On a shape adaptive image ray transform

A conventional approach to image analysis is to perform separately feature extraction at a low level (such as edge detection) and follow this with high level feature extraction to determine structure (e.g. by collecting edge points using the Hough transform. The original image Ray Transform (IRT) demonstrated capability to extract structures at a low level. Here we extend the IRT to add shape specificity that makes it select specific shapes rather than just edges, the new capability is achieved by addition of a single parameter that controls which shape is elected by the extended IRT. The extended approach can then perform low-and high-level feature extraction simultaneously. We show how the IRT process can be extended to focus on chosen shapes such as lines and circles. We confirm the new capability by application of conventional methods for exact shape location. We analyze performance with images from the Caltech-256 dataset and show that the new approach can indeed select chosen shapes. Further research could capitalize on the new extraction ability to extend descriptive capability

Season- and depth-dependent variability of a demersal fish assemblage in a large fjord estuary (Puget Sound, Washington)

Fjord estuaries are common along the northeast Pacific coastline, but little information is available on fish assemblage structure and its spatiotemporal variability. Here, we examined changes in diversity metrics, species biomasses, and biomass spectra (the distribution of biomass across body size classes) over three seasons (fall, winter, summer) and at multiple depths (20 to 160 m) in Puget Sound, Washington, a deep and highly urbanized fjord estuary on the U.S. west coast. Our results indicate that this fish assemblage is dominated by cartilaginous species (spotted ratfish [Hydrolagus colliei] and spiny dogfish [Squalus acanthias]) and therefore differs fundamentally from fish assemblages found in shallower estuaries in the northeast Pacific. Diversity was greatest in shallow waters (80 m) that are more common in Puget Sound and that are dominated by spotted ratf ish and seasonally (fall and summer) by spiny dogfish. Strong depth-dependent variation in the demersal fish assemblage may be a general feature of deep fjord estuaries and indicates pronounced spatial variability in the food web. Future comparisons with less impacted fjords may offer insight into whether cartilaginous species naturally dominate these systems or only do so under conditions related to human-caused ecosystem degradation. Information on species distributions is critical for marine spatial planning and for modeling energy flows in coastal food webs. The data presented here will aid these endeavors and highlight areas for future research in this important yet understudied system

Interannual sea-air CO2 flux variability from an observation-driven ocean mixed-layer scheme

Interannual anomalies in the sea–air carbon dioxide (CO2) exchange have been estimated from surface-ocean CO2 partial pressure measurements. Available data are sufficient to constrain these anomalies in large parts of the tropical and North Pacific and in the North Atlantic, in some areas covering the period from the mid 1980s to 2011. Global interannual variability is estimated as about 0.31 Pg Cyr−1 (temporal standard deviation 1993–2008). The tropical Pacific accounts for a large fraction of this global variability, closely tied to El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Anomalies occur more than 6 months later in the east than in the west. The estimated amplitude and ENSO response are roughly consistent with independent information from atmospheric oxygen data. This both supports the variability estimated from surface-ocean carbon data and demonstrates the potential of the atmospheric oxygen signal to constrain ocean biogeochemical processes. The ocean variability estimated from surface-ocean carbon data can be used to improve land CO2 flux estimates from atmospheric inversions

Conformal electromagnetic wave propagation using primal mimetic finite elements

Elektromagnetische Wellenausbreitung bildet die physikalische Grundlage für unzählige Anwendungen in verschiedenen Bereichen der heutigen Welt. Um räumliche Szenarien zu modellieren, muss der kontinuierliche Raum in geeigneter Weise in ein Rechengebiet umgewandelt werden. Üblich diskretisierte Modelle – welche auf verschiedenen Größen beruhen – berücksichtigen die Beziehungen zwischen Feldvariablen mittels Relationen, welche durch partielle Differentialgleichungen repräsentiert werden. Um mathematische Beziehungen zwischen abhängigen Variablen in zweckdienlicher Art nachzubilden, schaffen hyperkomplexe Zahlensysteme ein passendes alternatives Rahmenwerk. Dieser Ansatz bezweckt das Einbinden bestimmter Systemeigenschaften und umfasst zusätzlich zur Modellierung von Feldproblemen, bei denen alle Variablen vorkommen, auch vereinfachte Modelle. Um eine wettbewerbsfähige Alternative zur üblichen numerischen Behandlung elektromagnetischer Felder in beobachtungsorientierter Weise darzubieten, wird das elektrische und magnetische Feld elektromagnetischer Wellenfelder als eine zusammengefasste Feldgröße, eingebettet im Funktionenraum, verstanden. Dieses Vorgehen ist intuitiv, da beide Felder in der Elektrodynamik gemeinsam auftreten und direkt messbar sind. Der Schwerpunkt dieser Arbeit ist in zwei Ziele untergliedert. Auf der einen Seite wird ein umformuliertes Maxwell-System in einer metrikfreien Umgebung mittels dem sogenannten „bikomplexen Ansatz“ umfassend untersucht. Auf der anderen Seite wird eine mögliche numerische Implementierung hinsichtlich der Finite-Elemente-Methode auf modernem Wege durch Nutzung der diskreten äußeren Analysis mit Fokus auf Genauigkeitsbelange bewertet. Hinsichtlich der numerischen Genauigkeitsbewertung wird demonstriert, dass der vorgelegte Ansatz grundsätzlich eine höhere Exaktheit zeigt, wenn man ihn mit Formulierungen vergleicht, welche auf der Helmholtz-Gleichung beruhen. Diese Dissertation trägt eine generalisierte hyperkomplexe alternative Darstellung von gewöhnlichen elektrodynamischen Ausdrucksweisen zum Themengebiet der Wellenausbreitung bei. Durch die Nutzung einer direkten Formulierung des elektrischen Feldes in Verbindung mit dem magnetischen Feld wird die Rechengenauigkeit von Randwertproblemen erhöht. Um diese Genauigkeitserhöhung zu erreichen, wird eine geeignete Erweiterung der de Rham-Kohomologie unterbreitet.Electromagnetic wave propagation provides the physical basis for countless applications in various subjects of today’s world. In order to model spatial scenarios, the continuous space must be converted to an appropriate computational domain. Ordinarily discretized models – which are based on distinct quantities – consider the connection between field variables by relations which are represented by partial differential equations. To reproduce mathematical relationships between dependent variables in a convenient manner, hypercomplex number systems build a suitable alternative framework. This approach aims to incorporate certain system properties and covers, in addition to the modeling of field problems where all variables are present, also simplified models. To provide a competitive alternative to the ordinary numerical handling of electromagnetic fields in an observation-based way, the electric and magnetic field of electromagnetic wave fields is understood as only one combined field variable embedded in the function space. This procedure is intuitive since both fields occur together in electrodynamics and are directly measureable. The focus of this thesis is twofold. On the one side, a reformulated Maxwell system is broadly investigated in a metric-free environment by the use of the so-called ”bicomplex approach”. On the other side, a possible numerical implementation concerning the Finite Element Method is evaluated in a modern way by the use of discrete exterior calculus with focus on accuracy matters. Regarding the numerical accuracy evaluation, it is demonstrated that the presented approach yields a higher exactness in general when comparing it to formulations which are based on the Helmholtz equation. This thesis contributes generalized hypercomplex alternative representations of ordinary electrodynamic expressions to the topic of wave propagation. By the use of a direct formulation of the electric field in conjunction with the magnetic field, the computational accuracy of boundary value problems is improved. In order to achieve this increase of accuracy, an appropriate enhancement of the de Rham cohomology is proposed