scholarly journals IVAN: An Interactive Herlofson’s Nomogram Visualizer for Local Weather Forecast

Computers ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 53
Author(s):  
Marco Angelini ◽  
Tiziana Catarci ◽  
Giuseppe Santucci

In 1947, N. Herlofson proposed a modification to the 1884 Heinrich Hertz’s Emagram with the goal of getting more precise hand-made weather forecasts providing larger angles between isotherms and adiabats. Since then, the Herlofson’s nomogram has been used every day to visualize the results of about 800 radiosonde balloons that, twice a day, are globally released, sounding the atmosphere and reading pressure, altitude, temperature, dew point, and wind velocity. Relevant weather forecasts use such pieces of information to predict fog, cloud height, rain, thunderstorms, etc. However, despite its diffusion, non-technical people (e.g., private gliding pilots) do not use the Herlofson’s nomogram because they often consider it hard to interpret and confusing. This paper copes with this problem presenting a visualization based environment that presents the Herlofson’s nomogram in an easier to interpret way, allowing the selection of the right level of detail and at the same time inspection of the sounding row data and the plotted diagram. Our visual environment was compared with the classic way of representing the Herlofson’s nomogram in a formal user study, demonstrating the higher efficacy and better comprehensibility of the proposed solution.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 5277-5310
Author(s):  
Anne Tipka ◽  
Leopold Haimberger ◽  
Petra Seibert

Abstract. Flex_extract is an open-source software package to efficiently retrieve and prepare meteorological data from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) as input for the widely used Lagrangian particle dispersion model FLEXPART and the related trajectory model FLEXTRA. ECMWF provides a variety of data sets which differ in a number of parameters (available fields, spatial and temporal resolution, forecast start times, level types etc.). Therefore, the selection of the right data for a specific application and the settings needed to obtain them are not trivial. Consequently, the data sets which can be retrieved through flex_extract by both member-state users and public users as well as their properties are explained. Flex_extract 7.1.2 is a substantially revised version with completely restructured code, mainly written in Python 3, which is introduced with all its input and output files and an explanation of the four application modes. Software dependencies and the methods for calculating the native vertical velocity η˙, the handling of flux data and the preparation of the final FLEXPART input files are documented. Considerations for applications give guidance with respect to the selection of data sets, caveats related to the land–sea mask and orography, etc. Formal software quality-assurance methods have been applied to flex_extract. A set of unit and regression tests as well as code metric data are also supplied. A short description of the installation and usage of flex_extract is provided in the Appendix. The paper points also to an online documentation which will be kept up to date with respect to future versions.



2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Philipp ◽  
Leopold Haimberger ◽  
Petra Seibert

Abstract. Flex_extract is an open-source software package to efficiently retrieve and prepare meteorological data from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) as input for the widely-used Lagrangian particle dispersion model FLEXPART and the related trajectory model FLEXTRA. ECMWF provides a variety of data sets which differ in a number of parameters (available fields, spatial and temporal resolution, forecast start times, level types etc.). Therefore, the selection of the right data for a specific application and the settings needed to obtain them are not trivial. Therefore, the data sets which can be retrieved through flex_extract by both authorised member state users and public users and their properties are explained. Flex_extract 7.1 is a substantially revised version with completely restructured software, mainly written in Python3, which is introduced with all input and output files and for the four different application modes. Software dependencies and the methods for calculating the native vertical velocity η̇, the handling of flux data and the preparation of the final FLEXPART input files are documented. Considerations for applications give guidance with respect to the selection of data sets, caveats related to the land-sea mask and orography, etc. Formal software quality assurance methods have been applied to flex_extract. It comes with a set of unit and regression tests as well as code metric data. A short description of the installation and usage of flex_extract as well as information about available detailed documentation is also provided.



2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ananya Pandya ◽  
Nathalie Popovic ◽  
Alexandra Diehl ◽  
Ian Ruginski ◽  
Sara Fabrikant ◽  
...  

<p>Effective communication of potential weather hazards and its uncertainty to the general public is key to prevent and mitigate negative outcomes from weather hazards. The general public needs effective tools at hand that can allow them to make the best decision as possible during a severe weather event. Currently, there are many approaches for weather forecast visualization, such as contour and thematic maps [5]. However, guidelines and best practices in visualization can help to improve these designs and make them more effective [1, 2].</p><p>In this work, we present several interactive visual designs for mobile visualization of severe weather events for the communication of weather hazards, their risks, uncertainty, and recommended actions. Our approach is based on previous work on uncertainty visualization [5], cognitive science [6], and decision sciences for risk management [3, 4]. We propose six configurations that vary the ratio of text vs graphics used in the visual display, and the interaction workflow needed for a non-expert user to make an informed decision and effective actions. Our goal is to test how efficient these configurations are and to what degree they are suitable to communicate weather hazards, associated uncertainty, risk, and recommended actions to non-experts. Future steps include two cycle of evaluations, consisting of a first pilot to rapidly test the prototype with a small number of participants, collect actionable insights, and incorporate potential improvements. In a second user study, we will perform a crowd-sourced extensive evaluation of the visualization prototypes.</p><p><strong>References</strong></p><p>[1] A. Diehl, A. Abdul-Rahman, M. El-Assady, B. Bach, D. A. Keim, and M. Chen. Visguides: A forum for discussing visualization guidelines. In <em>Proceedings of the EuroVis Short Papers</em>, pages 61–65, 2018.</p><p>[2]  A. Diehl, E. E. Firat, T. Torsney-Weir, A. Abdul-Rahman, B. Bach, R. S. Laramee, R. Pajarola, and M. Chen. VisGuided: A community-driven approach for education in visualization.  In Proceedings Eurographics Education Papers, to appear, 2021.</p><p>[3] N. Fleischhut and S. M. Herzog. Wie laesst sich die unsicherheit von vorhersagen sinnvoll kommu- nizieren? In <em>Wetterwarnungen: Von der Extremereignisinformation zu Kommunikation und Handlung. Beiträge aus dem Forschungsprojekt WEXICOM</em>, pages 63–81. 2019.</p><p>[4] G. Gigerenzer, R. Hertwig, E. Van Den Broek, B. Fasolo, and K. V. Katsikopoulos. “A 30% chance of rain tomorrow”: How does the public understand probabilistic weather forecasts? <em>Risk Analysis: An International Journal</em>, 25(3):623–629, 2005.</p><p>[5] I. Kübler, K.-F. Richter, and S. I. Fabrikant. Against all odds: multicriteria decision making with hazard prediction maps depicting uncertainty. <em>Annals of the American Association of Geographers</em>, 110(3):661–683, 2020.</p><p>[6] L. M. Padilla, I. T. Ruginski, and S. H. Creem-Regehr. Effects of ensemble and summary displays on interpretations of geospatial uncertainty data. <em>Cognitive research: principles and implications</em>, 2(1):1–16, 2017.</p>



2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 84-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. A. Lapchenko ◽  
S. P. Isakova ◽  
T. N. Bobrova ◽  
L. A. Kolpakova

It is shown that the application of the Internet technologies is relevant in the selection of crop production technologies and the formation of a rational composition of the machine-and-tractor fl eet taking into account the conditions and production resources of a particular agricultural enterprise. The work gives a short description of the web applications, namely “ExactFarming”, “Agrivi” and “AgCommand” that provide a possibility to select technologies and technical means of soil treatment, and their functions. “ExactFarming” allows to collect and store information about temperature, precipitation and weather forecast in certain areas, keep records of information about crops and make technological maps using expert templates. “Agrivi” allows to store and provide access to weather information in the fi elds with certain crops. It has algorithms to detect and make warnings about risks related to diseases and pests, as well as provides economic calculations of crop profi tability and crop planning. “AgCommand” allows to track the position of machinery and equipment in the fi elds and provides data on the weather situation in order to plan the use of agricultural machinery in the fi elds. The web applications presented hereabove do not show relation between the technologies applied and agro-climatic features of the farm location zone. They do not take into account the phytosanitary conditions in the previous years, or the relief and contour of the fi elds while drawing up technological maps or selecting the machine-and-tractor fl eet. Siberian Physical-Technical Institute of Agrarian Problems of Siberian Federal Scientifi c Center of AgroBioTechnologies of the Russian Academy of Sciences developed a software complex PIKAT for supporting machine agrotechnologies for production of spring wheat grain at an agricultural enterprise, on the basis of which there is a plan to develop a web application that will consider all the main factors limiting the yield of cultivated crops.



Author(s):  
Яна Валерьевна Самиулина

В настоящей статье предпринята попытка исследовать отдельные проблемные аспекты института потерпевшего в российском уголовном процессе. В этих целях подвергнуты анализу правовые нормы, регламентирующие его процессуальный статус. Раскрываются отдельные пробелы уголовно-процессуального законодательства в сфере защиты законных прав и интересов потерпевшего. Автор акцентирует внимание на том, что совершенствование уголовно-процессуального законодательства в части расширения правомочий потерпевшего по отстаиванию своих нарушенных преступлением прав следует продолжить. На основании проведенного исследования действующего законодательства в части регламентации прав потерпевшего от преступления предлагается расширить перечень получаемых им копий постановлений, указанных в п. 13 ч. 2 ст. 42 УПК РФ. Автор предлагает включить в перечень указанной законодательной нормы право получения потерпевшим копии постановления об избрании конкретного вида меры пресечения, избранного в отношении подозреваемого (обвиняемого). Для создания действенного механизма защиты интересов потерпевших от преступления юридических лиц предлагаем ч. 9 ст. 42 УПК РФ изложить в следующей редакции: «в случае признания потерпевшим юридического лица его процессуальное право в уголовном процессе осуществляет представляющий его профессиональный адвокат». This article attempts to investigate certain problematic aspects of the institution of the victim in the Russian criminal process. For this purpose, analyzed the individual norms governing his procedural status. Separate gaps of the criminal procedure legislation in the sphere of protection of the legal rights and interests of the victim are disclosed. The author emphasizes that the improvement of the criminal procedure legislation in terms of the extension of the victim’s authority to defend his rights violated by the crime should be continued. On the basis of the study of the current legislation regarding the regulation of the rights of the victim of a crime, it is proposed to expand the list of decisions received by him, referred to in paragraph 13, part 2 of article 42 Code of Criminal Procedure. The author proposes to include in the list of the indicated legislative norm the right to receive the victim a copy of the decision on the selection of a specific type of preventive measure, selected in relation to the suspect (accused). To create an effective mechanism for protecting the interests of legal entities victims of a crime, we offer part 9 of art. 42 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation shall be reworded as follows: «if a legal entity is recognized as a victim, his procedural right in criminal proceedings is exercised by the professional lawyer representing him».



2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (13) ◽  
pp. 6047
Author(s):  
Soheil Rezaee ◽  
Abolghasem Sadeghi-Niaraki ◽  
Maryam Shakeri ◽  
Soo-Mi Choi

A lack of required data resources is one of the challenges of accepting the Augmented Reality (AR) to provide the right services to the users, whereas the amount of spatial information produced by people is increasing daily. This research aims to design a personalized AR that is based on a tourist system that retrieves the big data according to the users’ demographic contexts in order to enrich the AR data source in tourism. This research is conducted in two main steps. First, the type of the tourist attraction where the users interest is predicted according to the user demographic contexts, which include age, gender, and education level, by using a machine learning method. Second, the correct data for the user are extracted from the big data by considering time, distance, popularity, and the neighborhood of the tourist places, by using the VIKOR and SWAR decision making methods. By about 6%, the results show better performance of the decision tree by predicting the type of tourist attraction, when compared to the SVM method. In addition, the results of the user study of the system show the overall satisfaction of the participants in terms of the ease-of-use, which is about 55%, and in terms of the systems usefulness, about 56%.



Toxins ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 158
Author(s):  
Colin Eady

For 30 years, forage ryegrass breeding has known that the germplasm may contain a maternally inherited symbiotic Epichloë endophyte. These endophytes produce a suite of secondary alkaloid compounds, dependent upon strain. Many produce ergot and other alkaloids, which are associated with both insect deterrence and livestock health issues. The levels of alkaloids and other endophyte characteristics are influenced by strain, host germplasm, and environmental conditions. Some strains in the right host germplasm can confer an advantage over biotic and abiotic stressors, thus acting as a maternally inherited desirable ‘trait’. Through seed production, these mutualistic endophytes do not transmit into 100% of the crop seed and are less vigorous than the grass seed itself. This causes stability and longevity issues for seed production and storage should the ‘trait’ be desired in the germplasm. This makes understanding the precise nature of the relationship vitally important to the plant breeder. These Epichloë endophytes cannot be ‘bred’ in the conventional sense, as they are asexual. Instead, the breeder may modulate endophyte characteristics through selection of host germplasm, a sort of breeding by proxy. This article explores, from a forage seed company perspective, the issues that endophyte characteristics and breeding them by proxy have on ryegrass breeding, and outlines the methods used to assess the ‘trait’, and the application of these through the breeding, production, and deployment processes. Finally, this article investigates opportunities for enhancing the utilisation of alkaloid-producing endophytes within pastures, with a focus on balancing alkaloid levels to further enhance pest deterrence and improving livestock outcomes.



2021 ◽  
Vol 263 (1) ◽  
pp. 4955-4961
Author(s):  
Mathieu Gontier ◽  
Barbara Romeyns

In industry segments such as automotive and industrial equipment the use of compressed porous materials is well known to improve the global acoustic performance of the complete system. Such porous materials should be designed in a specific way in order to reach a significant acoustic sealing performance at different compression rates. Unfortunately, there are no standard measurement procedures nor predefined material characteristics that allow the selection of the right material with the optimal acoustic performance. The main goal of this research is to link acoustic performance of compressed porous materials with intrinsic material characteristics using statistical techniques.



Author(s):  
Andy Dong ◽  
Alice M. Agogino

Abstract In design synthesis, engineering prototypes make an ideal representation medium for preliminary designs. Unlike parametric design wherein a pre-specified design is parametrically varied, design synthesis demands artistic creativity and engineering experience to transform the previously known components, relationships and designs into a new form. The process compels the designer to ascertain which prototypes will, in some sense, best satisfy the design task. The challenge in this assignment lies in selecting the “right” design prototype. This selection process typically entails an objective evaluation of different designs that perform the same functions or have similar intended behavior and comparing trade-offs between alternate designs. This paper introduces a multi-objective spectral optimization algorithm for the selection of design prototypes based upon their functional representations. The optimization algorithm returns an index of rank, scoring the functional similarity of the proposed design to the goal design. Two illustrative examples apply the algorithm to the selection of a heat fin and beam.



2018 ◽  
pp. 7-79
Author(s):  
S.Yu. Vdovichenko ◽  
◽  
T.D. Fakhrutdinova ◽  

The objective: depression of obstetric and perinatal complications at pregnant women with pathological increase of body weight during pregnancy on the basis of studying of clinical-functional, endocrinologic, metabolic, morphological features of condition of fetoplacental complex and development of advanced algorithm of treatment-and-prophylactic actions. Materials and methods. We conducted examination of 264 patients who consisted on the account concerning pregnancy in female consultations of Kiev. By a method of selection of 178 women were included in retrospective research and 86 – in prospective. The main group was made by 39 pregnant women with whom led individual discussions, control – 142 women, that received traditional references in female consultation. Results. Use of the algorithm improved by us allows to improve obstetric (decrease of frequency of a preeclampsia by 12.3%; anomalies of a patrimonial deyalnost for 8.4%) and perinatal outcomes (depression of level of an asphyxia at a delivery for 9.4% and post-natal adaptation for 7.8%) deliveries of women with an excessive increase of body weight during pregnancy. Conclusion. The received results grant the right to recommend the algorithm improved by us for wide use in practical health care. Key words: obstetric and perinatal pathology, pathological increase of body weight, prophylaxis.



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