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International audience; In this paper, we propose an operational solution for the yearly classification of crop parcels at national scale (namely France) for Land Parcel Identification System updating, under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) open-source framework and fed with both time series of Sentinel-1 radar and Sentinel-2 optical images, with complementary contributions. Three conceivable scenarios are investigated with two sets of nomenclatures (17 and 43 classes): early, on-line, and late classifications. Experiments performed on 2017 show very satisfactory results (82–97%), locally almost on-par with state-of-the-art deep-based methods. We can conclude our framework offers a strong basis for country-scale operational deployment for 2020+CAP.

The operational Australian Bluelink ocean forecast system is used to transform physical oceanographic observations into coherent analyses and predictions. These analyses and predictions form the ba...

The upwelling in the Baltic Sea region is very common phenomenon. According to different studies, in some places it can exist almost one-third of the year leading to vertical mixing and transportin...

Surface soil moisture (SSM) content plays an important role in a number of physical processes involving the energy and mass exchanges between the land and atmosphere interactions. Determination of ...

Droughts occur frequently in China and their real-time monitoring and timely reporting are required for prevention and mitigation. This paper presents a method for developing an operational drought monitoring system for China. The method is based on various components such as Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer data access, data processing, indices calculations, drought monitoring and analysis, and information dissemination. The system was tested by monitoring drought conditions in the early spring of 2009 in the Hai Basin of China. Results were compared with the in situ data-based indices. It was found that the system was capable of monitoring spatial variation in vegetation conditions attributed to droughts. The traditional meteorological drought index and yield data were collected to evaluate the system performance. A stronger relationship was found between the vegetation health index and the three-month standard precipitation index for the rainfed cropped areas. The relationship between the drought-area percentage and the winter wheat yield reduction percentage for 16 counties was stronger for the April–May period than for the February–March period. The drought monitoring system could explain about 60% of the variance in the winter wheat yields.

The expected increase in the frequency of mass coral bleaching under climate change underlines the importance of thermal stress monitoring systems for coral reef management. ReefTemp Next Generation (RTNG) is a sophisticated remote sensing application designed to operationally monitor the ocean temperatures that can lead to coral bleaching across the Great Barrier Reef. Products are derived from state-of-the-art satellite data; and newly calculated climatologies and management thresholds for bleaching are presented. RTNG is a key component of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority’s Early Warning System, which informs management action and response strategies.

The simulations and potential forecasting of dust storms are of significant interest to public health and environment sciences. Dust storms have interannual variabilities and are typical disruptive events. The computing platform for a dust storm forecasting operational system should support a disruptive fashion by scaling up to enable high-resolution forecasting and massive public access when dust storms come and scaling down when no dust storm events occur to save energy and costs. With the capability of providing a large, elastic, and virtualized pool of computational resources, cloud computing becomes a new and advantageous computing paradigm to resolve scientific problems traditionally requiring a large-scale and high-performance cluster. This paper examines the viability for cloud computing to support dust storm forecasting. Through a holistic study by systematically comparing cloud computing using Amazon EC2 to traditional high performance computing (HPC) cluster, we find that cloud computi...

Trauma signature (TSIG) analysis is an evidence-based method that examines the interrelationship between population exposure to a disaster, extreme event, or complex emergency, and the inter-related physical and psychological consequences for the purpose of providing timely, actionable guidance for effective mental health and psychosocial support that is organically tailored and targeted to the defining features of the event. A series of TSIG case studies has been published since 2011 and TSIG analyses of recent disasters are in process. Disaster Health intends to expedite and feature novel TSIG research focusing on late-breaking disaster events. At the current stage of development, expert consensus is sought for refining the TSIG methodology using a Delphi process. The overarching goal is to create a fully operational system to provide timely guidance for adapting disaster behavioral health support to the salient psychological risk factors in each disaster.

The view that adopting an environmental perspective on operations can lead to improved operations has become commonplace over the past decade. The implication is that any operational system that has minimised inefficiencies is also more environmentally sustainable. In the first phase of our research, we conducted a field research of the green manufacturing techniques in place in two world-class, ISO 14001-certified paint manufacturing firms in India. This phase of the study was undertaken to ascertain the cost benefits that these firms enjoy due to green manufacturing and recycling. Based on the field work in these two companies, a conceptual framework was proposed to investigate any relationship between the consumer's attitude towards the environment and the perceived image of a company that was environmentally conscious. Subsequently, a survey was administered to understand the impact of green marketing on the decision of consumers to buy paint manufactured by a firm that stringently regulates its hazar...

The pearl millet head miner became a major pest in the West African Sahel during the droughts of 1972–1974, and has since remained a threat to food security. Pesticide control is unrealistic for subsistence farmers. Furthermore, there are no cultural control methods or genetic sources of resistance. Biological control was a possibility, but the required ecological knowledge did not exist in the 1970s. A biological control programme could have been rapidly developed through sustained and coordinated funding using existing knowledge. Instead, it took 25 years to lay the scientific groundwork through occasional bursts of uncoordinated short-term activity using international scientists funded by large donors. There was little funding and few prominent roles for national scientists until 2000, when they were empowered by a different approach taken by the McKnight Foundation. An operational system was quickly developed and deployed in which trained farmers rear and release the parasitoid Habrobracon hebetor to ...

Aircraft maintenance is a highly regulated, safety critical, complex and competitive industry. There is a need to develop innovative solutions to address process efficiency without compromising safety and quality. This paper presents the case that in order to improve a highly complex system such as aircraft maintenance, it is necessary to develop a comprehensive and ecologically valid model of the operational system, which represents not just what is meant to happen, but what normally happens. This model then provides the backdrop against which to change or improve the system. A performance report, the Blocker Report, specific to aircraft maintenance and related to the model was developed gathering data on anything that 'blocks' task or check performance. A Blocker Resolution Process was designed to resolve blockers and improve the current check system. Significant results were obtained for the company in the first trial and implications for safety management systems and hazard identification are discussed. Statement of Relevance: Aircraft maintenance is a safety critical, complex, competitive industry with a need to develop innovative solutions to address process and safety efficiency. This research addresses this through the development of a comprehensive and ecologically valid model of the system linked with a performance reporting and resolution system.

The development and first assessment of a high resolution eddy-resolving forecasting system for the Aegean Sea hydrodynamics, developed as part of the POSEIDON-II European Economic Area (EEA) Grants project and the European Coastal Sea Operational Observing and Forecasting (ECOOP) European Union (EU) project, is presented.The system uses an assimilation scheme based on a localized version of the Singular Evolutive Extended Kalman (SEEK) filter with partial evolution of its correction directions.The filter is used to correct the forecast state of a 1/30o Princeton Ocean Model (POM) of the Aegean Sea on a weekly basis. Data assimilation experiments are performed over a 12-month period to estimate the impact of observations insertion on the forecasting skill of the modelling system.The accuracy of the hydrodynamic state identification is assessed by the relevance of the assimilation system in fitting the data, and in forecasting future variability. The results of the assimilation system are also inter-compar...

Using four types of fire incidence, namely calls for property, vehicle, secondary fires and malicious false alarms, this paper explores their spatiotemporal dynamics and the relationship to socioeconomic status. Combining both spatial and temporal dimensions using a novel technique, called the ‘comap’, each incident type is visually explored, arguing that its application permits new insights into their dynamics and allows questions such as – for a particular type of fire incident ‐ what are the salient spatio‐temporal patterns and how do these vary for differing levels of disadvantage, to be answered for the first time.

The numerical model Telemac-2D, based on the nonlinear shallow water equations (depth integrated) and on the finite element approach, is used on the Gironde estuary. It is coupled with another larger scale operational storm surges model and forced by high resolution surface winds and pressure fields and by river run-off forecasts. The model was calibrated during summer 2007 on 10 selected cases that occurred during the last 25 years with important storm surges and is used real time from autumn 2007, in a pre-operational mode. It is expected to have an operational system for winter 2009, with a daily model run, for a 48-hour forecast. The installation of the system includes the training of meteorologists and hydrologists who will have to use the model results, in a collaborative manner.

An overview of the current operational wind wave prediction system and of new developments at the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) is presented. KMA has operated a numerical ocean wave prediction system since 1992. The first major upgrade was done in 1999 with the adaptation of a third-generation wave model (WAM) for both regional (ReWAM-0.25 deg resolution, covering Northeast Asia) and global (GoWAM-1.25 deg resolution) domains. In 2005, the KMA replaced its NEC SX5 computer with a 1024-CPU Cray X1E system, a Parallel Vector Processor (PVP) machine with 128 node modules. A coastal ocean wave prediction system (CoWAM) has been designed and is currently under test mode. Six CoWAM domains, each of 3 deg longitude by 2 deg latitude in size, with a mesh size of 1 km, are nested inside the regional ocean wave prediction system. The directional wave spectra at the boundaries of the CoWAM are provided from a 1/12° resolution upgraded version of the operational ReWAM. The WAVEWATCH-III code (developed at...

Recently, it has become apparent that stormwater harvesting has the potential to play a significant role in the sustainable management of water resources. However, it has been recognised that uncertainties concerning the operational performance of existing stormwater harvesting systems and also the lack of appropriate design standards are barriers to the widespread adoption and utilisation of stormwater harvesting. In this study, we gathered design and operational information regarding three stormwater harvesting systems located in Melbourne, as well as undertaking water quality and quantity monitoring. It was found that the design objectives of each system were developed in order to meet a range of environmental, social and economic outcomes, and while most of these objectives were met, some were rather qualitative and so were difficult to assess. The design of each harvesting system did not represent what was built and this is likely to be limiting operational performance. The ongoing drought has severely impacted on the volume of stormwater harvested from the two smaller systems, however, recent winter/spring rainfall has increased the volume of stormwater in storage. In comparison, the larger system has been able to provide signifi cant amounts of stormwater during the very dry summer of 2007 and throughout the year. Preliminary water quality monitoring indicated that systems featuring WSUD devices are able to improve the water quality (in terms of TSS, TN and TP) of stormwater. Importantly, it appears that systems that do not have disinfection will more frequently have E. coli levels that exceed 10 orgs/100 mL.

Sanitation systems discharge diffusion into sea and operational management of their impacts on bathing water quality The new European Directive concerning the management of bathing water quality drives the littoral communities towards operational management tools for an actual management of the beaches according to the impacts of the urban discharges. Beyond the progressive modernisation of the sanitation system itself, taking into account globally all the chronic factors impacting the beaches is only made possible by using decision-making systems based on a better knowledge of the sources of contamination and on the numerical modelling of the diffusion into the sea. Such a system, easy to operate, was developed by Veolia and Ifremer for the agglomeration of Dieppe (Normandy, France): it queries a database of pre-computed scenarios of conditions representative of rainfall, tide and wind force and direction to recommend when and on which beach control samples should be taken. The validation of this software and methodological tool over the two summer periods of 2005 and 2006 enables to proceed towards a more complex operational system, which takes into account the continuous evolution of all the impacting factors.

In this study, the efficiency of an integrated operational system, based on three satellite infrared techniques, to support nowcasting and very short range forecasting of high precipitation rates provided by a numerical weather prediction (NWP) model is examined. Three algorithms, one for the detection and tracking of convective cloud cells and another two for rainfall estimation, are applied on satellite sensor data in order to qualitatively and quantitatively verify the precipitation forecasts provided by a NWP model. The application of the detection and tracking algorithm aims at verifying qualitatively, in real time, the precipitation forecasts by monitoring the detected convective cloud cells, at the same time intervals that the model forecasts are given. The application of the rainfall estimation techniques on satellite sensor data is needed for both quantitative and qualitative cross‐comparisons with the model outputs. The developed tool is applied in a case of intense precipitation over Greece. Th...

This paper demonstrates that Radarsat ScanSAR data can be an important data source of radar remote sensing for monitoring crop systems and estimation of rice yield in large areas in tropical and sub-tropical regions. Experiments were carried out to show the effectiveness of Radarsat ScanSAR data for rice yield estimation in the whole province of Guangdong, South China. A methodology was developed to deal with a series of issues in extracting rice information from the ScanSAR data, such as topographic influences, levels of agro-management, irregular distribution of paddy fields and different rice cropping systems. A model was provided for rice yield estimation based on the relationship between the backscatter coefficient of multi-temporal SAR data and the biomass of rice. The study indicates that the whole procedure can become a low-cost and convenient operational system for large-scale rice yield estimation which is difficult for conventional methods.

The UK’s government mission to modernise government is a significant step forward in what is a long-term programme of reform. The central government is committed to promoting continuous improvement in local government services through electronic service delivery (ESD). The vision is to modernise the way the public sector delivers policies, programmes and services. The aim being to look at how services can be built around customer needs and not the organisational structures of service providers. All levels of government are being encouraged to make full use of the potential for ESD to improve the responsiveness and quality of services. This paper looks at one direct services organisation (DSO) in the UK that is embracing the use of mobile technology in connection with its construction and building services provision. The objectives of the system are outlined, together with system design and functionality. The interface and operational requirements of the system are also covered in addition to detai...

This paper presents a methodology for investigating the dynamic performance of a local area network (LAN) using token passing and carrier-sense multiple access with collision detection (CSMA/CD) communication protocols for a flexible printed circuit boards assembly (PCBA) system. It has been implemented by formulating an integrated model, in which both an operational system's function and an information processing system's function are modelled and simulated in order comprehensively to predict system behaviour and to obtain an optimal solution that maximizes systems performance. The relevant impact on logical interactions and interrelationships between operations and information processing systems within the manufacturing environment has been quantified. The research has shown that this approach may provide a useful basis for developing existing modelling frameworks and a practical means of exploring existing modelling simulation methodologies. In principle, this technique is valuable for analysing a wide range of manufacturing systems.

A system to aid snowplow operators during adverse, low-visibility conditions was developed using a quick, low-cost iterative design process. The system provided display-independent visual information on lane edges, lateral position, and potential forward collisions. Short practice curves were seen on a prototype lateral assist system with drivers achieving a steady state within 3 trials. The subsequent operational system resulted in positive driver feedback and quick learning periods. Drivers had positive impressions regarding ease of use, appeal, and safety. Behavior data showed that the short learning curves seen with the prototype could also be associated with the operational system. Using the framework of this snowplow problem, an iterative design process is also described that is robust to variations in available time and resources. Application specific and process design lessons are also discussed.

This paper describes research directed towards the development of an operational system for identifying construction companies in danger of failure. The major component of the system combines financial ratio analysis and the statistical technique known as multivariate discriminant analysis, to produce a predictive model made up of seven variables, measuring distinct aspects of company financial structure, all transformed into a single value called the Z score. Good distinction between the scores of solvent and failed companies was provided. This technique is widely employed in the commercial sector with much of the work concentrated on failed and healthy companies. A secondary method was developed to reinforce the financial approach, whereby managerial performance aspects are weighted, combined and a cut-off, known as the A score value, determined to separate the two groups. The concept behind the A score is based on the belief that if a company is in financial difficulty the reason generally relates to i...

Automated guided vehicles are commonly employed in modern automated material-handling systems or flexible manufacturing systems. A new configuration for an automated guided-vehicle system (AGVS), called a tandem AGVS, has been proposed recently. Efficient use of this configuration is required to solve the load-routeing problem (LRP), a specific operational issue which affects the production system performance. In this paper, LRPs are studied and a two-phase approach is proposed to solve it. Phase 1 consists of an analytical approach based on the steady state. The output of phase 1 provides an adequate estimate and recommendation of routeing decisions of an operational system. Phase 2 is a simulation model which accepts the results from phase 1 to realize the impact of another operational performance such as the queue length of each station. It has been established that the LRP affects the operational performance of the AGVS.

Among the spent fuel elements received yearly at the COGEMA La Hague reprocessing plant, an ever growing number benefit from burnup credit for transport or storage purposes. The burnup credit level is determined by the package or storage rack criticality assessment and approved by the French safety authorities. Depending on this level, the fuel irradiation is controlled either by qualitative or quantitative measuring techniques. A description of the documentary and operational system developed by COGEMA and NTL for fuel identification and burnup control is presented.

Forecasts from an operational system for predicting global diurnal sea surface temperature (SST) variability are compared against multichannel sea surface temperatures calculated from advanced very high resolution radiometer data from the NOAA-9 satellite. The forecast system consists of an upper-ocean model driven by heat fluxes and wind stresses from an operational global weather prediction model. Visual pattern correlations between observed and forecast diurnal changes in SST are generally favourable, indicating that the forecast system is useful. Some systematic deficiencies are also noted: the forecasts do not reproduce the surprisingly sharp boundaries of diurnal warming regions and underpredict the amplitude of the extreme warming events

Adverse effects on a national economy of port congestion are identified. The rationale underlying a system of priority berthing for awaiting vessels is described and contrasted with the operational system of first‐come, first‐served. A system of priority berthing is capable of minimizing the generalized social cost of congestion and this is structured mathematically as a multi‐attribute, decision‐making problem. A worked example is outlined and a computer program described.

Human errors represent a mismatch between the demands of an operational system and what the operator does. If they cannot be reversed, their consequences may be severe. Errors are frequently classified as design-or operator-induced. A third class of errors may also be identified, namely process-induced errors. Such errors arise out of on-going processes which typically extend over time. One such process is that of learning. In relation to the acquisition of skills, for example, learning frequently involves a trial-and-error component. Accidents by inexperienced drivers may represent a severe consequence of such errors. Errors may also arise out of particular learning experiences which provide a distorted underestimate of objective risk and/or motivate high risk behaviour. These phenomena are investigated in a computer simulation of the driving task. The relationship is discussed between various kinds of learning experience and the development of situations in which the possibility of error recovery declin...

Estimating component reliability from system life data can be a valuable method for estimating new product reliability. It is presented a framework for applying the approach based upon the well-known theory of competing risks. The advantage of the approach lies in its ability to estimate the reliability of components after their assembly into an operational system. It can therefore account for the degrading effects induced by the assembly/manufacturing process

This paper describes an operational system composed of a number of independent but similar units. A given number N must be in service and to ensure this a maintenance float is provided. The float comprises units under repair and in an equipment reserve. Float factors are estimated using a Weibull distribution for failures and a log-normal function for repairs. Both functions are applied to an engineering case study and the estimated float levels are compared with a simulation of the field data. Optimum float levels are developed using a simple cost model.

A pilot project was carried out in 1977 over the Lake Superior basin to measure water storage on the land area using aerial gamma-ray spectrometry to provide hydrologic information for forecasting inflow to the lake. Two airborne surveys were made, respectively in November 1977 and March 1978 which provided estimates of the increase in snow water equivalent between these surveys. The basin is located on the Canadian Shield and consequently, the gamma radiation count rate is quite variable. The airborne results are compared with ground measurements on selected flight lines and show generally good agreement. Two equipment calibrations in the Ottaw area provided inconsistent parameter values which are consequently also reflected in the results over the Lake Superior basin.The project has demonstrated that the technique can be developed into an operational system for measuring snow cover water equivalent of this vast and remote area by using well calibrated equipment and processing the spectrometric measureme...

The status of bulk explosive detection techniques based on nuclear interrogation methods is reviewed. The desirable characteristics of an operational system capable of meeting the requirements for civil aviation security are compared with what can be expected from nuclear-based techniques. The comparison is limited to those techniques that utilize penetrating neutron and photon probes on the target elements of explosives most likely to be encountered in the airport scenario. The physical properties of a relevant group of explosives are surveyed for unique characteristics that could provide detectable signatures to nuclear-based techniques. A survey of the accessible reactions and their relative detection sensitivities are tabulated for a selection of practical interrogating probes. Some results obtained with systems currently under development are reported.

Structured games whose strategies make use of the properties of operational system, semigroup, and group were compared to control games, as to their facilitating effect on the subsequent learning of related mathematical content. A secondary purpose was to investigate the relationship of mathematical performance to reflective intelligence. A sample of 102 students was selected from 250 8th‐grade students. Instructions lasted for 14 periods of 50 minutes each. Evaluation was based on tests which measure recognition and recall, algorithmic thinking and open search. Analysis of variance showed that there were significant differences associated with reflective intelligence but not with treatments or interaction of treatment and reflective intelligence.

With the purpose of designing an operational system aimed at the optimization of yarder-type logging operations in steep mountain forests, the records of yarder type logging operations in a typical private forest in Japan were studied. The quantification theory (1,2) was applied to the data for factor analysis to analyze, in numerical terms, an interrelationship between labor productivity in the yarder type logging system and conditional factors of operation. Based on the results of analysis, a prediction model, needed for the formulation of yarder-type logging operation plans or for the evaluation of operations, was designed to estimate labor productivity for given conditions of operation. In addition, an attempt was made to examine the possible optimization of operational conditions in the yarder type logging system.