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At least 271 records · Page 15

Information-Theoretic Exploration of Multivariate Time-Varying Image Databases

Modern scientific simulations produce very large datasets, making interactive exploration of such data computationally prohibitive. An increasingly common data reduction technique is to store visualizations and other data extracts in a database. The Cinema project is one such approach, storing visualizations in an image database for post hoc exploration and interactive image-based analysis. This work focuses on developing efficient algorithms that can quantify various types of multivariate dependencies existing within multi-variable datasets. It applies specific mutual information measures for the quantification of salient regions from multivariate image data. Here, using such information measures, the opacity of the images is modulated so that the salient regions are automatically highlighted and the domain scientists can interactively explore the most relevant regions for scientific discovery.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Venus - Atmospheric motion and structure from Mariner 10 pictures

The Mariner 10 television cameras imaged the planet Venus in the visible and near ultraviolet for a period of 8 days at resolutions ranging from 100 meters to 130 kilometers. The general pattern of the atmospheric circulation in the upper tropospheric/lower stratospheric region is displayed in the pictures. Atmospheric flow is symmetrical between north and south hemispheres. The equatorial motions are zonal (east-west) at approximately 100 meters per second, consistent with the previously inferred 4-day retrograde rotation. Angular velocity increases with latitude. The subsolar region, and the region downwind from it, show evidence of large-scale convection that persists in spite of the main zonal motion. Dynamical interaction between the zonal motion and the relatively stationary region of convection is evidenced by bowlike waves.

Murray, B. C.↗

Overestimation of heights in virtual reality is influenced more by perceived distal size than by the 2-D versus 3-D dimensionality of the display

One important aspect of the pictorial representation of a scene is the depiction of object proportions. Yang, Dixon, and Proffitt (1999 Perception 28 445-467) recently reported that the magnitude of the vertical-horizontal illusion was greater for vertical extents presented in three-dimensional (3-D) environments compared to two-dimensional (2-D) displays. However, because all of the 3-D environments were large and all of the 2-D displays were small, the question remains whether the observed magnitude differences were due solely to the dimensionality of the displays (2-D versus 3-D) or to the perceived distal size of the extents (small versus large). We investigated this question by comparing observers' judgments of vertical relative to horizontal extents on a large but 2-D display compared to the large 3-D and the small 2-D displays used by Yang et al (1999). The results confirmed that the magnitude differences for vertical overestimation between display media are influenced more by the perceived distal object size rather than by the dimensionality of the display.

NASA Center ARC↗

Communication system analysis for manned space flight

One- and two-dimensional adaptive delta modulator (ADM) algorithms are discussed and compared. Results are shown for bit rates of two bits/pixel, one bit/pixel and 0.5 bits/pixel. Pictures showing the difference between the encoded-decoded pictures and the original pictures are presented. The effect of channel errors on the reconstructed picture is illustrated. A two-dimensional ADM using interframe encoding is also presented. This system operates at the rate of two bits/pixel and produces excellent quality pictures when there is little motion. The effect of large amounts of motion on the reconstructed picture is described.

Schilling, D. L.↗

Adaptive delta modulation systems for video encoding

This paper describes several adaptive delta modulators designed to encode video signals. One- and two-dimensional ADM algorithms are discussed and compared. Results are shown for bit rates of 2 bits/pixel, 1 bit/pixel and 0.5 bits/pixel. Pictures showing the difference between the encoded-decoded pictures and the original pictures are presented. Results are also presented to illustrate the effect of channel errors on the reconstructed picture. A two-dimensional ADM using interframe encoding is also presented. This system operates at the rate of 2 bits/pixel and produces excellent quality pictures when there is little motion. We also describe and illustrate the effect of large amounts of motion on the reconstructed picture.

Lei, T.-L. R.↗

Thunderstorm-associated cloud motions as computed from 5-minute SMS pictures

The five-minute rapid-scan imagery from the Synchronous Meteorological Satellite is employed to study cloud motions associated with the Omaha tornado of May 6, 1975. Cloud-motion vectors derived from automated and man-machine interactive systems provide an account of the mesoscale phenomena. In addition to the geostationary satellite data, aerial photography obtained during a cloud-truth mission is used in the severe storm investigation. For tracking overland cumuli with short half-lives, a three-minute scan interval appears necessary for the satellite imagery.

Tecson, J. J.↗

Probabilistic picture for particle number densities in stretched tips of the branching Brownian motion

Abstract In the framework of a stochastic picture for the one-dimensional branching Brownian motion, we compute the probability density of the number of particles near the rightmost one at a time T , that we take very large, when this extreme particle is conditioned to arrive at a predefined position x T chosen far ahead of its expected position m T . We recover the previously conjectured fact that the typical number density of particles at a distance Δ to the left of the lead particle, when both Δ and are large, is smaller than the mean number density by a factor proportional to , where ζ is a constant that was so far undetermined. Our picture leads to an expression for the probability density of the particle number, from which a value for ζ may be inferred.

Physics↗

Error analysis for the proposed close grid geodynamic satellite measurement system (CLOGEOS)

The close grid geodynamic measurement system experiment which envisages an active ranging satellite and a grid of retro-reflectors or transponders in the San Andreas fault area is a detailed simulated study for recovering the relative positions in the grid. The close grid geodynamic measurement system for determining the relative motion of two plates in the California region (if feasible) could be used in other areas of the world to delineate and complete the picture of crustal motions over the entire globe and serve as a geodetic survey system. In addition, with less stringent accuracy standards, the system would also find usage in allied geological and marine geodesy fields.

Mueller, I. I.↗

Fluctuations of total ozone and their relationship to stratospheric air motions

The origin of fluctuations of total ozone and the interactions that take place between the distribution of total ozone and the circulation of the troposphere are investigated on the basis of observations of total ozone from Nimbus 7 TOMS together with contemporaneous analyses of the circulation. It is shown that a sizable component of total ozone variability is explained by the quasi-columnar motion of air in the lower stratosphere. The development also suggests that in combination with isentropic analyses, total ozone measurements can provide a detailed picture of air motions in the lower stratosphere. Distributions of ozone column abundance and pressure on the 375-K isentropic surface for the Northern and Southern Hemispheres are illustrated.

Salby, Murry L.↗

On the motion of air through the stratospheric polar vortex

Trajectory calculations using horizontal winds from the U.K. Meteorological Office data assimilation system and vertical velocities from a radiation calculation are used to simulate the three-dimensional motion of air through the stratospheric polar vortex for Northern Hemisphere (NH) and Southern Hemisphere (SH) winters since the launch of the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS). Throughout the winter, air from the upper stratosphere moves poleward and descends into the middle stratosphere. In the SH lower to middle stratosphere, strongest descent occurs near the edge of the polar vortex, with that edge defined by mixing characteristics. The NH shows a similar pattern in late winter, but in early winter strongest descent is near the center of the vortex, except when wave activity is particularly strong. Strong barriers to latitudinal mixing exist above about 420 K throughout the winter. Below this, the polar night jet is weak in early winter, so air descending below that level mixes between polar and middle latitudes. In late winter, parcels descend less and the polar night jet moves downward, so there is less latitudinal mixing. The degree of mixing in the lower stratosphere thus depends strongly on the position and evolution of the polar night jet and on the amount of descent experienced by the air parcels; these characteristics show considerable interannual variability in both hemispheres. The computed trajectories provide a three-dimensional picture of air motion during the final warming. Large tongues of air are drawn off the vortex and stretched into increasingly long and narrow tongues extending into low latitudes. This vortex erosion process proceeds more rapidly in the NH than in he SH. In the lower stratosphere, the majority of air parcels remain confined within a lingering region of strong potential vorticity gradients into December in the SH and April in the NH, well after the vortex breaks up in the midstratosphere.

Manney, G. L.↗

A Fourier approach to cloud motion estimation

A Fourier technique is described for estimating cloud motion from pairs of pictures using the phase of the cross spectral density. The method allows motion estimates to be made for individual spatial frequencies, which are related to cloud pattern dimensions. Results obtained are presented and compared with the results of a Fourier domain cross correlation scheme. Using both artificial and real cloud data show that the technique is relatively sensitive to the presence of mixtures of motions, changes in cloud shape, and edge effects.

Arking, A.↗

Interface Morphology During Crystal Growth: Effects of Anisotropy and Fluid Flow

The effect of a parallel shear flow and anisotropic interface kinetics on the onset of instability during growth from a supersaturated solution is analyzed. The model used for anisotropy is based on the microscopic picture of step motion. A shear flow (linear Couette flow or asymptotic suction profile) parallel to the crystal solution interface in the same direction as the step motion decreases interface stability. A shear flow counter to the step motion enhances stability and for sufficiently large shear rates the interface is absolutely morphologically stable. For large wave numbers, the perturbed flow field can be neglected and a simple analytic approximation for the stability-instability demarcation is found.

Coriell, S. R.↗

DNA dynamics in aqueous solution: opening the double helix

The opening of a DNA base pair is a simple reaction that is a prerequisite for replication, transcription, and other vital biological functions. Understanding the molecular mechanisms of biological reactions is crucial for predicting and, ultimately, controlling them. Realistic computer simulations of the reactions can provide the needed understanding. To model even the simplest reaction in aqueous solution requires hundreds of hours of supercomputing time. We have used molecular dynamics techniques to simulate fraying of the ends of a six base pair double strand of DNA, [TCGCGA]2, where the four bases of DNA are denoted by T (thymine), C (cytosine), G (guanine), and A (adenine), and to estimate the free energy barrier to this process. The calculations, in which the DNA was surrounded by 2,594 water molecules, required 50 hours of CRAY-2 CPU time for every simulated 100 picoseconds. A free energy barrier to fraying, which is mainly characterized by the movement of adenine away from thymine into aqueous environment, was estimated to be 4 kcal/mol. Another fraying pathway, which leads to stacking between terminal adenine and thymine, was also observed. These detailed pictures of the motions and energetics of DNA base pair opening in water are a first step toward understanding how DNA will interact with any molecule.

NASA Discipline Number 52-20↗

Piecewise interaction picture density matrix quantum Monte Carlo

The density matrix quantum Monte Carlo (DMQMC) set of methods stochastically samples the exact N-body density matrix for interacting electrons at finite temperature. We introduce a simple modification to the interaction picture DMQMC (IP-DMQMC) method that overcomes the limitation of only sampling one inverse temperature point at a time, instead allowing for the sampling of a temperature range within a single calculation, thereby reducing the computational cost. At the target inverse temperature, instead of ending the simulation, we incorporate a change of picture away from the interaction picture. The resulting equations of motion have piecewise functions and use the interaction picture in the first phase of a simulation, followed by the application of the Bloch equation once the target inverse temperature is reached. We find that the performance of this method is similar to or better than the DMQMC and IP-DMQMC algorithms in a variety of molecular test systems.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Decoherence from long-range forces in atom interferometry

Atom interferometers provide a powerful means of realizing quantum coherent systems with increasingly macroscopic extent in space and time. These systems provide an opportunity for a variety of novel tests of fundamental physics, including ultralight dark matter searches and tests of modifications of gravity, using long drop times and microgravity environments. However, as experiments operate with longer periods of free fall and become sensitive to smaller background effects, key questions start to emerge about the fundamental limits to future atom interferometry experiments. Here we study the effects on atomic coherence from hard-to-screen backgrounds due to baths of ambient particles with long-range forces, such as gravitating baths and charged cosmic rays. Our approach—working in the Heisenberg picture for the atomic motion—makes proper inclusion of the experimental apparatus feasible and clearly shows how to handle long-range forces. We find that these potential backgrounds are likely negligible for the next generation of interferometers, as aggressive estimates for the gravitational decoherence from a background bath of dark matter particles gives a decoherence timescale on the order of years.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗

Vortex dynamics induced by scanning SQUID susceptometry

In this work, we measured the local magnetic response of a niobium thin film by applying a millitesla-scale AC magnetic field using a micron-scale field coil and detecting the response with a micron-scale pickup loop in a scanning superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) susceptometry measurement. Near the film's critical temperature, we observed a steplike nonlinear and dissipative magnetic response due to the dynamics of a small number of vortex-antivortex pairs induced in the film by the local applied AC field. We modeled the dynamics of the measurement using a combined two-dimensional London-Maxwell and time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau approach, allowing us to construct a detailed real-space picture of the vortex motion causing the observed dissipative response. This work pushes scanning SQUID susceptometry of two-dimensional superconductors beyond the regime of linear response and lays the foundation for microscopic studies of vortex dynamics and pinning in superconducting devices and more exotic materials systems.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗