Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering (03151468)23(5)pp. 1051-1063
The Geological Survey of Canada is currently producing a suite of new hazard maps for Canada. These maps take into account the additional recorded data obtained during the past 13 years, as well as the new geological and tectonic information that has recently become available. They provide elastic spectral acceleration values for a uniform probability of exceedance of 10% in 50 years. A method of using the uniform hazard spectral values to obtain design response spectral curves for different values of ductility is presented here. The method uses two spectral values obtained from the hazard maps, the peak spectral acceleration for the site and the spectral acceleration corresponding to a period of 0.5 s. Empirical expressions are developed to represent the design response spectra. It is shown that by using inelastic spectral accelerations rather than the elastic spectral values in association with a reduction factor, the new method provides a more reliable estimate of the design forces.
Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering (03151468)25(1)pp. 1-15
Observations during many earthquakes have shown that building structures are able to sustain without damage earthquake forces considerably larger than those they were designed for. This is explained by the presence in such structures of significant reserve strength not accounted for in design. Relying on such overstrength, many seismic codes permit a reduction in design loads. The possible sources of reserve strength are outlined in this paper, and it is reasoned that a more rational basis for design would be to account for such sources in assessing the capacity rather than in reducing the design loads. As an exception, one possible source of reserve strength, the redistribution of internal forces, may be used in scaling down the design forces. This is because such scaling allows the determination of design forces through an elastic analysis rather than through a limit analysis. To assess the extent of reserve strength attributable to redistribution, steel building structures having moment-resisting frames or concentrically braced frames and from 2 to 30 storeys in height are analyzed for their response to lateral loading. A static nonlinear push-over analysis is used in which the gravity loads are held constant while the earthquake forces are gradually increased until a mechanism forms or the specified limit on interstorey drift is exceeded. It is noted that in moment-resisting frames the reserve strength reduces with an increase in the number of storeys as well as in the level of design earthquake forces. The P-Δ effect causes a further reduction. In structures having braced frames the main parameter controlling the reserve strength is the slenderness ratio of the bracing members. In these structures, reserve strength is almost independent of both the height of the structure and the effect of building sway.
Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering (03151468)27(3)pp. 563-580
The use of uniform hazard spectra for obtaining the seismic design forces is being considered for the next version of the National Building Code of Canada. Such spectra provide the spectral accelerations of a single-degree-of-freedom system for a range of periods but for a uniform level of hazard. One of the issues that need to be resolved before uniform hazard spectra are used in the design of multistorey buildings is the adjustment required in the base shear to account for the higher mode effects present in a multi-degree-of-freedom system. This issue is examined through analytical studies of the response of idealised elastic and inelastic multistorey building frames to ground motions representative of the seismic hazard in the eastern and western regions of Canada. Representative values are obtained for the adjustment factors that must be applied to the design base shear and to the base overturning moment.
Shock and Vibration Digest (17413184)32(1)pp. 67-67
The use of uniform hazard spectra for obtaining the seismic design forces is being considered for the next version of the national building code of Canada. Such spectra provide the spectral accelerations of a single-degree-of-freedom system for a range of periods but for a uniform level of hazard. One of the issues that needs to be resolved before uniform hazard spectra are used in design is the adjustment required in the base shear to account for the higher mode effects present in a multi-degree-of-freedom system. This issue is examined through analytical studies of the response of idealized multistorey building frames to ground motions representative of the seismic hazard in east and west Canada.
Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering (1996756X)3957pp. 398-402
Virtual Reality (VR) is a possible which brings users to the reality by computer and Virtual Environment (VE) is a simulated world which takes users to any points and directions of the object. VR and VE can be very useful if accurate and precise data are used, and allows users to work with realistic model. Photogrammetry is a technique which is able to collect and provide accurate and precise data for building 3D model in a computer. Data can be collected from various sensors and cameras, and methods of data collector are vary based on the method of image acquiring. Indeed VR includes real-time graphics, three-dimensional model, and display and it has application in the entertainment industry, flight simulators, industrial design. Above definitions describe the relationship between VR and VE with photogrammetry. This paper describes a reliable and precis method of data acquiring based on close range photogrammetry for building a VR model. The purpose of this project is to make a real possibility for seismic designers to investigate all effects of shaking on a real building. Minar Gonban is an ancient building with two amazing minarets at Esfehan IRAN. While one of them was shaken the second one started to shake. The project is fulfilled on this building because building simply can be shaken and its effects can be investigated. The building was photographed by multiple movie cameras and photo cameras. Sequence images were restored in a computer for creating sequence models of building. A VR model is builded based on extracted data from photogrammetry images. The developed VR model is precise and reliable and provides real possibility for users to investigate the effects of shaking on the building. The developed VR model is based on real data. The results verify a reliable VR can be useful for human life because one of its application can help to investigate effects of earthquake on the building and duce its casualty.
Institute of Physics Conference Series (09513248)180pp. 25-34
Geometry has a ritual origin and utilisation of Sacred Geometry by man goes back many centuries. Certain specific ratios can be found in the design of lifeforms in nature Traditional civilisations regarded architecture as a sacred means by which the heavens were manifested. Persian architecture utilised proportions comprehensively and by means of Sacred Geometry measured the proportions of heaven and reflected them in the dimensions of buildings on Earth. In this paper, the design of a number of Persian historical buildings by the use of the science of geometry will be presented. The geometric factors upon which the design of these buildings is made, from both architectural and structural viewpoints, will be discussed and common design laws between Persian monuments and creatures in nature will be explained.
Advances in Earthquake Engineering (1361617X)13pp. 157-165
Iranian traditional domes are of the most notable samples of traditional construction in Iran spanning thousands of years, many of which have been standing on seismic parts of the country for many centuries. Structurally, Iranian domes can be categorised into single, double and triple-shell domes. Single-shell domes are the earliest type of domes. The single-shell is the main load bearing part. Double-shell domes consist of two shells, and they are divided into continuous and discontinuous types. In continuous double-shell domes the distance between the two shells is small and shells are connected by brick connectors. In discontinuous double-shell domes there is a considerable distance between the two shells. For the structural stability of some domes meridional walls or stiffeners are built in the space between the two shells. There are also a few domes with three shells. In this paper, structural systems of a number of Iranian historical domes made of masonry materials will be discussed and their structural strength and stability due to dynamic effects of earthquakes will be presented. The document will also explain the structural role of meridional stiffeners in double-shell domes.
CTIT workshop proceedings series (16821750)35
In the context of the analysis of remotely sensed data the question arises of how to analyse large volumes of data. In the specific case of agricultural fields in flat areas these fields can often be modelled in terms of geometric primitives such as triangles and rectangles. In this case the options are classical i.e. bottom-up, starting at the pixel level and resulting in a segmented, labelled image or top-down, starting with a model for image partitioning and resulting in a minimum cost estimation of shape hypotheses with corresponding parameters. Standard bottom-up classification methods usually concern the pixel as a main element and try to label the pixel individually. But various errors are involved in the image analysis with these methods. Mixed pixels, simplicity of the basic assumptions in the classification algorithms, sensor effects, atmospheric effects, and radiometric overlap of land cover objects lead to the wrong detection in image analysis. In this paper we propose a Model-Based Image Analysis (MBIA) approach to analyze the remotely sensed data. In this manner using the available knowledge about the remote sensing system we generate some hypothesis maps and then test them using the radiometric measurements (images). In order to test the method we used the boundaries of the agricultural fields stored in a GIS to model the objects in the scene. The results of the method have been compared with the result of a traditional Maximum-Likelihood classification and a standard Object-Based Classification using the boundaries. Using this approach we could reach to the 94% overall accuracy. © 2004 International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. All rights reserved.
CTIT workshop proceedings series (16821750)35
Traditionally accuracy assessment of the classification results uses some collected reference data (ground truth). Ground truth collection is a time-consuming and money-swallowing activity and usually can not be done completely. Uncertainty is an important subject in remote sensing that can appear and be increased sequentially in a chain of remote sensing from data acquisition, geometric and radiometric processing to the information extraction. Conceptually the relation between uncertainty and accuracy is an inverse relation. This relation can aid us to construct a relation between accuracy measures and uncertainty related measures. In this paper we investigate this relation using the generated synthetic images (for the sake of the reliability of the obtained results) and try to find an uncertainty related measure that has a strong relationship with the accuracy parameters like overall accuracy.We have found that among the uncertainty measures the mean quadratic score has the strong and reliable relationship with the commonly used accuracy measures. This relationship can be a good basis for the future investigations that lead to the classification based accuracy measures and avoiding some problematic data related issued of ground truth data collection. © 2004 International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. All rights reserved.
International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences (13651609)41(SUPPL. 1)
There are various structural and geological stratigraphies in study area. The main lithology includes the shale, marl, limestone and dolomite that belong to the Cambrian to upper Cretaceous besides Quaternary deposits. To identify the engineering and geotechnical characteristics of the rock mass along the tunnel route, the results of laboratory and in situ tests, geophysical explorations (geoelectrical methods), field observations and borehole logging charts have been used. The well-known rock mass classification systems for tunnelling purposes (RMR, GSI and Q-system) have been used. Using the GSI classification system for rock mass, the modified Hock- Brown criterion parameters of the rock mass for typical section were determined. The RMR was used to determine the required support for the entire length of tunnel. Also the Q system was used to compare the required support from Q system with the RMR system. Finally rock-support interaction analysis was conducted for a typical cross section of the tunnel. Using the above empirical and analytical methods, the required supports were compared for a typical section. © 2004 Elsevier Ltd.
CTIT workshop proceedings series (16821750)35
Accuracy assessment is an important step in the process of analyzing remote sensing data. It determines the value of the resulting data to a particular user, i.e. the information value. Remote sensing products can serve as the basis for political as well as economical decisions. Users with a variety of applications should be able to evaluate whether the accuracy of the map suits their objectives or not. In the conventional accuracy assessment an error matrix and some accuracy measures derived from it are used. An error matrix is established using some known reference data and corresponding classified data. There are various factors that affect the performance of the accuracy assessment by influencing the error matrix through out the ground truth data collection. In practice, the techniques are of little value if these effective factors are not considered. In this paper the necessity considerations for accuracy assessment including the sampling schemas and the sample size for these sampling methods are studied. Also the factors that affect selecting and applying appropriate sampling schemas and sample size are investigated. For this study numbers of synthetic images and one real image and some reference data are used. Sensitivity of the various sampling schemas has been investigated using the synthetic images and using the real image the obtained results have been confirmed. The results represent that depend on specific conditions such as type and size of the study region and object characteristics, different sampling methods and sample sizes are preferred. © 2004 International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. All rights reserved.
International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering (00295981)64(4)pp. 427-460
In this part of paper we shall extend the formulation proposed by Babuška and co-workers for robustness patch test, for quality assessment of error estimators, to more general cases of patch locations especially in three-dimensional problems. This is performed first by finding an asymptotic finite element solution at interior parts of a problem with assumed smooth exact solution and then adding a correction part to obtain the solution near a kinked boundary irrespective of other boundary conditions at far ends of the domain. It has been shown that the solution corresponding to the correction part may be obtained in a spectral form by assuming a suitable proportionality relation between the nodal values of a mesh with repeatable pattern of macro-patches. Ha ving found the asymptotic finite element solution, the performance of error estimators may be examined. Although in this paper we focus on the asymptotic behaviour of error estimators, the method described in this part may be used to obtain finite element solution for two/ three-dimensional unbounded heat/elasticity problems with homogeneous differential equations. Some numerical results are presented to show the validity and performance of the proposed method. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering (00295981)64(4)pp. 461-502
In this part of the paper we shall use the formulation given in the first part to assess the quality of recovery-based error estimators using two recovery methods, i.e. superconvergent patch recovery (SPR) and recovery by equilibrium in patches (REP). The recovery methods have been shown to be asymptotically robust and superconvergent when applied to two-dimensional problems. In this study we shall examine the behaviour of the recovery methods on several three-dimensional mesh patterns for patches located either inside or at boundaries. This is performed by first finding an asymptotic finite element solution, irrespective of boundary conditions at far ends of the domain, and then applying the recovery methods. The test procedure near kinked boundaries is explained in a step-by-step manner. The results are given in a series of tables and figures for various cases of three-dimensional mesh patterns. It has been experienced that the full superconvergent property is generally lost due to presence of boundary layer solution and the definition of the recoveries near boundaries though the results of the robustness test is still within an acceptable range. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Building and Environment (03601323)40(10)pp. 1413-1427
Nature displays profound preference for certain specific ratios to design her life-forms. These are geometric relationships that are transcendent and originated from Sacred Geometry. The view that geometry had a ritual origin is a part of a wider view that civilisation itself had a ritual origin, and therefore the history of utilisation of Sacred Geometry by man goes back to many centuries ago. The Pythagorean tradition, and the Egyptian and Babylonian sciences from which it derived, and Persian mathematics, a part of which reflects a Pythagorean intellectuality, are based on the sacred conception of numbers and their symbolism. In the traditional world, geometry was inseparable from the other sciences of the Pythagorean Quadrivium, namely arithmetic (numbers), music and astronomy. Traditional geometry is related to the symbolic configurations of space. Geometric forms such as the triangle, square and various regular polygons, the spiral and the circle are seen in the traditional perspective to be, like traditional numbers, as aspects of the multiplicity of the Unity. Architecture itself has always had a sacred meaning to all traditional civilisations through millennia, by which means man has tried to provide for himself a manifestation of heavens. Persian architecture always emphasised on Beauty, and by means of Sacred Geometry Persians measured the proportions of heaven and reflected them in the dimensions of buildings on the earth. A comprehensive utilisation of proportions in Persian architecture, such as in the design of plans, elevations, geometric and architectural patterns, and mechanical and structural features, can be proved through geometrical analysis of Persian historical buildings. In this paper, the sacred conception of geometry and its symbolism in the Pythagorean tradition, and Sacred Geometry and proportions in natural life-forms will be explained. The use of the science of geometry in design of a number of Persian historical buildings will be presented. The geometric factors upon which the design of these buildings, from both architectural and structural viewpoints, is made will be discussed. © 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Survey Review (17522706)38(296)pp. 165-173
It is possible to use single frequency GPS receivers to estimate the Total Electron Content (TEC). In this research, we improved an algorithm presented by Giffard [2], that is based on a least squares solution. We investigated the effect of the use of different weights (elevation of satellites, signal to noise ratio, combination of elevation and signal to noise ratio) and different block sizes on TEC estimates. We found that these parameters had a significant impact on TEC estimates based on this algorithm. Our research is based on observations at the GPS site of the Esfahan University made with single frequency 12-channel Leica System 500 receivers.
Advances in Architecture Series (13681435)20pp. 503-512
The use of wood as a building material in Iran has a long history which dates back to the first millennium. At that time wood was used to make the roofs, beams and columns of some buildings. The extensive use of wood in the construction of large wooden buildings came into practice in the seventeenth century A.D. In that era, huge wooden structures were introduced to the world, some of which are still in existence. A typical example of such buildings is the wooden structure of the Ali Qapu building in Isfahan, Central Iran. The main part of the building, which supports the wooden structure, is made of masonry materials and it was repaired and maintained in the 1960s, but the maintenance of the wooden part remained incomplete. In 1987, a thorough study of the structural behaviour of the wooden structure was completed. Instructions were proposed for repairing the structure according to this investigation. This paper demonstrates the maintenance procedure of the whole building and, in particular, the study of the wooden structure, and it presents instructions for maintenance of the wooden structure.
Civil-Comp Proceedings (17593433)83
In this paper we present a numerical method suitable for solution of steady state wave problems in which the material properties vary periodically throughout the domain. Discrete Green's functions, in finite element sense, are selected as the representatives of the problems. The Green's functions are evaluated on unbounded domains and this involves satisfaction of radiation conditions in the solutions. The formulation, given in this paper, is the extension of the one recently proposed by the authors for domains with homogenous materials. Here, the principles of Floquet theory for solution of partial differential equations, with periodic coefficients, are used. First, the fundamental exponential-like wave bases are obtained through the dispersion relations and then the radiation conditions are satisfied by selecting the wave bases. For selecting the wave bases, a quadrant of the main unbounded domain together with a set of appropriate boundary conditions is considered. For satisfaction of the boundary conditions a discrete transformation technique, proposed by the authors, is used. Application of the method is shown on a sample problem and the results are compared with those obtained form exact solution of a rather similar problem with homogenized material. The comparison shows the validity of the solution method. © 2006 Civil-Comp Press.
International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering (00295981)67(11)pp. 1491-1530
In this paper we present a new approach for finite element solution of time-harmonic wave problems on unbounded domains. As representatives of the wave problems, discrete Green's functions are evaluated in finite element sense. The finite element mesh is considered to be of repeatable pattern (cell) constructed in rectangular co-ordinates. The system of FE equations is therefore reduced to a set of well-known dispersion equations by using a spectral solution approach. The spectral wave bases are constructed directly from the FE dispersion equations. Radiation condition is satisfied by selecting the wave bases so that the wave information is transmitted in appropriate directions at the cell level. Dirichlet/Neumann boundary conditions are defined at the edges of a quadrant of the main domain while using the axes of symmetry of the problem. A new discrete transformation method, recently proposed by the authors, is used to satisfy the boundary conditions. Comprehensive studies are made for showing the validity, accuracy and convergence of the solutions. The results of the benchmark problems indicate that the proposed method can be used to evaluate discrete Green's functions whose analytical forms are not available. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
During construction of one of the Sahand cooling towers due to slip forming performance some imperfections were raised mostly between elevation of +30 and +40 meter. It was evaluated that some points of the shell should be repaired. In constructing the cooling tower from elevation +40 to +60 meter these imperfections were removed and the cooling tower was constructed with no problem until the elevation +130 meter. In this paper reasons of generation of geometric imperfections in Sahand cooling tower are clearly shown and possible ways for preventing them are discussed. Applied repairing method for Sahand cooling tower is explained in detail. Geometrical imperfections of the constructed cooling tower are measured using photogrammetric techniques. The detailed three dimensional models for both perfect and imperfect cooling towers are made using finite element method. Different analyses for different loading of such structures are done and the results are compared. For the cooling tower with imperfections the wind load is applied in 12 directions around the circumference of it so that the effects of imperfections can be seen well. Critical buckling load factors are obtained for both models by linear and nonlinear analysis. The results of analysis of imperfect cooling tower shell are used for checking the design of it. Results show that the maximum values for circumferential and vertical stresses are appeared between level +30 to +40. The increase of circumferential stress is usually more than increase of vertical stresses. This high increase appears locally in some parts of cooling tower shell. The difference of displacements in cooling tower shell in two models is negligible. The critical buckling safety factor of the imperfect model is greater than the perfect one. There is not a large difference between the values of this factor for different wind load directions. © 2006 by School of Engineering and Technology, Asian Institute of Technology.
Journal of Structural Engineering (07339445)132(11)pp. 1801-1805
The wooden columnar structure of the historical building of Ali Qapu in Isfahan is a notable sample of Iranian traditional construction of 350 years ago. In this study, the structural system and load carrying elements of the structure have been identified. Structural analysis due to applied loads has been performed and structural strength of its members has been examined according to related codes. Based on obtained results, suggestions for reinforcement of the structure have been made. In this paper, the results from study on the wooden columnar structure of the Ali Qapu building are presented. © 2006 ASCE.
Composites Science and Technology (02663538)67(6)pp. 1073-1080
An exact thermoelasticity solution for a two-dimensional thick composite consisting of homogeneous and functionally graded layers is presented. The thermomechanical properties of functionally graded layers are assumed to vary exponentially through the thickness while the Poisson's ratio is taken to be constant. The heat transfer problem is solved under steady state condition accounting for the heat convection. Utilizing the stress function the governing equation reduces to a fourth order inhomogeneous partial differential equation which is solved exactly using Fourier series method. A comparative study is done between two sandwich structures with homogeneous and functionally graded coatings, respectively. The results reveal that stress concentration effects are eliminated and interfacial shear stress is reduced when a functionally graded coating is used. © 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Remote Sensing of Environment (00344257)106(2)pp. 190-198
Surface emissivity estimation is a significant factor for the land surface temperature estimation from remotely sensed data. For fully vegetated surfaces, the emissivity estimation is performed in a simple manner since the emissivity is relatively uniform. However, for arid land with sparse vegetation, the estimation is more complicated since the emissivity of the exposed soil and rock is highly variable. In this study, mean and difference emissivity for bands 31 and 32 of MODIS sensor have been derived based on NDVI values. First, the NDVI thresholds have been determined to separate bare soil, partially vegetated soil and fully vegetated land. Then regression relations have been derived to estimate mean and difference emissivity of the bare soil samples and partially vegetated surfaces. A constant emissivity is also used for fully vegetated area. Along with the correlations, standard deviations of the regression relations have been examined for a set of representative soil types. Standard deviations smaller than 0.003 in mean emissivity and smaller than 0.004 in difference emissivity are resulted in regression linear relations. Evaluation of the NDVI derived regression relations has been performed using the results of MODIS Day/Night Land Surface Temperature (LST) algorithm on a pair of MODIS images. Using around 45,500 pixels with different soil and land cover types, emissivity of each pixel in bands 31 and 32 have been estimated. The calculated emissivities have been compared with emissivities calculated by MODIS Day/Night LST algorithm. Biases and standard deviations of NDVI-based relations show relatively high agreement for mean and difference emissivity relations with Day/Night method results. It may be concluded that the proposed algorithm can be used as a rather simple alternative to complex emissivity estimation algorithms. © 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Coastal Engineering (03783839)54(11)pp. 835-855
For the study of the cross-shore wave-induced hydrodynamics in the swash zone, a numerical model is developed based on the one-dimensional non-linear shallow water (NSW) equations for prediction of hydrodynamic parameters in the swash zone. In order to evaluate the accuracy of the outputs of the numerical model, the model's predictions in terms of water surface elevations and cross-shore velocities, are compared to field data from full-scale experiments conducted on three sites with different beach slope; mild and steep, several bed particle sizes and under various incident wave conditions. The quantitative and qualitative comparison of the results of the numerical model and the full-scale data reveals that the model can generally predict many aspects of the flow in the surf and swash zone on both types of beach. The accuracy is adequate for application in a sediment transport study. Considering the time-history and probability distribution of water surface elevation, the model is generally more accurate on steep beaches than on the mild beach. The model can adequately simulate the dominant frequency across the beach and saturation of higher frequencies on both mild and steep beaches for various incident wave energy characteristics. With regard to the horizontal (cross-shore) velocity, the sawtooth shape of time-history and negative acceleration of water are well predicted by the model for both mild and steep beaches. Due to the uncertainties in maximum and minimum values of velocity data, clear judgement about the accuracy of the numerical model in this matter was not possible. However, the comparison of the minimum velocities (offshore direction) revealed that the application of friction factors below the range which is suggested by literature best match the data. © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
International Journal of Design and Nature (17443679)1(2)pp. 186-196
The climatic characteristics in different regions of Iran have created architectural design problems. It is advantageous to look at various architectural solutions to such problems. In the hot-dry climate of the indigenous settlements of Iran, particularly interesting design solutions are found. Most solutions, such as high thermal capacity construction materials, compact structure of cities, narrow winding passageways, thick walls, courtyards, internal vegetation, arched roofed chambers, highly elevated wind towers and big water reservoirs, are in conformity with nature and environment. The role of architectural elements is to make use of natural forces such as light, heat, wind and water in design. In this paper, the effects of climatic factors on urban and architectural forms in the hot-dry regions of Iran, climatic design problems and architectural solutions are explained.
Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing (00991112)74(5)pp. 637-646
Estimation of land surface temperature and emissivity has taken on a great deal of importance in recent remote sensing studies. The estimation of temperature and emissivity from thermal radiation observations is involved with an under-determined equation set. In this study, an approach is proposed to overcome the problem based on statistical theory of observations and error propagation. First, the under-determined radiance equations have been completed using two NDVI-based equations for the mean and difference emissivities as constraint equations. The two added constraint equations provide the possibility of weighted least squares solution to estimate temperature and emissivity from the over-determined equation set simultaneously. The weights have been calculated based on the uncertainty of each of the equations. The weighting basis of the proposed approach allows statistical control on the uncertainties. The advantages of the weighted least squares solution which is contributed by this study are weighted observations used in the solution, the uncertainty considerations of the used observations, uncertainty propagation control, statistical standard deviation estimation for the unknowns, statistical quality control criteria, and the opportunity of systematic error detection. The numerical efficiency of the proposed approach is examined using a great number of simulated sample data. Then, the proposed approach is validated using the in situ measurements of land surface temperature. The validations accompanied by some statistical tests represent the acceptable performance and accuracy of the proposed approach (approximately 0.5°K for LST standard deviation and approximately 0.0075 for standard deviation of the bands 31 and 32 emissivities). In addition, the simplicity and robustness of the proposed approach may be regarded as a considerable achievement. © 2008 American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing.
CTIT workshop proceedings series (16821750)37pp. 823-827
In this paper we present and develop a set of algorithms, mostly based on morphological operators, for automatic colonic polyp detection applied to computed tomography (CT) scans. Initially noisy images are enhanced using Morphological Image Cleaning (MIC) algorithm. Then the colon wall is segmented using region growing followed by a morphological grassfire operation. In order to detect polyp candidates we present a new Automatic Morphological Polyp Detection (AMPD) algorithm. Candidate features are classified as polyps and non-polyps performing a novel Template Matching Algorithm (TMA) which is based on Euclidean distance searching. The whole technique achieved 100% sensitivity for detection of polyps larger than 10 mm and 81.82% sensitivity for polyps between 5 to 10 mm and expressed relatively low sensitivity (66.67%) for polyps smaller than 5 mm. The experimental data indicates that our polyp detection technique shows 71.73% sensitivity which has about 10 percent improvement after adding the noise reduction algorithm.
A rational function is proposed as a failure criterion for isotropic, dry and intact rocks to be used in both tensile and compressive regions. The criterion is capable of predicting the triaxial behavior of rock under low confinements satisfying the exact values of uniaxial tensile and compressive strengths. The capability of the rational criterion is assessed by applying brittle-ductile transition and downward concavity boundary conditions into the criterion introducing ë and ã parameters. The sensitivity of the criterion response is analyzed by varying under variation of ë and ã parameters. It has been shown that the Hoek's rule of thumb for brittleductile transition could be used for all types of rocks in low confinements and the proper boundary between low and high confinements is obtained. It was also experimental that the acceptable envelope could be obtained for low confinements using a dataset including only two triaxial tests together with uniaxial tensile and compressive strengths. Also, the parameters and concavity of the criterion have been discussed. © ISRM International Symposium - 5th Asian Rock Mechanics Symposium 2008, ARMS 2008. All rights reserved.
CTIT workshop proceedings series (16821750)37pp. 523-528
One of the most important parameters in all surface-atmosphere interactions (e.g. energy fluxes between the ground and the atmosphere) is atmospheric water vapor. It is also an indicator among others to modeling the energy balance at the Earth's surface. Total atmospheric water vapor content is an important parameter in some remote sensing applications especially land surface temperature (LST) estimation. As such, total atmospheric water vapor content and LST are used as key parameters for a variety of environmental studies and agricultural ecological applications. Estimation of an accurate LST requires the atmospheric water vapor content estimation. This study is concerned with retrieving total atmospheric water vapor content (W) using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS). We have used a ratio technique to estimate the column water vapor based on MODIS data. However Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) column water vapor and AIRS MMR near surface water vapor have been taken into account to calculate coefficients of the equation in the ratio technique. Then the accuracy of the results was examined using independent data set. It is concluded in this study that MODIS data is appropriate in mapping water vapor content as a suitable alternative to meteorological stations measurement data. © 2008 International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. All rights reserved.