Providing Successful Scat Data Management Support During Spill Response

1999 ◽  
Vol 1999 (1) ◽  
pp. 943-945 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alain Lamarche ◽  
Jack Ion ◽  
Edward H. Owens ◽  
Peter Rubec

ABSTRACT Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Teams (SCAT) are now used worldwide to assess oiled shorelines as part of response cleanup activities. The amount of SCAT information gathered during surveys can be very large, with the possibility of overwhelming decision makers. New tools are now available to automate the processing of SCAT information. For example, dedicated computerized SCAT data management systems have been used during the Iron Baron (Tasmania) and Kure (California) incidents. More recently, a prototype system was developed by the State of Florida to electronically support all the steps involved in the cleanup phase of an oil spill response. Given this, when should computerized SCAT data management be used and at what level? An analysis of the work performed during recent spills involving SCAT activity provided answers to these questions. Some of the main findings include the following: (1) computerized systems can decrease the time necessary to gather data and increase the accuracy of the captured data; (2) computerized systems decrease the data turnover time and speed up the decision-making cycle; (3) an all-electronic computerized system can become essential in cases where the length of oiled shoreline is very large with respect to the number of SCAT survey teams; (4) for large spills, the increased cost of an all-electronic system may outweigh the cost of not being prepared.

Author(s):  
А. М. БЕРЕСТОВОЙ ◽  
С. Г. ЗИНЧЕНКО ◽  
О, А. ХЛЕСТОВА

Abstract. The article considers the problem of evaluating, on a multicriteria basis, the quality of work of elements of the transport and technological system of the seaport.The method for evaluating the performance indicators of the transport and technological system of the seaport is based on the formation and comparison of a data array of conditional indicators of economic, environmental, social, functional and other types of effectiveness of this system.The management of the international transport system, which is the transport and technological system of the seaport, bears a rather complicated econometric character with the logistic principles of “compromise, non-interference, quality, risks” and others. A simpler is the assessment of quality on a multi-criteria basis using human-machine procedures, which is relevant for evaluating the operation of the transport and technological system of the seaport in modern conditions of deregulation. This is typical for seaports.The human-machine procedure involves the use of two possibilities: the first is reliably necessary and accurate data received from decision makers; the second is the development of an algorithm and program that allows you to speed up the calculations of the necessary estimates and establish estimates of the cost of the quality of work in the transport and technological system of the seaport.Particular attention when using the apparatus of human-machine procedures for calculating the quality assessment on a multi-criteria basis deserves the choice of weight criteria with an assessment of the “importance” of deviations of the cost of the work of a particular element from the indicators in the practice of individual elements of the transport and technological system of the seaport.The quality of work of the elements of the transport and technological system of the seaport should be assessed on a multi-criteria basis at the cost of achieving the value of the corresponding estimated efficiency indicator depending on the value of the cargo.A block diagram of the algorithm has been compiled to accelerate the calculation of the necessary estimated data for establishing an estimate of the cost of the quality of work in the transport and technological system of the seaport, which determines the coefficients of the weight of costs in evaluating the work of its individual elements.Thus, the developed method makes it possible to assess, on a multicriteria basis, the volume of costs, the efficiency and quality of work of any element of the transport and technological system of the seaport in uncertain conditions, especially when deregulating cargo transportation, as well as to outline and develop specific measures to improve the estimated performance of this system.


2019 ◽  
Vol 121 ◽  
pp. 05001
Author(s):  
David Barnes

The inspection of pipeline coating is crucial to the lifetime performance of the pipeline. Inspection during installation of the pipeline and as part of the routine maintenance programme is essential. It is often said that inspection processes save money by ensuring that relevant specifications are achieved but that writing reports for the inspection process cost money. One way to reduce the cost of inspection reporting and to speed up the inspection process is to use a data management system to present the inspection data in a consistent and organised manner. The automation of the reporting process is an important cost saving that allows more time to be allocated to the important task of inspection and the achievement of the coating specification. There have been recent developments in both the design of reporting software and inspection gauges which together make achieving a paperless quality assurance system a reality for all protective coating applications. This paper describes the latest design and operational features of coating thickness gauges, dewpoint meters, surface profile gauges and other related gauges and describes how data can be easily transferred from the memory of these gauges into personal computers and mobile devices by running a dedicated software program for coating inspection data management. The creation of reports combining test results from a broad range of both digital and non-digital test methods will be discussed with particular emphasis on the use of Standard reports and the preparation of pre-formatted report forms.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 743
Author(s):  
Xiaohui Huang ◽  
Junqing Fan ◽  
Ze Deng ◽  
Jining Yan ◽  
Jiabao Li ◽  
...  

Multi-source Internet of Things (IoT) data, archived in institutions’ repositories, are becoming more and more widely open-sourced to make them publicly accessed by scientists, developers, and decision makers via web services to promote researches on geohazards prevention. In this paper, we design and implement a big data-turbocharged system for effective IoT data management following the data lake architecture. We first propose a multi-threading parallel data ingestion method to ingest IoT data from institutions’ data repositories in parallel. Next, we design storage strategies for both ingested IoT data and processed IoT data to store them in a scalable, reliable storage environment. We also build a distributed cache layer to enable fast access to IoT data. Then, we provide users with a unified, SQL-based interactive environment to enable IoT data exploration by leveraging the processing ability of Apache Spark. In addition, we design a standard-based metadata model to describe ingested IoT data and thus support IoT dataset discovery. Finally, we implement a prototype system and conduct experiments on real IoT data repositories to evaluate the efficiency of the proposed system.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (3 (111)) ◽  
pp. 32-41
Author(s):  
Artem Prokopov ◽  
Viktor Prokhorov ◽  
Tetiana Kalashnikova ◽  
Tetiana Golovko ◽  
Hanna Bohomazova

This paper has investigated the technology of forwarding local wagons at railroad technical stations and established the need to improve it given the extra downtime of local wagons. The main issue relates to the considerable combinatorial complexity of the tasks of operational planning. Another problem is that as part of the conventional approach, planning a station operation and planning a local operation at it is considered separately. Another planning issue is the lack of high-quality models for the preparation of initial data, in particular, data on the duration of technological operations, such as, for example, shunting operations involving local wagons forwarding. To resolve these issues, a new approach has been proposed, under which the tasks of operative planning of a technical station’s operation and its subsystem of local operations are tackled simultaneously, based on a single model. To this end, a mathematical model of vector combinatoric optimization has been built, which uses the criteria of total operating costs and wagon-hours spent at a station when forwarding local wagon flows, in the form of separate objective functions. Within this model, a predictive model was constructed in the form of a fuzzy inference system. This model is designed to determine the duration of shunting half-runs when executing the spotting/picking operations for delivering local wagons to enterprises’ goods sheds. The model provides for the accuracy level that would suffice at planning, in contrast to classical methods. A procedure has been devised for optimizing the planning model, which employs the modern genetic algorithm of vector optimization NSGA-III. This procedure is implemented in the form of software that makes it possible to build a rational operative plan for the operation of a technical station, including a subsystem of local operations, in graphic form, thereby reducing the operating costs by 5 % and the duration of maintenance of a local wagon by 8 %. The resulting effect could reduce the turnover time of a freight car in general on the railroad network, speed up the delivery of goods, and reduce the cost of transportation


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 516
Author(s):  
María Piñeiro-Iglesias ◽  
Javier Andrade-Garda ◽  
Sonia Suárez-Garaboa ◽  
Soledad Muniategui-Lorenzo ◽  
Purificación López-Mahía ◽  
...  

Light-absorbing carbonaceous aerosols (including black carbon (BC)) pose serious health issues and play significant roles in atmospheric radiative properties. Two-year measurements (2015–2016) of aerosol light absorption, combined with measurements of sub-micrometric particles, were continuously conducted in A Coruña (northwest (NW) Spain) to determine their light absorption properties: absorption coefficients (σabs) and the absorption Ångström exponent (AAE). The mean and standard deviation of equivalent black carbon (eBC) during the period of study were 0.85 ± 0.83 µg m−3, which are lower than other values measured in urban areas of Spain and Europe. High eBC concentrations found in winter are associated with an increase in emissions from anthropogenic sources in combination with lower mixing layer heights and frequent stagnant conditions. The pronounced diurnal variability suggests a strong influence from local sources. AAE had an average value of 1.26 ± 0.22 which implies that both fossil fuel combustion and biomass burning influenced optical aerosol properties. This also highlights biomass combustion in suburban areas, where the use of wood for domestic heating is encouraged, as an important source of eBC. All data treatment was gathered using SCALA© as atmospheric aerosol data management support software program.


Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 988
Author(s):  
Ahmed Alghamdi ◽  
Eman Algarni ◽  
Bander Balkhi ◽  
Abdulaziz Altowaijri ◽  
Abdulaziz Alhossan

Heart failure (HF) is considered to be a global health problem that generates a significant economic burden. Despite the growing prevalence in Saudi Arabia, the economic burden of HF is not well studied. The aim of this study was to estimate the health care expenditures associated with HF in Saudi Arabia from a social perspective. We conducted a multicenter cost of illness (COI) study in two large governmental centers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia using 369 HF patients. A COI model was developed in order to estimate the direct medical costs associated with HF. The indirect costs of HF were estimated based on a human capital approach. Descriptive and inferential statistics were analyzed. The direct medical cost per HF patient was $9563. Hospitalization costs were the major driver in total spending, followed by medication and diagnostics costs. The cost significantly increased in line with the disease progression, ranging from $3671 in class I to $16,447 in class IV. The indirect costs per working HF patient were $4628 due to absenteeism, and $6388 due to presenteeism. The economic burden of HF is significantly high in Saudi Arabia. Decision makers need to focus on allocating resources towards strategies that prevent frequent hospitalizations and improve HF management and patient outcomes in order to lower the growing economic burden.


Author(s):  
Sami Demiroluk ◽  
Hani Nassif ◽  
Kaan Ozbay ◽  
Chaekuk Na

The roadway infrastructure constantly deteriorates because of environmental conditions, but other factors such as exposure to heavy trucks exacerbates the rate of deterioration. Therefore, decision-makers are constantly searching for ways to optimize allocation of the limited funds for repair, maintenance, and rehabilitation of New Jersey’s infrastructure. New Jersey legislation requires operators of overweight (OW) trucks to obtain a permit to use the infrastructure. The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) issues a variety of permits based on the types of goods carried. These permits allow OW trucks to use the infrastructure either for a single trip or for multiple trips. Therefore, one major concern is whether the permit revenue of the agency can recoup the actual cost of damage to the infrastructure caused by these OW trucks. This study investigates whether NJDOT’s current permit fee program can collect enough revenue to meet the actual cost of damage to the infrastructure caused by these heavy-weight permit trucks. The infrastructure damage is estimated by using pavement and bridge deterioration models and New Jersey permit data from 2013 to 2018 containing vehicle configuration and vehicle route. The analysis indicates that although the cost of infrastructure damage can be recovered for certain permit types, there is room for improvement in the permit program. Moreover, based on permit rules in other states, the overall rank of the New Jersey permit program is evaluated and possible revisions are recommended for future permit policies.


2014 ◽  
Vol 665 ◽  
pp. 643-646
Author(s):  
Ying Liu ◽  
Yan Ye ◽  
Chun Guang Li

Metalearning algorithm learns the base learning algorithm, targeted for improving the performance of the learning system. The incremental delta-bar-delta (IDBD) algorithm is such a metalearning algorithm. On the other hand, sparse algorithms are gaining popularity due to their good performance and wide applications. In this paper, we propose a sparse IDBD algorithm by taking the sparsity of the systems into account. Thenorm penalty is contained in the cost function of the standard IDBD, which is equivalent to adding a zero attractor in the iterations, thus can speed up convergence if the system of interest is indeed sparse. Simulations demonstrate that the proposed algorithm is superior to the competing algorithms in sparse system identification.


Author(s):  
Mark V. Martin ◽  
Kosuke Ishii

Abstract This paper further develops the previously introduced concept of Design for Variety (DFV). Our study seeks a tool that enables product managers to estimate the cost of introducing variety into their product line. This will help them to maximize market coverage while maintaining required profit margins. Variety incurs many indirect costs that are not always well understood or are difficult to capture. These costs are often not considered by people making the decision about introducing variety. Our DFV model attempts to capture these indirect costs through the measurement of three indices: commonality, differentiation point, and set-up cost. These indices will allow the decision makers to estimate some of the generally unmeasurable costs of providing variety. We conclude this paper by discussing our validation plans for testing the model in industry.


2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (7) ◽  
pp. 1581-1599
Author(s):  
Semen Yu. BOGATYREV

Subject. The study deals with heuristics as measures of the emotional impact of people who judge about the value and the final result of the valuation. I review ranges of the value variance when influenced by irrational factors. From psychological perspectives, some phenomena are explained with a set of heuristics that exist as part of behavioral finance. Objectives. Referring to the completed studies, I implement elements of behavioral finance, such as heuristics into the method for assessing how financial decision-makers and their emotions influence the value. Methods. The article is based on methods of induction and deduction to process survey results. Results. The article reveals the content of key methods for measuring emotions of financial decision-maker, which conclude on the value, being influenced by heuristics. I demonstrate tools for implementing psychological measurement methods as part of valuation. Conclusions and Relevance. Considering heuristics of value decision-makers, the appraiser and the cost analyst approximate the valuation result to the real conditions, when market actors are irrational. Doing so, they contribute to the quality of the result of appraisal. The findings are applicable to the practice of appraisers, cost analysts, fundamental analysts. Heuristics enrich and expands the classical apparatus of valuation and increases its quality.


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