Remote sensing of species mixtures in conifer plantations using LiDAR height and intensity data

In even-aged, single species conifer plantations LiDAR height data can be modelled to provide accurate estimates of tree height and volume. However, it is apparent that growth models developed for single species stands are not directly transferable to a more general situation of mixed species plantations. This paper evaluates the ability of small footprint, dual-return, pulsed airborne LiDAR data to estimate the proportion of the productive species when mixed with a nurse crop in closed canopy plantations. A study area located in Galloway Forest District in Scotland is used as an example of Lodgepole pine and Sitka spruce mixed plantation; this area contains good examples of a wide range of pure and mixed species plantation types. Three species groups are studied: areas of pure Sitka spruce, areas of pure Lodgepole pine and areas where the two species have been planted together. Two approaches are assessed for detection of plantation mixtures: the first uses LiDAR intensity data to separate spruce and pine species and the second uses LiDAR-derived canopy density measures, coefficient of variation, skewness, percent of ground returns (which provides a measure of canopy openness) and the mean canopy height, which enables areas with height variations to be identified. From analysis of LiDAR data extracted from 54 study plots using logistic regression, the coefficient of variation and LiDAR intensity data provide the most useful predictors of the proportion of spruce in a pine/spruce mixture with coefficients of determination (R²) of 0.914 and 0.930 respectively. The method could be developed as a mapping tool, which in combination with existing inventory data should help to improve timber volume forecasting for mixed species even-aged plantations.     

Energy indicators for tracking sustainability in developing countries

Due to the fact that human activities and most sustainability issues are closely related to energy use, the energy system is a sound framework for providing lead indicators for sustainable development. Common energy-economic models enable the estimation of future states of the energy system. An energy system-based lead indicator set can be used to develop consistent and coherent future indicator estimates and to track sustainability, a clear advantage over existing sets.     

Putting it all together – Formal verification of the VAMP

In the verified architecture microprocessor (VAMP) project we have designed, functionally verified, and synthesized a processor with full DLX instruction set, delayed branch, Tomasulo scheduler, maskable nested precise interrupts, pipelined fully IEEE compatible dual precision floating point unit with variable latency, and separate instruction and data caches. The verification has been carried out in the theorem proving system PVS. The processor has been implemented on a Xilinx FPGA. A shorter version of this article with the title “Instantiating uninterpreted functional units and memory system: functional verification of the VAMP” appeared in [8]. The work reported here was done while all the authors were with Saarland University.     

UV-LIGA深度光刻机平滑衍射技术研究

UV-LIGA深度光刻技术是加工微型机电系统的一项重要的微细加工技术。介绍了一种平滑衍射效应的位错强度叠加原理，它采用了蝇眼积分透镜去平滑衍射，并模拟数值计算了硅片表面的光强分布，最后给出了光刻结果。     

高速钢高温形变诱发析出的研究

本文探讨了高速钢在高温形变过程中碳化物析出的行为及奥氏体组织状态对析出的影响。用透射电镜和扫描电镜分析了不同热处理状态奥氏体的组织结构,分析了高温形变过程中碳化物析出的部位,颗粒尺寸及形态。试验表明, 碳化物主要在奥氏体的缺陷处呈点状和点列状析出,大小为20mμ。处于回复状态的奥氏体缺陷诱发碳化物析出,析出碳化物钉札缺陷阻止再结晶进行。当再结晶驱动力较大时,由于动态再结晶充分发展,使缺陷大量消除,碳化物析出显著地减少。     

石化装置检修的安全管理

针对石化装置的检修特点,阐述装置检修的安全管理和技术工作,对检修时的高风险作业提出明确的要求和注意事项.     

Fast location of high-order modes for boxed microstrip with finite strip thickness

Many analyses of boxed microstrip discontinuities require the location of large numbers of high-order modes. Using Sturm-Liouville theory, this letter derives a relationship between microstrip modes and slab-loaded guide modes, leading to an efficient mode location algorithm for microstrip, including microstrip with finite strip thickness.<>     

Pattern search algorithms for nonlinear inversion of high-frequency Rayleigh-wave dispersion curves

Inversion of Rayleigh wave dispersion curves is challenging for most local-search methods due to its high nonlinearity and to its multimodality. In this paper, we implemented and tested a Rayleigh wave dispersion curve inversion scheme based on GPS Positive Basis 2N, a commonly used pattern search algorithm. Incorporating complete poll and complete search strategies based on GPS Positive Basis 2N into the inverse procedure greatly enhances the performance of pattern search algorithms because the two steps can effectively locate the promising areas in the solution space containing the global minima and significantly reduce the computation cost, respectively.The proposed inverse procedure was applied to nonlinear inversion of fundamental-mode Rayleigh wave dispersion curves for a near-surface shear (S)-wave velocity profile. The calculation efficiency and stability of the inversion scheme are tested on three synthetic models and a real example from a roadbed survey in Henan, China. Effects of the number of data points, the reduction of the frequency range of the considered dispersion curve, errors in P-wave velocities and density, the initial S-wave velocity profile as well as the number of layers and their thicknesses on inversion results are also investigated in the present study to further evaluate the performance of the proposed approach.Results demonstrate that pattern search algorithms applied to nonlinear inversion of high-frequency surface wave data should be considered good not only in terms of accuracy but also in terms of the computation effort due to their global and deterministic search process.     

Fabrication of Functional Nanofibrous Ammonia Sensor

A nanofibrous sensor for ammonia gas is fabricated by electrospinning the composite of poly(diphenylamine) (PDPA) with poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) onto the patterned interdigit electrode. The composite electrospun membrane shows interconnected fibrous morphology. Functional groups in PDPA and the high active surface area of the fibrous membrane make the device detect a lower concentration of ammonia with a good reproducibility. The sensing capability of the device is studied by monitoring the changes in resistance of the membrane with different concentrations of ammonia. The changes in resistance of the membrane shows linearity with the concentration of ammonia in the limit of 10 and 300 ppm. UV-visible spectroscopy reveals the mechanism of sensing ammonia by the membrane.