Master of Science / Department of Computer Science / William Hsu / This report describes the development of a location-based restaurant finding application, with a machine learning bases classification capability for summarizing user rating. The main idea behind the application is to allow the user access rating, images and videos uploaded in real- time before deciding to visit that respective location. The goal of tis implementation is to apply information integration- especially geolocation, video data and text bases rating analysis – to develop a usable, responsive information retrieval and access system for area restaurant and user review. There is a huge tradeoff in terms of information gain and time spent viewing a certain page. It is increasingly becoming important to consolidate information about a place into one tap. A simple online search may provide data about time and location but does not provide the user a visual representation of what is going on. The purpose of this project is to develop an application to reduce this technical gap and to serve the cliental of local businesses and patrons. The main motivation was to create a minimalistic application that encompassed all the needs a young adult would require making day-to-day decisions. It also increases transparency and drastically saves users the cost of physical presence by providing summative information about local businesses, including georeferenced videos and other users written review.

No description available.

No description available.

The most proper emplacements for set a wind farm are already taken or cannot be used forenvironmental causes. So in order to check the viability of the complex terrain locations whichare still available Computational Fluid Dynamics tools are used. As the commercial codes arenot flexible enough and very expensive, an open software will be used OpenFOAM.OpenFOAM needs a code for accomplish the simulation; this code is programmed in C++. Theterrain roughness, the Coriolis force and the gravity force were developed, so the next step willbe to include the effect of canopies systems in the flow simulations.Although it could be considered as roughness, it is suggested to add a forest canopy model inorder to forecast the behaviour of the wind flow over the forests.Along this document it will be shown the process followed in order to insert the canopiessystems in the CFD software. This achievement has two mains goals: Pre-processing tool which will insert the canopy parameters in the mesh of thedomain. This application will situate the forest along the studied case. The second goal is to develop a solver which take into account the effect caused by thecanopy.Once both of them are made, as there is no software which includes this kind of obstacles inthe airflow, the results just can be checked by an experimental research but that experiment issuggested as future work because it is out of this thesis. So it will be checked that the canopyparameters are uploaded to the case, and that the airflow is disturbed in a consequently wayby any forest.

The objectives of the present investigation are to determine the nature of the flow field around bluff parachute canopies, considering the effects of canopy shape parameters on this flow field and hence on the resulting aerodynamic forces and moments which are developed on the canopy surface. In order to relate the flow field developed around bluff parachute canopies to their aerodynamic characteristics, a series of experiments in the Leicester University wind tunnel has been conducted on a family of particularly significant canopy shapes. These cross-shaped canopies have excellent drag and stability characteristics if arm ratios of about 4:1 are selected. Flow visualisation, using both helium bubbles and wool tufts, was used to determine the flow field around the canopy. The most probable description of the wake flow is chains of irregularly-shaped vortex loops which move at about 0.7 times the undisturbed free stream velocity. Aerodynamic forces and moments measured on the various canopies correspond with the observed flow characteristics. Statistical correlation analyses made with hot wire anemometers in their wake indicate the periodic structure of the wakes formed behind these bluff bodies and reveal their basic similarities. Strouhal numbers of about 0.15 were obtained in the wake formed behind an imporous rigid hemispherical canopy. These are increased as canopy porosity is made larger. A useful comparison between a semi-theoretical blockage correction applied to aerodynamic forces and test results was obtained from an ancillary test programme conducted under water in a large cross-sectional area ship tank.

A model for the flow around bluff bodies has been developed. It is applied to an investigation of parachute canopy aerodynamic characteristics. Since the model assumes an axisymmetric incompressible high Reynolds number flow, it is only applicable to the calculation of aerodynamic characteristics at zero angle of attack. The flow is assumed to separate from the canopy at its surface discontinuity, i.e. the canopy hemline. The vorticity created in the boundary layer over the canopy upper surface is carried downstream, forming a free shear layer. In the flow field vorticity is confined to the this shear layer, outside it the flow is irrotational. Consequently, in this part of the fluid field a velocity potential can be defined. The wake flow created by bluff canopies is found to consist of a cluster of vortex rings which are shed periodically to the wake. Consequently, the axial aerodynamic force developed on the canopy will exhibit periodic behaviour. The resulting Strouhal number, has been determined to be about 0.13, based on the canopy projected area diameter. For all axisymmetric bluff canopies considered the calculated mean axial force coefficient, based on the canopy projected diameter, was found to be between 1.20 and 1.45. These values, together with the calculated pressure distribution and the wake flow periodicity, are in good agreement with known experiments. For parachute canopies performing an oscillatory axial motion the calculated results compare well with experimental data. However, it is shown that Morison's formula for this axial force is, generally, inadequate. Limited calculations of axial forces developed on the inflating parachute canopies agree with the sparse experimental data available. In the model the real flow field is simulated, basically, by a potential model. The canopy surface is replaced by a vortex ring panel lattice. Each panel contains a circular bound vortex ring which is located at one quarter panel length. For each panel the flow boundary conditions on the canopy surface are fulfilled along a control circle at three quarters of the panel length. A standing eddy which is generated by the high back-flow developed near the canopy hemline, on the canopy under surface is simulated by a standing vortex ring. The simulation of a two-dimensional discrete vortex separated wake is extended to the axisymmetric case by representing the separated wake with axisymmetric discrete vortex rings. The free shear layer emanating from the canopy hemline is represented by discrete free vortex rings which leave the canopy surface tangentially. At each time step in the calculation process a newly-created vortex ring is shed to the wake. In the vortex modelling of the separated wake a number of new elements have been introduced: -improvement of the near wake simulation by accounting for the standing eddy on the canopy under surface; -a simple method of calculating the newly created vortex ring strength & location; -reduction of the free parameters from two, the time step and the number of panels representing the canopy surface to one, i.e. the number of panels. Further model validation & implementation have been suggested. Methods of model development for asymmetric canopy representation have been discussed.

Thesis (Ph. D., Natural Resources)--University of Idaho, October 2008. / Major professor: Kathleen L. Kavanagh. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online (PDF file) by subscription or by purchasing the individual file.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 1995. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 235-249). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Enhanced understanding of forest stocks and dynamics can be gained through improved forest measurement, which is required to assist with sustainable forest management decisions, meet Australian and international reporting needs, and improve research efforts to better respond to a changing climate. Integrated sampling schemes that utilise a multi-scale approach, with a range of data sourced from both field and remote sensing, have been identified as a way to generate the required forest information. Given the multi-scale approach proposed by these schemes, it is important to understand how scale potentially affects the interpretation and reporting of forest from a range of data. ¶ To provide improved forest assessment at a range of scales, this research has developed a strategy for facilitating tree and stand level retrieval of structural attributes within an integrated multi-scale analysis framework. The research investigated the use of fine-scale (~1m) airborne Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data (1,125 ha in central Queensland, and 60,000 ha in NE Victoria) to calibrate other remotely sensed data at the two study sites. The strategy refines forest structure mapping through three-dimensional (3D) modelling combined with empirical relationships, allowing improved estimation of maximum and predominant height, as well as foliage and crown cover at multiple scales. Tree stems (including those in the sub-canopy) were located using a height scaled crown openness index (HSCOI), which integrated the 3D density of canopy elements within the vertical profile into a two-dimensional spatial layer. The HSCOI modelling also facilitated the reconstruction of the 3D distribution of foliage and branches (of varying size and orientation) within the forest volume. ¶ Comparisons between forests at the Queensland and NE Victorian study sites indicated that accurate and consistent retrieval of cover and height metrics could be achieved at multiple scales, with the algorithms applicable for semi-automated use in other forests with similar structure. This information has facilitated interpretation and evaluation of Landsat imagery and ICESat satellite laser data for forest height and canopy cover retrieval. The development of a forest cover translation matrix allows a range of data and metrics to be compared at the plot scale, and has initiated the development of continuous transfer functions between the metrics and datasets. These data have been used subsequently to support interpretation of SAR data, by providing valuable input to 2D and 3D radar simulation models. Scale effects have been identified as being significant enough to influence national forest class reporting in more heterogeneous forests, thus allowing the most appropriate use and integration of remote sensed data at a range of scales. An empirically based forest minimum mapping area of 1 ha for reporting is suggested. The research has concluded that LiDAR can provide calibration information just as detailed and possibly more accurately than field measurements for many required forest attributes. Therefore the use of LiDAR data offers a unique opportunity to bridge the gap between accurate field plot structural information and stand to landscape scale sampling, to provide enhanced forest assessment in Australia.

Crown fires, the fastest spreading of all forest fires, can occur in any forest type throughout the United States and the world. The occurrence of crown fires has become increasingly frequent and severe in recent years. The overall aim of this study is to estimate the forest canopy fuel parameters including crown base height (CBH) and crown bulk density (CBD), and to investigate the potential of using airborne lidar data in east Texas. The specific objectives are to: (1) propose allometric estimators of CBD and CBH and compare the results of using those estimators to those produced by the CrownMass/FMAPlus software at tree and stand levels for 50 loblolly pine plots in eastern Texas, (2) develop a methodology for using airborne light detection and ranging (lidar) to estimate CBD and CBH canopy fuel parameters and to simulate fire behavior using estimated forest canopy parameters as FARSITE inputs, and (3) investigate the use of spaceborne ICEsat /GLAS (Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite/Geoscience Laser Altimeter System) lidar for estimating canopy fuel parameters. According to our results from the first study, the calculated average CBD values, across all 50 plots, were 0.18 kg/m³ and 0.07 kg/m³, respectively, for the allometric equation proposed herein and the CrownMass program. Lorey’s mean height approach was used in this study to calculate CBH at plot level. The average height values of CBH obtained from Lorey’s height approach was 10.6 m and from the CrownMass program was 9.1 m. The results obtained for the two methods are relatively close to each other; with the estimate of CBH being 1.16 times larger than the CrownMass value. According to the results from the second study, the CBD and CBH were successfully predicted using airborne lidar data with R² values of 0.748 and 0.976, respectively. The third study demonstrated that canopy fuel parameters can be successfully estimated using GLAS waveform data; an R² value of 0.84 was obtained. With these approaches, we are providing practical methods for quantifying these parameters and making them directly available to fire managers. The accuracy of these parameters is very important for realistic predictions of wildfire initiation and growth.