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The use of dynamic segment scoring for language-independent question answering

March 18, 2001
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Conference Paper
Author:
Daniel J. Pack
…
Published in:
Proc. 1st Int. Conf. on Human Language Technology Research, HLT, 18-21 March 2001.
Topic:
machine translation
R&D area:
R&D group:

Summary

This paper presents a novel language-independent question/answering (Q/A) system based on natural language processing techniques, shallow query understanding, dynamic sliding window techniques, and statistical proximity distribution matching techniques. The performance of the proposed system using the latest Text REtrieval Conference (TREC-8) data was comparable to results reported by the top TREC-8 contenders.
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Summary

This paper presents a novel language-independent question/answering (Q/A) system based on natural language processing techniques, shallow query understanding, dynamic sliding window techniques, and statistical proximity distribution matching techniques. The performance of the proposed system using the latest Text REtrieval Conference (TREC-8) data was comparable to results reported by the top...

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The use of dynamic segment scoring for language-independent question answering

Architectural trades for an advanced geostationary atmospheric sounding instrument

March 10, 2001
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Conference Paper
Author:
Michael E. MacDonald
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Published in:
2001 IEEE Aerospace Conf. Proc., Vol. 4, 10-17 March 2001, pp. 4-1693 - 4-1711.
Topic:
remote sensing
R&D area:
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Summary

The process of formulating a remote sensing instrument design from a set of observational requirements involves a series of trade studies during which judgments are made between available design options. The outcome of this process is a system architecture which drives the size, weight, power consumption, cost, and technological risk of the instrument. In this paper, a set of trade studies are described which guided the development of a baseline sensor design to provide vertical profiles (soundings) of atmospheric temperature and humidity from future Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) platforms. Detailed trade studies presented include the choice between an interferometric versus a dispersive spectrometer, the optical design of the IR interferometer and visible imaging channel, the optimization of the instrument spatial response, the selection of detector array materials, operating temperatures, and array size, the thermal design for detector and optics cooling, and the electronics required to process detected interferograms into spectral radiance. The trade study process was validated through simulations of the radiometric performance of the instrument, and through simulated retrievals of vertical profiles of atmospheric temperature and humidity. The flexibility of these system trades is emphasized, highlighting the differing outcomes that occur from this process as system requirements evolve. Observations are made with respect to the reliability and readiness of key technologies. The results of this study were disseminated to industry to assist their interpretation of, and responses to, system requirements provided by the U.S. Government.
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Summary

The process of formulating a remote sensing instrument design from a set of observational requirements involves a series of trade studies during which judgments are made between available design options. The outcome of this process is a system architecture which drives the size, weight, power consumption, cost, and technological risk...

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Architectural trades for an advanced geostationary atmospheric sounding instrument

MEMS microswitches for reconfigurable microwave circuitry

March 1, 2001
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Journal Article
Author:
Sean M. Duffy
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Published in:
IEEE Microw. Wirel. Compon. Lett., Vol. 11, No. 3, March 2001, pp. 106-108.
Topic:
antennas
R&D area:
R&D group:

Summary

The performance is reported for a new microelectromechanical structure (MEMS) cantilever microswitch. We report on both dc- and capacitively-contacted microswitches. The dc-contacted microswitches have contact resistance of less than 1 ohm, and the RF loss of the switch up to 40 GHz in the closed position is 0.1-0.2 dB. Capacitively-contacted switches have an impedance ratio of 141:1 from the open to closed state and in the closed position have a series capacitance of 1.2 pF. The capacitively-contacted switches have been measured up to 40 GHz with S(21) less than -0.7 dB across the 5-40 GHz band.
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Summary

The performance is reported for a new microelectromechanical structure (MEMS) cantilever microswitch. We report on both dc- and capacitively-contacted microswitches. The dc-contacted microswitches have contact resistance of less than 1 ohm, and the RF loss of the switch up to 40 GHz in the closed position is 0.1-0.2 dB. Capacitively-contacted...

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MEMS microswitches for reconfigurable microwave circuitry

Delay causality and reduction at the New York City airports using terminal weather information systems

February 16, 2001
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Project Report
Author:
Shawn S. Allan
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Published in:
Project Report ATC-291, MIT Lincoln Laboratory
Topic:
weather
R&D area:
R&D group:

Summary

Adverse weather accounts for the bulk of the aviation delays at the major New York City airports. In this report, we quantify: 1. Aviation delay reduction with an Integrated Terminal Weather System (ITWS) that incorporates the 30-60 minute predictions of convective storms generated by the Terminal Convective Weather Forecast (TCWF) algorithm, 2. Principal causes of aviation delays with the ITWS in operation, and 3. The extent to which the current delays are "avoidable". We find that improved decision making by the New York FAA users of ITWS provides an annual delay reduction of over 49,000 hours per year with a monetary value of over $150,000,000 per year. Convective weather was found to be the leading contributor to delays at Newark International Airport (EWR) between September 1998 and August 2000. It was found that 40% of the arrival delay in this study occurred in association with delay days characterized by convective weather both within and at considerable distances from the New York terminal area. Of the remaining delay, 27% occurred on days characterized by low ceiling/visibility conditions, while 16% occurred on fair weather days with high surface winds. We also concluded that many of the delays which occur with the current ITWS, over $1,500,000 in one case, could be avoided if the ITWS were extended to provide: 1. Predictions of thunderstorm decay, and 2. Predictions of the onset and ending of capacity limiting events such as low ceilings or high surface winds. These delay causality results are very important for studies of the effectiveness of changes made to the U.S. aviation system to reduce delays at airports such as Newark as well as for prioritizing FAA research and development expenditures.
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Summary

Adverse weather accounts for the bulk of the aviation delays at the major New York City airports. In this report, we quantify: 1. Aviation delay reduction with an Integrated Terminal Weather System (ITWS) that incorporates the 30-60 minute predictions of convective storms generated by the Terminal Convective Weather Forecast (TCWF)...

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Delay causality and reduction at the New York City airports using terminal weather information systems

Positive charge in the stratiform cloud of a mesoscale convective system

January 16, 2001
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Journal Article
Author:
Thomas C. Marshall
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Published in:
J. Geophys. Res., Vol. 106, No. D1, 16 January 2001, pp. 1157-1163.
Topic:
weather
R&D area:
R&D group:

Summary

A balloon sounding of electric field in the trailing stratiform cloud of a bow echo mesoscale convective system reveals only two substantial in-cloud positive charge regions. These charge regions are located at altitudes of 5.1-5.6 km and 6.4-6.8 km, above the level of 0 degree C at 4.2 km. The two positive charge regions are the likely sources of six positive cloud-to-ground flashes with large peak currents (>32 kA) that occurred within 60 km of the balloon during its flight. The amount of charge transferred by three of these positive flashes that made Q bursts is calculated in the range of 97-196 C. Flashes of this sort are known to produce sprites and elves in the mesosphere. The positive charge regions in this stratiform cloud are substantially lower than the 10-km altitude commonly assumed for the positive charge in many sprite modeling studies.
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Summary

A balloon sounding of electric field in the trailing stratiform cloud of a bow echo mesoscale convective system reveals only two substantial in-cloud positive charge regions. These charge regions are located at altitudes of 5.1-5.6 km and 6.4-6.8 km, above the level of 0 degree C at 4.2 km. The...

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Positive charge in the stratiform cloud of a mesoscale convective system

An assessment of the communications, navigation, surveillance (CNS) capabilities needed to support the future Air Traffic Management System

January 10, 2001
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Project Report
Author:
Steven D. Thompson
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Published in:
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Report ATC-295
Topic:
air traffic control
R&D area:
R&D group:

Summary

The purpose of this study was to assess the Communications, Navigation, and Surveillance (CNS) capabilities needed to support future Air Traffic Management (ATM) functionality in the National Airspace System (NAS). The goal was to determine the most effective areas for research and technical development in the CNS field and to make sure the decision support tools under development match future CNS capabilities. The requirements for future ATM functions were derived from high level operational concepts designed to provide more freedom and flexibility in flight operations and from the Joint Research Project Descriptions (JRPDs) that are listed in the Integrated Plan for Air Traffic Management Research and Technology Development. This work was performed for the FAA/NASA Interagency Air Traffic Management Integrated Product Team.
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Summary

The purpose of this study was to assess the Communications, Navigation, and Surveillance (CNS) capabilities needed to support future Air Traffic Management (ATM) functionality in the National Airspace System (NAS). The goal was to determine the most effective areas for research and technical development in the CNS field and to...

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An assessment of the communications, navigation, surveillance (CNS) capabilities needed to support the future Air Traffic Management System

An operational concept for the Smart Landing Facility (SLF)

January 1, 2001
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Conference Paper
Author:
Steven D. Thompson
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Published in:
20th AIAA/IEEE Digital Avionics Systems Conf., 14-18 October 2001, pp. 6.C.2-1 - 6.C.2-8.
Topic:
air traffic control
R&D area:
R&D group:

Summary

This paper describes an operational concept for the Smart Landing Facility (SLF). The SLF is proposed as a component of the Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) and is envisioned to utilize Communication, Navigation, Surveillance and Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) technologies to support higher-volume air traffic operations in a wider variety of weather conditions than are currently possible at airports without an Air Traffic Control Tower (ATCT) or Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON). In order to accomplish this, the SLF will provide aircraft sequencing and separation within its terminal airspace (the SLF traffic area) and on the airport surface. The SLF infrastructure will provide timely and accurate weather and other flight information as well as traffic advisories. The SLF will provide a means to coordinate with nearby TRACONs or Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCCs) to ensure proper integration of its traffic flows with those of adjacent airspace.
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Summary

This paper describes an operational concept for the Smart Landing Facility (SLF). The SLF is proposed as a component of the Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) and is envisioned to utilize Communication, Navigation, Surveillance and Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) technologies to support higher-volume air traffic operations in a wider variety...

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An operational concept for the Smart Landing Facility (SLF)

Sprites, elves, and glow discharge tubes

January 1, 2001
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Journal Article
Author:
Earle R. Williams
Published in:
Phys. Today, Vol. 54, No. 11, November 2001, pp. 41-47.
Topic:
weather
R&D area:
R&D group:

Summary

In the 1920's, the Scottish physicist C.T.R. Wilson predicted the existence of brief flashes of light above large thunderstorms. Almost 70 years later, Bernard Vonnegut of SUNY Albany realized that evidence for Wilson's then-unconfirmed predictions might appear in video imagery of Earth's upper atmosphere recorded by space-shuttle astronauts. He encouraged NASA's William Boeck and Otha Vaughan to look for evidence. Their search was successful. At the 1990 fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union, Boeck and Vaughan presented evidence for upper-atmosphere flashes. Evidence of a different nature came from the University of Minnesota's John Winckler and his colleagues, who had serendipitously observed a flash in moonless night-time skies over Minnesota in 1989. These early findings inspired two independent field programs to target the new phenomenon. In the summer of 1993, Walter Lyons of FMA Research set up detectors on Yucca Ridge in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. That same summer, Davis Sentman of the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) sought to record the flashes from an aircraft flying over the Great Plains. Within a day of each other, the two research teams had documented what turned out to be a common phenomenon in the mesosphere. In doing so, they initiated not only a new kind of continental-scale field experiment but also—and more important—a new interdisciplinary area of research.
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Summary

In the 1920's, the Scottish physicist C.T.R. Wilson predicted the existence of brief flashes of light above large thunderstorms. Almost 70 years later, Bernard Vonnegut of SUNY Albany realized that evidence for Wilson's then-unconfirmed predictions might appear in video imagery of Earth's upper atmosphere recorded by space-shuttle astronauts. He encouraged...

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Sprites, elves, and glow discharge tubes

High Speed Interconnects and Parallel Software Libraries: Enabling Technologies for NVO

January 1, 2001
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Conference Paper
Author:
Jeremy Kepner
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Published in:
Proc. of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific Conf. Series, Vol. 225, 2001, Virtual Observations of the Future, 13-16 June 2000, pp. 297-301.
R&D area:
R&D group:

Summary

The National Virtual Observatory (NVO) will directly or indirectly touch upon all steps in the process of transforming raw observational data into "meaningful" results. These steps include: (1) Acquisition and storage of raw data. (2) Data reduction (i.e. translating raw data into source detections). (3) Aquisition and storage of detected sources. (4) Multi-sensor/multi-temporal data mining of the products of steps (1), (2) and (3). (Not complete.)
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Summary

The National Virtual Observatory (NVO) will directly or indirectly touch upon all steps in the process of transforming raw observational data into "meaningful" results. These steps include: (1) Acquisition and storage of raw data. (2) Data reduction (i.e. translating raw data into source detections). (3) Aquisition and storage of detected...

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High Speed Interconnects and Parallel Software Libraries: Enabling Technologies for NVO

Exploiting VSIPL and OpenMP for Parallel Image Processing

January 1, 2001
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Conference Paper
Author:
Jeremy Kepner
Published in:
ADASS 2000, Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems X, 12-14 November 2000, pp. 209-212.
R&D area:
R&D group:

Summary

VSIPL and OpenMP are two open standards for portable high performance computing. VSIPL delivers optimized single processor performance while OpenMP provides a low overhead mechanism for executing thread based parallelism on shared memory systems. Image processing is one of the main areas where VSIPL and OpenMP can have a large impact. Currently, a large fraction of image processing applications are written in the Interpreted Data Language (IDL) environment. The aim of this work is to demonstrate that the performance benefits of these new standards can be brought to image processing community in a high level manner that is transparent to users. To this end, this talk presents a fast, FFT based algorithm for performing image convolutions. This algorithm has been implemented within the IDL environment using VSIPL (for optimized single processor performance) with added OpenMP directives (for parallelism). This work demonstrates that good parallel speedups are attainable using standards and can be integrated seamlessly into existing user environments.
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Summary

VSIPL and OpenMP are two open standards for portable high performance computing. VSIPL delivers optimized single processor performance while OpenMP provides a low overhead mechanism for executing thread based parallelism on shared memory systems. Image processing is one of the main areas where VSIPL and OpenMP can have a large...

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Exploiting VSIPL and OpenMP for Parallel Image Processing
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