An Algorithm for Automated Identification of Gust Fronts from Doppler Radar Data

Gust fronts are weak narrow-band echoes of increased reflectivity at the background levels in the low-elevation fields of Doppler radar. An automated approach to gust front detection that relies on the image features of radar observations is presented in this paper. The algorithm is not sensitive to the variations in reflectivity values and gust front widths. The approach includes the following steps. First, a novel local binary with dual-template(LBDT) algorithm is designed as the fundamental algorithm to identify the potential areas of narrow-band echoes. Second,based on the disadvantages of the LBDT algorithm, several modifications are made, including splitting the intersecting lines, connecting the fragments, and filtering the edges and radial interference noise. Third, an optical flow method is used to determine whether a weak narrow-band echo is a gust front according to the prior knowledge that a gust front usually propagates in front of the associated generating storm. The results of experiments show that the proposed method can automatically identify gust fronts with a high probability of detection and a low false alarm rate. The automatic identification of gust fronts is potentially useful for accurate short-term weather forecasting, particularly in the forecasting of storm winds.

Automated detection and identification of white-backed planthoppers in paddy fields using image processing

A survey of the population densities of rice planthoppers is important for forecasting decisions and efficient control. Tra- ditional manual surveying of rice planthoppers is time-consuming, fatiguing, and subjective. A new three-layer detection method was proposed to detect and identify white-backed planthoppers （WBPHs, Sogatella furcifera （Horvath）） and their developmental stages using image processing. In the first two detection layers, we used an AdaBoost classifier that was trained on a histogram of oriented gradient （HOG） features and a support vector machine （SVM） classifier that was trained on Gabor and Local Binary Pattern （LBP） features to detect WBPHs and remove impurities. We achieved a detection rate of 85.6% and a false detection rate of 10.2%. In the third detection layer, a SVM classifier that was trained on the HOG features was used to identify the different developmental stages of the WBPHs, and we achieved an identification rate of 73.1%, a false identification rate of 23.3%, and a 5.6% false detection rate for the images without WBPHs. The proposed three-layer detection method is feasible and effective for the identification of different developmental stages of planthoppers on rice plants in paddy fields.

Key Technology Research for Mobile Police Terminal Fingerprint Collection for Quick Comparison Using Automated Fingerprint Identification System

When the face of the inspected person and the photograph on their identification(ID)card cannot be clearly matched,the individual is undocumented,or the ID is forged,it is often difficult for the on‑site police to respond in time.This study proposes a number of key technologies for collecting fingerprints at mobile terminals for fast comparison using an automated fingerprint ID system(AFIS).These technologies ensure intelligent mobile fingerprint collection and allow the transmission of fingerprint information from the terminal to AFIS,over a wireless public security network for real‑time fingerprint comparison.This study also analyzes the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed technologies for system design and the applicability of fingerprint ID algorithms.The system achieved good results in a test by the Shanghai Public Security Bureau Criminal Investigation Corps.

Research and Realization of Ten-print Data Quality Control Techniques for Imperial Scale Automated Fingerprint Identification System

As the first individualization-information processing equipment put into practical service worldwide,Automated Fingerprint Identification System(AFIS)has always been regarded as the first choice in individualization of criminal suspects or those who died in mass disasters.By integrating data within the existing regional large-scale AFIS database,many countries are constructing an ultra large state-of-the-art AFIS(or Imperial Scale AFIS)system.Therefore,it is very important to develop a series of ten-print data quality controlling process for this system of this type,which would insure a substantial matching efficiency,as the pouring data come into this imperial scale being.As the image quality of ten-print data is closely relevant to AFIS matching proficiency,a lot of police departments have allocated huge amount of human and financial resources over this issue by carrying out manual verification works for years.Unfortunately,quality control method above is always proved to be inadequate because it is an astronomical task involved,in which it has always been problematic and less affiant for potential errors.Hence,we will implement quality control in the above procedure with supplementary-acquisition effect caused by the delay of feedback instructions sent from the human verification teams.In this article,a series of fingerprint image quality supervising techniques has been put forward,which makes it possible for computer programs to supervise the ten-print image quality in real-time and more accurate manner as substitute for traditional manual verifications.Besides its prominent advantages in the human and financial expenditures,it has also been proved to obviously improve the image quality of the AFIS ten-print database,which leads up to a dramatic improvement in the AFIS-matching accuracy as well.

Monitoring of 943 organic micropollutants in wastewater from municipal wastewater treatment plants with secondary and advanced treatment processes

To perform a systematic survey on the occurrence and removal of micropollutants during municipal wastewater treatment, 943 semi-volatile organic chemicals in 32 wastewater samples including influents of secondary treatments, secondary effluents and final effluents（effluents of advanced treatments）, which were collected from seven full-scale municipal wastewater treatment plants（MWTPs） in China, were examined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry（GC-MS） coupled with an automated identification and quantification system with a database（AIQS-DB）. In total, 196 and 145 chemicals were detected in secondary and final effluents, respectively. The majority of the total concentrations（average removal efficiency, 87.0%±5.9%） of the micropollutants were removed during secondary treatments. However, advanced treatments achieved different micropollutant removal extents from secondary effluents depending on the different treatment processes employed. Highly variable removal efficiencies of total concentrations（32.7%–99.3%） were observed among the different advanced processes. Among them,ozonation-based processes could remove 70.0%–80.9% of the total concentrations of studied micropollutants. The potentially harmful micropollutants, based on their detection frequency and concentration in secondary and final effluents, were polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons（PAHs）（2-methylnaphthalene, fluoranthene, pyrene, naphthalene and phenanthrene）, phosphorus flame retardants（tributyl phosphate（TBP）, tris（2-chloroethyl）phosphate（TCEP） and tris（1,3-dichloro-2-propyl） phosphate（TDCP））, phthalates（bis（2-ethylhexyl）phthalate（DEHP））, benzothiazoles（benzothiazole,2-（methylthio）-benzothiazol, and 2（3H）-benzothiazolone） and phenol. This study indicated that the presence of considerable amounts of micropollutants in secondary effluent creates the need for suitable advanced treatment before their reuse.

Process mineralogy of Dalucao rare earth ore and design of beneficiation process based on AMICS

The test results of the automated mineral identification and characterization system(AMICS),including the mineral composition,particle size distribution,dissemination state and degree of liberation of the target minerals,could be used to improve the beneficiation process.Taking the Dalucao rare earth ore located in Dechang,Sichuan Province,China(with an average content of 2.40 wt%)as the research object in this paper,the chemical composition,phase composition and dissemination state of the minerals were tested by AMICS,and the minerals of different fineness were ground.The concentrate yield,grade and recovery rate of the minerals of different fineness were compared through flotation tests.When the grinding lasted for 5 min and 82.60%of mineral grains passed through the-74-μm sieve,the yield,grade and recovery rate could reach 20.19%,8.75%and 73.64%,respectively(as the best grinding fineness),under the same flotation conditions.

Continuous dynamic monitoring of a centenary iron bridge for structural modification assessment

A multi-channel continuous dynamic monitoring system has been installed in a centenary iron arch bridge on late November 2011. The historic infrastructure, completed in 1889 and crossing the Adda river about 50 km far from Milan, is the most important monument of XIX century iron architecture in Italy and is still used as roadway and railway bridge. The monitoring project follows a series of preliminary ambient vibration tests carried out on the bridge since June 2009. The paper describes the bridge structure and its dynamic characteristics identified from the experimental studies developed since 2009, the installed monitoring system and the software developed in LabVIEW for automatically processing the collected data. Subsequently, the tracking of automatically identified natural frequencies over a period of about 18 months is presented and discussed, highlighting the effects of environmental and operational conditions on the bridge dynamic characteristics as well as the detection of structural changes, mainly based on natural frequencies shifts.

Application of a Standard Procedure to Avoid Errors When Comparing Fingerprints with Their Reversals in Fake Documents

Laterally reversed(mirrored)fingerprints are difficult to detect by applying routine search procedures.One suggestion to avoid errors when dealing with probable reversals is to perform comparisons with both direct and reversed fingerprints.This simple procedure has been applied and led to the detection of two more cases of reversed fingerprint usage in fake documents.In one of the reported cases,experts found on the web the same fingerprints used by criminals in fake documents.This finding is important because it indicates that matched fingerprints do not necessarily link different criminal cases.