Temporal persistence and stability of surface soil moisture in a semi-arid watershed

Satellite soil moisture products, such as those from Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR), require diverse landscapes for validation. Semi-arid landscapes present a particular challenge to satellite remote sensing validation using traditional techniques because of the high spatial variability and potentially rapid rates of temporal change in moisture conditions. In this study, temporal stability analysis and spatial sampling techniques are used to investigate the representativeness of ground observations at satellite scale soil moisture in a semi-arid watershed for a long study period (March 1, 2002 to September 13, 2005). The watershed utilized, the Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed, has a dense network of 19 soil moisture sensors, distributed over a 150 km² study region. In conjunction with this monitoring network, intensive gravimetric soil moisture sampling conducted as part of the Soil Moisture Experiment in 2004 (SMEX04), contributed to the calibration of the network for large-scale estimation during the North American Monsoon System (NAMS). The sensor network is shown to be an excellent estimator of the watershed average with an accuracy of approximately 0.01 m³/m³ soil moisture. However, temporal stability analysis indicated that while much of the network is stable, the soil moisture spatial pattern, as represented by mean relative difference, is not replicated by the network mean relative difference pattern. Rather, the network is composed of statistical samples. Geophysical aspects of the watershed, including topography and soil type are also examined for their influence on the soil moisture variability and stability. Soil type, as characterized by bulk density, clay and sand content, was responsible for nearly 50% of the temporal stability. Topographic effects were less important in defining representativeness and stability.     

Stability of linear multistep methods for delay integro-differential equations

This paper is concerned with the numerical solution of delay integro-differential equations. The adaptation of linear multistep methods is considered. The emphasis is on the linear stability of numerical methods. It is shown that every A-stable, strongly 0-stable linear multistep method of Pouzet type can preserve the delay-independent stability of the underlying linear systems. In addition, some delay-dependent stability conditions for the stability of numerical methods are also given.     

Choosing knowledge management strategies by using a combined ANP and DEMATEL approach

Numerous companies are expecting their knowledge management (KM) to be performed effectively in order to leverage and transform the knowledge into competitive advantages. However, here raises a critical issue of how companies can better evaluate and select a favorable KM strategy prior to a successful KM implementation. The KM strategy selection is a kind of multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem, which requires considering a large number of complex factors as multiple evaluation criteria. A robust MCDM method should consider the interactions among criteria. The analytic network process (ANP) is a relatively new MCDM method which can deal with all kinds of interactions systematically. Moreover, the Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) not only can convert the relations between cause and effect of criteria into a visual structural model, but also can be used as a way to handle the inner dependences within a set of criteria. Hence, this paper proposes an effective solution based on a combined ANP and DEMATEL approach to help companies that need to evaluate and select KM strategies. Additionally, an empirical study is presented to illustrate the application of the proposed method.     

Stability and control of nonlinear systems described by retarded functional equations: a review of recent results

This paper reports on recent results in a series of the work of the authors on the stability and nonlinear control for general dynamical systems described by retarded functional differential and difference equations. Both internal and external stability properties are studied. The corresponding Lyapunov and Razuminkhin characterizations for input-to-state and input-to-output stabilities are proposed. Necessary and sufficient Lyapunov-like conditions are derived for robust nonlinear stabilization. In particular, an explicit controller design procedure is developed for a new class of nonlinear time-delay systems. Lastly, sufficient assumptions, including a small-gain condition, are presented for guaranteeing the input-to-output stability of coupled systems comprised of retarded functional differential and difference equations.     

Lyapunov-based boundary feedback control in multi-reach canals

This paper presents a Lyapunov-based approach to design the boundary feedback control for an openchannel network composed of a cascade of multi-reach canals, each described by a pair of Saint-Venant equations. The weighted sum of entropies of the multi-reaches is adopted to construct the Lyapunov function. The time derivative of the Lyapunov function is expressed by the water depth variations at the gate boundaries, based on which a class of boundary feedback controllers is presented to guarantee the local asymptotic closed-loop stability. The advantage of this approach is that only the water level depths at the gate boundaries are measured as the feedback. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 60504026, 60674041), and the National High-Tech Research & Development Program of China (Grant No. 2006AA04Z173)     

基于VC＋＋的井架承载能力评估程序设计

针对井架承载能力评估过程中井架承载能力计算复杂、繁琐等问题,采用计算编程软件计算井架承栽能力有利于简化计算过程、提高评估效率与精度．在介绍井架承载能力评估计算方法的基础上,以VC＋＋为工具,编写了一套功能较为完善的计算评估程序。整套程序含四个功能模块,能按新、旧两种井架评定标准进行计算,经现场检验,效果良好。     

基于遗传算法的PID控制系统

遗传算法是1962年由美国Michigan大学的Holland教授提出的模拟自然界遗传机制和生物进化论而形成的一种并行随机搜索最优化方法[1-3],在自动控制领域中得到了越来越广泛的应用。该文引入了"稳定区域算法"求取闭环系统稳定的PID控制器参数区间,并以此算法的计算结果限定进化算法的参数寻优区间,通过仿真试验取得了令人满意的控制效果。     

RAZUMIKHIN-TYPE THEOREMS OF NEUTRAL STOCHASTIC FUNCTIONAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS

The stability of stochastic functional differential equation with Markovian switching was studied by several authors,but there was almost no work on the stability of the neutral stochastic functional differential equations with Markovian switching.The aim of this article is to close this gap.The authors establish Razumikhin-type theorem of the neutral stochastic functional differential equations with Markovian switching,and those without Markovian switching.     

On the model-based networked control for singularly perturbed systems

In this paper, the control of a two-time-scale plant, where the sensor is connected to a linear controller/actuator via a network is addressed. The slow and fast systems of singularly perturbed systems are used to produce an estimate of the plant state behavior between transmission times, by which one can reduce the usage of the network. The approximate solutions of the whole systems are derived and it is shown that the whole systems via the network control are generally asymptotically stable as long as their slow and fast systems are both stable. These results are also extended to the case of network delay.     

多分量力传感器的误差补偿与稳定性考核

为解决杯突试验机夹紧力的校准问题,采用单体式多分量结构设计新型测力传感器,同时采用电路补偿和软件对非线性误差修正来提高传感器的准确度,采用计算机测量系统对多分量力传感器的重复性和稳定性进行考核。测量结果表明:设计的多分量力传感器各分量的重复性不大于0.07%,而长期稳定性优于0.26%。