Influence of hydrography on phytoplankton distribution in the Amundsen and Ross Seas, Antarctica

The phytoplankton of the Ross Sea have been intensively studied, in contrast to that of the Amundsen Sea. This study focused on understanding the environmental variables that influence the spatial patterns of assemblages during late summer, 2007, and late spring-early summer, 2008 in the Amundsen and Ross Seas. Blooms of the prymnesiophyte Phaeocystis antarctica, and the silicoflagellate Dictyocha speculum occurred in the southwestern to eastern parts of the Ross Sea, respectively, whereas diatoms dominated in southeastern Ross and the Amundsen Sea. Shallow mixed layers supported the growth of diatoms, but were not the only factor required for diatom bloom development. Modified Circumpolar Deep Water intruded into the subsurface waters (< 200 m) in the southwestern Ross Sea during February 2007, and possibly favored the formation of P. antarctica blooms. Photosynthetic quantum yield data suggest that blooms from the southwestern Ross Sea were approaching stress during January 2008, likely due to iron limitation, in contrast to blooms close to the ice edge in the Amundsen Sea, where iron may be more available to the phytoplankton. A detailed comparison between the Amundsen and Ross Seas may allow a greater understanding of the environmental-induced impacts on phytoplankton distribution and regional biogeochemical cycles.     

Urban activity spaces: Illustrations and application of a conceptual model for integrating the time and space dimensions

This work extends the conceptual argument for the use of ellipses to portray activity spaces and offers one example of how the ellipse construct can be used to analyze urban travel characteristics, based on observed trip making behavior and socio-economic variables. A problem in characterizing activity spaces has been in integrating the time and space dimensions into the same analytical framework while maintaining an understandable graphical representation of the space-time geographies envisioned by Hagerstrand and others. The ellipse allows this, as well as providing several quantifiable measures to be used for analyzing and characterizing activity spaces and urban travel behavior. In the current application, analysis of variance is used to analyze the resulting elliptic variables of 653 travelers. The results indicate that home location and household size are important factors in determining activity space characteristics and that the ellipse variables provide a different and useful approach for understanding urban travel behavior.     

Properties of a traffic control policy which ensure the existence of a traffic equilibrium consistent with the policy

We consider a network with interactions and capacity constraints at each junction. We give conditions on the interactions and constraints which, if satisfied at each separate junction, ensure that any feasible assignment problem has an equilibrium solution. Two illustrative examples are provided; the first arises naturally and does not satisfy our conditions, while the second does satisfy our conditions but is somewhat unnatural.     

The marginal cost taxation of a transportation network

The paper shows that if the cost and demand functions satisfy certain weak smoothness conditions then the marginal cost taxation of a transportation network is optimal in the usual local sense. Interactions between the cost of travel along a link and flow along other links and between the demand for travel along a route and flow along other routes are permitted.     

The Horsepower Reserve Formulation of Driveability for a Vehicle Fitted With a Continuously Variable Transmission

Summary A systematic methodology is developed for choosing the optimum ratio trajectory of a continuously variable transmission in a passenger vehicle. The optimum CVT ratio schedule is formulated as a constrained optimization problem with maximum fuel economy as the objective function and driveability concerns and physical limitations included as the constraints. The key notion to achieving good driveability is the introduction and definition of a horsepower reserve function that creates a consistent and desirable vehicle response under different driving conditions. Simulation results compare the optimized schedule's performance with several other possible ratio schedules, including the minimum brake specific fuel consumption map. Results from the optimized schedule indicate only a mild tradeoff between driveability and fuel economy relative to the other ratio schedules. The ratio optimization problem formulation and solution provide a novel and unique approach for systematically addressing driveability and fuel economy considerations associated with a continuously variable transmission.     

Two alternative definitions of traffic equilibrium

The paper shows that, under reasonable conditions, if there are junction or modal interactions then a Wardrop equilibrium exists but a user—optimised flow may well not.     

Prediction of ship steering capabilities with a fully nonlinear ship motion model. Part 1: Maneuvering in calm water

This paper introduces a new method for the prediction of ship maneuvering capabilities. The new method is added to a nonlinear six-degrees-of-freedom ship motion model named the digital, self-consistent ship experimental laboratory (DiSSEL). Based on the first principles of physics, when the ship is steered, the additional surge and sway forces and the yaw moment from the deflected rudder are computed. The rudder forces and moments are computed using rudder parameters such as the rudder area and the local flow velocity at the rudder, which includes contributions from the ship velocity and the propeller slipstream. The rudder forces and moments are added to the forces and moments on the hull, which are used to predict the motion of the ship in DiSSEL. The resulting motions of the ship influence the inflow into the rudder and thereby influence the force and moment on the rudder at each time step. The roll moment and resulting heel angle on the ship as it maneuvers are also predicted. Calm water turning circle predictions are presented and correlated with model test data for NSWCCD model 5514, a pre-contract DDG-51 hull form. Good correlations are shown for both the turning circle track and the heel angle of the model during the turn. The prediction for a ship maneuvering in incident waves will be presented in Part 2. DiSSEL can be applied for any arbitrary hull geometry. No empirical parameterization is used, except for the influence of the propeller slipstream on the rudder, which is included using a flow acceleration factor.     

Bicycle commuting in Melbourne during the 2000s energy crisis: A semiparametric analysis of intraday volumes

Cycling is attracting renewed attention as a mode of transport in western urban environments, yet the determinants of usage are poorly understood. In this paper we investigate some of these using intraday bicycle volumes collected via induction loops located at ten bike paths in the city of Melbourne, Australia, between December 2005 and June 2008. The data are hourly counts at each location, with temporal and spatial disaggregation allowing for the impact of meteorology to be measured accurately for the first time. Moreover, during this period petrol prices varied dramatically and the data also provide a unique opportunity to assess the cross-price elasticity of demand for cycling. Over-dispersed Poisson regression models are used to model volumes at each location and at each hour of the day. Seasonality and the impact of weather conditions are modelled as semiparametric and estimated using recently developed multivariate penalized spline methodology. Unlike previous studies that use aggregate data, the empirical results show a substantial meteorological and seasonal component to usage. They also suggest there was substitution into cycling as a mode of transport in response to increases in petrol prices, particularly during peak commuting periods and by commuters originating in wealthy and inner city neighbourhoods. Last, we extend the approach to a multivariate longitudinal count data model using a Gaussian copula estimated by Bayesian data augmentation. We find first order serial dependence in the hourly volumes and a ‘return trip’ effect in daily bicycle commutes.     

A splitting rate model of traffic re-routeing and traffic control

The paper presents an idealised dynamical model of day-to-day or within-day re-routeing using splitting rates at nodes, or node-exit flows, rather than route-flows. It is shown that under certain conditions the dynamical model gives rise to a sequence of link flow vectors which converges to a set of approximate Wardrop equilibria. A special dynamical signal green-time re-allocation model is added; the combination is also shown (in outline) to converge to the set of approximate consistent equilibria under certain conditions. Finally the paper uses model network results to illustrate a method of designing fixed time signal timings to meet different scenarios.     

Exploring public transport sustainability with neutrosophic logic

Sustainable transportation is a significant component of overall sustainable development. Increasingly, evaluation and decision-making with respect to major complex projects (for example, transportation and land use projects), a multiple attribute perspective is taken. This paper illustrates a multiple attribute decision-making approach for selecting sustainable public transportation systems under uncertainty, that is, with partial or incomplete information represented by single-valued neutrosophic sets (SVNSs). A SVNS is a generalization of a classical set, a fuzzy set, and an intuitionistic fuzzy set. Here, SVNSs and SVNS connectives are illustrated in the context of a ‘Public Transit Sustainable Mobility Analysis Tool’ (PTSMAT) which involves a composite (multiple attribute) sustainability index. A case study of PTSMAT is provided for the UBC Corridor study in Vancouver, Canada. As expected, similar results are obtained to the original study, though the neutrosophic formalism opens a wide range of possibilities for recognition of uncertainty in sustainability assessment.