Home About us Contact | |||
Water Areas (water + area)
Selected AbstractsOutput feedback control design for station keeping of AUVs under shallow water wave disturbancesINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ROBUST AND NONLINEAR CONTROL, Issue 13 2009Shuyong Liu Abstract In this paper, we consider the problem of autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) station keeping (SK) in shallow water area. During SK, an AUV is required to maintain position and orientation with respect to a fixed reference point at the sea floor. When AUV operates in shallow water, high-frequency disturbances due to waves will significantly affect the motion of the AUV. In order to derive wave disturbance information for control purposes, a nonlinear observer is first designed to estimate the shallow water wave velocities and AUV relative velocities by using position and attitude measurement. Using the observer estimates, a nonlinear output feedback controller is subsequently synthesized by applying observer backstepping technique. Global exponential stability (GES) of the proposed nonlinear observer,controller design is proved through Lyapunov stability theory. Simulation studies on a model based on an actual AUV were performed to verify the performance of the proposed nonlinear observer and output feedback controller. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Schwimmende Architektur: schwimmende Bauten als Aufgabenfeld für die BauphysikBAUPHYSIK, Issue 3 2010Horst Stopp Prof. Dr. sc. techn. General Abstract Schwimmende Architektur, ein nicht eindeutiger Fachbegriff, wird zunehmend auch in Deutschland thematisiert. Punktuell entstehen exklusive Wohnbauten wie auch einfache schwimmende Ferienhäuser. Infolge spezifischer Randbedingungen auf dem Wasser sowohl für die Schwimmkörper als auch für deren Aufbauten ergeben sich zusätzliche Chancen und Risiken. Der Beitrag behandelt beispielhaft bauphysikalische Bezüge. Entwicklungstendenzen der Weltbevölkerung hinsichtlich Wachstum und Verteilung bei gleichzeitig steigendem Meeresspiegel erfordern künftig ein verstärktes wissenschaftliches Interesse und Engagement der Bauphysik auch für schwimmende Bauten. Floating architecture and the responsibility of building physics for floating buildings. Floating architecture, a new and still unambiguous technical term is increasingly being addressed as subject in Germany. Point by popint exclusive buildings are constructed such as simple floating houses for holidays. As a result of specific boundary conditions of the water area for the pontoons as well as for their construction additional chances and risks are given. The paper represents examples with regard to the building physics. Development trends of the world population concerning growth and distribution coupled with rising sea levels call for an increased scientific interest and engagement of the building physics for floating architecture in future too. [source] Finnish lake fisheries and conservation of biodiversity: coexistence or conflict?FISHERIES MANAGEMENT & ECOLOGY, Issue 1-2 2000P. Salmi The conservation of biodiversity in aquatic habitats has become an increasingly important challenge in the management of water resources. In addition to the complexity of the lake fishery and the management structure, the popularity of gill net fishing, in particular, has brought problems when re-establishing populations of Arctic charr, Salvelinus alpinus (L.), collecting genetically sustainable numbers of spawners of the land-locked salmon, Salmo salar m. sebago (Girard), and increasing the population of the Saimaa ringed seal, Phoca hispida saimensis (Nordq.) to a sustainable level in the Vuoksi watercourse, south-east Finland. The attitudes towards protection among the users and other interested parties vary. In order to enhance the coexistence of the lake fishery and endangered species over large water areas, improved institutional linkages are needed among the local, regional and governmental levels of the fragmented decision-making regime. Environmental interests should also be integrated into the communication structure. [source] The riverscape of Western Amazonia , a quantitative approach to the fluvial biogeography of the regionJOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY, Issue 8 2007Tuuli Toivonen Abstract Aim, To provide a quantitative spatial analysis of the riverscape (open-water bodies and their surrounding areas) of the Western Amazonian lowlands using a consistent surface of remotely sensed imagery. Taking into account the essential significance of fluvial environments for the Amazonian biota, we propose that an enhanced understanding of the Amazonian riverscape will provide new insight for biogeographical studies in the region and contribute to the understanding of these megadiverse tropical lowlands. Location, An area of 2.2 million km2 covering the Western Amazonian lowlands of the Andean foreland region, i.e. the upper reaches of the Amazon river system. Areas in Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil and Bolivia between longitudes 83 °W and 65 °W and latitudes 5 °N and 12 °S are included. Methods, A mosaic of 120 Landsat TM satellite images was created with 100-m resolution, and water areas of over 1 ha in size or c. 60 m in width were extracted using a simple ratio threshold applicable to a large set of data. With this method, 99.1% of the water areas present in 30-m imagery were mapped with images with 100-m resolution. Water pixels of distinct river segments were assigned to river classes on the basis of their channel properties, and islands and lakes were distinguished separately and classified. Measures of water patterns such as structure, composition, richness and remoteness were provided for various spatial units. Riverine corridors were computed from the open-water mask by outer limits of active channels and floodplain lakes. Analytical results are shown as both thematic maps and statistics. Results, A total of 1.1% of Western Amazonia is covered by open-water bodies over 1 ha in size or 60 m in width. River-bound waters comprise 98% of the total water surface. Whilst isolated lakes are scarce, river-bound oxbow and backchannel lakes are plentiful, comprising 17.5% of all waters. They are particularly frequent along meandering channels, which dominate both in area and length. The riverine corridors including active channels and floodplain lakes cover 17% of the land area. The average distance from any point of land to the nearest water is 12 km. Geographically speaking, the distribution of waters is uneven across the region, and the detailed characteristics of the riverscape are geographically highly variable. Three major, fluvially distinct regions can be identified: central Western Amazonia, the south, and the north-east. The proportional surface areas of the riverine corridors, numbers of lakes, sizes of islands and their distributions depend largely on the types and sizes of the rivers. Main conclusions, Our results support the notion of Western Amazonia as a dynamic, highly fluvial environment, highlighting and quantifying considerable internal variation within the region in terms of fluvial patterns and the processes that they reflect and control. Biogeographically, the variety of types of fluvial environments and their characteristics are important constituents of what influences the distribution of species and dynamics of terrestrial habitats. Spatially consistent riverscape data can serve as a consistent and scalable source of relevant information for other biogeographical approaches in the region. [source] Precautionary rules for exotic trout aquaculture in fishless shallow lakes of Patagonia: minimizing impacts on the threatened hooded grebe (Podiceps gallardoi)AQUATIC CONSERVATION: MARINE AND FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEMS, Issue 1 2010Julio L. Lancelotti Abstract 1.Conflicts between habitat use and conservation are inherent to the management of wetlands. A major challenge for their management is to preserve habitat while addressing the demands from multiple users. In southern Patagonia (Argentina), a growing aquaculture activity based on rainbow trout introductions in shallow lakes is generating concerns about the effects on the waterbird fauna, including some endemic species. 2.Generalized linear models (GLM) were used to analyse data on the endemic hooded grebe (Podiceps gallardoi) collected over a diverse set of lakes to: (1) build presence-absence models as a function of environmental variables; (2) assess current and potential overlap with trout aquaculture; (3) explore the power of alternative lake assignment algorithms based on habitat variables to segregate critical habitat and aquaculture activities; and (4) explore the correlation between the probability of grebe presence and their abundance in given lakes. 3.Hooded grebe presence is clearly correlated with macrophyte cover, lake area, and water conductivity. Medium size lakes, with a combination of emerging macrophytes, adjacent to open water areas had the highest probability of both hooded grebe presence and abundance. 4.Different lake allocation scenarios are identified that could grant significant protection to hooded grebes without substantial losses for trout producers. The a priori probability to hold hooded grebe, assigned by the model based on lake characteristics, provides a tool that can be used by managing authorities to derive precautionary management rules to regulate aquaculture and to preserve primary hooded grebe habitat. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] |