Areal rainfall estimation using moving cars - computer experiments including hydrological modeling

The need for high temporal and spatial resolution precipitation data for hydrological analyses has been discussed in several studies. Although rain gauges provide valuable information, a very dense rain gauge network is costly. As a result, several new ideas have been emerged to help estimating areal rainfall with higher temporal and spatial resolution. Rabiei et al. (2013) observed that moving cars, called RainCars (RCs), can potentially be a new source of data for measuring rainfall amounts. The optical sensors used in that study are designed for operating the windscreen wipers and showed promising results for rainfall measurement purposes. Their measurement accuracy has been quantified in laboratory experiments. Considering explicitly those errors, the main objective of this study is to investigate the benefit of using RCs for estimating areal rainfall. For that, computer experiments are carried out, where radar rainfall is considered as the reference and the other sources of data, i.e. RCs and rain gauges, are extracted from radar data. Comparing the quality of areal rainfall estimation by RCs with rain gauges and reference data helps to investigate the benefit of the RCs. The value of this additional source of data is not only assessed for areal rainfall estimation performance, but also for use in hydrological modeling. The results show that the RCs considering measurement errors derived from laboratory experiments provide useful additional information for areal rainfall estimation as well as for hydrological modeling. Even assuming higher uncertainties for RCs as obtained from the laboratory up to a certain level is observed practical.

The influence of naturalistic, directionally non-specific motion on the spatial deployment of visual attention in right-hemispheric stroke

An impairment of the spatial deployment of visual attention during exploration of static (i.e., motionless) stimuli is a common finding after an acute, right-hemispheric stroke. However, less is known about how these deficits: a) are modulated through naturalistic motion (i.e., without directional, specific spatial features); and, b) evolve in the subacute/chronic post-stroke phase. In the present study, we investigated free visual exploration in three patient groups with subacute/chronic right-hemispheric stroke and in healthy subjects. The first group included patients with left visual neglect and a left visual field defect (VFD), the second patients with a left VFD but no neglect, and the third patients without neglect or VFD. Eye movements were measured in all participants while they freely explored a traffic scene without (static condition) and with (dynamic condition) naturalistic motion, i.e., cars moving from the right or left. In the static condition, all patient groups showed similar deployment of visual exploration (i.e., as measured by the cumulative fixation duration) as compared to healthy subjects, suggesting that recovery processes took place, with normal spatial allocation of attention. However, the more demanding dynamic condition with moving cars elicited different re-distribution patterns of visual attention, quite similar to those typically observed in acute stroke. Neglect patients with VFD showed a significant decrease of visual exploration in the contralesional space, whereas patients with VFD but no neglect showed a significant increase of visual exploration in the contralesional space. No differences, as compared to healthy subjects, were found in patients without neglect or VFD. These results suggest that naturalistic motion, without directional, specific spatial features, may critically influence the spatial distribution of visual attention in subacute/chronic stroke patients.

Hybrid choice model for propensity to travel and tour complexity

During the last years cities around the world have invested important quantities of money in measures for reducing congestion and car-trips. Investments which are nothing but potential solutions for the well-known urban sprawl phenomenon, also called the “development trap” that leads to further congestion and a higher proportion of our time spent in slow moving cars. Over the path of this searching for solutions, the complex relationship between urban environment and travel behaviour has been studied in a number of cases. The main question on discussion is, how to encourage multi-stop tours? Thus, the objective of this paper is to verify whether unobserved factors influence tour complexity. For this purpose, we use a data-base from a survey conducted in 2006-2007 in Madrid, a suitable case study for analyzing urban sprawl due to new urban developments and substantial changes in mobility patterns in the last years. A total of 943 individuals were interviewed from 3 selected neighbourhoods (CBD, urban and suburban). We study the effect of unobserved factors on trip frequency. This paper present the estimation of an hybrid model where the latent variable is called propensity to travel and the discrete choice model is composed by 5 alternatives of tour type. The results show that characteristics of the neighbourhoods in Madrid are important to explain trip frequency. The influence of land use variables on trip generation is clear and in particular the presence of commercial retails. Through estimation of elasticities and forecasting we determine to what extent land-use policy measures modify travel demand. Comparing aggregate elasticities with percentage variations, it can be seen that percentage variations could lead to inconsistent results. The result shows that hybrid models better explain travel behavior than traditional discrete choice models.

werner beert, transportation cars buick Portraits Men

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werner bert, mrs proetsch, traansportation cars, buick, ischl Portraits Groups

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cars, road to poetschen from goisern Transportation

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hallstatt catholic church, transportation cars buick Cities, Towns, and Villages

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Street scene with cars; Prague?

Handwritten on verso: Norbert Troller Architect Born Czechoslovakia 1900 died USA 1981

Injuries associated with continuous miners, shuttle cars, load-haul-dump and personnel transport in New South Wales underground coal mines

In the three years to June 2005, 959 injuries associated with continuous miners (CMs), shuttle cars (SCs), load–haul–dump and personnel transport (PT) were reported by NSW underground coal mines, comprising 23% of all injuries reported. The present paper reports an analysis of the narrative field accompanying these reports to determine opportunities for controlling injury risks. The most common combinations of activity and mechanism were: strain while handling CM cable (96 injuries); caught between or struck by moving parts while bolting on a CM (86 injuries); strains while bolting on CM (54 injuries); and slipping off a CM during access, egress or other activity (60 injuries). For the other equipment considered, the common injury mechanism was the vehicle running over a pothole or other roadway abnormality causing the driver or passengers to be injured (169 injuries). Potential control measures include: monorails for CM services; hydraulic cable reelers; handrails on CM platforms; redesign of CM platforms and bolting rigs to reduce reach distances during drilling and bolting; improvements to guarding of bolting controls; standardisation and shape coding of bolting controls; two handed fast feed; improvements in underground roadway maintenance, vehicle suspension, visibility and seating; and pedestrian proximity warning devices.