Abstract This study aims to investigate the influence of micrometeorology on atmospheric visibility in Taipei Basin by carrying on routine and intensive visibility observation, analyzing particle concentrations and size distribution, monitoring atmospheric optical coefficients of particles, and collecting meteorological conditions (wind direction, wind speed, temperature and humidity). Based on the information of the broad view of the meteorological parameters from 1998 to 2005, the air pollution episode in Taipei Basin mainly occurred during the winter periods accompanied with the weather patterns of high pressure outflow style I, high pressure outflow style II or circus-sluice of high pressure outflow. Based on the collected visibility data from Taipei of Central Weather Bureau for the past 21 years (1983~2004), it shows the visibility increasing each year. The visibility seasonal variation was also observed higher than that during winter. The mean visibilities from Tamsui, Songshan, and Sindian directions are 10.54 km , 9.72 km and 8.62 km, respectively. In general, the visibility from the Tamsui direction is slightly higher than those the from two directions, This result shows visibility is influenced not only the pollution factor and meteorological factor, but affected by the local topography. Our study revealed that the visibility data leads on the Tamsui, Songshan obserrative directions is better. Two intensive sampling campaign were conducted during August 15~22 of 2004 and January 15~22 of 2005 on the roof of Taipei County Government, respectively. The results showed mass concentration of particulate matter in winter is higher than that in summer. A bi-mode size distribution of aerosol particles was also observed in the Taipei basin. Two peaks of aerodynamic diameter of PM were observed at 0.56~1.0 µm and 3.2~5.6 µm, respectively. In addition, extinction coefficient is always high during winter. Mean scattering coefficient is about 80~108 Mm-1 while the mean absorption coefficient is around 9~35 Mm-1, during the 1st intensive sampling period. Mean scattering coefficient is about 101~119 Mm-1 while the mean absorption coefficient is around 16~64 Mm-1, during the 2nd intensive sampling period. Our study also shows that visibility has a higher correlation with fine particles(R=0.70~0.96) than that with coarse particles(R=0.045~0.629). Hance, visibility is affected mainly by fine particles. In general, the intensive observation of visibility also shows that in summer the visibility is higher than that in winter. In addition, the analysis from MM5 shows that the visibility for the Tamsui direction is usually influenced by the prevailing wine direction, It is because of that northwestern from sea brings lots of water spray into the basin. This spray water will increase the particle diameter and cause the increasing of extinction coefficient. It will also impair the visibility.

This research analyzed the weather information (temperature, wind velocity, visibility, and total cloudiness) from the Taipei and the Kaohsiung Weather Station of Central Weather Bureau, and air pollution from the Air Quality Monitoring Station of Environmental Protection Administration, Executive Yuan ( Shihlin, Shihlin, Jhongshan, Wanhua, Guting, Songshan¡A), Nanzih, Zuoying, Cianjin, and Siaogan ) to evaluate the feasibility of using visibility as the ambient air quality index by statistical analysis¡C In regard to the visibility in Taipei metropolis, the visibility between 1983~1992 showed a steady status between 5~11 kilometers. The visibility after 1993 has increased gradually between 6~16 kilometers, which indicated that the visual air quality has been improved year by year in Taipei metropolis. In regard to the visibility in Kaohsiung metropolis, the index has a trend of decreasing year by year from 10~24 kilometers to 2~12 kilometers, and the decrease was particularly obvious after 1993. Analyzing the air quality index greater than 100 in the metropolis, the visibility is categorized as the level of "poor", which means that the visibility is within 3 kilometers. When the air quality index ranges between 76~100, the visibility is categorized as the level of median, which means the visibility is within 4 kilometers. When the air quality index ranges between 50~75, the visibility is categorized as the level of "good", which means the visibility is within 7 kilometers. When the air quality index ranges between 20~49, the visibility is categorized as the level of "excellent", which means the visibility is beyond 7 kilometers.

In recent decades studies all around the world have shown an increasing trend of visibility degradation. In Hong Kong, the visibility has shown a deteriorating trend from 1968 to 2003 (Leung et. al 2004). The level of visibility has been proven to be related to the level of air pollutants causing air pollution. Therefore, visibility degradation is a sign of deteriorating air quality and a potential threat to human health. In addition, visibility degradation will blur the vista of the skyline that tourists are looking for in their trips. The degraded visibility will harm the tourists’ enjoyment at popular tourist sites such as the Peak, Hong Kong. This study aims at finding the standard of visibility violation of the lay public and the tourists in Hong Kong and their perception on visibility degradation. The study designs a questionnaire based on a judgement study on photograph of perception and justification of visibility standards by Pryor (1995) and the conceptual model of Sell et al. (1988) to unveil the reason behind the human standard on visibility degradation and the relationship between people’s background and their perception. The study suggests the standard of visibility violation is 4.5km in the Peak, Hong Kong and the standard varies from place-to-place while it is very much based on the environmental setting of the vista. A modified model based on the conceptual model by Sell et. al (1988) is introduced to explain the relationship between environmental change, individual, perception and their responses. It is deduced that human perception on visibility degradation will start when the environmental degradation exceeds the acceptance level of people. The finding proved that the standard of visibility violation could be determined. The standard would change according to a place-to-place format and poor visibility was interpreted according to the aesthetic characters and the aesthetic integrity of the vista. The demographic background of different individuals only determined the perception on visibility degradation but not the standard of visibility degradation. Meanwhile, according to the findings, a standard of low visibility based on either health concern or aesthetic concern and an early warning system of low visibility were proposed. / published_or_final_version / Geography / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Rather than offering a traditional interpretation of what constitutes a spatial queer politics, which Brown and Knopp (2006) describe as "claiming space," this dissertation seeks instead to explore a Foucauldian politics of disappearing, of incoherency, and illegibility. I call this the politics of invisibility, describing a queer politics that questions visibility at every avenue and that is extremely critical of the ways that queer bodies are often made less complex, indeed less visible, when "gays and lesbians" are incorporated more and more into the mainstream. The work does this through three different papers. First, it lays down the theory of the politics of invisibility through a Foucauldian analysis of the changing nature of heteronormativity since queer theory's origin in the early 1990's. Second, it asks whether new directions in mapping gays and lesbians based on problematic census data from the 1990 and 2000 censuses should be reconsidered in light of this changing heteronormativity. Third, it explores the radical potential of a gay male subculture that is striving to become more visible and by doing so ruptures the taken-for-granted no-tions of how traditional forms of masculinity should be interpreted in a queer theoretical framework.

Ce n'est que parce que nous existons corporellement que la connaissance est possible. Cependant, dans l'expérience éducative, la puissance épistémique du corps est négligée, ce qui tend à l'appauvrissement des registres de l'intelligible. Cette thèse propose alors de se pencher sur ce problème en diagonal : à partir d'une Philosophie du Corps et de l'Image qui, dans la modernité - comprise non pas en tant que périodisation, mais comme une qualification de nos négociations entre le réel et l'intelligible -, a dévoilé d'autres façons de faire et d'effectuer ces registres. Ces moyens sont explorés à travers l'ouverture apportée par les travaux de Merleau-Ponty et Foucault, illustratifs de ce nouveau commerce du réel. Pour aborder le problème, la visibilité et le mouvement du corps dans le cinéma ont été pris comme objet d'analyse. Ce dernier est analysé à travers un corpus de films dont les intrigues se concentrent sur l'éducation formelle et, plus ou moins intensément, demandent l'engagement des personnages et des spectateurs dans une performance visuelle. Pour s'approcher de cet objet, les questions suivantes ont été posées : comment le phénomène de l'éducation est montré par le cinéma ? Quel corps y est montré ? Comment les spectateurs peuvent-ils le voir ? À partir de l'examen du corpus filmique et de l'articulation théorique entre les philosophies de Merleau-Ponty et de Foucault, il est ainsi devenu possible d'affirmer la thèse du cinéma en tant qu'éducation du regard. L'objectif général de cette thèse est de dévoiler le potentiel éducatif de l'expérience filmique, qui fournit un autre régime d'intelligibilité pour l'éducation. Dans ce régime, le corps en tant qu'opérateur visuel élargit la capacité de compréhension du réel. Pour atteindre cet objectif, le travail s'est composé en trois chapitres. Dans le premier, nous abordons l'approche méthodologique : tout d'abord, la pertinence de l'articulation théorique entre les deux philosophes a été définie ; puis, l'utilisation des images comme langage indirect qui participe à la description de la réalité a été expliquée ; une présentation du corpus filmique a suivi cette étape ; finalement, les critères du choix des films ont été décrits et ont donné lieu à une explicitation de l'instrument adopté pour l'analyse de l'objet. Le deuxième chapitre débat, au préalable, de l'incapacité de l'Occident à formuler discursivement le réel. Ensuite, en même temps que la visualisation des scènes de films, nous explorons la contribution de Merleau-Ponty et Foucault sur la performance visuelle, déclenchée par les images. Dans le troisième, les implications de l'éducation du regard faculté favorisées par l'expérience filmique sont développées, en particulier, en ce qui concerne la nouvelle place accordée à la visibilité dans la formulation du réel. Ces développements permettent, de ce fait, la construction d'un script favorisant la visibilité de l'éducation. C'est ainsi qu'en prenant le regard en tant qu'expérience de la connaissance, ce script se propose de montrer d'autres façons d'être, de voir, de penser et de sentir le monde, en reconfigurant, par conséquent, des protocoles épistémiques et de subjectivation présents dans le contexte éducatif. / The knowledge is only possible due to we exist bodily. However, during the educational experience, the epistemic potency of the body is neglected, declining the registers of the intelligibility. The current thesis approaches that problem obliquely: from a body and image philosophy which has revealed other ways of doing those registers in the modernity – understood not as period itself, but as a qualification for the negotiations between the real and the intelligible. The referred ways are explored through Merleau-Ponty's and Michel Foucault's works, which offer a spectrum about that new negotiation of the real. In order to approach the studied problem, the visibility and the human body motricity in the cinema are taken as analysis object. The mentioned objects have been analyzed through a corpus of movies of which plots are centered at the formal education and they require from the characters and the spectators engagement into a visual performance. Aiming to approach the object, it is questioned how the Education phenomenon is represented by the cinema; how the body is exposed and how spectators can see it. Analyzing the corpus and articulating Merleau-Ponty's and Michel Foucault's theories, it has been possible to state the following thesis: the cinema as an education of the gaze. The general objective of this study is to reveal the educational potency of the filmic experience, which provides a new path of intelligibility for Education. In that sense, the body as a visual operator widens the capacity of understanding the real. The current work is divided in three chapters. The first one brings the methodological approach: it is pointed how the theoretical articulation is properly arranged; it explains the method of using the images as indirect language as part of the reality description; the filmic corpus is presented, as well the criteria for the films choices and for the construction of instrument adopted during the object analysis are described. In the second chapter, it is problematized the incapacity of the western society of formulating the real discursively by debating Merleau-Ponty's and Foucault's theoretical contributions about the visual performance displayed on the images while the films are watched and analyzed. In the third chapter, the implications of the education of the gaze provided by the cinema are developed, mainly concerning about the place attributed to the visibility during the formulation of the real. Finally, paths are designed for the construction of another approach for the visibility in Education. Assuming the gaze as an experience of knowledge, this study aims to present other ways of being, seeing, thinking and feeling the world. Therefore, it is a proposal to reset the epistemic and subjectification patterns at the educational context.

Foggy and hazy weather conditions considerably effect visibility distance which impacts speed, flow of traffic, travel time delay and increases the risk accidents. Bad weather condition is considered a cause of road accidents, since it the poor conditions can effect drivers field of vision. In addition, fog, haze and mist can have negative influences on visual applications in the open air since they decrease visibility by lowering the contrast and whitening the visible color palette. The poor visibility in these images leads to some failures in recognition and detection of the outdoor object systems and also in Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). In this thesis, we propose an image visibility restoration algorithm under foggy weather in intelligent transportation systems. Various camera based Advanced Driver Assistant Systems (ADAS), which can be improved by applying the visibility restoration algorithm, have been applied in this field of study to enhance vehicle safety by displaying the image from a frontal camera to driver after visibility enhancement. To remove fog, automatic methods have been proposed which are categorized into two approaches based on the number of input images: 1) methods which are using polarizing filters, 2) methods which are using captured images from different fog densities. In both of these approaches multiple images are required which have to be taken from exactly the same point of view. While these applications can generate good results, their requirements make them impractical, particularly in real time applications, such as intelligent transportation systems. Therefore, in this thesis we introduce a high-performance visibility restoration algorithm only using a single foggy image which applies a recursive filtering to preserve the edge of images and videos in real time and also compute depth map of the scene to restore image. The applied edge preserving filtering is based on a domain transform in which 1-Dimensional edge-preserving filtering is performed by preserving the geodesic distance between points on the curves that is adaptable with wrapping the input signal. The proposed algorithm can be applied in intelligent transportation system applications, such as Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS). The main features of the proposed algorithm are its speed, which plays a main role in real time applications, since 1-Dimensional operations are used in the applied filtering leads to remarkable speedups in comparison with classical median filters and robust bilateral lfilters. Potential of memory saving is considered as another one advantage of the proposed model and also the parameters of applied edge-preserving filtering do not effect on its computational cost. It is the first edge-preserving filter for color images with arbitrary scales in real time. The proposed algorithm is also able to handle both color and gray-level images and achieves the restored image without the presence of artifacts in comparison with other state-of-the-art algorithms.

Visibilidade Web é a área de estudo das medidas de visibilidade de organizações, termos ou documentos na web, sendo um dos campos de pesquisa da ciência de Webmetria. Neste trabalho, uma fórmula para o cálculo de visibilidade na web é proposta, baseando-se na visão proporcionada por diferentes motores de busca. O resultado final é um indicador de Visibilidade Web para universidades. São apresentados e analisados rankings de universidades do mundo todo encontrados na web, tais como o ARWU, o WR e o THE. Tais rankings trabalham com indicadores compostos, mas abordam a questão da visibilidade na rede de maneiras diferentes. Também são discutidos alguns trabalhos recentes no campo de Visibilidade Web. O indicador elaborado baseia-se na classificação do site oficial da universidade nos buscadores como meio de pontuar a visibilidade, valendo-se de metabusca. Um método de fusão de rankings é utilizado para a pontuação. Siglas de universidades brasileiras foram submetidas ao cálculo de visibilidade e classificadas, mostrando uma aplicação da fórmula no mundo real. Dois rankings foram construídos, um deles apontando falhas no método proposto e o segundo contornando o problema encontrado, apresentando uma classificação justa, coerente com a realidade e com outros rankings de universidades brasileiras. A principal contribuição do trabalho é a definição de um indicador de visibilidade na web que mostra como são classificadas as instituições através dos principais pontos de entrada da rede: os motores de busca. / Web Visibility is the area of study of visibility measures of organizations, terms or documents on the web, one of the fields of the Webmetrics science. In this work, a formula for the calculation of visibility on the web is proposed, based on the vision provided by different search engines. The result is an indicator of Web Visibility for universities. In related works section are presented and analyzed rankings of universities around the world from the web, such as ARWU, WR and THE. Such rankings work with composite indicators, but address the issue of visibility on the network in different ways. Also are covered some resent works in the field of Web Visibility. The indicator developed is based on the classification of the universities’ official website in search engines as a means of scoring the visibility, using a metasearch engine. A method of rankings fusion is used for the scoring process. Acronyms of Brazilian universities were subjected to the calculation of visibility and classified, showing an application of the formula in the real world. Two rankings were built, one of them pointing out flaws in the proposed method and another solving the problem encountered with a fair rating, consistent with reality and with other rankings of universities. The main contribution of this work is a Web Visibility indicator that shows how the institutions are classified by the main entry points of the network: the search engines.

Visibilidade Web é a área de estudo das medidas de visibilidade de organizações, termos ou documentos na web, sendo um dos campos de pesquisa da ciência de Webmetria. Neste trabalho, uma fórmula para o cálculo de visibilidade na web é proposta, baseando-se na visão proporcionada por diferentes motores de busca. O resultado final é um indicador de Visibilidade Web para universidades. São apresentados e analisados rankings de universidades do mundo todo encontrados na web, tais como o ARWU, o WR e o THE. Tais rankings trabalham com indicadores compostos, mas abordam a questão da visibilidade na rede de maneiras diferentes. Também são discutidos alguns trabalhos recentes no campo de Visibilidade Web. O indicador elaborado baseia-se na classificação do site oficial da universidade nos buscadores como meio de pontuar a visibilidade, valendo-se de metabusca. Um método de fusão de rankings é utilizado para a pontuação. Siglas de universidades brasileiras foram submetidas ao cálculo de visibilidade e classificadas, mostrando uma aplicação da fórmula no mundo real. Dois rankings foram construídos, um deles apontando falhas no método proposto e o segundo contornando o problema encontrado, apresentando uma classificação justa, coerente com a realidade e com outros rankings de universidades brasileiras. A principal contribuição do trabalho é a definição de um indicador de visibilidade na web que mostra como são classificadas as instituições através dos principais pontos de entrada da rede: os motores de busca. / Web Visibility is the area of study of visibility measures of organizations, terms or documents on the web, one of the fields of the Webmetrics science. In this work, a formula for the calculation of visibility on the web is proposed, based on the vision provided by different search engines. The result is an indicator of Web Visibility for universities. In related works section are presented and analyzed rankings of universities around the world from the web, such as ARWU, WR and THE. Such rankings work with composite indicators, but address the issue of visibility on the network in different ways. Also are covered some resent works in the field of Web Visibility. The indicator developed is based on the classification of the universities’ official website in search engines as a means of scoring the visibility, using a metasearch engine. A method of rankings fusion is used for the scoring process. Acronyms of Brazilian universities were subjected to the calculation of visibility and classified, showing an application of the formula in the real world. Two rankings were built, one of them pointing out flaws in the proposed method and another solving the problem encountered with a fair rating, consistent with reality and with other rankings of universities. The main contribution of this work is a Web Visibility indicator that shows how the institutions are classified by the main entry points of the network: the search engines.

Approach to a diagnostic instrument about visibility: the case of women professors in university This article discusses the concept and diagnosis of the visibility of women in the contemporary university. Thereafter, we construct a theoretical model that consists of three variables: the participation, expertise and power as manifested in the different functions of academics: teaching, research and management. We propose a tool to determine and diagnose the level of visibility of the teachers at the university. The instrument could be applied to the visibility of other specific groups. The goal is not only possible diagnosis, but also the ability to design actions to improve the visibility of academic college. / El presente artículo trata sobre el concepto y el diagnóstico de la visibilidad de las académicas en la universidad contemporánea. Para ello, se construye un modelo teórico constituido por tres variables: la participación, la experticia y el poder según se manifiesta en las diferentes funciones de los académicos: docencia, investigación y gestión. De ahí se propone un instrumento que permita conocer y diagnosticar el nivel de visibilidad de las profesoras en la universidad. El instrumento podría aplicarse a la visibilidad de otros colectivos específicos. El objetivo no es solo el posible diagnóstico, sino también la posibilidad de diseñar actuaciones que mejoren la visibilidad de las académicas en la universidad.

Visibilidade Web é a área de estudo das medidas de visibilidade de organizações, termos ou documentos na web, sendo um dos campos de pesquisa da ciência de Webmetria. Neste trabalho, uma fórmula para o cálculo de visibilidade na web é proposta, baseando-se na visão proporcionada por diferentes motores de busca. O resultado final é um indicador de Visibilidade Web para universidades. São apresentados e analisados rankings de universidades do mundo todo encontrados na web, tais como o ARWU, o WR e o THE. Tais rankings trabalham com indicadores compostos, mas abordam a questão da visibilidade na rede de maneiras diferentes. Também são discutidos alguns trabalhos recentes no campo de Visibilidade Web. O indicador elaborado baseia-se na classificação do site oficial da universidade nos buscadores como meio de pontuar a visibilidade, valendo-se de metabusca. Um método de fusão de rankings é utilizado para a pontuação. Siglas de universidades brasileiras foram submetidas ao cálculo de visibilidade e classificadas, mostrando uma aplicação da fórmula no mundo real. Dois rankings foram construídos, um deles apontando falhas no método proposto e o segundo contornando o problema encontrado, apresentando uma classificação justa, coerente com a realidade e com outros rankings de universidades brasileiras. A principal contribuição do trabalho é a definição de um indicador de visibilidade na web que mostra como são classificadas as instituições através dos principais pontos de entrada da rede: os motores de busca. / Web Visibility is the area of study of visibility measures of organizations, terms or documents on the web, one of the fields of the Webmetrics science. In this work, a formula for the calculation of visibility on the web is proposed, based on the vision provided by different search engines. The result is an indicator of Web Visibility for universities. In related works section are presented and analyzed rankings of universities around the world from the web, such as ARWU, WR and THE. Such rankings work with composite indicators, but address the issue of visibility on the network in different ways. Also are covered some resent works in the field of Web Visibility. The indicator developed is based on the classification of the universities’ official website in search engines as a means of scoring the visibility, using a metasearch engine. A method of rankings fusion is used for the scoring process. Acronyms of Brazilian universities were subjected to the calculation of visibility and classified, showing an application of the formula in the real world. Two rankings were built, one of them pointing out flaws in the proposed method and another solving the problem encountered with a fair rating, consistent with reality and with other rankings of universities. The main contribution of this work is a Web Visibility indicator that shows how the institutions are classified by the main entry points of the network: the search engines.