Work domain analysis for air traffic controller weather displays

INTRODUCTION: Adverse weather conditions have a major impact on National Airspace System (NAS) operations. They create safety hazards for pilots, constrain the usable airspace for air traffic control (ATC), and reduce the overall capacity of the NAS. A system-wide dissemination of weather information to controllers could theoretically improve safety and efficiency. PROBLEM: However, it is currently unclear what weather information would be beneficial for tactical operations. Furthermore, no previous research has empirically evaluated optimal presentation designs for ATC weather displays. Ill-designed weather displays can cause safety hazards by presenting redundant information (i.e., by increasing the cognitive load) and display clutter (e.g., by interfering with the visual extraction of traffic data). METHOD: In the present paper, we outline our use of cognitive work analysis (CWA) techniques for the assessment of weather information needs for terminal controllers. RESULTS: Specifically, we describe how the CWA modeling tools helped us reveal instances in the terminal domain where weather information is lacking or insufficiently disseminated. We used our CWA results to drive the development of weather display concepts and to set up a high-fidelity simulation capability. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: By means of high-fidelity simulations, we can empirically evaluate controller weather information needs in order to propose weather displays for increased aircraft safety and efficiency of terminal operations.     

铁路局安全管理信息系统的研究与设计

铁路局安全管理信息系统是铁路现代化安全管理体系中安全信息综合应用的重要组成部分 ,是安全信息分析、安全决策的关键。通过对铁路局安全监控业务的分析及对铁路现有信息系统资源的利用 ,因地制宜地提出建立以铁路局为安全信息处理、分析的第一级信息中心 ,各个铁路分局为第二级信息中心 ,基层站段为信息输入终端的三级安全管理信息系统。信息系统在分布式数据库的基础上应用了一定的数学模型对保存的各类安全检查信息进行比较分析 ,从而使路局安全监察部门通过对上报的安全信息进行分析和预警 ,实现对安全隐患的监控和整改 ,形成闭环管理 ,力求把安全管理从传统的事后追踪变为事前的预防控制     

GIS在巨灾保险风险管理中的应用研究

近年来 ,巨灾的不断发生 ,使得许多保险和再保险公司遭受巨大赔偿 ,乃至可能造成破产。究其原因 ,除了人们对巨灾自身难以抗拒这一客观原因外 ,保险企业对巨灾保险的风险管理方法、技术和手段的不适也是一个很重要的因素。为此 ,笔者分析了利用GIS辅助巨灾保险风险管理的优越性 ,并就GIS在巨灾保险的信息管理、风险累积预测和风险管理专家系统中所起的作用和发挥的功能分别进行了探讨。利用GIS辅助巨灾保险风险管理 ,不仅可以了解巨灾的发生和变化规律 ,进行危险性区域和费率区域的划分 ,而且可以优化保险和再保险方案 ,并通过专家系统设计出符合实用灾情的风险管理及保险管理的对策 ,对保险公司的巨灾保险风险管理起到了重要的指导作用。     

基于GIS的建筑物地震次生火灾危险性模拟

地震次生火灾对人类的危害极大 ,192 3年日本关东大地震中 ,大火烧毁了 4 4 .7万栋房屋 ,烧死5 .6万余人。笔者计算了建筑物发生地震次生火灾概率的大小 ,并在此基础上对建筑物发生地震次生火灾的危险性进行了模拟。通过对基于GIS的建筑物地震次生火灾危险性模拟 ,为预防地震次生火灾的发生提供有力的依据 ,同时为地震次生火灾发生后进行应急救灾提供了有力的支持。     

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Triangulation theory applied to conflict over hormone herbicide drift in Natal,South Africa

Policies that arise out of conflict or collaboration between specific interest groups and government agencies are often explained by theoretical constructs that fall under the umbrella of group theory. Triangulation theory is one of these constructs and serves to explain the mutuality of interests that exist between government agencies and interest groups expressed as points linking geometric forms. Conflict tends to occur when competing interest groups are excluded from the linkage, in this case between the opponents and proponents of hormone herbicides in the Tala area in Natal, South Africa. In opposition to the use of hormone herbicides were vegetable farmers and their supporters: in linked support were agricultural interest groups who used hormone herbicides, the manufacturers of the herbicides, and the government agency responsible for agriculture. Because of the influence exerted through mutual support by the proponents of hormone herbicides, the formulation of policy decisions directed towards the resolution of the conflict was delayed. When the minister of agriculture finally intervened, the policy decisions were designed to secure the support of those opposing the use of hormone herbicides by introducing issues that cut across those maintaining the discord.     

Biosemiotics: a new understanding of life

Biosemiotics is the idea that life is based on semiosis, i.e., on signs and codes. This idea has been strongly suggested by the discovery of the genetic code, but so far it has made little impact in the scientific world and is largely regarded as a philosophy rather than a science. The main reason for this is that modern biology assumes that signs and meanings do not exist at the molecular level, and that the genetic code was not followed by any other organic code for almost four billion years, which implies that it was an utterly isolated exception in the history of life. These ideas have effectively ruled out the existence of semiosis in the organic world, and yet there are experimental facts against all of them. If we look at the evidence of life without the preconditions of the present paradigm, we discover that semiosis is there, in every single cell, and that it has been there since the very beginning. This is what biosemiotics is really about. It is not a philosophy. It is a new scientific paradigm that is rigorously based on experimental facts. Biosemiotics claims that the genetic code (1) is a real code and (2) has been the first of a long series of organic codes that have shaped the history of life on our planet. The reality of the genetic code and the existence of other organic codes imply that life is based on two fundamental processes--copying and coding--and this in turn implies that evolution took place by two distinct mechanisms, i.e., by natural selection (based on copying) and by natural conventions (based on coding). It also implies that the copying of genes works on individual molecules, whereas the coding of proteins operates on collections of molecules, which means that different mechanisms of evolution exist at different levels of organization. This review intends to underline the scientific nature of biosemiotics, and to this purpose, it aims to prove (1) that the cell is a real semiotic system, (2) that the genetic code is a real code, (3) that evolution took place by natural selection and by natural conventions, and (4) that it was natural conventions, i.e., organic codes, that gave origin to the great novelties of macroevolution. Biological semiosis, in other words, is a scientific reality because the codes of life are experimental realities. The time has come, therefore, to acknowledge this fact of life, even if that means abandoning the present theoretical framework in favor of a more general one where biology and semiotics finally come together and become biosemiotics.     

LAKE CHAMPLAIN BASIN NONPOINT SOURCE PHOSPHORUS ASSESSMENT1

ABSTRACT: Existing land use data were used to estimate nonpoint source phosphorus loads to Lake Champlain (Vermont/New York/Quebec) in a loading function model that combined P concentration coefficients with regional hydrologic data. The estimates were verified against monitored loading data, then used to assess the relative magnitudes of contributions from major land uses and regions of the Lake Champlain Basin. The Basin is comprised of 62 percent forest, 28 percent agricultural land, 3 percent urban land, and 7 percent water. The best-fit model estimated an annual total P load of 457 mt/year, which did not differ significantly from the 458 metric tons/year measured for an average hydrologic year, and accurately predicted loads from major tributaries. Agriculture contributes 66 percent of the annual nonpoint source P load to Lake Champlain; urban and forest land contribute 18 percent and 16 percent, respectively. Because agricultural land contributes most nonpoint source P to Lake Champlain, load reduction effort must deal with agricultural sources. However, because the urban 3 percent of the basin contributes 18 percent of the estimated load, high load reduction efficiencies might be achieved by addressing urban sources. This assessment clearly demonstrated the relationship between land use and P loads in the Lake Champlain Basin, a prerequisite for policy-makers to endorse a P management strategy requiring changes in land use and management.     

Application of a cave inventory system to stimulate development of management strategies: the case of west-central Florida, USA

The active management of air-filled cave systems is virtually non-existent within the karst landscape of west-central Florida. As in every karst landscape, caves are important because they contain a wide variety of resources (e.g., biota, speleothems) and can act as direct connections between surface and subsurface hydrological processes, potentially exacerbating the pollution of groundwater. Before sound management policies can be drafted, implemented, and enforced, stakeholders must first have knowledge of the management requirements of each cave. However, there is an informational disconnect between researchers, stakeholders, and the recreational caving community. Here, we present a cave inventory system that simplifies the dissemination of resource knowledge to stakeholders so that cave management and protection policies can be drafted and implemented at the state and local level. We inventoried 36 caves in west-central Florida, located on both public and private land, and analyzed cave resource data to provide insights on cave sensitivity and disturbance using two standardized indices. The data revealed that both public and private caves exhibit a wide range of sensitivity and disturbance, and before management strategies can be drafted, the ownership of each cave must be considered. Our inventory geodatabase serves as a link between researchers, landowners, and the public. To ensure the conservation and protection of caves, support from county or state government, combined with cave inventory data, is crucial in developing sound management policy.     

The study of a method of regional environmental risk assessment

Regional environmental risk assessment can be defined as risk assessment which deals with a spatial scale that contains multiple habitats with multiple sources of many stressors affecting multiple endpoints. The characteristics of the landscape also affect the estimated risk. In this paper, an information diffusion method based on a grid system is proposed to assess regional environmental risk. The risk information on a single environmental risk source can be diffused effectively by using fuzzy set theory. Regional environmental risk values obtained from information diffusion can be clustered on classification criteria and different environmental risk levels can be depicted in a spatial partition map. Huangge Town and Nansha Town located in the Nansha Area of Guangzhou City in China were selected as model cases. The results derived from this information diffusion method will help the local government to optimize the distribution of industrial areas and establish risk prevention measurements and emergency management procedures.