Monte Carlo simulations of systems with complex energy landscapes

Non-traditional Monte Carlo simulations are a powerful approach to the study of systems with complex energy landscapes. After reviewing several of these specialized algorithms we shall describe the behavior of typical systems including spin glasses, lattice proteins, and models for “real” proteins. In the Edwards-Anderson spin glass it is now possible to produce probability distributions in the canonical ensemble and thermodynamic results of high numerical quality. In the hydrophobic-polar (HP) lattice protein model Wang-Landau sampling with an improved move set (pull-moves) produces results of very high quality. These can be compared with the results of other methods of statistical physics. A more realistic membrane protein model for Glycophorin A is also examined. Wang-Landau sampling allows the study of the dimerization process including an elucidation of the nature of the process.     

Impact of orthorectification and spatial sampling on maximum NDVI composite data in mountain regions

Topography and accuracy of image geometric registration significantly affect the quality of satellite data, since pixels are displaced depending on surface elevation and viewing geometry. This effect should be corrected for through the process of accurate image navigation and orthorectification in order to meet the geolocation accuracy for systematic observations specified by the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) requirements for satellite climate data records. We investigated the impact of orthorectification on the accuracy of maximum Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) composite data for a mountain region in north-western Canada at various spatial resolutions (1 km, 4 km, 5 km, and 8 km). Data from AVHRR on board NOAA-11 (1989 and 1990) and NOAA-16 (2001, 2002, and 2003) processed using a system called CAPS (Canadian AVHRR Processing System) for the month of August were considered. Results demonstrate the significant impact of orthorectification on the quality of composite NDVI data in mountainous terrain. Differences between orthorectified and non-orthorectified NDVI composites (ΔNDVI) adopted both large positive and negative values, with the 1% and 99% percentiles of ΔNDVI at 1 km resolution spanning values between − 0.16 < ΔNDVI < 0.09. Differences were generally reduced to smaller numbers for coarser resolution data, but systematic positive biases for non-orthorectified composites were obtained at all spatial resolutions, ranging from 0.02 (1 km) to 0.004 (8 km). Analyzing the power spectra of maximum NDVI composites at 1 km resolution, large differences between orthorectified and non-orthorectified AVHRR data were identified at spatial scales between 4 km and 10 km. Validation of NOAA-16 AVHRR NDVI with MODIS NDVI composites revealed higher correlation coefficients (by up to 0.1) for orthorectified composites relative to the non-orthorectified case. Uncertainties due to the AVHRR Global Area Coverage (GAC) sampling scheme introduce an average positive bias of 0.02 ± 0.03 at maximum NDVI composite level that translates into an average relative bias of 10.6% ± 19.1 for sparsely vegetated mountain regions. This can at least partially explain the systematic average positive biases we observed relative to our results in AVHRR GAC-based composites from the Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies (GIMMS) and Polar Pathfinder (PPF) datasets (0.19 and 0.05, respectively). With regard to the generation of AVHRR long-term climate data records, results suggest that orthorectification should be an integral part of AVHRR pre-processing, since neglecting the terrain displacement effect may lead to important biases and additional noise in time series at various spatial scales.     

Simulation and computation of the asymmetry of a clocked balanced tunnel-diode comparator

By means of simulation and computation, a clocked balanced tunnel-diode comparator, in which the clock signal conditioner is also a tunnel diode, is studied. Simulation and computation of the tunnel-diode asymmetry required for obtaining a minimum offset of the zero level of the compensation voltage are carried out. Simulation of the clocked balanced comparator is performed by means of the Tanner T-Spice program.     

Replica Exchange Light Transport

We solve the light transport problem by introducing a novel unbiased Monte Carlo algorithm called replica exchange light transport, inspired by the replica exchange Monte Carlo method in the fields of computational physics and statistical information processing. The replica exchange Monte Carlo method is a sampling technique whose operation resembles simulated annealing in optimization algorithms using a set of sampling distributions. We apply it to the solution of light transport integration by extending the probability density function of an integrand of the integration to a set of distributions. That set of distributions is composed of combinations of the path densities of different path generation types: uniform distributions in the integral domain, explicit and implicit paths in light (particle/photon) tracing, indirect paths in bidirectional path tracing, explicit and implicit paths in path tracing, and implicit caustics paths seen through specular surfaces including the delta function in path tracing. The replica‐exchange light transport algorithm generates a sequence of path samples from each distribution and samples the simultaneous distribution of those distributions as a stationary distribution by using the Markov chain Monte Carlo method. Then the algorithm combines the obtained path samples from each distribution using multiple importance sampling. We compare the images generated with our algorithm to those generated with bidirectional path tracing and Metropolis light transport based on the primary sample space. Our proposing algorithm has better convergence property than bidirectional path tracing and the Metropolis light transport, and it is easy to implement by extending the Metropolis light transport.     

Multi-Scale Adaptive Sampling with Mobile Agents for Mapping of Forest Fires

The use of robotics in distributed monitoring applications requires wireless sensors that are deployed efficiently. A very important aspect of sensor deployment includes positioning them for sampling at locations most likely to yield information about the spatio-temporal field of interest, for instance, the spread of a forest fire. In this paper, we use mobile robots (agents) that estimate the time-varying spread of wildfires using a distributed multi-scale adaptive sampling strategy. The proposed parametric sampling algorithm, “EKF-NN-GAS” is based on neural networks, the extended Kalman filter (EKF), and greedy heuristics. It combines measurements arriving at different times, taken at different scale lengths, such as from ground, airborne, and spaceborne observation platforms. One of the advantages of our algorithm is the ability to incorporate robot localization uncertainty in addition to sensor measurement and field parameter uncertainty into the same EKF model. We employ potential fields, generated naturally from the estimated fire field distribution, in order to generate fire-safe trajectories that could be used to rescue vehicles and personnel. The covariance of the EKF is used as a quantitative information measure for sampling locations most likely to yield optimal information about the sampled field distribution. Neural net training is used infrequently to generate initial low resolution estimates of the fire spread parameters. We present simulation and experimental results for reconstructing complex spatio-temporal forest fire fields “truth models”, approximated by radial basis function (RBF) parameterizations. When compared to a conventional raster scan approach, our algorithm shows a significant reduction in the time necessary to map the fire field.     

A Note on the Spectral Collocation Approximation of Some Differential Equations with Singular Source Terms

The solution of differential equations with singular source terms contains the local jump discontinuity in general and its spectral approximation is oscillatory due to the Gibbs phenomenon. To minimize the Gibbs oscillations near the local jump discontinuity and improve convergence, the regularization of the approximation is needed. In this note, a simple derivative of the discrete Heaviside function H _c (x) on the collocation points is used for the approximation of singular source terms δ(x−c) or δ ⁽ⁿ⁾(x−c) without any regularization. The direct projection of H _c (x) yields highly oscillatory approximations of δ(x−c) and δ ⁽ⁿ⁾(x−c). In this note, however, it is shown that the direct projection approach can yield a non-oscillatory approximation of the solution and the error can also decay uniformly for certain types of differential equations. For some differential equations, spectral accuracy is also recovered. This method is limited to certain types of equations but can be applied when the given equation has some nice properties. Numerical examples for elliptic and hyperbolic equations are provided. The current address: Department of Mathematics, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY 14260-2900, USA.     

一致性测试的静态需求测试研究

针对一致性测试中的静态需求测试通常采用手工方法而产生的效率低问题,提出一种基于统计学习的方法,包括静态需求的关联规则表示,并对采样的协议数据进行关联规则挖掘,如果得到的规则与需求规则一致,静态需求就可以得到统计上的测试检验。该方法在OSPFv3协议测试中取得了较好的效果。     

一种基于不放回抽样的图像混沌加密算法

针对现有基于混沌序列的图像加密算法的缺陷,提出一种基于不放回抽样的图像混沌加密算法。该算法采用可变模运算和间接地址映射技术,将混沌序列一对一、高度随机地转换为图像像素地址,实现图像的位置置乱和灰度扰乱加密。对混沌序列的分布无严格要求,使混沌序列的参数和初值可以作为密钥被使用。实验结果表明,与现有同类算法相比,该算法性能优越、运算速度快且易于实现。     

基于感知网格的无线传感器网络动态采样策略

在分析无线传感器网络时空相关性模型的基础上,提出一种基于感知网格的无线传感器网络动态采样策略.将监测区域划分为多个感知网格,感知网格内只有簇头节点保持活跃状态,当出现异常数据后再激活感知网格内其他节点来获得更详细的信息.该策略通过减少无线传感器节点之间相同的或相近的采样数据上传来降低冗余信息的传输.仿真结果表明:该策略显著提高了无线传感器网络能量效率.     

交换式以太网控制系统传感器变采样调度研究

针对基于交换式以太网的网络化控制系统的数据传输和控制性能优化问题,提出了传感器根据给定值与实测值差额的绝对值对照静态调度表变采样周期的调度优化方法.使用TrueTime 2.0工具箱搭建了交换式以太网控制系统仿真平台进行仿真研究,并与定采样周期方法进行了对比,仿真结果验证了其可行性.此方法在实际的工程应用中具有一定的参考价值.