Naval Postgraduate School

About: Naval Postgraduate School is a education organization based out in Monterey, California, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Tropical cyclone & Boundary layer. The organization has 5246 authors who have published 11614 publications receiving 298300 citations. The organization is also known as: NPS & U.S. Naval Postgraduate School.

Noise equalization in Stokes parameter images obtained by use of variable-retardance polarimeters.

Abstract: An imaging variable retardance polarimeter was developed and tested by Tyo and Turner [Proc. SPIE 3753, 214 (1999)]. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in the reconstructed polarization images obtained with this system varied for the four Stokes parameters. The difference in SNR is determined to be due to differences in the Euclidean lengths of the rows of the synthesis matrix used to reconstruct the Stokes parameters from the measured intensity data. I equalize (and minimize) the lengths of the rows of this matrix by minimizing the condition number of the synthesis matrix, thereby maximizing the relative importance of each of the polarimeter measurements. The performance of the optimized system is demonstrated with simulated data, and the SNR is shown to increase from a worst case of -3.1 dB for the original settings to a worst case of +5.0 dB for the optimized system.

Kelvin Wave-CISK: A Possible Mechanism for the 30–50 Day Oscillations

Abstract: Two categories of theories have been proposed to explain the observed tropical intraseasonal oscillations whose main periodicity is between 30–50 days: (i) those based on eastward propagating Kelvin waves maintained by cumulus heating; and (ii) those based on interactions with stationary oscillations of the basic state. Recent numerical modeling studies have simulated certain important aspects of the oscillation particularly the slower propagation speed as compared with the normal Kelvin waves. Motivated by these results which lend support to the first category, a linear theoretical analysis of the equatorial β-plane wave-CISK was carried out with a focus on the Kelvin modes. Our results show that two types of CISK modes may arise from an interaction of vertical modes. For heating with a maximum in the lower troposphere, the instability is due to the lowest internal mode which gives a stationary, east-west symmetrical structure. When heating is maximum in the midtroposphere, eastward propagating ...

Fiscal Decentralization and Economic Growth

Abstract: This paper reviews the current knowledge on an issue of increasing policy interest: what impact fiscal decentralization has on economic growth. Fiscal decentralization may indeed have a direct impact on economic growth but the theoretical underpinnings for this relationship remain largely undeveloped. The absence of an adequate theoretical framework has undermined the validity of the empirical work on this subject. A fair summary of the empirical search for a direct relationship between fiscal decentralization and economic growth is that it remains an open question. Much less attention has been devoted in the literature to the indirect channels through which fiscal decentralization may affect economic growth, through the impact of fiscal decentralization on economic efficiency, the regional distribution of resources, and macroeconomic stability. This paper explorers the nature of these links and concludes with some thoughts and policy advice.