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Variability in epilimnion depth estimations in lakes
Get PDFThe epilimnion is the surface layer of a lake typically characterised as well mixed and is decoupled from the metalimnion due to a steep change in density. The concept of the epilimnion (and, more widely, the three-layered structure of a stratified lake) is fundamental in limnology, and calculating the depth of the epilimnion is essential to understanding many physical and ecological lake processes. Despite the ubiquity of the term, however, there is no objective or generic approach for defining the epilimnion, and a diverse number of approaches prevail in the literature. Given the increasing availability of water temperature and density profile data from lakes with a high spatio-temporal resolution, automated calculations, using such data, are particularly common, and they have vast potential for use with evolving long-term globally measured and modelled datasets. However, multi-site and multi-year studies, including those related to future climate impacts, require robust and automated algorithms for epilimnion depth estimation. In this study, we undertook a comprehensive comparison of commonly used epilimnion depth estimation methods, using a combined 17-year dataset, with over 4700 daily temperature profiles from two European lakes. Overall, we found a very large degree of variability in the estimated epilimnion depth across all methods and thresholds investigated and for both lakes. These differences, manifesting over high-frequency data, led to fundamentally different understandings of the epilimnion depth. In addition, estimations of the epilimnion depth were highly sensitive to small changes in the threshold value, complex thermal water column structures, and vertical data resolution. These results call into question the custom of arbitrary method selection and the potential problems this may cause for studies interested in estimating the ecological processes occurring within the epilimnion, multi-lake comparisons, or long-term time series analysis. We also identified important systematic differences between methods, which demonstrated how and why methods diverged. These results may provide rationale for future studies to select an appropriate epilimnion definition in light of their particular purpose and with awareness of the limitations of individual methods. While there is no prescribed rationale for selecting a particular method, the method which defined the epilimnion depth as the shallowest depth, where the density was 0.1 kg m−3 more than the surface density, may be particularly useful as a generic method
More than Buzzing Bluebottles: New Contexts for Céilí Bands in Ireland
Get PDFThough Irish traditional music is often referred to as a solo tradition, throughout the twentieth century various forms of ensemble playing emerged and developed. Affected by changing social contexts, audience preferences and even government legislation, the céilí band has become one of the most recognisable ensemble styles in Irish traditional music. Usually comprising of accordion, fiddles, flutes, concertina, banjo, piano and drums, the sound is defined by the performance of the group in unison with rhythmic and harmonic accompaniment from the piano and drums.
Since its development in the twentieth century, the form and sound of the céilí band has arguably changed little but the contexts for performance, attitudes to and perceptions of céilí bands have changed greatly. Another important factor in the study of céilí bands today is the development of an understanding as to how and why céilí bands are formed and how this has changed over time, giving particular consideration in this paper to the role of competition. The study of céilí bands may be related to other aspects of the study of Irish traditional music including changes in the processes of transmission, the connection to place and perceived revivals in Irish traditional music
Evolving a signature sound: blending Celtic roots and aesthetics with divergent music production practices in studio albums recorded by The Corrs
Get PDFSuccessful bands and artists have a distinctive sound that makes them instantly recognisable to audiences and differentiates them from other performers within their genre. By examining practices within music production, this thesis will demonstrate how multiple decisions and creative collaboration between music producers and a band impact on the development of a particular sound that is disseminated to an audience. Taking into account that music producers can have their own distinctive signature sound due to divergent working practices, bands often choose to work with specific music producers to shape or refine their sound. While a band can have an overall recognisable sound across a recording catalogue, each album can vary within that sound, resulting in a varied portfolio influenced by divergent music production choices and socio-cultural contexts. Using Irish music group The Corrs as a case study, this thesis critically examines three albums from their recording catalogue. Through a music production content analysis, which is supported by the reverse engineering of specified singles and album tracks through the use of digital audio workstation Pro Tools, the building blocks of The Corrs’ identifiable sound and recurring patterns are revealed. By examining the music production of each of the three albums in parallel with a critical study of the Irish music industry and cultural environment, this thesis adds to the field of musicology in record production
Silvopasture: a sustainable method to improve soil quality and productivity on farms in the North-West region of Ireland
Get PDFThe FAO (2015) define agroforestry as a ‘collective name for land-use systems and technologies where woody perennials are deliberately used on the same land-management units as agricultural crops and/or animals’. The five main agroforestry practices that are recognised in the EU include riparian buffer strips, forest farming, home gardens and silvopastural and silvoarable systems (Mosqura-Losada et al. 2018). The objective of this thesis was to obtain a greater level of understanding of agroforestry and its role in improving marginal land, with particular focus on farmer awareness of this practice in the North-West region of Ireland. The thesis aimed to determine factors which may restrict the uptake of agroforestry, and identify actions that could be taken to increase involvement. Another objective was to compare land occupied by agroforestry with grassland. The survey distributed to farmers proved there is an appetite for agroforestry in the North-West of Ireland. However, work must be done by the government and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) to incentivise this and make it attractive to those interested. More information must be made available as a lack of knowledge on the topic currently exists. Completing a soil sample analysis was very beneficial as it presented clear differences in the soils obtained from silvopasture and grassland sites. Silvopasture was superior in a number of areas including moisture content, porosity and earthworm populations. It was very evident that incorporating silvopasture into a grassland region can provide many benefits to the area. Inconclusive of all data obtained, it is apparent that the presence of silvopasture provides the area with many benefits in comparison to grassland swards. Farmers in the North-West are open to considering silvopasture as a method of land and productivity improvement but additional funding and incentives are required alongside information sources
Securing a Dependability Improvement Mechanism for Cyber Physical Systems
Get PDFThe open and cooperative nature of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) poses a signifi-cant new challenge in assuring dependability. A European funded project named DEIS addresses this important and unsolved challenge by developing technologies that facilitate the efficient synthesis of components and systems based on their de-pendability information. The key innovation that is the aim of DEIS is the corre-sponding concept of a Digital Dependability Identity (DDI). A DDI contains all the information that uniquely describes the dependability characteristics of a CPS or CPS component.
In this paper we present an overview of the DDI, and provide the protocol for ensur-ing the security of the DDI while it is in transit and rest. Additionally, we provide con-fidentiality, integrity and availability validation of the protocol
Locating One’s Place: A Traditional Musician ‘Of Dublin’
Get PDFThis dissertation critically analyses the history of Irish traditional music in Dublin using research and performance. It endeavours to use global theoretical models, particularly the concepts of ‘scene’ and ‘subculture’ to assess the role of Dublin within the wider context of Irish traditional music and address the dearth of literature on the significant local scene that existed and evolved from the 1950s to the present day. Building upon Slobin’s (1992) concept of micromusics and using the paradigms of ethnomusicology (Myres, 1992), this study assesses Irish traditional music in Dublin through the integration of performance practice and academic research. It also aims to provide a history based on musical style, performers, institutions and familial and geographical factors. Through the use of comparative performance studies, analysis of localities, socio�cultural, institutional, familial influences and field research. This project will provide new
insights into Irish musical traditions and bring new perspectives to our understanding of the traditions globally. This research will address oral, literal, social, geographical and historical aspects of the development, maintenance and evolution of Irish traditional music in Dublin
Quality Improvement Mechanism for Cyber Physical Systems – An Evaluation
Get PDFThe future will encompass heavily interconnected, distributed, heterogeneous and intelligent systems which are bound to have a significant economic and social
impact. Cyber Physical Systems (CPS) such as autonomous cars, smart electric grid,
implanted medical devices and smart manufacturing are some practical examples of
these intelligent systems. However, due to the open and cooperative nature of CPS,
assuring their dependability is a challenge. The DEIS project addresses this important
and unsolved challenge by developing the concept of a Digital Dependability Identity
(DDI). A DDI contains all the information that uniquely describes the dependability
characteristics of a CPS or CPS component. DDIs are synthesised at development
time and are the basis for the (semi-)automated integration of components into systems during development, as well as for the fully automated dynamic integration of
systems into systems of systems in the field.
In this paper we present an overview of the DDI. We provide the metric selection
process for evaluating the DDI’s impact on CPS dependability. The results of an
evaluation of the DDI’s impact on dependability in four CPS industrial systems are
provided, both for design time and runtime. These results demonstrate the positive
impact of the DDI on the dependability of CPS
Soundscapes: geographies of sound and music
Get PDFThe study of soundscapes encourages geographers to hear the world, paying attention to the diversity and specificity of difference as heard, and the production of space by and through sound. A consideration of music as organised sound is a particular aspect within this consideration but the geographer should pay attention to all natural and manmade sounds in an environment. Changes in sound over time or between places can inform an understanding of geographical change or regional distinctiveness and it is critical that the geographer considers the processes in the production, dissemination and consumption of sound.The geographies of sound may be represented in visual art and film, shaped by tourism and political movements, or altered by memory and reproduction
Predicting in-lake responses to short and long-term changes using lake physical models
Get PDFLakes and reservoirs are under increasing pressure from urbanisation, agricultural intensification, and directional climate change, including an increasing occurrence of extreme climatic events. These pressures can reduce water quality by promoting the occurrence of nuisance algal blooms and higher levels of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), two issues that can cause substantial problems for water treatment, aquatic ecology and recreational users. Thus, there is a need to develop a modelling framework that is flexible, adaptable and provides information that can be utilised to mitigate potential risks to lakes and reservoirs. This thesis describes three specific pieces of work which in combination, further the use of hydrodynamic models for adaptive management. Firstly, the suitability of different meteorological datasets for forcing one-dimensional hydrodynamic models and accurately simulating water temperatures was examined. The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts produces freely available gridded meteorological datasets: ERA-Interim, ERA5 and EWEMBI. Lake temperature simulations produced using these three datasets were compared to those based on local meteorological data. Simulations with ERA5 and ERA-Interim simulated water temperatures to a similar degree of accuracy as those forced with local measured data. This highlighted how gridded meteorological datasets can be used to simulate lake thermodynamics in areas where there is no locally measured meteorological data. Secondly, the improvement in short-term model performance when assimilating observed water temperature profile data into model simulations was assessed. Single profiles were inserted into simulations for three lakes that reflected potential monitoring programmes of different temporal frequencies. These monitoring data were compiled by subsetting high frequency data from the sites. Assimilating measured temperature profiles of up to one month prior to the forecast, greatly reduced forecast error. This will allow for short-term forecasting frameworks to be developed for low-frequency monitoring programmes. In the last results section, the effects of different future climate change scenarios on water temperature for a global set of lakes were characterised, using an ensemble of lake models forced with an ensemble of General Circulation Models. The responses in lake temperature and in functional characteristics such as the strength and length of stratification were shown to be highly variable across 46 lakes of varying morphometries. Comprehensively, there was an unequivocal warming of lake water temperature throughout the water column and an extension of the duration of stratification. Such increases in water temperature, heighten the risk of anoxia and the occurrence of algal blooms which are water quality issues which can be actively managed. Overall, this study has found that lake forecasting frameworks (short and long term) can be setup using open access software and data, for sites with low-frequency monitoring data, forced with freely available meteorological data and produce high quality forecasts. These finding will be of increasing importance as we seek to simulate our freshwater ecosystems in a rapidly changing climate to aid in their management
