This article deals with the following two questions. Are acoustic measurements in running waters appropriate for a highly resolved investigation of the bedload transport? Which characterizations of the bedload regarding mass and shape are possible via the acoustic signals? The signals were recorded by means of data recorders (Tascam Inc. DAP1 Portable Data Recorder) and hydrophones (International Transducer Corp. ITC‐4001 A). The ITC‐4001 is a shallow water omnidirectional transducer containing a flexural disc transducer utilizing Channelite‐5400 ceramics mounted in a rugged corrosion‐resistant housing. These hydrophones were screwed onto the bottom side of stainless steel plates, serving as a contact surface for the bedload in motion above them. After more than 100 series of tests in the laboratory, which indicated the basic relations between the dimension, shape and weight of the bedload and the resulting signal, field tests of the measuring system were conducted. By artificially produced flood waves in the small brooks Riverisbach, Olewiger Bach and by a winter flood wave in the River Moselle, it is possible to elaborate similar structures of the signal course of the bedload movement. The highest transport rates can be observed at the beginning of the increasing limbs and behind the peaks of the waves. At the beginning of the waves, the increasing transport power of the water and the loose material can be considered as the cause for this result. The high stream velocity behind the wave peaks explains the increase in the bedload transport so that material from the channel beds is unfastened and will be mobilized. The characterization of the bedload regarding the shape and mass is still limited regarding the field measurements and could be solved only for homogeneous grain sizes and single stones under laboratory conditions. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Carbo Europe Regional Experiment Strategy (CERES), conducted between May and June 2005, aims to determine a spatially resolved regional balance of carbon dioxide fluxes using different methodological approaches bundled within an international framework. In this study we elucidated several meteorological and physiological parameters determining plant mediated exchange processes using airborne hyperspectral reflectance measurements in synopsis with meteorological information like eddy flux covariance data. We used an airborne hyperspectral system to record spatial and temporal transects of vegetated areas surrounding flux tower sites in the Bordeaux / Landes Region (France). Alongside hyperspectral measurements a comprehensive range of meteorological and surface flux parameters were measured at a flux tower site within the same time frame. Unsupervised data analysis using cluster analysis was performed on predefined spectral wavelength windows. Additionally multiblock principal component analysis was used as explanatory data driven tool to reveal underlying data structures and to elucidate potential interdependencies between airborne hyperspectral reflectance data and meteorological ground measurements. In detail temporal, physiological changes in relevant ground information like temperature, humidity, vegetation mediated CO2 flux, latent heat flux or photosynthetic light use efficiency on the one hand and selected regions of the hyperspectral signatures, such as reflectance in the region of 531nm, which determines variations in the photochemical reflectance index (PRI) or in the spectral regions of chlorophyll fluorescence were examined. Unsupervised cluster analysis revealed coupled dependencies between changes in the derivate spectra in the range of 720 to 740 nm with gross photosynthetic uptake rate, global radiation and time of day. Multiblock principal component analysis revealed that first derivative reflectance in wavelengths from 500 to 540 nm and between 680 and 750 nm had higher loading values in respect to observed ground variables global radiation and gross photosynthetic uptake rate respectively. The significance of these findings is discussed. * Contact: u.rascher@fz-juelich.de

Classifying remotely sensed images from urban environments is challenging. Urban land cover classes are spectrally heterogeneous and materials from different classes have similar spectral properties. Image segmentation has become a common preprocessing step that helped to overcome such problems. However, little attention has been paid to impacts of segmentation on the data's spectral information content. Here, urban hyperspectral data is spectrally classified using support vector machines (SVM). By training a SVM on pixel information and applying it to the image before segmentation and after segmentation at different levels, the classification framework is maintained and the influence of the spectral generalization during image segmentation hence directly investigated. In addition, a straightforward multi-level approach was performed, which combines information from different levels into one final map. A stratified accuracy assessment by urban structure types is applied. The classification of the unsegmented data achieves an overall accuracy of 88.7%. Accuracy of the segment-based classification is lower and decreases with increasing segment size. Highest accuracies for the different urban structure types are achieved at varying segmentation levels. The accuracy of the multi-level approach is similar to that of unsegmented data but comprises the positive effects of more homogeneous segment-based classifications at different levels in one map.

The collection of IR spectra through microscope optics and the visualization of the IR data by IR imaging represent a visualization approach, which uses infrared spectral features as a native intrinsic contrast mechanism. To illustrate the potential of this spectroscopic methodology in breast cancer research, we have acquired IR-microspectroscopic data from benign and malignant lesions in breast tissue sections by point microscopy with spot sizes of 30-40 microm. Four classes of distinct breast tissue spectra were defined and stored in the data base: fibroadenoma (a total of 1175 spectra from 14 patients), ductal carcinoma in situ (a total of 1349 spectra from 8 patients), connective tissue (a total of 464 spectra), and adipose tissue (a total of 146 spectra). Artifical neural network analysis, a supervised pattern recognition method, was used to develop an automated classifier to separate the four classes. After training the artifical neural network classifier, infrared spectra of independent external validation data sets ("unknown spectra") were analyzed. In this way, all spectra (a total of 386) taken from micro areas inside the epithelium of fibroadenomas from 4 patients were correctly classified. Out of the 421 spectra taken from micro areas of the in situ component of invasive ductal carcinomas of 3 patients, 93% were correctly identified. Based on these results, the potential of the IR-microspectroscopic approach for diagnosing breast tissue lesions is discussed.

The contribution deals with the question, if acoustic measurements in running waters are appropriate for a highly resolved investigation of the bed load transport with regard to time. In addition, it was investigated which characterizations of the bed load regarding mass and shapes are possible via the acoustic signals. The signals were recorded by data recorders, which were connected to hydrophones by cables. These underwater microphones were mounted onto the bottom side of stainless steel plates, serving as a contact surface for the bed load moving above them. After series of tests in the laboratory, which indicated the basic relations between the dimension, shape and weight of the bed load and the resulting signal, field tests of the measuring system were con-ducted. By analysing several artificially produced flood waves in a small brook and by investigating a winter flood wave in the river Moselle near the border between Germany and Luxembourg, it is possible to elaborate similar structures of the signal course of the bed load movement. The highest transport rates can be observed at the beginning of the increasing limb and behind the peak of the waves. At the beginning of the flood events, the increasing transport power of the water and the loose material can be considered as the cause for this result. The effluence of groundwater from

Solar sails have been studied in the literature for decades as a novel propulsion system for planetary and interstellar missions. Solar sail propulsion could enable missions that were never considered possible. This Technology is now included in development programs and technology roadmaps of different Space Agencies like ESA, DLR and NASA. This paper will focus on a comparison of the technology development of five projects: ESA / DLR, COSMOS 1, ENCOUNTER, NASA JPL and Solar Blade. It will give an overview on the hardware developments for these Gossamer-like structures.