Statistical analyses to support guidelines for marine avian sampling: Final report. [Digital Supplements A-G attached]

Interest in development of offshore renewable energy facilities has led to a need for high-quality, statistically robust information on marine wildlife distributions. A practical approach is described to estimate the amount of sampling effort required to have sufficient statistical power to identify species specific “hotspots” and “coldspots” of marine bird abundance and occurrence in an offshore environment divided into discrete spatial units (e.g., lease blocks), where “hotspots” and “coldspots” are defined relative to a reference (e.g., regional) mean abundance and/or occurrence probability for each species of interest. For example, a location with average abundance or occurrence that is three times larger the mean (3x effect size) could be defined as a “hotspot,” and a location that is three times smaller than the mean (1/3x effect size) as a “coldspot.” The choice of the effect size used to define hot and coldspots will generally depend on a combination of ecological and regulatory considerations. A method is also developed for testing the statistical significance of possible hotspots and coldspots. Both methods are illustrated with historical seabird survey data from the USGS Avian Compendium Database.

USE OF TSIM IN DIGITAL SIMULATION.

In this paper we shall discuss the use of the TSIM simulation software for modelling large-scale industrial processes. The discussion draws on our recent experience of modelling a large plant in the food-processing industry. We shall focus on those features of software organization and software engineering which proved to be particularly necessary for the execution of this project, and illustrate the extent to which the use of TISM facilitated the implementation of these features. We shall also make some general remarks about the 'life-cycle' of models resulting from projects of this kind.

Wave digital filter model of the entire auditory periphery

A model of the auditory periphery assembled from analog network submodels of all the relevant anatomical structures is described. There is bidirectional coupling between networks representing the outer ear, middle ear and cochlea. A simple voltage source representation of the outer hair cells provides level-dependent basilar membrane curves. The networks are translated into efficient computational modules by means of wave digital filtering. A feedback unit regulates the average firing rate at the output of an inner hair cell module via a simplified modelling of the dynamics of the descending paths to the peripheral ear. This leads to a digital model of the entire auditory periphery with applications to both speech and hearing research.

A closely integrated digital image capture device for embedded applications

A modular image capture system with close integration to CCD cameras has been developed. The aim is to produce a system capable of integrating CCD sensor, image capture and image processing into a single compact unit. This close integration provides a direct mapping between CCD pixels and digital image pixels. The system has been interfaced to a digital signal processor board for the development and control of image processing tasks. These have included characterization and enhancement of noisy images from an intensified camera and measurement to subpixel resolutions. A highly compact form of the image capture system is in an advanced stage of development. This consists of a single FPGA device and a single VRAM providing a two chip image capturing system capable of being integrated into a CCD camera. A miniature compact PC has been developed using a novel modular interconnection technique, providing a processing unit in a three dimensional format highly suited to integration into a CCD camera unit. Work is under way to interface the compact capture system to the PC using this interconnection technique, combining CCD sensor, image capture and image processing into a single compact unit. ©2005 Copyright SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering.

Comparison of the HSPF and HBV-INCA models: Crossing the Atlantic divide

Observation shows that the watershed-scale models in common use in the United States (US) differ from those used in the European Union (EU). The question arises whether the difference in model use is due to familiarity or necessity. Do conditions in each continent require the use of unique watershed-scale models, or are models sufficiently customizable that independent development of models that serve the same purpose (e.g., continuous/event- based, lumped/distributed, field-Awatershed-scale) is unnecessary? This paper explores this question through the application of two continuous, semi-distributed, watershed-scale models (HSPF and HBV-INCA) to a rural catchment in southern England. The Hydrological Simulation Program-Fortran (HSPF) model is in wide use in the United States. The Integrated Catchments (INCA) model has been used extensively in Europe, and particularly in England. The results of simulation from both models are presented herein. Both models performed adequately according to the criteria set for them. This suggests that there was not a necessity to have alternative, yet similar, models. This partially supports a general conclusion that resources should be devoted towards training in the use of existing models rather than development of new models that serve a similar purpose to existing models. A further comparison of water quality predictions from both models may alter this conclusion.