The High-Speed Navy: Vessel Motion Influences on Human Performance

This paper presents the recent results from an ongoing analysis of the effects of high-speed naval operations on the performance, comfort, and safety of crew and passengers. A 127-m trimaran, the Benchijigua Express, which is similar in hull design to the General Dynamics Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) vessel, was investigated for motion-induced interruptions, motion sickness, and biodynamic feed-through to manual tasks. Data were obtained on two 2-hour transits per day for a total of 86 transits during February and March 2006. Survey questionnaires were obtained from nearly 2,000 passengers. The motion effects on manual dexterity were negligible, but motion sickness symptoms were reported by a majority of the passengers. The capability to manage the motion sickness issue for unadapted passengers may be important for the effective use of LCS to transport ground combatants and for Sea Basing concepts.     

货车车轮设计

阐述了对车轮设计的改进,能对车轮的可靠性和使用寿命产生重要的影响。     

Spatial and temporal variability of size-fractionated biomass and primary production in the Ross Sea (Antarctica) during austral spring and summer

The results of a study on the spatial and temporal dynamics of size-fractionated biomass and production of phytoplankton in the Ross Sea during the austral spring and summer are reported. The spring cruise took place in the offshore Ross Sea from 14 November to 14 December 1994. Sampling was carried out on a transect of 27 stations distributed from 76.5 to 72.0°S along 175°E, and covered the three main Antarctic environments of the polynya open waters, the marginal ice zone and the pack ice area. Three subsystems were identified. The subsystem of the polynya was characterised by the predominance of the micro- and nano-planktonic fractions, chlorophyll (Chl a) concentrations from 69.6 to 164.7 mg m⁻² and production rates from 0.68 to 1.14 g C m⁻² day⁻¹. The second subsystem, the marginal ice zone, showed a relative increase of the micro-planktonic fraction, high biomass levels (from 99.64 to 220 mg Chl m⁻²) and production rates from 0.99 to 2.7 g C m⁻² day⁻¹. The subsystem of the pack ice area had a phytoplankton community dominated by the pico-planktonic fraction and showed low biomasses (from 19.4 to 37.7 mg Chl m⁻²) and production rates (0.28 to 0.60 g C m⁻² day⁻¹). Selective grazing by krill is considered an important factor in determining the size structure of the phytoplankton communities. The summer study consisted of a time series carried out in inshore waters of Terra Nova Bay from 12 January to 8 February 1990. In a well stabilised water column and with high levels of PAR always available, the primary production rates of a community dominated by micro-plankton varied from 0.52 to 1.2 g C m⁻² day⁻¹ (average 0.84). A high P/B ratio, up to 3, and a remarkably elevated mean phaeopigment (Phaeo)/Chl a ratio of 2.4 indicated an active removal of biomass by grazing, confirmed by the presence of faecal pellets in quantities reaching 6000 m⁻³ in the upper 50 m. The peculiarities of the inshore versus offshore environments in terms of community size structure, production processes and their implications as regards the food web are discussed.     

Évaluation de mesures d’urgence potentielles en cas de pic de pollution atmosphérique en Alsace

Ten years after their implementation, the Alsatian prefectorial orders concerning emergency measures applied in case of exceedance of alert thresholds for ozone, nitrogen dioxide and, a pioneer feature of the French region, the PM, required an update. In 2007, the ASPA was mandated by the Bas-Rhin and the Haut-Rhin Prefectures to define and assess new emergency measures. The Alsatian emissions inventory first identified the activity sectors which would be potentially targeted by the measures, and then calculated the associated emission reductions. In association with the transportation agency, 3 scenarios were retained for concentration simulation: limitation of the speed limit at 70 km/h on freeways and major urban roads, alternated traffic in towns, and a combination of both measures. Then, an integrated modelling chain, including the CHIMERE and ADMS-Urban models, was allowed to simulate, for the three scenarios, the variation of ozone during the heat wave of 2003, and the variation of nitrogen dioxide and the PM during wintry episodes, for the cities of Strasbourg, Colmar and Mulhouse. Finally, the urban cartographies of the impact of the scenarios on the concentrations were crossed with the georeferenced residence data to estimate the population affected by threshold exceedances in each case. A weak impact was obtained for speed limit reduction, while it was significant for the alternated traffic; for the PM, the concentrations fell about 10 μg/m³ and the population exposed to threshold exceedance fell by a factor 4; for nitrogen dioxide, the concentrations were lowered by several dozen μg/m³ and the exposed population fell by a factor 2; whereas for ozone, we noted a slight increase in the concentration and the exposed population. At the same time as the implementation of the newly developed emergency measures, the evolution of knowledge and modelling shows that it would be technically justified to differentiate the measures, pollutant by pollutant.     

Institutional issues in planning for more uncertain futures

Future travel demand has always been difficult to estimate. Recent trends of a slow down or stagnation in traffic growth combined with substantial demographic, economic, and technological shifts further complicate that task. This poses a significant planning challenge given that decision-making is often based on the benefits of infrastructure investments which accrue over periods as long as 60 years. In contrast to the changing ideas around what mobility in the future will look like and the types of demand it may need to service, the practice of forecasting future travel demand remains largely unchanged as do the decision-making processes which flow from this. Alternative approaches to thinking about futures such as scenario planning exist but have had more limited deployment in the transport sector. This paper explores the institutional issues surrounding the purpose, practice and barriers to changing the approaches of forecasting and decision-making through an exploration of the state of practice in the UK drawing on interviews with 23 practitioners. Drawing on Hall’s work on policy change, the research finds that there is a strong policy paradigm built around the relationships between transport investment and traffic growth. This has strengthened since the recession with an increased focus on the relationship between transport and job creation. The forecasting approaches in use today are an important part of a complex decision-making apparatus reflective of specialized policy arenas like transport. Challenges in acknowledging, representing and communicating uncertainty are identified leaving a growing tension between planning visions and planning practice. We conclude by reflecting on events which may stimulate a broader reframing of how we plan for transport futures whilst embracing key uncertainties.

     

Sequential optimization approach for the multi‐class user equilibrium problem in a continuous transportation system

We consider a city region with several facilities that are competing for customers of different classes. Within the city region, the road network is dense, and can be represented as a continuum. Customers are continuously distributed over space, and they choose a facility by considering both the transportation cost and market externalities. More importantly, the model takes into account the different transportation cost functions and market externalities to which different customer classes are subjected. A logit‐type distribution of demand is specified to model the decision‐making process of users' facility choice. We develop a sequential optimization approach to decompose the complex multi‐class and multi‐facility problem into a series of smaller single‐class and single‐facility sub‐problems. An efficient solution algorithm is then proposed to solve the resultant problem. A numerical example is given to demonstrate the effectiveness and potential applicability of the proposed methodology.     

A Novel Approach to Vehicle Dynamics using the Theory of a Cosserat Point and its Application to Collision Analyses of Platooning Vehicles

A fully three-dimensional, computationally inexpensive vehicular model is presented. In contrast to traditional rigid body models, the vehicle's sprung mass is modeled as a (nonlinearly) deformable body. The formulation of the equations of motion is based on a continuum theory known as the theory of a Cosserat point. These equations largely preserve the relative simplicity of rigid body dynamics but incorporate deformable features. The ease of computer implementation permits the simultaneous simulation of vehicle and collision dynamics of multiple vehicles and highway objects. In this paper, the theory of a Cosserat point is summarized and its general application to vehicle and collision dynamics is illustrated. A three-dimensional collision algorithm is discussed with emphasis on small closing velocities (negligible residual crush, elastic rebound). The novel model is compared to standard procedures.     

Primary productivity of the Palmer Long Term Ecological Research Area and the Southern Ocean

A major objective of the Palmer Long Term Ecological Research (Palmer LTER) project is to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the various components of the Antarctic marine ecosystem. Phytoplankton production plays a key role in this so-called high nutrient, low chlorophyll environment, and factors that regulate production include those that control cell growth (light, temperature, and nutrients) and those that control cell accumulation rate and hence population growth (water column stability, grazing, and sinking). Sea ice mediates several of these factors and frequently conditions the water column for a spring bloom which is characterized by a pulse of production restricted in both time and space. This study models the spatial and temporal variability of primary production within the Palmer LTER area west of the Antarctic Peninsula and discusses this production in the context of historical data for the Southern Ocean. Primary production for the Southern Ocean and the Palmer LTER area have been computed using both light-pigment production models [Smith, R.C., Bidigare, R.R., Prézelin, B.B., Baker, K.S., Brooks, J.M., 1987. Optical characterization of primary productivity across a coastal front. Mar. Biol. (96), 575–591; Bidigare, R.R., Smith, R.C., Baker, K.S., Marra, J., 1987. Oceanic primary production estimates from measurements of spectral irradiance and pigment concentrations. Global Biogeochem. Cycles (1), 171–186; Morel, A., Berthon, J.F., 1989. Surface pigments, algal biomass profiles and potential production of the euphotic layer—relationships reinvestigated in view of remote-sensing applications. Limnol. Oceanogr. (34), 1545–1562] and an ice edge production model [Nelson, D.M., Smith, W.O., 1986. Phytoplankton bloom dynamics of the western Ross Sea ice edge: II. Mesoscale cycling of nitrogen and silicon. Deep-Sea Res. (33), 1389–1412; Wilson, D.L., Smith, W.O., Nelson, D.M., 1986. Phytoplankton bloom dynamics of the Western Ross Sea ice edge: I. primary productivity and species-specific production. Deep-Sea Res., 33, 1375–1387; Smith, W.O., Nelson, D.M., 1986. Importance of ice edge phytoplankton production in the Southern Ocean. BioScience (36), 251–257]. Chlorophyll concentrations, total photosynthetically available radiation (PAR) and sea ice concentrations were derived from satellite data. These same parameters, in addition to hydrodynamic conditions, have also been determined from shipboard and Palmer Station observations during the LTER program. Model results are compared, sensitivity studies evaluated, and productivity of the Palmer LTER region is discussed in terms of its space time distribution, seasonal and interannual variability, and overall contribution to the marine ecology of the Southern Ocean.     

Underwater noise from maritime sources and impact on marine life

Underwater Sound is essential for marine animal functioning. Sound levels from human sources in the marine environment interfere with sound-mediated behaviour in marine animals when shipping coincides with areas or pathways that are vital for animal populations. The impact of human-generated underwater sound to ecosystem functioning and biodiversity receives increasing attention, although as yet it has not been included in the work of international organisations, such as the IMO. At MEPC 55 a document on ships striking whales was discussed; it was noted that disturbed whale hearing might hamper the recognition of a ship approaching.