2,070 research outputs found
Soil detritivore functioning in heterogeneously contaminated soils
No full textVerhoef, H.A. [Promotor]Berg, M.P. [Copromotor]Faber, J.H. [Copromotor
Second-best congestion pricing schemes in the monocentric city
No full textPaper submission from Erik Verhoef ([email protected])Discussion Paper Submission Form - STEP 1This discussion paper abstract is submitted by Erik Verhoef ([email protected])Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0Series: Tinbergen Institute Discussion PapersCreation-Date: Number: Author-Name: Erik T VerhoefAuthor-Email: [email protected]: VUTitle: SECOND-BEST CONGESTION PRICING SCHEMES IN THE MONOCENTRIC CITYAbstract:This paper considers second-best congestion pricing in the monocentric city, with endogenous residential density and endogenous labour supply. A spatial general equilibrium model is developed that allows consideration of the three-way interactions between urban density, traffic congestion and labour supply. Congestion pricing schemes are analyzed that are second-best ‘by design’ (and not because distortions exist elsewhere in the spatial economy), like cordon charging and flat kilometre charges. Both for Cobb-Douglas utility and for CES utility, the analyses suggest that the relative welfare losses from second-best pricing, compared to first-best pricing, are surprisingly small
Retrieval of vegetation properties using Top of Atmosphere radiometric data: A multi-sensor approach
No full textVegetation is the main source of primary production and plays an important role inmodeling the exchanges of energy and mass of carbon, oxygen and water between the earth and the atmosphere. Mapping andmonitoring of vegetation canopies are crucial for various applications including agro-ecosystem models, climatology modeling, crop growth modeling and vegetation productivity modeling. The reflected radiance from vegetation carries information about chemical and bio-geophysical vegetation characteristics. Leaf area index (LAI), chlorophyll content and fraction of vegetation cover (fCover) are among the most important vegetation properties that can be retrieved from satellite observations. Over the past decades, considerable effort has been given toward improving vegetation properties retrieval fromremotely sensed data. A number of satellite observations are currently being utilized to retrieve vegetation characteristics in a diverse range of spatial and temporal resolutions and new ones will become available soon with an unprecedented capacity to quantify vegetation properties. The accurate vegetation variable retrieval depends on three issues: radiometric data quality, forward radiance modeling and parametrization and regularization. The major goal of this contribution is to improve vegetation properties retrieval from top of atmosphere optical satellite observations, given the richness of current and near-future sources of optical remote sensing data. The first part of this contribution deals with model parameterization for variable retrieval and determining retrievable variables through sensitivity analysis. The sensitivity of top of atmosphere radiance and surface reflectance of a soil-vegetation systemto input biophysical and biochemical variables is estimated using the coupled Soil-Leaf-Canopy radiative transfer model SLC and MODTRAN. This study also proposes an improvement to the design and sampling of screening methods for efficient sensitivity analysis of computationally expensive models. The results demonstrated high correlation between the proposed improvement (with only modest computational demands) against variance-based global sensitivity analysis in determining the most influential and non-influential variables. The second part of this contribution provides a proof of concept for a multi–temporal, multi–sensor approach to retrieve biophysical and biochemical vegetation variables using spectral–directional radiometric data. The approach is designed for the exploitation of a temporal sequence constructed by combining data acquired by different sensors over time. Focus is given to the retrieval of three important vegetation variables; LAI, fCover and chlorophyll content over the agricultural test site in Barrax, Spain. A variety of different satellite observations including, CHRIS–Proba, Landsat TM and ASTER are used to invert the coupled surface–atmosphere SLC–MODTRAN radiative transfer model. This thesis presents an overview of the results and challenges in utilizing the multi–temporal, multi–sensor approach and the Bayesian inversion technique in the retrieval of terrestrial vegetation properties. It was shown that the approach is capable of dealing with a diversity of optical sensors by exploiting heterogeneous radiometric data and allows for having frequent updates of vegetation biophysical and biochemical products over time. Moreover, the results showed that integrating information from different sensors improves the retrieval of vegetation variables compared to the case of single sensor retrievals. The last part of this contribution is devoted to the investigation of the topographic effects on top of atmosphere radiance modeling and variable retrieval. To account for such effects, this study presents an extension of “the four-stream radiative transfer theory” previously proposed by Verhoef and Bach (2003b, 2007, 2012). The extension is mainly focused on two aspects in top of atmosphere radiance modeling. First, the study gives a detailed account of themain topography-induced effects on top of atmosphere radiance modeling and the relevant equations are given. Second, a new formulation is proposed for the derivation of the six atmospheric coefficients using MODTRAN in order to make it more computationally efficient, as well as to avoid using zero surface albedo which causes some miscalculations in the results. It was demonstrated that the topographic effect has to be taken into account in variable retrieval and the approach presented in this thesis can be used tomodel such effects on top of atmosphere radiance over rugged terrain.Geoscience & Remote SensingCivil Engineering and Geoscience
Concerns about the future of creation order
No full textThe theological background to the notion of the law of nature/ creation order is indispensable to the reformational tradition, which recognises that these laws are the Creator‟s will, and therefore holds a “necessity” view of these laws. There has, however, been a longstanding debate about the nature of law within the reformational tradition, where its origin and its status as boundary between God and creation have been questioned. In this article I will investigate how Trinitarian theology, specifically that of Robert W. Jenson, relates to process philosophy and theology, and how together they create some theological concerns about the future of creation order. Some of the concerns include the following: that the necessity of order is questioned (the disappearance of a Creator who wills these laws); that order is temporal and in constant change; and that the boundary between God and creation is weakened. I will raise some objections to these aspects, but will also highlight some questions the reformational tradition has to answer in terms of its understanding of the immanence of God and of the implicated theological basis for the creation order. These questions are of the utmost importance for the understanding of the future of creation order
Second-best Congestion Pricing Schemes in the Monocentric City
No full textPaper submission from Erik Verhoef ([email protected])Discussion Paper Submission Form - STEP 1This discussion paper abstract is submitted by Erik Verhoef ([email protected])Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0Series: Tinbergen Institute Discussion PapersCreation-Date: Number: Author-Name: Erik T VerhoefAuthor-Email: [email protected]: VUTitle: SECOND-BEST CONGESTION PRICING SCHEMES IN THE MONOCENTRIC CITYAbstract:This paper considers second-best congestion pricing in the monocentric city, with endogenous residential density and endogenous labour supply. A spatial general equilibrium model is developed that allows consideration of the three-way interactions between urban density, traffic congestion and labour supply. Congestion pricing schemes are analyzed that are second-best ‘by design’ (and not because distortions exist elsewhere in the spatial economy), like cordon charging and flat kilometre charges. Both for Cobb-Douglas utility and for CES utility, the analyses suggest that the relative welfare losses from second-best pricing, compared to first-best pricing, are surprisingly small.Traffic congestion; second-best pricing; urban structure; spatial general equilibrium
Improving the quality of existing urban building envelopes. Structures
No full textThe book brings together the results of the work carried out by the Working Group 3A (WG3A) which, as part of the Action Cost C16 research programme, worked on the theme of “Techniques of adaptations of the structure of multi-storey family houses in relation to Urban Building Envelopes”.
The WG3A dedicated particular attention to the most widespread technology and innovative trends in terms of building methods and techniques used in the modification, restrengthening or adaptation of the structure affecting the building envelope components
Grondige beschryvinge van de edele ende ridderlijcke scherm- ofte wapen-konste : noyt diergelijcke in dese nederduytse tale in den druck uytgegaen, met veele schoone kopere figueren verciert /
No full textSignatures: *-2*⁴ A-V⁴.Frontispiece port. of author, dated 1671.Imprint from printed slip mounted on t.p., cancelling that of the 1st ed.: Gedruckt vor den Autheur, Tot Leyden, By Abraham Verhoef, Boekdrucker, ao. 1671.Mode of access: Internet.Initials BvR on front flyleaf. John Landwehr's printed label on front pastedown.Binding: vellum. Author & title written at head of spine
Implementatie van EBP in het individueel handelen: hoe word ik evidence based verpleegkundige?
No full textImplementatie van EBP in het individueel handelen: Hoe word ik een evidence-based verpleegkundige?
No full text- …
