Impact of subjective modeling decisions on hydrological modeling

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashlin Ann Alexander ◽  
Dasika Nagesh Kumar
Keyword(s):  
Hydrological Modeling ◽  
Systematic Evaluation ◽  
Suitable Model ◽  
Model Simulations ◽  
Model Configuration ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Model Components ◽  
Parameter Values ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Subjective Modeling

<p>Modelers often make different decisions in building hydrologic models based on their experience and modeling philosophy. Consequently, a wide range of models is developed, which differ in many aspects of conceptualization and implementation. This diversity of models has been useful to explore a myriad of scientific and applied questions, but it has also led to great confusion on choosing the appropriate model configurations in compliance with the dominant processes in the study area. Also, modeling decisions during model configuration introduce subjectivity from the modeler. To provide guidance to select the best-suited model configuration for a catchment it is required to examine and evaluate the different model representations of hydrological processes and their impact on model simulations. In this study, we show that modeling decisions during the model configuration, beyond the model choice, also impact the model results. The framework, Structure for Unifying Multiple Modeling Alternatives (SUMMA; Clark et al., 2015a, b) is used in this study to disentangle the model components which helps to have a controlled and systematic evaluation of multiple models representations. The area chosen for the study is the Malaprabha catchment in the Karnataka state of India. The impact of the choice of parameterizations and parameter values on the model simulations are shown. To improve upon the traditional model evaluation methods, hydrological signatures are made use to have a hydrologically meaningful evaluation of model simulations. This study helped to identify the suitable model configuration for the Malaprabha catchment. Multiple working hypotheses during model configuration which is possible with the help of such flexible framework like SUMMA can provide insights on the impact of subjective modeling decisions.</p>

Statistical Methods in the Analysis of Pollution Impacts on Human Health

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 1451
Author(s):  
Marina V. ROSSINSKAYA ◽  
Violetta V. ROKOTYANSKAYA ◽  
Valery V. MEDOVY ◽  
Ekaterina V. IVANOVA ◽  
Elvira Ch. SHADUYEVA
Keyword(s):  
Federal District ◽  
Economic Security ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Systematic Evaluation ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Human Economic Activity ◽  
Monitoring And Forecasting ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
Pollution Impacts ◽  
The Impact

The problems of sustainable development of socio-ecological systems are deeply related to the safety of the society's functioning, which depends on many factors and requires a systematic evaluation and special approaches to determine all their aspects. The article discusses a wide range of actual problems of monitoring and forecasting in the system of assessing the ecological, social and economic security of a region, and analyses the rationale of statistical analysis methods. But, it is has to be noted that for a number of important indicators there is no reliable statistical information, and this fact negatively affects the results of the study. A complex cluster analysis of the impact of human economic activity on the environment and public health has been carried out on the example of the Southern Federal District of the Russian Federation.

scholarly journals Optimized Piston Motion for an Alpha-Type Stirling Engine

Entropy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 700 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin Masser ◽  
Abdellah Khodja ◽  
Mathias Scheunert ◽  
Karsten Schwalbe ◽  
Andreas Fischer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Waste Heat ◽  
Stirling Engine ◽  
Piston Motion ◽  
Performance Improvements ◽  
Engine Model ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Parameter Values ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Alpha Type

The Stirling engine is one of the most promising devices for the recovery of waste heat. Its power output can be optimized by several means, in particular by an optimized piston motion. Here, we investigate its potential performance improvements in the presence of dissipative processes. In order to ensure the possibility of a technical implementation and the simplicity of the optimization, we restrict the possible piston movements to a parametrized class of smooth piston motions. In this theoretical study the engine model is based on endoreversible thermodynamics, which allows us to incorporate non-equilibrium heat and mass transfer as well as the friction of the piston motion. The regenerator of the Stirling engine is modeled as ideal. An investigation of the impact of the individual loss mechanisms on the resulting optimized motion is carried out for a wide range of parameter values. We find that an optimization within our restricted piston motion class leads to a power gain of about 50% on average.

scholarly journals Climate-dependent propagation of precipitation uncertainty into the water cycle

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Fallah Maraghi ◽  
Sungmin Oh ◽  
Rene Orth
Keyword(s):  
Hydrological Modeling ◽  
Hydrological Model ◽  
Water Cycle ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Rain Gauge ◽  
Multiple Sources ◽  
Current State ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Impact

<p>Precipitation is a crucial variable for hydro-meteorological applications. Unfortunately, rain gauge measurements are sparse and unevenly distributed, which substantially hampers the use of in-situ precipitation data in many regions of the world. The increasing availability of high-resolution gridded precipitation products presents a valuable alternative, especially over gauge-sparse regions. Nevertheless, uncertainties and corresponding differences across products can limit the applicability of these data. This study examines the usefulness of current state-of-the-art precipitation datasets in hydrological modeling. For this purpose, we force a conceptual hydrological model with multiple precipitation datasets in >200 European catchments. We consider a wide range of precipitation products, which are generated via (1) interpolation of gauge measurements (E-OBS and GPCC V.2018), (2) data assimilation into reanalysis models (ERA-Interim, ERA5, and CFSR) and (3) combination of multiple sources (MSWEP V2). For each catchment, runoff and evapotranspiration simulations are obtained by forcing the model with the various precipitation products. Evaluation is done at the monthly time scale during the period of 1984-2007. We find that simulated runoff values are highly dependent on the accuracy of precipitation inputs, and thus show significant differences between the simulations. By contrast, simulated evapotranspiration is generally much less influenced. The results are further analysed with respect to different hydro-climatic regimes. We find that the impact of precipitation uncertainty on simulated runoff increases towards wetter regions, while the opposite is observed in the case of evapotranspiration. Finally, we perform an indirect performance evaluation of the precipitation datasets by comparing the runoff simulations with streamflow observations. Thereby, E-OBS yields the best agreement, while furthermore ERA5, GPCC V.2018 and MSWEP V2 show good performance. In summary, our findings highlight a climate-dependent propagation of precipitation uncertainty through the water cycle; while runoff is strongly impacted in comparatively wet regions such as Central Europe, there are increasing implications on evapotranspiration towards drier regions.</p>

scholarly journals Climate-dependent propagation of precipitation uncertainty into the water cycle

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (7) ◽  
pp. 3725-3735
Author(s):  
Ali Fallah ◽  
Sungmin O ◽  
Rene Orth
Keyword(s):  
Hydrological Modeling ◽  
Water Cycle ◽  
Rain Gauge ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Precipitation Data ◽  
Multiple Sources ◽  
Study Region ◽  
Global Precipitation Climatology Centre ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Precipitation is a crucial variable for hydro-meteorological applications. Unfortunately, rain gauge measurements are sparse and unevenly distributed, which substantially hampers the use of in situ precipitation data in many regions of the world. The increasing availability of high-resolution gridded precipitation products presents a valuable alternative, especially over poorly gauged regions. This study examines the usefulness of current state-of-the-art precipitation data sets in hydrological modeling. For this purpose, we force a conceptual hydrological model with multiple precipitation data sets in >200 European catchments to obtain runoff and evapotranspiration. We consider a wide range of precipitation products, which are generated via (1) the interpolation of gauge measurements (E-OBS and Global Precipitation Climatology Centre (GPCC) V.2018), (2)  data assimilation into reanalysis models (ERA-Interim, ERA5, and Climate Forecast System Reanalysis – CFSR), and (3) a combination of multiple sources (Multi-Source Weighted-Ensemble Precipitation; MSWEP V2). Evaluation is done at the daily and monthly timescales during the period of 1984–2007. We find that simulated runoff values are highly dependent on the accuracy of precipitation inputs; in contrast, simulated evapotranspiration is generally much less influenced in our comparatively wet study region. We also find that the impact of precipitation uncertainty on simulated runoff increases towards wetter regions, while the opposite is observed in the case of evapotranspiration. Finally, we perform an indirect performance evaluation of the precipitation data sets by comparing the runoff simulations with streamflow observations. Thereby, E-OBS yields the particularly strong agreement, while ERA5, GPCC V.2018, and MSWEP V2 show good performances. We further reveal climate-dependent performance variations of the considered data sets, which can be used to guide their future development. The overall best agreement is achieved when using an ensemble mean generated from all the individual products. In summary, our findings highlight a climate-dependent propagation of precipitation uncertainty through the water cycle; while runoff is strongly impacted in comparatively wet regions, such as central Europe, there are increasing implications for evapotranspiration in drier regions.

THE IMPACT OF LEADERSHIP PRACTICES TO TEAM MEMBERS’ SATISFACTION

2009 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chalimah .
Keyword(s):  
Conflict Resolution ◽  
Leadership Practices ◽  
Hotel Industry ◽  
Leader Behavior ◽  
Team Leader ◽  
Shop Floor ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Top Executives ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Impact

eamwork is becoming increasingly important to wide range of operations. It applies to all levels of the company. It is just as important for top executives as it is to middle management, supervisors and shop floor workers. Poor teamwork at any level or between levels can seriously damage organizational effectiveness. The focus of this paper was therefore to examine whether leadership practices consist of team leader behavior, conflict resolution style and openness in communication significantly influenced the team member’s satisfaction in hotel industry. Result indicates that team leader behavior and the conflict resolution style significantly influenced team member satisfaction. It was surprising that openness in communication did not affect significantly to the team members’ satisfaction.

Stress, anxiety, depression and burnout in frontline health care workers during COVID-19 pandemic: a brief systematic review and new data from Russia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ekaterina Mosolova ◽  
Dmitry Sosin ◽  
Sergey Mosolov
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Female Gender ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Care Workers ◽  
Younger Age ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Associated Risk Factors ◽  
Anxiety Depression ◽  
The Impact

During the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare workers (HCWs) have been subject to increased workload while also exposed to many psychosocial stressors. In a systematic review we analyze the impact that the pandemic has had on HCWs mental state and associated risk factors. Most studies reported high levels of depression and anxiety among HCWs worldwide, however, due to a wide range of assessment tools, cut-off scores, and number of frontline participants in the studies, results were difficult to compare. Our study is based on two online surveys of 2195 HCWs from different regions of Russia during spring and autumn epidemic outbreaks revealed the rates of anxiety, stress, depression, emotional exhaustion and depersonalization and perceived stress as 32.3%, 31.1%, 45.5%, 74.2%, 37.7% ,67.8%, respectively. Moreover, 2.4% of HCWs reported suicidal thoughts. The most common risk factors include: female gender, nurse as an occupation, younger age, working for over 6 months, chronic diseases, smoking, high working demands, lack of personal protective equipment, low salary, lack of social support, isolation from families, the fear of relatives getting infected. These results demonstrate the need for urgent supportive programs for HCWs fighting COVID-19 that fall into higher risk factors groups.

A MODELING SYSTEM FOR CLIMATE CHANGE RISK ASSESSMENT, MANAGEMENT AND HEDGING IN COASTAL AREAS

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergei Soldatenko ◽  
Sergei Soldatenko ◽  
Genrikh Alekseev ◽  
Genrikh Alekseev ◽  
Alexander Danilov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Coastal Areas ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
System Structure ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Risk Modeling ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Adverse Weather ◽  
The Impact

Every aspect of human operations faces a wide range of risks, some of which can cause serious consequences. By the start of 21st century, mankind has recognized a new class of risks posed by climate change. It is obvious, that the global climate is changing, and will continue to change, in ways that affect the planning and day to day operations of businesses, government agencies and other organizations and institutions. The manifestations of climate change include but not limited to rising sea levels, increasing temperature, flooding, melting polar sea ice, adverse weather events (e.g. heatwaves, drought, and storms) and a rise in related problems (e.g. health and environmental). Assessing and managing climate risks represent one of the most challenging issues of today and for the future. The purpose of the risk modeling system discussed in this paper is to provide a framework and methodology to quantify risks caused by climate change, to facilitate estimates of the impact of climate change on various spheres of human activities and to compare eventual adaptation and risk mitigation strategies. The system integrates both physical climate system and economic models together with knowledge-based subsystem, which can help support proactive risk management. System structure and its main components are considered. Special attention is paid to climate risk assessment, management and hedging in the Arctic coastal areas.

The Management of Post-Tonsillectomy Morbidity in Patients With Sleep Apnoea

2019 ◽  
Vol 70 (10) ◽  
pp. 3738-3740
Keyword(s):  
Day Surgery ◽  
Sleep Apnoea ◽  
Integrative Approach ◽  
Multicenter Studies ◽  
Therapeutic Modalities ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Obstructive Sleep ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Surgery Center

The Tonsillectomy in children or adults is an intervention commonly encountered in the ENT (Ear Nose and Throat) and Head and Neck surgeon practice. The current tendency is to perform this type of surgery in major ambulatory surgery centers. Two objectives are thus pursued: first of all, the increase of the patient quality of life through the reintegration into the family as quickly as possible and secondly, the expenses associated with continuous hospitalization are reduced. Any tertiary (multidisciplinary) sleep center must ensure the complete diagnosis and treatment (including surgery) of sleep respiratory disorders. Under these conditions the selection of patients and especially the implementation of the specific protocols in order to control the postoperative complications it becomes essential. The present paper describes our experience of tonsillectomy as treatment for selected patients with chronic rhonchopathy (snoring) and mild to moderate obstructive sleep apnoea. It was presented the impact of antibiotics protocols in reducing the main morbid outcomes following tonsillectomy, in our day surgery center. The obtained results can also be a prerequisite for the integrative approach of the patients with sleep apnoea who were recommended surgical treatment. Considering the wide range of therapeutic modalities used in sleep apnoea, each with its specific advantages and disadvantages, more extensive and multicenter studies are needed. Keywords: post-tonsillectomy morbidity, day surgery center, sleep disorders

Heterotrophic Kinetic Parameter Estimation for Enhanced Biological Phosphorus Removal Processes Operated in Conventional and Membrane-Assisted Modes

2006 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhe Zhang ◽  
Eric R. Hall
Keyword(s):  
Parameter Estimation ◽  
Phosphorus Removal ◽  
Growth Yield ◽  
Pilot Scale ◽  
Enhanced Biological Phosphorus Removal ◽  
Biological Phosphorus Removal ◽  
Nitrogen And Phosphorus ◽  
Parameter Values ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Biological Phosphorus

Abstract Parameter estimation and wastewater characterization are crucial for modelling of the membrane enhanced biological phosphorus removal (MEBPR) process. Prior to determining the values of a subset of kinetic and stoichiometric parameters used in ASM No. 2 (ASM2), the carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus fractions of influent wastewater at the University of British Columbia (UBC) pilot plant were characterized. It was found that the UBC wastewater contained fractions of volatile acids (SA), readily fermentable biodegradable COD (SF) and slowly biodegradable COD (XS) that fell within the ASM2 default value ranges. The contents of soluble inert COD (SI) and particulate inert COD (XI) were somewhat higher than ASM2 default values. Mixed liquor samples from pilot-scale MEBPR and conventional enhanced biological phosphorus removal (CEBPR) processes operated under parallel conditions, were then analyzed experimentally to assess the impact of operation in a membrane-assisted mode on the growth yield (YH), decay coefficient (bH) and maximum specific growth rate of heterotrophic biomass (µH). The resulting values for YH, bH and µH were slightly lower for the MEBPR train than for the CEBPR train, but the differences were not statistically significant. It is suggested that MEBPR simulation using ASM2 could be accomplished satisfactorily using parameter values determined for a conventional biological phosphorus removal process, if MEBPR parameter values are not available.

Cognitive Impact of Cerebellar Damage: Is There a Future for Cognitive Rehabilitation?

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 199-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim van Dun ◽  
Frank V. Overwalle ◽  
Mario Manto ◽  
Peter Marien
Keyword(s):  
Affective Disorders ◽  
Cognitive Rehabilitation ◽  
Therapeutic Interventions ◽  
Posterior Fossa Surgery ◽  
Daily Life Activities ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Affective Deficits ◽  
Cerebellar Injury ◽  
Cognitive Therapies ◽  
The Impact

Background & Objective: During the past 3 decades, numerous neurophysiological, neuroimaging, experimental and clinical studies have evidenced a crucial role for the cerebellum in cognitive, affective and behavioral functions. As a result of the acknowledged modulatory role of the cerebellum upon remote structures such as the cerebral cortex, cerebellar injury may give rise to a constellation of behavioral, affective and cognitive symptoms (Schmahmann's Syndrome). In sharp contrast to the wide range of therapeutic interventions to treat cognitive and affective disorders following cerebral cortical lesions and despite the consequences of Schmahmann’s syndrome upon daily life activities, the literature is surprisingly only scantly documented with studies investigating the impact of cognitive therapies on cerebellar induced cognitive and affective disorders. This survey aims to present an overview of the therapeutic interventions available in the literature as a possible treatment for Schmahmann’s Syndrome after cerebellar injury, after posterior fossa surgery in children, and in children with neurodevelopmental disorders. Although systematical studies are clearly warranted, available evidence suggests that cerebellar-induced cognitive and affective disorders should be treated in a specific way. Approaches where the patients are explicitly made aware of their deficits and are considered to act as an “external cerebellum” are the most promising. Conclusion: The study of the anatomical connectivity of the cerebellar microcomplexes involved in cognitive/affective deficits is likely to play a major-role in the future.

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