Closing the Seasonal Ocean Surface Temperature Balance in the Eastern Tropical Oceans from Remote Sensing and Model Reanalyses

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roberts, J. Brent; Clayson, C. A.

2012-01-01

Residual forcing necessary to close the MLTB on seasonal time scales are largest in regions of strongest surface heat flux forcing. Identifying the dominant source of error - surface heat flux error, mixed layer depth estimation, ocean dynamical forcing - remains a challenge in the eastern tropical oceans where ocean processes are very active. Improved sub-surface observations are necessary to better constrain errors. 1. Mixed layer depth evolution is critical to the seasonal evolution of mixed layer temperatures. It determines the inertia of the mixed layer, and scales the sensitivity of the MLTB to errors in surface heat flux and ocean dynamical forcing. This role produces timing impacts for errors in SST prediction. 2. Errors in the MLTB are larger than the historical 10Wm-2 target accuracy. In some regions, a larger accuracy can be tolerated if the goal is to resolve the seasonal SST cycle.

Transfer Alignment Error Compensator Design Based on Robust State Estimation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lyou, Joon; Lim, You-Chol

This paper examines the transfer alignment problem of the StrapDown Inertial Navigation System (SDINS), which is subject to the ship’s roll and pitch. Major error sources for velocity and attitude matching are lever arm effect, measurement time delay and ship-body flexure. To reduce these alignment errors, an error compensation method based on state augmentation and robust state estimation is devised. A linearized error model for the velocity and attitude matching transfer alignment system is derived first by linearizing the nonlinear measurement equation with respect to its time delay and dominant Y-axis flexure, and by augmenting the delay state and flexure state into conventional linear state equations. Then an H∞ filter is introduced to account for modeling uncertainties of time delay and the ship-body flexure. The simulation results show that this method considerably decreases azimuth alignment errors considerably.

Hessian matrix approach for determining error field sensitivity to coil deviations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Caoxiang; Hudson, Stuart R.; Lazerson, Samuel A.; Song, Yuntao; Wan, Yuanxi

2018-05-01

The presence of error fields has been shown to degrade plasma confinement and drive instabilities. Error fields can arise from many sources, but are predominantly attributed to deviations in the coil geometry. In this paper, we introduce a Hessian matrix approach for determining error field sensitivity to coil deviations. A primary cost function used for designing stellarator coils, the surface integral of normalized normal field errors, was adopted to evaluate the deviation of the generated magnetic field from the desired magnetic field. The FOCUS code (Zhu et al 2018 Nucl. Fusion 58 016008) is utilized to provide fast and accurate calculations of the Hessian. The sensitivities of error fields to coil displacements are then determined by the eigenvalues of the Hessian matrix. A proof-of-principle example is given on a CNT-like configuration. We anticipate that this new method could provide information to avoid dominant coil misalignments and simplify coil designs for stellarators.

Higher-order ionospheric error at Arecibo, Millstone, and Jicamarca

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matteo, N. A.; Morton, Y. T.

2010-12-01

The ionosphere is a dominant source of Global Positioning System receiver range measurement error. Although dual-frequency receivers can eliminate the first-order ionospheric error, most second- and third-order errors remain in the range measurements. Higher-order ionospheric error is a function of both electron density distribution and the magnetic field vector along the GPS signal propagation path. This paper expands previous efforts by combining incoherent scatter radar (ISR) electron density measurements, the International Reference Ionosphere model, exponential decay extensions of electron densities, the International Geomagnetic Reference Field, and total electron content maps to compute higher-order error at ISRs in Arecibo, Puerto Rico; Jicamarca, Peru; and Millstone Hill, Massachusetts. Diurnal patterns, dependency on signal direction, seasonal variation, and geomagnetic activity dependency are analyzed. Higher-order error is largest at Arecibo with code phase maxima circa 7 cm for low-elevation southern signals. The maximum variation of the error over all angles of arrival is circa 8 cm.

Peak fitting and integration uncertainties for the Aerodyne Aerosol Mass Spectrometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Corbin, J. C.; Othman, A.; Haskins, J. D.; Allan, J. D.; Sierau, B.; Worsnop, D. R.; Lohmann, U.; Mensah, A. A.

2015-04-01

The errors inherent in the fitting and integration of the pseudo-Gaussian ion peaks in Aerodyne High-Resolution Aerosol Mass Spectrometers (HR-AMS's) have not been previously addressed as a source of imprecision for these instruments. This manuscript evaluates the significance of these uncertainties and proposes a method for their estimation in routine data analysis. Peak-fitting uncertainties, the most complex source of integration uncertainties, are found to be dominated by errors in m/z calibration. These calibration errors comprise significant amounts of both imprecision and bias, and vary in magnitude from ion to ion. The magnitude of these m/z calibration errors is estimated for an exemplary data set, and used to construct a Monte Carlo model which reproduced well the observed trends in fits to the real data. The empirically-constrained model is used to show that the imprecision in the fitted height of isolated peaks scales linearly with the peak height (i.e., as n1), thus contributing a constant-relative-imprecision term to the overall uncertainty. This constant relative imprecision term dominates the Poisson counting imprecision term (which scales as n0.5) at high signals. The previous HR-AMS uncertainty model therefore underestimates the overall fitting imprecision. The constant relative imprecision in fitted peak height for isolated peaks in the exemplary data set was estimated as ~4% and the overall peak-integration imprecision was approximately 5%. We illustrate the importance of this constant relative imprecision term by performing Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) on a~synthetic HR-AMS data set with and without its inclusion. Finally, the ability of an empirically-constrained Monte Carlo approach to estimate the fitting imprecision for an arbitrary number of known overlapping peaks is demonstrated. Software is available upon request to estimate these error terms in new data sets.

Hybrid Transverse Polar Navigation for High-Precision and Long-Term INSs

PubMed Central

Wu, Qiuping; Zhang, Rong; Hu, Peida; Li, Haixia

2018-01-01

Transverse navigation has been proposed to help inertial navigation systems (INSs) fill the gap of polar navigation ability. However, as the transverse system does not have the ability of navigate globally, a complicated switch between the transverse and the traditional algorithms is necessary when the system moves across the polar circles. To maintain the inner continuity and consistency of the core algorithm, a hybrid transverse polar navigation is proposed in this research based on a combination of Earth-fixed-frame mechanization and transverse-frame outputs. Furthermore, a thorough analysis of kinematic error characteristics, proper damping technology and corresponding long-term contributions of main error sources is conducted for the high-precision INSs. According to the analytical expressions of the long-term navigation errors in polar areas, the 24-h period symmetrical oscillation with a slowly divergent amplitude dominates the transverse horizontal position errors, and the first-order drift dominates the transverse azimuth error, which results from the g0 gyro drift coefficients that occur in corresponding directions. Simulations are conducted to validate the theoretical analysis and the deduced analytical expressions. The results show that the proposed hybrid transverse navigation can ensure the same accuracy and oscillation characteristics in polar areas as the traditional algorithm in low and mid latitude regions. PMID:29757242

Hybrid Transverse Polar Navigation for High-Precision and Long-Term INSs.

PubMed

Wu, Ruonan; Wu, Qiuping; Han, Fengtian; Zhang, Rong; Hu, Peida; Li, Haixia

2018-05-12

Transverse navigation has been proposed to help inertial navigation systems (INSs) fill the gap of polar navigation ability. However, as the transverse system does not have the ability of navigate globally, a complicated switch between the transverse and the traditional algorithms is necessary when the system moves across the polar circles. To maintain the inner continuity and consistency of the core algorithm, a hybrid transverse polar navigation is proposed in this research based on a combination of Earth-fixed-frame mechanization and transverse-frame outputs. Furthermore, a thorough analysis of kinematic error characteristics, proper damping technology and corresponding long-term contributions of main error sources is conducted for the high-precision INSs. According to the analytical expressions of the long-term navigation errors in polar areas, the 24-h period symmetrical oscillation with a slowly divergent amplitude dominates the transverse horizontal position errors, and the first-order drift dominates the transverse azimuth error, which results from the gyro drift coefficients that occur in corresponding directions. Simulations are conducted to validate the theoretical analysis and the deduced analytical expressions. The results show that the proposed hybrid transverse navigation can ensure the same accuracy and oscillation characteristics in polar areas as the traditional algorithm in low and mid latitude regions.

Modeling and characterization of multipath in global navigation satellite system ranging signals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weiss, Jan Peter

The Global Positioning System (GPS) provides position, velocity, and time information to users in anywhere near the earth in real-time and regardless of weather conditions. Since the system became operational, improvements in many areas have reduced systematic errors affecting GPS measurements such that multipath, defined as any signal taking a path other than the direct, has become a significant, if not dominant, error source for many applications. This dissertation utilizes several approaches to characterize and model multipath errors in GPS measurements. Multipath errors in GPS ranging signals are characterized for several receiver systems and environments. Experimental P(Y) code multipath data are analyzed for ground stations with multipath levels ranging from minimal to severe, a C-12 turboprop, an F-18 jet, and an aircraft carrier. Comparisons between receivers utilizing single patch antennas and multi-element arrays are also made. In general, the results show significant reductions in multipath with antenna array processing, although large errors can occur even with this kind of equipment. Analysis of airborne platform multipath shows that the errors tend to be small in magnitude because the size of the aircraft limits the geometric delay of multipath signals, and high in frequency because aircraft dynamics cause rapid variations in geometric delay. A comprehensive multipath model is developed and validated. The model integrates 3D structure models, satellite ephemerides, electromagnetic ray-tracing algorithms, and detailed antenna and receiver models to predict multipath errors. Validation is performed by comparing experimental and simulated multipath via overall error statistics, per satellite time histories, and frequency content analysis. The validation environments include two urban buildings, an F-18, an aircraft carrier, and a rural area where terrain multipath dominates. The validated models are used to identify multipath sources, characterize signal properties, evaluate additional antenna and receiver tracking configurations, and estimate the reflection coefficients of multipath-producing surfaces. Dynamic models for an F-18 landing on an aircraft carrier correlate aircraft dynamics to multipath frequency content; the model also characterizes the separate contributions of multipath due to the aircraft, ship, and ocean to the overall error statistics. Finally, reflection coefficients for multipath produced by terrain are estimated via a least-squares algorithm.

Self-Interaction Error in Density Functional Theory: An Appraisal.

PubMed

Bao, Junwei Lucas; Gagliardi, Laura; Truhlar, Donald G

2018-05-03

Self-interaction error (SIE) is considered to be one of the major sources of error in most approximate exchange-correlation functionals for Kohn-Sham density-functional theory (KS-DFT), and it is large with all local exchange-correlation functionals and with some hybrid functionals. In this work, we consider systems conventionally considered to be dominated by SIE. For these systems, we demonstrate that by using multiconfiguration pair-density functional theory (MC-PDFT), the error of a translated local density-functional approximation is significantly reduced (by a factor of 3) when using an MCSCF density and on-top density, as compared to using KS-DFT with the parent functional; the error in MC-PDFT with local on-top functionals is even lower than the error in some popular KS-DFT hybrid functionals. Density-functional theory, either in MC-PDFT form with local on-top functionals or in KS-DFT form with some functionals having 50% or more nonlocal exchange, has smaller errors for SIE-prone systems than does CASSCF, which has no SIE.

System calibration method for Fourier ptychographic microscopy.

PubMed

Pan, An; Zhang, Yan; Zhao, Tianyu; Wang, Zhaojun; Dan, Dan; Lei, Ming; Yao, Baoli

2017-09-01

Fourier ptychographic microscopy (FPM) is a recently proposed computational imaging technique with both high-resolution and wide field of view. In current FPM imaging platforms, systematic error sources come from aberrations, light-emitting diode (LED) intensity fluctuation, parameter imperfections, and noise, all of which may severely corrupt the reconstruction results with similar artifacts. Therefore, it would be unlikely to distinguish the dominating error from these degraded reconstructions without any preknowledge. In addition, systematic error is generally a mixture of various error sources in the real situation, and it cannot be separated due to their mutual restriction and conversion. To this end, we report a system calibration procedure, termed SC-FPM, to calibrate the mixed systematic errors simultaneously from an overall perspective, based on the simulated annealing algorithm, the LED intensity correction method, the nonlinear regression process, and the adaptive step-size strategy, which involves the evaluation of an error metric at each iteration step, followed by the re-estimation of accurate parameters. The performance achieved both in simulations and experiments demonstrates that the proposed method outperforms other state-of-the-art algorithms. The reported system calibration scheme improves the robustness of FPM, relaxes the experiment conditions, and does not require any preknowledge, which makes the FPM more pragmatic. (2017) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE).

Frontal midline theta and the error-related negativity: neurophysiological mechanisms of action regulation.

PubMed

Luu, Phan; Tucker, Don M; Makeig, Scott

2004-08-01

The error-related negativity (ERN) is an event-related potential (ERP) peak occurring between 50 and 100 ms after the commission of a speeded motor response that the subject immediately realizes to be in error. The ERN is believed to index brain processes that monitor action outcomes. Our previous analyses of ERP and EEG data suggested that the ERN is dominated by partial phase-locking of intermittent theta-band EEG activity. In this paper, this possibility is further evaluated. The possibility that the ERN is produced by phase-locking of theta-band EEG activity was examined by analyzing the single-trial EEG traces from a forced-choice speeded response paradigm before and after applying theta-band (4-7 Hz) filtering and by comparing the averaged and single-trial phase-locked (ERP) and non-phase-locked (other) EEG data. Electrical source analyses were used to estimate the brain sources involved in the generation of the ERN. Beginning just before incorrect button presses in a speeded choice response paradigm, midfrontal theta-band activity increased in amplitude and became partially and transiently phase-locked to the subject's motor response, accounting for 57% of ERN peak amplitude. The portion of the theta-EEG activity increase remaining after subtracting the response-locked ERP from each trial was larger and longer lasting after error responses than after correct responses, extending on average 400 ms beyond the ERN peak. Multiple equivalent-dipole source analysis suggested 3 possible equivalent dipole sources of the theta-bandpassed ERN, while the scalp distribution of non-phase-locked theta amplitude suggested the presence of additional frontal theta-EEG sources. These results appear consistent with a body of research that demonstrates a relationship between limbic theta activity and action regulation, including error monitoring and learning.

Utilization of satellite-satellite tracking data for determination of the geocentric gravitational constant (GM)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Martin, C. F.; Oh, I. H.

1979-01-01

Range rate tracking of GEOS 3 through the ATS 6 satellite was used, along with ground tracking of GEOS 3, to estimate the geocentric gravitational constant (GM). Using multiple half day arcs, a GM of 398600.52 + or - 0.12 cu km/sq sec was estimated using the GEM 10 gravity model, based on speed of light of 299792.458 km/sec. Tracking station coordinates were simultaneously adjusted, leaving geopotential model error as the dominant error source. Baselines between the adjusted NASA laser sites show better than 15 cm agreement with multiple short arc GEOS 3 solutions.

A Nonlinear Adaptive Filter for Gyro Thermal Bias Error Cancellation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Galante, Joseph M.; Sanner, Robert M.

2012-01-01

Deterministic errors in angular rate gyros, such as thermal biases, can have a significant impact on spacecraft attitude knowledge. In particular, thermal biases are often the dominant error source in MEMS gyros after calibration. Filters, such as J\\,fEKFs, are commonly used to mitigate the impact of gyro errors and gyro noise on spacecraft closed loop pointing accuracy, but often have difficulty in rapidly changing thermal environments and can be computationally expensive. In this report an existing nonlinear adaptive filter is used as the basis for a new nonlinear adaptive filter designed to estimate and cancel thermal bias effects. A description of the filter is presented along with an implementation suitable for discrete-time applications. A simulation analysis demonstrates the performance of the filter in the presence of noisy measurements and provides a comparison with existing techniques.

MAGNIFICENT MAGNIFICATION: EXPLOITING THE OTHER HALF OF THE LENSING SIGNAL

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

Huff, Eric M.; Graves, Genevieve J.

2014-01-10

We describe a new method for measuring galaxy magnification due to weak gravitational lensing. Our method makes use of a tight scaling relation between galaxy properties that are modified by gravitational lensing, such as apparent size, and other properties that are not, such as surface brightness. In particular, we use a version of the well-known fundamental plane relation for early-type galaxies. This modified ''photometric fundamental plane'' uses only photometric galaxy properties, eliminating the need for spectroscopic data. We present the first detection of magnification using this method by applying it to photometric catalogs from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Thismore » analysis shows that the derived magnification signal is within a factor of three of that available from conventional methods using gravitational shear. We suppress the dominant sources of systematic error and discuss modest improvements that may further enhance the lensing signal-to-noise available with this method. Moreover, some of the dominant sources of systematic error are substantially different from those of shear-based techniques. With this new technique, magnification becomes a useful measurement tool for the coming era of large ground-based surveys intending to measure gravitational lensing.« less

Hessian matrix approach for determining error field sensitivity to coil deviations.

DOE PAGES

Zhu, Caoxiang; Hudson, Stuart R.; Lazerson, Samuel A.; ...

2018-03-15

The presence of error fields has been shown to degrade plasma confinement and drive instabilities. Error fields can arise from many sources, but are predominantly attributed to deviations in the coil geometry. In this paper, we introduce a Hessian matrix approach for determining error field sensitivity to coil deviations. A primary cost function used for designing stellarator coils, the surface integral of normalized normal field errors, was adopted to evaluate the deviation of the generated magnetic field from the desired magnetic field. The FOCUS code [Zhu et al., Nucl. Fusion 58(1):016008 (2018)] is utilized to provide fast and accurate calculationsmore » of the Hessian. The sensitivities of error fields to coil displacements are then determined by the eigenvalues of the Hessian matrix. A proof-of-principle example is given on a CNT-like configuration. We anticipate that this new method could provide information to avoid dominant coil misalignments and simplify coil designs for stellarators.« less

Hessian matrix approach for determining error field sensitivity to coil deviations.

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

Zhu, Caoxiang; Hudson, Stuart R.; Lazerson, Samuel A.

The presence of error fields has been shown to degrade plasma confinement and drive instabilities. Error fields can arise from many sources, but are predominantly attributed to deviations in the coil geometry. In this paper, we introduce a Hessian matrix approach for determining error field sensitivity to coil deviations. A primary cost function used for designing stellarator coils, the surface integral of normalized normal field errors, was adopted to evaluate the deviation of the generated magnetic field from the desired magnetic field. The FOCUS code [Zhu et al., Nucl. Fusion 58(1):016008 (2018)] is utilized to provide fast and accurate calculationsmore » of the Hessian. The sensitivities of error fields to coil displacements are then determined by the eigenvalues of the Hessian matrix. A proof-of-principle example is given on a CNT-like configuration. We anticipate that this new method could provide information to avoid dominant coil misalignments and simplify coil designs for stellarators.« less

Spatiotemporal Filtering Using Principal Component Analysis and Karhunen-Loeve Expansion Approaches for Regional GPS Network Analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dong, D.; Fang, P.; Bock, F.; Webb, F.; Prawirondirdjo, L.; Kedar, S.; Jamason, P.

2006-01-01

Spatial filtering is an effective way to improve the precision of coordinate time series for regional GPS networks by reducing so-called common mode errors, thereby providing better resolution for detecting weak or transient deformation signals. The commonly used approach to regional filtering assumes that the common mode error is spatially uniform, which is a good approximation for networks of hundreds of kilometers extent, but breaks down as the spatial extent increases. A more rigorous approach should remove the assumption of spatially uniform distribution and let the data themselves reveal the spatial distribution of the common mode error. The principal component analysis (PCA) and the Karhunen-Loeve expansion (KLE) both decompose network time series into a set of temporally varying modes and their spatial responses. Therefore they provide a mathematical framework to perform spatiotemporal filtering.We apply the combination of PCA and KLE to daily station coordinate time series of the Southern California Integrated GPS Network (SCIGN) for the period 2000 to 2004. We demonstrate that spatially and temporally correlated common mode errors are the dominant error source in daily GPS solutions. The spatial characteristics of the common mode errors are close to uniform for all east, north, and vertical components, which implies a very long wavelength source for the common mode errors, compared to the spatial extent of the GPS network in southern California. Furthermore, the common mode errors exhibit temporally nonrandom patterns.

Subglacial drainage effects on surface motion on a small surge type alpine glacier on the St. Elias range, Yukon Territory, Canada.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rada, C.; Schoof, C.; King, M. A.; Flowers, G. E.; Haber, E.

2017-12-01

Subglacial drainage is known to play an important role in glacier dynamics trough its influence on basal sliding. However, drainage is also one of the most poorly understood process in glacier flow due to the difficulties of observing, identifying and modeling the physics involved. In an effort to improve understanding of subglacial processes, we have monitored a small, approximately 100 m thick surge-type alpine glacier for nine years. Over 300 boreholes were instrumented with pressure transducers over a 0.5 km² in its upper ablation area, in addition to a weather station and a permanent GPS array consisting on 16 dual-frequency receivers within the study area. We study the influence of the subglacial drainage system on the glacier surface velocity. However, pressure variations in the drainage system during the melt season are dominated by diurnal oscillations.Therefore, GPS solutions have to be computed at sub-diurnal time intervals in order to explore the effects of transient diurnal pressure variations. Due to the small displacements of the surface of the glacier over those periods (4-10 cm/day), sub-diurnal solutions are dominated by errors, making it impossible to observe the diurnal variations in glacier motion. We have found that the main source of error is GPS multipath. This error source does largely cancel out when solutions are computed over 24 hour periods (or more precisely, over a sidereal day), but solution precisions decrease quickly when computed over shorter periods of time. Here we present an inverse problem approach to remove GPS multipath errors on glaciers, and use the reconstructed glacier motion to explore how the subglacial drainage morphology and effective pressure influence glacier dynamics at multiple time scales.

Retrieval of ice cloud properties using an optimal estimation algorithm and MODIS infrared observations: 1. Forward model, error analysis, and information content

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Chenxi; Platnick, Steven; Zhang, Zhibo; Meyer, Kerry; Yang, Ping

2016-05-01

An optimal estimation (OE) retrieval method is developed to infer three ice cloud properties simultaneously: optical thickness (τ), effective radius (reff), and cloud top height (h). This method is based on a fast radiative transfer (RT) model and infrared (IR) observations from the MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). This study conducts thorough error and information content analyses to understand the error propagation and performance of retrievals from various MODIS band combinations under different cloud/atmosphere states. Specifically, the algorithm takes into account four error sources: measurement uncertainty, fast RT model uncertainty, uncertainties in ancillary data sets (e.g., atmospheric state), and assumed ice crystal habit uncertainties. It is found that the ancillary and ice crystal habit error sources dominate the MODIS IR retrieval uncertainty and cannot be ignored. The information content analysis shows that for a given ice cloud, the use of four MODIS IR observations is sufficient to retrieve the three cloud properties. However, the selection of MODIS IR bands that provide the most information and their order of importance varies with both the ice cloud properties and the ambient atmospheric and the surface states. As a result, this study suggests the inclusion of all MODIS IR bands in practice since little a priori information is available.

Retrieval of ice cloud properties using an optimal estimation algorithm and MODIS infrared observations. Part I: Forward model, error analysis, and information content.

PubMed

Wang, Chenxi; Platnick, Steven; Zhang, Zhibo; Meyer, Kerry; Yang, Ping

2016-05-27

An optimal estimation (OE) retrieval method is developed to infer three ice cloud properties simultaneously: optical thickness ( τ ), effective radius ( r eff ), and cloud-top height ( h ). This method is based on a fast radiative transfer (RT) model and infrared (IR) observations from the MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). This study conducts thorough error and information content analyses to understand the error propagation and performance of retrievals from various MODIS band combinations under different cloud/atmosphere states. Specifically, the algorithm takes into account four error sources: measurement uncertainty, fast RT model uncertainty, uncertainties in ancillary datasets (e.g., atmospheric state), and assumed ice crystal habit uncertainties. It is found that the ancillary and ice crystal habit error sources dominate the MODIS IR retrieval uncertainty and cannot be ignored. The information content analysis shows that, for a given ice cloud, the use of four MODIS IR observations is sufficient to retrieve the three cloud properties. However, the selection of MODIS IR bands that provide the most information and their order of importance varies with both the ice cloud properties and the ambient atmospheric and the surface states. As a result, this study suggests the inclusion of all MODIS IR bands in practice since little a priori information is available.

Seeing in the Dark: Weak Lensing from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huff, Eric Michael

Statistical weak lensing by large-scale structure { cosmic shear { is a promising cosmological tool, which has motivated the design of several large upcoming astronomical surveys. This Thesis presents a measurement of cosmic shear using coadded Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) imaging in 168 square degrees of the equatorial region, with r < 23:5 and i < 22:5, a source number density of 2.2 per arcmin2 and median redshift of zmed = 0.52. These coadds were generated using a new rounding kernel method that was intended to minimize systematic errors in the lensing measurement due to coherent PSF anisotropies that are otherwise prevalent in the SDSS imaging data. Measurements of cosmic shear out to angular separations of 2 degrees are presented, along with systematics tests of the catalog generation and shear measurement steps that demonstrate that these results are dominated by statistical rather than systematic errors. Assuming a cosmological model corresponding to WMAP7 (Komatsu et al., 2011) and allowing only the amplitude of matter fluctuations sigma8 to vary, the best-t value of the amplitude of matter fluctuations is sigma 8=0.636+0.109-0.154 (1sigma); without systematic errors this would be sigma8=0.636+0.099 -0.137 (1sigma). Assuming a flat Λ CDM model, the combined constraints with WMAP7 are sigma8=0.784+0.028 -0.026 (1sigma). The 2sigma error range is 14 percent smaller than WMAP7 alone. Aside from the intrinsic value of such cosmological constraints from the growth of structure, some important lessons are identified for upcoming surveys that may face similar issues when combining multi-epoch data to measure cosmic shear. Motivated by the challenges faced in the cosmic shear measurement, two new lensing probes are suggested for increasing the available weak lensing signal. Both use galaxy scaling relations to control for scatter in lensing observables. The first employs a version of the well-known fundamental plane relation for early type galaxies. This modified "photometric fundamental plane" replaces velocity dispersions with photometric galaxy properties, thus obviating the need for spectroscopic data. We present the first detection of magnification using this method by applying it to photometric catalogs from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. This analysis shows that the derived magnification signal is comparable to that available from conventional methods using gravitational shear. We suppress the dominant sources of systematic error and discuss modest improvements that may allow this method to equal or even surpass the signal-to-noise achievable with shear. Moreover, some of the dominant sources of systematic error are substantially different from those of shear-based techniques. The second outlines an idea for using the optical Tully-Fisher relation to dramatically improve the signal-to-noise and systematic error control for shear measurements. The expected error properties and potential advantages of such a measurement are proposed, and a pilot study is suggested in order to test the viability of Tully-Fisher weak lensing in the context of the forthcoming generation of large spectroscopic surveys.

Finite Element A Posteriori Error Estimation for Heat Conduction. Degree awarded by George Washington Univ.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lang, Christapher G.; Bey, Kim S. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

This research investigates residual-based a posteriori error estimates for finite element approximations of heat conduction in single-layer and multi-layered materials. The finite element approximation, based upon hierarchical modelling combined with p-version finite elements, is described with specific application to a two-dimensional, steady state, heat-conduction problem. Element error indicators are determined by solving an element equation for the error with the element residual as a source, and a global error estimate in the energy norm is computed by collecting the element contributions. Numerical results of the performance of the error estimate are presented by comparisons to the actual error. Two methods are discussed and compared for approximating the element boundary flux. The equilibrated flux method provides more accurate results for estimating the error than the average flux method. The error estimation is applied to multi-layered materials with a modification to the equilibrated flux method to approximate the discontinuous flux along a boundary at the material interfaces. A directional error indicator is developed which distinguishes between the hierarchical modeling error and the finite element error. Numerical results are presented for single-layered materials which show that the directional indicators accurately determine which contribution to the total error dominates.

Quantitative sediment source attribution with compound-specific isotope analysis in a C3 plant-dominated catchment (central Switzerland)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alewell, Christine; Birkholz, Axel; Meusburger, Katrin; Schindler Wildhaber, Yael; Mabit, Lionel

2016-03-01

As sediment loads impact freshwater systems and infrastructure, their origin in complex landscape systems is of crucial importance for sustainable management of agricultural catchments. We differentiated the sediment source contribution to a lowland river in central Switzerland by using compound-specific isotope analysis (CSIA). We found a clear distinction of sediment sources originating from forest and agricultural land use. Our results demonstrate that it is possible to reduce the uncertainty of sediment source attribution in: (i) using compound content (in our case, long-chain fatty acids; FAs) rather than soil organic matter content to transfer δ13C signal of FAs to soil contribution and (ii) restricting the investigation to the long-chain FAs (> C22 : 0) not to introduce errors due to aquatic contributions from algae and microorganisms. Results showed unambiguously that during base flow, agricultural land contributed up to 65 % of the suspended sediments, while forest was the dominant sediment source during high flow. This indicates that connectivity of sediment source areas within the river changes between base and high flow conditions. Uncertainty, which might occur in complex, large-scale studies due to undetected source attribution and/or CSSI signature degradation, is low because of limited data complexity in our study (i.e., two-three sources and two tracers). Our findings are the first published results highlighting (i) significant differences in compound-specific stable isotope (CSSI) signature of sediment sources from land uses dominated by C3 plant cultivation and (ii) the use of these differences to quantify sediment contribution to a small river.

Dark Energy Survey Year 1 results: cross-correlation redshifts - methods and systematics characterization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gatti, M.; Vielzeuf, P.; Davis, C.; Cawthon, R.; Rau, M. M.; DeRose, J.; De Vicente, J.; Alarcon, A.; Rozo, E.; Gaztanaga, E.; Hoyle, B.; Miquel, R.; Bernstein, G. M.; Bonnett, C.; Carnero Rosell, A.; Castander, F. J.; Chang, C.; da Costa, L. N.; Gruen, D.; Gschwend, J.; Hartley, W. G.; Lin, H.; MacCrann, N.; Maia, M. A. G.; Ogando, R. L. C.; Roodman, A.; Sevilla-Noarbe, I.; Troxel, M. A.; Wechsler, R. H.; Asorey, J.; Davis, T. M.; Glazebrook, K.; Hinton, S. R.; Lewis, G.; Lidman, C.; Macaulay, E.; Möller, A.; O'Neill, C. R.; Sommer, N. E.; Uddin, S. A.; Yuan, F.; Zhang, B.; Abbott, T. M. C.; Allam, S.; Annis, J.; Bechtol, K.; Brooks, D.; Burke, D. L.; Carollo, D.; Carrasco Kind, M.; Carretero, J.; Cunha, C. E.; D'Andrea, C. B.; DePoy, D. L.; Desai, S.; Eifler, T. F.; Evrard, A. E.; Flaugher, B.; Fosalba, P.; Frieman, J.; García-Bellido, J.; Gerdes, D. W.; Goldstein, D. A.; Gruendl, R. A.; Gutierrez, G.; Honscheid, K.; Hoormann, J. K.; Jain, B.; James, D. J.; Jarvis, M.; Jeltema, T.; Johnson, M. W. G.; Johnson, M. D.; Krause, E.; Kuehn, K.; Kuhlmann, S.; Kuropatkin, N.; Li, T. S.; Lima, M.; Marshall, J. L.; Melchior, P.; Menanteau, F.; Nichol, R. C.; Nord, B.; Plazas, A. A.; Reil, K.; Rykoff, E. S.; Sako, M.; Sanchez, E.; Scarpine, V.; Schubnell, M.; Sheldon, E.; Smith, M.; Smith, R. C.; Soares-Santos, M.; Sobreira, F.; Suchyta, E.; Swanson, M. E. C.; Tarle, G.; Thomas, D.; Tucker, B. E.; Tucker, D. L.; Vikram, V.; Walker, A. R.; Weller, J.; Wester, W.; Wolf, R. C.

2018-06-01

We use numerical simulations to characterize the performance of a clustering-based method to calibrate photometric redshift biases. In particular, we cross-correlate the weak lensing source galaxies from the Dark Energy Survey Year 1 sample with redMaGiC galaxies (luminous red galaxies with secure photometric redshifts) to estimate the redshift distribution of the former sample. The recovered redshift distributions are used to calibrate the photometric redshift bias of standard photo-z methods applied to the same source galaxy sample. We apply the method to two photo-z codes run in our simulated data: Bayesian Photometric Redshift and Directional Neighbourhood Fitting. We characterize the systematic uncertainties of our calibration procedure, and find that these systematic uncertainties dominate our error budget. The dominant systematics are due to our assumption of unevolving bias and clustering across each redshift bin, and to differences between the shapes of the redshift distributions derived by clustering versus photo-zs. The systematic uncertainty in the mean redshift bias of the source galaxy sample is Δz ≲ 0.02, though the precise value depends on the redshift bin under consideration. We discuss possible ways to mitigate the impact of our dominant systematics in future analyses.

Sunrise/sunset thermal shock disturbance analysis and simulation for the TOPEX satellite

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dennehy, C. J.; Welch, R. V.; Zimbelman, D. F.

1990-01-01

It is shown here that during normal on-orbit operations the TOPEX low-earth orbiting satellite is subjected to an impulsive disturbance torque caused by rapid heating of its solar array when entering and exiting the earth's shadow. Error budgets and simulation results are used to demonstrate that this sunrise/sunset torque disturbance is the dominant Normal Mission Mode (NMM) attitude error source. The detailed thermomechanical modeling, analysis, and simulation of this torque is described, and the predicted on-orbit performance of the NMM attitude control system in the face of the sunrise/sunset disturbance is presented. The disturbance results in temporary attitude perturbations that exceed NMM pointing requirements. However, they are below the maximum allowable pointing error which would cause the radar altimeter to break lock.

Characterizing the SWOT discharge error budget on the Sacramento River, CA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yoon, Y.; Durand, M. T.; Minear, J. T.; Smith, L.; Merry, C. J.

2013-12-01

The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) is an upcoming satellite mission (2020 year) that will provide surface-water elevation and surface-water extent globally. One goal of SWOT is the estimation of river discharge directly from SWOT measurements. SWOT discharge uncertainty is due to two sources. First, SWOT cannot measure channel bathymetry and determine roughness coefficient data necessary for discharge calculations directly; these parameters must be estimated from the measurements or from a priori information. Second, SWOT measurement errors directly impact the discharge estimate accuracy. This study focuses on characterizing parameter and measurement uncertainties for SWOT river discharge estimation. A Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo scheme is used to calculate parameter estimates, given the measurements of river height, slope and width, and mass and momentum constraints. The algorithm is evaluated using simulated both SWOT and AirSWOT (the airborne version of SWOT) observations over seven reaches (about 40 km) of the Sacramento River. The SWOT and AirSWOT observations are simulated by corrupting the ';true' HEC-RAS hydraulic modeling results with the instrument error. This experiment answers how unknown bathymetry and roughness coefficients affect the accuracy of the river discharge algorithm. From the experiment, the discharge error budget is almost completely dominated by unknown bathymetry and roughness; 81% of the variance error is explained by uncertainties in bathymetry and roughness. Second, we show how the errors in water surface, slope, and width observations influence the accuracy of discharge estimates. Indeed, there is a significant sensitivity to water surface, slope, and width errors due to the sensitivity of bathymetry and roughness to measurement errors. Increasing water-surface error above 10 cm leads to a corresponding sharper increase of errors in bathymetry and roughness. Increasing slope error above 1.5 cm/km leads to a significant degradation due to direct error in the discharge estimates. As the width error increases past 20%, the discharge error budget is dominated by the width error. Above two experiments are performed based on AirSWOT scenarios. In addition, we explore the sensitivity of the algorithm to the SWOT scenarios.

Language function distribution in left-handers: A navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation study.

PubMed

Tussis, Lorena; Sollmann, Nico; Boeckh-Behrens, Tobias; Meyer, Bernhard; Krieg, Sandro M

2016-02-01

Recent studies suggest that in left-handers, the right hemisphere (RH) is more involved in language function when compared to right-handed subjects. Since data on lesion-based approaches is lacking, we aimed to investigate language distribution of left-handers by repetitive navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). Thus, rTMS was applied to the left hemisphere (LH) and RH in 15 healthy left-handers during an object-naming task, and resulting naming errors were categorized. Then, we calculated error rates (ERs=number of errors per number of stimulations) for both hemispheres separately and defined a laterality score as the quotient of the LH ER - RH ER through the LH ER + RH ER (abbreviated as (L-R)/(L+R)). In this context, (L-R)/(L+R)>0 indicates that the LH is dominant, whereas (L-R)/(L+R)<0 shows that the RH is dominant. No significant difference in ERs was found between hemispheres (all errors: mean LH 18.0±11.7%, mean RH 18.1±12.2%, p=0.94; all errors without hesitation: mean LH 12.4±9.8%, mean RH 12.9±10.0%, p=0.65; no responses: mean LH 9.3±9.2%, mean RH 11.5±10.3%, p=0.84). However, a significant difference between the results of (L-R)/(L+R) of left-handers and right-handers (source data of another study) for all errors (mean 0.01±0.14 vs. 0.19±0.20, p=0.0019) and all errors without hesitation (mean -0.02±0.20 vs. 0.19±0.28, p=0.0051) was revealed, whereas the comparison for no responses did not show a significant difference (mean: -0.004±0.27 vs. 0.09±0.44, p=0.64). Accordingly, left-handers present a comparatively equal language distribution across both hemispheres with language dominance being nearly equally distributed between hemispheres in contrast to right-handers. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Atmospheric Calibration for Cassini Radio Science

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Resch, G. M.; Bar-Sever, Y.; Keihm, S.; Kroger, P.; Linfield, R.; Mahoney, M. J.; Tanner, A.; Teitelbaum, L.

1996-01-01

The signals from the Cassini spacecraft that will be affected by delay fluctuations in the Earth's atmosphere. These fluctuations are dominated by water vapor in the troposphere, and in the case of Gravitaional Wave Experiment (GWE), they are likely to be a limiting error source. A passive remote sensing system, centered around a water vapor radiometer (WVR), has been developed to provide calibrations of water vapor fluctuations during radio science experiments.

Estimating forest and woodland aboveground biomass using active and passive remote sensing

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wu, Zhuoting; Dye, Dennis G.; Vogel, John M.; Middleton, Barry R.

2016-01-01

Aboveground biomass was estimated from active and passive remote sensing sources, including airborne lidar and Landsat-8 satellites, in an eastern Arizona (USA) study area comprised of forest and woodland ecosystems. Compared to field measurements, airborne lidar enabled direct estimation of individual tree height with a slope of 0.98 (R2 = 0.98). At the plot-level, lidar-derived height and intensity metrics provided the most robust estimate for aboveground biomass, producing dominant species-based aboveground models with errors ranging from 4 to 14Mg ha –1 across all woodland and forest species. Landsat-8 imagery produced dominant species-based aboveground biomass models with errors ranging from 10 to 28 Mg ha –1. Thus, airborne lidar allowed for estimates for fine-scale aboveground biomass mapping with low uncertainty, while Landsat-8 seems best suited for broader spatial scale products such as a national biomass essential climate variable (ECV) based on land cover types for the United States.

Non-thermal recombination - a neglected source of flare hard X-rays and fast electron diagnostics (Corrigendum)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brown, J. C.; Mallik, P. C. V.; Badnell, N. R.

2010-06-01

Brown and Mallik (BM) recently claimed that non-thermal recombination (NTR) can be a dominant source of flare hard X-rays (HXRs) from hot coronal and chromospheric sources. However, major discrepancies between the thermal continua predicted by BM and by the Chianti database as well as RHESSI flare data, led us to discover substantial errors in the heuristic expression used by BM to extend the Kramers expressions beyond the hydrogenic case. Here we present the relevant corrected expressions and show the key modified results. We conclude that, in most cases, NTR emission was overestimated by a factor of 1-8 by BM but is typically still large enough (as much as 20-30% of the total emission) to be very important for electron spectral inference and detection of electron spectral features such as low energy cut-offs since the recombination spectra contain sharp edges. For extreme temperature regimes and/or if the Fe abundance were as high as some values claimed, NTR could even be the dominant source of flare HXRs, reducing the electron number and energy budget, problems such as in the extreme coronal HXR source cases reported by e.g. Krucker et al.

The effect of the dynamic wet troposphere on VLBI measurements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Treuhaft, R. N.; Lanyi, G. E.

1986-01-01

Calculations using a statistical model of water vapor fluctuations yield the effect of the dynamic wet troposphere on Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) measurements. The statistical model arises from two primary assumptions: (1) the spatial structure of refractivity fluctuations can be closely approximated by elementary (Kolmogorov) turbulence theory, and (2) temporal fluctuations are caused by spatial patterns which are moved over a site by the wind. The consequences of these assumptions are outlined for the VLBI delay and delay rate observables. For example, wet troposphere induced rms delays for Deep Space Network (DSN) VLBI at 20-deg elevation are about 3 cm of delay per observation, which is smaller, on the average, than other known error sources in the current DSN VLBI data set. At 20-deg elevation for 200-s time intervals, water vapor induces approximately 1.5 x 10 to the minus 13th power s/s in the Allan standard deviation of interferometric delay, which is a measure of the delay rate observable error. In contrast to the delay error, the delay rate measurement error is dominated by water vapor fluctuations. Water vapor induced VLBI parameter errors and correlations are calculated. For the DSN, baseline length parameter errors due to water vapor fluctuations are in the range of 3 to 5 cm. The above physical assumptions also lead to a method for including the water vapor fluctuations in the parameter estimation procedure, which is used to extract baseline and source information from the VLBI observables.

Retrieval of ice cloud properties using an optimal estimation algorithm and MODIS infrared observations. Part I: Forward model, error analysis, and information content

PubMed Central

Wang, Chenxi; Platnick, Steven; Zhang, Zhibo; Meyer, Kerry; Yang, Ping

2018-01-01

An optimal estimation (OE) retrieval method is developed to infer three ice cloud properties simultaneously: optical thickness (τ), effective radius (reff), and cloud-top height (h). This method is based on a fast radiative transfer (RT) model and infrared (IR) observations from the MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). This study conducts thorough error and information content analyses to understand the error propagation and performance of retrievals from various MODIS band combinations under different cloud/atmosphere states. Specifically, the algorithm takes into account four error sources: measurement uncertainty, fast RT model uncertainty, uncertainties in ancillary datasets (e.g., atmospheric state), and assumed ice crystal habit uncertainties. It is found that the ancillary and ice crystal habit error sources dominate the MODIS IR retrieval uncertainty and cannot be ignored. The information content analysis shows that, for a given ice cloud, the use of four MODIS IR observations is sufficient to retrieve the three cloud properties. However, the selection of MODIS IR bands that provide the most information and their order of importance varies with both the ice cloud properties and the ambient atmospheric and the surface states. As a result, this study suggests the inclusion of all MODIS IR bands in practice since little a priori information is available. PMID:29707470

Retrieval of Ice Cloud Properties Using an Optimal Estimation Algorithm and MODIS Infrared Observations. Part I: Forward Model, Error Analysis, and Information Content

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wang, Chenxi; Platnick, Steven; Zhang, Zhibo; Meyer, Kerry; Yang, Ping

2016-01-01

An optimal estimation (OE) retrieval method is developed to infer three ice cloud properties simultaneously: optical thickness (tau), effective radius (r(sub eff)), and cloud-top height (h). This method is based on a fast radiative transfer (RT) model and infrared (IR) observations from the MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). This study conducts thorough error and information content analyses to understand the error propagation and performance of retrievals from various MODIS band combinations under different cloud/atmosphere states. Specifically, the algorithm takes into account four error sources: measurement uncertainty, fast RT model uncertainty, uncertainties in ancillary datasets (e.g., atmospheric state), and assumed ice crystal habit uncertainties. It is found that the ancillary and ice crystal habit error sources dominate the MODIS IR retrieval uncertainty and cannot be ignored. The information content analysis shows that, for a given ice cloud, the use of four MODIS IR observations is sufficient to retrieve the three cloud properties. However, the selection of MODIS IR bands that provide the most information and their order of importance varies with both the ice cloud properties and the ambient atmospheric and the surface states. As a result, this study suggests the inclusion of all MODIS IR bands in practice since little a priori information is available.

Retrieval of Ice Cloud Properties Using an Optimal Estimation Algorithm and MODIS Infrared Observations. Part I: Forward Model, Error Analysis, and Information Content

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wang, Chenxi; Platnick, Steven; Zhang, Zhibo; Meyer, Kerry; Yang, Ping

2016-01-01

An optimal estimation (OE) retrieval method is developed to infer three ice cloud properties simultaneously: optical thickness (tau), effective radius (r(sub eff)), and cloud top height (h). This method is based on a fast radiative transfer (RT) model and infrared (IR) observations from the MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). This study conducts thorough error and information content analyses to understand the error propagation and performance of retrievals from various MODIS band combinations under different cloud/atmosphere states. Specifically, the algorithm takes into account four error sources: measurement uncertainty, fast RT model uncertainty, uncertainties in ancillary data sets (e.g., atmospheric state), and assumed ice crystal habit uncertainties. It is found that the ancillary and ice crystal habit error sources dominate the MODIS IR retrieval uncertainty and cannot be ignored. The information content analysis shows that for a given ice cloud, the use of four MODIS IR observations is sufficient to retrieve the three cloud properties. However, the selection of MODIS IR bands that provide the most information and their order of importance varies with both the ice cloud properties and the ambient atmospheric and the surface states. As a result, this study suggests the inclusion of all MODIS IR bands in practice since little a priori information is available.

Aging of biogenic secondary organic aerosol via gas-phase OH radical reactions

PubMed Central

Donahue, Neil M.; Henry, Kaytlin M.; Mentel, Thomas F.; Kiendler-Scharr, Astrid; Spindler, Christian; Bohn, Birger; Brauers, Theo; Dorn, Hans P.; Fuchs, Hendrik; Tillmann, Ralf; Wahner, Andreas; Saathoff, Harald; Naumann, Karl-Heinz; Möhler, Ottmar; Leisner, Thomas; Müller, Lars; Reinnig, Marc-Christopher; Hoffmann, Thorsten; Salo, Kent; Hallquist, Mattias; Frosch, Mia; Bilde, Merete; Tritscher, Torsten; Barmet, Peter; Praplan, Arnaud P.; DeCarlo, Peter F.; Dommen, Josef; Prévôt, Andre S.H.; Baltensperger, Urs

2012-01-01

The Multiple Chamber Aerosol Chemical Aging Study (MUCHACHAS) tested the hypothesis that hydroxyl radical (OH) aging significantly increases the concentration of first-generation biogenic secondary organic aerosol (SOA). OH is the dominant atmospheric oxidant, and MUCHACHAS employed environmental chambers of very different designs, using multiple OH sources to explore a range of chemical conditions and potential sources of systematic error. We isolated the effect of OH aging, confirming our hypothesis while observing corresponding changes in SOA properties. The mass increases are consistent with an existing gap between global SOA sources and those predicted in models, and can be described by a mechanism suitable for implementation in those models. PMID:22869714

A radiation tolerant Data link board for the ATLAS Tile Cal upgrade

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Åkerstedt, H.; Bohm, C.; Muschter, S.; Silverstein, S.; Valdes, E.

2016-01-01

This paper describes the latest, full-functionality revision of the high-speed data link board developed for the Phase-2 upgrade of ATLAS hadronic Tile Calorimeter. The link board design is highly redundant, with digital functionality implemented in two Xilinx Kintex-7 FPGAs, and two Molex QSFP+ electro-optic modules with uplinks run at 10 Gbps. The FPGAs are remotely configured through two radiation-hard CERN GBTx deserialisers (GBTx), which also provide the LHC-synchronous system clock. The redundant design eliminates virtually all single-point error modes, and a combination of triple-mode redundancy (TMR), internal and external scrubbing will provide adequate protection against radiation-induced errors. The small portion of the FPGA design that cannot be protected by TMR will be the dominant source of radiation-induced errors, even if that area is small.

Nonlinear Errors Resulting from Ghost Reflection and Its Coupling with Optical Mixing in Heterodyne Laser Interferometers

PubMed Central

Fu, Haijin; Wang, Yue; Tan, Jiubin; Fan, Zhigang

2018-01-01

Even after the Heydemann correction, residual nonlinear errors, ranging from hundreds of picometers to several nanometers, are still found in heterodyne laser interferometers. This is a crucial factor impeding the realization of picometer level metrology, but its source and mechanism have barely been investigated. To study this problem, a novel nonlinear model based on optical mixing and coupling with ghost reflection is proposed and then verified by experiments. After intense investigation of this new model’s influence, results indicate that new additional high-order and negative-order nonlinear harmonics, arising from ghost reflection and its coupling with optical mixing, have only a negligible contribution to the overall nonlinear error. In real applications, any effect on the Lissajous trajectory might be invisible due to the small ghost reflectance. However, even a tiny ghost reflection can significantly worsen the effectiveness of the Heydemann correction, or even make this correction completely ineffective, i.e., compensation makes the error larger rather than smaller. Moreover, the residual nonlinear error after correction is dominated only by ghost reflectance. PMID:29498685

Validation of automatic joint space width measurements in hand radiographs in rheumatoid arthritis.

PubMed

Schenk, Olga; Huo, Yinghe; Vincken, Koen L; van de Laar, Mart A; Kuper, Ina H H; Slump, Kees C H; Lafeber, Floris P J G; Bernelot Moens, Hein J

2016-10-01

Computerized methods promise quick, objective, and sensitive tools to quantify progression of radiological damage in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Measurement of joint space width (JSW) in finger and wrist joints with these systems performed comparable to the Sharp-van der Heijde score (SHS). A next step toward clinical use, validation of precision and accuracy in hand joints with minimal damage, is described with a close scrutiny of sources of error. A recently developed system to measure metacarpophalangeal (MCP) and proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joints was validated in consecutive hand images of RA patients. To assess the impact of image acquisition, measurements on radiographs from a multicenter trial and from a recent prospective cohort in a single hospital were compared. Precision of the system was tested by comparing the joint space in mm in pairs of subsequent images with a short interval without progression of SHS. In case of incorrect measurements, the source of error was analyzed with a review by human experts. Accuracy was assessed by comparison with reported measurements with other systems. In the two series of radiographs, the system could automatically locate and measure 1003/1088 (92.2%) and 1143/1200 (95.3%) individual joints, respectively. In joints with a normal SHS, the average (SD) size of MCP joints was [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] in the two series of radiographs, and of PIP joints [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]. The difference in JSW between two serial radiographs with an interval of 6 to 12 months and unchanged SHS was [Formula: see text], indicating very good precision. Errors occurred more often in radiographs from the multicenter cohort than in a more recent series from a single hospital. Detailed analysis of the 55/1125 (4.9%) measurements that had a discrepant paired measurement revealed that variation in the process of image acquisition (exposure in 15% and repositioning in 57%) was a more frequent source of error than incorrect delineation by the software (25%). Various steps in the validation of an automated measurement system for JSW of MCP and PIP joints are described. The use of serial radiographs from different sources, with a short interval and limited damage, is helpful to detect sources of error. Image acquisition, in particular repositioning, is a dominant source of error.

ERM model analysis for adaptation to hydrological model errors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baymani-Nezhad, M.; Han, D.

2018-05-01

Hydrological conditions are changed continuously and these phenomenons generate errors on flood forecasting models and will lead to get unrealistic results. Therefore, to overcome these difficulties, a concept called model updating is proposed in hydrological studies. Real-time model updating is one of the challenging processes in hydrological sciences and has not been entirely solved due to lack of knowledge about the future state of the catchment under study. Basically, in terms of flood forecasting process, errors propagated from the rainfall-runoff model are enumerated as the main source of uncertainty in the forecasting model. Hence, to dominate the exciting errors, several methods have been proposed by researchers to update the rainfall-runoff models such as parameter updating, model state updating, and correction on input data. The current study focuses on investigations about the ability of rainfall-runoff model parameters to cope with three types of existing errors, timing, shape and volume as the common errors in hydrological modelling. The new lumped model, the ERM model, has been selected for this study to evaluate its parameters for its use in model updating to cope with the stated errors. Investigation about ten events proves that the ERM model parameters can be updated to cope with the errors without the need to recalibrate the model.

An implementation of an aeroacoustic prediction model for broadband noise from a vertical axis wind turbine using a CFD informed methodology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Botha, J. D. M.; Shahroki, A.; Rice, H.

2017-12-01

This paper presents an enhanced method for predicting aerodynamically generated broadband noise produced by a Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT). The method improves on existing work for VAWT noise prediction and incorporates recently developed airfoil noise prediction models. Inflow-turbulence and airfoil self-noise mechanisms are both considered. Airfoil noise predictions are dependent on aerodynamic input data and time dependent Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) calculations are carried out to solve for the aerodynamic solution. Analytical flow methods are also benchmarked against the CFD informed noise prediction results to quantify errors in the former approach. Comparisons to experimental noise measurements for an existing turbine are encouraging. A parameter study is performed and shows the sensitivity of overall noise levels to changes in inflow velocity and inflow turbulence. Noise sources are characterised and the location and mechanism of the primary sources is determined, inflow-turbulence noise is seen to be the dominant source. The use of CFD calculations is seen to improve the accuracy of noise predictions when compared to the analytic flow solution as well as showing that, for inflow-turbulence noise sources, blade generated turbulence dominates the atmospheric inflow turbulence.

Solving ill-posed control problems by stabilized finite element methods: an alternative to Tikhonov regularization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burman, Erik; Hansbo, Peter; Larson, Mats G.

2018-03-01

Tikhonov regularization is one of the most commonly used methods for the regularization of ill-posed problems. In the setting of finite element solutions of elliptic partial differential control problems, Tikhonov regularization amounts to adding suitably weighted least squares terms of the control variable, or derivatives thereof, to the Lagrangian determining the optimality system. In this note we show that the stabilization methods for discretely ill-posed problems developed in the setting of convection-dominated convection-diffusion problems, can be highly suitable for stabilizing optimal control problems, and that Tikhonov regularization will lead to less accurate discrete solutions. We consider some inverse problems for Poisson’s equation as an illustration and derive new error estimates both for the reconstruction of the solution from the measured data and reconstruction of the source term from the measured data. These estimates include both the effect of the discretization error and error in the measurements.

Age-related variation in genetic control of height growth in Douglas-fir.

PubMed

Namkoong, G; Usanis, R A; Silen, R R

1972-01-01

The development of genetic variances in height growth of Douglas-fir over a 53-year period is analyzed and found to fall into three periods. In the juvenile period, variances in environmental error increase logarithmically, genetic variance within populations exists at moderate levels, and variance among populations is low but increasing. In the early reproductive period, the response to environmental sources of error variance is restricted, genetic variance within populations disappears, and populational differences strongly emerge but do not increase as expected. In the later period, environmental error again increases rapidly, but genetic variance within populations does not reappear and population differences are maintained at about the same level as established in the early reproductive period. The change between the juvenile and early reproductive periods is perhaps associated with the onset of ecological dominance and significant allocations of energy to reproduction.

Combining EEG and MEG for the Reconstruction of Epileptic Activity Using a Calibrated Realistic Volume Conductor Model

PubMed Central

Aydin, Ümit; Vorwerk, Johannes; Küpper, Philipp; Heers, Marcel; Kugel, Harald; Galka, Andreas; Hamid, Laith; Wellmer, Jörg; Kellinghaus, Christoph; Rampp, Stefan; Wolters, Carsten Hermann

2014-01-01

To increase the reliability for the non-invasive determination of the irritative zone in presurgical epilepsy diagnosis, we introduce here a new experimental and methodological source analysis pipeline that combines the complementary information in EEG and MEG, and apply it to data from a patient, suffering from refractory focal epilepsy. Skull conductivity parameters in a six compartment finite element head model with brain anisotropy, constructed from individual MRI data, are estimated in a calibration procedure using somatosensory evoked potential (SEP) and field (SEF) data. These data are measured in a single run before acquisition of further runs of spontaneous epileptic activity. Our results show that even for single interictal spikes, volume conduction effects dominate over noise and need to be taken into account for accurate source analysis. While cerebrospinal fluid and brain anisotropy influence both modalities, only EEG is sensitive to skull conductivity and conductivity calibration significantly reduces the difference in especially depth localization of both modalities, emphasizing its importance for combining EEG and MEG source analysis. On the other hand, localization differences which are due to the distinct sensitivity profiles of EEG and MEG persist. In case of a moderate error in skull conductivity, combined source analysis results can still profit from the different sensitivity profiles of EEG and MEG to accurately determine location, orientation and strength of the underlying sources. On the other side, significant errors in skull modeling are reflected in EEG reconstruction errors and could reduce the goodness of fit to combined datasets. For combined EEG and MEG source analysis, we therefore recommend calibrating skull conductivity using additionally acquired SEP/SEF data. PMID:24671208

Dark Signal Characterization of 1.7 micron cutoff devices for SNAP

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, R. M.; SNAP Collaboration

2004-12-01

We report initial progress characterizing non-photometric sources of error -- dark current, noise, and zero point drift -- for 1.7 micron cutoff HgCdTe and InGaAs detectors under development by Raytheon, Rockwell, and Sensors Unlimited for SNAP. Dark current specifications can already be met with several detector types. Changes to the manufacturing process are being explored to improve the noise reduction available through multiple sampling. In some cases, a significant number of pixels suffer from popcorn noise, with a few percent of all pixels exhibiting a ten fold noise increase. A careful study of zero point drifts is also under way, since these errors can dominate dark current, and may contribute to the noise degradation seen in long exposures.

AN IMAGE-PLANE ALGORITHM FOR JWST'S NON-REDUNDANT APERTURE MASK DATA

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

Greenbaum, Alexandra Z.; Pueyo, Laurent; Sivaramakrishnan, Anand

2015-01-10

The high angular resolution technique of non-redundant masking (NRM) or aperture masking interferometry (AMI) has yielded images of faint protoplanetary companions of nearby stars from the ground. AMI on James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)'s Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS) has a lower thermal background than ground-based facilities and does not suffer from atmospheric instability. NIRISS AMI images are likely to have 90%-95% Strehl ratio between 2.77 and 4.8 μm. In this paper we quantify factors that limit the raw point source contrast of JWST NRM. We develop an analytic model of the NRM point spread function which includesmore » different optical path delays (pistons) between mask holes and fit the model parameters with image plane data. It enables a straightforward way to exclude bad pixels, is suited to limited fields of view, and can incorporate effects such as intra-pixel sensitivity variations. We simulate various sources of noise to estimate their effect on the standard deviation of closure phase, σ{sub CP} (a proxy for binary point source contrast). If σ{sub CP} < 10{sup –4} radians—a contrast ratio of 10 mag—young accreting gas giant planets (e.g., in the nearby Taurus star-forming region) could be imaged with JWST NIRISS. We show the feasibility of using NIRISS' NRM with the sub-Nyquist sampled F277W, which would enable some exoplanet chemistry characterization. In the presence of small piston errors, the dominant sources of closure phase error (depending on pixel sampling, and filter bandwidth) are flat field errors and unmodeled variations in intra-pixel sensitivity. The in-flight stability of NIRISS will determine how well these errors can be calibrated by observing a point source. Our results help develop efficient observing strategies for space-based NRM.« less

Investigation into the limitations of straightness interferometers using a multisensor-based error separation method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weichert, Christoph; Köchert, Paul; Schötka, Eugen; Flügge, Jens; Manske, Eberhard

2018-06-01

The uncertainty of a straightness interferometer is independent of the component used to introduce the divergence angle between the two probing beams, and is limited by three main error sources, which are linked to each other: their resolution, the influence of refractive index gradients and the topography of the straightness reflector. To identify the configuration with minimal uncertainties under laboratory conditions, a fully fibre-coupled heterodyne interferometer was successively equipped with three different wedge prisms, resulting in three different divergence angles (4°, 8° and 20°). To separate the error sources an independent reference with a smaller reproducibility is needed. Therefore, the straightness measurement capability of the Nanometer Comparator, based on a multisensor error separation method, was improved to provide measurements with a reproducibility of 0.2 nm. The comparison results revealed that the influence of the refractive index gradients of air did not increase with interspaces between the probing beams of more than 11.3 mm. Therefore, over a movement range of 220 mm, the lowest uncertainty was achieved with the largest divergence angle. The dominant uncertainty contribution arose from the mirror topography, which was additionally determined with a Fizeau interferometer. The measured topography agreed within  ±1.3 nm with the systematic deviations revealed in the straightness comparison, resulting in an uncertainty contribution of 2.6 nm for the straightness interferometer.

Drought Persistence in Models and Observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moon, Heewon; Gudmundsson, Lukas; Seneviratne, Sonia

2017-04-01

Many regions of the world have experienced drought events that persisted several years and caused substantial economic and ecological impacts in the 20th century. However, it remains unclear whether there are significant trends in the frequency or severity of these prolonged drought events. In particular, an important issue is linked to systematic biases in the representation of persistent drought events in climate models, which impedes analysis related to the detection and attribution of drought trends. This study assesses drought persistence errors in global climate model (GCM) simulations from the 5th phase of Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5), in the period of 1901-2010. The model simulations are compared with five gridded observational data products. The analysis focuses on two aspects: the identification of systematic biases in the models and the partitioning of the spread of drought-persistence-error into four possible sources of uncertainty: model uncertainty, observation uncertainty, internal climate variability and the estimation error of drought persistence. We use monthly and yearly dry-to-dry transition probabilities as estimates for drought persistence with drought conditions defined as negative precipitation anomalies. For both time scales we find that most model simulations consistently underestimated drought persistence except in a few regions such as India and Eastern South America. Partitioning the spread of the drought-persistence-error shows that at the monthly time scale model uncertainty and observation uncertainty are dominant, while the contribution from internal variability does play a minor role in most cases. At the yearly scale, the spread of the drought-persistence-error is dominated by the estimation error, indicating that the partitioning is not statistically significant, due to a limited number of considered time steps. These findings reveal systematic errors in the representation of drought persistence in current climate models and highlight the main contributors of uncertainty of drought-persistence-error. Future analyses will focus on investigating the temporal propagation of drought persistence to better understand the causes for the identified errors in the representation of drought persistence in state-of-the-art climate models.

Functional language shift to the right hemisphere in patients with language-eloquent brain tumors.

PubMed

Krieg, Sandro M; Sollmann, Nico; Hauck, Theresa; Ille, Sebastian; Foerschler, Annette; Meyer, Bernhard; Ringel, Florian

2013-01-01

Language function is mainly located within the left hemisphere of the brain, especially in right-handed subjects. However, functional MRI (fMRI) has demonstrated changes of language organization in patients with left-sided perisylvian lesions to the right hemisphere. Because intracerebral lesions can impair fMRI, this study was designed to investigate human language plasticity with a virtual lesion model using repetitive navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). Fifteen patients with lesions of left-sided language-eloquent brain areas and 50 healthy and purely right-handed participants underwent bilateral rTMS language mapping via an object-naming task. All patients were proven to have left-sided language function during awake surgery. The rTMS-induced language errors were categorized into 6 different error types. The error ratio (induced errors/number of stimulations) was determined for each brain region on both hemispheres. A hemispheric dominance ratio was then defined for each region as the quotient of the error ratio (left/right) of the corresponding area of both hemispheres (ratio >1 = left dominant; ratio <1 = right dominant). Patients with language-eloquent lesions showed a statistically significantly lower ratio than healthy participants concerning "all errors" and "all errors without hesitations", which indicates a higher participation of the right hemisphere in language function. Yet, there was no cortical region with pronounced difference in language dominance compared to the whole hemisphere. This is the first study that shows by means of an anatomically accurate virtual lesion model that a shift of language function to the non-dominant hemisphere can occur.

Dark Energy Survey Year 1 Results: Cross-Correlation Redshifts - Methods and Systematics Characterization

DOE PAGES

Gatti, M.

2018-02-22

We use numerical simulations to characterize the performance of a clustering-based method to calibrate photometric redshift biases. In particular, we cross-correlate the weak lensing (WL) source galaxies from the Dark Energy Survey Year 1 (DES Y1) sample with redMaGiC galaxies (luminous red galaxies with secure photometric red- shifts) to estimate the redshift distribution of the former sample. The recovered redshift distributions are used to calibrate the photometric redshift bias of standard photo-z methods applied to the same source galaxy sample. We also apply the method to three photo-z codes run in our simulated data: Bayesian Photometric Redshift (BPZ), Directional Neighborhoodmore » Fitting (DNF), and Random Forest-based photo-z (RF). We characterize the systematic uncertainties of our calibration procedure, and find that these systematic uncertainties dominate our error budget. The dominant systematics are due to our assumption of unevolving bias and clustering across each redshift bin, and to differences between the shapes of the redshift distributions derived by clustering vs photo-z's. The systematic uncertainty in the mean redshift bias of the source galaxy sample is z ≲ 0.02, though the precise value depends on the redshift bin under consideration. Here, we discuss possible ways to mitigate the impact of our dominant systematics in future analyses.« less

Dark Energy Survey Year 1 Results: Cross-Correlation Redshifts - Methods and Systematics Characterization

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

Gatti, M.

We use numerical simulations to characterize the performance of a clustering-based method to calibrate photometric redshift biases. In particular, we cross-correlate the weak lensing (WL) source galaxies from the Dark Energy Survey Year 1 (DES Y1) sample with redMaGiC galaxies (luminous red galaxies with secure photometric red- shifts) to estimate the redshift distribution of the former sample. The recovered redshift distributions are used to calibrate the photometric redshift bias of standard photo-z methods applied to the same source galaxy sample. We also apply the method to three photo-z codes run in our simulated data: Bayesian Photometric Redshift (BPZ), Directional Neighborhoodmore » Fitting (DNF), and Random Forest-based photo-z (RF). We characterize the systematic uncertainties of our calibration procedure, and find that these systematic uncertainties dominate our error budget. The dominant systematics are due to our assumption of unevolving bias and clustering across each redshift bin, and to differences between the shapes of the redshift distributions derived by clustering vs photo-z's. The systematic uncertainty in the mean redshift bias of the source galaxy sample is z ≲ 0.02, though the precise value depends on the redshift bin under consideration. Here, we discuss possible ways to mitigate the impact of our dominant systematics in future analyses.« less

Degradation of Auditory Localization Performance Due to Helmet Ear Coverage: The Effects of Normal Acoustic Reverberation

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-07-01

Therefore, it’s safe to assume that most large errors are due to front-back confusions. Front-back confusions occur in part because the binaural ...two ear) cues that dominate sound localization do not distinguish the front and rear hemispheres. The two binaural cues relied on are interaural...121 (5), 3094–3094. Shinn-Cunningham, B. G.; Kopčo, N.; Martin, T. J. Localizing Nearby Sound Sources in a Classroom: Binaural Room Impulse

Tests of general relativity in earth orbit using a superconducting gravity gradiometer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Paik, H. J.

1989-01-01

Interesting new tests of general relativity could be performed in earth orbit using a sensitive superconducting gravity gradiometer under development. Two such experiments are discussed here: a null test of the tracelessness of the Riemann tensor and detection of the Lense-Thirring term in the earth's gravity field. The gravity gradient signals in various spacecraft orientations are derived, and dominant error sources in each experimental setting are discussed. The instrument, spacecraft, and orbit requirements imposed by the experiments are derived.

Characterizing Satellite Rainfall Errors based on Land Use and Land Cover and Tracing Error Source in Hydrologic Model Simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gebregiorgis, A. S.; Peters-Lidard, C. D.; Tian, Y.; Hossain, F.

2011-12-01

Hydrologic modeling has benefited from operational production of high resolution satellite rainfall products. The global coverage, near-real time availability, spatial and temporal sampling resolutions have advanced the application of physically based semi-distributed and distributed hydrologic models for wide range of environmental decision making processes. Despite these successes, the existence of uncertainties due to indirect way of satellite rainfall estimates and hydrologic models themselves remain a challenge in making meaningful and more evocative predictions. This study comprises breaking down of total satellite rainfall error into three independent components (hit bias, missed precipitation and false alarm), characterizing them as function of land use and land cover (LULC), and tracing back the source of simulated soil moisture and runoff error in physically based distributed hydrologic model. Here, we asked "on what way the three independent total bias components, hit bias, missed, and false precipitation, affect the estimation of soil moisture and runoff in physically based hydrologic models?" To understand the clear picture of the outlined question above, we implemented a systematic approach by characterizing and decomposing the total satellite rainfall error as a function of land use and land cover in Mississippi basin. This will help us to understand the major source of soil moisture and runoff errors in hydrologic model simulation and trace back the information to algorithm development and sensor type which ultimately helps to improve algorithms better and will improve application and data assimilation in future for GPM. For forest and woodland and human land use system, the soil moisture was mainly dictated by the total bias for 3B42-RT, CMORPH, and PERSIANN products. On the other side, runoff error was largely dominated by hit bias than the total bias. This difference occurred due to the presence of missed precipitation which is a major contributor to the total bias both during the summer and winter seasons. Missed precipitation, most likely light rain and rain over snow cover, has significant effect on soil moisture and are less capable of producing runoff that results runoff dependency on the hit bias only.

Two Cultures in Modern Science and Technology: For Safety and Validity Does Medicine Have to Update?

PubMed

Becker, Robert E

2016-01-11

Two different scientific cultures go unreconciled in modern medicine. Each culture accepts that scientific knowledge and technologies are vulnerable to and easily invalidated by methods and conditions of acquisition, interpretation, and application. How these vulnerabilities are addressed separates the 2 cultures and potentially explains medicine's difficulties eradicating errors. A traditional culture, dominant in medicine, leaves error control in the hands of individual and group investigators and practitioners. A competing modern scientific culture accepts errors as inevitable, pernicious, and pervasive sources of adverse events throughout medical research and patient care too malignant for individuals or groups to control. Error risks to the validity of scientific knowledge and safety in patient care require systemwide programming able to support a culture in medicine grounded in tested, continually updated, widely promulgated, and uniformly implemented standards of practice for research and patient care. Experiences from successes in other sciences and industries strongly support the need for leadership from the Institute of Medicine's recommended Center for Patient Safely within the Federal Executive branch of government.

Study of SPM tolerances of electronically compensated DML based systems.

PubMed

Papagiannakis, I; Klonidis, D; Birbas, Alexios N; Kikidis, J; Tomkos, I

2009-05-25

This paper experimentally investigates the effectiveness of electronic dispersion compensation (EDC) for signals limited by self phase modulation (SPM) and various dispersion levels. The sources considered are low-cost conventional directly modulated lasers (DMLs), fabricated for operation at 2.5 Gb/s but modulated at 10 Gb/s. Performance improvement is achieved by means of electronic feed-forward and decision-feedback equalization (FFE/DFE) at the receiver end. Experimental studies consider both transient and adiabatic chirp dominated DMLs sources. The improvement is evaluated in terms of required optical signal-to-noise ratio (ROSNR) for bit-error-rate (BER) values of 10(-3) versus launch power over uncompensated links of standard single mode fiber (SSMF).

Validation of automatic joint space width measurements in hand radiographs in rheumatoid arthritis

PubMed Central

Schenk, Olga; Huo, Yinghe; Vincken, Koen L.; van de Laar, Mart A.; Kuper, Ina H. H.; Slump, Kees C. H.; Lafeber, Floris P. J. G.; Bernelot Moens, Hein J.

2016-01-01

Abstract. Computerized methods promise quick, objective, and sensitive tools to quantify progression of radiological damage in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Measurement of joint space width (JSW) in finger and wrist joints with these systems performed comparable to the Sharp–van der Heijde score (SHS). A next step toward clinical use, validation of precision and accuracy in hand joints with minimal damage, is described with a close scrutiny of sources of error. A recently developed system to measure metacarpophalangeal (MCP) and proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joints was validated in consecutive hand images of RA patients. To assess the impact of image acquisition, measurements on radiographs from a multicenter trial and from a recent prospective cohort in a single hospital were compared. Precision of the system was tested by comparing the joint space in mm in pairs of subsequent images with a short interval without progression of SHS. In case of incorrect measurements, the source of error was analyzed with a review by human experts. Accuracy was assessed by comparison with reported measurements with other systems. In the two series of radiographs, the system could automatically locate and measure 1003/1088 (92.2%) and 1143/1200 (95.3%) individual joints, respectively. In joints with a normal SHS, the average (SD) size of MCP joints was 1.7±0.2 and 1.6±0.3  mm in the two series of radiographs, and of PIP joints 1.0±0.2 and 0.9±0.2  mm. The difference in JSW between two serial radiographs with an interval of 6 to 12 months and unchanged SHS was 0.0±0.1  mm, indicating very good precision. Errors occurred more often in radiographs from the multicenter cohort than in a more recent series from a single hospital. Detailed analysis of the 55/1125 (4.9%) measurements that had a discrepant paired measurement revealed that variation in the process of image acquisition (exposure in 15% and repositioning in 57%) was a more frequent source of error than incorrect delineation by the software (25%). Various steps in the validation of an automated measurement system for JSW of MCP and PIP joints are described. The use of serial radiographs from different sources, with a short interval and limited damage, is helpful to detect sources of error. Image acquisition, in particular repositioning, is a dominant source of error. PMID:27921071

The Disk Wind in the Rapidly Spinning Stellar-mass Black Hole 4U 1630-472 Observed with NuSTAR

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

King, Ashley L.; Walton, Dominic J.; Miller, Jon M.; Barret, Didier; Boggs, Steven E.; Christensen, Finn E.; Craig, William W.; Fabian, Andy C.; Furst, Felix; Hailey, Charles J.;

First gravitational-wave burst GW150914: MASTER optical follow-up observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lipunov, V. M.; Kornilov, V.; Gorbovskoy, E.; Buckley, D. A. H.; Tiurina, N.; Balanutsa, P.; Kuznetsov, A.; Greiner, J.; Vladimirov, V.; Vlasenko, D.; Chazov, V.; Kuvshinov, D.; Gabovich, A.; Potter, S. B.; Kniazev, A.; Crawford, S.; Rebolo Lopez, R.; Serra-Ricart, M.; Israelian, G.; Lodieu, N.; Gress, O.; Budnev, N.; Ivanov, K.; Poleschuk, V.; Yazev, S.; Tlatov, A.; Senik, V.; Yurkov, V.; Dormidontov, D.; Parkhomenko, A.; Sergienko, Yu.; Podesta, R.; Levato, H.; Lopez, C.; Saffe, C.; Podesta, F.; Mallamaci, C.

2017-03-01

The Advanced LIGO observatory recently reported the first direct detection of the gravitational waves (GWs) predicted by Einstein & Sitzungsber. We report on the first optical observations of the GW source GW150914 error region with the Global MASTER Robotic Net. Between the optical telescopes of electromagnetic support, the covered area is dominated by MASTER with an unfiltered magnitude up to 19.9 mag (5σ). We detected several optical transients, which proved to be unconnected with the GW event. The main input to investigate the final error box of GW150914 was made by the MASTER-SAAO robotic telescope, which covered 70 per cent of the final GW error box and 90 per cent of the common localization area of the LIGO and Fermi events. Our result is consistent with the conclusion (Abbott et al. 2016a) that GWs from GW150914 were produced in a binary black hole merger. At the same time, we cannot exclude that MASTER OT J040938.68-541316.9 exploded on 2015 September 14.

Effects of Tropospheric Spatio-Temporal Correlated Noise on the Analysis of Space Geodetic Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Romero-Wolf, A. F.; Jacobs, C. S.

2011-01-01

The standard VLBI analysis models measurement noise as purely thermal errors modeled according to uncorrelated Gaussian distributions. As the price of recording bits steadily decreases, thermal errors will soon no longer dominate. It is therefore expected that troposphere and instrumentation/clock errors will increasingly become more dominant. Given that both of these errors have correlated spectra, properly modeling the error distributions will become more relevant for optimal analysis. This paper will discuss the advantages of including the correlations between tropospheric delays using a Kolmogorov spectrum and the frozen ow model pioneered by Treuhaft and Lanyi. We will show examples of applying these correlated noise spectra to the weighting of VLBI data analysis.

Omens of coupled model biases in the CMIP5 AMIP simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Găinuşă-Bogdan, Alina; Hourdin, Frédéric; Traore, Abdoul Khadre; Braconnot, Pascale

2018-02-01

Despite decades of efforts and improvements in the representation of processes as well as in model resolution, current global climate models still suffer from a set of important, systematic biases in sea surface temperature (SST), not much different from the previous generation of climate models. Many studies have looked at errors in the wind field, cloud representation or oceanic upwelling in coupled models to explain the SST errors. In this paper we highlight the relationship between latent heat flux (LH) biases in forced atmospheric simulations and the SST biases models develop in coupled mode, at the scale of the entire intertropical domain. By analyzing 22 pairs of forced atmospheric and coupled ocean-atmosphere simulations from the CMIP5 database, we show a systematic, negative correlation between the spatial patterns of these two biases. This link between forced and coupled bias patterns is also confirmed by two sets of dedicated sensitivity experiments with the IPSL-CM5A-LR model. The analysis of the sources of the atmospheric LH bias pattern reveals that the near-surface wind speed bias dominates the zonal structure of the LH bias and that the near-surface relative humidity dominates the east-west contrasts.

How noise affects quantum detector tomography

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

Wang, Q., E-mail: wang@physics.leidenuniv.nl; Renema, J. J.; Exter, M. P.van

2015-10-07

We determine the full photon number response of a NbN superconducting nanowire single photon detector via quantum detector tomography, and the results show the separation of linear, effective absorption efficiency from the internal detection efficiencies. In addition, we demonstrate an error budget for the complete quantum characterization of the detector. We find that for short times, the dominant noise source is shot noise, while laser power fluctuations limit the accuracy for longer timescales. The combined standard uncertainty of the internal detection efficiency derived from our measurements is about 2%.

Functional Language Shift to the Right Hemisphere in Patients with Language-Eloquent Brain Tumors

PubMed Central

Krieg, Sandro M.; Sollmann, Nico; Hauck, Theresa; Ille, Sebastian; Foerschler, Annette; Meyer, Bernhard; Ringel, Florian

2013-01-01

Objectives Language function is mainly located within the left hemisphere of the brain, especially in right-handed subjects. However, functional MRI (fMRI) has demonstrated changes of language organization in patients with left-sided perisylvian lesions to the right hemisphere. Because intracerebral lesions can impair fMRI, this study was designed to investigate human language plasticity with a virtual lesion model using repetitive navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). Experimental design Fifteen patients with lesions of left-sided language-eloquent brain areas and 50 healthy and purely right-handed participants underwent bilateral rTMS language mapping via an object-naming task. All patients were proven to have left-sided language function during awake surgery. The rTMS-induced language errors were categorized into 6 different error types. The error ratio (induced errors/number of stimulations) was determined for each brain region on both hemispheres. A hemispheric dominance ratio was then defined for each region as the quotient of the error ratio (left/right) of the corresponding area of both hemispheres (ratio >1  =  left dominant; ratio <1  =  right dominant). Results Patients with language-eloquent lesions showed a statistically significantly lower ratio than healthy participants concerning “all errors” and “all errors without hesitations”, which indicates a higher participation of the right hemisphere in language function. Yet, there was no cortical region with pronounced difference in language dominance compared to the whole hemisphere. Conclusions This is the first study that shows by means of an anatomically accurate virtual lesion model that a shift of language function to the non-dominant hemisphere can occur. PMID:24069410

Kinetic energy budgets in areas of intense convection

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fuelberg, H. E.; Berecek, E. M.; Ebel, D. M.; Jedlovec, G. J.

1980-01-01

A kinetic energy budget analysis of the AVE-SESAME 1 period which coincided with the deadly Red River Valley tornado outbreak is presented. Horizontal flux convergence was found to be the major kinetic energy source to the region, while cross contour destruction was the major sink. Kinetic energy transformations were dominated by processes related to strong jet intrusion into the severe storm area. A kinetic energy budget of the AVE 6 period also is presented. The effects of inherent rawinsonde data errors on widely used basic kinematic parameters, including velocity divergence, vorticity advection, and kinematic vertical motion are described. In addition, an error analysis was performed in terms of the kinetic energy budget equation. Results obtained from downward integration of the continuity equation to obtain kinematic values of vertical motion are described. This alternate procedure shows promising results in severe storm situations.

Global and regional kinematics with GPS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

King, Robert W.

1994-01-01

The inherent precision of the doubly differenced phase measurement and the low cost of instrumentation made GPS the space geodetic technique of choice for regional surveys as soon as the constellation reached acceptable geometry in the area of interest: 1985 in western North America, the early 1990's in most of the world. Instrument and site-related errors for horizontal positioning are usually less than 3 mm, so that the dominant source of error is uncertainty in the reference frame defined by the satellites orbits and the tracking stations used to determine them. Prior to about 1992, when the tracking network for most experiments was globally sparse, the number of fiducial sites or the level at which they could be tied to an SLR or VLBI reference frame usually, set the accuracy limit. Recently, with a global network of over 30 stations, the limit is set more often by deficiencies in models for non-gravitational forces acting on the satellites. For regional networks in the northern hemisphere, reference frame errors are currently about 3 parts per billion (ppb) in horizontal position, allowing centimeter-level accuracies over intercontinental distances and less than 1 mm for a 100 km baseline. The accuracy of GPS measurements for monitoring height variations is generally 2-3 times worse than for horizontal motions. As for VLBI, the primary source of error is unmodeled fluctuations in atmospheric water vapor, but both reference frame uncertainties and some instrument errors are more serious for vertical than horizontal measurements. Under good conditions, daily repeatabilities at the level of 10 mm rms were achieved. This paper will summarize the current accuracy of GPS measurements and their implication for the use of SLR to study regional kinematics.

Constraining the mass–richness relationship of redMaPPer clusters with angular clustering

DOE PAGES

Baxter, Eric J.; Rozo, Eduardo; Jain, Bhuvnesh; ...

2016-08-04

The potential of using cluster clustering for calibrating the mass–richness relation of galaxy clusters has been recognized theoretically for over a decade. In this paper, we demonstrate the feasibility of this technique to achieve high-precision mass calibration using redMaPPer clusters in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey North Galactic Cap. By including cross-correlations between several richness bins in our analysis, we significantly improve the statistical precision of our mass constraints. The amplitude of the mass–richness relation is constrained to 7 per cent statistical precision by our analysis. However, the error budget is systematics dominated, reaching a 19 per cent total errormore » that is dominated by theoretical uncertainty in the bias–mass relation for dark matter haloes. We confirm the result from Miyatake et al. that the clustering amplitude of redMaPPer clusters depends on galaxy concentration as defined therein, and we provide additional evidence that this dependence cannot be sourced by mass dependences: some other effect must account for the observed variation in clustering amplitude with galaxy concentration. Assuming that the observed dependence of redMaPPer clustering on galaxy concentration is a form of assembly bias, we find that such effects introduce a systematic error on the amplitude of the mass–richness relation that is comparable to the error bar from statistical noise. Finally, the results presented here demonstrate the power of cluster clustering for mass calibration and cosmology provided the current theoretical systematics can be ameliorated.« less

Deep-space navigation with differenced data types. Part 3: An expanded information content and sensitivity analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Estefan, J. A.; Thurman, S. W.

1992-01-01

An approximate six-parameter analytic model for Earth-based differential range measurements is presented and is used to derive a representative analytic approximation for differenced Doppler measurements. The analytical models are tasked to investigate the ability of these data types to estimate spacecraft geocentric angular motion, Deep Space Network station oscillator (clock/frequency) offsets, and signal-path calibration errors over a period of a few days, in the presence of systematic station location and transmission media calibration errors. Quantitative results indicate that a few differenced Doppler plus ranging passes yield angular position estimates with a precision on the order of 0.1 to 0.4 micro-rad, and angular rate precision on the order of 10 to 25 x 10(exp -12) rad/sec, assuming no a priori information on the coordinate parameters. Sensitivity analyses suggest that troposphere zenith delay calibration error is the dominant systematic error source in most of the tracking scenarios investigated; as expected, the differenced Doppler data were found to be much more sensitive to troposphere calibration errors than differenced range. By comparison, results computed using wideband and narrowband (delta) VLBI under similar circumstances yielded angular precisions of 0.07 to 0.4 micro-rad, and angular rate precisions of 0.5 to 1.0 x 10(exp -12) rad/sec.

Deep-space navigation with differenced data types. Part 3: An expanded information content and sensitivity analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Estefan, J. A.; Thurman, S. W.

1992-01-01

An approximate six-parameter analytic model for Earth-based differenced range measurements is presented and is used to derive a representative analytic approximation for differenced Doppler measurements. The analytical models are tasked to investigate the ability of these data types to estimate spacecraft geocentric angular motion, Deep Space Network station oscillator (clock/frequency) offsets, and signal-path calibration errors over a period of a few days, in the presence of systematic station location and transmission media calibration errors. Quantitative results indicate that a few differenced Doppler plus ranging passes yield angular position estimates with a precision on the order of 0.1 to 0.4 microrad, and angular rate precision on the order of 10 to 25(10)(exp -12) rad/sec, assuming no a priori information on the coordinate parameters. Sensitivity analyses suggest that troposphere zenith delay calibration error is the dominant systematic error source in most of the tracking scenarios investigated; as expected, the differenced Doppler data were found to be much more sensitive to troposphere calibration errors than differenced range. By comparison, results computed using wide band and narrow band (delta)VLBI under similar circumstances yielded angular precisions of 0.07 to 0.4 /microrad, and angular rate precisions of 0.5 to 1.0(10)(exp -12) rad/sec.

Active control of fan-generated plane wave noise

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gerhold, Carl H.; Nuckolls, William E.; Santamaria, Odillyn L.; Martinson, Scott D.

1993-01-01

Subsonic propulsion systems for future aircraft may incorporate ultra-high bypass ratio ducted fan engines whose dominant noise source is the fan with blade passage frequency less than 1000 Hz. This low frequency combines with the requirement of a short nacelle to diminish the effectiveness of passive duct liners. Active noise control is seen as a viable method to augment the conventional passive treatments. An experiment to control ducted fan noise using a time domain active adaptive system is reported. The control sound source consists of loudspeakers arrayed around the fan duct. The error sensor location is in the fan duct. The purpose of this experiment is to demonstrate that the in-duct error sensor reduces the mode spillover in the far field, thereby increasing the efficiency of the control system. In this first series of tests, the fan is configured so that predominantly zero order circumferential waves are generated. The control system is found to reduce the blade passage frequency tone significantly in the acoustic far field when the mode orders of the noise source and of the control source are the same. The noise reduction is not as great when the mode orders are not the same even though the noise source modes are evanescent, but the control system converges stably and global noise reduction is demonstrated in the far field. Further experimentation is planned in which the performance of the system will be evaluated when higher order radial and spinning modes are generated.

Active Control of Fan-Generated Tone Noise

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gerhold, Carl H.

1995-01-01

This paper reports on an experiment to control the noise radiated from the inlet of a ducted fan using a time domain active adaptive system. The control ,sound source consists of loudspeakers arranged in a ring around the fan duct. The error sensor location is in the fan duct. The purpose of this experiment is to demonstrate that the in-duct error sensor reduces the mode spillover in the far field, thereby increasing the efficiency of the control system. The control system is found to reduce the blade passage frequency tone significantly in the acoustic far field when the mode orders of the noise source and of the control source are the same, when the dominant wave in the duct is a plane wave. The presence of higher order modes in the duct reduces the noise reduction efficiency, particularly near the mode cut-on where the standing wave component is strong, but the control system converges stably. The control system is stable and converges when the first circumferential mode is generated in the duct. The control system is found to reduce the fan noise in the far field on an arc around the fan inlet by as much as 20 dB with none of the sound amplification associated with mode spillover.

Interlimb Differences in Coordination of Unsupported Reaching Movements

PubMed Central

Schaffer, Jacob E.; Sainburg, Robert L.

2017-01-01

Previous research suggests that interlimb differences in coordination associated with handedness might result from specialized control mechanisms that are subserved by different cerebral hemispheres. Based largely on the results of horizontal plane reaching studies, we have proposed that the hemisphere contralateral to the dominant arm is specialized for predictive control of limb dynamics, while the non-dominant hemisphere is specialized for controlling limb impedance. The current study explores interlimb differences in control of 3-D unsupported reaching movements. While the task was presented in the horizontal plane, participant’s arms were unsupported and free to move within a range of the vertical axis, which was redundant to the task plane. Results indicated significant dominant arm advantages for both initial direction accuracy and final position accuracy. The dominant arm showed greater excursion along a redundant axis that was perpendicular to the task, and parallel to gravitational forces. In contrast, the non-dominant arm better impeded motion out of the task-plane. Nevertheless, left arm task errors varied substantially more with shoulder rotation excursion than did dominant arm task errors. These findings suggest that the dominant arm controller was able to take advantage of the redundant degrees of freedom of the task, while non-dominant task errors appeared enslaved to motion along the redundant axis. These findings are consistent with a dominant controller that is specialized for intersegmental coordination, and a non-dominant controller that is specialized for impedance control. However, the findings are inconsistent with previously documented conclusions from planar tasks, in which non-dominant control leads to greater final position accuracy. PMID:28344068

Discovering body site and severity modifiers in clinical texts

PubMed Central

Dligach, Dmitriy; Bethard, Steven; Becker, Lee; Miller, Timothy; Savova, Guergana K

2014-01-01

Objective To research computational methods for discovering body site and severity modifiers in clinical texts. Methods We cast the task of discovering body site and severity modifiers as a relation extraction problem in the context of a supervised machine learning framework. We utilize rich linguistic features to represent the pairs of relation arguments and delegate the decision about the nature of the relationship between them to a support vector machine model. We evaluate our models using two corpora that annotate body site and severity modifiers. We also compare the model performance to a number of rule-based baselines. We conduct cross-domain portability experiments. In addition, we carry out feature ablation experiments to determine the contribution of various feature groups. Finally, we perform error analysis and report the sources of errors. Results The performance of our method for discovering body site modifiers achieves F1 of 0.740–0.908 and our method for discovering severity modifiers achieves F1 of 0.905–0.929. Discussion Results indicate that both methods perform well on both in-domain and out-domain data, approaching the performance of human annotators. The most salient features are token and named entity features, although syntactic dependency features also contribute to the overall performance. The dominant sources of errors are infrequent patterns in the data and inability of the system to discern deeper semantic structures. Conclusions We investigated computational methods for discovering body site and severity modifiers in clinical texts. Our best system is released open source as part of the clinical Text Analysis and Knowledge Extraction System (cTAKES). PMID:24091648

Discovering body site and severity modifiers in clinical texts.

PubMed

Dligach, Dmitriy; Bethard, Steven; Becker, Lee; Miller, Timothy; Savova, Guergana K

2014-01-01

To research computational methods for discovering body site and severity modifiers in clinical texts. We cast the task of discovering body site and severity modifiers as a relation extraction problem in the context of a supervised machine learning framework. We utilize rich linguistic features to represent the pairs of relation arguments and delegate the decision about the nature of the relationship between them to a support vector machine model. We evaluate our models using two corpora that annotate body site and severity modifiers. We also compare the model performance to a number of rule-based baselines. We conduct cross-domain portability experiments. In addition, we carry out feature ablation experiments to determine the contribution of various feature groups. Finally, we perform error analysis and report the sources of errors. The performance of our method for discovering body site modifiers achieves F1 of 0.740-0.908 and our method for discovering severity modifiers achieves F1 of 0.905-0.929. Results indicate that both methods perform well on both in-domain and out-domain data, approaching the performance of human annotators. The most salient features are token and named entity features, although syntactic dependency features also contribute to the overall performance. The dominant sources of errors are infrequent patterns in the data and inability of the system to discern deeper semantic structures. We investigated computational methods for discovering body site and severity modifiers in clinical texts. Our best system is released open source as part of the clinical Text Analysis and Knowledge Extraction System (cTAKES).

Spectral analysis methods for vehicle interior vibro-acoustics identification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hosseini Fouladi, Mohammad; Nor, Mohd. Jailani Mohd.; Ariffin, Ahmad Kamal

2009-02-01

Noise has various effects on comfort, performance and health of human. Sound are analysed by human brain based on the frequencies and amplitudes. In a dynamic system, transmission of sound and vibrations depend on frequency and direction of the input motion and characteristics of the output. It is imperative that automotive manufacturers invest a lot of effort and money to improve and enhance the vibro-acoustics performance of their products. The enhancement effort may be very difficult and time-consuming if one relies only on 'trial and error' method without prior knowledge about the sources itself. Complex noise inside a vehicle cabin originated from various sources and travel through many pathways. First stage of sound quality refinement is to find the source. It is vital for automotive engineers to identify the dominant noise sources such as engine noise, exhaust noise and noise due to vibration transmission inside of vehicle. The purpose of this paper is to find the vibro-acoustical sources of noise in a passenger vehicle compartment. The implementation of spectral analysis method is much faster than the 'trial and error' methods in which, parts should be separated to measure the transfer functions. Also by using spectral analysis method, signals can be recorded in real operational conditions which conduce to more consistent results. A multi-channel analyser is utilised to measure and record the vibro-acoustical signals. Computational algorithms are also employed to identify contribution of various sources towards the measured interior signal. These achievements can be utilised to detect, control and optimise interior noise performance of road transport vehicles.

ROSE::FTTransform - A Source-to-Source Translation Framework for Exascale Fault-Tolerance Research

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

Lidman, J; Quinlan, D; Liao, C

2012-03-26

Exascale computing systems will require sufficient resilience to tolerate numerous types of hardware faults while still assuring correct program execution. Such extreme-scale machines are expected to be dominated by processors driven at lower voltages (near the minimum 0.5 volts for current transistors). At these voltage levels, the rate of transient errors increases dramatically due to the sensitivity to transient and geographically localized voltage drops on parts of the processor chip. To achieve power efficiency, these processors are likely to be streamlined and minimal, and thus they cannot be expected to handle transient errors entirely in hardware. Here we present anmore » open, compiler-based framework to automate the armoring of High Performance Computing (HPC) software to protect it from these types of transient processor errors. We develop an open infrastructure to support research work in this area, and we define tools that, in the future, may provide more complete automated and/or semi-automated solutions to support software resiliency on future exascale architectures. Results demonstrate that our approach is feasible, pragmatic in how it can be separated from the software development process, and reasonably efficient (0% to 30% overhead for the Jacobi iteration on common hardware; and 20%, 40%, 26%, and 2% overhead for a randomly selected subset of benchmarks from the Livermore Loops [1]).« less

Sensitivity analysis of non-cohesive sediment transport formulae

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pinto, Lígia; Fortunato, André B.; Freire, Paula

2006-10-01

Sand transport models are often based on semi-empirical equilibrium transport formulae that relate sediment fluxes to physical properties such as velocity, depth and characteristic sediment grain sizes. In engineering applications, errors in these physical properties affect the accuracy of the sediment fluxes. The present analysis quantifies error propagation from the input physical properties to the sediment fluxes, determines which ones control the final errors, and provides insight into the relative strengths, weaknesses and limitations of four total load formulae (Ackers and White, Engelund and Hansen, van Rijn, and Karim and Kennedy) and one bed load formulation (van Rijn). The various sources of uncertainty are first investigated individually, in order to pinpoint the key physical properties that control the errors. Since the strong non-linearity of most sand transport formulae precludes analytical approaches, a Monte Carlo method is validated and used in the analysis. Results show that the accuracy in total sediment transport evaluations is mainly determined by errors in the current velocity and in the sediment median grain size. For the bed load transport using the van Rijn formula, errors in the current velocity alone control the final accuracy. In a final set of tests, all physical properties are allowed to vary simultaneously in order to analyze the combined effect of errors. The combined effect of errors in all the physical properties is then compared to an estimate of the errors due to the intrinsic limitations of the formulae. Results show that errors in the physical properties can be dominant for typical uncertainties associated with these properties, particularly for small depths. A comparison between the various formulae reveals that the van Rijn formula is more sensitive to basic physical properties. Hence, it should only be used when physical properties are known with precision.

Structure of analysis-minus-observation misfits within a global ocean reanalysis system: implications for atmospheric reanalyses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carton, James; Chepurin, Gennady

2017-04-01

While atmospheric reanalyses do not ingest data from the subsurface ocean they must produce fluxes consistent with, for example, ocean storage and divergence of heat transport. Here we present a test of the consistency of two different atmospheric reanalyses with 2.5 million global ocean temperature observations during the data-rich eight year period 2007-2014. The examination is carried out by using atmospheric reanalysis variables to drive the SODA3 ocean reanalysis system, and then collecting and analyzing the temperature analysis increments (observation misfits). For the widely used MERRA2 and ERA-Int atmospheric reanalyses the temperature analysis increments reveal inconsistencies between those atmospheric fluxes and the ocean observations in the range of 10-30 W/m2. In the interior basins excess heat during a single assimilation cycle is stored primarily locally within the mixed layer, a simplification of the heat budget that allows us to identify the source of the error as the specified net surface heat flux. Along the equator the increments are primarily confined to thermocline depths indicating the primary source of the error is dominated by heat transport divergence. The error in equatorial heat transport divergence, in turn, can be traced to errors in the strength of the equatorial trade winds. We test our conclusions by introducing modifications of the atmospheric reanalyses based on analysis of ocean temperature analysis increments and repeating the ocean reanalysis experiments using the modified surface fluxes. Comparison of the experiments reveals that the modified fluxes reduce the misfit to ocean observations as well as the differences between the different atmospheric reanalyses.

Bilingual language intrusions and other speech errors in Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

Gollan, Tamar H; Stasenko, Alena; Li, Chuchu; Salmon, David P

2017-11-01

The current study investigated how Alzheimer's disease (AD) affects production of speech errors in reading-aloud. Twelve Spanish-English bilinguals with AD and 19 matched controls read-aloud 8 paragraphs in four conditions (a) English-only, (b) Spanish-only, (c) English-mixed (mostly English with 6 Spanish words), and (d) Spanish-mixed (mostly Spanish with 6 English words). Reading elicited language intrusions (e.g., saying la instead of the), and several types of within-language errors (e.g., saying their instead of the). Patients produced more intrusions (and self-corrected less often) than controls, particularly when reading non-dominant language paragraphs with switches into the dominant language. Patients also produced more within-language errors than controls, but differences between groups for these were not consistently larger with dominant versus non-dominant language targets. These results illustrate the potential utility of speech errors for diagnosis of AD, suggest a variety of linguistic and executive control impairments in AD, and reveal multiple cognitive mechanisms needed to mix languages fluently. The observed pattern of deficits, and unique sensitivity of intrusions to AD in bilinguals, suggests intact ability to select a default language with contextual support, to rapidly translate and switch languages in production of connected speech, but impaired ability to monitor language membership while regulating inhibitory control. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Estimating Biases for Regional Methane Fluxes using Co-emitted Tracers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bambha, R.; Safta, C.; Michelsen, H. A.; Cui, X.; Jeong, S.; Fischer, M. L.

2017-12-01

Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, and the development and improvement of emissions models rely on understanding the flux of methane released from anthropogenic sources relative to releases from other sources. Increasing production of shale oil and gas in the mid-latitudes and associated fugitive emissions are suspected to be a dominant contributor to the global methane increase. Landfills, sewage treatment, and other sources may be dominant sources in some parts of the U.S. Large discrepancies between emissions models present a great challenge to reconciling atmospheric measurements with inventory-based estimates for various emissions sectors. Current approaches for measuring regional emissions yield highly uncertain estimates because of the sparsity of measurement sites and the presence of multiple simultaneous sources. Satellites can provide wide spatial coverage at the expense of much lower measurement precision compared to ground-based instruments. Methods for effective assimilation of data from a variety of sources are critically needed to perform regional GHG attribution with existing measurements and to determine how to structure future measurement systems including satellites. We present a hierarchical Bayesian framework to estimate surface methane fluxes based on atmospheric concentration measurements and a Lagrangian transport model (Weather Research and Forecasting and Stochastic Time-Inverted Lagrangian Transport). Structural errors in the transport model are estimated with the help of co-emitted traces species with well defined decay rates. We conduct the analyses at regional scales that are based on similar geographical and meteorological conditions. For regions where data are informative, we further refine flux estimates by emissions sector and infer spatially and temporally varying biases parameterized as spectral random field representations.

Impact of hand dominance, gender, and experience with computer games on performance in virtual reality laparoscopy.

PubMed

Grantcharov, T P; Bardram, L; Funch-Jensen, P; Rosenberg, J

2003-07-01

The impact of gender and hand dominance on operative performance may be a subject of prejudice among surgeons, reportedly leading to discrimination and lack of professional promotion. However, very little objective evidence is available yet on the matter. This study was conducted to identify factors that influence surgeons' performance, as measured by a virtual reality computer simulator for laparoscopic surgery. This study included 25 surgical residents who had limited experience with laparoscopic surgery, having performed fewer than 10 laparoscopic cholecystectomies. The participants were registered according to their gender, hand dominance, and experience with computer games. All of the participants performed 10 repetitions of the six tasks on the Minimally Invasive Surgical Trainer-Virtual Reality (MIST-VR) within 1 month. Assessment of laparoscopic skills was based on three parameters measured by the simulator: time, errors, and economy of hand movement. Differences in performance existed between the compared groups. Men completed the tasks in less time than women ( p = 0.01, Mann-Whitney test), but there was no statistical difference between the genders in the number of errors and unnecessary movements. Individuals with right hand dominance performed fewer unnecessary movements ( p = 0.045, Mann-Whitney test), and there was a trend toward better results in terms of time and errors among the residence with right hand dominance than among those with left dominance. Users of computer games made fewer errors than nonusers ( p = 0.035, Mann-Whitney test). The study provides objective evidence of a difference in laparoscopic skills between surgeons differing gender, hand dominance, and computer experience. These results may influence the future development of training program for laparoscopic surgery. They also pose a challenge to individuals responsible for the selection and training of the residents.

X-Ray Processing of ChaMPlane Fields: Methods and Initial Results for Selected Anti-Galactic Center Fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hong, JaeSub; van den Berg, Maureen; Schlegel, Eric M.; Grindlay, Jonathan E.; Koenig, Xavier; Laycock, Silas; Zhao, Ping

2005-12-01

We describe the X-ray analysis procedure of the ongoing Chandra Multiwavelength Plane (ChaMPlane) Survey and report the initial results from the analysis of 15 selected anti-Galactic center observations (90deg

Multiple levels of bilingual language control: evidence from language intrusions in reading aloud.

PubMed

Gollan, Tamar H; Schotter, Elizabeth R; Gomez, Joanne; Murillo, Mayra; Rayner, Keith

2014-02-01

Bilinguals rarely produce words in an unintended language. However, we induced such intrusion errors (e.g., saying el instead of he) in 32 Spanish-English bilinguals who read aloud single-language (English or Spanish) and mixed-language (haphazard mix of English and Spanish) paragraphs with English or Spanish word order. These bilinguals produced language intrusions almost exclusively in mixed-language paragraphs, and most often when attempting to produce dominant-language targets (accent-only errors also exhibited reversed language-dominance effects). Most intrusion errors occurred for function words, especially when they were not from the language that determined the word order in the paragraph. Eye movements showed that fixating a word in the nontarget language increased intrusion errors only for function words. Together, these results imply multiple mechanisms of language control, including (a) inhibition of the dominant language at both lexical and sublexical processing levels, (b) special retrieval mechanisms for function words in mixed-language utterances, and (c) attentional monitoring of the target word for its match with the intended language.

An investigation of techniques for the measurement and interpretation of cosmic ray isotopic abundances. Ph.D. Thesis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wiedenbeck, M. E.

1977-01-01

An instrument, the Caltech High Energy Isotope Spectrometer Telescope was developed to measure isotopic abundances of cosmic ray nuclei by employing an energy loss - residual energy technique. A detailed analysis was made of the mass resolution capabilities of this instrument. A formalism, based on the leaky box model of cosmic ray propagation, was developed for obtaining isotopic abundance ratios at the cosmic ray sources from abundances measured in local interstellar space for elements having three or more stable isotopes, one of which is believed to be absent at the cosmic ray sources. It was shown that the dominant sources of uncertainty in the derived source ratios are uncorrelated errors in the fragmentation cross sections and statistical uncertainties in measuring local interstellar abundances. These results were applied to estimate the extent to which uncertainties must be reduced in order to distinguish between cosmic ray production in a solar-like environment and in various environments with greater neutron enrichments.

Identification and proposed control of helicopter transmission noise at the source

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Coy, John J.; Handschuh, Robert F.; Lewicki, David G.; Huff, Ronald G.; Krejsa, Eugene A.; Karchmer, Allan M.

1987-01-01

Helicopter cabin interiors require noise treatment which is expensive and adds weight. The gears inside the main power transmission are major sources of cabin noise. Work conducted by the NASA Lewis Research Center in measuring cabin interior noise and in relating the noise spectrum to the gear vibration of the Army OH-58 helicopter is described. Flight test data indicate that the planetary gear train is a major source of cabin noise and that other low frequency sources are present that could dominate the cabin noise. Companion vibration measurements were made in a transmission test stand, revealing that the single largest contributor to the transmission vibration was the spiral bevel gear mesh. The current understanding of the nature and causes of gear and transmission noise is discussed. It is believed that the kinematical errors of the gear mesh have a strong influence on that noise. The completed NASA/Army sponsored research that applies to transmission noise reduction is summarized. The continuing research program is also reviewed.

Identification and proposed control of helicopter transmission noise at the source

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Coy, John J.; Handschuh, Robert F.; Lewicki, David G.; Huff, Ronald G.; Krejsa, Eugene A.; Karchmer, Allan M.; Coy, John J.

1988-01-01

Helicopter cabin interiors require noise treatment which is expensive and adds weight. The gears inside the main power transmission are major sources of cabin noise. Work conducted by the NASA Lewis Research Center in measuring cabin interior noise and in relating the noise spectrum to the gear vibration of the Army OH-58 helicopter is described. Flight test data indicate that the planetary gear train is a major source of cabin noise and that other low frequency sources are present that could dominate the cabin noise. Companion vibration measurements were made in a transmission test stand, revealing that the single largest contributor to the transmission vibration was the spiral bevel gear mesh. The current understanding of the nature and causes of gear and transmission noise is discussed. It is believed that the kinematical errors of the gear mesh have a strong influence on that noise. The completed NASA/Army sponsored research that applies to transmission noise reduction is summarized. The continuing research program is also reviewed.

Greenland ice sheet albedo variability and feedback: 2000-2015

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Box, J. E.; van As, D.; Fausto, R. S.; Mottram, R.; Langen, P. P.; Steffen, K.

2015-12-01

Absorbed solar irradiance represents the dominant source of surface melt energy for Greenland ice. Surface melting has increased as part of a positive feedback amplifier due to surface darkening. The 16 most recent summers of observations from the NASA MODIS sensor indicate a darkening exceeding 6% in July when most melting occurs. Without the darkening, the increase in surface melting would be roughly half as large. A minority of the albedo decline signal may be from sensor degradation. So, in this study, MOD10A1 and MCD43 albedo products from MODIS are evaluated for sensor degradation and anisotropic reflectance errors. Errors are minimized through calibration to GC-Net and PROMICE Greenland snow and ice ground control data. The seasonal and spatial variability in Greenland snow and ice albedo over a 16 year period is presented, including quantifying changing absorbed solar irradiance and melt enhancement due to albedo feedback using the DMI HIRHAM5 5 km model.

Statistics of equivalent width data and new oscillator strengths for Si II, Fe II, and Mn II. [in interstellar medium

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Van Buren, Dave

1986-01-01

Equivalent width data from Copernicus and IUE appear to have an exponential, rather than a Gaussian distribution of errors. This is probably because there is one dominant source of error: the assignment of the background continuum shape. The maximum likelihood method of parameter estimation is presented for the case of exponential statistics, in enough generality for application to many problems. The method is applied to global fitting of Si II, Fe II, and Mn II oscillator strengths and interstellar gas parameters along many lines of sight. The new values agree in general with previous determinations but are usually much more tightly constrained. Finally, it is shown that care must be taken in deriving acceptable regions of parameter space because the probability contours are not generally ellipses whose axes are parallel to the coordinate axes.

Precision Møller Polarimetry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Henry, William; Jefferson Lab Hall A Collaboration

2017-09-01

Jefferson Lab's cutting-edge parity-violating electron scattering program has increasingly stringent requirements for systematic errors. Beam polarimetry is often one of the dominant systematic errors in these experiments. A new Møller Polarimeter in Hall A of Jefferson Lab (JLab) was installed in 2015 and has taken first measurements for a polarized scattering experiment. Upcoming parity violation experiments in Hall A include CREX, PREX-II, MOLLER and SOLID with the latter two requiring <0.5% precision on beam polarization measurements. The polarimeter measures the Møller scattering rates of the polarized electron beam incident upon an iron target placed in a saturating magnetic field. The spectrometer consists of four focusing quadrapoles and one momentum selection dipole. The detector is designed to measure the scattered and knock out target electrons in coincidence. Beam polarization is extracted by constructing an asymmetry from the scattering rates when the incident electron spin is parallel and anti-parallel to the target electron spin. Initial data will be presented. Sources of systematic errors include target magnetization, spectrometer acceptance, the Levchuk effect, and radiative corrections which will be discussed. National Science Foundation.

Effect of Random Circuit Fabrication Errors on Small Signal Gain and Phase in Helix Traveling Wave Tubes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pengvanich, P.; Chernin, D. P.; Lau, Y. Y.; Luginsland, J. W.; Gilgenbach, R. M.

2007-11-01

Motivated by the current interest in mm-wave and THz sources, which use miniature, difficult-to-fabricate circuit components, we evaluate the statistical effects of random fabrication errors on a helix traveling wave tube amplifier's small signal characteristics. The small signal theory is treated in a continuum model in which the electron beam is assumed to be monoenergetic, and axially symmetric about the helix axis. Perturbations that vary randomly along the beam axis are introduced in the dimensionless Pierce parameters b, the beam-wave velocity mismatch, C, the gain parameter, and d, the cold tube circuit loss. Our study shows, as expected, that perturbation in b dominates the other two. The extensive numerical data have been confirmed by our analytic theory. They show in particular that the standard deviation of the output phase is linearly proportional to standard deviation of the individual perturbations in b, C, and d. Simple formulas have been derived which yield the output phase variations in terms of the statistical random manufacturing errors. This work was supported by AFOSR and by ONR.

Improved estimation of sediment source contributions by concentration-dependent Bayesian isotopic mixing model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ram Upadhayay, Hari; Bodé, Samuel; Griepentrog, Marco; Bajracharya, Roshan Man; Blake, Will; Cornelis, Wim; Boeckx, Pascal

2017-04-01

The implementation of compound-specific stable isotope (CSSI) analyses of biotracers (e.g. fatty acids, FAs) as constraints on sediment-source contributions has become increasingly relevant to understand the origin of sediments in catchments. The CSSI fingerprinting of sediment utilizes CSSI signature of biotracer as input in an isotopic mixing model (IMM) to apportion source soil contributions. So far source studies relied on the linear mixing assumptions of CSSI signature of sources to the sediment without accounting for potential effects of source biotracer concentration. Here we evaluated the effect of FAs concentration in sources on the accuracy of source contribution estimations in artificial soil mixture of three well-separated land use sources. Soil samples from land use sources were mixed to create three groups of artificial mixture with known source contributions. Sources and artificial mixture were analysed for δ13C of FAs using gas chromatography-combustion-isotope ratio mass spectrometry. The source contributions to the mixture were estimated using with and without concentration-dependent MixSIAR, a Bayesian isotopic mixing model. The concentration-dependent MixSIAR provided the closest estimates to the known artificial mixture source contributions (mean absolute error, MAE = 10.9%, and standard error, SE = 1.4%). In contrast, the concentration-independent MixSIAR with post mixing correction of tracer proportions based on aggregated concentration of FAs of sources biased the source contributions (MAE = 22.0%, SE = 3.4%). This study highlights the importance of accounting the potential effect of a source FA concentration for isotopic mixing in sediments that adds realisms to mixing model and allows more accurate estimates of contributions of sources to the mixture. The potential influence of FA concentration on CSSI signature of sediments is an important underlying factor that determines whether the isotopic signature of a given source is observable even after equilibrium. Therefore inclusion of FA concentrations of the sources in the IMM formulation is standard procedure for accurate estimation of source contributions. The post model correction approach that dominates the CSSI fingerprinting causes bias, especially if the FAs concentration of sources differs substantially.

Procrustes-based geometric morphometrics on MRI images: An example of inter-operator bias in 3D landmarks and its impact on big datasets.

PubMed

Daboul, Amro; Ivanovska, Tatyana; Bülow, Robin; Biffar, Reiner; Cardini, Andrea

2018-01-01

Using 3D anatomical landmarks from adult human head MRIs, we assessed the magnitude of inter-operator differences in Procrustes-based geometric morphometric analyses. An in depth analysis of both absolute and relative error was performed in a subsample of individuals with replicated digitization by three different operators. The effect of inter-operator differences was also explored in a large sample of more than 900 individuals. Although absolute error was not unusual for MRI measurements, including bone landmarks, shape was particularly affected by differences among operators, with up to more than 30% of sample variation accounted for by this type of error. The magnitude of the bias was such that it dominated the main pattern of bone and total (all landmarks included) shape variation, largely surpassing the effect of sex differences between hundreds of men and women. In contrast, however, we found higher reproducibility in soft-tissue nasal landmarks, despite relatively larger errors in estimates of nasal size. Our study exemplifies the assessment of measurement error using geometric morphometrics on landmarks from MRIs and stresses the importance of relating it to total sample variance within the specific methodological framework being used. In summary, precise landmarks may not necessarily imply negligible errors, especially in shape data; indeed, size and shape may be differentially impacted by measurement error and different types of landmarks may have relatively larger or smaller errors. Importantly, and consistently with other recent studies using geometric morphometrics on digital images (which, however, were not specific to MRI data), this study showed that inter-operator biases can be a major source of error in the analysis of large samples, as those that are becoming increasingly common in the 'era of big data'.

Procrustes-based geometric morphometrics on MRI images: An example of inter-operator bias in 3D landmarks and its impact on big datasets

PubMed Central

Ivanovska, Tatyana; Bülow, Robin; Biffar, Reiner; Cardini, Andrea

2018-01-01

Using 3D anatomical landmarks from adult human head MRIs, we assessed the magnitude of inter-operator differences in Procrustes-based geometric morphometric analyses. An in depth analysis of both absolute and relative error was performed in a subsample of individuals with replicated digitization by three different operators. The effect of inter-operator differences was also explored in a large sample of more than 900 individuals. Although absolute error was not unusual for MRI measurements, including bone landmarks, shape was particularly affected by differences among operators, with up to more than 30% of sample variation accounted for by this type of error. The magnitude of the bias was such that it dominated the main pattern of bone and total (all landmarks included) shape variation, largely surpassing the effect of sex differences between hundreds of men and women. In contrast, however, we found higher reproducibility in soft-tissue nasal landmarks, despite relatively larger errors in estimates of nasal size. Our study exemplifies the assessment of measurement error using geometric morphometrics on landmarks from MRIs and stresses the importance of relating it to total sample variance within the specific methodological framework being used. In summary, precise landmarks may not necessarily imply negligible errors, especially in shape data; indeed, size and shape may be differentially impacted by measurement error and different types of landmarks may have relatively larger or smaller errors. Importantly, and consistently with other recent studies using geometric morphometrics on digital images (which, however, were not specific to MRI data), this study showed that inter-operator biases can be a major source of error in the analysis of large samples, as those that are becoming increasingly common in the 'era of big data'. PMID:29787586

Cirrus Cloud Optical Thickness and Effective Diameter Retrieved by MODIS: Impacts of Single Habit Assumption, 3-D Radiative Effects, and Cloud Inhomogeneity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Yongbo; Sun, Xuejin; Mielonen, Tero; Li, Haoran; Zhang, Riwei; Li, Yan; Zhang, Chuanliang

2018-01-01

For inhomogeneous cirrus clouds, cloud optical thickness (COT) and effective diameter (De) provided by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) Collection 6 cloud products are associated with errors due to the single habit assumption (SHA), independent pixel assumption (IPA), photon absorption effect (PAE), and plane-parallel assumption (PPA). SHA means that every cirrus cloud is assumed to have the same shape habit of ice crystals. IPA errors are caused by three-dimensional (3D) radiative effects. PPA and PAE errors are caused by cloud inhomogeneity. We proposed a method to single out these different errors. These errors were examined using the Spherical Harmonics Discrete Ordinate Method simulations done for the MODIS 0.86 μm and 2.13 μm bands. Four midlatitude and tropical cirrus cases were studied. For the COT retrieval, the impacts of SHA and IPA were especially large for optically thick cirrus cases. SHA errors in COT varied distinctly with scattering angles. For the De retrieval, SHA decreased De under most circumstances. PAE decreased De for optically thick cirrus cases. For the COT and De retrievals, the dominant error source was SHA for overhead sun whereas for oblique sun, it could be any of SHA, IPA, and PAE, varying with cirrus cases and sun-satellite viewing geometries. On the domain average, the SHA errors in COT (De) were within -16.1%-42.6% (-38.7%-2.0%), whereas the 3-D radiative effects- and cloud inhomogeneity-induced errors in COT (De) were within -5.6%-19.6% (-2.9%-8.0%) and -2.6%-0% (-3.7%-9.8%), respectively.

Homophone dominance at the whole-word and sub-word levels: spelling errors suggest full-form storage of regularly inflected verb forms.

PubMed

Sandra, Dominiek

2010-01-01

Two experiments and two corpus studies focus on homophone dominance in the spelling of regularly inflected verb forms, the phenomenon that the higher-frequency homophone causes more intrusion errors on the lower-frequency one than vice versa. Experiment 1 was a speeded dictation task focusing on the Dutch imperative, a verb form whose formation rule is poorly known. A clear-cut effect of homophone dominance was found. This effect was equally strong when the target imperative was preceded by another imperative in the same sentence whose pronunciation reflected the spelling rule. Experiment 2 indicated that the effect of homophone dominance cannot be reduced to an effect of recency. Language users cannot discriminate a recently seen verb form when shown the two homophones. Instead, they choose the most frequent spelling pattern. In Corpus Study 1 a Google search on the world wide web revealed a sublexical effect of homophone dominance in the spelling errors on regular past tense forms. Corpus Study 2 demonstrated the validity of the search method. The sublexical effect of homophone dominance, involving units that cut across the stem-suffix boundary, lends itself naturally to a representational model of the connectionist or analogical processing tradition but is hard to reconcile with a rule-based account.

Skilled adult readers activate the meanings of high-frequency words using phonology: Evidence from eye tracking.

PubMed

Jared, Debra; O'Donnell, Katrina

2017-02-01

We examined whether highly skilled adult readers activate the meanings of high-frequency words using phonology when reading sentences for meaning. A homophone-error paradigm was used. Sentences were written to fit 1 member of a homophone pair, and then 2 other versions were created in which the homophone was replaced by its mate or a spelling-control word. The error words were all high-frequency words, and the correct homophones were either higher-frequency words or low-frequency words-that is, the homophone errors were either the subordinate or dominant member of the pair. Participants read sentences as their eye movements were tracked. When the high-frequency homophone error words were the subordinate member of the homophone pair, participants had shorter immediate eye-fixation latencies on these words than on matched spelling-control words. In contrast, when the high-frequency homophone error words were the dominant member of the homophone pair, a difference between these words and spelling controls was delayed. These findings provide clear evidence that the meanings of high-frequency words are activated by phonological representations when skilled readers read sentences for meaning. Explanations of the differing patterns of results depending on homophone dominance are discussed.

Suspended sediment fluxes in a tidal wetland: Measurement, controlling factors, and error analysis

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ganju, N.K.; Schoellhamer, D.H.; Bergamaschi, B.A.

2005-01-01

Suspended sediment fluxes to and from tidal wetlands are of increasing concern because of habitat restoration efforts, wetland sustainability as sea level rises, and potential contaminant accumulation. We measured water and sediment fluxes through two channels on Browns Island, at the landward end of San Francisco Bay, United States, to determine the factors that control sediment fluxes on and off the island. In situ instrumentation was deployed between October 10 and November 13, 2003. Acoustic Doppler current profilers and the index velocity method were employed to calculate water fluxes. Suspended sediment concentrations (SSC) were determined with optical sensors and cross-sectional water sampling. All procedures were analyzed for their contribution to total error in the flux measurement. The inability to close the water balance and determination of constituent concentration were identified as the main sources of error; total error was 27% for net sediment flux. The water budget for the island was computed with an unaccounted input of 0.20 m 3 s-1 (22% of mean inflow), after considering channel flow, change in water storage, evapotranspiration, and precipitation. The net imbalance may be a combination of groundwater seepage, overland flow, and flow through minor channels. Change of island water storage, caused by local variations in water surface elevation, dominated the tidalty averaged water flux. These variations were mainly caused by wind and barometric pressure change, which alter regional water levels throughout the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. Peak instantaneous ebb flow was 35% greater than peak flood flow, indicating an ebb-dominant system, though dominance varied with the spring-neap cycle. SSC were controlled by wind-wave resuspension adjacent to the island and local tidal currents that mobilized sediment from the channel bed. During neap tides sediment was imported onto the island but during spring tides sediment was exported because the main channel became ebb dominant Over the 34-d monitoring period 14,000 kg of suspended sediment were imported through the two channels. The water imbalance may affect the sediment balance if the unmeasured water transport pathways are capable of transporting large amounts of sediment. We estimate a maximum of 2,800 kg of sediment may have been exported through unmeasured pathways, giving a minimum net import of 11,200 kg. Sediment flux measurements provide insight on tidal to fortnightly marsh sedimentation processes, especially in complex systems where sedimentation is spatially and temporally variable. ?? 2005 Estuarine Research Federation.

A posteriori error estimates in voice source recovery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leonov, A. S.; Sorokin, V. N.

2017-12-01

The inverse problem of voice source pulse recovery from a segment of a speech signal is under consideration. A special mathematical model is used for the solution that relates these quantities. A variational method of solving inverse problem of voice source recovery for a new parametric class of sources, that is for piecewise-linear sources (PWL-sources), is proposed. Also, a technique for a posteriori numerical error estimation for obtained solutions is presented. A computer study of the adequacy of adopted speech production model with PWL-sources is performed in solving the inverse problems for various types of voice signals, as well as corresponding study of a posteriori error estimates. Numerical experiments for speech signals show satisfactory properties of proposed a posteriori error estimates, which represent the upper bounds of possible errors in solving the inverse problem. The estimate of the most probable error in determining the source-pulse shapes is about 7-8% for the investigated speech material. It is noted that a posteriori error estimates can be used as a criterion of the quality for obtained voice source pulses in application to speaker recognition.

Do oxygen stable isotopes track precipitation moisture source in vascular plant dominated peatlands?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Charman, D.; Amesbury, M. J.; Newnham, R.; Loader, N.; Goodrich, J. P.; Gallego-Sala, A. V.; Royles, J.; Keller, E. D.; Baisden, W. T.

2014-12-01

Variations in the isotopic composition of precipitation are determined by fractionation processes which occur during temperature and humidity dependent phase changes associated with evaporation and condensation. Oxygen stable isotope ratios have therefore been frequently used as a source of palaeoclimate data from a variety of proxy archives. Exploitation of this record from ombrotrophic peatlands, where the source water used in cellulose synthesis is derived solely from precipitation, has been mostly limited to Northern Hemisphere Sphagnum-dominated bogs, with limited application in the Southern Hemisphere (SH) or in peatlands dominated by vascular plants. Throughout New Zealand (NZ), the preserved root matrix of the restionaceous wire rush (Empodisma spp.) forms deep peat deposits. NZ provides an ideal location to undertake empirical research into oxygen isotope fractionation in vascular peatlands because sites are ideally suited to single taxon analysis, preserve potentially high resolution full Holocene palaeoclimate records and are situated in the climatically sensitive SH mid-latitudes. Crucially, large gradients exist in the mean isotopic composition of precipitation across NZ, caused primarily by the relative influence of different climate modes. We test the capacity for δ18O analysis of Empodisma alpha cellulose from ombrotrophic restiad peatlands in NZ to provide a methodology for developing palaeoclimate records. We took surface plant, water and precipitation samples over spatial (six sites spanning >10° latitude) and temporal (monthly measurements over one year) gradients. We found a strong link between the isotopic compositions of surface root water, the most likely source water for plant growth, and precipitation in both datasets. Back-trajectory modelling of precipitation moisture source for rain days prior to sampling showed clear seasonality in the temporal data that was reflected in surface root water. The link between source water and plant cellulose was less clear, although mechanistic modelling predicted mean cellulose values within published error margins for both datasets. Improved understanding and modelling of δ18O in restiad peatlands should enable use of this approach as a new source of palaeoclimate data to reconstruct changes in past atmospheric circulation

Can oxygen stable isotopes be used to track precipitation moisture source in vascular plant-dominated peatlands?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amesbury, Matthew J.; Charman, Dan J.; Newnham, Rewi M.; Loader, Neil J.; Goodrich, Jordan; Royles, Jessica; Campbell, David I.; Keller, Elizabeth D.; Baisden, W. Troy; Roland, Thomas P.; Gallego-Sala, Angela V.

2015-11-01

Variations in the isotopic composition of precipitation are determined by fractionation processes which occur during temperature- and humidity-dependent phase changes associated with evaporation and condensation. Oxygen stable isotope ratios have therefore been frequently used as a source of palaeoclimate data from a variety of proxy archives, which integrate this signal over time. Applications from ombrotrophic peatlands, where the source water used in cellulose synthesis is derived solely from precipitation, have been mostly limited to Northern Hemisphere Sphagnum-dominated bogs, with few in the Southern Hemisphere or in peatlands dominated by vascular plants. New Zealand (NZ) provides an ideal location to undertake empirical research into oxygen isotope fractionation in vascular peatlands because single taxon analysis can be easily carried out, in particular using the preserved root matrix of the restionaceous wire rush (Empodisma spp.) that forms deep Holocene peat deposits throughout the country. Furthermore, large gradients are observed in the mean isotopic composition of precipitation across NZ, caused primarily by the relative influence of different climate modes. Here, we test whether δ18O of Empodisma α-cellulose from ombrotrophic restiad peatlands in NZ can provide a methodology for developing palaeoclimate records of past precipitation δ18O. Surface plant, water and precipitation samples were taken over spatial (six sites spanning >10° latitude) and temporal (monthly measurements over one year) gradients. A link between the isotopic composition of root-associated water, the most likely source water for plant growth, and precipitation in both datasets was found. Back-trajectory modelling of precipitation moisture source for rain days prior to sampling showed clear seasonality in the temporal data that was reflected in root-associated water. The link between source water and plant cellulose was less clear, although mechanistic modelling predicted mean cellulose values within published error margins for both datasets. Improved physiological understanding and modelling of δ18O in restiad peatlands should enable use of this approach as a new source of palaeoclimate data to reconstruct changes in past atmospheric circulation.

Dominant Drivers of GCMs Errors in the Simulation of South Asian Summer Monsoon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ashfaq, Moetasim

2017-04-01

Accurate simulation of the South Asian summer monsoon (SAM) is a longstanding unresolved problem in climate modeling science. There has not been a benchmark effort to decipher the origin of undesired yet virtually invariable unsuccessfulness of general circulation models (GCMs) over this region. This study analyzes a large ensemble of CMIP5 GCMs to demonstrate that most of the simulation errors in the summer season and their driving mechanisms are systematic and of similar nature across the GCMs, with biases in meridional differential heating playing a critical role in determining the timing of monsoon onset over land, the magnitude of seasonal precipitation distribution and the trajectories of monsoon depressions. Errors in the pre-monsoon heat low over the lower latitudes and atmospheric latent heating over the slopes of Himalayas and Karakoram Range induce significant errors in the atmospheric circulations and meridional differential heating. Lack of timely precipitation over land further exacerbates such errors by limiting local moisture recycling and latent heating aloft from convection. Most of the summer monsoon errors and their sources are reproducible in the land-atmosphere configuration of a GCM when it is configured at horizontal grid spacing comparable to the CMIP5 GCMs. While an increase in resolution overcomes many modeling challenges, coarse resolution is not necessarily the primary driver in the exhibition of errors over South Asia. These results highlight the importance of previously less well known pre-monsoon mechanisms that critically influence the strength of SAM in the GCMs and highlight the importance of land-atmosphere interactions in the development and maintenance of SAM.

HIGH-PRECISION ASTROMETRIC MILLIMETER VERY LONG BASELINE INTERFEROMETRY USING A NEW METHOD FOR ATMOSPHERIC CALIBRATION

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

Rioja, M.; Dodson, R., E-mail: maria.rioja@icrar.org

2011-04-15

We describe a new method which achieves high-precision very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) astrometry in observations at millimeter (mm) wavelengths. It combines fast frequency-switching observations, to correct for the dominant non-dispersive tropospheric fluctuations, with slow source-switching observations, for the remaining ionospheric dispersive terms. We call this method source-frequency phase referencing. Provided that the switching cycles match the properties of the propagation media, one can recover the source astrometry. We present an analytic description of the two-step calibration strategy, along with an error analysis to characterize its performance. Also, we provide observational demonstrations of a successful application with observations using themore » Very Long Baseline Array at 86 GHz of the pairs of sources 3C274 and 3C273 and 1308+326 and 1308+328 under various conditions. We conclude that this method is widely applicable to mm-VLBI observations of many target sources, and unique in providing bona fide astrometrically registered images and high-precision relative astrometric measurements in mm-VLBI using existing and newly built instruments, including space VLBI.« less

Effects of hemisphere speech dominance and seizure focus on patterns of behavioral response errors for three types of stimuli.

PubMed

Rausch, R; MacDonald, K

1997-03-01

We used a protocol consisting of a continuous presentation of stimuli with associated response requests during an intracarotid sodium amobarbital procedure (IAP) to study the effects of hemisphere injected (speech dominant vs. nondominant) and seizure focus (left temporal lobe vs. right temporal lobe) on the pattern of behavioral response errors for three types of visual stimuli (pictures of common objects, words, and abstract forms). Injection of the left speech dominant hemisphere compared to the right nondominant hemisphere increased overall errors and affected the pattern of behavioral errors. The presence of a seizure focus in the contralateral hemisphere increased overall errors, particularly for the right temporal lobe seizure patients, but did not affect the pattern of behavioral errors. Left hemisphere injections disrupted both naming and reading responses at a rate similar to that of matching-to-sample performance. Also, a short-term memory deficit was observed with all three stimuli. Long-term memory testing following the left hemisphere injection indicated that only for pictures of common objects were there fewer errors during the early postinjection period than for the later long-term memory testing. Therefore, despite the inability to respond to picture stimuli, picture items, but not words or forms, could be sufficiently encoded for later recall. In contrast, right hemisphere injections resulted in few errors, with a pattern suggesting a mild general cognitive decrease. A selective weakness in learning unfamiliar forms was found. Our findings indicate that different patterns of behavioral deficits occur following the left vs. right hemisphere injections, with selective patterns specific to stimulus type.

Analysis of the load selection on the error of source characteristics identification for an engine exhaust system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, Sifa; Liu, Haitao; Dan, Jiabi; Lian, Xiaomin

2015-05-01

Linear time-invariant assumption for the determination of acoustic source characteristics, the source strength and the source impedance in the frequency domain has been proved reasonable in the design of an exhaust system. Different methods have been proposed to its identification and the multi-load method is widely used for its convenience by varying the load number and impedance. Theoretical error analysis has rarely been referred to and previous results have shown an overdetermined set of open pipes can reduce the identification error. This paper contributes a theoretical error analysis for the load selection. The relationships between the error in the identification of source characteristics and the load selection were analysed. A general linear time-invariant model was built based on the four-load method. To analyse the error of the source impedance, an error estimation function was proposed. The dispersion of the source pressure was obtained by an inverse calculation as an indicator to detect the accuracy of the results. It was found that for a certain load length, the load resistance at the frequency points of one-quarter wavelength of odd multiples results in peaks and in the maximum error for source impedance identification. Therefore, the load impedance of frequency range within the one-quarter wavelength of odd multiples should not be used for source impedance identification. If the selected loads have more similar resistance values (i.e., the same order of magnitude), the identification error of the source impedance could be effectively reduced.

Feature Positioning on Google Street View Panoramas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsai, V. J. D.; Chang, C.-T.

2012-07-01

Location-based services (LBS) on web-based maps and images have come into real-time since Google launched its Street View imaging services in 2007. This research employs Google Maps API and Web Service, GAE for JAVA, AJAX, Proj4js, CSS and HTML in developing an internet platform for accessing the orientation parameters of Google Street View (GSV) panoramas in order to determine the three dimensional position of interest features that appear on two overlapping panoramas by geometric intersection. A pair of GSV panoramas was examined using known points located on the Library Building of National Chung Hsing University (NCHU) with the root-mean-squared errors of ±0.522m, ±1.230m, and ±5.779m for intersection and ±0.142m, ±1.558m, and ±5.733m for resection in X, Y, and h (elevation), respectively. Potential error sources in GSV positioning were analyzed and illustrated that the errors in Google provided GSV positional parameters dominate the errors in geometric intersection. The developed system is suitable for data collection in establishing LBS applications integrated with Google Maps and Google Earth in traffic sign and infrastructure inventory by adding automatic extraction and matching techniques for points of interest (POI) from GSV panoramas.

Spelling Errors of Dyslexic Children in Bosnian Language With Transparent Orthography.

PubMed

Duranović, Mirela

The purpose of this study was to explore the nature of spelling errors made by children with dyslexia in Bosnian language with transparent orthography. Three main error categories were distinguished: phonological, orthographic, and grammatical errors. An analysis of error type showed 86% of phonological errors,10% of orthographic errors, and 4% of grammatical errors. Furthermore, the majority errors were the omissions and substitutions, followed by the insertions, omission of rules of assimilation by voicing, and errors with utilization of suffix. We can conclude that phonological errors were dominant in children with dyslexia at all grade levels.

Estimating instream constituent loads using replicate synoptic sampling, Peru Creek, Colorado

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Runkel, Robert L.; Walton-Day, Katherine; Kimball, Briant A.; Verplanck, Philip L.; Nimick, David A.

2013-05-01

SummaryThe synoptic mass balance approach is often used to evaluate constituent mass loading in streams affected by mine drainage. Spatial profiles of constituent mass load are used to identify sources of contamination and prioritize sites for remedial action. This paper presents a field scale study in which replicate synoptic sampling campaigns are used to quantify the aggregate uncertainty in constituent load that arises from (1) laboratory analyses of constituent and tracer concentrations, (2) field sampling error, and (3) temporal variation in concentration from diel constituent cycles and/or source variation. Consideration of these factors represents an advance in the application of the synoptic mass balance approach by placing error bars on estimates of constituent load and by allowing all sources of uncertainty to be quantified in aggregate; previous applications of the approach have provided only point estimates of constituent load and considered only a subset of the possible errors. Given estimates of aggregate uncertainty, site specific data and expert judgement may be used to qualitatively assess the contributions of individual factors to uncertainty. This assessment can be used to guide the collection of additional data to reduce uncertainty. Further, error bars provided by the replicate approach can aid the investigator in the interpretation of spatial loading profiles and the subsequent identification of constituent source areas within the watershed. The replicate sampling approach is applied to Peru Creek, a stream receiving acidic, metal-rich effluent from the Pennsylvania Mine. Other sources of acidity and metals within the study reach include a wetland area adjacent to the mine and tributary inflow from Cinnamon Gulch. Analysis of data collected under low-flow conditions indicates that concentrations of Al, Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb, and Zn in Peru Creek exceed aquatic life standards. Constituent loading within the study reach is dominated by effluent from the Pennsylvania Mine, with over 50% of the Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn loads attributable to a collapsed adit near the top of the study reach. These estimates of mass load may underestimate the effect of the Pennsylvania Mine as leakage from underground mine workings may contribute to metal loads that are currently attributed to the wetland area. This potential leakage confounds the evaluation of remedial options and additional research is needed to determine the magnitude and location of the leakage.

Estimating instream constituent loads using replicate synoptic sampling, Peru Creek, Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Runkel, Robert L.; Walton-Day, Katherine; Kimball, Briant A.; Verplanck, Philip L.; Nimick, David A.

2013-01-01

The synoptic mass balance approach is often used to evaluate constituent mass loading in streams affected by mine drainage. Spatial profiles of constituent mass load are used to identify sources of contamination and prioritize sites for remedial action. This paper presents a field scale study in which replicate synoptic sampling campaigns are used to quantify the aggregate uncertainty in constituent load that arises from (1) laboratory analyses of constituent and tracer concentrations, (2) field sampling error, and (3) temporal variation in concentration from diel constituent cycles and/or source variation. Consideration of these factors represents an advance in the application of the synoptic mass balance approach by placing error bars on estimates of constituent load and by allowing all sources of uncertainty to be quantified in aggregate; previous applications of the approach have provided only point estimates of constituent load and considered only a subset of the possible errors. Given estimates of aggregate uncertainty, site specific data and expert judgement may be used to qualitatively assess the contributions of individual factors to uncertainty. This assessment can be used to guide the collection of additional data to reduce uncertainty. Further, error bars provided by the replicate approach can aid the investigator in the interpretation of spatial loading profiles and the subsequent identification of constituent source areas within the watershed.The replicate sampling approach is applied to Peru Creek, a stream receiving acidic, metal-rich effluent from the Pennsylvania Mine. Other sources of acidity and metals within the study reach include a wetland area adjacent to the mine and tributary inflow from Cinnamon Gulch. Analysis of data collected under low-flow conditions indicates that concentrations of Al, Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb, and Zn in Peru Creek exceed aquatic life standards. Constituent loading within the study reach is dominated by effluent from the Pennsylvania Mine, with over 50% of the Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn loads attributable to a collapsed adit near the top of the study reach. These estimates of mass load may underestimate the effect of the Pennsylvania Mine as leakage from underground mine workings may contribute to metal loads that are currently attributed to the wetland area. This potential leakage confounds the evaluation of remedial options and additional research is needed to determine the magnitude and location of the leakage.

[Memorization of Sequences of Movements of the Right and the Left Hand by Right- and Left-Handers].

PubMed

Bobrova, E V; Bogacheva, I N; Lyakhovetskii, V A; Fabinskaja, A A; Fomina, E V

2015-01-01

We analyzed the errors of right- and left-handers when performing memorized sequences by the left or the right hand during the task which activates positional coding: after 6-10 times the order of movements changed (the positions remained the same during all task). The task was first performed by one ("initial") hand, and then by another one ("continuing"); there were 2 groups of right-handers and 2 groups of left-handers. It was found that the pattern of errors during the task performance by the initial hand is similar in right- and left-handers both for the dominant and non-dominant hand. The information about the previous positions after changing the order of elements is used in the sequences for subdominant hands and not used in the sequences for dominant ones. After changing the hand, right- and left-handers show different patterns of errors ("non-symmetrical"). Thus, the errors of right- and left-handers are "symmetrical" at the early stages of task performance, while the transfer of this motor skill in right-and left-handers occurs in different ways.

Galaxy–galaxy lensing estimators and their covariance properties

DOE PAGES

Singh, Sukhdeep; Mandelbaum, Rachel; Seljak, Uros; ...

2017-07-21

Here, we study the covariance properties of real space correlation function estimators – primarily galaxy–shear correlations, or galaxy–galaxy lensing – using SDSS data for both shear catalogues and lenses (specifically the BOSS LOWZ sample). Using mock catalogues of lenses and sources, we disentangle the various contributions to the covariance matrix and compare them with a simple analytical model. We show that not subtracting the lensing measurement around random points from the measurement around the lens sample is equivalent to performing the measurement using the lens density field instead of the lens overdensity field. While the measurement using the lens densitymore » field is unbiased (in the absence of systematics), its error is significantly larger due to an additional term in the covariance. Therefore, this subtraction should be performed regardless of its beneficial effects on systematics. Comparing the error estimates from data and mocks for estimators that involve the overdensity, we find that the errors are dominated by the shape noise and lens clustering, which empirically estimated covariances (jackknife and standard deviation across mocks) that are consistent with theoretical estimates, and that both the connected parts of the four-point function and the supersample covariance can be neglected for the current levels of noise. While the trade-off between different terms in the covariance depends on the survey configuration (area, source number density), the diagnostics that we use in this work should be useful for future works to test their empirically determined covariances.« less

Galaxy–galaxy lensing estimators and their covariance properties

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

Singh, Sukhdeep; Mandelbaum, Rachel; Seljak, Uros

Here, we study the covariance properties of real space correlation function estimators – primarily galaxy–shear correlations, or galaxy–galaxy lensing – using SDSS data for both shear catalogues and lenses (specifically the BOSS LOWZ sample). Using mock catalogues of lenses and sources, we disentangle the various contributions to the covariance matrix and compare them with a simple analytical model. We show that not subtracting the lensing measurement around random points from the measurement around the lens sample is equivalent to performing the measurement using the lens density field instead of the lens overdensity field. While the measurement using the lens densitymore » field is unbiased (in the absence of systematics), its error is significantly larger due to an additional term in the covariance. Therefore, this subtraction should be performed regardless of its beneficial effects on systematics. Comparing the error estimates from data and mocks for estimators that involve the overdensity, we find that the errors are dominated by the shape noise and lens clustering, which empirically estimated covariances (jackknife and standard deviation across mocks) that are consistent with theoretical estimates, and that both the connected parts of the four-point function and the supersample covariance can be neglected for the current levels of noise. While the trade-off between different terms in the covariance depends on the survey configuration (area, source number density), the diagnostics that we use in this work should be useful for future works to test their empirically determined covariances.« less

Galaxy-galaxy lensing estimators and their covariance properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, Sukhdeep; Mandelbaum, Rachel; Seljak, Uroš; Slosar, Anže; Vazquez Gonzalez, Jose

2017-11-01

We study the covariance properties of real space correlation function estimators - primarily galaxy-shear correlations, or galaxy-galaxy lensing - using SDSS data for both shear catalogues and lenses (specifically the BOSS LOWZ sample). Using mock catalogues of lenses and sources, we disentangle the various contributions to the covariance matrix and compare them with a simple analytical model. We show that not subtracting the lensing measurement around random points from the measurement around the lens sample is equivalent to performing the measurement using the lens density field instead of the lens overdensity field. While the measurement using the lens density field is unbiased (in the absence of systematics), its error is significantly larger due to an additional term in the covariance. Therefore, this subtraction should be performed regardless of its beneficial effects on systematics. Comparing the error estimates from data and mocks for estimators that involve the overdensity, we find that the errors are dominated by the shape noise and lens clustering, which empirically estimated covariances (jackknife and standard deviation across mocks) that are consistent with theoretical estimates, and that both the connected parts of the four-point function and the supersample covariance can be neglected for the current levels of noise. While the trade-off between different terms in the covariance depends on the survey configuration (area, source number density), the diagnostics that we use in this work should be useful for future works to test their empirically determined covariances.

Field evaluation of the error arising from inadequate time averaging in the standard use of depth-integrating suspended-sediment samplers

USGS Publications Warehouse

Topping, David J.; Rubin, David M.; Wright, Scott A.; Melis, Theodore S.

2011-01-01

Several common methods for measuring suspended-sediment concentration in rivers in the United States use depth-integrating samplers to collect a velocity-weighted suspended-sediment sample in a subsample of a river cross section. Because depth-integrating samplers are always moving through the water column as they collect a sample, and can collect only a limited volume of water and suspended sediment, they collect only minimally time-averaged data. Four sources of error exist in the field use of these samplers: (1) bed contamination, (2) pressure-driven inrush, (3) inadequate sampling of the cross-stream spatial structure in suspended-sediment concentration, and (4) inadequate time averaging. The first two of these errors arise from misuse of suspended-sediment samplers, and the third has been the subject of previous study using data collected in the sand-bedded Middle Loup River in Nebraska. Of these four sources of error, the least understood source of error arises from the fact that depth-integrating samplers collect only minimally time-averaged data. To evaluate this fourth source of error, we collected suspended-sediment data between 1995 and 2007 at four sites on the Colorado River in Utah and Arizona, using a P-61 suspended-sediment sampler deployed in both point- and one-way depth-integrating modes, and D-96-A1 and D-77 bag-type depth-integrating suspended-sediment samplers. These data indicate that the minimal duration of time averaging during standard field operation of depth-integrating samplers leads to an error that is comparable in magnitude to that arising from inadequate sampling of the cross-stream spatial structure in suspended-sediment concentration. This random error arising from inadequate time averaging is positively correlated with grain size and does not largely depend on flow conditions or, for a given size class of suspended sediment, on elevation above the bed. Averaging over time scales >1 minute is the likely minimum duration required to result in substantial decreases in this error. During standard two-way depth integration, a depth-integrating suspended-sediment sampler collects a sample of the water-sediment mixture during two transits at each vertical in a cross section: one transit while moving from the water surface to the bed, and another transit while moving from the bed to the water surface. As the number of transits is doubled at an individual vertical, this error is reduced by ~30 percent in each size class of suspended sediment. For a given size class of suspended sediment, the error arising from inadequate sampling of the cross-stream spatial structure in suspended-sediment concentration depends only on the number of verticals collected, whereas the error arising from inadequate time averaging depends on both the number of verticals collected and the number of transits collected at each vertical. Summing these two errors in quadrature yields a total uncertainty in an equal-discharge-increment (EDI) or equal-width-increment (EWI) measurement of the time-averaged velocity-weighted suspended-sediment concentration in a river cross section (exclusive of any laboratory-processing errors). By virtue of how the number of verticals and transits influences the two individual errors within this total uncertainty, the error arising from inadequate time averaging slightly dominates that arising from inadequate sampling of the cross-stream spatial structure in suspended-sediment concentration. Adding verticals to an EDI or EWI measurement is slightly more effective in reducing the total uncertainty than adding transits only at each vertical, because a new vertical contributes both temporal and spatial information. However, because collection of depth-integrated samples at more transits at each vertical is generally easier and faster than at more verticals, addition of a combination of verticals and transits is likely a more practical approach to reducing the total uncertainty in most field situatio

Determining the sample size for co-dominant molecular marker-assisted linkage detection for a monogenic qualitative trait by controlling the type-I and type-II errors in a segregating F2 population.

PubMed

Hühn, M; Piepho, H P

2003-03-01

Tests for linkage are usually performed using the lod score method. A critical question in linkage analyses is the choice of sample size. The appropriate sample size depends on the desired type-I error and power of the test. This paper investigates the exact type-I error and power of the lod score method in a segregating F(2) population with co-dominant markers and a qualitative monogenic dominant-recessive trait. For illustration, a disease-resistance trait is considered, where the susceptible allele is recessive. A procedure is suggested for finding the appropriate sample size. It is shown that recessive plants have about twice the information content of dominant plants, so the former should be preferred for linkage detection. In some cases the exact alpha-values for a given nominal alpha may be rather small due to the discrete nature of the sampling distribution in small samples. We show that a gain in power is possible by using exact methods.

Stress priming in reading and the selective modulation of lexical and sub-lexical pathways.

PubMed

Colombo, Lucia; Zevin, Jason

2009-09-29

Four experiments employed a priming methodology to investigate different mechanisms of stress assignment and how they are modulated by lexical and sub-lexical mechanisms in reading aloud in Italian. Lexical stress is unpredictable in Italian, and requires lexical look-up. The most frequent stress pattern (Dominant) is on the penultimate syllable [laVOro (work)], while stress on the antepenultimate syllable [MAcchina (car)] is relatively less frequent (non-Dominant). Word and pseudoword naming responses primed by words with non-dominant stress--which require whole-word knowledge to be read correctly--were compared to those primed by nonwords. Percentage of errors to words and percentage of dominant stress responses to nonwords were measured. In Experiments 1 and 2 stress errors increased for non-dominant stress words primed by nonwords, as compared to when they were primed by words. The results could be attributed to greater activation of sub-lexical codes, and an associated tendency to assign the dominant stress pattern by default in the nonword prime condition. Alternatively, they may have been the consequence of prosodic priming, inducing more errors on trials in which the stress pattern of primes and targets was not congruent. The two interpretations were investigated in Experiments 3 and 4. The results overall suggested a limited role of the default metrical pattern in word pronunciation, and showed clear effect of prosodic priming, but only when the sub-lexical mechanism prevailed.

Recognize PM2.5 sources and emission patterns via high-density sensor network: An application case in Beijing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ba, Yu tao; xian Liu, Bao; Sun, Feng; Wang, Li hua; Zhang, Da wei; Yin, Wen jun

2017-04-01

Beijing suffered severe air pollution during wintertime, 2016, with the unprecedented high level pollutants monitored. As the most dominant pollutant, fine particulate matter (PM2.5) was measured via high-density sensor network (>1000 fixed monitors across 16000 km2 area). This campaign provided precise observations (spatial resolution ≈ 3 km, temporal resolution = 10 min, error of measure < 5 ug/m3) to track potential emission sources. In addition, these observations coupled with WRF-Chem model (Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with Chemistry) were analyzed to elucidate the effects of atmospheric transportations across regions, both horizontal and vertical, on emission patterns during this haze period. The results quantified the main cause of regional transport and local emission, and highlighted the importance of cross-region cooperation in anti-pollution campaigns.

Predictors of Errors of Novice Java Programmers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bringula, Rex P.; Manabat, Geecee Maybelline A.; Tolentino, Miguel Angelo A.; Torres, Edmon L.

2012-01-01

This descriptive study determined which of the sources of errors would predict the errors committed by novice Java programmers. Descriptive statistics revealed that the respondents perceived that they committed the identified eighteen errors infrequently. Thought error was perceived to be the main source of error during the laboratory programming…

Uncertainty information in climate data records from Earth observation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Merchant, Christopher J.; Paul, Frank; Popp, Thomas; Ablain, Michael; Bontemps, Sophie; Defourny, Pierre; Hollmann, Rainer; Lavergne, Thomas; Laeng, Alexandra; de Leeuw, Gerrit; Mittaz, Jonathan; Poulsen, Caroline; Povey, Adam C.; Reuter, Max; Sathyendranath, Shubha; Sandven, Stein; Sofieva, Viktoria F.; Wagner, Wolfgang

2017-07-01

The question of how to derive and present uncertainty information in climate data records (CDRs) has received sustained attention within the European Space Agency Climate Change Initiative (CCI), a programme to generate CDRs addressing a range of essential climate variables (ECVs) from satellite data. Here, we review the nature, mathematics, practicalities, and communication of uncertainty information in CDRs from Earth observations. This review paper argues that CDRs derived from satellite-based Earth observation (EO) should include rigorous uncertainty information to support the application of the data in contexts such as policy, climate modelling, and numerical weather prediction reanalysis. Uncertainty, error, and quality are distinct concepts, and the case is made that CDR products should follow international metrological norms for presenting quantified uncertainty. As a baseline for good practice, total standard uncertainty should be quantified per datum in a CDR, meaning that uncertainty estimates should clearly discriminate more and less certain data. In this case, flags for data quality should not duplicate uncertainty information, but instead describe complementary information (such as the confidence in the uncertainty estimate provided or indicators of conditions violating the retrieval assumptions). The paper discusses the many sources of error in CDRs, noting that different errors may be correlated across a wide range of timescales and space scales. Error effects that contribute negligibly to the total uncertainty in a single-satellite measurement can be the dominant sources of uncertainty in a CDR on the large space scales and long timescales that are highly relevant for some climate applications. For this reason, identifying and characterizing the relevant sources of uncertainty for CDRs is particularly challenging. The characterization of uncertainty caused by a given error effect involves assessing the magnitude of the effect, the shape of the error distribution, and the propagation of the uncertainty to the geophysical variable in the CDR accounting for its error correlation properties. Uncertainty estimates can and should be validated as part of CDR validation when possible. These principles are quite general, but the approach to providing uncertainty information appropriate to different ECVs is varied, as confirmed by a brief review across different ECVs in the CCI. User requirements for uncertainty information can conflict with each other, and a variety of solutions and compromises are possible. The concept of an ensemble CDR as a simple means of communicating rigorous uncertainty information to users is discussed. Our review concludes by providing eight concrete recommendations for good practice in providing and communicating uncertainty in EO-based climate data records.

Analysis of earth rotation solution from Starlette

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schutz, B. E.; Cheng, M. K.; Shum, C. K.; Eanes, R. J.; Tapley, B. D.

1989-01-01

Earth rotation parameter (ERP) solutions were derived from the Starlette orbit analysis during the Main MERIT Campaign, using a technique of a consider-covariance analysis to assess the effects of errors on the polar motion solutions. The polar motion solution was then improved through the simultaneous adjustment of some dynamical parameters representing identified dominant perturbing sources (such as the geopotential and ocean-tide coefficients) on the polar motion solutions. Finally, an improved ERP solution was derived using the gravity field model, PTCF1, described by Tapley et al. (1986). The accuracy of the Starlette ERP solution was assessed by a comparison with the LAGEOS-derived ERP solutions.

Development of an FAA-EUROCONTROL technique for the analysis of human error in ATM : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2002-07-01

Human error has been identified as a dominant risk factor in safety-oriented industries such as air traffic control (ATC). However, little is known about the factors leading to human errors in current air traffic management (ATM) systems. The first s...

Thermochronology of mineral grains in the Red and Mekong Rivers, Vietnam: Provenance and exhumation implications for Southeast Asia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clift, Peter D.; Carter, Andrew; Campbell, Ian H.; Pringle, Malcolm S.; van Lap, Nguyen; Allen, Charlotte M.; Hodges, Kip V.; Tan, Mai Thanh

2006-10-01

Sand samples from the mouths of the Red and Mekong Rivers were analyzed to determine the provenance and exhumation history of their source regions. U-Pb dating of detrital zircon grains shows that the main sources comprise crust formed within the Yangtze Craton and during the Triassic Indosinian Orogeny. Indosinian grains in the Mekong are younger (210-240 Ma) than those in the Red River (230-290 Ma), suggesting preferential erosion of the Qiangtang Block of Tibet into the Mekong. The Red River has a higher proportion of 700-800 Ma grains originally derived from the Yangtze Craton. 40Ar/39Ar dating of muscovite grains demonstrates that rocks cooled during the Indosinian Orogeny are dominant in both rivers, although the Mekong also shows a grain population cooling at 150-200 Ma that is not seen in the Red River and which is probably of original Qiangtang Block origin. Conversely, the Red River contains a significant mica population (350-500 Ma) eroded from the Yangtze Craton. High-grade metamorphic rocks exposed in the Cenozoic shear zones of southeast Tibet-Yunnan are minority sources to the rivers. However, apatite and zircon fission track ages show evidence for the dominant sources, especially in the Red River, only being exhumed through the shallowest 5-3 km of the crust since ˜25 Ma. The thermochronology data are consistent with erosion of recycled sediment from the inverted Simao and Chuxiong Basins, from gorges that incise the eastern flank of the plateau. Average Neogene exhumation rates are 104-191 m/Myr in the Red River basin, which is within error of the 178 ± 35 m/Myr estimated from Pleistocene sediment volumes. Sparse fission track data from the Mekong River support the Ar-Ar and U-Pb ages in favoring tectonically driven rock uplift and gorge incision as the dominant control on erosion, with precipitation being an important secondary influence.

Vertical Crustal Motion Derived from Satellite Altimetry and Tide Gauges, and Comparisons with DORIS Measurements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ray, R. D.; Beckley, B. D.; Lemoine, F. G.

2010-01-01

A somewhat unorthodox method for determining vertical crustal motion at a tide-gauge location is to difference the sea level time series with an equivalent time series determined from satellite altimetry, To the extent that both instruments measure an identical ocean signal, the difference will be dominated by vertical land motion at the gauge. We revisit this technique by analyzing sea level signals at 28 tide gauges that are colocated with DORIS geodetic stations. Comparisons of altimeter-gauge vertical rates with DORIS rates yield a median difference of 1.8 mm/yr and a weighted root-mean-square difference of2.7 mm/yr. The latter suggests that our uncertainty estimates, which are primarily based on an assumed AR(l) noise process in all time series, underestimates the true errors. Several sources of additional error are discussed, including possible scale errors in the terrestrial reference frame to which altimeter-gauge rates are mostly insensitive, One of our stations, Male, Maldives, which has been the subject of some uninformed arguments about sea-level rise, is found to have almost no vertical motion, and thus is vulnerable to rising sea levels. Published by Elsevier Ltd. on behalf of COSPAR.

High accuracy satellite drag model (HASDM)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Storz, M.; Bowman, B.; Branson, J.

The dominant error source in the force models used to predict low perigee satellite trajectories is atmospheric drag. Errors in operational thermospheric density models cause significant errors in predicted satellite positions, since these models do not account for dynamic changes in atmospheric drag for orbit predictions. The Air Force Space Battlelab's High Accuracy Satellite Drag Model (HASDM) estimates and predicts (out three days) a dynamically varying high-resolution density field. HASDM includes the Dynamic Calibration Atmosphere (DCA) algorithm that solves for the phases and amplitudes of the diurnal, semidiurnal and terdiurnal variations of thermospheric density near real-time from the observed drag effects on a set of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) calibration satellites. The density correction is expressed as a function of latitude, local solar time and altitude. In HASDM, a time series prediction filter relates the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) energy index E10.7 and the geomagnetic storm index a p to the DCA density correction parameters. The E10.7 index is generated by the SOLAR2000 model, the first full spectrum model of solar irradiance. The estimated and predicted density fields will be used operationally to significantly improve the accuracy of predicted trajectories for all low perigee satellites.

High accuracy satellite drag model (HASDM)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Storz, Mark F.; Bowman, Bruce R.; Branson, Major James I.; Casali, Stephen J.; Tobiska, W. Kent

The dominant error source in force models used to predict low-perigee satellite trajectories is atmospheric drag. Errors in operational thermospheric density models cause significant errors in predicted satellite positions, since these models do not account for dynamic changes in atmospheric drag for orbit predictions. The Air Force Space Battlelab's High Accuracy Satellite Drag Model (HASDM) estimates and predicts (out three days) a dynamically varying global density field. HASDM includes the Dynamic Calibration Atmosphere (DCA) algorithm that solves for the phases and amplitudes of the diurnal and semidiurnal variations of thermospheric density near real-time from the observed drag effects on a set of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) calibration satellites. The density correction is expressed as a function of latitude, local solar time and altitude. In HASDM, a time series prediction filter relates the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) energy index E10.7 and the geomagnetic storm index ap, to the DCA density correction parameters. The E10.7 index is generated by the SOLAR2000 model, the first full spectrum model of solar irradiance. The estimated and predicted density fields will be used operationally to significantly improve the accuracy of predicted trajectories for all low-perigee satellites.

Stochastic modeling for time series InSAR: with emphasis on atmospheric effects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cao, Yunmeng; Li, Zhiwei; Wei, Jianchao; Hu, Jun; Duan, Meng; Feng, Guangcai

2018-02-01

Despite the many applications of time series interferometric synthetic aperture radar (TS-InSAR) techniques in geophysical problems, error analysis and assessment have been largely overlooked. Tropospheric propagation error is still the dominant error source of InSAR observations. However, the spatiotemporal variation of atmospheric effects is seldom considered in the present standard TS-InSAR techniques, such as persistent scatterer interferometry and small baseline subset interferometry. The failure to consider the stochastic properties of atmospheric effects not only affects the accuracy of the estimators, but also makes it difficult to assess the uncertainty of the final geophysical results. To address this issue, this paper proposes a network-based variance-covariance estimation method to model the spatiotemporal variation of tropospheric signals, and to estimate the temporal variance-covariance matrix of TS-InSAR observations. The constructed stochastic model is then incorporated into the TS-InSAR estimators both for parameters (e.g., deformation velocity, topography residual) estimation and uncertainty assessment. It is an incremental and positive improvement to the traditional weighted least squares methods to solve the multitemporal InSAR time series. The performance of the proposed method is validated by using both simulated and real datasets.

Exploring the Phenotype of Phonological Reading Disability as a Function of the Phonological Deficit Severity: Evidence from the Error Analysis Paradigm in Arabic

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taha, Haitham; Ibrahim, Raphiq; Khateb, Asaid

2014-01-01

The dominant error types were investigated as a function of phonological processing (PP) deficit severity in four groups of impaired readers. For this aim, an error analysis paradigm distinguishing between four error types was used. The findings revealed that the different types of impaired readers were characterized by differing predominant error…

Re-parameterization of a quasi-analytical algorithm for colored dissolved organic matter dominant inland waters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ogashawara, Igor; Mishra, Deepak R.; Nascimento, Renata F. F.; Alcântara, Enner H.; Kampel, Milton; Stech, Jose L.

2016-12-01

Quasi-Analytical Algorithms (QAAs) are based on radiative transfer equations and have been used to derive inherent optical properties (IOPs) from the above surface remote sensing reflectance (Rrs) in aquatic systems in which phytoplankton is the dominant optically active constituents (OACs). However, Colored Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM) and Non Algal Particles (NAP) can also be dominant OACs in water bodies and till now a QAA has not been parametrized for these aquatic systems. In this study, we compared the performance of three widely used QAAs in two CDOM dominated aquatic systems which were unsuccessful in retrieving the spectral shape of IOPS and produced minimum errors of 350% for the total absorption coefficient (a), 39% for colored dissolved matter absorption coefficient (aCDM) and 7566.33% for phytoplankton absorption coefficient (aphy). We re-parameterized a QAA for CDOM dominated (hereafter QAACDOM) waters which was able to not only achieve the spectral shape of the OACs absorption coefficients but also brought the error magnitude to a reasonable level. The average errors found for the 400-750 nm range were 30.71 and 14.51 for a, 14.89 and 8.95 for aCDM and 25.90 and 29.76 for aphy in Funil and Itumbiara Reservoirs, Brazil respectively. Although QAACDOM showed significant promise for retrieving IOPs in CDOM dominated waters, results indicated further tuning is needed in the estimation of a(λ) and aphy(λ). Successful retrieval of the absorption coefficients by QAACDOM would be very useful in monitoring the spatio-temporal variability of IOPS in CDOM dominated waters.

Medical professional liability insurance and its relation to medical error and healthcare risk management for the practicing physician.

PubMed

Abbott, Richard L; Weber, Paul; Kelley, Betsy

2005-12-01

To review the history and current issues surrounding medical professional liability insurance and its relationship to medical error and healthcare risk management. Focused literature review and authors' experience. Medical professional liability insurance issues are reviewed in association with the occurrence of medical error and the role of healthcare risk management. The rising frequency and severity of claims and lawsuits incurred by physicians, as well as escalating defense costs, have dramatically increased over the past several years and have resulted in accelerated efforts to reduce medical errors and control practice risk for physicians. Medical error reduction and improved patient outcomes are closely linked to the goals of the medical risk manager by reducing exposure to adverse medical events. Management of professional liability risk by the physician-led malpractice insurance company not only protects the economic viability of physicians, but also addresses patient safety concerns. Physician-owned malpractice liability insurance companies will continue to be the dominant providers of insurance for practicing physicians and will serve as the primary source for loss prevention and risk management services. To succeed in the marketplace, the emergence and importance of the risk manager and incorporation of risk management principles throughout the professional liability company has become crucial to the financial stability and success of the insurance company. The risk manager provides the necessary advice and support requested by physicians to minimize medical liability risk in their daily practice.

Self-calibration of photometric redshift scatter in weak-lensing surveys

DOE PAGES

Zhang, Pengjie; Pen, Ue -Li; Bernstein, Gary

2010-06-11

Photo-z errors, especially catastrophic errors, are a major uncertainty for precision weak lensing cosmology. We find that the shear-(galaxy number) density and density-density cross correlation measurements between photo-z bins, available from the same lensing surveys, contain valuable information for self-calibration of the scattering probabilities between the true-z and photo-z bins. The self-calibration technique we propose does not rely on cosmological priors nor parameterization of the photo-z probability distribution function, and preserves all of the cosmological information available from shear-shear measurement. We estimate the calibration accuracy through the Fisher matrix formalism. We find that, for advanced lensing surveys such as themore » planned stage IV surveys, the rate of photo-z outliers can be determined with statistical uncertainties of 0.01-1% for z < 2 galaxies. Among the several sources of calibration error that we identify and investigate, the galaxy distribution bias is likely the most dominant systematic error, whereby photo-z outliers have different redshift distributions and/or bias than non-outliers from the same bin. This bias affects all photo-z calibration techniques based on correlation measurements. As a result, galaxy bias variations of O(0.1) produce biases in photo-z outlier rates similar to the statistical errors of our method, so this galaxy distribution bias may bias the reconstructed scatters at several-σ level, but is unlikely to completely invalidate the self-calibration technique.« less

A statistical study of radio-source structure effects on astrometric very long baseline interferometry observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ulvestad, J. S.

1989-01-01

Errors from a number of sources in astrometric very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) have been reduced in recent years through a variety of methods of calibration and modeling. Such reductions have led to a situation in which the extended structure of the natural radio sources used in VLBI is a significant error source in the effort to improve the accuracy of the radio reference frame. In the past, work has been done on individual radio sources to establish the magnitude of the errors caused by their particular structures. The results of calculations on 26 radio sources are reported in which an effort is made to determine the typical delay and delay-rate errors for a number of sources having different types of structure. It is found that for single observations of the types of radio sources present in astrometric catalogs, group-delay and phase-delay scatter in the 50 to 100 psec range due to source structure can be expected at 8.4 GHz on the intercontinental baselines available in the Deep Space Network (DSN). Delay-rate scatter of approx. 5 x 10(exp -15) sec sec(exp -1) (or approx. 0.002 mm sec (exp -1) is also expected. If such errors mapped directly into source position errors, they would correspond to position uncertainties of approx. 2 to 5 nrad, similar to the best position determinations in the current JPL VLBI catalog. With the advent of wider bandwidth VLBI systems on the large DSN antennas, the system noise will be low enough so that the structure-induced errors will be a significant part of the error budget. Several possibilities for reducing the structure errors are discussed briefly, although it is likely that considerable effort will have to be devoted to the structure problem in order to reduce the typical error by a factor of two or more.

Calculation of surface and top of atmosphere radiative fluxes from physical quantities based on ISCCP data sets. 1: Method and sensitivity to input data uncertainties

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zhang, Y.-C.; Rossow, W. B.; Lacis, A. A.

1995-01-01

The largest uncertainty in upwelling shortwave (SW) fluxes (approximately equal 10-15 W/m(exp 2), regional daily mean) is caused by uncertainties in land surface albedo, whereas the largest uncertainty in downwelling SW at the surface (approximately equal 5-10 W/m(exp 2), regional daily mean) is related to cloud detection errors. The uncertainty of upwelling longwave (LW) fluxes (approximately 10-20 W/m(exp 2), regional daily mean) depends on the accuracy of the surface temperature for the surface LW fluxes and the atmospheric temperature for the top of atmosphere LW fluxes. The dominant source of uncertainty is downwelling LW fluxes at the surface (approximately equal 10-15 W/m(exp 2)) is uncertainty in atmospheric temperature and, secondarily, atmospheric humidity; clouds play little role except in the polar regions. The uncertainties of the individual flux components and the total net fluxes are largest over land (15-20 W/m(exp 2)) because of uncertainties in surface albedo (especially its spectral dependence) and surface temperature and emissivity (including its spectral dependence). Clouds are the most important modulator of the SW fluxes, but over land areas, uncertainties in net SW at the surface depend almost as much on uncertainties in surface albedo. Although atmospheric and surface temperature variations cause larger LW flux variations, the most notable feature of the net LW fluxes is the changing relative importance of clouds and water vapor with latitude. Uncertainty in individual flux values is dominated by sampling effects because of large natrual variations, but uncertainty in monthly mean fluxes is dominated by bias errors in the input quantities.

North Alabama Lightning Mapping Array (LMA): VHF Source Retrieval Algorithm and Error Analyses

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Koshak, W. J.; Solakiewicz, R. J.; Blakeslee, R. J.; Goodman, S. J.; Christian, H. J.; Hall, J.; Bailey, J.; Krider, E. P.; Bateman, M. G.; Boccippio, D.

2003-01-01

Two approaches are used to characterize how accurately the North Alabama Lightning Mapping Array (LMA) is able to locate lightning VHF sources in space and in time. The first method uses a Monte Carlo computer simulation to estimate source retrieval errors. The simulation applies a VHF source retrieval algorithm that was recently developed at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) and that is similar, but not identical to, the standard New Mexico Tech retrieval algorithm. The second method uses a purely theoretical technique (i.e., chi-squared Curvature Matrix Theory) to estimate retrieval errors. Both methods assume that the LMA system has an overall rms timing error of 50 ns, but all other possible errors (e.g., multiple sources per retrieval attempt) are neglected. The detailed spatial distributions of retrieval errors are provided. Given that the two methods are completely independent of one another, it is shown that they provide remarkably similar results. However, for many source locations, the Curvature Matrix Theory produces larger altitude error estimates than the (more realistic) Monte Carlo simulation.

Fiber-optic projected-fringe digital interferometry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mercer, Carolyn R.; Beheim, Glenn

1990-01-01

A phase-stepped projected-fringe interferometer was developed which uses a closed-loop fiber-optic phase-control system to make very accurate surface profile measurements. The closed-loop phase-control system greatly reduces phase-stepping error, which is frequently the dominant source of error in digital interferometers. Two beams emitted from a fiber-optic coupler are combined to form an interference fringe pattern on a diffusely reflecting object. Reflections off of the fibers' output faces are used to create a phase-indicating signal for the closed-loop optical phase controller. The controller steps the phase difference between the two beams by pi/2 radians in order to determine the object's surface profile using a solid-state camera and a computer. The system combines the ease of alignment and automated data reduction of phase-stepping projected-fringe interferometry with the greatly improved phase-stepping accuracy of our closed-loop phase-controller. The system is demonstrated by measuring the profile of a plate containing several convex surfaces whose heights range from 15 to 25 micron high.

Open Label Extension of ISIS 301012 (Mipomersen) to Treat Familial Hypercholesterolemia

ClinicalTrials.gov

2016-08-01

Lipid Metabolism, Inborn Errors; Hypercholesterolemia, Autosomal Dominant; Hyperlipidemias; Metabolic Diseases; Hyperlipoproteinemia Type II; Metabolism, Inborn Errors; Genetic Diseases, Inborn; Infant, Newborn, Diseases; Metabolic Disorder; Congenital Abnormalities; Hypercholesterolemia; Hyperlipoproteinemias; Dyslipidemias; Lipid Metabolism Disorders

EXTRAGALACTIC MILLIMETER-WAVE SOURCES IN SOUTH POLE TELESCOPE SURVEY DATA: SOURCE COUNTS, CATALOG, AND STATISTICS FOR AN 87 SQUARE-DEGREE FIELD

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

Vieira, J. D.; Crawford, T. M.; Switzer, E. R.

2010-08-10

We report the results of an 87 deg{sup 2} point-source survey centered at R.A. 5{sup h}30{sup m}, decl. -55{sup 0} taken with the South Pole Telescope at 1.4 and 2.0 mm wavelengths with arcminute resolution and milli-Jansky depth. Based on the ratio of flux in the two bands, we separate the detected sources into two populations, one consistent with synchrotron emission from active galactic nuclei and the other consistent with thermal emission from dust. We present source counts for each population from 11 to 640 mJy at 1.4 mm and from 4.4 to 800 mJy at 2.0 mm. The 2.0more » mm counts are dominated by synchrotron-dominated sources across our reported flux range; the 1.4 mm counts are dominated by synchrotron-dominated sources above {approx}15 mJy and by dust-dominated sources below that flux level. We detect 141 synchrotron-dominated sources and 47 dust-dominated sources at signal-to-noise ratio S/N >4.5 in at least one band. All of the most significantly detected members of the synchrotron-dominated population are associated with sources in previously published radio catalogs. Some of the dust-dominated sources are associated with nearby (z << 1) galaxies whose dust emission is also detected by the Infrared Astronomy Satellite. However, most of the bright, dust-dominated sources have no counterparts in any existing catalogs. We argue that these sources represent the rarest and brightest members of the population commonly referred to as submillimeter galaxies (SMGs). Because these sources are selected at longer wavelengths than in typical SMG surveys, they are expected to have a higher mean redshift distribution and may provide a new window on galaxy formation in the early universe.« less

Measurement uncertainty and feasibility study of a flush airdata system for a hypersonic flight experiment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Whitmore, Stephen A.; Moes, Timothy R.

1994-01-01

Presented is a feasibility and error analysis for a hypersonic flush airdata system on a hypersonic flight experiment (HYFLITE). HYFLITE heating loads make intrusive airdata measurement impractical. Although this analysis is specifically for the HYFLITE vehicle and trajectory, the problems analyzed are generally applicable to hypersonic vehicles. A layout of the flush-port matrix is shown. Surface pressures are related airdata parameters using a simple aerodynamic model. The model is linearized using small perturbations and inverted using nonlinear least-squares. Effects of various error sources on the overall uncertainty are evaluated using an error simulation. Error sources modeled include boundarylayer/viscous interactions, pneumatic lag, thermal transpiration in the sensor pressure tubing, misalignment in the matrix layout, thermal warping of the vehicle nose, sampling resolution, and transducer error. Using simulated pressure data for input to the estimation algorithm, effects caused by various error sources are analyzed by comparing estimator outputs with the original trajectory. To obtain ensemble averages the simulation is run repeatedly and output statistics are compiled. Output errors resulting from the various error sources are presented as a function of Mach number. Final uncertainties with all modeled error sources included are presented as a function of Mach number.

Implications of a wavelength-dependent PSF for weak lensing measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eriksen, Martin; Hoekstra, Henk

2018-07-01

The convolution of galaxy images by the point spread function (PSF) is the dominant source of bias for weak gravitational lensing studies, and an accurate estimate of the PSF is required to obtain unbiased shape measurements. The PSF estimate for a galaxy depends on its spectral energy distribution (SED), because the instrumental PSF is generally a function of the wavelength. In this paper we explore various approaches to determine the resulting `effective' PSF using broad-band data. Considering the Euclid mission as a reference, we find that standard SED template fitting methods result in biases that depend on source redshift, although this may be remedied if the algorithms can be optimized for this purpose. Using a machine learning algorithm we show that, at least in principle, the required accuracy can be achieved with the current survey parameters. It is also possible to account for the correlations between photometric redshift and PSF estimates that arise from the use of the same photometry. We explore the impact of errors in photometric calibration, errors in the assumed wavelength dependence of the PSF model, and limitations of the adopted template libraries. Our results indicate that the required accuracy for Euclid can be achieved using the data that are planned to determine photometric redshifts.

Implications of a wavelength dependent PSF for weak lensing measurements.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eriksen, Martin; Hoekstra, Henk

2018-05-01

The convolution of galaxy images by the point-spread function (PSF) is the dominant source of bias for weak gravitational lensing studies, and an accurate estimate of the PSF is required to obtain unbiased shape measurements. The PSF estimate for a galaxy depends on its spectral energy distribution (SED), because the instrumental PSF is generally a function of the wavelength. In this paper we explore various approaches to determine the resulting `effective' PSF using broad-band data. Considering the Euclid mission as a reference, we find that standard SED template fitting methods result in biases that depend on source redshift, although this may be remedied if the algorithms can be optimised for this purpose. Using a machine-learning algorithm we show that, at least in principle, the required accuracy can be achieved with the current survey parameters. It is also possible to account for the correlations between photometric redshift and PSF estimates that arise from the use of the same photometry. We explore the impact of errors in photometric calibration, errors in the assumed wavelength dependence of the PSF model and limitations of the adopted template libraries. Our results indicate that the required accuracy for Euclid can be achieved using the data that are planned to determine photometric redshifts.

A global positioning measurement system for regional geodesy in the caribbean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Renzetti, N. A.

1986-11-01

Low cost, portable receivers using signals from satellites of the Global Positioning System (GPS) will enable precision geodetic observations to be made on a large scale. A number of important geophysical questions relating to plate-motion kinematics and dynamics can be addressed with this measurement capability. We describe a plan to design and validate a GPS-based geodetic system, and to demonstrate its capability in California, Mexico and the Caribbean region. The Caribbean program is a prototype for a number of regional geodetic networks to be globally distributed. In 1985, efforts will be concentrated on understanding and minimizing error sources. Two dominant sources of error are uncertainties in the orbit ephemeris of the GPS satellites, and uncertainties in the correction for signal delay due to variable tropospheric water vapor. Orbit ephemeris uncertainties can be minimized by performing simultaneous satellite observations with GPS receivers at known (fiducial) points. Water vapor corrections can be made by performing simultaneous line-of-sight measurements of integrated water vapor content with ground-based water vapor radiometers. Specific experiments to validate both concepts are outlined. Caribbean measurements will begin in late 1985 or early 1986. Key areas of measurement are the northern strike-slip boundary, and the western convergent boundary. Specific measurement plans in both regions are described.

Maximizing the Detection Probability of Kilonovae Associated with Gravitational Wave Observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chan, Man Leong; Hu, Yi-Ming; Messenger, Chris; Hendry, Martin; Heng, Ik Siong

2017-01-01

Estimates of the source sky location for gravitational wave signals are likely to span areas of up to hundreds of square degrees or more, making it very challenging for most telescopes to search for counterpart signals in the electromagnetic spectrum. To boost the chance of successfully observing such counterparts, we have developed an algorithm that optimizes the number of observing fields and their corresponding time allocations by maximizing the detection probability. As a proof-of-concept demonstration, we optimize follow-up observations targeting kilonovae using telescopes including the CTIO-Dark Energy Camera, Subaru-HyperSuprimeCam, Pan-STARRS, and the Palomar Transient Factory. We consider three simulated gravitational wave events with 90% credible error regions spanning areas from ∼ 30 {\\deg }2 to ∼ 300 {\\deg }2. Assuming a source at 200 {Mpc}, we demonstrate that to obtain a maximum detection probability, there is an optimized number of fields for any particular event that a telescope should observe. To inform future telescope design studies, we present the maximum detection probability and corresponding number of observing fields for a combination of limiting magnitudes and fields of view over a range of parameters. We show that for large gravitational wave error regions, telescope sensitivity rather than field of view is the dominating factor in maximizing the detection probability.

Determination of Barometric Altimeter Errors for the Orion Exploration Flight Test-1 Entry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brown, Denise L.; Munoz, Jean-Philippe; Gay, Robert

2011-01-01

The EFT-1 mission is the unmanned flight test for the upcoming Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV). During entry, the EFT-1 vehicle will trigger several Landing and Recovery System (LRS) events, such as parachute deployment, based on onboard altitude information. The primary altitude source is the filtered navigation solution updated with GPS measurement data. The vehicle also has three barometric altimeters that will be used to measure atmospheric pressure during entry. In the event that GPS data is not available during entry, the altitude derived from the barometric altimeter pressure will be used to trigger chute deployment for the drogues and main parachutes. Therefore it is important to understand the impact of error sources on the pressure measured by the barometric altimeters and on the altitude derived from that pressure. There are four primary error sources impacting the sensed pressure: sensor errors, Analog to Digital conversion errors, aerodynamic errors, and atmosphere modeling errors. This last error source is induced by the conversion from pressure to altitude in the vehicle flight software, which requires an atmosphere model such as the US Standard 1976 Atmosphere model. There are several secondary error sources as well, such as waves, tides, and latencies in data transmission. Typically, for error budget calculations it is assumed that all error sources are independent, normally distributed variables. Thus, the initial approach to developing the EFT-1 barometric altimeter altitude error budget was to create an itemized error budget under these assumptions. This budget was to be verified by simulation using high fidelity models of the vehicle hardware and software. The simulation barometric altimeter model includes hardware error sources and a data-driven model of the aerodynamic errors expected to impact the pressure in the midbay compartment in which the sensors are located. The aerodynamic model includes the pressure difference between the midbay compartment and the free stream pressure as a function of altitude, oscillations in sensed pressure due to wake effects, and an acoustics model capturing fluctuations in pressure due to motion of the passive vents separating the barometric altimeters from the outside of the vehicle.

Dependence of neoclassical toroidal viscosity on the poloidal spectrum of applied nonaxisymmetric fields

DOE PAGES

Logan, Nikolas C.; Park, Jong -Kyu; Paz-Soldan, Carloa; ...

2016-02-05

This paper presents a single mode model that accurately predicts the coupling of applied nonaxisymmetric fields to the plasma response that induces neoclassical toroidal viscosity (NTV) torque in DIII-D H-mode plasmas. The torque is measured and modeled to have a sinusoidal dependence on the relative phase of multiple nonaxisymmetric field sources, including a minimum in which large amounts of nonaxisymmetric drive is decoupled from the NTV torque. This corresponds to the coupling and decoupling of the applied field to a NTV-driving mode spectrum. Modeling using the perturbed equilibrium nonambipolar transport (PENT) code confirms an effective single mode coupling between themore » applied field and the resultant torque, despite its inherent nonlinearity. Lastly, the coupling to the NTV mode is shown to have a similar dependence on the relative phasing as that of the IPEC dominant mode, providing a physical basis for the efficacy of this linear metric in predicting error field correction optima in NTV dominated regimes.« less

Dependence of neoclassical toroidal viscosity on the poloidal spectrum of applied nonaxisymmetric fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Logan, N. C.; Park, J.-K.; Paz-Soldan, C.; Lanctot, M. J.; Smith, S. P.; Burrell, K. H.

2016-03-01

This paper presents a single mode model that accurately predicts the coupling of applied nonaxisymmetric fields to the plasma response that induces neoclassical toroidal viscosity (NTV) torque in DIII-D H-mode plasmas. The torque is measured and modeled to have a sinusoidal dependence on the relative phase of multiple nonaxisymmetric field sources, including a minimum in which large amounts of nonaxisymmetric drive is decoupled from the NTV torque. This corresponds to the coupling and decoupling of the applied field to a NTV-driving mode spectrum. Modeling using the perturbed equilibrium nonambipolar transport (PENT) code confirms an effective single mode coupling between the applied field and the resultant torque, despite its inherent nonlinearity. The coupling to the NTV mode is shown to have a similar dependence on the relative phasing as that of the IPEC dominant mode, providing a physical basis for the efficacy of this linear metric in predicting error field correction optima in NTV dominated regimes.

[Measurement of atomic number of alkali vapor and pressure of buffer gas based on atomic absorption].

PubMed

Zheng, Hui-jie; Quan, Wei; Liu, Xiang; Chen, Yao; Lu, Ji-xi

2015-02-01

High sensitivitymagnetic measurementscanbe achieved by utilizing atomic spinmanipulation in the spin-exchange-relaxation-free (SERF) regime, which uses an alkali cell as a sensing element. The atomic number density of the alkali vapor and the pressure of the buffer gasare among the most important parameters of the cell andrequire accurate measurement. A method has been proposed and developedto measure the atomic number density and the pressure based on absorption spectroscopy, by sweeping the absorption line and fittingthe experiment data with a Lorentzian profile to obtainboth parameters. Due to Doppler broadening and pressure broadening, which is mainly dominated by the temperature of the cell and the pressure of buffer gas respectively, this work demonstrates a simulation of the errorbetween the peaks of the Lorentzian profile and the Voigt profile caused by bothfactors. The results indicates that the Doppler broadening contribution is insignificant with an error less than 0.015% at 313-513 K for a 4He density of 2 amg, and an error of 0.1% in the presence of 0.6-5 amg at 393 K. We conclude that the Doppler broadening could be ignored under above conditions, and that the Lorentzianprofile is suitably applied to fit the absorption spectrumobtainingboth parameters simultaneously. In addition we discuss the resolution and the instability due to thelight source, wavelength and the temperature of the cell. We find that the cell temperature, whose uncertainty is two orders of magnitude larger than the instability of the light source and the wavelength, is one of the main factors which contributes to the error.

Characterization Approaches to Place Invariant Sites on SI-Traceable Scales

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thome, Kurtis

2012-01-01

The effort to understand the Earth's climate system requires a complete integration of remote sensing imager data across time and multiple countries. Such an integration necessarily requires ensuring inter-consistency between multiple sensors to create the data sets needed to understand the climate system. Past efforts at inter-consistency have forced agreement between two sensors using sources that are viewed by both sensors at nearly the same time, and thus tend to be near polar regions over snow and ice. The current work describes a method that would provide an absolute radiometric calibration of a sensor rather than an inter-consistency of a sensor relative to another. The approach also relies on defensible error budgets that eventually provides a cross comparison of sensors without systematic errors. The basis of the technique is a model-based, SI-traceable prediction of at-sensor radiance over selected sites. The predicted radiance would be valid for arbitrary view and illumination angles and for any date of interest that is dominated by clear-sky conditions. The effort effectively works to characterize the sites as sources with known top-of-atmosphere radiance allowing accurate intercomparison of sensor data that without the need for coincident views. Data from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection and Radiometer (ASTER), Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+), and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) are used to demonstrate the difficulties of cross calibration as applied to current sensors. Special attention is given to the differences caused in the cross-comparison of sensors in radiance space as opposed to reflectance space. The radiance comparisons lead to significant differences created by the specific solar model used for each sensor. The paper also proposes methods to mitigate the largest error sources in future systems. The results from these historical intercomparisons provide the basis for a set of recommendations to ensure future SI-traceable cross calibration using future missions such as CLARREO and TRUTHS. The paper describes a proposed approach that relies on model-based, SI-traceable predictions of at-sensor radiance over selected sites. The predicted radiance would be valid for arbitrary view and illumination angles and for any date of interest that is dominated by clear-sky conditions. The basis of the method is highly accurate measurements of at-sensor radiance of sufficient quality to understand the spectral and BRDF characteristics of the site and sufficient historical data to develop an understanding of temporal effects from changing surface and atmospheric conditions.

A Linguistic Analysis of Errors in the Compositions of Arba Minch University Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tizazu, Yoseph

2014-01-01

This study reports the dominant linguistic errors that occur in the written productions of Arba Minch University (hereafter AMU) students. A sample of paragraphs was collected for two years from students ranging from freshmen to graduating level. The sampled compositions were then coded, described, and explained using error analysis method. Both…

Field errors in hybrid insertion devices

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

Schlueter, R.D.

1995-02-01

Hybrid magnet theory as applied to the error analyses used in the design of Advanced Light Source (ALS) insertion devices is reviewed. Sources of field errors in hybrid insertion devices are discussed.

Study to Assess the Safety and Efficacy of ISIS 301012 (Mipomersen) in Homozygous Familial Hypercholesterolemia

ClinicalTrials.gov

2016-08-01

Lipid Metabolism, Inborn Errors; Hypercholesterolemia, Autosomal Dominant; Hyperlipidemias; Metabolic Diseases; Hyperlipoproteinemia Type II; Metabolism, Inborn Errors; Genetic Diseases, Inborn; Infant, Newborn, Diseases; Metabolic Disorder; Congenital Abnormalities; Hypercholesterolemia; Hyperlipoproteinemias; Dyslipidemias; Lipid Metabolism Disorders

Effects of Optical Combiner and IPD Change for Convergence on Near-Field Depth Perception in an Optical See-Through HMD.

PubMed

Lee, Sangyoon; Hu, Xinda; Hua, Hong

2016-05-01

Many error sources have been explored in regards to the depth perception problem in augmented reality environments using optical see-through head-mounted displays (OST-HMDs). Nonetheless, two error sources are commonly neglected: the ray-shift phenomenon and the change in interpupillary distance (IPD). The first source of error arises from the difference in refraction for virtual and see-through optical paths caused by an optical combiner, which is required of OST-HMDs. The second occurs from the change in the viewer's IPD due to eye convergence. In this paper, we analyze the effects of these two error sources on near-field depth perception and propose methods to compensate for these two types of errors. Furthermore, we investigate their effectiveness through an experiment comparing the conditions with and without our error compensation methods applied. In our experiment, participants estimated the egocentric depth of a virtual and a physical object located at seven different near-field distances (40∼200 cm) using a perceptual matching task. Although the experimental results showed different patterns depending on the target distance, the results demonstrated that the near-field depth perception error can be effectively reduced to a very small level (at most 1 percent error) by compensating for the two mentioned error sources.

Meteorological Error Budget Using Open Source Data

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-09-01

ARL-TR-7831 ● SEP 2016 US Army Research Laboratory Meteorological Error Budget Using Open- Source Data by J Cogan, J Smith, P...needed. Do not return it to the originator. ARL-TR-7831 ● SEP 2016 US Army Research Laboratory Meteorological Error Budget Using...Error Budget Using Open-Source Data 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S) J Cogan, J Smith, P Haines

Error Sources in Asteroid Astrometry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Owen, William M., Jr.

2000-01-01

Asteroid astrometry, like any other scientific measurement process, is subject to both random and systematic errors, not all of which are under the observer's control. To design an astrometric observing program or to improve an existing one requires knowledge of the various sources of error, how different errors affect one's results, and how various errors may be minimized by careful observation or data reduction techniques.

The use of source memory to identify one's own episodic confusion errors.

PubMed

Smith, S M; Tindell, D R; Pierce, B H; Gilliland, T R; Gerkens, D R

2001-03-01

In 4 category cued recall experiments, participants falsely recalled nonlist common members, a semantic confusion error. Errors were more likely if critical nonlist words were presented on an incidental task, causing source memory failures called episodic confusion errors. Participants could better identify the source of falsely recalled words if they had deeply processed the words on the incidental task. For deep but not shallow processing, participants could reliably include or exclude incidentally shown category members in recall. The illusion that critical items actually appeared on categorized lists was diminished but not eradicated when participants identified episodic confusion errors post hoc among their own recalled responses; participants often believed that critical items had been on both the incidental task and the study list. Improved source monitoring can potentially mitigate episodic (but not semantic) confusion errors.

Audit of the global carbon budget: estimate errors and their impact on uptake uncertainty

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ballantyne, A. P.; Andres, R.; Houghton, R.; Stocker, B. D.; Wanninkhof, R.; Anderegg, W.; Cooper, L. A.; DeGrandpre, M.; Tans, P. P.; Miller, J. B.; Alden, C.; White, J. W. C.

2015-04-01

Over the last 5 decades monitoring systems have been developed to detect changes in the accumulation of carbon (C) in the atmosphere and ocean; however, our ability to detect changes in the behavior of the global C cycle is still hindered by measurement and estimate errors. Here we present a rigorous and flexible framework for assessing the temporal and spatial components of estimate errors and their impact on uncertainty in net C uptake by the biosphere. We present a novel approach for incorporating temporally correlated random error into the error structure of emission estimates. Based on this approach, we conclude that the 2σ uncertainties of the atmospheric growth rate have decreased from 1.2 Pg C yr-1 in the 1960s to 0.3 Pg C yr-1 in the 2000s due to an expansion of the atmospheric observation network. The 2σ uncertainties in fossil fuel emissions have increased from 0.3 Pg C yr-1 in the 1960s to almost 1.0 Pg C yr-1 during the 2000s due to differences in national reporting errors and differences in energy inventories. Lastly, while land use emissions have remained fairly constant, their errors still remain high and thus their global C uptake uncertainty is not trivial. Currently, the absolute errors in fossil fuel emissions rival the total emissions from land use, highlighting the extent to which fossil fuels dominate the global C budget. Because errors in the atmospheric growth rate have decreased faster than errors in total emissions have increased, a ~20% reduction in the overall uncertainty of net C global uptake has occurred. Given all the major sources of error in the global C budget that we could identify, we are 93% confident that terrestrial C uptake has increased and 97% confident that ocean C uptake has increased over the last 5 decades. Thus, it is clear that arguably one of the most vital ecosystem services currently provided by the biosphere is the continued removal of approximately half of atmospheric CO2 emissions from the atmosphere, although there are certain environmental costs associated with this service, such as the acidification of ocean waters.

Discovery of Periodic Dips in the Brightest Hard X-Ray Source of M31 with EXTraS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marelli, Martino; Tiengo, Andrea; De Luca, Andrea; Salvetti, David; Saronni, Luca; Sidoli, Lara; Paizis, Adamantia; Salvaterra, Ruben; Belfiore, Andrea; Israel, Gianluca; Haberl, Frank; D’Agostino, Daniele

2017-12-01

We performed a search for eclipsing and dipping sources in the archive of the EXTraS project—a systematic characterization of the temporal behavior of XMM-Newton point sources. We discovered dips in the X-ray light curve of 3XMM J004232.1+411314, which has been recently associated with the hard X-ray source dominating the emission of M31. A systematic analysis of XMM-Newton observations revealed 13 dips in 40 observations (total exposure time of ∼0.8 Ms). Among them, four observations show two dips, separated by ∼4.01 hr. Dip depths and durations are variable. The dips occur only during low-luminosity states ({L}0.2{--12}< 1× {10}38 erg s‑1), while the source reaches {L}0.2{--12}∼ 2.8× {10}38 erg s‑1. We propose that this system is a new dipping low-mass X-ray binary in M31 seen at high inclination (60°–80°) the observed dipping periodicity is the orbital period of the system. A blue HST source within the Chandra error circle is the most likely optical counterpart of the accretion disk. The high luminosity of the system makes it the most luminous (not ULX) dipper known to date.

REANALYSIS OF F-STATISTIC GRAVITATIONAL-WAVE SEARCHES WITH THE HIGHER CRITICISM STATISTIC

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

Bennett, M. F.; Melatos, A.; Delaigle, A.

2013-04-01

We propose a new method of gravitational-wave detection using a modified form of higher criticism, a statistical technique introduced by Donoho and Jin. Higher criticism is designed to detect a group of sparse, weak sources, none of which are strong enough to be reliably estimated or detected individually. We apply higher criticism as a second-pass method to synthetic F-statistic and C-statistic data for a monochromatic periodic source in a binary system and quantify the improvement relative to the first-pass methods. We find that higher criticism on C-statistic data is more sensitive by {approx}6% than the C-statistic alone under optimal conditionsmore » (i.e., binary orbit known exactly) and the relative advantage increases as the error in the orbital parameters increases. Higher criticism is robust even when the source is not monochromatic (e.g., phase-wandering in an accreting system). Applying higher criticism to a phase-wandering source over multiple time intervals gives a {approx}> 30% increase in detectability with few assumptions about the frequency evolution. By contrast, in all-sky searches for unknown periodic sources, which are dominated by the brightest source, second-pass higher criticism does not provide any benefits over a first-pass search.« less

The prediction of satellite ephemeris errors as they result from surveillance system measurement errors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simmons, B. E.

1981-08-01

This report derives equations predicting satellite ephemeris error as a function of measurement errors of space-surveillance sensors. These equations lend themselves to rapid computation with modest computer resources. They are applicable over prediction times such that measurement errors, rather than uncertainties of atmospheric drag and of Earth shape, dominate in producing ephemeris error. This report describes the specialization of these equations underlying the ANSER computer program, SEEM (Satellite Ephemeris Error Model). The intent is that this report be of utility to users of SEEM for interpretive purposes, and to computer programmers who may need a mathematical point of departure for limited generalization of SEEM.

Uncertainty Analyses for Back Projection Methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zeng, H.; Wei, S.; Wu, W.

2017-12-01

So far few comprehensive error analyses for back projection methods have been conducted, although it is evident that high frequency seismic waves can be easily affected by earthquake depth, focal mechanisms and the Earth's 3D structures. Here we perform 1D and 3D synthetic tests for two back projection methods, MUltiple SIgnal Classification (MUSIC) (Meng et al., 2011) and Compressive Sensing (CS) (Yao et al., 2011). We generate synthetics for both point sources and finite rupture sources with different depths, focal mechanisms, as well as 1D and 3D structures in the source region. The 3D synthetics are generated through a hybrid scheme of Direct Solution Method and Spectral Element Method. Then we back project the synthetic data using MUSIC and CS. The synthetic tests show that the depth phases can be back projected as artificial sources both in space and time. For instance, for a source depth of 10km, back projection gives a strong signal 8km away from the true source. Such bias increases with depth, e.g., the error of horizontal location could be larger than 20km for a depth of 40km. If the array is located around the nodal direction of direct P-waves the teleseismic P-waves are dominated by the depth phases. Therefore, back projections are actually imaging the reflection points of depth phases more than the rupture front. Besides depth phases, the strong and long lasted coda waves due to 3D effects near trench can lead to additional complexities tested here. The strength contrast of different frequency contents in the rupture models also produces some variations to the back projection results. In the synthetic tests, MUSIC and CS derive consistent results. While MUSIC is more computationally efficient, CS works better for sparse arrays. In summary, our analyses indicate that the impact of various factors mentioned above should be taken into consideration when interpreting back projection images, before we can use them to infer the earthquake rupture physics.

Three-dimensional seismic structure and moment tensors of non-double-couple earthquakes at the Hengill-Grensdalur volcanic complex, Iceland

USGS Publications Warehouse

Miller, A.D.; Julian, B.R.; Foulger, G.R.

1998-01-01

The volcanic and geothermal areas of Iceland are rich sources of non-double-couple (non-DC) earthquakes. A state-of-the-art digital seismometer network deployed at the Hengill-Grensdalur volcanic complex in 1991 recorded 4000 small earthquakes. We used the best recorded of these to determine 3-D VP and VP/VS structure tomographically and accurate earthquake moment tensors. The VP field is dominated by high seismic wave speed bodies interpreted as solidified intrusions. A widespread negative (-4 per cent) VP/VS anomaly in the upper 4 km correlates with the geothermal field, but is too strong to be caused solely by the effect of temperature upon liquid water or the presence of vapour, and requires in addition mineralogical or lithological differences between the geothermal reservoir and its surroundings. These may be caused by geothermal alteration. Well-constrained moment tensors were obtained for 70 of the best-recorded events by applying linear programming methods to P- and S-wave polarities and amplitude ratios. About 25 per cent of the mechanisms are, within observational error, consistent with DC mechanisms consistent with shear faulting. The other 75 per cent have significantly non-DC mechanisms. Many have substantial explosive components, one has a substantial implosive component, and the deviatoric component of many is strongly non-DC. Many of the non-DC mechanisms are consistent, within observational error, with simultaneous tensile and shear faulting. However, the mechanisms occupy a continuum in source-type parameter space and probably at least one additional source process is occurring. This may be fluid flow into newly formed cracks, causing partial compensation of the volumetric component. Studying non-shear earthquakes such as these has great potential for improving our understanding of geothermal processes and earthquake source processes in general.

Weighing Rocky Exoplanets with Improved Radial Velocimetry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xuesong Wang, Sharon; Wright, Jason; California Planet Survey Consortium

2016-01-01

The synergy between Kepler and the ground-based radial velocity (RV) surveys have made numerous discoveries of small and rocky exoplanets, opening the age of Earth analogs. However, most (29/33) of the RV-detected exoplanets that are smaller than 3 Earth radii do not have their masses constrained to better than 20% - limited by the current RV precision (1-2 m/s). Our work improves the RV precision of the Keck telescope, which is responsible for most of the mass measurements for small Kepler exoplanets. We have discovered and verified, for the first time, two of the dominant terms in Keck's RV systematic error budget: modeling errors (mostly in deconvolution) and telluric contamination. These two terms contribute 1 m/s and 0.6 m/s, respectively, to the RV error budget (RMS in quadrature), and they create spurious signals at periods of one sidereal year and its harmonics with amplitudes of 0.2-1 m/s. Left untreated, these errors can mimic the signals of Earth-like or Super-Earth planets in the Habitable Zone. Removing these errors will bring better precision to ten-year worth of Keck data and better constraints on the masses and compositions of small Kepler planets. As more precise RV instruments coming online, we need advanced data analysis tools to overcome issues like these in order to detect the Earth twin (RV amplitude 8 cm/s). We are developing a new, open-source RV data analysis tool in Python, which uses Bayesian MCMC and Gaussian processes, to fully exploit the hardware improvements brought by new instruments like MINERVA and NASA's WIYN/EPDS.

Ultrahigh Error Threshold for Surface Codes with Biased Noise

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tuckett, David K.; Bartlett, Stephen D.; Flammia, Steven T.

2018-02-01

We show that a simple modification of the surface code can exhibit an enormous gain in the error correction threshold for a noise model in which Pauli Z errors occur more frequently than X or Y errors. Such biased noise, where dephasing dominates, is ubiquitous in many quantum architectures. In the limit of pure dephasing noise we find a threshold of 43.7(1)% using a tensor network decoder proposed by Bravyi, Suchara, and Vargo. The threshold remains surprisingly large in the regime of realistic noise bias ratios, for example 28.2(2)% at a bias of 10. The performance is, in fact, at or near the hashing bound for all values of the bias. The modified surface code still uses only weight-4 stabilizers on a square lattice, but merely requires measuring products of Y instead of Z around the faces, as this doubles the number of useful syndrome bits associated with the dominant Z errors. Our results demonstrate that large efficiency gains can be found by appropriately tailoring codes and decoders to realistic noise models, even under the locality constraints of topological codes.

Error Analyses of the North Alabama Lightning Mapping Array (LMA)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Koshak, W. J.; Solokiewicz, R. J.; Blakeslee, R. J.; Goodman, S. J.; Christian, H. J.; Hall, J. M.; Bailey, J. C.; Krider, E. P.; Bateman, M. G.; Boccippio, D. J.

2003-01-01

Two approaches are used to characterize how accurately the North Alabama Lightning Mapping Array (LMA) is able to locate lightning VHF sources in space and in time. The first method uses a Monte Carlo computer simulation to estimate source retrieval errors. The simulation applies a VHF source retrieval algorithm that was recently developed at the NASA-MSFC and that is similar, but not identical to, the standard New Mexico Tech retrieval algorithm. The second method uses a purely theoretical technique (i.e., chi-squared Curvature Matrix theory) to estimate retrieval errors. Both methods assume that the LMA system has an overall rms timing error of 50ns, but all other possible errors (e.g., multiple sources per retrieval attempt) are neglected. The detailed spatial distributions of retrieval errors are provided. Given that the two methods are completely independent of one another, it is shown that they provide remarkably similar results, except that the chi-squared theory produces larger altitude error estimates than the (more realistic) Monte Carlo simulation.

Understanding EFL Students' Errors in Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Phuket, Pimpisa Rattanadilok Na; Othman, Normah Binti

2015-01-01

Writing is the most difficult skill in English, so most EFL students tend to make errors in writing. In assisting the learners to successfully acquire writing skill, the analysis of errors and the understanding of their sources are necessary. This study attempts to explore the major sources of errors occurred in the writing of EFL students. It…

Target/error overlap in jargonaphasia: The case for a one-source model, lexical and non-lexical summation, and the special status of correct responses.

PubMed

Olson, Andrew; Halloran, Elizabeth; Romani, Cristina

2015-12-01

We present three jargonaphasic patients who made phonological errors in naming, repetition and reading. We analyse target/response overlap using statistical models to answer three questions: 1) Is there a single phonological source for errors or two sources, one for target-related errors and a separate source for abstruse errors? 2) Can correct responses be predicted by the same distribution used to predict errors or do they show a completion boost (CB)? 3) Is non-lexical and lexical information summed during reading and repetition? The answers were clear. 1) Abstruse errors did not require a separate distribution created by failure to access word forms. Abstruse and target-related errors were the endpoints of a single overlap distribution. 2) Correct responses required a special factor, e.g., a CB or lexical/phonological feedback, to preserve their integrity. 3) Reading and repetition required separate lexical and non-lexical contributions that were combined at output. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution with source state errors and statistical fluctuation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Cong; Yu, Zong-Wen; Wang, Xiang-Bin

2017-03-01

We show how to calculate the secure final key rate in the four-intensity decoy-state measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution protocol with both source errors and statistical fluctuations with a certain failure probability. Our results rely only on the range of only a few parameters in the source state. All imperfections in this protocol have been taken into consideration without assuming any specific error patterns of the source.

A New Expanded Mixed Element Method for Convection-Dominated Sobolev Equation

PubMed Central

Wang, Jinfeng; Li, Hong; Fang, Zhichao

2014-01-01

We propose and analyze a new expanded mixed element method, whose gradient belongs to the simple square integrable space instead of the classical H(div; Ω) space of Chen's expanded mixed element method. We study the new expanded mixed element method for convection-dominated Sobolev equation, prove the existence and uniqueness for finite element solution, and introduce a new expanded mixed projection. We derive the optimal a priori error estimates in L 2-norm for the scalar unknown u and a priori error estimates in (L 2)2-norm for its gradient λ and its flux σ. Moreover, we obtain the optimal a priori error estimates in H 1-norm for the scalar unknown u. Finally, we obtained some numerical results to illustrate efficiency of the new method. PMID:24701153

Acoustic holography as a metrological tool for characterizing medical ultrasound sources and fields

PubMed Central

Sapozhnikov, Oleg A.; Tsysar, Sergey A.; Khokhlova, Vera A.; Kreider, Wayne

2015-01-01

Acoustic holography is a powerful technique for characterizing ultrasound sources and the fields they radiate, with the ability to quantify source vibrations and reduce the number of required measurements. These capabilities are increasingly appealing for meeting measurement standards in medical ultrasound; however, associated uncertainties have not been investigated systematically. Here errors associated with holographic representations of a linear, continuous-wave ultrasound field are studied. To facilitate the analysis, error metrics are defined explicitly, and a detailed description of a holography formulation based on the Rayleigh integral is provided. Errors are evaluated both for simulations of a typical therapeutic ultrasound source and for physical experiments with three different ultrasound sources. Simulated experiments explore sampling errors introduced by the use of a finite number of measurements, geometric uncertainties in the actual positions of acquired measurements, and uncertainties in the properties of the propagation medium. Results demonstrate the theoretical feasibility of keeping errors less than about 1%. Typical errors in physical experiments were somewhat larger, on the order of a few percent; comparison with simulations provides specific guidelines for improving the experimental implementation to reduce these errors. Overall, results suggest that holography can be implemented successfully as a metrological tool with small, quantifiable errors. PMID:26428789

Investigation of error sources in regional inverse estimates of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chan, E.; Chan, D.; Ishizawa, M.; Vogel, F.; Brioude, J.; Delcloo, A.; Wu, Y.; Jin, B.

2015-08-01

Inversion models can use atmospheric concentration measurements to estimate surface fluxes. This study is an evaluation of the errors in a regional flux inversion model for different provinces of Canada, Alberta (AB), Saskatchewan (SK) and Ontario (ON). Using CarbonTracker model results as the target, the synthetic data experiment analyses examined the impacts of the errors from the Bayesian optimisation method, prior flux distribution and the atmospheric transport model, as well as their interactions. The scaling factors for different sub-regions were estimated by the Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) simulation and cost function minimization (CFM) methods. The CFM method results are sensitive to the relative size of the assumed model-observation mismatch and prior flux error variances. Experiment results show that the estimation error increases with the number of sub-regions using the CFM method. For the region definitions that lead to realistic flux estimates, the numbers of sub-regions for the western region of AB/SK combined and the eastern region of ON are 11 and 4 respectively. The corresponding annual flux estimation errors for the western and eastern regions using the MCMC (CFM) method are -7 and -3 % (0 and 8 %) respectively, when there is only prior flux error. The estimation errors increase to 36 and 94 % (40 and 232 %) resulting from transport model error alone. When prior and transport model errors co-exist in the inversions, the estimation errors become 5 and 85 % (29 and 201 %). This result indicates that estimation errors are dominated by the transport model error and can in fact cancel each other and propagate to the flux estimates non-linearly. In addition, it is possible for the posterior flux estimates having larger differences than the prior compared to the target fluxes, and the posterior uncertainty estimates could be unrealistically small that do not cover the target. The systematic evaluation of the different components of the inversion model can help in the understanding of the posterior estimates and percentage errors. Stable and realistic sub-regional and monthly flux estimates for western region of AB/SK can be obtained, but not for the eastern region of ON. This indicates that it is likely a real observation-based inversion for the annual provincial emissions will work for the western region whereas; improvements are needed with the current inversion setup before real inversion is performed for the eastern region.

Dark Energy Survey Year 1 Results: Weak Lensing Mass Calibration of redMaPPer Galaxy Clusters

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

McClintock, T.; et al.

We constrain the mass--richness scaling relation of redMaPPer galaxy clusters identified in the Dark Energy Survey Year 1 data using weak gravitational lensing. We split clusters intomore » $$4\\times3$$ bins of richness $$\\lambda$$ and redshift $z$ for $$\\lambda\\geq20$$ and $$0.2 \\leq z \\leq 0.65$$ and measure the mean masses of these bins using their stacked weak lensing signal. By modeling the scaling relation as $$\\langle M_{\\rm 200m}|\\lambda,z\\rangle = M_0 (\\lambda/40)^F ((1+z)/1.35)^G$$, we constrain the normalization of the scaling relation at the 5.0 per cent level as $$M_0 = [3.081 \\pm 0.075 ({\\rm stat}) \\pm 0.133 ({\\rm sys})] \\cdot 10^{14}\\ {\\rm M}_\\odot$$ at $$\\lambda=40$$ and $z=0.35$. The richness scaling index is constrained to be $$F=1.356 \\pm 0.051\\ ({\\rm stat})\\pm 0.008\\ ({\\rm sys})$$ and the redshift scaling index $$G=-0.30\\pm 0.30\\ ({\\rm stat})\\pm 0.06\\ ({\\rm sys})$$. These are the tightest measurements of the normalization and richness scaling index made to date. We use a semi-analytic covariance matrix to characterize the statistical errors in the recovered weak lensing profiles. Our analysis accounts for the following sources of systematic error: shear and photometric redshift errors, cluster miscentering, cluster member dilution of the source sample, systematic uncertainties in the modeling of the halo--mass correlation function, halo triaxiality, and projection effects. We discuss prospects for reducing this systematic error budget, which dominates the uncertainty on $$M_0$$. Our result is in excellent agreement with, but has significantly smaller uncertainties than, previous measurements in the literature, and augurs well for the power of the DES cluster survey as a tool for precision cosmology and upcoming galaxy surveys such as LSST, Euclid and WFIRST.« less

Effects of refractive errors on visual evoked magnetic fields.

PubMed

Suzuki, Masaya; Nagae, Mizuki; Nagata, Yuko; Kumagai, Naoya; Inui, Koji; Kakigi, Ryusuke

2015-11-09

The latency and amplitude of visual evoked cortical responses are known to be affected by refractive states, suggesting that they may be used as an objective index of refractive errors. In order to establish an easy and reliable method for this purpose, we herein examined the effects of refractive errors on visual evoked magnetic fields (VEFs). Binocular VEFs following the presentation of a simple grating of 0.16 cd/m(2) in the lower visual field were recorded in 12 healthy volunteers and compared among four refractive states: 0D, +1D, +2D, and +4D, by using plus lenses. The low-luminance visual stimulus evoked a main MEG response at approximately 120 ms (M100) that reversed its polarity between the upper and lower visual field stimulations and originated from the occipital midline area. When refractive errors were induced by plus lenses, the latency of M100 increased, while its amplitude decreased with an increase in power of the lens. Differences from the control condition (+0D) were significant for all three lenses examined. The results of dipole analyses showed that evoked fields for the control (+0D) condition were explainable by one dipole in the primary visual cortex (V1), while other sources, presumably in V3 or V6, slightly contributed to shape M100 for the +2D or +4D condition. The present results showed that the latency and amplitude of M100 are both useful indicators for assessing refractive states. The contribution of neural sources other than V1 to M100 was modest under the 0D and +1D conditions. By considering the nature of the activity of M100 including its high sensitivity to a spatial frequency and lower visual field dominance, a simple low-luminance grating stimulus at an optimal spatial frequency in the lower visual field appears appropriate for obtaining data on high S/N ratios and reducing the load on subjects.

Quantifying acoustic doppler current profiler discharge uncertainty: A Monte Carlo based tool for moving-boat measurements

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mueller, David S.

2017-01-01

This paper presents a method using Monte Carlo simulations for assessing uncertainty of moving-boat acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) discharge measurements using a software tool known as QUant, which was developed for this purpose. Analysis was performed on 10 data sets from four Water Survey of Canada gauging stations in order to evaluate the relative contribution of a range of error sources to the total estimated uncertainty. The factors that differed among data sets included the fraction of unmeasured discharge relative to the total discharge, flow nonuniformity, and operator decisions about instrument programming and measurement cross section. As anticipated, it was found that the estimated uncertainty is dominated by uncertainty of the discharge in the unmeasured areas, highlighting the importance of appropriate selection of the site, the instrument, and the user inputs required to estimate the unmeasured discharge. The main contributor to uncertainty was invalid data, but spatial inhomogeneity in water velocity and bottom-track velocity also contributed, as did variation in the edge velocity, uncertainty in the edge distances, edge coefficients, and the top and bottom extrapolation methods. To a lesser extent, spatial inhomogeneity in the bottom depth also contributed to the total uncertainty, as did uncertainty in the ADCP draft at shallow sites. The estimated uncertainties from QUant can be used to assess the adequacy of standard operating procedures. They also provide quantitative feedback to the ADCP operators about the quality of their measurements, indicating which parameters are contributing most to uncertainty, and perhaps even highlighting ways in which uncertainty can be reduced. Additionally, QUant can be used to account for self-dependent error sources such as heading errors, which are a function of heading. The results demonstrate the importance of a Monte Carlo method tool such as QUant for quantifying random and bias errors when evaluating the uncertainty of moving-boat ADCP measurements.

Common but unappreciated sources of error in one, two, and multiple-color pyrometry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spjut, R. Erik

1988-01-01

The most common sources of error in optical pyrometry are examined. They can be classified as either noise and uncertainty errors, stray radiation errors, or speed-of-response errors. Through judicious choice of detectors and optical wavelengths the effect of noise errors can be minimized, but one should strive to determine as many of the system properties as possible. Careful consideration of the optical-collection system can minimize stray radiation errors. Careful consideration must also be given to the slowest elements in a pyrometer when measuring rapid phenomena.

Image matching as a data source for forest inventory - Comparison of Semi-Global Matching and Next-Generation Automatic Terrain Extraction algorithms in a typical managed boreal forest environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kukkonen, M.; Maltamo, M.; Packalen, P.

2017-08-01

Image matching is emerging as a compelling alternative to airborne laser scanning (ALS) as a data source for forest inventory and management. There is currently an open discussion in the forest inventory community about whether, and to what extent, the new method can be applied to practical inventory campaigns. This paper aims to contribute to this discussion by comparing two different image matching algorithms (Semi-Global Matching [SGM] and Next-Generation Automatic Terrain Extraction [NGATE]) and ALS in a typical managed boreal forest environment in southern Finland. Spectral features from unrectified aerial images were included in the modeling and the potential of image matching in areas without a high resolution digital terrain model (DTM) was also explored. Plot level predictions for total volume, stem number, basal area, height of basal area median tree and diameter of basal area median tree were modeled using an area-based approach. Plot level dominant tree species were predicted using a random forest algorithm, also using an area-based approach. The statistical difference between the error rates from different datasets was evaluated using a bootstrap method. Results showed that ALS outperformed image matching with every forest attribute, even when a high resolution DTM was used for height normalization and spectral information from images was included. Dominant tree species classification with image matching achieved accuracy levels similar to ALS regardless of the resolution of the DTM when spectral metrics were used. Neither of the image matching algorithms consistently outperformed the other, but there were noticeably different error rates depending on the parameter configuration, spectral band, resolution of DTM, or response variable. This study showed that image matching provides reasonable point cloud data for forest inventory purposes, especially when a high resolution DTM is available and information from the understory is redundant.

Improved Satellite-based Photosysnthetically Active Radiation (PAR) for Air Quality Studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pour Biazar, A.; McNider, R. T.; Cohan, D. S.; White, A.; Zhang, R.; Dornblaser, B.; Doty, K.; Wu, Y.; Estes, M. J.

2015-12-01

One of the challenges in understanding the air quality over forested regions has been the uncertainties in estimating the biogenic hydrocarbon emissions. Biogenic volatile organic compounds, BVOCs, play a critical role in atmospheric chemistry, particularly in ozone and particulate matter (PM) formation. In southeastern United States, BVOCs (mostly as isoprene) are the dominant summertime source of reactive hydrocarbon. Despite significant efforts in improving BVOC estimates, the errors in emission inventories remain a concern. Since BVOC emissions are particularly sensitive to the available photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), model errors in PAR result in large errors in emission estimates. Thus, utilization of satellite observations to estimate PAR can help in reducing emission uncertainties. Satellite-based PAR estimates rely on the technique used to derive insolation from satellite visible brightness measurements. In this study we evaluate several insolation products against surface pyranometer observations and offer a bias correction to generate a more accurate PAR product. The improved PAR product is then used in biogenic emission estimates. The improved biogenic emission estimates are compared to the emission inventories over Texas and used in air quality simulation over the period of August-September 2013 (NASA's Discover-AQ field campaign). A series of sensitivity simulations will be performed and evaluated against Discover-AQ observations to test the impact of satellite-derived PAR on air quality simulations.

In vivo validation of a new technique that compensates for soft tissue artefact in the upper-arm: preliminary results.

PubMed

Cutti, Andrea Giovanni; Cappello, Angelo; Davalli, Angelo

2006-01-01

Soft tissue artefact is the dominant error source for upper extremity motion analyses that use skin-mounted markers, especially in humeral axial rotation. A new in vivo technique is presented that is based on the definition of a humerus bone-embedded frame almost "artefact free" but influenced by the elbow orientation in the measurement of the humeral axial rotation, and on an algorithm designed to solve this kinematic coupling. The technique was validated in vivo in a study of six healthy subjects who performed five arm-movement tasks. For each task the similarity between a gold standard pattern and the axial rotation pattern before and after the application of the compensation algorithm was evaluated in terms of explained variance, gain, phase and offset. In addition the root mean square error between the patterns was used as a global similarity estimator. After the application, for four out of five tasks, patterns were highly correlated, in phase, with almost equal gain and limited offset; the root mean square error decreased from the original 9 degrees to 3 degrees . The proposed technique appears to help compensate for the soft tissue artefact affecting axial rotation. A further development is also proposed to make the technique effective also for the pure prono-supination task.

Performance Analysis of Ranging Techniques for the KPLO Mission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, Sungjoon; Moon, Sangman

2018-03-01

In this study, the performance of ranging techniques for the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO) space communication system is investigated. KPLO is the first lunar mission of Korea, and pseudo-noise (PN) ranging will be used to support the mission along with sequential ranging. We compared the performance of both ranging techniques using the criteria of accuracy, acquisition probability, and measurement time. First, we investigated the end-to-end accuracy error of a ranging technique incorporating all sources of errors such as from ground stations and the spacecraft communication system. This study demonstrates that increasing the clock frequency of the ranging system is not required when the dominant factor of accuracy error is independent of the thermal noise of the ranging technique being used in the system. Based on the understanding of ranging accuracy, the measurement time of PN and sequential ranging are further investigated and compared, while both techniques satisfied the accuracy and acquisition requirements. We demonstrated that PN ranging performed better than sequential ranging in the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) regime where KPLO will be operating, and we found that the T2B (weighted-voting balanced Tausworthe, voting v = 2) code is the best choice among the PN codes available for the KPLO mission.

Syndrome-source-coding and its universal generalization. [error correcting codes for data compression

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ancheta, T. C., Jr.

1976-01-01

A method of using error-correcting codes to obtain data compression, called syndrome-source-coding, is described in which the source sequence is treated as an error pattern whose syndrome forms the compressed data. It is shown that syndrome-source-coding can achieve arbitrarily small distortion with the number of compressed digits per source digit arbitrarily close to the entropy of a binary memoryless source. A 'universal' generalization of syndrome-source-coding is formulated which provides robustly effective distortionless coding of source ensembles. Two examples are given, comparing the performance of noiseless universal syndrome-source-coding to (1) run-length coding and (2) Lynch-Davisson-Schalkwijk-Cover universal coding for an ensemble of binary memoryless sources.

A Comprehensive Radial Velocity Error Budget for Next Generation Doppler Spectrometers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Halverson, Samuel; Ryan, Terrien; Mahadevan, Suvrath; Roy, Arpita; Bender, Chad; Stefansson, Guomundur Kari; Monson, Andrew; Levi, Eric; Hearty, Fred; Blake, Cullen;

The Accuracy of Webcams in 2D Motion Analysis: Sources of Error and Their Control

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Page, A.; Moreno, R.; Candelas, P.; Belmar, F.

2008-01-01

In this paper, we show the potential of webcams as precision measuring instruments in a physics laboratory. Various sources of error appearing in 2D coordinate measurements using low-cost commercial webcams are discussed, quantifying their impact on accuracy and precision, and simple procedures to control these sources of error are presented.…

An open-terrain line source model coupled with street-canyon effects to forecast carbon monoxide at traffic roundabout.

PubMed

Pandian, Suresh; Gokhale, Sharad; Ghoshal, Aloke Kumar

2011-02-15

A double-lane four-arm roundabout, where traffic movement is continuous in opposite directions and at different speeds, produces a zone responsible for recirculation of emissions within a road section creating canyon-type effect. In this zone, an effect of thermally induced turbulence together with vehicle wake dominates over wind driven turbulence causing pollutant emission to flow within, resulting into more or less equal amount of pollutants upwind and downwind particularly during low winds. Beyond this region, however, the effect of winds becomes stronger, causing downwind movement of pollutants. Pollutant dispersion caused by such phenomenon cannot be described accurately by open-terrain line source model alone. This is demonstrated by estimating one-minute average carbon monoxide concentration by coupling an open-terrain line source model with a street canyon model which captures the combine effect to describe the dispersion at non-signalized roundabout. The results of the modeling matched well with the measurements compared with the line source model alone and the prediction error reduced by about 50%. The study further demonstrated this with traffic emissions calculated by field and semi-empirical methods. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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

Naughton, M.J.; Bourke, W.; Browning, G.L.

The convergence of spectral model numerical solutions of the global shallow-water equations is examined as a function of the time step and the spectral truncation. The contributions to the errors due to the spatial and temporal discretizations are separately identified and compared. Numerical convergence experiments are performed with the inviscid equations from smooth (Rossby-Haurwitz wave) and observed (R45 atmospheric analysis) initial conditions, and also with the diffusive shallow-water equations. Results are compared with the forced inviscid shallow-water equations case studied by Browning et al. Reduction of the time discretization error by the removal of fast waves from the solution usingmore » initialization is shown. The effects of forcing and diffusion on the convergence are discussed. Time truncation errors are found to dominate when a feature is large scale and well resolved; spatial truncation errors dominate for small-scale features and also for large scale after the small scales have affected them. Possible implications of these results for global atmospheric modeling are discussed. 31 refs., 14 figs., 4 tabs.« less

Prediction of discretization error using the error transport equation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Celik, Ismail B.; Parsons, Don Roscoe

2017-06-01

This study focuses on an approach to quantify the discretization error associated with numerical solutions of partial differential equations by solving an error transport equation (ETE). The goal is to develop a method that can be used to adequately predict the discretization error using the numerical solution on only one grid/mesh. The primary problem associated with solving the ETE is the formulation of the error source term which is required for accurately predicting the transport of the error. In this study, a novel approach is considered which involves fitting the numerical solution with a series of locally smooth curves and then blending them together with a weighted spline approach. The result is a continuously differentiable analytic expression that can be used to determine the error source term. Once the source term has been developed, the ETE can easily be solved using the same solver that is used to obtain the original numerical solution. The new methodology is applied to the two-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations in the laminar flow regime. A simple unsteady flow case is also considered. The discretization error predictions based on the methodology presented in this study are in good agreement with the 'true error'. While in most cases the error predictions are not quite as accurate as those from Richardson extrapolation, the results are reasonable and only require one numerical grid. The current results indicate that there is much promise going forward with the newly developed error source term evaluation technique and the ETE.

Space-Borne Laser Altimeter Geolocation Error Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Y.; Fang, J.; Ai, Y.

2018-05-01

This paper reviews the development of space-borne laser altimetry technology over the past 40 years. Taking the ICESAT satellite as an example, a rigorous space-borne laser altimeter geolocation model is studied, and an error propagation equation is derived. The influence of the main error sources, such as the platform positioning error, attitude measurement error, pointing angle measurement error and range measurement error, on the geolocation accuracy of the laser spot are analysed by simulated experiments. The reasons for the different influences on geolocation accuracy in different directions are discussed, and to satisfy the accuracy of the laser control point, a design index for each error source is put forward.

The Discontinuous Galerkin Finite Element Method for Solving the MEG and the Combined MEG/EEG Forward Problem

PubMed Central

Piastra, Maria Carla; Nüßing, Andreas; Vorwerk, Johannes; Bornfleth, Harald; Oostenveld, Robert; Engwer, Christian; Wolters, Carsten H.

2018-01-01

In Electro- (EEG) and Magnetoencephalography (MEG), one important requirement of source reconstruction is the forward model. The continuous Galerkin finite element method (CG-FEM) has become one of the dominant approaches for solving the forward problem over the last decades. Recently, a discontinuous Galerkin FEM (DG-FEM) EEG forward approach has been proposed as an alternative to CG-FEM (Engwer et al., 2017). It was shown that DG-FEM preserves the property of conservation of charge and that it can, in certain situations such as the so-called skull leakages, be superior to the standard CG-FEM approach. In this paper, we developed, implemented, and evaluated two DG-FEM approaches for the MEG forward problem, namely a conservative and a non-conservative one. The subtraction approach was used as source model. The validation and evaluation work was done in statistical investigations in multi-layer homogeneous sphere models, where an analytic solution exists, and in a six-compartment realistically shaped head volume conductor model. In agreement with the theory, the conservative DG-FEM approach was found to be superior to the non-conservative DG-FEM implementation. This approach also showed convergence with increasing resolution of the hexahedral meshes. While in the EEG case, in presence of skull leakages, DG-FEM outperformed CG-FEM, in MEG, DG-FEM achieved similar numerical errors as the CG-FEM approach, i.e., skull leakages do not play a role for the MEG modality. In particular, for the finest mesh resolution of 1 mm sources with a distance of 1.59 mm from the brain-CSF surface, DG-FEM yielded mean topographical errors (relative difference measure, RDM%) of 1.5% and mean magnitude errors (MAG%) of 0.1% for the magnetic field. However, if the goal is a combined source analysis of EEG and MEG data, then it is highly desirable to employ the same forward model for both EEG and MEG data. Based on these results, we conclude that the newly presented conservative DG-FEM can at least complement and in some scenarios even outperform the established CG-FEM approaches in EEG or combined MEG/EEG source analysis scenarios, which motivates a further evaluation of DG-FEM for applications in bioelectromagnetism. PMID:29456487

Determination of Barometric Altimeter Errors for the Orion Exploration Flight Test-1 Entry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brown, Denise L.; Bunoz, Jean-Philippe; Gay, Robert

2012-01-01

The Exploration Flight Test 1 (EFT-1) mission is the unmanned flight test for the upcoming Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV). During entry, the EFT-1 vehicle will trigger several Landing and Recovery System (LRS) events, such as parachute deployment, based on on-board altitude information. The primary altitude source is the filtered navigation solution updated with GPS measurement data. The vehicle also has three barometric altimeters that will be used to measure atmospheric pressure during entry. In the event that GPS data is not available during entry, the altitude derived from the barometric altimeter pressure will be used to trigger chute deployment for the drogues and main parachutes. Therefore it is important to understand the impact of error sources on the pressure measured by the barometric altimeters and on the altitude derived from that pressure. The error sources for the barometric altimeters are not independent, and many error sources result in bias in a specific direction. Therefore conventional error budget methods could not be applied. Instead, high fidelity Monte-Carlo simulation was performed and error bounds were determined based on the results of this analysis. Aerodynamic errors were the largest single contributor to the error budget for the barometric altimeters. The large errors drove a change to the altitude trigger setpoint for FBC jettison deploy.

Effect of random errors in planar PIV data on pressure estimation in vortex dominated flows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McClure, Jeffrey; Yarusevych, Serhiy

2015-11-01

The sensitivity of pressure estimation techniques from Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) measurements to random errors in measured velocity data is investigated using the flow over a circular cylinder as a test case. Direct numerical simulations are performed for ReD = 100, 300 and 1575, spanning laminar, transitional, and turbulent wake regimes, respectively. A range of random errors typical for PIV measurements is applied to synthetic PIV data extracted from numerical results. A parametric study is then performed using a number of common pressure estimation techniques. Optimal temporal and spatial resolutions are derived based on the sensitivity of the estimated pressure fields to the simulated random error in velocity measurements, and the results are compared to an optimization model derived from error propagation theory. It is shown that the reductions in spatial and temporal scales at higher Reynolds numbers leads to notable changes in the optimal pressure evaluation parameters. The effect of smaller scale wake structures is also quantified. The errors in the estimated pressure fields are shown to depend significantly on the pressure estimation technique employed. The results are used to provide recommendations for the use of pressure and force estimation techniques from experimental PIV measurements in vortex dominated laminar and turbulent wake flows.

Analyzing the propagation behavior of scintillation index and bit error rate of a partially coherent flat-topped laser beam in oceanic turbulence.

PubMed

Yousefi, Masoud; Golmohammady, Shole; Mashal, Ahmad; Kashani, Fatemeh Dabbagh

2015-11-01

In this paper, on the basis of the extended Huygens-Fresnel principle, a semianalytical expression for describing on-axis scintillation index of a partially coherent flat-topped (PCFT) laser beam of weak to moderate oceanic turbulence is derived; consequently, by using the log-normal intensity probability density function, the bit error rate (BER) is evaluated. The effects of source factors (such as wavelength, order of flatness, and beam width) and turbulent ocean parameters (such as Kolmogorov microscale, relative strengths of temperature and salinity fluctuations, rate of dissipation of the mean squared temperature, and rate of dissipation of the turbulent kinetic energy per unit mass of fluid) on propagation behavior of scintillation index, and, hence, on BER, are studied in detail. Results indicate that, in comparison with a Gaussian beam, a PCFT laser beam with a higher order of flatness is found to have lower scintillations. In addition, the scintillation index and BER are most affected when salinity fluctuations in the ocean dominate temperature fluctuations.

Spectroscopy Made Easy: Evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Piskunov, Nikolai; Valenti, Jeff A.

2017-01-01

Context. The Spectroscopy Made Easy (SME) package has become a popular tool for analyzing stellar spectra, often in connection with large surveys or exoplanet research. SME has evolved significantly since it was first described in 1996, but many of the original caveats and potholes still haunt users. The main drivers for this paper are complexity of the modeling task, the large user community, and the massive effort that has gone into SME. Aims: We do not intend to give a comprehensive introduction to stellar atmospheres, but will describe changes to key components of SME: the equation of state, opacities, and radiative transfer. We will describe the analysis and fitting procedure and investigate various error sources that affect inferred parameters. Methods: We review the current status of SME, emphasizing new algorithms and methods. We describe some best practices for using the package, based on lessons learned over two decades of SME usage. We present a new way to assess uncertainties in derived stellar parameters. Results: Improvements made to SME, better line data, and new model atmospheres yield more realistic stellar spectra, but in many cases systematic errors still dominate over measurement uncertainty. Future enhancements are outlined.

Grid Quality and Resolution Issues from the Drag Prediction Workshop Series

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mavriplis, Dimitri J.; Vassberg, John C.; Tinoco, Edward N.; Mani, Mori; Brodersen, Olaf P.; Eisfeld, Bernhard; Wahls, Richard A.; Morrison, Joseph H.; Zickuhr, Tom; Levy, David;

Electrostatic Structure and Double-Probe Performance in Tenuous Plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cully, C. M.; Ergun, R. E.

2006-12-01

Many in-situ plasma instruments are affected by the local electrostatic structure surrounding the spacecraft. In order to better understand this structure, we have developed a fully 3-dimensional self-consistent model that uses realistic spacecraft geometry, including thin (<1 mm) wires and long (>100m) booms, with open boundary conditions. One of the more surprising results is that in tenuous plasmas, the charge on the booms can dominate over the charge on the spacecraft body. For instruments such as electric field double probes and boom-mounted low-energy particle detectors, this challenges the existing paradigm: long booms do not allow the probes to escape the spacecraft potential. Instead, the potential structure simply expands as the boom is deployed. We then apply our model to the double-probe Electric Field and Waves (EFW) instruments on Cluster, and predict the magnitudes of the main error sources. The overall error budget is consistent with experiment, and the model yields some additional interesting insights. We show that the charge in the photoelectron cloud is relatively unimportant, and that the spacecraft potential is typically underestimated by about 20% by double-probe experiments.

Application of an optimization algorithm to satellite ocean color imagery: A case study in Southwest Florida coastal waters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Chuanmin; Lee, Zhongping; Muller-Karger, Frank E.; Carder, Kendall L.

2003-05-01

A spectra-matching optimization algorithm, designed for hyperspectral sensors, has been implemented to process SeaWiFS-derived multi-spectral water-leaving radiance data. The algorithm has been tested over Southwest Florida coastal waters. The total spectral absorption and backscattering coefficients can be well partitioned with the inversion algorithm, resulting in RMS errors generally less than 5% in the modeled spectra. For extremely turbid waters that come from either river runoff or sediment resuspension, the RMS error is in the range of 5-15%. The bio-optical parameters derived in this optically complex environment agree well with those obtained in situ. Further, the ability to separate backscattering (a proxy for turbidity) from the satellite signal makes it possible to trace water movement patterns, as indicated by the total absorption imagery. The derived patterns agree with those from concurrent surface drifters. For waters where CDOM overwhelmingly dominates the optical signal, however, the procedure tends to regard CDOM as the sole source of absorption, implying the need for better atmospheric correction and for adjustment of some model coefficients for this particular region.

Pulsed dynamical decoupling for fast and robust two-qubit gates on trapped ions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arrazola, I.; Casanova, J.; Pedernales, J. S.; Wang, Z.-Y.; Solano, E.; Plenio, M. B.

2018-05-01

We propose a pulsed dynamical decoupling protocol as the generator of tunable, fast, and robust quantum phase gates between two microwave-driven trapped-ion hyperfine qubits. The protocol consists of sequences of π pulses acting on ions that are oriented along an externally applied magnetic-field gradient. In contrast to existing approaches, in our design the two vibrational modes of the ion chain cooperate under the influence of the external microwave driving to achieve significantly increased gate speeds. Our scheme is robust against the dominant noise sources, which are errors on the magnetic-field and microwave pulse intensities, as well as motional heating, predicting two-qubit gates with fidelities above 99.9% in tens of microseconds.

Structure and kinematics of the broad-line regions in active galaxies from IUE variability data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Koratkar, Anuradha P.; Gaskell, C. Martin

1991-01-01

IUE archival data are used here to investigate the structure nad kinematics of the broad-line regions (BLRs) in nine AGN. It is found that the centroid of the line-continuum cross-correlation functions (CCFs) can be determined with reasonable reliability. The errors in BLR size estimates from CCFs for irregularly sampled light curves are fairly well understood. BLRs are found to have small luminosity-weighted radii, and lines of high ionization tend to be emitted closer to the central source than lines of low ionization, especially for low-luminosity objects. The motion of the gas is gravity-dominated with both pure inflow and pure outflow of high-velocity gas being excluded at a high confidence level for certain geometries.

Lattice Calculations and the Muon Anomalous Magnetic Moment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marinković, Marina Krstić

2017-07-01

Anomalous magnetic moment of the muon, a_{μ }=(g_{μ }-2)/2, is one of the most precisely measured quantities in particle physics and it provides a stringent test of the Standard Model. The planned improvements of the experimental precision at Fermilab and at J-PARC propel further reduction of the theoretical uncertainty of a_{μ }. The hope is that the efforts on both sides will help resolve the current discrepancy between the experimental measurement of a_{μ } and its theoretical prediction, and potentially gain insight into new physics. The dominant sources of the uncertainty in the theoretical prediction of a_{μ } are the errors of the hadronic contributions. I will discuss recent progress on determination of hadronic contributions to a_{μ } from lattice calculations.

TOWARD ERROR ANALYSIS OF LARGE-SCALE FOREST CARBON BUDGETS

EPA Science Inventory

Quantification of forest carbon sources and sinks is an important part of national inventories of net greenhouse gas emissions. Several such forest carbon budgets have been constructed, but little effort has been made to analyse the sources of error and how these errors propagate...

Quantifying errors without random sampling.

PubMed

Phillips, Carl V; LaPole, Luwanna M

2003-06-12

All quantifications of mortality, morbidity, and other health measures involve numerous sources of error. The routine quantification of random sampling error makes it easy to forget that other sources of error can and should be quantified. When a quantification does not involve sampling, error is almost never quantified and results are often reported in ways that dramatically overstate their precision. We argue that the precision implicit in typical reporting is problematic and sketch methods for quantifying the various sources of error, building up from simple examples that can be solved analytically to more complex cases. There are straightforward ways to partially quantify the uncertainty surrounding a parameter that is not characterized by random sampling, such as limiting reported significant figures. We present simple methods for doing such quantifications, and for incorporating them into calculations. More complicated methods become necessary when multiple sources of uncertainty must be combined. We demonstrate that Monte Carlo simulation, using available software, can estimate the uncertainty resulting from complicated calculations with many sources of uncertainty. We apply the method to the current estimate of the annual incidence of foodborne illness in the United States. Quantifying uncertainty from systematic errors is practical. Reporting this uncertainty would more honestly represent study results, help show the probability that estimated values fall within some critical range, and facilitate better targeting of further research.

Audit of the global carbon budget: estimate errors and their impact on uptake uncertainty

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ballantyne, A. P.; Andres, R.; Houghton, R.; Stocker, B. D.; Wanninkhof, R.; Anderegg, W.; Cooper, L. A.; DeGrandpre, M.; Tans, P. P.; Miller, J. C.; Alden, C.; White, J. W. C.

2014-10-01

Over the last 5 decades monitoring systems have been developed to detect changes in the accumulation of C in the atmosphere, ocean, and land; however, our ability to detect changes in the behavior of the global C cycle is still hindered by measurement and estimate errors. Here we present a rigorous and flexible framework for assessing the temporal and spatial components of estimate error and their impact on uncertainty in net C uptake by the biosphere. We present a novel approach for incorporating temporally correlated random error into the error structure of emission estimates. Based on this approach, we conclude that the 2 σ error of the atmospheric growth rate has decreased from 1.2 Pg C yr-1 in the 1960s to 0.3 Pg C yr-1 in the 2000s, leading to a ~20% reduction in the over-all uncertainty of net global C uptake by the biosphere. While fossil fuel emissions have increased by a factor of 4 over the last 5 decades, 2 σ errors in fossil fuel emissions due to national reporting errors and differences in energy reporting practices have increased from 0.3 Pg C yr-1 in the 1960s to almost 1.0 Pg C yr-1 during the 2000s. At the same time land use emissions have declined slightly over the last 5 decades, but their relative errors remain high. Notably, errors associated with fossil fuel emissions have come to dominate uncertainty in the global C budget and are now comparable to the total emissions from land use, thus efforts to reduce errors in fossil fuel emissions are necessary. Given all the major sources of error in the global C budget that we could identify, we are 93% confident that C uptake has increased and 97% confident that C uptake by the terrestrial biosphere has increased over the last 5 decades. Although the persistence of future C sinks remains unknown and some ecosystem services may be compromised by this continued C uptake (e.g. ocean acidification), it is clear that arguably the greatest ecosystem service currently provided by the biosphere is the continued removal of approximately half of atmospheric CO2 emissions from the atmosphere.

Determination of the number of ψ' events at BESIII

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ablikim, M.; N. Achasov, M.; Albayrak, O.; J. Ambrose, D.; F. An, F.; Q., An; Z. Bai, J.; Ban, Y.; Becker, J.; V. Bennett, J.; Berger, N.; Bertani, M.; M. Bian, J.; Boger, E.; Bondarenko, O.; Boyko, I.; A. Briere, R.; Bytev, V.; Cai, X.; Cakir, O.; Calcaterra, A.; F. Cao, G.; A. Cetin, S.; F. Chang, J.; Chelkov, G.; G., Chen; S. Chen, H.; C. Chen, J.; L. Chen, M.; J. Chen, S.; X., Chen; B. Chen, Y.; P. Cheng, H.; P. Chu, Y.; Cronin-Hennessy, D.; L. Dai, H.; P. Dai, J.; Dedovich, D.; Y. Deng, Z.; Denig, A.; Denysenko, I.; Destefanis, M.; M. Ding, W.; Y., Ding; Y. Dong, L.; Y. Dong, M.; X. Du, S.; J., Fang; S. Fang, S.; Fava, L.; Q. Feng, C.; B. Ferroli, R.; Friedel, P.; D. Fu, C.; Gao, Y.; C., Geng; Goetzen, K.; X. Gong, W.; Gradl, W.; Greco, M.; H. Gu, M.; T. Gu, Y.; H. Guan, Y.; Q. Guo, A.; B. Guo, L.; T., Guo; P. Guo, Y.; L. Han, Y.; A. Harris, F.; L. He, K.; M., He; Y. He, Z.; Held, T.; K. Heng, Y.; L. Hou, Z.; C., Hu; M. Hu, H.; F. Hu, J.; T., Hu; M. Huang, G.; S. Huang, G.; S. Huang, J.; L., Huang; T. Huang, X.; Y., Huang; P. Huang, Y.; Hussain, T.; S. Ji, C.; Q., Ji; P. Ji, Q.; B. Ji, X.; L. Ji, X.; L. Jiang, L.; S. Jiang, X.; B. Jiao, J.; Jiao, Z.; P. Jin, D.; S., Jin; F. Jing, F.; Kalantar-Nayestanaki, N.; Kavatsyuk, M.; Kopf, B.; Kornicer, M.; Kuehn, W.; Lai, W.; S. Lange, J.; Leyhe, M.; H. Li, C.; Cheng, Li; Cui, Li; M. Li, D.; F., Li; G., Li; B. Li, H.; C. Li, J.; K., Li; Lei, Li; J. Li, Q.; L. Li, S.; D. Li, W.; G. Li, W.; L. Li, X.; N. Li, X.; Q. Li, X.; R. Li, X.; B. Li, Z.; H., Liang; F. Liang, Y.; T. Liang, Y.; R. Liao, G.; T. Liao, X.; Lin(Lin, D.; J. Liu, B.; L. Liu, C.; X. Liu, C.; H. Liu, F.; Fang, Liu; Feng, Liu; H., Liu; B. Liu, H.; H. Liu, H.; M. Liu, H.; W. Liu, H.; P. Liu, J.; K., Liu; Y. Liu, K.; Kai, Liu; L. Liu, P.; Q., Liu; B. Liu, S.; X., Liu; B. Liu, Y.; A. Liu, Z.; Zhiqiang, Liu; Zhiqing, Liu; Loehner, H.; R. Lu, G.; J. Lu, H.; G. Lu, J.; W. Lu, Q.; R. Lu, X.; P. Lu, Y.; L. Luo, C.; X. Luo, M.; Luo, T.; L. Luo, X.; Lv, M.; L. Ma, C.; C. Ma, F.; L. Ma, H.; M. Ma, Q.; Ma, S.; Ma, T.; Y. Ma, X.; E. Maas, F.; Maggiora, M.; A. Malik, Q.; J. Mao, Y.; P. Mao, Z.; G. Messchendorp, J.; J., Min; J. Min, T.; E. Mitchell, R.; H. Mo, X.; C. Morales, Morales; Yu. Muchnoi, N.; Muramatsu, H.; Nefedov, Y.; Nicholson, C.; B. Nikolaev, I.; Z., Ning; L. Olsen, S.; Ouyang, Q.; Pacetti, S.; W. Park, J.; Pelizaeus, M.; P. Peng, H.; Peters, K.; L. Ping, J.; G. Ping, R.; Poling, R.; Prencipe, E.; M., Qi; Qian, S.; F. Qiao, C.; Q. Qin, L.; S. Qin, X.; Y., Qin; H. Qin, Z.; F. Qiu, J.; H. Rashid, K.; G., Rong; D. Ruan, X.; Sarantsev, A.; D. Schaefer, B.; Shao, M.; P. Shen, C.; Y. Shen, X.; Y. Sheng, H.; R. Shepherd, M.; Y. Song, X.; Spataro, S.; Spruck, B.; H. Sun, D.; X. Sun, G.; F. Sun, J.; S. Sun, S.; J. Sun, Y.; Z. Sun, Y.; J. Sun, Z.; T. Sun, Z.; J. Tang, C.; Tang, X.; Tapan, I.; H. Thorndike, E.; Toth, D.; Ullrich, M.; S. Varner, G.; Q. Wang, B.; D., Wang; Y. Wang, D.; K., Wang; L. Wang, L.; S. Wang, L.; M., Wang; P., Wang; L. Wang, P.; J. Wang, Q.; G. Wang, S.; F. Wang, X.; L. Wang, X.; F. Wang, Y.; Z., Wang; G. Wang, Z.; Y. Wang, Z.; H. Wei, D.; B. Wei, J.; Weidenkaff, P.; G. Wen, Q.; P. Wen, S.; M., Werner; Wiedner, U.; H. Wu, L.; N., Wu; X. Wu, S.; W., Wu; Z., Wu; G. Xia, L.; X Xia, Y.; J. Xiao, Z.; G. Xie, Y.; L. Xiu, Q.; F. Xu, G.; M. Xu, G.; J. Xu, Q.; N. Xu, Q.; P. Xu, X.; R. Xu, Z.; Xue, F.; Xue, Z.; L., Yan; B. Yan, W.; H. Yan, Y.; X. Yang, H.; Y., Yang; X. Yang, Y.; Ye, H.; Ye, M.; H. Ye, M.; X. Yu, B.; X. Yu, C.; W. Yu, H.; S. Yu, J.; P. Yu, S.; Z. Yuan, C.; Y., Yuan; A. Zafar, A.; Zallo, A.; Zeng, Y.; X. Zhang, B.; Y. Zhang, B.; Zhang, C.; C. Zhang, C.; H. Zhang, D.; H. Zhang, H.; Y. Zhang, H.; Q. Zhang, J.; W. Zhang, J.; Y. Zhang, J.; Z. Zhang, J.; Lili, Zhang; Zhang, R.; H. Zhang, S.; J. Zhang, X.; Y. Zhang, X.; Zhang, Y.; H. Zhang, Y.; P. Zhang, Z.; Y. Zhang, Z.; Zhenghao, Zhang; Zhao, G.; S. Zhao, H.; W. Zhao, J.; X. Zhao, K.; Lei, Zhao; Ling, Zhao; G. Zhao, M.; Zhao, Q.; Z. Zhao, Q.; J. Zhao, S.; C. Zhao, T.; B. Zhao, Y.; G. Zhao, Z.; Zhemchugov, A.; B., Zheng; P. Zheng, J.; H. Zheng, Y.; B., Zhong; Z., Zhong; L., Zhou; K. Zhou, X.; R. Zhou, X.; Zhu, C.; Zhu, K.; J. Zhu, K.; H. Zhu, S.; L. Zhu, X.; C. Zhu, Y.; M. Zhu, Y.; S. Zhu, Y.; A. Zhu, Z.; J., Zhuang; S. Zou, B.; H. Zou, J.

2013-06-01

The number of ψ' events accumulated by the BESIII experiment from March 3 through April 14, 2009, is determined by counting inclusive hadronic events. The result is 106.41×(1.00±0.81%)×106. The error is systematic dominant; the statistical error is negligible.

An Open-label Extension Study to Assess the Long-term Safety and Efficacy of ISIS 301012 (Mipomersen) in Patients With Familial Hypercholesterolemia or Severe-Hypercholesterolemia

ClinicalTrials.gov

2016-08-01

Lipid Metabolism, Inborn Errors; Hypercholesterolemia, Autosomal Dominant; Hyperlipidemias; Metabolic Diseases; Hyperlipoproteinemia Type II; Metabolism, Inborn Errors; Genetic Diseases, Inborn; Infant, Newborn, Diseases; Metabolic Disorder; Congenital Abnormalities; Hypercholesterolemia; Hyperlipoproteinemias; Dyslipidemias; Lipid Metabolism Disorders

Novel approximation of misalignment fading modeled by Beckmann distribution on free-space optical links.

PubMed

Boluda-Ruiz, Rubén; García-Zambrana, Antonio; Castillo-Vázquez, Carmen; Castillo-Vázquez, Beatriz

2016-10-03

A novel accurate and useful approximation of the well-known Beckmann distribution is presented here, which is used to model generalized pointing errors in the context of free-space optical (FSO) communication systems. We derive an approximate closed-form probability density function (PDF) for the composite gamma-gamma (GG) atmospheric turbulence with the pointing error model using the proposed approximation of the Beckmann distribution, which is valid for most practical terrestrial FSO links. This approximation takes into account the effect of the beam width, different jitters for the elevation and the horizontal displacement and the simultaneous effect of nonzero boresight errors for each axis at the receiver plane. Additionally, the proposed approximation allows us to delimit two different FSO scenarios. The first of them is when atmospheric turbulence is the dominant effect in relation to generalized pointing errors, and the second one when generalized pointing error is the dominant effect in relation to atmospheric turbulence. The second FSO scenario has not been studied in-depth by the research community. Moreover, the accuracy of the method is measured both visually and quantitatively using curve-fitting metrics. Simulation results are further included to confirm the analytical results.

Fourier decomposition of spatial localization errors reveals an idiotropic dominance of an internal model of gravity.

PubMed

De Sá Teixeira, Nuno Alexandre

2014-12-01

Given its conspicuous nature, gravity has been acknowledged by several research lines as a prime factor in structuring the spatial perception of one's environment. One such line of enquiry has focused on errors in spatial localization aimed at the vanishing location of moving objects - it has been systematically reported that humans mislocalize spatial positions forward, in the direction of motion (representational momentum) and downward in the direction of gravity (representational gravity). Moreover, spatial localization errors were found to evolve dynamically with time in a pattern congruent with an anticipated trajectory (representational trajectory). The present study attempts to ascertain the degree to which vestibular information plays a role in these phenomena. Human observers performed a spatial localization task while tilted to varying degrees and referring to the vanishing locations of targets moving along several directions. A Fourier decomposition of the obtained spatial localization errors revealed that although spatial errors were increased "downward" mainly along the body's longitudinal axis (idiotropic dominance), the degree of misalignment between the latter and physical gravity modulated the time course of the localization responses. This pattern is surmised to reflect increased uncertainty about the internal model when faced with conflicting cues regarding the perceived "downward" direction.

Scattering from binary optics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ricks, Douglas W.

1993-01-01

There are a number of sources of scattering in binary optics: etch depth errors, line edge errors, quantization errors, roughness, and the binary approximation to the ideal surface. These sources of scattering can be systematic (deterministic) or random. In this paper, scattering formulas for both systematic and random errors are derived using Fourier optics. These formulas can be used to explain the results of scattering measurements and computer simulations.

Psychrometric Measurement of Leaf Water Potential: Lack of Error Attributable to Leaf Permeability.

PubMed

Barrs, H D

1965-07-02

A report that low permeability could cause gross errors in psychrometric determinations of water potential in leaves has not been confirmed. No measurable error from this source could be detected for either of two types of thermocouple psychrometer tested on four species, each at four levels of water potential. No source of error other than tissue respiration could be demonstrated.

Temporal dynamics of conflict monitoring and the effects of one or two conflict sources on error-(related) negativity.

PubMed

Armbrecht, Anne-Simone; Wöhrmann, Anne; Gibbons, Henning; Stahl, Jutta

2010-09-01

The present electrophysiological study investigated the temporal development of response conflict and the effects of diverging conflict sources on error(-related) negativity (Ne). Eighteen participants performed a combined stop-signal flanker task, which was comprised of two different conflict sources: a left-right and a go-stop response conflict. It is assumed that the Ne reflects the activity of a conflict monitoring system and thus increases according to (i) the number of conflict sources and (ii) the temporal development of the conflict activity. No increase of the Ne amplitude after double errors (comprising two conflict sources) as compared to hand- and stop-errors (comprising one conflict source) was found, whereas a higher Ne amplitude was observed after a delayed stop-signal onset. The results suggest that the Ne is not sensitive to an increase in the number of conflict sources, but to the temporal dynamics of a go-stop response conflict. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Impact of toroidal and poloidal mode spectra on the control of non-axisymmetric fields in tokamaks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lanctot, Matthew J.

2016-10-01

In several tokamaks, non-axisymmetric magnetic field studies show applied n=2 fields can lead to disruptive n=1 locked modes, suggesting nonlinear mode coupling. A multimode plasma response to n=2 fields can be observed in H-mode plasmas, in contrast to the single-mode response found in Ohmic plasmas. These effects highlight a role for n >1 error field correction in disruption avoidance, and identify additional degrees of freedom for 3D field optimization at high plasma pressure. In COMPASS, EAST, and DIII-D Ohmic plasmas, n=2 magnetic reconnection thresholds in otherwise stable discharges are readily accessed at edge safety factors q 3 and low density. Similar to previous studies, the thresholds are correlated with the ``overlap'' field for the dominant linear ideal MHD plasma mode calculated with the IPEC code. The overlap field measures the plasma-mediated coupling of the external field to the resonant field. Remarkably, the critical overlap fields are similar for n=1 and 2 fields with m >nq fields dominating the drive for resonant fields. Complementary experiments in RFX-Mod show fields with m 1 control, including the need for multiple rows of coils to control selected plasma parameters for specific functions (e.g., rotation control or ELM suppression). Optimal multi-harmonic (n=1 and n=2) error field control may be achieved using control algorithms that continuously respond to time-varying 3D field sources and plasma parameters. Supported by the US DOE under DE-FC02-04ER54698.

Robust THP Transceiver Designs for Multiuser MIMO Downlink with Imperfect CSIT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ubaidulla, P.; Chockalingam, A.

2009-12-01

We present robust joint nonlinear transceiver designs for multiuser multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) downlink in the presence of imperfections in the channel state information at the transmitter (CSIT). The base station (BS) is equipped with multiple transmit antennas, and each user terminal is equipped with one or more receive antennas. The BS employs Tomlinson-Harashima precoding (THP) for interuser interference precancellation at the transmitter. We consider robust transceiver designs that jointly optimize the transmit THP filters and receive filter for two models of CSIT errors. The first model is a stochastic error (SE) model, where the CSIT error is Gaussian-distributed. This model is applicable when the CSIT error is dominated by channel estimation error. In this case, the proposed robust transceiver design seeks to minimize a stochastic function of the sum mean square error (SMSE) under a constraint on the total BS transmit power. We propose an iterative algorithm to solve this problem. The other model we consider is a norm-bounded error (NBE) model, where the CSIT error can be specified by an uncertainty set. This model is applicable when the CSIT error is dominated by quantization errors. In this case, we consider a worst-case design. For this model, we consider robust (i) minimum SMSE, (ii) MSE-constrained, and (iii) MSE-balancing transceiver designs. We propose iterative algorithms to solve these problems, wherein each iteration involves a pair of semidefinite programs (SDPs). Further, we consider an extension of the proposed algorithm to the case with per-antenna power constraints. We evaluate the robustness of the proposed algorithms to imperfections in CSIT through simulation, and show that the proposed robust designs outperform nonrobust designs as well as robust linear transceiver designs reported in the recent literature.

Characterization of a neutron sensitive MCP/Timepix detector for quantitative image analysis at a pulsed neutron source

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Watanabe, Kenichi; Minniti, Triestino; Kockelmann, Winfried; Dalgliesh, Robert; Burca, Genoveva; Tremsin, Anton S.

2017-07-01

The uncertainties and the stability of a neutron sensitive MCP/Timepix detector when operating in the event timing mode for quantitative image analysis at a pulsed neutron source were investigated. The dominant component to the uncertainty arises from the counting statistics. The contribution of the overlap correction to the uncertainty was concluded to be negligible from considerations based on the error propagation even if a pixel occupation probability is more than 50%. We, additionally, have taken into account the multiple counting effect in consideration of the counting statistics. Furthermore, the detection efficiency of this detector system changes under relatively high neutron fluxes due to the ageing effects of current Microchannel Plates. Since this efficiency change is position-dependent, it induces a memory image. The memory effect can be significantly reduced with correction procedures using the rate equations describing the permanent gain degradation and the scrubbing effect on the inner surfaces of the MCP pores.

[Comparison of Google and Yahoo applications for geocoding of postal addresses in epidemiological studies].

PubMed

Quesada, Jose Antonio; Nolasco, Andreu; Moncho, Joaquín

2013-01-01

Geocoding is the assignment of geographic coordinates to spatial points, which often are postal addresses. The error made in applying this process can introduce bias in estimates of spatiotemporal models in epidemiological studies. No studies have been found to measure the error made in applying this process in Spanish cities. The objective is to evaluate the errors in magnitude and direction from two free sources (Google and Yahoo) with regard to a GPS in two Spanish cities. 30 addresses were geocoded with those two sources and the GPS in Santa Pola (Alicante) and Alicante city. The distances were calculated in metres (median, CI95%) between the sources and the GPS, globally and according to the status reported by each source. The directionality of the error was evaluated by calculating the location quadrant and applying a Chi-Square test. The GPS error was evaluated by geocoding 11 addresses twice at 4 days interval. The overall median in Google-GPS was 23,2 metres (16,0-32,1) for Santa Pola, and 21,4 meters (14,9-31,1) for Alicante. The overall median in Yahoo was 136,0 meters (19,2-318,5) for Santa Pola, and 23,8 meters (13,6- 29,2) for Alicante. Between the 73% and 90% were geocoded by status as "exact or interpolated" (minor error), where Goggle and Yahoo had a median error between 19 and 23 metres in the two cities. The GPS had a median error of 13.8 meters (6,7-17,8). No error directionality was detected. Google error is acceptable and stable in the two cities, so that it is a reliable source for Para medir elgeocoding addresses in Spain in epidemiological studies.

CAUSES: On the Role of Surface Energy Budget Errors to the Warm Surface Air Temperature Error Over the Central United States

DOE PAGES

Ma, H. -Y.; Klein, S. A.; Xie, S.; ...

2018-02-27

Many weather forecast and climate models simulate warm surface air temperature (T 2m) biases over midlatitude continents during the summertime, especially over the Great Plains. We present here one of a series of papers from a multimodel intercomparison project (CAUSES: Cloud Above the United States and Errors at the Surface), which aims to evaluate the role of cloud, radiation, and precipitation biases in contributing to the T 2m bias using a short-term hindcast approach during the spring and summer of 2011. Observations are mainly from the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Southern Great Plains sites. The present study examines the contributions ofmore » surface energy budget errors. All participating models simulate too much net shortwave and longwave fluxes at the surface but with no consistent mean bias sign in turbulent fluxes over the Central United States and Southern Great Plains. Nevertheless, biases in the net shortwave and downward longwave fluxes as well as surface evaporative fraction (EF) are contributors to T 2m bias. Radiation biases are largely affected by cloud simulations, while EF bias is largely affected by soil moisture modulated by seasonal accumulated precipitation and evaporation. An approximate equation based upon the surface energy budget is derived to further quantify the magnitudes of radiation and EF contributions to T 2m bias. Our analysis ascribes that a large EF underestimate is the dominant source of error in all models with a large positive temperature bias, whereas an EF overestimate compensates for an excess of absorbed shortwave radiation in nearly all the models with the smallest temperature bias.« less

CAUSES: On the Role of Surface Energy Budget Errors to the Warm Surface Air Temperature Error Over the Central United States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, H.-Y.; Klein, S. A.; Xie, S.; Zhang, C.; Tang, S.; Tang, Q.; Morcrette, C. J.; Van Weverberg, K.; Petch, J.; Ahlgrimm, M.; Berg, L. K.; Cheruy, F.; Cole, J.; Forbes, R.; Gustafson, W. I.; Huang, M.; Liu, Y.; Merryfield, W.; Qian, Y.; Roehrig, R.; Wang, Y.-C.

2018-03-01

Many weather forecast and climate models simulate warm surface air temperature (T2m) biases over midlatitude continents during the summertime, especially over the Great Plains. We present here one of a series of papers from a multimodel intercomparison project (CAUSES: Cloud Above the United States and Errors at the Surface), which aims to evaluate the role of cloud, radiation, and precipitation biases in contributing to the T2m bias using a short-term hindcast approach during the spring and summer of 2011. Observations are mainly from the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Southern Great Plains sites. The present study examines the contributions of surface energy budget errors. All participating models simulate too much net shortwave and longwave fluxes at the surface but with no consistent mean bias sign in turbulent fluxes over the Central United States and Southern Great Plains. Nevertheless, biases in the net shortwave and downward longwave fluxes as well as surface evaporative fraction (EF) are contributors to T2m bias. Radiation biases are largely affected by cloud simulations, while EF bias is largely affected by soil moisture modulated by seasonal accumulated precipitation and evaporation. An approximate equation based upon the surface energy budget is derived to further quantify the magnitudes of radiation and EF contributions to T2m bias. Our analysis ascribes that a large EF underestimate is the dominant source of error in all models with a large positive temperature bias, whereas an EF overestimate compensates for an excess of absorbed shortwave radiation in nearly all the models with the smallest temperature bias.

CAUSES: On the Role of Surface Energy Budget Errors to the Warm Surface Air Temperature Error Over the Central United States

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

Ma, H. -Y.; Klein, S. A.; Xie, S.

Many weather forecast and climate models simulate warm surface air temperature (T 2m) biases over midlatitude continents during the summertime, especially over the Great Plains. We present here one of a series of papers from a multimodel intercomparison project (CAUSES: Cloud Above the United States and Errors at the Surface), which aims to evaluate the role of cloud, radiation, and precipitation biases in contributing to the T 2m bias using a short-term hindcast approach during the spring and summer of 2011. Observations are mainly from the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Southern Great Plains sites. The present study examines the contributions ofmore » surface energy budget errors. All participating models simulate too much net shortwave and longwave fluxes at the surface but with no consistent mean bias sign in turbulent fluxes over the Central United States and Southern Great Plains. Nevertheless, biases in the net shortwave and downward longwave fluxes as well as surface evaporative fraction (EF) are contributors to T 2m bias. Radiation biases are largely affected by cloud simulations, while EF bias is largely affected by soil moisture modulated by seasonal accumulated precipitation and evaporation. An approximate equation based upon the surface energy budget is derived to further quantify the magnitudes of radiation and EF contributions to T 2m bias. Our analysis ascribes that a large EF underestimate is the dominant source of error in all models with a large positive temperature bias, whereas an EF overestimate compensates for an excess of absorbed shortwave radiation in nearly all the models with the smallest temperature bias.« less

Measuring Diagnoses: ICD Code Accuracy

PubMed Central

O'Malley, Kimberly J; Cook, Karon F; Price, Matt D; Wildes, Kimberly Raiford; Hurdle, John F; Ashton, Carol M

2005-01-01

Objective To examine potential sources of errors at each step of the described inpatient International Classification of Diseases (ICD) coding process. Data Sources/Study Setting The use of disease codes from the ICD has expanded from classifying morbidity and mortality information for statistical purposes to diverse sets of applications in research, health care policy, and health care finance. By describing a brief history of ICD coding, detailing the process for assigning codes, identifying where errors can be introduced into the process, and reviewing methods for examining code accuracy, we help code users more systematically evaluate code accuracy for their particular applications. Study Design/Methods We summarize the inpatient ICD diagnostic coding process from patient admission to diagnostic code assignment. We examine potential sources of errors at each step and offer code users a tool for systematically evaluating code accuracy. Principle Findings Main error sources along the “patient trajectory” include amount and quality of information at admission, communication among patients and providers, the clinician's knowledge and experience with the illness, and the clinician's attention to detail. Main error sources along the “paper trail” include variance in the electronic and written records, coder training and experience, facility quality-control efforts, and unintentional and intentional coder errors, such as misspecification, unbundling, and upcoding. Conclusions By clearly specifying the code assignment process and heightening their awareness of potential error sources, code users can better evaluate the applicability and limitations of codes for their particular situations. ICD codes can then be used in the most appropriate ways. PMID:16178999

A 1400-MHz survey of 1478 Abell clusters of galaxies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Owen, F. N.; White, R. A.; Hilldrup, K. C.; Hanisch, R. J.

1982-01-01

Observations of 1478 Abell clusters of galaxies with the NRAO 91-m telescope at 1400 MHz are reported. The measured beam shape was deconvolved from the measured source Gaussian fits in order to estimate the source size and position angle. All detected sources within 0.5 corrected Abell cluster radii are listed, including the cluster number, richness class, distance class, magnitude of the tenth brightest galaxy, redshift estimate, corrected cluster radius in arcmin, right ascension and error, declination and error, total flux density and error, and angular structure for each source.

International Test Comparisons: Reviewing Translation Error in Different Source Language-Target Language Combinations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhao, Xueyu; Solano-Flores, Guillermo; Qian, Ming

2018-01-01

This article addresses test translation review in international test comparisons. We investigated the applicability of the theory of test translation error--a theory of the multidimensionality and inevitability of test translation error--across source language-target language combinations in the translation of PISA (Programme of International…

Optical linear algebra processors: noise and error-source modeling.

PubMed

Casasent, D; Ghosh, A

1985-06-01

The modeling of system and component noise and error sources in optical linear algebra processors (OLAP's) are considered, with attention to the frequency-multiplexed OLAP. General expressions are obtained for the output produced as a function of various component errors and noise. A digital simulator for this model is discussed.

Optical linear algebra processors - Noise and error-source modeling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Casasent, D.; Ghosh, A.

1985-01-01

The modeling of system and component noise and error sources in optical linear algebra processors (OLAPs) are considered, with attention to the frequency-multiplexed OLAP. General expressions are obtained for the output produced as a function of various component errors and noise. A digital simulator for this model is discussed.

Source apportionment of visual impairment during the California regional PM 10/PM 2.5 air quality study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Jianjun; Ying, Qi; Kleeman, Michael J.

2009-12-01

Gases and particulate matter predictions from the UCD/CIT air quality model were used in a visibility model to predict source contributions to visual impairment in the San Joaquin Valley (SJV), the southern portion of California's Central Valley, during December 2000 and January 2001. Within the SJV, daytime (0800-1700 PST) light extinction was dominated by scattering associated with airborne particles. Measured daytime particle scattering coefficients were compared to predicted values at approximately 40 locations across the SJV after correction for the increased temperature and decreased relative humidity produced by "smart heaters" placed upstream of nephelometers. Mean fractional bias and mean fractional error were -0.22 and 0.65, respectively, indicating reasonable agreement between model predictions and measurements. Particulate water, nitrate, organic matter, and ammonium were the major particulate species contributing to light scattering in the SJV. Daytime light extinction in the SJV averaged between December 25, 2000 and January 7, 2001 was mainly associated with animal ammonia sources (28%), diesel engines (18%), catalyst gasoline engines (9%), other anthropogenic sources (9%), and wood smoke (7%) with initial and boundary conditions accounting for 13%. The source apportionment results from this study apply to wintertime conditions when airborne particulate matter concentrations are typically at their annual maximum. Further study would be required to quantify source contributions to light extinction in other seasons.

The seasonal cycle of diabatic heat storage in the Pacific Ocean

USGS Publications Warehouse

White, Warren B.; Cayan, D.R.; Niiler, P.P.; Moisan, J.; Lagerloef, G.; Bonjean, F.; Legler, D.

2005-01-01

This study quantifies uncertainties in closing the seasonal cycle of diabatic heat storage (DHS) over the Pacific Ocean from 20??S to 60??N through the synthesis of World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) reanalysis products from 1993 to 1999. These products are DHS from Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO); near-surface geostrophic and Ekman currents from Earth and Space Research (ESR); and air-sea heat fluxes from Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set (COADS), National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), and European Center for Mid-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). With these products, we compute residual heat budget components by differencing long-term monthly means from the long-term annual mean. This allows the seasonal cycle of the DHS tendency to be modeled. Everywhere latent heat flux residuals dominate sensible heat flux residuals, shortwave heat flux residuals dominate longwave heat flux residuals, and residual Ekman heat advection dominates residual geostrophic heat advection, with residual dissipation significant only in the Kuroshio-Oyashio current extension. The root-mean-square (RMS) of the differences between observed and model residual DHS tendencies (averaged over 10??latitude-by-20??longitude boxes) is <20 W m-2 in the interior ocean and <100 W m-2 in the Kuroshio-Oyashio current extension. This reveals that the residual DHS tendency is driven everywhere by some mix of residual latent heat flux, shortwave heat flux, and Ekman heat advection. Suppressing bias errors in residual air-sea turbulent heat fluxes and Ekman heat advection through minimization of the RMS differences reduces the latter to <10 W m-2 over the interior ocean and <25 W m -2 in the Kuroshio-Oyashio current extension. This reveals air-sea temperature and specific humidity differences from in situ surface marine weather observations to be a principal source of bias error, overestimated over most of ocean but underestimated near the Intertropical Convergence Zone. ?? 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The onset of galactic winds in early-type galaxies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jones, Christine

1992-01-01

We completed the spectral analysis of 31 early-type galaxies to investigate whether their x-ray emission was predominantly due to thermal bremsstrahlung from a hot gaseous corona or emission from discrete, galactic sources such as x-ray binaries. If a corona dominates the x-ray emission, its spectra is expected to be relatively cool (0.5 - 1 keV) compared to the harder emission associated with x-ray binaries in our galaxy, the Magellanic Clouds and M31. While it is generally accepted that the x-ray emission in luminous E and S0 galaxies arises from hot coronae, the status of hot gas in lower luminosity (and hence lower mass) galaxies is less clear. Calculations show that, for a given supernova rate, a critical galaxy luminosity (mass) exists below which the gas cannot be gravitationally confined and a galactic wind is predicted to be effective in expelling gas from the galaxy. Since significant mass (a dark halo) is required to hold a hot, gaseous corona around a galaxy, we expect that the faintest, smallest galaxies will not have a hot corona, but their x-ray emission will be dominated by galactic sources or by an active galactic nuclei. In the sample we tested which spanned the absolute magnitude range from -21.5 to -19.5, we found that except for two galaxies whose x-ray emission was dominated by an active nucleus, that the others were consistent with emission from hot gas. We also found that there is a correlation between gas temperature and galaxy magnitude (mass), such that the brighter, more luminous galaxies have hotter gas temperatures. Thus even at relatively faint magnitudes, the dominant emission from early-type galaxies appears to be hot gas. We also carried out an investigation of the x-ray surface brightness distribution of the x-ray emission for about 100 early type galaxies to determine whether the x-ray emission from galaxies are extended. Extended x-ray emission is expected if the emission is due to a hot gaseous corona. We determined the ratio of the source counts in two annuli (0-80 arc seconds and 80-160 arc seconds) for each galaxy and analyzed these ratios using a maximum likelihood estimator to determine the errors on the ratios. Even for weak sources, this ratio provides a sensitive test for source extent. We then compared these ratios to a sample of quasars (all unresolved sources) and have determined which galaxies are extended and which are consistent with point sources. A first paper including the Einstein x-ray fluxes for 147 early-type galaxies has been published in the Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series (with Roberts, Hogg, Bregman, Forman entitled 'Interstellar Matter in Early-Type Galaxies'). A second paper will describe the spectral and extent analysis carried out for this galaxy sample. These results also have been presented at scientific conferences and in colloquia.

ROSAT X-Ray Observation of the Second Error Box for SGR 1900+14

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Li, P.; Hurley, K.; Vrba, F.; Kouveliotou, C.; Meegan, C. A.; Fishman, G. J.; Kulkarni, S.; Frail, D.

1997-01-01

The positions of the two error boxes for the soft gamma repeater (SGR) 1900+14 were determined by the "network synthesis" method, which employs observations by the Ulysses gamma-ray burst and CGRO BATSE instruments. The location of the first error box has been observed at optical, infrared, and X-ray wavelengths, resulting in the discovery of a ROSAT X-ray point source and a curious double infrared source. We have recently used the ROSAT HRI to observe the second error box to complete the counterpart search. A total of six X-ray sources were identified within the field of view. None of them falls within the network synthesis error box, and a 3 sigma upper limit to any X-ray counterpart was estimated to be 6.35 x 10(exp -14) ergs/sq cm/s. The closest source is approximately 3 min. away, and has an estimated unabsorbed flux of 1.5 x 10(exp -12) ergs/sq cm/s. Unlike the first error box, there is no supernova remnant near the second error box. The closest one, G43.9+1.6, lies approximately 2.dg6 away. For these reasons, we believe that the first error box is more likely to be the correct one.

Sources of variability and systematic error in mouse timing behavior.

PubMed

Gallistel, C R; King, Adam; McDonald, Robert

2004-01-01

In the peak procedure, starts and stops in responding bracket the target time at which food is expected. The variability in start and stop times is proportional to the target time (scalar variability), as is the systematic error in the mean center (scalar error). The authors investigated the source of the error and the variability, using head poking in the mouse, with target intervals of 5 s, 15 s, and 45 s, in the standard procedure, and in a variant with 3 different target intervals at 3 different locations in a single trial. The authors conclude that the systematic error is due to the asymmetric location of start and stop decision criteria, and the scalar variability derives primarily from sources other than memory.

Magnetic Nanoparticle Thermometer: An Investigation of Minimum Error Transmission Path and AC Bias Error

PubMed Central

Du, Zhongzhou; Su, Rijian; Liu, Wenzhong; Huang, Zhixing

2015-01-01

The signal transmission module of a magnetic nanoparticle thermometer (MNPT) was established in this study to analyze the error sources introduced during the signal flow in the hardware system. The underlying error sources that significantly affected the precision of the MNPT were determined through mathematical modeling and simulation. A transfer module path with the minimum error in the hardware system was then proposed through the analysis of the variations of the system error caused by the significant error sources when the signal flew through the signal transmission module. In addition, a system parameter, named the signal-to-AC bias ratio (i.e., the ratio between the signal and AC bias), was identified as a direct determinant of the precision of the measured temperature. The temperature error was below 0.1 K when the signal-to-AC bias ratio was higher than 80 dB, and other system errors were not considered. The temperature error was below 0.1 K in the experiments with a commercial magnetic fluid (Sample SOR-10, Ocean Nanotechnology, Springdale, AR, USA) when the hardware system of the MNPT was designed with the aforementioned method. PMID:25875188

Altimeter error sources at the 10-cm performance level

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Martin, C. F.

1977-01-01

Error sources affecting the calibration and operational use of a 10 cm altimeter are examined to determine the magnitudes of current errors and the investigations necessary to reduce them to acceptable bounds. Errors considered include those affecting operational data pre-processing, and those affecting altitude bias determination, with error budgets developed for both. The most significant error sources affecting pre-processing are bias calibration, propagation corrections for the ionosphere, and measurement noise. No ionospheric models are currently validated at the required 10-25% accuracy level. The optimum smoothing to reduce the effects of measurement noise is investigated and found to be on the order of one second, based on the TASC model of geoid undulations. The 10 cm calibrations are found to be feasible only through the use of altimeter passes that are very high elevation for a tracking station which tracks very close to the time of altimeter track, such as a high elevation pass across the island of Bermuda. By far the largest error source, based on the current state-of-the-art, is the location of the island tracking station relative to mean sea level in the surrounding ocean areas.

Audit of the global carbon budget: estimate errors and their impact on uptake uncertainty

DOE PAGES

Ballantyne, A. P.; Andres, R.; Houghton, R.; ...

2015-04-30

Over the last 5 decades monitoring systems have been developed to detect changes in the accumulation of carbon (C) in the atmosphere and ocean; however, our ability to detect changes in the behavior of the global C cycle is still hindered by measurement and estimate errors. Here we present a rigorous and flexible framework for assessing the temporal and spatial components of estimate errors and their impact on uncertainty in net C uptake by the biosphere. We present a novel approach for incorporating temporally correlated random error into the error structure of emission estimates. Based on this approach, we concludemore » that the 2σ uncertainties of the atmospheric growth rate have decreased from 1.2 Pg C yr ₋1 in the 1960s to 0.3 Pg C yr ₋1 in the 2000s due to an expansion of the atmospheric observation network. The 2σ uncertainties in fossil fuel emissions have increased from 0.3 Pg C yr ₋1 in the 1960s to almost 1.0 Pg C yr ₋1 during the 2000s due to differences in national reporting errors and differences in energy inventories. Lastly, while land use emissions have remained fairly constant, their errors still remain high and thus their global C uptake uncertainty is not trivial. Currently, the absolute errors in fossil fuel emissions rival the total emissions from land use, highlighting the extent to which fossil fuels dominate the global C budget. Because errors in the atmospheric growth rate have decreased faster than errors in total emissions have increased, a ~20% reduction in the overall uncertainty of net C global uptake has occurred. Given all the major sources of error in the global C budget that we could identify, we are 93% confident that terrestrial C uptake has increased and 97% confident that ocean C uptake has increased over the last 5 decades. Thus, it is clear that arguably one of the most vital ecosystem services currently provided by the biosphere is the continued removal of approximately half of atmospheric CO 2 emissions from the atmosphere, although there are certain environmental costs associated with this service, such as the acidification of ocean waters.« less

Measuring diagnoses: ICD code accuracy.

PubMed

O'Malley, Kimberly J; Cook, Karon F; Price, Matt D; Wildes, Kimberly Raiford; Hurdle, John F; Ashton, Carol M

2005-10-01

To examine potential sources of errors at each step of the described inpatient International Classification of Diseases (ICD) coding process. The use of disease codes from the ICD has expanded from classifying morbidity and mortality information for statistical purposes to diverse sets of applications in research, health care policy, and health care finance. By describing a brief history of ICD coding, detailing the process for assigning codes, identifying where errors can be introduced into the process, and reviewing methods for examining code accuracy, we help code users more systematically evaluate code accuracy for their particular applications. We summarize the inpatient ICD diagnostic coding process from patient admission to diagnostic code assignment. We examine potential sources of errors at each step and offer code users a tool for systematically evaluating code accuracy. Main error sources along the "patient trajectory" include amount and quality of information at admission, communication among patients and providers, the clinician's knowledge and experience with the illness, and the clinician's attention to detail. Main error sources along the "paper trail" include variance in the electronic and written records, coder training and experience, facility quality-control efforts, and unintentional and intentional coder errors, such as misspecification, unbundling, and upcoding. By clearly specifying the code assignment process and heightening their awareness of potential error sources, code users can better evaluate the applicability and limitations of codes for their particular situations. ICD codes can then be used in the most appropriate ways.

Minimization of model representativity errors in identification of point source emission from atmospheric concentration measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sharan, Maithili; Singh, Amit Kumar; Singh, Sarvesh Kumar

2017-11-01

Estimation of an unknown atmospheric release from a finite set of concentration measurements is considered an ill-posed inverse problem. Besides ill-posedness, the estimation process is influenced by the instrumental errors in the measured concentrations and model representativity errors. The study highlights the effect of minimizing model representativity errors on the source estimation. This is described in an adjoint modelling framework and followed in three steps. First, an estimation of point source parameters (location and intensity) is carried out using an inversion technique. Second, a linear regression relationship is established between the measured concentrations and corresponding predicted using the retrieved source parameters. Third, this relationship is utilized to modify the adjoint functions. Further, source estimation is carried out using these modified adjoint functions to analyse the effect of such modifications. The process is tested for two well known inversion techniques, called renormalization and least-square. The proposed methodology and inversion techniques are evaluated for a real scenario by using concentrations measurements from the Idaho diffusion experiment in low wind stable conditions. With both the inversion techniques, a significant improvement is observed in the retrieval of source estimation after minimizing the representativity errors.

Progress in the improved lattice calculation of direct CP-violation in the Standard Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kelly, Christopher

2018-03-01

We discuss the ongoing effort by the RBC & UKQCD collaborations to improve our lattice calculation of the measure of Standard Model direct CP violation, ɛ', with physical kinematics. We present our progress in decreasing the (dominant) statistical error and discuss other related activities aimed at reducing the systematic errors.

Effects of Tropospheric Spatio-Temporal Correlated Noise on the Analysis of Space Geodetic Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Romero-Wolf, A.; Jacobs, C. S.; Ratcliff, J. T.

2012-01-01

The standard VLBI analysis models the distribution of measurement noise as Gaussian. Because the price of recording bits is steadily decreasing, thermal errors will soon no longer dominate. As a result, it is expected that troposphere and instrumentation/clock errors will increasingly become more dominant. Given that both of these errors have correlated spectra, properly modeling the error distributions will become increasingly relevant for optimal analysis. We discuss the advantages of modeling the correlations between tropospheric delays using a Kolmogorov spectrum and the frozen flow assumption pioneered by Treuhaft and Lanyi. We then apply these correlated noise spectra to the weighting of VLBI data analysis for two case studies: X/Ka-band global astrometry and Earth orientation. In both cases we see improved results when the analyses are weighted with correlated noise models vs. the standard uncorrelated models. The X/Ka astrometric scatter improved by approx.10% and the systematic Delta delta vs. delta slope decreased by approx. 50%. The TEMPO Earth orientation results improved by 17% in baseline transverse and 27% in baseline vertical.

Syndrome source coding and its universal generalization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ancheta, T. C., Jr.

1975-01-01

A method of using error-correcting codes to obtain data compression, called syndrome-source-coding, is described in which the source sequence is treated as an error pattern whose syndrome forms the compressed data. It is shown that syndrome-source-coding can achieve arbitrarily small distortion with the number of compressed digits per source digit arbitrarily close to the entropy of a binary memoryless source. A universal generalization of syndrome-source-coding is formulated which provides robustly-effective, distortionless, coding of source ensembles.

A data-driven modeling approach to stochastic computation for low-energy biomedical devices.

PubMed

Lee, Kyong Ho; Jang, Kuk Jin; Shoeb, Ali; Verma, Naveen

2011-01-01

Low-power devices that can detect clinically relevant correlations in physiologically-complex patient signals can enable systems capable of closed-loop response (e.g., controlled actuation of therapeutic stimulators, continuous recording of disease states, etc.). In ultra-low-power platforms, however, hardware error sources are becoming increasingly limiting. In this paper, we present how data-driven methods, which allow us to accurately model physiological signals, also allow us to effectively model and overcome prominent hardware error sources with nearly no additional overhead. Two applications, EEG-based seizure detection and ECG-based arrhythmia-beat classification, are synthesized to a logic-gate implementation, and two prominent error sources are introduced: (1) SRAM bit-cell errors and (2) logic-gate switching errors ('stuck-at' faults). Using patient data from the CHB-MIT and MIT-BIH databases, performance similar to error-free hardware is achieved even for very high fault rates (up to 0.5 for SRAMs and 7 × 10(-2) for logic) that cause computational bit error rates as high as 50%.

Parameter optimization in biased decoy-state quantum key distribution with both source errors and statistical fluctuations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Jian-Rong; Li, Jian; Zhang, Chun-Mei; Wang, Qin

2017-10-01

The decoy-state method has been widely used in commercial quantum key distribution (QKD) systems. In view of the practical decoy-state QKD with both source errors and statistical fluctuations, we propose a universal model of full parameter optimization in biased decoy-state QKD with phase-randomized sources. Besides, we adopt this model to carry out simulations of two widely used sources: weak coherent source (WCS) and heralded single-photon source (HSPS). Results show that full parameter optimization can significantly improve not only the secure transmission distance but also the final key generation rate. And when taking source errors and statistical fluctuations into account, the performance of decoy-state QKD using HSPS suffered less than that of decoy-state QKD using WCS.

Dynamic dominance varies with handedness: reduced interlimb asymmetries in left-handers

PubMed Central

Przybyla, Andrzej; Good, David C.; Sainburg, Robert L.

2013-01-01

Our previous studies of interlimb asymmetries during reaching movements have given rise to the dynamic-dominance hypothesis of motor lateralization. This hypothesis proposes that dominant arm control has become optimized for efficient intersegmental coordination, which is often associated with straight and smooth hand-paths, while non-dominant arm control has become optimized for controlling steady-state posture, which has been associated with greater final position accuracy when movements are mechanically perturbed, and often during movements made in the absence of visual feedback. The basis for this model of motor lateralization was derived from studies conducted in right-handed subjects. We now ask whether left-handers show similar proficiencies in coordinating reaching movements. We recruited right- and left-handers (20 per group) to perform reaching movements to three targets, in which intersegmental coordination requirements varied systematically. Our results showed that the dominant arm of both left- and right-handers were well coordinated, as reflected by fairly straight hand-paths and low errors in initial direction. Consistent with our previous studies, the non-dominant arm of right-handers showed substantially greater curvature and large errors in initial direction, most notably to targets that elicited higher intersegmental interactions. While the right, non-dominant, hand-paths of left-handers were slightly more curved than those of the dominant arm, they were also substantially more accurate and better coordinated than the non-dominant arm of right-handers. Our results indicate a similar pattern, but reduced lateralization for intersegmental coordination in left-handers. These findings suggest that left-handers develop more coordinated control of their non-dominant arms than right-handers, possibly due to environmental pressure for right-handed manipulations. PMID:22113487

Dynamic dominance varies with handedness: reduced interlimb asymmetries in left-handers.

PubMed

Przybyla, Andrzej; Good, David C; Sainburg, Robert L

2012-02-01

Our previous studies of interlimb asymmetries during reaching movements have given rise to the dynamic-dominance hypothesis of motor lateralization. This hypothesis proposes that dominant arm control has become optimized for efficient intersegmental coordination, which is often associated with straight and smooth hand-paths, while non-dominant arm control has become optimized for controlling steady-state posture, which has been associated with greater final position accuracy when movements are mechanically perturbed, and often during movements made in the absence of visual feedback. The basis for this model of motor lateralization was derived from studies conducted in right-handed subjects. We now ask whether left-handers show similar proficiencies in coordinating reaching movements. We recruited right- and left-handers (20 per group) to perform reaching movements to three targets, in which intersegmental coordination requirements varied systematically. Our results showed that the dominant arm of both left- and right-handers were well coordinated, as reflected by fairly straight hand-paths and low errors in initial direction. Consistent with our previous studies, the non-dominant arm of right-handers showed substantially greater curvature and large errors in initial direction, most notably to targets that elicited higher intersegmental interactions. While the right, non-dominant, hand-paths of left-handers were slightly more curved than those of the dominant arm, they were also substantially more accurate and better coordinated than the non-dominant arm of right-handers. Our results indicate a similar pattern, but reduced lateralization for intersegmental coordination in left-handers. These findings suggest that left-handers develop more coordinated control of their non-dominant arms than right-handers, possibly due to environmental pressure for right-handed manipulations.

Impact of numerical choices on water conservation in the E3SM Atmosphere Model Version 1 (EAM V1)

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

Zhang, Kai; Rasch, Philip J.; Taylor, Mark A.

The conservation of total water is an important numerical feature for global Earth system models. Even small conservation problems in the water budget can lead to systematic errors in century-long simulations for sea level rise projection. This study quantifies and reduces various sources of water conservation error in the atmosphere component of the Energy Exascale Earth System Model. Several sources of water conservation error have been identified during the development of the version 1 (V1) model. The largest errors result from the numerical coupling between the resolved dynamics and the parameterized sub-grid physics. A hybrid coupling using different methods formore » fluid dynamics and tracer transport provides a reduction of water conservation error by a factor of 50 at 1° horizontal resolution as well as consistent improvements at other resolutions. The second largest error source is the use of an overly simplified relationship between the surface moisture flux and latent heat flux at the interface between the host model and the turbulence parameterization. This error can be prevented by applying the same (correct) relationship throughout the entire model. Two additional types of conservation error that result from correcting the surface moisture flux and clipping negative water concentrations can be avoided by using mass-conserving fixers. With all four error sources addressed, the water conservation error in the V1 model is negligible and insensitive to the horizontal resolution. The associated changes in the long-term statistics of the main atmospheric features are small. A sensitivity analysis is carried out to show that the magnitudes of the conservation errors decrease strongly with temporal resolution but increase with horizontal resolution. The increased vertical resolution in the new model results in a very thin model layer at the Earth’s surface, which amplifies the conservation error associated with the surface moisture flux correction. We note that for some of the identified error sources, the proposed fixers are remedies rather than solutions to the problems at their roots. Future improvements in time integration would be beneficial for this model.« less

Impact of numerical choices on water conservation in the E3SM Atmosphere Model version 1 (EAMv1)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Kai; Rasch, Philip J.; Taylor, Mark A.; Wan, Hui; Leung, Ruby; Ma, Po-Lun; Golaz, Jean-Christophe; Wolfe, Jon; Lin, Wuyin; Singh, Balwinder; Burrows, Susannah; Yoon, Jin-Ho; Wang, Hailong; Qian, Yun; Tang, Qi; Caldwell, Peter; Xie, Shaocheng

2018-06-01

The conservation of total water is an important numerical feature for global Earth system models. Even small conservation problems in the water budget can lead to systematic errors in century-long simulations. This study quantifies and reduces various sources of water conservation error in the atmosphere component of the Energy Exascale Earth System Model. Several sources of water conservation error have been identified during the development of the version 1 (V1) model. The largest errors result from the numerical coupling between the resolved dynamics and the parameterized sub-grid physics. A hybrid coupling using different methods for fluid dynamics and tracer transport provides a reduction of water conservation error by a factor of 50 at 1° horizontal resolution as well as consistent improvements at other resolutions. The second largest error source is the use of an overly simplified relationship between the surface moisture flux and latent heat flux at the interface between the host model and the turbulence parameterization. This error can be prevented by applying the same (correct) relationship throughout the entire model. Two additional types of conservation error that result from correcting the surface moisture flux and clipping negative water concentrations can be avoided by using mass-conserving fixers. With all four error sources addressed, the water conservation error in the V1 model becomes negligible and insensitive to the horizontal resolution. The associated changes in the long-term statistics of the main atmospheric features are small. A sensitivity analysis is carried out to show that the magnitudes of the conservation errors in early V1 versions decrease strongly with temporal resolution but increase with horizontal resolution. The increased vertical resolution in V1 results in a very thin model layer at the Earth's surface, which amplifies the conservation error associated with the surface moisture flux correction. We note that for some of the identified error sources, the proposed fixers are remedies rather than solutions to the problems at their roots. Future improvements in time integration would be beneficial for V1.

Drought Persistence Errors in Global Climate Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moon, H.; Gudmundsson, L.; Seneviratne, S. I.

2018-04-01

The persistence of drought events largely determines the severity of socioeconomic and ecological impacts, but the capability of current global climate models (GCMs) to simulate such events is subject to large uncertainties. In this study, the representation of drought persistence in GCMs is assessed by comparing state-of-the-art GCM model simulations to observation-based data sets. For doing so, we consider dry-to-dry transition probabilities at monthly and annual scales as estimates for drought persistence, where a dry status is defined as negative precipitation anomaly. Though there is a substantial spread in the drought persistence bias, most of the simulations show systematic underestimation of drought persistence at global scale. Subsequently, we analyzed to which degree (i) inaccurate observations, (ii) differences among models, (iii) internal climate variability, and (iv) uncertainty of the employed statistical methods contribute to the spread in drought persistence errors using an analysis of variance approach. The results show that at monthly scale, model uncertainty and observational uncertainty dominate, while the contribution from internal variability is small in most cases. At annual scale, the spread of the drought persistence error is dominated by the statistical estimation error of drought persistence, indicating that the partitioning of the error is impaired by the limited number of considered time steps. These findings reveal systematic errors in the representation of drought persistence in current GCMs and suggest directions for further model improvement.

The Red Edge Problem in asteroid band parameter analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lindsay, Sean S.; Dunn, Tasha L.; Emery, Joshua P.; Bowles, Neil E.

2016-04-01

Near-infrared reflectance spectra of S-type asteroids contain two absorptions at 1 and 2 μm (band I and II) that are diagnostic of mineralogy. A parameterization of these two bands is frequently employed to determine the mineralogy of S(IV) asteroids through the use of ordinary chondrite calibration equations that link the mineralogy to band parameters. The most widely used calibration study uses a Band II terminal wavelength point (red edge) at 2.50 μm. However, due to the limitations of the NIR detectors on prominent telescopes used in asteroid research, spectral data for asteroids are typically only reliable out to 2.45 μm. We refer to this discrepancy as "The Red Edge Problem." In this report, we evaluate the associated errors for measured band area ratios (BAR = Area BII/BI) and calculated relative abundance measurements. We find that the Red Edge Problem is often not the dominant source of error for the observationally limited red edge set at 2.45 μm, but it frequently is for a red edge set at 2.40 μm. The error, however, is one sided and therefore systematic. As such, we provide equations to adjust measured BARs to values with a different red edge definition. We also provide new ol/(ol+px) calibration equations for red edges set at 2.40 and 2.45 μm.

Predicting Near Edge X-ray Absorption Spectra with the Spin-Free Exact-Two-Component Hamiltonian and Orthogonality Constrained Density Functional Theory.

PubMed

Verma, Prakash; Derricotte, Wallace D; Evangelista, Francesco A

2016-01-12

Orthogonality constrained density functional theory (OCDFT) provides near-edge X-ray absorption (NEXAS) spectra of first-row elements within one electronvolt from experimental values. However, with increasing atomic number, scalar relativistic effects become the dominant source of error in a nonrelativistic OCDFT treatment of core-valence excitations. In this work we report a novel implementation of the spin-free exact-two-component (X2C) one-electron treatment of scalar relativistic effects and its combination with a recently developed OCDFT approach to compute a manifold of core-valence excited states. The inclusion of scalar relativistic effects in OCDFT reduces the mean absolute error of second-row elements core-valence excitations from 10.3 to 2.3 eV. For all the excitations considered, the results from X2C calculations are also found to be in excellent agreement with those from low-order spin-free Douglas-Kroll-Hess relativistic Hamiltonians. The X2C-OCDFT NEXAS spectra of three organotitanium complexes (TiCl4, TiCpCl3, TiCp2Cl2) are in very good agreement with unshifted experimental results and show a maximum absolute error of 5-6 eV. In addition, a decomposition of the total transition dipole moment into partial atomic contributions is proposed and applied to analyze the nature of the Ti pre-edge transitions in the three organotitanium complexes.

Multiconfiguration Pair-Density Functional Theory Is Free From Delocalization Error.

PubMed

Bao, Junwei Lucas; Wang, Ying; He, Xiao; Gagliardi, Laura; Truhlar, Donald G

2017-11-16

Delocalization error has been singled out by Yang and co-workers as the dominant error in Kohn-Sham density functional theory (KS-DFT) with conventional approximate functionals. In this Letter, by computing the vertical first ionization energy for well separated He clusters, we show that multiconfiguration pair-density functional theory (MC-PDFT) is free from delocalization error. To put MC-PDFT in perspective, we also compare it with some Kohn-Sham density functionals, including both traditional and modern functionals. Whereas large delocalization errors are almost universal in KS-DFT (the only exception being the very recent corrected functionals of Yang and co-workers), delocalization error is removed by MC-PDFT, which bodes well for its future as a step forward from KS-DFT.

Sequence polymorphism in an insect RNA virus field population: A snapshot from a single point in space and time reveals stochastic differences among and within individual hosts

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

Stenger, Drake C., E-mail: drake.stenger@ars.usda.

Population structure of Homalodisca coagulata Virus-1 (HoCV-1) among and within field-collected insects sampled from a single point in space and time was examined. Polymorphism in complete consensus sequences among single-insect isolates was dominated by synonymous substitutions. The mutant spectrum of the C2 helicase region within each single-insect isolate was unique and dominated by nonsynonymous singletons. Bootstrapping was used to correct the within-isolate nonsynonymous:synonymous arithmetic ratio (N:S) for RT-PCR error, yielding an N:S value ~one log-unit greater than that of consensus sequences. Probability of all possible single-base substitutions for the C2 region predicted N:S values within 95% confidence limits of themore » corrected within-isolate N:S when the only constraint imposed was viral polymerase error bias for transitions over transversions. These results indicate that bottlenecks coupled with strong negative/purifying selection drive consensus sequences toward neutral sequence space, and that most polymorphism within single-insect isolates is composed of newly-minted mutations sampled prior to selection. -- Highlights: •Sampling protocol minimized differential selection/history among isolates. •Polymorphism among consensus sequences dominated by negative/purifying selection. •Within-isolate N:S ratio corrected for RT-PCR error by bootstrapping. •Within-isolate mutant spectrum dominated by new mutations yet to undergo selection.« less

General relativistic corrections in density-shear correlations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghosh, Basundhara; Durrer, Ruth; Sellentin, Elena

2018-06-01

We investigate the corrections which relativistic light-cone computations induce on the correlation of the tangential shear with galaxy number counts, also known as galaxy-galaxy lensing. The standard-approach to galaxy-galaxy lensing treats the number density of sources in a foreground bin as observable, whereas it is in reality unobservable due to the presence of relativistic corrections. We find that already in the redshift range covered by the DES first year data, these currently neglected relativistic terms lead to a systematic correction of up to 50% in the density-shear correlation function for the highest redshift bins. This correction is dominated by the fact that a redshift bin of number counts does not only lens sources in a background bin, but is itself again lensed by all masses between the observer and the counted source population. Relativistic corrections are currently ignored in the standard galaxy-galaxy analyses, and the additional lensing of a counted source populations is only included in the error budget (via the covariance matrix). At increasingly higher redshifts and larger scales, these relativistic and lensing corrections become however increasingly more important, and we here argue that it is then more efficient, and also cleaner, to account for these corrections in the density-shear correlations.

Estimation of the caesium-137 source term from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant using a consistent joint assimilation of air concentration and deposition observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Winiarek, Victor; Bocquet, Marc; Duhanyan, Nora; Roustan, Yelva; Saunier, Olivier; Mathieu, Anne

2014-01-01

Inverse modelling techniques can be used to estimate the amount of radionuclides and the temporal profile of the source term released in the atmosphere during the accident of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in March 2011. In Winiarek et al. (2012b), the lower bounds of the caesium-137 and iodine-131 source terms were estimated with such techniques, using activity concentration measurements. The importance of an objective assessment of prior errors (the observation errors and the background errors) was emphasised for a reliable inversion. In such critical context where the meteorological conditions can make the source term partly unobservable and where only a few observations are available, such prior estimation techniques are mandatory, the retrieved source term being very sensitive to this estimation. We propose to extend the use of these techniques to the estimation of prior errors when assimilating observations from several data sets. The aim is to compute an estimate of the caesium-137 source term jointly using all available data about this radionuclide, such as activity concentrations in the air, but also daily fallout measurements and total cumulated fallout measurements. It is crucial to properly and simultaneously estimate the background errors and the prior errors relative to each data set. A proper estimation of prior errors is also a necessary condition to reliably estimate the a posteriori uncertainty of the estimated source term. Using such techniques, we retrieve a total released quantity of caesium-137 in the interval 11.6-19.3 PBq with an estimated standard deviation range of 15-20% depending on the method and the data sets. The “blind” time intervals of the source term have also been strongly mitigated compared to the first estimations with only activity concentration data.

Feasibility of Equivalent Dipole Models for Electroencephalogram-Based Brain Computer Interfaces.

PubMed

Schimpf, Paul H

2017-09-15

This article examines the localization errors of equivalent dipolar sources inverted from the surface electroencephalogram in order to determine the feasibility of using their location as classification parameters for non-invasive brain computer interfaces. Inverse localization errors are examined for two head models: a model represented by four concentric spheres and a realistic model based on medical imagery. It is shown that the spherical model results in localization ambiguity such that a number of dipolar sources, with different azimuths and varying orientations, provide a near match to the electroencephalogram of the best equivalent source. No such ambiguity exists for the elevation of inverted sources, indicating that for spherical head models, only the elevation of inverted sources (and not the azimuth) can be expected to provide meaningful classification parameters for brain-computer interfaces. In a realistic head model, all three parameters of the inverted source location are found to be reliable, providing a more robust set of parameters. In both cases, the residual error hypersurfaces demonstrate local minima, indicating that a search for the best-matching sources should be global. Source localization error vs. signal-to-noise ratio is also demonstrated for both head models.

Learning a locomotor task: with or without errors?

PubMed

Marchal-Crespo, Laura; Schneider, Jasmin; Jaeger, Lukas; Riener, Robert

2014-03-04

Robotic haptic guidance is the most commonly used robotic training strategy to reduce performance errors while training. However, research on motor learning has emphasized that errors are a fundamental neural signal that drive motor adaptation. Thus, researchers have proposed robotic therapy algorithms that amplify movement errors rather than decrease them. However, to date, no study has analyzed with precision which training strategy is the most appropriate to learn an especially simple task. In this study, the impact of robotic training strategies that amplify or reduce errors on muscle activation and motor learning of a simple locomotor task was investigated in twenty two healthy subjects. The experiment was conducted with the MAgnetic Resonance COmpatible Stepper (MARCOS) a special robotic device developed for investigations in the MR scanner. The robot moved the dominant leg passively and the subject was requested to actively synchronize the non-dominant leg to achieve an alternating stepping-like movement. Learning with four different training strategies that reduce or amplify errors was evaluated: (i) Haptic guidance: errors were eliminated by passively moving the limbs, (ii) No guidance: no robot disturbances were presented, (iii) Error amplification: existing errors were amplified with repulsive forces, (iv) Noise disturbance: errors were evoked intentionally with a randomly-varying force disturbance on top of the no guidance strategy. Additionally, the activation of four lower limb muscles was measured by the means of surface electromyography (EMG). Strategies that reduce or do not amplify errors limit muscle activation during training and result in poor learning gains. Adding random disturbing forces during training seems to increase attention, and therefore improve motor learning. Error amplification seems to be the most suitable strategy for initially less skilled subjects, perhaps because subjects could better detect their errors and correct them. Error strategies have a great potential to evoke higher muscle activation and provoke better motor learning of simple tasks. Neuroimaging evaluation of brain regions involved in learning can provide valuable information on observed behavioral outcomes related to learning processes. The impacts of these strategies on neurological patients need further investigations.

Antideuterons in cosmic rays: sources and discovery potential

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

Herms, Johannes; Ibarra, Alejandro; Vittino, Andrea

Antibaryons are produced in our Galaxy in collisions of high energy cosmic rays with the interstellar medium and in old supernova remnants, and possibly, in exotic sources such as primordial black hole evaporation or dark matter annihilations and decays. The search for signals from exotic sources in antiproton data is hampered by large backgrounds from spallation which, within theoretical errors, can solely account for the current data. Due to the higher energy threshold for antideuteron production, which translates into a suppression of the low energy flux from spallations, antideuteron searches have been proposed as a probe for exotic sources. Wemore » perform in this paper a comprehensive analysis of the antideuteron fluxes at the Earth expected from known and hypothetical sources in our Galaxy, and we calculate their maximal values consistent with current antiproton data from AMS-02. We find that supernova remnants generate a negligible flux, whereas primordial black hole evaporation and dark matter annihilations or decays may dominate the total flux at low energies. On the other hand, we find that the (detection of cosmic antideuterons) would require, for the scenarios studied in this paper and assuming optimistic values of the coalescence momentum and solar modulation, an increase of the experimental sensitivity compared to ongoing and planned instruments by at least a factor of 2. Finally, we briefly comment on the prospects for antihelium-3 detection.« less

The Impact of Aerosol Sources and Aging on CCN Formation in the Houston-Galveston-Gulf of Mexico Region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quinn, P.; Bates, T.; Coffman, D.; Covert, D.

2007-12-01

The impact of anthropogenic aerosol on cloud properties, cloud lifetime, and precipitation processes is one of the largest uncertainties in our current understanding of climate change. Aerosols affect cloud properties by serving as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) thereby leading to the formation of cloud droplets. The process of cloud drop activation is a function of both the size and chemistry of the aerosol particles which, in turn, depend on the source of the aerosol and transformations that occur downwind. In situ field measurements that can lead to an improved understanding of the process of cloud drop formation and simplifying parameterizations for improving the accuracy of climate models are highly desirable. During the Gulf of Mexico Atmospheric Composition and Climate Study (GoMACCS), the NOAA RV Ronald H. Brown encountered a wide variety of aerosol types ranging from marine near the Florida panhandle to urban and industrial in the Houston-Galveston area. These varied sources provided an opportunity to investigate the role of aerosol sources, aging, chemistry, and size in the activation of particles to form cloud droplets. Here, we use the correlation between variability in critical diameter for activation (determined empirically from measured CCN concentrations and the number size distribution) and aerosol composition to quantify the impact of composition on particle activation. Variability in aerosol composition is parameterized by the mass fraction of Hydrocarbon-like Organic Aerosol (HOA) for particle diameters less than 200 nm (vacuum aerodynamic). The HOA mass fraction in this size range is lowest for marine aerosol and higher for aerosol impacted by anthropogenic emissions. Combining all data collected at 0.44 percent supersaturation (SS) reveals that composition (defined in this way) explains 40 percent of the variance in the critical diameter. As expected, the dependence of activation on composition is strongest at lower SS. At the same time, correlations between HOA mass fraction and aerosol mean diameter show that these two parameters are essentially independent of one another for this data set. We conclude that, based on the variability of the HOA mass fraction observed during GoMACCS, composition plays a dominant role in determining the fraction of particles that are activated to form cloud droplets. Using Kohler theory, we estimate the error that results in calculated CCN concentrations if the organic fraction of the aerosol is neglected (i.e., a fully soluble composition of ammonium sulfate is assumed) for the range of organic mass fractions and mean diameters observed during GoMACCS. We then relate this error to the source and age of the aerosol. At 0.22 and 0.44 percent SS, the error is considerable for anthropogenic aerosol sampled near the source region as this aerosol has, on average, a high POM mass fraction and smaller particle mean diameter. The error is lower for more aged aerosol as it has a lower POM mass fraction and larger mean particle diameter. Hence, the percent error in calculated CCN concentration is expected to be larger for younger, organic- rich aerosol and smaller for aged, sulfate rich aerosol and for marine aerosol. We extend this analysis to continental and marine data sets recently reported by Dusek et al. [Science, 312, 1375, 2006] and Hudson [Geophys. Res., Lett., 34, L08801, 2007].

Error analysis in stereo vision for location measurement of 3D point

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Yunting; Zhang, Jun; Tian, Jinwen

2015-12-01

Location measurement of 3D point in stereo vision is subjected to different sources of uncertainty that propagate to the final result. For current methods of error analysis, most of them are based on ideal intersection model to calculate the uncertainty region of point location via intersecting two fields of view of pixel that may produce loose bounds. Besides, only a few of sources of error such as pixel error or camera position are taken into account in the process of analysis. In this paper we present a straightforward and available method to estimate the location error that is taken most of source of error into account. We summed up and simplified all the input errors to five parameters by rotation transformation. Then we use the fast algorithm of midpoint method to deduce the mathematical relationships between target point and the parameters. Thus, the expectations and covariance matrix of 3D point location would be obtained, which can constitute the uncertainty region of point location. Afterwards, we turned back to the error propagation of the primitive input errors in the stereo system and throughout the whole analysis process from primitive input errors to localization error. Our method has the same level of computational complexity as the state-of-the-art method. Finally, extensive experiments are performed to verify the performance of our methods.

Evaluation of automated global mapping of Reference Soil Groups of WRB2015

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mantel, Stephan; Caspari, Thomas; Kempen, Bas; Schad, Peter; Eberhardt, Einar; Ruiperez Gonzalez, Maria

2017-04-01

SoilGrids is an automated system that provides global predictions for standard numeric soil properties at seven standard depths down to 200 cm, currently at spatial resolutions of 1km and 250m. In addition, the system provides predictions of depth to bedrock and distribution of soil classes based on WRB and USDA Soil Taxonomy (ST). In SoilGrids250m(1), soil classes (WRB, version 2006) consist of the RSG and the first prefix qualifier, whereas in SoilGrids1km(2), the soil class was assessed at RSG level. Automated mapping of World Reference Base (WRB) Reference Soil Groups (RSGs) at a global level has great advantages. Maps can be updated in a short time span with relatively little effort when new data become available. To translate soil names of older versions of FAO/WRB and national classification systems of the source data into names according to WRB 2006, correlation tables are used in SoilGrids. Soil properties and classes are predicted independently from each other. This means that the combinations of soil properties for the same cells or soil property-soil class combinations do not necessarily yield logical combinations when the map layers are studied jointly. The model prediction procedure is robust and probably has a low source of error in the prediction of RSGs. It seems that the quality of the original soil classification in the data and the use of correlation tables are the largest sources of error in mapping the RSG distribution patterns. Predicted patterns of dominant RSGs were evaluated in selected areas and sources of error were identified. Suggestions are made for improvement of WRB2015 RSG distribution predictions in SoilGrids. Keywords: Automated global mapping; World Reference Base for Soil Resources; Data evaluation; Data quality assurance References 1 Hengl T, de Jesus JM, Heuvelink GBM, Ruiperez Gonzalez M, Kilibarda M, et al. (2016) SoilGrids250m: global gridded soil information based on Machine Learning. Earth System Science Data (ESSD), in review. 2 Hengl T, de Jesus JM, MacMillan RA, Batjes NH, Heuvelink GBM, et al. (2014) SoilGrids1km — Global Soil Information Based on Automated Mapping. PLoS ONE 9(8): e105992. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0105992

Application of empirical and dynamical closure methods to simple climate models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Padilla, Lauren Elizabeth

This dissertation applies empirically- and physically-based methods for closure of uncertain parameters and processes to three model systems that lie on the simple end of climate model complexity. Each model isolates one of three sources of closure uncertainty: uncertain observational data, large dimension, and wide ranging length scales. They serve as efficient test systems toward extension of the methods to more realistic climate models. The empirical approach uses the Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF) to estimate the transient climate sensitivity (TCS) parameter in a globally-averaged energy balance model. Uncertainty in climate forcing and historical temperature make TCS difficult to determine. A range of probabilistic estimates of TCS computed for various assumptions about past forcing and natural variability corroborate ranges reported in the IPCC AR4 found by different means. Also computed are estimates of how quickly uncertainty in TCS may be expected to diminish in the future as additional observations become available. For higher system dimensions the UKF approach may become prohibitively expensive. A modified UKF algorithm is developed in which the error covariance is represented by a reduced-rank approximation, substantially reducing the number of model evaluations required to provide probability densities for unknown parameters. The method estimates the state and parameters of an abstract atmospheric model, known as Lorenz 96, with accuracy close to that of a full-order UKF for 30-60% rank reduction. The physical approach to closure uses the Multiscale Modeling Framework (MMF) to demonstrate closure of small-scale, nonlinear processes that would not be resolved directly in climate models. A one-dimensional, abstract test model with a broad spatial spectrum is developed. The test model couples the Kuramoto-Sivashinsky equation to a transport equation that includes cloud formation and precipitation-like processes. In the test model, three main sources of MMF error are evaluated independently. Loss of nonlinear multi-scale interactions and periodic boundary conditions in closure models were dominant sources of error. Using a reduced order modeling approach to maximize energy content allowed reduction of the closure model dimension up to 75% without loss in accuracy. MMF and a comparable alternative model peformed equally well compared to direct numerical simulation.

Adaptation to sensory-motor reflex perturbations is blind to the source of errors.

PubMed

Hudson, Todd E; Landy, Michael S

2012-01-06

In the study of visual-motor control, perhaps the most familiar findings involve adaptation to externally imposed movement errors. Theories of visual-motor adaptation based on optimal information processing suppose that the nervous system identifies the sources of errors to effect the most efficient adaptive response. We report two experiments using a novel perturbation based on stimulating a visually induced reflex in the reaching arm. Unlike adaptation to an external force, our method induces a perturbing reflex within the motor system itself, i.e., perturbing forces are self-generated. This novel method allows a test of the theory that error source information is used to generate an optimal adaptive response. If the self-generated source of the visually induced reflex perturbation is identified, the optimal response will be via reflex gain control. If the source is not identified, a compensatory force should be generated to counteract the reflex. Gain control is the optimal response to reflex perturbation, both because energy cost and movement errors are minimized. Energy is conserved because neither reflex-induced nor compensatory forces are generated. Precision is maximized because endpoint variance is proportional to force production. We find evidence against source-identified adaptation in both experiments, suggesting that sensory-motor information processing is not always optimal.

Resolution, uncertainty and data predictability of tomographic Lg attenuation models—application to Southeastern China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Youlin; Xie, Jiakang

2017-07-01

We address two fundamental issues that pertain to Q tomography using high-frequency regional waves, particularly the Lg wave. The first issue is that Q tomography uses complex 'reduced amplitude data' as input. These data are generated by taking the logarithm of the product of (1) the observed amplitudes and (2) the simplified 1D geometrical spreading correction. They are thereby subject to 'modeling errors' that are dominated by uncompensated 3D structural effects; however, no knowledge of the statistical behaviour of these errors exists to justify the widely used least-squares methods for solving Q tomography. The second issue is that Q tomography has been solved using various iterative methods such as LSQR (Least-Squares QR, where QR refers to a QR factorization of a matrix into the product of an orthogonal matrix Q and an upper triangular matrix R) and SIRT (Simultaneous Iterative Reconstruction Technique) that do not allow for the quantitative estimation of model resolution and error. In this study, we conduct the first rigorous analysis of the statistics of the reduced amplitude data and find that the data error distribution is predominantly normal, but with long-tailed outliers. This distribution is similar to that of teleseismic traveltime residuals. We develop a screening procedure to remove outliers so that data closely follow a normal distribution. Next, we develop an efficient tomographic method based on the PROPACK software package to perform singular value decomposition on a data kernel matrix, which enables us to solve for the inverse, model resolution and covariance matrices along with the optimal Q model. These matrices permit for various quantitative model appraisals, including the evaluation of the formal resolution and error. Further, they allow formal uncertainty estimates of predicted data (Q) along future paths to be made at any specified confidence level. This new capability significantly benefits the practical missions of source identification and source size estimation, for which reliable uncertainty estimates are especially important. We apply the new methodologies to data from southeastern China to obtain a 1 Hz Lg Q model, which exhibits patterns consistent with what is known about the geology and tectonics of the region. We also solve for the site response model.

Acquisition of Pragmatic Routines by Learners of L2 English: Investigating Common Errors and Sources of Pragmatic Fossilization

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tajeddin, Zia; Alemi, Minoo; Pashmforoosh, Roya

2017-01-01

Unlike linguistic fossilization, pragmatic fossilization has received scant attention in fossilization research. To bridge this gap, the present study adopted a typical-error method of fossilization research to identify the most frequent errors in pragmatic routines committed by Persian-speaking learners of L2 English and explore the sources of…

Exception handling for sensor fusion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chavez, G. T.; Murphy, Robin R.

1993-08-01

This paper presents a control scheme for handling sensing failures (sensor malfunctions, significant degradations in performance due to changes in the environment, and errant expectations) in sensor fusion for autonomous mobile robots. The advantages of the exception handling mechanism are that it emphasizes a fast response to sensing failures, is able to use only a partial causal model of sensing failure, and leads to a graceful degradation of sensing if the sensing failure cannot be compensated for. The exception handling mechanism consists of two modules: error classification and error recovery. The error classification module in the exception handler attempts to classify the type and source(s) of the error using a modified generate-and-test procedure. If the source of the error is isolated, the error recovery module examines its cache of recovery schemes, which either repair or replace the current sensing configuration. If the failure is due to an error in expectation or cannot be identified, the planner is alerted. Experiments using actual sensor data collected by the CSM Mobile Robotics/Machine Perception Laboratory's Denning mobile robot demonstrate the operation of the exception handling mechanism.

Accuracy analysis and design of A3 parallel spindle head

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ni, Yanbing; Zhang, Biao; Sun, Yupeng; Zhang, Yuan

2016-03-01

As functional components of machine tools, parallel mechanisms are widely used in high efficiency machining of aviation components, and accuracy is one of the critical technical indexes. Lots of researchers have focused on the accuracy problem of parallel mechanisms, but in terms of controlling the errors and improving the accuracy in the stage of design and manufacturing, further efforts are required. Aiming at the accuracy design of a 3-DOF parallel spindle head(A3 head), its error model, sensitivity analysis and tolerance allocation are investigated. Based on the inverse kinematic analysis, the error model of A3 head is established by using the first-order perturbation theory and vector chain method. According to the mapping property of motion and constraint Jacobian matrix, the compensatable and uncompensatable error sources which affect the accuracy in the end-effector are separated. Furthermore, sensitivity analysis is performed on the uncompensatable error sources. The sensitivity probabilistic model is established and the global sensitivity index is proposed to analyze the influence of the uncompensatable error sources on the accuracy in the end-effector of the mechanism. The results show that orientation error sources have bigger effect on the accuracy in the end-effector. Based upon the sensitivity analysis results, the tolerance design is converted into the issue of nonlinearly constrained optimization with the manufacturing cost minimum being the optimization objective. By utilizing the genetic algorithm, the allocation of the tolerances on each component is finally determined. According to the tolerance allocation results, the tolerance ranges of ten kinds of geometric error sources are obtained. These research achievements can provide fundamental guidelines for component manufacturing and assembly of this kind of parallel mechanisms.

Giant jelly eaters on the line: Species distribution and bycatch of three dominant sunfishes in the Southwest Pacific

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nyegaard, Marianne; Loneragan, Neil; Hall, Steve; Andrew, James; Sawai, Etsuro; Nyegaard, Mette

2018-07-01

The ocean sunfishes have a long and confusing taxonomic legacy, clouding the global zoogeography of each species and hindering fisheries bycatch assessments. The traditional view of Mola mola as the most common sunfish species worldwide is challenged by our findings from Australia and New Zealand, revealing that three large sunfishes, Masturus lanceolatus, Mola alexandrini and Mola tecta, dominate the tropical/subtropical, warm-temperate and cold-temperate waters here, respectively, while Mola mola - both Pacific and Atlantic clades - is relatively rare. These findings were based on phylogenetic (mtDNA D-loop) and/or morphological species identification of sunfish from longline bycatches (n = 106), natural history museum collections (n = 45) and other sources (n = 12), informed by recent advances in the taxonomy of the genus Mola. Furthermore, separation in species distributions were seen when comparing sampling latitude and sea surface temperature. The findings imply that the longline fisheries observer sunfish data from Australia and New Zealand is a mix of species, and not dominated by M. mola as previously assumed. Mean catch per unit Effort (2001-13) in 1° latitude/longitude grids off Pacific Australia and New Zealand were predominantly < 1 sunfish.1000 hooks-1 (up to 6.5 in some areas) with no statistical significant upwards or downwards trends detected over time in four fishing ground subareas, each presumably dominated by either Masturus lanceolatus, Mola alexandrini or Mola tecta. Widespread specimen identification errors had previously obscured a more complex Molidae zoogeography in the area, highlighting that phylogenetic analyses of sunfish bycatch globally would benefit species-level conservation status evaluations.

Measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution with correlated source-light-intensity errors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Cong; Yu, Zong-Wen; Wang, Xiang-Bin

2018-04-01

We present an analysis for measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution with correlated source-light-intensity errors. Numerical results show that the results here can greatly improve the key rate especially with large intensity fluctuations and channel attenuation compared with prior results if the intensity fluctuations of different sources are correlated.

On Detecting New Worlds: The Art of Doppler Spectroscopy with Iodine Cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Sharon Xuesong

2016-08-01

The first discovery of an extra-solar planet (exoplanet) around a main-sequence star, 51 Peg b, discovered using Doppler spectroscopy, opened up the field of exoplanets. For more than a decade, the dominant way for finding exoplanets was using precise Doppler spectroscopy to measure the radial velocity (RV) changes of stars. Today, precise Doppler spectroscopy is still crucial for the discovery and characterization of exoplanets, and it has a great chance for finding the first rocky exoplanet in the Habitable Zone of its host star. However, such endeavor requires an exquisite precision of 10-50 cm/s while the current state of the art is 1 m/s. This thesis set out to improve the RV precision of two precise Doppler spectrometers on two 10-meter class telescopes: HET/HRS and Keck/HIRES. Both of these spectrometers use iodine cells as their wavelength calibration sources, and their spectral data are being analyzed via forward modeling to estimate stellar RVs. Neither HET/HRS or Keck/HIRES deliver an RV precision at the photon-limited level, meaning that there are additional RV systematic errors caused by instrumental changes or errors in the data analysis. HET/HRS has an RV precision of 3-5 m/s, while Keck/HIRES has about 1-2 m/s. I have found that the leading cause behind HET/HRS's "under-performance" in comparison to Keck/HIRES is temperature changes of the iodine gas cell (and thus an inaccurate iodine reference spectrum). Another reason is the insufficient modeling of the HET/HRS instrumental profile. While Keck/HIRES does not suffer from these problems, it also has several RV systematic error sources of con siderable sizes. The work in this thesis has revealed that the errors in Keck/HIRES's stellar reference spectrum add about 1 m/s to the error budget and are the major drivers behind the spurious RV signal at the period of a sidereal year and its harmonics. Telluric contamination and errors caused by the spectral fitting algorithm also contribute on the level of 20-50 cm/s. The strategies proposed and tested in this thesis will improve the RV precision of HET/HRS and Keck/HIRES, including their decade worth of archival data. This thesis also documents my work on characterizing exoplanet orbits using RV data and the discovery of HD 37605c. It concludes with a summary of major findings and an outline of future plans to use future precise Doppler spectrometers to move towards the goal of 10 cm/s and detecting Earth 2.0.

The impact of work-related stress on medication errors in Eastern Region Saudi Arabia.

PubMed

Salam, Abdul; Segal, David M; Abu-Helalah, Munir Ahmad; Gutierrez, Mary Lou; Joosub, Imran; Ahmed, Wasim; Bibi, Rubina; Clarke, Elizabeth; Qarni, Ali Ahmed Al

2018-05-07

To examine the relationship between overall level and source-specific work-related stressors on medication errors rate. A cross-sectional study examined the relationship between overall levels of stress, 25 source-specific work-related stressors and medication error rate based on documented incident reports in Saudi Arabia (SA) hospital, using secondary databases. King Abdulaziz Hospital in Al-Ahsa, Eastern Region, SA. Two hundred and sixty-nine healthcare professionals (HCPs). The odds ratio (OR) and corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) for HCPs documented incident report medication errors and self-reported sources of Job Stress Survey. Multiple logistic regression analysis identified source-specific work-related stress as significantly associated with HCPs who made at least one medication error per month (P < 0.05), including disruption to home life, pressure to meet deadlines, difficulties with colleagues, excessive workload, income over 10 000 riyals and compulsory night/weekend call duties either some or all of the time. Although not statistically significant, HCPs who reported overall stress were two times more likely to make at least one medication error per month than non-stressed HCPs (OR: 1.95, P = 0.081). This is the first study to use documented incident reports for medication errors rather than self-report to evaluate the level of stress-related medication errors in SA HCPs. Job demands, such as social stressors (home life disruption, difficulties with colleagues), time pressures, structural determinants (compulsory night/weekend call duties) and higher income, were significantly associated with medication errors whereas overall stress revealed a 2-fold higher trend.

Quantifying Data Quality for Clinical Trials Using Electronic Data Capture

PubMed Central

Nahm, Meredith L.; Pieper, Carl F.; Cunningham, Maureen M.

2008-01-01

Background Historically, only partial assessments of data quality have been performed in clinical trials, for which the most common method of measuring database error rates has been to compare the case report form (CRF) to database entries and count discrepancies. Importantly, errors arising from medical record abstraction and transcription are rarely evaluated as part of such quality assessments. Electronic Data Capture (EDC) technology has had a further impact, as paper CRFs typically leveraged for quality measurement are not used in EDC processes. Methods and Principal Findings The National Institute on Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network has developed, implemented, and evaluated methodology for holistically assessing data quality on EDC trials. We characterize the average source-to-database error rate (14.3 errors per 10,000 fields) for the first year of use of the new evaluation method. This error rate was significantly lower than the average of published error rates for source-to-database audits, and was similar to CRF-to-database error rates reported in the published literature. We attribute this largely to an absence of medical record abstraction on the trials we examined, and to an outpatient setting characterized by less acute patient conditions. Conclusions Historically, medical record abstraction is the most significant source of error by an order of magnitude, and should be measured and managed during the course of clinical trials. Source-to-database error rates are highly dependent on the amount of structured data collection in the clinical setting and on the complexity of the medical record, dependencies that should be considered when developing data quality benchmarks. PMID:18725958

Comparing Parameter Estimation Techniques for an Electrical Power Transformer Oil Temperature Prediction Model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morris, A. Terry

1999-01-01

This paper examines various sources of error in MIT's improved top oil temperature rise over ambient temperature model and estimation process. The sources of error are the current parameter estimation technique, quantization noise, and post-processing of the transformer data. Results from this paper will show that an output error parameter estimation technique should be selected to replace the current least squares estimation technique. The output error technique obtained accurate predictions of transformer behavior, revealed the best error covariance, obtained consistent parameter estimates, and provided for valid and sensible parameters. This paper will also show that the output error technique should be used to minimize errors attributed to post-processing (decimation) of the transformer data. Models used in this paper are validated using data from a large transformer in service.

Length requirements for numerical-relativity waveforms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hannam, Mark; Husa, Sascha; Ohme, Frank; Ajith, P.

2010-12-01

One way to produce complete inspiral-merger-ringdown gravitational waveforms from black-hole-binary systems is to connect post-Newtonian (PN) and numerical-relativity (NR) results to create “hybrid” waveforms. Hybrid waveforms are central to the construction of some phenomenological models for gravitational-wave (GW) search templates, and for tests of GW search pipelines. The dominant error source in hybrid waveforms arises from the PN contribution, and can be reduced by increasing the number of NR GW cycles that are included in the hybrid. Hybrid waveforms are considered sufficiently accurate for GW detection if their mismatch error is below 3% (i.e., a fitting factor above 0.97). We address the question of the length requirements of NR waveforms such that the final hybrid waveforms meet this requirement, considering nonspinning binaries with q=M2/M1∈[1,4] and equal-mass binaries with χ=Si/Mi2∈[-0.5,0.5]. We conclude that, for the cases we study, simulations must contain between three (in the equal-mass nonspinning case) and ten (the χ=0.5 case) orbits before merger, but there is also evidence that these are the regions of parameter space for which the least number of cycles will be needed.

Malformation syndromes caused by disorders of cholesterol synthesis

PubMed Central

Porter, Forbes D.; Herman, Gail E.

2011-01-01

Cholesterol homeostasis is critical for normal growth and development. In addition to being a major membrane lipid, cholesterol has multiple biological functions. These roles include being a precursor molecule for the synthesis of steroid hormones, neuroactive steroids, oxysterols, and bile acids. Cholesterol is also essential for the proper maturation and signaling of hedgehog proteins, and thus cholesterol is critical for embryonic development. After birth, most tissues can obtain cholesterol from either endogenous synthesis or exogenous dietary sources, but prior to birth, the human fetal tissues are dependent on endogenous synthesis. Due to the blood-brain barrier, brain tissue cannot utilize dietary or peripherally produced cholesterol. Generally, inborn errors of cholesterol synthesis lead to both a deficiency of cholesterol and increased levels of potentially bioactive or toxic precursor sterols. Over the past couple of decades, a number of human malformation syndromes have been shown to be due to inborn errors of cholesterol synthesis. Herein, we will review clinical and basic science aspects of Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome, desmosterolosis, lathosterolosis, HEM dysplasia, X-linked dominant chondrodysplasia punctata, Congenital Hemidysplasia with Ichthyosiform erythroderma and Limb Defects Syndrome, sterol-C-4 methyloxidase-like deficiency, and Antley-Bixler syndrome. PMID:20929975

Writing errors as a result of frontal dysfunction in Japanese patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

PubMed

Tsuji-Akimoto, Sachiko; Hamada, Shinsuke; Yabe, Ichiro; Tamura, Itaru; Otsuki, Mika; Kobashi, Syoji; Sasaki, Hidenao

2010-12-01

Loss of communication is a critical problem for advanced amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients. This loss of communication is mainly caused by severe dysarthria and disability of the dominant hand. However, reports show that about 50% of ALS patients have mild cognitive dysfunction, and there are a considerable number of case reports on Japanese ALS patients with agraphia. To clarify writing disabilities in non-demented ALS patients, eighteen non-demented ALS patients and 16 controls without neurological disorders were examined for frontal cognitive function and writing ability. To assess writing errors statistically, we scored them on their composition ability with the original writing error index (WEI). The ALS and control groups did not differ significantly with regard to age, years of education, or general cognitive level. Two patients could not write a letter because of disability of the dominant hand. The WEI and results of picture arrangement tests indicated significant impairment in the ALS patients. Auditory comprehension (Western Aphasia Battery; WAB IIC) and kanji dictation also showed mild impairment. Patients' writing errors consisted of both syntactic and letter-writing mistakes. Omission, substitution, displacement, and inappropriate placement of the phonic marks of kana were observed; these features have often been reported in Japanese patients with agraphia resulted from a frontal lobe lesion. The most frequent type of error was an omission of kana, the next most common was a missing subject. Writing errors might be a specific deficit for some non-demented ALS patients.

Accuracy Study of a Robotic System for MRI-guided Prostate Needle Placement

PubMed Central

Seifabadi, Reza; Cho, Nathan BJ.; Song, Sang-Eun; Tokuda, Junichi; Hata, Nobuhiko; Tempany, Clare M.; Fichtinger, Gabor; Iordachita, Iulian

2013-01-01

Background Accurate needle placement is the first concern in percutaneous MRI-guided prostate interventions. In this phantom study, different sources contributing to the overall needle placement error of a MRI-guided robot for prostate biopsy have been identified, quantified, and minimized to the possible extent. Methods and Materials The overall needle placement error of the system was evaluated in a prostate phantom. This error was broken into two parts: the error associated with the robotic system (called before-insertion error) and the error associated with needle-tissue interaction (called due-to-insertion error). The before-insertion error was measured directly in a soft phantom and different sources contributing into this part were identified and quantified. A calibration methodology was developed to minimize the 4-DOF manipulator’s error. The due-to-insertion error was indirectly approximated by comparing the overall error and the before-insertion error. The effect of sterilization on the manipulator’s accuracy and repeatability was also studied. Results The average overall system error in phantom study was 2.5 mm (STD=1.1mm). The average robotic system error in super soft phantom was 1.3 mm (STD=0.7 mm). Assuming orthogonal error components, the needle-tissue interaction error was approximated to be 2.13 mm thus having larger contribution to the overall error. The average susceptibility artifact shift was 0.2 mm. The manipulator’s targeting accuracy was 0.71 mm (STD=0.21mm) after robot calibration. The robot’s repeatability was 0.13 mm. Sterilization had no noticeable influence on the robot’s accuracy and repeatability. Conclusions The experimental methodology presented in this paper may help researchers to identify, quantify, and minimize different sources contributing into the overall needle placement error of an MRI-guided robotic system for prostate needle placement. In the robotic system analyzed here, the overall error of the studied system remained within the acceptable range. PMID:22678990

Accuracy study of a robotic system for MRI-guided prostate needle placement.

PubMed

Seifabadi, Reza; Cho, Nathan B J; Song, Sang-Eun; Tokuda, Junichi; Hata, Nobuhiko; Tempany, Clare M; Fichtinger, Gabor; Iordachita, Iulian

2013-09-01

Accurate needle placement is the first concern in percutaneous MRI-guided prostate interventions. In this phantom study, different sources contributing to the overall needle placement error of a MRI-guided robot for prostate biopsy have been identified, quantified and minimized to the possible extent. The overall needle placement error of the system was evaluated in a prostate phantom. This error was broken into two parts: the error associated with the robotic system (called 'before-insertion error') and the error associated with needle-tissue interaction (called 'due-to-insertion error'). Before-insertion error was measured directly in a soft phantom and different sources contributing into this part were identified and quantified. A calibration methodology was developed to minimize the 4-DOF manipulator's error. The due-to-insertion error was indirectly approximated by comparing the overall error and the before-insertion error. The effect of sterilization on the manipulator's accuracy and repeatability was also studied. The average overall system error in the phantom study was 2.5 mm (STD = 1.1 mm). The average robotic system error in the Super Soft plastic phantom was 1.3 mm (STD = 0.7 mm). Assuming orthogonal error components, the needle-tissue interaction error was found to be approximately 2.13 mm, thus making a larger contribution to the overall error. The average susceptibility artifact shift was 0.2 mm. The manipulator's targeting accuracy was 0.71 mm (STD = 0.21 mm) after robot calibration. The robot's repeatability was 0.13 mm. Sterilization had no noticeable influence on the robot's accuracy and repeatability. The experimental methodology presented in this paper may help researchers to identify, quantify and minimize different sources contributing into the overall needle placement error of an MRI-guided robotic system for prostate needle placement. In the robotic system analysed here, the overall error of the studied system remained within the acceptable range. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

{lambda} elements for singular problems in CFD: Viscoelastic fluids

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

Wong, K.K.; Surana, K.S.

1996-10-01

This paper presents two dimensional {lambda} element formulation for viscoelastic fluid flow containing point singularities in the flow field. The flow of viscoelastic fluid even without singularities are a difficult class of problems for increasing Deborah number or Weissenburg number due to increased dominance of convective terms and thus increased hyperbolicity. In the present work the equations of fluid motion and the constitutive laws are recast in the form of a first order system of coupled equations with the use of auxiliary variables. The velocity, pressure and stresses are interpolated using equal order C{sup 0} {lambda} element approximations. The Leastmore » Squares Finite Element Method (LSFEM) is used to construct the integral form (error functional I) corresponding to these equations. The error functional is constructed by taking the integrated sum of the squares of the errors or residuals (over the whole discretization) resulting when the element approximation is substituted into these equations. The conditions resulting from the minimization of the error functional are satisfied by using Newton`s method with line search. LSFEM has much superior performance when dealing with non-linear and convection dominated problems.« less

Statistical analysis of nonlinearly reconstructed near-infrared tomographic images: Part I--Theory and simulations.

PubMed

Pogue, Brian W; Song, Xiaomei; Tosteson, Tor D; McBride, Troy O; Jiang, Shudong; Paulsen, Keith D

2002-07-01

Near-infrared (NIR) diffuse tomography is an emerging method for imaging the interior of tissues to quantify concentrations of hemoglobin and exogenous chromophores non-invasively in vivo. It often exploits an optical diffusion model-based image reconstruction algorithm to estimate spatial property values from measurements of the light flux at the surface of the tissue. In this study, mean-squared error (MSE) over the image is used to evaluate methods for regularizing the ill-posed inverse image reconstruction problem in NIR tomography. Estimates of image bias and image standard deviation were calculated based upon 100 repeated reconstructions of a test image with randomly distributed noise added to the light flux measurements. It was observed that the bias error dominates at high regularization parameter values while variance dominates as the algorithm is allowed to approach the optimal solution. This optimum does not necessarily correspond to the minimum projection error solution, but typically requires further iteration with a decreasing regularization parameter to reach the lowest image error. Increasing measurement noise causes a need to constrain the minimum regularization parameter to higher values in order to achieve a minimum in the overall image MSE.

Regional Climate Effects of Aerosols Over South Asia: a Synthesis of Hybrid-Synergistic Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Subba, T.; Gogoi, M. M.; Pathak, B.; Bhuyan, P. K.

2017-12-01

The south-Asian region faces formidable challenges in the accurate estimation of the aerosol-climate forcing due to the increasing demographic pressure and the rapid socio-economic growth which intensify the anthropogenic emissions causing degradation of regional air quality and climate. In this context, the present study employs a hybrid-method synergizing the aerosol data from ground-based measurements, satellite retrievals and radiative transfer simulations over the south-Asian region. The ground based aerosol and solar radiation data (2010-2015) are considered for nine selected locations of India as well as the adjoining Bay of Bengal representing distinct aerosol environment. The land use land cover (LULC) data from Indian remote sensing satellite (IRS-P6) is used to understand the association of aerosol environment with the change in the land surface pattern.The results indicate that the northern part, pre-dominantly the Indo-Gangetic plains (IGP) experiences the highest aerosol optical depth throughout the year. While the presence of dust plays a significant role in modifying the radiation balance over the west Asian region, extending to IGP; the highest Fire Radiative Power is observed over Eastern India ( 30 MW), the hotspot of biomass burning sources, followed by Central, South/West and Northern India. Considering the distinct source processes, incoming ground reaching fluxes are simulated using radiative transfer model, which showed a good correlation with the measured values (R2 0.97) with the mean bias errors between -40 to +7 Wm-2 (an overestimation of 2-4%). Estimated aerosol direct radiative forcing efficiency (DRFE) is highest over the eastern IGP due to heavy loading of long range transported aerosols from the arid region in the west, followed by the Himalayan foothills and west-Asian regions which are mostly dominated by agro-industrial and dust activities. However, a pristine high altitude location in the Western Ghats showed lower DRFE compared to north, with the values still higher than that over a marine location in the Andaman and Nicobar Island. The quantitative information of the dominating influence of anthropogenic aerosol sources over distinct regions of south Asia are useful for the improvement and validation of climate-model simulations over the region.

Deep Kalman Filter: Simultaneous Multi-Sensor Integration and Modelling; A GNSS/IMU Case Study

PubMed Central

Hosseinyalamdary, Siavash

2018-01-01

Bayes filters, such as the Kalman and particle filters, have been used in sensor fusion to integrate two sources of information and obtain the best estimate of unknowns. The efficient integration of multiple sensors requires deep knowledge of their error sources. Some sensors, such as Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), have complicated error sources. Therefore, IMU error modelling and the efficient integration of IMU and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) observations has remained a challenge. In this paper, we developed deep Kalman filter to model and remove IMU errors and, consequently, improve the accuracy of IMU positioning. To achieve this, we added a modelling step to the prediction and update steps of the Kalman filter, so that the IMU error model is learned during integration. The results showed our deep Kalman filter outperformed the conventional Kalman filter and reached a higher level of accuracy. PMID:29695119

Deep Kalman Filter: Simultaneous Multi-Sensor Integration and Modelling; A GNSS/IMU Case Study.

PubMed

Hosseinyalamdary, Siavash

2018-04-24

Bayes filters, such as the Kalman and particle filters, have been used in sensor fusion to integrate two sources of information and obtain the best estimate of unknowns. The efficient integration of multiple sensors requires deep knowledge of their error sources. Some sensors, such as Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), have complicated error sources. Therefore, IMU error modelling and the efficient integration of IMU and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) observations has remained a challenge. In this paper, we developed deep Kalman filter to model and remove IMU errors and, consequently, improve the accuracy of IMU positioning. To achieve this, we added a modelling step to the prediction and update steps of the Kalman filter, so that the IMU error model is learned during integration. The results showed our deep Kalman filter outperformed the conventional Kalman filter and reached a higher level of accuracy.

Total absorption cross sections of several gases of aeronomic interest at 584 A.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Starr, W. L.; Loewenstein, M.

1972-01-01

Total photoabsorption cross sections have been measured at 584.3 A for N2, O2, Ar, CO2, CO, NO, N2O, NH3, CH4, H2, and H2S. A monochromator was used to isolate the He I 584 line produced in a helium resonance lamp, and thin aluminum filters were used as absorption cell windows, thereby eliminating possible errors associated with the use of undispersed radiation or windowless cells. Sources of error are examined, and limits of uncertainty are given. Previous relevant cross-sectional measurements and possible error sources are reviewed. Wall adsorption as a source of error in cross-sectional measurements has not previously been considered and is discussed briefly.

Source localization (LORETA) of the error-related-negativity (ERN/Ne) and positivity (Pe).

PubMed

Herrmann, Martin J; Römmler, Josefine; Ehlis, Ann-Christine; Heidrich, Anke; Fallgatter, Andreas J

2004-07-01

We investigated error processing of 39 subjects engaging the Eriksen flanker task. In all 39 subjects a pronounced negative deflection (ERN/Ne) and a later positive component (Pe) were observed after incorrect as compared to correct responses. The neural sources of both components were analyzed using LORETA source localization. For the negative component (ERN/Ne) we found significantly higher brain electrical activity in medial prefrontal areas for incorrect responses, whereas the positive component (Pe) was localized nearby but more rostral within the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). Thus, different neural generators were found for the ERN/Ne and the Pe, which further supports the notion that both error-related components represent different aspects of error processing.

The importance of matched poloidal spectra to error field correction in DIII-D

DOE PAGES

Paz-Soldan, Carlos; Lanctot, Matthew J.; Logan, Nikolas C.; ...

2014-07-09

Optimal error field correction (EFC) is thought to be achieved when coupling to the least-stable "dominant" mode of the plasma is nulled at each toroidal mode number ( n). The limit of this picture is tested in the DIII-D tokamak by applying superpositions of in- and ex-vessel coil set n = 1 fields calculated to be fully orthogonal to the n = 1 dominant mode. In co-rotating H-mode and low-density Ohmic scenarios the plasma is found to be respectively 7x and 20x less sensitive to the orthogonal field as compared to the in-vessel coil set field. For the scenarios investigated,more » any geometry of EFC coil can thus recover a strong majority of the detrimental effect introduced by the n = 1 error field. Furthermore, despite low sensitivity to the orthogonal field, its optimization in H-mode is shown to be consistent with minimizing the neoclassical toroidal viscosity torque and not the higher-order n = 1 mode coupling.« less

ANALYZING NUMERICAL ERRORS IN DOMAIN HEAT TRANSPORT MODELS USING THE CVBEM.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hromadka, T.V.

1987-01-01

Besides providing an exact solution for steady-state heat conduction processes (Laplace-Poisson equations), the CVBEM (complex variable boundary element method) can be used for the numerical error analysis of domain model solutions. For problems where soil-water phase change latent heat effects dominate the thermal regime, heat transport can be approximately modeled as a time-stepped steady-state condition in the thawed and frozen regions, respectively. The CVBEM provides an exact solution of the two-dimensional steady-state heat transport problem, and also provides the error in matching the prescribed boundary conditions by the development of a modeling error distribution or an approximate boundary generation.

Sources of Error in Substance Use Prevalence Surveys

PubMed Central

Johnson, Timothy P.

2014-01-01

Population-based estimates of substance use patterns have been regularly reported now for several decades. Concerns with the quality of the survey methodologies employed to produce those estimates date back almost as far. Those concerns have led to a considerable body of research specifically focused on understanding the nature and consequences of survey-based errors in substance use epidemiology. This paper reviews and summarizes that empirical research by organizing it within a total survey error model framework that considers multiple types of representation and measurement errors. Gaps in our knowledge of error sources in substance use surveys and areas needing future research are also identified. PMID:27437511

First order error corrections in common introductory physics experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beckey, Jacob; Baker, Andrew; Aravind, Vasudeva; Clarion Team

As a part of introductory physics courses, students perform different standard lab experiments. Almost all of these experiments are prone to errors owing to factors like friction, misalignment of equipment, air drag, etc. Usually these types of errors are ignored by students and not much thought is paid to the source of these errors. However, paying attention to these factors that give rise to errors help students make better physics models and understand physical phenomena behind experiments in more detail. In this work, we explore common causes of errors in introductory physics experiment and suggest changes that will mitigate the errors, or suggest models that take the sources of these errors into consideration. This work helps students build better and refined physical models and understand physics concepts in greater detail. We thank Clarion University undergraduate student grant for financial support involving this project.

Operational hydrological forecasting in Bavaria. Part I: Forecast uncertainty

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ehret, U.; Vogelbacher, A.; Moritz, K.; Laurent, S.; Meyer, I.; Haag, I.

2009-04-01

In Bavaria, operational flood forecasting has been established since the disastrous flood of 1999. Nowadays, forecasts based on rainfall information from about 700 raingauges and 600 rivergauges are calculated and issued for nearly 100 rivergauges. With the added experience of the 2002 and 2005 floods, awareness grew that the standard deterministic forecast, neglecting the uncertainty associated with each forecast is misleading, creating a false feeling of unambiguousness. As a consequence, a system to identify, quantify and communicate the sources and magnitude of forecast uncertainty has been developed, which will be presented in part I of this study. In this system, the use of ensemble meteorological forecasts plays a key role which will be presented in part II. Developing the system, several constraints stemming from the range of hydrological regimes and operational requirements had to be met: Firstly, operational time constraints obviate the variation of all components of the modeling chain as would be done in a full Monte Carlo simulation. Therefore, an approach was chosen where only the most relevant sources of uncertainty were dynamically considered while the others were jointly accounted for by static error distributions from offline analysis. Secondly, the dominant sources of uncertainty vary over the wide range of forecasted catchments: In alpine headwater catchments, typically of a few hundred square kilometers in size, rainfall forecast uncertainty is the key factor for forecast uncertainty, with a magnitude dynamically changing with the prevailing predictability of the atmosphere. In lowland catchments encompassing several thousands of square kilometers, forecast uncertainty in the desired range (usually up to two days) is mainly dependent on upstream gauge observation quality, routing and unpredictable human impact such as reservoir operation. The determination of forecast uncertainty comprised the following steps: a) From comparison of gauge observations and several years of archived forecasts, overall empirical error distributions termed 'overall error' were for each gauge derived for a range of relevant forecast lead times. b) The error distributions vary strongly with the hydrometeorological situation, therefore a subdivision into the hydrological cases 'low flow, 'rising flood', 'flood', flood recession' was introduced. c) For the sake of numerical compression, theoretical distributions were fitted to the empirical distributions using the method of moments. Here, the normal distribution was generally best suited. d) Further data compression was achieved by representing the distribution parameters as a function (second-order polynome) of lead time. In general, the 'overall error' obtained from the above procedure is most useful in regions where large human impact occurs and where the influence of the meteorological forecast is limited. In upstream regions however, forecast uncertainty is strongly dependent on the current predictability of the atmosphere, which is contained in the spread of an ensemble forecast. Including this dynamically in the hydrological forecast uncertainty estimation requires prior elimination of the contribution of the weather forecast to the 'overall error'. This was achieved by calculating long series of hydrometeorological forecast tests, where rainfall observations were used instead of forecasts. The resulting error distribution is termed 'model error' and can be applied on hydrological ensemble forecasts, where ensemble rainfall forecasts are used as forcing. The concept will be illustrated by examples (good and bad ones) covering a wide range of catchment sizes, hydrometeorological regimes and quality of hydrological model calibration. The methodology to combine the static and dynamic shares of uncertainty will be presented in part II of this study.

Nonlinear truncation error analysis of finite difference schemes for the Euler equations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Klopfer, G. H.; Mcrae, D. S.

1983-01-01

It is pointed out that, in general, dissipative finite difference integration schemes have been found to be quite robust when applied to the Euler equations of gas dynamics. The present investigation considers a modified equation analysis of both implicit and explicit finite difference techniques as applied to the Euler equations. The analysis is used to identify those error terms which contribute most to the observed solution errors. A technique for analytically removing the dominant error terms is demonstrated, resulting in a greatly improved solution for the explicit Lax-Wendroff schemes. It is shown that the nonlinear truncation errors are quite large and distributed quite differently for each of the three conservation equations as applied to a one-dimensional shock tube problem.

The impact of experimental measurement errors on long-term viscoelastic predictions. [of structural materials

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tuttle, M. E.; Brinson, H. F.

1986-01-01

The impact of flight error in measured viscoelastic parameters on subsequent long-term viscoelastic predictions is numerically evaluated using the Schapery nonlinear viscoelastic model. Of the seven Schapery parameters, the results indicated that long-term predictions were most sensitive to errors in the power law parameter n. Although errors in the other parameters were significant as well, errors in n dominated all other factors at long times. The process of selecting an appropriate short-term test cycle so as to insure an accurate long-term prediction was considered, and a short-term test cycle was selected using material properties typical for T300/5208 graphite-epoxy at 149 C. The process of selection is described, and its individual steps are itemized.

A methodology for translating positional error into measures of attribute error, and combining the two error sources

Treesearch

Yohay Carmel; Curtis Flather; Denis Dean

2006-01-01

This paper summarizes our efforts to investigate the nature, behavior, and implications of positional error and attribute error in spatiotemporal datasets. Estimating the combined influence of these errors on map analysis has been hindered by the fact that these two error types are traditionally expressed in different units (distance units, and categorical units,...

Modeling super-resolution SERS using a T-matrix method to elucidate molecule-nanoparticle coupling and the origins of localization errors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heaps, Charles W.; Schatz, George C.

2017-06-01

A computational method to model diffraction-limited images from super-resolution surface-enhanced Raman scattering microscopy is introduced. Despite significant experimental progress in plasmon-based super-resolution imaging, theoretical predictions of the diffraction limited images remain a challenge. The method is used to calculate localization errors and image intensities for a single spherical gold nanoparticle-molecule system. The light scattering is calculated using a modification of generalized Mie (T-matrix) theory with a point dipole source and diffraction limited images are calculated using vectorial diffraction theory. The calculation produces the multipole expansion for each emitter and the coherent superposition of all fields. Imaging the constituent fields in addition to the total field provides new insight into the strong coupling between the molecule and the nanoparticle. Regardless of whether the molecular dipole moment is oriented parallel or perpendicular to the nanoparticle surface, the anisotropic excitation distorts the center of the nanoparticle as measured by the point spread function by approximately fifty percent of the particle radius toward to the molecule. Inspection of the nanoparticle multipoles reveals that distortion arises from a weak quadrupole resonance interfering with the dipole field in the nanoparticle. When the nanoparticle-molecule fields are in-phase, the distorted nanoparticle field dominates the observed image. When out-of-phase, the nanoparticle and molecule are of comparable intensity and interference between the two emitters dominates the observed image. The method is also applied to different wavelengths and particle radii. At off-resonant wavelengths, the method predicts images closer to the molecule not because of relative intensities but because of greater distortion in the nanoparticle. The method is a promising approach to improving the understanding of plasmon-enhanced super-resolution experiments.

The role of hand of error and stimulus orientation in the relationship between worry and error-related brain activity: Implications for theory and practice.

PubMed

Lin, Yanli; Moran, Tim P; Schroder, Hans S; Moser, Jason S

2015-10-01

Anxious apprehension/worry is associated with exaggerated error monitoring; however, the precise mechanisms underlying this relationship remain unclear. The current study tested the hypothesis that the worry-error monitoring relationship involves left-lateralized linguistic brain activity by examining the relationship between worry and error monitoring, indexed by the error-related negativity (ERN), as a function of hand of error (Experiment 1) and stimulus orientation (Experiment 2). Results revealed that worry was exclusively related to the ERN on right-handed errors committed by the linguistically dominant left hemisphere. Moreover, the right-hand ERN-worry relationship emerged only when stimuli were presented horizontally (known to activate verbal processes) but not vertically. Together, these findings suggest that the worry-ERN relationship involves left hemisphere verbal processing, elucidating a potential mechanism to explain error monitoring abnormalities in anxiety. Implications for theory and practice are discussed. © 2015 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

Fluorescence errors in integrating sphere measurements of remote phosphor type LED light sources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keppens, A.; Zong, Y.; Podobedov, V. B.; Nadal, M. E.; Hanselaer, P.; Ohno, Y.

2011-05-01

The relative spectral radiant flux error caused by phosphor fluorescence during integrating sphere measurements is investigated both theoretically and experimentally. Integrating sphere and goniophotometer measurements are compared and used for model validation, while a case study provides additional clarification. Criteria for reducing fluorescence errors to a degree of negligibility as well as a fluorescence error correction method based on simple matrix algebra are presented. Only remote phosphor type LED light sources are studied because of their large phosphor surfaces and high application potential in general lighting.

Language and music: differential hemispheric dominance in detecting unexpected errors in the lyrics and melody of memorized songs.

PubMed

Yasui, Takuya; Kaga, Kimitaka; Sakai, Kuniyoshi L

2009-02-01

Using magnetoencephalography (MEG), we report here the hemispheric dominance of the auditory cortex that is selectively modulated by unexpected errors in the lyrics and melody of songs (lyrics and melody deviants), thereby elucidating under which conditions the lateralization of auditory processing changes. In experiment 1 using familiar songs, we found that the dipole strength of responses to the lyrics deviants was left-dominant at 140 ms (M140), whereas that of responses to the melody deviants was right-dominant at 130 ms (M130). In experiment 2 using familiar songs with a constant syllable or pitch, the dipole strength of frequency mismatch negativity elicited by oddballs was left-dominant. There were significant main effects of experiment (1 and 2) for the peak latencies and for the coordinates of the dipoles, indicating that the M140 and M130 were not the frequency mismatch negativity. In experiment 3 using newly memorized songs, the right-dominant M130 was observed only when the presented note was unexpected one, independent of perceiving unnatural pitch transitions (i.e., perceptual saliency) and of selective attention to the melody of songs. The consistent right-dominance of the M130 between experiments 1 and 3 suggests that the M130 in experiment 1 is due to unexpected notes deviating from well-memorized songs. On the other hand, the left-dominant M140 was elicited by lyrics deviants, suggesting the influence of top-down linguistic information and the memory of the familiar songs. We thus conclude that the left- lateralized M140 and right-lateralized M130 reflect the expectation based on top-down information of language and music, respectively.

Spelling in adolescents with dyslexia: errors and modes of assessment.

PubMed

Tops, Wim; Callens, Maaike; Bijn, Evi; Brysbaert, Marc

2014-01-01

In this study we focused on the spelling of high-functioning students with dyslexia. We made a detailed classification of the errors in a word and sentence dictation task made by 100 students with dyslexia and 100 matched control students. All participants were in the first year of their bachelor's studies and had Dutch as mother tongue. Three main error categories were distinguished: phonological, orthographic, and grammatical errors (on the basis of morphology and language-specific spelling rules). The results indicated that higher-education students with dyslexia made on average twice as many spelling errors as the controls, with effect sizes of d ≥ 2. When the errors were classified as phonological, orthographic, or grammatical, we found a slight dominance of phonological errors in students with dyslexia. Sentence dictation did not provide more information than word dictation in the correct classification of students with and without dyslexia. © Hammill Institute on Disabilities 2012.

Realtime mitigation of GPS SA errors using Loran-C

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Braasch, Soo Y.

1994-01-01

The hybrid use of Loran-C with the Global Positioning System (GPS) was shown capable of providing a sole-means of enroute air radionavigation. By allowing pilots to fly direct to their destinations, use of this system is resulting in significant time savings and therefore fuel savings as well. However, a major error source limiting the accuracy of GPS is the intentional degradation of the GPS signal known as Selective Availability (SA). SA-induced position errors are highly correlated and far exceed all other error sources (horizontal position error: 100 meters, 95 percent). Realtime mitigation of SA errors from the position solution is highly desirable. How that can be achieved is discussed. The stability of Loran-C signals is exploited to reduce SA errors. The theory behind this technique is discussed and results using bench and flight data are given.

Investigating error structure of shuttle radar topography mission elevation data product

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Becek, Kazimierz

2008-08-01

An attempt was made to experimentally assess the instrumental component of error of the C-band SRTM (SRTM). This was achieved by comparing elevation data of 302 runways from airports all over the world with the shuttle radar topography mission data product (SRTM). It was found that the rms of the instrumental error is about +/-1.55 m. Modeling of the remaining SRTM error sources, including terrain relief and pixel size, shows that downsampling from 30 m to 90 m (1 to 3 arc-sec pixels) worsened SRTM vertical accuracy threefold. It is suspected that the proximity of large metallic objects is a source of large SRTM errors. The achieved error estimates allow a pixel-based accuracy assessment of the SRTM elevation data product to be constructed. Vegetation-induced errors were not considered in this work.

Motion-based nonuniformity correction in DoFP polarimeters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, Rakesh; Tyo, J. Scott; Ratliff, Bradley M.

2007-09-01

Division of Focal Plane polarimeters (DoFP) operate by integrating an array of micropolarizer elements with a focal plane array. These devices have been investigated for over a decade, and example systems have been built in all regions of the optical spectrum. DoFP devices have the distinct advantage that they are mechanically rugged, inherently temporally synchronized, and optically aligned. They have the concomitant disadvantage that each pixel in the FPA has a different instantaneous field of view (IFOV), meaning that the polarization component measurements that go into estimating the Stokes vector across the image come from four different points in the field. In addition to IFOV errors, microgrid camera systems operating in the LWIR have the additional problem that FPA nonuniformity (NU) noise can be quite severe. The spatial differencing nature of a DoFP system exacerbates the residual NU noise that is remaining after calibration, and is often the largest source of false polarization signatures away from regions where IFOV error dominates. We have recently presented a scene based algorithm that uses frame-to-frame motion to compensate for NU noise in unpolarized IR imagers. In this paper, we have extended that algorithm so that it can be used to compensate for NU noise on a DoFP polarimeter. Furthermore, the additional information provided by the scene motion can be used to significantly reduce the IFOV error. We have found a reduction of IFOV error by a factor of 10 if the scene motion is known exactly. Performance is reduced when the motion must be estimated from the scene, but still shows a marked improvement over static DoFP images.

Effects of waveform model systematics on the interpretation of GW150914

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abbott, B. P.; Abbott, R.; Abbott, T. D.; Abernathy, M. R.; Acernese, F.; Ackley, K.; Adams, C.; Adams, T.; Addesso, P.; Adhikari, R. X.; Adya, V. B.; Affeldt, C.; Agathos, M.; Agatsuma, K.; Aggarwal, N.; Aguiar, O. D.; Aiello, L.; Ain, A.; Ajith, P.; Allen, B.; Allocca, A.; Altin, P. A.; Ananyeva, A.; Anderson, S. B.; Anderson, W. G.; Appert, S.; Arai, K.; Araya, M. C.; Areeda, J. S.; Arnaud, N.; Arun, K. G.; Ascenzi, S.; Ashton, G.; Ast, M.; Aston, S. M.; Astone, P.; Aufmuth, P.; Aulbert, C.; Avila-Alvarez, A.; Babak, S.; Bacon, P.; Bader, M. K. M.; Baker, P. T.; Baldaccini, F.; Ballardin, G.; Ballmer, S. W.; Barayoga, J. C.; E Barclay, S.; Barish, B. C.; Barker, D.; Barone, F.; Barr, B.; Barsotti, L.; Barsuglia, M.; Barta, D.; Bartlett, J.; Bartos, I.; Bassiri, R.; Basti, A.; Batch, J. C.; Baune, C.; Bavigadda, V.; Bazzan, M.; Beer, C.; Bejger, M.; Belahcene, I.; Belgin, M.; Bell, A. S.; Berger, B. K.; Bergmann, G.; Berry, C. P. L.; Bersanetti, D.; Bertolini, A.; Betzwieser, J.; Bhagwat, S.; Bhandare, R.; Bilenko, I. A.; Billingsley, G.; Billman, C. R.; Birch, J.; Birney, R.; Birnholtz, O.; Biscans, S.; Bisht, A.; Bitossi, M.; Biwer, C.; Bizouard, M. A.; Blackburn, J. K.; Blackman, J.; Blair, C. D.; Blair, D. G.; Blair, R. M.; Bloemen, S.; Bock, O.; Boer, M.; Bogaert, G.; Bohe, A.; Bondu, F.; Bonnand, R.; Boom, B. A.; Bork, R.; Boschi, V.; Bose, S.; Bouffanais, Y.; Bozzi, A.; Bradaschia, C.; Brady, P. R.; Braginsky, V. B.; Branchesi, M.; E Brau, J.; Briant, T.; Brillet, A.; Brinkmann, M.; Brisson, V.; Brockill, P.; E Broida, J.; Brooks, A. F.; Brown, D. A.; Brown, D. D.; Brown, N. M.; Brunett, S.; Buchanan, C. C.; Buikema, A.; Bulik, T.; Bulten, H. J.; Buonanno, A.; Buskulic, D.; Buy, C.; Byer, R. L.; Cabero, M.; Cadonati, L.; Cagnoli, G.; Cahillane, C.; Calderón Bustillo, J.; Callister, T. A.; Calloni, E.; Camp, J. B.; Cannon, K. C.; Cao, H.; Cao, J.; Capano, C. D.; Capocasa, E.; Carbognani, F.; Caride, S.; Casanueva Diaz, J.; Casentini, C.; Caudill, S.; Cavaglià, M.; Cavalier, F.; Cavalieri, R.; Cella, G.; Cepeda, C. B.; Cerboni Baiardi, L.; Cerretani, G.; Cesarini, E.; Chamberlin, S. J.; Chan, M.; Chao, S.; Charlton, P.; Chassande-Mottin, E.; Cheeseboro, B. D.; Chen, H. Y.; Chen, Y.; Cheng, H.-P.; Chincarini, A.; Chiummo, A.; Chmiel, T.; Cho, H. S.; Cho, M.; Chow, J. H.; Christensen, N.; Chu, Q.; Chua, A. J. K.; Chua, S.; Chung, S.; Ciani, G.; Clara, F.; Clark, J. A.; Cleva, F.; Cocchieri, C.; Coccia, E.; Cohadon, P.-F.; Colla, A.; Collette, C. G.; Cominsky, L.; Constancio, M., Jr.; Conti, L.; Cooper, S. J.; Corbitt, T. R.; Cornish, N.; Corsi, A.; Cortese, S.; Costa, C. A.; Coughlin, M. W.; Coughlin, S. B.; Coulon, J.-P.; Countryman, S. T.; Couvares, P.; Covas, P. B.; E Cowan, E.; Coward, D. M.; Cowart, M. J.; Coyne, D. C.; Coyne, R.; E Creighton, J. D.; Creighton, T. D.; Cripe, J.; Crowder, S. G.; Cullen, T. J.; Cumming, A.; Cunningham, L.; Cuoco, E.; Dal Canton, T.; Danilishin, S. L.; D'Antonio, S.; Danzmann, K.; Dasgupta, A.; Da Silva Costa, C. F.; Dattilo, V.; Dave, I.; Davier, M.; Davies, G. S.; Davis, D.; Daw, E. J.; Day, B.; Day, R.; De, S.; DeBra, D.; Debreczeni, G.; Degallaix, J.; De Laurentis, M.; Deléglise, S.; Del Pozzo, W.; Denker, T.; Dent, T.; Dergachev, V.; De Rosa, R.; DeRosa, R. T.; DeSalvo, R.; Devenson, J.; Devine, R. C.; Dhurandhar, S.; Díaz, M. C.; Di Fiore, L.; Di Giovanni, M.; Di Girolamo, T.; Di Lieto, A.; Di Pace, S.; Di Palma, I.; Di Virgilio, A.; Doctor, Z.; Dolique, V.; Donovan, F.; Dooley, K. L.; Doravari, S.; Dorrington, I.; Douglas, R.; Dovale Álvarez, M.; Downes, T. P.; Drago, M.; Drever, R. W. P.; Driggers, J. C.; Du, Z.; Ducrot, M.; E Dwyer, S.; Edo, T. B.; Edwards, M. C.; Effler, A.; Eggenstein, H.-B.; Ehrens, P.; Eichholz, J.; Eikenberry, S. S.; Eisenstein, R. A.; Essick, R. C.; Etienne, Z.; Etzel, T.; Evans, M.; Evans, T. M.; Everett, R.; Factourovich, M.; Fafone, V.; Fair, H.; Fairhurst, S.; Fan, X.; Farinon, S.; Farr, B.; Farr, W. M.; Fauchon-Jones, E. J.; Favata, M.; Fays, M.; Fehrmann, H.; Fejer, M. M.; Fernández Galiana, A.; Ferrante, I.; Ferreira, E. C.; Ferrini, F.; Fidecaro, F.; Fiori, I.; Fiorucci, D.; Fisher, R. P.; Flaminio, R.; Fletcher, M.; Fong, H.; Forsyth, S. S.; Fournier, J.-D.; Frasca, S.; Frasconi, F.; Frei, Z.; Freise, A.; Frey, R.; Frey, V.; Fries, E. M.; Fritschel, P.; Frolov, V. V.; Fulda, P.; Fyffe, M.; Gabbard, H.; Gadre, B. U.; Gaebel, S. M.; Gair, J. R.; Gammaitoni, L.; Gaonkar, S. G.; Garufi, F.; Gaur, G.; Gayathri, V.; Gehrels, N.; Gemme, G.; Genin, E.; Gennai, A.; George, J.; Gergely, L.; Germain, V.; Ghonge, S.; Ghosh, Abhirup; Ghosh, Archisman; Ghosh, S.; Giaime, J. A.; Giardina, K. D.; Giazotto, A.; Gill, K.; Glaefke, A.; Goetz, E.; Goetz, R.; Gondan, L.; González, G.; Gonzalez Castro, J. M.; Gopakumar, A.; Gorodetsky, M. L.; E Gossan, S.; Gosselin, M.; Gouaty, R.; Grado, A.; Graef, C.; Granata, M.; Grant, A.; Gras, S.; Gray, C.; Greco, G.; Green, A. C.; Groot, P.; Grote, H.; Grunewald, S.; Guidi, G. M.; Guo, X.; Gupta, A.; Gupta, M. K.; E Gushwa, K.; Gustafson, E. K.; Gustafson, R.; Hacker, J. J.; Hall, B. R.; Hall, E. D.; Hammond, G.; Haney, M.; Hanke, M. M.; Hanks, J.; Hanna, C.; Hannam, M. D.; Hanson, J.; Hardwick, T.; Harms, J.; Harry, G. M.; Harry, I. W.; Hart, M. J.; Hartman, M. T.; Haster, C.-J.; Haughian, K.; Healy, J.; Heidmann, A.; Heintze, M. C.; Heitmann, H.; Hello, P.; Hemming, G.; Hendry, M.; Heng, I. S.; Hennig, J.; Henry, J.; Heptonstall, A. W.; Heurs, M.; Hild, S.; Hoak, D.; Hofman, D.; Holt, K.; E Holz, D.; Hopkins, P.; Hough, J.; Houston, E. A.; Howell, E. J.; Hu, Y. M.; Huerta, E. A.; Huet, D.; Hughey, B.; Husa, S.; Huttner, S. H.; Huynh-Dinh, T.; Indik, N.; Ingram, D. R.; Inta, R.; Isa, H. N.; Isac, J.-M.; Isi, M.; Isogai, T.; Iyer, B. R.; Izumi, K.; Jacqmin, T.; Jani, K.; Jaranowski, P.; Jawahar, S.; Jiménez-Forteza, F.; Johnson, W. W.; Jones, D. I.; Jones, R.; Jonker, R. J. G.; Ju, L.; Junker, J.; Kalaghatgi, C. V.; Kalogera, V.; Kandhasamy, S.; Kang, G.; Kanner, J. B.; Karki, S.; Karvinen, K. S.; Kasprzack, M.; Katsavounidis, E.; Katzman, W.; Kaufer, S.; Kaur, T.; Kawabe, K.; Kéfélian, F.; Keitel, D.; Kelley, D. B.; Kennedy, R.; Key, J. S.; Khalili, F. Y.; Khan, I.; Khan, S.; Khan, Z.; Khazanov, E. A.; Kijbunchoo, N.; Kim, Chunglee; Kim, J. C.; Kim, Whansun; Kim, W.; Kim, Y.-M.; Kimbrell, S. J.; King, E. J.; King, P. J.; Kirchhoff, R.; Kissel, J. S.; Klein, B.; Kleybolte, L.; Klimenko, S.; Koch, P.; Koehlenbeck, S. M.; Koley, S.; Kondrashov, V.; Kontos, A.; Korobko, M.; Korth, W. Z.; Kowalska, I.; Kozak, D. B.; Krämer, C.; Kringel, V.; Krishnan, B.; Królak, A.; Kuehn, G.; Kumar, P.; Kumar, R.; Kuo, L.; Kutynia, A.; Lackey, B. D.; Landry, M.; Lang, R. N.; Lange, J.; Lantz, B.; Lanza, R. K.; Lartaux-Vollard, A.; Lasky, P. D.; Laxen, M.; Lazzarini, A.; Lazzaro, C.; Leaci, P.; Leavey, S.; Lebigot, E. O.; Lee, C. H.; Lee, H. K.; Lee, H. M.; Lee, K.; Lehmann, J.; Lenon, A.; Leonardi, M.; Leong, J. R.; Leroy, N.; Letendre, N.; Levin, Y.; Li, T. G. F.; Libson, A.; Littenberg, T. B.; Liu, J.; Lockerbie, N. A.; Lombardi, A. L.; London, L. T.; E Lord, J.; Lorenzini, M.; Loriette, V.; Lormand, M.; Losurdo, G.; Lough, J. D.; Lovelace, G.; Lück, H.; Lundgren, A. P.; Lynch, R.; Ma, Y.; Macfoy, S.; Machenschalk, B.; MacInnis, M.; Macleod, D. M.; Magaña-Sandoval, F.; Majorana, E.; Maksimovic, I.; Malvezzi, V.; Man, N.; Mandic, V.; Mangano, V.; Mansell, G. L.; Manske, M.; Mantovani, M.; Marchesoni, F.; Marion, F.; Márka, S.; Márka, Z.; Markosyan, A. S.; Maros, E.; Martelli, F.; Martellini, L.; Martin, I. W.; Martynov, D. V.; Mason, K.; Masserot, A.; Massinger, T. J.; Masso-Reid, M.; Mastrogiovanni, S.; Matichard, F.; Matone, L.; Mavalvala, N.; Mazumder, N.; McCarthy, R.; E McClelland, D.; McCormick, S.; McGrath, C.; McGuire, S. C.; McIntyre, G.; McIver, J.; McManus, D. J.; McRae, T.; McWilliams, S. T.; Meacher, D.; Meadors, G. D.; Meidam, J.; Melatos, A.; Mendell, G.; Mendoza-Gandara, D.; Mercer, R. A.; Merilh, E. L.; Merzougui, M.; Meshkov, S.; Messenger, C.; Messick, C.; Metzdorff, R.; Meyers, P. M.; Mezzani, F.; Miao, H.; Michel, C.; Middleton, H.; E Mikhailov, E.; Milano, L.; Miller, A. L.; Miller, A.; Miller, B. B.; Miller, J.; Millhouse, M.; Minenkov, Y.; Ming, J.; Mirshekari, S.; Mishra, C.; Mitra, S.; Mitrofanov, V. P.; Mitselmakher, G.; Mittleman, R.; Moggi, A.; Mohan, M.; Mohapatra, S. R. P.; Montani, M.; Moore, B. C.; Moore, C. J.; Moraru, D.; Moreno, G.; Morriss, S. R.; Mours, B.; Mow-Lowry, C. M.; Mueller, G.; Muir, A. W.; Mukherjee, Arunava; Mukherjee, D.; Mukherjee, S.; Mukund, N.; Mullavey, A.; Munch, J.; Muniz, E. A. M.; Murray, P. G.; Mytidis, A.; Napier, K.; Nardecchia, I.; Naticchioni, L.; Nelemans, G.; Nelson, T. J. N.; Neri, M.; Nery, M.; Neunzert, A.; Newport, J. M.; Newton, G.; Nguyen, T. T.; Nielsen, A. B.; Nissanke, S.; Nitz, A.; Noack, A.; Nocera, F.; Nolting, D.; Normandin, M. E. N.; Nuttall, L. K.; Oberling, J.; Ochsner, E.; Oelker, E.; Ogin, G. H.; Oh, J. J.; Oh, S. H.; Ohme, F.; Oliver, M.; Oppermann, P.; Oram, Richard J.; O'Reilly, B.; O'Shaughnessy, R.; Ottaway, D. J.; Overmier, H.; Owen, B. J.; E Pace, A.; Page, J.; Pai, A.; Pai, S. A.; Palamos, J. R.; Palashov, O.; Palomba, C.; Pal-Singh, A.; Pan, H.; Pankow, C.; Pannarale, F.; Pant, B. C.; Paoletti, F.; Paoli, A.; Papa, M. A.; Paris, H. R.; Parker, W.; Pascucci, D.; Pasqualetti, A.; Passaquieti, R.; Passuello, D.; Patricelli, B.; Pearlstone, B. L.; Pedraza, M.; Pedurand, R.; Pekowsky, L.; Pele, A.; Penn, S.; Perez, C. J.; Perreca, A.; Perri, L. M.; Pfeiffer, H. P.; Phelps, M.; Piccinni, O. J.; Pichot, M.; Piergiovanni, F.; Pierro, V.; Pillant, G.; Pinard, L.; Pinto, I. M.; Pitkin, M.; Poe, M.; Poggiani, R.; Popolizio, P.; Post, A.; Powell, J.; Prasad, J.; Pratt, J. W. W.; Predoi, V.; Prestegard, T.; Prijatelj, M.; Principe, M.; Privitera, S.; Prodi, G. A.; Prokhorov, L. G.; Puncken, O.; Punturo, M.; Puppo, P.; Pürrer, M.; Qi, H.; Qin, J.; Qiu, S.; Quetschke, V.; Quintero, E. A.; Quitzow-James, R.; Raab, F. J.; Rabeling, D. S.; Radkins, H.; Raffai, P.; Raja, S.; Rajan, C.; Rakhmanov, M.; Rapagnani, P.; Raymond, V.; Razzano, M.; Re, V.; Read, J.; Regimbau, T.; Rei, L.; Reid, S.; Reitze, D. H.; Rew, H.; Reyes, S. D.; Rhoades, E.; Ricci, F.; Riles, K.; Rizzo, M.; Robertson, N. A.; Robie, R.; Robinet, F.; Rocchi, A.; Rolland, L.; Rollins, J. G.; Roma, V. J.; Romano, J. D.; Romano, R.; Romie, J. H.; Rosińska, D.; Rowan, S.; Rüdiger, A.; Ruggi, P.; Ryan, K.; Sachdev, S.; Sadecki, T.; Sadeghian, L.; Sakellariadou, M.; Salconi, L.; Saleem, M.; Salemi, F.; Samajdar, A.; Sammut, L.; Sampson, L. M.; Sanchez, E. J.; Sandberg, V.; Sanders, J. R.; Sassolas, B.; Sathyaprakash, B. S.; Saulson, P. R.; Sauter, O.; Savage, R. L.; Sawadsky, A.; Schale, P.; Scheuer, J.; Schmidt, E.; Schmidt, J.; Schmidt, P.; Schnabel, R.; Schofield, R. M. S.; Schönbeck, A.; Schreiber, E.; Schuette, D.; Schutz, B. F.; Schwalbe, S. G.; Scott, J.; Scott, S. M.; Sellers, D.; Sengupta, A. S.; Sentenac, D.; Sequino, V.; Sergeev, A.; Setyawati, Y.; Shaddock, D. A.; Shaffer, T. J.; Shahriar, M. S.; Shapiro, B.; Shawhan, P.; Sheperd, A.; Shoemaker, D. H.; Shoemaker, D. M.; Siellez, K.; Siemens, X.; Sieniawska, M.; Sigg, D.; Silva, A. D.; Singer, A.; Singer, L. P.; Singh, A.; Singh, R.; Singhal, A.; Sintes, A. M.; Slagmolen, B. J. J.; Smith, B.; Smith, J. R.; E Smith, R. J.; Son, E. J.; Sorazu, B.; Sorrentino, F.; Souradeep, T.; Spencer, A. P.; Srivastava, A. K.; Staley, A.; Steinke, M.; Steinlechner, J.; Steinlechner, S.; Steinmeyer, D.; Stephens, B. C.; Stevenson, S. P.; Stone, R.; Strain, K. A.; Straniero, N.; Stratta, G.; E Strigin, S.; Sturani, R.; Stuver, A. L.; Summerscales, T. Z.; Sun, L.; Sunil, S.; Sutton, P. J.; Swinkels, B. L.; Szczepańczyk, M. J.; Tacca, M.; Talukder, D.; Tanner, D. B.; Tápai, M.; Taracchini, A.; Taylor, R.; Theeg, T.; Thomas, E. G.; Thomas, M.; Thomas, P.; Thorne, K. A.; Thrane, E.; Tippens, T.; Tiwari, S.; Tiwari, V.; Tokmakov, K. V.; Toland, K.; Tomlinson, C.; Tonelli, M.; Tornasi, Z.; Torrie, C. I.; Töyrä, D.; Travasso, F.; Traylor, G.; Trifirò, D.; Trinastic, J.; Tringali, M. C.; Trozzo, L.; Tse, M.; Tso, R.; Turconi, M.; Tuyenbayev, D.; Ugolini, D.; Unnikrishnan, C. S.; Urban, A. L.; Usman, S. A.; Vahlbruch, H.; Vajente, G.; Valdes, G.; van Bakel, N.; van Beuzekom, M.; van den Brand, J. F. J.; Van Den Broeck, C.; Vander-Hyde, D. C.; van der Schaaf, L.; van Heijningen, J. V.; van Veggel, A. A.; Vardaro, M.; Varma, V.; Vass, S.; Vasúth, M.; Vecchio, A.; Vedovato, G.; Veitch, J.; Veitch, P. J.; Venkateswara, K.; Venugopalan, G.; Verkindt, D.; Vetrano, F.; Viceré, A.; Viets, A. D.; Vinciguerra, S.; Vine, D. J.; Vinet, J.-Y.; Vitale, S.; Vo, T.; Vocca, H.; Vorvick, C.; Voss, D. V.; Vousden, W. D.; Vyatchanin, S. P.; Wade, A. R.; E Wade, L.; Wade, M.; Walker, M.; Wallace, L.; Walsh, S.; Wang, G.; Wang, H.; Wang, M.; Wang, Y.; Ward, R. L.; Warner, J.; Was, M.; Watchi, J.; Weaver, B.; Wei, L.-W.; Weinert, M.; Weinstein, A. J.; Weiss, R.; Wen, L.; Weßels, P.; Westphal, T.; Wette, K.; Whelan, J. T.; Whiting, B. F.; Whittle, C.; Williams, D.; Williams, R. D.; Williamson, A. R.; Willis, J. L.; Willke, B.; Wimmer, M. H.; Winkler, W.; Wipf, C. C.; Wittel, H.; Woan, G.; Woehler, J.; Worden, J.; Wright, J. L.; Wu, D. S.; Wu, G.; Yam, W.; Yamamoto, H.; Yancey, C. C.; Yap, M. J.; Yu, Hang; Yu, Haocun; Yvert, M.; Zadrożny, A.; Zangrando, L.; Zanolin, M.; Zendri, J.-P.; Zevin, M.; Zhang, L.; Zhang, M.; Zhang, T.; Zhang, Y.; Zhao, C.; Zhou, M.; Zhou, Z.; Zhu, S. J.; Zhu, X. J.; E Zucker, M.; Zweizig, J.; LIGO Scientific Collaboration; Virgo Collaboration; Boyle, M.; Chu, T.; Hemberger, D.; Hinder, I.; E Kidder, L.; Ossokine, S.; Scheel, M.; Szilagyi, B.; Teukolsky, S.; Vano Vinuales, A.

2017-05-01

Parameter estimates of GW150914 were obtained using Bayesian inference, based on three semi-analytic waveform models for binary black hole coalescences. These waveform models differ from each other in their treatment of black hole spins, and all three models make some simplifying assumptions, notably to neglect sub-dominant waveform harmonic modes and orbital eccentricity. Furthermore, while the models are calibrated to agree with waveforms obtained by full numerical solutions of Einstein’s equations, any such calibration is accurate only to some non-zero tolerance and is limited by the accuracy of the underlying phenomenology, availability, quality, and parameter-space coverage of numerical simulations. This paper complements the original analyses of GW150914 with an investigation of the effects of possible systematic errors in the waveform models on estimates of its source parameters. To test for systematic errors we repeat the original Bayesian analysis on mock signals from numerical simulations of a series of binary configurations with parameters similar to those found for GW150914. Overall, we find no evidence for a systematic bias relative to the statistical error of the original parameter recovery of GW150914 due to modeling approximations or modeling inaccuracies. However, parameter biases are found to occur for some configurations disfavored by the data of GW150914: for binaries inclined edge-on to the detector over a small range of choices of polarization angles, and also for eccentricities greater than  ˜0.05. For signals with higher signal-to-noise ratio than GW150914, or in other regions of the binary parameter space (lower masses, larger mass ratios, or higher spins), we expect that systematic errors in current waveform models may impact gravitational-wave measurements, making more accurate models desirable for future observations.

On the Nature of Small Planets around the Coolest Kepler Stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaidos, Eric; Fischer, Debra A.; Mann, Andrew W.; Lépine, Sébastien

2012-02-01

We constrain the densities of Earth- to Neptune-size planets around very cool (Te = 3660-4660 K) Kepler stars by comparing 1202 Keck/HIRES radial velocity measurements of 150 nearby stars to a model based on Kepler candidate planet radii and a power-law mass-radius relation. Our analysis is based on the presumption that the planet populations around the two sets of stars are the same. The model can reproduce the observed distribution of radial velocity variation over a range of parameter values, but, for the expected level of Doppler systematic error, the highest Kolmogorov-Smirnov probabilities occur for a power-law index α ≈ 4, indicating that rocky-metal planets dominate the planet population in this size range. A single population of gas-rich, low-density planets with α = 2 is ruled out unless our Doppler errors are >=5 m s-1, i.e., much larger than expected based on observations and stellar chromospheric emission. If small planets are a mix of γ rocky planets (α = 3.85) and 1 - γ gas-rich planets (α = 2), then γ > 0.5 unless Doppler errors are >=4 m s-1. Our comparison also suggests that Kepler's detection efficiency relative to ideal calculations is less than unity. One possible source of incompleteness is target stars that are misclassified subgiants or giants, for which the transits of small planets would be impossible to detect. Our results are robust to systematic effects, and plausible errors in the estimated radii of Kepler stars have only moderate impact. Some data were obtained at the W. M. Keck Observatory, which is operated by the California Institute of Technology, the University of California, and NASA, and made possible by the financial support of the W. M. Keck Foundation.

Forecasting volcanic air pollution in Hawaii: Tests of time series models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reikard, Gordon

2012-12-01

Volcanic air pollution, known as vog (volcanic smog) has recently become a major issue in the Hawaiian islands. Vog is caused when volcanic gases react with oxygen and water vapor. It consists of a mixture of gases and aerosols, which include sulfur dioxide and other sulfates. The source of the volcanic gases is the continuing eruption of Mount Kilauea. This paper studies predicting vog using statistical methods. The data sets include time series for SO2 and SO4, over locations spanning the west, south and southeast coasts of Hawaii, and the city of Hilo. The forecasting models include regressions and neural networks, and a frequency domain algorithm. The most typical pattern for the SO2 data is for the frequency domain method to yield the most accurate forecasts over the first few hours, and at the 24 h horizon. The neural net places second. For the SO4 data, the results are less consistent. At two sites, the neural net generally yields the most accurate forecasts, except at the 1 and 24 h horizons, where the frequency domain technique wins narrowly. At one site, the neural net and the frequency domain algorithm yield comparable errors over the first 5 h, after which the neural net dominates. At the remaining site, the frequency domain method is more accurate over the first 4 h, after which the neural net achieves smaller errors. For all the series, the average errors are well within one standard deviation of the actual data at all the horizons. However, the errors also show irregular outliers. In essence, the models capture the central tendency of the data, but are less effective in predicting the extreme events.

An interpretation of radiosonde errors in the atmospheric boundary layer

Treesearch

Bernadette H. Connell; David R. Miller

1995-01-01

The authors review sources of error in radiosonde measurements in the atmospheric boundary layer and analyze errors of two radiosonde models manufactured by Atmospheric Instrumentation Research, Inc. The authors focus on temperature and humidity lag errors and wind errors. Errors in measurement of azimuth and elevation angles and pressure over short time intervals and...

Propagation of angular errors in two-axis rotation systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Torrington, Geoffrey K.

2003-10-01

Two-Axis Rotation Systems, or "goniometers," are used in diverse applications including telescope pointing, automotive headlamp testing, and display testing. There are three basic configurations in which a goniometer can be built depending on the orientation and order of the stages. Each configuration has a governing set of equations which convert motion between the system "native" coordinates to other base systems, such as direction cosines, optical field angles, or spherical-polar coordinates. In their simplest form, these equations neglect errors present in real systems. In this paper, a statistical treatment of error source propagation is developed which uses only tolerance data, such as can be obtained from the system mechanical drawings prior to fabrication. It is shown that certain error sources are fully correctable, partially correctable, or uncorrectable, depending upon the goniometer configuration and zeroing technique. The system error budget can be described by a root-sum-of-squares technique with weighting factors describing the sensitivity of each error source. This paper tabulates weighting factors at 67% (k=1) and 95% (k=2) confidence for various levels of maximum travel for each goniometer configuration. As a practical example, this paper works through an error budget used for the procurement of a system at Sandia National Laboratories.

Accounting for optical errors in microtensiometry.

PubMed

Hinton, Zachary R; Alvarez, Nicolas J

2018-09-15

Drop shape analysis (DSA) techniques measure interfacial tension subject to error in image analysis and the optical system. While considerable efforts have been made to minimize image analysis errors, very little work has treated optical errors. There are two main sources of error when considering the optical system: the angle of misalignment and the choice of focal plane. Due to the convoluted nature of these sources, small angles of misalignment can lead to large errors in measured curvature. We demonstrate using microtensiometry the contributions of these sources to measured errors in radius, and, more importantly, deconvolute the effects of misalignment and focal plane. Our findings are expected to have broad implications on all optical techniques measuring interfacial curvature. A geometric model is developed to analytically determine the contributions of misalignment angle and choice of focal plane on measurement error for spherical cap interfaces. This work utilizes a microtensiometer to validate the geometric model and to quantify the effect of both sources of error. For the case of a microtensiometer, an empirical calibration is demonstrated that corrects for optical errors and drastically simplifies implementation. The combination of geometric modeling and experimental results reveal a convoluted relationship between the true and measured interfacial radius as a function of the misalignment angle and choice of focal plane. The validated geometric model produces a full operating window that is strongly dependent on the capillary radius and spherical cap height. In all cases, the contribution of optical errors is minimized when the height of the spherical cap is equivalent to the capillary radius, i.e. a hemispherical interface. The understanding of these errors allow for correct measure of interfacial curvature and interfacial tension regardless of experimental setup. For the case of microtensiometry, this greatly decreases the time for experimental setup and increases experiential accuracy. In a broad sense, this work outlines the importance of optical errors in all DSA techniques. More specifically, these results have important implications for all microscale and microfluidic measurements of interface curvature. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Influence of the air’s refractive index on precision angle metrology with autocollimators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Geckeler, Ralf D.; Křen, Petr; Just, Andreas; Schumann, Matthias; Krause, Michael

2018-07-01

In this paper, we discuss a substantial—though previously neglected—error source in precision metrology with autocollimators, specifically, changes in the air’s refractive index, with a focus on the dominant impact of pressure changes. Pressure decreases with increasing elevation above sea level and is subject to substantial variation due to weather changes. It causes changes in an autocollimator’s angle response which are proportional to the measured angle and which increase linearly with the beam length and air pressure. We characterise this important influence in detail by using extended theoretical and experimental investigations and derive strategies for correcting it. We discuss its implications for the comparison of autocollimator calibrations performed at different metrology institutes which is crucial for validating their calibration capabilities. This work aims at approaching fundamental limits in angle metrology with autocollimators.

Main sources of errors in diagnosis of chronic radiation sickness (in Russian)

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

Soldatova, V.A.

1973-11-01

With the aim of finding out the main sources of errors in the diagnosis of chronic radiation sickness, the author analyzed a total of 500 cases of this sickness in roenigenologists and radiologists sent to the clinic to be examined according to occupational indications. lt was shown that the main source of errors when interpreting the observed deviations as occupational was underestimation of etiological significance of functional and organic diseases of the nervous system, endocrinevascular dystonia and also such diseases as hypochromic anemia and chronic infection. The majority of diagnostic errors is explained by insufficient knowledge of the main regularitymore » of forming the picture of chronic radiation sickness and by the absence of the necessary differential diagnosis with general somatic diseases. (auth)« less

Impact of number of co-existing rotors and inter-electrode distance on accuracy of rotor localization☆,☆☆

PubMed Central

Aronis, Konstantinos N.; Ashikaga, Hiroshi

2018-01-01

Background Conflicting evidence exists on the efficacy of focal impulse and rotor modulation on atrial fibrillation ablation. A potential explanation is inaccurate rotor localization from multiple rotors coexistence and a relatively large (9–11 mm) inter-electrode distance (IED) of the multi-electrode basket catheter. Methods and results We studied a numerical model of cardiac action potential to reproduce one through seven rotors in a two-dimensional lattice. We estimated rotor location using phase singularity, Shannon entropy and dominant frequency. We then spatially downsampled the time series to create IEDs of 2–30 mm. The error of rotor localization was measured with reference to the dynamics of phase singularity at the original spatial resolution (IED = 1 mm). IED has a significant impact on the error using all the methods. When only one rotor is present, the error increases exponentially as a function of IED. At the clinical IED of 10 mm, the error is 3.8 mm (phase singularity), 3.7 mm (dominant frequency), and 11.8 mm (Shannon entropy). When there are more than one rotors, the error of rotor localization increases 10-fold. The error based on the phase singularity method at the clinical IED of 10 mm ranges from 30.0 mm (two rotors) to 96.1 mm (five rotors). Conclusions The magnitude of error of rotor localization using a clinically available basket catheter, in the presence of multiple rotors might be high enough to impact the accuracy of targeting during AF ablation. Improvement of catheter design and development of high-density mapping catheters may improve clinical outcomes of FIRM-guided AF ablation. PMID:28988690

Impact of number of co-existing rotors and inter-electrode distance on accuracy of rotor localization.

PubMed

Aronis, Konstantinos N; Ashikaga, Hiroshi

Conflicting evidence exists on the efficacy of focal impulse and rotor modulation on atrial fibrillation ablation. A potential explanation is inaccurate rotor localization from multiple rotors coexistence and a relatively large (9-11mm) inter-electrode distance (IED) of the multi-electrode basket catheter. We studied a numerical model of cardiac action potential to reproduce one through seven rotors in a two-dimensional lattice. We estimated rotor location using phase singularity, Shannon entropy and dominant frequency. We then spatially downsampled the time series to create IEDs of 2-30mm. The error of rotor localization was measured with reference to the dynamics of phase singularity at the original spatial resolution (IED=1mm). IED has a significant impact on the error using all the methods. When only one rotor is present, the error increases exponentially as a function of IED. At the clinical IED of 10mm, the error is 3.8mm (phase singularity), 3.7mm (dominant frequency), and 11.8mm (Shannon entropy). When there are more than one rotors, the error of rotor localization increases 10-fold. The error based on the phase singularity method at the clinical IED of 10mm ranges from 30.0mm (two rotors) to 96.1mm (five rotors). The magnitude of error of rotor localization using a clinically available basket catheter, in the presence of multiple rotors might be high enough to impact the accuracy of targeting during AF ablation. Improvement of catheter design and development of high-density mapping catheters may improve clinical outcomes of FIRM-guided AF ablation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The MAX Statistic is Less Powerful for Genome Wide Association Studies Under Most Alternative Hypotheses.

PubMed

Shifflett, Benjamin; Huang, Rong; Edland, Steven D

2017-01-01

Genotypic association studies are prone to inflated type I error rates if multiple hypothesis testing is performed, e.g., sequentially testing for recessive, multiplicative, and dominant risk. Alternatives to multiple hypothesis testing include the model independent genotypic χ 2 test, the efficiency robust MAX statistic, which corrects for multiple comparisons but with some loss of power, or a single Armitage test for multiplicative trend, which has optimal power when the multiplicative model holds but with some loss of power when dominant or recessive models underlie the genetic association. We used Monte Carlo simulations to describe the relative performance of these three approaches under a range of scenarios. All three approaches maintained their nominal type I error rates. The genotypic χ 2 and MAX statistics were more powerful when testing a strictly recessive genetic effect or when testing a dominant effect when the allele frequency was high. The Armitage test for multiplicative trend was most powerful for the broad range of scenarios where heterozygote risk is intermediate between recessive and dominant risk. Moreover, all tests had limited power to detect recessive genetic risk unless the sample size was large, and conversely all tests were relatively well powered to detect dominant risk. Taken together, these results suggest the general utility of the multiplicative trend test when the underlying genetic model is unknown.

Hybrid Correlation Algorithms. A Bridge Between Feature Matching and Image Correlation,

DTIC Science & Technology

1979-11-01

spa- tially into groups of pixels. The intensity level preprocessing is designed to compensate for any biases or gain changes in the system ; whereas...number of error sources that affect the performance of the system . It would be desirable to lump these errors into ge- neric categories in discussing... system performance rather than treat- ing each error source separately. Such a generic categorization should possess the following properties: 1. The

Detecting Signatures of GRACE Sensor Errors in Range-Rate Residuals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goswami, S.; Flury, J.

2016-12-01

In order to reach the accuracy of the GRACE baseline, predicted earlier from the design simulations, efforts are ongoing since a decade. GRACE error budget is highly dominated by noise from sensors, dealiasing models and modeling errors. GRACE range-rate residuals contain these errors. Thus, their analysis provides an insight to understand the individual contribution to the error budget. Hence, we analyze the range-rate residuals with focus on contribution of sensor errors due to mis-pointing and bad ranging performance in GRACE solutions. For the analysis of pointing errors, we consider two different reprocessed attitude datasets with differences in pointing performance. Then range-rate residuals are computed from these two datasetsrespectively and analysed. We further compare the system noise of four K-and Ka- band frequencies of the two spacecrafts, with range-rate residuals. Strong signatures of mis-pointing errors can be seen in the range-rate residuals. Also, correlation between range frequency noise and range-rate residuals are seen.

Tilt Error in Cryospheric Surface Radiation Measurements at High Latitudes: A Model Study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bogren, W.; Kylling, A.; Burkhart, J. F.

2015-12-01

We have evaluated the magnitude and makeup of error in cryospheric radiation observations due to small sensor misalignment in in-situ measurements of solar irradiance. This error is examined through simulation of diffuse and direct irradiance arriving at a detector with a cosine-response foreoptic. Emphasis is placed on assessing total error over the solar shortwave spectrum from 250nm to 4500nm, as well as supporting investigation over other relevant shortwave spectral ranges. The total measurement error introduced by sensor tilt is dominated by the direct component. For a typical high latitude albedo measurement with a solar zenith angle of 60◦, a sensor tilted by 1, 3, and 5◦ can respectively introduce up to 2.6, 7.7, and 12.8% error into the measured irradiance and similar errors in the derived albedo. Depending on the daily range of solar azimuth and zenith angles, significant measurement error can persist also in integrated daily irradiance and albedo.

Discovery of low-redshift X-ray selected quasars - New clues to the QSO phenomenon

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Grindlay, J. E.; Forman, W. R.; Steiner, J. E.; Canizares, C. R.; Mcclintock, J. E.

1980-01-01

The identification of six X-ray sources discovered by the Einstein Observatory with X-ray quasars is reported, and the properties of these X-ray selected quasars are discussed. The four high-latitude fields of 1 sq deg each in which the Einstein imaging proportional counter detected serendipitous X-ray sources at intermediate exposures of 10,000 sec were observed by 4-m and 1.5-m telescopes, and optical sources with uv excesses and emission line spectra typical of many low-redshift quasars and Seyfert 1 galaxies were found within the 1-arcsec error boxes of the X-ray sources. All six quasars identified were found to be radio quiet, with low redshift and relatively faint optical magnitudes, and to be similar in space density, colors and magnitude versus redshift relation to an optically selected sample at the same mean magnitude. X-ray luminosity was found to be well correlated with both continuum and broad-line emission luminosities for the known radio-quiet quasars and Seyfert 1 galaxies, and it was observed that the five objects with the lowest redshifts have very similar X-ray/optical luminosity ratios despite tenfold variations in X-ray luminosity. It is concluded that photoionization by a continuum extending to X-ray energies is the dominant excitation mechanism in radio-quiet quasars.

Personal digital assistant-based drug information sources: potential to improve medication safety.

PubMed

Galt, Kimberly A; Rule, Ann M; Houghton, Bruce; Young, Daniel O; Remington, Gina

2005-04-01

This study compared the potential for personal digital assistant (PDA)-based drug information sources to minimize potential medication errors dependent on accurate and complete drug information at the point of care. A quality and safety framework for drug information resources was developed to evaluate 11 PDA-based drug information sources. Three drug information sources met the criteria of the framework: Eprocrates Rx Pro, Lexi-Drugs, and mobileMICROMEDEX. Medication error types related to drug information at the point of care were then determined. Forty-seven questions were developed to test the potential of the sources to prevent these error types. Pharmacists and physician experts from Creighton University created these questions based on the most common types of questions asked by primary care providers. Three physicians evaluated the drug information sources, rating the source for each question: 1=no information available, 2=some information available, or 3 = adequate amount of information available. The mean ratings for the drug information sources were: 2.0 (Eprocrates Rx Pro), 2.5 (Lexi-Drugs), and 2.03 (mobileMICROMEDEX). Lexi-Drugs was significantly better (mobileMICROMEDEX t test; P=0.05; Eprocrates Rx Pro t test; P=0.01). Lexi-Drugs was found to be the most specific and complete PDA resource available to optimize medication safety by reducing potential errors associated with drug information. No resource was sufficient to address the patient safety information needs for all cases.

Identification of driver errors : overview and recommendations

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2002-08-01

Driver error is cited as a contributing factor in most automobile crashes, and although estimates vary by source, driver error is cited as the principal cause of from 45 to 75 percent of crashes. However, the specific errors that lead to crashes, and...

Long period seismic signals observed before the Caldera formation during the 2000 Miyake- jima volcanic activity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ohminato, T.; Kobayashi, T.; Ida, Y.; Fujita, E.

2006-12-01

During the 2000 Miyake-jima volcanic activity started on 26 June 2000, an intense earthquake swarm occurred initially beneath the southwest flank near the summit and gradually migrated west of the island. A volcanic earthquake activity in the island was reactivated beneath the summit, leading to a summit eruption with a significant summit subsidence on 8 July. We detected small but numerous number of long period (LP) seismic signals during these activities. Most of them include both 0.2 and 0.4 Hz components suggesting an existence of a harmonic oscillator. Some of them have dominant frequency peak at 0.2Hz (LP1), while others have one at 0.4 Hz (LP2). At the beginning of each waveform of both LP1 and LP2, an impulsive signal with a pulse-width of about 2 s is clearly identified. The major axis of the particle motion for the initial impulsive signal is almost horizontal suggesting a shallow source beneath the summit, while the inclined particle motion for the latter phase suggests deeper source beneath the island. For both LP1 and LP2, we can identify a clear positive correlation between the amplitude of the initial pulse and that of the latter phase. We conducted waveform inversions for the LP events assuming a point source and determined the locations and mechanisms simultaneously. We assumed three types of source mechanisms; three single forces, six moment tensor components, and a combination of moment tensor and single forces. We used AIC to decide the optimal solutions. Firstly, we applied the method to the entire waveform including both the initial pulse and the latter phase. The source type with a combination of moment tensor and single force components yields the minimum values of the AIC for both LP events. However, the spatial distribution of the residual errors tends to have two local minima. Considering the error distribution and the characteristic particle motions, it is likely that the source of the LP event consists of two different parts. We thus divided the LP events into two parts; the initial and the latter phases, and applied the same waveform inversion procedure separately for each part of the waveform. The inversion results show that the initial impulsive phase and the latter oscillatory phase are well explained by a nearly horizontal single force and a moment solution, respectively. The single force solutions of the initial pulse are positioned at the depth of about 2 km beneath the summit. The single force initially oriented to the north, and then to the south. On the other hand, the sources of the moment solutions are significantly deeper than the single force solutions. The hypocenter of the later phase of LP1 is located at the depth of 5.5 km in the southern region of the island, while that for the LP2 event is at 5.1 km beneath the summit. The horizontal oscillations are relatively dominant for both the LP1 and LP2 events. Although the two sources are separated each other by several kilometers, the positive correlation between the amplitudes of the initial pulse and the latter phase strongly suggests that the shallow sources trigger the deeper sources. The source time histories of the 6 moment tensor components of the latter portion of the LP1 and LP2 are not in phase. This makes it difficult to extract information on source geometry using the amplitude ratio among moment tensor components in a traditional manner. It may suggest that the source is composed of two independent sources whose oscillations are out of phase.

Spatio-temporal error growth in the multi-scale Lorenz'96 model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Herrera, S.; Fernández, J.; Rodríguez, M. A.; Gutiérrez, J. M.

2010-07-01

The influence of multiple spatio-temporal scales on the error growth and predictability of atmospheric flows is analyzed throughout the paper. To this aim, we consider the two-scale Lorenz'96 model and study the interplay of the slow and fast variables on the error growth dynamics. It is shown that when the coupling between slow and fast variables is weak the slow variables dominate the evolution of fluctuations whereas in the case of strong coupling the fast variables impose a non-trivial complex error growth pattern on the slow variables with two different regimes, before and after saturation of fast variables. This complex behavior is analyzed using the recently introduced Mean-Variance Logarithmic (MVL) diagram.

Human errors and measurement uncertainty

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuselman, Ilya; Pennecchi, Francesca

2015-04-01

Evaluating the residual risk of human errors in a measurement and testing laboratory, remaining after the error reduction by the laboratory quality system, and quantifying the consequences of this risk for the quality of the measurement/test results are discussed based on expert judgments and Monte Carlo simulations. A procedure for evaluation of the contribution of the residual risk to the measurement uncertainty budget is proposed. Examples are provided using earlier published sets of expert judgments on human errors in pH measurement of groundwater, elemental analysis of geological samples by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, and multi-residue analysis of pesticides in fruits and vegetables. The human error contribution to the measurement uncertainty budget in the examples was not negligible, yet also not dominant. This was assessed as a good risk management result.

Biased interpretation and memory in children with varying levels of spider fear.

PubMed

Klein, Anke M; Titulaer, Geraldine; Simons, Carlijn; Allart, Esther; de Gier, Erwin; Bögels, Susan M; Becker, Eni S; Rinck, Mike

2014-01-01

This study investigated multiple cognitive biases in children simultaneously, to investigate whether spider-fearful children display an interpretation bias, a recall bias, and source monitoring errors, and whether these biases are specific for spider-related materials. Furthermore, the independent ability of these biases to predict spider fear was investigated. A total of 121 children filled out the Spider Anxiety and Disgust Screening for Children (SADS-C), and they performed an interpretation task, a memory task, and a Behavioural Assessment Test (BAT). As expected, a specific interpretation bias was found: Spider-fearful children showed more negative interpretations of ambiguous spider-related scenarios, but not of other scenarios. We also found specific source monitoring errors: Spider-fearful children made more fear-related source monitoring errors for the spider-related scenarios, but not for the other scenarios. Only limited support was found for a recall bias. Finally, interpretation bias, recall bias, and source monitoring errors predicted unique variance components of spider fear.

Finding the rarest objects in the universe: A new, efficient method for discovering BL Lacertae objects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stocke, John; Perlman, Eric; Granados, Arno; Schachter, Jonathan; Elvis, Martin; Urry, Meg; Impey, Chris; Smith, Paul

1993-01-01

We present a new, efficient method for discovering new BL Lac Objects based upon the results of the Einstein Extended Medium Sensitivity Survey (EMSS). We have found that all x-ray selected BL Lacs are radio emitters, and further, that in a 'color-color' diagram (radio/optical and optical/x-ray) the BL Lac Objects occupy an area distinct from both radio loud quasars and the radio quiet QSOs and Seyferts which dominate x-ray selected samples. After obtaining radio counterparts via VLA 'snapshot' observations of a large sample of unidentified x-ray sources, the list of candidates is reduced. These candidates then can be confirmed with optical spectroscopy and/or polarimetry. Since greater than 70 percent of these sources are expected to be BL Lacs, the optical observations are very efficient. We have tested this method using unidentified sources found in the Einstein Slew Survey. The 162 Slew Survey x-ray source positions were observed with the VLA in a mixed B/C configuration at 6 cm resulting in 60 detections within 1.5 position error circle radii. These x-ray/optical/radio sources were then plotted, and 40 BL Lac candidates were identified. To date, 10 candidates have been spectroscopically observed resulting in 10 new BL Lac objects! Radio flux, optical magnitude, and polarization statistics (obtained in white light with the Steward Observatory 2.3 m CCD polarimeter) for each are given.

Evaluating CONUS-Scale Runoff Simulation across the National Water Model WRF-Hydro Implementation to Disentangle Regional Controls on Streamflow Generation and Model Error Contribution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dugger, A. L.; Rafieeinasab, A.; Gochis, D.; Yu, W.; McCreight, J. L.; Karsten, L. R.; Pan, L.; Zhang, Y.; Sampson, K. M.; Cosgrove, B.

2016-12-01

Evaluation of physically-based hydrologic models applied across large regions can provide insight into dominant controls on runoff generation and how these controls vary based on climatic, biological, and geophysical setting. To make this leap, however, we need to combine knowledge of regional forcing skill, model parameter and physics assumptions, and hydrologic theory. If we can successfully do this, we also gain information on how well our current approximations of these dominant physical processes are represented in continental-scale models. In this study, we apply this diagnostic approach to a 5-year retrospective implementation of the WRF-Hydro community model configured for the U.S. National Weather Service's National Water Model (NWM). The NWM is a water prediction model in operations over the contiguous U.S. as of summer 2016, providing real-time estimates and forecasts out to 30 days of streamflow across 2.7 million stream reaches as well as distributed snowpack, soil moisture, and evapotranspiration at 1-km resolution. The WRF-Hydro system permits not only the standard simulation of vertical energy and water fluxes common in continental-scale models, but augments these processes with lateral redistribution of surface and subsurface water, simple groundwater dynamics, and channel routing. We evaluate 5 years of NLDAS-2 precipitation forcing and WRF-Hydro streamflow and evapotranspiration simulation across the contiguous U.S. at a range of spatial (gage, basin, ecoregion) and temporal (hourly, daily, monthly) scales and look for consistencies and inconsistencies in performance in terms of bias, timing, and extremes. Leveraging results from other CONUS-scale hydrologic evaluation studies, we translate our performance metrics into a matrix of likely dominant process controls and error sources (forcings, parameter estimates, and model physics). We test our hypotheses in a series of controlled model experiments on a subset of representative basins from distinct "problem" environments (Southeast U.S. Coastal Plain, Central and Coastal Texas, Northern Plains, and Arid Southwest). The results from these longer-term model diagnostics will inform future improvements in forcing bias correction, parameter calibration, and physics developments in the National Water Model.

Contribution of feldspar and marine organic aerosols to global ice nucleating particle concentrations

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

Vergara-Temprado, Jesús; Murray, Benjamin J.; Wilson, Theodore W.

Ice-nucleating particles (INPs) are known to affect the amount of ice in mixed-phase clouds, thereby influencing many of their properties. The atmospheric INP concentration changes by orders of magnitude from terrestrial to marine environments, which typically contain much lower concentrations. Many modelling studies use parameterizations for heterogeneous ice nucleation and cloud ice processes that do not account for this difference because they were developed based on INP measurements made predominantly in terrestrial environments without considering the aerosol composition. Errors in the assumed INP concentration will influence the simulated amount of ice in mixed-phase clouds, leading to errors in top-of-atmosphere radiativemore » flux and ultimately the climate sensitivity of the model. Here we develop a global model of INP concentrations relevant for mixed-phase clouds based on laboratory and field measurements of ice nucleation by K-feldspar (an ice-active component of desert dust) and marine organic aerosols (from sea spray). The simulated global distribution of INP concentrations based on these two species agrees much better with currently available ambient measurements than when INP concentrations are assumed to depend only on temperature or particle size. Underestimation of INP concentrations in some terrestrial locations may be due to the neglect of INPs from other terrestrial sources. Our model indicates that, on a monthly average basis, desert dusts dominate the contribution to the INP population over much of the world, but marine organics become increasingly important over remote oceans and they dominate over the Southern Ocean. However, day-to-day variability is important. Because desert dust aerosol tends to be sporadic, marine organic aerosols dominate the INP population on many days per month over much of the mid- and high-latitude Northern Hemisphere. This study advances our understanding of which aerosol species need to be included in order to adequately describe the global and regional distribution of INPs in models, which will guide ice nucleation researchers on where to focus future laboratory and field work.« less

Uncertainty Analysis Principles and Methods

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-09-01

error source . The Data Processor converts binary coded numbers to values, performs D/A curve fitting and applies any correction factors that may be...describes the stages or modules involved in the measurement process. We now need to identify all relevant error sources and develop the mathematical... sources , gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden

Beyond alpha: an empirical examination of the effects of different sources of measurement error on reliability estimates for measures of individual differences constructs.

PubMed

Schmidt, Frank L; Le, Huy; Ilies, Remus

2003-06-01

On the basis of an empirical study of measures of constructs from the cognitive domain, the personality domain, and the domain of affective traits, the authors of this study examine the implications of transient measurement error for the measurement of frequently studied individual differences variables. The authors clarify relevant reliability concepts as they relate to transient error and present a procedure for estimating the coefficient of equivalence and stability (L. J. Cronbach, 1947), the only classical reliability coefficient that assesses all 3 major sources of measurement error (random response, transient, and specific factor errors). The authors conclude that transient error exists in all 3 trait domains and is especially large in the domain of affective traits. Their findings indicate that the nearly universal use of the coefficient of equivalence (Cronbach's alpha; L. J. Cronbach, 1951), which fails to assess transient error, leads to overestimates of reliability and undercorrections for biases due to measurement error.

Error in the Honeybee Waggle Dance Improves Foraging Flexibility

PubMed Central

Okada, Ryuichi; Ikeno, Hidetoshi; Kimura, Toshifumi; Ohashi, Mizue; Aonuma, Hitoshi; Ito, Etsuro

2014-01-01

The honeybee waggle dance communicates the location of profitable food sources, usually with a certain degree of error in the directional information ranging from 10–15° at the lower margin. We simulated one-day colonial foraging to address the biological significance of information error in the waggle dance. When the error was 30° or larger, the waggle dance was not beneficial. If the error was 15°, the waggle dance was beneficial when the food sources were scarce. When the error was 10° or smaller, the waggle dance was beneficial under all the conditions tested. Our simulation also showed that precise information (0–5° error) yielded great success in finding feeders, but also caused failures at finding new feeders, i.e., a high-risk high-return strategy. The observation that actual bees perform the waggle dance with an error of 10–15° might reflect, at least in part, the maintenance of a successful yet risky foraging trade-off. PMID:24569525

Application of Exactly Linearized Error Transport Equations to AIAA CFD Prediction Workshops

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Derlaga, Joseph M.; Park, Michael A.; Rallabhandi, Sriram

2017-01-01

The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) prediction workshops sponsored by the AIAA have created invaluable opportunities in which to discuss the predictive capabilities of CFD in areas in which it has struggled, e.g., cruise drag, high-lift, and sonic boom pre diction. While there are many factors that contribute to disagreement between simulated and experimental results, such as modeling or discretization error, quantifying the errors contained in a simulation is important for those who make decisions based on the computational results. The linearized error transport equations (ETE) combined with a truncation error estimate is a method to quantify one source of errors. The ETE are implemented with a complex-step method to provide an exact linearization with minimal source code modifications to CFD and multidisciplinary analysis methods. The equivalency of adjoint and linearized ETE functional error correction is demonstrated. Uniformly refined grids from a series of AIAA prediction workshops demonstrate the utility of ETE for multidisciplinary analysis with a connection between estimated discretization error and (resolved or under-resolved) flow features.

Food source quality and ant dominance hierarchy influence the outcomes of ant-plant interactions in an arid environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Flores-Flores, Rocío Vianey; Aguirre, Armando; Anjos, Diego V.; Neves, Frederico S.; Campos, Ricardo I.; Dáttilo, Wesley

2018-02-01

In this study, we conducted a series of experiments in a population of Vachellia constricta (Fabaceae) in the arid Tehuacan-Cuicatláan valley, Mexico, in order to evaluate if the food source quality and ant dominance hierarchy influence the outcomes of ant-plant interactions. Using an experiment with artificial nectaries, we observed that ants foraging on food sources with higher concentration of sugar are quicker in finding and attacking potential herbivorous insects. More specifically, we found that the same ant species may increase their defence effectiveness according to the quality of food available. These findings indicate that ant effectiveness in plant protection is context-dependent and may vary according to specific individual characteristics of plants. In addition, we showed that competitively superior ant species tend to dominate plants in periods with high nectar activity, emphasizing the role of the dominance hierarchy structuring ant-plant interactions. However, when high sugar food sources were experimentally available ad libitum, the nocturnal and competitively superior ant species, Camponotus atriceps, did not dominate the artificial nectaries during the day possibly due to limitation of its thermal tolerance. Therefore, temporal niche partitioning may be allowing the coexistence of two dominant ant species (Camponotus rubritorax during the day and C. atriceps at night) on V. constricta. Our findings indicate that the quality of the food source, and temporal shifts in ant dominance are key factors which structure the biotic plant defences in an arid environment.

Estimation of Uncertainties for a Supersonic Retro-Propulsion Model Validation Experiment in a Wind Tunnel

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rhode, Matthew N.; Oberkampf, William L.

2012-01-01

A high-quality model validation experiment was performed in the NASA Langley Research Center Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel to assess the predictive accuracy of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models for a blunt-body supersonic retro-propulsion configuration at Mach numbers from 2.4 to 4.6. Static and fluctuating surface pressure data were acquired on a 5-inch-diameter test article with a forebody composed of a spherically-blunted, 70-degree half-angle cone and a cylindrical aft body. One non-powered configuration with a smooth outer mold line was tested as well as three different powered, forward-firing nozzle configurations: a centerline nozzle, three nozzles equally spaced around the forebody, and a combination with all four nozzles. A key objective of the experiment was the determination of experimental uncertainties from a range of sources such as random measurement error, flowfield non-uniformity, and model/instrumentation asymmetries. This paper discusses the design of the experiment towards capturing these uncertainties for the baseline non-powered configuration, the methodology utilized in quantifying the various sources of uncertainty, and examples of the uncertainties applied to non-powered and powered experimental results. The analysis showed that flowfield nonuniformity was the dominant contributor to the overall uncertainty a finding in agreement with other experiments that have quantified various sources of uncertainty.

48 CFR 15.101 - Best value continuum.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... risk of unsuccessful contract performance is minimal, cost or price may play a dominant role in source... performance risk, the more technical or past performance considerations may play a dominant role in source...

Groundwater Pollution Source Identification using Linked ANN-Optimization Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ayaz, Md; Srivastava, Rajesh; Jain, Ashu

2014-05-01

Groundwater is the principal source of drinking water in several parts of the world. Contamination of groundwater has become a serious health and environmental problem today. Human activities including industrial and agricultural activities are generally responsible for this contamination. Identification of groundwater pollution source is a major step in groundwater pollution remediation. Complete knowledge of pollution source in terms of its source characteristics is essential to adopt an effective remediation strategy. Groundwater pollution source is said to be identified completely when the source characteristics - location, strength and release period - are known. Identification of unknown groundwater pollution source is an ill-posed inverse problem. It becomes more difficult for real field conditions, when the lag time between the first reading at observation well and the time at which the source becomes active is not known. We developed a linked ANN-Optimization model for complete identification of an unknown groundwater pollution source. The model comprises two parts- an optimization model and an ANN model. Decision variables of linked ANN-Optimization model contain source location and release period of pollution source. An objective function is formulated using the spatial and temporal data of observed and simulated concentrations, and then minimized to identify the pollution source parameters. In the formulation of the objective function, we require the lag time which is not known. An ANN model with one hidden layer is trained using Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm to find the lag time. Different combinations of source locations and release periods are used as inputs and lag time is obtained as the output. Performance of the proposed model is evaluated for two and three dimensional case with error-free and erroneous data. Erroneous data was generated by adding uniformly distributed random error (error level 0-10%) to the analytically computed concentration values. The main advantage of the proposed model is that it requires only upper half of the breakthrough curve and is capable of predicting source parameters when the lag time is not known. Linking of ANN model with proposed optimization model reduces the dimensionality of the decision variables of the optimization model by one and hence complexity of optimization model is reduced. The results show that our proposed linked ANN-Optimization model is able to predict the source parameters for the error-free data accurately. The proposed model was run several times to obtain the mean, standard deviation and interval estimate of the predicted parameters for observations with random measurement errors. It was observed that mean values as predicted by the model were quite close to the exact values. An increasing trend was observed in the standard deviation of the predicted values with increasing level of measurement error. The model appears to be robust and may be efficiently utilized to solve the inverse pollution source identification problem.

Low-Energy Proton Testing Methodology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pellish, Jonathan A.; Marshall, Paul W.; Heidel, David F.; Schwank, James R.; Shaneyfelt, Marty R.; Xapsos, M.A.; Ladbury, Raymond L.; LaBel, Kenneth A.; Berg, Melanie; Kim, Hak S.;

Understanding native Russian listeners' errors on an English word recognition test: model-based analysis of phoneme confusion.

PubMed

Shi, Lu-Feng; Morozova, Natalia

2012-08-01

Word recognition is a basic component in a comprehensive hearing evaluation, but data are lacking for listeners speaking two languages. This study obtained such data for Russian natives in the US and analysed the data using the perceptual assimilation model (PAM) and speech learning model (SLM). Listeners were randomly presented 200 NU-6 words in quiet. Listeners responded verbally and in writing. Performance was scored on words and phonemes (word-initial consonants, vowels, and word-final consonants). Seven normal-hearing, adult monolingual English natives (NM), 16 English-dominant (ED), and 15 Russian-dominant (RD) Russian natives participated. ED and RD listeners differed significantly in their language background. Consistent with the SLM, NM outperformed ED listeners and ED outperformed RD listeners, whether responses were scored on words or phonemes. NM and ED listeners shared similar phoneme error patterns, whereas RD listeners' errors had unique patterns that could be largely understood via the PAM. RD listeners had particular difficulty differentiating vowel contrasts /i-I/, /æ-ε/, and /ɑ-Λ/, word-initial consonant contrasts /p-h/ and /b-f/, and word-final contrasts /f-v/. Both first-language phonology and second-language learning history affect word and phoneme recognition. Current findings may help clinicians differentiate word recognition errors due to language background from hearing pathologies.

The influence of phonological context on the sound errors of a speaker with Wernicke's aphasia.

PubMed

Goldmann, R E; Schwartz, M F; Wilshire, C E

2001-09-01

A corpus of phonological errors produced in narrative speech by a Wernicke's aphasic speaker (R.W.B.) was tested for context effects using two new methods for establishing chance baselines. A reliable anticipatory effect was found using the second method, which estimated chance from the distance between phoneme repeats in the speech sample containing the errors. Relative to this baseline, error-source distances were shorter than expected for anticipations, but not perseverations. R.W.B.'s anticipation/perseveration ratio measured intermediate between a nonaphasic error corpus and that of a more severe aphasic speaker (both reported in Schwartz et al., 1994), supporting the view that the anticipatory bias correlates to severity. Finally, R.W.B's anticipations favored word-initial segments, although errors and sources did not consistently share word or syllable position. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.

The Sources of Error in Spanish Writing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Justicia, Fernando; Defior, Sylvia; Pelegrina, Santiago; Martos, Francisco J.

1999-01-01

Determines the pattern of errors in Spanish spelling. Analyzes and proposes a classification system for the errors made by children in the initial stages of the acquisition of spelling skills. Finds the diverse forms of only 20 Spanish words produces 36% of the spelling errors in Spanish; and substitution is the most frequent type of error. (RS)

Geometric error analysis for shuttle imaging spectrometer experiment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wang, S. J.; Ih, C. H.

1984-01-01

The demand of more powerful tools for remote sensing and management of earth resources steadily increased over the last decade. With the recent advancement of area array detectors, high resolution multichannel imaging spectrometers can be realistically constructed. The error analysis study for the Shuttle Imaging Spectrometer Experiment system is documented for the purpose of providing information for design, tradeoff, and performance prediction. Error sources including the Shuttle attitude determination and control system, instrument pointing and misalignment, disturbances, ephemeris, Earth rotation, etc., were investigated. Geometric error mapping functions were developed, characterized, and illustrated extensively with tables and charts. Selected ground patterns and the corresponding image distortions were generated for direct visual inspection of how the various error sources affect the appearance of the ground object images.

Accuracy of cited “facts” in medical research articles: A review of study methodology and recalculation of quotation error rate

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Previous reviews estimated that approximately 20 to 25% of assertions cited from original research articles, or “facts,” are inaccurately quoted in the medical literature. These reviews noted that the original studies were dissimilar and only began to compare the methods of the original studies. The aim of this review is to examine the methods of the original studies and provide a more specific rate of incorrectly cited assertions, or quotation errors, in original research articles published in medical journals. Additionally, the estimate of quotation errors calculated here is based on the ratio of quotation errors to quotations examined (a percent) rather than the more prevalent and weighted metric of quotation errors to the references selected. Overall, this resulted in a lower estimate of the quotation error rate in original medical research articles. A total of 15 studies met the criteria for inclusion in the primary quantitative analysis. Quotation errors were divided into two categories: content ("factual") or source (improper indirect citation) errors. Content errors were further subdivided into major and minor errors depending on the degree that the assertion differed from the original source. The rate of quotation errors recalculated here is 14.5% (10.5% to 18.6% at a 95% confidence interval). These content errors are predominantly, 64.8% (56.1% to 73.5% at a 95% confidence interval), major errors or cited assertions in which the referenced source either fails to substantiate, is unrelated to, or contradicts the assertion. Minor errors, which are an oversimplification, overgeneralization, or trivial inaccuracies, are 35.2% (26.5% to 43.9% at a 95% confidence interval). Additionally, improper secondary (or indirect) citations, which are distinguished from calculations of quotation accuracy, occur at a rate of 10.4% (3.4% to 17.5% at a 95% confidence interval). PMID:28910404

Accuracy of cited "facts" in medical research articles: A review of study methodology and recalculation of quotation error rate.

PubMed

Mogull, Scott A

2017-01-01

Previous reviews estimated that approximately 20 to 25% of assertions cited from original research articles, or "facts," are inaccurately quoted in the medical literature. These reviews noted that the original studies were dissimilar and only began to compare the methods of the original studies. The aim of this review is to examine the methods of the original studies and provide a more specific rate of incorrectly cited assertions, or quotation errors, in original research articles published in medical journals. Additionally, the estimate of quotation errors calculated here is based on the ratio of quotation errors to quotations examined (a percent) rather than the more prevalent and weighted metric of quotation errors to the references selected. Overall, this resulted in a lower estimate of the quotation error rate in original medical research articles. A total of 15 studies met the criteria for inclusion in the primary quantitative analysis. Quotation errors were divided into two categories: content ("factual") or source (improper indirect citation) errors. Content errors were further subdivided into major and minor errors depending on the degree that the assertion differed from the original source. The rate of quotation errors recalculated here is 14.5% (10.5% to 18.6% at a 95% confidence interval). These content errors are predominantly, 64.8% (56.1% to 73.5% at a 95% confidence interval), major errors or cited assertions in which the referenced source either fails to substantiate, is unrelated to, or contradicts the assertion. Minor errors, which are an oversimplification, overgeneralization, or trivial inaccuracies, are 35.2% (26.5% to 43.9% at a 95% confidence interval). Additionally, improper secondary (or indirect) citations, which are distinguished from calculations of quotation accuracy, occur at a rate of 10.4% (3.4% to 17.5% at a 95% confidence interval).

Tilt error in cryospheric surface radiation measurements at high latitudes: a model study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bogren, Wiley Steven; Faulkner Burkhart, John; Kylling, Arve

2016-03-01

We have evaluated the magnitude and makeup of error in cryospheric radiation observations due to small sensor misalignment in in situ measurements of solar irradiance. This error is examined through simulation of diffuse and direct irradiance arriving at a detector with a cosine-response fore optic. Emphasis is placed on assessing total error over the solar shortwave spectrum from 250 to 4500 nm, as well as supporting investigation over other relevant shortwave spectral ranges. The total measurement error introduced by sensor tilt is dominated by the direct component. For a typical high-latitude albedo measurement with a solar zenith angle of 60°, a sensor tilted by 1, 3, and 5° can, respectively introduce up to 2.7, 8.1, and 13.5 % error into the measured irradiance and similar errors in the derived albedo. Depending on the daily range of solar azimuth and zenith angles, significant measurement error can persist also in integrated daily irradiance and albedo. Simulations including a cloud layer demonstrate decreasing tilt error with increasing cloud optical depth.

Eddy-covariance data with low signal-to-noise ratio: time-lag determination, uncertainties and limit of detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Langford, B.; Acton, W.; Ammann, C.; Valach, A.; Nemitz, E.

2015-10-01

All eddy-covariance flux measurements are associated with random uncertainties which are a combination of sampling error due to natural variability in turbulence and sensor noise. The former is the principal error for systems where the signal-to-noise ratio of the analyser is high, as is usually the case when measuring fluxes of heat, CO2 or H2O. Where signal is limited, which is often the case for measurements of other trace gases and aerosols, instrument uncertainties dominate. Here, we are applying a consistent approach based on auto- and cross-covariance functions to quantify the total random flux error and the random error due to instrument noise separately. As with previous approaches, the random error quantification assumes that the time lag between wind and concentration measurement is known. However, if combined with commonly used automated methods that identify the individual time lag by looking for the maximum in the cross-covariance function of the two entities, analyser noise additionally leads to a systematic bias in the fluxes. Combining data sets from several analysers and using simulations, we show that the method of time-lag determination becomes increasingly important as the magnitude of the instrument error approaches that of the sampling error. The flux bias can be particularly significant for disjunct data, whereas using a prescribed time lag eliminates these effects (provided the time lag does not fluctuate unduly over time). We also demonstrate that when sampling at higher elevations, where low frequency turbulence dominates and covariance peaks are broader, both the probability and magnitude of bias are magnified. We show that the statistical significance of noisy flux data can be increased (limit of detection can be decreased) by appropriate averaging of individual fluxes, but only if systematic biases are avoided by using a prescribed time lag. Finally, we make recommendations for the analysis and reporting of data with low signal-to-noise and their associated errors.

Eddy-covariance data with low signal-to-noise ratio: time-lag determination, uncertainties and limit of detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Langford, B.; Acton, W.; Ammann, C.; Valach, A.; Nemitz, E.

2015-03-01

All eddy-covariance flux measurements are associated with random uncertainties which are a combination of sampling error due to natural variability in turbulence and sensor noise. The former is the principal error for systems where the signal-to-noise ratio of the analyser is high, as is usually the case when measuring fluxes of heat, CO2 or H2O. Where signal is limited, which is often the case for measurements of other trace gases and aerosols, instrument uncertainties dominate. We are here applying a consistent approach based on auto- and cross-covariance functions to quantifying the total random flux error and the random error due to instrument noise separately. As with previous approaches, the random error quantification assumes that the time-lag between wind and concentration measurement is known. However, if combined with commonly used automated methods that identify the individual time-lag by looking for the maximum in the cross-covariance function of the two entities, analyser noise additionally leads to a systematic bias in the fluxes. Combining datasets from several analysers and using simulations we show that the method of time-lag determination becomes increasingly important as the magnitude of the instrument error approaches that of the sampling error. The flux bias can be particularly significant for disjunct data, whereas using a prescribed time-lag eliminates these effects (provided the time-lag does not fluctuate unduly over time). We also demonstrate that when sampling at higher elevations, where low frequency turbulence dominates and covariance peaks are broader, both the probability and magnitude of bias are magnified. We show that the statistical significance of noisy flux data can be increased (limit of detection can be decreased) by appropriate averaging of individual fluxes, but only if systematic biases are avoided by using a prescribed time-lag. Finally, we make recommendations for the analysis and reporting of data with low signal-to-noise and their associated errors.

Benthic marine litter in four Gulfs in Greece, Eastern Mediterranean; abundance, composition and source identification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koutsodendris, Andreas; Papatheodorou, George; Kougiourouki, Ourania; Georgiadis, Michalis

2008-04-01

The types, abundance, distribution and sources of benthic marine litter found in four Greek Gulfs (Patras, Corinth, Echinades and Lakonikos) were studied using bottom trawl nets. Mean distribution and weight densities range between 72-437 Item/km 2 and 6.7-47.4 kg/km 2. Litter items were sorted into material and usage categories. Plastic litter (56%) is the most dominant material category followed by metal (17%) and glass (11%). Beverage packaging (32%) is the dominant usage category followed by general packaging (28%) and food packaging (21%). Based on the typological results three dominant litter sources were identified; land-based, vessel-based and fishery-based. Application of factor analysis (R- and Q-mode) conducted on both material and usage litter datasets confirmed the existence of the three dominant litter sources. Q-mode analysis further resulted in the quantification of the litter sources; land-based ones provided the majority (69%) of the total litter items followed by vessel-based (26%) and fishery-based (5%) sources. Diverse environmental parameters influence significantly these amounts among the four Gulfs.

Error control techniques for satellite and space communications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Costello, Daniel J., Jr.

1990-01-01

An expurgated upper bound on the event error probability of trellis coded modulation is presented. This bound is used to derive a lower bound on the minimum achievable free Euclidean distance d sub (free) of trellis codes. It is shown that the dominant parameters for both bounds, the expurgated error exponent and the asymptotic d sub (free) growth rate, respectively, can be obtained from the cutoff-rate R sub O of the transmission channel by a simple geometric construction, making R sub O the central parameter for finding good trellis codes. Several constellations are optimized with respect to the bounds.

Hemispheric language dominance measured by repetitive navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation and postoperative course of language function in brain tumor patients.

PubMed

Ille, Sebastian; Kulchytska, Nataliia; Sollmann, Nico; Wittig, Regina; Beurskens, Eva; Butenschoen, Vicki M; Ringel, Florian; Vajkoczy, Peter; Meyer, Bernhard; Picht, Thomas; Krieg, Sandro M

2016-10-01

The resection of left-sided perisylvian brain lesions harbors the risk of postoperative aphasia. Because it is known that language function can shift between hemispheres in brain tumor patients, the preoperative knowledge of the patient's language dominance could be helpful. We therefore investigated the hemispheric language dominance by repetitive navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and surgery-related deficits of language function. We pooled the bicentric language mapping data of 80 patients undergoing the resection of left-sided perisylvian brain lesions in our two university neurosurgical departments. We calculated error rates (ERs; ER = errors per stimulations) for both hemispheres and defined the hemispheric dominance ratio (HDR) as the quotient of the left- and right-sided ER (HDR >1= left dominant; HDR <1= right dominant). The course of the patient's language function was evaluated and correlated with the preoperative HDR. Only three of 80 patients (4%) presented with permanent surgery-related aphasia and 24 patients (30%) with transient surgery-related aphasia. The mean HDR (± standard deviation) of patients with new aphasia after five days was significantly higher (1.68±1.07) than the HDR of patients with no new language deficit (1.37±1.08) (p=0.0482). With a predefined cut-off value of 0.5 for HDR, we achieved a sensitivity for predicting new aphasia of 100%. A higher preoperative HDR significantly correlates with an increased risk for transient aphasia. Moreover, the intensive preoperative workup in this study led to a considerably low rate of permanent aphasia. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The optical properties of absorbing aerosols with fractal soot aggregates: Implications for aerosol remote sensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Tianhai; Gu, Xingfa; Wu, Yu; Chen, Hao; Yu, Tao

2013-08-01

Applying sphere aerosol models to replace the absorbing fine-sized dominated aerosols can potentially result in significant errors in the climate models and aerosol remote sensing retrieval. In this paper, the optical properties of absorbing fine-sized dominated aerosol were modeled, which are taking into account the fresh emitted soot particles (agglomerates of primary spherules), aged soot particles (semi-externally mixed with other weakly absorbing aerosols), and coarse aerosol particles (dust particles). The optical properties of the individual fresh and aged soot aggregates are calculated using the superposition T-matrix method. In order to quantify the morphology effect of absorbing aerosol models on the aerosol remote sensing retrieval, the ensemble averaged optical properties of absorbing fine-sized dominated aerosols are calculated based on the size distribution of fine aerosols (fresh and aged soot) and coarse aerosols. The corresponding optical properties of sphere absorbing aerosol models using Lorenz-Mie solutions were presented for comparison. The comparison study demonstrates that the sphere absorbing aerosol models underestimate the absorption ability of the fine-sized dominated aerosol particles. The morphology effect of absorbing fine-sized dominated aerosols on the TOA radiances and polarized radiances is also investigated. It is found that the sphere aerosol models overestimate the TOA reflectance and polarized reflectance by approximately a factor of 3 at wavelength of 0.865 μm. In other words, the fine-sized dominated aerosol models can cause large errors in the retrieved aerosol properties if satellite reflectance measurements are analyzed using the conventional Mie theory for spherical particles.

Long-range transport of black carbon to the Pacific Ocean and its dependence on aging timescale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, J.; Liu, J.; Tao, S.; Ban-Weiss, G. A.

2015-06-01

Improving the ability of global models to predict concentrations of black carbon (BC) over the Pacific Ocean is essential to evaluate the impact of BC on marine climate. In this study, we tag BC tracers from 13 source regions around the globe in a global chemical transport model MOZART-4. Numerous sensitivity simulations are carried out varying the aging timescale of BC emitted from each source region. The aging timescale for each source region is optimized by minimizing errors in vertical profiles of BC mass mixing ratios between simulations and HIAPER Pole-to-Pole Observations (HIPPO). For most HIPPO deployments, in the Northern Hemisphere, optimized aging timescales are less than half a day for BC emitted from tropical and mid-latitude source regions, and about 1 week for BC emitted from high latitude regions in all seasons except summer. We find that East Asian emissions contribute most to the BC loading over the North Pacific, while South American, African and Australian emissions dominate BC loadings over the South Pacific. Dominant source regions contributing to BC loadings in other parts of the globe are also assessed. The lifetime of BC originating from East Asia (i.e., the world's largest BC emitter) is found to be only 2.2 days, much shorter than the global average lifetime of 4.9 days, making East Asia's contribution to global burden only 36 % of BC from the second largest emitter, Africa. Thus, evaluating only relative emission rates without accounting for differences in aging timescales and deposition rates is not predictive of the contribution of a given source region to climate impacts. Our simulations indicate that lifetime of BC increases nearly linearly with aging timescale for all source regions. When aging rate is fast, the lifetime of BC is largely determined by factors that control local deposition rates (e.g. precipitation). The sensitivity of lifetime to aging timescale depends strongly on the initial hygroscopicity of freshly emitted BC. Our findings suggest that the aging timescale of BC varies significantly by region and season, and can strongly influence the contribution of source regions to BC burdens around the globe. Improving parameterizations of the aging process for BC is important for enhancing the predictive skill of air quality and climate models. Future observations that investigate the evolution of hygroscopicity of BC as it ages from different source regions to the remote atmosphere are urgently needed.

Long-range transport of black carbon to the Pacific Ocean and its dependence on aging timescale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, J.; Liu, J.; Tao, S.; Ban-Weiss, G. A.

2015-10-01

Improving the ability of global models to predict concentrations of black carbon (BC) over the Pacific Ocean is essential to evaluate the impact of BC on marine climate. In this study, we tag BC tracers from 13 source regions around the globe in a global chemical transport model, Model for Ozone and Related Chemical Tracers, version 4 (MOZART-4). Numerous sensitivity simulations are carried out varying the aging timescale of BC emitted from each source region. The aging timescale for each source region is optimized by minimizing errors in vertical profiles of BC mass mixing ratios between simulations and HIAPER Pole-to-Pole Observations (HIPPO). For most HIPPO deployments, in the Northern Hemisphere, optimized aging timescales are less than half a day for BC emitted from tropical and midlatitude source regions and about 1 week for BC emitted from high-latitude regions in all seasons except summer. We find that East Asian emissions contribute most to the BC loading over the North Pacific, while South American, African and Australian emissions dominate BC loadings over the South Pacific. Dominant source regions contributing to BC loadings in other parts of the globe are also assessed. The lifetime of BC originating from East Asia (i.e., the world's largest BC emitter) is found to be only 2.2 days, much shorter than the global average lifetime of 4.9 days, making the contribution from East Asia to the global BC burden only 36 % of that from the second largest emitter, Africa. Thus, evaluating only relative emission rates without accounting for differences in aging timescales and deposition rates is not predictive of the contribution of a given source region to climate impacts. Our simulations indicate that the lifetime of BC increases nearly linearly with aging timescale for all source regions. When the aging rate is fast, the lifetime of BC is largely determined by factors that control local deposition rates (e.g., precipitation). The sensitivity of lifetime to aging timescale depends strongly on the initial hygroscopicity of freshly emitted BC. Our findings suggest that the aging timescale of BC varies significantly by region and season and can strongly influence the contribution of source regions to BC burdens around the globe. Therefore, improving parameterizations of the aging process for BC is important for enhancing the predictive skill of global models. Future observations that investigate the evolution of the hygroscopicity of BC as it ages from different source regions to the remote atmosphere are urgently needed.

Fringe-period selection for a multifrequency fringe-projection phase unwrapping method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Chunwei; Zhao, Hong; Jiang, Kejian

2016-08-01

The multi-frequency fringe-projection phase unwrapping method (MFPPUM) is a typical phase unwrapping algorithm for fringe projection profilometry. It has the advantage of being capable of correctly accomplishing phase unwrapping even in the presence of surface discontinuities. If the fringe frequency ratio of the MFPPUM is too large, fringe order error (FOE) may be triggered. FOE will result in phase unwrapping error. It is preferable for the phase unwrapping to be kept correct while the fewest sets of lower frequency fringe patterns are used. To achieve this goal, in this paper a parameter called fringe order inaccuracy (FOI) is defined, dominant factors which may induce FOE are theoretically analyzed, a method to optimally select the fringe periods for the MFPPUM is proposed with the aid of FOI, and experiments are conducted to research the impact of the dominant factors in phase unwrapping and demonstrate the validity of the proposed method. Some novel phenomena are revealed by these experiments. The proposed method helps to optimally select the fringe periods and detect the phase unwrapping error for the MFPPUM.

Designing and testing the coronagraphic Modal Wavefront Sensor: a fast non-common path error sensor for high-contrast imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilby, M. J.; Keller, C. U.; Haffert, S.; Korkiakoski, V.; Snik, F.; Pietrow, A. G. M.

2016-07-01

Non-Common Path Errors (NCPEs) are the dominant factor limiting the performance of current astronomical high-contrast imaging instruments. If uncorrected, the resulting quasi-static speckle noise floor limits coronagraph performance to a raw contrast of typically 10-4, a value which does not improve with increasing integration time. The coronagraphic Modal Wavefront Sensor (cMWS) is a hybrid phase optic which uses holographic PSF copies to supply focal-plane wavefront sensing information directly from the science camera, whilst maintaining a bias-free coronagraphic PSF. This concept has already been successfully implemented on-sky at the William Herschel Telescope (WHT), La Palma, demonstrating both real-time wavefront sensing capability and successful extraction of slowly varying wavefront errors under a dominant and rapidly changing atmospheric speckle foreground. In this work we present an overview of the development of the cMWS and recent first light results obtained using the Leiden EXoplanet Instrument (LEXI), a high-contrast imager and high-dispersion spectrograph pathfinder instrument for the WHT.

Systematic Errors in an Air Track Experiment.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ramirez, Santos A.; Ham, Joe S.

1990-01-01

Errors found in a common physics experiment to measure acceleration resulting from gravity using a linear air track are investigated. Glider position at release and initial velocity are shown to be sources of systematic error. (CW)

Attitude errors arising from antenna/satellite altitude errors - Recognition and reduction

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Godbey, T. W.; Lambert, R.; Milano, G.

1972-01-01

A review is presented of the three basic types of pulsed radar altimeter designs, as well as the source and form of altitude bias errors arising from antenna/satellite attitude errors in each design type. A quantitative comparison of the three systems was also made.

Sensitivity of Magnetospheric Multi-Scale (MMS) Mission Navigation Accuracy to Major Error Sources

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Olson, Corwin; Long, Anne; Car[emter. Russell

2011-01-01

The Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission consists of four satellites flying in formation in highly elliptical orbits about the Earth, with a primary objective of studying magnetic reconnection. The baseline navigation concept is independent estimation of each spacecraft state using GPS pseudorange measurements referenced to an Ultra Stable Oscillator (USO) with accelerometer measurements included during maneuvers. MMS state estimation is performed onboard each spacecraft using the Goddard Enhanced Onboard Navigation System (GEONS), which is embedded in the Navigator GPS receiver. This paper describes the sensitivity of MMS navigation performance to two major error sources: USO clock errors and thrust acceleration knowledge errors.

Sensitivity of Magnetospheric Multi-Scale (MMS) Mission Naviation Accuracy to Major Error Sources

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Olson, Corwin; Long, Anne; Carpenter, J. Russell

2011-01-01

The Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission consists of four satellites flying in formation in highly elliptical orbits about the Earth, with a primary objective of studying magnetic reconnection. The baseline navigation concept is independent estimation of each spacecraft state using GPS pseudorange measurements referenced to an Ultra Stable Oscillator (USO) with accelerometer measurements included during maneuvers. MMS state estimation is performed onboard each spacecraft using the Goddard Enhanced Onboard Navigation System (GEONS), which is embedded in the Navigator GPS receiver. This paper describes the sensitivity of MMS navigation performance to two major error sources: USO clock errors and thrust acceleration knowledge errors.

General error analysis in the relationship between free thyroxine and thyrotropin and its clinical relevance.

PubMed

Goede, Simon L; Leow, Melvin Khee-Shing

2013-01-01

This treatise investigates error sources in measurements applicable to the hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) system of analysis for homeostatic set point computation. The hypothalamus-pituitary transfer characteristic (HP curve) describes the relationship between plasma free thyroxine [FT4] and thyrotropin [TSH]. We define the origin, types, causes, and effects of errors that are commonly encountered in TFT measurements and examine how we can interpret these to construct a reliable HP function for set point establishment. The error sources in the clinical measurement procedures are identified and analyzed in relation to the constructed HP model. The main sources of measurement and interpretation uncertainties are (1) diurnal variations in [TSH], (2) TFT measurement variations influenced by timing of thyroid medications, (3) error sensitivity in ranges of [TSH] and [FT4] (laboratory assay dependent), (4) rounding/truncation of decimals in [FT4] which in turn amplify curve fitting errors in the [TSH] domain in the lower [FT4] range, (5) memory effects (rate-independent hysteresis effect). When the main uncertainties in thyroid function tests (TFT) are identified and analyzed, we can find the most acceptable model space with which we can construct the best HP function and the related set point area.

Unaccounted source of systematic errors in measurements of the Newtonian gravitational constant G

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

DeSalvo, Riccardo

2015-06-01

Many precision measurements of G have produced a spread of results incompatible with measurement errors. Clearly an unknown source of systematic errors is at work. It is proposed here that most of the discrepancies derive from subtle deviations from Hooke's law, caused by avalanches of entangled dislocations. The idea is supported by deviations from linearity reported by experimenters measuring G, similarly to what is observed, on a larger scale, in low-frequency spring oscillators. Some mitigating experimental apparatus modifications are suggested.

C-band radar pulse Doppler error: Its discovery, modeling, and elimination

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Krabill, W. B.; Dempsey, D. J.

1978-01-01

The discovery of a C Band radar pulse Doppler error is discussed and use of the GEOS 3 satellite's coherent transponder to isolate the error source is described. An analysis of the pulse Doppler tracking loop is presented and a mathematical model for the error was developed. Error correction techniques were developed and are described including implementation details.

Investigating the influence of DNAPL spill characteristics on source zone architecture and mass removal in pool-dominated source zones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wallace, K. A.; Abriola, L.; Chen, M.; Ramsburg, A.; Pennell, K. D.; Christ, J.

2009-12-01

Multiphase, compositional simulators were employed to investigate the spill characteristics and subsurface properties that lead to pool-dominated, dense non-aqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) source zone architectures. DNAPL pools commonly form at textural interfaces where low permeability lenses restrict the vertical migration of DNAPL, allowing for DNAPL to accumulate, reaching high saturation. Significant pooling has been observed in bench-scale experiments and field settings. However, commonly employed numerical simulations rarely predict the pooling suspected in the field. Given the importance of pooling on the efficacy of mass recovery and the down-gradient contaminant signal, it is important to understand the predominant factors affecting the creation of pool-dominated source zones and their subsequent mass discharge. In this work, contaminant properties, spill characteristics and subsurface permeability were varied to investigate the factors contributing to the development of a pool-dominated source zone. DNAPL infiltration and entrapment simulations were conducted in two- and three-dimensional domains using the University of Texas Chemical Compositional (UTCHEM) simulator. A modified version of MT3DMS was then used to simulate DNAPL dissolution and mass discharge. Numerical mesh size was varied to investigate the importance of numerical model parameters on simulations results. The temporal evolution of commonly employed source zone architecture metrics, such as the maximum DNAPL saturation, first and second spatial moments, and fraction of DNAPL mass located in pools, was monitored to determine how the source zone architecture evolved with time. Mass discharge was monitored to identify the link between source zone architecture and down-gradient contaminant flux. Contaminant characteristics and the presence of extensive low permeability lenses appeared to have the most influence on the development of a pool-dominated source zone. The link between DNAPL mass recovery and contaminant mass discharge was significantly influenced by the fraction of mass residing in DNAPL pools. The greater the fraction of mass residing in DNAPL pools the greater the likelihood for significant reductions in contaminant mass discharge at modest levels of mass removal. These results will help guide numerical and experimental studies on the remediation of pool-dominated source zones and will likely guide future source zone characterization efforts.

Adaptive Sparse Representation for Source Localization with Gain/Phase Errors

PubMed Central

Sun, Ke; Liu, Yimin; Meng, Huadong; Wang, Xiqin

2011-01-01

Sparse representation (SR) algorithms can be implemented for high-resolution direction of arrival (DOA) estimation. Additionally, SR can effectively separate the coherent signal sources because the spectrum estimation is based on the optimization technique, such as the L1 norm minimization, but not on subspace orthogonality. However, in the actual source localization scenario, an unknown gain/phase error between the array sensors is inevitable. Due to this nonideal factor, the predefined overcomplete basis mismatches the actual array manifold so that the estimation performance is degraded in SR. In this paper, an adaptive SR algorithm is proposed to improve the robustness with respect to the gain/phase error, where the overcomplete basis is dynamically adjusted using multiple snapshots and the sparse solution is adaptively acquired to match with the actual scenario. The simulation results demonstrate the estimation robustness to the gain/phase error using the proposed method. PMID:22163875

Subaperture test of wavefront error of large telescopes: error sources and stitching performance simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Shanyong; Li, Shengyi; Wang, Guilin

2014-11-01

The wavefront error of large telescopes requires to be measured to check the system quality and also estimate the misalignment of the telescope optics including the primary, the secondary and so on. It is usually realized by a focal plane interferometer and an autocollimator flat (ACF) of the same aperture with the telescope. However, it is challenging for meter class telescopes due to high cost and technological challenges in producing the large ACF. Subaperture test with a smaller ACF is hence proposed in combination with advanced stitching algorithms. Major error sources include the surface error of the ACF, misalignment of the ACF and measurement noises. Different error sources have different impacts on the wavefront error. Basically the surface error of the ACF behaves like systematic error and the astigmatism will be cumulated and enlarged if the azimuth of subapertures remains fixed. It is difficult to accurately calibrate the ACF because it suffers considerable deformation induced by gravity or mechanical clamping force. Therefore a selfcalibrated stitching algorithm is employed to separate the ACF surface error from the subaperture wavefront error. We suggest the ACF be rotated around the optical axis of the telescope for subaperture test. The algorithm is also able to correct the subaperture tip-tilt based on the overlapping consistency. Since all subaperture measurements are obtained in the same imaging plane, lateral shift of the subapertures is always known and the real overlapping points can be recognized in this plane. Therefore lateral positioning error of subapertures has no impact on the stitched wavefront. In contrast, the angular positioning error changes the azimuth of the ACF and finally changes the systematic error. We propose an angularly uneven layout of subapertures to minimize the stitching error, which is very different from our knowledge. At last, measurement noises could never be corrected but be suppressed by means of averaging and environmental control. We simulate the performance of the stitching algorithm dealing with surface error and misalignment of the ACF, and noise suppression, which provides guidelines to optomechanical design of the stitching test system.

Acoustic Quality of the 40- by 80- Foot Wind Tunnel Test Section After Installation of a Deep Acoustic Lining

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Soderman, Paul T.; Jaeger, Stephen M.; Hayes, Julie A.; Allen, Christopher S.

2002-01-01

A recessed, 42-inch deep acoustic lining has been designed and installed in the 40- by 80- Foot Wind Tunnel (40x80) test section to greatly improve the acoustic quality of the facility. This report describes the test section acoustic performance as determined by a detailed static calibration-all data were acquired without wind. Global measurements of sound decay from steady noise sources showed that the facility is suitable for acoustic studies of jet noise or similar randomly generated sound. The wall sound absorption, size of the facility, and averaging effects of wide band random noise all tend to minimize interference effects from wall reflections. The decay of white noise with distance was close to free field above 250 Hz. However, tonal sound data from propellers and fans, for example, will have an error band to be described that is caused by the sensitivity of tones to even weak interference. That error band could be minimized by use of directional instruments such as phased microphone arrays. Above 10 kHz, air absorption began to dominate the sound field in the large test section, reflections became weaker, and the test section tended toward an anechoic environment as frequency increased.

Ocean haline skin layer and turbulent surface convections

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Y.; Zhang, X.

2012-04-01

The ocean haline skin layer is of great interest to oceanographic applications, while its attribute is still subject to considerable uncertainty due to observational difficulties. By introducing Batchelor micro-scale, a turbulent surface convection model is developed to determine the depths of various ocean skin layers with same model parameters. These parameters are derived from matching cool skin layer observations. Global distributions of salinity difference across ocean haline layers are then simulated, using surface forcing data mainly from OAFlux project and ISCCP. It is found that, even though both thickness of the haline layer and salinity increment across are greater than the early global simulations, the microwave remote sensing error caused by the haline microlayer effect is still smaller than that from other geophysical error sources. It is shown that forced convections due to sea surface wind stress are dominant over free convections driven by surface cooling in most regions of oceans. The free convection instability is largely controlled by cool skin effect for the thermal microlayer is much thicker and becomes unstable much earlier than the haline microlayer. The similarity of the global distributions of temperature difference and salinity difference across cool and haline skin layers is investigated by comparing their forcing fields of heat fluxes. The turbulent convection model is also found applicable to formulating gas transfer velocity at low wind.

Light curves of 213 Type Ia supernovae from the Essence survey

DOE PAGES

Narayan, G.; Rest, A.; Tucker, B. E.; ...

2016-05-06

The ESSENCE survey discovered 213 Type Ia supernovae at redshiftsmore » $$0.1\\lt z\\lt 0.81$$ between 2002 and 2008. We present their R- and I-band photometry, measured from images obtained using the MOSAIC II camera at the CTIO Blanco, along with rapid-response spectroscopy for each object. We use our spectroscopic follow-up observations to determine an accurate, quantitative classification, and precise redshift. Through an extensive calibration program we have improved the precision of the CTIO Blanco natural photometric system. We use several empirical metrics to measure our internal photometric consistency and our absolute calibration of the survey. Here, we assess the effect of various potential sources of systematic bias on our measured fluxes, and estimate the dominant term in the systematic error budget from the photometric calibration on our absolute fluxes is ~1%.« less

Light curves of 213 Type Ia supernovae from the Essence survey

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

Narayan, G.; Rest, A.; Tucker, B. E.

The ESSENCE survey discovered 213 Type Ia supernovae at redshiftsmore » $$0.1\\lt z\\lt 0.81$$ between 2002 and 2008. We present their R- and I-band photometry, measured from images obtained using the MOSAIC II camera at the CTIO Blanco, along with rapid-response spectroscopy for each object. We use our spectroscopic follow-up observations to determine an accurate, quantitative classification, and precise redshift. Through an extensive calibration program we have improved the precision of the CTIO Blanco natural photometric system. We use several empirical metrics to measure our internal photometric consistency and our absolute calibration of the survey. Here, we assess the effect of various potential sources of systematic bias on our measured fluxes, and estimate the dominant term in the systematic error budget from the photometric calibration on our absolute fluxes is ~1%.« less

Ionospheric Correction of D-InSAR Using Split-Spectrum Technique and 3D Ionosphere Model in Deformation Monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Y.; Guo, L.; Wu, J. J.; Chen, Q.; Song, S.

2014-12-01

In Differential Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (D-InSAR) atmosphere effect including troposphere and ionosphere is one of the dominant sources of error in most interferograms, which greatly reduced the accuracy of deformation monitoring. In recent years tropospheric correction especially Zwd in InSAR data processing has ever got widely investigated and got efficiently suppressed. And thus we focused our study on ionospheric correction using two different methods, which are split-spectrum technique and Nequick model, one of the three dimensional electron density models. We processed Wenchuan ALOS PALSAR images, and compared InSAR surface deformation after ionospheric modification using the two approaches mentioned above with ground GPS subsidence observations to validate the effect of split-spectrum method and NeQuick model, further discussed the performance and feasibility of external data and InSAR itself during the study of the elimination of InSAR ionospheric effect.

Phase-modulated decoupling and error suppression in qubit-oscillator systems.

PubMed

Green, Todd J; Biercuk, Michael J

2015-03-27

We present a scheme designed to suppress the dominant source of infidelity in entangling gates between quantum systems coupled through intermediate bosonic oscillator modes. Such systems are particularly susceptible to residual qubit-oscillator entanglement at the conclusion of a gate period that reduces the fidelity of the target entangling operation. We demonstrate how the exclusive use of discrete shifts in the phase of the field moderating the qubit-oscillator interaction is sufficient to both ensure multiple oscillator modes are decoupled and to suppress the effects of fluctuations in the driving field. This approach is amenable to a wide variety of technical implementations including geometric phase gates in superconducting qubits and the Molmer-Sorensen gate for trapped ions. We present detailed example protocols tailored to trapped-ion experiments and demonstrate that our approach has the potential to enable multiqubit gate implementation with a significant reduction in technical complexity relative to previously demonstrated protocols.

Generic distortion model for metrology under optical microscopes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Xingjian; Li, Zhongwei; Zhong, Kai; Chao, YuhJin; Miraldo, Pedro; Shi, Yusheng

2018-04-01

For metrology under optical microscopes, lens distortion is the dominant source of error. Previous distortion models and correction methods mostly rely on the assumption that parametric distortion models require a priori knowledge of the microscopes' lens systems. However, because of the numerous optical elements in a microscope, distortions can be hardly represented by a simple parametric model. In this paper, a generic distortion model considering both symmetric and asymmetric distortions is developed. Such a model is obtained by using radial basis functions (RBFs) to interpolate the radius and distortion values of symmetric distortions (image coordinates and distortion rays for asymmetric distortions). An accurate and easy to implement distortion correction method is presented. With the proposed approach, quantitative measurement with better accuracy can be achieved, such as in Digital Image Correlation for deformation measurement when used with an optical microscope. The proposed technique is verified by both synthetic and real data experiments.

Nucleon electromagnetic form factors using lattice simulations at the physical point

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alexandrou, C.; Constantinou, M.; Hadjiyiannakou, K.; Jansen, K.; Kallidonis, Ch.; Koutsou, G.; Vaquero Aviles-Casco, A.

2017-08-01

We present results for the nucleon electromagnetic form factors using an ensemble of maximally twisted mass clover-improved fermions with pion mass of about 130 MeV. We use multiple sink-source separations and three analysis methods to probe ground-state dominance. We evaluate both the connected and disconnected contributions to the nucleon matrix elements. We find that the disconnected quark loop contributions to the isoscalar matrix elements are small, giving an upper bound of up to 2% of the connected and smaller than its statistical error. We present results for the isovector and isoscalar electric and magnetic Sachs form factors and the corresponding proton and neutron form factors. By fitting the momentum dependence of the form factors to a dipole form or to the z expansion, we extract the nucleon electric and magnetic radii, as well as the magnetic moment. We compare our results to experiment as well as to other recent lattice QCD calculations.

Three-dimensional electron diffraction of plant light-harvesting complex

PubMed Central

Wang, Da Neng; Kühlbrandt, Werner

1992-01-01

Electron diffraction patterns of two-dimensional crystals of light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b-protein complex (LHC-II) from photosynthetic membranes of pea chloroplasts, tilted at different angles up to 60°, were collected to 3.2 Å resolution at -125°C. The reflection intensities were merged into a three-dimensional data set. The Friedel R-factor and the merging R-factor were 21.8 and 27.6%, respectively. Specimen flatness and crystal size were critical for recording electron diffraction patterns from crystals at high tilts. The principal sources of experimental error were attributed to limitations of the number of unit cells contributing to an electron diffraction pattern, and to the critical electron dose. The distribution of strong diffraction spots indicated that the three-dimensional structure of LHC-II is less regular than that of other known membrane proteins and is not dominated by a particular feature of secondary structure. ImagesFIGURE 1FIGURE 2 PMID:19431817

Spectrum of the isotropic diffuse gamma-ray emission derived from first-year Fermi Large Area Telescope data.

PubMed

Abdo, A A; Ackermann, M; Ajello, M; Atwood, W B; Baldini, L; Ballet, J; Barbiellini, G; Bastieri, D; Baughman, B M; Bechtol, K; Bellazzini, R; Berenji, B; Blandford, R D; Bloom, E D; Bonamente, E; Borgland, A W; Bregeon, J; Brez, A; Brigida, M; Bruel, P; Burnett, T H; Buson, S; Caliandro, G A; Cameron, R A; Caraveo, P A; Casandjian, J M; Cavazzuti, E; Cecchi, C; Celik, O; Charles, E; Chekhtman, A; Cheung, C C; Chiang, J; Ciprini, S; Claus, R; Cohen-Tanugi, J; Cominsky, L R; Conrad, J; Cutini, S; Dermer, C D; de Angelis, A; de Palma, F; Digel, S W; Di Bernardo, G; do Couto e Silva, E; Drell, P S; Drlica-Wagner, A; Dubois, R; Dumora, D; Farnier, C; Favuzzi, C; Fegan, S J; Focke, W B; Fortin, P; Frailis, M; Fukazawa, Y; Funk, S; Fusco, P; Gaggero, D; Gargano, F; Gasparrini, D; Gehrels, N; Germani, S; Giebels, B; Giglietto, N; Giommi, P; Giordano, F; Glanzman, T; Godfrey, G; Grenier, I A; Grondin, M-H; Grove, J E; Guillemot, L; Guiriec, S; Gustafsson, M; Hanabata, Y; Harding, A K; Hayashida, M; Hughes, R E; Itoh, R; Jackson, M S; Jóhannesson, G; Johnson, A S; Johnson, R P; Johnson, T J; Johnson, W N; Kamae, T; Katagiri, H; Kataoka, J; Kawai, N; Kerr, M; Knödlseder, J; Kocian, M L; Kuehn, F; Kuss, M; Lande, J; Latronico, L; Lemoine-Goumard, M; Longo, F; Loparco, F; Lott, B; Lovellette, M N; Lubrano, P; Madejski, G M; Makeev, A; Mazziotta, M N; McConville, W; McEnery, J E; Meurer, C; Michelson, P F; Mitthumsiri, W; Mizuno, T; Moiseev, A A; Monte, C; Monzani, M E; Morselli, A; Moskalenko, I V; Murgia, S; Nolan, P L; Norris, J P; Nuss, E; Ohsugi, T; Omodei, N; Orlando, E; Ormes, J F; Paneque, D; Panetta, J H; Parent, D; Pelassa, V; Pepe, M; Pesce-Rollins, M; Piron, F; Porter, T A; Rainò, S; Rando, R; Razzano, M; Reimer, A; Reimer, O; Reposeur, T; Ritz, S; Rochester, L S; Rodriguez, A Y; Roth, M; Ryde, F; Sadrozinski, H F-W; Sanchez, D; Sander, A; Saz Parkinson, P M; Scargle, J D; Sellerholm, A; Sgrò, C; Shaw, M S; Siskind, E J; Smith, D A; Smith, P D; Spandre, G; Spinelli, P; Starck, J-L; Strickman, M S; Strong, A W; Suson, D J; Tajima, H; Takahashi, H; Takahashi, T; Tanaka, T; Thayer, J B; Thayer, J G; Thompson, D J; Tibaldo, L; Torres, D F; Tosti, G; Tramacere, A; Uchiyama, Y; Usher, T L; Vasileiou, V; Vilchez, N; Vitale, V; Waite, A P; Wang, P; Winer, B L; Wood, K S; Ylinen, T; Ziegler, M

2010-03-12

We report on the first Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) measurements of the so-called "extragalactic" diffuse gamma-ray emission (EGB). This component of the diffuse gamma-ray emission is generally considered to have an isotropic or nearly isotropic distribution on the sky with diverse contributions discussed in the literature. The derivation of the EGB is based on detailed modeling of the bright foreground diffuse Galactic gamma-ray emission, the detected LAT sources, and the solar gamma-ray emission. We find the spectrum of the EGB is consistent with a power law with a differential spectral index gamma = 2.41 +/- 0.05 and intensity I(>100 MeV) = (1.03 +/- 0.17) x 10(-5) cm(-2) s(-1) sr(-1), where the error is systematics dominated. Our EGB spectrum is featureless, less intense, and softer than that derived from EGRET data.

Broad-band Lg Attenuation Tomography in Eastern Eurasia and The Resolution, Uncertainty and Data Predication

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Y.; Xu, X.

2017-12-01

The broad band Lg 1/Q tomographic models in eastern Eurasia are inverted from source- and site-corrected path 1/Q data. The path 1/Q are measured between stations (or events) by the two-station (TS), reverse two-station (RTS) and reverse two-event (RTE) methods, respectively. Because path 1/Q are computed using logarithm of the product of observed spectral ratios and simplified 1D geometrical spreading correction, they are subject to "modeling errors" dominated by uncompensated 3D structural effects. We have found in Chen and Xie [2017] that these errors closely follow normal distribution after the long-tailed outliers are screened out (similar to teleseismic travel time residuals). We thus rigorously analyze the statistics of these errors collected from repeated samplings of station (and event) pairs from 1.0 to 10.0Hz and reject about 15% outliers at each frequency band. The resultant variance of Δ/Q decreases with frequency as 1/f2. The 1/Q tomography using screened data is now a stochastic inverse problem with solutions approximate the means of Gaussian random variables and the model covariance matrix is that of Gaussian variables with well-known statistical behavior. We adopt a new SVD based tomographic method to solve for 2D Q image together with its resolution and covariance matrices. The RTS and RTE yield the most reliable 1/Q data free of source and site effects, but the path coverage is rather sparse due to very strict recording geometry. The TS absorbs the effects of non-unit site response ratios into 1/Q data. The RTS also yields site responses, which can then be corrected from the path 1/Q of TS to make them also free of site effect. The site corrected TS data substantially improve path coverage, allowing able to solve for 1/Q tomography up to 6.0Hz. The model resolution and uncertainty are first quantitively accessed by spread functions (fulfilled by resolution matrix) and covariance matrix. The reliably retrieved Q models correlate well with the distinct tectonic blocks featured by the most recent major deformations and vary with frequencies. With the 1/Q tomographic model and its covariance matrix, we can formally estimate the uncertainty of any path-specific Lg 1/Q prediction. This new capability significantly benefits source estimation for which reliable uncertainty estimate is especially important.

A study of partial coherence for identifying interior noise sources and paths on general aviation aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Howlett, J. T.

1979-01-01

The partial coherence analysis method for noise source/path determination is summarized and the application to a two input, single output system with coherence between the inputs is illustrated. The augmentation of the calculations on a digital computer interfaced with a two channel, real time analyzer is also discussed. The results indicate possible sources of error in the computations and suggest procedures for avoiding these errors.

SOURCES AND SINKS OF NEUTRALS AND PLASMA IN THE SATURNIAN MAGNETOSPHERE (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Richardson, J. D.

2009-12-01

This talk will review current knowledge on the source and sinks of plasm and energy in Saturn's magnetosphere. Enceladus dominates the water group source, with most of the material escaping from the plume near the southern pole. The relatively low corotation energy in this region results in less energy being available to heat electrons. The electrons are too cold to ionize the neutrals and the inner magnetosphere is dominated by neutrals. In addition, Saturn's atmosphere is a large source of neutral H, the rings contribute O2, and Titan is a source whose magnitude is controversial. In the inner magnetosphere most particles and energy are removed as fast neutrals; transport is more important further out and may be dominated by fingers of inflow and outflow as at Jupiter.

Simulating a transmon implementation of the surface code, Part I

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tarasinski, Brian; O'Brien, Thomas; Rol, Adriaan; Bultink, Niels; Dicarlo, Leo

Current experimental efforts aim to realize Surface-17, a distance-3 surface-code logical qubit, using transmon qubits in a circuit QED architecture. Following experimental proposals for this device, and currently achieved fidelities on physical qubits, we define a detailed error model that takes experimentally relevant error sources into account, such as amplitude and phase damping, imperfect gate pulses, and coherent errors due to low-frequency flux noise. Using the GPU-accelerated software package 'quantumsim', we simulate the density matrix evolution of the logical qubit under this error model. Combining the simulation results with a minimum-weight matching decoder, we obtain predictions for the error rate of the resulting logical qubit when used as a quantum memory, and estimate the contribution of different error sources to the logical error budget. Research funded by the Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter (FOM), the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO/OCW), IARPA, an ERC Synergy Grant, the China Scholarship Council, and Intel Corporation.

The Precise Orbit and the Challenge of Long Term Stability

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lemoine, Frank G.; Cerri, Luca; Otten, Michiel; Bertiger, William; Zelensky, Nikita; Willis, Pascal

2012-01-01

The computation of a precise orbit reference is a fundamental component of the altimetric measurement. Since the dawn of the modern altimeter age, orbit accuracy has been determined by the quality of the GPS, SLR, and DORIS tracking systems, the fidelity of the measurement and force models, and the choice of parameterization for the orbit solutions, and whether a dynamic or a reduced-dynamic strategy is used to calculate the orbits. At the start of the TOPEX mission, the inaccuracies in the modeling of static gravity, dynamic ocean tides, and the nonconservative forces dominated the orbit error budget. Much of the error due to dynamic mismodeling can be compensated by reduced-dynamic tracking techniques depending on the measurement system strength. In the last decade, the launch of the GRACE mission has eliminated the static gravity field as a concern, and the background force models and the terrestrial reference frame have been systematically refined. GPS systems have realized many improvements, including better modeling of the forces on the GPS spacecraft, large increases in the ground tracking network, and improved modeling of the GPS measurements. DORIS systems have achieved improvements through the use of new antennae, more stable monumentation, and of satellite receivers that can track multiple beacons, and as well as through improved modeling of the nonconservative forces. Many of these improvements have been applied in the new reprocessed time series of orbits produced for the ERS satellites, Envisat, TOPEX/Poseidon and the Jason satellites, and as well as for the most recent Cryosat-2 and HY2A. We now face the challenge of maintaining a stable orbit reference for these altimetric satellites. Changes in the time-variable gravity field of the Earth and how these are modelled have been shown to affect the orbit evolution, and the calibration of the altimetric data with tide gauges. The accuracy of the reference frame realizations, and their projection into the future remains a source of error. Other sources of omission error include the geocenter for which no consensus model is as of yet applied. Although progress has been made in nonconservative force modeling through the use of detailed satellite-specific models, radiation pressure modeling, and atmospheric density modeling remain a potential source of orbit error. The longer term influence of variations in the solar and terrestrial radiation fields over annual and solar cycles remains principally untested. Also the long term variation in optical and thermal properties of the space vehicle surfaces would contribute to biases in the orbital frame if ignored. We review the status of altimetric precision orbit determination as exemplified by the recent computations undertaken by the different analysis centers for ERS, Envisat, TOPEX/Poseidon, Jason, Cryosat2 and HY2A, and we provide a perspective on the challenges for future missions such as the Jason-3, SENTINEL-3 and SWOT.

Evaluating Snowmelt Runoff Processes Using Stable Isotopes in a Permafrost Hillslope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carey, S. K.

2004-05-01

Conceptual understanding of runoff generation in permafrost regions have been derived primarily from hydrometric information, with isotope and hydrochemical data having only limited application in delineating sources and pathways of water. Furthermore, when stable isotope data are used to infer runoff processes, it often provides conflicting results from hydrometric measurements. In a small subarctic alpine catchment within the Wolf Creek Research Basin, Yukon, Canada, experiments were conducted during the melt period of 2002 and 2003 to trace the stable isotopic signature (d18O) of meltwater from a melting snowpack into permafrost soils and laterally to the stream to identify runoff processes and evaluate sources of error for traditional hydrograph separation studies in snowmelt-dominated permafrost basins. Isotopic variability in the snowpack was recorded at 0.1 m depth intervals during the melt period and compared with the meltwater isotopic signature at the snowpack base collected in lysimeters. Throughout the melt period in both years, there was an isotopic enrichment of meltwater as the season progressed. A downslope transect of wells and piezometers were used to evaluate the influence of infiltrating meltwater and thawing ground on the subsurface d18O signature. As melt began, meltwater infiltrated the frozen porous organic layer, leading to liquid water saturation in the unsaturated pore spaces. Water sampled during this initial melt stage show soil water d18O mirroring that of the meltwater signal. As the melt season progressed, frozen soil began to melt, mixing enriched pre-melt soil water with meltwater. This mixing increased the overall value of d18O obtained from the soil, which gradually increased as thaw progressed. At the end of snowmelt, soil water had a d18O value similar to values from the previous fall, suggesting that much of the initial snowmelt water had been flushed from the hillslope. Results from the hillslope scale are compared with two-component hydrograph separations and sources of error are discussed.

Development, testing, and applications of site-specific tsunami inundation models for real-time forecasting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang, L.; Titov, V. V.; Chamberlin, C. D.

2009-12-01

The study describes the development, testing and applications of site-specific tsunami inundation models (forecast models) for use in NOAA's tsunami forecast and warning system. The model development process includes sensitivity studies of tsunami wave characteristics in the nearshore and inundation, for a range of model grid setups, resolutions and parameters. To demonstrate the process, four forecast models in Hawaii, at Hilo, Kahului, Honolulu, and Nawiliwili are described. The models were validated with fourteen historical tsunamis and compared with numerical results from reference inundation models of higher resolution. The accuracy of the modeled maximum wave height is greater than 80% when the observation is greater than 0.5 m; when the observation is below 0.5 m the error is less than 0.3 m. The error of the modeled arrival time of the first peak is within 3% of the travel time. The developed forecast models were further applied to hazard assessment from simulated magnitude 7.5, 8.2, 8.7 and 9.3 tsunamis based on subduction zone earthquakes in the Pacific. The tsunami hazard assessment study indicates that use of a seismic magnitude alone for a tsunami source assessment is inadequate to achieve such accuracy for tsunami amplitude forecasts. The forecast models apply local bathymetric and topographic information, and utilize dynamic boundary conditions from the tsunami source function database, to provide site- and event-specific coastal predictions. Only by combining a Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunami-constrained tsunami magnitude with site-specific high-resolution models can the forecasts completely cover the evolution of earthquake-generated tsunami waves: generation, deep ocean propagation, and coastal inundation. Wavelet analysis of the tsunami waves suggests the coastal tsunami frequency responses at different sites are dominated by the local bathymetry, yet they can be partially related to the locations of the tsunami sources. The study also demonstrates the nonlinearity between offshore and nearshore maximum wave amplitudes.

Identifying isotropic events using a regional moment tensor inversion

DOE PAGES

Ford, Sean R.; Dreger, Douglas S.; Walter, William R.

2009-01-17

We calculate the deviatoric and isotropic source components for 17 explosions at the Nevada Test Site, as well as 12 earthquakes and 3 collapses in the surrounding region of the western United States, using a regional time domain full waveform inversion for the complete moment tensor. The events separate into specific populations according to their deviation from a pure double-couple and ratio of isotropic to deviatoric energy. The separation allows for anomalous event identification and discrimination between explosions, earthquakes, and collapses. Confidence regions of the model parameters are estimated from the data misfit by assuming normally distributed parameter values. Wemore » investigate the sensitivity of the resolved parameters of an explosion to imperfect Earth models, inaccurate event depths, and data with low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) assuming a reasonable azimuthal distribution of stations. In the band of interest (0.02–0.10 Hz) the source-type calculated from complete moment tensor inversion is insensitive to velocity model perturbations that cause less than a half-cycle shift (<5 s) in arrival time error if shifting of the waveforms is allowed. The explosion source-type is insensitive to an incorrect depth assumption (for a true depth of 1 km), and the goodness of fit of the inversion result cannot be used to resolve the true depth of the explosion. Noise degrades the explosive character of the result, and a good fit and accurate result are obtained when the signal-to-noise ratio is greater than 5. We assess the depth and frequency dependence upon the resolved explosive moment. As the depth decreases from 1 km to 200 m, the isotropic moment is no longer accurately resolved and is in error between 50 and 200%. Furthermore, even at the most shallow depth the resultant moment tensor is dominated by the explosive component when the data have a good SNR.« less

Hubble Space Telescope Planetary Camera observations of Arp 220

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shaya, Edward J.; Dowling, Daniel M.; Currie, Douglas G.; Faber, S. M.; Groth, Edward J.

1994-01-01

Planetary Camera images of peculiar galaxy Arp 220 taken with V, R, and I band filters reveal a very luminous object near the position of the western radio continuum source, assumed to be the major nucleus, ans seven lesser objects within 2 sec of this position. The most luminous object is formally coincident with the radio source to within the errors of Hubble Space Telescope (HST) pointing accuracy, but we have found an alternate, more compelling alignment of maps in which the eastern radio source coincides with one of the lesser objects and the OH radio sources reside near the surfaces of other optical objects. The proposed centering places the most luminous object 150 pc (0.4 sec) away from the western radio source. We explore the possibilities that the objects are either holes in the dense dust distribution, dusty clouds reflecting a hidden bright nucleus, or associations of bright young stars. We favor the interpretation that at least the brightest two objects are massive young star associations with luminosities 10(exp 9) to 10(exp 11) solar luminosity, but highly extinguished by intervening dust. These massive associations should fall into the nucleus on a time scale of 10(exp 8) yr. About 10% of the enigmatic far-IR flux arises from the observed objects. In addition, if the diffuse starlight out to a radius of 8 sec is dominated by stars with typical ages of order 10(exp 8) yr (the time since the alleged merger of two galaxies), as indicated by the blue colors at larger radius, then the lower limit to the reradiation of diffuse starlight contributes 3 x 10(exp 11) solar luminosity to the far-infrared flux, or greater than or equal to 25% of the total far-IR flux. Three additional bright objects (M(sub V) approximately equals -13) located about 6 sec from the core are likely young globular clusters, but any of these could be recently exploded supernovae instead. The expected supernovae rate, if the dominant energy source is young stars, is about one per month for the region where the intense far-infrared flux originates. Also, individual giant dust clouds are visible in these images. Their typical size is 300 pc (1 sec).

Crowd-sourced pictures geo-localization method based on street view images and 3D reconstruction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Liang; Yuan, Yi; Xia, Nan; Chen, Song; Chen, Yanming; Yang, Kang; Ma, Lei; Li, Manchun

2018-07-01

People are increasingly becoming accustomed to taking photos of everyday life in modern cities and uploading them on major photo-sharing social media sites. These sites contain numerous pictures, but some have incomplete or blurred location information. The geo-localization of crowd-sourced pictures enriches the information contained therein, and is applicable to activities such as urban construction, urban landscape analysis, and crime tracking. However, geo-localization faces huge technical challenges. This paper proposes a method for large-scale geo-localization of crowd-sourced pictures. Our approach uses structured, organized Street View images as a reference dataset and employs a three-step strategy of coarse geo-localization by image retrieval, selecting reliable matches by image registration, and fine geo-localization by 3D reconstruction to attach geographic tags to pictures from unidentified sources. In study area, 3D reconstruction based on close-range photogrammetry is used to restore the 3D geographical information of the crowd-sourced pictures, resulting in the proposed method improving the median error from 256.7 m to 69.0 m, and the percentage of the geo-localized query pictures under a 50 m error from 17.2% to 43.2% compared with the previous method. Another discovery using the proposed method is that, in respect of the causes of reconstruction error, closer distances from the cameras to the main objects in query pictures tend to produce lower errors and the component of error parallel to the road makes a more significant contribution to the Total Error. The proposed method is not limited to small areas, and could be expanded to cities and larger areas owing to its flexible parameters.

Source Memory Errors Associated with Reports of Posttraumatic Flashbacks: A Proof of Concept Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brewin, Chris R.; Huntley, Zoe; Whalley, Matthew G.

2012-01-01

Flashbacks are involuntary, emotion-laden images experienced by individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The qualities of flashbacks could under certain circumstances lead to source memory errors. Participants with PTSD wrote a trauma narrative and reported the experience of flashbacks. They were later presented with stimuli from…

An Application of Multivariate Generalizability in Selection of Mathematically Gifted Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Sungyeun; Berebitsky, Dan

2016-01-01

This study investigates error sources and the effects of each error source to determine optimal weights of the composite score of teacher recommendation letters and self-introduction letters using multivariate generalizability theory. Data were collected from the science education institute for the gifted attached to the university located within…

Estimating Uncertainty in Annual Forest Inventory Estimates

Treesearch

Ronald E. McRoberts; Veronica C. Lessard

1999-01-01

The precision of annual forest inventory estimates may be negatively affected by uncertainty from a variety of sources including: (1) sampling error; (2) procedures for updating plots not measured in the current year; and (3) measurement errors. The impact of these sources of uncertainty on final inventory estimates is investigated using Monte Carlo simulation...

Developing Performance Estimates for High Precision Astrometry with TMT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schoeck, Matthias; Do, Tuan; Ellerbroek, Brent; Herriot, Glen; Meyer, Leo; Suzuki, Ryuji; Wang, Lianqi; Yelda, Sylvana

2013-12-01

Adaptive optics on Extremely Large Telescopes will open up many new science cases or expand existing science into regimes unattainable with the current generation of telescopes. One example of this is high-precision astrometry, which has requirements in the range from 10 to 50 micro-arc-seconds for some instruments and science cases. Achieving these requirements imposes stringent constraints on the design of the entire observatory, but also on the calibration procedures, observing sequences and the data analysis techniques. This paper summarizes our efforts to develop a top down astrometry error budget for TMT. It is predominantly developed for the first-light AO system, NFIRAOS, and the IRIS instrument, but many terms are applicable to other configurations as well. Astrometry error sources are divided into 5 categories: Reference source and catalog errors, atmospheric refraction correction errors, other residual atmospheric effects, opto-mechanical errors and focal plane measurement errors. Results are developed in parametric form whenever possible. However, almost every error term in the error budget depends on the details of the astrometry observations, such as whether absolute or differential astrometry is the goal, whether one observes a sparse or crowded field, what the time scales of interest are, etc. Thus, it is not possible to develop a single error budget that applies to all science cases and separate budgets are developed and detailed for key astrometric observations. Our error budget is consistent with the requirements for differential astrometry of tens of micro-arc-seconds for certain science cases. While no show stoppers have been found, the work has resulted in several modifications to the NFIRAOS optical surface specifications and reference source design that will help improve the achievable astrometry precision even further.

DFT-based method for more accurate adsorption energies: An adaptive sum of energies from RPBE and vdW density functionals

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

Hensley, Alyssa J. R.; Ghale, Kushal; Rieg, Carolin

In recent years, the popularity of density functional theory with periodic boundary conditions (DFT) has surged for the design and optimization of functional materials. However, no single DFT exchange–correlation functional currently available gives accurate adsorption energies on transition metals both when bonding to the surface is dominated by strong covalent or ionic bonding and when it has strong contributions from van der Waals interactions (i.e., dispersion forces). Here we present a new, simple method for accurately predicting adsorption energies on transition-metal surfaces based on DFT calculations, using an adaptively weighted sum of energies from RPBE and optB86b-vdW (or optB88-vdW) densitymore » functionals. This method has been benchmarked against a set of 39 reliable experimental energies for adsorption reactions. Our results show that this method has a mean absolute error and root mean squared error relative to experiments of 13.4 and 19.3 kJ/mol, respectively, compared to 20.4 and 26.4 kJ/mol for the BEEF-vdW functional. For systems with large van der Waals contributions, this method decreases these errors to 11.6 and 17.5 kJ/mol. Furthermore, this method provides predictions of adsorption energies both for processes dominated by strong covalent or ionic bonding and for those dominated by dispersion forces that are more accurate than those of any current standard DFT functional alone.« less

DFT-based method for more accurate adsorption energies: An adaptive sum of energies from RPBE and vdW density functionals

DOE PAGES

Hensley, Alyssa J. R.; Ghale, Kushal; Rieg, Carolin; ...

2017-01-26

In recent years, the popularity of density functional theory with periodic boundary conditions (DFT) has surged for the design and optimization of functional materials. However, no single DFT exchange–correlation functional currently available gives accurate adsorption energies on transition metals both when bonding to the surface is dominated by strong covalent or ionic bonding and when it has strong contributions from van der Waals interactions (i.e., dispersion forces). Here we present a new, simple method for accurately predicting adsorption energies on transition-metal surfaces based on DFT calculations, using an adaptively weighted sum of energies from RPBE and optB86b-vdW (or optB88-vdW) densitymore » functionals. This method has been benchmarked against a set of 39 reliable experimental energies for adsorption reactions. Our results show that this method has a mean absolute error and root mean squared error relative to experiments of 13.4 and 19.3 kJ/mol, respectively, compared to 20.4 and 26.4 kJ/mol for the BEEF-vdW functional. For systems with large van der Waals contributions, this method decreases these errors to 11.6 and 17.5 kJ/mol. Furthermore, this method provides predictions of adsorption energies both for processes dominated by strong covalent or ionic bonding and for those dominated by dispersion forces that are more accurate than those of any current standard DFT functional alone.« less

Surface characterization protocol for precision aspheric optics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sarepaka, RamaGopal V.; Sakthibalan, Siva; Doodala, Somaiah; Panwar, Rakesh S.; Kotaria, Rajendra

2017-10-01

In Advanced Optical Instrumentation, Aspherics provide an effective performance alternative. The aspheric fabrication and surface metrology, followed by aspheric design are complementary iterative processes for Precision Aspheric development. As in fabrication, a holistic approach of aspheric surface characterization is adopted to evaluate actual surface error and to aim at the deliverance of aspheric optics with desired surface quality. Precision optical surfaces are characterized by profilometry or by interferometry. Aspheric profiles are characterized by contact profilometers, through linear surface scans to analyze their Form, Figure and Finish errors. One must ensure that, the surface characterization procedure does not add to the resident profile errors (generated during the aspheric surface fabrication). This presentation examines the errors introduced post-surface generation and during profilometry of aspheric profiles. This effort is to identify sources of errors and is to optimize the metrology process. The sources of error during profilometry may be due to: profilometer settings, work-piece placement on the profilometer stage, selection of zenith/nadir points of aspheric profiles, metrology protocols, clear aperture - diameter analysis, computational limitations of the profiler and the software issues etc. At OPTICA, a PGI 1200 FTS contact profilometer (Taylor-Hobson make) is used for this study. Precision Optics of various profiles are studied, with due attention to possible sources of errors during characterization, with multi-directional scan approach for uniformity and repeatability of error estimation. This study provides an insight of aspheric surface characterization and helps in optimal aspheric surface production methodology.

Information-Gathering Patterns Associated with Higher Rates of Diagnostic Error

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Delzell, John E., Jr.; Chumley, Heidi; Webb, Russell; Chakrabarti, Swapan; Relan, Anju

2009-01-01

Diagnostic errors are an important source of medical errors. Problematic information-gathering is a common cause of diagnostic errors among physicians and medical students. The objectives of this study were to (1) determine if medical students' information-gathering patterns formed clusters of similar strategies, and if so (2) to calculate the…

More on Systematic Error in a Boyle's Law Experiment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCall, Richard P.

2012-01-01

A recent article in "The Physics Teacher" describes a method for analyzing a systematic error in a Boyle's law laboratory activity. Systematic errors are important to consider in physics labs because they tend to bias the results of measurements. There are numerous laboratory examples and resources that discuss this common source of error.

Panel positioning error and support mechanism for a 30-m THz radio telescope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, De-Hua; Okoh, Daniel; Zhou, Guo-Hua; Li, Ai-Hua; Li, Guo-Ping; Cheng, Jing-Quan

2011-06-01

A 30-m TeraHertz (THz) radio telescope is proposed to operate at 200 μm with an active primary surface. This paper presents sensitivity analysis of active surface panel positioning errors with optical performance in terms of the Strehl ratio. Based on Ruze's surface error theory and using a Monte Carlo simulation, the effects of six rigid panel positioning errors, such as piston, tip, tilt, radial, azimuthal and twist displacements, were directly derived. The optical performance of the telescope was then evaluated using the standard Strehl ratio. We graphically illustrated the various panel error effects by presenting simulations of complete ensembles of full reflector surface errors for the six different rigid panel positioning errors. Study of the panel error sensitivity analysis revealed that the piston error and tilt/tip errors are dominant while the other rigid errors are much less important. Furthermore, as indicated by the results, we conceived of an alternative Master-Slave Concept-based (MSC-based) active surface by implementating a special Series-Parallel Concept-based (SPC-based) hexapod as the active panel support mechanism. A new 30-m active reflector based on the two concepts was demonstrated to achieve correction for all the six rigid panel positioning errors in an economically feasible way.

Enhanced orbit determination filter sensitivity analysis: Error budget development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Estefan, J. A.; Burkhart, P. D.

1994-01-01

An error budget analysis is presented which quantifies the effects of different error sources in the orbit determination process when the enhanced orbit determination filter, recently developed, is used to reduce radio metric data. The enhanced filter strategy differs from more traditional filtering methods in that nearly all of the principal ground system calibration errors affecting the data are represented as filter parameters. Error budget computations were performed for a Mars Observer interplanetary cruise scenario for cases in which only X-band (8.4-GHz) Doppler data were used to determine the spacecraft's orbit, X-band ranging data were used exclusively, and a combined set in which the ranging data were used in addition to the Doppler data. In all three cases, the filter model was assumed to be a correct representation of the physical world. Random nongravitational accelerations were found to be the largest source of error contributing to the individual error budgets. Other significant contributors, depending on the data strategy used, were solar-radiation pressure coefficient uncertainty, random earth-orientation calibration errors, and Deep Space Network (DSN) station location uncertainty.

Adult age differences in unconscious transference: source confusion or identity blending?

PubMed

Perfect, Timothy J; Harris, Lucy J

2003-06-01

Eyewitnesses are known often to falsely identify a familiar but innocent bystander when asked to pick out a perpetrator from a lineup. Such unconscious transference errors have been attributed to either identity confusions at encoding or source retrieval errors. Three experiments contrasted younger and older adults in their susceptibility to such misidentifications. Participants saw photographs of perpetrators, then a series of mug shots of innocent bystanders. A week later, they saw lineups containing bystanders (and others containing perpetrators in Experiment 3) and were asked whether any of the perpetrators were present. When younger faces were used as stimuli (Experiments 1 and 3), older adults showed higher rates of transference errors. When older faces were used as stimuli (Experiments 2 and 3), no such age effects in rates of unconscious transference were apparent. In addition, older adults in Experiment 3 showed an own-age bias effect for correct identification of targets. Unconscious transference errors were found to be due to both source retrieval errors and identity confusions, but age-related increases were found only in the latter.

Investigating the error sources of the online state of charge estimation methods for lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, Yuejiu; Ouyang, Minggao; Han, Xuebing; Lu, Languang; Li, Jianqiu

2018-02-01

Sate of charge (SOC) estimation is generally acknowledged as one of the most important functions in battery management system for lithium-ion batteries in new energy vehicles. Though every effort is made for various online SOC estimation methods to reliably increase the estimation accuracy as much as possible within the limited on-chip resources, little literature discusses the error sources for those SOC estimation methods. This paper firstly reviews the commonly studied SOC estimation methods from a conventional classification. A novel perspective focusing on the error analysis of the SOC estimation methods is proposed. SOC estimation methods are analyzed from the views of the measured values, models, algorithms and state parameters. Subsequently, the error flow charts are proposed to analyze the error sources from the signal measurement to the models and algorithms for the widely used online SOC estimation methods in new energy vehicles. Finally, with the consideration of the working conditions, choosing more reliable and applicable SOC estimation methods is discussed, and the future development of the promising online SOC estimation methods is suggested.

[The error, source of learning].

PubMed

Joyeux, Stéphanie; Bohic, Valérie

2016-05-01

The error itself is not recognised as a fault. It is the intentionality which differentiates between an error and a fault. An error is unintentional while a fault is a failure to respect known rules. The risk of error is omnipresent in health institutions. Public authorities have therefore set out a series of measures to reduce this risk. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Types of Possible Survey Errors in Estimates Published in the Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report

EIA Publications

2016-01-01

This document lists types of potential errors in EIA estimates published in the WNGSR. Survey errors are an unavoidable aspect of data collection. Error is inherent in all collected data, regardless of the source of the data and the care and competence of data collectors. The type and extent of error depends on the type and characteristics of the survey.

A spectrally tunable solid-state source for radiometric, photometric, and colorimetric applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fryc, Irena; Brown, Steven W.; Eppeldauer, George P.; Ohno, Yoshihiro

2004-10-01

A spectrally tunable light source using a large number of LEDs and an integrating sphere has been designed and being developed at NIST. The source is designed to have a capability of producing any spectral distributions mimicking various light sources in the visible region by feedback control of individual LEDs. The output spectral irradiance or radiance of the source will be calibrated by a reference instrument, and the source will be used as a spectroradiometric as well as photometric and colorimetric standard. The use of the tunable source mimicking spectra of display colors, for example, rather than a traditional incandescent standard lamp for calibration of colorimeters, can reduce the spectral mismatch errors of the colorimeter measuring displays significantly. A series of simulations have been conducted to predict the performance of the designed tunable source when used for calibration of colorimeters. The results indicate that the errors can be reduced by an order of magnitude compared with those when the colorimeters are calibrated against Illuminant A. Stray light errors of a spectroradiometer can also be effectively reduced by using the tunable source producing a blackbody spectrum at higher temperature (e.g., 9000 K). The source can also approximate various CIE daylight illuminants and common lamp spectral distributions for other photometric and colorimetric applications.

Effect of humic substance photodegradation on bacterial growth and respiration in lake water

USGS Publications Warehouse

Anesio, A.M.; Graneli, W.; Aiken, G.R.; Kieber, D.J.; Mopper, K.

2005-01-01

This study addresses how humic substance (HS) chemical composition and photoreactivity affect bacterial growth, respiration, and growth efficiency (BGE) in lake water. Aqueous solutions of HSs from diverse aquatic environments representing different dissolved organic matter sources (autochthonous and allochthonous) were exposed to artificial solar UV radiation. These solutions were added to lake water passed through a 0.7-??m-pore-size filter (containing grazer-free lake bacteria) followed by dark incubation for 5, 43, and 65 h. For the 5-h incubation, several irradiated HSs inhibited bacterial carbon production (BCP) and this inhibition was highly correlated with H 2O2 photoproduction. The H2O2 decayed in the dark, and after 43 h, nearly all irradiated HSs enhanced BCP (average 39% increase relative to nonirradiated controls, standard error = 7.5%, n = 16). UV exposure of HSs also increased bacterial respiration (by ???18%, standard error = 5%, n = 4), but less than BCP, resulting in an average increase in BGE of 32% (standard error = 10%, n = 4). Photoenhancement of BCP did not correlate to HS bulk properties (i.e., elemental and chemical composition). However, when the photoenhancement of BCP was normalized to absorbance, several trends with HS origin and extraction method emerged. Absorbance-normalized hydrophilic acid and humic acid samples showed greater enhancement of BCP than hydrophobic acid and fulvic acid samples. Furthermore, absorbance-normalized autochthonous samples showed ???10-fold greater enhancement of BCP than allochthonous-dominated samples, indicating that the former are more efficient photoproducers of biological substrates. Copyright ?? 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

A Frequency-Domain Multipath Parameter Estimation and Mitigation Method for BOC-Modulated GNSS Signals

PubMed Central

Sun, Chao; Feng, Wenquan; Du, Songlin

2018-01-01

As multipath is one of the dominating error sources for high accuracy Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) applications, multipath mitigation approaches are employed to minimize this hazardous error in receivers. Binary offset carrier modulation (BOC), as a modernized signal structure, is adopted to achieve significant enhancement. However, because of its multi-peak autocorrelation function, conventional multipath mitigation techniques for binary phase shift keying (BPSK) signal would not be optimal. Currently, non-parametric and parametric approaches have been studied specifically aiming at multipath mitigation for BOC signals. Non-parametric techniques, such as Code Correlation Reference Waveforms (CCRW), usually have good feasibility with simple structures, but suffer from low universal applicability for different BOC signals. Parametric approaches can thoroughly eliminate multipath error by estimating multipath parameters. The problems with this category are at the high computation complexity and vulnerability to the noise. To tackle the problem, we present a practical parametric multipath estimation method in the frequency domain for BOC signals. The received signal is transferred to the frequency domain to separate out the multipath channel transfer function for multipath parameter estimation. During this process, we take the operations of segmentation and averaging to reduce both noise effect and computational load. The performance of the proposed method is evaluated and compared with the previous work in three scenarios. Results indicate that the proposed averaging-Fast Fourier Transform (averaging-FFT) method achieves good robustness in severe multipath environments with lower computational load for both low-order and high-order BOC signals. PMID:29495589

Fine particulates over South Asia: Review and meta-analysis of PM2.5 source apportionment through receptor model.

PubMed

Singh, Nandita; Murari, Vishnu; Kumar, Manish; Barman, S C; Banerjee, Tirthankar

2017-04-01

Fine particulates (PM 2.5 ) constitute dominant proportion of airborne particulates and have been often associated with human health disorders, changes in regional climate, hydrological cycle and more recently to food security. Intrinsic properties of particulates are direct function of sources. This initiates the necessity of conducting a comprehensive review on PM 2.5 sources over South Asia which in turn may be valuable to develop strategies for emission control. Particulate source apportionment (SA) through receptor models is one of the existing tool to quantify contribution of particulate sources. Review of 51 SA studies were performed of which 48 (94%) were appeared within a span of 2007-2016. Almost half of SA studies (55%) were found concentrated over few typical urban stations (Delhi, Dhaka, Mumbai, Agra and Lahore). Due to lack of local particulate source profile and emission inventory, positive matrix factorization and principal component analysis (62% of studies) were the primary choices, followed by chemical mass balance (CMB, 18%). Metallic species were most regularly used as source tracers while use of organic molecular markers and gas-to-particle conversion were minimum. Among all the SA sites, vehicular emissions (mean ± sd: 37 ± 20%) emerged as most dominating PM 2.5 source followed by industrial emissions (23 ± 16%), secondary aerosols (22 ± 12%) and natural sources (20 ± 15%). Vehicular emissions (39 ± 24%) also identified as dominating source for highly polluted sites (PM 2.5 >100 μgm -3 , n = 15) while site specific influence of either or in combination of industrial, secondary aerosols and natural sources were recognized. Source specific trends were considerably varied in terms of region and seasonality. Both natural and industrial sources were most influential over Pakistan and Afghanistan while over Indo-Gangetic plain, vehicular, natural and industrial emissions appeared dominant. Influence of vehicular emission was found single dominating source over southern part while over Bangladesh, both vehicular, biomass burning and industrial sources were significant. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Restoration of the ASCA Source Position Accuracy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gotthelf, E. V.; Ueda, Y.; Fujimoto, R.; Kii, T.; Yamaoka, K.

2000-11-01

We present a calibration of the absolute pointing accuracy of the Advanced Satellite for Cosmology and Astrophysics (ASCA) which allows us to compensate for a large error (up to 1') in the derived source coordinates. We parameterize a temperature dependent deviation of the attitude solution which is responsible for this error. By analyzing ASCA coordinates of 100 bright active galactic nuclei, we show that it is possible to reduce the uncertainty in the sky position for any given observation by a factor of 4. The revised 90% error circle radius is then 12", consistent with preflight specifications, effectively restoring the full ASCA pointing accuracy. Herein, we derive an algorithm which compensates for this attitude error and present an internet-based table to be used to correct post facto the coordinate of all ASCA observations. While the above error circle is strictly applicable to data taken with the on-board Solid-state Imaging Spectrometers (SISs), similar coordinate corrections are derived for data obtained with the Gas Imaging Spectrometers (GISs), which, however, have additional instrumental uncertainties. The 90% error circle radius for the central 20' diameter of the GIS is 24". The large reduction in the error circle area for the two instruments offers the opportunity to greatly enhance the search for X-ray counterparts at other wavelengths. This has important implications for current and future ASCA source catalogs and surveys.

Quality of Best Possible Medication History upon Admission to Hospital: Comparison of Nurses and Pharmacy Students and Consideration of National Quality Indicators.

PubMed

Sproul, Ashley; Goodine, Carole; Moore, David; McLeod, Amy; Gordon, Jacqueline; Digby, Jennifer; Stoica, George

2018-01-01

Medication reconciliation at transitions of care increases patient safety. Collection of an accurate best possible medication history (BPMH) on admission is a key step. National quality indicators are used as surrogate markers for BPMH quality, but no literature on their accuracy exists. Obtaining a high-quality BPMH is often labour- and resource-intensive. Pharmacy students are now being assigned to obtain BPMHs, as a cost-effective means to increase BPMH completion, despite limited information to support the quality of BPMHs obtained by students relative to other health care professionals. To determine whether the national quality indicator of using more than one source to complete a BPMH is a true marker of quality and to assess whether BPMHs obtained by pharmacy students were of quality equal to those obtained by nurses. This prospective trial compared BPMHs for the same group of patients collected by nurses and by trained pharmacy students in the emergency departments of 2 sites within a large health network over a 2-month period (July and August 2016). Discrepancies between the 2 versions were identified by a pharmacist, who determined which party (nurse, pharmacy student, or both) had made an error. A panel of experts reviewed the errors and ranked their severity. BPMHs were prepared for a total of 40 patients. Those prepared by nurses were more likely to contain an error than those prepared by pharmacy students (171 versus 43 errors, p = 0.006). There was a nonsignificant trend toward less severe errors in BPMHs completed by pharmacy students. There was no significant difference in the mean number of errors in relation to the specified quality indicator (mean of 2.7 errors for BPMHs prepared from 1 source versus 4.8 errors for BPMHs prepared from ≥ 2 sources, p = 0.08). The surrogate marker (number of BPMH sources) may not reflect BPMH quality. However, it appears that BPMHs prepared by pharmacy students had fewer errors and were of similar quality (in terms of clinically significant errors) relative to those prepared by nurses.

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

Passarge, M; Fix, M K; Manser, P

Purpose: To create and test an accurate EPID-frame-based VMAT QA metric to detect gross dose errors in real-time and to provide information about the source of error. Methods: A Swiss cheese model was created for an EPID-based real-time QA process. The system compares a treatmentplan- based reference set of EPID images with images acquired over each 2° gantry angle interval. The metric utilizes a sequence of independent consecutively executed error detection Methods: a masking technique that verifies infield radiation delivery and ensures no out-of-field radiation; output normalization checks at two different stages; global image alignment to quantify rotation, scaling andmore » translation; standard gamma evaluation (3%, 3 mm) and pixel intensity deviation checks including and excluding high dose gradient regions. Tolerances for each test were determined. For algorithm testing, twelve different types of errors were selected to modify the original plan. Corresponding predictions for each test case were generated, which included measurement-based noise. Each test case was run multiple times (with different noise per run) to assess the ability to detect introduced errors. Results: Averaged over five test runs, 99.1% of all plan variations that resulted in patient dose errors were detected within 2° and 100% within 4° (∼1% of patient dose delivery). Including cases that led to slightly modified but clinically equivalent plans, 91.5% were detected by the system within 2°. Based on the type of method that detected the error, determination of error sources was achieved. Conclusion: An EPID-based during-treatment error detection system for VMAT deliveries was successfully designed and tested. The system utilizes a sequence of methods to identify and prevent gross treatment delivery errors. The system was inspected for robustness with realistic noise variations, demonstrating that it has the potential to detect a large majority of errors in real-time and indicate the error source. J. V. Siebers receives funding support from Varian Medical Systems.« less

Quantifying uncertainty in carbon and nutrient pools of coarse woody debris

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

See, C. R.; Campbell, J. L.; Fraver, S.; Domke, G. M.; Harmon, M. E.; Knoepp, J. D.; Woodall, C. W.

2016-12-01

Woody detritus constitutes a major pool of both carbon and nutrients in forested ecosystems. Estimating coarse wood stocks relies on many assumptions, even when full surveys are conducted. Researchers rarely report error in coarse wood pool estimates, despite the importance to ecosystem budgets and modelling efforts. To date, no study has attempted a comprehensive assessment of error rates and uncertainty inherent in the estimation of this pool. Here, we use Monte Carlo analysis to propagate the error associated with the major sources of uncertainty present in the calculation of coarse wood carbon and nutrient (i.e., N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Na) pools. We also evaluate individual sources of error to identify the importance of each source of uncertainty in our estimates. We quantify sampling error by comparing the three most common field methods used to survey coarse wood (two transect methods and a whole-plot survey). We quantify the measurement error associated with length and diameter measurement, and technician error in species identification and decay class using plots surveyed by multiple technicians. We use previously published values of model error for the four most common methods of volume estimation: Smalian's, conical frustum, conic paraboloid, and average-of-ends. We also use previously published values for error in the collapse ratio (cross-sectional height/width) of decayed logs that serves as a surrogate for the volume remaining. We consider sampling error in chemical concentration and density for all decay classes, using distributions from both published and unpublished studies. Analytical uncertainty is calculated using standard reference plant material from the National Institute of Standards. Our results suggest that technician error in decay classification can have a large effect on uncertainty, since many of the error distributions included in the calculation (e.g. density, chemical concentration, volume-model selection, collapse ratio) are decay-class specific.

Uncertainty Analysis of Seebeck Coefficient and Electrical Resistivity Characterization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mackey, Jon; Sehirlioglu, Alp; Dynys, Fred

2014-01-01

In order to provide a complete description of a materials thermoelectric power factor, in addition to the measured nominal value, an uncertainty interval is required. The uncertainty may contain sources of measurement error including systematic bias error and precision error of a statistical nature. The work focuses specifically on the popular ZEM-3 (Ulvac Technologies) measurement system, but the methods apply to any measurement system. The analysis accounts for sources of systematic error including sample preparation tolerance, measurement probe placement, thermocouple cold-finger effect, and measurement parameters; in addition to including uncertainty of a statistical nature. Complete uncertainty analysis of a measurement system allows for more reliable comparison of measurement data between laboratories.

Phase noise optimization in temporal phase-shifting digital holography with partial coherence light sources and its application in quantitative cell imaging.

PubMed

Remmersmann, Christian; Stürwald, Stephan; Kemper, Björn; Langehanenberg, Patrik; von Bally, Gert

2009-03-10

In temporal phase-shifting-based digital holographic microscopy, high-resolution phase contrast imaging requires optimized conditions for hologram recording and phase retrieval. To optimize the phase resolution, for the example of a variable three-step algorithm, a theoretical analysis on statistical errors, digitalization errors, uncorrelated errors, and errors due to a misaligned temporal phase shift is carried out. In a second step the theoretically predicted results are compared to the measured phase noise obtained from comparative experimental investigations with several coherent and partially coherent light sources. Finally, the applicability for noise reduction is demonstrated by quantitative phase contrast imaging of pancreas tumor cells.

The Effect of Mediated Camera Angle on Receiver Evaluations of Source Credibility, Dominance, Attraction and Homophily.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beverly, Robert E.; Young, Thomas J.

Two hundred forty college undergraduates participated in a study of the effect of camera angle on an audience's perceptual judgments of source credibility, dominance, attraction, and homophily. The subjects were divided into four groups and each group was shown a videotape presentation in which sources had been videotaped according to one of four…

Logic-based assessment of the compatibility of UMLS ontology sources

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background The UMLS Metathesaurus (UMLS-Meta) is currently the most comprehensive effort for integrating independently-developed medical thesauri and ontologies. UMLS-Meta is being used in many applications, including PubMed and ClinicalTrials.gov. The integration of new sources combines automatic techniques, expert assessment, and auditing protocols. The automatic techniques currently in use, however, are mostly based on lexical algorithms and often disregard the semantics of the sources being integrated. Results In this paper, we argue that UMLS-Meta’s current design and auditing methodologies could be significantly enhanced by taking into account the logic-based semantics of the ontology sources. We provide empirical evidence suggesting that UMLS-Meta in its 2009AA version contains a significant number of errors; these errors become immediately apparent if the rich semantics of the ontology sources is taken into account, manifesting themselves as unintended logical consequences that follow from the ontology sources together with the information in UMLS-Meta. We then propose general principles and specific logic-based techniques to effectively detect and repair such errors. Conclusions Our results suggest that the methodologies employed in the design of UMLS-Meta are not only very costly in terms of human effort, but also error-prone. The techniques presented here can be useful for both reducing human effort in the design and maintenance of UMLS-Meta and improving the quality of its contents. PMID:21388571

Flight Test Results: CTAS Cruise/Descent Trajectory Prediction Accuracy for En route ATC Advisories

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Green, S.; Grace, M.; Williams, D.

1999-01-01

The Center/TRACON Automation System (CTAS), under development at NASA Ames Research Center, is designed to assist controllers with the management and control of air traffic transitioning to/from congested airspace. This paper focuses on the transition from the en route environment, to high-density terminal airspace, under a time-based arrival-metering constraint. Two flight tests were conducted at the Denver Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) to study trajectory-prediction accuracy, the key to accurate Decision Support Tool advisories such as conflict detection/resolution and fuel-efficient metering conformance. In collaboration with NASA Langley Research Center, these test were part of an overall effort to research systems and procedures for the integration of CTAS and flight management systems (FMS). The Langley Transport Systems Research Vehicle Boeing 737 airplane flew a combined total of 58 cruise-arrival trajectory runs while following CTAS clearance advisories. Actual trajectories of the airplane were compared to CTAS and FMS predictions to measure trajectory-prediction accuracy and identify the primary sources of error for both. The research airplane was used to evaluate several levels of cockpit automation ranging from conventional avionics to a performance-based vertical navigation (VNAV) FMS. Trajectory prediction accuracy was analyzed with respect to both ARTCC radar tracking and GPS-based aircraft measurements. This paper presents detailed results describing the trajectory accuracy and error sources. Although differences were found in both accuracy and error sources, CTAS accuracy was comparable to the FMS in terms of both meter-fix arrival-time performance (in support of metering) and 4D-trajectory prediction (key to conflict prediction). Overall arrival time errors (mean plus standard deviation) were measured to be approximately 24 seconds during the first flight test (23 runs) and 15 seconds during the second flight test (25 runs). The major source of error during these tests was found to be the predicted winds aloft used by CTAS. Position and velocity estimates of the airplane provided to CTAS by the ATC Host radar tracker were found to be a relatively insignificant error source for the trajectory conditions evaluated. Airplane performance modeling errors within CTAS were found to not significantly affect arrival time errors when the constrained descent procedures were used. The most significant effect related to the flight guidance was observed to be the cross-track and turn-overshoot errors associated with conventional VOR guidance. Lateral navigation (LNAV) guidance significantly reduced both the cross-track and turn-overshoot error. Pilot procedures and VNAV guidance were found to significantly reduce the vertical profile errors associated with atmospheric and aircraft performance model errors.

General model for the pointing error analysis of Risley-prism system based on ray direction deviation in light refraction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Hao; Yuan, Yan; Su, Lijuan; Huang, Fengzhen; Bai, Qing

2016-09-01

The Risley-prism-based light beam steering apparatus delivers superior pointing accuracy and it is used in imaging LIDAR and imaging microscopes. A general model for pointing error analysis of the Risley prisms is proposed in this paper, based on ray direction deviation in light refraction. This model captures incident beam deviation, assembly deflections, and prism rotational error. We derive the transmission matrixes of the model firstly. Then, the independent and cumulative effects of different errors are analyzed through this model. Accuracy study of the model shows that the prediction deviation of pointing error for different error is less than 4.1×10-5° when the error amplitude is 0.1°. Detailed analyses of errors indicate that different error sources affect the pointing accuracy to varying degree, and the major error source is the incident beam deviation. The prism tilting has a relative big effect on the pointing accuracy when prism tilts in the principal section. The cumulative effect analyses of multiple errors represent that the pointing error can be reduced by tuning the bearing tilting in the same direction. The cumulative effect of rotational error is relative big when the difference of these two prism rotational angles equals 0 or π, while it is relative small when the difference equals π/2. The novelty of these results suggests that our analysis can help to uncover the error distribution and aid in measurement calibration of Risley-prism systems.

SUS Source Level Error Analysis

DTIC Science & Technology

1978-01-20

RIECIP1IEN’ CATALOG NUMBER * ITLE (and SubaltIe) S. TYP aof REPORT & _V9RCO SUS~ SOURCE LEVEL ERROR ANALYSIS & Fia 1.r,. -. pAURWORONTIUMm N (s)$S...Fourier Transform (FFTl) SUS Signal model ___ 10 TRA&C (CeEOINIMII1& ro"* *140O tidat n9#*#*Y a"d 0e~ntiff 6T 69*.4 apbt The report provides an analysis ...of major terms which contribute to signal analysis error in a proposed experiment to c-librate sourr - I levels of SUS (Signal Underwater Sound). A

Inference of emission rates from multiple sources using Bayesian probability theory.

PubMed

Yee, Eugene; Flesch, Thomas K

2010-03-01

The determination of atmospheric emission rates from multiple sources using inversion (regularized least-squares or best-fit technique) is known to be very susceptible to measurement and model errors in the problem, rendering the solution unusable. In this paper, a new perspective is offered for this problem: namely, it is argued that the problem should be addressed as one of inference rather than inversion. Towards this objective, Bayesian probability theory is used to estimate the emission rates from multiple sources. The posterior probability distribution for the emission rates is derived, accounting fully for the measurement errors in the concentration data and the model errors in the dispersion model used to interpret the data. The Bayesian inferential methodology for emission rate recovery is validated against real dispersion data, obtained from a field experiment involving various source-sensor geometries (scenarios) consisting of four synthetic area sources and eight concentration sensors. The recovery of discrete emission rates from three different scenarios obtained using Bayesian inference and singular value decomposition inversion are compared and contrasted.

ANALYZING NUMERICAL ERRORS IN DOMAIN HEAT TRANSPORT MODELS USING THE CVBEM.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hromadka, T.V.; ,

1985-01-01

Besides providing an exact solution for steady-state heat conduction processes (Laplace Poisson equations), the CVBEM (complex variable boundary element method) can be used for the numerical error analysis of domain model solutions. For problems where soil water phase change latent heat effects dominate the thermal regime, heat transport can be approximately modeled as a time-stepped steady-state condition in the thawed and frozen regions, respectively. The CVBEM provides an exact solution of the two-dimensional steady-state heat transport problem, and also provides the error in matching the prescribed boundary conditions by the development of a modeling error distribution or an approximative boundary generation. This error evaluation can be used to develop highly accurate CVBEM models of the heat transport process, and the resulting model can be used as a test case for evaluating the precision of domain models based on finite elements or finite differences.

Increased Error-Related Negativity (ERN) in Childhood Anxiety Disorders: ERP and Source Localization

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ladouceur, Cecile D.; Dahl, Ronald E.; Birmaher, Boris; Axelson, David A.; Ryan, Neal D.

2006-01-01

Background: In this study we used event-related potentials (ERPs) and source localization analyses to track the time course of neural activity underlying response monitoring in children diagnosed with an anxiety disorder compared to age-matched low-risk normal controls. Methods: High-density ERPs were examined following errors on a flanker task…

Development of Action Monitoring through Adolescence into Adulthood: ERP and Source Localization

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ladouceur, Cecile D.; Dahl, Ronald E.; Carter, Cameron S.

2007-01-01

In this study we examined the development of three action monitoring event-related potentials (ERPs)--the error-related negativity (ERN/Ne), error positivity (P[subscript E]) and the N2--and estimated their neural sources. These ERPs were recorded during a flanker task in the following groups: early adolescents (mean age = 12 years), late…

Random Error in Judgment: The Contribution of Encoding and Retrieval Processes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pleskac, Timothy J.; Dougherty, Michael R.; Rivadeneira, A. Walkyria; Wallsten, Thomas S.

2009-01-01

Theories of confidence judgments have embraced the role random error plays in influencing responses. An important next step is to identify the source(s) of these random effects. To do so, we used the stochastic judgment model (SJM) to distinguish the contribution of encoding and retrieval processes. In particular, we investigated whether dividing…

Measuring the Lense-Thirring precession using a second Lageos satellite

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tapley, B. D.; Ciufolini, I.

1989-01-01

A complete numerical simulation and error analysis was performed for the proposed experiment with the objective of establishing an accurate assessment of the feasibility and the potential accuracy of the measurement of the Lense-Thirring precession. Consideration was given to identifying the error sources which limit the accuracy of the experiment and proposing procedures for eliminating or reducing the effect of these errors. Analytic investigations were conducted to study the effects of major error sources with the objective of providing error bounds on the experiment. The analysis of realistic simulated data is used to demonstrate that satellite laser ranging of two Lageos satellites, orbiting with supplemental inclinations, collected for a period of 3 years or more, can be used to verify the Lense-Thirring precession. A comprehensive covariance analysis for the solution was also developed.

The Use of Neural Networks in Identifying Error Sources in Satellite-Derived Tropical SST Estimates

PubMed Central

Lee, Yung-Hsiang; Ho, Chung-Ru; Su, Feng-Chun; Kuo, Nan-Jung; Cheng, Yu-Hsin

2011-01-01

An neural network model of data mining is used to identify error sources in satellite-derived tropical sea surface temperature (SST) estimates from thermal infrared sensors onboard the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES). By using the Back Propagation Network (BPN) algorithm, it is found that air temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed variation are the major factors causing the errors of GOES SST products in the tropical Pacific. The accuracy of SST estimates is also improved by the model. The root mean square error (RMSE) for the daily SST estimate is reduced from 0.58 K to 0.38 K and mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) is 1.03%. For the hourly mean SST estimate, its RMSE is also reduced from 0.66 K to 0.44 K and the MAPE is 1.3%. PMID:22164030

Article Errors in the English Writing of Saudi EFL Preparatory Year Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alhaisoni, Eid; Gaudel, Daya Ram; Al-Zuoud, Khalid M.

2017-01-01

This study aims at providing a comprehensive account of the types of errors produced by Saudi EFL students enrolled in the preparatory year programe in their use of articles, based on the Surface Structure Taxonomies (SST) of errors. The study describes the types, frequency and sources of the definite and indefinite article errors in writing…

An Analysis of Spanish and German Learners' Errors. Working Papers on Bilingualism, No. 7.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

LoCoco, Veronica Gonzalez-Mena

This study analyzes Spanish and German errors committed by adult native speakers of English enrolled in elementary and intermediate levels. Four written samples were collected for each target language, over a period of five months. Errors were categorized according to their possible source. Types of errors were ordered according to their…

Pinpointing the North Korea Nuclear tests with body waves scattered by surface topography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, N.; Shen, Y.; Bao, X.; Flinders, A. F.

2017-12-01

On September 3, 2017, North Korea conducted its sixth and by far the largest nuclear test at the Punggye-ri test site. In this work, we apply a novel full-wave location method that combines a non-linear grid-search algorithm with the 3D strain Green's tensor database to locate this event. We use the first arrivals (Pn waves) and their immediate codas, which are likely dominated by waves scattered by the surface topography near the source, to pinpoint the source location. We assess the solution in the search volume using a least-squares misfit between the observed and synthetic waveforms, which are obtained using the collocated-grid finite difference method on curvilinear grids. We calculate the one standard deviation level of the 'best' solution as a posterior error estimation. Our results show that the waveform based location method allows us to obtain accurate solutions with a small number of stations. The solutions are absolute locations as opposed to relative locations based on relative travel times, because topography-scattered waves depend on the geometric relations between the source and the unique topography near the source. Moreover, we use both differential waveforms and traveltimes to locate pairs of the North Korea tests in years 2016 and 2017 to further reduce the effects of inaccuracies in the reference velocity model (CRUST 1.0). Finally, we compare our solutions with those of other studies based on satellite images and relative traveltimes.

Investigation of intrinsic toroidal rotation scaling in KSTAR

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yoo, J. W.; Lee, S. G.; Ko, S. H.; Seol, J.; Lee, H. H.; Kim, J. H.

2017-07-01

The behaviors of an intrinsic toroidal rotation without any external momentum sources are investigated in KSTAR. In these experiments, pure ohmic discharges with a wide range of plasma parameters are carefully selected and analyzed to speculate an unrevealed origin of toroidal rotation excluding any unnecessary heating sources, magnetic perturbations, and strong magneto-hydrodynamic activities. The measured core toroidal rotation in KSTAR is mostly in the counter-current direction and its magnitude strongly depends on the ion temperature divided by plasma current (Ti/IP). Especially the core toroidal rotation in the steady-state is well fitted by Ti/IP scaling with a slope of ˜-23, and the possible explanation of the scaling is compared with various candidates. As a result, the calculated offset rotation could not explain the measured core toroidal rotation since KSTAR has an extremely low intrinsic error field. For the stability conditions for ion and electron turbulences, it is hard to determine a dominant turbulence mode in this study. In addition, the intrinsic toroidal rotation level in ITER is estimated based on the KSTAR scaling since the intrinsic rotation plays an important role in stabilizing resistive wall modes for future reference.

ACCURATE POLARIZATION CALIBRATION AT 800 MHz WITH THE GREEN BANK TELESCOPE

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

Liao, Yu-Wei; Chang, Tzu-Ching; Kuo, Cheng-Yu

Polarization leakage of foreground synchrotron emission is a critical issue in H i intensity mapping experiments. While the sought-after H i emission is unpolarized, polarized foregrounds such as Galactic and extragalactic synchrotron radiation, if coupled with instrumental impurity, can mimic or overwhelm the H i signals. In this paper, we present the methodology for polarization calibration at 700–900 MHz, applied on data obtained from the Green Bank Telescope (GBT). We use astrophysical sources, both polarized and unpolarized sources including quasars and pulsars, as calibrators to characterize the polarization leakage and control systematic effects in our GBT H i intensity mapping project.more » The resulting fractional errors on polarization measurements on boresight are well controlled to within 0.6%–0.8% of their total intensity. The polarized beam patterns are measured by performing spider scans across both polarized quasars and pulsars. A dominant Stokes I to V leakage feature and secondary features of Stokes I to Q and I to U leakages in the 700–900 MHz frequency range are identified. These characterizations are important for separating foreground polarization leakage from the H i 21 cm signal.« less

NUSTAR and Suzaku x-ray spectroscopy of NGC 4151: Evidence for reflection from the inner accretion disk

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

Keck, M. L.; Brenneman, L. W.; Ballantyne, D. R.

We present X-ray timing and spectral analyses of simultaneous 150 ks Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) and Suzaku X-ray observations of the Seyfert 1.5 galaxy NGC 4151. We disentangle the continuum emission, absorption, and reflection properties of the active galactic nucleus (AGN) by applying inner accretion disk reflection and absorption-dominated models. With a time-averaged spectral analysis, we find strong evidence for relativistic reflection from the inner accretion disk. We find that relativistic emission arises from a highly ionized inner accretion disk with a steep emissivity profile, which suggests an intense, compact illuminating source. We find a preliminary, near-maximal black hole spinmore » $$a\\gt 0.9$$ accounting for statistical and systematic modeling errors. We find a relatively moderate reflection fraction with respect to predictions for the lamp post geometry, in which the illuminating corona is modeled as a point source. Through a time-resolved spectral analysis, we find that modest coronal and inner disk reflection (IDR) flux variation drives the spectral variability during the observations. We discuss various physical scenarios for the IDR model and we find that a compact corona is consistent with the observed features.« less

NuSTAR and Suzaku X-ray Spectroscopy of NGC 4151: Evidence for Reflection from the Inner Accretion Disk

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keck, M. L.; Brenneman, L. W.; Ballantyne, D. R.; Bauer, F.; Boggs, S. E.; Christensen, F. E.; Craig, W. W.; Dauser, T.; Elvis, M.; Fabian, A. C.; Fuerst, F.; García, J.; Grefenstette, B. W.; Hailey, C. J.; Harrison, F. A.; Madejski, G.; Marinucci, A.; Matt, G.; Reynolds, C. S.; Stern, D.; Walton, D. J.; Zoghbi, A.

2015-06-01

We present X-ray timing and spectral analyses of simultaneous 150 ks Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) and Suzaku X-ray observations of the Seyfert 1.5 galaxy NGC 4151. We disentangle the continuum emission, absorption, and reflection properties of the active galactic nucleus (AGN) by applying inner accretion disk reflection and absorption-dominated models. With a time-averaged spectral analysis, we find strong evidence for relativistic reflection from the inner accretion disk. We find that relativistic emission arises from a highly ionized inner accretion disk with a steep emissivity profile, which suggests an intense, compact illuminating source. We find a preliminary, near-maximal black hole spin a\\gt 0.9 accounting for statistical and systematic modeling errors. We find a relatively moderate reflection fraction with respect to predictions for the lamp post geometry, in which the illuminating corona is modeled as a point source. Through a time-resolved spectral analysis, we find that modest coronal and inner disk reflection (IDR) flux variation drives the spectral variability during the observations. We discuss various physical scenarios for the IDR model and we find that a compact corona is consistent with the observed features.

Spindle Thermal Error Optimization Modeling of a Five-axis Machine Tool

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Qianjian; Fan, Shuo; Xu, Rufeng; Cheng, Xiang; Zhao, Guoyong; Yang, Jianguo

2017-05-01

Aiming at the problem of low machining accuracy and uncontrollable thermal errors of NC machine tools, spindle thermal error measurement, modeling and compensation of a two turntable five-axis machine tool are researched. Measurement experiment of heat sources and thermal errors are carried out, and GRA(grey relational analysis) method is introduced into the selection of temperature variables used for thermal error modeling. In order to analyze the influence of different heat sources on spindle thermal errors, an ANN (artificial neural network) model is presented, and ABC(artificial bee colony) algorithm is introduced to train the link weights of ANN, a new ABC-NN(Artificial bee colony-based neural network) modeling method is proposed and used in the prediction of spindle thermal errors. In order to test the prediction performance of ABC-NN model, an experiment system is developed, the prediction results of LSR (least squares regression), ANN and ABC-NN are compared with the measurement results of spindle thermal errors. Experiment results show that the prediction accuracy of ABC-NN model is higher than LSR and ANN, and the residual error is smaller than 3 μm, the new modeling method is feasible. The proposed research provides instruction to compensate thermal errors and improve machining accuracy of NC machine tools.

Pollutant source identification model for water pollution incidents in small straight rivers based on genetic algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Shou-ping; Xin, Xiao-kang

2017-07-01

Identification of pollutant sources for river pollution incidents is an important and difficult task in the emergency rescue, and an intelligent optimization method can effectively compensate for the weakness of traditional methods. An intelligent model for pollutant source identification has been established using the basic genetic algorithm (BGA) as an optimization search tool and applying an analytic solution formula of one-dimensional unsteady water quality equation to construct the objective function. Experimental tests show that the identification model is effective and efficient: the model can accurately figure out the pollutant amounts or positions no matter single pollution source or multiple sources. Especially when the population size of BGA is set as 10, the computing results are sound agree with analytic results for a single source amount and position identification, the relative errors are no more than 5 %. For cases of multi-point sources and multi-variable, there are some errors in computing results for the reasons that there exist many possible combinations of the pollution sources. But, with the help of previous experience to narrow the search scope, the relative errors of the identification results are less than 5 %, which proves the established source identification model can be used to direct emergency responses.

Climatic and geomorphic drivers of plant organic matter transport in the Arun River, E Nepal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoffmann, Bernd; Feakins, Sarah J.; Bookhagen, Bodo; Olen, Stephanie M.; Adhikari, Danda P.; Mainali, Janardan; Sachse, Dirk

2016-10-01

Fixation of atmospheric CO2 in terrestrial vegetation, and subsequent export and deposition of terrestrial plant organic matter in marine sediments is an important component of the global carbon cycle, yet it is difficult to quantify. This is partly due to the lack of understanding of relevant processes and mechanisms responsible for organic-matter transport throughout a landscape. Here we present a new approach to identify terrestrial plant organic matter source areas, quantify contributions and ascertain the role of ecologic, climatic, and geomorphic controls on plant wax export in the Arun River catchment spanning the world's largest elevation gradient from 205 to 8848 m asl, in eastern Nepal. Our approach takes advantage of the distinct stable hydrogen isotopic composition (expressed as δD values) of plant wax n-alkanes produced along this gradient, transported in river waters and deposited in flood deposits alongside the Arun River and its tributaries. In mainstem-flood deposits, we found that plant wax n-alkanes were mostly derived from the lower elevations constituting only a small fraction (15%) of the catchment. Informed by remote sensing data, we tested four differently weighted isotopic mixing models that quantify sourcing of tributary plant-derived organic matter along the Arun and compare it to our field observations. The weighting parameters included catchment area, net primary productivity (NPP) and annual rainfall amount as well as catchment relief as erosion proxy. When weighted by catchment area the isotopic mixing model could not explain field observations on plant wax δD values along the Arun, which is not surprising because the large arid Tibetan Plateau is not expected to be a major source. Weighting areal contributions by annual rainfall and NPP captured field observations within model prediction errors suggesting that plant productivity may influence source strength. However weighting by a combination of rainfall and catchment relief also captured the observed δD value pattern suggesting dominantly erosive control. We conclude that tributaries at the southern Himalayan front with high rainfall, high productivity, high relief and high erosion rates dominate plant wax exports from the catchment.

Seasonal Stream Partitioning and Critical Zone Feedbacks within a Colorado River Headwater Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carroll, R. W. H.; Bearup, L. A.; Williams, K. H.; Brown, W. S.; Dong, W.; Bill, M.

2017-12-01

Groundwater contribution to streams can modulate discharge response to climate extremes, thereby protecting ecosystem health and water supply for downstream users. However, much uncertainty exists on the role of groundwater contribution in snow-dominated, mountainous systems. To better understand seasonal stream source, we employ the empirical approach of end-member mixing analysis (EMMA) using a suite of natural chemical and isotopic observations within the East River; a headwater catchment of the Colorado River and recently designated as a Science Focus Area with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. EMMA relies on principal component analysis to reduce the number of dimensions of variability (U-space) for use in hydrograph separation. The mixing model was constructed for the furthest downstream and most heavily characterized stream gauge in the study site (PH; 84.7 km2). Potential tracers were identified from PH discharge as near linear (Mg, Ca, Sr, U, SO4, DIC, δ2H and δ18O) with alternative groupings evaluated. The best model was able to describe 97% of the tracer variance in 2-dimensions with low error and lack of residual structure. U-space positioning resulted in seasonal stream water source contributions of rain (8-16%), snow (48-74%) and groundwater (18-42%). EMMA developed for PH did not scale across 10 nested sub-basins (ranging from 0.38 km2 to 69.9 km2). Differences in mixing ratios are attributable to feedbacks in the critical zone with a focus on (1) source rock contributions of SO4 and U; (2) biogeochemical processes of enhanced SO4 reduction in the floodplain sediments, (3) flow path length as expressed by carbonate weathering, and (4) enhanced groundwater contributions as related to snow distribution and ecosystem structure. EMMA is an initial step to elucidate source contributions to streamflow and address scalability and applicability of mixing processes in a complex, highly heterogeneous, snow-dominated catchment. Work will aid hydrologic conceptualization of the East River, guide future observation, and inform numerical model development over a range of scales and across key system subcomponents, such as hillslopes, floodplains, and deep groundwater.

Probing the Spatio-Temporal Characteristics of Temporal Aliasing Errors and their Impact on Satellite Gravity Retrievals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wiese, D. N.; McCullough, C. M.

2017-12-01

Studies have shown that both single pair low-low satellite-to-satellite tracking (LL-SST) and dual-pair LL-SST hypothetical future satellite gravimetry missions utilizing improved onboard measurement systems relative to the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) will be limited by temporal aliasing errors; that is, the error introduced through deficiencies in models of high frequency mass variations required for the data processing. Here, we probe the spatio-temporal characteristics of temporal aliasing errors to understand their impact on satellite gravity retrievals using high fidelity numerical simulations. We find that while aliasing errors are dominant at long wavelengths and multi-day timescales, improving knowledge of high frequency mass variations at these resolutions translates into only modest improvements (i.e. spatial resolution/accuracy) in the ability to measure temporal gravity variations at monthly timescales. This result highlights the reliance on accurate models of high frequency mass variations for gravity processing, and the difficult nature of reducing temporal aliasing errors and their impact on satellite gravity retrievals.

Vector velocity volume flow estimation: Sources of error and corrections applied for arteriovenous fistulas.

PubMed

Jensen, Jonas; Olesen, Jacob Bjerring; Stuart, Matthias Bo; Hansen, Peter Møller; Nielsen, Michael Bachmann; Jensen, Jørgen Arendt

2016-08-01

A method for vector velocity volume flow estimation is presented, along with an investigation of its sources of error and correction of actual volume flow measurements. Volume flow errors are quantified theoretically by numerical modeling, through flow phantom measurements, and studied in vivo. This paper investigates errors from estimating volumetric flow using a commercial ultrasound scanner and the common assumptions made in the literature. The theoretical model shows, e.g. that volume flow is underestimated by 15%, when the scan plane is off-axis with the vessel center by 28% of the vessel radius. The error sources were also studied in vivo under realistic clinical conditions, and the theoretical results were applied for correcting the volume flow errors. Twenty dialysis patients with arteriovenous fistulas were scanned to obtain vector flow maps of fistulas. When fitting an ellipsis to cross-sectional scans of the fistulas, the major axis was on average 10.2mm, which is 8.6% larger than the minor axis. The ultrasound beam was on average 1.5mm from the vessel center, corresponding to 28% of the semi-major axis in an average fistula. Estimating volume flow with an elliptical, rather than circular, vessel area and correcting the ultrasound beam for being off-axis, gave a significant (p=0.008) reduction in error from 31.2% to 24.3%. The error is relative to the Ultrasound Dilution Technique, which is considered the gold standard for volume flow estimation for dialysis patients. The study shows the importance of correcting for volume flow errors, which are often made in clinical practice. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Estimating Aboveground Biomass in Tropical Forests: Field Methods and Error Analysis for the Calibration of Remote Sensing Observations

DOE PAGES

Gonçalves, Fabio; Treuhaft, Robert; Law, Beverly; ...

2017-01-07

Mapping and monitoring of forest carbon stocks across large areas in the tropics will necessarily rely on remote sensing approaches, which in turn depend on field estimates of biomass for calibration and validation purposes. Here, we used field plot data collected in a tropical moist forest in the central Amazon to gain a better understanding of the uncertainty associated with plot-level biomass estimates obtained specifically for the calibration of remote sensing measurements. In addition to accounting for sources of error that would be normally expected in conventional biomass estimates (e.g., measurement and allometric errors), we examined two sources of uncertaintymore » that are specific to the calibration process and should be taken into account in most remote sensing studies: the error resulting from spatial disagreement between field and remote sensing measurements (i.e., co-location error), and the error introduced when accounting for temporal differences in data acquisition. We found that the overall uncertainty in the field biomass was typically 25% for both secondary and primary forests, but ranged from 16 to 53%. Co-location and temporal errors accounted for a large fraction of the total variance (>65%) and were identified as important targets for reducing uncertainty in studies relating tropical forest biomass to remotely sensed data. Although measurement and allometric errors were relatively unimportant when considered alone, combined they accounted for roughly 30% of the total variance on average and should not be ignored. Lastly, our results suggest that a thorough understanding of the sources of error associated with field-measured plot-level biomass estimates in tropical forests is critical to determine confidence in remote sensing estimates of carbon stocks and fluxes, and to develop strategies for reducing the overall uncertainty of remote sensing approaches.« less

Application of advanced shearing techniques to the calibration of autocollimators with small angle generators and investigation of error sources.

PubMed

Yandayan, T; Geckeler, R D; Aksulu, M; Akgoz, S A; Ozgur, B

2016-05-01

The application of advanced error-separating shearing techniques to the precise calibration of autocollimators with Small Angle Generators (SAGs) was carried out for the first time. The experimental realization was achieved using the High Precision Small Angle Generator (HPSAG) of TUBITAK UME under classical dimensional metrology laboratory environmental conditions. The standard uncertainty value of 5 mas (24.2 nrad) reached by classical calibration method was improved to the level of 1.38 mas (6.7 nrad). Shearing techniques, which offer a unique opportunity to separate the errors of devices without recourse to any external standard, were first adapted by Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) to the calibration of autocollimators with angle encoders. It has been demonstrated experimentally in a clean room environment using the primary angle standard of PTB (WMT 220). The application of the technique to a different type of angle measurement system extends the range of the shearing technique further and reveals other advantages. For example, the angular scales of the SAGs are based on linear measurement systems (e.g., capacitive nanosensors for the HPSAG). Therefore, SAGs show different systematic errors when compared to angle encoders. In addition to the error-separation of HPSAG and the autocollimator, detailed investigations on error sources were carried out. Apart from determination of the systematic errors of the capacitive sensor used in the HPSAG, it was also demonstrated that the shearing method enables the unique opportunity to characterize other error sources such as errors due to temperature drift in long term measurements. This proves that the shearing technique is a very powerful method for investigating angle measuring systems, for their improvement, and for specifying precautions to be taken during the measurements.

Adaptive error detection for HDR/PDR brachytherapy: Guidance for decision making during real-time in vivo point dosimetry

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

Kertzscher, Gustavo, E-mail: guke@dtu.dk; Andersen, Claus E., E-mail: clan@dtu.dk; Tanderup, Kari, E-mail: karitand@rm.dk

Purpose: This study presents an adaptive error detection algorithm (AEDA) for real-timein vivo point dosimetry during high dose rate (HDR) or pulsed dose rate (PDR) brachytherapy (BT) where the error identification, in contrast to existing approaches, does not depend on an a priori reconstruction of the dosimeter position. Instead, the treatment is judged based on dose rate comparisons between measurements and calculations of the most viable dosimeter position provided by the AEDA in a data driven approach. As a result, the AEDA compensates for false error cases related to systematic effects of the dosimeter position reconstruction. Given its nearly exclusivemore » dependence on stable dosimeter positioning, the AEDA allows for a substantially simplified and time efficient real-time in vivo BT dosimetry implementation. Methods: In the event of a measured potential treatment error, the AEDA proposes the most viable dosimeter position out of alternatives to the original reconstruction by means of a data driven matching procedure between dose rate distributions. If measured dose rates do not differ significantly from the most viable alternative, the initial error indication may be attributed to a mispositioned or misreconstructed dosimeter (false error). However, if the error declaration persists, no viable dosimeter position can be found to explain the error, hence the discrepancy is more likely to originate from a misplaced or misreconstructed source applicator or from erroneously connected source guide tubes (true error). Results: The AEDA applied on twoin vivo dosimetry implementations for pulsed dose rate BT demonstrated that the AEDA correctly described effects responsible for initial error indications. The AEDA was able to correctly identify the major part of all permutations of simulated guide tube swap errors and simulated shifts of individual needles from the original reconstruction. Unidentified errors corresponded to scenarios where the dosimeter position was sufficiently symmetric with respect to error and no-error source position constellations. The AEDA was able to correctly identify all false errors represented by mispositioned dosimeters contrary to an error detection algorithm relying on the original reconstruction. Conclusions: The study demonstrates that the AEDA error identification during HDR/PDR BT relies on a stable dosimeter position rather than on an accurate dosimeter reconstruction, and the AEDA’s capacity to distinguish between true and false error scenarios. The study further shows that the AEDA can offer guidance in decision making in the event of potential errors detected with real-timein vivo point dosimetry.« less

An error analysis perspective for patient alignment systems.

PubMed

Figl, Michael; Kaar, Marcus; Hoffman, Rainer; Kratochwil, Alfred; Hummel, Johann

2013-09-01

This paper analyses the effects of error sources which can be found in patient alignment systems. As an example, an ultrasound (US) repositioning system and its transformation chain are assessed. The findings of this concept can also be applied to any navigation system. In a first step, all error sources were identified and where applicable, corresponding target registration errors were computed. By applying error propagation calculations on these commonly used registration/calibration and tracking errors, we were able to analyse the components of the overall error. Furthermore, we defined a special situation where the whole registration chain reduces to the error caused by the tracking system. Additionally, we used a phantom to evaluate the errors arising from the image-to-image registration procedure, depending on the image metric used. We have also discussed how this analysis can be applied to other positioning systems such as Cone Beam CT-based systems or Brainlab's ExacTrac. The estimates found by our error propagation analysis are in good agreement with the numbers found in the phantom study but significantly smaller than results from patient evaluations. We probably underestimated human influences such as the US scan head positioning by the operator and tissue deformation. Rotational errors of the tracking system can multiply these errors, depending on the relative position of tracker and probe. We were able to analyse the components of the overall error of a typical patient positioning system. We consider this to be a contribution to the optimization of the positioning accuracy for computer guidance systems.

Source contribution of PM₂.₅ at different locations on the Malaysian Peninsula.

PubMed

Ee-Ling, Ooi; Mustaffa, Nur Ili Hamizah; Amil, Norhaniza; Khan, Md Firoz; Latif, Mohd Talib

2015-04-01

This study determined the source contribution of PM2.5 (particulate matter <2.5 μm) in air at three locations on the Malaysian Peninsula. PM2.5 samples were collected using a high volume sampler equipped with quartz filters. Ion chromatography was used to determine the ionic composition of the samples and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry was used to determine the concentrations of heavy metals. Principal component analysis with multilinear regressions were used to identify the possible sources of PM2.5. The range of PM2.5 was between 10 ± 3 and 30 ± 7 µg m(-3). Sulfate (SO4 (2-)) was the major ionic compound detected and zinc was found to dominate the heavy metals. Source apportionment analysis revealed that motor vehicle and soil dust dominated the composition of PM2.5 in the urban area. Domestic waste combustion dominated in the suburban area, while biomass burning dominated in the rural area.

Identification and modification of dominant noise sources in diesel engines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hayward, Michael D.

Determination of dominant noise sources in diesel engines is an integral step in the creation of quiet engines, but is a process which can involve an extensive series of expensive, time-consuming fired and motored tests. The goal of this research is to determine dominant noise source characteristics of a diesel engine in the near and far-fields with data from fewer tests than is currently required. Pre-conditioning and use of numerically robust methods to solve a set of cross-spectral density equations results in accurate calculation of the transfer paths between the near- and far-field measurement points. Application of singular value decomposition to an input cross-spectral matrix determines the spectral characteristics of a set of independent virtual sources, that, when scaled and added, result in the input cross spectral matrix. Each virtual source power spectral density is a singular value resulting from the decomposition performed over a range of frequencies. The complex relationship between virtual and physical sources is estimated through determination of virtual source contributions to each input measurement power spectral density. The method is made more user-friendly through use of a percentage contribution color plotting technique, where different normalizations can be used to help determine the presence of sources and the strengths of their contributions. Convolution of input measurements with the estimated path impulse responses results in a set of far-field components, to which the same singular value contribution plotting technique can be applied, thus allowing dominant noise source characteristics in the far-field to also be examined. Application of the methods presented results in determination of the spectral characteristics of dominant noise sources both in the near- and far-fields from one fired test, which significantly reduces the need for extensive fired and motored testing. Finally, it is shown that the far-field noise time history of a physically altered engine can be simulated through modification of singular values and recalculation of transfer paths between input and output measurements of previously recorded data.

Optical radiation measurements: instrumentation and sources of error.

PubMed

Landry, R J; Andersen, F A

1982-07-01

Accurate measurement of optical radiation is required when sources of this radiation are used in biological research. The most difficult measurements of broadband noncoherent optical radiations usually must be performed by a highly trained specialist using sophisticated, complex, and expensive instruments. Presentation of the results of such measurement requires correct use of quantities and units with which many biological researchers are unfamiliar. The measurement process, physical quantities and units, measurement systems with instruments, and sources of error and uncertainties associated with optical radiation measurements are reviewed.

Wood Specific Gravity Variations and Biomass of Central African Tree Species: The Simple Choice of the Outer Wood

PubMed Central

Bastin, Jean-François; Fayolle, Adeline; Tarelkin, Yegor; Van den Bulcke, Jan; de Haulleville, Thales; Mortier, Frederic; Beeckman, Hans; Van Acker, Joris; Serckx, Adeline; Bogaert, Jan; De Cannière, Charles

2015-01-01

Context Wood specific gravity is a key element in tropical forest ecology. It integrates many aspects of tree mechanical properties and functioning and is an important predictor of tree biomass. Wood specific gravity varies widely among and within species and also within individual trees. Notably, contrasted patterns of radial variation of wood specific gravity have been demonstrated and related to regeneration guilds (light demanding vs. shade-bearing). However, although being repeatedly invoked as a potential source of error when estimating the biomass of trees, both intraspecific and radial variations remain little studied. In this study we characterized detailed pith-to-bark wood specific gravity profiles among contrasted species prominently contributing to the biomass of the forest, i.e., the dominant species, and we quantified the consequences of such variations on the biomass. Methods Radial profiles of wood density at 8% moisture content were compiled for 14 dominant species in the Democratic Republic of Congo, adapting a unique 3D X-ray scanning technique at very high spatial resolution on core samples. Mean wood density estimates were validated by water displacement measurements. Wood density profiles were converted to wood specific gravity and linear mixed models were used to decompose the radial variance. Potential errors in biomass estimation were assessed by comparing the biomass estimated from the wood specific gravity measured from pith-to-bark profiles, from global repositories, and from partial information (outer wood or inner wood). Results Wood specific gravity profiles from pith-to-bark presented positive, neutral and negative trends. Positive trends mainly characterized light-demanding species, increasing up to 1.8 g.cm-3 per meter for Piptadeniastrum africanum, and negative trends characterized shade-bearing species, decreasing up to 1 g.cm-3 per meter for Strombosia pustulata. The linear mixed model showed the greater part of wood specific gravity variance was explained by species only (45%) followed by a redundant part between species and regeneration guilds (36%). Despite substantial variation in wood specific gravity profiles among species and regeneration guilds, we found that values from the outer wood were strongly correlated to values from the whole profile, without any significant bias. In addition, we found that wood specific gravity from the DRYAD global repository may strongly differ depending on the species (up to 40% for Dialium pachyphyllum). Main Conclusion Therefore, when estimating forest biomass in specific sites, we recommend the systematic collection of outer wood samples on dominant species. This should prevent the main errors in biomass estimations resulting from wood specific gravity and allow for the collection of new information to explore the intraspecific variation of mechanical properties of trees. PMID:26555144

Wood Specific Gravity Variations and Biomass of Central African Tree Species: The Simple Choice of the Outer Wood.

PubMed

Bastin, Jean-François; Fayolle, Adeline; Tarelkin, Yegor; Van den Bulcke, Jan; de Haulleville, Thales; Mortier, Frederic; Beeckman, Hans; Van Acker, Joris; Serckx, Adeline; Bogaert, Jan; De Cannière, Charles

2015-01-01

Wood specific gravity is a key element in tropical forest ecology. It integrates many aspects of tree mechanical properties and functioning and is an important predictor of tree biomass. Wood specific gravity varies widely among and within species and also within individual trees. Notably, contrasted patterns of radial variation of wood specific gravity have been demonstrated and related to regeneration guilds (light demanding vs. shade-bearing). However, although being repeatedly invoked as a potential source of error when estimating the biomass of trees, both intraspecific and radial variations remain little studied. In this study we characterized detailed pith-to-bark wood specific gravity profiles among contrasted species prominently contributing to the biomass of the forest, i.e., the dominant species, and we quantified the consequences of such variations on the biomass. Radial profiles of wood density at 8% moisture content were compiled for 14 dominant species in the Democratic Republic of Congo, adapting a unique 3D X-ray scanning technique at very high spatial resolution on core samples. Mean wood density estimates were validated by water displacement measurements. Wood density profiles were converted to wood specific gravity and linear mixed models were used to decompose the radial variance. Potential errors in biomass estimation were assessed by comparing the biomass estimated from the wood specific gravity measured from pith-to-bark profiles, from global repositories, and from partial information (outer wood or inner wood). Wood specific gravity profiles from pith-to-bark presented positive, neutral and negative trends. Positive trends mainly characterized light-demanding species, increasing up to 1.8 g.cm-3 per meter for Piptadeniastrum africanum, and negative trends characterized shade-bearing species, decreasing up to 1 g.cm-3 per meter for Strombosia pustulata. The linear mixed model showed the greater part of wood specific gravity variance was explained by species only (45%) followed by a redundant part between species and regeneration guilds (36%). Despite substantial variation in wood specific gravity profiles among species and regeneration guilds, we found that values from the outer wood were strongly correlated to values from the whole profile, without any significant bias. In addition, we found that wood specific gravity from the DRYAD global repository may strongly differ depending on the species (up to 40% for Dialium pachyphyllum). Therefore, when estimating forest biomass in specific sites, we recommend the systematic collection of outer wood samples on dominant species. This should prevent the main errors in biomass estimations resulting from wood specific gravity and allow for the collection of new information to explore the intraspecific variation of mechanical properties of trees.

Water displacement leg volumetry in clinical studies - A discussion of error sources

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background Water displacement leg volumetry is a highly reproducible method, allowing the confirmation of efficacy of vasoactive substances. Nevertheless errors of its execution and the selection of unsuitable patients are likely to negatively affect the outcome of clinical studies in chronic venous insufficiency (CVI). Discussion Placebo controlled double-blind drug studies in CVI were searched (Cochrane Review 2005, MedLine Search until December 2007) and assessed with regard to efficacy (volume reduction of the leg), patient characteristics, and potential methodological error sources. Almost every second study reported only small drug effects (≤ 30 mL volume reduction). As the most relevant error source the conduct of volumetry was identified. Because the practical use of available equipment varies, volume differences of more than 300 mL - which is a multifold of a potential treatment effect - have been reported between consecutive measurements. Other potential error sources were insufficient patient guidance or difficulties with the transition from the Widmer CVI classification to the CEAP (Clinical Etiological Anatomical Pathophysiological) grading. Summary Patients should be properly diagnosed with CVI and selected for stable oedema and further clinical symptoms relevant for the specific study. Centres require a thorough training on the use of the volumeter and on patient guidance. Volumetry should be performed under constant conditions. The reproducibility of short term repeat measurements has to be ensured. PMID:20070899

An improved methodology for heliostat testing and evaluation at the Plataforma Solar de Almería

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Monterreal, Rafael; Enrique, Raúl; Fernández-Reche, Jesús

2017-06-01

The optical quality of a heliostat basically quantifies the difference between the scattering effects of the actual solar radiation reflected on its optical surface, compared to the so called canonical dispersion, that is, the one reflected on an optical surface free of constructional errors (paradigm). However, apart from the uncertainties of the measuring process itself, the value of the optical quality must be independent of the measuring instrument; so, any new measuring techniques that provide additional information about the error sources on the heliostat reflecting surface would be welcome. That error sources are responsible for the final optical quality value, with different degrees of influence. For the constructor of heliostats it will be extremely useful to know the value of the classical sources of error and their weight on the overall optical quality of a heliostat, such as facets geometry or focal length, as well as the characteristics of the heliostat as a whole, i.e., its geometry, focal length, facets misalignment and also the possible dependence of these effects with mechanical and/or meteorological factors. It is the goal of the present paper to unfold these optical quality error sources by exploring directly the reflecting surface of the heliostat with the help of a laser-scanner device and link the result with the traditional methods of heliostat evaluation at the Plataforma Solar de Almería.

Comparison of different source calculations in two-nucleon channel at large quark mass

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamazaki, Takeshi; Ishikawa, Ken-ichi; Kuramashi, Yoshinobu

2018-03-01

We investigate a systematic error coming from higher excited state contributions in the energy shift of light nucleus in the two-nucleon channel by comparing two different source calculations with the exponential and wall sources. Since it is hard to obtain a clear signal of the wall source correlation function in a plateau region, we employ a large quark mass as the pion mass is 0.8 GeV in quenched QCD. We discuss the systematic error in the spin-triplet channel of the two-nucleon system, and the volume dependence of the energy shift.

Effects of Heterogeneity and Uncertainties in Sources and Initial and Boundary Conditions on Spatiotemporal Variations of Groundwater Levels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Y. K.; Liang, X.

2014-12-01

Effects of aquifer heterogeneity and uncertainties in source/sink, and initial and boundary conditions in a groundwater flow model on the spatiotemporal variations of groundwater level, h(x,t), were investigated. Analytical solutions for the variance and covariance of h(x, t) in an unconfined aquifer described by a linearized Boussinesq equation with a white noise source/sink and a random transmissivity field were derived. It was found that in a typical aquifer the error in h(x,t) in early time is mainly caused by the random initial condition and the error reduces as time goes to reach a constant error in later time. The duration during which the effect of the random initial condition is significant may last a few hundred days in most aquifers. The constant error in groundwater in later time is due to the combined effects of the uncertain source/sink and flux boundary: the closer to the flux boundary, the larger the error. The error caused by the uncertain head boundary is limited in a narrow zone near the boundary but it remains more or less constant over time. The effect of the heterogeneity is to increase the variation of groundwater level and the maximum effect occurs close to the constant head boundary because of the linear mean hydraulic gradient. The correlation of groundwater level decreases with temporal interval and spatial distance. In addition, the heterogeneity enhances the correlation of groundwater level, especially at larger time intervals and small spatial distances.

Regionalized PM2.5 Community Multiscale Air Quality model performance evaluation across a continuous spatiotemporal domain.

PubMed

Reyes, Jeanette M; Xu, Yadong; Vizuete, William; Serre, Marc L

2017-01-01

The regulatory Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model is a means to understanding the sources, concentrations and regulatory attainment of air pollutants within a model's domain. Substantial resources are allocated to the evaluation of model performance. The Regionalized Air quality Model Performance (RAMP) method introduced here explores novel ways of visualizing and evaluating CMAQ model performance and errors for daily Particulate Matter ≤ 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5) concentrations across the continental United States. The RAMP method performs a non-homogenous, non-linear, non-homoscedastic model performance evaluation at each CMAQ grid. This work demonstrates that CMAQ model performance, for a well-documented 2001 regulatory episode, is non-homogeneous across space/time. The RAMP correction of systematic errors outperforms other model evaluation methods as demonstrated by a 22.1% reduction in Mean Square Error compared to a constant domain wide correction. The RAMP method is able to accurately reproduce simulated performance with a correlation of r = 76.1%. Most of the error coming from CMAQ is random error with only a minority of error being systematic. Areas of high systematic error are collocated with areas of high random error, implying both error types originate from similar sources. Therefore, addressing underlying causes of systematic error will have the added benefit of also addressing underlying causes of random error.

Local blur analysis and phase error correction method for fringe projection profilometry systems.

PubMed

Rao, Li; Da, Feipeng

2018-05-20

We introduce a flexible error correction method for fringe projection profilometry (FPP) systems in the presence of local blur phenomenon. Local blur caused by global light transport such as camera defocus, projector defocus, and subsurface scattering will cause significant systematic errors in FPP systems. Previous methods, which adopt high-frequency patterns to separate the direct and global components, fail when the global light phenomenon occurs locally. In this paper, the influence of local blur on phase quality is thoroughly analyzed, and a concise error correction method is proposed to compensate the phase errors. For defocus phenomenon, this method can be directly applied. With the aid of spatially varying point spread functions and local frontal plane assumption, experiments show that the proposed method can effectively alleviate the system errors and improve the final reconstruction accuracy in various scenes. For a subsurface scattering scenario, if the translucent object is dominated by multiple scattering, the proposed method can also be applied to correct systematic errors once the bidirectional scattering-surface reflectance distribution function of the object material is measured.

An Application of Semi-parametric Estimator with Weighted Matrix of Data Depth in Variance Component Estimation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pan, X. G.; Wang, J. Q.; Zhou, H. Y.

2013-05-01

The variance component estimation (VCE) based on semi-parametric estimator with weighted matrix of data depth has been proposed, because the coupling system model error and gross error exist in the multi-source heterogeneous measurement data of space and ground combined TT&C (Telemetry, Tracking and Command) technology. The uncertain model error has been estimated with the semi-parametric estimator model, and the outlier has been restrained with the weighted matrix of data depth. On the basis of the restriction of the model error and outlier, the VCE can be improved and used to estimate weighted matrix for the observation data with uncertain model error or outlier. Simulation experiment has been carried out under the circumstance of space and ground combined TT&C. The results show that the new VCE based on the model error compensation can determine the rational weight of the multi-source heterogeneous data, and restrain the outlier data.

DEADS: Depth and Energy Aware Dominating Set Based Algorithm for Cooperative Routing along with Sink Mobility in Underwater WSNs.

PubMed

Umar, Amara; Javaid, Nadeem; Ahmad, Ashfaq; Khan, Zahoor Ali; Qasim, Umar; Alrajeh, Nabil; Hayat, Amir

2015-06-18

Performance enhancement of Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks (UWSNs) in terms of throughput maximization, energy conservation and Bit Error Rate (BER) minimization is a potential research area. However, limited available bandwidth, high propagation delay, highly dynamic network topology, and high error probability leads to performance degradation in these networks. In this regard, many cooperative communication protocols have been developed that either investigate the physical layer or the Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, however, the network layer is still unexplored. More specifically, cooperative routing has not yet been jointly considered with sink mobility. Therefore, this paper aims to enhance the network reliability and efficiency via dominating set based cooperative routing and sink mobility. The proposed work is validated via simulations which show relatively improved performance of our proposed work in terms the selected performance metrics.

Prediction error and trace dominance determine the fate of fear memories after post-training manipulations

PubMed Central

Alfei, Joaquín M.; Ferrer Monti, Roque I.; Molina, Victor A.; Bueno, Adrián M.

2015-01-01

Different mnemonic outcomes have been observed when associative memories are reactivated by CS exposure and followed by amnestics. These outcomes include mere retrieval, destabilization–reconsolidation, a transitional period (which is insensitive to amnestics), and extinction learning. However, little is known about the interaction between initial learning conditions and these outcomes during a reinforced or nonreinforced reactivation. Here we systematically combined temporally specific memories with different reactivation parameters to observe whether these four outcomes are determined by the conditions established during training. First, we validated two training regimens with different temporal expectations about US arrival. Then, using Midazolam (MDZ) as an amnestic agent, fear memories in both learning conditions were submitted to retraining either under identical or different parameters to the original training. Destabilization (i.e., susceptibly to MDZ) occurred when reactivation was reinforced, provided the occurrence of a temporal prediction error about US arrival. In subsequent experiments, both treatments were systematically reactivated by nonreinforced context exposure of different lengths, which allowed to explore the interaction between training and reactivation lengths. These results suggest that temporal prediction error and trace dominance determine the extent to which reactivation produces the different outcomes. PMID:26179232

Sources of Student Errors and Misconceptions in Algebra and Effectiveness of Classroom Practice Remediation in Machakos County--Kenya

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mulungye, Mary M.; O'Connor, Miheso; Ndethiu, S.

2016-01-01

This paper is based on a study which sought to examine the various errors and misconceptions committed by students in algebra with the view to exposing the nature and origin of the errors and misconceptions in secondary schools in Machakos district. Teachers' knowledge on students' errors was investigated together with strategies for remedial…

The inference of atmospheric ozone using satellite horizon measurements in the 1042 per cm band.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Russell, J. M., III; Drayson, S. R.

1972-01-01

Description of a method for inferring atmospheric ozone information using infrared horizon radiance measurements in the 1042 per cm band. An analysis based on this method proves the feasibility of the horizon experiment for determining ozone information and shows that the ozone partial pressure can be determined in the altitude range from 50 down to 25 km. A comprehensive error study is conducted which considers effects of individual errors as well as the effect of all error sources acting simultaneously. The results show that in the absence of a temperature profile bias error, it should be possible to determine the ozone partial pressure to within an rms value of 15 to 20%. It may be possible to reduce this rms error to 5% by smoothing the solution profile. These results would be seriously degraded by an atmospheric temperature bias error of only 3 K; thus, great care should be taken to minimize this source of error in an experiment. It is probable, in view of recent technological developments, that these errors will be much smaller in future flight experiments and the altitude range will widen to include from about 60 km down to the tropopause region.

A predictability study of Lorenz's 28-variable model as a dynamical system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Krishnamurthy, V.

1993-01-01

The dynamics of error growth in a two-layer nonlinear quasi-geostrophic model has been studied to gain an understanding of the mathematical theory of atmospheric predictability. The growth of random errors of varying initial magnitudes has been studied, and the relation between this classical approach and the concepts of the nonlinear dynamical systems theory has been explored. The local and global growths of random errors have been expressed partly in terms of the properties of an error ellipsoid and the Liapunov exponents determined by linear error dynamics. The local growth of small errors is initially governed by several modes of the evolving error ellipsoid but soon becomes dominated by the longest axis. The average global growth of small errors is exponential with a growth rate consistent with the largest Liapunov exponent. The duration of the exponential growth phase depends on the initial magnitude of the errors. The subsequent large errors undergo a nonlinear growth with a steadily decreasing growth rate and attain saturation that defines the limit of predictability. The degree of chaos and the largest Liapunov exponent show considerable variation with change in the forcing, which implies that the time variation in the external forcing can introduce variable character to the predictability.

The Reliability and Sources of Error of Using Rubrics-Based Assessment for Student Projects

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Menéndez-Varela, José-Luis; Gregori-Giralt, Eva

2018-01-01

Rubrics are widely used in higher education to assess performance in project-based learning environments. To date, the sources of error that may affect their reliability have not been studied in depth. Using generalisability theory as its starting-point, this article analyses the influence of the assessors and the criteria of the rubrics on the…

A Robust Sound Source Localization Approach for Microphone Array with Model Errors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiao, Hua; Shao, Huai-Zong; Peng, Qi-Cong

In this paper, a robust sound source localization approach is proposed. The approach retains good performance even when model errors exist. Compared with previous work in this field, the contributions of this paper are as follows. First, an improved broad-band and near-field array model is proposed. It takes array gain, phase perturbations into account and is based on the actual positions of the elements. It can be used in arbitrary planar geometry arrays. Second, a subspace model errors estimation algorithm and a Weighted 2-Dimension Multiple Signal Classification (W2D-MUSIC) algorithm are proposed. The subspace model errors estimation algorithm estimates unknown parameters of the array model, i. e., gain, phase perturbations, and positions of the elements, with high accuracy. The performance of this algorithm is improved with the increasing of SNR or number of snapshots. The W2D-MUSIC algorithm based on the improved array model is implemented to locate sound sources. These two algorithms compose the robust sound source approach. The more accurate steering vectors can be provided for further processing such as adaptive beamforming algorithm. Numerical examples confirm effectiveness of this proposed approach.

Error Model and Compensation of Bell-Shaped Vibratory Gyro

PubMed Central

Su, Zhong; Liu, Ning; Li, Qing

2015-01-01

A bell-shaped vibratory angular velocity gyro (BVG), inspired by the Chinese traditional bell, is a type of axisymmetric shell resonator gyroscope. This paper focuses on development of an error model and compensation of the BVG. A dynamic equation is firstly established, based on a study of the BVG working mechanism. This equation is then used to evaluate the relationship between the angular rate output signal and bell-shaped resonator character, analyze the influence of the main error sources and set up an error model for the BVG. The error sources are classified from the error propagation characteristics, and the compensation method is presented based on the error model. Finally, using the error model and compensation method, the BVG is calibrated experimentally including rough compensation, temperature and bias compensation, scale factor compensation and noise filter. The experimentally obtained bias instability is from 20.5°/h to 4.7°/h, the random walk is from 2.8°/h1/2 to 0.7°/h1/2 and the nonlinearity is from 0.2% to 0.03%. Based on the error compensation, it is shown that there is a good linear relationship between the sensing signal and the angular velocity, suggesting that the BVG is a good candidate for the field of low and medium rotational speed measurement. PMID:26393593

The pros and cons of code validation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bobbitt, Percy J.

1988-01-01

Computational and wind tunnel error sources are examined and quantified using specific calculations of experimental data, and a substantial comparison of theoretical and experimental results, or a code validation, is discussed. Wind tunnel error sources considered include wall interference, sting effects, Reynolds number effects, flow quality and transition, and instrumentation such as strain gage balances, electronically scanned pressure systems, hot film gages, hot wire anemometers, and laser velocimeters. Computational error sources include math model equation sets, the solution algorithm, artificial viscosity/dissipation, boundary conditions, the uniqueness of solutions, grid resolution, turbulence modeling, and Reynolds number effects. It is concluded that, although improvements in theory are being made more quickly than in experiments, wind tunnel research has the advantage of the more realistic transition process of a right turbulence model in a free-transition test.

MAX-DOAS measurements of HONO slant column densities during the MAD-CAT campaign: inter-comparison, sensitivity studies on spectral analysis settings, and error budget

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Yang; Beirle, Steffen; Hendrick, Francois; Hilboll, Andreas; Jin, Junli; Kyuberis, Aleksandra A.; Lampel, Johannes; Li, Ang; Luo, Yuhan; Lodi, Lorenzo; Ma, Jianzhong; Navarro, Monica; Ortega, Ivan; Peters, Enno; Polyansky, Oleg L.; Remmers, Julia; Richter, Andreas; Puentedura, Olga; Van Roozendael, Michel; Seyler, André; Tennyson, Jonathan; Volkamer, Rainer; Xie, Pinhua; Zobov, Nikolai F.; Wagner, Thomas

2017-10-01

In order to promote the development of the passive DOAS technique the Multi Axis DOAS - Comparison campaign for Aerosols and Trace gases (MAD-CAT) was held at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz, Germany, from June to October 2013. Here, we systematically compare the differential slant column densities (dSCDs) of nitrous acid (HONO) derived from measurements of seven different instruments. We also compare the tropospheric difference of SCDs (delta SCD) of HONO, namely the difference of the SCDs for the non-zenith observations and the zenith observation of the same elevation sequence. Different research groups analysed the spectra from their own instruments using their individual fit software. All the fit errors of HONO dSCDs from the instruments with cooled large-size detectors are mostly in the range of 0.1 to 0.3 × 1015 molecules cm-2 for an integration time of 1 min. The fit error for the mini MAX-DOAS is around 0.7 × 1015 molecules cm-2. Although the HONO delta SCDs are normally smaller than 6 × 1015 molecules cm-2, consistent time series of HONO delta SCDs are retrieved from the measurements of different instruments. Both fits with a sequential Fraunhofer reference spectrum (FRS) and a daily noon FRS lead to similar consistency. Apart from the mini-MAX-DOAS, the systematic absolute differences of HONO delta SCDs between the instruments are smaller than 0.63 × 1015 molecules cm-2. The correlation coefficients are higher than 0.7 and the slopes of linear regressions deviate from unity by less than 16 % for the elevation angle of 1°. The correlations decrease with an increase in elevation angle. All the participants also analysed synthetic spectra using the same baseline DOAS settings to evaluate the systematic errors of HONO results from their respective fit programs. In general the errors are smaller than 0.3 × 1015 molecules cm-2, which is about half of the systematic difference between the real measurements.The differences of HONO delta SCDs retrieved in the selected three spectral ranges 335-361, 335-373 and 335-390 nm are considerable (up to 0.57 × 1015 molecules cm-2) for both real measurements and synthetic spectra. We performed sensitivity studies to quantify the dominant systematic error sources and to find a recommended DOAS setting in the three spectral ranges. The results show that water vapour absorption, temperature and wavelength dependence of O4 absorption, temperature dependence of Ring spectrum, and polynomial and intensity offset correction all together dominate the systematic errors. We recommend a fit range of 335-373 nm for HONO retrievals. In such fit range the overall systematic uncertainty is about 0.87 × 1015 molecules cm-2, much smaller than those in the other two ranges. The typical random uncertainty is estimated to be about 0.16 × 1015 molecules cm-2, which is only 25 % of the total systematic uncertainty for most of the instruments in the MAD-CAT campaign. In summary for most of the MAX-DOAS instruments for elevation angle below 5°, half daytime measurements (usually in the morning) of HONO delta SCD can be over the detection limit of 0.2 × 1015 molecules cm-2 with an uncertainty of ˜ 0.9 × 1015 molecules cm-2.

Heritability of refractive error and ocular biometrics: the Genes in Myopia (GEM) twin study.

PubMed

Dirani, Mohamed; Chamberlain, Matthew; Shekar, Sri N; Islam, Amirul F M; Garoufalis, Pam; Chen, Christine Y; Guymer, Robyn H; Baird, Paul N

2006-11-01

A classic twin study was undertaken to assess the contribution of genes and environment to the development of refractive errors and ocular biometrics in a twin population. A total of 1224 twins (345 monozygotic [MZ] and 267 dizygotic [DZ] twin pairs) aged between 18 and 88 years were examined. All twins completed a questionnaire consisting of a medical history, education, and zygosity. Objective refraction was measured in all twins, and biometric measurements were obtained using partial coherence interferometry. Intrapair correlations for spherical equivalent and ocular biometrics were significantly higher in the MZ than in the DZ twin pairs (P < 0.05), when refraction was considered as a continuous variable. A significant gender difference in the variation of spherical equivalent and ocular biometrics was found (P < 0.05). A genetic model specifying an additive, dominant, and unique environmental factor that was sex limited was the best fit for all measured variables. Heritability of spherical equivalents of 88% and 75% were found in the men and women, respectively, whereas, that of axial length was 94% and 92%, respectively. Additive genetic effects accounted for a greater proportion of the variance in spherical equivalent, whereas the variance in ocular biometrics, particularly axial length was explained mostly by dominant genetic effects. Genetic factors, both additive and dominant, play a significant role in refractive error (myopia and hypermetropia) as well as in ocular biometrics, particularly axial length. The sex limitation ADE model (additive genetic, nonadditive genetic, and environmental components) provided the best-fit genetic model for all parameters.

Coherent lidar design and performance verification

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Frehlich, Rod

1993-01-01

The verification of LAWS beam alignment in space can be achieved by a measurement of heterodyne efficiency using the surface return. The crucial element is a direct detection signal that can be identified for each surface return. This should be satisfied for LAWS but will not be satisfied for descoped LAWS. The performance of algorithms for velocity estimation can be described with two basic parameters: the number of coherently detected photo-electrons per estimate and the number of independent signal samples per estimate. The average error of spectral domain velocity estimation algorithms are bounded by a new periodogram Cramer-Rao Bound. Comparison of the periodogram CRB with the exact CRB indicates a factor of two improvement in velocity accuracy is possible using non-spectral domain estimators. This improvement has been demonstrated with a maximum-likelihood estimator. The comparison of velocity estimation algorithms for 2 and 10 micron coherent lidar was performed by assuming all the system design parameters are fixed and the signal statistics are dominated by a 1 m/s rms wind fluctuation over the range gate. The beam alignment requirements for 2 micron are much more severe than for a 10 micron lidar. The effects of the random backscattered field on estimating the alignment error is a major problem for space based lidar operation, especially if the heterodyne efficiency cannot be estimated. For LAWS, the biggest science payoff would result from a short transmitted pulse, on the order of 0.5 microseconds instead of 3 microseconds. The numerically errors for simulation of laser propagation in the atmosphere have been determined as a joint project with the University of California, San Diego. Useful scaling laws were obtained for Kolmogorov atmospheric refractive turbulence and an atmospheric refractive turbulence characterized with an inner scale. This permits verification of the simulation procedure which is essential for the evaluation of the effects of refractive turbulence on coherent Doppler lidar systems. The analysis of 2 micron Doppler lidar data from Coherent Technologies, Inc. (CTI) has demonstrated many of the advantages of doppler lidar measurements of boundary layer winds. The effects of wind shear and wind turbulence over the pulse volume are probably the dominant source of the reduced performance. The effects of wind shear and wind turbulence on the statistical description of doppler lidar data has been derived and calculated.

Box-Counting Dimension Revisited: Presenting an Efficient Method of Minimizing Quantization Error and an Assessment of the Self-Similarity of Structural Root Systems

PubMed Central

Bouda, Martin; Caplan, Joshua S.; Saiers, James E.

2016-01-01

Fractal dimension (FD), estimated by box-counting, is a metric used to characterize plant anatomical complexity or space-filling characteristic for a variety of purposes. The vast majority of published studies fail to evaluate the assumption of statistical self-similarity, which underpins the validity of the procedure. The box-counting procedure is also subject to error arising from arbitrary grid placement, known as quantization error (QE), which is strictly positive and varies as a function of scale, making it problematic for the procedure's slope estimation step. Previous studies either ignore QE or employ inefficient brute-force grid translations to reduce it. The goals of this study were to characterize the effect of QE due to translation and rotation on FD estimates, to provide an efficient method of reducing QE, and to evaluate the assumption of statistical self-similarity of coarse root datasets typical of those used in recent trait studies. Coarse root systems of 36 shrubs were digitized in 3D and subjected to box-counts. A pattern search algorithm was used to minimize QE by optimizing grid placement and its efficiency was compared to the brute force method. The degree of statistical self-similarity was evaluated using linear regression residuals and local slope estimates. QE, due to both grid position and orientation, was a significant source of error in FD estimates, but pattern search provided an efficient means of minimizing it. Pattern search had higher initial computational cost but converged on lower error values more efficiently than the commonly employed brute force method. Our representations of coarse root system digitizations did not exhibit details over a sufficient range of scales to be considered statistically self-similar and informatively approximated as fractals, suggesting a lack of sufficient ramification of the coarse root systems for reiteration to be thought of as a dominant force in their development. FD estimates did not characterize the scaling of our digitizations well: the scaling exponent was a function of scale. Our findings serve as a caution against applying FD under the assumption of statistical self-similarity without rigorously evaluating it first. PMID:26925073

Impact and quantification of the sources of error in DNA pooling designs.

PubMed

Jawaid, A; Sham, P

2009-01-01

The analysis of genome wide variation offers the possibility of unravelling the genes involved in the pathogenesis of disease. Genome wide association studies are also particularly useful for identifying and validating targets for therapeutic intervention as well as for detecting markers for drug efficacy and side effects. The cost of such large-scale genetic association studies may be reduced substantially by the analysis of pooled DNA from multiple individuals. However, experimental errors inherent in pooling studies lead to a potential increase in the false positive rate and a loss in power compared to individual genotyping. Here we quantify various sources of experimental error using empirical data from typical pooling experiments and corresponding individual genotyping counts using two statistical methods. We provide analytical formulas for calculating these different errors in the absence of complete information, such as replicate pool formation, and for adjusting for the errors in the statistical analysis. We demonstrate that DNA pooling has the potential of estimating allele frequencies accurately, and adjusting the pooled allele frequency estimates for differential allelic amplification considerably improves accuracy. Estimates of the components of error show that differential allelic amplification is the most important contributor to the error variance in absolute allele frequency estimation, followed by allele frequency measurement and pool formation errors. Our results emphasise the importance of minimising experimental errors and obtaining correct error estimates in genetic association studies.

SEU System Analysis: Not Just the Sum of All Parts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Berg, Melanie D.; Label, Kenneth

2014-01-01

Single event upset (SEU) analysis of complex systems is challenging. Currently, system SEU analysis is performed by component level partitioning and then either: the most dominant SEU cross-sections (SEUs) are used in system error rate calculations; or the partition SEUs are summed to eventually obtain a system error rate. In many cases, system error rates are overestimated because these methods generally overlook system level derating factors. The problem with overestimating is that it can cause overdesign and consequently negatively affect the following: cost, schedule, functionality, and validation/verification. The scope of this presentation is to discuss the risks involved with our current scheme of SEU analysis for complex systems; and to provide alternative methods for improvement.

Optimizing dynamic downscaling in one-way nesting using a regional ocean model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pham, Van Sy; Hwang, Jin Hwan; Ku, Hyeyun

2016-10-01

Dynamical downscaling with nested regional oceanographic models has been demonstrated to be an effective approach for both operationally forecasted sea weather on regional scales and projections of future climate change and its impact on the ocean. However, when nesting procedures are carried out in dynamic downscaling from a larger-scale model or set of observations to a smaller scale, errors are unavoidable due to the differences in grid sizes and updating intervals. The present work assesses the impact of errors produced by nesting procedures on the downscaled results from Ocean Regional Circulation Models (ORCMs). Errors are identified and evaluated based on their sources and characteristics by employing the Big-Brother Experiment (BBE). The BBE uses the same model to produce both nesting and nested simulations; so it addresses those error sources separately (i.e., without combining the contributions of errors from different sources). Here, we focus on discussing errors resulting from the spatial grids' differences, the updating times and the domain sizes. After the BBE was separately run for diverse cases, a Taylor diagram was used to analyze the results and recommend an optimal combination of grid size, updating period and domain sizes. Finally, suggested setups for the downscaling were evaluated by examining the spatial correlations of variables and the relative magnitudes of variances between the nested model and the original data.

Error Sources in Proccessing LIDAR Based Bridge Inspection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bian, H.; Chen, S. E.; Liu, W.

2017-09-01

Bridge inspection is a critical task in infrastructure management and is facing unprecedented challenges after a series of bridge failures. The prevailing visual inspection was insufficient in providing reliable and quantitative bridge information although a systematic quality management framework was built to ensure visual bridge inspection data quality to minimize errors during the inspection process. The LiDAR based remote sensing is recommended as an effective tool in overcoming some of the disadvantages of visual inspection. In order to evaluate the potential of applying this technology in bridge inspection, some of the error sources in LiDAR based bridge inspection are analysed. The scanning angle variance in field data collection and the different algorithm design in scanning data processing are the found factors that will introduce errors into inspection results. Besides studying the errors sources, advanced considerations should be placed on improving the inspection data quality, and statistical analysis might be employed to evaluate inspection operation process that contains a series of uncertain factors in the future. Overall, the development of a reliable bridge inspection system requires not only the improvement of data processing algorithms, but also systematic considerations to mitigate possible errors in the entire inspection workflow. If LiDAR or some other technology can be accepted as a supplement for visual inspection, the current quality management framework will be modified or redesigned, and this would be as urgent as the refine of inspection techniques.

Identification of 'Point A' as the prevalent source of error in cephalometric analysis of lateral radiographs.

PubMed

Grogger, P; Sacher, C; Weber, S; Millesi, G; Seemann, R

2018-04-10

Deviations in measuring dentofacial components in a lateral X-ray represent a major hurdle in the subsequent treatment of dysgnathic patients. In a retrospective study, we investigated the most prevalent source of error in the following commonly used cephalometric measurements: the angles Sella-Nasion-Point A (SNA), Sella-Nasion-Point B (SNB) and Point A-Nasion-Point B (ANB); the Wits appraisal; the anteroposterior dysplasia indicator (APDI); and the overbite depth indicator (ODI). Preoperative lateral radiographic images of patients with dentofacial deformities were collected and the landmarks digitally traced by three independent raters. Cephalometric analysis was automatically performed based on 1116 tracings. Error analysis identified the x-coordinate of Point A as the prevalent source of error in all investigated measurements, except SNB, in which it is not incorporated. In SNB, the y-coordinate of Nasion predominated error variance. SNB showed lowest inter-rater variation. In addition, our observations confirmed previous studies showing that landmark identification variance follows characteristic error envelopes in the highest number of tracings analysed up to now. Variance orthogonal to defining planes was of relevance, while variance parallel to planes was not. Taking these findings into account, orthognathic surgeons as well as orthodontists would be able to perform cephalometry more accurately and accomplish better therapeutic results. Copyright © 2018 International Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Typing Style and the Use of Different Sources of Information during Typing: An Investigation Using Self-Reports

PubMed Central

Rieger, Martina; Bart, Victoria K. E.

2016-01-01

We investigated to what extent different sources of information are used in typing on a computer keyboard. Using self-reports 10 finger typists and idiosyncratic typists estimated how much attention they pay to different sources of information during copy typing and free typing and how much they use them for error detection. 10 finger typists reported less attention to the keyboard and the fingers and more attention to the template and the screen than idiosyncratic typists. The groups did not differ in attention to touch/kinaesthesis in copy typing and free typing, but 10 finger typists reported more use of touch/kinaesthesis in error detection. This indicates that processing of tactile/kinaesthetic information may occur largely outside conscious control, as long as no errors occur. 10 finger typists reported more use of internal prediction of movement consequences for error detection than idiosyncratic typists, reflecting more precise internal models. Further in copy typing compared to free typing attention to the template is required, thus leaving less attentional capacity for other sources of information. Correlations showed that higher skilled typists, regardless of typing style, rely more on sources of information which are usually associated with 10 finger typing. One limitation of the study is that only self-reports were used. We conclude that typing task, typing proficiency, and typing style influence how attention is distributed during typing. PMID:28018256

Typing Style and the Use of Different Sources of Information during Typing: An Investigation Using Self-Reports.

PubMed

Rieger, Martina; Bart, Victoria K E

2016-01-01

We investigated to what extent different sources of information are used in typing on a computer keyboard. Using self-reports 10 finger typists and idiosyncratic typists estimated how much attention they pay to different sources of information during copy typing and free typing and how much they use them for error detection. 10 finger typists reported less attention to the keyboard and the fingers and more attention to the template and the screen than idiosyncratic typists. The groups did not differ in attention to touch/kinaesthesis in copy typing and free typing, but 10 finger typists reported more use of touch/kinaesthesis in error detection. This indicates that processing of tactile/kinaesthetic information may occur largely outside conscious control, as long as no errors occur. 10 finger typists reported more use of internal prediction of movement consequences for error detection than idiosyncratic typists, reflecting more precise internal models. Further in copy typing compared to free typing attention to the template is required, thus leaving less attentional capacity for other sources of information. Correlations showed that higher skilled typists, regardless of typing style, rely more on sources of information which are usually associated with 10 finger typing. One limitation of the study is that only self-reports were used. We conclude that typing task, typing proficiency, and typing style influence how attention is distributed during typing.

The Robustness of Acoustic Analogies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Freund, J. B.; Lele, S. K.; Wei, M.

2004-01-01

Acoustic analogies for the prediction of flow noise are exact rearrangements of the flow equations N(right arrow q) = 0 into a nominal sound source S(right arrow q) and sound propagation operator L such that L(right arrow q) = S(right arrow q). In practice, the sound source is typically modeled and the propagation operator inverted to make predictions. Since the rearrangement is exact, any sufficiently accurate model of the source will yield the correct sound, so other factors must determine the merits of any particular formulation. Using data from a two-dimensional mixing layer direct numerical simulation (DNS), we evaluate the robustness of two analogy formulations to different errors intentionally introduced into the source. The motivation is that since S can not be perfectly modeled, analogies that are less sensitive to errors in S are preferable. Our assessment is made within the framework of Goldstein's generalized acoustic analogy, in which different choices of a base flow used in constructing L give different sources S and thus different analogies. A uniform base flow yields a Lighthill-like analogy, which we evaluate against a formulation in which the base flow is the actual mean flow of the DNS. The more complex mean flow formulation is found to be significantly more robust to errors in the energetic turbulent fluctuations, but its advantage is less pronounced when errors are made in the smaller scales.

The Public Understanding of Error in Educational Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gardner, John

2013-01-01

Evidence from recent research suggests that in the UK the public perception of errors in national examinations is that they are simply mistakes; events that are preventable. This perception predominates over the more sophisticated technical view that errors arise from many sources and create an inevitable variability in assessment outcomes. The…

On the Limitations of Variational Bias Correction

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moradi, Isaac; Mccarty, Will; Gelaro, Ronald

2018-01-01

Satellite radiances are the largest dataset assimilated into Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) models, however the data are subject to errors and uncertainties that need to be accounted for before assimilating into the NWP models. Variational bias correction uses the time series of observation minus background to estimate the observations bias. This technique does not distinguish between the background error, forward operator error, and observations error so that all these errors are summed up together and counted as observation error. We identify some sources of observations errors (e.g., antenna emissivity, non-linearity in the calibration, and antenna pattern) and show the limitations of variational bias corrections on estimating these errors.

An Analysis of Errors in Written English Sentences: A Case Study of Thai EFL Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sermsook, Kanyakorn; Liamnimit, Jiraporn; Pochakorn, Rattaneekorn

2017-01-01

The purposes of the present study were to examine the language errors in a writing of English major students in a Thai university and to explore the sources of the errors. This study focused mainly on sentences because the researcher found that errors in Thai EFL students' sentence construction may lead to miscommunication. 104 pieces of writing…

Unavoidable Errors: A Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Time-Course and Neural Sources of Evoked Potentials Associated with Error Processing in a Speeded Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vocat, Roland; Pourtois, Gilles; Vuilleumier, Patrik

2008-01-01

The detection of errors is known to be associated with two successive neurophysiological components in EEG, with an early time-course following motor execution: the error-related negativity (ERN/Ne) and late positivity (Pe). The exact cognitive and physiological processes contributing to these two EEG components, as well as their functional…

Error and its meaning in forensic science.

PubMed

Christensen, Angi M; Crowder, Christian M; Ousley, Stephen D; Houck, Max M

2014-01-01

The discussion of "error" has gained momentum in forensic science in the wake of the Daubert guidelines and has intensified with the National Academy of Sciences' Report. Error has many different meanings, and too often, forensic practitioners themselves as well as the courts misunderstand scientific error and statistical error rates, often confusing them with practitioner error (or mistakes). Here, we present an overview of these concepts as they pertain to forensic science applications, discussing the difference between practitioner error (including mistakes), instrument error, statistical error, and method error. We urge forensic practitioners to ensure that potential sources of error and method limitations are understood and clearly communicated and advocate that the legal community be informed regarding the differences between interobserver errors, uncertainty, variation, and mistakes. © 2013 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Analysis and optimization of cyclic methods in orbit computation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pierce, S.

1973-01-01

The mathematical analysis and computation of the K=3, order 4; K=4, order 6; and K=5, order 7 cyclic methods and the K=5, order 6 Cowell method and some results of optimizing the 3 backpoint cyclic multistep methods for solving ordinary differential equations are presented. Cyclic methods have the advantage over traditional methods of having higher order for a given number of backpoints while at the same time having more free parameters. After considering several error sources the primary source for the cyclic methods has been isolated. The free parameters for three backpoint methods were used to minimize the effects of some of these error sources. They now yield more accuracy with the same computing time as Cowell's method on selected problems. This work is being extended to the five backpoint methods. The analysis and optimization are more difficult here since the matrices are larger and the dimension of the optimizing space is larger. Indications are that the primary error source can be reduced. This will still leave several parameters free to minimize other sources.

Medication Administration Errors in an Adult Emergency Department of a Tertiary Health Care Facility in Ghana.

PubMed

Acheampong, Franklin; Tetteh, Ashalley Raymond; Anto, Berko Panyin

2016-12-01

This study determined the incidence, types, clinical significance, and potential causes of medication administration errors (MAEs) at the emergency department (ED) of a tertiary health care facility in Ghana. This study used a cross-sectional nonparticipant observational technique. Study participants (nurses) were observed preparing and administering medication at the ED of a 2000-bed tertiary care hospital in Accra, Ghana. The observations were then compared with patients' medication charts, and identified errors were clarified with staff for possible causes. Of the 1332 observations made, involving 338 patients and 49 nurses, 362 had errors, representing 27.2%. However, the error rate excluding "lack of drug availability" fell to 12.8%. Without wrong time error, the error rate was 22.8%. The 2 most frequent error types were omission (n = 281, 77.6%) and wrong time (n = 58, 16%) errors. Omission error was mainly due to unavailability of medicine, 48.9% (n = 177). Although only one of the errors was potentially fatal, 26.7% were definitely clinically severe. The common themes that dominated the probable causes of MAEs were unavailability, staff factors, patient factors, prescription, and communication problems. This study gives credence to similar studies in different settings that MAEs occur frequently in the ED of hospitals. Most of the errors identified were not potentially fatal; however, preventive strategies need to be used to make life-saving processes such as drug administration in such specialized units error-free.

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

Gonçalves, Fabio; Treuhaft, Robert; Law, Beverly

Mapping and monitoring of forest carbon stocks across large areas in the tropics will necessarily rely on remote sensing approaches, which in turn depend on field estimates of biomass for calibration and validation purposes. Here, we used field plot data collected in a tropical moist forest in the central Amazon to gain a better understanding of the uncertainty associated with plot-level biomass estimates obtained specifically for the calibration of remote sensing measurements. In addition to accounting for sources of error that would be normally expected in conventional biomass estimates (e.g., measurement and allometric errors), we examined two sources of uncertaintymore » that are specific to the calibration process and should be taken into account in most remote sensing studies: the error resulting from spatial disagreement between field and remote sensing measurements (i.e., co-location error), and the error introduced when accounting for temporal differences in data acquisition. We found that the overall uncertainty in the field biomass was typically 25% for both secondary and primary forests, but ranged from 16 to 53%. Co-location and temporal errors accounted for a large fraction of the total variance (>65%) and were identified as important targets for reducing uncertainty in studies relating tropical forest biomass to remotely sensed data. Although measurement and allometric errors were relatively unimportant when considered alone, combined they accounted for roughly 30% of the total variance on average and should not be ignored. Lastly, our results suggest that a thorough understanding of the sources of error associated with field-measured plot-level biomass estimates in tropical forests is critical to determine confidence in remote sensing estimates of carbon stocks and fluxes, and to develop strategies for reducing the overall uncertainty of remote sensing approaches.« less

Imaging phased telescope array study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Harvey, James E.

1989-01-01

The problems encountered in obtaining a wide field-of-view with large, space-based direct imaging phased telescope arrays were considered. After defining some of the critical systems issues, previous relevant work in the literature was reviewed and summarized. An extensive list was made of potential error sources and the error sources were categorized in the form of an error budget tree including optical design errors, optical fabrication errors, assembly and alignment errors, and environmental errors. After choosing a top level image quality requirment as a goal, a preliminary tops-down error budget allocation was performed; then, based upon engineering experience, detailed analysis, or data from the literature, a bottoms-up error budget reallocation was performed in an attempt to achieve an equitable distribution of difficulty in satisfying the various allocations. This exercise provided a realistic allocation for residual off-axis optical design errors in the presence of state-of-the-art optical fabrication and alignment errors. Three different computational techniques were developed for computing the image degradation of phased telescope arrays due to aberrations of the individual telescopes. Parametric studies and sensitivity analyses were then performed for a variety of subaperture configurations and telescope design parameters in an attempt to determine how the off-axis performance of a phased telescope array varies as the telescopes are scaled up in size. The Air Force Weapons Laboratory (AFWL) multipurpose telescope testbed (MMTT) configuration was analyzed in detail with regard to image degradation due to field curvature and distortion of the individual telescopes as they are scaled up in size.

A Preliminary ZEUS Lightning Location Error Analysis Using a Modified Retrieval Theory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Elander, Valjean; Koshak, William; Phanord, Dieudonne

2004-01-01

The ZEUS long-range VLF arrival time difference lightning detection network now covers both Europe and Africa, and there are plans for further expansion into the western hemisphere. In order to fully optimize and assess ZEUS lightning location retrieval errors and to determine the best placement of future receivers expected to be added to the network, a software package is being developed jointly between the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) and the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV). The software package, called the ZEUS Error Analysis for Lightning (ZEAL), will be used to obtain global scale lightning location retrieval error maps using both a Monte Carlo approach and chi-squared curvature matrix theory. At the core of ZEAL will be an implementation of an Iterative Oblate (IO) lightning location retrieval method recently developed at MSFC. The IO method will be appropriately modified to account for variable wave propagation speed, and the new retrieval results will be compared with the current ZEUS retrieval algorithm to assess potential improvements. In this preliminary ZEAL work effort, we defined 5000 source locations evenly distributed across the Earth. We then used the existing (as well as potential future ZEUS sites) to simulate arrival time data between source and ZEUS site. A total of 100 sources were considered at each of the 5000 locations, and timing errors were selected from a normal distribution having a mean of 0 seconds and a standard deviation of 20 microseconds. This simulated "noisy" dataset was analyzed using the IO algorithm to estimate source locations. The exact locations were compared with the retrieved locations, and the results are summarized via several color-coded "error maps."

Intuitive theories of information: beliefs about the value of redundancy.

PubMed

Soll, J B

1999-03-01

In many situations, quantity estimates from multiple experts or diagnostic instruments must be collected and combined. Normatively, and all else equal, one should value information sources that are nonredundant, in the sense that correlation in forecast errors should be minimized. Past research on the preference for redundancy has been inconclusive. While some studies have suggested that people correctly place higher value on uncorrelated inputs when collecting estimates, others have shown that people either ignore correlation or, in some cases, even prefer it. The present experiments show that the preference for redundancy depends on one's intuitive theory of information. The most common intuitive theory identified is the Error Tradeoff Model (ETM), which explicitly distinguishes between measurement error and bias. According to ETM, measurement error can only be averaged out by consulting the same source multiple times (normatively false), and bias can only be averaged out by consulting different sources (normatively true). As a result, ETM leads people to prefer redundant estimates when the ratio of measurement error to bias is relatively high. Other participants favored different theories. Some adopted the normative model, while others were reluctant to mathematically average estimates from different sources in any circumstance. In a post hoc analysis, science majors were more likely than others to subscribe to the normative model. While tentative, this result lends insight into how intuitive theories might develop and also has potential ramifications for how statistical concepts such as correlation might best be learned and internalized. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.

Pointing error analysis of Risley-prism-based beam steering system.

PubMed

Zhou, Yuan; Lu, Yafei; Hei, Mo; Liu, Guangcan; Fan, Dapeng

2014-09-01

Based on the vector form Snell's law, ray tracing is performed to quantify the pointing errors of Risley-prism-based beam steering systems, induced by component errors, prism orientation errors, and assembly errors. Case examples are given to elucidate the pointing error distributions in the field of regard and evaluate the allowances of the error sources for a given pointing accuracy. It is found that the assembly errors of the second prism will result in more remarkable pointing errors in contrast with the first one. The pointing errors induced by prism tilt depend on the tilt direction. The allowances of bearing tilt and prism tilt are almost identical if the same pointing accuracy is planned. All conclusions can provide a theoretical foundation for practical works.

Transient shifts in frontal and parietal circuits scale with enhanced visual feedback and changes in force variability and error

PubMed Central

Poon, Cynthia; Coombes, Stephen A.; Corcos, Daniel M.; Christou, Evangelos A.

2013-01-01

When subjects perform a learned motor task with increased visual gain, error and variability are reduced. Neuroimaging studies have identified a corresponding increase in activity in parietal cortex, premotor cortex, primary motor cortex, and extrastriate visual cortex. Much less is understood about the neural processes that underlie the immediate transition from low to high visual gain within a trial. This study used 128-channel electroencephalography to measure cortical activity during a visually guided precision grip task, in which the gain of the visual display was changed during the task. Force variability during the transition from low to high visual gain was characterized by an inverted U-shape, whereas force error decreased from low to high gain. Source analysis identified cortical activity in the same structures previously identified using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Source analysis also identified a time-varying shift in the strongest source activity. Superior regions of the motor and parietal cortex had stronger source activity from 300 to 600 ms after the transition, whereas inferior regions of the extrastriate visual cortex had stronger source activity from 500 to 700 ms after the transition. Force variability and electrical activity were linearly related, with a positive relation in the parietal cortex and a negative relation in the frontal cortex. Force error was nonlinearly related to electrical activity in the parietal cortex and frontal cortex by a quadratic function. This is the first evidence that force variability and force error are systematically related to a time-varying shift in cortical activity in frontal and parietal cortex in response to enhanced visual gain. PMID:23365186

Infovigilance: reporting errors in official drug information sources.

PubMed

Fusier, Isabelle; Tollier, Corinne; Husson, Marie-Caroline

2005-06-01

The French drug database Thériaque (http://www.theriaque.org) developed by the (Centre National Hospitalier d'Information sur le Médicament) (CNHIM), is responsible for the dissemination of independent information about all drugs available in France. Each month the CNHIM pharmacists report problems due to inaccuracies in these sources to the French drug agency. In daily practice we devised the term "infovigilance": "Activity of error or inaccuracy notification in information sources which could be responsible for medication errors". The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of CNHIM infovigilance on the contents of the Summary of Product Characteristics (SPCs). The study was a prospective study from 09/11/2001 to 31/12/2002. The problems related to the quality of information were classified into four types (inaccuracy/confusion, error/lack of information, discordance between SPC sections and discordance between generic SPCs). (1) Number of notifications and number of SPCs integrated into the database during the study period. (2) Percentage of notifications for each type: with or without potential patient impact, with or without later correction of the SPC, per section. 2.7% (85/3151) of SPCs integrated into the database were concerned by a notification of a problem. Notifications according to type of problem were inaccuracy/confusion (32%), error/lack of information (13%), discordance between SPC sections (27%) and discordance between generic SPCs (28%). 55% of problems were evaluated as 'likely to have an impact on the patient' and 45% as 'unlikely to have an impact on the patient'. 22 of problems which have been reported to the French drug agency were corrected and new updated SPCs were published with the corrections. Our efforts to improve the quality of drug information sources through a continuous "infovigilance" process need to be continued and extended to other information sources.

Trends in stratospheric ozone profiles using functional mixed models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, A.; Guillas, S.; Petropavlovskikh, I.

2013-11-01

This paper is devoted to the modeling of altitude-dependent patterns of ozone variations over time. Umkehr ozone profiles (quarter of Umkehr layer) from 1978 to 2011 are investigated at two locations: Boulder (USA) and Arosa (Switzerland). The study consists of two statistical stages. First we approximate ozone profiles employing an appropriate basis. To capture primary modes of ozone variations without losing essential information, a functional principal component analysis is performed. It penalizes roughness of the function and smooths excessive variations in the shape of the ozone profiles. As a result, data-driven basis functions (empirical basis functions) are obtained. The coefficients (principal component scores) corresponding to the empirical basis functions represent dominant temporal evolution in the shape of ozone profiles. We use those time series coefficients in the second statistical step to reveal the important sources of the patterns and variations in the profiles. We estimate the effects of covariates - month, year (trend), quasi-biennial oscillation, the solar cycle, the Arctic oscillation, the El Niño/Southern Oscillation cycle and the Eliassen-Palm flux - on the principal component scores of ozone profiles using additive mixed effects models. The effects are represented as smooth functions and the smooth functions are estimated by penalized regression splines. We also impose a heteroscedastic error structure that reflects the observed seasonality in the errors. The more complex error structure enables us to provide more accurate estimates of influences and trends, together with enhanced uncertainty quantification. Also, we are able to capture fine variations in the time evolution of the profiles, such as the semi-annual oscillation. We conclude by showing the trends by altitude over Boulder and Arosa, as well as for total column ozone. There are great variations in the trends across altitudes, which highlights the benefits of modeling ozone profiles.

Astrometric Calibration and Performance of the Dark Energy Camera

DOE PAGES

Bernstein, G. M.; Armstrong, R.; Plazas, A. A.; ...

2017-05-30

We characterize the ability of the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) to perform relative astrometry across its 500 Mpix, 3more » $deg^2$ science field of view, and across 4 years of operation. This is done using internal comparisons of $~ 4 x 10^7$ measurements of high-S/N stellar images obtained in repeat visits to fields of moderate stellar density, with the telescope dithered to move the sources around the array. An empirical astrometric model includes terms for: optical distortions; stray electric fields in the CCD detectors; chromatic terms in the instrumental and atmospheric optics; shifts in CCD relative positions of up to $$\\approx 10 \\mu m$$ when the DECam temperature cycles; and low-order distortions to each exposure from changes in atmospheric refraction and telescope alignment. Errors in this astrometric model are dominated by stochastic variations with typical amplitudes of 10-30 mas (in a 30 s exposure) and $$5^{\\prime}-10^{\\prime}$$ arcmin coherence length, plausibly attributed to Kolmogorov-spectrum atmospheric turbulence. The size of these atmospheric distortions is not closely related to the seeing. Given an astrometric reference catalog at density $$\\approx 0.7$$ $$arcmin^{-2}$$, e.g. from Gaia, the typical atmospheric distortions can be interpolated to $$\\approx$$ 7 mas RMS accuracy (for 30 s exposures) with $$1^{\\prime}$$ arcmin coherence length for residual errors. Remaining detectable error contributors are 2-4 mas RMS from unmodelled stray electric fields in the devices, and another 2-4 mas RMS from focal plane shifts between camera thermal cycles. Thus the astrometric solution for a single DECam exposure is accurate to 3-6 mas ( $$\\approx$$ 0.02 pixels, or $$\\approx$$ 300 nm) on the focal plane, plus the stochastic atmospheric distortion.« less

Uncertainty Assessment of the NASA Earth Exchange Global Daily Downscaled Climate Projections (NEX-GDDP) Dataset

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wang, Weile; Nemani, Ramakrishna R.; Michaelis, Andrew; Hashimoto, Hirofumi; Dungan, Jennifer L.; Thrasher, Bridget L.; Dixon, Keith W.

2016-01-01

The NASA Earth Exchange Global Daily Downscaled Projections (NEX-GDDP) dataset is comprised of downscaled climate projections that are derived from 21 General Circulation Model (GCM) runs conducted under the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) and across two of the four greenhouse gas emissions scenarios (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5). Each of the climate projections includes daily maximum temperature, minimum temperature, and precipitation for the periods from 1950 through 2100 and the spatial resolution is 0.25 degrees (approximately 25 km x 25 km). The GDDP dataset has received warm welcome from the science community in conducting studies of climate change impacts at local to regional scales, but a comprehensive evaluation of its uncertainties is still missing. In this study, we apply the Perfect Model Experiment framework (Dixon et al. 2016) to quantify the key sources of uncertainties from the observational baseline dataset, the downscaling algorithm, and some intrinsic assumptions (e.g., the stationary assumption) inherent to the statistical downscaling techniques. We developed a set of metrics to evaluate downscaling errors resulted from bias-correction ("quantile-mapping"), spatial disaggregation, as well as the temporal-spatial non-stationarity of climate variability. Our results highlight the spatial disaggregation (or interpolation) errors, which dominate the overall uncertainties of the GDDP dataset, especially over heterogeneous and complex terrains (e.g., mountains and coastal area). In comparison, the temporal errors in the GDDP dataset tend to be more constrained. Our results also indicate that the downscaled daily precipitation also has relatively larger uncertainties than the temperature fields, reflecting the rather stochastic nature of precipitation in space. Therefore, our results provide insights in improving statistical downscaling algorithms and products in the future.

Visuomotor adaptation needs a validation of prediction error by feedback error

PubMed Central

Gaveau, Valérie; Prablanc, Claude; Laurent, Damien; Rossetti, Yves; Priot, Anne-Emmanuelle

2014-01-01

The processes underlying short-term plasticity induced by visuomotor adaptation to a shifted visual field are still debated. Two main sources of error can induce motor adaptation: reaching feedback errors, which correspond to visually perceived discrepancies between hand and target positions, and errors between predicted and actual visual reafferences of the moving hand. These two sources of error are closely intertwined and difficult to disentangle, as both the target and the reaching limb are simultaneously visible. Accordingly, the goal of the present study was to clarify the relative contributions of these two types of errors during a pointing task under prism-displaced vision. In “terminal feedback error” condition, viewing of their hand by subjects was allowed only at movement end, simultaneously with viewing of the target. In “movement prediction error” condition, viewing of the hand was limited to movement duration, in the absence of any visual target, and error signals arose solely from comparisons between predicted and actual reafferences of the hand. In order to prevent intentional corrections of errors, a subthreshold, progressive stepwise increase in prism deviation was used, so that subjects remained unaware of the visual deviation applied in both conditions. An adaptive aftereffect was observed in the “terminal feedback error” condition only. As far as subjects remained unaware of the optical deviation and self-assigned pointing errors, prediction error alone was insufficient to induce adaptation. These results indicate a critical role of hand-to-target feedback error signals in visuomotor adaptation; consistent with recent neurophysiological findings, they suggest that a combination of feedback and prediction error signals is necessary for eliciting aftereffects. They also suggest that feedback error updates the prediction of reafferences when a visual perturbation is introduced gradually and cognitive factors are eliminated or strongly attenuated. PMID:25408644

Model Selection with Strong-lensing Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leaf, Kyle; Melia, Fulvio

2018-05-01

In this paper, we use an unprecedentedly large sample (158) of confirmed strong lens systems for model selection, comparing five well studied Friedmann-Robertson-Walker cosmologies: ΛCDM, wCDM (the standard model with a variable dark-energy equation of state), the Rh = ct universe, the (empty) Milne cosmology, and the classical Einstein-de Sitter (matter dominated) universe. We first use these sources to optimize the parameters in the standard model and show that they are consistent with Planck, though the quality of the best fit is not satisfactory. We demonstrate that this is likely due to under-reported errors, or to errors yet to be included in this kind of analysis. We suggest that the missing dispersion may be due to scatter about a pure single isothermal sphere (SIS) model that is often assumed for the mass distribution in these lenses. We then use the Bayes information criterion, with the inclusion of a suggested SIS dispersion, to calculate the relative likelihoods and ranking of these models, showing that Milne and Einstein-de Sitter are completely ruled out, while Rh = ct is preferred over ΛCDM/wCDM with a relative probability of ˜73% versus ˜24%. The recently reported sample of new strong lens candidates by the Dark Energy Survey, if confirmed, may be able to demonstrate which of these two models is favoured over the other at a level exceeding 3σ.

Nucleon scalar and tensor charges using lattice QCD simulations at the physical value of the pion mass

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alexandrou, C.; Constantinou, M.; Dimopoulos, P.; Frezzotti, R.; Hadjiyiannakou, K.; Jansen, K.; Kallidonis, C.; Kostrzewa, B.; Koutsou, G.; Mangin-Brinet, M.; Vaquero Avilès-Casco, A.; Wenger, U.

2017-06-01

We present results on the light, strange and charm nucleon scalar and tensor charges from lattice QCD, using simulations with Nf=2 flavors of twisted mass clover-improved fermions with a physical value of the pion mass. Both connected and disconnected contributions are included, enabling us to extract the isoscalar, strange and charm charges for the first time directly at the physical point. Furthermore, the renormalization is computed nonperturbatively for both isovector and isoscalar quantities. We investigate excited state effects by analyzing several sink-source time separations and by employing a set of methods to probe ground state dominance. Our final results for the scalar charges are gSu=5.20 (42 )(15 )(12 ), gSd=4.27 (26 )(15 )(12 ), gSs=0.33 (7 )(1 )(4 ), and gSc=0.062 (13 )(3 )(5 ) and for the tensor charges gTu=0.794 (16 )(2 )(13 ), gTd=-0.210 (10 )(2 )(13 ), gTs=0.00032 (24 )(0 ), and gTc=0.00062 (85 )(0 ) in the MS ¯ scheme at 2 GeV. The first error is statistical, the second is the systematic error due to the renormalization and the third the systematic arising from estimating the contamination due to the excited states, when our data are precise enough to probe the first excited state.

Imagery encoding and false recognition errors: Examining the role of imagery process and imagery content on source misattributions.

PubMed

Foley, Mary Ann; Foy, Jeffrey; Schlemmer, Emily; Belser-Ehrlich, Janna

2010-11-01

Imagery encoding effects on source-monitoring errors were explored using the Deese-Roediger-McDermott paradigm in two experiments. While viewing thematically related lists embedded in mixed picture/word presentations, participants were asked to generate images of objects or words (Experiment 1) or to simply name the items (Experiment 2). An encoding task intended to induce spontaneous images served as a control for the explicit imagery instruction conditions (Experiment 1). On the picture/word source-monitoring tests, participants were much more likely to report "seeing" a picture of an item presented as a word than the converse particularly when images were induced spontaneously. However, this picture misattribution error was reversed after generating images of words (Experiment 1) and was eliminated after simply labelling the items (Experiment 2). Thus source misattributions were sensitive to the processes giving rise to imagery experiences (spontaneous vs deliberate), the kinds of images generated (object vs word images), and the ways in which materials were presented (as pictures vs words).

Over-Distribution in Source Memory

PubMed Central

Brainerd, C. J.; Reyna, V. F.; Holliday, R. E.; Nakamura, K.

2012-01-01

Semantic false memories are confounded with a second type of error, over-distribution, in which items are attributed to contradictory episodic states. Over-distribution errors have proved to be more common than false memories when the two are disentangled. We investigated whether over-distribution is prevalent in another classic false memory paradigm: source monitoring. It is. Conventional false memory responses (source misattributions) were predominantly over-distribution errors, but unlike semantic false memory, over-distribution also accounted for more than half of true memory responses (correct source attributions). Experimental control of over-distribution was achieved via a series of manipulations that affected either recollection of contextual details or item memory (concreteness, frequency, list-order, number of presentation contexts, and individual differences in verbatim memory). A theoretical model was used to analyze the data (conjoint process dissociation) that predicts that predicts that (a) over-distribution is directly proportional to item memory but inversely proportional to recollection and (b) item memory is not a necessary precondition for recollection of contextual details. The results were consistent with both predictions. PMID:21942494

A model of memory impairment in schizophrenia: cognitive and clinical factors associated with memory efficiency and memory errors.

PubMed

Brébion, Gildas; Bressan, Rodrigo A; Ohlsen, Ruth I; David, Anthony S

2013-12-01

Memory impairments in patients with schizophrenia have been associated with various cognitive and clinical factors. Hallucinations have been more specifically associated with errors stemming from source monitoring failure. We conducted a broad investigation of verbal memory and visual memory as well as source memory functioning in a sample of patients with schizophrenia. Various memory measures were tallied, and we studied their associations with processing speed, working memory span, and positive, negative, and depressive symptoms. Superficial and deep memory processes were differentially associated with processing speed, working memory span, avolition, depression, and attention disorders. Auditory/verbal and visual hallucinations were differentially associated with specific types of source memory error. We integrated all the results into a revised version of a previously published model of memory functioning in schizophrenia. The model describes the factors that affect memory efficiency, as well as the cognitive underpinnings of hallucinations within the source monitoring framework. © 2013.

Analytical investigation of adaptive control of radiated inlet noise from turbofan engines

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Risi, John D.; Burdisso, Ricardo A.

1994-01-01

An analytical model has been developed to predict the resulting far field radiation from a turbofan engine inlet. A feedforward control algorithm was simulated to predict the controlled far field radiation from the destructive combination of fan noise and secondary control sources. Numerical results were developed for two system configurations, with the resulting controlled far field radiation patterns showing varying degrees of attenuation and spillover. With one axial station of twelve control sources and error sensors with equal relative angular positions, nearly global attenuation is achieved. Shifting the angular position of one error sensor resulted in an increase of spillover to the extreme sidelines. The complex control inputs for each configuration was investigated to identify the structure of the wave pattern created by the control sources, giving an indication of performance of the system configuration. It is deduced that the locations of the error sensors and the control source configuration are equally critical to the operation of the active noise control system.

Geometric error characterization and error budgets. [thematic mapper

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Beyer, E.

1982-01-01

Procedures used in characterizing geometric error sources for a spaceborne imaging system are described using the LANDSAT D thematic mapper ground segment processing as the prototype. Software was tested through simulation and is undergoing tests with the operational hardware as part of the prelaunch system evaluation. Geometric accuracy specifications, geometric correction, and control point processing are discussed. Cross track and along track errors are tabulated for the thematic mapper, the spacecraft, and ground processing to show the temporal registration error budget in pixel (42.5 microrad) 90%.

Evaluation of Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler measurements of river discharge

USGS Publications Warehouse

Morlock, S.E.

1996-01-01

The standard deviations of the ADCP measurements ranged from approximately 1 to 6 percent and were generally higher than the measurement errors predicted by error-propagation analysis of ADCP instrument performance. These error-prediction methods assume that the largest component of ADCP discharge measurement error is instrument related. The larger standard deviations indicate that substantial portions of measurement error may be attributable to sources unrelated to ADCP electronics or signal processing and are functions of the field environment.

Correlated errors in geodetic time series: Implications for time-dependent deformation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Langbein, J.; Johnson, H.

1997-01-01

Analysis of frequent trilateration observations from the two-color electronic distance measuring networks in California demonstrate that the noise power spectra are dominated by white noise at higher frequencies and power law behavior at lower frequencies. In contrast, Earth scientists typically have assumed that only white noise is present in a geodetic time series, since a combination of infrequent measurements and low precision usually preclude identifying the time-correlated signature in such data. After removing a linear trend from the two-color data, it becomes evident that there are primarily two recognizable types of time-correlated noise present in the residuals. The first type is a seasonal variation in displacement which is probably a result of measuring to shallow surface monuments installed in clayey soil which responds to seasonally occurring rainfall; this noise is significant only for a small fraction of the sites analyzed. The second type of correlated noise becomes evident only after spectral analysis of line length changes and shows a functional relation at long periods between power and frequency of and where f is frequency and ?? ??? 2. With ?? = 2, this type of correlated noise is termed random-walk noise, and its source is mainly thought to be small random motions of geodetic monuments with respect to the Earth's crust, though other sources are possible. Because the line length changes in the two-color networks are measured at irregular intervals, power spectral techniques cannot reliably estimate the level of I//" noise. Rather, we also use here a maximum likelihood estimation technique which assumes that there are only two sources of noise in the residual time series (white noise and randomwalk noise) and estimates the amount of each. From this analysis we find that the random-walk noise level averages about 1.3 mm/Vyr and that our estimates of the white noise component confirm theoretical limitations of the measurement technique. In addition, the seasonal noise can be as large as 3 mm in amplitude but typically is less than 0.5 mm. Because of the presence of random-walk noise in these time series, modeling and interpretation of the geodetic data must account for this source of error. By way of example we show that estimating the time-varying strain tensor (a form of spatial averaging) from geodetic data having both random-walk and white noise error components results in seemingly significant variations in the rate of strain accumulation; spatial averaging does reduce the size of both noise components but not their relative influence on the resulting strain accumulation model. Copyright 1997 by the American Geophysical Union.

Source structure errors in radio-interferometric clock synchronization for ten measured distributions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thomas, J. B.

1981-01-01

The effects of source structure on radio interferometry measurements were investigated. The brightness distribution measurements for ten extragalactic sources were analyzed. Significant results are reported.