In support of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Weather Service&rsquo / s (NWS) flash flood warning and heavy precipitation forecast efforts, the NOAA National Environmental Satellite Data and Information Service (NESDIS) Center for Satellite Applications and Research (STAR) has been providing satellite based precipitation estimates operationally since 1978. Two of the satellite based rainfall algorithms are the Hydro-Estimator (HE) and the Self-Calibrating Multivariate Precipitation Retrieval (SCaMPR). Satellite based rainfall algorithms need to be adjusted for the orographic events and atmospheric variables for the continued improvement of the estimates. However, unlike the HE algorithm, the SCaMPR does not currently make any adjustments for the effects of complex topography on rainfall estimate. Bias structure of the SCaMPR algorithm suggests that the rainfall algorithm underestimates precipitation in case of upward atmospheric movements and high temperature levels. Also SCaMPR algorithm overestimates rainfall in case of downward atmospheric movements and low temperature levels. A regionally dependent empirical elevation-based bias correction technique and also a temperature based bias correction technique may help to improve the quality of satellite-derived precipitation products. In this study, an orographic correction method and a temperature correction method that will enhance precipitation distribution, improve accuracy and remove topography and temperature dependent bias is developed for the Self-Calibrating Multivariate Precipitation Retrieval (SCaMPR) rainfall algorithm to be used in operational forecasting for meteorological and hydrological applications.

The present thesis aims at shedding some light for future applications of &amp / #956 / AVs by investigating the hovering mode of flight by flapping motion. In this study, a detailed numerical investigation is performed to investigate the effect of some geometrical parameters, such as the airfoil profile shapes, thickness and camber distributions and as well as the flapping motion kinematics on the aerodynamic force coefficients and vortex formation mechanisms at low Reynolds number. The numerical analysis tool is a DNS code using the moving grid option. Laminar Navier-Stokes computations are done for flapping motion using the prescribed kinematics in the Reynolds number range of 101-103. The flow field for flapping hover flight is investigated for elliptic profiles having thicknesses of 12%, 9% and 1% of their chord lengths and compared with those of NACA 0009, NACA 0012 and SD 7003 airfoil profiles all having chord lengths of 0.01m for numerical computations. Computed aerodynamic force coefficients are compared for these profiles having different centers of rotation and angles of attack. NACA profiles have slightly higher lift coefficients than the ellipses of the same t/c ratio. And one of the most important conclusions is that the use of elliptic and NACA profiles with 9% and 12% thicknesses do not differ much as far as the aerodynamic force coefficients is concerned for this Re number regime. Also, two different sinusoidal flapping motions are analyzed. Force coefficients and vorticity contours obtained from the experiments in the literature and present study are compared. The validation of the present computational results with the experimental results available in the literature encourages us to conclude that present numerical method can be a reliable alternative to experimental techniques.

An algorithm has been developed for snow recognition (SR) over mountainous areas of Europe from satellite imagery. The algorithm uses Meteosat Second Generations (MSG) instrument Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infra-Red Imager (SEVIRI) data that are acquired in every 15 minutes through whole day. Although SEVIRI has low spatial resolution, its high temporal resolution provides a better discrimination capacity between ice clouds and snow. Discrimination of snow and clouds is the most challenging part of snow recognition algorithm development. The proposed algorithm relies on Satellite Application Facility to support Nowcasting and Very Short Range Forecastings (SAFNWC) cloud products. A final thematic map has been produced which is consisting of 3 different classes: snow, cloud and land. Validation of the SEVIRI SR product was held in three stages.The obtained high performance of the SR product is presented with the analysis results.

This study has been carried out to develop and manufacture piezoelectric ceramic materials which are utilized for ultrasonic motor (USM) applications. For this purpose, the effect of compositional modifications on the dielectric and piezoelectric properties of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) based ceramics was investigated. PZT based powders were produced using the mixed oxide method. The base composition was selected as Pb(Zr0.54Ti0.46)O3. The samples in the proximity of morphotrophic phase boundary were doped with strontium, lanthanum, lead manganese niobate (PMnN) and lead manganese antimonate (PMS) in order to improve the structural characteristics and electromechanical properties which are very important for USM applications. The dielectric constant, planar coupling coefficient, mechanical quality factor, piezoelectric strain constant and tangent loss values were evaluated in accordance with standard IRE (Institute of Radio Engineers) test procedures. The results on dielectric and piezoelectric properties showed that piezoelectric ceramics with high mechanical quality factor, high piezoelectric strain constant and low tangent loss could be produced by using the aforementioned dopants. As a result, a new piezoelectric ceramic named as 0.97[PSLZT]-0.024[PMnN]-0.006[PMS] was produced with KT= 1913, Qm= 1240, d33= 540 pC/N, tan delta= 0.89%, kp= 0.57 and Tc= 235 &deg / C. This composition is a good candidate for high power applications. The ceramic samples with the developed compositions were used to produce an ultrasonic-wave type motor and the performance of the USM was evaluated in terms of speed, torque and efficiency.

In this study, evaluation of Kosovo-Artana Concentrator tailings with flotation and leaching method is aimed. The minerological analysis of sample showed that sphalerite, galena, chalcopyrite and their oxidised forms are the main ore minerals in the sample, while pyrite, illite, quartz, calcite and gypsum are the gangue minerals. The metal contents of the sample are 1.2% Zn, 0.75% Pb, and 0.06% Cu. Flotation tests to produce bulk concentrate of copper-lead and lead-zinc were unsatisfactory. The recovery of the zinc with H2SO4 leaching were conducted both at room temperature and at elevated temperature. The effects of various parameters such as leaching duration, concentration of H2SO4, pulp density and temperature on the zinc metal recovery were examined. The maximum extraction of zinc was 80% and 89% at room temperature and at 80 &deg / C respectively for 120 minutes leaching period.

Kalecik Castle is an important historical building. However, dacitic building stone sed is deteriorating mainly because of atmospheric conditions. The purpose of this tudy is to understand the deterioration mechanisms affecting the dacitic stones used n the castle&rsquo / s walls. To achieve this purpose various arhaeometrical methods such as etrography, X-ray diffraction analyses, analyses for determining physical poperties density, porosity, and water absorption capacities), ultrasonic velocity easurements and some mechanical tests are used. The results of this study show that the deterioration of Kalecik Castle results mostly rom physical factors such as frost action, wetting and drying and thermal shock. According to the study, chemical and biological factors that may also be an mportant cause of deterioration are negligible in Kalecik Castle&rsquo / s building stones.

Coastal scenery evaluated by utilization of selected landscape components was subject to fuzzy logic system approach. Based on this methodology, coastal areas were grouped into five classes using the evaluation index D giving the overall result of scenic assessment over the attributes. Within the methodology, public perception surveys from Turkey, UK, Malta, and Croatia were used as a tool for environmental perception in the methodology. The results of the public perception surveys were utilized to obtain the weights of scenic parameters. Public surveys in &Ccedil / irali were related to demographical information of respondents by factorial analysis. A coastal scenic classification curve was obtained for all 86 coastal sites around the world which enabled grouping of the sites in five different classes.

Cell-cell and cell-environment interactions are controlled by a set of local rules that dictate cell behavior. With such local rules, emergence of computationally meaningful building blocks and hierarchies can be observed. For example, at the cellular level organization in the visual system, receptive field of a retinal ganglion cell displays an activation inhibition behavior that can be modeled as Mexican Hat wavelet or Difference of Gaussians. This precise organization is the product of a harmonious collaboration of different cell types located at the lower levels in a hierarchical structure for each ganglion cell. Moreover, a similar hierarchical organization is observed at higher levels in the visual system. This thesis investigates the visual system from several perspectives in an effort to explore the biological/computational principles underlying these local rules. The investigation results in a hybrid computer model that can combine the advantages of evolutionary and developmental principles to explore the effects of local rules on cellular differentiation, retinal mosaics, layered structures and network topology.

The main objective of the study was to encapsulate the phenolic compounds from sour cherry pulp in micro size, to investigate the physicochemical properties of capsules and their digestability in simulated gastric and intestinal fluid. The effect of different coating materials, ultrasonication time and core to coating ratio on encapsulation of phenolic compounds from sour cherry pomace was investigated. Maltodextrin and gum Arabic were chosen as coating materials. Coating material was prepared with different maltodextrin:gum Arabic (MD:GA) ratios of 10:0, 8:2, 6:4 to make the total solid content 10%. In addition, two different core to coating ratios of 1:10 and 1:20 were used. Emulsions were prepared by homogenization through ultrasonication at 160 W power and 20 KHz frequency for different time periods (5-30 min). Then, the emulsions were freeze dried for 48 hours to obtain the microcapsules. Encapsulation efficiency, antioxidant activity, surface morphology, particle size, color, digestability and glass transition temperatures of the microcapsules were determined. The microcapsules with a core to coating ratio of 1:20 were found to have higher encapsulation efficiencies (78.80-92.26%) than those with a core to coating ratio of 1:10 (69.38-77.83%). Increasing the gum Arabic ratio in the coating material increased encapsulation efficiency. Optimum conditions for encapsulation with the highest efficiency and the lowest particle size were sonication time of 22.5 min, MD:GA ratio of 8:2 and core to coating ratio of 1:20. Encapsulation was effective in preventing the release of the phenolic compounds in gastric fluid. On the other hand, phenolic compounds were released from the capsules into the intestinal fluid.

It is widely accepted that color is perceived categorically. Categorical perception of color can be defined as the tendency to discriminate colors that are from different categories easier, quicker and more accurately than colors that are from the same category. The present study investigated whether brain activity patterns verifies the concept of categorical color perception, an instantiation of top-down influences on low-level perception. Participants performed a color discrimination task on color pairs. Three categories of color pairs are defined in the green-blue region as follows. One of the pairs was specified as cross-category pair by choosing one color from green side of the green-blue boundary and the other color from blue side. The other two pairs were featured as within-category pairs by choosing two shades of green for within-green pair and two shades of blue for within-blue pair. Crucially, the pairs varied only in hue dimension and the physical distance between each of three pairs was set to 10 degrees in CIE LCh space. Pairs on the screen are displayed adjacently or with gaps in between, to further investigate the effect of space in color discrimination. Correct responses, reaction times and fMRI BOLD signals are recorded. Behavioral findings yielded a decrementing pattern from green to blue region challenging the prediction of categorical perception argument that performance is better at green-blue boundary than both within green and blue regions. Behavioral findings also indicated that adjacent display of colors facilitated color discrimination when compared to display of colors with spatial gaps. Brain activity patterns indicated that separate neural processes might underlie these distinct behavioral differences. Although standardized with respect to the color metric, the three categories of our experiment might have involved differences with respect to difficulty levels and memory requirements. Brain activity differences reported in the within-green condition versus cross-category condition are focused on Frontal Eye Fields and Fusiform Gyrus, which is seem to be modulated by Frontal Eye Field activity / increased activation in these regions is related to enhanced visual performance and higher scores, which is consistent with significantly better performance in within-green discrimination than cross-category discrimination. For the same contrast, Parahippocampal Gyrus and Precuneus activations suggest better visual recall and behavioral improvement due to more efficient maintenance in spatial working memory for within-green discrimination than cross-category discrimination. Brain activity differences reported in the within-blue condition versus cross-category condition is focused on Superior Temporal Gyrus, which is involved in color discrimination having the role of color memory. When within-green and within-blue conditions are compared, there was differential activation in the Fusiform Gyrus, and this is the only brain activity which might be attributed to a categorical effect. This comparison also yielded activity in Medial Frontal and Superior Frontal regions concerning more confident perceptual decisions and improved performance on within-green discrimination than within-blue discrimination. In addition, spatial separation of stimuli entailed more cognitive resources to color discrimination than adjacent stimuli as suggested by Cuneus and Lingual Gyrus activations. Overall, to the best of our knowledge our study is the first to investigate the neural framework for color perception, which revealed that color perception might involve several complex sub-processes that activate memory and attention.