(HPW) reconstructions, we provide valuable information on the EAM and the Westerlies, including; the timing of intensification and weakening, the teleconnections influencing them and the relationship between them. During the Medieval Warm Period (MWP), we find that the EASM dominated and the EAWM was suppressed, whereas, during the Little Ice Age (LIA), the influence of the EAWM dominated with time periods of increased EASM and Westerlies intensification. The El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) significantly influenced the EAM; a strong EASM occurred during El Niño conditions and a strong EAWM occurred during La Niña. The North Atlantic Oscillation, on the other hand, was a key driver of the Westerlies intensification; strengthening of the Westerlies during a positive NAO phase and weakening of the Westerlies during a negative NAO phase. A key finding from this study is that our data support an anti-phase relationship between the EASM and the EAWM (e.g. the intensification of the EASM and weakening of the EAWM and vice versa) and that the EAWM and the Westerlies vary independently from each other, rather than coincide as previously suggested in other studies.

Análisis del TLC entre Estados Unidos-Colombia en los estados de Idaho, Illinois e Indiana

La Escuela de Administración viene desarrollando proyectos de investigación encaminados a identificar las oportunidades de las empresas colombianas frente al Tratado de Libre Comercio con Estados Unidos. Por lo que este estudio busca entender por qué Estados Unidos es el principal socio de Colombia en términos de exportaciones. Dentro del presente estudio se presentan cifras de Colombia y Estados Unidos desde el año 2012 hasta el año 2015, los cuales permitieron identificar, analizar y estudiar la relación económica, el comportamiento en el tiempo y la evolución de ambos países. Con la entrada que tenía el TLC, el gobierno de Colombia y EE.UU. trataron de construir la confianza a mediano y largo plazo para los empresarios. Así que el trabajo se centró en analizar paso a paso las principales características que hicieron el TLC una de las relaciones más importantes que ha tenido hasta ahora el país, sin dejar de lado el contexto económico global y el contexto bilateral. Mediante WISER Trade la cual es una base de datos de flujos de comercio internacional, se recopilo la información necesaria para determinar cuáles son las principales oportunidades comerciales y se determinó que el sector agropecuario, y el sector industrial reflejan una alta competitividad con los Estados Americanos de Illinois, Indiana e Idaho, reflejando en las cifras de 2012 a 2015 un incremento en las exportaciones.

Dynamic Match Analysis

Recent technological development has enabled research- ers to gather data from different performance scenarios while considering players positioning and action events within a specific time frame. This technology varies from global positioning systems to radio frequency devices and computer vision tracking, to name the most common, and aims to collect players’ time motion data and enable the dynamical analysis of performance. Team sports—and in particular, invasion games—present a complex dynamic by nature based on the interaction between 2 opposing sides trying to outperform 1 another. During match and training situations, players’ actions are coupled to their performance context at different interaction levels. As expected, ball, teammates’, and opponents’ positioning play an important role in this interaction process. But other factors, such as final score, teams’ development level, and players’ expertise, seem to affect the match dynamics. In this symposium, we will focus on how different constraints affect invasion games dynamics during both match and training situations. This relation will be established while underpinning the importance of these effects to game teaching and performance optimization. Regarding the match, different performance indicators based on spatial-temporal relations between players and teams will be presented to reveal the interaction processes that form the crucial component of game analysis. Considering the training, this symposium will address the relationship of small-sided games with full- sized matches and will present how players’ dynamical interaction affects different performance indicators.

USO Y COBERTURA DE LA TIERRA EN COSTA RICA PARA 1992: UNA APLICACIÓN DE TELEDETECCIÓN ESPACIAL Y SISTEMAS DE INFORMACION GEOGRÁFICA

En el presente artículo se describe el procedimiento utilizado para actualizar el mapa de uso y cobertura de la tierra de Costa Rica para el año 1992. En el proceso se integró la cartografía análoga existente para 1985 a escala 1:200.000 e imágenes digitales del Mapeador Temático de LANDSAT para los años 1991 y 1993. Para comprobar la exactitud de la clasificación se usaron 1.372 puntos obtenidos de fotos aéreas de 1992 y trabajo de campo empleando un Sistema de Posicionamiento Global (SPG). Los resultados obtenidos indican que existe un 46.6% del país bajo pastos, un 32,9 bajo bosques y un 8,5% bajo uso agrícola. Un 7,8% del área se incluyó en una categoría denominada <<no clasificada, usos mezclados, deforestada>>. La exactitud global de la clasificación fue de un 74%; con una confusión entre pasto y bosque de un 19%.  SUMMARY The objective of this paper is to describe the process used by the authors to update the preliminary 1985 land use-land cover map of Costa Rica. Paper maps of 1985 at scale 1:200.000 we digitized, rasterized and use to label the output of a nonsupervised classification carried out using 1991-93 digital data from LANDSAT 5 (Thematic Mapper). Aerial photography and field work aided by a Global Positional System (GPS) was used to gather ground-truth data. A total of 1372 stratified points were used to test the accuracy of the final map. Our results showed that 46,6% of the country is under pasture, 32,9% under forest and 8.5% under agriculture. The nonclassified areas were lumped into one category that accounted for 7,8% of the country. Global accuracy of the classification was 74% with the confusion between forest and pasture accounting for 19% of this error.

Advanced representation of the ocean/sea ice dynamics at high latitudes

Sea ice is a fundamental element of global climate system, with numerous impacts on the polar environment. The ongoing drastic changes in the Earth’s sea ice cover highlight the necessity of monitoring the polar regions and systematically evaluating the quality of different numerical products. The main objective of this thesis is to improve our knowledge of the representation of Arctic and Antarctic sea ice using comprehensive global ocean reanalyses and coupled climate models. The dissertation will explore (i) the Antarctic marginal ice zone (MIZ) and pack ice area in the ensemble mean of four global ocean reanalyses called GREP; (ii) historical representation of the Arctic and Antarctic sea ice state in HighResMIP models; (iii) the future evolution of Arctic sea ice in HighResMIP models. Global ocean reanalyses and GREP are found to adequately capture interannual and seasonal variability in both pack ice and MIZ areas at hemispheric and regional scales. The advantage of the ensemble-mean approach is proved as GREP smooths the strengths and weaknesses of single systems and provides the most consistent and reliable estimates. This work is intended to encourage the use of GREP in a wide range of applications. The analysis of sea ice representation in the coupled climate models shows no systematic impact of the increased horizontal resolution. We argue that a few minor improvements in sea ice representation with the enhanced horizontal resolution are presumably not worth the major effort of costly computations. The thesis highlights the critical importance to distinguish the MIZ from consolidated pack ice both for investigating changes in sea ice distribution and evaluating the product’s performance. Considering that the MIZ is predicted to dominate the Arctic sea ice cover, the model physics parameterizations and sea ice rheology might require modifications. The results of the work can be useful for modelling community.

GLOBAL WELL-POSEDNESS AND NON-LINEAR STABILITY OF PERIODIC TRAVELING WAVES FOR A SCHRODINGER-BENJAMIN-ONO SYSTEM

The objective of this paper is two-fold: firstly, we develop a local and global (in time) well-posedness theory for a system describing the motion of two fluids with different densities under capillary-gravity waves in a deep water flow (namely, a Schrodinger-Benjamin-Ono system) for low-regularity initial data in both periodic and continuous cases; secondly, a family of new periodic traveling waves for the Schrodinger-Benjamin-Ono system is given: by fixing a minimal period we obtain, via the implicit function theorem, a smooth branch of periodic solutions bifurcating a Jacobian elliptic function called dnoidal, and, moreover, we prove that all these periodic traveling waves are nonlinearly stable by perturbations with the same wavelength.

A QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR POSITIONING WITH GNSS TECHNOLOGY

This paper presents a proposal for a Quality Management System for a generic GNSS Surveying Company as an alternative for management and service quality improvements. As a result of the increased demand for GNSS measurements, a large number of new or restructured companies were established to operate in that market. Considering that GNSS surveying is a new process, some changes must be performed in order to accommodate the old surveying techniques and the old fashioned management to the new reality. This requires a new management model that must be based on a well-described procedure sequence aiming at the Total Management Quality for the company. The proposed Quality Management System was based on the requirements of the Quality System ISO 9000:2000, applied to the whole company, focusing on the productive process of GNSS surveying work.

Environmental issues and international relations, a new global (dis)order - the role of International Relations in promoting a concerted international system

Is it possible to talk about the rise of a new global (dis)order founded on the challenges posed by environmental issues? Through the review of the state of the art on the subject, this article analyzes the growing importance of the environment, and natural resources in particular, in international relations; and aims to raise awareness among International Relations scholars to the potential positive impact of the development of the discipline in integration with global environmental change studies.

Internet based VRS Code Positioning

Absolute positioning – the real time satellite based positioning technique that relies solely on global navigation satellite systems – lacks accuracy for several real time application domains. To provide increased positioning quality, ground or satellite based augmentation systems can be devised, depending on the extent of the area to cover. The underlying technique – multiple reference station differential positioning – can, in the case of ground systems, be further enhanced through the implementation of the virtual reference station concept. Our approach is a ground based system made of a small-sized network of three stations where the concept of virtual reference station was implemented. The stations provide code pseudorange corrections, which are combined using a measurement domain approach inversely proportional to the distance from source station to rover. All data links are established trough the Internet.

Analysis and optimization of the satellite-to-plane link of an aeronautical global system

En aquest projecte s’ha analitzat i optimitzat l’enllaç satèl·lit amb avió per a un sistema aeronàutic global. Aquest nou sistema anomenat ANTARES està dissenyat per a comunicar avions amb estacions base mitjançant un satèl·lit. Aquesta és una iniciativa on hi participen institucions oficials en l’aviació com ara l’ECAC i que és desenvolupat en una col·laboració europea d’universitats i empreses. El treball dut a terme en el projecte compren bàsicament tres aspectes. El disseny i anàlisi de la gestió de recursos. La idoneïtat d’utilitzar correcció d’errors en la capa d’enllaç i en cas que sigui necessària dissenyar una opció de codificació preliminar. Finalment, estudiar i analitzar l’efecte de la interferència co-canal en sistemes multifeix. Tots aquests temes són considerats només per al “forward link”. L’estructura que segueix el projecte és primer presentar les característiques globals del sistema, després centrar-se i analitzar els temes mencionats per a poder donar resultats i extreure conclusions.

Satellizing Galileo? Non-state Authority and Interoperability Standards in the European Global Navigation Satellite System

This paper explores the extent and limits of non-state authority in international affairs. While a number of studies have emphasised the role of state support and the ability of strategically situated actors to capture regulatory processes, they often fail to unpack the conditions under which this takes place. In order to probe the assumption that structural market power, backed by political support, equates regulatory capture, the article examines the interplay of political and economic considerations in the negotiations to establish worldwide interoperability standards needed for the development of Galileo as a genuinely European global navigation satellite system under civil control. It argues that industries supported and identified as strategic by public actors are more likely to capture standardisation processes than those with the largest market share expected to be created by the standards. This suggests that the influence of industries in space, air and maritime traffic control closely related to the militaro-industrial complex remains disproportionate in comparison to the prospective market of location-based services expected to vastly transform business practices, labour relations and many aspects of our daily life.