Global stability analysis scheme for a class of nonlinear time delay systems

We consider a class of nonlinear time delay systems created by generalizing the model for FAST TCP, an Internet congestion control algorithm. We achieve a time delay independent sufficient condition for the global asymptotic stability of the class of systems. The sufficient condition is verified by constructing two sequences that represent the lower and upper bound variations of the system trajectory in time, and showing that the two sequences converge to the equilibrium point of the system. The simulation results exemplify that the sufficient condition is valid for global asymptotic stability, and that the sufficient condition is a close approximation to the unknown necessary and sufficient condition for global asymptotic stability.     

An assessment of photosynthetic light use efficiency from space: Modeling the atmospheric and directional impacts on PRI reflectance

Estimation of photosynthetic light use efficiency (ε) from satellite observations is an important component of climate change research. The photochemical reflectance index, a narrow waveband index based on the reflectance at 531 and 570 nm, allows sampling of the photosynthetic activity of leaves; upscaling of these measurements to landscape and global scales, however, remains challenging. Only a few studies have used spaceborne observations of PRI so far, and research has largely focused on the MODIS sensor. Its daily global coverage and the capacity to detect a narrow reflectance band at 531 nm make it the best available choice for sensing ε from space. Previous results however, have identified a number of key issues with MODIS-based observations of PRI. First, the differences between the footprint of eddy covariance (EC) measurements and the MODIS footprint, which is determined by the sensor's observation geometry make a direct comparison between both data sources challenging and second, the PRI reflectance bands are affected by atmospheric scattering effects confounding the existing physiological signal. In this study we introduce a new approach for upscaling EC based ε measurements to MODIS. First, EC-measured ε values were “translated” into a tower-level optical PRI signal using AMSPEC, an automated multi-angular, tower-based spectroradiometer instrument. AMSPEC enabled us to adjust tower-measured PRI values to the individual viewing geometry of each MODIS overpass. Second, MODIS data were atmospherically corrected using a Multi-Angle Implementation of Atmospheric Correction (MAIAC) algorithm, which uses a time series approach and an image-based rather than pixel-based processing for simultaneous retrievals of atmospheric aerosol and surface bidirectional reflectance (BRDF). Using this approach, we found a strong relationship between tower-based and spaceborne reflectance measurements (r² = 0.74, p < 0.01) throughout the vegetation period of 2006. Swath (non-gridded) observations yielded stronger correlations than gridded data (r² = 0.58, p < 0.01) both of which included forward and backscatter observations. Spaceborne PRI values were strongly related to canopy shadow fractions and varied with different levels of ε. We conclude that MAIAC-corrected MODIS observations were able to track the site-level physiological changes from space throughout the observation period.     

Effects of spectral response function on surface reflectance and NDVI measured with moderate resolution satellite sensors: Extension to AVHRR NOAA-17, 18 and METOP-A

This work extends the previous study of Trishchenko et al. [Trishchenko, A. P., Cihlar, J., & Li, Z. (2002). Effects of spectral response function on surface reflectance and NDVI measured with moderate resolution satellite sensors. Remote Sensing of Environment 81 (1), 1-18] that analyzed the spectral response function (SRF) effect for the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) onboard the NOAA satellites NOAA-6 to NOAA-16 as well as the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), the VEGETATION sensor (VGT) and the Global Imager (GLI). The developed approach is now applied to cover three new AVHRR sensors launched in recent years on NOAA-17, 18, and METOP-A platforms. As in the previous study, the results are provided relative to the reference sensor AVHRR NOAA-9. The differences in reflectance among these three radiometers relative to the AVHRR NOAA-9 are similar to each other and range from − 0.015 to 0.015 (− 20% to + 2% relative) for visible (red) channel, and from − 0.03 to 0.02 (− 5% to 5%) for the near infrared (NIR) channel. The absolute change in the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) ranged from − 0.03 to + 0.06. Due to systematic biases of the visible channels toward smaller values and the NIR channels toward slightly larger values, the overall systematic biases for NDVI are positive. The polynomial approximations are provided for the bulk spectral correction with respect to the AVHRR NOAA-9 for consistency with previous study. Analysis was also conducted for the SRF effect only among the AVHRR-3 type of radiometer on NOAA-15, 16, 17, 18 and METOP-A using AVHRR NOAA-18 as a reference. The results show more consistency between sensors with typical correction being under 5% (or 0.01 in absolute values). The AVHRR METOP-A reveals the most different behavior among the AVHRR-3 group with generally positive bias for visible channel (up to + 5%, relative), slightly negative bias for the NIR channel (1%-2% relative), and negative NDVI bias (− 0.02 to + 0.005). Polynomial corrections are also suggested for normalization of AVHRR on NOAA-15, 16, 17 and METOP-A to AVHRR NOAA-18.     

On the analysis of nonlinear nilpotent switched systems using the Hall–Sussmann system

We consider an open problem on the stability of nonlinear nilpotent switched systems posed by Daniel Liberzon. Partial solutions to this problem were obtained as corollaries of global nice reachability results for nilpotent control systems. The global structure is crucial in establishing stability. We show that a nice reachability analysis may be reduced to the reachability analysis of a specific canonical system, the nilpotent Hall–Sussmann system. Furthermore, local nice reachability properties for this specific system imply global nice reachability for general nilpotent systems. We derive several new results revealing the elegant Lie-algebraic structure of the nilpotent Hall–Sussmann system.     

Learning a color distance metric for region-based image segmentation

In this paper we describe an experiment where we studied empirically the application of a learned distance metric to be used as discrimination function for an established color image segmentation algorithm. For this purpose we chose the Mumford–Shah energy functional and the Mahalanobis distance metric. The objective was to test our approach in an objective and quantifiable way on this specific algorithm employing this particular distance model, without making generalization claims. The empirical validation of the results was performed in two experiments: one applying the resulting segmentation method on a subset of the Berkeley Image Database, an exemplar image set possessing ground-truths and validating the results against the ground-truths using two well-known inter-cluster validation methods, namely, the Rand and BGM indexes, and another experiment using images of the same context divided into training and testing set, where the distance metric is learned from the training set and then applied to segment all the images. The obtained results suggest that the use of the specified learned distance metric provides better and more robust segmentations, even if no other modification of the segmentation algorithm is performed.     

New LMT-based delay-dependent criterion for global asymptotic stability of cellular neural networks

The problem of global asymptotic stability analysis is studied for a class of cellular neural networks with time-varying delay. By defining a Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional, a new delay-dependent stability condition is derived in terms of linear matrix inequalities. The obtained criterion is less conservative than some previous literature because free-weighting matrix method and the Jensen integral inequality are considered. Three illustrative examples are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed results.     

Synchronization analysis of coupled connected neural networks with mixed time delays

In this paper, the global exponential synchronization of coupled connected neural networks with both discrete and distributed delays is investigated under mild condition, assuming neither the differentiability and strict monotonicity for the activation functions nor the diagonal for the inner coupling matrices. By employing a new Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional, applying the theory of Kronecker product of matrices and the linear matrix inequality (LMI) technique, several delay-dependent sufficient conditions in LMI form are obtained for global exponential synchronization of such systems. Moreover, the decay rate is estimated. The proposed LMI approach has the advantage of considering the difference of neuronal excitatory and inhibitory efforts, which is also computationally efficient as it can be solved numerically using efficient Matlab LMI toolbox, and no tuning of parameters is required. In addition, the proposed results generalize and improve the earlier publications. An example with simulation is given to show the effectiveness of the obtained results.     

Global asymptotic stability of delayed neural networks with discontinuous neuron activations

This paper investigates a class of delayed neural networks whose neuron activations are modeled by discontinuous functions. By utilizing the Leray–Schauder fixed point theorem of multivalued version, the properties of M-matrix and generalized Lyapunov approach, we present some sufficient conditions to ensure the existence and global asymptotic stability of the state equilibrium point. Furthermore, the global convergence of the output solutions are also discussed. The assumptive conditions imposed on activation functions are allowed to be unbounded and nonmonotonic, which are less restrictive than previews works on the discontinuous or continuous neural networks. Hence, we improve and extend some existing results of other researchers. Finally, one numerical example is given to illustrate the effectiveness of the criteria proposed in this paper.     

Local and Global Interactions in an Evolutionary Resource Game

Conditions for the emergence of cooperation in a spatial common-pool resource game are studied. This combines in a unique way local and global interactions. A fixed number of harvesters are located on a spatial grid. Harvesters choose among three strategies: defection, cooperation, and enforcement. Individual payoffs are affected by both global factors, namely, aggregate harvest and resource stock level, and local factors, such as the imposition of sanctions on neighbors by enforcers. The evolution of strategies in the population is driven by social learning through imitation, based on local interaction or locally available information. Numerous types of equilibria exist in these settings. An important new finding is that clusters of cooperators and enforcers can survive among large groups of defectors. We discuss how the results contrast with the non-spatial, but otherwise similar, game of Sethi and Somanathan (American Economic Review 86(4):766–789, 1996).      

GNSS系统接收机自主完好性监测算法

提出一种适用于多星座情况的接收机自主完好性监测算法——基于完好性指标动态分配的完好性监测算法。该算法比传统算法更能适应多星座情况下不同星座观测量属性的差异,其可用性比传统算法提高2％～3％。在多星座和双频情况下,利用该算法分析完好性监测的性能,结果表明,该算法在LPV-200完好性要求下是适用的。