1,720,987 research outputs found
A simplified method for estimating the alpha coefficient in surface velocity based river discharge measurements
Full text linkRemote sensing techniques for river monitoring facilitate faster measurement campaigns compared to traditional methods, reduce risks to personnel and instruments, and allow measurements under critical flow conditions. An alpha coefficient (α) is commonly employed to convert surface velocities, obtained by contactless techniques, into depth-averaged velocities, which are used for the application of the velocity-area method for assessing discharge. Some optical-based software programs use a constant α value, based on a theoretical “standard”. However, analyses of empirical vertical velocity profiles in real cases reveal that α can significantly deviate from this standard due to various factors (roughness, turbulence, etc.).
This study analyzes several ADCP (Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler)-based measurements in Sicily, Italy, to explore factors influencing flow velocity distribution and potential errors from using the standard α for discharge estimation via surface velocity-based methods. The results confirmed substantial variability in α, which is functionally related to some geometric factors characterizing the cross-section shape and the specific vertical where the velocity profile is computed. The generated dataset of empirical α values is also used to implement an Artificial Neural Network (ANN), offering a straightforward tool suitable for non-contact techniques. The ANN predicts α at any vertical of a measurement transect as a function of variables however necessary for discharge assessment by non-intrusive methods, leading to depth-averaged velocity estimates from surface velocities that are more accurate than those derived from conventional approaches, as demonstrated by four test cases
Approccio integrato per la caratterizzazione delle murature storiche siciliane. Il caso di Gangi
No full textThis study is part of a research aimed at developing a database of mechanical and hygrothermal information for Sicilian historic walls. This database is intended to support the analysis of the envelope performances of the historic building and to integrate data collected through in-situ measurements.
The method is based on the analysis of local contexts: stone walls are divided in typologies according to the detailed non-destructive examination of the historic building stock, and laboratory and in-situ tests are carried out to characterize the mechanical and thermophysical properties of walls and masonry materials.
This study focuses on the local context of Gangi, where a large amount of historic masonry buildings is conserved. Based on the observation of all visible outdoor wall surfaces, six masonry categories have been identified. The prevalent masonry material is local calcarenite, examined through X-ray diffraction analysis. The compressive strength of this stone has been inspected through destructive tests, carried out on nine samples from two masonry units. The mechanical performance of each masonry category has been assessed by means of the Masonry Quality Index, while a preliminary in-situ test has been performed to determine the thermal resistance of the case study selected for one masonry category. This paper shows the results of the study and discusses its further development
Validation of HF radar sea surface currents in the Malta-Sicily Channel
No full textA network of High-Frequency radar (HFR) stations runs operationally in the Malta-Sicily Channel (MSC), Central Mediterranean Sea, providing sea surface current maps with high temporal (1 h) and spatial (3 × 3 km) resolutions since August 2012. Comparisons with surface drifter data and near-surface Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) observations, as well as radar site-to-site baseline analyses, provide quantitative assessments of HFR velocities accuracy. Twenty-two drifters were deployed within the HFR domain of coverage between December 2012 and October 2013. Additionally, six ADCP vertical current profiles were collected at selected positions during a dedicated field survey. External radio-frequency interferences lead to significant gaps in the HFR coverage, which were minimized by an interpolation technique applied to the surface current fields. The validation of HFR velocities was first performed for each individual station in the network, using data generated with both the ideal and the measured antenna patterns. The validation was then repeated with pairs of HFR stations using the site-to-site baseline error analysis. The analysis confirms that the baseline error estimations and the full validation metrics for this HFR frequency band are consistent, and in some aspects superior, when compared to results from similar studies in other regions. The validation with drifter tracks suggests that the adopted interpolation procedure does not in general impact on the comparison metrics, but may introduce biases when used to extrapolate currents in regions where radar geometrical constraints are suboptimal. The analysis of the percentage of contribution of individual HFR stations shown that the quality of HFR data is influenced by the network geometry
An automatic ANN-based procedure for detecting optimal image sequences supporting LS-PIV applications for rivers monitoring
Full text linkRiver flow monitoring has recently experienced rapid development due to advancements in optical methods, which are non-intrusive and enhance safety conditions for operators. Surface velocity fields are obtained recording and analyzing displacements of floating tracer materials, artificially introduced or already present on the water surface. River discharge can be assessed coupling the surface velocity fields with geometric data of a cross section. The accuracy of optical techniques is strongly affected by different environmental and hydraulic factors, and software parameterization, with tracer features that often play a prominent role. An adequate density and spatial distribution of tracer is required to ensure a complete characterization of surface velocity fields. In practical applications such conditions might occur only for a limited portion of the entire acquired images sequence. This work proposes an automatic procedure for identifying and extracting the best portion of a recorded video in terms of seeding characteristics and demonstrates how LS-PIV software performances can be enhanced through this approach. The procedure is implemented through a data-driven empirical approach based on an Artificial Neural Network, trained using data collected during an extensive measurement campaign across different rivers in Sicily (Italy). Performances are evaluated in terms of error in reproducing surface velocity profiles along specific transects, where benchmark profiles derived using an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler are available. The procedure, also tested via numerical simulations on synthetic image sequences, outperformed an approach based on an existing metric for seeding characterization and represents a simple and useful tool for LS-PIV based applications
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
- …
