Challenges and Opportunities in Turning Large U.S. Archives of Analog Seismograms into a Modern Usable Resource

2020 ◽  
Vol 91 (3) ◽  
pp. 1531-1541
Author(s):  
Paul G. Richards ◽  
Margaret Hellweg
Keyword(s):  
Seismic Hazard ◽  
Scientific Information ◽  
Practical Experience ◽  
Earthquake Physics ◽  
Timing Information ◽  
Earthquake Sources ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Test Ban ◽  
Level Of Effort

Abstract Quantitative seismology is based firmly on the analysis of actual ground motions, and the transition to digital recording in the 1980s enabled sophisticated new capabilities to extract useful results from waveforms. With some effort, these tools can also be applied to analog records. Focusing on assets available within U.S. institutions, we review the necessary steps and the challenges in enabling “data rescue”—that is, preserving the scientific information latent in large analog seismogram archives and making it usable. They include: determining what assets are available (the analog seismogram archives held by various institutions, with associated metadata on instrument responses, station locations, and timing information); developing a consensus on the top level of a triage process (which analog records most definitely should be rescued?); deciding the level of quality needed in copying original seismograms to media suitable for digitizing; assessing the relative merits of scanning and digitizing; and, the need for a community service in distributing scans and digital records, as they accumulate. The necessary level of effort can benefit from practical experience. For example, specific studies have used digitized versions of analog recordings to model earthquake sources and assess seismic hazard. Other studies have used them to gain experience with nuclear explosion signals recorded at regional distances, noting that regional signals enable explosions to be monitored down to levels much lower than those attainable teleseismically. The opportunities presented by large archives of analog seismograms include the insights they present to current and future seismologists studying earthquakes and explosions, into the practical areas of assessing seismic hazard, monitoring for test ban compliance down to low explosion yields—and prompt characterization of actual explosions should they occur, as well the traditional academic pursuit of a better understanding of earthquake physics.

scholarly journals Remote Sensing Methods for the Biophysical Characterization of Protected Areas Globally: Challenges and Opportunities

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 384
Author(s):  
Javier Martínez-López ◽  
Bastian Bertzky ◽  
Simon Willcock ◽  
Marine Robuchon ◽  
María Almagro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Anthropogenic Activities ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Area Network ◽  
Biophysical Characterization ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Scale Characterization

Protected areas (PAs) are a key strategy to reverse global biodiversity declines, but they are under increasing pressure from anthropogenic activities and concomitant effects. Thus, the heterogeneous landscapes within PAs, containing a number of different habitats and ecosystem types, are in various degrees of disturbance. Characterizing habitats and ecosystems within the global protected area network requires large-scale monitoring over long time scales. This study reviews methods for the biophysical characterization of terrestrial PAs at a global scale by means of remote sensing (RS) and provides further recommendations. To this end, we first discuss the importance of taking into account the structural and functional attributes, as well as integrating a broad spectrum of variables, to account for the different ecosystem and habitat types within PAs, considering examples at local and regional scales. We then discuss potential variables, challenges and limitations of existing global environmental stratifications, as well as the biophysical characterization of PAs, and finally offer some recommendations. Computational and interoperability issues are also discussed, as well as the potential of cloud-based platforms linked to earth observations to support large-scale characterization of PAs. Using RS to characterize PAs globally is a crucial approach to help ensure sustainable development, but it requires further work before such studies are able to inform large-scale conservation actions. This study proposes 14 recommendations in order to improve existing initiatives to biophysically characterize PAs at a global scale.

Limiting radiation damage for high-brilliance biological solution scattering: practical experience at the EMBL P12 beamline PETRAIII

2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 273-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cy M. Jeffries ◽  
Melissa A. Graewert ◽  
Dmitri I. Svergun ◽  
Clément E. Blanchet
Keyword(s):  
Radiation Damage ◽  
Practical Experience ◽  
Quality Data ◽  
Biological Macromolecules ◽  
Sample Handling ◽  
X Ray ◽  
X Ray Scattering ◽  
Sample Position ◽  
Effects Of Radiation

Radiation damage is the general curse of structural biologists who use synchrotron small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) to investigate biological macromolecules in solution. The EMBL-P12 biological SAXS beamline located at the PETRAIII storage ring (DESY, Hamburg, Germany) caters to an extensive user community who integrate SAXS into their diverse structural biology programs. The high brilliance of the beamline [5.1 × 1012 photons s−1, 10 keV, 500 (H) µm × 250 (V) µm beam size at the sample position], combined with automated sample handling and data acquisition protocols, enable the high-throughput structural characterization of macromolecules in solution. However, considering the often-significant resources users invest to prepare samples, it is crucial that simple and effective protocols are in place to limit the effects of radiation damage once it has been detected. Here various practical approaches are evaluated that users can implement to limit radiation damage at the P12 beamline to maximize the chances of collecting quality data from radiation sensitive samples.

scholarly journals Design, synthesis, and characterization of novel nanowire structures for photovoltaics and intracellular probes

2011 ◽  
Vol 83 (12) ◽  
pp. 2153-2169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bozhi Tian ◽  
Charles M. Lieber
Keyword(s):  
Critical Role ◽  
Physical Property ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Materials Synthesis ◽  
Design Synthesis ◽  
Unique System ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Iterative Control ◽  
Novel Applications

Semiconductor nanowires (NWs) represent a unique system for exploring phenomena at the nanoscale and are expected to play a critical role in future electronic, optoelectronic, and miniaturized biomedical devices. Modulation of the composition and geometry of nanostructures during growth could encode information or function, and realize novel applications beyond the conventional lithographical limits. This review focuses on the fundamental science aspects of the bottom-up paradigm, which are synthesis and physical property characterization of semiconductor NWs and NW heterostructures, as well as proof-of-concept device concept demonstrations, including solar energy conversion and intracellular probes. A new NW materials synthesis is discussed and, in particular, a new “nano-tectonic” approach is introduced that provides iterative control over the NW nucleation and growth for constructing 2D kinked NW superstructures. The use of radial and axial p-type/intrinsic/n-type (p-i-n) silicon NW (Si-NW) building blocks for solar cells and nanoscale power source applications is then discussed. The critical benefits of such structures and recent results are described and critically analyzed, together with some of the diverse challenges and opportunities in the near future. Finally, results are presented on several new directions, which have recently been exploited in interfacing biological systems with NW devices.

scholarly journals Integrating faults and past earthquakes into a probabilistic seismic hazard model for peninsular Italy

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (11) ◽  
pp. 2017-2039 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Valentini ◽  
Francesco Visini ◽  
Bruno Pace
Keyword(s):  
Seismic Hazard ◽  
Seismic Activity ◽  
Grid Point ◽  
Active Faults ◽  
Gaussian Model ◽  
Probabilistic Seismic Hazard ◽  
Maximum Magnitude ◽  
Slip Rates ◽  
Earthquake Sources ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Italy is one of the most seismically active countries in Europe. Moderate to strong earthquakes, with magnitudes of up to ∼ 7, have been historically recorded for many active faults. Currently, probabilistic seismic hazard assessments in Italy are mainly based on area source models, in which seismicity is modelled using a number of seismotectonic zones and the occurrence of earthquakes is assumed uniform. However, in the past decade, efforts have increasingly been directed towards using fault sources in seismic hazard models to obtain more detailed and potentially more realistic patterns of ground motion. In our model, we used two categories of earthquake sources. The first involves active faults, and using geological slip rates to quantify the seismic activity rate. We produced an inventory of all fault sources with details of their geometric, kinematic, and energetic properties. The associated parameters were used to compute the total seismic moment rate of each fault. We evaluated the magnitude–frequency distribution (MFD) of each fault source using two models: a characteristic Gaussian model centred at the maximum magnitude and a truncated Gutenberg–Richter model. The second earthquake source category involves grid-point seismicity, with a fixed-radius smoothed approach and a historical catalogue were used to evaluate seismic activity. Under the assumption that deformation is concentrated along faults, we combined the MFD derived from the geometry and slip rates of active faults with the MFD from the spatially smoothed earthquake sources and assumed that the smoothed seismic activity in the vicinity of an active fault gradually decreases by a fault-size-driven factor. Additionally, we computed horizontal peak ground acceleration (PGA) maps for return periods of 475 and 2475 years. Although the ranges and gross spatial distributions of the expected accelerations obtained here are comparable to those obtained through methods involving seismic catalogues and classical zonation models, the spatial pattern of the hazard maps obtained with our model is far more detailed. Our model is characterized by areas that are more hazardous and that correspond to mapped active faults, while previous models yield expected accelerations that are almost uniformly distributed across large regions. In addition, we conducted sensitivity tests to determine the impact on the hazard results of the earthquake rates derived from two MFD models for faults and to determine the relative contributions of faults versus distributed seismic activity. We believe that our model represents advancements in terms of the input data (quantity and quality) and methodology used in the field of fault-based regional seismic hazard modelling in Italy.

scholarly journals Variability among selective guava (Psidium guajava L.) varieties revealed by morphology and RAPD marker

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 89-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Farzana Alam ◽  
Kazi Didarul Islam ◽  
SM Mahbubur Rahman
Keyword(s):  
Random Amplified Polymorphic Dna ◽  
Rapd Marker ◽  
Scientific Information ◽  
Psidium Guajava ◽  
Morphological Characterization ◽  
Evolutionary Changes ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Range Of Variation

The research was conducted for the assessment of genetic diversity using both morphological and random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis of twelve guava (Psidium guajava L.) varieties growing in Bangladesh. Morphological characterization of guava varieties showed a wide range of variation. The highest variability was observed between Poly and Jelly varieties.Polymerase chain reaction with 5 arbitrary 10-mer and 3 arbitrary 12- mer RAPD primers produced a total of 50 bands of which 75.23 percent were polymorphic. The highest percentage of polymorphic loci (100%) was observed for primer A and the lowest (50%) for A03 primer. The UPGMA dendrogram revealed the segregation pattern and the difference of evolutionary changes. Guava varieties were separated into two main groups, one of them was made up of Chineese, Jelly, Kazi, Apple, L-49, Local-2 and Local-3. The other one was made up of Local-1, Poly, Kashi, Thai and Bombay. The highest genetic distance between Apple and Kazi peyara indicate that these varieties might be interesting in breeding programme for improving trait of interest. This scientific information could be used for further improvement of guava. Jahangirnagar University J. Biol. Sci. 7(2): 89-98, 2018 (December)

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