This study concerns the composition of the Synoptic Gospels—Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and is part of a scholarly discussion within New Testament studies known as the “Synoptic Problem.” In this study, the composition of the Gospels is considered in light of ancient compositional practice, a field of study within the Synoptic Problem that has grown in popularity in recent decades. It specifically looks at the way that Matthew and Mark and Luke would have moved through their sources or exemplars (source-utilization movement) when they composed, presuming that some sort of direction of dependence is the case. Each of the Simple Solutions is considered in this regard—the Augustinian Hypothesis, the Büsching Hypothesis, the Farrer Hypothesis, the Griesbach Hypothesis, the Lockton Hypothesis, and the Wilke Hypothesis, as well as the Two-Document Hypothesis. It may be presumed some sort of direction of dependence is the case between the Synoptic Gospels, whatever direction this might be, and the form these sources took would have likely been bookrolls (or scrolls). The thesis introduces a neglected factor in Synoptic Problem studies. Whereas historically each Gospel text has been presumed to be a single bookroll, in this study, a multiple-bookroll hypothesis is also tested. Instead of there being one bookroll per Gospel, the possibility that each Gospel was distributed over several bookrolls is also tested. Additionally, the study takes into consideration the role of memory and memory-access of traditions in the process of composition. Several other matters concerning ancient compositional practice is also treated throughout. When the various Hypotheses are examined in terms of how the Gospel-authors would have moved through their texts, in light of a multiple bookroll hypothesis, among other factors, the result seems to favour strongly Lukan Absolute Posteriority (i.e., the Augustinian and Farrer Hypotheses). / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This study concerns the composition of the Synoptic Gospels—Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and is part of a scholarly discussion within New Testament studies known as the Synoptic Problem. It considers the composition of the Gospels in light of ancient compositional practice. It specifically looks at the way that Matthew and Mark and Luke would have moved through their sources or exemplars during composition (source-utilization movement), according to a number of different hypotheses. Each Gospel may be presumed to have used sources when their authors composed, and the sources would have likely been bookrolls (or scrolls). A number of Hypotheses have been presented over the last two centuries concerning how the Gospels were composed and what direction of dependence that composition took. When these various Hypotheses are examined in terms of how the Gospel-authors would have moved through their texts, the result seems to favour two possibilities above others. Both of these possibilities have it that the author of Luke was the utilizing author of both Matthew and Mark.

The statistical analysis of the daily maximum winds was accomplished for the city of Maceió and for the days with wind starting from strong Breeze. The analysis synoptic was elaborated with objective of identifying the patterns of the circulation atmospheric associates to the strong wind. For that it was used data of wind of Maceió-Al's Airport, for the period of 2003-2006. For the analysis synoptic data of reanalysis of the global model were used NCEP / NCAR and images of satellites in the infrared channel. The maximum daily wind had the largest frequency during the day and it presented a sazonalidade, where the most intense winds were in the spring stations and summer. The variation interanual of the wind presented smaller magnitude values for the anomalies trimestrais of the temperature of the surface of the larger (El Niño) sea. They were found four patterns presented in agreement with the order of the found frequencies. In the standard I and II the front systems are located in the areas southeast and south with a dug in Brazilian northeast (NEB). In the Pattern III there is a front prolongation in the northeast area. In the Pattern IV no there is any front system and the strong wind was associated with the development of the intense convection in the area. With the objective of facilitating the operational meteorology a software was created with synoptic focus. The software allows the obtaining of the products generated by the numeric model ETA and groups of the fields for better identification and attendance of the systems synoptic. A page was developed in code HTML to turn more I practice the visualization of those fields. And knowing about the difficulty or inexistence in the obtaining of images of satellites with projection of Mercator (projection type that facilitates the analysis synoptic) grew up a bank of images of satellites with projection of Mercator and with the tops more colds of the enhanced clouds. / Foi realizada a análise estatística dos ventos máximos diários para a cidade de Maceió e para os dias com vento a partir de Brisa forte. A análise sinótica foi elaborada com objetivo de identificar os padrões da circulação atmosférica associados ao vento forte. Para isso utilizou-se dados de vento do Aeroporto de Maceió-AL, para o período de 2003-2006. Para a análise sinótica foram utilizados dados de reanálise do modelo global NCEP/NCAR e imagens de satélites no canal infravermelho. O vento máximo diário teve a maior frequência durante o dia e apresentou uma sazonalidade, onde os ventos mais intensos foram nas estações de primavera e verão. A variação interanual do vento apresentou valores de magnitude menores para as anomalias trimestrais da temperatura da superfície do mar maiores (El Niño). Foram encontrados quatro padrões apresentados de acordo com a ordem das frequências encontradas. Nos Padrões I e II os sistemas frontais estão localizados nas regiões sudeste e sul com um cavado no Nordeste Brasileiro (NEB). No Padrão III há um prolongamento frontal na região nordeste. No Padrão IV não há nenhum sistema frontal e o vento forte foi associado com o desenvolvimento da convecção intensa na região. Com o objetivo de facilitar a meteorologia operacional foi criado um software com enfoque de sinótica. O software permite a obtenção dos produtos gerados pelo modelo numérico ETA e conjuntos dos campos para melhor identificação e acompanhamento dos sistemas sinóticos. Foi desenvolvida uma página em código HTML para tornar mais pratico a visualização desses campos. E sabendo da dificuldade ou inexistência na obtenção de imagens de satélites com projeção de Mercator (tipo de projeção que facilita a análise sinótica) criou-se um banco de imagens de satélites com projeção de Mercator e com os topos mais frios das nuvens realçadas.

La prise en compte et la correction des effets induits dans les images par les détecteurs du plan focal (CCD) a été identifié comme étant un point essentiel pour remplir les objectifs scientifiques de la collaboration LSST- Dark Energy Science Collaboration. Le groupe de travail SAWG a été crée, et des bancs optique ont été mis à contribution dans certains laboratoires de la collaboration (UC Davis, SLAC, BNL et LPNHE) afin d'adresser le problème. LSST fait partie d'une nouvelle catégorie de télescopes : les grands plans focaux. Depuis une dizaine d'années que ceux-ci sont équipés de CCD à haute résistivité, un certain nombre de nouveaux effets ont été identifiés. Une attention toute particulière est portée sur la compréhension des distorsions électrostatiques inhérentes aux propriétés du CCD qui ont un impact sur les mesures de science. Le travail de cette thèse est centré sur l'étude de l'effet brighter-fatter et des tree-rings. Il a été démontré qu'avec certains types d'illuminations, il était possible de caractériser ces effets avec précision. C'est dans le but de produire ces illuminations qu'un projecteur de franges a été développé sur le banc optique du LPNHE. Dans ce document sont ainsi présentés : une nouvelle méthode de caractérisation des tree- rings testée sur des simulations ; une nouvelle méthode de mesure de l'effet brighter-fatter basée sur la projection de profils de Ronchi ; une étude complète des différentes propriétés de l'effet brighter-fatter dans laquelle a été mis en place un modèle électrostatique simplifié. Enfin, l'efficacité d'une méthode de correction, dite de descrambling est évaluée. / The removal of the sensor signature in the science images has been identified by the LSST Dark Energy Science Collaboration as a mandatory path to fullfill its scientific goals. The SAWG working group has been put together to perform this task for the collaboration. It has access to optical benches in some of the laboratories of the collaboration (UC Davis, SLAC, BNL and LPNHE) for this purpose. LSST belongs to a new category of telescopes equiped with large focal planes. For the decade that they have been equipped with thick, high resistivity Charge Coupled Devices (CCD), new effects have been identified. A particular attention is given to the understanding of the electrostatic distortions that are inherent to the CCD properties. These electrostatic distortions have an impact on science measurements. My PhD work is centered on the study of the brighter-fatter effect and the tree-rings. It has been shown that with different kind of illuminations, it was possible to accurately characterize these effects. A fringe projector has been developed on the optical bench of the LPNHE in order to produce these particular illuminations. In this document, we present : a new method, tested on simulations, to characterize the tree-rings; a new method to measure the brighter-fatter effect based on the projection of Ronchi profiles; a complete study of the different properties of the brighter-fatter effect, where we developped a simplified electrostatic model. Finally, the efficiency of a correction method, called descrambling, is evaluated.

Service-oriented architectures are a popular architectural paradigm for building software applications from a number of loosely coupled, distributed services. Through a set of procedural rules, workflow technologies define how groups of services coordinate with one another to achieve a shared task. A problem with workflow specifications is that often the patterns of interaction between the distributed services are too complicated to predict and analyse at design-time. In certain cases, the exact patterns of message exchange and the concrete services to call cannot be predicted in advance, due to factors such as fluctuating network load or the availability of services. It is a more realistic assumption to endow software components with the ability to make decisions about the nature and scope of their interactions at runtime. Multiagent systems offer a complementary paradigm: building software applications from a number of self interested, autonomous agents. This thesis presents an investigation into fusing the agency and service-oriented architecture paradigms, in order to facilitate flexible, workflow composition. Our approach offers an agent-based solution to service choreography and is founded on the concept of shared interaction protocols. By adopting an agent-based approach to service choreography, active autonomous agents can utilise the typically passive service-oriented architectures, found in Internet and Grid systems. In contrast with statically defined, centralised service orchestrations, decentralised agents can perform service choreography at runtime, allowing them to operate in scenarios where it is not possible to define the pattern of interaction in advance. Application to real scenarios is a driving factor behind this research. By working closely with a number of active Grid projects, namely AstroGrid and the Large-Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), a concrete set of requirements for scientific workflow have been derived, based on realistic science problems. This research has resulted in the MultiAgent Service Choreography (MASC) language to express scientific workflow, methodology for system building and a software framework which performs agent based Web service choreography, in order to enact distributed e-Science experiments. Evaluation of this thesis is conducted through case study, applying the language, methodology and software framework to solve a motivating set of workflow scenarios.

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited / Vertically propagating waves (VPWs) generated by prominent mountain ridges are a severe hazard to military aircraft operations. Properly forecasting the initiation and duration of such a phenomenon is critical, yet quite often missed by turbulence forecasters. A primary reason for poor forecast skill is vague VPW forecasting guidelines at the Air Force operational centers, focusing a majority of attention on the less severe, more common trapped lee wave response. The United States Air Forces in Europe Operational Weather Squadron (USAFE OWS) has requested a tool to aid in improving forecast ability of VPW events. Satellite analysis from October 2003 through March 2004 indicated an occurrence of six major VPW events to the lee of the Alps. Actual verification of turbulence in each VPW was unavailable due to the minimal pilot report (PIREP) database kept for military flights over Europe, therefore, a subjective assessment of turbulent conditions was determined depending on the resulting cloud signature. Using NCEP GFS model analysis and upstream upper air soundings during these events, an average synoptic condition and critical weather parameters were created. These developed tools were then tested from October 2004 through March 2005 to prove their reliability. In a limited data set these tools identified all VPW events, with only a 25% false alarm rate. This is compared to a 6% forecast ability with 0% false alarm rate determined during the 2003-2004 winter season by USAFE OWS forecasters. These new rules should be valuable in that they will provide a much needed capability for synoptic scale turbulence forecasters to better determine hazardous aviation conditions associated with VPWs. / Captain, United States Air Force

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited / An analysis of in-situ aircraft observations collected in the parent cloud of a waterspout is presented. Previous waterspout studies were confined mainly to photometric and model simulated data, no in-situ observations were made internal to the parent cloud. On 27 June 2002 the Cooperative Institute for Remotely Piloted Aircraft Studies (CIRPAS) UV-18A Twin Otter aircraft collected observations in a cloud that had developed in a cloud line, located approximately 15km south of Key West, and that formed a waterspout. This study attempts to analyze the waterspout formation process using these data and through a series of scale interactions, from the synoptic scale down to the individual cloud scale. Based upon the analyzed data a hypothetical formation process is developed. The background synoptic scale flow is shown to establish the necessary ambient shear as a key factor in the waterspout formation. The orientation of mesoscale convergent boundaries and thermodynamic processes, internal to the cloud, proved to be an essential factor in developing the vertical motion patterns necessary for formation of an organized circulation in the shear region and to provide the tipping and stretching of the resultant vortex necessary to account for the waterspout formation. This is consistent with conclusions derived from previous studies. / Captain, United States Air Force

Research has demonstrated that equivalent temperature (TE), which incorporates both the surface air temperature (T) and moist heat content associated with atmospheric moisture, is a better indicator of overall heat content. This thesis follows up on a study that used TE to determine the impacts of land use/land cover and air masses on the atmospheric heat content over Kentucky during the growing season (April-September). The study, which used data from the Kentucky Mesonet, reveals that moist weather types dominate the growing season and, as expected, differences between T and TE are smaller under dry atmospheric conditions but larger under moist conditions. For example, the lowest TE-T difference was 10.04 °C on a dry weather day on the 18th of April, 2010 (T = 8.91 °C and TE = 18.95 °C). On the other hand, the highest estimated difference for a day of moist tropical weather was 46.54 °C on the 11th of August, 2010 (T = 26.54 °C and TE = 73.08 °C). Since land cover type influences both moisture availability and temperature in the lower atmosphere, the research shows that TE is larger in areas with higher physical evaporation and transpiration rates. Results support the hypothesis that the influence of different weather types over a region is a likely cause of interannual variation in TE.

Bering Sea storms regularly bring adverse environmental conditions, including large waves and storm surges of up to 4 m, to the west coast of Alaska. These conditions can cause flooding, erosion and other damage that affects marine subsistence activities and infrastructure in the low-lying coastal communities. Storm impacts also include interactions with sea ice in various states: large floes, shore-fast ice, the acceleration of sea-ice formation in frazil or slush state, and the formation of slush-ice berms. Slush-ice berms are accumulations of slush ice that develop under the right wind, water level, water and air temperature, and snow conditions. During a strong wind event, large amounts of slush may be formed and pushed onto the shore, where the slush can accumulate, solidify and protect communities from flooding and erosion. Slush ice berms can also be problematic, restricting access to the coast and presenting other hazards. Residents of Shishmaref and Shaktoolik, communities on the west coast of Alaska, observed the formation of slush-ice berms during storms that occurred in 2007, 2009 and 2011. These formations are important to the communities, and it would be useful to develop the capacity to predict their occurrence. However, scientific work has not been conducted on this phenomenon, with the result that a physical conceptual model describing the formation of slush-ice berms does not exist. In recognition of this need, a project thesis was designed, and had as its main objective to identify and document the environmental and synoptic weather conditions that lead to these types of events, and to develop a descriptive physical conceptual model of slush-ice berm formation. A key to this work was the engagement of traditional knowledge holders and local observers to gather data and information about slush ice and slush-ice berm formation, along with the specific dates when these events took place. This dissertation is organized around three major elements: development of a conceptual model of slush-ice berm formation; presenting the traditional knowledge gathered that led to the development of this model; and documenting the methods and tools used to engage traditional knowledge holders and local observers in this process. In this dissertation, the knowledge from traditional knowledge holders on slush ice formation is presented in the context of feeding into a physical scientific process – specifically, developing a descriptive physical conceptual model of slush-ice berm formation. It is expected that this type of research will contribute to slush-ice berm forecasting which would aid communities’ safety by improving assessment of environmental risk. / Graduate

The Charles University Faculty of Science KFGG team took part in an intensive research in the area of Kyrgyz glacial lakes. The collecting of records from three meteorological stations in the locations of Kolor (2,700 m above sea level) and Adygine (3,500 and 3,800 meters above sea level) was part of the research. The aim of this thesis was to analyze the homogeneity of climatic data measured in experimental locations using the SNHT method (Standard Normal Homogeneity Test), process the data using general climatological processes, create a classification of circulation types for the area of interest using Jenkinson's and Collinson's method, and finally, to quantify the relationships between individual circulation types and the values of chosen climatic elements. The analysis results are homogenized climatic sets for the Adygine H station (3,800 m above sea level) and a summary of basic statistics and trends of climatic elements in the area. Furthermore, a catalogue of circulation types was created for the period from August 2007 to July 2011, and finally, the relationships between individual circulation types and manifestations of climate elements (air temperature, precipitation and global radiation). The results of this thesis may be used to identify the types connected with bursts of glacial...

Master of Arts / Department of Geography / John Harrington, Jr / Nighttime rainfall has long been thought of as an important component to the central Great Plains hydroclimate during the wettest three-month period known as the “late spring -early summer precipitation maximum.” Research has suggested that nocturnal rainfall in the region results from a phenomenon known as the nocturnal Great Plains Low-Level Jet (GPLLJ). The jet, which originates in the Gulf of Mexico, transports moisture into the Great plains during the nighttime hours and often provides fuel for nighttime convection. The climatological characteristics of nighttime rainfall, as well the configuration of the low-level winds and the mechanisms behind its formation during this three-month wet period, however; are not well understood. Using hourly rainfall data from Topeka, KS, the nighttime rainfall characteristics are examined Topeka, KS and other Kansas stations for a 63-year period from 1950-2012 for May-July. Additionally, using the NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis data, the structure and configuration of the southerly wind phenomenon was analyzed based on its horizontal and vertical characteristics for nighttime rainfall events in May, June and July. A subsequent analysis also analyzed the larger synoptic-scale environment in place for six half-month periods from May to July. The results indicate that nighttime rainfall is a major contributor to the overall moisture budget in the Great Plains, contributing close to 50% of the overall rainfall total for the three-month period. The percentage of nighttime rainfall increases from west-east across the state, as well as temporally from May to July. The southerly winds are at their strongest during May events, tends to reach its peak at 850 mb at 6z (0000LST) near south-central Oklahoma, and forms as the result of both synoptic and thermal mechanisms. The synoptic mechanisms in place that generate the a southerly wind component change by month, leading to incredible variation in terms of its characteristics during nighttime rainfall events.