76 FR 17064 - Shared Use Path Accessibility Guidelines

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-03-28

... industry professionals regarding matters covered in this notice. In particular, the Board invites comments... shared use path surfaces, either light-on-dark or dark-on-light. Size. Detectable warning surfaces shall... information on any additional areas that should be addressed in the guidelines. Regulatory Process Matters The...

28 CFR 36.407 - Temporary suspension of certain detectable warning requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... detectable warning requirements. 36.407 Section 36.407 Judicial Administration DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE... and Alterations § 36.407 Temporary suspension of certain detectable warning requirements. The detectable warning requirements contained in sections 4.7.7, 4.29.5, and 4.29.6 of appendix A to this part...

Assessment of Detectable Warning Devices for Specification Compliance or Equivalent Facilitation

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1992-12-01

This report evaluates the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG) specification for detectable : warnings and the applicability of equivalent facilitation to the development of detectable warning devices. Ambiguities : in the...

Determination of early warning signs for photocatalytic degradation of titanium white oil paints by means of surface analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Driel, B. A.; Wezendonk, T. A.; van den Berg, K. J.; Kooyman, P. J.; Gascon, J.; Dik, J.

2017-02-01

Titanium white (TiO2) has been widely used as a pigment in the 20th century. However, its most photocatalytic form (anatase) can cause severe degradation of the oil paint in which it is contained. UV light initiates TiO2-photocatalyzed processes in the paint film, degrading the oil binder into volatile components resulting in chalking of the paint. This will eventually lead to severe changes in the appearance of a painting. To date, limited examples of degraded works of art containing titanium white are known due to the relatively short existence of the paintings in question and the slow progress of the degradation process. However, UV light will inevitably cause degradation of paint in works of art containing photocatalytic titanium white. In this work, a method to detect early warning signs of photocatalytic degradation of unvarnished oil paint is proposed, using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Consequently, a four-stage degradation model was developed through in-depth study of TiO2-containing paint films in various stages of degradation. The XPS surface analysis proved very valuable for detecting early warning signs of paint degradation, whereas the AFM results provide additional confirmation and are in good agreement with bulk gloss reduction.

Integrated Land- and Underwater-Based Sensors for a Subduction Zone Earthquake Early Warning System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pirenne, B.; Rosenberger, A.; Rogers, G. C.; Henton, J.; Lu, Y.; Moore, T.

2016-12-01

Ocean Networks Canada (ONC — oceannetworks.ca/ ) operates cabled ocean observatories off the coast of British Columbia (BC) to support research and operational oceanography. Recently, ONC has been funded by the Province of BC to deliver an earthquake early warning (EEW) system that integrates offshore and land-based sensors to deliver alerts of incoming ground shaking from the Cascadia Subduction Zone. ONC's cabled seismic network has the unique advantage of being located offshore on either side of the surface expression of the subduction zone. The proximity of ONC's sensors to the fault can result in faster, more effective warnings, which translates into more lives saved, injuries avoided and more ability for mitigative actions to take place.ONC delivers near real-time data from various instrument types simultaneously, providing distinct advantages to seismic monitoring and earthquake early warning. The EEW system consists of a network of sensors, located on the ocean floor and on land, that detect and analyze the initial p-wave of an earthquake as well as the crustal deformation on land during the earthquake sequence. Once the p-wave is detected and characterized, software systems correlate the data streams of the various sensors and deliver alerts to clients through a Common Alerting Protocol-compliant data package. This presentation will focus on the development of the earthquake early warning capacity at ONC. It will describe the seismic sensors and their distribution, the p-wave detection algorithms selected and the overall architecture of the system. It will further overview the plan to achieve operational readiness at project completion.

The design and implementation of photoacoustic based laser warning receiver for harsh environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

El-Sherif, Ashraf F.; Ayoub, H. S.; El-Sharkawy, Yasser H.; Gomaa, Walid; Hassan, H. H.

2018-01-01

This paper discusses the implementation of new type of laser warning receiver (LWR) system, based on the detection of photoacoustic signals, induced by high power infrared laser designators pulses on target's surfaces. This system appends conventional optoelectronic based LWR to decrease the false alarm rate (FAR) in harsh environments, where ambient conditions are expected to obstruct optical LWR. To improve the sensitivity of the photoacoustic based LWR system, some metallic and polymeric target shielding materials were studied, in order to cover a friendly civil structure, vehicle or a maritime entity with a low cost large area acoustic detector array shield. A thermographic investigation of target surface material- laser reaction, signal processing and system configuration and functional analysis are also presented.

Methods and systems for detection of ice formation on surfaces

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Alfano, Robert R. (Inventor); Wang, Wubao (Inventor); Sztul, Henry (Inventor); Budansky, Yury (Inventor)

2007-01-01

A system for detecting ice formation on metal, painted metal and other material surfaces can include a transparent window having an exterior surface upon which ice can form; a light source and optics configured and arranged to illuminate the exterior surface of the window from behind the exterior surface; and a detector and optics configured and arranged to receive light backscattered by the exterior surface and any ice disposed on the exterior surface and determine the thickness of the ice layer. For example, the system can be used with aircraft by placing one or more windows in the wings of the aircraft. The system is used for a novel optical method for real-time on-board detection and warning of ice formation on surfaces of airplanes, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and other vehicles and stationary structures to improve their safety and operation.

Cheating the Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rist, Marilee C.

1993-01-01

Schools are the victims, as bid-rigging scandals in the dairy-products industry surface in 13 states. School boards, in close cooperation with superintendents and district business managers, have the responsibility to detect bid-rigging or collusion. Offers guides for good business management and warning signs of bid-rigging. (MLF)

Space geodetic tools provide early warnings for earthquakes and volcanic eruptions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aoki, Yosuke

2017-04-01

Development of space geodetic techniques such as Global Navigation Satellite System and Synthetic Aperture Radar in last few decades allows us to monitor deformation of Earth's surface in unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution. These observations, combined with fast data transmission and quick data processing, enable us to quickly detect and locate earthquakes and volcanic eruptions and assess potential hazards such as strong earthquake shaking, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions. These techniques thus are key parts of early warning systems, help identify some hazards before a cataclysmic event, and improve the response to the consequent damage.

Estimation for aerial detection effectiveness with cooperation efficiency factors of early-warning aircraft in early-warning detection SoS under BSC framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Feng; Hu, Xiaofeng; He, Xiaoyuan; Guo, Rui; Li, Kaiming; Yang, Lu

2017-11-01

In the military field, the performance evaluation of early-warning aircraft deployment or construction is always an important problem needing to be explored. As an effective approach of enterprise management and performance evaluation, Balanced Score Card (BSC) attracts more and more attentions and is studied more and more widely all over the world. It can also bring feasible ideas and technical approaches for studying the issue of the performance evaluation of the deployment or construction of early-warning aircraft which is the important component in early-warning detection system of systems (SoS). Therefore, the deep explored researches are carried out based on the previously research works. On the basis of the characteristics of space exploration and aerial detection effectiveness of early-warning detection SoS and the cardinal principle of BSC are analyzed simply, and the performance evaluation framework of the deployment or construction of early-warning aircraft is given, under this framework, aimed at the evaluation issue of aerial detection effectiveness of early-warning detection SoS with the cooperation efficiency factors of the early-warning aircraft and other land based radars, the evaluation indexes are further designed and the relative evaluation model is further established, especially the evaluation radar chart being also drawn to obtain the evaluation results from a direct sight angle. Finally, some practical computer simulations are launched to prove the validity and feasibility of the research thinking and technologic approaches which are proposed in the paper.

Idea Project Final Report, Engineered Visibility Warning Signals: Tests Of Time To React, Detectability, Identifiability And Salience

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1996-05-01

THIS INVESTIGATION WAS COMPLETED AS PART OF THE ITS-IDEA PROGRAM WHICH IS ONE OF THREE IDEA PROGRAMS MANAGED BY THE TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD (TRB) TO FOSTER INNOVATIONS IN SURFACE TRANSPORTATION. IT FOCUSES ON PRODUCTS AND RESULT FOR THE DEVELOP...

Determination of early warning signs for photocatalytic degradation of titanium white oil paints by means of surface analysis.

PubMed

van Driel, B A; Wezendonk, T A; van den Berg, K J; Kooyman, P J; Gascon, J; Dik, J

2017-02-05

Titanium white (TiO 2 ) has been widely used as a pigment in the 20th century. However, its most photocatalytic form (anatase) can cause severe degradation of the oil paint in which it is contained. UV light initiates TiO 2 -photocatalyzed processes in the paint film, degrading the oil binder into volatile components resulting in chalking of the paint. This will eventually lead to severe changes in the appearance of a painting. To date, limited examples of degraded works of art containing titanium white are known due to the relatively short existence of the paintings in question and the slow progress of the degradation process. However, UV light will inevitably cause degradation of paint in works of art containing photocatalytic titanium white. In this work, a method to detect early warning signs of photocatalytic degradation of unvarnished oil paint is proposed, using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Consequently, a four-stage degradation model was developed through in-depth study of TiO 2 -containing paint films in various stages of degradation. The XPS surface analysis proved very valuable for detecting early warning signs of paint degradation, whereas the AFM results provide additional confirmation and are in good agreement with bulk gloss reduction. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Tsunami Early Warning via a Physics-Based Simulation Pipeline

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, J. M.; Rundle, J. B.; Donnellan, A.; Ward, S. N.; Komjathy, A.

2017-12-01

Through independent efforts, physics-based simulations of earthquakes, tsunamis, and atmospheric signatures of these phenomenon have been developed. With the goal of producing tsunami forecasts and early warning tools for at-risk regions, we join these three spheres to create a simulation pipeline. The Virtual Quake simulator can produce thousands of years of synthetic seismicity on large, complex fault geometries, as well as the expected surface displacement in tsunamigenic regions. These displacements are used as initial conditions for tsunami simulators, such as Tsunami Squares, to produce catalogs of potential tsunami scenarios with probabilities. Finally, these tsunami scenarios can act as input for simulations of associated ionospheric total electron content, signals which can be detected by GNSS satellites for purposes of early warning in the event of a real tsunami. We present the most recent developments in this project.

Study on warning radius of diffuse reflection laser warning based on fish-eye lens

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Bolin; Zhang, Weian

2013-09-01

The diffuse reflection type of omni-directional laser warning based on fish-eye lens is becoming more and more important. As one of the key parameters of warning system, the warning radius should be put into investigation emphatically. The paper firstly theoretically analyzes the energy detected by single pixel of FPA detector in the system under complicated environment. Then the least energy detectable by each single pixel of the system is computed in terms of detector sensitivity, system noise, and minimum SNR. Subsequently, by comparison between the energy detected by single pixel and the least detectable energy, the warning radius is deduced from Torrance-Sparrow five-parameter semiempirical statistic model. Finally, a field experiment was developed to validate the computational results. It has been found that the warning radius has a close relationship with BRDF parameters of the irradiated target, propagation distance, angle of incidence, and detector sensitivity, etc. Furthermore, an important fact is shown that the experimental values of warning radius are always less than that of theoretical ones, due to such factors as the optical aberration of fish-eye lens, the transmissivity of narrowband filter, and the packing ratio of detector.

Lane detection using Randomized Hough Transform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mongkonyong, Peerawat; Nuthong, Chaiwat; Siddhichai, Supakorn; Yamakita, Masaki

2018-01-01

According to the report of the Royal Thai Police between 2006 and 2015, lane changing without consciousness is one of the most accident causes. To solve this problem, many methods are considered. Lane Departure Warning System (LDWS) is considered to be one of the potential solutions. LDWS is a mechanism designed to warn the driver when the vehicle begins to move out of its current lane. LDWS contains many parts including lane boundary detection, driver warning and lane marker tracking. This article focuses on the lane boundary detection part. The proposed lane boundary detection detects the lines of the image from the input video and selects the lane marker of the road surface from those lines. Standard Hough Transform (SHT) and Randomized Hough Transform (RHT) are considered in this article. They are used to extract lines of an image. SHT extracts the lines from all of the edge pixels. RHT extracts only the lines randomly picked by the point pairs from edge pixels. RHT algorithm reduces the time and memory usage when compared with SHT. The increase of the threshold value in RHT will increase the voted limit of the line that has a high possibility to be the lane marker, but it also consumes the time and memory. By comparison between SHT and RHT with the different threshold values, 500 frames of input video from the front car camera will be processed. The accuracy and the computational time of RHT are similar to those of SHT in the result of the comparison.

ForWarn Forest Disturbance Change Detection System Provides a Weekly Snapshot of US Forest Conditions to Aid Forest Managers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hargrove, W. W.; Spruce, J.; Kumar, J.; Hoffman, F. M.

2012-12-01

The Eastern Forest Environmental Threat Assessment Center and Western Wildland Environmental Assessment Center of the USDA Forest Service have collaborated with NASA Stennis Space Center to develop ForWarn, a forest monitoring tool that uses MODIS satellite imagery to produce weekly snapshots of vegetation conditions across the lower 48 United States. Forest and natural resource managers can use ForWarn to rapidly detect, identify, and respond to unexpected changes in the nation's forests caused by insects, diseases, wildfires, severe weather, or other natural or human-caused events. ForWarn detects most types of forest disturbances, including insects, disease, wildfires, frost and ice damage, tornadoes, hurricanes, blowdowns, harvest, urbanization, and landslides. It also detects drought, flood, and temperature effects, and shows early and delayed seasonal vegetation development. Operating continuously since January 2010, results show ForWarn to be a robust and highly capable tool for detecting changes in forest conditions. To help forest and natural resource managers rapidly detect, identify, and respond to unexpected changes in the nation's forests, ForWarn produces sets of national maps showing potential forest disturbances at 231m resolution every 8 days, and posts the results to the web for examination. ForWarn compares current greenness with the "normal," historically seen greenness that would be expected for healthy vegetation for a specific location and time of the year, and then identifies areas appearing less green than expected to provide a strategic national overview of potential forest disturbances that can be used to direct ground and aircraft efforts. In addition to forests, ForWarn also tracks potential disturbances in rangeland vegetation and agriculural crops. ForWarn is the first national-scale system of its kind based on remote sensing developed specifically for forest disturbances. The ForWarn system had an official unveiling and rollout in March 2012, initiated by a joint NASA and USDA press release, and followed by a series of training webinars. Almost 60 early-adopter state and federal forest managers attended at least one of the ForWarn rollout webinars. The ForWarn home page has had 2,632 unique visitors since rollout in March 2012, with 39% returning visits. ForWarn was used to map tornado scars from the historic April 27, 2011 tornado outbreak, and detected timber damage within more than a dozen tornado tracks across northern Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. ForWarn is the result of an ongoing, substantive cooperation among four different government agencies: USDA, NASA, USGS, and DOE. Disturbance maps are available on the web through the ForWarn Change Assessment Viewer at http://forwarn.forestthreats.org/fcav.

Integration of WERA Ocean Radar into Tsunami Early Warning Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dzvonkovskaya, Anna; Helzel, Thomas; Kniephoff, Matthias; Petersen, Leif; Weber, Bernd

2016-04-01

High-frequency (HF) ocean radars give a unique capability to deliver simultaneous wide area measurements of ocean surface current fields and sea state parameters far beyond the horizon. The WERA® ocean radar system is a shore-based remote sensing system to monitor ocean surface in near real-time and at all-weather conditions up to 300 km offshore. Tsunami induced surface currents cause increasing orbital velocities comparing to normal oceanographic situation and affect the measured radar spectra. The theoretical approach about tsunami influence on radar spectra showed that a tsunami wave train generates a specific unusual pattern in the HF radar spectra. While the tsunami wave is approaching the beach, the surface current pattern changes slightly in deep water and significantly in the shelf area as it was shown in theoretical considerations and later proved during the 2011 Japan tsunami. These observed tsunami signatures showed that the velocity of tsunami currents depended on a tsunami wave height and bathymetry. The HF ocean radar doesn't measure the approaching wave height of a tsunami; however, it can resolve the surface current velocity signature, which is generated when tsunami reaches the shelf edge. This strong change of the surface current can be detected by a phased-array WERA system in real-time; thus the WERA ocean radar is a valuable tool to support Tsunami Early Warning Systems (TEWS). Based on real tsunami measurements, requirements for the integration of ocean radar systems into TEWS are already defined. The requirements include a high range resolution, a narrow beam directivity of phased-array antennas and an accelerated data update mode to provide a possibility of offshore tsunami detection in real-time. The developed software package allows reconstructing an ocean surface current map of the area observed by HF radar based on the radar power spectrum processing. This fact gives an opportunity to issue an automated tsunami identification message by the WERA radars to TEWS. The radar measurements can be used to confirm a pre-warning and raise a tsunami alert. The output data of WERA processing software can be easily integrated into existing TEWS due to flexible data format, fast update rate and quality control of measurements. The archived radar data can be used for further hazard analysis and research purposes. The newly launched Tsunami Warning Center in Oman is one of the most sophisticated tsunami warning system world-wide applying a mix of well proven state-of-the-art subsystems. It allows the acquisition of data from many different sensor systems including seismic stations, GNSS, tide gauges, and WERA ocean radars in one acquisition system providing access to all sensor data via a common interface. The TEWS in Oman also integrates measurements of a modern network of HF ocean radars to verify tsunami simulations, which give additional scenario quality information and confirmation to the decision support.

A tsunami early warning system for the coastal area modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soebroto, Arief Andy; Sunaryo, Suhartanto, Ery

2015-04-01

The tsunami disaster is a potential disaster in the territory of Indonesia. Indonesia is an archipelago country and close to the ocean deep. The tsunami occurred in Aceh province in 2004. Early prevention efforts have been carried out. One of them is making "tsunami buoy" which has been developed by BPPT. The tool puts sensors on the ocean floor near the coast to detect earthquakes on the ocean floor. Detection results are transmitted via satellite by a transmitter placed floating on the sea surface. The tool will cost billions of dollars for each system. Another constraint was the transmitter theft "tsunami buoy" in the absence of guard. In this study of the system has a transmission system using radio frequency and focused on coastal areas where costs are cheaper, so that it can be applied at many beaches in Indonesia are potentially affected by the tsunami. The monitoring system sends the detection results to the warning system using a radio frequency with a capability within 3 Km. Test results on the sub module sensor monitoring system generates an error of 0.63% was taken 10% showed a good quality sensing. The test results of data transmission from the transceiver of monitoring system to the receiver of warning system produces 100% successful delivery and reception of data. The test results on the whole system to function 100% properly.

Crowd-Sourced Global Earthquake Early Warning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Minson, S. E.; Brooks, B. A.; Glennie, C. L.; Murray, J. R.; Langbein, J. O.; Owen, S. E.; Iannucci, B. A.; Hauser, D. L.

2014-12-01

Although earthquake early warning (EEW) has shown great promise for reducing loss of life and property, it has only been implemented in a few regions due, in part, to the prohibitive cost of building the required dense seismic and geodetic networks. However, many cars and consumer smartphones, tablets, laptops, and similar devices contain low-cost versions of the same sensors used for earthquake monitoring. If a workable EEW system could be implemented based on either crowd-sourced observations from consumer devices or very inexpensive networks of instruments built from consumer-quality sensors, EEW coverage could potentially be expanded worldwide. Controlled tests of several accelerometers and global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receivers typically found in consumer devices show that, while they are significantly noisier than scientific-grade instruments, they are still accurate enough to capture displacements from moderate and large magnitude earthquakes. The accuracy of these sensors varies greatly depending on the type of data collected. Raw coarse acquisition (C/A) code GPS data are relatively noisy. These observations have a surface displacement detection threshold approaching ~1 m and would thus only be useful in large Mw 8+ earthquakes. However, incorporating either satellite-based differential corrections or using a Kalman filter to combine the raw GNSS data with low-cost acceleration data (such as from a smartphone) decreases the noise dramatically. These approaches allow detection thresholds as low as 5 cm, potentially enabling accurate warnings for earthquakes as small as Mw 6.5. Simulated performance tests show that, with data contributed from only a very small fraction of the population, a crowd-sourced EEW system would be capable of warning San Francisco and San Jose of a Mw 7 rupture on California's Hayward fault and could have accurately issued both earthquake and tsunami warnings for the 2011 Mw 9 Tohoku-oki, Japan earthquake.

Cluster Analysis-Based Approaches for Geospatiotemporal Data Mining of Massive Data Sets for Identification of Forest Threats

Treesearch

Richard Trans Mills; Forrest M Hoffman; Jitendra Kumar; William W. Hargrove

2011-01-01

We investigate methods for geospatiotemporal data mining of multi-year land surface phenology data (250 m2 Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) values derived from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) in this study) for the conterminous United States (CONUS) as part of an early warning system for detecting threats to forest ecosystems. The...

[Analysis and experimental verification of sensitivity and SNR of laser warning receiver].

PubMed

Zhang, Ji-Long; Wang, Ming; Tian, Er-Ming; Li, Xiao; Wang, Zhi-Bin; Zhang, Yue

2009-01-01

In order to countermeasure increasingly serious threat from hostile laser in modern war, it is urgent to do research on laser warning technology and system, and the sensitivity and signal to noise ratio (SNR) are two important performance parameters in laser warning system. In the present paper, based on the signal statistical detection theory, a method for calculation of the sensitivity and SNR in coherent detection laser warning receiver (LWR) has been proposed. Firstly, the probabilities of the laser signal and receiver noise were analyzed. Secondly, based on the threshold detection theory and Neyman-Pearson criteria, the signal current equation was established by introducing detection probability factor and false alarm rate factor, then, the mathematical expressions of sensitivity and SNR were deduced. Finally, by using method, the sensitivity and SNR of the sinusoidal grating laser warning receiver developed by our group were analyzed, and the theoretic calculation and experimental results indicate that the SNR analysis method is feasible, and can be used in performance analysis of LWR.

Electrical Distribution System (EDS) and Caution and Warning System (CWS)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mcclung, T.

1975-01-01

An astronaut caution and warning system is described which monitors various life support system parameters and detects out-of-range parameter conditions. The warning system generates a warning tone and displays the malfunction condition to the astronaut along with the proper corrective procedures required.

Intelligent Tires Based on Measurement of Tire Deformation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsuzaki, Ryosuke; Todoroki, Akira

From a traffic safety point-of-view, there is an urgent need for intelligent tires as a warning system for road conditions, for optimized braking control on poor road surfaces and as a tire fault detection system. Intelligent tires, equipped with sensors for monitoring applied strain, are effective in improving reliability and control systems such as anti-lock braking systems (ABSs). In previous studies, we developed a direct tire deformation or strain measurement system with sufficiently low stiffness and high elongation for practical use, and a wireless communication system between tires and vehicle that operates without a battery. The present study investigates the application of strain data for an optimized braking control and road condition warning system. The relationships between strain sensor outputs and tire mechanical parameters, including braking torque, effective radius and contact patch length, are calculated using finite element analysis. Finally, we suggested the possibility of optimized braking control and road condition warning systems. Optimized braking control can be achieved by keeping the slip ratio constant. The road condition warning would be actuated if the recorded friction coefficient at a certain slip ratio is lower than a ‘safe’ reference value.

Intelligent tires for improved tire safety using wireless strain measurement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsuzaki, Ryosuke; Todoroki, Akira

2008-03-01

From a traffic safety point-of-view, there is an urgent need for intelligent tires as a warning system for road conditions, for optimized braking control on poor road surfaces and as a tire fault detection system. Intelligent tires, equipped with sensors for monitoring applied strain, are effective in improving reliability and control systems such as anti-lock braking systems (ABSs). In previous studies, we developed a direct tire deformation or strain measurement system with sufficiently low stiffness and high elongation for practical use, and a wireless communication system between tires and vehicle that operates without a battery. The present study investigates the application of strain data for an optimized braking control and road condition warning system. The relationships between strain sensor outputs and tire mechanical parameters, including braking torque, effective radius and contact patch length, are calculated using finite element analysis. Finally, we suggested the possibility of optimized braking control and road condition warning systems. Optimized braking control can be achieved by keeping the slip ratio constant. The road condition warning would be actuated if the recorded friction coefficient at a certain slip ratio is lower than a 'safe' reference value.

76 FR 35327 - Airworthiness Directives; The Boeing Company Model 737-600, -700, -700C, -800, -900, and -900ER...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-06-17

... stabilizer takeoff warning switches, and corrective actions if necessary. This AD was prompted by reports that the warning horn did not sound during the takeoff warning system test of the S132 ``nose up stab takeoff warning switch.'' We are issuing this AD to detect and correct a takeoff warning system switch...

75 FR 55691 - Airworthiness Directives; The Boeing Company Model 737-600, -700, -700C, -800, -900, and -900ER...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-09-14

... takeoff warning switches, and corrective actions if necessary. This proposed AD results from reports that the warning horn did not sound during the takeoff warning system test of the S132 ``nose up stab takeoff warning switch.'' We are proposing this AD to detect and correct a takeoff warning system switch...

An algorithm for power line detection and warning based on a millimeter-wave radar video.

PubMed

Ma, Qirong; Goshi, Darren S; Shih, Yi-Chi; Sun, Ming-Ting

2011-12-01

Power-line-strike accident is a major safety threat for low-flying aircrafts such as helicopters, thus an automatic warning system to power lines is highly desirable. In this paper we propose an algorithm for detecting power lines from radar videos from an active millimeter-wave sensor. Hough Transform is employed to detect candidate lines. The major challenge is that the radar videos are very noisy due to ground return. The noise points could fall on the same line which results in signal peaks after Hough Transform similar to the actual cable lines. To differentiate the cable lines from the noise lines, we train a Support Vector Machine to perform the classification. We exploit the Bragg pattern, which is due to the diffraction of electromagnetic wave on the periodic surface of power lines. We propose a set of features to represent the Bragg pattern for the classifier. We also propose a slice-processing algorithm which supports parallel processing, and improves the detection of cables in a cluttered background. Lastly, an adaptive algorithm is proposed to integrate the detection results from individual frames into a reliable video detection decision, in which temporal correlation of the cable pattern across frames is used to make the detection more robust. Extensive experiments with real-world data validated the effectiveness of our cable detection algorithm. © 2011 IEEE

Analysis and design of the ultraviolet warning optical system based on interference imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Wen-cong; Hu, Hui-jun; Jin, Dong-dong; Chu, Xin-bo; Shi, Yu-feng; Song, Juan; Liu, Jin-sheng; Xiao, Ting; Shao, Si-pei

2017-10-01

Ultraviolet warning technology is one of the important methods for missile warning. It provides a very effective way to detect the target for missile approaching alarm. With the development of modern technology, especially the development of information technology at high speed, the ultraviolet early warning system plays an increasingly important role. Compared to infrared warning, the ultraviolet warning has high efficiency and low false alarm rate. In the modern warfare, how to detect the threats earlier, prevent and reduce the attack of precision-guided missile has become a new challenge of missile warning technology. Because the ultraviolet warning technology has high environmental adaptability, the low false alarm rate, small volume and other advantages, in the military field applications it has been developed rapidly. For the ultraviolet warning system, the optimal working waveband is 250 nm 280 nm (Solar Blind UV) due to the strong absorption of ozone layer. According to current application demands for solar blind ultraviolet detection and warning, this paper proposes ultraviolet warning optical system based on interference imaging, which covers solar blind ultraviolet (250nm-280nm) and dual field. This structure includes a primary optical system, an ultraviolet reflector array, an ultraviolet imaging system and an ultraviolet interference imaging system. It makes use of an ultraviolet beam-splitter to achieve the separation of two optical systems. According to the detector and the corresponding application needs of two visual field of the optical system, the calculation and optical system design were completed. After the design, the MTF of the two optical system is more than 0.8@39lp/mm.A single pixel energy concentration is greater than 80%.

Caltrans fog detection and warning system.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2009-01-01

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) has implemented a fog detection and warning system on Highway 99 near Fresno. The entire central valley region is susceptible to Tule fog, which can reduce visibility tremendously, sometimes to n...

RED Alert – Early warning or detection of global re-emerging infectious disease (RED)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Deshpande, Alina

This is the PDF of a presentation for a webinar given by Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) on the early warning or detection of global re-emerging infectious disease (RED). First, there is an overview of LANL biosurveillance tools. Then, information is given about RED Alert. Next, a demonstration is given of a component prototype. RED Alert is an analysis tool that can provide early warning or detection of the re-emergence of an infectious disease at the global level, but through a local lens.

49 CFR 37.15 - Temporary suspension of certain detectable warning requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Temporary suspension of certain detectable warning requirements. 37.15 Section 37.15 Transportation Office of the Secretary of Transportation TRANSPORTATION SERVICES FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES (ADA) General § 37.15 Temporary suspension of certain detectable...

Operational wind shear detection and warning - The 'CLAWS' experience at Denver and future objectives

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mccarthy, John; Wilson, James W.; Hjelmfelt, Mark R.

1986-01-01

An operational wind shear detection and warning experiment was conducted at Denver's Stapleton International Airport in summer 1984. Based on meteorological interpretation of scope displays from a Doppler weather radar, warnings were transmitted to the air traffic control tower via voice radio. Analyses of results indicated real skill in daily microburst forecasts and very short-term (less than 5-min) warnings. Wind shift advisories with 15-30 min forecasts, permitted more efficient runway reconfigurations. Potential fuel savings were estimated at $875,000/yr at Stapleton. The philosophy of future development toward an automated, operational system is discussed.

DETECTION OR WARNING SYSTEM

DOEpatents

Tillman, J E

1953-10-20

This patent application describes a sensitive detection or protective system capable of giving an alarm or warning upon the entrance or intrusion of any body into a defined area or zone protected by a radiation field of suitable direction or extent.

ForWarn: A Cross-Cutting Forest Resource Management and Decision Support System Providing the Capacity to Identify and Track Forest Disturbances Nationally

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hargrove, W. W.; Spruce, J.; Norman, S.; Christie, W.; Hoffman, F. M.

2012-12-01

The Eastern Forest Environmental Threat Assessment Center and Western Wildland Environmental Assessment Center of the USDA Forest Service have collaborated with NASA Stennis Space Center to develop ForWarn, a forest monitoring tool that uses MODIS satellite imagery to produce weekly snapshots of vegetation conditions across the lower 48 United States. Forest and natural resource managers can use ForWarn to rapidly detect, identify, and respond to unexpected changes in the nation's forests caused by insects, diseases, wildfires, severe weather, or other natural or human-caused events. ForWarn detects most types of forest disturbances, including insects, disease, wildfires, frost and ice damage, tornadoes, hurricanes, blowdowns, harvest, urbanization, and landslides. It also detects drought, flood, and temperature effects, and shows early and delayed seasonal vegetation development. Operating continuously since January 2010, results show ForWarn to be a robust and highly capable tool for detecting changes in forest conditions. ForWarn is the first national-scale system of its kind based on remote sensing developed specifically for forest disturbances. It has operated as a prototype since January 2010 and has provided useful information about the location and extent of disturbances detected during the 2011 growing season, including tornadoes, wildfires, and extreme drought. The ForWarn system had an official unveiling and rollout in March 2012, initiated by a joint NASA and USDA press release. The ForWarn home page has had 2,632 unique visitors since rollout in March 2012, with 39% returning visits. ForWarn was used to map tornado scars from the historic April 27, 2011 tornado outbreak, and detected timber damage within more than a dozen tornado tracks across northern Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. ForWarn is the result of an ongoing, substantive cooperation among four different government agencies: USDA, NASA, USGS, and DOE. Disturbance maps are available on the web through the ForWarn Change Assessment Viewer at http://forwarn.forestthreats.org/fcav. No user id or password is required, and there is no cost. The Assessment Viewer operates within any popular web browser using nearly any type of computer. It lets users pan, zoom, and scroll around within ForWarn maps, and also contains an up-to-date library of co-registered, near real-time ancillary maps from diverse sources that allows users to assess the nature of particular forest disturbances and ascribe their most-likely causes. Users can check the current week's U.S. Drought Monitor, USGS VegDRI maps, FHM Historical Aerial Disturbance Surveys, MODIS Cumulative Current Year Fire Detections, and many others. A "Share this map" feature lets users save the current map view and extent into a web URL, so that users can easily share what they are looking at inside the Assessment Viewer with others via an email, a document, or a web page. The ForWarn Rapid National Assessment Team examined more than 60 ForWarn forest disturbance events in 2011-2012, and issued over 30 alerts. We hope to automate forest disturbance alerts and supply them through various subscription services. Forest owners and managers would only be alerted to disturbances occurring near their own forest resources.

Robust Kalman filter design for predictive wind shear detection

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stratton, Alexander D.; Stengel, Robert F.

1991-01-01

Severe, low-altitude wind shear is a threat to aviation safety. Airborne sensors under development measure the radial component of wind along a line directly in front of an aircraft. In this paper, optimal estimation theory is used to define a detection algorithm to warn of hazardous wind shear from these sensors. To achieve robustness, a wind shear detection algorithm must distinguish threatening wind shear from less hazardous gustiness, despite variations in wind shear structure. This paper presents statistical analysis methods to refine wind shear detection algorithm robustness. Computational methods predict the ability to warn of severe wind shear and avoid false warning. Comparative capability of the detection algorithm as a function of its design parameters is determined, identifying designs that provide robust detection of severe wind shear.

TORNADO-WARNING PERFORMANCE IN THE PAST AND FUTURE: A Perspective from Signal Detection Theory.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brooks, Harold E.

2004-06-01

Changes over the years in tornado-warning performance in the United States can be modeled from the perspective of signal detection theory. From this view, it can be seen that there have been distinct periods of change in performance, most likely associated with deployment of radars, and changes in scientific understanding and training. The model also makes it clear that improvements in the false alarm ratio can only occur at the cost of large decreases in the probability of detection, or with large improvements in the overall quality of the warning system.

MUSIC algorithm DoA estimation for cooperative node location in mobile ad hoc networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Warty, Chirag; Yu, Richard Wai; ElMahgoub, Khaled; Spinsante, Susanna

In recent years the technological development has encouraged several applications based on distributed communications network without any fixed infrastructure. The problem of providing a collaborative early warning system for multiple mobile nodes against a fast moving object. The solution is provided subject to system level constraints: motion of nodes, antenna sensitivity and Doppler effect at 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz. This approach consists of three stages. The first phase consists of detecting the incoming object using a highly directive two element antenna at 5.0 GHz band. The second phase consists of broadcasting the warning message using a low directivity broad antenna beam using 2× 2 antenna array which then in third phase will be detected by receiving nodes by using direction of arrival (DOA) estimation technique. The DOA estimation technique is used to estimate the range and bearing of the incoming nodes. The position of fast arriving object can be estimated using the MUSIC algorithm for warning beam DOA estimation. This paper is mainly intended to demonstrate the feasibility of early detection and warning system using a collaborative node to node communication links. The simulation is performed to show the behavior of detecting and broadcasting antennas as well as performance of the detection algorithm. The idea can be further expanded to implement commercial grade detection and warning system

Personal Cabin Pressure Monitor and Warning System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zysko, Jan A. (Inventor)

2002-01-01

A cabin pressure altitude monitor and warning system provides a warning when a detected cabin pressure altitude has reached a predetermined level. The system is preferably embodied in a portable, pager-sized device that can be carried or worn by an individual. A microprocessor calculates the pressure altitude from signals generated by a calibrated pressure transducer and a temperature sensor that compensates for temperature variations in the signals generated by the pressure transducer. The microprocessor is programmed to generate a warning or alarm if a cabin pressure altitude exceeding a predetermined threshold is detected. Preferably, the microprocessor generates two different types of warning or alarm outputs, a first early warning or alert when a first pressure altitude is exceeded. and a second more serious alarm condition when either a second. higher pressure altitude is exceeded, or when the first pressure altitude has been exceeded for a predetermined period of time. Multiple types of alarm condition indicators are preferably provided, including visual, audible and tactile. The system is also preferably designed to detect gas concentrations and other ambient conditions, and thus incorporates other sensors, such as oxygen, relative humidity, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and ammonia sensors, to provide a more complete characterization and monitoring of the local environment.

Personal Cabin Pressure Monitor and Warning System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zysko, Jan A.

2002-09-01

A cabin pressure altitude monitor and warning system provides a warning when a detected cabin pressure altitude has reached a predetermined level. The system is preferably embodied in a portable, pager-sized device that can be carried or worn by an individual. A microprocessor calculates the pressure altitude from signals generated by a calibrated pressure transducer and a temperature sensor that compensates for temperature variations in the signals generated by the pressure transducer. The microprocessor is programmed to generate a warning or alarm if a cabin pressure altitude exceeding a predetermined threshold is detected. Preferably, the microprocessor generates two different types of warning or alarm outputs, a first early warning or alert when a first pressure altitude is exceeded. and a second more serious alarm condition when either a second. higher pressure altitude is exceeded, or when the first pressure altitude has been exceeded for a predetermined period of time. Multiple types of alarm condition indicators are preferably provided, including visual, audible and tactile. The system is also preferably designed to detect gas concentrations and other ambient conditions, and thus incorporates other sensors, such as oxygen, relative humidity, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and ammonia sensors, to provide a more complete characterization and monitoring of the local environment.

Dynamic linear models using the Kalman filter for early detection and early warning of malaria outbreaks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Merkord, C. L.; Liu, Y.; DeVos, M.; Wimberly, M. C.

2015-12-01

Malaria early detection and early warning systems are important tools for public health decision makers in regions where malaria transmission is seasonal and varies from year to year with fluctuations in rainfall and temperature. Here we present a new data-driven dynamic linear model based on the Kalman filter with time-varying coefficients that are used to identify malaria outbreaks as they occur (early detection) and predict the location and timing of future outbreaks (early warning). We fit linear models of malaria incidence with trend and Fourier form seasonal components using three years of weekly malaria case data from 30 districts in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. We identified past outbreaks by comparing the modeled prediction envelopes with observed case data. Preliminary results demonstrated the potential for improved accuracy and timeliness over commonly-used methods in which thresholds are based on simpler summary statistics of historical data. Other benefits of the dynamic linear modeling approach include robustness to missing data and the ability to fit models with relatively few years of training data. To predict future outbreaks, we started with the early detection model for each district and added a regression component based on satellite-derived environmental predictor variables including precipitation data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) and land surface temperature (LST) and spectral indices from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). We included lagged environmental predictors in the regression component of the model, with lags chosen based on cross-correlation of the one-step-ahead forecast errors from the first model. Our results suggest that predictions of future malaria outbreaks can be improved by incorporating lagged environmental predictors.

An in-situ infection detection sensor coating for urinary catheters

PubMed Central

Milo, Scarlet; Thet, Naing Tun; Liu, Dan; Nzakizwanayo, Jonathan; Jones, Brian V.; Jenkins, A. Toby A.

2016-01-01

We describe a novel infection-responsive coating for urinary catheters that provides a clear visual early warning of Proteus mirabilis infection and subsequent blockage. The crystalline biofilms of P. mirabilis can cause serious complications for patients undergoing long-term bladder catheterisation. Healthy urine is around pH 6, bacterial urease increases urine pH leading to the precipitation of calcium and magnesium deposits from the urine, resulting in dense crystalline biofilms on the catheter surface that blocks urine flow. The coating is a dual layered system in which the lower poly(vinyl alcohol) layer contains the self-quenching dye carboxyfluorescein. This is capped by an upper layer of the pH responsive polymer poly(methyl methacrylate-co-methacrylic acid) (Eudragit S100®). Elevation of urinary pH (>pH 7) dissolves the Eudragit layer, releasing the dye to provide a clear visual warning of impending blockage. Evaluation of prototype coatings using a clinically relevant in vitro bladder model system demonstrated that coatings provide up to 12 h advanced warning of blockage, and are stable both in the absence of infection, and in the presence of species that do not cause catheter blockage. At the present time, there are no effective methods to control these infections or provide warning of impending catheter blockage. PMID:26945183

NOAA Operational Tsunameter Support for Research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bouchard, R.; Stroker, K.

2008-12-01

In March 2008, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) completed the deployment of the last of the 39-station network of deep-sea tsunameters. As part of NOAA's effort to strengthen tsunami warning capabilities, NDBC expanded the network from 6 to 39 stations and upgraded all stations to the second generation Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis technology (DART II). Consisting of a bottom pressure recorder (BPR) and a surface buoy, the tsunameters deliver water-column heights, estimated from pressure measurements at the sea floor, to Tsunami Warning Centers in less than 3 minutes. This network provides coastal communities in the Pacific, Atlantic, Caribbean, and the Gulf of Mexico with faster and more accurate tsunami warnings. In addition, both the coarse resolution real-time data and the high resolution (15-second) recorded data provide invaluable contributions to research, such as the detection of the 2004 Sumatran tsunami in the Northeast Pacific (Gower and González, 2006) and the experimental tsunami forecast system (Bernard et al., 2007). NDBC normally recovers the BPRs every 24 months and sends the recovered high resolution data to NOAA's National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) for archive and distribution. NGDC edits and processes this raw binary format to obtain research-quality data. NGDC provides access to retrospective BPR data from 1986 to the present. The DART database includes pressure and temperature data from the ocean floor, stored in a relational database, enabling data integration with the global tsunami and significant earthquake databases. All data are accessible via the Web as tables, reports, interactive maps, OGC Web Map Services (WMS), and Web Feature Services (WFS) to researchers around the world. References: Gower, J. and F. González, 2006. U.S. Warning System Detected the Sumatra Tsunami, Eos Trans. AGU, 87(10). Bernard, E. N., C. Meinig, and A. Hilton, 2007. Deep Ocean Tsunami Detection: Third Generation DART, Eos Trans. AGU, 88(52), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract S51C-03.

Superposition of polarized waves at layered media: theoretical modeling and measurement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Finkele, Rolf; Wanielik, Gerd

1997-12-01

The detection of ice layers on road surfaces is a crucial requirement for a system that is designed to warn vehicle drivers of hazardous road conditions. In the millimeter wave regime at 76 GHz the dielectric constant of ice and conventional road surface materials (i.e. asphalt, concrete) is found to be nearly similar. Thus, if the layer of ice is very thin and thus is of the same shape of roughness as the underlying road surface it cannot be securely detected using conventional algorithmic approaches. The method introduced in this paper extents and applies the theoretical work of Pancharatnam on the superposition of polarized waves. The projection of the Stokes vectors onto the Poincare sphere traces a circle due to the variation of the thickness of the ice layer. The paper presents a method that utilizes the concept of wave superposition to detect this trace even if it is corrupted by stochastic variation due to rough surface scattering. Measurement results taken under real traffic conditions prove the validity of the proposed algorithms. Classification results are presented and the results discussed.

Truck monitoring and warning systems for freeway-to-freeway connections

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1999-10-01

This research focuses on the development and evaluation of a truck monitoring and warning (TM&W) system for detecting high, long, fast trucks at freeway-to-freeway connections and activating displays to warn the truck drivers of potential hazards as ...

Developments in real-time monitoring for geologic hazard warnings (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leith, W. S.; Mandeville, C. W.; Earle, P. S.

2013-12-01

Real-time data from global, national and local sensor networks enable prompt alerts and warnings of earthquakes, tsunami, volcanic eruptions, geomagnetic storms , broad-scale crustal deformation and landslides. State-of-the-art seismic systems can locate and evaluate earthquake sources in seconds, enabling 'earthquake early warnings' to be broadcast ahead of the damaging surface waves so that protective actions can be taken. Strong motion monitoring systems in buildings now support near-real-time structural damage detection systems, and in quiet times can be used for state-of-health monitoring. High-rate GPS data are being integrated with seismic strong motion data, allowing accurate determination of earthquake displacements in near-real time. GPS data, combined with rainfall, groundwater and geophone data, are now used for near-real-time landslide monitoring and warnings. Real-time sea-floor water pressure data are key for assessing tsunami generation by large earthquakes. For monitoring remote volcanoes that lack local ground-based instrumentation, the USGS uses new technologies such as infrasound arrays and the worldwide lightning detection array to detect eruptions in progress. A new real-time UV-camera system for measuring the two dimensional SO2 flux from volcanic plumes will allow correlations with other volcano monitoring data streams to yield fundamental data on changes in gas flux as an eruption precursor, and how magmas de-gas prior to and during eruptions. Precision magnetic field data support the generation of real-time indices of geomagnetic disturbances (Dst, K and others), and can be used to model electrical currents in the crust and bulk power system. Ground-induced electrical current monitors are used to track those currents so that power grids can be effectively managed during geomagnetic storms. Beyond geophysical sensor data, USGS is using social media to rapidly detect possible earthquakes and to collect firsthand accounts of the impacts of natural disasters useful for social science studies. Monitoring of tweets in real-time, when analyzed statistically and geographically, can give a prompt indication of an earthquake, well before seismic networks in sparsely instrumented regions can locate an event and determine its magnitude. With more and more real-time data becoming available, new applications and products are inevitable.

Truck monitoring and warning systems for freeway-to-freeway connections : summary

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1999-10-01

This project focuses on the development and evaluation of a truck monitoring and warning (TM&W) system for detecting high, long, fast trucks at freeway-to-freeway connections and activating displays to warn the truck drivers of potential hazards as t...

An application of signal detection theory for understanding driver behavior at highway-rail grade crossings

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2009-10-19

We used signal detection theory to examine if grade crossing warning devices were effective because they increased drivers' sensitivity to a train's approach or because they encouraged drivers to stop. We estimated d' and a for eight warning devices ...

Early detection of ecosystem regime shifts: a multiple method evaluation for management application.

PubMed

Lindegren, Martin; Dakos, Vasilis; Gröger, Joachim P; Gårdmark, Anna; Kornilovs, Georgs; Otto, Saskia A; Möllmann, Christian

2012-01-01

Critical transitions between alternative stable states have been shown to occur across an array of complex systems. While our ability to identify abrupt regime shifts in natural ecosystems has improved, detection of potential early-warning signals previous to such shifts is still very limited. Using real monitoring data of a key ecosystem component, we here apply multiple early-warning indicators in order to assess their ability to forewarn a major ecosystem regime shift in the Central Baltic Sea. We show that some indicators and methods can result in clear early-warning signals, while other methods may have limited utility in ecosystem-based management as they show no or weak potential for early-warning. We therefore propose a multiple method approach for early detection of ecosystem regime shifts in monitoring data that may be useful in informing timely management actions in the face of ecosystem change.

Early Detection of Ecosystem Regime Shifts: A Multiple Method Evaluation for Management Application

PubMed Central

Lindegren, Martin; Dakos, Vasilis; Gröger, Joachim P.; Gårdmark, Anna; Kornilovs, Georgs; Otto, Saskia A.; Möllmann, Christian

2012-01-01

Critical transitions between alternative stable states have been shown to occur across an array of complex systems. While our ability to identify abrupt regime shifts in natural ecosystems has improved, detection of potential early-warning signals previous to such shifts is still very limited. Using real monitoring data of a key ecosystem component, we here apply multiple early-warning indicators in order to assess their ability to forewarn a major ecosystem regime shift in the Central Baltic Sea. We show that some indicators and methods can result in clear early-warning signals, while other methods may have limited utility in ecosystem-based management as they show no or weak potential for early-warning. We therefore propose a multiple method approach for early detection of ecosystem regime shifts in monitoring data that may be useful in informing timely management actions in the face of ecosystem change. PMID:22808007

A proposed Primary Health Early Warning Score (PHEWS) with emphasis on early detection of sepsis in the elderly.

PubMed

Anderson, Ian

2016-03-01

There are several secondary care early warning scores which alert for severe illness including sepsis. None are specifically adjusted for primary care. A Primary Health Early Warning Score (PHEWS) is proposed which incorporates practical parameters from both secondary and primary care.

Test track and driving simulator evaluations of warnings to prevent right-angle crashes at signalized intersections

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2008-10-01

Two experiments (simulator and test track) were conducted to validate the concept of a system designed to warn potential victims of a likely red-light violator. The warning system uses sensors to detect vehicles that are unlikely to stop at red traff...

Tsunami Detection by High-Frequency Radar Beyond the Continental Shelf

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grilli, Stéphan T.; Grosdidier, Samuel; Guérin, Charles-Antoine

2016-12-01

Where coastal tsunami hazard is governed by near-field sources, such as submarine mass failures or meteo-tsunamis, tsunami propagation times may be too small for a detection based on deep or shallow water buoys. To offer sufficient warning time, it has been proposed to implement early warning systems relying on high-frequency (HF) radar remote sensing, that can provide a dense spatial coverage as far offshore as 200-300 km (e.g., for Diginext Ltd.'s Stradivarius radar). Shore-based HF radars have been used to measure nearshore currents (e.g., CODAR SeaSonde® system; http://www.codar.com/), by inverting the Doppler spectral shifts, these cause on ocean waves at the Bragg frequency. Both modeling work and an analysis of radar data following the Tohoku 2011 tsunami, have shown that, given proper detection algorithms, such radars could be used to detect tsunami-induced currents and issue a warning. However, long wave physics is such that tsunami currents will only rise above noise and background currents (i.e., be at least 10-15 cm/s), and become detectable, in fairly shallow water which would limit the direct detection of tsunami currents by HF radar to nearshore areas, unless there is a very wide shallow shelf. Here, we use numerical simulations of both HF radar remote sensing and tsunami propagation to develop and validate a new type of tsunami detection algorithm that does not have these limitations. To simulate the radar backscattered signal, we develop a numerical model including second-order effects in both wind waves and radar signal, with the wave angular frequency being modulated by a time-varying surface current, combining tsunami and background currents. In each "radar cell", the model represents wind waves with random phases and amplitudes extracted from a specified (wind speed dependent) energy density frequency spectrum, and includes effects of random environmental noise and background current; phases, noise, and background current are extracted from independent Gaussian distributions. The principle of the new algorithm is to compute correlations of HF radar signals measured/simulated in many pairs of distant "cells" located along the same tsunami wave ray, shifted in time by the tsunami propagation time between these cell locations; both rays and travel time are easily obtained as a function of long wave phase speed and local bathymetry. It is expected that, in the presence of a tsunami current, correlations computed as a function of range and an additional time lag will show a narrow elevated peak near the zero time lag, whereas no pattern in correlation will be observed in the absence of a tsunami current; this is because surface waves and background current are uncorrelated between pair of cells, particularly when time-shifted by the long-wave propagation time. This change in correlation pattern can be used as a threshold for tsunami detection. To validate the algorithm, we first identify key features of tsunami propagation in the Western Mediterranean Basin, where Stradivarius is deployed, by way of direct numerical simulations with a long wave model. Then, for the purpose of validating the algorithm we only model HF radar detection for idealized tsunami wave trains and bathymetry, but verify that such idealized case studies capture well the salient tsunami wave physics. Results show that, in the presence of strong background currents, the proposed method still allows detecting a tsunami with currents as low as 0.05 m/s, whereas a standard direct inversion based on radar signal Doppler spectra fails to reproduce tsunami currents weaker than 0.15-0.2 m/s. Hence, the new algorithm allows detecting tsunami arrival in deeper water, beyond the shelf and further away from the coast, and providing an early warning. Because the standard detection of tsunami currents works well at short range, we envision that, in a field situation, the new algorithm could complement the standard approach of direct near-field detection by providing a warning that a tsunami is approaching, at larger range and in greater depth. This warning would then be confirmed at shorter range by a direct inversion of tsunami currents, from which the magnitude of the tsunami would also estimated. Hence, both algorithms would be complementary. In future work, the algorithm will be applied to actual tsunami case studies performed using a state-of-the-art long wave model, such as briefly presented here in the Mediterranean Basin.

The Assessment of Instruments for Detecting Surface Water Spills Associated with Oil and Gas Operations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Harris, Aubrey E.; Hopkinson, Leslie; Soeder, Daniel

Surface water and groundwater risks associated with unconventional oil and gas development result from potential spills of the large volumes of chemicals stored on-site during drilling and hydraulic fracturing operations, and the return to the surface of significant quantities of saline water produced during oil or gas well production. To better identify and mitigate risks, watershed models and tools are needed to evaluate the dispersion of pollutants in possible spill scenarios. This information may be used to determine the placement of in-stream water-quality monitoring instruments and to develop early-warning systems and emergency plans. A chemical dispersion model has been usedmore » to estimate the contaminant signal for in-stream measurements. Spills associated with oil and gas operations were identified within the Susquehanna River Basin Commission’s Remote Water Quality Monitoring Network. The volume of some contaminants was found to be sufficient to affect the water quality of certain drainage areas. The most commonly spilled compounds and expected peak concentrations at monitoring stations were used in laboratory experiments to determine if a signal could be detected and positively identified using standard water-quality monitoring equipment. The results were compared to historical data and baseline observations of water quality parameters, and showed that the chemicals tested do commonly affect water quality parameters. This work is an effort to demonstrate that hydrologic and water quality models may be applied to improve the placement of in-stream water quality monitoring devices. This information may increase the capability of early-warning systems to alert community health and environmental agencies of surface water spills associated with unconventional oil and gas operations.« less

Design and field test equipment of river water level detection based on ultrasonic sensor and SMS gateway as flood early warning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sulistyowati, Riny; Sujono, Hari Agus; Musthofa, Ahmad Khamdi

2017-06-01

Due to the high rainfall, flood often occurs in some regions, especially in the area adjacent to the river banks that led to the idea to make the river water level detection system as a flood early warning. Several researches have produced flood detection equipment based on ultrasonic sensors and android as flood early warning system. This paper reported the results of a field test detection equipment to measure the river water level of the Bengawansolo River that was conducted in three villages in the district of Bungah, Dukun, and Manyar in Gresik regency. Tests were conducted simultaneously for 21 hours during heavy rainfall. The test results demonstrated the accuracy of the equipment of 97.28% for all categories of observation. The application of AFD (Android Flood Detection) via android smartphone demonstrated its precision in conveying the information of water level as represented by the status of SAFE, STAND, WARNING, and DANGER. Some charts presented from the analysis of data was derived from the data acquisition time of testing that can be used as an evaluation of flooding at some points prone to flood.

Real-time detection, quantification, warning, and control of epileptic seizures: the foundations for a scientific epileptology.

PubMed

Osorio, I; Frei, M G

2009-11-01

Substantive advances in clinical epileptology may be realized through the judicious use of real-time automated seizure detection, quantification, warning, and delivery of therapy in subjects with pharmacoresistant seizures. Materialization of these objectives is likely to elevate epileptology to the level of a mature clinical science.

Airborne Wind Shear Detection and Warning Systems: Third Combined Manufacturers' and Technologists' Conference, part 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vicroy, Dan D. (Compiler); Bowles, Roland L. (Compiler); Schlickenmaier, Herbert (Compiler)

1991-01-01

Papers presented at the conference on airborne wind shear detection and warning systems are compiled. The following subject areas are covered: terms of reference; case study; flight management; sensor fusion and flight evaluation; Terminal Doppler Weather Radar data link/display; heavy rain aerodynamics; and second generation reactive systems.

30 CFR 816.66 - Use of explosives: Blasting signs, warnings, and access control.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Use of explosives: Blasting signs, warnings... STANDARDS-SURFACE MINING ACTIVITIES § 816.66 Use of explosives: Blasting signs, warnings, and access control. (a) Blasting signs. Blasting signs shall meet the specifications of § 816.11. The operator shall— (1...

30 CFR 816.66 - Use of explosives: Blasting signs, warnings, and access control.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Use of explosives: Blasting signs, warnings... STANDARDS-SURFACE MINING ACTIVITIES § 816.66 Use of explosives: Blasting signs, warnings, and access control. (a) Blasting signs. Blasting signs shall meet the specifications of § 816.11. The operator shall— (1...

30 CFR 816.66 - Use of explosives: Blasting signs, warnings, and access control.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Use of explosives: Blasting signs, warnings... STANDARDS-SURFACE MINING ACTIVITIES § 816.66 Use of explosives: Blasting signs, warnings, and access control. (a) Blasting signs. Blasting signs shall meet the specifications of § 816.11. The operator shall— (1...

30 CFR 816.66 - Use of explosives: Blasting signs, warnings, and access control.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Use of explosives: Blasting signs, warnings... STANDARDS-SURFACE MINING ACTIVITIES § 816.66 Use of explosives: Blasting signs, warnings, and access control. (a) Blasting signs. Blasting signs shall meet the specifications of § 816.11. The operator shall— (1...

30 CFR 816.66 - Use of explosives: Blasting signs, warnings, and access control.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Use of explosives: Blasting signs, warnings... STANDARDS-SURFACE MINING ACTIVITIES § 816.66 Use of explosives: Blasting signs, warnings, and access control. (a) Blasting signs. Blasting signs shall meet the specifications of § 816.11. The operator shall— (1...

Acoustic signal detection of manatee calls

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Niezrecki, Christopher; Phillips, Richard; Meyer, Michael; Beusse, Diedrich O.

2003-04-01

The West Indian manatee (trichechus manatus latirostris) has become endangered partly because of a growing number of collisions with boats. A system to warn boaters of the presence of manatees, that can signal to boaters that manatees are present in the immediate vicinity, could potentially reduce these boat collisions. In order to identify the presence of manatees, acoustic methods are employed. Within this paper, three different detection algorithms are used to detect the calls of the West Indian manatee. The detection systems are tested in the laboratory using simulated manatee vocalizations from an audio compact disc. The detection method that provides the best overall performance is able to correctly identify ~=96% of the manatee vocalizations. However the system also results in a false positive rate of ~=16%. The results of this work may ultimately lead to the development of a manatee warning system that can warn boaters of the presence of manatees.

Acoustic detection of manatee vocalizations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Niezrecki, Christopher; Phillips, Richard; Meyer, Michael; Beusse, Diedrich O.

2003-09-01

The West Indian manatee (trichechus manatus latirostris) has become endangered partly because of a growing number of collisions with boats. A system to warn boaters of the presence of manatees, that can signal to boaters that manatees are present in the immediate vicinity, could potentially reduce these boat collisions. In order to identify the presence of manatees, acoustic methods are employed. Within this paper, three different detection algorithms are used to detect the calls of the West Indian manatee. The detection systems are tested in the laboratory using simulated manatee vocalizations from an audio compact disk. The detection method that provides the best overall performance is able to correctly identify ~96% of the manatee vocalizations. However, the system also results in a false alarm rate of ~16%. The results of this work may ultimately lead to the development of a manatee warning system that can warn boaters of the presence of manatees.

An in-situ infection detection sensor coating for urinary catheters.

PubMed

Milo, Scarlet; Thet, Naing Tun; Liu, Dan; Nzakizwanayo, Jonathan; Jones, Brian V; Jenkins, A Toby A

2016-07-15

We describe a novel infection-responsive coating for urinary catheters that provides a clear visual early warning of Proteus mirabilis infection and subsequent blockage. The crystalline biofilms of P. mirabilis can cause serious complications for patients undergoing long-term bladder catheterisation. Healthy urine is around pH 6, bacterial urease increases urine pH leading to the precipitation of calcium and magnesium deposits from the urine, resulting in dense crystalline biofilms on the catheter surface that blocks urine flow. The coating is a dual layered system in which the lower poly(vinyl alcohol) layer contains the self-quenching dye carboxyfluorescein. This is capped by an upper layer of the pH responsive polymer poly(methyl methacrylate-co-methacrylic acid) (Eudragit S100®). Elevation of urinary pH (>pH 7) dissolves the Eudragit layer, releasing the dye to provide a clear visual warning of impending blockage. Evaluation of prototype coatings using a clinically relevant in vitro bladder model system demonstrated that coatings provide up to 12h advanced warning of blockage, and are stable both in the absence of infection, and in the presence of species that do not cause catheter blockage. At the present time, there are no effective methods to control these infections or provide warning of impending catheter blockage. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The reconnaissance and early-warning optical system design for dual field of space-based "solar blind ultraviolet"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Wen-cong; Jin, Dong-dong; Shao, Fei; Hu, Hui-jun; Shi, Yu-feng; Song, Juan; Zhang, Yu-tu; Yong, Liu

2016-07-01

With the development of modern technology, especially the development of information technology at high speed, the ultraviolet early warning system plays an increasingly important role. In the modern warfare, how to detect the threats earlier, prevent and reduce the attack of precision-guided missile has become a new challenge. Because the ultraviolet warning technology has high environmental adaptability, the low false alarm rate, small volume and other advantages, in the military field applications it has been developed rapidly. According to current application demands for solar blind ultraviolet detection and warning, this paper proposes a reconnaissance and early-warning optical system, which covers solar blind ultraviolet (250nm-280nm) and dual field. This structure takes advantage of a narrow field of view and long focal length optical system to achieve the target object detection, uses wide-field and short focal length optical system to achieve early warning of the target object. It makes use of an ultraviolet beam-splitter to achieve the separation of two optical systems. According to the detector and the corresponding application needs of two visual field of the optical system, the calculation and optical system design were completed. After the design, the MTF of the two optical system is more than 0.8@39lp/mm. A single pixel energy concentration is greater than 80%.

The Early Warning System(EWS) as First Stage to Generate and Develop Shake Map for Bucharest to Deep Vrancea Earthquakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marmureanu, G.; Ionescu, C.; Marmureanu, A.; Grecu, B.; Cioflan, C.

2007-12-01

EWS made by NIEP is the first European system for real-time early detection and warning of the seismic waves in case of strong deep earthquakes. EWS uses the time interval (28-32 seconds) between the moment when earthquake is detected by the borehole and surface local accelerometers network installed in the epicenter area (Vrancea) and the arrival time of the seismic waves in the protected area, to deliver timely integrated information in order to enable actions to be taken before a main destructive shaking takes place. Early warning system is viewed as part of an real-time information system that provide rapid information, about an earthquake impeding hazard, to the public and disaster relief organizations before (early warning) and after a strong earthquake (shake map).This product is fitting in with other new product on way of National Institute for Earth Physics, that is, the shake map which is a representation of ground shaking produced by an event and it will be generated automatically following large Vrancea earthquakes. Bucharest City is located in the central part of the Moesian platform (age: Precambrian and Paleozoic) in the Romanian Plain, at about 140 km far from Vrancea area. Above a Cretaceous and a Miocene deposit (with the bottom at roundly 1,400 m of depth), a Pliocene shallow water deposit (~ 700m thick) was settled. The surface geology consists mainly of Quaternary alluvial deposits. Later loess covered these deposits and the two rivers crossing the city (Dambovita and Colentina) carved the present landscape. During the last century Bucharest suffered heavy damage and casualties due to 1940 (Mw = 7.7) and 1977 (Mw = 7.4) Vrancea earthquakes. For example, 32 high tall buildings collapsed and more then 1500 people died during the 1977 event. The innovation with comparable or related systems worldwide is that NIEP will use the EWS to generate a virtual shake map for Bucharest (140 km away of epicentre) immediately after the magnitude is estimated (in 3-4 seconds after the detection in epicentre) and later make corrections by using real time dataflow from each K2 accelerometers installed in Bucharest area, inclusively nonlinear effects. Thus, developing of a near real-time shake map for Bucharest urban area is of highest interest, providing valuable information to the civil defense, decision makers and general public on the area where the ground motion is most severe. EWS made by NIEP can be considered the first stage to generate and develop the shake map for Bucharest to deep Vrancea earthquakes.

Early warning system for Douglas-fir tussock moth outbreaks in the Western United States.

Treesearch

Gary E. Daterman; John M. Wenz; Katharine A. Sheehan

2004-01-01

The Early Warning System is a pheromone-based trapping system used to detect outbreaks of Douglas-fir tussock moth (DFTM, Orgyia pseudotsugata) in the western United States. Millions of acres are susceptible to DFTM defoliation, but Early Warning System monitoring focuses attention only on the relatively limited areas where outbreaks may be...

Development of a Global Agricultural Hotspot Detection and Early Warning System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lemoine, G.; Rembold, F.; Urbano, F.; Csak, G.

2015-12-01

The number of web based platforms for crop monitoring has grown rapidly over the last years and anomaly maps and time profiles of remote sensing derived indicators can be accessed online thanks to a number of web based portals. However, while these systems make available a large amount of crop monitoring data to the agriculture and food security analysts, there is no global platform which provides agricultural production hotspot warning in a highly automatic and timely manner. Therefore a web based system providing timely warning evidence as maps and short narratives is currently under development by the Joint Research Centre. The system (called "HotSpot Detection System of Agriculture Production Anomalies", HSDS) will focus on water limited agricultural systems worldwide. The automatic analysis of relevant meteorological and vegetation indicators at selected administrative units (Gaul 1 level) will trigger warning messages for the areas where anomalous conditions are observed. The level of warning (ranging from "watch" to "alert") will depend on the nature and number of indicators for which an anomaly is detected. Information regarding the extent of the agricultural areas concerned by the anomaly and the progress of the agricultural season will complement the warning label. In addition, we are testing supplementary detailed information from other sources for the areas triggering a warning. These regard the automatic web-based and food security-tailored analysis of media (using the JRC Media Monitor semantic search engine) and the automatic detection of active crop area using Sentinel 1, upcoming Sentinel-2 and Landsat 8 imagery processed in Google Earth Engine. The basic processing will be fully automated and updated every 10 days exploiting low resolution rainfall estimates and satellite vegetation indices. Maps, trend graphs and statistics accompanied by short narratives edited by a team of crop monitoring experts, will be made available on the website on a monthly basis.

Detection of ground motions using high-rate GPS time-series

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Psimoulis, Panos A.; Houlié, Nicolas; Habboub, Mohammed; Michel, Clotaire; Rothacher, Markus

2018-05-01

Monitoring surface deformation in real-time help at planning and protecting infrastructures and populations, manage sensitive production (i.e. SEVESO-type) and mitigate long-term consequences of modifications implemented. We present RT-SHAKE, an algorithm developed to detect ground motions associated with landslides, sub-surface collapses, subsidences, earthquakes or rock falls. RT-SHAKE detects first transient changes in individual GPS time series before investigating for spatial correlation(s) of observations made at neighbouring GPS sites and eventually issue a motion warning. In order to assess our algorithm on fast (seconds to minute), large (from 1 cm to meters) and spatially consistent surface motions, we use the 1 Hz GEONET GNSS network data of the Tohoku-Oki MW9.0 2011 as a test scenario. We show the delay of detection of seismic wave arrival by GPS records is of ˜10 seconds with respect to an identical analysis based on strong-motion data and this time delay depends on the level of the time-variable noise. Nevertheless, based on the analysis of the GPS network noise level and ground motion stochastic model, we show that RT-SHAKE can narrow the range of earthquake magnitude, by setting a lower threshold of detected earthquakes to MW6.5-7, if associated with a real-time automatic earthquake location system.

Detection of the Early Warning Signs of Cancer by Community Pharmacists: An Evaluation of Training on Professional Behavior

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Benfield, William R.; And Others

1977-01-01

In a study of 702 pharmacists in 211 communities, an effort was made to determine the effect of a unit of education on the community pharmacist's ability and/or tendency to detect the early warning signs of cancer when manifested by patrons. The success of such a program is shown. (LBH)

Efficient Flame Detection and Early Warning Sensors on Combustible Materials Using Hierarchical Graphene Oxide/Silicone Coatings.

PubMed

Wu, Qian; Gong, Li-Xiu; Li, Yang; Cao, Cheng-Fei; Tang, Long-Cheng; Wu, Lianbin; Zhao, Li; Zhang, Guo-Dong; Li, Shi-Neng; Gao, Jiefeng; Li, Yongjin; Mai, Yiu-Wing

2018-01-23

Design and development of smart sensors for rapid flame detection in postcombustion and early fire warning in precombustion situations are critically needed to improve the fire safety of combustible materials in many applications. Herein, we describe the fabrication of hierarchical coatings created by assembling a multilayered graphene oxide (GO)/silicone structure onto different combustible substrate materials. The resulting coatings exhibit distinct temperature-responsive electrical resistance change as efficient early warning sensors for detecting abnormal high environmental temperature, thus enabling fire prevention below the ignition temperature of combustible materials. After encountering a flame attack, we demonstrate extremely rapid flame detection response in 2-3 s and excellent flame self-extinguishing retardancy for the multilayered GO/silicone structure that can be synergistically transformed to a multiscale graphene/nanosilica protection layer. The hierarchical coatings developed are promising for fire prevention and protection applications in various critical fire risk and related perilous circumstances.

Seismic Monitoring of Permafrost During Controlled Thaw: An Active-Source Experiment Using a Surface Orbital Vibrator and Fiber-Optic DAS Arrays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dou, S.; Wood, T.; Lindsey, N.; Ajo Franklin, J. B.; Freifeld, B. M.; Gelvin, A.; Morales, A.; Saari, S.; Ekblaw, I.; Wagner, A. M.; Daley, T. M.; Robertson, M.; Martin, E. R.; Ulrich, C.; Bjella, K.

2016-12-01

Thawing of permafrost can cause ground deformations that threaten the integrity of civil infrastructure. It is essential to develop early warning systems that can identify critically warmed permafrost and issue warnings for hazard prevention and control. Seismic methods can play a pivotal role in such systems for at least two reasons: First, seismic velocities are indicative of mechanical strength of the subsurface and thus are directly relevant to engineering properties; Second, seismic velocities in permafrost systems are sensitive to pre-thaw warming, which makes it possible to issue early warnings before the occurrence of hazardous subsidence events. However, several questions remain: What are the seismic signatures that can be effectively used for early warning of permafrost thaw? Can seismic methods provide enough warning times for hazard prevention and control? In this study, we investigate the feasibility of using permanently installed seismic networks for early warnings of permafrost thaw. We conducted continuous active-source seismic monitoring of permafrost that was under controlled heating at CRREL's Fairbanks permafrost experiment station. We used a permanently installed surface orbital vibrator (SOV) as source and surface-trenched DAS arrays as receivers. The SOV is characterized by its excellent repeatability, automated operation, high energy level, and the rich frequency content (10-100 Hz) of the generated wavefields. The fiber-optic DAS arrays allow continuous recording of seismic data with dense spatial sampling (1-meter channel spacing), low cost, and low maintenance. This combination of SOV-DAS provides unique seismic datasets for observing time-lapse changes of warming permafrost at the field scale, hence providing an observational basis for design and development of early warning systems for permafrost thaw.

Nuclear radiation-warning detector that measures impedance

DOEpatents

Savignac, Noel Felix; Gomez, Leo S; Yelton, William Graham; Robinson, Alex; Limmer, Steven

2013-06-04

This invention is a nuclear radiation-warning detector that measures impedance of silver-silver halide on an interdigitated electrode to detect light or radiation comprised of alpha particles, beta particles, gamma rays, X rays, and/or neutrons. The detector is comprised of an interdigitated electrode covered by a layer of silver halide. After exposure to alpha particles, beta particles, X rays, gamma rays, neutron radiation, or light, the silver halide is reduced to silver in the presence of a reducing solution. The change from the high electrical resistance (impedance) of silver halide to the low resistance of silver provides the radiation warning that detected radiation levels exceed a predetermined radiation dose threshold.

Effectiveness of Audible Warning Devices on Emergency Vehicles.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1977-08-01

The purpose of the study was to examine the effectiveness of audible warning devices (AWD's) on emergency vehicles in terms of aural detectability. Community noise intrusion and opportunities for AWD optimization were also investigated. Measurements ...

Detecting Damage in Composite Material Using Nonlinear Elastic Wave Spectroscopy Methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meo, Michele; Polimeno, Umberto; Zumpano, Giuseppe

2008-05-01

Modern aerospace structures make increasing use of fibre reinforced plastic composites, due to their high specific mechanical properties. However, due to their brittleness, low velocity impact can cause delaminations beneath the surface, while the surface may appear to be undamaged upon visual inspection. Such damage is called barely visible impact damage (BVID). Such internal damages lead to significant reduction in local strengths and ultimately could lead to catastrophic failures. It is therefore important to detect and monitor damages in high loaded composite components to receive an early warning for a well timed maintenance of the aircraft. Non-linear ultrasonic spectroscopy methods are promising damage detection and material characterization tools. In this paper, two different non-linear elastic wave spectroscopy (NEWS) methods are presented: single mode nonlinear resonance ultrasound (NRUS) and nonlinear wave modulation technique (NWMS). The NEWS methods were applied to detect delamination damage due to low velocity impact (<12 J) on various composite plates. The results showed that the proposed methodology appear to be highly sensitive to the presence of damage with very promising future NDT and structural health monitoring applications.

Establishing the fundamentals for an elephant early warning and monitoring system.

PubMed

Zeppelzauer, Matthias; Stoeger, Angela S

2015-09-04

The decline of habitat for elephants due to expanding human activity is a serious conservation problem. This has continuously escalated the human-elephant conflict in Africa and Asia. Elephants make extensive use of powerful infrasonic calls (rumbles) that travel distances of up to several kilometers. This makes elephants well-suited for acoustic monitoring because it enables detecting elephants even if they are out of sight. In sight, their distinct visual appearance makes them a good candidate for visual monitoring. We provide an integrated overview of our interdisciplinary project that established the scientific fundamentals for a future early warning and monitoring system for humans who regularly experience serious conflict with elephants. We first draw the big picture of an early warning and monitoring system, then review the developed solutions for automatic acoustic and visual detection, discuss specific challenges and present open future work necessary to build a robust and reliable early warning and monitoring system that is able to operate in situ. We present a method for the automated detection of elephant rumbles that is robust to the diverse noise sources present in situ. We evaluated the method on an extensive set of audio data recorded under natural field conditions. Results show that the proposed method outperforms existing approaches and accurately detects elephant rumbles. Our visual detection method shows that tracking elephants in wildlife videos (of different sizes and postures) is feasible and particularly robust at near distances. From our project results we draw a number of conclusions that are discussed and summarized. We clearly identified the most critical challenges and necessary improvements of the proposed detection methods and conclude that our findings have the potential to form the basis for a future automated early warning system for elephants. We discuss challenges that need to be solved and summarize open topics in the context of a future early warning and monitoring system. We conclude that a long-term evaluation of the presented methods in situ using real-time prototypes is the most important next step to transfer the developed methods into practical implementation.

Satellite detection, tracing, and early warning of harmful algal blooms (HABs) for the Asian waters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang, D. L.

Over the past two decades, Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) appear to have increased in frequency, intensity and geographic distribution worldwide, and have caused large economic losses in aquacultured and wild fisheries in recent years. Understanding of the oceanic mechanisms is important for early warning of HAB events. The present study reported several extensive HABs in the Asian waters during 1998 to 2003 detected by satellite remote sensing data (SeaWiFS, NOAA AVHRR, and QuikScat) and in situ observations. An extensive HAB off southeastern Vietnamese waters during late June to July 2002 was detected and its related oceanographic features were analyzed. The HAB had high Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) concentrations (up to 4.5 mg m-3), occurring about 200 km off the coast and about 200 km northeast of the Mekong River mouth, for a period of about 6 weeks. The bloom was dominated by the harmful algae haptophyte Phaeocystis cf. globosa, and caused a very significant mortality of aquacultured fishes and other marine life. In the same period, Sea Surface Temperature (SST) imagery showed a coldwater plume extending from the coast to the open sea, and QuikScat data showed strong southwesterly winds blowing parallel with the coastline. It indicated the HAB was induced and supported by offshore upwelling that bring nutrients from the deep ocean to the surface and from coastal water to the offshore, and the upwelling was driven by strong wind through Ekman transport when winds were parallel with the coastline. This study demonstrated the possibility of utilizing a combination of satellite data of Chl-a, SST and wind velocity together with coastal bathymetric information and in situ observation to give a better understanding of the biological oceanography of HABs; these results may help for the early warming of HAB.

Airborne Turbulence Detection and Warning ACLAIM Flight Test Results

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hannon, Stephen M.; Bagley, Hal R.; Soreide, Dave C.; Bowdle, David A.; Bogue, Rodney K.; Ehernberger, L. Jack

1999-01-01

The Airborne Coherent Lidar for Advanced Inflight Measurements (ACLAIM) is a NASA/Dryden-lead program to develop and demonstrate a 2 micrometers pulsed Doppler lidar for airborne look-ahead turbulence detection and warning. Advanced warning of approaching turbulence can significantly reduce injuries to passengers and crew aboard commercial airliners. The ACLAIM instrument is a key asset to the ongoing Turbulence component of NASA's Aviation Safety Program, aimed at reducing the accident rate aboard commercial airliners by a factor of five over the next ten years and by a factor of ten over the next twenty years. As well, the advanced turbulence warning capability can prevent "unstarts" in the inlet of supersonic aircraft engines by alerting the flight control computer which then adjusts the engine to operate in a less fuel efficient, and more turbulence tolerant, mode. Initial flight tests of the ACLAIM were completed in March and April of 1998. This paper and presentation gives results from these initial flights, with validated demonstration of Doppler lidar wind turbulence detection several kilometers ahead of the aircraft.

Warning color changes in response to food deprivation in the pipevine swallowtail butterfly, Battus philenor.

PubMed

Pegram, Kimberly V; Nahm, Alexandra C; Rutowski, Ronald L

2013-01-01

Predation on distasteful animals should favor warning coloration that is relatively conspicuous and phenotypically invariable. However, even among similarly colored individuals there can be variation in their warning signals. In butterflies, individual differences in larval feeding history could cause this variation. The warning signal of the pipevine swallowtail butterfly, Battus philenor L. (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae) consists of both a blue iridescent patch and pigmentbased orange spots on the ventral hindwing. B. philenor males also display a dorsal surface iridescent patch that functions as a sexual indicator signal. A previous study of iridescence in B. philenor found that the iridescent blue on both the dorsal and ventral hind wings is variable and significantly different between lab-reared and field-caught individuals. These differences could be the result of larval food deprivation in the field. Through experimental manipulation of larval diet, larval food deprivation was evaluated as a potential cause of the differences observed between lab and field individuals, and if food deprivation is a source of inter-individual variation in warning signals. B. philenor larvae were food restricted starting at two points in the last larval instar, and one group was fed through pupation. Adult coloration was then compared. Food deprivation led to poorer adult condition, as indicated by lower adult body mass, forewing length, and fat content of stressed individuals. As the level of food deprivation increased, the hue of the iridescent patches on both the dorsal and ventral hind wing shifted to shorter wavelengths, and the chroma of the orange spots decreased. The shifts in iridescent color did not match the differences previously found between lab and field individuals. However, the treatment differences indicate that food deprivation may be a significant source of warning color variation. The differences between the treatment groups are likely detectable by predators, but the effect of the variation on signal effectiveness and function remains to be empirically explored.

Open Source Seismic Software in NOAA's Next Generation Tsunami Warning System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hellman, S. B.; Baker, B. I.; Hagerty, M. T.; Leifer, J. M.; Lisowski, S.; Thies, D. A.; Donnelly, B. K.; Griffith, F. P.

2014-12-01

The Tsunami Information technology Modernization (TIM) is a project spearheaded by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to update the United States' Tsunami Warning System software currently employed at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (Eva Beach, Hawaii) and the National Tsunami Warning Center (Palmer, Alaska). This entirely open source software project will integrate various seismic processing utilities with the National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office's core software, AWIPS2. For the real-time and near real-time seismic processing aspect of this project, NOAA has elected to integrate the open source portions of GFZ's SeisComP 3 (SC3) processing system into AWIPS2. To provide for better tsunami threat assessments we are developing open source tools for magnitude estimations (e.g., moment magnitude, energy magnitude, surface wave magnitude), detection of slow earthquakes with the Theta discriminant, moment tensor inversions (e.g. W-phase and teleseismic body waves), finite fault inversions, and array processing. With our reliance on common data formats such as QuakeML and seismic community standard messaging systems, all new facilities introduced into AWIPS2 and SC3 will be available as stand-alone tools or could be easily integrated into other real time seismic monitoring systems such as Earthworm, Antelope, etc. Additionally, we have developed a template based design paradigm so that the developer or scientist can efficiently create upgrades, replacements, and/or new metrics to the seismic data processing with only a cursory knowledge of the underlying SC3.

The Application of LANDSAT Multi-Temporal Thermal Infrared Data to Identify Coal Fire in the Khanh Hoa Coal Mine, Thai Nguyen province, Vietnam

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trinh, Le Hung; Zablotskii, V. R.

2017-12-01

The Khanh Hoa coal mine is a surface coal mine in the Thai Nguyen province, which is one of the largest deposits of coal in the Vietnam. Numerous reasons such as improper mining techniques and policy, as well as unauthorized mining caused surface and subsurface coal fire in this area. Coal fire is a dangerous phenomenon which affects the environment seriously by releasing toxic fumes which causes forest fires, and subsidence of infrastructure surface. This article presents study on the application of LANDSAT multi-temporal thermal infrared images, which help to detect coal fire. The results obtained in this study can be used to monitor fire zones so as to give warnings and solutions to prevent coal fire.

Tipping point analysis of seismological data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Livina, Valerie N.; Tolkova, Elena

2014-05-01

We apply the tipping point toolbox [1-7] to study sensor data of pressure variations and vertical velocity of the sea floor after two seismic events: 21 October 2010, M6.9, D10km (California) and 11 March 2011, M9.0, D30km (Japan). One type of datasets was measured by nano-resolution pressure sensor [8], while the other, for comparison, by a co-located ocean bottom seismometer. Both sensors registered the seismic wave, and we investigated the early warning and detection signals of the wave arrival for possible application with a remote and cabled tsunami warning detector network (NOAA DART system and Japan Trench Tsunami Observation System). We study the early warning and detection signals of the wave arrival using methodology that combines degenerate fingerprinting and potential analysis techniques for anticipation, detection and forecast of tipping points in a dynamical system. Degenerate fingerprinting indicator is a dynamically derived lag-1 autocorrelation, ACF (or, alternatively, short-range scaling exponent of Detrended Fluctuation Analysis, DFA [1]), which shows short-term memory in a series. When such values rise monotonically, this indicates an upcoming transition or bifurcation in a series and can be used for early warning signals analysis. The potential analysis detects a transition or bifurcation in a series at the time when it happens, which is illustrated in a special contour plot mapping the potential dynamics of the system [2-6]. The methodology has been extensively tested on artificial data and on various geophysical, ecological and industrial sensor datasets [2-5,7], and proved to be applicable to trajectories of dynamical systems of arbitrary origin [9]. In this seismological application, we have obtained early warning signals in the described series using ACF- and DFA-indicators and detected the Rayleigh wave arrival in the potential contour plots. In the case of the event in 2010, the early warning signal starts appearing about 2 min before the first peak of the Rayleigh train is detected by the sensor, whereas in the case of event of 2011, the early warning signal appears closer to the peak arrival, within 1 min. The different strength of early warning signals of the Rayleigh trains may be due to different depths of the events (10 and 30 km), which we plan to test in further analysis. References: [1] Livina and Lenton, GRL 2007; [2] Livina et al, Climate of the Past 2010; [3] Livina et al, Climate Dynamics 2011; [4] Livina et al, Physica A 2012; [5] Livina and Lenton, Cryosphere 2013; [6] Livina et al, Physica A 2013; [7] Livina et al, Journal of Civil Structural Health Monitoring, in press; [8] Tolkova and Schaad, arXiv:1401.0096v1; [9] Vaz Martins et al, PRE 2010.

Evaluation of appropriate sensor specifications for space based ballistic missile detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schweitzer, Caroline; Stein, Karin; Wendelstein, Norbert

2012-10-01

The detection and tracking of ballistic missiles (BMs) during launch or cloud break using satellite based electro-optical (EO) sensors is a promising possibility for pre-instructing early warning and fire control radars. However, the successful detection of a BM is depending on the applied infrared (IR)-channel, as emission and reflection of threat and background vary in different spectral (IR-) bands and for different observation scenarios. In addition, the spatial resolution of the satellite based system also conditions the signal-to-clutter-ratio (SCR) and therefore the predictability of the flight path. Generally available satellite images provide data in spectral bands, which are suitable for remote sensing applications and earth surface observations. However, in the fields of BM early warning, these bands are not of interest making the simulation of background data essential. The paper focuses on the analysis of IR-bands suitable for missile detection by trading off the suppression of background signature against threat signal strength. This comprises a radiometric overview of the background radiation in different spectral bands for different climates and seasons as well as for various cloud types and covers. A brief investigation of the BM signature and its trajectory within a threat scenario is presented. Moreover, the influence on the SCR caused by different observation scenarios and varying spatial resolution are pointed out. The paper also introduces the software used for simulating natural background spectral radiance images, MATISSE ("Advanced Modeling of the Earth for Environment and Scenes Simulation") by ONERA [1].

In chronic myeloid leukemia patients on second-line tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy, deep sequencing of BCR-ABL1 at the time of warning may allow sensitive detection of emerging drug-resistant mutants.

PubMed

Soverini, Simona; De Benedittis, Caterina; Castagnetti, Fausto; Gugliotta, Gabriele; Mancini, Manuela; Bavaro, Luana; Machova Polakova, Katerina; Linhartova, Jana; Iurlo, Alessandra; Russo, Domenico; Pane, Fabrizio; Saglio, Giuseppe; Rosti, Gianantonio; Cavo, Michele; Baccarani, Michele; Martinelli, Giovanni

2016-08-02

Imatinib-resistant chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients receiving second-line tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapy with dasatinib or nilotinib have a higher risk of disease relapse and progression and not infrequently BCR-ABL1 kinase domain (KD) mutations are implicated in therapeutic failure. In this setting, earlier detection of emerging BCR-ABL1 KD mutations would offer greater chances of efficacy for subsequent salvage therapy and limit the biological consequences of full BCR-ABL1 kinase reactivation. Taking advantage of an already set up and validated next-generation deep amplicon sequencing (DS) assay, we aimed to assess whether DS may allow a larger window of detection of emerging BCR-ABL1 KD mutants predicting for an impending relapse. a total of 125 longitudinal samples from 51 CML patients who had acquired dasatinib- or nilotinib-resistant mutations during second-line therapy were analyzed by DS from the time of failure and mutation detection by conventional sequencing backwards. BCR-ABL1/ABL1%(IS) transcript levels were used to define whether the patient had 'optimal response', 'warning' or 'failure' at the time of first mutation detection by DS. DS was able to backtrack dasatinib- or nilotinib-resistant mutations to the previous sample(s) in 23/51 (45 %) pts. Median mutation burden at the time of first detection by DS was 5.5 % (range, 1.5-17.5 %); median interval between detection by DS and detection by conventional sequencing was 3 months (range, 1-9 months). In 5 cases, the mutations were detectable at baseline. In the remaining cases, response level at the time mutations were first detected by DS could be defined as 'Warning' (according to the 2013 ELN definitions of response to 2nd-line therapy) in 13 cases, as 'Optimal response' in one case, as 'Failure' in 4 cases. No dasatinib- or nilotinib-resistant mutations were detected by DS in 15 randomly selected patients with 'warning' at various timepoints, that later turned into optimal responders with no treatment changes. DS enables a larger window of detection of emerging BCR-ABL1 KD mutations predicting for an impending relapse. A 'Warning' response may represent a rational trigger, besides 'Failure', for DS-based mutation screening in CML patients undergoing second-line TKI therapy.

The Effects of Varying Electronic Cigarette Warning Label Design Features On Attention, Recall, and Product Perceptions Among Young Adults.

PubMed

Mays, Darren; Villanti, Andrea; Niaura, Raymond S; Lindblom, Eric N; Strasser, Andrew A

2017-12-13

This study was a 3 (Brand: Blu, MarkTen, Vuse) by 3 (Warning Size: 20%, 30%, or 50% of advertisement surface) by 2 (Warning Background: White, Red) experimental investigation of the effects of electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) warning label design features. Young adults aged 18-30 years (n = 544) were recruited online, completed demographic and tobacco use history measures, and randomized to view e-cigarette advertisements with warning labels that varied by the experimental conditions. Participants completed a task assessing self-reported visual attention to advertisements with a-priori regions of interest defined around warning labels. Warning message recall and perceived addictiveness of e-cigarettes were assessed post-exposure. Approximately half of participants reported attending to warning labels and reported attention was greater for warnings on red versus white backgrounds. Recall of the warning message content was also greater among those reporting attention to the warning label. Overall, those who viewed warnings on red backgrounds reported lower perceived addictiveness than those who viewed warnings on white backgrounds, and e-cigarette users reported lower perceived addictiveness than non-users. Among e-cigarette users, viewing warnings on white backgrounds produced perceptions more similar to non-users. Greater recall was significantly correlated with greater perceived addictiveness. This study provides some of the first evidence that e-cigarette warning label design features including size and coloring affect self-reported attention and content recall.

ARC-2007-ACD07-0140-001

NASA Image and Video Library

2007-07-31

David L. Iverson of NASA Ames Research center, Moffett Field, California, led development of computer software to monitor the conditions of the gyroscopes that keep the International Space Station (ISS) properly oriented in space as the ISS orbits Earth. The gyroscopes are flywheels that control the station's attitude without the use of propellant fuel. NASA computer scientists designed the new software, the Inductive Monitoring System, to detect warning signs that precede a gyroscope's failure. According to NASA officials, engineers will add the new software tool to a group of existing tools to identify and track problems related to the gyroscopes. If the software detects warning signs, it will quickly warn the space station's mission control center.

Alcohol Warning Label Perceptions: Do Warning Sizes and Plain Packaging Matter?

PubMed

Al-Hamdani, Mohammed; Smith, Steven M

2017-01-01

There is a dearth of research on the effectiveness of stringent alcohol warning labels. Our experiment tested whether increasing the size of an alcohol health warning lowers product-based ratings. We examined whether plain packaging lowers ratings of alcohol products and the consumers who use them, increases ratings of bottle "boringness," and enhances warning recognition compared with branded packaging. A total of 440 adults (51.7% female) viewed one of three warning sizes (50%, 75%, or 90% of label surface) on either a plain or branded bottle of distilled spirits, wine, and beer. Participants also rated alcohol bottles on product-based (assessing the product itself), consumer-based (assessing perceptions of consumers of the product), and bottle boringness ratings, and then attempted to recognize the correct warning out of four choices. As expected, the size of warning labels lowered product-based ratings. Similarly, plain packaging lowered product-based and consumer-based ratings and increased bottle boringness but only for wine bottles. Further, plain packaging increased the odds of warning recognition on bottles of distilled spirits. This study shows that plain packaging and warning size (similar to the graphic warnings on cigarette packages) affect perceptions about alcohol bottles. It also shows that plain packaging increases the likelihood for correct health warning recognition, which builds the case for alcohol warning and packaging research and policy.

SafeLand guidelines for landslide monitoring and early warning systems in Europe - Design and required technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bazin, S.

2012-04-01

Landslide monitoring means the comparison of landslide characteristics like areal extent, speed of movement, surface topography and soil humidity from different periods in order to assess landslide activity. An ultimate "universal" methodology for this purpose does not exist; every technology has its own advantages and disadvantages. End-users should carefully consider each one to select the methodologies that represent the best compromise between pros and cons, and are best suited for their needs. Besides monitoring technology, there are many factors governing the choice of an Early Warning System (EWS). A people-centred EWS necessarily comprises five key elements: (1) knowledge of the risks; (2) identification, monitoring, analysis and forecasting of the hazards; (3) operational centre; (4) communication or dissemination of alerts and warnings; and (5) local capabilities to respond to the warnings received. The expression "end-to-end warning system" is also used to emphasize that EWSs need to span all steps from hazard detection through to community response. The aim of the present work is to provide guidelines for establishing the different components for landslide EWSs. One of the main deliverables of the EC-FP7 SafeLand project addresses the technical and practical issues related to monitoring and early warning for landslides, and identifies the best technologies available in the context of both hazard assessment and design of EWSs. This deliverable targets the end-users and aims to facilitate the decision process by providing guidelines. For the purpose of sharing the globally accumulated expertise, a screening study was done on 14 EWSs from 8 different countries. On these bases, the report presents a synoptic view of existing monitoring methodologies and early-warning strategies and their applicability for different landslide types, scales and risk management steps. Several comprehensive checklists and toolboxes are also included to support informed decisions. The deliverable was compiled with contributions from experts on landslides, monitoring technologies, remote sensing, and social researchers from 16 European institutions. The deliverable addresses one of the main objectives of the SafeLand project, namely to merge experience and expert judgment and create synergies on European level towards guidelines for early warning and to make these results available to end-users and local stakeholders.

The Investigation of a Sinkhole Area in Germany by Near-Surface Active Seismic Tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tschache, S.; Becker, D.; Wadas, S. H.; Polom, U.; Krawczyk, C. M.

2017-12-01

In November 2010, a 30 m wide and 17 m deep sinkhole occurred in a residential area of Schmalkalden, Germany, which fortunately did not harm humans, but led to damage of buildings and property. Subsequent geoscientific investigations showed that the collapse was naturally caused by the subrosion of sulfates in a depth of about 80 m. In 2012, an early warning system was established including 3C borehole geophones deployed in 50 m depth around the backfilled sinkhole. During the acquisition of two shallow 2D shear wave seismic profiles, the signals generated by a micro-vibrator at the surface were additionally recorded by the four borehole geophones of the early warning system and a VSP probe in a fifth borehole. The travel time analysis of the direct arrivals enhanced the understanding of wave propagation in the area. Seismic velocity anomalies were detected and related to structural seismic images of the 2D profiles. Due to the promising first results, the experiment was further extended by distributing vibration points throughout the whole area around the sinkhole. This time, micro-vibrators for P- and S-wave generation were used. The signals were recorded by the borehole geophones and temporary installed seismometers at surface positions close to the boreholes. The travel times and signal attenuations are evaluated to detect potential instable zones. Furthermore, array analyses are performed. The first results reveal features in the active tomography datasets consistent with structures observed in the 2D seismic images. The advantages of the presented method are the low effort and good repeatability due to the permanently installed borehole geophones. It has the potential to determine P-wave and S-wave velocities in 3D. It supports the interpretation of established investigation methods as 2D surface seismics and VSP. In our further research we propose to evaluate the suitability of the method for the time lapse monitoring of changes in the seismic wave propagation, which could be related to subrosion processes.

Evaluation of an active wildlife-sensing and driver warning system at Trapper's Point.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2009-04-01

Collisions with wildlife are a serious concern on American highways. In Wyoming, the concern has prompted the Wyoming Department of Transportation : to construct an experimental wildlife detection and driver warning system at Trappers Point, north...

Transit bus stop pedestrian warning application : architecture and design : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2017-02-28

This document describes the Draft System Architecture and Design for the Transit Bus Stop Pedestrian Warning (TSPW) application including the design for the pedestrian detection system and DSRC radio to be deployed at transit stops and includes detai...

Study on the early warning mechanism for the security of blast furnace hearths

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Hong-bo; Huo, Shou-feng; Cheng, Shu-sen

2013-04-01

The campaign life of blast furnace (BF) hearths has become the limiting factor for safety and high efficiency production of modern BFs. However, the early warning mechanism of hearth security has not been clear. In this article, based on heat transfer calculations, heat flux and erosion monitoring, the features of heat flux and erosion were analyzed and compared among different types of hearths. The primary detecting elements, mathematical models, evaluating standards, and warning methods were discussed. A novel early warning mechanism with the three-level quantificational standards was proposed for BF hearth security.

Improved integrated sniper location system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Figler, Burton D.; Spera, Timothy J.

1999-01-01

In July of 1995, Lockheed Martin IR Imaging Systems, of Lexington, Massachusetts began the development of an integrated sniper location system for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and for the Department of the Navy's Naval Command Control & Ocean Surveillance Center, RDTE Division in San Diego, California. The I-SLS integrates acoustic and uncooled infrared sensing technologies to provide an affordable and highly effective sniper detection and location capability. This system, its performance and results from field tests at Camp Pendleton, California, in October 1996 were described in a paper presented at the November 1996 SPIE Photonics East Symposium1 on Enabling Technologies for Law Enforcement and Security. The I-SLS combines an acoustic warning system with an uncooled infrared warning system. The acoustic warning system has been developed by SenTech, Inc., of Lexington, Massachusetts. This acoustic warning system provides sniper detection and coarse location information based upon the muzzle blast of the sniper's weapon and/or upon the shock wave produced by the sniper's bullet, if the bullet is supersonic. The uncooled infrared warning system provides sniper detection and fine location information based upon the weapon's muzzle flash. In addition, the uncooled infrared warning system can provide thermal imagery that can be used to accurately locate and identify the sniper. Combining these two technologies improves detection probability, reduces false alarm rate and increases utility. In the two years since the last report of the integrated sniper location system, improvements have been made and a second field demonstration was planned. In this paper, we describe the integrated sniper location system modifications in preparation for the new field demonstration. In addition, fundamental improvements in the uncooled infrared sensor technology continue to be made. These improvements include higher sensitivity (lower minimum resolvable temperature), higher spatial resolution, and smaller size. This paper will describe the implementation and status of these improvements.

Laser development for optimal helicopter obstacle warning system LADAR performance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yaniv, A.; Krupkin, V.; Abitbol, A.; Stern, J.; Lurie, E.; German, A.; Solomonovich, S.; Lubashitz, B.; Harel, Y.; Engart, S.; Shimoni, Y.; Hezy, S.; Biltz, S.; Kaminetsky, E.; Goldberg, A.; Chocron, J.; Zuntz, N.; Zajdman, A.

2005-04-01

Low lying obstacles present immediate danger to both military and civilian helicopters performing low-altitude flight missions. A LADAR obstacle detection system is the natural solution for enhancing helicopter safety and improving the pilot situation awareness. Elop is currently developing an advanced Surveillance and Warning Obstacle Ranging and Display (SWORD) system for the Israeli Air Force. Several key factors and new concepts have contributed to system optimization. These include an adaptive FOV, data memorization, autonomous obstacle detection and warning algorithms and the use of an agile laser transmitter. In the present work we describe the laser design and performance and discuss some of the experimental results. Our eye-safe laser is characterized by its pulse energy, repetition rate and pulse length agility. By dynamically controlling these parameters, we are able to locally optimize the system"s obstacle detection range and scan density in accordance with the helicopter instantaneous maneuver.

101. View of transmitter building no. 102, missile warning operation ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

101. View of transmitter building no. 102, missile warning operation center, close up view of DRED (detection radar environmental display) console in operation showing target. Official photograph BMEWS Project by Hansen, 14 March 1963, clear as negative no. A-8803. - Clear Air Force Station, Ballistic Missile Early Warning System Site II, One mile west of mile marker 293.5 on Parks Highway, 5 miles southwest of Anderson, Anderson, Denali Borough, AK

Anatomy of Historical Tsunamis: Lessons Learned for Tsunami Warning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Igarashi, Y.; Kong, L.; Yamamoto, M.; McCreery, C. S.

2011-11-01

Tsunamis are high-impact disasters that can cause death and destruction locally within a few minutes of their occurrence and across oceans hours, even up to a day, afterward. Efforts to establish tsunami warning systems to protect life and property began in the Pacific after the 1946 Aleutian Islands tsunami caused casualties in Hawaii. Seismic and sea level data were used by a central control center to evaluate tsunamigenic potential and then issue alerts and warnings. The ensuing events of 1952, 1957, and 1960 tested the new system, which continued to expand and evolve from a United States system to an international system in 1965. The Tsunami Warning System in the Pacific (ITSU) steadily improved through the decades as more stations became available in real and near-real time through better communications technology and greater bandwidth. New analysis techniques, coupled with more data of higher quality, resulted in better detection, greater solution accuracy, and more reliable warnings, but limitations still exist in constraining the source and in accurately predicting propagation of the wave from source to shore. Tsunami event data collected over the last two decades through international tsunami science surveys have led to more realistic models for source generation and inundation, and within the warning centers, real-time tsunami wave forecasting will become a reality in the near future. The tsunami warning system is an international cooperative effort amongst countries supported by global and national monitoring networks and dedicated tsunami warning centers; the research community has contributed to the system by advancing and improving its analysis tools. Lessons learned from the earliest tsunamis provided the backbone for the present system, but despite 45 years of experience, the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami reminded us that tsunamis strike and kill everywhere, not just in the Pacific. Today, a global intergovernmental tsunami warning system is coordinated under the United Nations. This paper reviews historical tsunamis, their warning activities, and their sea level records to highlight lessons learned with the focus on how these insights have helped to drive further development of tsunami warning systems and their tsunami warning centers. While the international systems do well for teletsunamis, faster detection, more accurate evaluations, and widespread timely alerts are still the goals, and challenges still remain to achieving early warning against the more frequent and destructive local tsunamis.

GPS water level measurements for Indonesia's Tsunami Early Warning System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schöne, T.; Pandoe, W.; Mudita, I.; Roemer, S.; Illigner, J.; Zech, C.; Galas, R.

2011-03-01

On Boxing Day 2004, a severe tsunami was generated by a strong earthquake in Northern Sumatra causing a large number of casualties. At this time, neither an offshore buoy network was in place to measure tsunami waves, nor a system to disseminate tsunami warnings to local governmental entities. Since then, buoys have been developed by Indonesia and Germany, complemented by NOAA's Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis (DART) buoys, and have been moored offshore Sumatra and Java. The suite of sensors for offshore tsunami detection in Indonesia has been advanced by adding GPS technology for water level measurements. The usage of GPS buoys in tsunami warning systems is a relatively new approach. The concept of the German Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System (GITEWS) (Rudloff et al., 2009) combines GPS technology and ocean bottom pressure (OBP) measurements. Especially for near-field installations where the seismic noise may deteriorate the OBP data, GPS-derived sea level heights provide additional information. The GPS buoy technology is precise enough to detect medium to large tsunamis of amplitudes larger than 10 cm. The analysis presented here suggests that for about 68% of the time, tsunamis larger than 5 cm may be detectable.

Using signal detection theory to understand grade crossing warning time and motorist stopping behavior.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2015-02-01

Motorist error or poor judgment is a significant causal factor in highway-rail grade crossing collisions. Crashes at grade crossings : equipped with warning devices often involve motorists who drive around gates or across railroad tracks while flashi...

Low-cost warning device industry assessment : research results.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2011-12-01

Virtually all of the grade crossing train detection and warning systems in the United States use a variant of the track circuit technology developed over a century ago. Track circuits have evolved through the years, but the design and principles of o...

Evaluating suggestibility to additive and contradictory misinformation following explicit error detection in younger and older adults.

PubMed

Huff, Mark J; Umanath, Sharda

2018-06-01

In 2 experiments, we assessed age-related suggestibility to additive and contradictory misinformation (i.e., remembering of false details from an external source). After reading a fictional story, participants answered questions containing misleading details that were either additive (misleading details that supplemented an original event) or contradictory (errors that changed original details). On a final test, suggestibility was greater for additive than contradictory misinformation, and older adults endorsed fewer false contradictory details than younger adults. To mitigate suggestibility in Experiment 2, participants were warned about potential errors, instructed to detect errors, or instructed to detect errors after exposure to examples of additive and contradictory details. Again, suggestibility to additive misinformation was greater than contradictory, and older adults endorsed less contradictory misinformation. Only after detection instructions with misinformation examples were younger adults able to reduce contradictory misinformation effects and reduced these effects to the level of older adults. Additive misinformation however, was immune to all warning and detection instructions. Thus, older adults were less susceptible to contradictory misinformation errors, and younger adults could match this misinformation rate when warning/detection instructions were strong. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Joint Chemical Agent Detector (JCAD): the future of chemical agent detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laljer, Charles E.; Owen, Jeffery L.

2002-06-01

The Joint Chemical Agent Detector (JCAD) will provide state of the art chemical warfare agent detection capability to ground vehicle operators. Intelligence sources estimate that over twenty counties have active chemical weapons programs. The spread of chemical weapons to third world nations, coupled with the potential for US involvement in these areas in an operational or support capacity, increases the probability that the Joint Services may encounter chemical agents and toxic industrial materials anywhere in the world. Currently, fielded chemical agent detectors are bulky, labor intensive, and subject to false readings. No legacy detector is sensitive enough to provide detection and warning of the low dose hazards associated with miosis contamination. The JCAD will provide a small, lightweight chemical agent detector for vehicle interiors, aircraft, individual personnel, shipboard, and fixed site locations. The system provides a common detection components across multi-service platforms. This common detector system will allow the Joint Services to use the same operational and support concept for more efficient utilization of resources. The JCAD will detect, identify, quantify, and warn of the presence of chemical agents prior to onset of miosis. Upon detection of chemical agents, the detector will provide local and remote audible and visual alarms to the operators. Advance warning will provide the vehicle crew with the time necessary to protect themselves from the lethal effects of chemical agents. The JCAD will also be capable of being upgraded to protect against future chemical agent threats. The JCAD will provide the vehicle operators with the warning necessary to survive and fight in a chemical warfare agent threat environment.

Water quality real-time monitoring system via biological detection based on video analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xin, Chen; Fei, Yuan

2017-11-01

With the development of society, water pollution has become the most serious problem in China. Therefore, real-time water quality monitoring is an important part of human activities and water pollution prevention. In this paper, the behavior of zebrafish was monitored by computer vision. Firstly, the moving target was extracted by the method of saliency detection, and tracked by fitting the ellipse model. Then the motion parameters were extracted by optical flow method, and the data were monitored in real time by means of Hinkley warning and threshold warning. We achieved classification warning through a number of dimensions by comprehensive toxicity index. The experimental results show that the system can achieve more accurate real-time monitoring.

An Emergency Packet Forwarding Scheme for V2V Communication Networks

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

This paper proposes an effective warning message forwarding scheme for cooperative collision avoidance. In an emergency situation, an emergency-detecting vehicle warns the neighbor vehicles via an emergency warning message. Since the transmission range is limited, the warning message is broadcast in a multihop manner. Broadcast packets lead two challenges to forward the warning message in the vehicular network: redundancy of warning messages and competition with nonemergency transmissions. In this paper, we study and address the two major challenges to achieve low latency in delivery of the warning message. To reduce the intervehicle latency and end-to-end latency, which cause chain collisions, we propose a two-way intelligent broadcasting method with an adaptable distance-dependent backoff algorithm. Considering locations of vehicles, the proposed algorithm controls the broadcast of a warning message to reduce redundant EWM messages and adaptively chooses the contention window to compete with nonemergency transmission. Via simulations, we show that our proposed algorithm reduces the probability of rear-end crashes by 70% compared to previous algorithms by reducing the intervehicle delay. We also show that the end-to-end propagation delay of the warning message is reduced by 55%. PMID:25054181

Blaptica dubia as sentinels for exposure to chemical warfare agents - a pilot study.

PubMed

Worek, Franz; Seeger, Thomas; Neumaier, Katharina; Wille, Timo; Thiermann, Horst

2016-11-16

The increased interest of terrorist groups in toxic chemicals and chemical warfare agents presents a continuing threat to our societies. Early warning and detection is a key component for effective countermeasures against such deadly agents. Presently available and near term solutions have a number of major drawbacks, e.g. lack of automated, remote warning and detection of primarily low volatile chemical warfare agents. An alternative approach is the use of animals as sentinels for exposure to toxic chemicals. To overcome disadvantages of vertebrates the present pilot study was initiated to investigate the suitability of South American cockroaches (Blaptica dubia) as warning system for exposure to chemical warfare nerve and blister agents. Initial in vitro experiments with nerve agents showed an increasing inhibitory potency in the order tabun - cyclosarin - sarin - soman - VX of cockroach cholinesterase. Exposure of cockroaches to chemical warfare agents resulted in clearly visible and reproducible reactions, the onset being dependent on the agent and dose. With nerve agents the onset was related to the volatility of the agents. The blister agent lewisite induced signs largely comparable to those of nerve agents while sulfur mustard exposed animals exhibited a different sequence of events. In conclusion, this first pilot study indicates that Blaptica dubia could serve as a warning system to exposure of chemical warfare agents. A cockroach-based system will not detect or identify a particular chemical warfare agent but could trigger further actions, e.g. specific detection and increased protective status. By designing appropriate boxes with (IR) motion sensors and remote control (IR) camera automated off-site warning systems could be realized. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

An on-board pedestrian detection and warning system with features of side pedestrian

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Ruzhong; Zhao, Yong; Wong, ChupChung; Chan, KwokPo; Xu, Jiayao; Wang, Xin'an

2012-01-01

Automotive Active Safety(AAS) is the main branch of intelligence automobile study and pedestrian detection is the key problem of AAS, because it is related with the casualties of most vehicle accidents. For on-board pedestrian detection algorithms, the main problem is to balance efficiency and accuracy to make the on-board system available in real scenes, so an on-board pedestrian detection and warning system with the algorithm considered the features of side pedestrian is proposed. The system includes two modules, pedestrian detecting and warning module. Haar feature and a cascade of stage classifiers trained by Adaboost are first applied, and then HOG feature and SVM classifier are used to refine false positives. To make these time-consuming algorithms available in real-time use, a divide-window method together with operator context scanning(OCS) method are applied to increase efficiency. To merge the velocity information of the automotive, the distance of the detected pedestrian is also obtained, so the system could judge if there is a potential danger for the pedestrian in the front. With a new dataset captured in urban environment with side pedestrians on zebra, the embedded system and its algorithm perform an on-board available result on side pedestrian detection.

Development of gas fire detection system using tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Y. L.; Li, G.; Yang, T.; Wang, J. J.

2017-01-01

The conventional fire detection methods mainly produce an alarm through detecting the changes in smoke concentration, flame radiation, heat and other physical parameters in the environment, but are unable to provide an early warning of a fire emergency. We have designed a gas fire detection system with a high detection sensitivity and high selectivity using the tunable semiconductor diode laser as a light source and combining wavelength modulation and harmonic detection technology. This system can invert the second harmonic signal obtained to obtain the concentration of carbon monoxide gas (a fire characteristic gas) so as to provide an early warning of fire. We reduce the system offset noise and the background noise generated due to the laser interference by deducting the system background spectrum lines from the second harmonic signal. This can also eliminate the interference of other gas spectral lines to a large extent. We detected the concentration of the carbon monoxide gas generated in smoldering sandalwood fire and open beech wood fire with the homemade fire simulator, and tested the lowest detectable limit of system. The test results show that the lowest detectable limit can reach 5×10-6 the system can maintain stable operation for a long period of time and can automatically trigger a water mist fire extinguishing system, which can fully meet the needs of early fire warning.

Sensors Provide Early Warning of Biological Threats

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2009-01-01

Early Warning Inc. of Troy, New York, licensed powerful biosensor technology from Ames Research Center. Incorporating carbon nanotubes tipped with single strands of nucleic acid from waterborne pathogens, the sensor can detect even minute amounts of targeted, disease causing bacteria, viruses, and parasites. Early Warning features the NASA biosensor in its water analyzer, which can provide advance alert of potential biological hazards in water used for agriculture, food and beverages, showers, and at beaches and lakes -- within hours instead of the days required by conventional laboratory methods.

PROPOSED WATER QUALITY SURVEILLANCE NETWORK USING PHYSICAL, CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS (CBEWS)

EPA Science Inventory

The Homeland Protection Act of 2002 specifically calls for the investigation and use of Early Warning Systems (EWS) for water security reasons. The EWS is a screening tool for detecting changes in source water and distribution system water quality. A suite of time-relevant biol...

PROPOSED WATER QUALITY SURVEILLANCE NETWORK USING PHYSICAL, CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS (BEWS)

EPA Science Inventory

The Homeland Protection Act of 2002 specifically calls for the investigation and use of Early Warning Systems (EWS) for water security reasons. The EWS is a screening tool for detecting changes in source water and distribution system water quality. A suite of time-relevant biol...

The Joint Airport Weather Studies Project - Current analysis highlights in the aviation safety context

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mccarthy, J.

1984-01-01

The principal objective of the Joint Airport Weather Studies Project was to obtain high-resolution velocity, turbulence, and thermodynamic data on a convective outflow called a microburst, an intense downdraft and resulting horizontal outflow near the surface. Data collection occurred during the summer of 1982 near Denver, CO. Data sensors included three pulsed-microwave Doppler and two pulsed CO2 lidar radars, along with 27 Portable Automated Mesonet surface weather stations, the FAA's low-level-wind-shear alert system (LLWSAS), and five instrumented research aircraft. Convective storms occurred on 75 of 91 operational days, with Doppler data being collected on at least 70 microbursts. Analyses reported included a thorough examination of microburst-climatology statistics, the capability of the LLWSAS to detect adequately and accurately the presence of low-altitude wind shear danger to aircraft, the capability of a terminal Doppler radar system development to provide improved wind-shear detection and warning, and progress toward improved wind-shear training for pilots.

Real-time prediction of the occurrence of GLE events

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Núñez, Marlon; Reyes-Santiago, Pedro J.; Malandraki, Olga E.

2017-07-01

A tool for predicting the occurrence of Ground Level Enhancement (GLE) events using the UMASEP scheme is presented. This real-time tool, called HESPERIA UMASEP-500, is based on the detection of the magnetic connection, along which protons arrive in the near-Earth environment, by estimating the lag correlation between the time derivatives of 1 min soft X-ray flux (SXR) and 1 min near-Earth proton fluxes observed by the GOES satellites. Unlike current GLE warning systems, this tool can predict GLE events before the detection by any neutron monitor (NM) station. The prediction performance measured for the period from 1986 to 2016 is presented for two consecutive periods, because of their notable difference in performance. For the 2000-2016 period, this prediction tool obtained a probability of detection (POD) of 53.8% (7 of 13 GLE events), a false alarm ratio (FAR) of 30.0%, and average warning times (AWT) of 8 min with respect to the first NM station's alert and 15 min to the GLE Alert Plus's warning. We have tested the model by replacing the GOES proton data with SOHO/EPHIN proton data, and the results are similar in terms of POD, FAR, and AWT for the same period. The paper also presents a comparison with a GLE warning system.

Urban flood early warning systems: approaches to hydrometeorological forecasting and communicating risk

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cranston, Michael; Speight, Linda; Maxey, Richard; Tavendale, Amy; Buchanan, Peter

2015-04-01

One of the main challenges for the flood forecasting community remains the provision of reliable early warnings of surface (or pluvial) flooding. The Scottish Flood Forecasting Service has been developing approaches for forecasting the risk of surface water flooding including capitalising on the latest developments in quantitative precipitation forecasting from the Met Office. A probabilistic Heavy Rainfall Alert decision support tool helps operational forecasters assess the likelihood of surface water flooding against regional rainfall depth-duration estimates from MOGREPS-UK linked to historical short-duration flooding in Scotland. The surface water flood risk is communicated through the daily Flood Guidance Statement to emergency responders. A more recent development is an innovative risk-based hydrometeorological approach that links 24-hour ensemble rainfall forecasts through a hydrological model (Grid-to-Grid) to a library of impact assessments (Speight et al., 2015). The early warning tool - FEWS Glasgow - presents the risk of flooding to people, property and transport across a 1km grid over the city of Glasgow with a lead time of 24 hours. Communication of the risk was presented in a bespoke surface water flood forecast product designed based on emergency responder requirements and trialled during the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. The development of new approaches to surface water flood forecasting are leading to improved methods of communicating the risk and better performance in early warning with a reduction in false alarm rates with summer flood guidance in 2014 (67%) compared to 2013 (81%) - although verification of instances of surface water flooding remains difficult. However the introduction of more demanding hydrometeorological capabilities with associated greater levels of uncertainty does lead to an increased demand on operational flood forecasting skills and resources. Speight, L., Cole, S.J., Moore, R.J., Pierce, C., Wright, B., Golding, B., Cranston, M., Tavendale, A., Ghimire, S., and Dhondia, J. (2015) Developing surface water flood forecasting capabilities in Scotland: an operational pilot for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Journal of Flood Risk Management, In Press.

Effect of directional speech warnings on road hazard detection.

PubMed

Serrano, Jesús; Di Stasi, Leandro L; Megías, Alberto; Catena, Andrés

2011-12-01

In the last 2 decades, cognitive science and the transportation psychology field have dedicated a lot of effort to designing advanced driver support systems. Verbal warning systems are increasingly being implemented in modern automobiles in an effort to increase road safety. The study presented here investigated the impact of directional speech alert messages on the participants' speed to judge whether or not naturalistic road scenes depicted a situation of impending danger. Thirty-eight volunteers performed a computer-based key-press reaction time task. Findings indicated that semantic content of verbal warning signals can be used for increasing driving safety and improving hazard detection. Furthermore, the classical result regarding signal accuracy is confirmed: directional informative speech messages lead to faster hazard detection compared to drivers who received a high rate of false alarms. Notwithstanding some study limitations (lack of driver experience and low ecological validity), this evidence could provide important information for the specification of future Human-Machine-interaction (HMI) design guidelines.

Studying the response of drivers against different collision warning systems: a review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muzammel, M.; Yusoff, M. Zuki; Malik, A. Saeed; Mohamad Saad, M. Naufal; Meriaudeau, F.

2017-03-01

The number of vehicle accidents is rapidly increasing and causing significant economic losses in many countries. According to the World Health Organization, road accidents will become the fifth major cause of death by the year 2030. To minimize these accidents different types of collision warning systems have been proposed for motor vehicle drivers. These systems can early detect and warn the drivers about the potential danger, up to a certain accuracy. Many researchers study the effectiveness of these systems by using different methods, including Electroencephalography (EEG). From the literature review, it has been observed that, these systems increase the drivers' response and can help to minimize the accidents that may occur due to drivers unconsciousness. For these collision warning systems, tactile early warnings are found more effective as compared to the auditory and visual early warnings. This review also highlights the areas, where further research can be performed to fully analyze the collision warning system. For example, some contradictions are found among researchers, about these systems' performance for drivers within different age groups. Similarly, most of the EEG studies focus on the front collision warning systems and only give beep sound to alert the drivers. Therefore, EEG study can be performed for the rear end collision warning systems, against proper auditory warning messages which indicate the types of hazards. This EEG study will help to design more friendly collision warning system and may save many lives.

Earth Observations for Early Detection of Agricultural Drought: Contributions of the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Budde, M. E.; Funk, C.; Husak, G. J.; Peterson, P.; Rowland, J.; Senay, G. B.; Verdin, J. P.

2016-12-01

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has a long history of supporting the use of Earth observation data for food security monitoring through its role as an implementing partner of the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) program. The use of remote sensing and crop modeling to address food security threats in the form of drought, floods, pests, and changing climatic regimes has been a core activity in monitoring FEWS NET countries. In recent years, it has become a requirement that FEWS NET apply monitoring and modeling frameworks at global scales to assess emerging crises in regions that FEWS NET does not traditionally monitor. USGS FEWS NET, in collaboration with the University of California, Santa Barbara, has developed a number of new global applications of satellite observations, derived products, and efficient tools for visualization and analyses to address these requirements. (1) A 35-year quasi-global (+/- 50 degrees latitude) time series of gridded rainfall estimates, the Climate Hazards Infrared Precipitation with Stations (CHIRPS) dataset, based on infrared satellite imagery and station observations. Data are available as 5-day (pentadal) accumulations at 0.05 degree spatial resolution. (2) Global actual evapotranspiration data based on application of the Simplified Surface Energy Balance (SSEB) model using 10-day MODIS Land Surface Temperature composites at 1-km resolution. (3) Production of global expedited MODIS (eMODIS) 10-day NDVI composites updated every 5 days. (4) Development of an updated Early Warning eXplorer (EWX) tool for data visualization, analysis, and sharing. (5) Creation of stand-alone tools for enhancement of gridded rainfall data and trend analyses. (6) Establishment of an agro-climatology analysis tool and knowledge base for more than 90 countries of interest to FEWS NET. In addition to these new products and tools, FEWS NET has partnered with the GEOGLAM community to develop a Crop Monitor for Early Warning (CM4EW) which brings together global expertise in agricultural monitoring to reach consensus on growing season status of "countries at risk". Such engagements will result in enhanced capabilities for extending our monitoring efforts globally.

The Promise and Challenges of High Rate GNSS for Environmental Monitoring and Response

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

LaBrecque, John

2017-04-01

The decadal vision Global Geodetic Observing System recognizes the potential of high rate real time GNSS for environmental monitoring. The GGOS initiated a program to advance GNSS real time high rate measurements to augment seismic and other sensor systems for earthquake and tsunami early warning. High rate multi-GNSS networks can provide ionospheric tomography for the detection and tracking of land, ocean and atmospheric gravity waves that can provide coastal warning of tsunamis induced by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, severe weather and other catastrophic events. NASA has collaborated on a microsatellite constellation of GPS receivers to measure ocean surface roughness to improve severe storm tracking and a equatorial system of GPS occultation receivers to measure ionospheric and atmospheric dynamics. Systems such as these will be significantly enhanced by the availability of a four fold increase in GNSS satellite systems with new and enhanced signal structures and by the densification of regional multi-GNSS networks. These new GNSS capabilities will rely upon improved and cost effective communications infrastructure for a network of coordinated real time analysis centers with input to national warning systems. Most important, the implementation of these new real time GNSS capabilities will rely upon the broad international support for the sharing of real time GNSS much as is done in weather and seismic observing systems and as supported by the Committee of Experts on UN Global Geodetic Information Management (UNGGIM).

Tornado Warning Perception and Response: Integrating the Roles of Visual Design, Demographics, and Hazard Experience.

PubMed

Schumann, Ronald L; Ash, Kevin D; Bowser, Gregg C

2018-02-01

Recent advancements in severe weather detection and warning dissemination technologies have reduced, but not eliminated, large-casualty tornado hazards in the United States. Research on warning cognition and behavioral response by the public has the potential to further reduce tornado-related deaths and injuries; however, less research has been conducted in this area compared to tornado research in the physical sciences. Extant research in this vein tends to bifurcate. One branch of studies derives from classic risk perception, which investigates cognitive, affective, and sociocultural factors in relation to concern and preparation for uncertain risks. Another branch focuses on psychological, social, and cultural factors implicated in warning response for rapid onset hazards, with attention paid to previous experience and message design. Few studies link risk perceptions with cognition and response as elicited by specific examples of warnings. The present study unites risk perception, cognition, and response approaches by testing the contributions of hypothesized warning response drivers in one set of path models. Warning response is approximated by perceived fear and intended protective action as reported by survey respondents when exposed to hypothetical tornado warning scenarios. This study considers the roles of hazard knowledge acquisition, information-seeking behaviors, previous experience, and sociodemographic factors while controlling for the effects of the visual warning graphic. Findings from the study indicate the primacy of a user's visual interpretation of a warning graphic in shaping tornado warning response. Results also suggest that information-seeking habits, previous tornado experience, and local disaster culture play strong influencing roles in warning response. © 2017 Society for Risk Analysis.

A Personal Storm Warning Service

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1994-01-01

Although lightning detection systems operated by government agencies, utilities and other businesses provide storm warnings, this information often does not reach the public until some time after the observations have been made. A low-cost personal lightning detector offers a significant safety advantage to private flyers, boaters, golfers and others. Developed by Airborne Research Associates, the detectors originated in Space Shuttle tests of an optical lightning detection technique. The commercial device is pointed toward a cloud to detect invisible intracloud lightning by sensing subtle changes in light presence. The majority of the sales have been to golf courses. Additional products and more advanced applications are in progress.

Risk Factors Detection for Strategic Importance Objectives in Littoral Areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Slămnoiu, G.; Radu, O.; Roşca, V.; Pascu, C.; Surdu, G.; Curcă, E.; Damian, R. G.; Rădulescu, A.

2017-06-01

With the invention and development of underwater explosive devices the need to neutralize them has also appeared, both for enemy and for own devices once conflicts are finished. The fight against active underwater explosive devices is a very complicated action that requires a very careful approach. Also, in the current context, strategic importance objectives located in the littoral areas can also become targets for divers or fast boats (suicidal actions).The system for detection, localization, tracking and identification of risk factors for strategic importance objectives in littoral areas has as one of its components an AUV and a hydro-acoustic sub-system for determining the ‘fingerprints’ of potential targets. The overall system will provide support for main missions such as underwater environment surveillance (detection, monitoring) in harbor areas and around other coast objectives, ship anchorage areas, mandatory pass points and also provide warnings about the presence of underwater and surface dangers in the interest areas.

EARLY WARNING IN DRINKING WATER INTAKE PROTECTION: CORRELATING CHEMICAL DATA AND BIOLOGICAL WARNING SYSTEMS

EPA Science Inventory

The WRK Water Works is responsible for the abstraction and partial purifcation of surface water for the drinking water production of some 2m people in the Netherlands. Two water winning stations, one at a side canal of the Rhine, the other at IJsselmeer lake provide an annual tot...

Verification, Validation and Accreditation

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-05-03

5512 digital oscillatorABC_9230 Warning Module PWB component h component, c r2 socsr hhh  max. height (surface relative), hsr r1 pwbsra thh  max...Evacuation Codes Egress, Exodus, … 0.500 in.0.060 in. 20135-5512 digital oscillatorABC_9230 Warning Module PWB component component, c r2 hhh max. height

7 CFR 318.13-11 - Posting of warning notice and distribution of baggage declarations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

...) ANIMAL AND PLANT HEALTH INSPECTION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE STATE OF HAWAII AND TERRITORIES QUARANTINE NOTICES Regulated Articles From Hawaii and the Territories § 318.13-11 Posting of warning notice... surface craft moving to Guam, the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, or American Samoa from Hawaii...

A review on remotely sensed land surface temperature anomaly as an earthquake precursor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhardwaj, Anshuman; Singh, Shaktiman; Sam, Lydia; Joshi, P. K.; Bhardwaj, Akanksha; Martín-Torres, F. Javier; Kumar, Rajesh

2017-12-01

The low predictability of earthquakes and the high uncertainty associated with their forecasts make earthquakes one of the worst natural calamities, capable of causing instant loss of life and property. Here, we discuss the studies reporting the observed anomalies in the satellite-derived Land Surface Temperature (LST) before an earthquake. We compile the conclusions of these studies and evaluate the use of remotely sensed LST anomalies as precursors of earthquakes. The arrival times and the amplitudes of the anomalies vary widely, thus making it difficult to consider them as universal markers to issue earthquake warnings. Based on the randomness in the observations of these precursors, we support employing a global-scale monitoring system to detect statistically robust anomalous geophysical signals prior to earthquakes before considering them as definite precursors.

Toward a National Early Warning System for Forest Disturbances Using Remotely Sensed Land-Surface Phenology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hargrove, W. W.; Spruce, J.

2010-12-01

A prototype National Early Warning System (EWS) for Forest Disturbances was established in 2010 by producing national maps showing potential forest disturbance across the conterminous United States at 231m resolution every 8 days. Each map is based on Land-Surface Phenology (LSP), calculated using temporally smoothed MODIS MOD13 imagery obtained over the preceding 24-day analysis window. Potential disturbance maps are generated by comparing a spatially and temporally specific historical expectation of normal NDVI "greenness" with NDVI "greenness" from a series of current satellite views. Three different disturbance products are produced using differing lengths of historical baseline periods to calculate the expected normal greenness. The short-term baseline products show only disturbances newer than one year ago, while the intermediate baseline products show disturbances since the prior three years, and the long-term baseline products show all disturbances over the MODIS historical period. A Forest Change Assessment Viewer website, http://ews.forestthreats.org/NPDE/NPDE.html, showcases the three most recent national disturbance maps in full spatial context. Although 2010 was a wet el Nino year without major forest problems, disturbances in 2010 in MI, NY, CO and LA will be highlighted. Forest disturbances caused by wildfire, hurricanes, tornadoes, hail, ice storms, and defoliating insects, including fall cankerworms, forest tent caterpillars, gypsy moths, baldcypress leafrollers and winter moths were successfully detected during the 2009 and 2010 field seasons. The EWS was used in 2010 to detect and alert Forest Health Monitoring (FHM) Aerial Disturbance Survey personnel to an otherwise-unknown outbreak of forest tent caterpillar and baldcypress leafroller in the Atchafalaya and Pearl River regions of southern Louisiana. A local FHM Program Coordinator verified these EWS-detected outbreaks. Many defoliator-induced disturbances were ephemeral, and were followed by recovery in LSP, presumably due to refoliation. 2009 Vegetation Disturbances mapped as percent change in max NDVI from June 10 - July 27 2000-2008

Forests and Phenology: Designing the Early Warning System to Understand Forest Change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pierce, T.; Phillips, M. B.; Hargrove, W. W.; Dobson, G.; Hicks, J.; Hutchins, M.; Lichtenstein, K.

2010-12-01

Vegetative phenology is the study of plant development and changes with the seasons, such as the greening-up and browning-down of forests, and how these events are influenced by variations in climate. A National Phenology Data Set, based on Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer satellite images covering 2002 through 2009, is now available from work by NASA, the US Forest Service, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. This new data set provides an easily interpretable product useful for detecting changes to the landscape due to long-term factors such as climate change, as well as finding areas affected by short-term forest threats such as insects or disease. The Early Warning System (EWS) is a toolset being developed by the US Forest Service and the University of North Carolina-Asheville to support distribution and use of the National Phenology Data Set. The Early Warning System will help research scientists, US Forest Service personnel, forest and natural resources managers, decision makers, and the public in the use of phenology data to better understand unexpected change within our nation’s forests. These changes could have multiple natural sources such as insects, disease, or storm damage, or may be due to human-induced events, like thinning, harvest, forest conversion to agriculture, or residential and commercial use. The primary goal of the Early Warning System is to provide a seamless integration between monitoring, detection, early warning and prediction of these forest disturbances as observed through phenological data. The system consists of PC and web-based components that are structured to support four user stages of increasing knowledge and data sophistication. Building Literacy: This stage of the Early Warning System educates potential users about the system, why the system should be used, and the fundamentals about the data the system uses. The channels for this education include a website, interactive tutorials, pamphlets, and other technology transfer methodologies. Achieving Context and Meaning: To provide deeper meaning and knowledge about the Early Warning System to users, this stage of the Early Warning System provides more information about specific examples of disturbances seen in the phenological data, as well the spatial and temporal context to these disturbances. The main components of this stage are specific case studies of forest disturbances. Accessing Data: This component of the Early Warning System includes products for research scientists, the aerial detection survey sketch mapper community, and others who will access and analyze the Early Warning System and phenological data. Products and data will be available through online GIS mashups and WMS and KML downloads. Utilizing Services: The final stage of the Early Warning System supports the analysis of phenological data and serves the results to those end users, including forest managers, the forest industry, and the public, who need to locate past, present, and potential forest disturbances. The main components of this stage include data-driven web tools, automated analysis processes, and end user training programs.

Detecting spatial regimes in ecosystems

EPA Science Inventory

Research on early warning indicators has generally focused on assessing temporal transitions with limited application of these methods to detecting spatial regimes. Traditional spatial boundary detection procedures that result in ecoregion maps are typically based on ecological ...

Feasibility of Using Elastic Wave Velocity Monitoring for Early Warning of Rainfall-Induced Slope Failure.

PubMed

Chen, Yulong; Irfan, Muhammad; Uchimura, Taro; Zhang, Ke

2018-03-27

Rainfall-induced landslides are one of the most widespread slope instability phenomena posing a serious risk to public safety worldwide so that their temporal prediction is of great interest to establish effective warning systems. The objective of this study is to determine the effectiveness of elastic wave velocities in the surface layer of the slope in monitoring, prediction and early warning of landslide. The small-scale fixed and varied, and large-scale slope model tests were conducted. Analysis of the results has established that the elastic wave velocity continuously decreases in response of moisture content and deformation and there was a distinct surge in the decrease rate of wave velocity when failure was initiated. Based on the preliminary results of this analysis, the method using the change in elastic wave velocity proves superior for landslide early warning and suggests that a warning be issued at switch of wave velocity decrease rate.

The Catalog of Event Data of the Operational Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis (DART) Stations at the National Data Buoy Center

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bouchard, R.; Locke, L.; Hansen, W.; Collins, S.; McArthur, S.

2007-12-01

DART systems are a critical component of the tsunami warning system as they provide the only real-time, in situ, tsunami detection before landfall. DART systems consist of a surface buoy that serves as a position locater and communications transceiver and a Bottom Pressure Recorder (BPR) on the seafloor. The BPR records temperature and pressure at 15-second intervals to a memory card for later retrieval for analysis and use by tsunami researchers, but the BPRs are normally recovered only once every two years. The DART systems also transmit subsets of the data, converted to an estimation of the sea surface height, in near real-time for use by the tsunami warning community. These data are available on NDBC's webpages, http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/dart.shtml. Although not of the resolution of the data recorded to the BPR memory card, the near real-time data have proven to be of value in research applications [1]. Of particular interest are the DART data associated with geophysical events. The DART BPR continuously compares the measured sea height with a predicted sea-height and when the difference exceeds a threshold value, the BPR goes into Event Mode. Event Mode provides an extended, more frequent near real-time reporting of the sea surface heights for tsunami detection. The BPR can go into Event Mode because of geophysical triggers, such as tsunamis or seismic activity, which may or may not be tsunamigenic. The BPR can also go into Event Mode during recovery of the BPR as it leaves the seafloor, or when manually triggered by the Tsunami Warning Centers in advance of an expected tsunami. On occasion, the BPR will go into Event Mode without any associated tsunami or seismic activity or human intervention and these are considered "False'' Events. Approximately one- third of all Events can be classified as "False". NDBC is responsible for the operations, maintenance, and data management of the DART stations. Each DART station has a webpage with a drop-down list of all Events. NDBC maintains the non-geophysical Events in order to maintain the continuity of the time series records. In 2007, NDBC compiled all DART Events that occurred while under NDBC's operational control and made an assessment on their validity. The NDBC analysts performed the assessment using the characteristics of the data time series, triggering criteria, and associated seismic events. The compilation and assessments are catalogued in a NDBC technical document. The Catalog also includes a listing of the one-hour, high-resolution data, retrieved remotely from the BPRs that are not available on the web pages. The Events are classified by their triggering mechanism and listed by station location and, for those Events associated with geophysical triggers, they are listed by their associated seismic events. The Catalog provides researchers with a valuable tool in locating, assessing, and applying near real-time DART data to tsunami research and will be updated following DART Events. A link to the published Catalog can be found on the NDBC DART website, http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/dart.shtml. Reference: [1] Gower, J. and F. González (2006), U.S. Warning System Detected the Sumatra Tsunami, Eos Trans. AGU, 87(10), 105-112.

Body size shifts and early warning signals precede the historic collapse of whale stocks.

PubMed

Clements, Christopher F; Blanchard, Julia L; Nash, Kirsty L; Hindell, Mark A; Ozgul, Arpat

2017-06-22

Predicting population declines is a key challenge in the face of global environmental change. Abundance-based early warning signals have been shown to precede population collapses; however, such signals are sensitive to the low reliability of abundance estimates. Here, using historical data on whales harvested during the 20th century, we demonstrate that early warning signals can be present not only in the abundance data, but also in the more reliable body size data of wild populations. We show that during the period of commercial whaling, the mean body size of caught whales declined dramatically (by up to 4 m over a 70-year period), leading to early warning signals being detectable up to 40 years before the global collapse of whale stocks. Combining abundance and body size data can reduce the length of the time series required to predict collapse, and decrease the chances of false positive early warning signals.

Towards a debris-flow warning system based on hydrological measurements of the triggering conditions. A study of El Rebaixader catchment (Central Pyrenees, Spain)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abancó, Clàudia; Hürlimann, Marcel; Moya, José

2014-05-01

Debris flows represent a risk to the society due to their high destructive power. Rainfall is the main debris-flow triggering factor. Rainfall thresholds are generally used for warning of debris flow occurrence in susceptible catchments. However, the efficiency of such thresholds for real time hazard assessment is often conditioned by many factors, such as: the location and number of the rain gauges used (both to define the thresholds, and for setting off warnings); the temporal and spatial evolution of rainfall's convective cells or the effect of snow cover melting. These factors affect the length of the warning time, which is of crucial importance for issuing alert messages or alarms to the people and infrastructures at risk. The Rebaixader catchment (Central Pyrenees, Spain) is being monitored since 2009 by six stations recording information on initiation (4 stations) and flow detection and cinematic behaviour (2 stations). Until December 2013, 7 debris flows, 17 debris floods and 4 rockfalls have been recorded. The objectives of this work were: a) the definition of rainfall thresholds at two different rain gauges; b) the analysis of the infiltration patterns in order to define their potential use for warning systems and c) preliminary testing of rainfall thresholds' efficiency in terms of warning time, in this catchment. This last goal consisted in the comparison of the time elapsed between the rainfall threshold was exceeded and the event occurrence was detected by the stations at the channel area. The results suggest that the intensity-duration rainfall thresholds sometimes provide warning times which would be too short for an adequate reaction in the Rebaixader catchment (less than 10 minutes). The combination of such rainfall thresholds with infiltration measurements is useful to increase the warning time. This occurs especially in the events triggered in spring, when the snowmelt plays an important role in the event's triggering conditions. However, the effects of infiltration associated to the summer convective rainfalls are almost imperceptible; therefore their importance in warning systems decreases.

Neural correlates of cigarette health warning avoidance among smokers.

PubMed

Stothart, George; Maynard, Olivia; Lavis, Rosie; Munafò, Marcus

2016-04-01

Eye-tracking technology has indicated that daily smokers actively avoid pictorial cigarette package health warnings. Avoidance may be due to a pre-cognitive perceptual bias or a higher order cognitive bias, such as reduced emotional processing. Using electroencephalography (EEG), this study aimed to identify the temporal point at which smokers' responses to health warnings begin to differ. Non-smokers (n=20) and daily smokers (n=20) viewed pictorial cigarette package health warnings and neutral control stimuli. These elicited Event Related Potentials reflecting early perceptual processing (visual P1), pre-attentive change detection (visual Mismatch Negativity), selective attentional orientation (P3) and a measure of emotional processing, the Late Positive Potential (LPP). There was no evidence for a difference in P1 responses between smokers and non-smokers. There was no difference in vMMN and P3 amplitude but some evidence for a delay in vMMN latency amongst smokers. There was strong evidence for delayed and reduced LPP to health warning stimuli amongst smokers compared to non-smokers. We find no evidence for an early perceptual bias in smokers' visual perception of health warnings but strong evidence that smokers are less sensitive to the emotional content of cigarette health warnings. Future health warning development should focus on increasing the emotional salience of pictorial health warning content amongst smokers. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Detecting spatial regimes in ecosystems | Science Inventory ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Research on early warning indicators has generally focused on assessing temporal transitions with limited application of these methods to detecting spatial regimes. Traditional spatial boundary detection procedures that result in ecoregion maps are typically based on ecological potential (i.e. potential vegetation), and often fail to account for ongoing changes due to stressors such as land use change and climate change and their effects on plant and animal communities. We use Fisher information, an information theory based method, on both terrestrial and aquatic animal data (US Breeding Bird Survey and marine zooplankton) to identify ecological boundaries, and compare our results to traditional early warning indicators, conventional ecoregion maps, and multivariate analysis such as nMDS (non-metric Multidimensional Scaling) and cluster analysis. We successfully detect spatial regimes and transitions in both terrestrial and aquatic systems using Fisher information. Furthermore, Fisher information provided explicit spatial information about community change that is absent from other multivariate approaches. Our results suggest that defining spatial regimes based on animal communities may better reflect ecological reality than do traditional ecoregion maps, especially in our current era of rapid and unpredictable ecological change. Use an information theory based method to identify ecological boundaries and compare our results to traditional early warning

Recent Efforts to Improve the Near Real Time Forest Disturbance Monitoring Capabilities of the ForWarn System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spruce, Joseph; Hargrove, William; Gasser, Gerald

2013-01-01

This presentation discusses the development of anew method for computing NDVI temporal composites from near real time eMODIS data This research is being conducted to improve forest change products used in the ForWarn system for monitoring regional forest disturbances in the United States. ForWarn provides nation-wide NDVI-based forest disturbance detection products that are refreshed every 8 days. Current eMODIS and historical MOD13 24 day NDVI data are used to compute the disturbance detection products. The eMODIS 24 day NDVI data re-aggregated from 7 day NDVI products. The 24 day eMODIS NDVIs are generally cloud free, but do not necessarily use the freshest quality data. To shorten the disturbance detection time, a method has been developed that performs adaptive length/maximum value compositing of eMODIS NDVI, along with cloud and shadow "noise" mitigation. Tests indicate that this method can reduce detection rates by 8-16 days for known recent disturbance events, depending on the cloud frequencies and disturbance type. The noise mitigation in these tests, though imperfect, helped to improve quality of the resulting NDVI and forest change products.

Anticipating land surface change

PubMed Central

Streeter, Richard; Dugmore, Andrew J.

2013-01-01

The interplay of human actions and natural processes over varied spatial and temporal scales can result in abrupt transitions between contrasting land surface states. Understanding these transitions is a key goal of sustainability science because they can represent abrupt losses of natural capital. This paper recognizes flickering between alternate land surface states in advance of threshold change and critical slowing down in advance of both threshold changes and noncritical transformation. The early warning signals we observe are rises in autocorrelation, variance, and skewness within millimeter-resolution thickness measurements of tephra layers deposited in A.D. 2010 and A.D. 2011. These signals reflect changing patterns of surface vegetation, which are known to provide early warning signals of critical transformations. They were observed toward migrating soil erosion fronts, cryoturbation limits, and expanding deflation zones, thus providing potential early warning signals of land surface change. The record of the spatial patterning of vegetation contained in contemporary tephra layers shows how proximity to land surface change could be assessed in the widespread regions affected by shallow layers of volcanic fallout (those that can be subsumed within the existing vegetation cover). This insight shows how we could use tephra layers in the stratigraphic record to identify “near misses,” close encounters with thresholds that did not lead to tipping points, and thus provide additional tools for archaeology, sustainability science, and contemporary land management. PMID:23530230

Hawkmoths produce anti-bat ultrasound

PubMed Central

Barber, Jesse R.; Kawahara, Akito Y.

2013-01-01

Bats and moths have been engaged in aerial warfare for nearly 65 Myr. This arms race has produced a suite of counter-adaptations in moths, including bat-detecting ears. One set of defensive strategies involves the active production of sound; tiger moths' ultrasonic replies to bat attack have been shown to startle bats, warn the predators of bad taste and jam their biosonar. Here, we report that hawkmoths in the Choerocampina produce entirely ultrasonic sounds in response to tactile stimulation and the playback of biosonar attack sequences. Males do so by grating modified scraper scales on the outer surface of the genital valves against the inner margin of the last abdominal tergum. Preliminary data indicate that females also produce ultrasound to touch and playback of echolocation attack, but they do so with an entirely different mechanism. The anti-bat function of these sounds is unknown but might include startling, cross-family acoustic mimicry, warning of unprofitability or physical defence and/or jamming of echolocation. Hawkmoths present a novel and tractable system to study both the function and evolution of anti-bat defences. PMID:23825084

Vulnerabilities of macrophytes distribution due to climate change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hossain, Kaizar; Yadav, Sarita; Quaik, Shlrene; Pant, Gaurav; Maruthi, A. Y.; Ismail, Norli

2017-08-01

The rise in the earth's surface and water temperature is part of the effect of climatic change that has been observed for the last decade. The rates of climate change are unprecedented, and biological responses to these changes have also been prominent in all levels of species, communities and ecosystems. Aquatic-terrestrial ecotones are vulnerable to climate change, and degradation of the emergent aquatic macrophyte zone would have contributed severe ecological consequences for freshwater, wetland and terrestrial ecosystems. Most researches on climate change effects on biodiversity are contemplating on the terrestrial realm, and considerable changes in terrestrial biodiversity and species' distributions have been detected in response to climate change. This is unfortunate, given the importance of aquatic systems for providing ecosystem goods and services. Thus, if researchers were able to identify early-warning indicators of anthropogenic environmental changes on aquatic species, communities and ecosystems, it would certainly help to manage and conserve these systems in a sustainable way. One of such early-warning indicators concerns the expansion of emergent macrophytes in aquatic-terrestrial ecotones. Hence, this review highlights the impact of climatic changes towards aquatic macrophytes and their possible environmental implications.

Synthesis of visibility detection systems.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-10-01

Visibility is a critical component to the task of driving on all types of roads. The visibility detection and warning systems provide real-time, automated detection as well as appropriate responses to counteract reduced visibility conditions due to f...

Vantage point - Early warning flaws.

PubMed

Swinden, Donna

2014-08-28

USING AN EARLY warning score (EWS) system should improve the detection of acutely deteriorating patients. Under such a system, a score is allocated to each of six physiological measurements including respiratory rate and oxygen saturations, which are aggregated to produce an overall score. An aggregated score of seven or higher prompts nursing staff to refer a patient for emergency assessment.

Seizure detection, seizure prediction, and closed-loop warning systems in epilepsy.

PubMed

Ramgopal, Sriram; Thome-Souza, Sigride; Jackson, Michele; Kadish, Navah Ester; Sánchez Fernández, Iván; Klehm, Jacquelyn; Bosl, William; Reinsberger, Claus; Schachter, Steven; Loddenkemper, Tobias

2014-08-01

Nearly one-third of patients with epilepsy continue to have seizures despite optimal medication management. Systems employed to detect seizures may have the potential to improve outcomes in these patients by allowing more tailored therapies and might, additionally, have a role in accident and SUDEP prevention. Automated seizure detection and prediction require algorithms which employ feature computation and subsequent classification. Over the last few decades, methods have been developed to detect seizures utilizing scalp and intracranial EEG, electrocardiography, accelerometry and motion sensors, electrodermal activity, and audio/video captures. To date, it is unclear which combination of detection technologies yields the best results, and approaches may ultimately need to be individualized. This review presents an overview of seizure detection and related prediction methods and discusses their potential uses in closed-loop warning systems in epilepsy. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Survey of computer vision-based natural disaster warning systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ko, ByoungChul; Kwak, Sooyeong

2012-07-01

With the rapid development of information technology, natural disaster prevention is growing as a new research field dealing with surveillance systems. To forecast and prevent the damage caused by natural disasters, the development of systems to analyze natural disasters using remote sensing geographic information systems (GIS), and vision sensors has been receiving widespread interest over the last decade. This paper provides an up-to-date review of five different types of natural disasters and their corresponding warning systems using computer vision and pattern recognition techniques such as wildfire smoke and flame detection, water level detection for flood prevention, coastal zone monitoring, and landslide detection. Finally, we conclude with some thoughts about future research directions.

Flight Tests of the Turbulence Prediction and Warning System (TPAWS)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hamilton, David W.; Proctor, Fred H.; Ahmad, Nashat N.

2012-01-01

Flight tests of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Turbulence Prediction And Warning System (TPAWS) were conducted in the Fall of 2000 and Spring of 2002. TPAWS is a radar-based airborne turbulence detection system. During twelve flights, NASA's B-757 tallied 53 encounters with convectively induced turbulence. Analysis of data collected during 49 encounters in the Spring of 2002 showed that the TPAWS Airborne Turbulence Detection System (ATDS) successfully detected 80% of the events at least 30 seconds prior to the encounter, achieving FAA recommended performance criteria. Details of the flights, the prevailing weather conditions, and each of the turbulence events are presented in this report. Sensor and environmental characterizations are also provided.

Low-cost EEG-based sleep detection.

PubMed

Van Hal, Bryan; Rhodes, Samhita; Dunne, Bruce; Bossemeyer, Robert

2014-01-01

A real-time stage 1 sleep detection system using a low-cost single dry-sensor EEG headset is described. This device issues an auditory warning at the onset of stage 1 sleep using the "NeuroSky Mindset," an inexpensive commercial entertainment-based headset. The EEG signal is filtered into low/high alpha and low/high beta frequency bands which are analyzed to indicate the onset of sleep. Preliminary results indicate an 81% effective rate of detecting sleep with all failures being false positives of sleep onset. This device was able to predict and respond to the onset of drowsiness preceding stage 1 sleep allowing for earlier warnings with the result of fewer sleep-related accidents.

Are baleen whales exposed to the threat of microplastics? A case study of the Mediterranean fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus).

PubMed

Fossi, Maria Cristina; Panti, Cristina; Guerranti, Cristiana; Coppola, Daniele; Giannetti, Matteo; Marsili, Letizia; Minutoli, Roberta

2012-11-01

Baleen whales are potentially exposed to micro-litter ingestion as a result of their filter-feeding activity. However, the impacts of microplastics on baleen whales are largely unknown. In this case study of the Mediterranean fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus), we explore the toxicological effects of microplastics on mysticetes. The study included the following three steps: (1) the collection/count of microplastics in the Pelagos Sanctuary (Mediterranean Sea), (2) the detection of phthalates in surface neustonic/planktonic samples, and (3) the detection of phthalates in stranded fin whales. A total of 56% of the surface neustonic/planktonic samples contained microplastic particles. The highest abundance of microplastics (9.63 items/m(3)) was found in the Portofino MPA (Ligurian Sea). High concentrations of phthalates (DEHP and MEHP) were detected in the neustonic/planktonic samples. The concentrations of MEHP found in the blubber of stranded fin whales suggested that phthalates could serve as a tracer of the intake of microplastics. The results of this study represent the first warning of this emerging threat to baleen whales. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Faster from the Depths to Decision: Collecting, Distributing, and Applying Data from NOAA`s Deep-Sea Tsunameters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bouchard, R. H.; Wang, D.; Branski, F.

2008-05-01

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) operates two tsunami warning centers (TWCs): the West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Center (ATWC) and Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC). ATWC provides tsunami alerts to Canadian coastal regions, Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and the coasts of continental US and Alaska. PTWC provides local/regional tsunami alerts/advisories to the state of Hawaii. An operational center of the Tsunami Warning System of the Pacific, it provides tsunami alerts to most countries of the Pacific Rim. PTWC also provides tsunami alerts for the Caribbean and Indian Ocean countries on an interim basis. The TWCs aim to issue first tsunami bulletins within 10-15 minutes of the earthquake for tele-tsunamis and within a few minutes for local tsunamis. The TWCs have a requirement for offshore tsunami detection in real-time with a data latency of 1 minute or less. Offshore detection of tsunamis is the purpose of NOAA`s recently completed 39-station array of deep-sea tsunameters. The tsunameters, employing the second-generation DART (Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis) technology, can speed tsunami detection information to the TWCs in less than 3 minutes from depths of 6000 meters in the Pacific and Western Atlantic oceans. The tsunameters consist of a Bottom Pressure Recorder (BPR) and a surface buoy. Communication from the BPR to the buoy is via underwater acoustic transmissions. Satellite communications carry the data from the buoy to NOAA`s National Data Buoy Center (NDBC), which operates the tsunameters. The BPRs make pressure measurements, converts them to an equivalent water-column height, and passes them through a tsunami detection algorithm. If the algorithm detects a sufficient change in the height, the tsunameter goes into a rapid reporting mode or Event Mode. The acoustic modem-satellite telecommunications path takes approximately 50 seconds to reach the NDBC server. In a few seconds, NDBC reformats the data and pushes them as messages to the National Weather Service Telecommunications Gateway also known as World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Regional Telecommunication Hub (RTH) Washington. RTH Washington can route more than 50 routine messages per second with reliability for all dissemination to all of its users of 99.9 percent. It provides a latency for high priority traffic of 10 seconds or less and routinely handles 1.2 TB of information per day. Its switching centers are on the Main Trunk Network of the WMO`s Global Telecommunication System (GTS), which provides international distribution of the tsunameter data. The GTS is required to deliver tsunami data and warnings to any connected center within two minutes anywhere in the world. TWCs receive the tsunameter data from RTH Washington via GTS circuits, or download the data from servers at the RTH, in the event the GTS circuits fails. TWCs display the data in real-time in their operations. When a tsunameter goes into Event Mode, the TWCs receive alerts. After subtracting the tide, tsunameter signals can measure tsunamis as small as a few millimeters. The usefulness of the tsunameter data at TWCs was demonstrated in some of the recent events in the Pacific Ocean (Kuril Tsunamis of November 2006 and January 2007, Peru Tsunamis of August 2007 and September 2007) and the Indian Ocean (Southern Sumatra Tsunami of September 2007).

Development of algorithms for tsunami detection by High Frequency Radar based on modeling tsunami case studies in the Mediterranean Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grilli, Stéphan; Guérin, Charles-Antoine; Grosdidier, Samuel

2015-04-01

Where coastal tsunami hazard is governed by near-field sources, Submarine Mass Failures (SMFs) or earthquakes, tsunami propagation times may be too small for a detection based on deep or shallow water buoys. To offer sufficient warning time, it has been proposed by others to implement early warning systems relying on High Frequency Surface Wave Radar (HFSWR) remote sensing, that has a dense spatial coverage far offshore. A new HFSWR, referred to as STRADIVARIUS, has been recently deployed by Diginext Inc. to cover the "Golfe du Lion" (GDL) in the Western Mediterranean Sea. This radar, which operates at 4.5 MHz, uses a proprietary phase coding technology that allows detection up to 300 km in a bistatic configuration (with a baseline of about 100 km). Although the primary purpose of the radar is vessel detection in relation to homeland security, it can also be used for ocean current monitoring. The current caused by an arriving tsunami will shift the Bragg frequency by a value proportional to a component of its velocity, which can be easily obtained from the Doppler spectrum of the HFSWR signal. Using state of the art tsunami generation and propagation models, we modeled tsunami case studies in the western Mediterranean basin (both seismic and SMFs) and simulated the HFSWR backscattered signal that would be detected for the entire GDL and beyond. Based on simulated HFSWR signal, we developed two types of tsunami detection algorithms: (i) one based on standard Doppler spectra, for which we found that to be detectable within the environmental and background current noises, the Doppler shift requires tsunami currents to be at least 10-15 cm/s, which typically only occurs on the continental shelf in fairly shallow water; (ii) to allow earlier detection, a second algorithm computes correlations of the HFSWR signals at two distant locations, shifted in time by the tsunami propagation time between these locations (easily computed based on bathymetry). We found that this second method allowed detection for currents as low as 5 cm/s, i.e., in deeper water, beyond the shelf and further away from the coast, thus allowing an earlier detection.

Tsunami Detection Systems for International Requirements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lawson, R. A.

2007-12-01

Results are presented regarding the first commercially available, fully operational, tsunami detection system to have passed stringent U.S. government testing requirements and to have successfully demonstrated its ability to detect an actual tsunami at sea. Spurred by the devastation of the December 26, 2004, Indian Ocean tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people, the private sector actively supported the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission's (IOC"s) efforts to develop a tsunami warning system and mitigation plan for the Indian Ocean region. As each country in the region developed its requirements, SAIC recognized that many of these underdeveloped countries would need significant technical assistance to fully execute their plans. With the original focus on data fusion, consequence assessment tools, and warning center architecture, it was quickly realized that the cornerstone of any tsunami warning system would be reliable tsunami detection buoys that could meet very stringent operational standards. Our goal was to leverage extensive experience in underwater surveillance and oceanographic sensing to produce an enhanced and reliable deep water sensor that could meet emerging international requirements. Like the NOAA Deep-ocean Assessment and Recording of Tsunamis (DART TM ) buoy, the SAIC Tsunami Buoy (STB) system consists of three subsystems: a surfaccommunications buoy subsystem, a bottom pressure recorder subsystem, and a buoy mooring subsystem. With the operational success that DART has demonstrated, SAIC decided to build and test to the same high standards. The tsunami detection buoy system measures small changes in the depth of the deep ocean caused by tsunami waves as they propagate past the sensor. This is accomplished by using an extremely sensitive bottom pressure sensor/recorder to measure very small changes in pressure as the waves move past the buoy system. The bottom pressure recorder component includes a processor with algorithms that recognize these characteristics, and then immediately alerts a tsunami warning center through the communications buoy when the processor senses one of these waves. In addition to the tsunami detection buoy system, an end-to-end tsunami warning system was developed that builds upon the country's existing disaster warning infrastructure. This warning system includes 1) components that receive, process, and analyze buoy, seismic and tide gauge data; 2) predictive tools and a consequence assessment tool set to provide decision support; 3) operation center design and implementation; and 4) tsunami buoy operations and maintenance support. The first buoy was deployed Oct. 25, 2006, approximately 200 nautical miles west of San Diego in 3,800 meters of water. Just three weeks later, it was put to the test during an actual tsunami event. On Nov. 15, 2006, an 8.3 magnitude earthquake rocked the Kuril Islands, located between Japan and the Kamchatka Peninsula of Russia. That quake generated a small tsunami. Waves from the tsunami propagated approximately 4,000 nautical miles across the Pacific Ocean in about nine hours-- a speed of about 445 nautical miles per hour when this commercial buoy first detected them. Throughout that event, the tsunami buoy system showed excellent correlation with data collected by a NOAA DART buoy located 28 nautical miles north of it. Subsequent analysis revealed that the STB matched DART operational capabilities and performed flawlessly. The buoy proved its capabilities again on Jan. 13, 2007, when an 8.1 magnitude earthquake occurred in the same region, and the STB detected the seismic event. As a result of the successes of this entire project, SAIC recently applied for and received a license from NOAA to build DART systems.

Role of MODIS Vegetation Phenology Products in the ForWarn System for Monitoring of Forest Disturbances in the Conterminous United States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spruce, J.; Hargrove, W. W.; Norman, S.; Gasser, J.; Smoot, J.; Kuper, P.

2012-12-01

This presentation discusses MODIS vegetation phenology products used in the ForWarn Early Warning System (EWS) tool for near real time regional forest disturbance detection and surveillance at regional to national scales. The ForWarn EWS is being developed by the USDA Forest Service NASA, ORNL, and USGS to aid federal and state forest health management activities. ForWarn employs multiple historical land surface phenology products that are derived from MODIS MOD13 Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data. The latter is temporally processed into phenology products with the Time Series Product Tool (TSPT) and the Phenological Parameter Estimation Tool (PPET) software produced at NASA Stennis Space Center. TSPT is used to effectively noise reduce, fuse, and void interpolate MODIS NDVI data. PPET employs TSPT-processed NDVI time series data as an input, outputting multiple vegetation phenology products at a 232 meter resolution for 2000 to 2011, including NDVI magnitude and day of year products for seven key points along the growing season (peak of growing season and the minima, 20%, and 80% of the peak NDVI for both the left and right side of growing season), cumulative NDVI integral products for the most active part of the growing season and sequentially across the growing season at 8 day intervals, and maximum value NDVI products composited at 24 day intervals in which each product date has 8 days of overlap between the previous and following product dates. MODIS NDVI phenology products are also used to compute nationwide near real time forest change products every 8 days. These include percent change in forest NDVI products that compare the current NDVI from USGS eMODIS products to historical MODIS MOD13 NDVI. For each date, three forest change products are produced using three different maximum value NDVI baselines (from the previous year, three previous years, and all previous years). All change products are output with a rainbow color table in which forests with the most severe NDVI decreases are assigned hot colors (yellow to red) and forests with prominent NDVI increases are assigned cold colors (blue tones). All mentioned products have been integrated as data layers into ForWarn's geospatial data viewer known as the U.S. Forest Change Assessment Viewer (FCAV). The latter is used to view and assess the context of the mentioned forest change products with respect to ancillary data layers, such as land cover, elevation, hydrologic features, climatic data, storm data, aerial disturbance surveys, fire data, and land ownership. The FCAV also includes a temporal NDVI profiler for viewing phenological change in multi-year NDVI associated with known or suspected regionally apparent forest disturbances (e.g., from fire and insects). ForWarn forest change products have been used to detect, track, and assess several biotic and abiotic regional forest disturbance events across the country, including ephemeral and longer lasting damage from storms, drought, and insects. Such change products are most effective for viewing severe disturbance patches of multiple pixels. MODIS vegetation phenology products contribute vital current information on forest conditions to the ForWarn system and this role is expected to grow as these products are refined and derivative products are added.

Role of MODIS Vegetation Phenology Products in the ForWarn System for Monitoring of Forest Disturbances in the Conterminous United States

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spruce, Joseph P.; Hargrove, William; Norman, Steve; Gasser, Jerry; Smoot, James; Kuper, Philip D,

2012-01-01

This presentation discusses MODIS vegetation phenology products used in the ForWarn Early Warning System (EWS) tool for near real time regional forest disturbance detection and surveillance at regional to national scales. The ForWarn EWS is being developed by the USDA Forest Service NASA, ORNL, and USGS to aid federal and state forest health management activities. ForWarn employs multiple historical land surface phenology products that are derived from MODIS MOD13 Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data. The latter is temporally processed into phenology products with the Time Series Product Tool (TSPT) and the Phenological Parameter Estimation Tool (PPET) software produced at NASA Stennis Space Center. TSPT is used to effectively noise reduce, fuse, and void interpolate MODIS NDVI data. PPET employs TSPT-processed NDVI time series data as an input, outputting multiple vegetation phenology products at a 232 meter resolution for 2000 to 2011, including NDVI magnitude and day of year products for seven key points along the growing season (peak of growing season and the minima, 20%, and 80% of the peak NDVI for both the left and right side of growing season), cumulative NDVI integral products for the most active part of the growing season and sequentially across the growing season at 8 day intervals, and maximum value NDVI products composited at 24 day intervals in which each product date has 8 days of overlap between the previous and following product dates. MODIS NDVI phenology products are also used to compute nationwide NRT forest change products refreshed every 8 days. These include percent change in forest NDVI products that compare the current NDVI from USGS eMODIS products to historical MODIS MOD13 NDVI. For each date, three forest change products are produced using three different maximum value NDVI baselines (from the previous year, three previous years, and all previous years). All change products are output with a rainbow color table in which forests with the most severe NDVI decreases are assigned hot colors (yellow to red) and forests with prominent NDVI increases are assigned cold colors (blue tones). All mentioned products have been integrated as data layers into ForWarn s geospatial data viewer known as the U.S. Forest Change Assessment Viewer (FCAV). The latter is used to view and assess the context of the mentioned forest change products with respect to ancillary data layers, such as land cover, elevation, hydrologic features, climatic data, storm data, aerial disturbance surveys, fire data, and land ownership. The FCAV also includes a temporal NDVI profiler for viewing phenological change in multi-year NDVI associated with known or suspected regionally apparent forest disturbances (e.g., from fire and insects). ForWarn forest change products have been used to detect, track, and assess several biotic and abiotic regional forest disturbance events across the country, including ephemeral and longer lasting damage from storms, drought, and insects. Such change products are most effective for viewing severe disturbances affecting multiple MODIS pixels. MODIS vegetation phenology products contribute vital current information on forest conditions to the ForWarn system and this role is expected to grow as these products are refined and derivative products are added.

Integrating Windblown Dust Forecasts with Public Safety and Health Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sprigg, W. A.

2014-12-01

Experiments in real-time prediction of desert dust emissions and downstream plume concentrations (~ 3.5 km near-surface spatial resolution) succeed to the point of challenging public safety and public health services to beta test a dust storm warning and advisory system in lowering risks of highway and airline accidents and illnesses such as asthma and valley fever. Key beta test components are: high-resolution models of dust emission, entrainment and diffusion, integrated with synoptic weather observations and forecasts; satellite-based detection and monitoring of soil properties on the ground and elevated above; high space and time resolution for health surveillance and transportation advisories.

Time-to-impact estimation in passive missile warning systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Şahıngıl, Mehmet Cihan

2017-05-01

A missile warning system can detect the incoming missile threat(s) and automatically cue the other Electronic Attack (EA) systems in the suit, such as Directed Infrared Counter Measure (DIRCM) system and/or Counter Measure Dispensing System (CMDS). Most missile warning systems are currently based on passive sensor technology operating in either Solar Blind Ultraviolet (SBUV) or Midwave Infrared (MWIR) bands on which there is an intensive emission from the exhaust plume of the threatening missile. Although passive missile warning systems have some clear advantages over pulse-Doppler radar (PDR) based active missile warning systems, they show poorer performance in terms of time-to-impact (TTI) estimation which is critical for optimizing the countermeasures and also "passive kill assessment". In this paper, we consider this problem, namely, TTI estimation from passive measurements and present a TTI estimation scheme which can be used in passive missile warning systems. Our problem formulation is based on Extended Kalman Filter (EKF). The algorithm uses the area parameter of the threat plume which is derived from the used image frame.

Proximal Detection of Traces of Energetic Materials with an Eye-Safe UV Raman Prototype Developed for Civil Applications

PubMed Central

Chirico, Roberto; Almaviva, Salvatore; Colao, Francesco; Fiorani, Luca; Nuvoli, Marcello; Schweikert, Wenka; Schnürer, Frank; Cassioli, Luigi; Grossi, Silvana; Murra, Daniele; Menicucci, Ivano; Angelini, Federico; Palucci, Antonio

2015-01-01

A new Raman-based apparatus for proximal detection of energetic materials on people, was developed and tested for the first time. All the optical and optoelectronics components of the apparatus, as well as their optical matching, were carefully chosen and designed to respect international eye-safety regulations. In this way, the apparatus is suitable for civil applications on people in public areas such as airports and metro or railway stations. The acquisition software performs the data analysis in real-time to provide a fast response to the operator. Moreover, it allows for deployment of the apparatus either as a stand alone device or as part of a more sophisticated warning system architecture made up of several sensors. Using polyamide as substrate, the apparatus was able to detect surface densities of ammonium nitrate (AN), 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene (TNT), 3-nitrooxy-2,2-bis(nitrooxymethyl)propyl] nitrate (PETN) and urea nitrate (UN) in the range of 100–1000 μg/cm2 at a distance of 6.4 m using each time a single laser pulse of 3 mJ/cm2. The limit of detection calculated for AN is 289 μg/cm2. AN and UN provided the highest percentages of true positives (>82% for surface densities of 100–400 μg/cm2 and fingerprints) followed by TNT and PETN (17%–70% for surface densities of 400–1000 μg/cm2 and fingerprints). PMID:26703613

MODIS NDVI Change Detection Techniques and Products Used in the Near Real Time ForWarn System for Detecting, Monitoring, and Analyzing Regional Forest Disturbances

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spruce, Joseph P.; Hargrove, William; Gasser, Jerry; Smoot, James; Kuper, Philip D.

2014-01-01

This presentation discusses MODIS NDVI change detection methods and products used in the ForWarn Early Warning System (EWS) for near real time (NRT) recognition and tracking of regionally evident forest disturbances throughout the conterminous US (CONUS). The latter has provided NRT forest change products to the forest health protection community since 2010, using temporally processed MODIS Aqua and Terra NDVI time series data to currently compute and post 6 different forest change products for CONUS every 8 days. Multiple change products are required to improve detectability and to more fully assess the nature of apparent disturbances. Each type of forest change product reports per pixel percent change in NDVI for a given 24 day interval, comparing current versus a given historical baseline NDVI. EMODIS 7 day expedited MODIS MOD13 data are used to obtain current and historical NDVIs, respectively. Historical NDVI data is processed with Time Series Product Tool (TSPT); and 2) the Phenological Parameters Estimation Tool (PPET) software. While each change products employ maximum value compositing (MVC) of NDVI, the design of specific products primarily differs in terms of the historical baseline. The three main change products use either 1, 3, or all previous years of MVC NDVI as a baseline. Another product uses an Adaptive Length Compositing (ALC) version of MVC to derive an alternative current NDVI that is the freshest quality NDVI as opposed to merely the MVC NDVI across a 24 day time frame. The ALC approach can improve detection speed by 8 to 16 days. ForWarn also includes 2 change products that improve detectability of forest disturbances in lieu of climatic fluctuations, especially in the spring and fall. One compares current MVC NDVI to the zonal maximum under the curve NDVI per pheno-region cluster class, considering all previous years in the MODIS record. The other compares current maximum NDVI to the mean of maximum NDVI for all previous MODIS years.

Monitoring Regional Forest Disturbances across the US with Near Real Time MODIS NDVI Products included in the ForWarn Forest Threat Early Warning System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spruce, J.; Hargrove, W. W.; Gasser, J.; Norman, S. P.

2013-12-01

Forest threats across the US have become increasingly evident in recent years. These include regionally extensive disturbances (e.g., from drought, bark beetle outbreaks, and wildfires) that can occur across multiyear durations and result in extensive forest mortality. In addition, forests can be subject to ephemeral, sometimes yearly defoliation from various insects and types of storm damage. After prolonged severe disturbance, signs of forest recovery can vary in terms of satellite-based Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) values. The increased extent and threat of forest disturbances in part led to the enactment of the 2003 Healthy Forest Restoration Act, which mandated that a national forest threat Early Warning System (EWS) be deployed. In response, the US Forest Service collaborated with NASA, DOE Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the USGS Eros Data Center to build the near real time ForWarn forest threat EWS for monitoring regionally evident forest disturbances, starting on-line operations in 2010. Given the diversity of disturbance types, severities, and durations, ForWarn employs multiple historical baselines used with current NDVI to derive a suite of six nationwide 'weekly' forest change products. ForWarn uses daily 232 meter MODIS Aqua and Terra satellite NDVI data, including MOD13 products for deriving historical baseline NDVIs and eMODIS products for compiling current NDVI. Separately pre-processing the current and historical NDVIs, the Time Series Product Tool and the Phenological Parameters Estimation Tool are used to temporally reduce noise, fuse, and aggregate MODIS NDVIs into 24 day composites refreshed every 8 days with 46 dates of forest change products per year. The 24 day compositing interval typically enables new disturbances to be detected, while minimizing the frequency of residual atmospheric contamination. ForWarn's three standard forest change products compare current NDVI to that from the previous year, previous 3 years, and all previous years since 2000. Other forest change products added in 2013 include one for quicker disturbance detection and two others that adjust for seasonal fluctuations in normal vegetation phenology. This product suite and ForWarn's geospatial data viewer allow end users to view and assess disturbance dynamics for many regionally evident biotic and abiotic forest disturbances throughout a given current year. ForWarn's change products are also being used for forest change trend analysis and for developing regional forest overstory mortality products. They are used to alert forest health specialists about new regional forest disturbances. Such alerts also typically consider available Landsat, aerial, and ground data as well as communications with forest health specialists and previous experience. ForWarn products have been used to detect and track many types of regional disturbances for multiple forest types, including defoliation from caterpillars and severe storms, as well as mortality from both biotic and abiotic agents (e.g., bark beetles, drought, fire, anthropogenic clearing). ForWarn provides forest change products that could be combined with other geospatial data on forest biomass to help assess forest disturbance carbon impacts within the conterminous US.

Flood warnings, flood disaster assessments, and flood hazard reduction: the roles of orbital remote sensing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brakenridge, G. R.; Anderson, E.; Nghiem, S. V.; Caquard, S.; Shabaneh, T. B.

2003-01-01

Orbital remote sensing of the Earth is now poised to make three fundamental contributions towards reducing the detrimental effects of extreme floods. Effective Flood warning requires frequent radar observation of the Earth's surface through cloud cover. In contrast, both optical and radar wavelengths will increasingly be used for disaster assessment and hazard reduction.

Geospatiotemporal data mining in an early warning system for forest threats in the United States

Treesearch

F.M. Hoffman; R.T. Mills; J. Kumar; S.S. Vulli; W.W. Hargrove

2010-01-01

We investigate the potential of geospatiotemporal data mining of multi-year land surface phenology data (250 m Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) values derived from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) in this study) for the conterminous United States as part of an early warning system to identify threats to forest ecosystems. Cluster...

Synergy of Earth Observation and In-Situ Monitoring Data for Flood Hazard Early Warning System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brodsky, Lukas; Kodesova, Radka; Spazierova, Katerina

2010-12-01

In this study, we demonstrate synergy of EO and in-situ monitoring data for early warning flood hazard system in the Czech Republic developed within ESA PECS project FLOREO. The development of the demonstration system is oriented to support existing monitoring activities, especially snow melt and surface water runoff contributing to flooding events. The system consists of two main parts accordingly, the first is snow cover and snow melt monitoring driven mainly by EO data and the other is surface water runoff modeling and monitoring driven by synergy of in-situ and EO data.

Climate change implications and use of early warning systems for global dust storms

USGS Publications Warehouse

Harriman, Lindsey M.

2014-01-01

With increased changes in land cover and global climate, early detection and warning of dust storms in conjunction with effective and widespread information broadcasts will be essential to the prevention and mitigation of future risks and impacts. Human activities, seasonal variations and long-term climatic patterns influence dust storms. More research is needed to analyse these factors of dust mobilisation to create more certainty for the fate of vulnerable populations and ecosystems in the future. Early warning and communication systems, when in place and effectively implemented, can offer some relief to these vulnerable areas. As an issue that affects many regions of the world, there is a profound need to understand the potential changes and ultimately create better early warning systems for dust storms.

Implementation and Challenges of the Tsunami Warning System in the Western Mediterranean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schindelé, F.; Gailler, A.; Hébert, H.; Loevenbruck, A.; Gutierrez, E.; Monnier, A.; Roudil, P.; Reymond, D.; Rivera, L.

2015-03-01

The French Tsunami Warning Center (CENALT) has been in operation since 2012. It is contributing to the North-eastern and Mediterranean (NEAM) tsunami warning and mitigation system coordinated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, and benefits from data exchange with several foreign institutes. This center is supported by the French Government and provides French civil-protection authorities and member states of the NEAM region with relevant messages for assessing potential tsunami risk when an earthquake has occurred in the Western Mediterranean sea or the Northeastern Atlantic Ocean. To achieve its objectives, CENALT has developed a series of innovative techniques based on recent research results in seismology for early tsunami warning, monitoring of sea level variations and detection capability, and effective numerical computation of ongoing tsunamis.

Clinical significance of automatic warning function of cardiac remote monitoring systems in preventing acute cardiac episodes

PubMed Central

Chen, Shou-Qiang; Xing, Shan-Shan; Gao, Hai-Qing

2014-01-01

Objective: In addition to ambulatory Holter electrocardiographic recording and transtelephonic electrocardiographic monitoring (TTM), a cardiac remote monitoring system can provide an automatic warning function through the general packet radio service (GPRS) network, enabling earlier diagnosis, treatment and improved outcome of cardiac diseases. The purpose of this study was to estimate its clinical significance in preventing acute cardiac episodes. Methods: Using 2 leads (V1 and V5 leads) and the automatic warning mode, 7160 patients were tested with a cardiac remote monitoring system from October 2004 to September 2007. If malignant arrhythmias or obvious ST-T changes appeared in the electrocardiogram records was automatically transferred to the monitoring center, the patient and his family members were informed, and the corresponding precautionary or therapeutic measures were implemented immediately. Results: In our study, 274 cases of malignant arrhythmia, including sinus standstill and ventricular tachycardia, and 43 cases of obvious ST-segment elevation were detected and treated. Because of early detection, there was no death or deformity. Conclusions: A cardiac remote monitoring system providing an automatic warning function can play an important role in preventing acute cardiac episodes. PMID:25674124

Tyre contact length on dry and wet road surfaces measured by three-axial accelerometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matilainen, Mika; Tuononen, Ari

2015-02-01

We determined the tyre contact length on dry and wet roads by measuring the accelerations of the inner liner with a three-axial accelerometer. The influence of the tyre pressure, driving velocity, and tread depth on the contact length was studied in both types of road surface conditions. On dry asphalt the contact length was almost constant, regardless of the driving velocity. On wet asphalt the presence of water could be detected even at low driving velocities (e.g. 20 km/h for a worn tyre) as the contact length began to decrease from that found in the dry asphalt situation. In addition to improving the performance of active safety systems and driver warning systems, the contact length information could be beneficial for classifying and studying the aquaplaning behaviour of tyres.

Charge-flow structures as polymeric early-warning fire alarm devices. M.S. Thesis; [metal oxide semiconductors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sechen, C. M.; Senturia, S. D.

1977-01-01

The charge-flow transistor (CFT) and its applications for fire detection and gas sensing were investigated. The utility of various thin film polymers as possible sensing materials was determined. One polymer, PAPA, showed promise as a relative humidity sensor; two others, PFI and PSB, were found to be particularly suitable for fire detection. The behavior of the charge-flow capacitor, which is basically a parallel-plate capacitor with a polymer-filled gap in the metallic tip electrode, was successfully modeled as an RC transmission line. Prototype charge-flow transistors were fabricated and tested. The effective threshold voltage of this metal oxide semiconductor was found to be dependent on whether surface or bulk conduction in the thin film was dominant. Fire tests with a PFI-coated CFT indicate good sensitivity to smouldering fires.

Detection of pathogenic viruses in sewage provided early warnings of hepatitis A virus and norovirus outbreaks.

PubMed

Hellmér, Maria; Paxéus, Nicklas; Magnius, Lars; Enache, Lucica; Arnholm, Birgitta; Johansson, Annette; Bergström, Tomas; Norder, Heléne

2014-11-01

Most persons infected with enterically transmitted viruses shed large amounts of virus in feces for days or weeks, both before and after onset of symptoms. Therefore, viruses causing gastroenteritis may be detected in wastewater, even if only a few persons are infected. In this study, the presence of eight pathogenic viruses (norovirus, astrovirus, rotavirus, adenovirus, Aichi virus, parechovirus, hepatitis A virus [HAV], and hepatitis E virus) was investigated in sewage to explore whether their identification could be used as an early warning of outbreaks. Samples of the untreated sewage were collected in proportion to flow at Ryaverket, Gothenburg, Sweden. Daily samples collected during every second week between January and May 2013 were pooled and analyzed for detection of viruses by concentration through adsorption to milk proteins and PCR. The largest amount of noroviruses was detected in sewage 2 to 3 weeks before most patients were diagnosed with this infection in Gothenburg. The other viruses were detected at lower levels. HAV was detected between weeks 5 and 13, and partial sequencing of the structural VP1protein identified three different strains. Two strains were involved in an ongoing outbreak in Scandinavia and were also identified in samples from patients with acute hepatitis A in Gothenburg during spring of 2013. The third strain was unique and was not detected in any patient sample. The method used may thus be a tool to detect incipient outbreaks of these viruses and provide early warning before the causative pathogens have been recognized in health care. Copyright © 2014, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Detection of Pathogenic Viruses in Sewage Provided Early Warnings of Hepatitis A Virus and Norovirus Outbreaks

PubMed Central

Hellmér, Maria; Paxéus, Nicklas; Magnius, Lars; Enache, Lucica; Arnholm, Birgitta; Johansson, Annette; Bergström, Tomas

2014-01-01

Most persons infected with enterically transmitted viruses shed large amounts of virus in feces for days or weeks, both before and after onset of symptoms. Therefore, viruses causing gastroenteritis may be detected in wastewater, even if only a few persons are infected. In this study, the presence of eight pathogenic viruses (norovirus, astrovirus, rotavirus, adenovirus, Aichi virus, parechovirus, hepatitis A virus [HAV], and hepatitis E virus) was investigated in sewage to explore whether their identification could be used as an early warning of outbreaks. Samples of the untreated sewage were collected in proportion to flow at Ryaverket, Gothenburg, Sweden. Daily samples collected during every second week between January and May 2013 were pooled and analyzed for detection of viruses by concentration through adsorption to milk proteins and PCR. The largest amount of noroviruses was detected in sewage 2 to 3 weeks before most patients were diagnosed with this infection in Gothenburg. The other viruses were detected at lower levels. HAV was detected between weeks 5 and 13, and partial sequencing of the structural VP1protein identified three different strains. Two strains were involved in an ongoing outbreak in Scandinavia and were also identified in samples from patients with acute hepatitis A in Gothenburg during spring of 2013. The third strain was unique and was not detected in any patient sample. The method used may thus be a tool to detect incipient outbreaks of these viruses and provide early warning before the causative pathogens have been recognized in health care. PMID:25172863

Research on capability of detecting ballistic missile by near space infrared system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Li; Sheng, Wen; Jiang, Wei; Jiang, Feng

2018-01-01

The infrared detection technology of ballistic missile based on near space platform can effectively make up the shortcomings of high-cost of traditional early warning satellites and the limited earth curvature of ground-based early warning radar. In terms of target detection capability, aiming at the problem that the formula of the action distance based on contrast performance ignores the background emissivity in the calculation process and the formula is only valid for the monochromatic light, an improved formula of the detecting range based on contrast performance is proposed. The near space infrared imaging system parameters are introduced, the expression of the contrastive action distance formula based on the target detection of the near space platform is deduced. The detection range of the near space infrared system for the booster stage ballistic missile skin, the tail nozzle and the tail flame is calculated. The simulation results show that the near-space infrared system has the best effect on the detection of tail-flame radiation.

Geophysical Observations Supporting Research of Magmatic Processes at Icelandic Volcanoes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vogfjörd, Kristín. S.; Hjaltadóttir, Sigurlaug; Roberts, Matthew J.

2010-05-01

Magmatic processes at volcanoes on the boundary between the European and North American plates in Iceland are observed with in-situ multidisciplinary geophysical networks owned by different national, European or American universities and research institutions, but through collaboration mostly operated by the Icelandic Meteorological Office. The terrestrial observations are augmented by space-based interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) images of the volcanoes and their surrounding surface. Together this infrastructure can monitor magma movements in several volcanoes from the base of the crust up to the surface. The national seismic network is sensitive enough to detect small scale seismicity deep in the crust under some of the voclanoes. High resolution mapping of this seismicity and its temporal progression has been used to delineate the track of the magma as it migrates upwards in the crust, either to form an intrusion at shallow levels or to reach the surface in an eruption. Broadband recording has also enabled capturing low frequency signals emanating from magmatic movements. In two volcanoes, Eyjafjallajökull and Katla, just east of the South Iceland Seismic Zone (SISZ), seismicity just above the crust-mantle boundary has revealed magma intruding into the crust from the mantle below. As the magma moves to shallower levels, the deformation of the Earth‘s surface is captured by geodetic systems, such as continuous GPS networks, (InSAR) images of the surface and -- even more sensitive to the deformation -- strain meters placed in boreholes around 200 m below the Earth‘s surface. Analysis of these signals can reveal the size and shape of the magma as well as the temporal evolution. At near-by Hekla volcano flanking the SISZ to the north, where only 50% of events are of M>1 compared to 86% of earthquakes in Eyjafjallajökull, the sensitivity of the seismic network is insufficient to detect the smallest seismicity and so the volcano appears less active and deep seismicity has not been detected. Improved seismic station density may improve the resolution of deep processes. Due do Hekla‘s continued expansion, the concentration of the continuous GPS network has been increased around Hekla and a strain meter will be installed by the volcano in 2010. The increased density of geodetic observations is expected to increase the resolution of the depth, volume and geometry of the magma chamber. Before the volcano's latest eruption in 2000, the increased seismicity and deformation signal recorded by the nearest seismic station and strain meter (at 15 km distance) enabled a public warning to be issued of the impending eruption 30 minutes prior to eruption. The additional instrumentation around Hekla is expected to extend the previous advance warning time.

On the importance of risk knowledge for an end-to-end tsunami early warning system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Post, Joachim; Strunz, Günter; Riedlinger, Torsten; Mück, Matthias; Wegscheider, Stephanie; Zosseder, Kai; Steinmetz, Tilmann; Gebert, Niklas; Anwar, Herryal

2010-05-01

Warning systems commonly use information provided by networks of sensors able to monitor and detect impending disasters, aggregate and condense these information to provide reliable information to a decision maker whether to warn or not, disseminates the warning message and provide this information to people at risk. Ultimate aim is to enable those in danger to make decisions (e.g. initiate protective actions for buildings) and to take action to safe their lives. This involves very complex issues when considering all four elements of early warning systems (UNISDR-PPEW), namely (1) risk knowledge, (2) monitoring and warning service, (3) dissemination and communication, (4) response capability with the ultimate aim to gain as much time as possible to empower individuals and communities to act in an appropriate manner to reduce injury, loss of life, damage to property and the environment and loss of livelihoods. Commonly most warning systems feature strengths and main attention on the technical/structural dimension (monitoring & warning service, dissemination tools) with weaknesses and less attention on social/cultural dimension (e.g. human response capabilities, defined warning chain to and knowing what to do by the people). Also, the use of risk knowledge in early warning most often is treated in a theoretical manner (knowing that it is somehow important), yet less in an operational, practical sense. Risk assessments and risk maps help to motivate people, prioritise early warning system needs and guide preparations for response and disaster prevention activities. Beyond this risk knowledge can be seen as a tie between national level early warning and community level reaction schemes. This presentation focuses on results, key findings and lessons-learnt related to tsunami risk assessment in the context of early warning within the GITEWS (German-Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning) project. Here a novel methodology reflecting risk information needs in the early warning context has been worked out. The generated results contribute significantly in the fields of (1) warning decision and warning levels, (2) warning dissemination and warning message content, (3) early warning chain planning, (4) increasing response capabilities and protective systems, (5) emergency relief and (6) enhancing communities' awareness and preparedness towards tsunami threats. Additionally examples will be given on the potentials of an operational use of risk information in early warning systems as first experiences exist for the tsunami early warning center in Jakarta, Indonesia. Beside this the importance of linking national level early warning information with tsunami risk information available at the local level (e.g. linking warning message information on expected intensity with respective tsunami hazard zone maps at community level for effective evacuation) will be demonstrated through experiences gained in three pilot areas in Indonesia. The presentation seeks to provide new insights on benefits using risk information in early warning and will provide further evidence that practical use of risk information is an important and indispensable component of end-to-end early warning.

Traffic sign recognition by color segmentation and neural network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Surinwarangkoon, Thongchai; Nitsuwat, Supot; Moore, Elvin J.

2011-12-01

An algorithm is proposed for traffic sign detection and identification based on color filtering, color segmentation and neural networks. Traffic signs in Thailand are classified by color into four types: namely, prohibitory signs (red or blue), general warning signs (yellow) and construction area warning signs (amber). A color filtering method is first used to detect traffic signs and classify them by type. Then color segmentation methods adapted for each color type are used to extract inner features, e.g., arrows, bars etc. Finally, neural networks trained to recognize signs in each color type are used to identify any given traffic sign. Experiments show that the algorithm can improve the accuracy of traffic sign detection and recognition for the traffic signs used in Thailand.

Feasibility of Using Elastic Wave Velocity Monitoring for Early Warning of Rainfall-Induced Slope Failure

PubMed Central

Chen, Yulong; Irfan, Muhammad; Uchimura, Taro; Zhang, Ke

2018-01-01

Rainfall-induced landslides are one of the most widespread slope instability phenomena posing a serious risk to public safety worldwide so that their temporal prediction is of great interest to establish effective warning systems. The objective of this study is to determine the effectiveness of elastic wave velocities in the surface layer of the slope in monitoring, prediction and early warning of landslide. The small-scale fixed and varied, and large-scale slope model tests were conducted. Analysis of the results has established that the elastic wave velocity continuously decreases in response of moisture content and deformation and there was a distinct surge in the decrease rate of wave velocity when failure was initiated. Based on the preliminary results of this analysis, the method using the change in elastic wave velocity proves superior for landslide early warning and suggests that a warning be issued at switch of wave velocity decrease rate. PMID:29584699

Early Warning Signals of Ecological Transitions: Methods for Spatial Patterns

PubMed Central

Brock, William A.; Carpenter, Stephen R.; Ellison, Aaron M.; Livina, Valerie N.; Seekell, David A.; Scheffer, Marten; van Nes, Egbert H.; Dakos, Vasilis

2014-01-01

A number of ecosystems can exhibit abrupt shifts between alternative stable states. Because of their important ecological and economic consequences, recent research has focused on devising early warning signals for anticipating such abrupt ecological transitions. In particular, theoretical studies show that changes in spatial characteristics of the system could provide early warnings of approaching transitions. However, the empirical validation of these indicators lag behind their theoretical developments. Here, we summarize a range of currently available spatial early warning signals, suggest potential null models to interpret their trends, and apply them to three simulated spatial data sets of systems undergoing an abrupt transition. In addition to providing a step-by-step methodology for applying these signals to spatial data sets, we propose a statistical toolbox that may be used to help detect approaching transitions in a wide range of spatial data. We hope that our methodology together with the computer codes will stimulate the application and testing of spatial early warning signals on real spatial data. PMID:24658137

Development of a Global Evaporative Stress Index Based on Thermal and Microwave LST towards Improved Monitoring of Agricultural Drought

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hain, C.; Anderson, M. C.; Otkin, J.; Holmes, T. R.; Gao, F.

2017-12-01

This presentation will describe the development of a global agricultural monitoring tool, with a focus on providing early warning of developing vegetation stress for agricultural decision-makers and stakeholders at relatively high spatial resolution (5-km). The tool is based on remotely sensed estimates of evapotranspiration, retrieved via energy balance principals using observations of land surface temperature. The Evaporative Stress Index (ESI) represents anomalies in the ratio of actual-to-potential ET generated with the ALEXI surface energy balance model. The LST inputs to ESI have been shown to provide early warning information about the development of vegetation stress with stress-elevated canopy temperatures observed well before a decrease in greenness is detected in remotely sensed vegetation indices. As a diagnostic indicator of actual ET, the ESI requires no information regarding antecedent precipitation or soil moisture storage capacity - the current available moisture to vegetation is deduced directly from the remotely sensed LST signal. This signal also inherently accounts for both precipitation and non-precipitation related inputs/sinks to the plant-available soil moisture pool (e.g., irrigation) which can modify crop response to rainfall anomalies. Independence from precipitation data is a benefit for global agricultural monitoring applications due to sparseness in existing ground-based precipitation networks, and time delays in public reporting. Several enhancements to the current ESI framework will be addressed as requested from project stakeholders: (a) integration of "all-sky" MW Ka-band LST retrievals to augment "clear-sky" thermal-only ESI in persistently cloudy regions; (b) operational production of ESI Rapid Change Indices which provide important early warning information related to onset of actual vegetation stress; and (c) assessment of ESI as a predictor of global yield anomalies; initial studies have shown the ability of intra-seasonal ESI to provide an early indication of at-harvest agricultural yield anomalies.

Real-Time Integration of Positioning and Accelerometer Data for Early Earthquake Warning on Canada's West Coast

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Biffard, B.; Rosenberger, A.; Pirenne, B.; Valenzuela, M.; MacArthur, M.

2017-12-01

Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) operates ocean and coastal observatories on all three of Canada's coasts, and more particularly across the Cascadia subduction zone. The data are acquired, parsed, calibrated and archived by ONC's data management system (Oceans 2.0), with real-time event detection, reaction and access capabilities. As such, ONC is in a unique position to develop early warning systems for earthquakes, near- and far-field tsunamis and other events. ONC is leading the development of a system to alert southwestern British Columbia of an impending Cascadia subduction zone earthquake on behalf of the provincial government and with the support of the Canadian Federal Government. Similarly to other early earthquake warning systems, an array of accelerometers is used to detect the initial earthquake p-waves. This can provide 5-60 seconds of warning to subscribers who can then take action, such as stopping trains and surgeries, closing valves, taking cover, etc. To maximize the detection capability and the time available to react to a notification, instruments are placed both underwater and on land on Vancouver Island. A novel feature of ONC's system is, for land-based sites, the combination of real-time satellite positioning (GNSS) and accelerometer data in the calculations to improve earthquake intensity estimates. This results in higher accuracy, dynamic range and responsiveness than either type of sensor is capable of alone. P-wave detections and displacement data are sent from remote stations to a data centre that must calculate epicentre locations and magnitude. The latter are then delivered to subscribers with client software that, given their position, will calculate arrival time and intensity. All of this must occur with very high standards for latency, reliability and accuracy.

Response Characteristics of an Aquatic Biomonitor Used for Rapid Toxicity Detection

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-05-15

for drinking water protection. 14. SUBJECT TERMS 15. NUMBER OF PAGES biological early warning system; Lepomis macrochirus; bluegill; aquatic toxicity...Fort Detrick, MD 21702-5010, USA Key words: biomonitor; biological early warning system; Lepomis macrochirus; bluegill; aquatic toxicity; water ...narcosis are most likely to cause rapid aquatic biomonitor depth related to variations in water quality (primarily responses. Other modes of action may

Warning Alert HITL Experiment Results

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Monk, Kevin J.; Ferm, Lisa; Roberts, Zach

2018-01-01

Minimum Operational Performance Standards (MOPS) are being developed to support the integration of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) in the National Airspace (NAS). Input from subject matter experts and multiple research studies have informed display requirements for Detect-and-Avoid (DAA) systems aimed at supporting timely and appropriate pilot responses to collision hazards. Phase 1 DAA MOPS alerting is designed to inform pilots if an avoidance maneuver is necessary; the two highest alert levels - caution and warning - indicate how soon pilot action is required and whether there is adequate time to coordinate with the air traffic controller (ATC). Additional empirical support is needed to clarify the extent to which warning-level alerting impacts DAA task performance. The present study explores the differential effects of the auditory and visual cues provided by the DAA Warning alert, and performance implications compared to caution-only alerting are discussed.

Distribution, occurrence and biotoxin composition of the main shellfish toxin producing microalgae within European waters: A comparison of methods of analysis.

PubMed

McNamee, Sara E; Medlin, Linda K; Kegel, Jessica; McCoy, Gary R; Raine, Robin; Barra, Lucia; Ruggiero, Maria Valeria; Kooistra, Wiebe H C F; Montresor, Marina; Hagstrom, Johannes; Blanco, Eva Perez; Graneli, Edna; Rodríguez, Francisco; Escalera, Laura; Reguera, Beatriz; Dittami, Simon; Edvardsen, Bente; Taylor, Joe; Lewis, Jane M; Pazos, Yolanda; Elliott, Christopher T; Campbell, Katrina

2016-05-01

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are a natural global phenomena emerging in severity and extent. Incidents have many economic, ecological and human health impacts. Monitoring and providing early warning of toxic HABs are critical for protecting public health. Current monitoring programmes include measuring the number of toxic phytoplankton cells in the water and biotoxin levels in shellfish tissue. As these efforts are demanding and labour intensive, methods which improve the efficiency are essential. This study compares the utilisation of a multitoxin surface plasmon resonance (multitoxin SPR) biosensor with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and analytical methods such as high performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (HPLC-FLD) and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) for toxic HAB monitoring efforts in Europe. Seawater samples (n=256) from European waters, collected 2009-2011, were analysed for biotoxins: saxitoxin and analogues, okadaic acid and dinophysistoxins 1/2 (DTX1/DTX2) and domoic acid responsible for paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP), diarrheic shellfish poisoning (DSP) and amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP), respectively. Biotoxins were detected mainly in samples from Spain and Ireland. France and Norway appeared to have the lowest number of toxic samples. Both the multitoxin SPR biosensor and the RNA microarray were more sensitive at detecting toxic HABs than standard light microscopy phytoplankton monitoring. Correlations between each of the detection methods were performed with the overall agreement, based on statistical 2×2 comparison tables, between each testing platform ranging between 32% and 74% for all three toxin families illustrating that one individual testing method may not be an ideal solution. An efficient early warning monitoring system for the detection of toxic HABs could therefore be achieved by combining both the multitoxin SPR biosensor and RNA microarray. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Flight Demonstration of Integrated Airport Surface Technologies for Increased Capacity and Safety

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jones, Denise R.; Young, Steven D.; Wills, Robert W.; Smith, Kathryn A.; Shipman, Floyd S.; Bryant, Wayne H.; Eckhardt, Dave E., Jr.

1998-01-01

A flight demonstration was conducted to address airport surface movement area capacity and safety issues by providing pilots with enhanced situational awareness information. The demonstration presented an integration of several technologies to government and industry representatives. These technologies consisted of an electronic moving map display in the cockpit, a Differential Global Positioning system (DGPS) receiver, a high speed very high frequency (VHF) data link, an Airport Surface Detection Equipment (ASDE-3) radar, and the Airport Movement Area Safety System (AMASS). Aircraft identification was presented to an air traffic controller on an AMASS display. The onboard electronic map included the display of taxi routes, hold instructions, and clearances, which were sent to the aircraft via data link by the controller. The map also displayed the positions of other traffic and warning information, which were sent to the aircraft automatically from the ASDE-3/AMASS system. This paper describes the flight demonstration in detail, along with test results.

Low ground clearance vehicle detection and warning.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2015-06-01

A Low Ground Clearance Vehicle Detection : System (LGCVDS) determines if a commercial : motor vehicle can successfully clear a highwayrail : grade crossing and notifies the driver when : his or her vehicle cannot safely traverse the : crossing. That ...

Runway Safety Monitor Algorithm for Runway Incursion Detection and Alerting

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Green, David F., Jr.; Jones, Denise R. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

The Runway Safety Monitor (RSM) is an algorithm for runway incursion detection and alerting that was developed in support of NASA's Runway Incursion Prevention System (RIPS) research conducted under the NASA Aviation Safety Program's Synthetic Vision System element. The RSM algorithm provides pilots with enhanced situational awareness and warnings of runway incursions in sufficient time to take evasive action and avoid accidents during landings, takeoffs, or taxiing on the runway. The RSM currently runs as a component of the NASA Integrated Display System, an experimental avionics software system for terminal area and surface operations. However, the RSM algorithm can be implemented as a separate program to run on any aircraft with traffic data link capability. The report documents the RSM software and describes in detail how RSM performs runway incursion detection and alerting functions for NASA RIPS. The report also describes the RIPS flight tests conducted at the Dallas-Ft Worth International Airport (DFW) during September and October of 2000, and the RSM performance results and lessons learned from those flight tests.

Solar Energetic Particle Warnings from a Coronagraph

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

St Cyr, O. C.; Posner, A.; Burkepile, J. T.

2017-01-01

We report here the concept of using near-real time observations from a coronagraph to provide early warning of a fast coronal mass ejection (CME) and the possible onset of a solar energetic particle (SEP) event. The 1 January 2016, fast CME, and its associated SEP event are cited as an example. The CME was detected by the ground-based K-Cor coronagraph at Mauna Loa Solar Observatory and by the SOHO Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph. The near-real-time availability of the high-cadence K-Cor observations in the low corona leads to an obvious question: Why has no one attempted to use a coronagraph as an early warning device for SEP events? The answer is that the low image cadence and the long latency of existing spaceborne coronagraphs make them valid for archival studies but typically unsuitable for near-real-time forecasting. The January 2016 event provided favorable CME viewing geometry and demonstrated that the primary component of a prototype ground-based system for SEP warnings is available several hours on most days. We discuss how a conceptual CME-based warning system relates to other techniques, including an estimate of the relative SEP warning times, and how such a system might be realized.

Progress in Development of an Airborne Turbulence Detection System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hamilton, David W.; Proctor, Fred H.

2006-01-01

Aircraft encounters with turbulence are the leading cause of in-flight injuries (Tyrvanas 2003) and have occasionally resulted in passenger and crew fatalities. Most of these injuries are caused by sudden and unexpected encounters with severe turbulence in and around convective activity (Kaplan et al 2005). To alleviate this problem, the Turbulence Prediction and Warning Systems (TPAWS) element of NASA s Aviation Safety program has investigated technologies to detect and warn of hazardous in-flight turbulence. This effort has required the numerical modeling of atmospheric convection: 1) for characterizing convectively induced turbulence (CIT) environments, 2) for defining turbulence hazard metrics, and 3) as a means of providing realistic three-dimensional data sets that can be used to test and evaluate turbulence detection sensors. The data sets are being made available to industry and the FAA for certification of future airborne turbulence-detection systems (ATDS) with warning capability. Early in the TPAWS project, a radar-based ATDS was installed and flight tested on NASA s research aircraft, a B-757. This ATDS utilized new algorithms and hazard metrics that were developed for use with existing airborne predictive windshear radars, thus avoiding the installation of new hardware. This system was designed to detect and warn of hazardous CIT even in regions with weak radar reflectivity (i.e. 5-15 dBz). Results from an initial flight test of the ATDS were discussed in Hamilton and Proctor (2002a; 2002b). In companion papers (Proctor et al 2002a; 2002b), a numerical simulation of the most significant encounter from that flight test was presented. Since the presentation of these papers a second flight test has been conducted providing additional cases for examination. In this paper, we will present results from NASA s flight test and a numerical model simulation of a turbulence environment encountered on 30 April 2002. Progress leading towards FAA certification of industry built ATDS will also be discussed.

Viewing alcohol warning advertising reduces urges to drink in young adults: an online experiment.

PubMed

Stautz, Kaidy; Marteau, Theresa M

2016-07-08

Tobacco counter-advertising is effective at promoting smoking cessation. Few studies have evaluated the impact of alcohol warning advertising on alcohol consumption and possible mechanisms of effect. This pilot study aimed to assess whether alcohol warning advertising is effective in reducing urges to drink alcohol, if emotional responses to advertising explain any such effect or perceived effectiveness, and whether effects differ among heavier drinkers. One hundred fifty-two young adult (aged 18-25) alcohol users completed an online experiment in which they were randomly assigned to view one of three sets of six advertisements: (i) alcohol warning; (ii) alcohol promoting; or (iii) advertisements for non-alcohol products. Urges to drink alcohol were self-reported post-exposure. Affective responses (pleasure and arousal) to each advertisement and perceived effectiveness of each advertisement were recorded. Typical level of alcohol consumption was measured as a potential effect modifier. Participants exposed to alcohol warning advertisements reported significantly lower urges to drink alcohol than those who viewed either alcohol promoting or non-alcohol advertisements. This effect was fully mediated by negative affective responses (displeasure) to the alcohol warning advertisements. Perceived effectiveness of alcohol warning advertisements was associated with high arousal responses. Impact of the advertisements was unaffected by typical level of alcohol consumption, although the study was not powered to detect anything other than large effects. In line with findings from the tobacco literature, alcohol warning advertisements that elicit negative affect reduce urges to drink alcohol. Their impact upon actual consumption awaits investigation.

Current Issues in NEO Detection and Threat Mitigations (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chapman, C. R.

2009-12-01

The Spaceguard Survey has approximately met its goal of detecting 90% of Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs) >1 km diameter, and it has also detected thousands of smaller NEAs. A very small NEA, 2008 TC3 (hereafter: TC3), discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey on 7 October 2008, was predicted to impact in Sudan ~20 hours later. Prior to impact, telescopic observations of physical properties (e.g. spectra, spin) were obtained. The impact was recorded and, during subsequent months, hundreds of meteorites (a rare type of ureilite) were collected beneath the atmospheric explosion. This is the first time that an NEA has been predicted to impact Earth and it has done so. While at ~4 m diameter, it was not dangerous, exploding in the upper atmosphere, linkage of an NEA with recovered meteorites has been of great scientific value. TC3 was not a fluke, however. Current and future surveys (provided their protocols for searching, data processing, and reporting are optimized) should detect roughly half of all NEAs making final plunges to Earth, providing many hours to weeks of warning. Large search telescopes (LSST and Pan-STARRS) may eventually catalog 90% of NEAs as small as 140 m diameter, but we need not wait for their searches to begin to expect warnings of real impacts. Instead of numerous warnings of low-probability impact possibilities decades from now by 100-m-scale NEAs, we may now expect occasional warnings of certain impacts by NEAs meters to tens of meters in size with just hours to weeks of warning. Realization of the power of existing telescopes to provide short-term warning modifies how we think about mitigating the dangers of NEA impacts. “Mitigation” used to mean deflection of a threatening NEA by a spacecraft mission (e.g. using a Gravity Tractor for a very small NEA or deflecting an even larger NEA from a “keyhole” to a later impact on Earth; using a Kinetic Impactor, or series of them, to deflect a small-to-moderate sized NEA from impacting Earth; or, as a last resort, using a Nuclear Device in the very unlikely case that a large, >1 km NEA must be deflected to prevent a civilization-threatening impact. While civil defense measures (e.g. warning and evacuation; response and recovery) have long been considered as elements of mitigation, if deflection is not possible or fails or if an impact happens without warning, the lesson of TC3 is that proactive civil defense (e.g. evacuation of ground zero) will be a much more likely scenario than long-term planning for a spacecraft deflection mission. This is because small, yet potentially dangerous NEAs (tens of m size) impact much more frequently than larger NEAs, and the existing and future search efforts have a good chance of predicting such an impact before it occurs...but generally with no time to mount a deflection mission. Infrastructure that connects astronomers with the emergency management community is currently lacking, at both the national and international level. Once the National Research Council’s recommendations are delivered to Congress at the end of 2009, there will be a new opportunities for the U.S. and the international community to develop search, reporting, warning, and short- and long-term mitigation procedures that can protect people from the most likely threats from the cosmos.

Early warning of changing drinking water quality by trend analysis.

PubMed

Tomperi, Jani; Juuso, Esko; Leiviskä, Kauko

2016-06-01

Monitoring and control of water treatment plants play an essential role in ensuring high quality drinking water and avoiding health-related problems or economic losses. The most common quality variables, which can be used also for assessing the efficiency of the water treatment process, are turbidity and residual levels of coagulation and disinfection chemicals. In the present study, the trend indices are developed from scaled measurements to detect warning signs of changes in the quality variables of drinking water and some operating condition variables that strongly affect water quality. The scaling is based on monotonically increasing nonlinear functions, which are generated with generalized norms and moments. Triangular episodes are classified with the trend index and its derivative. Deviation indices are used to assess the severity of situations. The study shows the potential of the described trend analysis as a predictive monitoring tool, as it provides an advantage over the traditional manual inspection of variables by detecting changes in water quality and giving early warnings.

A radar vehicle detection system for four-quadrant gate warning systems and blocked crossing detection.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-12-01

The Wavetronix Matrix Radar was adapted for use at four-quadrant gate railroad crossings for the purpose of influencing exit gate behavior upon the detection of vehicles, as an alternative to buried inductive loops. Two radar devices were utilized, o...

Feature Detection of Curve Traffic Sign Image on The Bandung - Jakarta Highway

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Naseer, M.; Supriadi, I.; Supangkat, S. H.

2018-03-01

Unsealed roadside and problems with the road surface are common causes of road crashes, particularly when those are combined with curves. Curve traffic sign is an important component for giving early warning to driver on traffic, especially on high-speed traffic like on the highway. Traffic sign detection has became a very interesting research now, and in this paper will be discussed about the detection of curve traffic sign. There are two types of curve signs are discussed, namely the curve turn to the left and the curve turn to the right and the all data sample used are the curves taken / recorded from some signs on the Bandung - Jakarta Highway. Feature detection of the curve signs use Speed Up Robust Feature (SURF) method, where the detected scene image is 800x450. From 45 curve turn to the right images, the system can detect the feature well to 35 images, where the success rate is 77,78%, while from the 45 curve turn to the left images, the system can detect the feature well to 34 images and the success rate is 75,56%, so the average accuracy in the detection process is 76,67%. While the average time for the detection process is 0.411 seconds.

Methods for Detecting Early Warnings of Critical Transitions in Time Series Illustrated Using Simulated Ecological Data

PubMed Central

Dakos, Vasilis; Carpenter, Stephen R.; Brock, William A.; Ellison, Aaron M.; Guttal, Vishwesha; Ives, Anthony R.; Kéfi, Sonia; Livina, Valerie; Seekell, David A.; van Nes, Egbert H.; Scheffer, Marten

2012-01-01

Many dynamical systems, including lakes, organisms, ocean circulation patterns, or financial markets, are now thought to have tipping points where critical transitions to a contrasting state can happen. Because critical transitions can occur unexpectedly and are difficult to manage, there is a need for methods that can be used to identify when a critical transition is approaching. Recent theory shows that we can identify the proximity of a system to a critical transition using a variety of so-called ‘early warning signals’, and successful empirical examples suggest a potential for practical applicability. However, while the range of proposed methods for predicting critical transitions is rapidly expanding, opinions on their practical use differ widely, and there is no comparative study that tests the limitations of the different methods to identify approaching critical transitions using time-series data. Here, we summarize a range of currently available early warning methods and apply them to two simulated time series that are typical of systems undergoing a critical transition. In addition to a methodological guide, our work offers a practical toolbox that may be used in a wide range of fields to help detect early warning signals of critical transitions in time series data. PMID:22815897

Audibility of reverse alarms under hearing protectors for normal and hearing-impaired listeners.

PubMed

Robinson, G S; Casali, J G

1995-11-01

The question of whether or not an individual suffering from a hearing loss is capable of hearing an auditory alarm or warning is an extremely important industrial safety issue. The ISO Standard that addresses auditory warnings for workplaces requires that any auditory alarm or warning be audible to all individuals in the workplace including those suffering from a hearing loss and/or wearing hearing protection devices (HPDs). Research was undertaken to determine how the ability to detect an alarm or warning signal changed for individuals with normal hearing and two levels of hearing loss as the levels of masking noise and alarm were manipulated. Pink noise was used as the masker and a heavy-equipment reverse alarm was used as the signal. The rating method paradigm of signal detection theory was used as the experimental procedure to separate the subjects' absolute sensitivities to the alarm from their individual criteria for deciding to respond in an affirmative manner. Results indicated that even at a fairly low signal-to-noise ratio (0 dB), subjects with a substantial hearing loss [a pure-tone average (PTA) hearing level of 45-50 dBHL in both ears] were capable of hearing the reverse alarm while wearing a high-attenuation earmuff in the pink noise used in the study.

A Neutral Network based Early Eathquake Warning model in California region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiao, H.; MacAyeal, D. R.

2016-12-01

Early Earthquake Warning systems could reduce loss of lives and other economic impact resulted from natural disaster or man-made calamity. Current systems could be further enhanced by neutral network method. A 3 layer neural network model combined with onsite method was deployed in this paper to improve the recognition time and detection time for large scale earthquakes.The 3 layer neutral network early earthquake warning model adopted the vector feature design for sample events happened within 150 km radius of the epicenters. Dataset used in this paper contained both destructive events and small scale events. All the data was extracted from IRIS database to properly train the model. In the training process, backpropagation algorithm was used to adjust the weight matrices and bias matrices during each iteration. The information in all three channels of the seismometers served as the source in this model. Through designed tests, it was indicated that this model could identify approximately 90 percent of the events' scale correctly. And the early detection could provide informative evidence for public authorities to make further decisions. This indicated that neutral network model could have the potential to strengthen current early warning system, since the onsite method may greatly reduce the responding time and save more lives in such disasters.

Warning systems evaluation for overhead clearance detection : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2017-02-01

This study reports on off-the-shelf systems designed to detect the heights of vehicles to minimize or eliminate collisions with roadway bridges. Implemented systems were identified, reviewed, and compared and relatively inexpensive options recommende...

Reducing Runway Incursions: Can You Relate?

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1992-01-01

Side object detection systems (SODS) are collision warning systems which alert drivers to the presence of traffic alongside their vehicle within defined detection zones. The intent of SODS is to reduce collisions during lane changes and merging maneu...

Connected Vehicle Wrong-Way Driving Detection and Mitigation Demonstration-Phase II : Project Summary

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2018-01-01

Connected vehicles (CVs) and their integration with transportation infrastructure provide new approaches to wrong-way driving (WWD) detection, warning, verification, and intervention that will help practitioners further reduce the occurrence and seve...

Drivers of Emerging Infectious Disease Events as a Framework for Digital Detection.

PubMed

Olson, Sarah H; Benedum, Corey M; Mekaru, Sumiko R; Preston, Nicholas D; Mazet, Jonna A K; Joly, Damien O; Brownstein, John S

2015-08-01

The growing field of digital disease detection, or epidemic intelligence, attempts to improve timely detection and awareness of infectious disease (ID) events. Early detection remains an important priority; thus, the next frontier for ID surveillance is to improve the recognition and monitoring of drivers (antecedent conditions) of ID emergence for signals that precede disease events. These data could help alert public health officials to indicators of elevated ID risk, thereby triggering targeted active surveillance and interventions. We believe that ID emergence risks can be anticipated through surveillance of their drivers, just as successful warning systems of climate-based, meteorologically sensitive diseases are supported by improved temperature and precipitation data. We present approaches to driver surveillance, gaps in the current literature, and a scientific framework for the creation of a digital warning system. Fulfilling the promise of driver surveillance will require concerted action to expand the collection of appropriate digital driver data.

Sensor Fusion of Position- and Micro-Sensors (MEMS) integrated in a Wireless Sensor Network for movement detection in landslide areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arnhardt, Christian; Fernández-Steeger, Tomas; Azzam, Rafig

2010-05-01

Monitoring systems in landslide areas are important elements of effective Early Warning structures. Data acquisition and retrieval allows the detection of movement processes and thus is essential to generate warnings in time. Apart from the precise measurement, the reliability of data is fundamental, because outliers can trigger false alarms and leads to the loss of acceptance of such systems. For the monitoring of mass movements and their risk it is important to know, if there is movement, how fast it is and how trustworthy is the information. The joint project "Sensorbased landslide early warning system" (SLEWS) deals with these questions, and tries to improve data quality and to reduce false alarm rates, due to the combination of sensor date (sensor fusion). The project concentrates on the development of a prototypic Alarm- and Early Warning system (EWS) for different types of landslides by using various low-cost sensors, integrated in a wireless sensor network (WSN). The network consists of numerous connection points (nodes) that transfer data directly or over other nodes (Multi-Hop) in real-time to a data collection point (gateway). From there all the data packages are transmitted to a spatial data infrastructure (SDI) for further processing, analyzing and visualizing with respect to end-user specifications. The ad-hoc characteristic of the network allows the autonomous crosslinking of the nodes according to existing connections and communication strength. Due to the independent finding of new or more stable connections (self healing) a breakdown of the whole system is avoided. The bidirectional data stream enables the receiving of data from the network but also allows the transfer of commands and pointed requests into the WSN. For the detection of surface deformations in landslide areas small low-cost Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems (MEMS) and positionsensors from the automobile industries, different industrial applications and from other measurement technologies were chosen. The MEMS-Sensors are acceleration-, tilt- and barometric pressure sensors. The positionsensors are draw wire and linear displacement transducers. In first laboratory tests the accuracy and resolution were investigated. The tests showed good results for all sensors. For example tilt-movements can be monitored with an accuracy of +/- 0,06° and a resolution of 0,1°. With the displacement transducer change in length of >0,1mm is possible. Apart from laboratory tests, field tests in South France and Germany were done to prove data stability and movement detection under real conditions. The results obtained were very satisfying, too. In the next step the combination of numerous sensors (sensor fusion) of the same type (redundancy) or different types (complementary) was researched. Different experiments showed that there is a high concordance between identical sensor-types. According to different sensor parameters (sensitivity, accuracy, resolution) some sensor-types can identify changes earlier. Taking this into consideration, good correlations between different kinds of sensors were achieved, too. Thus the experiments showed that combination of sensors is possible and this could improve the detection of movement and movement rate but also outliers. Based on this results various algorithms were setup that include different statistical methods (outlier tests, testing of hypotheses) and procedures from decision theories (Hurwicz-criteria). These calculation formulas will be implemented in the spatial data infrastructure (SDI) for the further data processing and validation. In comparison with today existing mainly punctually working monitoring systems, the application of wireless sensor networks in combination with low-cost, but precise micro-sensors provides an inexpensive and easy to set up monitoring system also in large areas. The correlation of same but also different sensor-types permits a good data control. Thus the sensor fusion is a promising tool to detect movement more reliable and thus contributes essential to the improvement of Early Warning Systems.

Biofilm growth in response to various concentrations of biodegradable material in drinking water.

PubMed

Schaule, Gabriela; Moschnitschka, Dania; Schulte, Simone; Tamachkiarow, Adriana; Flemming, Hans-Curt

2007-01-01

Biological stability is one of the most important aspects of safe drinking water. It depends crucially on the availability of biodegradable organic carbon (BDOC). Measurement of BDOC is time-consuming and only performed if an increase is suspected. In this study, a fibre optical sensor (FOS) was used to detect changes in BDOC, detected as an increase in biofilm growth. The FOS consists of a sending and a receiving optical fibre, the latter connected to a detector. When material is deposited at the tip of the fibre, an increase of backscattered light is detected. In a system fed with drinking water, the signal was correlated to biofilm growth which was confirmed by independent surface colonisation determination. When 1 and 3mgL(-1) of BDOC respectively was added, the increment of the FOS signal over a period of 1 week could be distinguished. Interference by planktonic components and humic substances could be excluded. The biofilm on the FOS could be used as a means to detect changes in BDOC in drinking water and the signal has an early warning capacity.

Systems and Sensors for Debris-flow Monitoring and Warning

PubMed Central

Arattano, Massimo; Marchi, Lorenzo

2008-01-01

Debris flows are a type of mass movement that occurs in mountain torrents. They consist of a high concentration of solid material in water that flows as a wave with a steep front. Debris flows can be considered a phenomenon intermediate between landslides and water floods. They are amongst the most hazardous natural processes in mountainous regions and may occur under different climatic conditions. Their destructiveness is due to different factors: their capability of transporting and depositing huge amounts of solid materials, which may also reach large sizes (boulders of several cubic meters are commonly transported by debris flows), their steep fronts, which may reach several meters of height and also their high velocities. The implementation of both structural and non-structural control measures is often required when debris flows endanger routes, urban areas and other infrastructures. Sensor networks for debris-flow monitoring and warning play an important role amongst non-structural measures intended to reduce debris-flow risk. In particular, debris flow warning systems can be subdivided into two main classes: advance warning and event warning systems. These two classes employ different types of sensors. Advance warning systems are based on monitoring causative hydrometeorological processes (typically rainfall) and aim to issue a warning before a possible debris flow is triggered. Event warning systems are based on detecting debris flows when these processes are in progress. They have a much smaller lead time than advance warning ones but are also less prone to false alarms. Advance warning for debris flows employs sensors and techniques typical of meteorology and hydrology, including measuring rainfall by means of rain gauges and weather radar and monitoring water discharge in headwater streams. Event warning systems use different types of sensors, encompassing ultrasonic or radar gauges, ground vibration sensors, videocameras, avalanche pendulums, photocells, trip wires etc. Event warning systems for debris flows have a strong linkage with debris-flow monitoring that is carried out for research purposes: the same sensors are often used for both monitoring and warning, although warning systems have higher requirements of robustness than monitoring systems. The paper presents a description of the sensors employed for debris-flow monitoring and event warning systems, with attention given to advantages and drawbacks of different types of sensors. PMID:27879828

Application of Time Series Insar Technique for Deformation Monitoring of Large-Scale Landslides in Mountainous Areas of Western China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qu, T.; Lu, P.; Liu, C.; Wan, H.

2016-06-01

Western China is very susceptible to landslide hazards. As a result, landslide detection and early warning are of great importance. This work employs the SBAS (Small Baseline Subset) InSAR Technique for detection and monitoring of large-scale landslides that occurred in Li County, Sichuan Province, Western China. The time series INSAR is performed using descending scenes acquired from TerraSAR-X StripMap mode since 2014 to get the spatial distribution of surface displacements of this giant landslide. The time series results identify the distinct deformation zone on the landslide body with a rate of up to 150mm/yr. The deformation acquired by SBAS technique is validated by inclinometers from diverse boreholes of in-situ monitoring. The integration of InSAR time series displacements and ground-based monitoring data helps to provide reliable data support for the forecasting and monitoring of largescale landslide.

Distributed optical fibre sensing for early detection of shallow landslides triggering.

PubMed

Schenato, Luca; Palmieri, Luca; Camporese, Matteo; Bersan, Silvia; Cola, Simonetta; Pasuto, Alessandro; Galtarossa, Andrea; Salandin, Paolo; Simonini, Paolo

2017-10-31

A distributed optical fibre sensing system is used to measure landslide-induced strains on an optical fibre buried in a large scale physical model of a slope. The fibre sensing cable is deployed at the predefined failure surface and interrogated by means of optical frequency domain reflectometry. The strain evolution is measured with centimetre spatial resolution until the occurrence of the slope failure. Standard legacy sensors measuring soil moisture and pore water pressure are installed at different depths and positions along the slope for comparison and validation. The evolution of the strain field is related to landslide dynamics with unprecedented resolution and insight. In fact, the results of the experiment clearly identify several phases within the evolution of the landslide and show that optical fibres can detect precursory signs of failure well before the collapse, paving the way for the development of more effective early warning systems.

A lightning-based nowcast-warning approach for short-duration rainfall events: Development and testing over Beijing during the warm seasons of 2006-2007

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Fan; Cui, Xiaopeng; Zhang, Da-Lin

2018-06-01

Nowcasting short-duration (i.e., <6 h) rainfall (SDR) events is examined using total [i.e., cloud-to-ground (CG) and intra-cloud (IC)] lightning observations over the Beijing Metropolitan Region (BMR) during the warm seasons of 2006-2007. A total of 928 moderate and 554 intense SDR events, i.e., with the respective hourly rainfall rates (HRR) of 10-20 and ≥20 mm h-1, are utilized to estimate sharp-increasing rates in rainfall and lightning flash, termed as rainfall and lightning jumps, respectively. By optimizing the parameters in a lightning jump and a rainfall jump algorithm, their different jump intensity grades are verified for the above two categories of SDR events. Then, their corresponding graded nowcast-warning models are developed for the moderate and intense SDR events, respectively, with a low-grade warning for hitting more SDR events and a high-grade warning for reducing false alarms. Any issued warning in the nowcast-warning models is designed to last for 2 h after the occurrence of a lightning jump. It is demonstrated that the low-grade warnings can have the probability of detection (POD) of 67.8% (87.0%) and the high-grade warnings have the false alarms ratio (FAR) of 27.0% (22.2%) for the moderate (intense) SDR events, with an averaged lead time of 36.7 (52.0) min. The nowcast-warning models are further validated using three typical heavy-rain-producing storms that are independent from those used to develop the models. Results show that the nowcast-warning models can provide encouraging early warnings for the associated SDR events from the regional to meso-γ scales, indicating that they have a great potential in being applied to the other regions where high-resolution total lightning observations are available.

Lane change warning threshold based on driver perception characteristics.

PubMed

Wang, Chang; Sun, Qinyu; Fu, Rui; Li, Zhen; Zhang, Qiong

2018-08-01

Lane Change Warning system (LCW) is exploited to alleviate driver workload and improve the safety performance of lane changes. Depending on the secure threshold, the lane change warning system could transmit caution to drivers. Although the system possesses substantial benefits, it may perturb the conventional operating of the driver and affect driver judgment if the warning threshold does not conform to the driver perception of safety. Therefore, it is essential to establish an appropriate warning threshold to enhance the accuracy rate and acceptability of the lane change warning system. This research aims to identify the threshold that conforms to the driver perception of the ability to safely change lanes with a rear vehicle fast approaching. We propose a theoretical warning model of lane change based on a safe minimum distance and deceleration of the rear vehicle. For the purpose of acquiring the different safety levels of lane changes, 30 licensed drivers are recruited and we obtain the extreme moments represented by driver perception characteristics from a Front Extremity Test and a Rear Extremity Test implemented on the freeway. The required deceleration of the rear vehicle corresponding to the extreme time is calculated according to the proposed model. In light of discrepancies in the deceleration in these extremity experiments, we determine two levels of a hierarchical warning system. The purpose of the primary warning is to remind drivers of the existence of potentially dangerous vehicles and the second warning is used to warn the driver to stop changing lanes immediately. We use the signal detection theory to analyze the data. Ultimately, we confirm that the first deceleration threshold is 1.5 m/s 2 and the second deceleration threshold is 2.7 m/s 2 . The findings provide the basis for the algorithm design of LCW and enhance the acceptability of the intelligent system. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Landslide Detection in the Carlyon Beach, WA Peninsula: Analysis Of High Resolution DEMs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fayne, J.; Tran, C.; Mora, O. E.

2017-12-01

Landslides are geological events caused by slope instability and degradation, leading to the sliding of large masses of rock and soil down a mountain or hillside. These events are influenced by topography, geology, weather and human activity, and can cause extensive damage to the environment and infrastructure, such as the destruction of transportation networks, homes, and businesses. It is therefore imperative to detect early-warning signs of landslide hazards as a means of mitigation and disaster prevention. Traditional landslide surveillance consists of field mapping, but the process is expensive and time consuming. This study uses Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) derived Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) and k-means clustering and Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) to analyze surface roughness and extract spatial features and patterns of landslides and landslide-prone areas. The methodology based on several feature extractors employs an unsupervised classifier on the Carlyon Beach Peninsula in the state of Washington to attempt to identify slide potential terrain. When compared with the independently compiled landslide inventory map, the proposed algorithm correctly classifies up to 87% of the terrain. These results suggest that the proposed methods and LiDAR-derived DEMs can provide important surface information and be used as efficient tools for digital terrain analysis to create accurate landslide maps.

Assessment of Gas Potential in the Niobrara Formation, Rosebud Reservation, South Dakota

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Harris, Aubrey E.; Hopkinson, Leslie; Soeder, Daniel

2016-01-23

Surface water and groundwater risks associated with unconventional oil and gas development result from potential spills of the large volumes of chemicals stored on-site during drilling and hydraulic fracturing operations, and the return to the surface of significant quantities of saline water produced during oil or gas well production. To better identify and mitigate risks, watershed models and tools are needed to evaluate the dispersion of pollutants in possible spill scenarios. This information may be used to determine the placement of in-stream water-quality monitoring instruments and to develop early-warning systems and emergency plans. A chemical dispersion model has been usedmore » to estimate the contaminant signal for in-stream measurements. Spills associated with oil and gas operations were identified within the Susquehanna River Basin Commission’s Remote Water Quality Monitoring Network. The volume of some contaminants was found to be sufficient to affect the water quality of certain drainage areas. The most commonly spilled compounds and expected peak concentrations at monitoring stations were used in laboratory experiments to determine if a signal could be detected and positively identified using standard water-quality monitoring equipment. The results were compared to historical data and baseline observations of water quality parameters, and showed that the chemicals tested do commonly affect water quality parameters. This work is an effort to demonstrate that hydrologic and water quality models may be applied to improve the placement of in-stream water quality monitoring devices. This information may increase the capability of early-warning systems to alert community health and environmental agencies of surface water spills associated with unconventional oil and gas operations.« less

Sea level hazards: Altimetric monitoring of tsunamis and sea level rise

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamlington, Benjamin Dillon

Whether on the short timescale of an impending tsunami or the much longer timescale of climate change-driven sea level rise, the threat stemming from rising and inundating ocean waters is a great concern to coastal populations. Timely and accurate observations of potentially dangerous changes in sea level are vital in determining the precautionary steps that need to be taken in order to protect coastal communities. While instruments from the past have provided in situ measurements of sea level at specific locations across the globe, satellites can be used to provide improved spatial and temporal sampling of the ocean in addition to producing more accurate measurements. Since 1993, satellite altimetry has provided accurate measurements of sea surface height (SSH) with near-global coverage. Not only have these measurements led to the first definitive estimates of global mean sea level rise, satellite altimetry observations have also been used to detect tsunami waves in the open ocean where wave amplitudes are relatively small, a vital step in providing early warning to those potentially affected by the impending tsunami. The use of satellite altimetry to monitor two specific sea level hazards is examined in this thesis. The first section will focus on the detection of tsunamis in the open ocean for the purpose of providing early warning to coastal inhabitants. The second section will focus on estimating secular trends using satellite altimetry data with the hope of improving our understanding of future sea level change. Results presented here will show the utility of satellite altimetry for sea level monitoring and will lay the foundation for further advancement in the detection of the two sea level hazards considered.

How does a collision warning system shape driver's brake response time? The influence of expectancy and automation complacency on real-life emergency braking.

PubMed

Ruscio, Daniele; Ciceri, Maria Rita; Biassoni, Federica

2015-04-01

Brake Reaction Time (BRT) is an important parameter for road safety. Previous research has shown that drivers' expectations can impact RT when facing hazardous situations, but driving with advanced driver assistance systems, can change the way BRT are considered. The interaction with a collision warning system can help faster more efficient responses, but at the same time can require a monitoring task and evaluation process that may lead to automation complacency. The aims of the present study are to test in a real-life setting whether automation compliancy can be generated by a collision warning system and what component of expectancy can impact the different tasks involved in an assisted BRT process. More specifically four component of expectancy were investigated: presence/absence of anticipatory information, previous direct experience, reliability of the device, and predictability of the hazard determined by repeated use of the warning system. Results supply indication on perception time and mental elaboration of the collision warning system alerts. In particular reliable warning quickened the decision making process, misleading warnings generated automation complacency slowing visual search for hazard detection, lack of directed experienced slowed the overall response while unexpected failure of the device lead to inattentional blindness and potential pseudo-accidents with surprise obstacle intrusion. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

GPS-TEC of the Ionospheric Disturbances as a Tool for Early Tsunami Warning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kunitsyn, Viacheslav E.; Nesterov, Ivan A.; Shalimov, Sergey L.; Krysanov, Boris Yu.; Padokhin, Artem M.; Rekenthaler, Douglas

2013-04-01

Recently, the GPS measurements were used for retrieving the information on the various types of ionospheric responses to seismic events (earthquakes, seismic Rayleigh waves, and tsunami) which generate atmospheric waves propagating up to the ionospheric altitudes where the collisions between the neutrals and charge particles give rise to the motion of the ionospheric plasma. These experimental results can well be used in architecture of the future tsunami warning system. The point is an earlier (in comparison with seismological methods) detection of the ionospheric signal that can indicate the moment of tsunami generation. As an example we consider the two-dimensional distributions of the vertical total electron content (TEC) variations in the ionosphere both close to and far from the epicenter of the Japan undersea earthquake of March 11, 2011 using radio tomographic (RT) reconstruction of high-temporal-resolution (2-minute) data from the Japan and the US GPS networks. Near-zone TEC variations shows a diverging ionospheric perturbation with multi-component spectral composition emerging after the main shock. The initial phase of the disturbance can be used as an indicator of the tsunami generation and subsequently for the tsunami early warning. Far-zone TEC variations reveals distinct wave train associated with gravity waves generated by tsunami. According to observations tsunami arrives at Hawaii and further at the coast of Southern California with delay relative to the gravity waves. Therefore the gravity wave pattern can be used in the early tsunami warning. We support this scenario by the results of modeling with the parameters of the ocean surface perturbation corresponding to the considered earthquake. In addition it was observed in the modeling that at long distance from the source the gravity wave can pass ahead of the tsunami. The work was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (grants 11-05-01157 and 12-05-33065).

Improving tsunami warning systems with remote sensing and geographical information system input.

PubMed

Wang, Jin-Feng; Li, Lian-Fa

2008-12-01

An optimal and integrative tsunami warning system is introduced that takes full advantage of remote sensing and geographical information systems (GIS) in monitoring, forecasting, detection, loss evaluation, and relief management for tsunamis. Using the primary impact zone in Banda Aceh, Indonesia as the pilot area, we conducted three simulations that showed that while the December 26, 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami claimed about 300,000 lives because there was no tsunami warning system at all, it is possible that only about 15,000 lives could have been lost if the area had used a tsunami warning system like that currently in use in the Pacific Ocean. The simulations further calculated that the death toll could have been about 3,000 deaths if there had been a disaster system further optimized with full use of remote sensing and GIS, although the number of badly damaged or destroyed houses (29,545) could have likely remained unchanged.

Biosensors for termite control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Farkhanda, M.

2013-12-01

Termites are major urban pests in Pakistan and cause damage to wooden structures and buildings. Termite management has two parts: prevention and control. The most difficult part of termite control is termite detection as most of them are subterranean in Pakistan and have tunneling habit.Throughout the world, chemical termiticides are going to be replaced by baits, microwave and sensor technology. Termite species are distinct biologically and have specific foraging behaviors. Termite Detection Radar, Moisture meter and Remote Thermal Sensor with Laser are available throughout the world. These can detect termites underground and use fewer chemicals than traditional methods. For wooden buildings, a termite sensor and an intrusion detection system for detecting termites are designed. A pair of electrodes is disposed inside the container. A pair of terminals is connected to these electrodes, these extend outside the container. Termites are detected by a change of conductivity between the electrodes, when termites are detected a warning device generates a warning signal. In Pakistan, there is dire need to develop such biosensoring devices locally, then apply control methods that would save money and protect the environment.

Novel approaches to helicopter obstacle warning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seidel, Christian; Samuelis, Christian; Wegner, Matthias; Münsterer, Thomas; Rumpf, Thomas; Schwartz, Ingo

2006-05-01

EADS Germany is the world market leader in commercial Helicopter Laser Radar (HELLAS) Obstacle Warning Systems. The HELLAS-Warning System has been introduced into the market in 2000, is in service at German Border Control (Bundespolizei) and Royal Thai Airforce and is successfully evaluated by the Foreign Comparative Test Program (FCT) of the USSOCOM. Currently the successor system HELLAS-Awareness is in development. It will have extended sensor performance, enhanced realtime data processing capabilities and advanced HMI features. We will give an outline of the new sensor unit concerning detection technology and helicopter integration aspects. The system provides a widespread field of view with additional dynamic line of sight steering and a large detection range in combination with a high frame rate of 3Hz. The workflow of the data processing will be presented with focus on novel filter techniques and obstacle classification methods. As commonly known the former are indispensable due to unavoidable statistical measuring errors and solarisation. The amount of information in the filtered raw data is further reduced by ground segmentation. The remaining raised objects are extracted and classified in several stages into different obstacle classes. We will show the prioritization function which orders the obstacles concerning to their threat potential to the helicopter taking into account the actual flight dynamics. The priority of an object determines the display and provision of warnings to the pilot. Possible HMI representation includes video or FLIR overlay on multifunction displays, audio warnings and visualization of information on helmet mounted displays and digital maps. Different concepts will be presented.

Impacts of Fog Characteristics, Forward Illumination, and Warning Beacon Intensity Distribution on Roadway Hazard Visibility

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Warning beacons are critical for the safety of transportation, construction, and utility workers. These devices need to produce sufficient luminous intensity to be visible without creating glare to drivers. Published standards for the photometric performance of warning beacons do not address their performance in conditions of reduced visibility such as fog. Under such conditions light emitted in directions other than toward approaching drivers can create scattered light that makes workers and other hazards less visible. Simulations of visibility of hazards under varying conditions of fog density, forward vehicle lighting, warning beacon luminous intensity, and intensity distribution were performed to assess their impacts on visual performance by drivers. Each of these factors can influence the ability of drivers to detect and identify workers and hazards along the roadway in work zones. Based on the results, it would be reasonable to specify maximum limits on the luminous intensity of warning beacons in directions that are unlikely to be seen by drivers along the roadway, limits which are not included in published performance specifications. PMID:27314058

Light guide technology: using light to enhance safety

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lerner, William S.

2009-05-01

When used to detect extreme temperatures in harsh environments, warning devices have been placed at a distance from the "danger zone" for several reasons. The inability to mix electricity with flammable, caustic, liquid or volatile substances, the limited heat tolerances exhibited by most light sources, and the susceptibility of light sources to damage from vibration, have made the placement of a warning light directly within these harsh environments impossible. This paper describes a system that utilizes a beam of light to provide just such a warning. This system can be used with hard-wired or wireless sensors, side-light illumination, image projection and image transfer. The entire system may be self-contained and portable.

Power line detection system

DOEpatents

Latorre, Victor R.; Watwood, Donald B.

1994-01-01

A short-range, radio frequency (RF) transmitting-receiving system that provides both visual and audio warnings to the pilot of a helicopter or light aircraft of an up-coming power transmission line complex. Small, milliwatt-level narrowband transmitters, powered by the transmission line itself, are installed on top of selected transmission line support towers or within existing warning balls, and provide a continuous RF signal to approaching aircraft. The on-board receiver can be either a separate unit or a portion of the existing avionics, and can also share an existing antenna with another airborne system. Upon receipt of a warning signal, the receiver will trigger a visual and an audio alarm to alert the pilot to the potential power line hazard.

Enhanced communication and coordination in the public health surveillance component of the Cincinnati Drinking Water Contamination Warning System.

PubMed

Dangel, Chrissy; Allgeier, Steven C; Gibbons, Darcy; Haas, Adam; Simon, Katie

2012-03-01

Effective communication and coordination are critical when investigating a possible drinking water contamination incident. A contamination warning system is designed to detect water contamination by initiating a coordinated, effective response to mitigate significant public health and economic consequences. This article describes historical communication barriers during water contamination incidents and discusses how these barriers were overcome through the public health surveillance component of the Cincinnati Drinking Water Contamination Warning System, referred to as the "Cincinnati Pilot." By enhancing partnerships in the public health surveillance component of the Cincinnati Pilot, information silos that existed in each organization were replaced with interagency information depots that facilitated effective decision making.

An archival analysis of stall warning system effectiveness during airborne icing encounters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maris, John Michael

An archival study was conducted to determine the influence of stall warning system performance on aircrew decision-making outcomes during airborne icing encounters. A Conservative Icing Response Bias (CIRB) model was developed to explain the historical variability in aircrew performance in the face of airframe icing. The model combined Bayes' Theorem with Signal Detection Theory (SDT) concepts to yield testable predictions that were evaluated using a Binary Logistic Regression (BLR) multivariate technique applied to two archives: the NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) incident database, and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) accident databases, both covering the period January 1, 1988 to October 2, 2015. The CIRB model predicted that aircrew would experience more incorrect response outcomes in the face of missed stall warnings than with stall warning False Alarms. These predicted outcomes were observed at high significance levels in the final sample of 132 NASA/NTSB cases. The CIRB model had high sensitivity and specificity, and explained 71.5% (Nagelkerke R2) of the variance of aircrew decision-making outcomes during the icing encounters. The reliability and validity metrics derived from this study suggest indicate that the findings are generalizable to the population of U.S. registered turbine-powered aircraft. These findings suggest that icing-related stall events could be reduced if the incidence of stall warning Misses could be minimized. Observed stall warning Misses stemmed from three principal causes: aerodynamic icing effects, which reduced the stall angle-of-attack (AoA) to below the stall warning calibration threshold; tail stalls, which are not monitored by contemporary protection systems; and icing-induced system issues (such as frozen pitot tubes), which compromised stall warning system effectiveness and airframe envelope protections. Each of these sources of missed stall warnings could be addressed by Aerodynamic Performance Monitoring (APM) systems that directly measure the boundary layer airflow adjacent to the affected aerodynamic surfaces, independent of other aircraft stall protection, air data, and AoA systems. In addition to investigating APM systems, measures should also be taken to include the CIRB phenomenon in aircrew training to better prepare crews to cope with airborne icing encounters. The SDT/BLR technique would allow the forecast gains from these improved systems and training processes to be evaluated objectively and quantitatively. The SDT/BLR model developed for this study has broad application outside the realm of airborne icing. The SDT technique has been extensively validated by prior research, and the BLR is a very robust multivariate technique. Combined, they could be applied to evaluate high order constructs (such as stall awareness for this study), in complex and dynamic environments. The union of SDT and BLR reduces the modeling complexities for each variable into the four binary SDT categories of Hit, Miss, False Alarm, and Correct Rejection, which is the optimum format for the BLR. Despite this reductionist approach to complex situations, the method has demonstrated very high statistical and practical significance, as well as excellent predictive power, when applied to the airborne icing scenario.

Development of algorithms for tsunami detection by High Frequency Radar based on modeling tsunami case studies in the Mediterranean Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grilli, S. T.; Guérin, C. A.; Grosdidier, S.

2014-12-01

Where coastal tsunami hazard is governed by near-field sources, Submarine Mass Failures (SMFs) or earthquakes, tsunami propagation times may be too small for a detection based on deep or shallow water buoys. To offer sufficient warning time, it has been proposed by others to implement early warning systems relying on High Frequency Radar (HFR) remote sensing, that has a dense spatial coverage far offshore. A new HFR, referred to as STRADIVARIUS, is being deployed by Diginext Inc. (in Fall 2014), to cover the "Golfe du Lion" (GDL) in the Western Mediterranean Sea. This radar uses a proprietary phase coding technology that allows detection up to 300 km, in a bistatic configuration (for which radar and antennas are separated by about 100 km). Although the primary purpose of the radar is vessel detection in relation to homeland security, the 4.5 MHz HFR will provide a strong backscattered signal for ocean surface waves at the so-called Bragg frequency (here, wavelength of 30 m). The current caused by an arriving tsunami will shift the Bragg frequency, by a value proportional to the current magnitude (projected on the local radar ray direction), which can be easily obtained from the Doppler spectrum of the HFR signal. Using state of the art tsunami generation and propagation models, we modeled tsunami case studies in the western Mediterranean basin (both seismic and SMFs) and simulated the HFR backscattered signal that would be detected for the entire GDL and beyond. Based on simulated HFR signal, we developed two types of tsunami detection algorithms: (i) one based on standard Doppler spectra, for which we found that to be detectable within the environmental and background current noises, the Doppler shift requires tsunami currents to be at least 10-15 cm/s, which typically only occurs on the continental shelf in fairly shallow water; (ii) to allow earlier detection, a second algorithm computes correlations of the HFR signals at two distant locations, shifted in time by the tsunami propagation time between these locations (easily computed based on bathymetry). We found that this second method allowed detection for currents as low as 5 cm/s, i.e., in deeper water, beyond the shelf and further away from the coast, thus allowing an earlier detection.

16 CFR 1205.6 - Warning label for reel-type and rotary power mowers.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... cutting width of the blade as possible. However, in the absence of a suitable mounting surface near the center of the cutting width, the label shall be placed on the nearest suitable mounting surface to the...

Assessment of roadway surface conditions using vehicle-intrinsic sensors, phase II.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-06-28

Using onboard vehicle sensors to provide real-time identification of hazardous road surface conditions, such as the presence of ice, will allow drivers to receive warnings to proceed with caution on compromised road sections, thus reducing crash risk...

Warnings and Human Response in the Oroville Dam Crisis, February 2017

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sorensen, J. H.; Mileti, D. S.; Needham, J. T.

2017-12-01

On February 7, 2017, erosion was detected in the primary spillway for Oroville Dam in northern California, causing an elevated concern for the safety of downstream communities. The situation seemed stable until heavy rains on February 11 resulted in the flow of water over the emergency spillway. On February 12, erosion below the emergency spillway was observed. At 4:21 PM on February 12, the Butte County Sheriff issued an evacuation order for "low levels of Oroville and downstream areas". Counties downstream followed with evacuation warnings. The purpose of this paper is to present preliminary results of research, conducted for the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, on the Oroville event. This investigation is part of a research program designed to collect and analyze data on: 1) The timing of the decisions to order public evacuation warnings including the flow of information between engineers and geologist monitoring the hazard and local officials. 2) The method and timing of the dissemination of those warnings including the diffusion or warning by various communication channels. 3) The interpretation and response of the public to those warnings, including the timing of protective action decisions. The findings from these studies will be incorporated into risk assessment models used in assessing the impacts of dam and levee failures on a national basis.

Wireless sensor networks for heritage object deformation detection and tracking algorithm.

PubMed

Xie, Zhijun; Huang, Guangyan; Zarei, Roozbeh; He, Jing; Zhang, Yanchun; Ye, Hongwu

2014-10-31

Deformation is the direct cause of heritage object collapse. It is significant to monitor and signal the early warnings of the deformation of heritage objects. However, traditional heritage object monitoring methods only roughly monitor a simple-shaped heritage object as a whole, but cannot monitor complicated heritage objects, which may have a large number of surfaces inside and outside. Wireless sensor networks, comprising many small-sized, low-cost, low-power intelligent sensor nodes, are more useful to detect the deformation of every small part of the heritage objects. Wireless sensor networks need an effective mechanism to reduce both the communication costs and energy consumption in order to monitor the heritage objects in real time. In this paper, we provide an effective heritage object deformation detection and tracking method using wireless sensor networks (EffeHDDT). In EffeHDDT, we discover a connected core set of sensor nodes to reduce the communication cost for transmitting and collecting the data of the sensor networks. Particularly, we propose a heritage object boundary detecting and tracking mechanism. Both theoretical analysis and experimental results demonstrate that our EffeHDDT method outperforms the existing methods in terms of network traffic and the precision of the deformation detection.

Lightning studies using LDAR and LLP data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Forbes, Gregory S.

1993-01-01

This study intercompared lightning data from LDAR and LLP systems in order to learn more about the spatial relationships between thunderstorm electrical discharges aloft and lightning strikes to the surface. The ultimate goal of the study is to provide information that can be used to improve the process of real-time detection and warning of lightning by weather forecasters who issue lightning advisories. The Lightning Detection and Ranging (LDAR) System provides data on electrical discharges from thunderstorms that includes cloud-ground flashes as well as lightning aloft (within cloud, cloud-to-cloud, and sometimes emanating from cloud to clear air outside or above cloud). The Lightning Location and Protection (LLP) system detects primarily ground strikes from lightning. Thunderstorms typically produce LDAR signals aloft prior to the first ground strike, so that knowledge of preferred positions of ground strikes relative to the LDAR data pattern from a thunderstorm could allow advance estimates of enhanced ground strike threat. Studies described in the report examine the position of LLP-detected ground strikes relative to the LDAR data pattern from the thunderstorms. The report also describes other potential approaches to the use of LDAR data in the detection and forecasting of lightning ground strikes.

On the reliable use of satellite-derived surface water products for global flood monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hirpa, F. A.; Revilla-Romero, B.; Thielen, J.; Salamon, P.; Brakenridge, R.; Pappenberger, F.; de Groeve, T.

2015-12-01

Early flood warning and real-time monitoring systems play a key role in flood risk reduction and disaster response management. To this end, real-time flood forecasting and satellite-based detection systems have been developed at global scale. However, due to the limited availability of up-to-date ground observations, the reliability of these systems for real-time applications have not been assessed in large parts of the globe. In this study, we performed comparative evaluations of the commonly used satellite-based global flood detections and operational flood forecasting system using 10 major flood cases reported over three years (2012-2014). Specially, we assessed the flood detection capabilities of the near real-time global flood maps from the Global Flood Detection System (GFDS), and from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), and the operational forecasts from the Global Flood Awareness System (GloFAS) for the major flood events recorded in global flood databases. We present the evaluation results of the global flood detection and forecasting systems in terms of correctly indicating the reported flood events and highlight the exiting limitations of each system. Finally, we propose possible ways forward to improve the reliability of large scale flood monitoring tools.

Wireless Sensor Networks for Heritage Object Deformation Detection and Tracking Algorithm

PubMed Central

Xie, Zhijun; Huang, Guangyan; Zarei, Roozbeh; He, Jing; Zhang, Yanchun; Ye, Hongwu

2014-01-01

Deformation is the direct cause of heritage object collapse. It is significant to monitor and signal the early warnings of the deformation of heritage objects. However, traditional heritage object monitoring methods only roughly monitor a simple-shaped heritage object as a whole, but cannot monitor complicated heritage objects, which may have a large number of surfaces inside and outside. Wireless sensor networks, comprising many small-sized, low-cost, low-power intelligent sensor nodes, are more useful to detect the deformation of every small part of the heritage objects. Wireless sensor networks need an effective mechanism to reduce both the communication costs and energy consumption in order to monitor the heritage objects in real time. In this paper, we provide an effective heritage object deformation detection and tracking method using wireless sensor networks (EffeHDDT). In EffeHDDT, we discover a connected core set of sensor nodes to reduce the communication cost for transmitting and collecting the data of the sensor networks. Particularly, we propose a heritage object boundary detecting and tracking mechanism. Both theoretical analysis and experimental results demonstrate that our EffeHDDT method outperforms the existing methods in terms of network traffic and the precision of the deformation detection. PMID:25365458

Small-target leak detection for a closed vessel via infrared image sequences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Ling; Yang, Hongjiu

2017-03-01

This paper focus on a leak diagnosis and localization method based on infrared image sequences. Some problems on high probability of false warning and negative affect for marginal information are solved by leak detection. An experimental model is established for leak diagnosis and localization on infrared image sequences. The differential background prediction is presented to eliminate the negative affect of marginal information on test vessel based on a kernel regression method. A pipeline filter based on layering voting is designed to reduce probability of leak point false warning. A synthesize leak diagnosis and localization algorithm is proposed based on infrared image sequences. The effectiveness and potential are shown for developed techniques through experimental results.

Toward a National Early Warning System for Forest Disturbances Using Remotely Sensed Canopy Phenology

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

HargroveJr., William Walter; Spruce, Joe; Gasser, Gerry

2009-01-01

Imagine a national system with the ability to quickly identify forested areas under attack from insects or disease. Such an early warning system might minimize surprises such as the explosion of caterpillars referred to in the quotation to the left. Moderate resolution (ca. 500m) remote sensing repeated at frequent (ca. weekly) intervals could power such a monitoring system that would respond in near real-time. An ideal warning system would be national in scope, automated, able to improve its prognostic ability with experience, and would provide regular map updates online in familiar and accessible formats. Such a goal is quite ambitiousmore » - analyzing vegetation change weekly at a national scale with moderate resolution is a daunting task. The foremost challenge is discerning unusual or unexpected disturbances from the normal backdrop of seasonal and annual changes in vegetation conditions. A historical perspective is needed to define a 'baseline' for expected, normal behavior against which detected changes can be correctly interpreted. It would be necessary to combine temperature, precipitation, soils, and topographic information with the remotely sensed data to discriminate and interpret the changing vegetation conditions on the ground. Conterminous national coverage implies huge data volumes, even at a moderate resolution (250-500m), and likely requires a supercomputing capability. Finally, such a national warning system must carefully balance the rate of successful threat detection with false positives. Since 2005, the USDA Forest Service has partnered with the NASA Stennis Space Center and Oak Ridge National Laboratory to develop methods for monitoring environmental threats, including native insects and diseases, wildfire, invasive pests and pathogens, tornados, hurricanes, and hail. These tools will be instrumental in helping the Forest Service's two Environmental Threat Assessment Centers better meet their Congressional mandate to help track the health of the Nation's forests and rangelands. We envision two scales of forest monitoring: (1) a strategic, satellite-based monitoring of broad regions to identify particular locations where threats are suspected (i.e., early warning), and (2) a fine-scale, tactical tier consisting of airborne overflights and on-the-ground monitoring to check the validity of warnings from the upper tier. The tactical tier is already largely in place within the Forest Service and its State collaborators, consisting of aerial detection surveys (sketch mapping from aircraft), ground surveys, and trapping programs. However, these efforts are expensive and labor-intensive, can be dangerous, and may not provide sufficient broad-area coverage. Far from replacing the tactical tier, the national system will rely on the finer-scale efforts to confirm, validate, and attribute causes of detected forest disturbances. One important objective of the national warning system will be to help direct the focus of the tactical tier, making their efforts more cost efficient and effective.« less

Monitoring Regional Forest Disturbances across the US with near Real Time MODIS NDVI Products Resident to the ForWarn Forest Threat Early Warning System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spruce, Joseph P.; Hargrove, William W.; Gasser, Gerald

2013-01-01

Forest threats across the US have become increasingly evident in recent years. Sometimes these have resulted in regionally evident disturbance progressions (e.g., from drought, bark beetle outbreaks, and wildfires) that can occur across multiyear durations and have resulted in extensive forest overstory mortality. In addition to stand replacement disturbances, other forests are subject to ephemeral, sometimes yearly defoliation from various insects and varying types and intensities of ephemeral damage from storms. Sometimes, after prolonged severe disturbance, signs of recovery in terms of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) can occur. The growing prominence and threat of forest disturbances in part have led to the formation and implementation of the 2003 Healthy Forest Restoration Act which mandated that national forest threat early warning system be developed and deployed. In response, the US Forest Service collaborated with NASA, DOE Oakridge National Laboratory, and the USGS Eros Data Center to build and roll-out the near real time ForWarn early warning system for monitoring regionally evident forest disturbances. Given the diversity of disturbance types, severities, and durations, ForWarn employs multiple historical baselines that are used with current NDVI to derive a suite of six forest change products that are refreshed every 8 days. ForWarn employs daily quarter kilometer MODIS NDVI data from the Aqua and Terra satellites, including MOD13 data for deriving historical baseline NDVIs and eMODIS 7 NDVI for compiling current NDVI. In doing so, the Time Series Product Tool and the Phenological Parameters Estimation Tool are used to temporally de-noise, fuse, and aggregate current and historical MODIS NDVIs into 24 day composites refreshed every 8 days with 46 dates of products per year. The 24 day compositing interval enables disturbances to be detected, while minimizing the frequency of residual atmospheric contamination. Forest change products are computed versus the previous 1, previous 3, and all previous years in the MODIS record for a given 24 day interval. Other "weekly" forest change products include one computed using an adaptive length compositing method for quicker detection of disturbances, two others that adjust for seasonal fluctuations in normal vegetation phenology (e.g., early versus late springs). This overall approach enables forest disturbance dynamics from a variety of regionally evident biotic and abiotic forest disturbances to be viewed and assessed through the calendar year. The change products are also being utilized for forest change trend analysis and for developing regional forest overstory mortality products. ForWarn's forest change products are used to alert forest health specialists about new forest disturbances. Such alerts are also typically based on available Landsat, aerial, and ground data as well as communications with forest health specialists and previous experience. ForWarn products have been used to detect and track many types of regional disturbances to multiple forest types, including defoliation from caterpillars and severe storms, as well as mortality from both biotic and abiotic agents (e.g., bark beetles, drought, fire, anthropogenic clearing). ForWarn offers products that could be combined with other geospatial data on forest biomass to assess forest disturbance carbon impacts within the conterminous US.

Assessment of early warning system performance and improvements since it is in operational phase in Romania

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ionescu, Constantin; Marmureanu, Alexandru; Marmureanu, Gheorghe; Ortansa Cioflan, Carmen

2017-04-01

Earthquake represents a major natural disaster for Romanian territory. The main goal following the occurrence of a strong earthquake is to minimize the total number of fatalities. A rapid early warning system (REWS) was developed in Romania in order to provide 25-35 seconds warning time to Bucharest facilities for the earthquakes with M>5.0. The system consists of four components: a network of strong motion sensors installed in the epicentral area, a redundant communication network, an automatic analyzing system located in the Romanian Data Centre and an alert distribution system. The detection algorithm is based on the magnitude computation using strong motion data and rapid evaluation and scaling relation between the maximum P-wave acceleration measured in the epicentral area and the higher ground motion amplitude recorded in Bucharest. In order to reduce the damages caused by earthquakes, the exploitation of the up to date technology is very important. The information is the key point in the disaster management, and the internet is one of the most used instrument, implying also low costs. The Rapid Early Warning System was expanded to cover all countries affected by major earthquakes originating in the Vrancea seismic area and reduce their impact on existing installations of national interest in neighbouring Romania and elsewhere. REWS provides an efficient instrument for prevention and reaction based on the integrated system for seismic detection in South-Eastern Europe. REWS has been operational since 2013 and sends alert the authorities, hazardous facilities in Romania and Bulgaria (NPP, emergency response agencies etc.) and to public via twitter and some smartphone applications developed in the house. Also, NIEP is part of the UNESCO initiative case on developing a platform on earthquake early warning systems (IP-MEP) that aims to promote and strengthen the development of earthquake early warning systems in earthquake-prone regions of the world by sharing scientific knowledge, capacity building and international cooperation.

The effectiveness of physiologically based early warning or track and trigger systems after triage in adult patients presenting to emergency departments: a systematic review.

PubMed

Wuytack, Francesca; Meskell, Pauline; Conway, Aislinn; McDaid, Fiona; Santesso, Nancy; Hickey, Fergal G; Gillespie, Paddy; Raymakers, Adam J N; Smith, Valerie; Devane, Declan

2017-12-06

Changes to physiological parameters precede deterioration of ill patients. Early warning and track and trigger systems (TTS) use routine physiological measurements with pre-specified thresholds to identify deteriorating patients and trigger appropriate and timely escalation of care. Patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) are undiagnosed, undifferentiated and of varying acuity, yet the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of using early warning systems and TTS in this setting is unclear. We aimed to systematically review the evidence on the use, development/validation, clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of physiologically based early warning systems and TTS for the detection of deterioration in adult patients presenting to EDs. We searched for any study design in scientific databases and grey literature resources up to March 2016. Two reviewers independently screened results and conducted quality assessment. One reviewer extracted data with independent verification of 50% by a second reviewer. Only information available in English was included. Due to the heterogeneity of reporting across studies, results were synthesised narratively and in evidence tables. We identified 6397 citations of which 47 studies and 1 clinical trial registration were included. Although early warning systems are increasingly used in EDs, compliance varies. One non-randomised controlled trial found that using an early warning system in the ED may lead to a change in patient management but may not reduce adverse events; however, this is uncertain, considering the very low quality of evidence. Twenty-eight different early warning systems were developed/validated in 36 studies. There is relatively good evidence on the predictive ability of certain early warning systems on mortality and ICU/hospital admission. No health economic data were identified. Early warning systems seem to predict adverse outcomes in adult patients of varying acuity presenting to the ED but there is a lack of high quality comparative studies to examine the effect of using early warning systems on patient outcomes. Such studies should include health economics assessments.

Sinkhole monitoring and early warning: An experimental and successful GB-InSAR application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Intrieri, Emanuele; Gigli, Giovanni; Nocentini, Massimiliano; Lombardi, Luca; Mugnai, Francesco; Fidolini, Francesco; Casagli, Nicola

2015-07-01

Sinkholes represent a natural risk that may hit catastrophically without clearly detectible precursors. However, they are often overlooked by people and administrators. Therefore sinkhole monitoring and associated early warnings constitute important research topics but, currently, only a few papers about sinkhole prediction can be found. In this paper an experience of sinkhole monitoring and early warning with GB-InSAR is described. The latter is a highly precise instrument that is able to produce displacement maps with metric spatial resolution. The described activities were carried out on Elba Island (central Italy), where karstified limestone set off the occurrence of nine sinkholes since 2008, all within less than 3000 m2, causing major damage to an important road and many indirect losses. In 1 year of monitoring two deforming areas were detected, and the point where a sinkhole was about to propagate to the street level was predicted, thus permitting the preventive closure of the road. The deformation area was larger than the hole generated by the sinkhole, thus showing a subsidence that continued for a prolonged time even after the cavity was filled up. The occurrence of a 1.5-m-wide sinkhole, undetected by the GB-InSAR, also showed the lower detection limit of the instrument.

The analysis of behavior in orbit GSS two series of US early-warning system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sukhov, P. P.; Epishev, V. P.; Sukhov, K. P.; Motrunych, I. I.

2016-09-01

Satellites Early Warning System Series class SBIRS US Air Force must replace on GEO early series DSP Series. During 2014-2016 the authors received more than 30 light curves "DSP-18 and "Sbirs-Geo 2". The analysis of the behavior of these satellites in orbit by a coordinate and photometric data. It is shown that for the monitoring of the Earth's surface is enough to place GEO 4 unit SBIRS across 90 deg.

An electrophysiological study of the impact of a Forward Collision Warning System in a simulator driving task.

PubMed

Bueno, Mercedes; Fabrigoule, Colette; Deleurence, Philippe; Ndiaye, Daniel; Fort, Alexandra

2012-08-27

Driver distraction has been identified as the most important contributing factor in rear-end collisions. In this context, Forward Collision Warning Systems (FCWS) have been developed specifically to warn drivers of potential rear-end collisions. The main objective of this work is to evaluate the impact of a surrogate FCWS and of its reliability according to the driver's attentional state by recording both behavioral and electrophysiological data. Participants drove following a lead motorcycle in a simplified simulator with or without a warning system which gave forewarning of the preceding vehicle braking. Participants had to perform this driving task either alone (simple task) or simultaneously with a secondary cognitive task (dual task). Behavioral and electrophysiological data contributed to revealing a positive effect of the warning system. Participants were faster in detecting the brake light when the system was perfect or imperfect, and the time and attentional resources allocation required for processing the target at higher cognitive level were reduced when the system was completely reliable. When both tasks were performed simultaneously, warning effectiveness was considerably affected at both performance and neural levels; however, the analysis of the brain activity revealed fewer differences between distracted and undistracted drivers when using the warning system. These results show that electrophysiological data could be a valuable tool to complement behavioral data and to have a better understanding of how these systems impact the driver. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Early warning signals of regime shifts in coupled human–environment systems

PubMed Central

Bauch, Chris T.; Sigdel, Ram; Pharaon, Joe; Anand, Madhur

2016-01-01

In complex systems, a critical transition is a shift in a system’s dynamical regime from its current state to a strongly contrasting state as external conditions move beyond a tipping point. These transitions are often preceded by characteristic early warning signals such as increased system variability. However, early warning signals in complex, coupled human–environment systems (HESs) remain little studied. Here, we compare critical transitions and their early warning signals in a coupled HES model to an equivalent environment model uncoupled from the human system. We parameterize the HES model, using social and ecological data from old-growth forests in Oregon. We find that the coupled HES exhibits a richer variety of dynamics and regime shifts than the uncoupled environment system. Moreover, the early warning signals in the coupled HES can be ambiguous, heralding either an era of ecosystem conservationism or collapse of both forest ecosystems and conservationism. The presence of human feedback in the coupled HES can also mitigate the early warning signal, making it more difficult to detect the oncoming regime shift. We furthermore show how the coupled HES can be “doomed to criticality”: Strategic human interactions cause the system to remain perpetually in the vicinity of a collapse threshold, as humans become complacent when the resource seems protected but respond rapidly when it is under immediate threat. We conclude that the opportunities, benefits, and challenges of modeling regime shifts and early warning signals in coupled HESs merit further research. PMID:27815533

The reliability and effectiveness of an electromagnetic animal detection and driver warning system.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-03-01

"This report contains data on the reliability and effectiveness of an animal detection system project along US Hwy 160 : between Durango and Bayfield, Colorado. The system that was first installed was a Perimitrax system from Senstar : Corporation....

Solar-blind ultraviolet optical system design for missile warning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Yu; Huo, Furong; Zheng, Liqin

2015-03-01

Solar-blind region of Ultraviolet (UV) spectrum has very important application in military field. The spectrum range is from 240nm to 280nm, which can be applied to detect the tail flame from approaching missile. A solar-blind UV optical system is designed to detect the UV radiation, which is an energy system. iKon-L 936 from ANDOR company is selected as the UV detector, which has pixel size 13.5μm x 13.5 μm and active image area 27.6mm x 27.6 mm. CaF2 and F_silica are the chosen materials. The original structure is composed of 6 elements. To reduce the system structure and improve image quality, two aspheric surfaces and one diffractive optical element are adopted in this paper. After optimization and normalization, the designed system is composed of five elements with the maximum spot size 11.988μ m, which is less than the pixel size of the selected CCD detector. Application of aspheric surface and diffractive optical element makes each FOV have similar spot size, which shows the system almost meets the requirements of isoplanatic condition. If the focal length can be decreased, the FOV of the system can be enlarged further.

Flash flood warnings for ungauged basins based on high-resolution precipitation forecasts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Demargne, Julie; Javelle, Pierre; Organde, Didier; de Saint Aubin, Céline; Janet, Bruno

2016-04-01

Early detection of flash floods, which are typically triggered by severe rainfall events, is still challenging due to large meteorological and hydrologic uncertainties at the spatial and temporal scales of interest. Also the rapid rising of waters necessarily limits the lead time of warnings to alert communities and activate effective emergency procedures. To better anticipate such events and mitigate their impacts, the French national service in charge of flood forecasting (SCHAPI) is implementing a national flash flood warning system for small-to-medium (up to 1000 km²) ungauged basins based on a discharge-threshold flood warning method called AIGA (Javelle et al. 2014). The current deterministic AIGA system has been run in real-time in the South of France since 2005 and has been tested in the RHYTMME project (rhytmme.irstea.fr/). It ingests the operational radar-gauge QPE grids from Météo-France to run a simplified hourly distributed hydrologic model at a 1-km² resolution every 15 minutes. This produces real-time peak discharge estimates along the river network, which are subsequently compared to regionalized flood frequency estimates to provide warnings according to the AIGA-estimated return period of the ongoing event. The calibration and regionalization of the hydrologic model has been recently enhanced for implementing the national flash flood warning system for the entire French territory by 2016. To further extend the effective warning lead time, the flash flood warning system is being enhanced to ingest Météo-France's AROME-NWC high-resolution precipitation nowcasts. The AROME-NWC system combines the most recent available observations with forecasts from the nowcasting version of the AROME convection-permitting model (Auger et al. 2015). AROME-NWC pre-operational deterministic precipitation forecasts, produced every hour at a 2.5-km resolution for a 6-hr forecast horizon, were provided for 3 significant rain events in September and November 2014 and ingested as time-lagged ensembles. The time-lagged approach is a practical choice of accounting for the atmospheric forecast uncertainty when no extensive forecast archive is available for statistical modelling. The evaluation on 185 basins in the South of France showed significant improvements in terms of flash flood event detection and effective warning lead-time, compared to warnings from the current AIGA setup (without any future precipitation). Various verification metrics (e.g., Relative Mean Error, Brier Skill Score) show the skill of ensemble precipitation and flow forecasts compared to single-valued persistency benchmarks. Planned enhancements include integrating additional probabilistic NWP products (e.g., AROME precipitation ensembles on longer forecast horizon), accounting for and reducing hydrologic uncertainties from the model parameters and initial conditions via data assimilation, and developing a comprehensive observational and post-event damage database to determine decision-relevant warning thresholds for flood magnitude and probability. Javelle, P., Demargne, J., Defrance, D., Arnaud, P., 2014. Evaluating flash flood warnings at ungauged locations using post-event surveys: a case study with the AIGA warning system. Hydrological Sciences Journal, doi: 10.1080/02626667.2014.923970 Auger, L., Dupont, O., Hagelin, S., Brousseau, P., Brovelli, P., 2015. AROME-NWC: a new nowcasting tool based on an operational mesoscale forecasting system. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, 141: 1603-1611, doi: 10.1002/qj.2463

ADVICE: A New Approach for Near-Real-Time Monitoring of Surface Displacements in Landslide Hazard Scenarios

PubMed Central

Allasia, Paolo; Manconi, Andrea; Giordan, Daniele; Baldo, Marco; Lollino, Giorgio

2013-01-01

We present a new method for near-real-time monitoring of surface displacements due to landslide phenomena, namely ADVanced dIsplaCement monitoring system for Early warning (ADVICE). The procedure includes: (i) data acquisition and transfer protocols; (ii) data collection, filtering, and validation; (iii) data analysis and restitution through a set of dedicated software; (iv) recognition of displacement/velocity threshold, early warning messages via SMS and/or emails; (v) automatic publication of the results on a dedicated webpage. We show how the system evolved and the results obtained by applying ADVICE over three years into a real early warning scenario relevant to a large earthflow located in southern Italy. ADVICE has speed-up and facilitated the understanding of the landslide phenomenon, the communication of the monitoring results to the partners, and consequently the decision-making process in a critical scenario. Our work might have potential applications not only for landslide monitoring but also in other contexts, as monitoring of other geohazards and of complex infrastructures, as open-pit mines, buildings, dams, etc. PMID:23807688

ADVICE: a new approach for near-real-time monitoring of surface displacements in landslide hazard scenarios.

PubMed

Allasia, Paolo; Manconi, Andrea; Giordan, Daniele; Baldo, Marco; Lollino, Giorgio

2013-06-27

We present a new method for near-real-time monitoring of surface displacements due to landslide phenomena, namely ADVanced dIsplaCement monitoring system for Early warning (ADVICE). The procedure includes: (i) data acquisition and transfer protocols; (ii) data collection, filtering, and validation; (iii) data analysis and restitution through a set of dedicated software; (iv) recognition of displacement/velocity threshold, early warning messages via SMS and/or emails; (v) automatic publication of the results on a dedicated webpage. We show how the system evolved and the results obtained by applying ADVICE over three years into a real early warning scenario relevant to a large earthflow located in southern Italy. ADVICE has speed-up and facilitated the understanding of the landslide phenomenon, the communication of the monitoring results to the partners, and consequently the decision-making process in a critical scenario. Our work might have potential applications not only for landslide monitoring but also in other contexts, as monitoring of other geohazards and of complex infrastructures, as open-pit mines, buildings, dams, etc.

Uncooled infrared sensors for an integrated sniper location system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spera, Timothy J.; Figler, Burton D.

1997-02-01

Since July of 1995, Lockheed Martin IR Imaging Systems of Lexington, Massachusetts has been developing an integrated sniper location system for the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) and for the Department of the Navy's Naval Command Control & Ocean Surveillance Center, RDTE Division in San Diego, California. This system integrates two technologies to provide an affordable and highly effective sniper detection and location capability. The integrated sniper location system is being developed for use by the military and by law enforcement agencies. It will be man portable and can be used by individuals, at fixed ground sites, on ground vehicles, and on low flying aircraft. The integrated sniper location system combines an acoustic warning system with an uncooled infrared warning system. The acoustic warner is being developed by SenTech, Inc. of Lexington, Massachusetts. This acoustic warner provides sniper detection and coarse location information based upon the muzzle blast of the sniper's weapon and/or upon the shock wave produced by the sniper's bullet, if the bullet is supersonic. The uncooled infrared warning system provides sniper detection and fine location information based upon the weapons's muzzle flash. Combining the two technologies improves detection probability and reduces false alarm rate. This paper describes the integrated sniper location system, focusing on the uncooled infrared sensor and its associated signal processing. In addition, preliminary results from Phase I testing of the system are presented. Finally, the paper addresses the plans for implementing Phases II and III, during which the system will be optimized in terms of detection and location performance, size, weight, power, and cost.

Signature-forecasting and early outbreak detection system

PubMed Central

Naumova, Elena N.; MacNeill, Ian B.

2008-01-01

SUMMARY Daily disease monitoring via a public health surveillance system provides valuable information on population risks. Efficient statistical tools for early detection of rapid changes in the disease incidence are a must for modern surveillance. The need for statistical tools for early detection of outbreaks that are not based on historical information is apparent. A system is discussed for monitoring cases of infections with a view to early detection of outbreaks and to forecasting the extent of detected outbreaks. We propose a set of adaptive algorithms for early outbreak detection that does not rely on extensive historical recording. We also include knowledge of infection disease epidemiology into forecasts. To demonstrate this system we use data from the largest water-borne outbreak of cryptosporidiosis, which occurred in Milwaukee in 1993. Historical data are smoothed using a loess-type smoother. Upon receipt of a new datum, the smoothing is updated and estimates are made of the first two derivatives of the smooth curve, and these are used for near-term forecasting. Recent data and the near-term forecasts are used to compute a color-coded warning index, which quantify the level of concern. The algorithms for computing the warning index have been designed to balance Type I errors (false prediction of an epidemic) and Type II errors (failure to correctly predict an epidemic). If the warning index signals a sufficiently high probability of an epidemic, then a forecast of the possible size of the outbreak is made. This longer term forecast is made by fitting a ‘signature’ curve to the available data. The effectiveness of the forecast depends upon the extent to which the signature curve captures the shape of outbreaks of the infection under consideration. PMID:18716671

An assessment of a North American Multi-Model Ensemble (NMME) based global drought early warning forecast system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wood, E. F.; Yuan, X.; Sheffield, J.; Pan, M.; Roundy, J.

2013-12-01

One of the key recommendations of the WCRP Global Drought Information System (GDIS) workshop is to develop an experimental real-time global monitoring and prediction system. While great advances has been made in global drought monitoring based on satellite observations and model reanalysis data, global drought forecasting has been stranded in part due to the limited skill both in climate forecast models and global hydrologic predictions. Having been working on drought monitoring and forecasting over USA for more than a decade, the Princeton land surface hydrology group is now developing an experimental global drought early warning system that is based on multiple climate forecast models and a calibrated global hydrologic model. In this presentation, we will test its capability in seasonal forecasting of meteorological, agricultural and hydrologic droughts over global major river basins, using precipitation, soil moisture and streamflow forecasts respectively. Based on the joint probability distribution between observations using Princeton's global drought monitoring system and model hindcasts and real-time forecasts from North American Multi-Model Ensemble (NMME) project, we (i) bias correct the monthly precipitation and temperature forecasts from multiple climate forecast models, (ii) downscale them to a daily time scale, and (iii) use them to drive the calibrated VIC model to produce global drought forecasts at a 1-degree resolution. A parallel run using the ESP forecast method, which is based on resampling historical forcings, is also carried out for comparison. Analysis is being conducted over global major river basins, with multiple drought indices that have different time scales and characteristics. The meteorological drought forecast does not have uncertainty from hydrologic models and can be validated directly against observations - making the validation an 'apples-to-apples' comparison. Preliminary results for the evaluation of meteorological drought onset hindcasts indicate that climate models increase drought detectability over ESP by 31%-81%. However, less than 30% of the global drought onsets can be detected by climate models. The missed drought events are associated with weak ENSO signals and lower potential predictability. Due to the high false alarms from climate models, the reliability is more important than sharpness for a skillful probabilistic drought onset forecast. Validations and skill assessments for agricultural and hydrologic drought forecasts are carried out using soil moisture and streamflow output from the VIC land surface model (LSM) forced by a global forcing data set. Given our previous drought forecasting experiences over USA and Africa, validating the hydrologic drought forecasting is a significant challenge for a global drought early warning system.

Implementation of the NEAMTWS in Portugal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matias, L. M.; Annunziato, A.; Carrilho, F.; Baptista, M.

2008-12-01

In this paper we present the ongoing implementation of a national tsunami warning system in Portugal. After the Sumatra event in December 2004, the UNESCO, through its International Oceanographic Commission, recognized the need for an end to end global tsunami warning system and International Coordination Groups have been established for different areas around the globe: Indian, Caribbean, Atlantic and Mediterranean ocean basins. This system is the natural response to the historical and recent instrumental events generated along the western segment of the Eurasia and Nubian plates, which eastern end corresponds to the Gulf of Cadiz. The TWS includes three main components: the seismic detection, the tsunami detection and the issue of warnings/alerts. In Portugal the automatic earthquake processing is installed at IM (Instituto de Meteorologia) which is the only national institution operating on a 24x7 basis. This makes IM the natural candidate to host the Portuguese tsunami warning system. The TWS under implementation has several key points: definition of the tsunami scenarios, tsunami detection, and tsunami protocol messages. The system will also be able to predict tsunami potential impact along the coast, wave-heights and arrival times at pre-defined locations along the coast. In this study we present the recent results on definition of tsunami scenarios, establishment of the scenario database and the tsunami analysis tool. This work is a joint effort between Instituto de Meteorologia (Portugal), the Joint Research Center, JRC- ISPRA, Italy and the coordination of the Portuguese Group for the implementation of NEAMTWS in the area. This work has been financed by different European projects as NEAREST and TRANSFER, and also by the JRC, the IM and CGUL/IDL institutions.

Devising a method towards development of early warning tool for detection of malaria outbreak.

PubMed

Verma, Preeti; Sarkar, Soma; Singh, Poonam; Dhiman, Ramesh C

2017-11-01

Uncertainty often arises in differentiating seasonal variation from outbreaks of malaria. The present study was aimed to generalize the theoretical structure of sine curve for detecting an outbreak so that a tool for early warning of malaria may be developed. A 'case/mean-ratio scale' system was devised for labelling the outbreak in respect of two diverse districts of Assam and Rajasthan. A curve-based method of analysis was developed for determining outbreak and using the properties of sine curve. It could be used as an early warning tool for Plasmodium falciparum malaria outbreaks. In the present method of analysis, the critical C max (peak value of sine curve) value of seasonally adjusted curve for P. falciparum malaria outbreak was 2.3 for Karbi Anglong and 2.2 for Jaisalmer districts. On case/mean-ratio scale, the C max value of malaria curve between C max and 3.5, the outbreak could be labelled as minor while >3.5 may be labelled as major. In epidemic years, with mean of case/mean ratio of ≥1.00 and root mean square (RMS) ≥1.504 of case/mean ratio, outbreaks can be predicted 1-2 months in advance. The present study showed that in P. falciparum cases in Karbi Anglong (Assam) and Jaisalmer (Rajasthan) districts, the rise in C max value of curve was always followed by rise in average/RMS or both and hence could be used as an early warning tool. The present method provides better detection of outbreaks than the conventional method of mean plus two standard deviation (mean+2 SD). The identified tools are simple and may be adopted for preparedness of malaria outbreaks.

Power line detection system

DOEpatents

Latorre, V.R.; Watwood, D.B.

1994-09-27

A short-range, radio frequency (RF) transmitting-receiving system that provides both visual and audio warnings to the pilot of a helicopter or light aircraft of an up-coming power transmission line complex. Small, milliwatt-level narrowband transmitters, powered by the transmission line itself, are installed on top of selected transmission line support towers or within existing warning balls, and provide a continuous RF signal to approaching aircraft. The on-board receiver can be either a separate unit or a portion of the existing avionics, and can also share an existing antenna with another airborne system. Upon receipt of a warning signal, the receiver will trigger a visual and an audio alarm to alert the pilot to the potential power line hazard. 4 figs.

MyShake - A smartphone app to detect earthquake

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kong, Q.; Allen, R. M.; Schreier, L.; Kwon, Y. W.

2015-12-01

We designed an android app that harnesses the accelerometers in personal smartphones to record earthquake-shaking data for research, hazard information and warnings. The app has the function to distinguish earthquake shakings from daily human activities based on the different patterns behind the movements. It also can be triggered by the traditional earthquake early warning (EEW) system to record for a certain amount of time to collect earthquake data. When the app is triggered by the earthquake-like movements, it sends the trigger information back to our server which contains time and location of the trigger, at the same time, it stores the waveform data on local phone first, and upload to our server later. Trigger information from multiple phones will be processed in real time on the server to find the coherent signal to confirm the earthquakes. Therefore, the app provides the basis to form a smartphone seismic network that can detect earthquake and even provide warnings. A planned public roll-out of MyShake could collect millions of seismic recordings for large earthquakes in many regions around the world.

How to select a proper early warning threshold to detect infectious disease outbreaks based on the China infectious disease automated alert and response system (CIDARS).

PubMed

Wang, Ruiping; Jiang, Yonggen; Michael, Engelgau; Zhao, Genming

2017-06-12

China Centre for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) developed the China Infectious Disease Automated Alert and Response System (CIDARS) in 2005. The CIDARS was used to strengthen infectious disease surveillance and aid in the early warning of outbreak. The CIDARS has been integrated into the routine outbreak monitoring efforts of the CDC at all levels in China. Early warning threshold is crucial for outbreak detection in the CIDARS, but CDCs at all level are currently using thresholds recommended by the China CDC, and these recommended thresholds have recognized limitations. Our study therefore seeks to explore an operational method to select the proper early warning threshold according to the epidemic features of local infectious diseases. The data used in this study were extracted from the web-based Nationwide Notifiable Infectious Diseases Reporting Information System (NIDRIS), and data for infectious disease cases were organized by calendar week (1-52) and year (2009-2015) in Excel format; Px was calculated using a percentile-based moving window (moving window [5 week*5 year], x), where x represents one of 12 centiles (0.40, 0.45, 0.50….0.95). Outbreak signals for the 12 Px were calculated using the moving percentile method (MPM) based on data from the CIDARS. When the outbreak signals generated by the 'mean + 2SD' gold standard were in line with a Px generated outbreak signal for each week during the year of 2014, this Px was then defined as the proper threshold for the infectious disease. Finally, the performance of new selected thresholds for each infectious disease was evaluated by simulated outbreak signals based on 2015 data. Six infectious diseases were selected in this study (chickenpox, mumps, hand foot and mouth diseases (HFMD), scarlet fever, influenza and rubella). Proper thresholds for chickenpox (P75), mumps (P80), influenza (P75), rubella (P45), HFMD (P75), and scarlet fever (P80) were identified. The selected proper thresholds for these 6 infectious diseases could detect almost all simulated outbreaks within a shorter time period compared to thresholds recommended by the China CDC. It is beneficial to select the proper early warning threshold to detect infectious disease aberrations based on characteristics and epidemic features of local diseases in the CIDARS.

Packaging: a grounded theory of how to report physiological deterioration effectively.

PubMed

Andrews, Tom; Waterman, Heather

2005-12-01

The aim of this paper is to present a study of how ward-based staff use vital signs and the Early Warning Score to package physiological deterioration effectively to ensure successful referral to doctors. The literature tends to emphasize the identification of premonitory signs in predicting physiological deterioration. However, these signs lack sensitivity and specificity, and there is evidence that nurses rely on subjective and subtle indicators. The Early Warning Score was developed for the early detection of deterioration and has been widely implemented, with various modifications. The data reported here form part of a larger study investigating the practical problems faced by general ward staff in detecting physiological deterioration. During 2002, interviews and observations were carried out using a grounded theory approach, and a total of 44 participants were interviewed (30 nurses, 7 doctors and 7 health care support workers). Participants reported that quantifiable evidence is the most effective means of referring patients to doctors, and the Early Warning Score achieves this by improving communication between professionals. Rather than reporting changes in individual vital signs, the Early Warning Score effectively packages them together, resulting in a much more convincing referral. It gives nurses a precise, concise and unambiguous means of communicating deterioration, and confidence in using medical language. Thus, nurses are empowered and doctors can focus quickly on identified problems. The Early Warning Score leads to successful referral of patients by providing an agreed framework for assessment, increasing confidence in the use of medical language and empowering nurses. It is essential that nurses and nursing students are supported in its use and in developing confidence in using medical language by continued emphasis on physiology and pathophysiology in the nursing curriculum.

Experiences integrating autonomous components and legacy systems into tsunami early warning systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reißland, S.; Herrnkind, S.; Guenther, M.; Babeyko, A.; Comoglu, M.; Hammitzsch, M.

2012-04-01

Fostered by and embedded in the general development of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) the evolution of Tsunami Early Warning Systems (TEWS) shows a significant development from seismic-centred to multi-sensor system architectures using additional sensors, e.g. sea level stations for the detection of tsunami waves and GPS stations for the detection of ground displacements. Furthermore, the design and implementation of a robust and scalable service infrastructure supporting the integration and utilisation of existing resources serving near real-time data not only includes sensors but also other components and systems offering services such as the delivery of feasible simulations used for forecasting in an imminent tsunami threat. In the context of the development of the German Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System (GITEWS) and the project Distant Early Warning System (DEWS) a service platform for both sensor integration and warning dissemination has been newly developed and demonstrated. In particular, standards of the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) and the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS) have been successfully incorporated. In the project Collaborative, Complex, and Critical Decision-Support in Evolving Crises (TRIDEC) new developments are used to extend the existing platform to realise a component-based technology framework for building distributed TEWS. This talk will describe experiences made in GITEWS, DEWS and TRIDEC while integrating legacy stand-alone systems and newly developed special-purpose software components into TEWS using different software adapters and communication strategies to make the systems work together in a corporate infrastructure. The talk will also cover task management and data conversion between the different systems. Practical approaches and software solutions for the integration of sensors, e.g. providing seismic and sea level data, and utilisation of special-purpose components, such as simulation systems, in TEWS will be presented.

Vital signs and other observations used to detect deterioration in pregnant women: an analysis of vital sign charts in consultant-led UK maternity units.

PubMed

Smith, G B; Isaacs, R; Andrews, L; Wee, M Y K; van Teijlingen, E; Bick, D E; Hundley, V

2017-05-01

Obstetric early warning systems are recommended for monitoring hospitalised pregnant and postnatal women. We decided to compare: (i) vital sign values used to define physiological normality; (ii) symptoms and signs used to escalate care; (iii) type of chart used; and (iv) presence of explicit instructions for escalating care. One-hundred-and-twenty obstetric early warning charts and escalation protocols were obtained from consultant-led maternity units in the UK and Channel Islands. These data were extracted: values used to determine normality for each maternal vital sign; chart colour-coding; instructions following early warning system triggering; other criteria used as triggers. There was considerable variation in the charts, warning systems and escalation protocols. Of 120 charts, 89.2% used colour; 69.2% used colour-coded escalation systems. Forty-one (34.2%) systems required the calculation of weighted scores. Seventy-five discrete combinations of 'normal' vital sign ranges were found, the most common being: heart rate=50-99beats/min; respiratory rate=11-20breaths/min; blood pressure, systolic=100-149mmHg, diastolic ≤89mmHg; SpO 2 =95-100%; temperature=36.0-37.9°C; and Alert-Voice-Pain-Unresponsive assessment=Alert. Most charts (90.8%) provided instructions about who to contact following triggering, but only 41.7% gave instructions about subsequent observation frequency. The wide range of 'normal' vital sign values in different systems suggests a lack of equity in the processes for detecting deterioration and escalating care in hospitalised pregnant and postnatal women. Agreement regarding 'normal' vital sign ranges is urgently required and would assist the development of a standardised obstetric early warning system and chart. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ultrasound for non-invasive fluid droplet detection inside a sealed container

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Glass, S. W.; Good, M. S.; Roy, S.; Luzi, F.

2017-02-01

Ultrasound has long been known to be capable of measuring water level. Zero-degree ultrasound transducers may be used to send an L-wave through the fluid and receive a reflected signal from the fluid/gas interface surface. The level of the fluid is proportional to the sound wave time of flight to traverse the water path. This approach may even be used from outside the fluid containment wall by sending the wave through the tank or pipe bottom. The approach, however, does not work well if there is only a thin layer of fluid consisting of one or two millimeters or even only a few droplets. Surface waves are also known to be sensitive to the presence or absence of fluid on a surface. A surface wave may be transmitted a significant distance by a transmitting transducer and then received by a similar transducer. If the surface along the wave path is wet with even a few droplets of fluid, the surface wave may be significantly attenuated. Generating and measuring such a surface wave from the opposite side of a tank or pipe containment wall and separating the near-wall surface wave from the far-wall surface wave, however, is more challenging. The feasibility of an approach for producing a surface wave on the opposite side of a steel plate to sense the presence or absence of fluid is discussed. This approach is supported by 2-D finite element modeling of the measurement configuration and by empirical demonstration of the technique's sensitivity. This technique was developed for measurement of a very small amount of fluid that may condense within a used nuclear fuel canister after it cools for several years. Early detection of fluid would provide advance warning of potential degradation to internal components in time for mitigation or management of the waste inside that container. Other potential applications include non-intrusive detection of trace liquids within any sealed container, within inaccessible plena of aircrafts or within other inaccessible complex welded skin structures.

Towards an Automated Acoustic Detection System for Free Ranging Elephants.

PubMed

Zeppelzauer, Matthias; Hensman, Sean; Stoeger, Angela S

The human-elephant conflict is one of the most serious conservation problems in Asia and Africa today. The involuntary confrontation of humans and elephants claims the lives of many animals and humans every year. A promising approach to alleviate this conflict is the development of an acoustic early warning system. Such a system requires the robust automated detection of elephant vocalizations under unconstrained field conditions. Today, no system exists that fulfills these requirements. In this paper, we present a method for the automated detection of elephant vocalizations that is robust to the diverse noise sources present in the field. We evaluate the method on a dataset recorded under natural field conditions to simulate a real-world scenario. The proposed method outperformed existing approaches and robustly and accurately detected elephants. It thus can form the basis for a future automated early warning system for elephants. Furthermore, the method may be a useful tool for scientists in bioacoustics for the study of wildlife recordings.

Effect of additional warning sounds on pedestrians' detection of electric vehicles: An ecological approach.

PubMed

Fleury, Sylvain; Jamet, Éric; Roussarie, Vincent; Bosc, Laure; Chamard, Jean-Christophe

2016-12-01

Virtually silent electric vehicles (EVs) may pose a risk for pedestrians. This paper describes two studies that were conducted to assess the influence of different types of external sounds on EV detectability. In the first study, blindfolded participants had to detect an approaching EV with either no warning sounds at all or one of three types of sound we tested. In the second study, designed to replicate the results of the first one in an ecological setting, the EV was driven along a road and the experimenters counted the number of people who turned their heads in its direction. Results of the first study showed that adding external sounds improve EV detection, and modulating the frequency and increasing the pitch of these sounds makes them more effective. This improvement was confirmed in the ecological context. Consequently, pitch variation and frequency modulation should both be taken into account in future AVAS design. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

APDS: Autonomous Pathogen Detection System

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Langlois, R G; Brown, S; Burris, L

An early warning system to counter bioterrorism, the Autonomous Pathogen Detection System (APDS) continuously monitors the environment for the presence of biological pathogens (e.g., anthrax) and once detected, it sounds an alarm much like a smoke detector warns of a fire. Long before September 11, 2001, this system was being developed to protect domestic venues and events including performing arts centers, mass transit systems, major sporting and entertainment events, and other high profile situations in which the public is at risk of becoming a target of bioterrorist attacks. Customizing off-the-shelf components and developing new components, a multidisciplinary team developed APDS,more » a stand-alone system for rapid, continuous monitoring of multiple airborne biological threat agents in the environment. The completely automated APDS samples the air, prepares fluid samples in-line, and performs two orthogonal tests: immunoassay and nucleic acid detection. When compared to competing technologies, APDS is unprecedented in terms of flexibility and system performance.« less

Using natural archives to detect climate and environmental tipping points in the Earth System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thomas, Zoë A.

2016-11-01

'Tipping points' in the Earth system are characterised by a nonlinear response to gradual forcing, and may have severe and wide-ranging impacts. Many abrupt events result from simple underlying system dynamics termed 'critical transitions' or 'bifurcations'. One of the best ways to identify and potentially predict threshold behaviour in the climate system is through analysis of natural ('palaeo') archives. Specifically, on the approach to a tipping point, early warning signals can be detected as characteristic fluctuations in a time series as a system loses stability. Testing whether these early warning signals can be detected in highly complex real systems is a key challenge, since much work is either theoretical or only tested with simple models. This is particularly problematic in palaeoclimate and palaeoenvironmental records with low resolution, non-equidistant data, which can limit accurate analysis. Here, a range of different datasets are examined to explore generic rules that can be used to detect such dramatic events. A number of key criteria are identified to be necessary for the reliable identification of early warning signals in natural archives, most crucially, the need for a low-noise record of sufficient data length, resolution and accuracy. A deeper understanding of the underlying system dynamics is required to inform the development of more robust system-specific indicators, or to indicate the temporal resolution required, given a known forcing. This review demonstrates that time series precursors from natural archives provide a powerful means of forewarning tipping points within the Earth System.

77 FR 35471 - National Environmental Policy Act Implementation

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-06-13

... designed to promote transportation safety, security, accessibility, communication or operational efficiency... surface treatments or pavement markings, small passenger shelters, railroad warning devices, train control...

A Cardiac Early Warning System with Multi Channel SCG and ECG Monitoring for Mobile Health

PubMed Central

Sahoo, Prasan Kumar; Thakkar, Hiren Kumar; Lee, Ming-Yih

2017-01-01

Use of information and communication technology such as smart phone, smart watch, smart glass and portable health monitoring devices for healthcare services has made Mobile Health (mHealth) an emerging research area. Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) is considered as a leading cause of death world wide and an increasing number of people die prematurely due to CHD. Under such circumstances, there is a growing demand for a reliable cardiac monitoring system to catch the intermittent abnormalities and detect critical cardiac behaviors which lead to sudden death. Use of mobile devices to collect Electrocardiography (ECG), Seismocardiography (SCG) data and efficient analysis of those data can monitor a patient’s cardiac activities for early warning. This paper presents a novel cardiac data acquisition method and combined analysis of Electrocardiography (ECG) and multi channel Seismocardiography (SCG) data. An early warning system is implemented to monitor the cardiac activities of a person and accuracy assessment of the early warning system is conducted for the ECG data only. The assessment shows 88% accuracy and effectiveness of our proposed analysis, which implies the viability and applicability of the proposed early warning system. PMID:28353681

A Cardiac Early Warning System with Multi Channel SCG and ECG Monitoring for Mobile Health.

PubMed

Sahoo, Prasan Kumar; Thakkar, Hiren Kumar; Lee, Ming-Yih

2017-03-29

Use of information and communication technology such as smart phone, smart watch, smart glass and portable health monitoring devices for healthcare services has made Mobile Health (mHealth) an emerging research area. Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) is considered as a leading cause of death world wide and an increasing number of people die prematurely due to CHD. Under such circumstances, there is a growing demand for a reliable cardiac monitoring system to catch the intermittent abnormalities and detect critical cardiac behaviors which lead to sudden death. Use of mobile devices to collect Electrocardiography (ECG), Seismocardiography (SCG) data and efficient analysis of those data can monitor a patient's cardiac activities for early warning. This paper presents a novel cardiac data acquisition method and combined analysis of Electrocardiography (ECG) and multi channel Seismocardiography (SCG) data. An early warning system is implemented to monitor the cardiac activities of a person and accuracy assessment of the early warning system is conducted for the ECG data only. The assessment shows 88% accuracy and effectiveness of our proposed analysis, which implies the viability and applicability of the proposed early warning system.

Real-Time Detection of Rupture Development: Earthquake Early Warning Using P Waves From Growing Ruptures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kodera, Yuki

2018-01-01

Large earthquakes with long rupture durations emit P wave energy throughout the rupture period. Incorporating late-onset P waves into earthquake early warning (EEW) algorithms could contribute to robust predictions of strong ground motion. Here I describe a technique to detect in real time P waves from growing ruptures to improve the timeliness of an EEW algorithm based on seismic wavefield estimation. The proposed P wave detector, which employs a simple polarization analysis, successfully detected P waves from strong motion generation areas of the 2011 Mw 9.0 Tohoku-oki earthquake rupture. An analysis using 23 large (M ≥ 7) events from Japan confirmed that seismic intensity predictions based on the P wave detector significantly increased lead times without appreciably decreasing the prediction accuracy. P waves from growing ruptures, being one of the fastest carriers of information on ongoing rupture development, have the potential to improve the performance of EEW systems.

Faster Detection of Poliomyelitis Outbreaks to Support Polio Eradication

PubMed Central

Chenoweth, Paul; Okayasu, Hiro; Donnelly, Christl A.; Aylward, R. Bruce; Grassly, Nicholas C.

2016-01-01

As the global eradication of poliomyelitis approaches the final stages, prompt detection of new outbreaks is critical to enable a fast and effective outbreak response. Surveillance relies on reporting of acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) cases and laboratory confirmation through isolation of poliovirus from stool. However, delayed sample collection and testing can delay outbreak detection. We investigated whether weekly testing for clusters of AFP by location and time, using the Kulldorff scan statistic, could provide an early warning for outbreaks in 20 countries. A mixed-effects regression model was used to predict background rates of nonpolio AFP at the district level. In Tajikistan and Congo, testing for AFP clusters would have resulted in an outbreak warning 39 and 11 days, respectively, before official confirmation of large outbreaks. This method has relatively high specificity and could be integrated into the current polio information system to support rapid outbreak response activities. PMID:26890053

Faster Detection of Poliomyelitis Outbreaks to Support Polio Eradication.

PubMed

Blake, Isobel M; Chenoweth, Paul; Okayasu, Hiro; Donnelly, Christl A; Aylward, R Bruce; Grassly, Nicholas C

2016-03-01

As the global eradication of poliomyelitis approaches the final stages, prompt detection of new outbreaks is critical to enable a fast and effective outbreak response. Surveillance relies on reporting of acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) cases and laboratory confirmation through isolation of poliovirus from stool. However, delayed sample collection and testing can delay outbreak detection. We investigated whether weekly testing for clusters of AFP by location and time, using the Kulldorff scan statistic, could provide an early warning for outbreaks in 20 countries. A mixed-effects regression model was used to predict background rates of nonpolio AFP at the district level. In Tajikistan and Congo, testing for AFP clusters would have resulted in an outbreak warning 39 and 11 days, respectively, before official confirmation of large outbreaks. This method has relatively high specificity and could be integrated into the current polio information system to support rapid outbreak response activities.

Development of new tsunami detection algorithms for high frequency radars and application to tsunami warning in British Columbia, Canada

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grilli, S. T.; Guérin, C. A.; Shelby, M. R.; Grilli, A. R.; Insua, T. L.; Moran, P., Jr.

2016-12-01

A High-Frequency (HF) radar was installed by Ocean Networks Canada in Tofino, BC, to detect tsunamis from far- and near-field seismic sources; in particular, from the Cascadia Subduction Zone. This HF radar can measure ocean surface currents up to a 70-85 km range, depending on atmospheric conditions, based on the Doppler shift they cause in ocean waves at the Bragg frequency. In earlier work, we showed that tsunami currents must be at least 0.15 m/s to be directly detectable by a HF radar, when considering environmental noise and background currents (from tide/mesoscale circulation). This limits a direct tsunami detection to shallow water areas where currents are sufficiently strong due to wave shoaling and, hence, to the continental shelf. It follows that, in locations with a narrow shelf, warning times using a direct inversion method will be small. To detect tsunamis in deeper water, beyond the continental shelf, we proposed a new algorithm that does not require directly inverting currents, but instead is based on observing changes in patterns of spatial correlations of the raw radar signal between two radar cells located along the same wave ray, after time is shifted by the tsunami propagation time along the ray. A pattern change will indicate the presence of a tsunami. We validated this new algorithm for idealized tsunami wave trains propagating over a simple seafloor geometry in a direction normally incident to shore. Here, we further develop, extend, and validate the algorithm for realistic case studies of seismic tsunami sources impacting Vancouver Island, BC. Tsunami currents, computed with a state-of-the-art long wave model are spatially averaged over cells aligned along individual wave rays, located within the radar sweep area, obtained by solving the wave geometric optic equation; for long waves, such rays and tsunami propagation times along those are only function of the seafloor bathymetry, and hence can be precalculated for different incident tsunami directions. A model simulating the radar backscattered signal in space and time as a function of simulated tsunami currents is applied to the sweep area. Numerical experiments show that the new algorithm can detect a realistic tsunami further offshore than a direct detection method. Correlation thresholds for tsunami detection will be derived from the results.

Three-dimensional obstacle classification in laser range data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Armbruster, Walter; Bers, Karl-Heinz

1998-10-01

The threat of hostile surveillance and weapon systems require military aircraft to fly under extreme conditions such as low altitude, high speed, poor visibility and incomplete terrain information. The probability of collision with natural and man-made obstacles during such contour missions is high if detection capability is restricted to conventional vision aids. Forward-looking scanning laser rangefinders which are presently being flight tested and evaluated at German proving grounds, provide a possible solution, having a large field of view, high angular and range resolution, a high pulse repetition rate, and sufficient pulse energy to register returns from wires at over 500 m range (depends on the system) with a high hit-and-detect probability. Despite the efficiency of the sensor, acceptance of current obstacle warning systems by test pilots is not very high, mainly due to the systems' inadequacies in obstacle recognition and visualization. This has motivated the development and the testing of more advanced 3d-scene analysis algorithm at FGAN-FIM to replace the obstacle recognition component of current warning systems. The basic ideas are to increase the recognition probability and to reduce the false alarm rate for hard-to-extract obstacles such as wires, by using more readily recognizable objects such as terrain, poles, pylons, trees, etc. by implementing a hierarchical classification procedure to generate a parametric description of the terrain surface as well as the class, position, orientation, size and shape of all objects in the scene. The algorithms can be used for other applications such as terrain following, autonomous obstacle avoidance, and automatic target recognition.

Personal care products in surface, ground and wastewater of a complex aquifer system, a potential planning tool for contemporary urban settings.

PubMed

Palmiotto, Marinella; Castiglioni, Sara; Zuccato, Ettore; Manenti, Angela; Riva, Francesco; Davoli, Enrico

2018-05-15

The use and discharge of personal care products (PCPs) result in their presence in the aquatic environment. This study investigates the occurrence and fate of some PCPs in wastewater, surface and groundwater in an urbanized area in the North of Italy. We investigated four UV filters: phenylbenzimidazole sulfonic acid (PBSA), benzophenone-3 (BP3), benzophenone-4 (BP4) and 4 methyl-benzilidine-camphor (4-MBC), and two antibacterial agents: triclosan (TCS) and triclocarban (TCC). BP3, BP4 and PBSA were detected in all WWTPs and concentrations ranged 27-822 ng/L (BP4 > PBSA > BP3). TCS was the only disinfectant detected in wastewater and ranged from <0.2 to 1690 ng/L. Removal efficiencies in WWTPs were good for BP3 and TCS (80-100%), but were quite low for PBSA and BP4 (0-40%). Consequently, PBSA and BP4 were the most abundant substances in surface water, detected up to 560.4 ng/L. TCS was also found in surface water (<0.2-161.0 ng/L). Only PBSA and TCS were found in untreated groundwater, and levels were higher in wells close to rivers, suggesting the contribution of surface water to this contamination, but not from the catchment and the sewer networks. These PCPs were confirmed to be ubiquitous in all the aquifers sampled, being reliable descriptors of human presence. The use of these data as direct indicators of pollutant's loads for the aquifers deriving from human presence could provide early warnings on chemicals that are continuously introduced into surface waters, identifying dynamic urban trends and suggesting paths for the planning in urban regions and for appropriate investment and rehabilitation strategies of infrastructure. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Design and Implementation of a Coastal-Mounted Sensor for Oil Film Detection on Seawater

PubMed Central

Hou, Yongchao; Li, Ying; Liu, Yu; Wang, Tong

2017-01-01

The routine surveillance of oil spills in major ports is important. However, existing techniques and sensors are unable to trace oil and micron-thin oil films on the surface of seawater. Therefore, we designed and studied a coastal-mounted sensor, using ultraviolet-induced fluorescence and fluorescence-filter systems (FFSs), to monitor oil spills and overcome the disadvantages of traditional surveillance systems. Using seawater from the port of Lingshui (Yellow Sea, China) and six oil samples of different types, we found that diesel oil’s relative fluorescence intensity (RFI) was significantly higher than those of heavy fuel and crude oils in the 180–300 nm range—in the 300–400 nm range, the RFI value of diesel is far lower. The heavy fuel and crude oils exhibited an opposite trend in their fluorescence spectra. A photomultiplier tube, employed as the fluorescence detection unit, efficiently monitored different oils on seawater in field experiments. On-site tests indicated that this sensor system could be used as a coastal-mounted early-warning detection system for oil spills. PMID:29283412

30 CFR 57.4330 - Surface firefighting, evacuation, and rescue procedures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... NONMETAL MINES Fire Prevention and Control Firefighting Procedures/alarms/drills § 57.4330 Surface... coordinated in advance with available firefighting organizations. (b) Fire alarm procedures or systems shall be established to promptly warn every person who could be endangered by a fire. (c) Fire alarm...

30 CFR 57.4330 - Surface firefighting, evacuation, and rescue procedures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... NONMETAL MINES Fire Prevention and Control Firefighting Procedures/alarms/drills § 57.4330 Surface... coordinated in advance with available firefighting organizations. (b) Fire alarm procedures or systems shall be established to promptly warn every person who could be endangered by a fire. (c) Fire alarm...

30 CFR 57.4330 - Surface firefighting, evacuation, and rescue procedures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... NONMETAL MINES Fire Prevention and Control Firefighting Procedures/alarms/drills § 57.4330 Surface... coordinated in advance with available firefighting organizations. (b) Fire alarm procedures or systems shall be established to promptly warn every person who could be endangered by a fire. (c) Fire alarm...

30 CFR 57.4330 - Surface firefighting, evacuation, and rescue procedures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... NONMETAL MINES Fire Prevention and Control Firefighting Procedures/alarms/drills § 57.4330 Surface... coordinated in advance with available firefighting organizations. (b) Fire alarm procedures or systems shall be established to promptly warn every person who could be endangered by a fire. (c) Fire alarm...

Hydrologic ensembles based on convection-permitting precipitation nowcasts for flash flood warnings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Demargne, Julie; Javelle, Pierre; Organde, Didier; de Saint Aubin, Céline; Ramos, Maria-Helena

2017-04-01

In order to better anticipate flash flood events and provide timely warnings to communities at risk, the French national service in charge of flood forecasting (SCHAPI) is implementing a national flash flood warning system for small-to-medium ungauged basins. Based on a discharge-threshold flood warning method called AIGA (Javelle et al. 2014), the current version of the system runs a simplified hourly distributed hydrologic model with operational radar-gauge QPE grids from Météo-France at a 1-km2 resolution every 15 minutes. This produces real-time peak discharge estimates along the river network, which are subsequently compared to regionalized flood frequency estimates to provide warnings according to the AIGA-estimated return period of the ongoing event. To further extend the effective warning lead time while accounting for hydrometeorological uncertainties, the flash flood warning system is being enhanced to include Météo-France's AROME-NWC high-resolution precipitation nowcasts as time-lagged ensembles and multiple sets of hydrological regionalized parameters. The operational deterministic precipitation forecasts, from the nowcasting version of the AROME convection-permitting model (Auger et al. 2015), were provided at a 2.5-km resolution for a 6-hr forecast horizon for 9 significant rain events from September 2014 to June 2016. The time-lagged approach is a practical choice of accounting for the atmospheric forecast uncertainty when no extensive forecast archive is available for statistical modelling. The evaluation on 781 French basins showed significant improvements in terms of flash flood event detection and effective warning lead-time, compared to warnings from the current AIGA setup (without any future precipitation). We also discuss how to effectively communicate verification information to help determine decision-relevant warning thresholds for flood magnitude and probability. Javelle, P., Demargne, J., Defrance, D., Arnaud, P., 2014. Evaluating flash flood warnings at ungauged locations using post-event surveys: a case study with the AIGA warning system. Hydrological Sciences Journal, doi: 10.1080/02626667.2014.923970 Auger, L., Dupont, O., Hagelin, S., Brousseau, P., Brovelli, P., 2015. AROME-NWC: a new nowcasting tool based on an operational mesoscale forecasting system. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, 141: 1603-1611, doi:10.1002/qj.2463

A real-time cabled observatory on the Cascadia subduction zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vidale, J. E.; Delaney, J. R.; Toomey, D. R.; Bodin, P.; Roland, E. C.; Wilcock, W. S. D.; Houston, H.; Schmidt, D. A.; Allen, R. M.

2015-12-01

Subduction zones are replete with mystery and rife with hazard. Along most of the Pacific Northwest margin, the traditional methods of monitoring offshore geophysical activity use onshore sensors or involve conducting infrequent oceanographic expeditions. This results in a limited capacity for detecting and monitoring subduction processes offshore. We propose that the next step in geophysical observations of Cascadia should include real-time data delivered by a seafloor cable with seismic, geodetic, and pressure-sensing instruments. Along the Cascadia subduction zone, we need to monitor deformation, earthquakes, and fluid fluxes on short time scales. High-quality long-term time series are needed to establish baseline observations and evaluate secular changes in the subduction environment. Currently we lack a basic knowledge of the plate convergence rate, direction and its variations along strike and of how convergence is accommodated across the plate boundary. We also would like to seek cycles of microseismicity, how far locking extends up-dip, and the transient processes (i.e., fluid pulsing, tremor, and slow slip) that occur near the trench. For reducing risk to society, real-time monitoring has great benefit for immediate and accurate assessment through earthquake early warning systems. Specifically, the improvement to early warning would be in assessing the location, geometry, and progression of ongoing faulting and obtaining an accurate tsunami warning, as well as simply speeding up the early warning. It would also be valuable to detect strain transients and map the locked portion of the megathrust, and detect changes in locking over the earthquake cycle. Development of the US portion of a real-time cabled seismic and geodetic observatory should build upon the Ocean Observatories Initiative's cabled array, which was recently completed and is currently delivering continuous seismic and pressure data from the seafloor. Its implementation would require substantial initial and ongoing investments from federal and state governments, private partners and the academic community but would constitute a critical resource in mitigating the hazard both through improved earthquake and tsunami warning and an enhanced scientific understanding of subduction processes in Cascadia.

Detection of Deteriorating Patients on Surgical Wards Outside the ICU by an Automated MEWS-Based Early Warning System With Paging Functionality.

PubMed

Heller, Axel R; Mees, Sören T; Lauterwald, Benjamin; Reeps, Christian; Koch, Thea; Weitz, Jürgen

2018-05-16

The establishment of early warning systems in hospitals was strongly recommended in recent guidelines to detect deteriorating patients early and direct them to adequate care. Upon reaching predefined trigger criteria, Medical Emergency Teams (MET) should be notified and directed to these patients. The present study analyses the effect of introducing an automated multiparameter early warning score (MEWS)-based early warning system with paging functionality on 2 wards hosting patients recovering from highly complex surgical interventions. The deployment of the system was accompanied by retrospective data acquisition during 12 months (intervention) using 4 routine databases: Hospital patient data management, anesthesia database, local data of the German Resuscitation Registry, and measurement logs of the deployed system (intervention period only). A retrospective 12-month data review using the same aforementioned databases before the deployment of the system served as control. Control and intervention phases were separated by a 6-month washout period for the installation of the system and for training. Data from 3827 patients could be acquired from 2 surgical wards during the two 12-month periods, 1896 patients in the control and 1931 in the intervention cohorts. Patient characteristics differed between the 2 observation phases. American Society of Anesthesiologists risk classification and duration of surgery as well as German DRG case-weight were significantly higher in the intervention period. However, the rate of cardiac arrests significantly dropped from 5.3 to 2.1 per 1000 admissions in the intervention period (P < 0.001). This observation was paralleled by a reduction of unplanned ICU admissions from 3.6% to 3.0% (P < 0.001), and an increase of notifications of critical conditions to the ward surgeon. The primary triggers for MET activation were abnormal ECG alerts, specifically asystole (n = 5), and pulseless electric activity (n = 8). In concert with a well-trained and organized MET, the early deterioration detection of patients on surgical wards outside the ICU may be improved by introducing an automated MEWS-based early warning system with paging functionality.

Rapid and label-free screening and identification of Anthrax simulants by Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lai, Antonia; Almaviva, Salvatore; Spizzichino, Valeria; Palucci, Antonio; Addari, Lorella; Luciani, Domenico; Mengali, Sandro; Marquette, Christophe; Berthuy, Ophélie; Jankiewicz, Bartlomiej; Pierno, Luigi

2014-10-01

In the framework of RAMBO (Rapid-Air Monitoring particle against biological threats) project of the European Defense Agency (EDA), the feasibility of an unattended Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) sensor for biological threats detection was investigated. Its main goal concern Bacillus anthrax detection, both as vegetative cells and endospores. However since such bacteria are classified in Risk Group 3 (very dangerous microorganism), Bacillus thuringiensis and Bacillus atrophaeus were used as simulants. In order to bind selectively the target bacilli, Phages properly selected were immobilized on an active commercially available SERS substrate (functionalization). The Phages are a type of virus that infect selectively, by means of receptors, specific bacteria. Moreover they can resist on water or air environments without losing their binding capabilities. The sensing surface was characterized by standard micro-Raman equipments to assess the background Raman features. The Raman measurements have been carried out from 10X to 100X of magnification to differentiate between average and local features. Moreover the fast response was acquired by limiting the measure time at less than 1 minute. Samples of vegetative cells and endospores of Bacilli were randomly dispersed on the functionalized SERS substrates. The results obtained are promising: samples with and without bacilli could be distinguished one from the other. This is a step toward the use of SERS as an effective and fast technique for early warning of biological threats.

ADAPTIVE WATER SENSOR SIGNAL PROCESSING: EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR ONLINE CONTAMINANT WARNING SYSTEMS

EPA Science Inventory

A contaminant detection technique and its optimization algorithms have two principal functions. One is the adaptive signal treatment that suppresses background noise and enhances contaminant signals, leading to a promising detection of water quality changes at a false rate as low...

Estimating root-zone soil moisture in the West Africa Sahel using remotely sensed rainfall and vegetation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McNally, Amy L.

Agricultural drought is characterized by shortages in precipitation, large differences between actual and potential evapotranspiration, and soil water deficits that impact crop growth and pasture productivity. Rainfall and other agrometeorological gauge networks in Sub-Saharan Africa are inadequate for drought early warning systems and hence, satellite-based estimates of rainfall and vegetation greenness provide the main sources of information. While a number of studies have described the empirical relationship between rainfall and vegetation greenness, these studies lack a process based approach that includes soil moisture storage. In Chapters I and II, I modeled soil moisture using satellite rainfall inputs and developed a new method for estimating soil moisture with NDVI calibrated to in situ and microwave soil moisture observations. By transforming both NDVI and rainfall into estimates of soil moisture I was able to easily compare these two datasets in a physically meaningful way. In Chapter II, I also show how the new NDVI derived soil moisture can be assimilated into a water balance model that calculates an index of crop water stress. Compared to the analogous rainfall derived estimates of soil moisture and crop stress the NDVI derived estimates were better correlated with millet yields. In Chapter III, I developed a metric for defining growing season drought events that negatively impact millet yields. This metric is based on the data and models used in the Chapters I and II. I then use this metric to evaluate the ability of a sophisticated land surface model to detect drought events. The analysis showed that this particular land surface model's soil moisture estimates do have the potential to benefit the food security and drought early warning communities. With a focus on soil moisture, this dissertation introduced new methods that utilized a variety of data and models for agricultural drought monitoring applications. These new methods facilitate a more quantitative, transparent `convergence of evidence' approach to identifying agricultural drought events that lead to food insecurity. Ideally, these new methods will contribute to better famine early warning and the timely delivery of food aid to reduce the human suffering caused by drought.

DISTANT EARLY WARNING SYSTEM for Tsunamis - A wide-area and multi-hazard approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hammitzsch, Martin; Lendholt, Matthias; Wächter, Joachim

2010-05-01

The DEWS (Distant Early Warning System) [1] project, funded under the 6th Framework Programme of the European Union, has the objective to create a new generation of interoperable early warning systems based on an open sensor platform. This platform integrates OGC [2] SWE [3] compliant sensor systems for the rapid detection of hazardous events, like earthquakes, sea level anomalies, ocean floor occurrences, and ground displacements in the case of tsunami early warning. Based on the upstream information flow DEWS focuses on the improvement of downstream capacities of warning centres especially by improving information logistics for effective and targeted warning message aggregation for a multilingual environment. Multiple telecommunication channels will be used for the dissemination of warning messages. Wherever possible, existing standards have been integrated. The Command and Control User Interface (CCUI), a rich client application based on Eclipse RCP (Rich Client Platform) [4] and the open source GIS uDig [5], integrates various OGC services. Using WMS (Web Map Service) [6] and WFS (Web Feature Service) [7] spatial data are utilized to depict the situation picture and to integrate a simulation system via WPS (Web Processing Service) [8] to identify affected areas. Warning messages are compiled and transmitted in the OASIS [9] CAP (Common Alerting Protocol) [10] standard together with addressing information defined via EDXL-DE (Emergency Data Exchange Language - Distribution Element) [11]. Internal interfaces are realized with SOAP [12] web services. Based on results of GITEWS [13] - in particular the GITEWS Tsunami Service Bus [14] - the DEWS approach provides an implementation for tsunami early warning systems but other geological paradigms are going to follow, e.g. volcanic eruptions or landslides. Therefore in future also multi-hazard functionality is conceivable. The specific software architecture of DEWS makes it possible to dock varying sensors to the system and to extend the CCUI with hazard specific functionality. The presentation covers the DEWS project, the system architecture and the CCUI in conjunction with details of information logistics. The DEWS Wide Area Centre connecting national centres to allow the international communication and warning exchange is presented also. REFERENCES: [1] DEWS, www.dews-online.org [2] OGC, www.opengeospatial.org [3] SWE, www.opengeospatial.org/projects/groups/sensorweb [4] Eclipse RCP, www.eclipse.org/home/categories/rcp.php [5] uDig, udig.refractions.net [6] WMS, www.opengeospatial.org/standards/wms [7] WFS, www.opengeospatial.org/standards/wfs [8] WPS, www.opengeospatial.org/standards/wps [9] OASIS, www.oasis-open.org [10] CAP, www.oasis-open.org/specs/#capv1.1 [11] EDXL-DE, www.oasis-open.org/specs/#edxlde-v1.0 [12] SOAP, www.w3.org/TR/soap [13] GITEWS (German Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System) is a project of the German Federal Government to aid the recon¬struction of the tsunami-prone Indian Ocean region, www.gitews.org [14] The Tsunami Service Bus is the GITEWS sensor system integration platform offering standardised services for the detection and monitoring of tsunamis

30 CFR 57.14132 - Horns and backup alarms for surface equipment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... NONMETAL MINES Machinery and Equipment Safety Devices and Maintenance Requirements § 57.14132 Horns and backup alarms for surface equipment. (a) Manually-operated horns or other audible warning devices provided on self-propelled mobile equipment as a safety device shall be maintained in a functional...

Electric Field Sensor for Lightning Early Warning System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Premlet, B.; Mohammed, R.; Sabu, S.; Joby, N. E.

2017-12-01

Electric field mills are used popularly for atmospheric electric field measurements. Atmospheric Electric Field variation is the primary signature for Lightning Early Warning systems. There is a characteristic change in the atmospheric electric field before lightning during a thundercloud formation.A voltage controlled variable capacitance is being proposed as a method for non-contacting measurement of electric fields. A varactor based mini electric field measurement system is developed, to detect any change in the atmospheric electric field and to issue lightning early warning system. Since this is a low-cost device, this can be used for developing countries which are facing adversities. A network of these devices can help in forming a spatial map of electric field variations over a region, and this can be used for more improved atmospheric electricity studies in developing countries.

Early Warning/Track-and-Trigger Systems to Detect Deterioration and Improve Outcomes in Hospitalized Patients.

PubMed

Shiloh, Ariel L; Lominadze, George; Gong, Michelle N; Savel, Richard H

2016-02-01

As a global effort toward improving patient safety, a specific area of focus has been the early recognition and rapid intervention in deteriorating ward patients. This focus on "failure to rescue" has led to the construction of early warning/track-and-trigger systems. In this review article, we present a description of the data behind the creation and implementation of such systems, including multiple algorithms and strategies for deployment. Additionally, the strengths and weaknesses of the various systems and their evaluation in the literature are emphasized. Despite the limitations of the current literature, the potential benefit of these early warning/track-and-trigger systems to improve patient outcomes remains significant. Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Brief questions highlight the need for melanoma information campaigns.

PubMed

Foote, Janet A; Poole, Catherine M

2013-12-01

Melanoma awareness was briefly assessed at walk/runs held simultaneously in Philadelphia PA, Phoenix AZ, and Seattle WA. Of the participants, 75 % (1521) answered short questions during event registration. Among 1,036 respondents aged 14 years and older, 66 % reported knowing melanoma warning signs. Significantly more respondents with melanoma family history reported having a physician-administered skin exam and knowing warning signs. More than one third of walk/run participants reported no definitive melanoma warning sign knowledge. Self-reported melanoma awareness and detection indices were lowest among Phoenix participants; the event city with the greatest annual sun exposure. Educational efforts for melanoma awareness are critically needed. Selected results of this project were presented in a poster forum at the 2006 Congress for Epidemiology meeting held in Seattle, WA (June 2006).

Surface acoustic wave (SAW) vibration sensors.

PubMed

Filipiak, Jerzy; Solarz, Lech; Steczko, Grzegorz

2011-01-01

In the paper a feasibility study on the use of surface acoustic wave (SAW) vibration sensors for electronic warning systems is presented. The system is assembled from concatenated SAW vibration sensors based on a SAW delay line manufactured on a surface of a piezoelectric plate. Vibrations of the plate are transformed into electric signals that allow identification of the sensor and localization of a threat. The theoretical study of sensor vibrations leads us to the simple isotropic model with one degree of freedom. This model allowed an explicit description of the sensor plate movement and identification of the vibrating sensor. Analysis of frequency response of the ST-cut quartz sensor plate and a damping speed of its impulse response has been conducted. The analysis above was the basis to determine the ranges of parameters for vibrating plates to be useful in electronic warning systems. Generally, operation of electronic warning systems with SAW vibration sensors is based on the analysis of signal phase changes at the working frequency of delay line after being transmitted via two circuits of concatenated four-terminal networks. Frequencies of phase changes are equal to resonance frequencies of vibrating plates of sensors. The amplitude of these phase changes is proportional to the amplitude of vibrations of a sensor plate. Both pieces of information may be sent and recorded jointly by a simple electrical unit.

Design of a Fatigue Detection System for High-Speed Trains Based on Driver Vigilance Using a Wireless Wearable EEG.

PubMed

Zhang, Xiaoliang; Li, Jiali; Liu, Yugang; Zhang, Zutao; Wang, Zhuojun; Luo, Dianyuan; Zhou, Xiang; Zhu, Miankuan; Salman, Waleed; Hu, Guangdi; Wang, Chunbai

2017-03-01

The vigilance of the driver is important for railway safety, despite not being included in the safety management system (SMS) for high-speed train safety. In this paper, a novel fatigue detection system for high-speed train safety based on monitoring train driver vigilance using a wireless wearable electroencephalograph (EEG) is presented. This system is designed to detect whether the driver is drowsiness. The proposed system consists of three main parts: (1) a wireless wearable EEG collection; (2) train driver vigilance detection; and (3) early warning device for train driver. In the first part, an 8-channel wireless wearable brain-computer interface (BCI) device acquires the locomotive driver's brain EEG signal comfortably under high-speed train-driving conditions. The recorded data are transmitted to a personal computer (PC) via Bluetooth. In the second step, a support vector machine (SVM) classification algorithm is implemented to determine the vigilance level using the Fast Fourier transform (FFT) to extract the EEG power spectrum density (PSD). In addition, an early warning device begins to work if fatigue is detected. The simulation and test results demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed fatigue detection system for high-speed train safety.

Improved Conflict Detection for Reducing Operational Errors in Air Traffic Control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Paielli, Russell A.; Erzberger, Hainz

2003-01-01

An operational error is an incident in which an air traffic controller allows the separation between two aircraft to fall below the minimum separation standard. The rates of such errors in the US have increased significantly over the past few years. This paper proposes new detection methods that can help correct this trend by improving on the performance of Conflict Alert, the existing software in the Host Computer System that is intended to detect and warn controllers of imminent conflicts. In addition to the usual trajectory based on the flight plan, a "dead-reckoning" trajectory (current velocity projection) is also generated for each aircraft and checked for conflicts. Filters for reducing common types of false alerts were implemented. The new detection methods were tested in three different ways. First, a simple flightpath command language was developed t o generate precisely controlled encounters for the purpose of testing the detection software. Second, written reports and tracking data were obtained for actual operational errors that occurred in the field, and these were "replayed" to test the new detection algorithms. Finally, the detection methods were used to shadow live traffic, and performance was analysed, particularly with regard to the false-alert rate. The results indicate that the new detection methods can provide timely warnings of imminent conflicts more consistently than Conflict Alert.

Highlight on Supernova Early Warning at Daya Bay

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, Hanyu

Providing an early warning of supernova burst neutrinos is of importance in studying both supernova dynamics and neutrino physics. The Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment, with a unique feature of multiple liquid scintillator detectors, is sensitive to the full energy spectrum of supernova burst electron-antineutrinos. By utilizing 8 Antineutrino Detectors (ADs) in the three different experimental halls which are about 1 km's apart from each other, we obtain a powerful and prompt rejection of muon spallation background than single-detector experiments with the same target volume. A dedicated trigger system embedded in the data acquisition system has been installed to allow the detection of a coincidence of neutrino signals of all ADs via an inverse beta-decay (IBD) within a 10-second window, thus providing a robust early warning of a supernova occurrence within the Milky Way. An 8-AD associated supernova trigger table has been established theoretically to tabulate the 8-AD event counts' coincidence vs. the trigger rate. As a result, a golden trigger threshold, i.e. with a false alarm rate < 1/3-months, can be set as low as 6 candidates among the 8 detectors, leading to a 100% detection probability for all 1987A type supernova bursts at the distance to the Milky Way center and a 96% detection probability to those at the edge of the Milky Way.

Detection of G-Induced Loss of Consciousness (G-LOC) prognosis through EMG monitoring on gastrocnemius muscle in flight.

PubMed

Booyong Choi; Yongkyun Lee; Taehwan Cho; Hyojin Koo; Dongsoo Kim

2015-08-01

G-Induced Loss of Consciousness (G-LOC) is mainly caused by the sudden acceleration in the direction of +Gz axis from the fighter pilots, and is considered as an emergent situation of which fighter pilots are constantly aware. In order to resist against G-LOC, fighter pilots are subject to run Anti-G straining maneuver (AGSM), which includes L-1 respiration maneuvering and muscular contraction of the whole body. The purpose of this study is to create a G-LOC warning alarm prior to G-LOC by monitoring the Electromyogram (EMG) of the gastrocnemius muscle on the calf, which goes under constant muscular contraction during the AGSM process. EMG data was retrieved from pilots and pilot trainees of the Korean Air Force, during when subjects were under high G-trainings on a human centrifugal simulator. Out of the EMG features, integrated absolute value (IAV), reflecting muscle contraction, and waveform length (WL), reflecting muscle contraction and fatigue, have shown a rapid decay during the alarm phase, 3 seconds before G-LOC, compared to that of a normal phase withstanding G-force. Such results showed consistency amongst pilots and pilot trainees who were under G-LOC. Based on these findings, this study developed an algorithm which can detect G-LOC prognosis during flight, and at the same time, generate warning signals. The probability of G-LOC occurrence is detected through monitoring the decay trend and degree of the IVA and WL value of when the pilot initiates AGSM during sudden acceleration above 6G. Conclusively, this G-LOC prognosis detecting and warning system is a customized, real-time countermeasure which enhanced the accuracy of detecting G-LOC.

Joint chemical agent detector (JCAD): the future of chemical agent detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laljer, Charles E.

2003-08-01

The Joint Chemical Agent Detector (JCAD) has continued development through 2002. The JCAD has completed Contractor Validation Testing (CVT) that included chemical warfare agent testing, environmental testing, electromagnetic interferent testing, and platform integration validation. The JCAD provides state of the art chemical warfare agent detection capability to military and homeland security operators. Intelligence sources estimate that over twenty countries have active chemical weapons programs. The spread of weapons of mass destruction (and the industrial capability for manufacture of these weapons) to third world nations and terrorist organizations has greatly increased the chemical agent threat to U.S. interests. Coupled with the potential for U.S. involvement in localized conflicts in an operational or support capacity, increases the probability that the military Joint Services may encounter chemical agents anywhere in the world. The JCAD is a small (45 in3), lightweight (2 lb.) chemical agent detector for vehicle interiors, aircraft, individual personnel, shipboard, and fixed site locations. The system provides a common detection component across multi-service platforms. This common detector system will allow the Joint Services to use the same operational and support concept for more efficient utilization of resources. The JCAD detects, identifies, quantifies, and warns of the presence of chemical agents prior to onset of miosis. Upon detection of chemical agents, the detector provides local and remote audible and visual alarms to the operators. Advance warning will provide the vehicle crew and other personnel in the local area with the time necessary to protect themselves from the lethal effects of chemical agents. The JCAD is capable of being upgraded to protect against future chemical agent threats. The JCAD provides the operator with the warning necessary to survive and fight in a chemical warfare agent threat environment.

Examining the Pilot and Controller Performance Data When in a Free Flight with Weather Phenomenon

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nituen, Celestine A.; Lozito, Sandra C. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

The present study investigated effects of weather related factors on the performance of pilots under free flight. A weather scenario was defined by a combination of precipitation factors (light rain, moderate rain, and heavy rain or snow), visibility (1,4,8 miles), wind conditions (light, medium, or heavy), cloud ceiling (800ft. below, 1800ft above, and 4000ft horizontal). The performance of the aircraft self-separation was evaluated in terms of detection accuracy and detection times for student- and commercial (expert) pilots. Overall, the results obtained from a behavioral analysis showed that in general, the ability to recognize intruder aircraft conflict incidents, followed by the ability to acquire the spatial location of the intruder aircraft relative to ownership aircraft were judged to be the major cognitive tasks as perceived by the participants during self-separation. Further, the participants rarely used cockpit display of traffic information (CDTI) during conflict management related to aircraft separation, but used CDTI highly during decision-making tasks. In all weather scenarios, there were remarkable differences between expert and student pilots in detection times. In summary, weather scenarios were observed to affect intruder aircraft detection performance accuracies. There was interaction effects between weather Scenario-1 and Scenario-2 for climbing task data generated by both expert- and student- pilots at high traffic density. Scenario-3 weather condition provided an opportunity for poor detection accuracy as well as detection time increase. This may be attributed to low visibility. The intruder aircraft detection times were not affected by the weather conditions during climbing and descending tasks. The decision of pilots to fly into certain weather condition was dependent in part on the warning distance to the location of the weather. When pilots were warned of the weather conditions, they were more likely to fly their aircraft into it, but mostly when the warning was not close to the weather location.

Nuclear cargo detector

DOEpatents

Christo, Steven Basil

2006-12-19

Apparatus for the inspection of cargo containers for nuclear materials comprising one or more arrays of modules comprising grounded, closed conductive tubes filled with an ionizing gas mixture such as, but not limited to, Argon:CO.sub.2. A wire is suspended along each tube axis and electrically connected at both ends of the tube. A positive, dc high voltage is supplied to one end of the wire and an amplifier is attached to the other end through a capacitance to decouple the amplifier from the high voltage. X-rays, gamma rays or neutrons produced by nuclear material and passing through the tube ionize the gas. The electrons from the gas ionization process are accelerated toward the wire surface due to the wire's electrical potential. The acceleration of the electrons near the wire's surface is sufficient to ionize more gas and produce an amplification of electrons/ions that create a surge of current large enough to be detectable by the amplifier. Means are also provided for a warning device coupled to the amplifier.

Collision warning and avoidance considerations for the Space Shuttle and Space Station Freedom

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vilas, Faith; Collins, Michael F.; Kramer, Paul C.; Arndt, G. Dickey; Suddath, Jerry H.

1990-01-01

The increasing hazard of manmade debris in low earth orbit (LEO) has focused attention on the requirement for collision detection, warning and avoidance systems to be developed in order to protect manned (and unmanned) spacecraft. With the number of debris objects expected to be increasing with time, the impact hazard will also be increasing. The safety of the Space Shuttle and the Space Station Freedom from destructive or catastrophic collision resulting from the hypervelocity impact of a LEO object is of increasing concern to NASA. A number of approaches to this problem are in effect or under development. The collision avoidance procedures now in effect for the Shuttle are described, and detection and avoidance procedures presently being developed at the Johnson Space Center for the Space Station Freedom are discussed.

Using Runtime Analysis to Guide Model Checking of Java Programs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Havelund, Klaus; Norvig, Peter (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

This paper describes how two runtime analysis algorithms, an existing data race detection algorithm and a new deadlock detection algorithm, have been implemented to analyze Java programs. Runtime analysis is based on the idea of executing the program once. and observing the generated run to extract various kinds of information. This information can then be used to predict whether other different runs may violate some properties of interest, in addition of course to demonstrate whether the generated run itself violates such properties. These runtime analyses can be performed stand-alone to generate a set of warnings. It is furthermore demonstrated how these warnings can be used to guide a model checker, thereby reducing the search space. The described techniques have been implemented in the b e grown Java model checker called PathFinder.

Thunderstorm monitoring and lightning warning, operational applications of the Safir system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Richard, Philippe

1991-01-01

During the past years a new range of studies have been opened by the application of electromagnetic localization techniques to the field of thunderstorm remote sensing. VHF localization techniques were used in particular for the analysis of lightning discharges and gave access to time resolved 3-D images of lightning discharges within thunderclouds. Detection and localization techniques developed have been applied to the design of the SAFIR system. This development's main objective was the design of an operational system capable of assessing and warning in real time for lightning hazards and potential thunderstorm hazards. The SAFIR system main detection technique is the long range interferometric localization of thunderstorm electromagnetic activity; the system performs the localization of intracloud and cloud to ground lightning discharges and the analysis of the characteristics of the activity.

Development of an Alert System to Detect Drug Interactions with Herbal Supplements using Medical Record Data.

PubMed

Archer, Melissa; Proulx, Joshua; Shane-McWhorter, Laura; Bray, Bruce E; Zeng-Treitler, Qing

2014-01-01

While potential medication-to-medication interaction alerting engines exist in many clinical applications, few systems exist to automatically alert on potential medication to herbal supplement interactions. We have developed a preliminary knowledge base and rules alerting engine that detects 259 potential interactions between 9 supplements, 62 cardiac medications, and 19 drug classes. The rules engine takes into consideration 12 patient risk factors and 30 interaction warning signs to help determine which of three different alert levels to categorize each potential interaction. A formative evaluation was conducted with two clinicians to set initial thresholds for each alert level. Additional work is planned add more supplement interactions, risk factors, and warning signs as well as to continue to set and adjust the inputs and thresholds for each potential interaction.

Tree rings provide early warning signals of jack pine mortality across a moisture gradient in the southern boreal forest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mamet, S. D.; Chun, K. P.; Metsaranta, J. M.; Barr, A. G.; Johnstone, J. F.

2015-08-01

Recent declines in productivity and tree survival have been widely observed in boreal forests. We used early warning signals (EWS) in tree ring data to anticipate premature mortality in jack pine (Pinus banksiana)—an extensive and dominant species occurring across the moisture-limited southern boreal forest in North America. We sampled tree rings from 113 living and 84 dead trees in three soil moisture regimes (subxeric, submesic, subhygric) in central Saskatchewan, Canada. We reconstructed annual increments of tree basal area to investigate (1) whether we could detect EWS related to mortality of individual trees, and (2) how water availability and tree growth history may explain the mortality warning signs. EWS were evident as punctuated changes in growth patterns prior to transition to an alternative state of reduced growth before dying. This transition was likely triggered by a combination of severe drought and insect outbreak. Higher moisture availability associated with a soil moisture gradient did not appear to reduce tree sensitivity to stress-induced mortality. Our results suggest tree rings offer considerable potential for detecting critical transitions in tree growth, which are linked to premature mortality.

Establishing an early warning alert and response network following the Solomon Islands tsunami in 2013.

PubMed

Bilve, Augustine; Nogareda, Francisco; Joshua, Cynthia; Ross, Lester; Betcha, Christopher; Durski, Kara; Fleischl, Juliet; Nilles, Eric

2014-11-01

On 6 February 2013, an 8.0 magnitude earthquake generated a tsunami that struck the Santa Cruz Islands, Solomon Islands, killing 10 people and displacing over 4700. A post-disaster assessment of the risk of epidemic disease transmission recommended the implementation of an early warning alert and response network (EWARN) to rapidly detect, assess and respond to potential outbreaks in the aftermath of the tsunami. Almost 40% of the Santa Cruz Islands' population were displaced by the disaster, and living in cramped temporary camps with poor or absent sanitation facilities and insufficient access to clean water. There was no early warning disease surveillance system. By 25 February, an EWARN was operational in five health facilities that served 90% of the displaced population. Eight priority diseases or syndromes were reported weekly; unexpected health events were reported immediately. Between 25 February and 19 May, 1177 target diseases or syndrome cases were reported. Seven alerts were investigated. No sustained transmission or epidemics were identified. Reporting compliance was 85%. The EWARN was then transitioned to the routine four-syndrome early warning disease surveillance system. It was necessary to conduct a detailed assessment to evaluate the risk and potential impact of serious infectious disease outbreaks, to assess whether and how enhanced early warning disease surveillance should be implemented. Local capacities and available resources should be considered in planning EWARN implementation. An EWARN can be an opportunity to establish or strengthen early warning disease surveillance capabilities.

Usage of Wireless Sensor Networks in a service based spatial data infrastructure for Landslide Monitoring and Early Warning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arnhardt, C.; Fernandez-Steeger, T. M.; Walter, K.; Kallash, A.; Niemeyer, F.; Azzam, R.; Bill, R.

2007-12-01

The joint project Sensor based Landslide Early Warning System (SLEWS) aims at a systematic development of a prototyping alarm- and early warning system for the detection of mass movements by application of an ad hoc wireless sensor network (WSN). Next to the development of suitable sensor setups, sensor fusion and network fusion are applied to enhance data quality and reduce false alarm rates. Of special interest is the data retrieval, processing and visualization in GI-Systems. Therefore a suitable serviced based Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) will be developed with respect to existing and upcoming Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standards.The application of WSN provides a cheap and easy to set up solution for special monitoring and data gathering in large areas. Measurement data from different low-cost transducers for deformation observation (acceleration, displacement, tilting) is collected by distributed sensor nodes (motes), which interact separately and connect each other in a self-organizing manner. Data are collected and aggregated at the beacon (transmission station) and further operations like data pre-processing and compression can be performed. The WSN concept provides next to energy efficiency, miniaturization, real-time monitoring and remote operation, but also new monitoring strategies like sensor and network fusion. Since not only single sensors can be integrated at single motes either cross-validation or redundant sensor setups are possible to enhance data quality. The planned monitoring and information system will include a mobile infrastructure (information technologies and communication components) as well as methods and models to estimate surface deformation parameters (positioning systems). The measurements result in heterogeneous observation sets that have to be integrated in a common adjustment and filtering approach. Reliable real-time information will be obtained using a range of sensor input and algorithms, from which early warnings and prognosis may be derived. Implementation of sensor algorithms is an important task to form the business logic. This will be represented in self-contained web-based processing services (WPS). In the future different types of sensor networks can communicate via an infrastructure of OGC services using an interoperable way by standardized protocols as the Sensor Markup Language (SensorML) and Observations & Measurements Schema (O&M). Synchronous and asynchronous information services as the Sensor Alert Service (SAS) and the Web Notification Services (WNS) will provide defined users and user groups with time-critical readings from the observation site. Techniques using services for visualizing mapping data (WMS), meta data (CSW), vector (WFS) and raster data (WCS) will range from high detailed expert based output to fuzzy graphical warning elements.The expected results will be an advancement regarding classical alarm and early warning systems as the WSN are free scalable, extensible and easy to install.

BUFR TABLE A

Science.gov Websites

Surface data - sea 2 Vertical soundings (other than satellite) 3 Vertical soundings (satellite) 4 Single level upper-air data (other than satellite) 5 Single level upper-air data (satellite) 6 Radar data 7 tables, complete replacement or update 12 Surface data (satellite) 13 Forecasts 14 Warnings 15-19

An early warning system for groundwater pollution based on the assessment of groundwater pollution risks.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Weihong.; Zhao, Yongsheng; Hong, Mei; Guo, Xiaodong

2009-04-01

Groundwater pollution usually is complex and concealed, remediation of which is difficult, high cost, time-consuming, and ineffective. An early warning system for groundwater pollution is needed that detects groundwater quality problems and gets the information necessary to make sound decisions before massive groundwater quality degradation occurs. Groundwater pollution early warning were performed by considering comprehensively the current groundwater quality, groundwater quality varying trend and groundwater pollution risk . The map of the basic quality of the groundwater was obtained by fuzzy comprehensive evaluation or BP neural network evaluation. Based on multi-annual groundwater monitoring datasets, Water quality state in sometime of the future was forecasted using time-sequenced analyzing methods. Water quality varying trend was analyzed by Spearman's rank correlative coefficient.The relative risk map of groundwater pollution was estimated through a procedure that identifies, cell by cell,the values of three factors, that is inherent vulnerability, load risk of pollution source and contamination hazard. DRASTIC method was used to assess inherent vulnerability of aquifer. Load risk of pollution source was analyzed based on the potential of contamination and pollution degree. Assessment index of load risk of pollution source which involves the variety of pollution source, quantity of contaminants, releasing potential of pollutants, and distance were determined. The load risks of all sources considered by GIS overlay technology. Early warning model of groundwater pollution combined with ComGIS technology organically, the regional groundwater pollution early-warning information system was developed, and applied it into Qiqiha'er groundwater early warning. It can be used to evaluate current water quality, to forecast water quality changing trend, and to analyze space-time influencing range of groundwater quality by natural process and human activities. Keywords: groundwater pollution, early warning, aquifer vulnerability, pollution load, pollution risk, ComGIS

Land Surface Modeling Applications for Famine Early Warning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McNally, A.; Verdin, J. P.; Peters-Lidard, C. D.; Arsenault, K. R.; Wang, S.; Kumar, S.; Shukla, S.; Funk, C. C.; Pervez, M. S.; Fall, G. M.; Karsten, L. R.

2015-12-01

AGU 2015 Fall Meeting Session ID#: 7598 Remote Sensing Applications for Water Resources Management Land Surface Modeling Applications for Famine Early Warning James Verdin, USGS EROS Christa Peters-Lidard, NASA GSFC Amy McNally, NASA GSFC, UMD/ESSIC Kristi Arsenault, NASA GSFC, SAIC Shugong Wang, NASA GSFC, SAIC Sujay Kumar, NASA GSFC, SAIC Shrad Shukla, UCSB Chris Funk, USGS EROS Greg Fall, NOAA Logan Karsten, NOAA, UCAR Famine early warning has traditionally required close monitoring of agro-climatological conditions, putting them in historical context, and projecting them forward to anticipate end-of-season outcomes. In recent years, it has become necessary to factor in the effects of a changing climate as well. There has also been a growing appreciation of the linkage between food security and water availability. In 2009, Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) science partners began developing land surface modeling (LSM) applications to address these needs. With support from the NASA Applied Sciences Program, an instance of the Land Information System (LIS) was developed to specifically support FEWS NET. A simple crop water balance model (GeoWRSI) traditionally used by FEWS NET took its place alongside the Noah land surface model and the latest version of the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) model, and LIS data readers were developed for FEWS NET precipitation forcings (NOAA's RFE and USGS/UCSB's CHIRPS). The resulting system was successfully used to monitor and project soil moisture conditions in the Horn of Africa, foretelling poor crop outcomes in the OND 2013 and MAM 2014 seasons. In parallel, NOAA created another instance of LIS to monitor snow water resources in Afghanistan, which are an early indicator of water availability for irrigation and crop production. These successes have been followed by investment in LSM implementations to track and project water availability in Sub-Saharan Africa and Yemen, work that is now underway. Adoption of LSM and data assimilation technology has enabled FEWS NET to take greater advantage of remote sensing observations to robustly estimate key agro-climatological states, like soil moisture and snow water equivalent, building confidence in our understanding of conditions in data sparse regions of the world.

34 CFR 668.49 - Institutional fire safety policies and fire statistics.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... fire. Fire safety system: Any mechanism or system related to the detection of a fire, the warning resulting from a fire, or the control of a fire. This may include sprinkler systems or other fire extinguishing systems, fire detection devices, stand-alone smoke alarms, devices that alert one to the presence...

34 CFR 668.49 - Institutional fire safety policies and fire statistics.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... fire. Fire safety system: Any mechanism or system related to the detection of a fire, the warning resulting from a fire, or the control of a fire. This may include sprinkler systems or other fire extinguishing systems, fire detection devices, stand-alone smoke alarms, devices that alert one to the presence...

34 CFR 668.49 - Institutional fire safety policies and fire statistics.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... fire. Fire safety system: Any mechanism or system related to the detection of a fire, the warning resulting from a fire, or the control of a fire. This may include sprinkler systems or other fire extinguishing systems, fire detection devices, stand-alone smoke alarms, devices that alert one to the presence...

34 CFR 668.49 - Institutional fire safety policies and fire statistics.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... fire. Fire safety system: Any mechanism or system related to the detection of a fire, the warning resulting from a fire, or the control of a fire. This may include sprinkler systems or other fire extinguishing systems, fire detection devices, stand-alone smoke alarms, devices that alert one to the presence...

37. View of detection radar environmental display (DRED) console for ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

37. View of detection radar environmental display (DRED) console for middle DR 2 (structure no. 736) antenna, located in MWOC facility. - Clear Air Force Station, Ballistic Missile Early Warning System Site II, One mile west of mile marker 293.5 on Parks Highway, 5 miles southwest of Anderson, Anderson, Denali Borough, AK

Detecting spatial regimes in ecosystems

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sundstrom, Shana M.; Eason, Tarsha; Nelson, R. John; Angeler, David G.; Barichievy, Chris; Garmestani, Ahjond S.; Graham, Nicholas A.J.; Granholm, Dean; Gunderson, Lance; Knutson, Melinda; Nash, Kirsty L.; Spanbauer, Trisha; Stow, Craig A.; Allen, Craig R.

2017-01-01

Research on early warning indicators has generally focused on assessing temporal transitions with limited application of these methods to detecting spatial regimes. Traditional spatial boundary detection procedures that result in ecoregion maps are typically based on ecological potential (i.e. potential vegetation), and often fail to account for ongoing changes due to stressors such as land use change and climate change and their effects on plant and animal communities. We use Fisher information, an information theory-based method, on both terrestrial and aquatic animal data (U.S. Breeding Bird Survey and marine zooplankton) to identify ecological boundaries, and compare our results to traditional early warning indicators, conventional ecoregion maps and multivariate analyses such as nMDS and cluster analysis. We successfully detected spatial regimes and transitions in both terrestrial and aquatic systems using Fisher information. Furthermore, Fisher information provided explicit spatial information about community change that is absent from other multivariate approaches. Our results suggest that defining spatial regimes based on animal communities may better reflect ecological reality than do traditional ecoregion maps, especially in our current era of rapid and unpredictable ecological change.

[Early detection on the onset of scarlet fever epidemics in Beijing, using the Cumulative Sum].

PubMed

Li, Jing; Yang, Peng; Wu, Shuang-sheng; Wang, Xiao-li; Liu, Shuang; Wang, Quan-yi

2013-05-01

Based on data related to scarlet fever which was collected from the Disease Surveillance Information Reporting System in Beijing from 2005 to 2011, to explore the efficiency of Cumulative Sum (CUSUM) in detecting the onset of scarlet fever epidemics. Models as C1-MILD (C1), C2-MEDIUM (C2) and C3-ULTRA (C3) were used. Tools for evaluation as Youden's index and detection time were calculated to optimize the parameters and optimal model. Data on 2011 scarlet fever surveillance was used to verify the efficacy of these models. C1 (k = 0.5, H = 2σ), C2 (k = 0.7, H = 2σ), C3 (k = 1.1, H = 2σ) appeared to be the optimal parameters among these models. Youden's index of C1 was 83.0% and detection time being 0.64 weeks, Youden's index of C2 was 85.4% and detection time being 1.27 weeks, Youden's index of C1 was 85.1% and detection time being 1.36 weeks. Among the three early warning detection models, C1 had the highest efficacy. Three models all triggered the signals within 4 weeks after the onset of scarlet fever epidemics. The early warning detection model of CUSUM could be used to detect the onset of scarlet fever epidemics, with good efficacy.

An automatic tsunami warning system: TREMORS application in Europe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reymond, D.; Robert, S.; Thomas, Y.; Schindelé, F.

1996-03-01

An integrated system named TREMORS (Tsunami Risk Evaluation through seismic Moment of a Real-time System) has been installed in EVORA station, in Portugal which has been affected by historical tsunamis. The system is based on a three component long period seismic station linked to a compatible IBM_PC with a specific software. The goals of this system are the followings: detect earthquake, locate them, compute their seismic moment, give a seismic warning. The warnings are based on the seismic moment estimation and all the processing are made automatically. The finality of this study is to check the quality of estimation of the main parameters of interest in a goal of tsunami warning: the location which depends of azimuth and distance, and at last the seismic moment, M 0, which controls the earthquake size. The sine qua non condition for obtaining an automatic location is that the 3 main seismic phases P, S, R must be visible. This study gives satisfying results (automatic analysis): ± 5° errors in azimuth and epicentral distance, and a standard deviation of less than a factor 2 for the seismic moment M 0.

Role of remote sensing in desert locust early warning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cressman, Keith

2013-01-01

Desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria, Forskål) plagues have historically had devastating consequences on food security in Africa and Asia. The current strategy to reduce the frequency of plagues and manage desert locust infestations is early warning and preventive control. To achieve this, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations operates one of the oldest, largest, and best-known migratory pest monitoring systems in the world. Within this system, remote sensing plays an important role in detecting rainfall and green vegetation. Despite recent technological advances in data management and analysis, communications, and remote sensing, monitoring desert locusts and preventing plagues in the years ahead will continue to be a challenge from a geopolitical and financial standpoint for affected countries and the international donor community. We present an overview of the use of remote sensing in desert locust early warning.

A Steady-State Visual Evoked Potential Brain-Computer Interface System Evaluation as an In-Vehicle Warning Device

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Riyahi, Pouria

This thesis is part of current research at Center for Intelligence Systems Research (CISR) at The George Washington University for developing new in-vehicle warning systems via Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs). The purpose of conducting this research is to contribute to the current gap between BCI and in-vehicle safety studies. It is based on the premise that accurate and timely monitoring of human (driver) brain's signal to external stimuli could significantly aide in detection of driver's intentions and development of effective warning systems. The thesis starts with introducing the concept of BCI and its development history while it provides a literature review on the nature of brain signals. The current advancement and increasing demand for commercial and non-medical BCI products are described. In addition, the recent research attempts in transportation safety to study drivers' behavior or responses through brain signals are reviewed. The safety studies, which are focused on employing a reliable and practical BCI system as an in-vehicle assistive device, are also introduced. A major focus of this thesis research has been on the evaluation and development of the signal processing algorithms which can effectively filter and process brain signals when the human subject is subjected to Visual LED (Light Emitting Diodes) stimuli at different frequencies. The stimulated brain generates a voltage potential, referred to as Steady-State Visual Evoked Potential (SSVEP). Therefore, a newly modified analysis algorithm for detecting the brain visual signals is proposed. These algorithms are designed to reach a satisfactory accuracy rate without preliminary trainings, hence focusing on eliminating the need for lengthy training of human subjects. Another important concern is the ability of the algorithms to find correlation of brain signals with external visual stimuli in real-time. The developed analysis models are based on algorithms which are capable of generating results for real-time processing of BCI devices. All of these methods are evaluated through two sets of recorded brain signals which were recorded by g.TEC CO. as an external source and recorded brain signals during our car driving simulator experiments. The final discussion is about how the presence of an SSVEP based warning system could affect drivers' performances which is defined by their reaction distance and Time to Collision (TTC). Three different scenarios with and without warning LEDs were planned to measure the subjects' normal driving behavior and their performance while they use a warning system during their driving task. Finally, warning scenarios are divided into short and long warning periods without and with informing the subjects, respectively. The long warning period scenario attempts to determine the level of drivers' distraction or vigilance during driving. The good outcome of warning scenarios can bridge between vehicle safety studies and online BCI system design research. The preliminary results show some promise of the developed methods for in-vehicle safety systems. However, for any decisive conclusion that considers using a BCI system as a helpful in-vehicle assistive device requires far deeper scrutinizing.

Near Real Time Change-Point detection in Optical and Thermal Infrared Time Series Using Bayesian Inference over the Dry Chaco Forest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barraza Bernadas, V.; Grings, F.; Roitberg, E.; Perna, P.; Karszenbaum, H.

2017-12-01

The Dry Chaco region (DCF) has the highest absolute deforestation rates of all Argentinian forests. The most recent report indicates a current deforestation rate of 200,000 Ha year-1. In order to better monitor this process, DCF was chosen to implement an early warning program for illegal deforestation. Although the area is intensively studied using medium resolution imagery (Landsat), the products obtained have a yearly pace and therefore unsuited for an early warning program. In this paper, we evaluated the performance of an online Bayesian change-point detection algorithm for MODIS Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) and Land Surface Temperature (LST) datasets. The goal was to to monitor the abrupt changes in vegetation dynamics associated with deforestation events. We tested this model by simulating 16-day EVI and 8-day LST time series with varying amounts of seasonality, noise, length of the time series and by adding abrupt changes with different magnitudes. This model was then tested on real satellite time series available through the Google Earth Engine, over a pilot area in DCF, where deforestation was common in the 2004-2016 period. A comparison with yearly benchmark products based on Landsat images is also presented (REDAF dataset). The results shows the advantages of using an automatic model to detect a changepoint in the time series than using only visual inspection techniques. Simulating time series with varying amounts of seasonality and noise, and by adding abrupt changes at different times and magnitudes, revealed that this model is robust against noise, and is not influenced by changes in amplitude of the seasonal component. Furthermore, the results compared favorably with REDAF dataset (near 65% of agreement). These results show the potential to combine LST and EVI to identify deforestation events. This work is being developed within the frame of the national Forest Law for the protection and sustainable development of Native Forest in Argentina in agreement with international legislation (REDD+).

Dissolved organic matter fluorescence at wavelength 275/342 nm as a key indicator for detection of point-source contamination in a large Chinese drinking water lake.

PubMed

Zhou, Yongqiang; Jeppesen, Erik; Zhang, Yunlin; Shi, Kun; Liu, Xiaohan; Zhu, Guangwei

2016-02-01

Surface drinking water sources have been threatened globally and there have been few attempts to detect point-source contamination in these waters using chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) fluorescence. To determine the optimal wavelength derived from CDOM fluorescence as an indicator of point-source contamination in drinking waters, a combination of field campaigns in Lake Qiandao and a laboratory wastewater addition experiment was used. Parallel factor (PARAFAC) analysis identified six components, including three humic-like, two tryptophan-like, and one tyrosine-like component. All metrics showed strong correlation with wastewater addition (r(2) > 0.90, p < 0.0001). Both the field campaigns and the laboratory contamination experiment revealed that CDOM fluorescence at 275/342 nm was the most responsive wavelength to the point-source contamination in the lake. Our results suggest that pollutants in Lake Qiandao had the highest concentrations in the river mouths of upstream inflow tributaries and the single wavelength at 275/342 nm may be adapted for online or in situ fluorescence measurements as an early warning of contamination events. This study demonstrates the potential utility of CDOM fluorescence to monitor water quality in surface drinking water sources. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Clinical and Immunological Markers of Dengue Progression in a Study Cohort from a Hyperendemic Area in Malaysia

PubMed Central

Rathakrishnan, Anusyah; Klekamp, Benjamin; Wang, Seok Mui; Komarasamy, Thamil Vaani; Natkunam, Santha Kumari; Sathar, Jameela; Azizan, Azliyati; Sanchez-Anguiano, Aurora; Manikam, Rishya; Sekaran, Shamala Devi

2014-01-01

Background With its elusive pathogenesis, dengue imposes serious healthcare, economic and social burden on endemic countries. This study describes the clinical and immunological parameters of a dengue cohort in a Malaysian city, the first according to the WHO 2009 dengue classification. Methodology and Findings This longitudinal descriptive study was conducted in two Malaysian hospitals where patients aged 14 and above with clinical symptoms suggestive of dengue were recruited with informed consent. Among the 504 participants, 9.3% were classified as non-dengue, 12.7% without warning signs, 77.0% with warning signs and 1.0% with severe dengue based on clinical diagnosis. Of these, 37% were misdiagnosed as non-dengue, highlighting the importance of both clinical diagnosis and laboratory findings. Thrombocytopenia, prolonged clotting time, liver enzymes, ALT and AST served as good markers for dengue progression but could not distinguish between patients with and without warning signs. HLA-A*24 and -B*57 were positively associated with Chinese and Indians patients with warning signs, respectively, whereas A*03 may be protective in the Malays. HLA-A*33 was also positively associated in patients with warning signs when compared to those without. Dengue NS1, NS2A, NS4A and NS4B were found to be important T cell epitopes; however with no apparent difference between with and without warning signs patients. Distinction between the 2 groups of patients was also not observed in any of the cytokines analyzed; nevertheless, 12 were significantly differentially expressed at the different phases of illness. Conclusion The new dengue classification system has allowed more specific detection of dengue patients, however, none of the clinical parameters allowed distinction of patients with and without warning signs. While the HLA-A*33 may be predictive marker for development of warning signs; larger studies will be needed to support this findings. PMID:24647042

Bridging Empirical and Physical Approaches for Landslide Monitoring and Early Warning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kirschbaum, Dalia; Peters-Lidard, Christa; Adler, Robert; Kumar, Sujay; Harrison, Ken

2011-01-01

Rainfall-triggered landslides typically occur and are evaluated at local scales, using slope-stability models to calculate coincident changes in driving and resisting forces at the hillslope level in order to anticipate slope failures. Over larger areas, detailed high resolution landslide modeling is often infeasible due to difficulties in quantifying the complex interaction between rainfall infiltration and surface materials as well as the dearth of available in situ soil and rainfall estimates and accurate landslide validation data. This presentation will discuss how satellite precipitation and surface information can be applied within a landslide hazard assessment framework to improve landslide monitoring and early warning by considering two disparate approaches to landslide hazard assessment: an empirical landslide forecasting algorithm and a physical slope-stability model. The goal of this research is to advance near real-time landslide hazard assessment and early warning at larger spatial scales. This is done by employing high resolution surface and precipitation information within a probabilistic framework to provide more physically-based grounding to empirical landslide triggering thresholds. The empirical landslide forecasting tool, running in near real-time at http://trmm.nasa.gov, considers potential landslide activity at the global scale and relies on Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) precipitation data and surface products to provide a near real-time picture of where landslides may be triggered. The physical approach considers how rainfall infiltration on a hillslope affects the in situ hydro-mechanical processes that may lead to slope failure. Evaluation of these empirical and physical approaches are performed within the Land Information System (LIS), a high performance land surface model processing and data assimilation system developed within the Hydrological Sciences Branch at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. LIS provides the capabilities to quantify uncertainty from model inputs and calculate probabilistic estimates for slope failures. Results indicate that remote sensing data can provide many of the spatiotemporal requirements for accurate landslide monitoring and early warning; however, higher resolution precipitation inputs will help to better identify small-scale precipitation forcings that contribute to significant landslide triggering. Future missions, such as the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission will provide more frequent and extensive estimates of precipitation at the global scale, which will serve as key inputs to significantly advance the accuracy of landslide hazard assessment, particularly over larger spatial scales.

[The application of the prospective space-time statistic in early warning of infectious disease].

PubMed

Yin, Fei; Li, Xiao-Song; Feng, Zi-Jian; Ma, Jia-Qi

2007-06-01

To investigate the application of prospective space-time scan statistic in the early stage of detecting infectious disease outbreaks. The prospective space-time scan statistic was tested by mimicking daily prospective analyses of bacillary dysentery data of Chengdu city in 2005 (3212 cases in 102 towns and villages). And the results were compared with that of purely temporal scan statistic. The prospective space-time scan statistic could give specific messages both in spatial and temporal. The results of June indicated that the prospective space-time scan statistic could timely detect the outbreaks that started from the local site, and the early warning message was powerful (P = 0.007). When the merely temporal scan statistic for detecting the outbreak was sent two days later, and the signal was less powerful (P = 0.039). The prospective space-time scan statistic could make full use of the spatial and temporal information in infectious disease data and could timely and effectively detect the outbreaks that start from the local sites. The prospective space-time scan statistic could be an important tool for local and national CDC to set up early detection surveillance systems.

Detecting Tsunami Source Energy and Scales from GNSS & Laboratory Experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Y. T.; Yim, S. C.; Mohtat, A.

2016-12-01

Historically, tsunami warnings based on the earthquake magnitude have not been very accurate. According to the 2006 U.S. Government Accountability Office report, an unacceptable 75% false alarm rate has prevailed in the Pacific Ocean (GAO-06-519). One of the main reasons for those inaccurate warnings is that an earthquake's magnitude is not the scale or power of the resulting tsunami. For the last 10 years, we have been developing both theories and algorithms to detect tsunami source energy and scales, instead of earthquake magnitudes per se, directly from real-time Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) stations along coastlines for early warnings [Song 2007; Song et al., 2008; Song et al., 2012; Xu and Song 2013; Titov et al, 2016]. Here we will report recent progress on two fronts: 1) Examples of using GNSS in detecting the tsunami energy scales for the 2004 Sumatra M9.1 earthquake, the 2005 Nias M8.7 earthquake, the 2010 M8.8 Chilean earthquake, the 2011 M9.0 Tohoku-Oki earthquake, and the 2015 M8.3 Illapel earthquake. 2) New results from recent state-of-the-art wave-maker experiments and comparisons with GNSS data will also be presented. Related reference: Titov, V., Y. T. Song, L. Tang, E. N. Bernard, Y. Bar-Sever, and Y. Wei (2016), Consistent estimates of tsunami energy show promise for improved early warning, Pur Appl. Geophs., DOI: 10.1007/s00024-016-1312-1. Xu, Z. and Y. T. Song (2013), Combining the all-source Green's functions and the GPS-derived source for fast tsunami prediction - illustrated by the March 2011 Japan tsunami, J. Atmos. Oceanic Tech., jtechD1200201. Song, Y. T., I. Fukumori, C. K. Shum, and Y. Yi (2012), Merging tsunamis of the 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake detected over the open ocean, Geophys. Res. Lett., doi:10.1029/2011GL050767. Song, Y. T., L.-L. Fu, V. Zlotnicki, C. Ji, V. Hjorleifsdottir, C.K. Shum, and Y. Yi, 2008: The role of horizontal impulses of the faulting continental slope in generating the 26 December 2004 Tsunami (2007), Ocean Modelling, doi:10.1016/j.ocemod.2007.10.007. Song, Y. T. (2007) Detecting tsunami genesis and scales directly from coastal GPS stations, Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, L19602, doi:10.1029/2007GL031681.

Spatial early warning signals in a lake manipulation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Butitta, Vince L.; Carpenter, Stephen R.; Loken, Luke; Pace, Michael L.; Stanley, Emily H.

2017-01-01

Rapid changes in state have been documented for many of Earth's ecosystems. Despite a growing toolbox of methods for detecting declining resilience or early warning indicators (EWIs) of ecosystem transitions, these methods have rarely been evaluated in whole-ecosystem trials using reference ecosystems. In this study, we experimentally tested EWIs of cyanobacteria blooms based on changes in the spatial structure of a lake. We induced a cyanobacteria bloom by adding nutrients to an experimental lake and mapped fine-resolution spatial patterning of cyanobacteria using a mobile sensor platform. Prior to the bloom, we detected theoretically predicted spatial EWIs based on variance and spatial autocorrelation, as well as a new index based on the extreme values. Changes in EWIs were not discernible in an unenriched reference lake. Despite the fluid environment of a lake where spatial heterogeneity driven by biological processes may be overwhelmed by physical mixing, spatial EWIs detected an approaching bloom suggesting the utility of spatial metrics for signaling ecological thresholds.

30 CFR 75.301 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... solid blocks of coal or rock so that any mixing of air currents between each is limited to leakage. AMS...-warning fire detection systems using newer technology that provides equal or greater protection, as...

Probabilistic and Evolutionary Early Warning System: concepts, performances, and case-studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zollo, A.; Emolo, A.; Colombelli, S.; Elia, L.; Festa, G.; Martino, C.; Picozzi, M.

2013-12-01

PRESTo (PRobabilistic and Evolutionary early warning SysTem) is a software platform for Earthquake Early Warning that integrates algorithms for real-time earthquake location, magnitude estimation and damage assessment into a highly configurable and easily portable package. In its regional configuration, the software processes, in real-time, the 3-component acceleration data streams coming from seismic stations, for P-waves arrival detection and, in the case a quite large event is occurring, can promptly performs event detection and location, magnitude estimation and peak ground-motion prediction at target sites. The regional approach has been integrated with a threshold-based early warning method that allows, in the very first seconds after a moderate-to-large earthquake, to identify the most Probable Damaged Zone starting from the real-time measurement at near-source stations located at increasing distances from the earthquake epicenter, of the peak displacement (Pd) and predominant period of P-waves (τc), over a few-second long window after the P-wave arrival. Thus, each recording site independently provides an evolutionary alert level, according to the Pd and τc it measured, through a decisional table. Since 2009, PRESTo has been under continuous real-time testing using data streaming from the Iripinia Seismic Network (Southern Italy) and has produced a bulletin of some hundreds low magnitude events, including all the M≥2.5 earthquakes occurred in that period in Irpinia. Recently, PRESTo has been also implemented at the accelerometric network and broad-band networks in South Korea and in Romania, and off-line tested in Iberian Peninsula, in Turkey, in Israel, and in Japan. The feasibility of an Early Warning System at national scale, is currently under testing by studying the performances of the PRESTo platform for the Italian Accelerometric Network. Moreover, PRESTo is under experimentation in order to provide alert in a high-school located in the neighborhood of Naples at about 100 km from the Irpinia region.

Implementing drought early warning systems: policy lessons and future needs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iglesias, Ana; Werner, Micha; Maia, Rodrigo; Garrote, Luis; Nyabeze, Washington

2014-05-01

Drought forecasting and Warning provides the potential of reducing impacts to society due to drought events. The implementation of effective drought forecasting and warning, however, requires not only science to support reliable forecasting, but also adequate policy and societal response. Here we propose a protocol to develop drought forecasting and early warning based in the international cooperation of African and European institutions in the DEWFORA project (EC, 7th Framework Programme). The protocol includes four major phases that address the scientific knowledge and the social capacity to use the knowledge: (a) What is the science available? Evaluating how signs of impending drought can be detected and predicted, defining risk levels, and analysing of the signs of drought in an integrated vulnerability approach. (b) What are the societal capacities? In this the institutional framework that enables policy development is evaluated. The protocol gathers information on vulnerability and pending hazard in advance so that early warnings can be declared at sufficient lead time and drought mitigation planning can be implemented at an early stage. (c) How can science be translated into policy? Linking science indicators into the actions/interventions that society needs to implement, and evaluating how policy is implemented. Key limitations to planning for drought are the social capacities to implement early warning systems. Vulnerability assessment contributes to identify these limitations and therefore provides crucial information to policy development. Based on the assessment of vulnerability we suggest thresholds for management actions to respond to drought forecasts and link predictive indicators to relevant potential mitigation strategies. Vulnerability assessment is crucial to identify relief, coping and management responses that contribute to a more resilient society. (d) How can society benefit from the forecast? Evaluating how information is provided to potentially affected groups, and how mitigation strategies can be taken in response. This paper presents an outline of the protocol that was developed in the DEWFORA project, outlining the complementary roles of science, policy and societal uptake in effective drought forecasting and warning. A consensus on the need to emphasise the social component of early warning was reached when testing the DEWFORA early warning system protocol among experts from 18 countries.

WPC 48-Hour Surface Weather Forecast

Science.gov Websites

Summaries Heat Index Tropical Products Daily Weather Map GIS Products Current Watches/ Warnings Satellite and Radar Imagery GOES-East Satellite GOES-West Satellite National Radar Product Archive WPC

WPC 12-Hour Surface Weather Forecast

Science.gov Websites

Summaries Heat Index Tropical Products Daily Weather Map GIS Products Current Watches/ Warnings Satellite and Radar Imagery GOES-East Satellite GOES-West Satellite National Radar Product Archive WPC

WPC 36-Hour Surface Weather Forecast

Science.gov Websites

Summaries Heat Index Tropical Products Daily Weather Map GIS Products Current Watches/ Warnings Satellite and Radar Imagery GOES-East Satellite GOES-West Satellite National Radar Product Archive WPC

WPC 24-Hour Surface Weather Forecast

Science.gov Websites

Summaries Heat Index Tropical Products Daily Weather Map GIS Products Current Watches/ Warnings Satellite and Radar Imagery GOES-East Satellite GOES-West Satellite National Radar Product Archive WPC

Vehicle Clearance: Literature Review

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2015-10-05

This project will investigate and test truck-mounted LIDAR and optical sensors to determine their feasibility for detecting hazardous bridge/tunnel heights for warning the driver of an overheight truck. This document, which describes the problem and ...

Vehicle clearance : literature review.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2015-10-05

This project will investigate and test truck-mounted LIDAR and optical sensors to determine their feasibility for detecting hazardous bridge/tunnel heights for warning the driver of an overheight truck. This document, which describes the problem and ...

An airborne FLIR detection and warning system for low altitude wind shear

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sinclair, Peter C.; Kuhn, Peter M.

1991-01-01

It is shown through some preliminary flight measurement research that a forward looking infrared radiometer (FLIR) system can be used to successfully detect the cool downdraft of downbursts (microbusts/macrobursts) and thunderstorm gust front outflows that are responsible for most of the low altitude wind shear (LAWS) events. The FLIR system provides a much greater safety margin for the pilot than that provided by reactive designs such as inertial air speed systems. Preliminary results indicate that an advanced airborne FLIR system could provide the pilot with remote indication of microburst (MB) hazards along the flight path ahead of the aircraft. Results of a flight test of a prototype FLIR system show that a minimum warning time of one to four minutes (5 to 10 km), depending on aircraft speed, is available to the pilot prior to the microburst encounter.

Steps Towards the Implementation of a Tsunami Detection, Warning, Mitigation and Preparedness Program for Southwestern Coastal Areas of Mexico

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Farreras, Salvador; Ortiz, Modesto; Gonzalez, Juan I.

2007-03-01

The highly vulnerable Pacific southwest coast of Mexico has been repeatedly affected by local, regional and remote source tsunamis. Mexico presently has no national tsunami warning system in operation. The implementation of key elements of a National Program on Tsunami Detection, Monitoring, Warning and Mitigation is in progress. For local and regional events detection and monitoring, a prototype of a robust and low cost high frequency sea-level tsunami gauge, sampling every minute and equipped with 24 hours real time transmission to the Internet, was developed and is currently in operation. Statistics allow identification of low, medium and extreme hazard categories of arriving tsunamis. These categories are used as prototypes for computer simulations of coastal flooding. A finite-difference numerical model with linear wave theory for the deep ocean propagation, and shallow water nonlinear one for the near shore and interaction with the coast, and non-fixed boundaries for flooding and recession at the coast, is used. For prevention purposes, tsunami inundation maps for several coastal communities, are being produced in this way. The case of the heavily industrialized port of Lázaro Cárdenas, located on the sand shoals of a river delta, is illustrated; including a detailed vulnerability assessment study. For public education on preparedness and awareness, printed material for children and adults has been developed and published. It is intended to extend future coverage of this program to the Mexican Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico coastal areas.

An analysis of an early-warning system to reduce abortions in dairy cattle in Denmark incorporating both financial and epidemiologic aspects.

PubMed

Carpenter, Tim E; Chrièl, Mariann; Greiner, Matthias

2007-01-16

Emergency preparedness relies on the ability to detect patterns in rare incidents in an early stage of an outbreak in order to implement relevant actions. Early warning of an abortion storm as a result of infection with a notifiable disease, e.g. brucellosis, bovine viral diarrhea (BVD) or infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR), is a significant surveillance tool. This study used data from 507 large Danish dairy herds. A modified two-stage method for detecting an unusual increase in the abortion incidence was applied to the data. An alarm was considered true if an abortion were detected in the month following the alarm month, otherwise false. The total number of abortions that could potentially be avoided if effective action were taken ranged from 769 (22.9%) to 10 (0.3%), as the number of abortions required to set the alarm increased from 1 to 6. The vast majority of abortions could, however, not be predicted, much less prevented, given this early-warning system. The false to true alarm ratio was reduced when the number of abortions that set the alarm increased. The financial scenarios evaluated demonstrated that the value of an abortion, the cost of responding to an alarm and the efficiency of the actions are important for decision making when reporting an alarm. The presented model can readily be extended to other disease problems and multiple-time periods.

MyShake: A smartphone seismic network for earthquake early warning and beyond

PubMed Central

Kong, Qingkai; Allen, Richard M.; Schreier, Louis; Kwon, Young-Woo

2016-01-01

Large magnitude earthquakes in urban environments continue to kill and injure tens to hundreds of thousands of people, inflicting lasting societal and economic disasters. Earthquake early warning (EEW) provides seconds to minutes of warning, allowing people to move to safe zones and automated slowdown and shutdown of transit and other machinery. The handful of EEW systems operating around the world use traditional seismic and geodetic networks that exist only in a few nations. Smartphones are much more prevalent than traditional networks and contain accelerometers that can also be used to detect earthquakes. We report on the development of a new type of seismic system, MyShake, that harnesses personal/private smartphone sensors to collect data and analyze earthquakes. We show that smartphones can record magnitude 5 earthquakes at distances of 10 km or less and develop an on-phone detection capability to separate earthquakes from other everyday shakes. Our proof-of-concept system then collects earthquake data at a central site where a network detection algorithm confirms that an earthquake is under way and estimates the location and magnitude in real time. This information can then be used to issue an alert of forthcoming ground shaking. MyShake could be used to enhance EEW in regions with traditional networks and could provide the only EEW capability in regions without. In addition, the seismic waveforms recorded could be used to deliver rapid microseism maps, study impacts on buildings, and possibly image shallow earth structure and earthquake rupture kinematics. PMID:26933682

MyShake: A smartphone seismic network for earthquake early warning and beyond.

PubMed

Kong, Qingkai; Allen, Richard M; Schreier, Louis; Kwon, Young-Woo

2016-02-01

Large magnitude earthquakes in urban environments continue to kill and injure tens to hundreds of thousands of people, inflicting lasting societal and economic disasters. Earthquake early warning (EEW) provides seconds to minutes of warning, allowing people to move to safe zones and automated slowdown and shutdown of transit and other machinery. The handful of EEW systems operating around the world use traditional seismic and geodetic networks that exist only in a few nations. Smartphones are much more prevalent than traditional networks and contain accelerometers that can also be used to detect earthquakes. We report on the development of a new type of seismic system, MyShake, that harnesses personal/private smartphone sensors to collect data and analyze earthquakes. We show that smartphones can record magnitude 5 earthquakes at distances of 10 km or less and develop an on-phone detection capability to separate earthquakes from other everyday shakes. Our proof-of-concept system then collects earthquake data at a central site where a network detection algorithm confirms that an earthquake is under way and estimates the location and magnitude in real time. This information can then be used to issue an alert of forthcoming ground shaking. MyShake could be used to enhance EEW in regions with traditional networks and could provide the only EEW capability in regions without. In addition, the seismic waveforms recorded could be used to deliver rapid microseism maps, study impacts on buildings, and possibly image shallow earth structure and earthquake rupture kinematics.

Potential of Pest and Host Phenological Data in the Attribution of Regional Forest Disturbance Detection Maps According to Causal Agent

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spruce, Joseph; Hargrove, William; Norman Steve; Christie, William

2014-01-01

Near real time forest disturbance detection maps from MODIS NDVI phenology data have been produced since 2010 for the conterminous U.S., as part of the on-line ForWarn national forest threat early warning system. The latter has been used by the forest health community to identify and track many regional forest disturbances caused by multiple biotic and abiotic damage agents. Attribution of causal agents for detected disturbances has been a goal since project initiation in 2006. Combined with detailed cover type maps, geospatial pest phenology data offer a potential means for narrowing the candidate causal agents responsible for a given biotic disturbance. U.S. Aerial Detection Surveys (ADS) employ such phenology data. Historic ADS products provide general locational data on recent insect-induced forest type specific disturbances that may help in determining candidate causal agents for MODIS-based disturbance maps, especially when combined with other historic geospatial disturbance data (e.g., wildfire burn scars and drought maps). Historic ADS disturbance detection polygons can show severe and extensive regional forest disturbances, though they also can show polygons with sparsely scattered or infrequent disturbances. Examples will be discussed that use various historic disturbance data to help determine potential causes of MODIS-detected regional forest disturbance anomalies.

Design of a Fatigue Detection System for High-Speed Trains Based on Driver Vigilance Using a Wireless Wearable EEG

PubMed Central

Zhang, Xiaoliang; Li, Jiali; Liu, Yugang; Zhang, Zutao; Wang, Zhuojun; Luo, Dianyuan; Zhou, Xiang; Zhu, Miankuan; Salman, Waleed; Hu, Guangdi; Wang, Chunbai

2017-01-01

The vigilance of the driver is important for railway safety, despite not being included in the safety management system (SMS) for high-speed train safety. In this paper, a novel fatigue detection system for high-speed train safety based on monitoring train driver vigilance using a wireless wearable electroencephalograph (EEG) is presented. This system is designed to detect whether the driver is drowsiness. The proposed system consists of three main parts: (1) a wireless wearable EEG collection; (2) train driver vigilance detection; and (3) early warning device for train driver. In the first part, an 8-channel wireless wearable brain-computer interface (BCI) device acquires the locomotive driver’s brain EEG signal comfortably under high-speed train-driving conditions. The recorded data are transmitted to a personal computer (PC) via Bluetooth. In the second step, a support vector machine (SVM) classification algorithm is implemented to determine the vigilance level using the Fast Fourier transform (FFT) to extract the EEG power spectrum density (PSD). In addition, an early warning device begins to work if fatigue is detected. The simulation and test results demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed fatigue detection system for high-speed train safety. PMID:28257073

The results of the Seismic Alert System of Mexico SASMEX, during the earthquakes of 7 and 19 of September 2017

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Espinosa Aranda, J. M., Sr.; Cuellar Martinez, A.

2017-12-01

The Seismic Alert System of Mexico, SASMEX began in 1991, is integrated by the seismic alert system of Mexico City and the seismic alert system of Oaxaca. SASMEX has 97 seismic sensors which are distributed in the seismic regions of the Pacific coast and the South of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt of states of Jalisco, Colima, Michoacán, Guerrero, Oaxaca and Puebla. The alert dissemination covers the cities of: Acapulco, Chilpancingo, Morelia, Puebla, Oaxaca, Toluca and Mexico City, reaching the earthquake warnings to more than 25 millions of people. SASMEX has detected correctly more than 5600 earthquakes and warned 156. Mexico City has different alert dissemination systems like several Radio and Tv commercial broadcasters, dedicated radio receivers, EAS-SAME-SARMEX radio receivers and more tha 6700 public loud speakers. The other cities have only some of those systems. The Mw 8.2 Chiapas earthquake on September 7, despite the epicentral distance far of the first seismic detections (more than 180 km) and the low amplitudes of the P waves, the earthquake warning time gave more than 90 seconds to Mexico City before the arrivals of S waves with minor damages to the city in contrast with high damages in towns in the coast. This earthquake offered an opportunity to show the developments and lacks to reduce the risk, such as the need to increase the seismic detection coverage and the earthquake warning dissemination in towns with high seismic vulnerability. The Mw 7.1 Morelos earthquake on September 19 caused thousands of damages and hundreds of deaths and injuries in Mexico City, this earthquake is the second with the most damages after the Mw 8.1 Michoacán earthquake of September 19 on 1985. The earthquake early warning gave 11 seconds after the arrivals of S waves, however the activation occurred few seconds after the P waves arrives to Mexico City, and due to the seismic focus was near to the city, the P waves were felt for the people. The Accelerographic Network of Mexico City, reported absolute accelerations of 225 cm/s2 in the transition soils , which have never recorded in the Mexico Valley.

Earthquake early warning for Romania - most recent improvements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marmureanu, Alexandru; Elia, Luca; Martino, Claudio; Colombelli, Simona; Zollo, Aldo; Cioflan, Carmen; Toader, Victorin; Marmureanu, Gheorghe; Marius Craiu, George; Ionescu, Constantin

2014-05-01

EWS for Vrancea earthquakes uses the time interval (28-32 sec.) between the moment when the earthquake is detected by the local seismic network installed in the epicenter area (Vrancea) and the arrival time of the seismic waves in the protected area (Bucharest) to send earthquake warning to users. In the last years, National Institute for Earth Physics (NIEP) upgraded its seismic network in order to cover better the seismic zones of Romania. Currently the National Institute for Earth Physics (NIEP) operates a real-time seismic network designed to monitor the seismic activity on the Romania territory, dominated by the Vrancea intermediate-depth (60-200 km) earthquakes. The NIEP real-time network consists of 102 stations and two seismic arrays equipped with different high quality digitizers (Kinemetrics K2, Quanterra Q330, Quanterra Q330HR, PS6-26, Basalt), broadband and short period seismometers (CMG3ESP, CMG40T, KS2000, KS54000, KS2000, CMG3T,STS2, SH-1, S13, Ranger, gs21, Mark l22) and acceleration sensors (Episensor). Recent improvement of the seismic network and real-time communication technologies allows implementation of a nation-wide EEWS for Vrancea and other seismic sources from Romania. We present a regional approach to Earthquake Early Warning for Romania earthquakes. The regional approach is based on PRESTo (Probabilistic and Evolutionary early warning SysTem) software platform: PRESTo processes in real-time three channel acceleration data streams: once the P-waves arrival have been detected, it provides earthquake location and magnitude estimations, and peak ground motion predictions at target sites. PRESTo is currently implemented in real- time at National Institute for Earth Physics, Bucharest for several months in parallel with a secondary EEWS. The alert notification is issued only when both systems validate each other. Here we present the results obtained using offline earthquakes originating from Vrancea area together with several real-time detection of significant earthquakes from Vrancea and Transylvania areas that occurred in the last months. Currently the warning notification is sent to several users including emergency response units from 12 counties, a big bridge located in Bucharest, a nuclear sterilization facility in Măgurele city and to the nuclear power plant from Cernavoda.

A hazard-independent approach for the standardised multi-channel dissemination of warning messages

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Esbri Palomares, M. A.; Hammitzsch, M.; Lendholt, M.

2012-04-01

The tsunami disaster affecting the Indian Ocean region on Christmas 2004 demonstrated very clearly the shortcomings in tsunami detection, public warning processes as well as intergovernmental warning message exchange in the Indian Ocean region. In that regard, early warning systems require that the dissemination of early warning messages has to be executed in way that ensures that the message delivery is timely; the message content is understandable, usable and accurate. To that end, diverse and multiple dissemination channels must be used to increase the chance of the messages reaching all affected persons in a hazard scenario. In addition to this, usage of internationally accepted standards for the warning dissemination such as the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) and Emergency Data Exchange Language (EDXL) Distribution Element specified by the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS) increase the interoperability among different warning systems enabling thus the concept of system-of-systems proposed by GEOSS. The project Distant Early Warning System (DEWS), co-funded by the European Commission under the 6th Framework Programme, aims at strengthening the early warning capacities by building an innovative generation of interoperable tsunami early warning systems based on the above mentioned concepts following a Service-oriented Architecture (SOA) approach. The project focuses on the downstream part of the hazard information processing where customized, user-tailored warning messages and alerts flow from the warning centre to the responsible authorities and/or the public with their different needs and responsibilities. The information logistics services within DEWS generate tailored EDXL-DE/CAP warning messages for each user that must receive the message according to their preferences, e.g., settings for language, interested areas, dissemination channels, etc.. However, the significant difference in the implementation and capabilities of different dissemination channels such as SMS, email and television, have bearing on the information processing required for delivery and consumption of a DEWS EDXL-DE/CAP message over each dissemination channel. These messages may include additional information in the form of maps, graphs, documents, sensor observations, etc. Therefore, the generated messages are pre-processed by channel adaptors in the information dissemination services converting it into a format that is suitable for end-to-end delivery over the dissemination channels without any semantic distortion. The approach followed by DEWS for disseminating warnings not only relies on traditional communication ways used by the already established early warnings such as the delivery of faxes and phone calls but takes into consideration the use of other broadly used communication channels such as SMS, email, narrowcast and broadcast television, instant messaging, Voice over IP, and radio. It also takes advantage of social media channels like RSS feeds, Facebook, Twitter, etc., enabling a multiplier effect, like in the case of radio and television, and thus allowing to create mash-ups by aggregating other sources of information to the original message. Finally, status information is also important in order to assess and understand whether the process of disseminating the warning to the message consumers has been successfully completed or the process failed at some point of the dissemination chain. To that end, CAP-based messages generated within the information dissemination services provide the semantics for those fields that are of interest within the context of reporting the warning dissemination status in DEWS.

Verification, Validation and Accreditation using AADL

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-05-03

component h component, c r2 socsr hhh  max. height (surface relative), hsr r1 pwbsra thh  max. height (absolute), ha pwb pwb t c0. Context-Specific...5512 digital oscillatorABC_9230 Warning Module PWB component component, c r2 hhh max. height (surface relative), hsr r1 pwbsra thh  max. height

Ionospheric detection of tsunami earthquakes: observation, modeling and ideas for future early warning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Occhipinti, G.; Manta, F.; Rolland, L.; Watada, S.; Makela, J. J.; Hill, E.; Astafieva, E.; Lognonne, P. H.

2017-12-01

Detection of ionospheric anomalies following the Sumatra and Tohoku earthquakes (e.g., Occhipinti 2015) demonstrated that ionosphere is sensitive to earthquake and tsunami propagation: ground and oceanic vertical displacement induces acoustic-gravity waves propagating within the neutral atmosphere and detectable in the ionosphere. Observations supported by modelling proved that ionospheric anomalies related to tsunamis are deterministic and reproducible by numerical modeling via the ocean/neutral-atmosphere/ionosphere coupling mechanism (Occhipinti et al., 2008). To prove that the tsunami signature in the ionosphere is routinely detected we show here perturbations of total electron content (TEC) measured by GPS and following tsunamigenic earthquakes from 2004 to 2011 (Rolland et al. 2010, Occhipinti et al., 2013), nominally, Sumatra (26 December, 2004 and 12 September, 2007), Chile (14 November, 2007), Samoa (29 September, 2009) and the recent Tohoku-Oki (11 Mars, 2011). Based on the observations close to the epicenter, mainly performed by GPS networks located in Sumatra, Chile and Japan, we highlight the TEC perturbation observed within the first 8 min after the seismic rupture. This perturbation contains information about the ground displacement, as well as the consequent sea surface displacement resulting in the tsunami. In addition to GNSS-TEC observations close to the epicenter, new exciting measurements in the far-field were performed by airglow measurement in Hawaii show the propagation of the internal gravity waves induced by the Tohoku tsunami (Occhipinti et al., 2011). This revolutionary imaging technique is today supported by two new observations of moderate tsunamis: Queen Charlotte (M: 7.7, 27 October, 2013) and Chile (M: 8.2, 16 September 2015). We finally detail here our recent work (Manta et al., 2017) on the case of tsunami alert failure following the Mw7.8 Mentawai event (25 October, 2010), and its twin tsunami alert response following the Mw7.8 Benyak event (2010). In this talk we present all this new tsunami observations in the ionosphere and we discuss, under the light of modelling, the potential role of ionospheric sounding by GNSS-TEC and airglow cameras in oceanic monitoring and future tsunami warning system. All ref. here @ www.ipgp.fr/ ninto

MACROINVERTEBRATE INVENTORIES OF THE WHITE RIVER, COLORADO AND UTAH: SIGNIFICANCE OF ANNUAL, SEASONAL, AND SPATIAL VARIATION IN THE DESIGN OF BIOMONITORING NETWORKS FOR POLLUTION DETECTION

EPA Science Inventory

An aquatic macroinvertebrate monitoring program is suggested for 'early warning' detection of toxic discharges to streams in oil shale development areas. Changes in stream biota are used to signal need for increasing levels of chemical analyses to identify and quantify toxic poll...

Establishing an early warning alert and response network following the Solomon Islands tsunami in 2013

PubMed Central

Bilve, Augustine; Nogareda, Francisco; Joshua, Cynthia; Ross, Lester; Betcha, Christopher; Durski, Kara; Fleischl, Juliet

2014-01-01

Abstract Problem On 6 February 2013, an 8.0 magnitude earthquake generated a tsunami that struck the Santa Cruz Islands, Solomon Islands, killing 10 people and displacing over 4700. Approach A post-disaster assessment of the risk of epidemic disease transmission recommended the implementation of an early warning alert and response network (EWARN) to rapidly detect, assess and respond to potential outbreaks in the aftermath of the tsunami. Local setting Almost 40% of the Santa Cruz Islands’ population were displaced by the disaster, and living in cramped temporary camps with poor or absent sanitation facilities and insufficient access to clean water. There was no early warning disease surveillance system. Relevant changes By 25 February, an EWARN was operational in five health facilities that served 90% of the displaced population. Eight priority diseases or syndromes were reported weekly; unexpected health events were reported immediately. Between 25 February and 19 May, 1177 target diseases or syndrome cases were reported. Seven alerts were investigated. No sustained transmission or epidemics were identified. Reporting compliance was 85%. The EWARN was then transitioned to the routine four-syndrome early warning disease surveillance system. Lesson learnt It was necessary to conduct a detailed assessment to evaluate the risk and potential impact of serious infectious disease outbreaks, to assess whether and how enhanced early warning disease surveillance should be implemented. Local capacities and available resources should be considered in planning EWARN implementation. An EWARN can be an opportunity to establish or strengthen early warning disease surveillance capabilities. PMID:25378746

A new type of tri-axial accelerometers with high dynamic range MEMS for earthquake early warning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peng, Chaoyong; Chen, Yang; Chen, Quansheng; Yang, Jiansi; Wang, Hongti; Zhu, Xiaoyi; Xu, Zhiqiang; Zheng, Yu

2017-03-01

Earthquake Early Warning System (EEWS) has shown its efficiency for earthquake damage mitigation. As the progress of low-cost Micro Electro Mechanical System (MEMS), many types of MEMS-based accelerometers have been developed and widely used in deploying large-scale, dense seismic networks for EEWS. However, the noise performance of these commercially available MEMS is still insufficient for weak seismic signals, leading to the large scatter of early-warning parameters estimation. In this study, we developed a new type of tri-axial accelerometer based on high dynamic range MEMS with low noise level using for EEWS. It is a MEMS-integrated data logger with built-in seismological processing. The device is built on a custom-tailored Linux 2.6.27 operating system and the method for automatic detecting seismic events is STA/LTA algorithms. When a seismic event is detected, peak ground parameters of all data components will be calculated at an interval of 1 s, and τc-Pd values will be evaluated using the initial 3 s of P wave. These values will then be organized as a trigger packet actively sent to the processing center for event combining detection. The output data of all three components are calibrated to sensitivity 500 counts/cm/s2. Several tests and a real field test deployment were performed to obtain the performances of this device. The results show that the dynamic range can reach 98 dB for the vertical component and 99 dB for the horizontal components, and majority of bias temperature coefficients are lower than 200 μg/°C. In addition, the results of event detection and real field deployment have shown its capabilities for EEWS and rapid intensity reporting.

Developing an EEG-based on-line closed-loop lapse detection and mitigation system

PubMed Central

Wang, Yu-Te; Huang, Kuan-Chih; Wei, Chun-Shu; Huang, Teng-Yi; Ko, Li-Wei; Lin, Chin-Teng; Cheng, Chung-Kuan; Jung, Tzyy-Ping

2014-01-01

In America, 60% of adults reported that they have driven a motor vehicle while feeling drowsy, and at least 15–20% of fatal car accidents are fatigue-related. This study translates previous laboratory-oriented neurophysiological research to design, develop, and test an On-line Closed-loop Lapse Detection and Mitigation (OCLDM) System featuring a mobile wireless dry-sensor EEG headgear and a cell-phone based real-time EEG processing platform. Eleven subjects participated in an event-related lane-keeping task, in which they were instructed to manipulate a randomly deviated, fixed-speed cruising car on a 4-lane highway. This was simulated in a 1st person view with an 8-screen and 8-projector immersive virtual-reality environment. When the subjects experienced lapses or failed to respond to events during the experiment, auditory warning was delivered to rectify the performance decrements. However, the arousing auditory signals were not always effective. The EEG spectra exhibited statistically significant differences between effective and ineffective arousing signals, suggesting that EEG spectra could be used as a countermeasure of the efficacy of arousing signals. In this on-line pilot study, the proposed OCLDM System was able to continuously detect EEG signatures of fatigue, deliver arousing warning to subjects suffering momentary cognitive lapses, and assess the efficacy of the warning in near real-time to rectify cognitive lapses. The on-line testing results of the OCLDM System validated the efficacy of the arousing signals in improving subjects' response times to the subsequent lane-departure events. This study may lead to a practical on-line lapse detection and mitigation system in real-world environments. PMID:25352773

Rapid detection of bacteria with miniaturized pyrolysis-gas chromatographic analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mowry, Curtis; Morgan, Catherine H.; Baca, Quentin; Manginell, Ronald P.; Kottenstette, Richard J.; Lewis, Patrick; Frye-Mason, Gregory C.

2002-02-01

Rapid detection and identification of bacteria and other pathogens is important for many civilian and military applications. The profiles of biological markers such as fatty acids can be used to characterize biological samples or to distinguish bacteria at the gram-type, genera, and even species level. Common methods for whole cell bacterial analysis are neither portable nor rapid, requiring lengthy, labor intensive sample preparation and bench-scale instrumentation. These methods chemically derivatize fatty acids to produce more volatile fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) that can be separated and analyzed by a gas chromatograph (GC)/mass spectrometer. More recent publications demonstrate decreased sample preparation time with in situ derivatization of whole bacterial samples using pyrolysis/derivatization. Ongoing development of miniaturized pyrolysis/GC instrumentation by this department capitalizes on Sandia advances in the field of microfabricated chemical analysis systems ((mu) ChemLab). Microdevices include rapidly heated stages capable of pyrolysis or sample concentration, gas chromatography columns, and surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensor arrays. We will present results demonstrating the capabilities of these devices toward fulfilling the goal of portable, rapid detection and early warning of the presence of pathogens in air or water.

Sepsis in Obstetrics: Clinical Features and Early Warning Tools.

PubMed

Parfitt, Sheryl E; Bogat, Mary L; Hering, Sandra L; Ottley, Charlotte; Roth, Cheryl

Morbidity and mortality associated with sepsis has gained widespread attention on a local, state, and national level, yet, it remains a complicated disorder that can be difficult to identify in a timely manner. Sepsis in obstetric patients further complicates the diagnosis as alterations in physiology related to pregnancy can mask sepsis indicators normally seen in the general population. If early signs of sepsis go unrecognized, septic shock can develop, leading to organ dysfunction and potential death. Maternal early warning tools have been designed to assist clinicians in recognizing early indications of illness. Through use of clinical pathway-specific tools, disease processes may be detected early, subsequently benefitting patients with aggressive treatment management and intervention.This article is the second in a series of three that discuss the importance of sepsis and septic shock in pregnancy. Risk factors, causes of sepsis, signs and symptoms, and maternal early warning tools are discussed.

Detection of vapor-phase organophosphate threats using wearable conformable integrated epidermal and textile wireless biosensor systems.

PubMed

Mishra, Rupesh K; Martín, Aida; Nakagawa, Tatsuo; Barfidokht, Abbas; Lu, Xialong; Sempionatto, Juliane R; Lyu, Kay Mengjia; Karajic, Aleksandar; Musameh, Mustafa M; Kyratzis, Ilias L; Wang, Joseph

2018-03-15

Flexible epidermal tattoo and textile-based electrochemical biosensors have been developed for vapor-phase detection of organophosphorus (OP) nerve agents. These new wearable sensors, based on stretchable organophosphorus hydrolase (OPH) enzyme electrodes, are coupled with a fully integrated conformal flexible electronic interface that offers rapid and selective square-wave voltammetric detection of OP vapor threats and wireless data transmission to a mobile device. The epidermal tattoo and textile sensors display a good reproducibility (with RSD of 2.5% and 4.2%, respectively), along with good discrimination against potential interferences and linearity over the 90-300mg/L range, with a sensitivity of 10.7µA∙cm 3 ∙mg -1 (R 2 = 0.983) and detection limit of 12mg/L in terms of OP air density. Stress-enduring inks, used for printing the electrode transducers, ensure resilience against mechanical deformations associated with textile and skin-based on-body sensing operations. Theoretical simulations are used to estimate the OP air density over the sensor surface. These fully integrated wearable wireless tattoo and textile-based nerve-agent vapor biosensor systems offer considerable promise for rapid warning regarding personal exposure to OP nerve-agent vapors in variety of decentralized security applications. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Ionospheric Method of Detecting Tsunami-Generating Earthquakes.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Najita, Kazutoshi; Yuen, Paul C.

1978-01-01

Reviews the earthquake phenomenon and its possible relation to ionospheric disturbances. Discusses the basic physical principles involved and the methods upon which instrumentation is being developed for possible use in a tsunami disaster warning system. (GA)

Cyanobacteria Assessment Network (CyAN)

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

CyAN is a multi-agency project among the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), US Geological Survey (USGS), and EPA to develop an early warning indicator system to detect algal blooms.

Advertising, computers, and pharmacy liability. A Michigan court's decision has ramifications for pharmaceutical care.

PubMed

Cacciatore, G G

1996-11-01

Arbor Drugs, Inc., advertised that its computer could detect dangerous drug interactions. A pharmacist failed to warn a patient accordingly and the patient suffered a stroke as a result of an interaction between tranylcypromine and a decongestant. The Michigan Court of Appeals held that this failure to warn was actionable under the theories of negligence and fraud as well as under the Michigan Consumer Protection Act. The court's basic message is that pharmacies may be held legally responsible for preventing harm when they represent themselves as being capable of doing so.

Incipient fire detection system

DOEpatents

Brooks, Jr., William K.

1999-01-01

A method and apparatus for an incipient fire detection system that receives gaseous samples and measures the light absorption spectrum of the mixture of gases evolving from heated combustibles includes a detector for receiving gaseous samples and subjecting the samples to spectroscopy and determining wavelengths of absorption of the gaseous samples. The wavelengths of absorption of the gaseous samples are compared to predetermined absorption wavelengths. A warning signal is generated whenever the wavelengths of absorption of the gaseous samples correspond to the predetermined absorption wavelengths. The method includes receiving gaseous samples, subjecting the samples to light spectroscopy, determining wavelengths of absorption of the gaseous samples, comparing the wavelengths of absorption of the gaseous samples to predetermined absorption wavelengths and generating a warning signal whenever the wavelengths of absorption of the gaseous samples correspond to the predetermined absorption wavelengths. In an alternate embodiment, the apparatus includes a series of channels fluidically connected to a plurality of remote locations. A pump is connected to the channels for drawing gaseous samples into the channels. A detector is connected to the channels for receiving the drawn gaseous samples and subjecting the samples to spectroscopy. The wavelengths of absorption are determined and compared to predetermined absorption wavelengths is provided. A warning signal is generated whenever the wavelengths correspond.

A new real-time tsunami detection algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chierici, F.; Embriaco, D.; Pignagnoli, L.

2016-12-01

Real-time tsunami detection algorithms play a key role in any Tsunami Early Warning System. We have developed a new algorithm for tsunami detection based on the real-time tide removal and real-time band-pass filtering of sea-bed pressure recordings. The algorithm greatly increases the tsunami detection probability, shortens the detection delay and enhances detection reliability, at low computational cost. The algorithm is designed to be used also in autonomous early warning systems with a set of input parameters and procedures which can be reconfigured in real time. We have also developed a methodology based on Monte Carlo simulations to test the tsunami detection algorithms. The algorithm performance is estimated by defining and evaluating statistical parameters, namely the detection probability, the detection delay, which are functions of the tsunami amplitude and wavelength, and the occurring rate of false alarms. Pressure data sets acquired by Bottom Pressure Recorders in different locations and environmental conditions have been used in order to consider real working scenarios in the test. We also present an application of the algorithm to the tsunami event which occurred at Haida Gwaii on October 28th, 2012 using data recorded by the Bullseye underwater node of Ocean Networks Canada. The algorithm successfully ran for test purpose in year-long missions onboard the GEOSTAR stand-alone multidisciplinary abyssal observatory, deployed in the Gulf of Cadiz during the EC project NEAREST and on NEMO-SN1 cabled observatory deployed in the Western Ionian Sea, operational node of the European research infrastructure EMSO.

A Walk through TRIDEC's intermediate Tsunami Early Warning System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hammitzsch, M.; Reißland, S.; Lendholt, M.

2012-04-01

The management of natural crises is an important application field of the technology developed in the project Collaborative, Complex, and Critical Decision-Support in Evolving Crises (TRIDEC), co-funded by the European Commission in its Seventh Framework Programme. TRIDEC is based on the development of the German Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System (GITEWS) and the Distant Early Warning System (DEWS) providing a service platform for both sensor integration and warning dissemination. In TRIDEC new developments in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) are used to extend the existing platform realising a component-based technology framework for building distributed tsunami warning systems for deployment, e.g. in the North-eastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean and Connected Seas (NEAM) region. The TRIDEC system will be implemented in three phases, each with a demonstrator. Successively, the demonstrators are addressing challenges, such as the design and implementation of a robust and scalable service infrastructure supporting the integration and utilisation of existing resources with accelerated generation of large volumes of data. These include sensor systems, geo-information repositories, simulation tools and data fusion tools. In addition to conventional sensors also unconventional sensors and sensor networks play an important role in TRIDEC. The system version presented is based on service-oriented architecture (SOA) concepts and on relevant standards of the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC), the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS). In this way the system continuously gathers, processes and displays events and data coming from open sensor platforms to enable operators to quickly decide whether an early warning is necessary and to send personalized warning messages to the authorities and the population at large through a wide range of communication channels. The system integrates OGC Sensor Web Enablement (SWE) compliant sensor systems for the rapid detection of hazardous events, like earthquakes, sea level anomalies, ocean floor occurrences, and ground displacements. Using OGC Web Map Service (WMS) and Web Feature Service (WFS) spatial data are utilized to depict the situation picture. The integration of a simulation system to identify affected areas is considered using the OGC Web Processing Service (WPS). Warning messages are compiled and transmitted in the OASIS Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) together with addressing information defined via the OASIS Emergency Data Exchange Language - Distribution Element (EDXL-DE). The first system demonstrator has been designed and implemented to support plausible scenarios demonstrating the treatment of simulated tsunami threats with an essential subset of a National Tsunami Warning Centre (NTWC). The feasibility and the potentials of the implemented approach are demonstrated covering standard operations as well as tsunami detection and alerting functions. The demonstrator presented addresses information management and decision-support processes in a hypothetical natural crisis situation caused by a tsunami in the Eastern Mediterranean. Developments of the system are based to the largest extent on free and open source software (FOSS) components and industry standards. Emphasis has been and will be made on leveraging open source technologies that support mature system architecture models wherever appropriate. All open source software produced is foreseen to be published on a publicly available software repository thus allowing others to reuse results achieved and enabling further development and collaboration with a wide community including scientists, developers, users and stakeholders. This live demonstration is linked with the talk "TRIDEC Natural Crisis Management Demonstrator for Tsunamis" (EGU2012-7275) given in the session "Architecture of Future Tsunami Warning Systems" (NH5.7/ESSI1.7).

Detection of Road Markings Recorded in In-Vehicle Camera Images by Using Position-Dependent Classifiers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Noda, Masafumi; Takahashi, Tomokazu; Deguchi, Daisuke; Ide, Ichiro; Murase, Hiroshi; Kojima, Yoshiko; Naito, Takashi

In this study, we propose a method for detecting road markings recorded in an image captured by an in-vehicle camera by using a position-dependent classifier. Road markings are symbols painted on the road surface that help in preventing traffic accidents and in ensuring traffic smooth. Therefore, driver support systems for detecting road markings, such as a system that provides warning in the case when traffic signs are overlooked, and supporting the stopping of a vehicle are required. It is difficult to detect road markings because their appearance changes with the actual traffic conditions, e. g. the shape and resolution change. The variation in these appearances depend on the positional relation between the vehicle and the road markings, and on the vehicle posture. Although these variations are quite large in an entire image, they are relatively small in a local area of the image. Therefore, we try to improve the detection performance by taking into account the local variations in these appearances. We propose a method in which a position-dependent classifier is used to detect road markings recorded in images captured by an in-vehicle camera. Further, to train the classifier efficiently, we propose a generative learning method that takes into consideration the positional relation between the vehicle and road markings, and also the vehicle posture. Experimental results showed that the detection performance when the proposed method was used was better than when a method involving a single classifier was used.

Application of τc*Pd for identifying damaging earthquakes for earthquake early warning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, P. L.; Lin, T. L.; Wu, Y. M.

2014-12-01

Earthquake Early Warning System (EEWS) is an effective approach to mitigate earthquake damage. In this study, we used the seismic record by the Kiban Kyoshin network (KiK-net), because it has dense station coverage and co-located borehole strong-motion seismometers along with the free-surface strong-motion seismometers. We used inland earthquakes with moment magnitude (Mw) from 5.0 to 7.3 between 1998 and 2012. We choose 135 events and 10950 strong ground accelerograms recorded by the 696 strong ground accelerographs. Both the free-surface and the borehole data are used to calculate τc and Pd, respectively. The results show that τc*Pd has a good correlation with PGV and is a robust parameter for assessing the potential of damaging earthquake. We propose the value of τc*Pd determined from seconds after the arrival of P wave could be a threshold for the on-site type of EEW.

Demonstration of the Cascadia G‐FAST geodetic earthquake early warning system for the Nisqually, Washington, earthquake

USGS Publications Warehouse

Crowell, Brendan; Schmidt, David; Bodin, Paul; Vidale, John; Gomberg, Joan S.; Hartog, Renate; Kress, Victor; Melbourne, Tim; Santillian, Marcelo; Minson, Sarah E.; Jamison, Dylan

2016-01-01

A prototype earthquake early warning (EEW) system is currently in development in the Pacific Northwest. We have taken a two‐stage approach to EEW: (1) detection and initial characterization using strong‐motion data with the Earthquake Alarm Systems (ElarmS) seismic early warning package and (2) the triggering of geodetic modeling modules using Global Navigation Satellite Systems data that help provide robust estimates of large‐magnitude earthquakes. In this article we demonstrate the performance of the latter, the Geodetic First Approximation of Size and Time (G‐FAST) geodetic early warning system, using simulated displacements for the 2001Mw 6.8 Nisqually earthquake. We test the timing and performance of the two G‐FAST source characterization modules, peak ground displacement scaling, and Centroid Moment Tensor‐driven finite‐fault‐slip modeling under ideal, latent, noisy, and incomplete data conditions. We show good agreement between source parameters computed by G‐FAST with previously published and postprocessed seismic and geodetic results for all test cases and modeling modules, and we discuss the challenges with integration into the U.S. Geological Survey’s ShakeAlert EEW system.

Automatic early warning of tail biting in pigs: 3D cameras can detect lowered tail posture before an outbreak

PubMed Central

Jack, Mhairi; Futro, Agnieszka; Talbot, Darren; Zhu, Qiming; Barclay, David; Baxter, Emma M.

2018-01-01

Tail biting is a major welfare and economic problem for indoor pig producers worldwide. Low tail posture is an early warning sign which could reduce tail biting unpredictability. Taking a precision livestock farming approach, we used Time-of-flight 3D cameras, processing data with machine vision algorithms, to automate the measurement of pig tail posture. Validation of the 3D algorithm found an accuracy of 73.9% at detecting low vs. not low tails (Sensitivity 88.4%, Specificity 66.8%). Twenty-three groups of 29 pigs per group were reared with intact (not docked) tails under typical commercial conditions over 8 batches. 15 groups had tail biting outbreaks, following which enrichment was added to pens and biters and/or victims were removed and treated. 3D data from outbreak groups showed the proportion of low tail detections increased pre-outbreak and declined post-outbreak. Pre-outbreak, the increase in low tails occurred at an increasing rate over time, and the proportion of low tails was higher one week pre-outbreak (-1) than 2 weeks pre-outbreak (-2). Within each batch, an outbreak and a non-outbreak control group were identified. Outbreak groups had more 3D low tail detections in weeks -1, +1 and +2 than their matched controls. Comparing 3D tail posture and tail injury scoring data, a greater proportion of low tails was associated with more injured pigs. Low tails might indicate more than just tail biting as tail posture varied between groups and over time and the proportion of low tails increased when pigs were moved to a new pen. Our findings demonstrate the potential for a 3D machine vision system to automate tail posture detection and provide early warning of tail biting on farm. PMID:29617403

Evaluation of the overheight detection system effectiveness at Eklutna bridge.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2013-03-01

The Eklutna River/Glenn Highway bridge has sustained repeated impacts from overheight trucks. In 2006, ADOT&PF installed an : overheight vehicle warning system. The system includes laser detectors, alarms, and message boards. Since installation, pers...

Flight in low-level wind shear

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Frost, W.

1983-01-01

Results of studies of wind shear hazard to aircraft operation are summarized. Existing wind shear profiles currently used in computer and flight simulator studies are reviewed. The governing equations of motion for an aircraft are derived incorporating the variable wind effects. Quantitative discussions of the effects of wind shear on aircraft performance are presented. These are followed by a review of mathematical solutions to both the linear and nonlinear forms of the governing equations. Solutions with and without control laws are presented. The application of detailed analysis to develop warning and detection systems based on Doppler radar measuring wind speed along the flight path is given. A number of flight path deterioration parameters are defined and evaluated. Comparison of computer-predicted flight paths with those measured in a manned flight simulator is made. Some proposed airborne and ground-based wind shear hazard warning and detection systems are reviewed. The advantages and disadvantages of both types of systems are discussed.

From detection to deflection: Mitigation techniques for hidden global threats of natural space objects with short warning time

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hussein, Alaa; Rozenheck, Oshri; Entrena Utrilla, Carlos Manuel

2016-09-01

Throughout recorded history, hundreds of Earth impacts have been reported, with some catastrophic localized consequences. Based on the International Space University (ISU) Planetary Defense project named READI, we address the impact event problem by giving recommendations for the development of a planetary defense program. This paper reviews the current detection and tracking techniques and gives a set of recommendations for a better preparation to shield Earth from asteroid and cometary impacts. We also extend the use of current deflection techniques and propose a new compilation of those to deflect medium-sized potentially hazardous objects (PHOs). Using an array of techniques from high-energy lasers to defensive missiles, we present a set of protective layers to defend our planet. The paper focused on threats with a short warning period from discovery to impact with Earth, within few years.

Impact of Scatterometer Ocean Wind Vector Data on NOAA Operations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jelenak, Z.; Chang, P.; Brennan, M. J.; Sienkiewicz, J. M.

2015-12-01

Near real-time measurements of ocean surface vector winds (OSVW), including both wind speed and direction from non-NOAA satellites, are being widely used in critical operational NOAA forecasting and warning activities. The scatterometer wind data data have had major operational impact in: a) determining wind warning areas for mid-latitude systems (gale, storm,hurricane force); b) determining tropical cyclone 34-knot and 50-knot wind radii. c) tracking the center location of tropical cyclones, including the initial identification of their formation. d) identifying and warning of extreme gap and jet wind events at all latitudes. e) identifying the current location of frontal systems and high and low pressure centers. f) improving coastal surf and swell forecasts Much has been learned about the importance and utility of satellite OSVW data in operational weather forecasting and warning by exploiting OSVW research satellites in near real-time. Since December 1999 when first data from QuikSCAT scatterometer became available in near real time NOAA operations have been benefiting from ASCAT scatterometer observations on MetOp-A and B, Indian OSCAT scatterometer on OceanSat-3 and lately NASA's RapidScat mission on International Space Station. With oceans comprising over 70 percent of the earth's surface, the impacts of these data have been tremendous in serving society's needs for weather and water information and in supporting the nation's commerce with information for safe, efficient, and environmentally sound transportation and coastal preparedness. The satellite OSVW experience that has been gained over the past decade by users in the operational weather community allows for realistic operational OSVW requirements to be properly stated for future missions. Successful model of transitioning research data into operation implemented by Ocean Winds Team in NOAA's NESDIS/STAR office and subsequent data impacts will be presented and discussed.

Performances of the New Real Time Tsunami Detection Algorithm applied to tide gauges data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chierici, F.; Embriaco, D.; Morucci, S.

2017-12-01

Real-time tsunami detection algorithms play a key role in any Tsunami Early Warning System. We have developed a new algorithm for tsunami detection (TDA) based on the real-time tide removal and real-time band-pass filtering of seabed pressure time series acquired by Bottom Pressure Recorders. The TDA algorithm greatly increases the tsunami detection probability, shortens the detection delay and enhances detection reliability with respect to the most widely used tsunami detection algorithm, while containing the computational cost. The algorithm is designed to be used also in autonomous early warning systems with a set of input parameters and procedures which can be reconfigured in real time. We have also developed a methodology based on Monte Carlo simulations to test the tsunami detection algorithms. The algorithm performance is estimated by defining and evaluating statistical parameters, namely the detection probability, the detection delay, which are functions of the tsunami amplitude and wavelength, and the occurring rate of false alarms. In this work we present the performance of the TDA algorithm applied to tide gauge data. We have adapted the new tsunami detection algorithm and the Monte Carlo test methodology to tide gauges. Sea level data acquired by coastal tide gauges in different locations and environmental conditions have been used in order to consider real working scenarios in the test. We also present an application of the algorithm to the tsunami event generated by Tohoku earthquake on March 11th 2011, using data recorded by several tide gauges scattered all over the Pacific area.

Development of systems for detection, early warning, and control of pipeline leakage in drinking water distribution: a case study.

PubMed

Li, Weifeng; Ling, Wencui; Liu, Suoxiang; Zhao, Jing; Liu, Ruiping; Chen, Qiuwen; Qiang, Zhimin; Qu, Jiuhui

2011-01-01

Water leakage in drinking water distribution systems is a serious problem for many cities and a huge challenge for water utilities. An integrated system for the detection, early warning, and control of pipeline leakage has been developed and successfully used to manage the pipeline networks in selected areas of Beijing. A method based on the geographic information system has been proposed to quickly and automatically optimize the layout of the instruments which detect leaks. Methods are also proposed to estimate the probability of each pipe segment leaking (on the basis of historic leakage data), and to assist in locating the leakage points (based on leakage signals). The district metering area (DMA) strategy is used. Guidelines and a flowchart for establishing a DMA to manage the large-scale looped networks in Beijing are proposed. These different functions have been implemented into a central software system to simplify the day-to-day use of the system. In 2007 the system detected 102 non-obvious leakages (i.e., 14.2% of the total detected in Beijing) in the selected areas, which was estimated to save a total volume of 2,385,000 m3 of water. These results indicate the feasibility, efficiency and wider applicability of this system.

Automatic Identification of Alpine Mass Movements by a Combination of Seismic and Infrasound Sensors

PubMed Central

Hübl, Johannes; McArdell, Brian W.; Walter, Fabian

2018-01-01

The automatic detection and identification of alpine mass movements such as debris flows, debris floods, or landslides have been of increasing importance for devising mitigation measures in densely populated and intensively used alpine regions. Since these mass movements emit characteristic seismic and acoustic waves in the low-frequency range (<30 Hz), several approaches have already been developed for detection and warning systems based on these signals. However, a combination of the two methods, for improving detection probability and reducing false alarms, is still applied rarely. This paper presents an update and extension of a previously published approach for a detection and identification system based on a combination of seismic and infrasound sensors. Furthermore, this work evaluates the possible early warning times at several test sites and aims to analyze the seismic and infrasound spectral signature produced by different sediment-related mass movements to identify the process type and estimate the magnitude of the event. Thus, this study presents an initial method for estimating the peak discharge and total volume of debris flows based on infrasound data. Tests on several catchments show that this system can detect and identify mass movements in real time directly at the sensor site with high accuracy and a low false alarm ratio. PMID:29789449

Can binary early warning scores perform as well as standard early warning scores for discriminating a patient's risk of cardiac arrest, death or unanticipated intensive care unit admission?

PubMed

Jarvis, Stuart; Kovacs, Caroline; Briggs, Jim; Meredith, Paul; Schmidt, Paul E; Featherstone, Peter I; Prytherch, David R; Smith, Gary B

2015-08-01

Although the weightings to be summed in an early warning score (EWS) calculation are small, calculation and other errors occur frequently, potentially impacting on hospital efficiency and patient care. Use of a simpler EWS has the potential to reduce errors. We truncated 36 published 'standard' EWSs so that, for each component, only two scores were possible: 0 when the standard EWS scored 0 and 1 when the standard EWS scored greater than 0. Using 1564,153 vital signs observation sets from 68,576 patient care episodes, we compared the discrimination (measured using the area under the receiver operator characteristic curve--AUROC) of each standard EWS and its truncated 'binary' equivalent. The binary EWSs had lower AUROCs than the standard EWSs in most cases, although for some the difference was not significant. One system, the binary form of the National Early Warning System (NEWS), had significantly better discrimination than all standard EWSs, except for NEWS. Overall, Binary NEWS at a trigger value of 3 would detect as many adverse outcomes as are detected by NEWS using a trigger of 5, but would require a 15% higher triggering rate. The performance of Binary NEWS is only exceeded by that of standard NEWS. It may be that Binary NEWS, as a simplified system, can be used with fewer errors. However, its introduction could lead to significant increases in workload for ward and rapid response team staff. The balance between fewer errors and a potentially greater workload needs further investigation. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

New early warning system for gravity-driven ruptures based on codetection of acoustic signal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Faillettaz, J.

2016-12-01

Gravity-driven rupture phenomena in natural media - e.g. landslide, rockfalls, snow or ice avalanches - represent an important class of natural hazards in mountainous regions. To protect the population against such events, a timely evacuation often constitutes the only effective way to secure the potentially endangered area. However, reliable prediction of imminence of such failure events remains challenging due to the nonlinear and complex nature of geological material failure hampered by inherent heterogeneity, unknown initial mechanical state, and complex load application (rainfall, temperature, etc.). Here, a simple method for real-time early warning that considers both the heterogeneity of natural media and characteristics of acoustic emissions attenuation is proposed. This new method capitalizes on codetection of elastic waves emanating from microcracks by multiple and spatially separated sensors. Event-codetection is considered as surrogate for large event size with more frequent codetected events (i.e., detected concurrently on more than one sensor) marking imminence of catastrophic failure. Simple numerical model based on a Fiber Bundle Model considering signal attenuation and hypothetical arrays of sensors confirms the early warning potential of codetection principles. Results suggest that although statistical properties of attenuated signal amplitude could lead to misleading results, monitoring the emergence of large events announcing impeding failure is possible even with attenuated signals depending on sensor network geometry and detection threshold. Preliminary application of the proposed method to acoustic emissions during failure of snow samples has confirmed the potential use of codetection as indicator for imminent failure at lab scale. The applicability of such simple and cheap early warning system is now investigated at a larger scale (hillslope). First results of such a pilot field experiment are presented and analysed.

LDAR, A Three-Dimensional Lightning Warning System: Its Development and Use by the Government, and Transition to Public Availability

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Starr, Stan; Sharp, David; Merceret, Francis; Madura, John; Murphy, Martin

1998-01-01

NASA, at the John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC), developed and operates a unique high precision lightning location system to provide lightning related weather warnings. These warnings are used to stop lightning-sensitive operations such as space vehicle launches and ground operations where equipment and personnel are at risk. The data is provided to the Range Weather Operations [45th Weather Squadron, U. S. Air Force (USAF)] where it is used with other meteorological data to issue weather advisories and warnings for Cape Canaveral Air Station (CCAS) and KSC operations. This system, called Lightning Detection and Ranging (LDAR), provides users with a graphical display in three dimensions of 66 MHz radio frequency events generated by lightning processes. The locations of these events provide a sound basis for the prediction of lightning hazards. NASA and Global Atmospherics, Inc. are developing a new system that will replace the unique LDAR components with commercially available and maintainable components having improved capabilities. These components will be phased in to ensure full continuity and access to this important warning technology. These LDAR systems are expected to eventually be available for installation and use by the public at specialized facilities, such as airports, and for general weather warnings via the National Weather Service (NWS) or television broadcast. The NWS in Melbourne has had access to real-time LDAR data since 1993 on an experimental basis. This use of LDAR has shown promise for the improvement of aviation forecasts and severe weather warnings. More so, it has opened the door to investigate the feasibility of issuing lightning-related public advisories. The success of its early use suggests that this technology may improve safety and potentially save lives, therefore constituting a significant benefit to the public. This paper describes the LDR system, the plans and progress of these upgrades, and the potential benefits of its use.

Civil Protection Practitioners' Response to Introducing Nowcasting in Weather Warnings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ulbrich, Thorsten

2014-05-01

The HErZ project WEXICOM (Improving the process of weather warnings and extreme weather information in the chain from the meteorological forecasts to their communication for the Berlin conurbation) assesses the communication and use of weather warnings. In cooperation with DWD we conducted two online surveys with German relief forces before and after a nowcasting application was introduced into the weather warning platform FEWIS. The aim is to investigate how relief workers make use of the additional information. DWD supports German civil protection by providing the warning platform FeWIS (Fire brigade Weather Information System) for registered relief workers. The platform provides information on meteorological hazards needed to take precautions and to support rescue actions. In June 2013 DWD added nowcasted estimates of storm attributes including warning cones based on a 1x1 km grid. The tool named "GewitterMonitor" is based on NowcastMIX and uses short-term weather models and observations to derive warnings with high precision on intensity, location and timing of thunder storm cells for the following two hours. A first survey provided prior to the addition of nowcasted information investigates how users benefit from FeWIS and how they perceive its functionality and reliability. Following the introduction users gain experience applying the nowcasting tool in the thunderstorm season 2013. In Winter 2013/2014 we conducted another online survey. The post-survey comprises questions on the use of the GewitterMonitor and on how the tool supports relief forces in responding to meteorological risks. The post survey also repeats questions on the perception of functionality and function of FeWIS and poses questions derived from the previous survey. This second survey collects practitioners feedback on GewitterMonitor and allows to detect changes in how users perceive the performance of FeWIS after the addition by relating responses to the prior survey.

Developing an automatic classification system of vegetation anomalies for early warning with the ASAP (Anomaly hot Spots of Agricultural Production) system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meroni, M.; Rembold, F.; Urbano, F.; Lemoine, G.

2016-12-01

Anomaly maps and time profiles of remote sensing derived indicators relevant to monitor crop and vegetation stress can be accessed online thanks to a rapidly growing number of web based portals. However, timely and systematic global analysis and coherent interpretation of such information, as it is needed for example for SDG 2 related monitoring, remains challenging. With the ASAP system (Anomaly hot Spots of Agricultural Production) we propose a two-step analysis to provide monthly warning of production deficits in water-limited agriculture worldwide. The first step is fully automated and aims at classifying each administrative unit (1st sub-national level) into a number of possible warning levels, ranging from "none" to "watch" and up to "extended alarm". The second step involves the verification of the automatic warnings and integration into a short national level analysis by agricultural analysts. In this paper we describe the methodological development of the automatic vegetation anomaly classification system. Warnings are triggered only during the crop growing season, defined by a remote sensing based phenology. The classification takes into consideration the fraction of the agricultural and rangelands area for each administrative unit that is affected by a severe anomaly of two rainfall-based indicators (the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), computed at 1 and 3-month scale) and one biophysical indicator (the cumulative NDVI from the start of the growing season). The severity of the warning thus depends on the timing, the nature and the number of indicators for which an anomaly is detected. The prototype system is using global NDVI images of the METOP sensor, while a second version is being developed based on 1km Modis NDVI with temporal smoothing and near real time filtering. Also a specific water balance model is under development to include agriculture water stress information in addition to the SPI. The monthly warning classification and crop condition assessment will be made available on a website and will strengthen the JRC support to information products based on consensus assessment such as the GEOGLAM Crop Monitor for Early Warning.

Implementation of a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Augmentation to Tsunami Early Warning Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

LaBrecque, John

2016-04-01

The Global Geodetic Observing System has issued a Call for Participation to research scientists, geodetic research groups and national agencies in support of the implementation of the IUGG recommendation for a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Augmentation to Tsunami Early Warning Systems. The call seeks to establish a working group to be a catalyst and motivating force for the definition of requirements, identification of resources, and for the encouragement of international cooperation in the establishment, advancement, and utilization of GNSS for Tsunami Early Warning. During the past fifteen years the populations of the Indo-Pacific region experienced a series of mega-thrust earthquakes followed by devastating tsunamis that claimed nearly 300,000 lives. The future resiliency of the region will depend upon improvements to infrastructure and emergency response that will require very significant investments from the Indo-Pacific economies. The estimation of earthquake moment magnitude, source mechanism and the distribution of crustal deformation are critical to rapid tsunami warning. Geodetic research groups have demonstrated the use of GNSS data to estimate earthquake moment magnitude, source mechanism and the distribution of crustal deformation sufficient for the accurate and timely prediction of tsunamis generated by mega-thrust earthquakes. GNSS data have also been used to measure the formation and propagation of tsunamis via ionospheric disturbances acoustically coupled to the propagating surface waves; thereby providing a new technique to track tsunami propagation across ocean basins, opening the way for improving tsunami propagation models, and providing accurate warning to communities in the far field. These two new advancements can deliver timely and accurate tsunami warnings to coastal communities in the near and far field of mega-thrust earthquakes. This presentation will present the justification for and the details of the GGOS Call for Participation.

Development of Algorithms and Error Analyses for the Short Baseline Lightning Detection and Ranging System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Starr, Stanley O.

1998-01-01

NASA, at the John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC), developed and operates a unique high-precision lightning location system to provide lightning-related weather warnings. These warnings are used to stop lightning- sensitive operations such as space vehicle launches and ground operations where equipment and personnel are at risk. The data is provided to the Range Weather Operations (45th Weather Squadron, U.S. Air Force) where it is used with other meteorological data to issue weather advisories and warnings for Cape Canaveral Air Station and KSC operations. This system, called Lightning Detection and Ranging (LDAR), provides users with a graphical display in three dimensions of 66 megahertz radio frequency events generated by lightning processes. The locations of these events provide a sound basis for the prediction of lightning hazards. This document provides the basis for the design approach and data analysis for a system of radio frequency receivers to provide azimuth and elevation data for lightning pulses detected simultaneously by the LDAR system. The intent is for this direction-finding system to correct and augment the data provided by LDAR and, thereby, increase the rate of valid data and to correct or discard any invalid data. This document develops the necessary equations and algorithms, identifies sources of systematic errors and means to correct them, and analyzes the algorithms for random error. This data analysis approach is not found in the existing literature and was developed to facilitate the operation of this Short Baseline LDAR (SBLDAR). These algorithms may also be useful for other direction-finding systems using radio pulses or ultrasonic pulse data.

Have antiepileptic drug prescription claims changed following the FDA suicidality warning? An evaluation in a state Medicaid program.

PubMed

Mittal, Manish; Harrison, Donald L; Miller, Michael J; Farmer, Kevin C; Thompson, David M; Ng, Yu-Tze

2014-05-01

In January 2008, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) communicated concerns and, in May 2009, issued a warning about an increased risk of suicidality for all antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). This research evaluated the association between the FDA suicidality communications and the AED prescription claims among members with epilepsy and/or psychiatric disorder. A longitudinal interrupted time-series design was utilized to evaluate Oklahoma Medicaid claims data from January 2006 through December 2009. The study included 9289 continuously eligible members with prevalent diagnoses of epilepsy and/or psychiatric disorder and at least one AED prescription claim. Trends, expressed as monthly changes in the log odds of AED prescription claims, were compared across three time periods: before (January 2006 to January 2008), during (February 2008 to May 2009), and after (June 2009 to December 2009) the FDA warning. Before the FDA warning period, a significant upward trend of AED prescription claims of 0.01% per month (99% CI: 0.008% to 0.013%, p<0.0001) was estimated. In comparison to the prewarning period, no significant change in trend was detected during (-20.0%, 99% CI: -70.0% to 30.0%, p=0.34) or after (80.0%, 99% CI: -20.0% to 200.0%, p=0.03) the FDA warning period. After stratification, no diagnostic group (i.e., epilepsy alone, epilepsy and comorbid psychiatric disorder, and psychiatric disorder alone) experienced a significant change in trend during the entire study period (p>0.01). During the time period considered, the FDA AED-related suicidality warning does not appear to have significantly affected prescription claims of AED medications for the study population. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Earthquake Warning Performance in Vallejo for the South Napa Earthquake

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wurman, G.; Price, M.

2014-12-01

In 2002 and 2003, Seismic Warning Systems, Inc. installed first-generation QuakeGuardTM earthquake warning devices at all eight fire stations in Vallejo, CA. These devices are designed to detect the P-wave of an earthquake and initiate predetermined protective actions if the impending shaking is estimated at approximately Modifed Mercalli Intensity V or greater. At the Vallejo fire stations the devices were set up to sound an audio alert over the public address system and to command the equipment bay doors to open. In August 2014, after more than 11 years of operating in the fire stations with no false alarms, the five units that were still in use triggered correctly on the MW 6.0 South Napa earthquake, less than 16 km away. The audio alert sounded in all five stations, providing fire fighters with 1.5 to 2.5 seconds of warning before the arrival of the S-wave, and the equipment bay doors opened in three of the stations. In one station the doors were disconnected from the QuakeGuard device, and another station lost power before the doors opened completely. These problems highlight just a small portion of the complexity associated with realizing actionable earthquake warnings. The issues experienced in this earthquake have already been addressed in subsequent QuakeGuard product generations, with downstream connection monitoring and backup power for critical systems. The fact that the fire fighters in Vallejo were afforded even two seconds of warning at these epicentral distances results from the design of the QuakeGuard devices, which focuses on rapid false positive rejection and ground motion estimates. We discuss the performance of the ground motion estimation algorithms, with an emphasis on the accuracy and timeliness of the estimates at close epicentral distances.

Cracking under Pressure.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Caudle, Melissa; Baiamonte, John

1996-01-01

Workplace violence has not bypassed schools. Stories are surfacing about disgruntled school employees threatening, attacking, and sometimes killing administrators. This article shows how school leaders can develop greater awareness of potential problems and design cautionary measures. Contributing factors, warning signs, legal consequences,…

30 CFR 56.4101 - Warning signs.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR METAL AND NONMETAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH SAFETY AND HEALTH STANDARDS-SURFACE METAL AND NONMETAL MINES Fire Prevention and Control... open flames shall be posted where a fire or explosion hazard exists. ...

Hurricane Imaging Radiometer (HIRAD) Wind Speed Retrieval Assessment with Dropsondes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cecil, Daniel J.; Biswas, Sayak K.

2017-01-01

Map surface wind speed over wide swath (approximately 50-60 km, for aircraft greater than FL600) in hurricanes. Provide research data for understanding hurricane structure, and intensity change. Enable improved forecasts, warnings, and decision support.

Simultaneous monitoring of biofilm growth, microbial activity, and inorganic deposits on surfaces with an in situ, online, real-time, non-destructive, optical sensor.

PubMed

Strathmann, Martin; Mittenzwey, Klaus-Henrik; Sinn, Gert; Papadakis, Wassilios; Flemming, Hans-Curt

2013-01-01

Deposits on surfaces in water-bearing systems, also known as 'fouling', can lead to substantial losses in the performance of industrial processes as well as a decreased product quality. Early detection and localization of such deposits can, to a considerable extent, save such losses. However, most of the surfaces that become fouled, for example, in process water pipes, membrane systems, power plants, and food and beverage industries, are difficult to access and analyses conducted on the water phase do not reveal the site or extent of deposits. Furthermore, it is of interest to distinguish biological from non-biological deposits. Although they usually occur together, different countermeasures are necessary. Therefore, sensors are required that indicate the development of surface fouling in real-time, non-destructively, and in situ, preferably allowing for discrimination between chemical and/or biological deposits. In this paper, an optical deposit sensor is presented which fulfills these requirements. Based on multiple fluorescence excitation emission matrix analysis, it detects autofluorescence of amino acids as indicators of biomass. Autofluorescence of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide + hydrogen is interpreted as an indicator of biological activity, thus it acts as a viability marker, making the method suited for assessing the efficacy of disinfection treatments. Scattering signals from abiotic deposits such as calcium carbonate or corrosion products can clearly be distinguished from biotic substances and monitored separately. The sensor provides an early warning of fouling, allowing for timely countermeasures to be deployed. It also provides an assessment of the success of cleaning treatments and is a promising tool for integrated antifouling strategies.

New Tsunami Forecast Tools for the French Polynesia Tsunami Warning System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clément, Joël; Reymond, Dominique

2015-03-01

This paper presents the tsunami warning tools, which are used for the estimation of the seismic source parameters. These tools are grouped under a method called Preliminary Determination of Focal Mechanism_2 ( PDFM2), that has been developed at the French Polynesia Warning Center, in the framework of the system, as a plug-in concept. The first tool determines the seismic moment and the focal geometry (strike, dip, and slip), and the second tool identifies the "tsunami earthquakes" (earthquakes that cause much bigger tsunamis than their magnitude would imply). In a tsunami warning operation, initial assessment of the tsunami potential is based on location and magnitude. The usual quick magnitude methods which use waves, work fine for smaller earthquakes. For major earthquakes these methods drastically underestimate the magnitude and its tsunami potential because the radiated energy shifts to the longer period waves. Since French Polynesia is located far away from the subduction zones of the Pacific rim, the tsunami threat is not imminent, and this luxury of time allows to use the long period surface wave data to determine the true size of a major earthquake. The source inversion method presented in this paper uses a combination of surface waves amplitude spectra and P wave first motions. The advantage of using long period surface data is that there is a much more accurate determination of earthquake size, and the advantage of using P wave first motion is to have a better constrain of the focal geometry than using the surface waves alone. The method routinely gives stable results at minutes, with being the origin time of an earthquake. Our results are then compared to the Global Centroid Moment Tensor catalog for validating both the seismic moment and the source geometry. The second tool discussed in this paper is the slowness parameter and is the energy-to-moment ratio. It has been used to identify tsunami earthquakes, which are characterized by having unusual slow rupture velocity and release seismic energy that has been shifted to longer periods and, therefore, have low values. The slow rupture velocity would indicate weaker material and bigger uplift and, thus, bigger tsunami potential. The use of the slowness parameter is an efficient tool for monitoring the near real-time identification of tsunami earthquakes.

Tsunami detection by high-frequency radar in British Columbia: performance assessment of the time-correlation algorithm for synthetic and real events

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guérin, Charles-Antoine; Grilli, Stéphan T.; Moran, Patrick; Grilli, Annette R.; Insua, Tania L.

2018-05-01

The authors recently proposed a new method for detecting tsunamis using high-frequency (HF) radar observations, referred to as "time-correlation algorithm" (TCA; Grilli et al. Pure Appl Geophys 173(12):3895-3934, 2016a, 174(1): 3003-3028, 2017). Unlike standard algorithms that detect surface current patterns, the TCA is based on analyzing space-time correlations of radar signal time series in pairs of radar cells, which does not require inverting radial surface currents. This was done by calculating a contrast function, which quantifies the change in pattern of the mean correlation between pairs of neighboring cells upon tsunami arrival, with respect to a reference correlation computed in the recent past. In earlier work, the TCA was successfully validated based on realistic numerical simulations of both the radar signal and tsunami wave trains. Here, this algorithm is adapted to apply to actual data from a HF radar installed in Tofino, BC, for three test cases: (1) a simulated far-field tsunami generated in the Semidi Subduction Zone in the Aleutian Arc; (2) a simulated near-field tsunami from a submarine mass failure on the continental slope off of Tofino; and (3) an event believed to be a meteotsunami, which occurred on October 14th, 2016, off of the Pacific West Coast and was measured by the radar. In the first two cases, the synthetic tsunami signal is superimposed onto the radar signal by way of a current memory term; in the third case, the tsunami signature is present within the radar data. In light of these test cases, we develop a detection methodology based on the TCA, using a correlation contrast function, and show that in all three cases the algorithm is able to trigger a timely early warning.

Blood leakage detection during dialysis therapy based on fog computing with array photocell sensors and heteroassociative memory model

PubMed Central

Wu, Jian-Xing; Huang, Ping-Tzan; Li, Chien-Ming

2018-01-01

Blood leakage and blood loss are serious life-threatening complications occurring during dialysis therapy. These events have been of concerns to both healthcare givers and patients. More than 40% of adult blood volume can be lost in just a few minutes, resulting in morbidities and mortality. The authors intend to propose the design of a warning tool for the detection of blood leakage/blood loss during dialysis therapy based on fog computing with an array of photocell sensors and heteroassociative memory (HAM) model. Photocell sensors are arranged in an array on a flexible substrate to detect blood leakage via the resistance changes with illumination in the visible spectrum of 500–700 nm. The HAM model is implemented to design a virtual alarm unit using electricity changes in an embedded system. The proposed warning tool can indicate the risk level in both end-sensing units and remote monitor devices via a wireless network and fog/cloud computing. The animal experimental results (pig blood) will demonstrate the feasibility. PMID:29515815

Blood leakage detection during dialysis therapy based on fog computing with array photocell sensors and heteroassociative memory model.

PubMed

Wu, Jian-Xing; Huang, Ping-Tzan; Lin, Chia-Hung; Li, Chien-Ming

2018-02-01

Blood leakage and blood loss are serious life-threatening complications occurring during dialysis therapy. These events have been of concerns to both healthcare givers and patients. More than 40% of adult blood volume can be lost in just a few minutes, resulting in morbidities and mortality. The authors intend to propose the design of a warning tool for the detection of blood leakage/blood loss during dialysis therapy based on fog computing with an array of photocell sensors and heteroassociative memory (HAM) model. Photocell sensors are arranged in an array on a flexible substrate to detect blood leakage via the resistance changes with illumination in the visible spectrum of 500-700 nm. The HAM model is implemented to design a virtual alarm unit using electricity changes in an embedded system. The proposed warning tool can indicate the risk level in both end-sensing units and remote monitor devices via a wireless network and fog/cloud computing. The animal experimental results (pig blood) will demonstrate the feasibility.

Hurricane Prediction: Progress and Problem Areas

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Simpson, R. H.

1973-01-01

Describes progress made in recent decades in predicting the track and landfall of hurricanes. Examines the problems of detecting, tracking, and describing tropical cyclones, and the difficulties which continue to complicate the matter of warning and evacuating coastal residents. (JR)

Early Warning Systems Assure Safe Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Greenhalgh, John

1973-01-01

Fairfield, Connecticut, public schools are protected by an automatic fire detection system covering every area of every building through an electric monitor. An intrusion alarm system that relies primarily on pulsed infra-red beams protects the plant investment. (Author/MF)

Investigation Of Alternative Displays For Side Collision Avoidance Systems, Final Report

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1996-12-01

DRIVER-VEHICLE INTERFACE OR DVI, HUMAN FACTORS, DRIVER PREFERENCES, INTELLIGENT VEHICLE INITIATIVE OR IVI : SIDE COLLISION AVOIDANCE SYSTEMS (SCAS) ARE DESIGNED TO WARN OF IMPENDING COLLISIONS AND CAN DETECT NOT ONLY ADJACENT VEHICLES BUT VEHICLES...

Comparison Between GOES-12 Overshooting-Top Detections, WSR-88D Radar Reflectivity, and Severe Storm Reports

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dworak, Richard; Bedka, Kristopher; Brunner, Jason; Feltz, Wayne

2012-01-01

Studies have found that convective storms with overshooting-top (OT) signatures in weather satellite imagery are often associated with hazardous weather, such as heavy rainfall, tornadoes, damaging winds, and large hail. An objective satellite-based OT detection product has been developed using 11-micrometer infrared window (IRW) channel brightness temperatures (BTs) for the upcoming R series of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-R) Advanced Baseline Imager. In this study, this method is applied to GOES-12 IRW data and the OT detections are compared with radar data, severe storm reports, and severe weather warnings over the eastern United States. The goals of this study are to 1) improve forecaster understanding of satellite OT signatures relative to commonly available radar products, 2) assess OT detection product accuracy, and 3) evaluate the utility of an OT detection product for diagnosing hazardous convective storms. The coevolution of radar-derived products and satellite OT signatures indicates that an OT often corresponds with the highest radar echo top and reflectivity maximum aloft. Validation of OT detections relative to composite reflectivity indicates an algorithm false-alarm ratio of 16%, with OTs within the coldest IRW BT range (less than 200 K) being the most accurate. A significant IRW BT minimum typically present with an OT is more often associated with heavy precipitation than a region with a spatially uniform BT. Severe weather was often associated with OT detections during the warm season (April September) and over the southern United States. The severe weather to OT relationship increased by 15% when GOES operated in rapid-scan mode, showing the importance of high temporal resolution for observing and detecting rapidly evolving cloud-top features. Comparison of the earliest OT detection associated with a severe weather report showed that 75% of the cases occur before severe weather and that 42% of collocated severe weather reports had either an OT detected before a severe weather warning or no warning issued at all. The relationships between satellite OT signatures, severe weather, and heavy rainfall shown in this paper suggest that 1) when an OT is detected, the particular storm is likely producing heavy rainfall and/or possibly severe weather; 2) an objective OT detection product can be used to increase situational awareness and forecaster confidence that a given storm is severe; and 3) this product may be particularly useful in regions with insufficient radar coverage.

Application of Collocated GPS and Seismic Sensors to Earthquake Monitoring and Early Warning

PubMed Central

Li, Xingxing; Zhang, Xiaohong; Guo, Bofeng

2013-01-01

We explore the use of collocated GPS and seismic sensors for earthquake monitoring and early warning. The GPS and seismic data collected during the 2011 Tohoku-Oki (Japan) and the 2010 El Mayor-Cucapah (Mexico) earthquakes are analyzed by using a tightly-coupled integration. The performance of the integrated results is validated by both time and frequency domain analysis. We detect the P-wave arrival and observe small-scale features of the movement from the integrated results and locate the epicenter. Meanwhile, permanent offsets are extracted from the integrated displacements highly accurately and used for reliable fault slip inversion and magnitude estimation. PMID:24284765

An Adaptive Rear-End Collision Warning System for Drivers That Estimates Driving Phase and Selects Training Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ikeda, Kazushi; Mima, Hiroki; Inoue, Yuta; Shibata, Tomohiro; Fukaya, Naoki; Hitomi, Kentaro; Bando, Takashi

The paper proposes a rear-end collision warning system for drivers, where the collision risk is adaptively set from driving signals. The system employs the inverse of the time-to-collision with a constant relative acceleration as the risk and the one-class support vector machine as the anomaly detector. The system also utilizes brake sequences for outliers detection. When a brake sequence has a low likelihood with respect to trained hidden Markov models, the driving data during the sequence are removed from the training dataset. This data selection is confirmed to increase the robustness of the system by computer simulations.

Development of communication networks and water quality early warning detection systems at drinking water utilities in the Ohio River Valley Basin.

PubMed

Schulte, J G; Vicory, A H

2005-01-01

Source water quality is of major concern to all drinking water utilities. The accidental introduction of contaminants to their source water is a constant threat to utilities withdrawing water from navigable or industrialized rivers. The events of 11 September, 2001 in the United States have heightened concern for drinking water utility security as their source water and finished water may be targets for terrorist acts. Efforts are underway in several parts of the United States to strengthen early warning capabilities. This paper will focus on those efforts in the Ohio River Valley Basin.

Collaborative Point Paper on Border Surveillance Technology

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-06-01

Systems PLC LORHIS (Long Range Hyperspectral Imaging System ) can be configured for either manned or unmanned aircraft to automatically detect and...Airships, and/or Aerostats, (RF, Electro-Optical, Infrared, Video) • Land- based Sensor Systems (Attended/Mobile and Unattended: e.g., CCD, Motion, Acoustic...electronic surveillance technologies for intrusion detection and warning. These ground- based systems are primarily short-range, up to around 500 meters

Early Intervention: How Parents Can Help Adolescent Children Who May Be Using Drugs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Franklin, Diane, Ed.; Bankston, Karen, Ed.

The earlier a parent can detect and respond to a child's involvement with alcohol and other drugs (AOD), the better. Just as early detection heightens the cure rate for cancer, so too does early intervention increase the chances of ending AOD use. This booklet outlines warning signs of AOD use and lists the hazards of adolescent drug use.…

A flexible hydrological warning system in Denmark for real-time surface water and groundwater simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Xin; Stisen, Simon; Wiese, Marianne B.; Jørgen Henriksen, Hans

2015-04-01

In Denmark, increasing focus on extreme weather events has created considerable demand for short term forecasts and early warnings in relation to groundwater and surface water flooding. The Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) has setup, calibrated and applied a nationwide water resources model, the DK-Model, primarily for simulating groundwater and surface water flows and groundwater levels during the past 20 years. So far, the DK-model has only been used in offline historical and future scenario simulations. Therefore, challenges arise in operating such a model for online forecasts and early warnings, which requires access to continuously updated observed climate input data and forecast data of precipitation, temperature and global radiation for the next 48 hours or longer. GEUS has a close collaboration with the Danish Meteorological Institute in order to test and enable this data input for the DK model. Due to the comprehensive physical descriptions of the DK-Model, the simulation results can potentially be any component of the hydrological cycle within the models domain. Therefore, it is important to identify which results need to be updated and saved in the real-time mode, since it is not computationally economical to save every result considering the heavy load of data. GEUS have worked closely with the end-users and interest groups such as water planners and emergency managers from the municipalities, water supply and waste water companies, consulting companies and farmer organizations, in order to understand their possible needs for real time simulation and monitoring of the nationwide water cycle. This participatory process has been supported by a web based questionnaire survey, and a workshop that connected the model developers and the users. For qualifying the stakeholder engagement, GEUS has selected a representative catchment area (Skjern River) for testing and demonstrating a prototype of the web based hydrological warning system at the workshop, and illustrated simulated groundwater levels, streamflow and water content in the root zone. The webpages can be tailor-made to meet the requirements of the end-users and also enable flexibility to extend while the users' demand changes. The active involvement of stakeholders in the workshop provided very valuable insights and feedbacks for GEUS, relevant for the future development of the nationwide real-time modeling and water cycle monitoring system for Denmark, including possible linking to early warning and real-time forecasting systems operating at the local scale.

Development of SNS Stream Analysis Based on Forest Disaster Warning Information Service System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oh, J.; KIM, D.; Kang, M.; Woo, C.; Kim, D.; Seo, J.; Lee, C.; Yoon, H.; Heon, S.

2017-12-01

Forest disasters, such as landslides and wildfires, cause huge economic losses and casualties, and the cost of recovery is increasing every year. While forest disaster mitigation technologies have been focused on the development of prevention and response technologies, they are now required to evolve into evacuation and border evacuation, and to develop technologies fused with ICT. In this study, we analyze the SNS (Social Network Service) stream and implement a system to detect the message that the forest disaster occurred or the forest disaster, and search the keyword related to the forest disaster in advance in real time. It is possible to detect more accurate forest disaster messages by repeatedly learning the retrieved results using machine learning techniques. To do this, we designed and implemented a system based on Hadoop and Spark, a distributed parallel processing platform, to handle Twitter stream messages that open SNS. In order to develop the technology to notify the information of forest disaster risk, a linkage of technology such as CBS (Cell Broadcasting System) based on mobile communication, internet-based civil defense siren, SNS and the legal and institutional issues for applying these technologies are examined. And the protocol of the forest disaster warning information service system that can deliver the SNS analysis result was developed. As a result, it was possible to grasp real-time forest disaster situation by real-time big data analysis of SNS that occurred during forest disasters. In addition, we confirmed that it is possible to rapidly propagate alarm or warning according to the disaster situation by using the function of the forest disaster warning information notification service. However, the limitation of system application due to the restriction of opening and sharing of SNS data currently in service and the disclosure of personal information remains a problem to be solved in the future. Keyword : SNS stream, Big data, Machine learning techniques, CBS, Forest disaster warning information service system Acknowledgement : This research was supported by the Forestry Technology 2015 Forestry Technology Research and Development Project (Planning project).

TRACE GAS CONCENTRATIONS IN STREAMS - EARLY WARNING INDICATORS OF STREAM IMPAIRMENT?

EPA Science Inventory

Surface water contamination and resultant impairment of aquatic ecosystem functioning are serious environmental problems, caused in large part by land use changes and excess organic waste inputs associated with agriculture and residential and industrial development. Headwater st...

Summary of DOT Rail-Highway Crossing Resource Allocation Procedure - Revised

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1987-06-01

The Highway Safety Acts of 1973 and 1976, and the Surface Transportation Assistance Acts of 1978 and 1982 provide funding authorizations to individual states to improve safety at public rail-highway crossings. The installation of active motorist warn...

Idea Project Final Report, Driver-Adaptive Warning System

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1995-03-31

THIS INVESTIGATION WAS COMPLETED AS PART OF THE ITS-IDEA PROGRAM, WHICH IS ONE OF THREE IDEA PROGRAMS MANAGED BY THE TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD (TRB) TO FOSTER INNOVATIONS IN SURFACE TRANSPORTATION. IT FOCUSES ON PRODUCTS AND RESULTS FOR THE DEVEL...

CISN ShakeAlert: Faster Warning Information Through Multiple Threshold Event Detection in the Virtual Seismologist (VS) Early Warning Algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cua, G. B.; Fischer, M.; Caprio, M.; Heaton, T. H.; Cisn Earthquake Early Warning Project Team

2010-12-01

The Virtual Seismologist (VS) earthquake early warning (EEW) algorithm is one of 3 EEW approaches being incorporated into the California Integrated Seismic Network (CISN) ShakeAlert system, a prototype EEW system that could potentially be implemented in California. The VS algorithm, implemented by the Swiss Seismological Service at ETH Zurich, is a Bayesian approach to EEW, wherein the most probable source estimate at any given time is a combination of contributions from a likehihood function that evolves in response to incoming data from the on-going earthquake, and selected prior information, which can include factors such as network topology, the Gutenberg-Richter relationship or previously observed seismicity. The VS codes have been running in real-time at the Southern California Seismic Network since July 2008, and at the Northern California Seismic Network since February 2009. We discuss recent enhancements to the VS EEW algorithm that are being integrated into CISN ShakeAlert. We developed and continue to test a multiple-threshold event detection scheme, which uses different association / location approaches depending on the peak amplitudes associated with an incoming P pick. With this scheme, an event with sufficiently high initial amplitudes can be declared on the basis of a single station, maximizing warning times for damaging events for which EEW is most relevant. Smaller, non-damaging events, which will have lower initial amplitudes, will require more picks to initiate an event declaration, with the goal of reducing false alarms. This transforms the VS codes from a regional EEW approach reliant on traditional location estimation (and the requirement of at least 4 picks as implemented by the Binder Earthworm phase associator) into an on-site/regional approach capable of providing a continuously evolving stream of EEW information starting from the first P-detection. Real-time and offline analysis on Swiss and California waveform datasets indicate that the multiple-threshold approach is faster and more reliable for larger events than the earlier version of the VS codes. In addition, we provide evolutionary estimates of the probability of false alarms (PFA), which is an envisioned output stream of the CISN ShakeAlert system. The real-time decision-making approach envisioned for CISN ShakeAlert users, where users specify a threshhold PFA in addition to thresholds on peak ground motion estimates, has the potential to increase the available warning time for users with high tolerance to false alarms without compromising the needs of users with lower tolerances to false alarms.

Senior Health: How to Prevent and Detect Malnutrition

MedlinePlus

Healthy Lifestyle Caregivers Malnutrition is a serious senior health issue. Know the warning signs and how to help an older loved one avoid ... nutrient-rich diet for an older loved one. Malnutrition in older adults can lead to various health ...

Sensor and Processing COI (Briefing Charts)

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-05-27

Persistent Surveillance • Target Detection, Recognition & ID at Standoff Ranges • Force/Platform/Sensor Protection • Target Tracking • Early Warning • BDA ...inhomogeneous and complex media is also a foundational challenge for President’s BRAIN initiative. 38 Explore Advanced Sensors And Processing

Map based localization to assist commercial fleet operations.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2014-08-01

This report outlines key recent contributions to the state of the art in lane detection, lane departure warning, : and map-based sensor fusion algorithms. These key studies are used as a basis for a discussion about the : limitations of systems that ...

Active Work Zone Safety Using Emerging Technologies : Final Report

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2017-07-01

The major objectives of this research were to (1) identify technologies that can be used in real time to detect a hazardous proximity situation between construction equipment and pedestrian workers and provide an appropriate warning; (2) develop a Bl...

Instrumentation Recommendations for Volcano Monitoring at U.S. Volcanoes Under the National Volcano Early Warning System

USGS Publications Warehouse

Moran, Seth C.; Freymueller, Jeff T.; LaHusen, Richard G.; McGee, Kenneth A.; Poland, Michael P.; Power, John A.; Schmidt, David A.; Schneider, David J.; Stephens, George; Werner, Cynthia A.; White, Randall A.

2008-01-01

As magma moves toward the surface, it interacts with anything in its path: hydrothermal systems, cooling magma bodies from previous eruptions, and (or) the surrounding 'country rock'. Magma also undergoes significant changes in its physical properties as pressure and temperature conditions change along its path. These interactions and changes lead to a range of geophysical and geochemical phenomena. The goal of volcano monitoring is to detect and correctly interpret such phenomena in order to provide early and accurate warnings of impending eruptions. Given the well-documented hazards posed by volcanoes to both ground-based populations (for example, Blong, 1984; Scott, 1989) and aviation (for example, Neal and others, 1997; Miller and Casadevall, 2000), volcano monitoring is critical for public safety and hazard mitigation. Only with adequate monitoring systems in place can volcano observatories provide accurate and timely forecasts and alerts of possible eruptive activity. At most U.S. volcanoes, observatories traditionally have employed a two-component approach to volcano monitoring: (1) install instrumentation sufficient to detect unrest at volcanic systems likely to erupt in the not-too-distant future; and (2) once unrest is detected, install any instrumentation needed for eruption prediction and monitoring. This reactive approach is problematic, however, for two reasons. 1. At many volcanoes, rapid installation of new ground-1. based instruments is difficult or impossible. Factors that complicate rapid response include (a) eruptions that are preceded by short (hours to days) precursory sequences of geophysical and (or) geochemical activity, as occurred at Mount Redoubt (Alaska) in 1989 (24 hours), Anatahan (Mariana Islands) in 2003 (6 hours), and Mount St. Helens (Washington) in 1980 and 2004 (7 and 8 days, respectively); (b) inclement weather conditions, which may prohibit installation of new equipment for days, weeks, or even months, particularly at midlatitude or high-latitude volcanoes; (c) safety factors during unrest, which can limit where new instrumentation can safely be installed (particularly at near-vent sites that can be critical for precursor detection and eruption forecasting); and (d) the remoteness of many U.S. volcanoes (particularly those in the Aleutians and the Marianas Islands), where access is difficult or impossible most of the year. Given these difficulties, it is reasonable to anticipate that ground-based monitoring of eruptions at U.S. volcanoes will likely be performed primarily with instruments installed before unrest begins. 2. Given a growing awareness of previously undetected 2. phenomena that may occur before an eruption begins, at present the types and (or) density of instruments in use at most U.S. volcanoes is insufficient to provide reliable early warning of volcanic eruptions. As shown by the gap analysis of Ewert and others (2005), a number of U.S. volcanoes lack even rudimentary monitoring. At those volcanic systems with monitoring instrumentation in place, only a few types of phenomena can be tracked in near-real time, principally changes in seismicity, deformation, and large-scale changes in thermal flux (through satellite-based remote sensing). Furthermore, researchers employing technologically advanced instrumentation at volcanoes around the world starting in the 1990s have shown that subtle and previously undetectable phenomena can precede or accompany eruptions. Detection of such phenomena would greatly improve the ability of U.S. volcano observatories to provide accurate early warnings of impending eruptions, and is a critical capability particularly at the very high-threat volcanoes identified by Ewert and others (2005). For these two reasons, change from a reactive to a proactive volcano-monitoring strategy is clearly needed at U.S. volcanoes. Monitoring capabilities need to be expanded at virtually every volcanic center, regardless of its current state of

A global hydrographic array for early detection of floods and droughts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brakenridge, G.; Nghiem, S.; Caquard, S.

An array of over 700 20 km-long river gaging reaches, distributed world-wide, is imaged by the SeaWinds radar scatterometer aboard QuikSCAT every 2.5 days. Strongly negative HH/VV polarity ratios indicate large amounts of surface water. We set individual reach thresholds so that the transition from bankfull to overbank river flow can be identified according to changes in this ratio. Similarly, the wide-swath MODIS optical sensors provide frequent repeat coverage of the reaches at much higher spatial resolution (250 m). In this case, several reach water surface area thresholds can be identified: low flow or drought conditions, normal in-channel flow, overbank flow, and extreme flood conditions. Sustained data collection for the reaches by both sensors allows the radar response to changing surface water to be defined, and allows evaluation of the sensitivity of the MODIS data to river discharge changes. New approaches, such as ``unmixing'' analysis of mixed water/land MODIS pixels can extend detection limits to smaller rivers and streams. It is now possible for wide-area, frequent revisit terrestrial remote sensing to provide human society with early warning of both floods and droughts and by direct observation of the runoff component of the Earth's hydrologic cycle. Examples of both radar and optical approaches towards this end are at the web sites below: http://www.dartmouth.edu/˜ floods/Modisrapidresponse.html http://www.dartmouth.edu/˜ floods/sensorweb/SensorWebindex.html http://www.dartmouth.edu/˜ floods/Quikscat/Regional2/CurrentTisza.jpg} In particular, early flood detection results are obtained over an extensive region in eastern Europe including the Tisza River basin, Romania, Hungary, and adjacent nations. Flood detection maps are updated weekly at the web site. The combination of QuikSCAT and MODIS takes advantage of the large-area coverage of these sensors together with the high temporal resolution of QuikSCAT and the high spatial resolution of MODIS. Such capabilities are also appropriate for early flood detection in Asian monsoon regions including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, and southeast Asia.

Fuzzy logic inference-based Pavement Friction Management and real-time slippery warning systems: A proof of concept study.

PubMed

Najafi, Shahriar; Flintsch, Gerardo W; Khaleghian, Seyedmeysam

2016-05-01

Minimizing roadway crashes and fatalities is one of the primary objectives of highway engineers, and can be achieved in part through appropriate maintenance practices. Maintaining an appropriate level of friction is a crucial maintenance practice, due to the effect it has on roadway safety. This paper presents a fuzzy logic inference system that predicts the rate of vehicle crashes based on traffic level, speed limit, and surface friction. Mamdani and Sugeno fuzzy controllers were used to develop the model. The application of the proposed fuzzy control system in a real-time slippery road warning system is demonstrated as a proof of concept. The results of this study provide a decision support model for highway agencies to monitor their network's friction and make appropriate judgments to correct deficiencies based on crash risk. Furthermore, this model can be implemented in the connected vehicle environment to warn drivers of potentially slippery locations. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Atmospheric 7Be Concentration Changes as a Possible New Indicator for Early Warning on Indian Monsoon Onset

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Terzi, L.; Kalinowski, M.; Schoeppner, M.; kusmierczyk-michulec, J.

2017-12-01

With 80 radionuclide detector systems worldwide, the International Monitoring System (IMS) offers an unprecedented opportunity to use 7Be as an aerosol tracer for global atmospheric cell dynamics. Meteorological processes such as ENSO onset, ITCZ shift, location and progression of Hadley-Ferrel cell convergence zone (HFCZ) have been reconstructed using long term timeseries of ground based 7Be observations. Cross correlation of 7Be activity concentrations also demonstrated to serve as an early warning indicator for Indian monsoons showing a possible 30-day warning prior to monsoon onset (Terzi and Kalinowski, 2017). Here we present what role phenomena that we can observe with 7Be, namely ITCZ and HFCZ, play in monsoon formation and how the prediction of monsoon onset relates to ENSO prediction. Performance, lead time and reliability of 7Be as monsoon onset indicator are then compared to current meteorological indicators. Near surface 7Be activity concentrations may help address outstanding challenges in monsoon research by integrating a new perspective across disciplines.

1854-2014: 160 years of far-field tsunami detection and warning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Okal, Emile

2014-05-01

The first scientific study of a tsunami as generated by a distant earthquake can be traced to Bache [1856] who correctly identified waves from the 1854 Nankai earthquake on California tidal gauges. We will review developments in the study of the relationship between earthquake source and far field tsunami, with their logical application to distant warning. Among the principal milestones, we discuss Hochstetter's [1869] work on the 1868 Arica tsunami, Jaggar's real-time, but ignored, warning of the 1923 Kamchatka tsunami in Hawaii, his much greater success with the 1933 Showa Sanriku event, the catastrophic 1946 Aleutian event, which led to the implementation of PTWC, the 1960 events in Hilo, and the 1964 Alaska tsunami, which led to the development of the A[now N]TWC. From the scientific standpoint, we will review the evolution of our attempts to measure the seismic source (in practice its seismic moment), always faster, and at always lower frequencies, culminating in the W-phase inversion, heralded by Kanamori and co-workers in the wake of the Sumatra disaster. Specific problems arise from events violating scaling laws, such as the so-called "tsunami earthquakes", and we will review methodologies to recognize them in real time, such as energy-to-moment ratios. Finally, we will discuss briefly modern technologies aimed at directly detecting the tsunami independently of the seismic source.

Detection of solar events

DOEpatents

Fischbach, Ephraim; Jenkins, Jere

2013-08-27

A flux detection apparatus can include a radioactive sample having a decay rate capable of changing in response to interaction with a first particle or a field, and a detector associated with the radioactive sample. The detector is responsive to a second particle or radiation formed by decay of the radioactive sample. The rate of decay of the radioactive sample can be correlated to flux of the first particle or the field. Detection of the first particle or the field can provide an early warning for an impending solar event.

Detection of neutrinos

DOEpatents

Fischbach, Ephraim; Jenkins, Jere

2016-05-10

A flux detection apparatus can include a radioactive sample having a decay rate capable of changing in response to interaction with a first particle or a field, and a detector associated with the radioactive sample. The detector is responsive to a second particle or radiation formed by decay of the radioactive sample. The rate of decay of the radioactive sample can be correlated to flux of the first particle or the field. Detection of the first particle or the field can provide an early warning for an impending solar event.

Determining the Orbit Locations of Turkish Airborne Early Warning and Control Aircraft Over the Turkish Air Space

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-03-01

and Control (AEW&C) Aircraft. AEW&C aircraft has become vital to detect low altitude threats that a ground RADAR cannot detect because of obstacles...HARM). The concern is to cover and detect the threats as far as possible from Turkey within a risk that the commander accepts. The goal is to help...decision makers decide how many AEW aircraft are needed to obtain full coverage. In order to provide optimum results, a Maximal Coverage Location

Detection of neutrinos

DOEpatents

Fischbach, Ephraim; Jenkins, Jere

2014-02-04

A flux detection apparatus can include a radioactive sample having a decay rate capable of changing in response to interaction with a first particle or a field, and a detector associated with the radioactive sample. The detector is responsive to a second particle or radiation formed by decay of the radioactive sample. The rate of decay of the radioactive sample can be correlated to flux of the first particle or the field. Detection of the first particle or the field can provide an early warning for an impending solar event.

Early warning system for financially distressed hospitals via data mining application.

PubMed

Koyuncugil, Ali Serhan; Ozgulbas, Nermin

2012-08-01

The aim of this study is to develop a Financial Early Warning System (FEWS) for hospitals by using data mining. A data mining method, Chi-Square Automatic Interaction Detector (CHAID) decision tree algorithm, was used in the study for financial profiling and developing FEWS. The study was conducted in Turkish Ministry of Health's public hospitals which were in financial distress and in need of urgent solutions for financial issues. 839 hospitals were covered and financial data of the year 2008 was obtained from Ministry of Health. As a result of the study, it was determined that 28 hospitals (3.34%) had good financial performance, and 811 hospitals (96.66%) had poor financial performance. According to FEWS, the covered hospitals were categorized into 11 different financial risk profiles, and it was found that 6 variables affected financial risk of hospitals. According to the profiles of hospitals in financial distress, one early warning signal was detected and financial road map was developed for risk mitigation.

Feasibility study of earthquake early warning (EEW) in Hawaii

USGS Publications Warehouse

Thelen, Weston A.; Hotovec-Ellis, Alicia J.; Bodin, Paul

2016-09-30

The effects of earthquake shaking on the population and infrastructure across the State of Hawaii could be catastrophic, and the high seismic hazard in the region emphasizes the likelihood of such an event. Earthquake early warning (EEW) has the potential to give several seconds of warning before strong shaking starts, and thus reduce loss of life and damage to property. The two approaches to EEW are (1) a network approach (such as ShakeAlert or ElarmS) where the regional seismic network is used to detect the earthquake and distribute the alarm and (2) a local approach where a critical facility has a single seismometer (or small array) and a warning system on the premises.The network approach, also referred to here as ShakeAlert or ElarmS, uses the closest stations within a regional seismic network to detect and characterize an earthquake. Most parameters used for a network approach require observations on multiple stations (typically 3 or 4), which slows down the alarm time slightly, but the alarms are generally more reliable than with single-station EEW approaches. The network approach also benefits from having stations closer to the source of any potentially damaging earthquake, so that alarms can be sent ahead to anyone who subscribes to receive the notification. Thus, a fully implemented ShakeAlert system can provide seconds of warning for both critical facilities and general populations ahead of damaging earthquake shaking.The cost to implement and maintain a fully operational ShakeAlert system is high compared to a local approach or single-station solution, but the benefits of a ShakeAlert system would be felt statewide—the warning times for strong shaking are potentially longer for most sources at most locations.The local approach, referred to herein as “single station,” uses measurements from a single seismometer to assess whether strong earthquake shaking can be expected. Because of the reliance on a single station, false alarms are more common than when using a regional network of seismometers. Given the current network, a single-station approach provides more warning for damaging earthquakes that occur close to the station, but it would have limited benefit compared to a fully implemented ShakeAlert system. For Honolulu, for example, the single-station approach provides an advantage over ShakeAlert only for earthquakes that occur in a narrow zone extending northeast and southwest of O‘ahu. Instrumentation and alarms associated with the single-station approach are typically maintained and assessed within the target facility, and thus no outside connectivity is required. A single-station approach, then, is unlikely to help broader populations beyond the individuals at the target facility, but they have the benefit of being commercially available for relatively little cost. The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) is the Advanced National Seismic System (ANSS) regional seismic network responsible for locating and characterizing earthquakes across the State of Hawaii. During 2014 and 2015, HVO tested a network-based EEW algorithm within the current seismic network in order to assess the suitability for building a full EEW system. Using the current seismic instrumentation and processing setup at HVO, it is possible for a network approach to release an alarm a little more than 3 seconds after the earthquake is recorded on the fourth seismometer. Presently, earthquakes having M≥3 detected with the ElarmS algorithm have an average location error of approximately 4.5 km and an average magnitude error of -0.3 compared to the reviewed catalog locations from the HVO. Additional stations and upgrades to existing seismic stations would serve to improve solution precision and warning times and additional staffing would be required to provide support for a robust, network-based EEW system. For a critical facility on the Island of Hawaiʻi, such as the telescopes atop Mauna Kea, one phased approach to mitigate losses could be to immediately install a single station system to establish some level of warning. Subsequently, supporting the implementation of a full network-based EEW system on the Island of Hawaiʻi would provide additional benefit in the form of improved warning times once the system is fully installed and operational, which may take several years. Distributed populations across the Hawaiian Islands, including those outside the major cities and far from the likely earthquake source areas, would likely only benefit from a network approach such as ShakeAlert to provide warnings of strong shaking.

Flood-inundation maps and updated components for a flood-warning system or the City of Marietta, Ohio and selected communities along the Lower Muskingum River and Ohio River

USGS Publications Warehouse

Whitehead, Matthew T.; Ostheimer, Chad J.

2014-01-01

Flood profiles for selected reaches were prepared by calibrating steady-state step-backwater models to selected streamgage rating curves. The step-backwater models were used to determine water-surface-elevation profiles for up to 12 flood stages at a streamgage with corresponding stream-flows ranging from approximately the 10- to 0.2-percent chance annual-exceedance probabilities for each of the 3 streamgages that correspond to the flood-inundation maps. Additional hydraulic modeling was used to account for the effects of backwater from the Ohio River on water levels in the Muskingum River. The computed longitudinal profiles of flood levels were used with a Geographic Information System digital elevation model (derived from light detection and ranging) to delineate flood-inundation areas. Digital maps showing flood-inundation areas overlain on digital orthophotographs were prepared for the selected floods.

Nanophotonic label-free biosensors for environmental monitoring.

PubMed

Chocarro-Ruiz, Blanca; Fernández-Gavela, Adrián; Herranz, Sonia; Lechuga, Laura M

2017-06-01

The field of environmental monitoring has experienced a substantial progress in the last years but still the on-site control of contaminants is an elusive problem. In addition, the growing number of pollutant sources is accompanied by an increasing need of having efficient early warning systems. Several years ago biosensor devices emerged as promising environmental monitoring tools, but their level of miniaturization and their fully operation outside the laboratory prevented their use on-site. In the last period, nanophotonic biosensors based on evanescent sensing have emerged as an outstanding choice for portable point-of-care diagnosis thanks to their capability, among others, of miniaturization, multiplexing, label-free detection and integration in lab-on-chip platforms. This review covers the most relevant nanophotonic biosensors which have been proposed (including interferometric waveguides, grating-couplers, microcavity resonators, photonic crystals and localized surface plasmon resonance sensors) and their recent application for environmental surveillance. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Monitoring and modeling agricultural drought for famine early warning (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Verdin, J. P.; Funk, C.; Budde, M. E.; Lietzow, R.; Senay, G. B.; Smith, R.; Pedreros, D.; Rowland, J.; Artan, G. A.; Husak, G. J.; Michaelsen, J.; Adoum, A.; Galu, G.; Magadzire, T.; Rodriguez, M.

2009-12-01

The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) makes quantitative estimates of food insecure populations, and identifies the places and periods during which action must be taken to assist them. Subsistence agriculture and pastoralism are the predominant livelihood systems being monitored, and they are especially drought-sensitive. At the same time, conventional climate observation networks in developing countries are often sparse and late in reporting. Consequently, remote sensing has played a significant role since FEWS NET began in 1985. Initially there was heavy reliance on vegetation index imagery from AVHRR to identify anomalies in landscape greenness indicative of drought. In the latter part of the 1990s, satellite rainfall estimates added a second, independent basis for identification of drought. They are used to force crop water balance models for the principal rainfed staple crops in twenty FEWS NET countries. Such models reveal seasonal moisture deficits associated with yield reduction on a spatially continuous basis. In 2002, irrigated crops in southwest Asia became a concern, and prompted the implementation of a gridded energy balance model to simulate the seasonal mountain snow pack, the main source of irrigation water. MODIS land surface temperature data are also applied in these areas to directly estimate actual seasonal evapotranspiration on the irrigated lands. The approach reveals situations of reduced irrigation water supply and crop production due to drought. The availability of MODIS data after 2000 also brought renewed interest in vegetation index imagery. MODIS NDVI data have proven to be of high quality, thanks to significant spectral and spatial resolution improvements over AVHRR. They are vital to producing rapid harvest assessments for drought-impacted countries in Africa and Asia. The global food crisis that emerged in 2008 has led to expansion of FEWS NET monitoring to over 50 additional countries. Unlike previous practice, these new countries have no local FEWS NET analysts, requiring increased reliance on remote sensing for detection of agricultural drought and potential food insecurity. USGS is increasing its cooperation with NASA, NOAA, and university partners to meet this challenge. New servers for near real time delivery of MODIS NDVI, satellite rainfall estimates, and gridded snow pack estimates are being established. A custom instance of NASA's Land Information System software is also being developed to create a land data assimilation system specifically for FEWS NET domains, data streams, and monitoring and forecast requirements. The system will take better advantage of remote sensing data, including promising new products from the Soil Moisture Active-Passive (SMAP) mission, by integrating them with surface observations for simulation of land surface processes. In this way, the continuous improvement of monitoring and modeling for famine early warning will advance to a new level of sophistication and effectiveness.

21 CFR 660.45 - Labeling.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... STANDARDS FOR DIAGNOSTIC SUBSTANCES FOR LABORATORY TESTS Hepatitis B Surface Antigen § 660.45 Labeling. In... capable of transmitting hepatitis and should be handled accordingly. (d) The package shall include a... test methods, and (3) warnings as to possible hazards, including hepatitis transmitted in handling the...

21 CFR 660.45 - Labeling.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... STANDARDS FOR DIAGNOSTIC SUBSTANCES FOR LABORATORY TESTS Hepatitis B Surface Antigen § 660.45 Labeling. In... capable of transmitting hepatitis and should be handled accordingly. (d) The package shall include a... test methods, and (3) warnings as to possible hazards, including hepatitis transmitted in handling the...

21 CFR 660.45 - Labeling.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... STANDARDS FOR DIAGNOSTIC SUBSTANCES FOR LABORATORY TESTS Hepatitis B Surface Antigen § 660.45 Labeling. In... capable of transmitting hepatitis and should be handled accordingly. (d) The package shall include a... test methods, and (3) warnings as to possible hazards, including hepatitis transmitted in handling the...

21 CFR 660.45 - Labeling.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... STANDARDS FOR DIAGNOSTIC SUBSTANCES FOR LABORATORY TESTS Hepatitis B Surface Antigen § 660.45 Labeling. In... capable of transmitting hepatitis and should be handled accordingly. (d) The package shall include a... test methods, and (3) warnings as to possible hazards, including hepatitis transmitted in handling the...

21 CFR 660.45 - Labeling.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... STANDARDS FOR DIAGNOSTIC SUBSTANCES FOR LABORATORY TESTS Hepatitis B Surface Antigen § 660.45 Labeling. In... capable of transmitting hepatitis and should be handled accordingly. (d) The package shall include a... test methods, and (3) warnings as to possible hazards, including hepatitis transmitted in handling the...

Earth Observations for Early Detection of Agricultural Drought in Countries at Risk: Contributions of the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Verdin, J. P.; Rowland, J.; Senay, G. B.; Funk, C. C.; Budde, M. E.; Husak, G. J.; Jayanthi, H.

2013-12-01

The Group on Earth Observations' Global Agricultural Monitoring (GEOGLAM) implementation plan emphasizes the information needs of countries at risk of food insecurity emergencies. Countries in this category are often vulnerable to disruption of agricultural production due to drought, while at the same time they lack well developed networks of in-situ observations to support early drought detection. Consequently, it is vital that Earth observations by satellites supplement those available from surface stations. The USGS, in its role as a FEWS NET implementing partner, has recently developed a number of new applications of satellite observations for this purpose. (1) In partnership with the University of California, Santa Barbara, a 30+ year time series of gridded precipitation estimates (CHIRPS) has been developed by blending NOAA GridSat B1 geostationary thermal infrared imagery with station observations using robust geostatistical methods. The core data set consists of pentadal (5-daily) accumulations from 1981-2013 at 0.05 degree spatial resolution between +/- 50 degrees latitude. Validation has been recently completed, and applications for gridded crop water balance calculations and mapping the Standardized Precipitation Index are in development. (2) Actual evapotranspiration (ETa) estimates using MODIS Land Surface Temperature (LST) data at 1-km have been successfully demonstrated using the operational Simplified Surface Energy Balance model with 8-day composites from the LPDAAC. A new, next-day latency implementation using daily LST swath data from the NASA LANCE server is in development for all the crop growing regions of the world. This ETa processing chain follows in the footsteps of (3) the expedited production of MODIS 250-meter NDVI images every five days at USGS EROS, likewise using LANCE daily swath data as input since 2010. Coverage includes Africa, Central Asia, the Middle East, Central America, and the Caribbean. (4) A surface water point monitoring method for pastoralist areas has been successfully demonstrated. It involves mapping small surface water bodies with ASTER and Landsat imagery, delineating their catchment areas with SRTM elevation data, and maintaining a continuous water balance calculation with satellite rainfall and weather model evaporation estimates to track relative fullness of these ephemeral water bodies. Piloted with NASA funds in partnership with Texas A&M University, the technique is now being implemented across the Sahel. (5) To move beyond monitoring and early warning to disaster risk management, loss exceedence probability functions are being derived for crop production shortfalls in FEWS NET countries. Drought hazard indicators, based on both ETa and crop water balance modeling forced by CHIRPS, have been used to develop regional crop drought risk models. In the case of ETa, the drought risk model provides the basis for index insurance in experiments being conducted in Senegal. A program of training events with GEO partners ensures that the data sets and applications are made available to scientists in FEWS NET countries.

Early warning of climate tipping points from critical slowing down: comparing methods to improve robustness

PubMed Central

Lenton, T. M.; Livina, V. N.; Dakos, V.; Van Nes, E. H.; Scheffer, M.

2012-01-01

We address whether robust early warning signals can, in principle, be provided before a climate tipping point is reached, focusing on methods that seek to detect critical slowing down as a precursor of bifurcation. As a test bed, six previously analysed datasets are reconsidered, three palaeoclimate records approaching abrupt transitions at the end of the last ice age and three models of varying complexity forced through a collapse of the Atlantic thermohaline circulation. Approaches based on examining the lag-1 autocorrelation function or on detrended fluctuation analysis are applied together and compared. The effects of aggregating the data, detrending method, sliding window length and filtering bandwidth are examined. Robust indicators of critical slowing down are found prior to the abrupt warming event at the end of the Younger Dryas, but the indicators are less clear prior to the Bølling-Allerød warming, or glacial termination in Antarctica. Early warnings of thermohaline circulation collapse can be masked by inter-annual variability driven by atmospheric dynamics. However, rapidly decaying modes can be successfully filtered out by using a long bandwidth or by aggregating data. The two methods have complementary strengths and weaknesses and we recommend applying them together to improve the robustness of early warnings. PMID:22291229

An early warning indicator for atmospheric blocking events using transfer operators

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tantet, Alexis, E-mail: a.j.j.tantet@uu.nl; Burgt, Fiona R. van der; Dijkstra, Henk A.

The existence of persistent midlatitude atmospheric flow regimes with time-scales larger than 5–10 days and indications of preferred transitions between them motivates to develop early warning indicators for such regime transitions. In this paper, we use a hemispheric barotropic model together with estimates of transfer operators on a reduced phase space to develop an early warning indicator of the zonal to blocked flow transition in this model. It is shown that the spectrum of the transfer operators can be used to study the slow dynamics of the flow as well as the non-Markovian character of the reduction. The slowest motionsmore » are thereby found to have time scales of three to six weeks and to be associated with meta-stable regimes (and their transitions) which can be detected as almost-invariant sets of the transfer operator. From the energy budget of the model, we are able to explain the meta-stability of the regimes and the existence of preferred transition paths. Even though the model is highly simplified, the skill of the early warning indicator is promising, suggesting that the transfer operator approach can be used in parallel to an operational deterministic model for stochastic prediction or to assess forecast uncertainty.« less

GPS aviation outage prediction and reporting systems

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1997-11-01

Use of GPS for instrument flight rule (IFR) air navigation requires that the system have integrity. Integrity is the ability to detect when a satellite is out of tolerance and should not be used in the navigation solution and then warns the pilot in ...

Research promises earlier warning for grapevine canker diseases

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

When it comes to detecting and treating vineyards for grapevine canker diseases (also called trunk diseases), like Botryosphaeria dieback (Bot canker), Esca, Eutypa dieback and Phomopsis dieback, the earlier the better, says plant pathologist Kendra Baumgartner, with the USDA’s Agricultural Research...

Earthquakes: Risk, Detection, Warning, and Research

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-01-14

which affect taller , multi-story buildings. Ground motion that affects shorter buildings of a few stories, called short-period seismic waves, is...places in a single fault, or jump between connected faults. Earthquakes that occur along the Sierra Madre fault in southern California, for example

30 CFR 75.301 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

...-warning fire detection systems using newer technology that provides equal or greater protection, as... be purchased from the American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM), 1916 Race Street, Philadelphia..., copies of the document can be purchased from the American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM), 100 Barr...

Fire Won't Wait--Plan Your Escape!

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

PTA Today, 1991

1991-01-01

Discusses the importance of home fire escape drills, detailing fire safety plans. Early detection and warning (smoke detectors) coupled with well-rehearsed escape plans help prevent serious injury. Children need to be taught about fire safety beginning at a very early age. (SM)

Description of the Klemperer wing strain meter (accelerometer)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1922-01-01

The wing strain meter enables a pilot to know the strain on lifting surfaces and to warn him of the safe limits which may not be exceeded. In wing strain the most important factors are the force of gravity and the force of lift which gives the measure of the sustaining force, and their components which are perpendicular to the lifting surfaces. This reports methods for using the wing strain meter.

Augmented Reality for Real-Time Detection and Interpretation of Colorimetric Signals Generated by Paper-Based Biosensors.

PubMed

Russell, Steven M; Doménech-Sánchez, Antonio; de la Rica, Roberto

2017-06-23

Colorimetric tests are becoming increasingly popular in point-of-need analyses due to the possibility of detecting the signal with the naked eye, which eliminates the utilization of bulky and costly instruments only available in laboratories. However, colorimetric tests may be interpreted incorrectly by nonspecialists due to disparities in color perception or a lack of training. Here we solve this issue with a method that not only detects colorimetric signals but also interprets them so that the test outcome is understandable for anyone. It consists of an augmented reality (AR) app that uses a camera to detect the colored signals generated by a nanoparticle-based immunoassay, and that yields a warning symbol or message when the concentration of analyte is higher than a certain threshold. The proposed method detected the model analyte mouse IgG with a limit of detection of 0.3 μg mL -1 , which was comparable to the limit of detection afforded by classical densitometry performed with a nonportable device. When adapted to the detection of E. coli, the app always yielded a "hazard" warning symbol when the concentration of E. coli in the sample was above the infective dose (10 6 cfu mL -1 or higher). The proposed method could help nonspecialists make a decision about drinking from a potentially contaminated water source by yielding an unambiguous message that is easily understood by anyone. The widespread availability of smartphones along with the inexpensive paper test that requires no enzymes to generate the signal makes the proposed assay promising for analyses in remote locations and developing countries.

Ionospheric earthquake effects detection based on Total Electron Content (TEC) GPS Correlation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sunardi, Bambang; Muslim, Buldan; Eka Sakya, Andi; Rohadi, Supriyanto; Sulastri; Murjaya, Jaya

2018-03-01

Advances in science and technology showed that ground-based GPS receiver was able to detect ionospheric Total Electron Content (TEC) disturbances caused by various natural phenomena such as earthquakes. One study of Tohoku (Japan) earthquake, March 11, 2011, magnitude M 9.0 showed TEC fluctuations observed from GPS observation network spread around the disaster area. This paper discussed the ionospheric earthquake effects detection using TEC GPS data. The case studies taken were Kebumen earthquake, January 25, 2014, magnitude M 6.2, Sumba earthquake, February 12, 2016, M 6.2 and Halmahera earthquake, February 17, 2016, M 6.1. TEC-GIM (Global Ionosphere Map) correlation methods for 31 days were used to monitor TEC anomaly in ionosphere. To ensure the geomagnetic disturbances due to solar activity, we also compare with Dst index in the same time window. The results showed anomalous ratio of correlation coefficient deviation to its standard deviation upon occurrences of Kebumen and Sumba earthquake, but not detected a similar anomaly for the Halmahera earthquake. It was needed a continous monitoring of TEC GPS data to detect the earthquake effects in ionosphere. This study giving hope in strengthening the earthquake effect early warning system using TEC GPS data. The method development of continuous TEC GPS observation derived from GPS observation network that already exists in Indonesia is needed to support earthquake effects early warning systems.

Detection and recognition of mechanical, digging and vehicle signals in the optical fiber pre-warning system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tian, Qing; Yang, Dan; Zhang, Yuan; Qu, Hongquan

2018-04-01

This paper presents detection and recognition method to locate and identify harmful intrusions in the optical fiber pre-warning system (OFPS). Inspired by visual attention architecture (VAA), the process flow is divided into two parts, i.e., data-driven process and task-driven process. At first, data-driven process takes all the measurements collected by the system as input signals, which is handled by detection method to locate the harmful intrusion in both spatial domain and time domain. Then, these detected intrusion signals are taken over by task-driven process. Specifically, we get pitch period (PP) and duty cycle (DC) of the intrusion signals to identify the mechanical and manual digging (MD) intrusions respectively. For the passing vehicle (PV) intrusions, their strong low frequency component can be used as good feature. In generally, since the harmful intrusion signals only account for a small part of whole measurements, the data-driven process reduces the amount of input data for subsequent task-driven process considerably. Furthermore, the task-driven process determines the harmful intrusions orderly according to their severity, which makes a priority mechanism for the system as well as targeted processing for different harmful intrusion. At last, real experiments are performed to validate the effectiveness of this method.

Early warning signal for dengue outbreaks and identification of high risk areas for dengue fever in Colombia using climate and non-climate datasets.

PubMed

Lee, Jung-Seok; Carabali, Mabel; Lim, Jacqueline K; Herrera, Victor M; Park, Il-Yeon; Villar, Luis; Farlow, Andrew

2017-07-10

Dengue has been prevalent in Colombia with high risk of outbreaks in various locations. While the prediction of dengue epidemics will bring significant benefits to the society, accurate forecasts have been a challenge. Given competing health demands in Colombia, it is critical to consider the effective use of the limited healthcare resources by identifying high risk areas for dengue fever. The Climate Risk Factor (CRF) index was constructed based upon temperature, precipitation, and humidity. Considering the conditions necessary for vector survival and transmission behavior, elevation and population density were taken into account. An Early Warning Signal (EWS) model was developed by estimating the elasticity of the climate risk factor function to detect dengue epidemics. The climate risk factor index was further estimated at the smaller geographical unit (5 km by 5 km resolution) to identify populations at high risk. From January 2007 to December 2015, the Early Warning Signal model successfully detected 75% of the total number of outbreaks 1 ~ 5 months ahead of time, 12.5% in the same month, and missed 12.5% of all outbreaks. The climate risk factors showed that populations at high risk are concentrated in the Western part of Colombia where more suitable climate conditions for vector mosquitoes and the high population level were observed compared to the East. This study concludes that it is possible to detect dengue outbreaks ahead of time and identify populations at high risk for various disease prevention activities based upon observed climate and non-climate information. The study outcomes can be used to minimize potential societal losses by prioritizing limited healthcare services and resources, as well as by conducting vector control activities prior to experiencing epidemics.

Sea Level Station Metadata for Tsunami Detection, Warning and Research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stroker, K. J.; Marra, J.; Kari, U. S.; Weinstein, S. A.; Kong, L.

2007-12-01

The devastating earthquake and tsunami of December 26, 2004 has greatly increased recognition of the need for water level data both from the coasts and the deep-ocean. In 2006, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) completed a Tsunami Data Management Report describing the management of data required to minimize the impact of tsunamis in the United States. One of the major gaps defined in this report is the access to global coastal water level data. NOAA's National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) and National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) are working cooperatively to bridge this gap. NOAA relies on a network of global data, acquired and processed in real-time to support tsunami detection and warning, as well as high-quality global databases of archived data to support research and advanced scientific modeling. In 2005, parties interested in enhancing the access and use of sea level station data united under the NOAA NCDC's Integrated Data and Environmental Applications (IDEA) Center's Pacific Region Integrated Data Enterprise (PRIDE) program to develop a distributed metadata system describing sea level stations (Kari et. al., 2006; Marra et.al., in press). This effort started with pilot activities in a regional framework and is targeted at tsunami detection and warning systems being developed by various agencies. It includes development of the components of a prototype sea level station metadata web service and accompanying Google Earth-based client application, which use an XML-based schema to expose, at a minimum, information in the NOAA National Weather Service (NWS) Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) station database needed to use the PTWC's Tide Tool application. As identified in the Tsunami Data Management Report, the need also exists for long-term retention of the sea level station data. NOAA envisions that the retrospective water level data and metadata will also be available through web services, using an XML-based schema. Five high-priority metadata requirements identified at a water level workshop held at the XXIV IUGG Meeting in Perugia will be addressed: consistent, validated, and well defined numbers (e.g. amplitude); exact location of sea level stations; a complete record of sea level data stored in the archive; identifying high-priority sea level stations; and consistent definitions. NOAA's National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) and co-located World Data Center for Solid Earth Geophysics (including tsunamis) would hold the archive of the sea level station data and distribute the standard metadata. Currently, NGDC is also archiving and distributing the DART buoy deep-ocean water level data and metadata in standards based formats. Kari, Uday S., John J. Marra, Stuart A. Weinstein, 2006 A Tsunami Focused Data Sharing Framework For Integration of Databases that Describe Water Level Station Specifications. AGU Fall Meeting, 2006. San Francisco, California. Marra, John, J., Uday S. Kari, and Stuart A. Weinstein (in press). A Tsunami Detection and Warning-focused Sea Level Station Metadata Web Service. IUGG XXIV, July 2-13, 2007. Perugia, Italy.

Applications of a sugar-based surveillance system to track arboviruses in wild mosquito populations.

PubMed

van den Hurk, Andrew F; Hall-Mendelin, Sonja; Townsend, Michael; Kurucz, Nina; Edwards, Jim; Ehlers, Gerhard; Rodwell, Chris; Moore, Frederick A; McMahon, Jamie L; Northill, Judith A; Simmons, Russell J; Cortis, Giles; Melville, Lorna; Whelan, Peter I; Ritchie, Scott A

2014-01-01

Effective arbovirus surveillance is essential to ensure the implementation of control strategies, such as mosquito suppression, vaccination, or dissemination of public warnings. Traditional strategies employed for arbovirus surveillance, such as detection of virus or virus-specific antibodies in sentinel animals, or detection of virus in hematophagous arthropods, have limitations as an early-warning system. A system was recently developed that involves collecting mosquitoes in CO2-baited traps, where the insects expectorate virus on sugar-baited nucleic acid preservation cards. The cards are then submitted for virus detection using molecular assays. We report the application of this system for detecting flaviviruses and alphaviruses in wild mosquito populations in northern Australia. This study was the first to employ nonpowered passive box traps (PBTs) that were designed to house cards baited with honey as the sugar source. Overall, 20/144 (13.9%) of PBTs from different weeks contained at least one virus-positive card. West Nile virus Kunjin subtype (WNVKUN), Ross River virus (RRV), and Barmah Forest virus (BFV) were detected, being identified in 13/20, 5/20, and 2/20 of positive PBTs, respectively. Importantly, sentinel chickens deployed to detect flavivirus activity did not seroconvert at two Northern Territory sites where four PBTs yielded WNVKUN. Sufficient WNVKUN and RRV RNA was expectorated onto some of the honey-soaked cards to provide a template for gene sequencing, enhancing the utility of the sugar-bait surveillance system for investigating the ecology, emergence, and movement of arboviruses.

Rail-Highway Crossing Warning Device Life Cycle Cost Analysis

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1980-09-01

The Highway Safety Acts of 1973 and 1976, and the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1978 provide funds to individual states to improve safety at public rail-highway crossings. This report was undertaken in support of a U.S. DOT effort to impro...

Summary of the Department of Transportation Rail-Highway Crossing Accident Prediction Formulas and Resource Model

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1982-09-01

The Highway Safety Acts of 1973 and 1976, and the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1978, provide funding authorizations to individual states to improve safety at public rail-highway crossings. The installation of active motorist warning devic...

Exploration of Drone and Remote Sensing Technologies in Highway Embankment Monitoring and Management (Phase I) : research project capsule.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2017-09-01

Over time, many Louisiana highway embankments have experienced surface sliding failures, a safety issue causing traffic disruptions. Since no advance-warning system is available for these highway embankment failures, the Louisiana Department of Trans...

Technical implementation plan for the ShakeAlert production system: an Earthquake Early Warning system for the West Coast of the United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Given, Douglas D.; Cochran, Elizabeth S.; Heaton, Thomas; Hauksson, Egill; Allen, Richard; Hellweg, Peggy; Vidale, John; Bodin, Paul

2014-01-01

Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) systems can provide as much as tens of seconds of warning to people and automated systems before strong shaking arrives. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) and its partners are developing such an EEW system, called ShakeAlert, for the West Coast of the United States. This document describes the technical implementation of that system, which leverages existing stations and infrastructure of the Advanced National Seismic System (ANSS) regional networks to achieve this new capability. While significant progress has been made in developing the ShakeAlert early warning system, improved robustness of each component of the system and additional testing and certification are needed for the system to be reliable enough to issue public alerts. Major components of the system include dense networks of ground motion sensors, telecommunications from those sensors to central processing systems, algorithms for event detection and alert creation, and distribution systems to alert users. Capital investment costs for a West Coast EEW system are projected to be $38.3M, with additional annual maintenance and operations totaling $16.1M—in addition to current ANSS expenditures for earthquake monitoring. An EEW system is complementary to, but does not replace, other strategies to mitigate earthquake losses. The system has limitations: false and missed alerts are possible, and the area very near to an earthquake epicenter may receive little or no warning. However, such an EEW system would save lives, reduce injuries and damage, and improve community resilience by reducing longer-term economic losses for both public and private entities.

Patient attitudes towards remote continuous vital signs monitoring on general surgery wards: An interview study.

PubMed

Downey, C L; Brown, J M; Jayne, D G; Randell, R

2018-06-01

Vital signs monitoring is used to identify deteriorating patients in hospital. The most common tool for vital signs monitoring is an early warning score, although emerging technologies allow for remote, continuous patient monitoring. A number of reviews have examined the impact of continuous monitoring on patient outcomes, but little is known about the patient experience. This study aims to discover what patients think of monitoring in hospital, with a particular emphasis on intermittent early warning scores versus remote continuous monitoring, in order to inform future implementations of continuous monitoring technology. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with 12 surgical inpatients as part of a study testing a remote continuous monitoring device. All patients were monitored with both an early warning score and the new device. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis. Patients can see the value in remote, continuous monitoring, particularly overnight. However, patients appreciate the face-to-face aspect of early warning score monitoring as it allows for reassurance, social interaction, and gives them further opportunity to ask questions about their medical care. Early warning score systems are widely used to facilitate detection of the deteriorating patient. Continuous monitoring technologies may provide added reassurance. However, patients value personal contact with their healthcare professionals and remote monitoring should not replace this. We suggest that remote monitoring is best introduced in a phased manner, and initially as an adjunct to usual care, with careful consideration of the patient experience throughout. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Earthquake Early Warning System in Japan (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mori, J. J.; Yamada, M.

2010-12-01

In Japan, the earthquake early warning system (Kinkyu Jishin Sokuhou in Japanese) maintained by the Japan Meterological Agency (JMA) has been in operation and sending pubic information since October 1, 2007. Messages have been broadcast on television and radio to warn of strong shaking to the public. The threshold for broadcasting a message is an estimated intensity of JMA 5 lower, which is approximately equivalent to MM VII to VIII. During the period from October 2007 through August 2010, messages have been sent 9 times for earthquakes of magnitude 5.2 to 7.0. There have been a few instances of significantly over-estimating or under-estimating the predicted shaking, but in general the performance of the system has been quite good. The quality of the detection system depends on the dense network of high-quality seismometers that cover the Japanese Islands. Consequently, the system works very well for events on or close to the 4 main islands, but there is more uncertainty for events near the smaller and more distant islands where the density of instrumentation is much less The Early Warning System is also tied to an extensive education program so that the public can react appropriately in the short amount of time given by the warning. There appears to be good public support in Japan, where people have become accustomed to a high level of fast information on a daily basis. There has also been development of a number of specific safety applications in schools and industry that work off the backbone information provided in the national system.

Launch Commit Criteria Monitoring Agent

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Semmel, Glenn S.; Davis, Steven R.; Leucht, Kurt W.; Rowe, Dan A.; Kelly, Andrew O.; Boeloeni, Ladislau

2005-01-01

The Spaceport Processing Systems Branch at NASA Kennedy Space Center has developed and deployed a software agent to monitor the Space Shuttle's ground processing telemetry stream. The application, the Launch Commit Criteria Monitoring Agent, increases situational awareness for system and hardware engineers during Shuttle launch countdown. The agent provides autonomous monitoring of the telemetry stream, automatically alerts system engineers when predefined criteria have been met, identifies limit warnings and violations of launch commit criteria, aids Shuttle engineers through troubleshooting procedures, and provides additional insight to verify appropriate troubleshooting of problems by contractors. The agent has successfully detected launch commit criteria warnings and violations on a simulated playback data stream. Efficiency and safety are improved through increased automation.

Getting Real about Suicide Prevention in Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schiro, Theodora

2018-01-01

After her son died by suicide, Theodora Schiro vowed to raise awareness and teach others about depression and suicide. In this article, Schiro (a former teacher and principal) explains how educators can detect warning signs, devise preventative programs, and fight the stigma associated with suicide.

Certification of windshear performance with RTCA class D radomes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mathews, Bruce D.; Miller, Fran; Rittenhouse, Kirk; Barnett, Lee; Rowe, William

1994-01-01

Superposition testing of detection range performance forms a digital signal for input into a simulation of signal and data processing equipment and algorithms to be employed in a sensor system for advanced warning of hazardous windshear. For suitable pulse-Doppler radar, recording of the digital data at the input to the digital signal processor furnishes a realistic operational scenario and environmentally responsive clutter signal including all sidelobe clutter, ground moving target indications (GMTI), and large signal spurious due to mainbeam clutter and/or RFI respective of the urban airport clutter and aircraft scenarios (approach and landing antenna pointing). For linear radar system processes, a signal at the same point in the process from a hazard phenomena may be calculated from models of the scattering phenomena, for example, as represented in fine 3 dimensional reflectivity and velocity grid structures. Superposition testing furnishes a competing signal environment for detection and warning time performance confirmation of phenomena uncontrollable in a natural environment.

Setting up an early warning system for epidemic-prone diseases in Darfur: a participative approach.

PubMed

Pinto, Augusto; Saeed, Mubarak; El Sakka, Hammam; Rashford, Adrienne; Colombo, Alessandro; Valenciano, Marta; Sabatinelli, Guido

2005-12-01

In April-May 2004, the World Health Organization (WHO) implemented, with local authorities, United Nations (UN) agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), an early warning system (EWS) in Darfur, West Sudan, for internally displaced persons (IDPs). The number of consultations and deaths per week for 12 health events is recorded for two age groups (less than five years and five years and above). Thresholds are used to detect potential outbreaks. Ten weeks after the introduction of the system, NGOs were covering 54 camps, and 924,281 people (IDPs and the host population). Of these 54 camps, 41 (76%) were reporting regularly under the EWS. Between 22 May and 30 July, 179,795 consultations were reported: 18.7% for acute respiratory infections; 15% for malaria; 8.4% for bloody diarrhoea; and 1% for severe acute malnutrition. The EWS is useful for detecting outbreaks and monitoring the number of consultations required to trigger actions, but not for estimating mortality.

Applications of Satellite Ocean Color Imagery for Detecting and Monitoring Harmful Algal Blooms in the Olympic Peninsula Region

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Holt, Ashley C.; Stumpf, Richard P.; Tomlinson, Michelle C.

2003-08-01

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) attributed to Pseudo-nitzschia species, a diatom that produces Domoic acid, are a common occurrence and serious threat along the coast of the US Northwest. Monitoring these events or providing advanced warning of their occurrence at the coast would provide an important aid to fisheries managers. Remote sensing, which is being used in the Gulf of Mexico for HAB detection and forecasting (of a different algae), could provide a tool for monitoring and warnings. Chlorophyll and SST imagery are being used to support a research and monitoring program for the region, and HAB monitoring techniques used inmore » the Gulf of Mexico are being examined for their potential utility along the Washington coast. The focus of this study is to determine the efficacy of using satellite ocean color imagery for HAB monitoring off of Washingtons Olympic Peninsula region, and to provide support in the form of ocean color imagery products for management and mitigation efforts.« less

Fall Risk Assessment and Early-Warning for Toddler Behaviors at Home

PubMed Central

Yang, Mau-Tsuen; Chuang, Min-Wen

2013-01-01

Accidental falls are the major cause of serious injuries in toddlers, with most of these falls happening at home. Instead of providing immediate fall detection based on short-term observations, this paper proposes an early-warning childcare system to monitor fall-prone behaviors of toddlers at home. Using 3D human skeleton tracking and floor plane detection based on depth images captured by a Kinect system, eight fall-prone behavioral modules of toddlers are developed and organized according to four essential criteria: posture, motion, balance, and altitude. The final fall risk assessment is generated by a multi-modal fusion using either a weighted mean thresholding or a support vector machine (SVM) classification. Optimizations are performed to determine local parameter in each module and global parameters of the multi-modal fusion. Experimental results show that the proposed system can assess fall risks and trigger alarms with an accuracy rate of 92% at a speed of 20 frames per second. PMID:24335727

Application of Advanced Wide Area Early Warning Systems with Adaptive Protection

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Blumstein, Carl; Cibulka, Lloyd; Thorp, James

2014-09-30

Recent blackouts of power systems in North America and throughout the world have shown how critical a reliable power system is to modern societies, and the enormous economic and societal damage a blackout can cause. It has been noted that unanticipated operation of protection systems can contribute to cascading phenomena and, ultimately, blackouts. This project developed and field-tested two methods of Adaptive Protection systems utilizing synchrophasor data. One method detects conditions of system stress that can lead to unintended relay operation, and initiates a supervisory signal to modify relay response in real time to avoid false trips. The second methodmore » detects the possibility of false trips of impedance relays as stable system swings “encroach” on the relays’ impedance zones, and produces an early warning so that relay engineers can re-evaluate relay settings. In addition, real-time synchrophasor data produced by this project was used to develop advanced visualization techniques for display of synchrophasor data to utility operators and engineers.« less

Fall risk assessment and early-warning for toddler behaviors at home.

PubMed

Yang, Mau-Tsuen; Chuang, Min-Wen

2013-12-10

Accidental falls are the major cause of serious injuries in toddlers, with most of these falls happening at home. Instead of providing immediate fall detection based on short-term observations, this paper proposes an early-warning childcare system to monitor fall-prone behaviors of toddlers at home. Using 3D human skeleton tracking and floor plane detection based on depth images captured by a Kinect system, eight fall-prone behavioral modules of toddlers are developed and organized according to four essential criteria: posture, motion, balance, and altitude. The final fall risk assessment is generated by a multi-modal fusion using either a weighted mean thresholding or a support vector machine (SVM) classification. Optimizations are performed to determine local parameter in each module and global parameters of the multi-modal fusion. Experimental results show that the proposed system can assess fall risks and trigger alarms with an accuracy rate of 92% at a speed of 20 frames per second.

2006 - 2016: Ten Years Of Tsunami In French Polynesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reymond, D.; Jamelot, A.; Hyvernaud, O.

2016-12-01

Located in South central Pacific and despite of its far field situation, the French Polynesia is very much concerned by the tsunamis generated along the major subduction zones located around the Pacific. At the time of writing, 10 tsunamis have been generated in the Pacific Ocean since 2006; all these events recorded in French Polynesia, produced different levels of warning, starting from a simple seismic warning with an information bulletin, up to an effective tsunami warning with evacuation of the coastal zone. These tsunamigenic events represent an invaluable opportunity of evolutions and tests of the tsunami warning system developed in French Polynesia: during the last ten years, the warning rules had evolved from a simple criterion of magnitudes up to the computation of the main seismic source parameters (location, slowness determinant (Newman & Okal, 1998) and focal geometry) using two independent methods: the first one uses an inversion of W-phases (Kanamori & Rivera, 2012) and the second one performs an inversion of long period surface waves (Clément & Reymond, 2014); the source parameters such estimated allow to compute in near real time the expected distributions of tsunami heights (with the help of a super-computer and parallelized codes of numerical simulations). Furthermore, two kinds of numerical modeling are used: the first one, very rapid (performed in about 5minutes of computation time) is based on the Green's law (Jamelot & Reymond, 2015), and a more detailed and precise one that uses classical numerical simulations through nested grids (about 45 minutes of computation time). Consequently, the criteria of tsunami warning are presently based on the expected tsunami heights in the different archipelagos and islands of French Polynesia. This major evolution allows to differentiate and use different levels of warning for the different archipelagos,working in tandem with the Civil Defense. We present the comparison of the historical observed tsunami heights (instrumental records, including deep ocean measurements provided by DART buoys and measured of tsunamis run-up) to the computed ones. In addition, the sites known for their amplification and resonance effects are well reproduced by the numerical simulations.

Global Tsunami Warning System Development Since 2004

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weinstein, S.; Becker, N. C.; Wang, D.; Fryer, G. J.; McCreery, C.; Hirshorn, B. F.

2014-12-01

The 9.1 Mw Great Sumatra Earthquake of Dec. 26, 2004, generated the most destructive tsunami in history killing 227,000 people along Indian Ocean coastlines and was recorded by sea-level instruments world-wide. This tragedy showed the Indian Ocean needed a tsunami warning system to prevent another tragedy on this scale. The Great Sumatra Earthquake also highlighted the need for tsunami warning systems in other ocean basins. Instruments for recording earthquakes and sea-level data useful for tsunami monitoring did not exist outside of the Pacific Ocean in 2004. Seismometers were few in number, and even fewer were high-quality long period broadband instruments. Nor was much of their data made available to the US tsunami warning centers (TWCs). In 2004 the US TWCs relied exclusively on instrumentation provided and maintained by IRIS and the USGS for areas outside of the Pacific.Since 2004, the US TWCs and their partners have made substantial improvements to seismic and sea-level monitoring networks with the addition of new and better instruments, densification of existing networks, better communications infrastructure, and improved data sharing among tsunami warning centers. In particular, the number of sea-level stations transmitting data in near real-time and the amount of seismic data available to the tsunami warning centers has more than tripled. The DART network that consisted of a half-dozen Pacific stations in 2004 now totals nearly 60 stations worldwide. Earthquake and tsunami science has progressed as well. It took nearly three weeks to obtain the first reliable estimates of the 2004 Sumatra Earthquake's magnitude. Today, thanks to improved seismic networks and modern computing power, TWCs use the W-phase seismic moment method to determine accurate earthquake magnitudes and focal mechanisms for great earthquakes within 25 minutes. TWC scientists have also leveraged these modern computers to generate tsunami forecasts in a matter of minutes.Progress towards a global tsunami warning system has been substantial and today fully-functioning TWCs protect most of the world's coastlines. These improvements have also led to a substantial reduction of time required by the TWCs to detect, locate, and assess the tsunami threat from earthquakes occurring worldwide.

Traffic jam driving with NMV avoidance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Milanés, Vicente; Alonso, Luciano; Villagrá, Jorge; Godoy, Jorge; de Pedro, Teresa; Oria, Juan P.

2012-08-01

In recent years, the development of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) - mainly based on lidar and cameras - has considerably improved the safety of driving in urban environments. These systems provide warning signals for the driver in the case that any unexpected traffic circumstance is detected. The next step is to develop systems capable not only of warning the driver but also of taking over control of the car to avoid a potential collision. In the present communication, a system capable of autonomously avoiding collisions in traffic jam situations is presented. First, a perception system was developed for urban situations—in which not only vehicles have to be considered, but also pedestrians and other non-motor-vehicles (NMV). It comprises a differential global positioning system (DGPS) and wireless communication for vehicle detection, and an ultrasound sensor for NMV detection. Then, the vehicle's actuators - brake and throttle pedals - were modified to permit autonomous control. Finally, a fuzzy logic controller was implemented capable of analyzing the information provided by the perception system and of sending control commands to the vehicle's actuators so as to avoid accidents. The feasibility of the integrated system was tested by mounting it in a commercial vehicle, with the results being encouraging.

Integration of the TDWR and LLWAS wind shear detection system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cornman, Larry

1991-01-01

Operational demonstrations of a prototype TDWR/LLWAS (Terminal Doppler Weather Radar/Low Level Wind shear Alarm System) integrated wind shear detection system were conducted. The integration of wind shear detection systems is needed to provide end-users with a single, consensus source of information. A properly implemented integrated system provides wind shear warnings of a higher quality than stand-alone LLWAS or TDWR systems. The algorithmic concept used to generate the TDWR/LLWAS integrated products and several case studies are discussed, indicating the viability and potential of integrated wind shear detection systems. Implications for integrating ground and airborne wind shear detection systems are briefly examined.

Assessing Aircraft Supply Air to Recommend Compounds for Timely Warning of Contamination

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fox, Richard B.

Taking aircraft out of service for even one day to correct fume-in-cabin events can cost the industry roughly $630 million per year in lost revenue. The quantitative correlation study investigated quantitative relationships between measured concentrations of contaminants in bleed air and probability of odor detectability. Data were collected from 94 aircraft engine and auxiliary power unit (APU) bleed air tests from an archival data set between 1997 and 2011, and no relationships were found. Pearson correlation was followed by regression analysis for individual contaminants. Significant relationships of concentrations of compounds in bleed air to probability of odor detectability were found (p<0.05), as well as between compound concentration and probability of sensory irritancy detectability. Study results may be useful to establish early warning levels. Predictive trend monitoring, a method to identify potential pending failure modes within a mechanical system, may influence scheduled down-time for maintenance as a planned event, rather than repair after a mechanical failure and thereby reduce operational costs associated with odor-in-cabin events. Twenty compounds (independent variables) were found statistically significant as related to probability of odor detectability (dependent variable 1). Seventeen compounds (independent variables) were found statistically significant as related to probability of sensory irritancy detectability (dependent variable 2). Additional research was recommended to further investigate relationships between concentrations of contaminants and probability of odor detectability or probability of sensory irritancy detectability for all turbine oil brands. Further research on implementation of predictive trend monitoring may be warranted to demonstrate how the monitoring process might be applied to in-flight application.

30 CFR 56.4330 - Firefighting, evacuation, and rescue procedures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... METAL AND NONMETAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH SAFETY AND HEALTH STANDARDS-SURFACE METAL AND NONMETAL MINES Fire Prevention and Control Firefighting Procedures/alarms/drills § 56.4330 Firefighting, evacuation... organizations. (b) Fire alarm procedures or systems shall be established to pomptly warn every person who could...

Idea Project Final Report, Development Of An Intelligent Air Brake Warning System For Commercial Vehicles

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1996-05-31

THIS INVESTIGATION WAS COMPLETED AS PART OF THE ITS-IDEA PROGRAM WHICH IS ONE OF THREE IDEA PROGRAMS MANAGED BY THE TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD (TRB) TO FOSTER INNOVATIONS IN SURFACE TRANSPORTATION. IT FOCUSES ON PRODUCTS AND RESULT FOR THE DEVELOP...

Occurrence of Diatoms in Lakeside Wells in Northern New Jersey as an Indicator of the Effect of Surface Water on Ground-Water Quality

USGS Publications Warehouse

Reilly, Timothy J.; Walker, Christopher E.; Baehr, Arthur L.; Schrock, Robin M.; Reinfelder, John R.

2006-01-01

In a novel approach for detecting ground-water/surface-water interaction, diatoms were used as an indicator that surface water affects ground-water quality in lakeside communities in northern New Jersey. The presence of diatoms, which are abundant in lakes, in adjacent domestic wells demonstrated that ground water in these lakeside communities was under the direct influence of surface water. Entire diatom frustules were present in 17 of 18 water samples collected in August 1999 from domestic wells in communities surrounding Cranberry Lake and Lake Lackawanna. Diatoms in water from the wells were of the same genus as those found in the lakes. The presence of diatoms in the wells, together with the fact that most static and stressed water levels in wells were below the elevation of the lake surfaces, indicates that ground-water/surface-water interaction is likely. Ground-water/surface-water interaction also probably accounts for the previously documented near-ubiquitous presence of methyl tertiary-butyl ether in the ground-water samples. Recreational use of lakes for motor boating and swimming, the application of herbicides for aquatic weed control, runoff from septic systems and roadways, and the presence of waterfowl all introduce contaminants to the lake. Samples from 4 of the 18 wells contained Navicula spp., a documented significant predictor of Giardia and Cryptosporidium. Because private well owners in New Jersey generally are not required to regularly monitor their wells, and tests conducted by public-water suppliers may not be sensitive to indicators of ground-water/surface-water interaction, these contaminants may remain undetected. The presence of diatoms in wells in similar settings can warn of lake/well interactions in the absence of other indicators.

Short-term seismic precursors to Icelandic eruptions 1973-2014.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Einarsson, Páll

2018-05-01

Networks of seismographs of high sensitivity have been in use in the vicinity of active volcanoes in Iceland since 1973. During this time 21 confirmed eruptions have occurred and several intrusions where magma did not reach the surface. All these events have been accompanied by characteristic seismic activity. Long-term precursory activity is characterised by low-level, persistent seismicity (months-years), clustered around an inflating magma body. Whether or not a magma accumulation is accompanied by seismicity depends on the tectonic setting, interplate or intraplate, the depth of magma accumulation, the previous history and the state of stress. All eruptions during the time of observation had a detectable short-term seismic precursor marking the time of dike propagation towards the surface. The precursor times varied between 15 minutes and 13 days. In half of the cases the precursor time was less than 2 hours. Three eruptions stand out for their long duration of the immediate precursory activity, Heimaey 1973 with 30 hours, Gjálp 1996 with 34 hours, and Bárðarbunga 2014 with 13 days. In the case of Heimaey the long time is most likely the consequence of the great depth of the magma source, 15-25 km. The Gjálp eruption had a prelude that was unusual in many respects. The long propagation time may have resulted from a complicated triggering scenario involving more than one magma chamber. The Bárðarbunga eruption at Holuhraun issued from the distal end of a dike that took 13 days to propagate laterally for 48 km before it opened to the surface. Out of the 21 detected precursors 14 were noticed soon enough to lead to a public warning of the coming eruption. In 4 additional cases the precursory signal was noticed before the eruption was seen. In only 3 cases was the eruption seen or detected before the seismic precursor was verified.

The pathway to earthquake early warning in the US

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allen, R. M.; Given, D. D.; Heaton, T. H.; Vidale, J. E.; West Coast Earthquake Early Warning Development Team

2013-05-01

The development of earthquake early warning capabilities in the United States is now accelerating and expanding as the technical capability to provide warning is demonstrated and additional funding resources are making it possible to expand the current testing region to the entire west coast (California, Oregon and Washington). Over the course of the next two years we plan to build a prototype system that will provide a blueprint for a full public system in the US. California currently has a demonstrations warning system, ShakeAlert, that provides alerts to a group of test users from the public and private sector. These include biotech companies, technology companies, the entertainment industry, the transportation sector, and the emergency planning and response community. Most groups are currently in an evaluation mode, receiving the alerts and developing protocols for future response. The Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system is the one group who has now implemented an automated response to the warning system. BART now stops trains when an earthquake of sufficient size is detected. Research and development also continues to develop improved early warning algorithms to better predict the distribution of shaking in large earthquakes when the finiteness of the source becomes important. The algorithms under development include the use of both seismic and GPS instrumentation and integration with existing point source algorithms. At the same time, initial testing and development of algorithms in and for the Pacific Northwest is underway. In this presentation we will review the current status of the systems, highlight the new research developments, and lay out a pathway to a full public system for the US west coast. The research and development described is ongoing at Caltech, UC Berkeley, University of Washington, ETH Zurich, Southern California Earthquake Center, and the US Geological Survey, and is funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and the US Geological Survey.

Crash avoidance potential of four passenger vehicle technologies.

PubMed

Jermakian, Jessica S

2011-05-01

The objective was to update estimates of maximum potential crash reductions in the United States associated with each of four crash avoidance technologies: side view assist, forward collision warning/mitigation, lane departure warning/prevention, and adaptive headlights. Compared with previous estimates (Farmer, 2008), estimates in this study attempted to account for known limitations of current systems. Crash records were extracted from the 2004-08 files of the National Automotive Sampling System General Estimates System (NASS GES) and the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). Crash descriptors such as vehicle damage location, road characteristics, time of day, and precrash maneuvers were reviewed to determine whether the information or action provided by each technology potentially could have prevented or mitigated the crash. Of the four crash avoidance technologies, forward collision warning/mitigation had the greatest potential for preventing crashes of any severity; the technology is potentially applicable to 1.2 million crashes in the United States each year, including 66,000 serious and moderate injury crashes and 879 fatal crashes. Lane departure warning/prevention systems appeared relevant to 179,000 crashes per year. Side view assist and adaptive headlights could prevent 395,000 and 142,000 crashes per year, respectively. Lane departure warning/prevention was relevant to the most fatal crashes, up to 7500 fatal crashes per year. A combination of all four current technologies potentially could prevent or mitigate (without double counting) up to 1,866,000 crashes each year, including 149,000 serious and moderate injury crashes and 10,238 fatal crashes. If forward collision warning were extended to detect objects, pedestrians, and bicyclists, it would be relevant to an additional 3868 unique fatal crashes. There is great potential effectiveness for vehicle-based crash avoidance systems. However, it is yet to be determined how drivers will interact with the systems. The actual effectiveness of these systems will not be known until sufficient real-world experience has been gained. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Inappropriate shock delivery by implantable cardioverter defibrillator due to electrical interference with washing machine.

PubMed

Chongtham, Dhanaraj Singh; Bahl, Ajay; Kumar, Rohit Manoj; Talwar, K K

2007-05-31

We report a patient with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy who received an inappropriate implantable cardioverter defibrillator shock due to electrical interference from a washing machine. This electrical interference was detected as an episode of ventricular fibrillation with delivery of shock without warning symptoms.

Challenges for U.S. tsunami preparedness; NASA's Genesis crash blamed on design flaw

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zielinski, Sarah

2006-06-01

Challenges for U.S. tsunami preparednessDespite recent improvements in U.S. tsunamipreparedness, greater efforts are neededin tsunami hazard assessment, detection, warning,and mitigation, according to a 5 June reportfrom the U.S. Government AccountabilityOffice (GAO).Eos 87(21), 2006).

TED: a novel man portable infrared detection and situation awareness system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tidhar, Gil; Manor, Ran

2007-04-01

Infrared Search and Track (IRST) and threat warning systems are used in vehicle mounted or in fixed land positions. Migration of this technology to the man portable applications proves to be difficult due to the tight constraints of power consumption, dimensions, weight and due to the high video rate requirements. In this report we provide design details of a novel transient event detection (TED) system, capable of detection of blasts and gun shot events in a very wide field of view, while used by an operator in motion

A Risk-Based Multi-Objective Optimization Concept for Early-Warning Monitoring Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bode, F.; Loschko, M.; Nowak, W.

2014-12-01

Groundwater is a resource for drinking water and hence needs to be protected from contaminations. However, many well catchments include an inventory of known and unknown risk sources which cannot be eliminated, especially in urban regions. As matter of risk control, all these risk sources should be monitored. A one-to-one monitoring situation for each risk source would lead to a cost explosion and is even impossible for unknown risk sources. However, smart optimization concepts could help to find promising low-cost monitoring network designs.In this work we develop a concept to plan monitoring networks using multi-objective optimization. Our considered objectives are to maximize the probability of detecting all contaminations and the early warning time and to minimize the installation and operating costs of the monitoring network. A qualitative risk ranking is used to prioritize the known risk sources for monitoring. The unknown risk sources can neither be located nor ranked. Instead, we represent them by a virtual line of risk sources surrounding the production well.We classify risk sources into four different categories: severe, medium and tolerable for known risk sources and an extra category for the unknown ones. With that, early warning time and detection probability become individual objectives for each risk class. Thus, decision makers can identify monitoring networks which are valid for controlling the top risk sources, and evaluate the capabilities (or search for least-cost upgrade) to also cover moderate, tolerable and unknown risk sources. Monitoring networks which are valid for the remaining risk also cover all other risk sources but the early-warning time suffers.The data provided for the optimization algorithm are calculated in a preprocessing step by a flow and transport model. Uncertainties due to hydro(geo)logical phenomena are taken into account by Monte-Carlo simulations. To avoid numerical dispersion during the transport simulations we use the particle-tracking random walk method.

Short National Early Warning Score - Developing a Modified Early Warning Score.

PubMed

Luís, Leandro; Nunes, Carla

2017-12-11

Early Warning Score (EWS) systems have been developed for detecting hospital patients clinical deterioration. Many studies show that a National Early Warning Score (NEWS) performs well in discriminating survival from death in acute medical and surgical hospital wards. NEWS is validated for Portugal and is available for use. A simpler EWS system may help to reduce the risk of error, as well as increase clinician compliance with the tool. The aim of the study was to evaluate whether a simplified NEWS model will improve use and data collection. We evaluated the ability of single and aggregated parameters from the NEWS model to detect patients' clinical deterioration in the 24h prior to an outcome. There were 2 possible outcomes: Survival vs Unanticipated intensive care unit admission or death. We used binary logistic regression models and Receiver Operating Characteristic Curves (ROC) to evaluate the parameters' performance in discriminating among the outcomes for a sample of patients from 6 Portuguese hospital wards. NEWS presented an excellent discriminating capability (Area under the Curve of ROC (AUCROC)=0.944). Temperature and systolic blood pressure (SBP) parameters did not contribute significantly to the model. We developed two different models, one without temperature, and the other by removing temperature and SBP (M2). Both models had an excellent discriminating capability (AUCROC: 0.965; 0.903, respectively) and a good predictive power in the optimum threshold of the ROC curve. The 3 models revealed similar discriminant capabilities. Although the use of SBP is not clearly evident in the identification of clinical deterioration, it is recognized as an important vital sign. We recommend the use of the first new model, as its simplicity may help to improve adherence and use by health care workers. Copyright © 2017 Australian College of Critical Care Nurses Ltd. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development of a real-time bridge structural monitoring and warning system: a case study in Thailand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khemapech, I.; Sansrimahachai, W.; Toachoodee, M.

2017-04-01

Regarded as one of the physical aspects under societal and civil development and evolution, engineering structure is required to support growth of the nation. It also impacts life quality and safety of the civilian. Despite of its own weight (dead load) and live load, structural members are also significantly affected by disaster and environment. Proper inspection and detection are thus crucial both during regular and unsafe events. An Enhanced Structural Health Monitoring System Using Stream Processing and Artificial Neural Network Techniques (SPANNeT) has been developed and is described in this paper. SPANNeT applies wireless sensor network, real-time data stream processing and artificial neural network based upon the measured bending strains. Major contributions include an effective, accurate and energy-aware data communication and damage detection of the engineering structure. Strain thresholds have been defined according to computer simulation results and the AASHTO (American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials) LRFD (Load and Resistance Factor Design) Bridge Design specifications for launching several warning levels. SPANNeT has been tested and evaluated by means of computer-based simulation and on-site levels. According to the measurements, the observed maximum values are 25 to 30 microstrains during normal operation. The given protocol provided at least 90% of data communication reliability. SPANNeT is capable of real-time data report, monitoring and warning efficiently conforming to the predefined thresholds which can be adjusted regarding user's requirements and structural engineering characteristics.

The GOES-R Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) and the Global Observing System for Total Lightning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goodman, Steven J.; Blakeslee, R. J.; Koshak, W.; Buechler, D.; Carey, L.; Chronis, T.; Mach, D.; Bateman, M.; Peterson, H.; McCaul, E. W., Jr.;

The Hurricane-Flood-Landslide Continuum: Forecasting Hurricane Effects at Landfall

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Negri, A.; Golden, J. H.; Updike, R.

2004-01-01

Hurricanes, typhoons, and cyclones strike Central American, Caribbean, Southeast Asian and Pacific Island nations even more frequently than the U.S. The global losses of life and property from the floods, landslides and debris flows caused by cyclonic storms are staggering. One of the keys to reducing these losses, both in the U.S. and internationally, is to have better forecasts of what is about to happen from several hours to days before the event. Particularly in developing nations where science, technology and communication are limited, advance-warning systems can have great impact. In developing countries, warnings of even a few hours or days can mitigate or reduce catastrophic losses of life. With the foregoing needs in mind, we propose an initial project of three years total duration that will aim to develop and transfer a warning system for a prototype region in the Central Caribbean, specifically the islands of Puerto Rico and Hispanola. The Hurricane-Flood-Landslide Continuum will include satellite observations to track and nowcast dangerous levels of precipitation, atmospheric and hydrological models to predict near-future runoff, and streamflow changes in affected regions, and landslide models to warn when and where landslides and debris flows are imminent. Since surface communications are likely to be interrupted during these crises, the project also includes the capability to communicate disaster information via satellite to vital government officials in Puerto Rico, Haiti, and Dominican Republic.

Using Land Surface Phenology as the Basis for a National Early Warning System for Forest Disturbances

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hargrove, W. W.; Spruce, J.; Norman, S. P.; Hoffman, F. M.

2011-12-01

The National Early Warning System (EWS) provides an 8-day coast-to-coast snapshot of potentially disturbed forests across the U.S.. A prototype system has produced national maps of potential forest disturbances every eight days since January 2010, identifying locations that may require further investigation. Through phenology, the system shows both early and delayed vegetation development and detects all types of unexpected forest disturbances, including insects, disease, wildfires, frost and ice damage, tornadoes, hurricanes, blowdowns, harvest, urbanization, landslides, drought, flood, and climate change. The USDA Forest Service Eastern Forest Environmental Threat Assessment Center is collaborating with NASA Stennis Space Center and the Western Wildland Environmental Threat Assessment Center to develop the tool. The EWS uses differences in phenological responses between an expectation based on historical data and a current view to strategically identify potential forest disturbances and direct attention to locations where forest behavior seems unusual. Disturbance maps are available via the Forest Change Assessment Viewer (FCAV) (http://ews.forestthreats.org/gis), which allows resource managers and other users to see the most current national disturbance maps as soon as they are available. Phenology-based detections show not only vegetation disturbances in the classical sense, but all departures from normal seasonal vegetation behavior. In 2010, the EWS detected a repeated late-frost event at high elevations in North Carolina, USA, that resulted in delayed seasonal development, contrasting with an early spring development at lower elevations, all within close geographic proximity. Throughout 2011, there was a high degree of correspondence between the National Climatic Data Center's North American Drought Monitor maps and EWS maps of phenological drought disturbance in forests. Urban forests showed earlier and more severe phenological drought disturbance than surrounding non-urban forests. An EWS news page (http://www.geobabbble.org/~hnw/EWSNews) highlights disturbances the system has detected during the 2011 season. Unsupervised statistical multivariate clustering of smoothed phenology data every 8 days over an 11-year period produces a detailed map of national vegetation types, including major disturbances. Examining the constancy of these phenological classifications at a particular location from year to year produces a national map showing the persistence of vegetation, regardless of vegetation type. Using spectral unmixing methods, national maps of evergreen decline can be produced which are a composite of insect, disease, and anthropogenic factors causing chronic decline in these forests, including hemlock wooly adelgid, mountain pine beetle, wildfire, tree harvest, and urbanization. Because phenology shows vegetation responses, all disturbance and recovery events detected by the EWS are viewed through the lens of the vegetation.

Real-time detection and characterization of nuclear explosion using broadband analyses of regional seismic stations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prastowo, T.; Madlazim

2018-01-01

This preliminary study aims to propose a new method of real-time detection and characterization of nuclear explosions by analyzing broadband seismic waveforms acquired from a network of regional seismic stations. Signal identification generated by a nuclear test was differentiated from natural sources of either earthquakes or other natural seismo-tectonic events by verifying crucial parameters, namely source depth, type of first motion, and P-wave domination of the broadband seismic wavesunder consideration. We examined and analyzed a recently hypothetical nuclear test performed by the North Koreangovernment that occurred on September 3, 2017 as a vital point to study. From spectral analyses, we found that the source of corresponding signals associated with detonations of the latest underground nuclear test was at a much shallower depth below the surface relatively compared with that of natural earthquakes, the suspected nuclear explosions produced compressional waves with radially directed outward from the source for their first motions, and the waves were only dominated by P-components. The results are then discussed in the context of potential uses of the proposed methodology for human-induced disaster early warning system and/or the need of rapid response purposes for minimizing the disaster risks.

Development of a GIS-based integrated framework for coastal seiches monitoring and forecasting: A North Jiangsu shoal case study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qin, Rufu; Lin, Liangzhao

2017-06-01

Coastal seiches have become an increasingly important issue in coastal science and present many challenges, particularly when attempting to provide warning services. This paper presents the methodologies, techniques and integrated services adopted for the design and implementation of a Seiches Monitoring and Forecasting Integration Framework (SMAF-IF). The SMAF-IF is an integrated system with different types of sensors and numerical models and incorporates the Geographic Information System (GIS) and web techniques, which focuses on coastal seiche events detection and early warning in the North Jiangsu shoal, China. The in situ sensors perform automatic and continuous monitoring of the marine environment status and the numerical models provide the meteorological and physical oceanographic parameter estimates. A model outputs processing software was developed in C# language using ArcGIS Engine functions, which provides the capabilities of automatically generating visualization maps and warning information. Leveraging the ArcGIS Flex API and ASP.NET web services, a web based GIS framework was designed to facilitate quasi real-time data access, interactive visualization and analysis, and provision of early warning services for end users. The integrated framework proposed in this study enables decision-makers and the publics to quickly response to emergency coastal seiche events and allows an easy adaptation to other regional and scientific domains related to real-time monitoring and forecasting.

Flood Monitoring and Early Warning System Using Ultrasonic Sensor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Natividad, J. G.; Mendez, J. M.

2018-03-01

The purpose of this study is to develop a real-time flood monitoring and early warning system in the northern portion of the province of Isabela, particularly the municipalities near Cagayan River. Ultrasonic sensing techniques have become mature and are widely used in the various fields of engineering and basic science. One of advantage of ultrasonic sensing is its outstanding capability to probe inside objective non-destructively because ultrasound can propagate through any kinds of media including solids, liquids and gases. This study focuses only on the water level detection and early warning system (via website and/or SMS) that alerts concern agencies and individuals for a potential flood event. Furthermore, inquiry system is also included in this study to become more interactive wherein individuals in the community could inquire the actual water level and status of the desired area or location affected by flood thru SMS keyword. The study aims in helping citizens to be prepared and knowledgeable whenever there is a flood. The novelty of this work falls under the utilization of the Arduino, ultrasonic sensors, GSM module, web-monitoring and SMS early warning system in helping stakeholders to mitigate casualties related to flood. The paper envisions helping flood-prone areas which are common in the Philippines particularly to the local communities in the province. Indeed, it is relevant and important as per needs for safety and welfare of the community.

Advanced laser-based tracking device for motor vehicle lane position monitoring and steering assistance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bachalo, William D.; Inenaga, Andrew; Schuler, Carlos A.

1995-12-01

Aerometrics is developing an innovative laser-diode based device that provides a warning signal when a motor-vehicle deviates from the center of the lane. The device is based on a sensor that scans the roadway on either side of the vehicle and determines the lateral position relative to the existing painted lines marking the lane. No additional markings are required. A warning is used to alert the driver of excessive weaving or unanticipated departure from the center of the lane. The laser beams are at invisible wavelengths to that operation of the device does not pose a distraction to the driver or other motorists: When appropriate markers are not present on the road, the device is capable of detecting this condition and warn the driver. The sensor system is expected to work well irrespective of ambient light levels, fog and rain. This sensor has enormous commercial potential. It could be marketed as an instrument to warn drivers that they are weaving, used as a research tool to monitor driving patterns, be required equipment for those previously convicted of driving under the influence, or used as a backup sensor for vehicle lateral position control. It can also be used in storage plants to guide robotic delivery vehicles. In this paper, the principles of operation of the sensor, and the results of Aerometrics ongoing testing will be presented.

Development of wireless brain computer interface with embedded multitask scheduling and its application on real-time driver's drowsiness detection and warning.

PubMed

Lin, Chin-Teng; Chen, Yu-Chieh; Huang, Teng-Yi; Chiu, Tien-Ting; Ko, Li-Wei; Liang, Sheng-Fu; Hsieh, Hung-Yi; Hsu, Shang-Hwa; Duann, Jeng-Ren

2008-05-01

Biomedical signal monitoring systems have been rapidly advanced with electronic and information technologies in recent years. However, most of the existing physiological signal monitoring systems can only record the signals without the capability of automatic analysis. In this paper, we proposed a novel brain-computer interface (BCI) system that can acquire and analyze electroencephalogram (EEG) signals in real-time to monitor human physiological as well as cognitive states, and, in turn, provide warning signals to the users when needed. The BCI system consists of a four-channel biosignal acquisition/amplification module, a wireless transmission module, a dual-core signal processing unit, and a host system for display and storage. The embedded dual-core processing system with multitask scheduling capability was proposed to acquire and process the input EEG signals in real time. In addition, the wireless transmission module, which eliminates the inconvenience of wiring, can be switched between radio frequency (RF) and Bluetooth according to the transmission distance. Finally, the real-time EEG-based drowsiness monitoring and warning algorithms were implemented and integrated into the system to close the loop of the BCI system. The practical online testing demonstrates the feasibility of using the proposed system with the ability of real-time processing, automatic analysis, and online warning feedback in real-world operation and living environments.

Use of cyanopigment determination as an indicator of cyanotoxins in drinking water.

PubMed

Schmidt, Wido; Petzoldt, Heike; Bornmann, Katrin; Imhof, Lutz; Moldaenke, Christian

2009-01-01

The indicator function of the fluorescence signals of the cyanopigments phycocyanin and phycoerythrin as early warning parameters against the microcystins in drinking water was investigated by lab- and pilot-scale studies. The early warning function of the fluorescence signals was examined with regard to the signals' real-time character, their sensitivity and the behaviour of the cyanopigments in different treatment stages in comparison to microcystins. Fluorescence measurements confirmed the real-time character, since they can be carried out on-site without the pre-concentration of pigments. The limit of detection of phycoerythrin is determined at 0.7 microg/L and of phycocyanin at 5.3 microg/L respectively. If the pigment/microcystin ratio is known and calculated to be higher than 1, very low microcystin concentrations can be estimated by the fluorescence signals. The compared behaviour of both pigments and selected microcystins (MC-LR and MC-RR) during water treatment shows that pigments have an early warning function against microcystins in conventional treatment stages using pre-oxidation with permanganate, powdered-activated carbon and chlorination. In contrast, cyanopigments do not have an early warning function if chlorine dioxide is used as a pre-oxidant or final disinfection agent. In order to use pigment control measurements in drinking water treatment the initial pigment/toxin ratio of the raw water must be known.

30 CFR 56.9300 - Berms or guardrails.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

...: (1) Locked gates are installed at the entrance points to the roadway. (2) Signs are posted warning... shall include the width, slope and alignment of the road, the type of equipment using the road, the road material, and any hazardous conditions which may exist. (5) Road surface traction is not impaired by...

30 CFR 56.9300 - Berms or guardrails.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

...: (1) Locked gates are installed at the entrance points to the roadway. (2) Signs are posted warning... shall include the width, slope and alignment of the road, the type of equipment using the road, the road material, and any hazardous conditions which may exist. (5) Road surface traction is not impaired by...

30 CFR 57.9300 - Berms or guardrails.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

...: (1) Locked gates are installed at the entrance points to the roadway. (2) Signs are posted warning... shall include the width, slope and alignment of the road, the type of equipment using the road, the road material, and any hazardous conditions which may exist. (5) Road surface traction is not impaired by...

30 CFR 56.9300 - Berms or guardrails.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

...: (1) Locked gates are installed at the entrance points to the roadway. (2) Signs are posted warning... shall include the width, slope and alignment of the road, the type of equipment using the road, the road material, and any hazardous conditions which may exist. (5) Road surface traction is not impaired by...

30 CFR 57.9300 - Berms or guardrails.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

...: (1) Locked gates are installed at the entrance points to the roadway. (2) Signs are posted warning... shall include the width, slope and alignment of the road, the type of equipment using the road, the road material, and any hazardous conditions which may exist. (5) Road surface traction is not impaired by...

30 CFR 57.9300 - Berms or guardrails.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

...: (1) Locked gates are installed at the entrance points to the roadway. (2) Signs are posted warning... shall include the width, slope and alignment of the road, the type of equipment using the road, the road material, and any hazardous conditions which may exist. (5) Road surface traction is not impaired by...

30 CFR 57.9300 - Berms or guardrails.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

...: (1) Locked gates are installed at the entrance points to the roadway. (2) Signs are posted warning... shall include the width, slope and alignment of the road, the type of equipment using the road, the road material, and any hazardous conditions which may exist. (5) Road surface traction is not impaired by...

30 CFR 56.9300 - Berms or guardrails.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

...: (1) Locked gates are installed at the entrance points to the roadway. (2) Signs are posted warning... shall include the width, slope and alignment of the road, the type of equipment using the road, the road material, and any hazardous conditions which may exist. (5) Road surface traction is not impaired by...

DEVELOPING A METHOD TO IDENTIFY HORIZONTAL CURVE SEGMENTS WITH HIGH CRASH OCCURRENCES USING THE HAF ALGORITHM

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2018-04-01

Crashes occur every day on Utahs highways. Curves can be particularly dangerous as they require driver focus due to potentially unseen hazards. Often, crashes occur on curves due to poor curve geometry, a lack of warning signs, or poor surface con...

A global flash flood forecasting system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baugh, Calum; Pappenberger, Florian; Wetterhall, Fredrik; Hewson, Tim; Zsoter, Ervin

2016-04-01

The sudden and devastating nature of flash flood events means it is imperative to provide early warnings such as those derived from Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) forecasts. Currently such systems exist on basin, national and continental scales in Europe, North America and Australia but rely on high resolution NWP forecasts or rainfall-radar nowcasting, neither of which have global coverage. To produce global flash flood forecasts this work investigates the possibility of using forecasts from a global NWP system. In particular we: (i) discuss how global NWP can be used for flash flood forecasting and discuss strengths and weaknesses; (ii) demonstrate how a robust evaluation can be performed given the rarity of the event; (iii) highlight the challenges and opportunities in communicating flash flood uncertainty to decision makers; and (iv) explore future developments which would significantly improve global flash flood forecasting. The proposed forecast system uses ensemble surface runoff forecasts from the ECMWF H-TESSEL land surface scheme. A flash flood index is generated using the ERIC (Enhanced Runoff Index based on Climatology) methodology [Raynaud et al., 2014]. This global methodology is applied to a series of flash floods across southern Europe. Results from the system are compared against warnings produced using the higher resolution COSMO-LEPS limited area model. The global system is evaluated by comparing forecasted warning locations against a flash flood database of media reports created in partnership with floodlist.com. To deal with the lack of objectivity in media reports we carefully assess the suitability of different skill scores and apply spatial uncertainty thresholds to the observations. To communicate the uncertainties of the flash flood system output we experiment with a dynamic region-growing algorithm. This automatically clusters regions of similar return period exceedence probabilities, thus presenting the at-risk areas at a spatial resolution appropriate to the NWP system. We then demonstrate how these warning areas could eventually complement existing global systems such as the Global Flood Awareness System (GloFAS), to give warnings of flash floods. This work demonstrates the possibility of creating a global flash flood forecasting system based on forecasts from existing global NWP systems. Future developments, in post-processing for example, will need to address an under-prediction bias, for extreme point rainfall, that is innate to current-generation global models.

Inductive Learning Approaches for Improving Pilot Awareness of Aircraft Faults

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spikovska, Lilly; Iverson, David L.; Poll, Scott; Pryor, anna

2005-01-01

Neural network flight controllers are able to accommodate a variety of aircraft control surface faults without detectable degradation of aircraft handling qualities. Under some faults, however, the effective flight envelope is reduced; this can lead to unexpected behavior if a pilot performs an action that exceeds the remaining control authority of the damaged aircraft. The goal of our work is to increase the pilot s situational awareness by informing him of the type of damage and resulting reduction in flight envelope. Our methodology integrates two inductive learning systems with novel visualization techniques. One learning system, the Inductive Monitoring System (IMS), learns to detect when a simulation includes faulty controls, while two others, Inductive Classification System (INCLASS) and multiple binary decision tree system (utilizing C4.5), determine the type of fault. In off-line training using only non-failure data, IMS constructs a characterization of nominal flight control performance based on control signals issued by the neural net flight controller. This characterization can be used to determine the degree of control augmentation required in the pitch, roll, and yaw command channels to counteract control surface failures. This derived information is typically sufficient to distinguish between the various control surface failures and is used to train both INCLASS and C4.5. Using data from failed control surface flight simulations, INCLASS and C4.5 independently discover and amplify features in IMS results that can be used to differentiate each distinct control surface failure situation. In real-time flight simulations, distinguishing features learned during training are used to classify control surface failures. Knowledge about the type of failure can be used by an additional automated system to alter its approach for planning tactical and strategic maneuvers. The knowledge can also be used directly to increase the pilot s situational awareness and inform manual maneuver decisions. Our multi-modal display of this information provides speech output to issue control surface failure warnings to a lesser-used communication channel and provides graphical displays with pilot-selectable !eve!s of details to issues additional information about the failure. We also describe a potential presentation for flight envelope reduction that can be viewed separately or integrated with an existing attitude indicator instrument. Preliminary results suggest that the inductive approach is capable of detecting that a control surface has failed and determining the type of fault. Furthermore, preliminary evaluations suggest that the interface discloses a concise summary of this information to the pilot.

A land data assimilation system for sub-Saharan Africa food and water security applications

PubMed Central

McNally, Amy; Arsenault, Kristi; Kumar, Sujay; Shukla, Shraddhanand; Peterson, Pete; Wang, Shugong; Funk, Chris; Peters-Lidard, Christa D.; Verdin, James P.

2017-01-01

Seasonal agricultural drought monitoring systems, which rely on satellite remote sensing and land surface models (LSMs), are important for disaster risk reduction and famine early warning. These systems require the best available weather inputs, as well as a long-term historical record to contextualize current observations. This article introduces the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) Land Data Assimilation System (FLDAS), a custom instance of the NASA Land Information System (LIS) framework. The FLDAS is routinely used to produce multi-model and multi-forcing estimates of hydro-climate states and fluxes over semi-arid, food insecure regions of Africa. These modeled data and derived products, like soil moisture percentiles and water availability, were designed and are currently used to complement FEWS NET’s operational remotely sensed rainfall, evapotranspiration, and vegetation observations. The 30+ years of monthly outputs from the FLDAS simulations are publicly available from the NASA Goddard Earth Science Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC) and recommended for use in hydroclimate studies, early warning applications, and by agro-meteorological scientists in Eastern, Southern, and Western Africa. PMID:28195575

A land data assimilation system for sub-Saharan Africa food and water security applications

USGS Publications Warehouse

McNally, Amy; Arsenault, Kristi; Kumar, Sujay; Shukla, Shraddhanand; Peterson, Pete; Wang, Shugong; Funk, Chris; Peters-Lidard, Christa; Verdin, James

2017-01-01

Seasonal agricultural drought monitoring systems, which rely on satellite remote sensing and land surface models (LSMs), are important for disaster risk reduction and famine early warning. These systems require the best available weather inputs, as well as a long-term historical record to contextualize current observations. This article introduces the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) Land Data Assimilation System (FLDAS), a custom instance of the NASA Land Information System (LIS) framework. The FLDAS is routinely used to produce multi-model and multi-forcing estimates of hydro-climate states and fluxes over semi-arid, food insecure regions of Africa. These modeled data and derived products, like soil moisture percentiles and water availability, were designed and are currently used to complement FEWS NET’s operational remotely sensed rainfall, evapotranspiration, and vegetation observations. The 30+ years of monthly outputs from the FLDAS simulations are publicly available from the NASA Goddard Earth Science Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC) and recommended for use in hydroclimate studies, early warning applications, and by agro-meteorological scientists in Eastern, Southern, and Western Africa.

A land data assimilation system for sub-Saharan Africa food and water security applications.

PubMed

McNally, Amy; Arsenault, Kristi; Kumar, Sujay; Shukla, Shraddhanand; Peterson, Pete; Wang, Shugong; Funk, Chris; Peters-Lidard, Christa D; Verdin, James P

2017-02-14

Seasonal agricultural drought monitoring systems, which rely on satellite remote sensing and land surface models (LSMs), are important for disaster risk reduction and famine early warning. These systems require the best available weather inputs, as well as a long-term historical record to contextualize current observations. This article introduces the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) Land Data Assimilation System (FLDAS), a custom instance of the NASA Land Information System (LIS) framework. The FLDAS is routinely used to produce multi-model and multi-forcing estimates of hydro-climate states and fluxes over semi-arid, food insecure regions of Africa. These modeled data and derived products, like soil moisture percentiles and water availability, were designed and are currently used to complement FEWS NET's operational remotely sensed rainfall, evapotranspiration, and vegetation observations. The 30+ years of monthly outputs from the FLDAS simulations are publicly available from the NASA Goddard Earth Science Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC) and recommended for use in hydroclimate studies, early warning applications, and by agro-meteorological scientists in Eastern, Southern, and Western Africa.

Data Descriptor: A Land Data Assimilation System for Sub-Saharan Africa Food and Water Security Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McNally, Amy; Arsenault, Krist; Kumar, Sujay; Shukla, Shraddhanand; Peter, Pete; Wang, Shugong; Funk, Chris; Peters-Lidard, Christa D.; Verdin, James

2017-01-01

Seasonal agricultural drought monitoring systems, which rely on satellite remote sensing and land surface models (LSMs), are important for disaster risk reduction and famine early warning. These systems require the best available weather inputs, as well as a long-term historical record to contextualize current observations. This article introduces the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) Land Data Assimilation System (FLDAS), a custom instance of the NASA Land Information System (LIS) framework. The FLDAS is routinely used to produce multi-model and multi-forcing estimates of hydro-climate states and fluxes over semi-arid, food insecure regions of Africa. These modeled data and derived products, like soil moisture percentiles and water availability, were designed and are currently used to complement FEWSNETs operational remotely sensed rainfall, evapotranspiration, and vegetation observations. The 30+ years of monthly outputs from the FLDAS simulations are publicly available from the NASA Goddard Earth Science Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC) and recommended for use in hydroclimate studies, early warning applications, and by agro-meteorological scientists in Eastern, Southern, and Western Africa.

A land data assimilation system for sub-Saharan Africa food and water security applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McNally, Amy; Arsenault, Kristi; Kumar, Sujay; Shukla, Shraddhanand; Peterson, Pete; Wang, Shugong; Funk, Chris; Peters-Lidard, Christa D.; Verdin, James P.

2017-02-01

Seasonal agricultural drought monitoring systems, which rely on satellite remote sensing and land surface models (LSMs), are important for disaster risk reduction and famine early warning. These systems require the best available weather inputs, as well as a long-term historical record to contextualize current observations. This article introduces the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) Land Data Assimilation System (FLDAS), a custom instance of the NASA Land Information System (LIS) framework. The FLDAS is routinely used to produce multi-model and multi-forcing estimates of hydro-climate states and fluxes over semi-arid, food insecure regions of Africa. These modeled data and derived products, like soil moisture percentiles and water availability, were designed and are currently used to complement FEWS NET's operational remotely sensed rainfall, evapotranspiration, and vegetation observations. The 30+ years of monthly outputs from the FLDAS simulations are publicly available from the NASA Goddard Earth Science Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC) and recommended for use in hydroclimate studies, early warning applications, and by agro-meteorological scientists in Eastern, Southern, and Western Africa.