We give a brief description of the Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON), a new network of ground-based Fourier Transform spectrometers (FTS) dedicated to measurement of greenhouse gas absorption (CO2, CO, N2O, CH4) in the near infrared. We present preliminary retrievals of CO2 total column densities from the TCCON site in Lauder, New Zealand between July 2004 – when routine measurement...

1. Abstract In this paper, we consider the optimal design of a straight pipeline system. Suppose a gas pipeline is to be designed to transport a specified flowrate from the entry point to the gas demand point. Physical and contractual requirements at supply and delivery nodes are known as well as the costs to buy and lay a pipeline or build a compressor station. In order to minimize the overall...

In this article the main objective is to perform a search in an unknown area with multiple robots in order to determine the region with highest chemical gas concentration as well as to build the chemical gas concentration map. The searching and map building tasks are accomplished by using mobile robots equipped with smart transducers for gas sensing. Robots perform the search autonomously by us...

The purpose of the study was to assess the incidence of alcohol and amphetamine use among long-distance truck drivers. There were studied 91 truck drivers at the gas station in Passos, Southeastern Brazil, in November 2005. Data was collected using a questionnaire comprising 19 multiple choice questions. Descriptive statistics, Chi-square test and Cramér's correlation coefficient were used for ...

Scheduling of a bus transit system must be formulated as an optimization problem, if the level of service to passengers is to be maximized within the available resources. In this paper, we present a formulation of a transit system scheduling problem with the objective of minimizing the overall waiting time of transferring and nontransferring passengers while satisfying a number of resource- and...

Particulate matter emission is one of the major air pollution problems of coal fired power plants. Though fine particles constitute a smaller fraction by weight of the total suspended particle matter in typical particle emissions, they are considered potentially hazardous to health because of their high probability of deposition in deeper parts of the respiratory tract. Electrostatic precipitat...

Based on a correlation analysis method, a subwaveform threshold retracker is developed and coded in FORTRAN for satellite altimetry to determine the leading edge and retracking gate, and to improve the precision of sea surface heights (SSHs) and gravity anomalies (GAs). Using ERS-1/ERM waveforms, the subwaveform threshold retracker outperforms full-waveform threshold retrackers at the tide gage...

Over the last six years, highly active catalysts for the synthesis of cyclic carbonates from epoxides and carbon dioxide have been developed. Initial studies showed that bimetallic aluminium(salen) complexes [Al(salen)]2O formed active catalysts and kinetic studies allowed the catalytic cycle to be determined. The catalysts could be immobilized on silica, allowing them to be used in a gas phase...