Introducing the Vienna Urban Carbon Laboratory (VUCL)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bradley Matthews ◽  
Andrea Watzinger ◽  
Jia Chen ◽  
Helmut Schume ◽  
Hans Sanden ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Capital City ◽  
Local Stakeholder ◽  
Mixing Ratios ◽  
Flux System ◽  
Telekom Austria ◽  
Multi Method Approach ◽  
Mitigation Action ◽  
Environment Agency ◽  
Recent Project ◽  
The University

<p>The Vienna Urban Carbon Laboratory (VUCL) has begun testing in situ measurement-based options for monitoring local carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) and methane (CH<sub>4</sub>) emissions in Austria’s capital city. Building upon the groundwork of the CarboWien project, VUCL extends and expands the current tall-tower eddy covariance flux system and will furthermore conduct campaigns to measure carbon isotopes and isofluxes, as well as upwind-downwind gradients in total column CO<sub>2</sub> and CH<sub>4</sub> mixing ratios. The project, which runs between 2021 and 2024 and is funded by the Vienna Science and Technology Fund (WWTF), will be implemented by a collaboration between the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna (BOKU), the Technical University of Munich (TUM), the Environment Agency Austria (EAA) and A1 Telekom Austria AG (A1). In addition to contributing to international research into measurement-based greenhouse gas emissions monitoring, the multi-method approach provides an opportunity to demonstrate measurement-based emissions monitoring options directly to Vienna’s civil servants responsible for climate change mitigation action in the city. Continuous local stakeholder engagement over the project duration is therefore planned.</p><p>This conference contribution to the WMO-IG3IS session at vEGU21 will allow VUCL to be introduced to relevant scientists and stakeholders in the international community. Given the recent project start (01 Feb 2021), the foreseen discussions on the project’s planned implementation will provide an important and timely input into VUCL. Finally, initial VUCL results will be presented together with data from the preceding CarboWien project (2018-2020) to show how the measured CO<sub>2</sub> fluxes in Vienna have been impacted by the lockdown restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.</p>

scholarly journals Towards Developing a Framework to Analyze the Qualities of the University Websites

Computers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 57
Author(s):  
Maliha Rashida ◽  
Kawsarul Islam ◽  
A. S. M. Kayes ◽  
Mohammad Hammoudeh ◽  
Mohammad Shamsul Arefin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
University Ranking ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Ranking Systems ◽  
Notice Board ◽  
Academic Websites ◽  
Multi Method Approach ◽  
The University ◽  
University Ranking Systems ◽  
Ranked List

The website of a university is considered to be a virtual gateway to provide primary resources to its stakeholders. It can play an indispensable role in disseminating information about a university to a variety of audience at a time. Thus, the quality of an academic website requires special attention to fulfil the users’ need. This paper presents a multi-method approach of quality assessment of the academic websites, in the context of universities of Bangladesh. We developed an automated web-based tool that can evaluate any academic website based on three criteria, which are as follows: content of information, loading time and overall performance. Content of information contains many sub criteria, such as university vision and mission, faculty information, notice board and so on. This tool can also perform comparative analysis among several academic websites and generate a ranked list of these. To the best of our knowledge, this is the very first initiative to develop an automated tool for accessing academic website quality in context of Bangladesh. Beside this, we have conducted a questionnaire-based statistical evaluation among several universities to obtain the respective users’ feedback about their academic websites. Then, a ranked list is generated based on the survey result that is almost similar to the ranked list got from the University ranking systems. This validates the effectiveness of our developed tool in accessing academic website.

Towards Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 138-158
Author(s):  
Umer Khayyam ◽  
Rida Bano ◽  
Shahzad Alvi
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Capital City ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Adaptation Measures ◽  
Natural Systems ◽  
Mitigation And Adaptation ◽  
Level Of Motivation ◽  
The University

Abstract Global climate change is one of the main threats facing humanity and the impacts on natural systems as well as humans are expected to be severe. People can take action against these threats through two approaches: mitigation and adaptation. However, mitigations and adaptations are contingent on the level of motivation and awareness, as well as socio-economic and environmental conditions. This study examined personal perception and motivation to mitigate and adapt to climate change among the university students in the capital city of Pakistan. We divided the respondents into social sciences, applied sciences and natural sciences, using logistic regression analysis. The results indicated that students who perceive severity, benefits from preparation, and have more information about climate change were 1.57, 4.98 and 1.63 times more likely to take mitigation and 1.47, 1.14 and 1.17 times more likely to take adaptation measures, respectively. Students who perceived self-efficacy, obstacles to protect from the negative consequences of climate change and who belonged to affluent families were more likely to take mitigation measures and less likely to take adaptation strategies. However, mitigation and adaptation were unaffected by age, gender and study discipline.

scholarly journals Urban greenhouse gas emissions from the Berlin area: A case study using airborne CO2 and CH4 in situ observations in summer 2018

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theresa Klausner ◽  
Mariano Mertens ◽  
Heidi Huntrieser ◽  
Michal Galkowski ◽  
Gerrit Kuhlmann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Capital City ◽  
Detailed Knowledge ◽  
Emission Flux ◽  
Gas Emissions ◽  
Mixing Ratios

<p>Urban areas are recognised as a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), such as carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) and methane (CH<sub>4</sub>). The total amount of urban GHG emissions, especially for CH<sub>4</sub>, however, is not well quantified. Here we report on airborne in situ measurements using a Picarro G1301-m analyser aboard the DLR Cessna Grand Caravan to study GHG emissions downwind of the German capital city Berlin. In total, five aircraft-based mass balance experiments were conducted in July 2018 within the Urban Climate Under Change [UC]<sup>2</sup> project. The detection and isolation of the Berlin plume was often challenging because of comparatively small GHG signals above variable atmospheric background concentrations. However, on July 20<sup>th</sup> enhancements of up to 4 ppm CO<sub>2</sub> and 21 ppb CH<sub>4</sub> were observed over a horizontal extent of roughly 45 to 65 km downwind of Berlin. These enhanced mixing ratios are clearly distinguishable from the background and can partly be assigned to city emissions. The estimated CO<sub>2</sub> emission flux of 1.39 ± 0.75 t s<sup>-1 </sup>is in agreement with current inventories, while the CH<sub>4</sub> emission flux of 5.20 ± 1.61 kg s<sup>-1</sup> is almost two times larger than the highest reported value in the inventories. We localized the source area with HYSPLIT trajectory calculations and the high resolution numerical model MECO(n) (down to ~1 km), and investigated the contribution from sewage-treatment plants and waste deposition to CH<sub>4</sub>, which are treated differently by the emission inventories. Our work highlights the importance of a) strong CH<sub>4</sub> sources in the surroundings of Berlin and b) a detailed knowledge of GHG inflow mixing ratios to suitably estimate emission rates.</p>

scholarly journals ‘Between life and death’: On land, silence and liberation in the capital city

2014 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephan F. De Beer
Keyword(s):  
Social Movement ◽  
Mission Statement ◽  
The Other ◽  
Capital City ◽  
Capital Cities ◽  
Life And Death ◽  
University Of Pretoria ◽  
The One ◽  
The University ◽  
The City

This article reflects on the unfinished task of liberation – as expressed in issues of land – and drawing from the work of Franz Fanon and the Durban-based social movement Abahlali baseMjondolo. It locates its reflections in four specific sites of struggle in the City of Tshwane, and against the backdrop of the mission statement of the Faculty of Theology at the University of Pretoria, as well as the Capital Cities Research Project based in the same university. Reflecting on the ‘living death’ of millions of landless people on the one hand, and the privatisation of liberation on the other, it argues that a liberating praxis of engagement remains a necessity in order to break the violent silences that perpetuate exclusion.

Gaceta de Guatemala in the Colonial Period

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Poupeney Hart
Keyword(s):  
Central America ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
Colonial Period ◽  
Spanish America ◽  
Capital City ◽  
The Political ◽  
Vast Array ◽  
The Third ◽  
The University ◽  
Political Turmoil

Gaceta de Guatemala is the name of a newspaper spanning four series and published in Central America before the region’s independence from Spain. As one of the first newspapers to appear in Spanish America on a periodical basis, the initial series (1729–1731) was inspired by its Mexican counterpart (Gaceta de México) and thus it adopted a strong local and chronological focus. The title resurfaced at the end of the 18th century thanks to the printer and bookseller Ignacio Beteta who would assure its continuity until 1816. The paper appeared as a mainly news-oriented publication (1793–1796), only to be reshaped and energized by a small group of enlightened men close to the university and the local government (1797–1807). In an effort to galvanize society along the lines of the reforms promoted by the Bourbon regime, and to engage in a dialogue with readers beyond the borders of the capital city of Guatemala, they relied on a vast array of sources (authorized and censored) and on a journalistic model associated with the British Spectator: it allowed them to explore different genres and a wide variety of topics, while also allowing the paper to fulfill its role as an official and practical news channel. The closure of the Economic Society which had been the initial motor for the third series, and the failure to attract or retain strong contributors led slowly to the journal’s social irrelevance. It was resurrected a year after ceasing publication, to address the political turmoil caused by the Napoleonic invasion of the Peninsula and to curb this event’s repercussions overseas. These circumstances warranted a mainly news-oriented format, which prevailed in the following years. The official character of the paper was confirmed in 1812 when it appeared as the Gaceta del Gobierno de Guatemala, a name with which it finally ended publication (1808–1816).

scholarly journals Intercomparison of the comparative reactivity method (CRM) and pump–probe technique for measuring total OH reactivity in an urban environment

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 4243-4264 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. F. Hansen ◽  
M. Blocquet ◽  
C. Schoemaecker ◽  
T. Léonardis ◽  
N. Locoge ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Probe Method ◽  
Urban Site ◽  
Pump Probe ◽  
Mixing Ratios ◽  
Inorganic Species ◽  
Field Campaigns ◽  
Measurement Artifact ◽  
The University ◽  
Ambient Measurements ◽  
Comparative Reactivity

Abstract. The investigation of hydroxyl radical (OH) chemistry during intensive field campaigns has led to the development of several techniques dedicated to ambient measurements of total OH reactivity, which is the inverse of the OH lifetime. Three techniques are currently used during field campaigns, including the total OH loss rate method, the pump–probe method, and the comparative reactivity method. However, no formal intercomparison of these techniques has been published so far, and there is a need to ensure that measurements of total OH reactivity are consistent among the different techniques. An intercomparison of two OH reactivity instruments, one based on the comparative reactivity method (CRM) and the other based on the pump–probe method, was performed in October 2012 in a NOx-rich environment, which is known to be challenging for the CRM technique. This study presents an extensive description of the two instruments, the CRM instrument from Mines Douai (MD-CRM) and the pump–probe instrument from the University of Lille (UL-FAGE), and highlights instrumental issues associated with the two techniques. It was found that the CRM instrument used in this study underestimates ambient OH reactivity by approximately 20 % due to the photolysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) inside the sampling reactor; this value is dependent on the position of the lamp within the reactor. However, this issue can easily be fixed, and the photolysis of VOCs was successfully reduced to a negligible level after this intercomparison campaign. The UL-FAGE instrument may also underestimate ambient OH reactivity due to the difficulty to accurately measure the instrumental zero. It was found that the measurements are likely biased by approximately 2 s-1, due to impurities in humid zero air. Two weeks of ambient sampling indicate that the measurements performed by the two OH reactivity instruments are in agreement, within the measurement uncertainties for each instrument, for NOx mixing ratios up to 100 ppbv. The CRM technique has hitherto mainly been used in low-NOx environments, i.e. environments with ambient NOx mixing ratios lower than a few ppbv, due to a measurement artifact generated by ambient NO inside the sampling reactor. However, this study shows that this technique can also be used under NOx-rich conditions if a NOx-dependent correction is carefully applied on the OH reactivity measurements. A full suite of 52 VOCs, NOx, and other inorganic species were monitored during this intercomparison. An investigation of the OH reactivity budget for this urban site suggests that this suite of trace gases can account for the measured total OH reactivity.

scholarly journals Probing the structure of the stable Xe isotopes with inelastic neutron scattering

2018 ◽  
Vol 178 ◽  
pp. 02028 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin E. Peters ◽  
Timothy J. Ross ◽  
Benjamin P. Crider ◽  
Steven W. Yates
Keyword(s):  
Neutron Scattering ◽  
Inelastic Neutron Scattering ◽  
Transition Probabilities ◽  
Inelastic Neutron ◽  
Transitional Region ◽  
University Of Kentucky ◽  
Mixing Ratios ◽  
Spectroscopic Information ◽  
Reduced Transition Probabilities ◽  
The University

The stable isotopes of xenon, which have attracted interest for a number of reasons, span a transitional region that evolves from γ-soft structures for the lighter mass isotopes to nearly spherical 136Xe with a closed neutron shell. The nature of this transition, which is gradual, is not well understood. To provide detailed spectroscopic information on the Xe isotopes, we have studied 130,132,134,136Xe at the University of Kentucky Accelerator Laboratory using inelastic neutron scattering and γ-ray detection. These measurements yielded γ-ray angular distributions, branching ratios, multipole mixing ratios, and level lifetimes (from the Doppler-shift attenuation method), which allowed the determination of reduced transition probabilities and provided insight into the structure of these nuclei.

scholarly journals Universities as Embedded Knowledge Hubs and the Challenge of Local Development. The US Lessons and the Italian Case

2010 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 5-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorenzo Ciapetti
Keyword(s):  
Local Development ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Modal Shift ◽  
University System ◽  
Italian Case ◽  
Development Section ◽  
Johns Hopkins University ◽  
The Us ◽  
Recent Project ◽  
The University

This article discusses the claim of a new paradigm in the knowledge production and diffusion process, and the need to assess the regional and local implications of this modal shift. After introductory remarks included in the first part of the paper, its next section introduces the theme of localisation of knowledge as a source of regional development; section three examines the lessons we can extract from the US university system (with a particular regard to the case of Johns Hopkins University and the recent project for a biotech park in the city of Baltimore); in section four an illustration of the Italian University system leads to a description of the current evolution of the University of Bologna toward a new entrepreneurial role. The last part of the paper discusses the embedded role of universities in the light of the two cases presented in the previous sections and draws the conclusions in terms of regional policy.

scholarly journals Paradiplomacy in Creating Regional Competitiveness: Case Study of Jember Regency

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 166-186
Author(s):  
Laode Muhamad Fathun
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Foreign Relations ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
Foreign Affairs ◽  
Capital City ◽  
Artistic Identity ◽  
Regional Competitiveness ◽  
Digital Era ◽  
The University

This paper describes the paradiplomacy of the Jember Regency. This paper shows that the Jember Regency’s paradiplomacy through city diplomacy can act as an actor who can cooperate with countries such as Japan and Canada in various fields in order to be a safe and comfortable regency. In doing so, the local government seeks to create international connections through sister cities and smart cities. This effort is a strategy to enter the digital era, which demands more innovative and creative regions. Jember Regency uses a conservative type of paradiplomacy which in line with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as the foreign relations coordinator. Thus, the relationship built is in the form of a joint coordinator formula and parallel harmony between the capital city and the local government. In addition, educational cooperation was conducted by the University of Jember as a form of soft power to introduce many foreigners’ artistic identity, values, and local culture. 

Akwaaba! My Welcome to Ghana

2000 ◽  
Vol 28 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 134-139
Author(s):  
Alma Riggs
Keyword(s):  
Short Distance ◽  
Capital City ◽  
African Studies ◽  
State University ◽  
Master's Program ◽  
International Affairs ◽  
African Soil ◽  
The University ◽  
University Of Ghana

I first landed on African soil in August 1999, prepared to begin a yearlong master’s program in the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ghana. During my final year as an undergraduate majoring in international affairs at Kennesaw State University in Georgia, I had applied for and was awarded a scholarship from the Rotary International Foundation. Although I had about nine months to prepare myself for my stay in Ghana, the reality of everything I saw and experienced there defied and often surpassed my expectations. The university is in Legon, a short distance north of the capital city of Accra. Accra is an enormous, sprawling city, and I really didn’t expect it to be quite so big. But with a map in hand, it was fairly simple to get from place to place, and people went out of their way to make sure I got to where I was going, if I asked for help. There is a lot of poverty, a lot of children who are on the streets selling odds and ends rather than going to school, and a lot of pollution (air, water, land, noise—you name it). But there is also an enormously warm feeling there, which is somehow indescribable. Friendliness and helpfulness seem to be characteristic, and despite the healthy dose of precaution I tried to maintain, I had the feeling (and I have been told, as well) that Accra is a very safe city.

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