Autonomous vehicle control systems for safe crossroads

This article presents a cooperative manoeuvre among three dual mode cars – vehicles equipped with sensors and actuators, and that can be driven either manually or autonomously. One vehicle is driven autonomously and the other two are driven manually. The main objective is to test two decision algorithms for priority conflict resolution at intersections so that a vehicle autonomously driven can take their own decision about crossing an intersection mingling with manually driven cars without the need for infrastructure modifications. To do this, the system needs the position, speeds, and turning intentions of the rest of the cars involved in the manoeuvre. This information is acquired via communications, but other methods are also viable, such as artificial vision. The idea of the experiments was to adjust the speed of the manually driven vehicles to force a situation where all three vehicles arrive at an intersection at the same time.     

Forme urbaine et mobilité domicile-travail dans 13 aires urbaines françaises : une analyse multiéchelle

This article provides a multi-scale analysis of the links between commuting patterns and urban form by using both morphological and more classical indicators of urban form (like density). Thirteen French urban areas of more than 500,000 inhabitants (excluding Paris) are compared. The findings highlight the complexity of the links between urban form and commuting patterns because the same indicators of urban form do not have the same influence according to the spatial scale. Even if the influence of the morphological indicators is lower than that of more classical socioeconomic variables (income level, motorization rate), our study discusses the various and multi-scale consequences of urban development on daily travel behaviour.     

Mesozooplankton species distribution in the NW and N Iberian shelf during spring 2004: Relationship with frontal structures

We have analysed the mesozooplankton community structure in the southern Bay of Biscay shelf and its relationship with the hydrographic conditions during spring 2004. According to thermohaline characteristics, we observed two frontal zones of distinct origin along the shelf (around 7° and 3°W), that allowed us to differentiate three different hydrographic domains. The westernmost part of the shelf (WC), defined by the presence of relatively warm and salty water related to the presence of the Iberian Poleward Current (IPC), the easternmost region (EC), characterized by colder and fresher water and subject to the influence of freshwater inputs from the Adour river in the French coast, and a region in the Central Cantabrian Sea (CC), where thermohaline characteristics were intermediate between these two extremes. The mixing layer depth (MLD) regime in these areas was also different: the WC region was characterized by a mixed water column, whereas in the EC region the river discharges produces stratification of the upper meters of the water column (< 10 m); in the CC region, we found a distinct vertical mixing regime that separated coastal (stratification) from shelf (mixed water column) stations, giving rise to a notorious across-shelf front. We found a good match between the aforesaid hydrographic regions and the distribution of mesozooplankton species composition and community assemblages: the Mantel correlation between physical variables and mesozooplankton distribution was highly significant (n = 63, r = 0.70, α < 0.001). In the WC region, the community was dominated by Paracalanus parvus, Oithona helgolandica, Acartia clausi and Clausocalanus pergens, while in the EC region the most dominant species were Noctiluca scintillans, Oncaea media and Temora longicornis. The CC region showed similar composition of copepods than the WC region, but larvaceans (Oikopleura spp. and Fritillaria spp.) were more abundant in the CC region than in the WC region. Within each zone, the relative abundances of the dominant species differed between coastal and shelf locations.     

Between-mode-differences in the value of travel time: Self-selection or strategic behaviour?

Using stated preference survey data, we measure the value of travel time for several transport modes. We find, like many before us, that the value of travel time varies across modes in the opposite direction of what would be the consequence of differences in comfort. We examine three candidate causes for the observed differences: Comfort effects, self-selection and strategic behaviour of respondents. Using experiments with both the current and an alternative mode we find that the differences in the value of travel time are consistent with self-selection and comfort effects. Moreover, respondents having bus as the current or the alternative mode seem not to value comfort differently across modes. Strategic behaviour seems to play no role.     

Mesoscale high-frequency variability in the Alboran Sea and its influence on fish larvae distributions

This work analyses a multidisciplinary data set including hydrological and meteorological data, satellite images, and fish larvae abundance from a high-frequency experiment conducted along a north–south transect across the Western Alboran Sea anticyclonic gyre. Four consecutive occupations of the transect, crossing the frontal area, evidenced the high-frequency variability of hydrological structures and its influence on the latitudinal and vertical distribution of fish larvae in a period of a few days. The influence of dynamical processes on fish larvae depends on the location of the spawning as well as on the larval fish position in the water column. Wind induced upwelling and/or the southward drift of the Atlantic current transport larvae of neritic species, such as Sardina pilchardus and Engraulis encrasicolus to open sea areas. At the same time, these events bring about alterations in the latitudinal and vertical distributions of mesopelagic fish larvae. The species with a relatively surface distribution, as Ceratoscopelus maderensis, were transported and accumulated to the south of the Atlantic Jet (AJ), while those with a deeper distribution in the water column, as Maurolicus muelleri or Benthosema glaciale, would be upwelled and concentrated to the north. This study shows that it is difficult to extract conclusions about the mean or preferential distributions of fish larvae when one single/synoptic survey is considered and that time evolution of hydrological structures has to be considered in order to conclude.     

Online and in-store purchase behavior: shopping channel choice in a developing economy

Transportation - Developing economies are still in the stage of e-commerce deployment, unlike in developed countries, where online shopping is already a common purchase channel. This research aims...     

Oceanic CO2 uptake and biogeochemical variability during the formation of the Eastern North Atlantic Central water under two contrasting NAO scenarios

Long-term variability of the biogeochemical properties during the formation of central waters in the Eastern North Atlantic were analyzed between 42–47°N and 10–20°W from the dataset gathered during the Galicia VII (GVII) and C. Darwin 58/59 (CD58/59) cruises. These cruises that showed important changes in the thermohaline properties and the nutrient abundance of the upper layers were carried out under contrasting conditions of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index. The different climate forcing led a meridional shift of the transition zone between the formation regions of subpolar and subtropical Eastern North Atlantic Central Water (ENACWp and ENACWt, respectively). This displacement conditioned the presence of each ENACW in the study region and so the thermohaline and biogeochemical properties. The effect of the observed variability at decadal scale on the air–sea CO₂ gradient (ΔfCO₂) and exchange (F_CO2) was analyzed using 1D model approach throughout 11 weekly-steps that simulated the development of a spring bloom during the shoaling of the mixed layer. The outputs of the model showed an intensification of the ocean CO₂ uptake due to higher biological CO₂ drawdown, during positive NAO conditions and its weakening under negative NAO influence.     

Residence time,exposure time and connectivity in the Scheldt Estuary

Residence times and exposure times are computed for 13 boxes in the Scheldt Estuary, using the high-resolution tracer-transport model SLIM. The concepts are clearly defined and related to how they should be computed. First, the timescale values are compared with results published previously that were obtained with a simple box model, and an unexpected difference is revealed. This may suggest that a high-resolution model is necessary, even for the computation of such integrated quantities as residence or exposure times. Secondly, the newly computed residence times are compared to the exposures times to illustrate their intrinsic differences. From this difference, it is possible to propose a return coefficient, expressing the fraction of the exposure time that is due to “returning water”, i.e. water which has already left the estuary at least once. Finally, the estuarine exposure times are decomposed into the different box exposure times, resulting in a connectivity matrix. This matrix expresses how much time is spent in each of the estuarine subdomains during the water parcels' journey through the estuary.     

I want to ride it where I like: measuring design preferences in cycling infrastructure

Transportation - Sidewalk cyclists are a major concern to planners in many cities around the world: they are considerable in numbers, and increase the risk of injury not only to pedestrians but...