University of Bremen

About: University of Bremen is a education organization based out in Bremen, Germany. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Glacial period. The organization has 14563 authors who have published 37279 publications receiving 970381 citations. The organization is also known as: Universität Bremen.

Merging Occupancy Grid Maps From Multiple Robots

Abstract: Mapping can potentially be speeded up in a significant way by using multiple robots exploring different parts of the environment. But the core question of multirobot mapping is how to integrate the data of the different robots into a single global map. A significant amount of research exists in the area of multirobot mapping that deals with techniques to estimate the relative robots poses at the start or during the mapping process. With map merging, the robots in contrast individually build local maps without any knowledge about their relative positions. The goal is then to identify regions of overlap at which the local maps can be joined together. A concrete approach to this idea is presented in form of a special similarity metric and a stochastic search algorithm. Given two maps m and m', the search algorithm transforms m' by rotations and translations to find a maximum overlap between m and m'. In doing so, the heuristic similarity metric guides the search algorithm toward optimal solutions. Results from experiments with up to six robots are presented based on simulated as well as real-world map data

SCIATRAN 2.0 - A new radiative transfer model for geophysical applications in the 175 - 2400 nm spectral region.

Abstract: A successor version of the SCIATRAN radiative transfer model (RTM) has been developed to perform radiative transfer modeling in any observation geometry appropriate to measurements of the scattered solar radiation in the Earth’s atmosphere. The model is designed to be used as a forward model in the retrieval of atmospheric constituents from measurements of scattered solar light by satellite, ground-based, or airborne instruments in UV–Vis–NIR spectral region. Furthermore, it can be used to calculate air mass factors or fluxes. The new generation of the SCIATRAN model comprises all features of the latest SCIATRAN 1.2 RTM supporting additionally radiative transfer calculations in a spherical atmosphere. The program is written in FORTRAN 95 and suitable for parallel execution using the OpenMP standard. The wavelength range covered by the radiative transfer model is extended to 175–2380 nm including Schuman-Runge and Herzberg absorption bands of oxygen. The SCIATRAN 2.0 model exhibits the following new capabilities: (i) modeling of the scattered solar radiation in limb viewing geometry as well as any kind of measurements of the scattered radiation within the atmosphere, (ii) corresponding quasi-analytical calculation of weighting functions of atmospheric parameters, (iii) airmass factor calculations for ground-based, space and airborne measurements including off-axis geometry, (v) accounting for photochemically active species, i.e., radiative transfer calculations can be performed using solar zenith angle dependent vertical distributions of atmospheric species, (iv) height resolved radiation fluxes, including actinic fluxes for photolysis rate calculations, (vi) inelastic rotational Raman scattering in any supported viewing geometry, (vii) new effective approximations for radiative transfer modeling in presence of clouds. The SCIATRAN model is freely available via the world wide web for non-commercial scientific applications.

Timing and nature of the deepening of the Tasmanian Gateway

Abstract: [1] Tectonic changes that produced a deep Tasmanian Gateway between Australia and Antarctica are widely invoked as the major mechanism for Antarctic cryosphere growth and Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) development during the Eocene/Oligocene (E/O) transition (∼34–33 Ma). Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 189 recovered near-continuous marine sedimentary records across the E/O transition interval at four sites around Tasmania. These records are largely barren of calcareous microfossils but contain a rich record of siliceous- and organic-walled marine microfossils. In this study we integrate micropaleontological, sedimentological, geochemical, and paleomagnetic data from Site 1172 (East Tasman Plateau) to identify four distinct phases (A–D) in the E/O Tasmanian Gateway deepening that are correlative among ODP Leg 189 sites. Phase A, prior to ∼35.5 Ma: minor initial deepening characterized by a shallow marine prodeltaic setting with initial condensation episodes. Phase B, ∼35.5–33.5 Ma: increased deepening marked by the onset of major glauconitic deposition and inception of energetic bottom-water currents. Phase C, ∼33.5–30.2 Ma: further deepening to bathyal depths, with episodic erosion by increasingly energetic bottom-water currents. Phase D, <30.2 Ma: establishment of stable, open-ocean, warm-temperate, oligotrophic settings characterized by siliceous-carbonate ooze deposition. Our combined evidence indicates that this early Oligocene Tasmanian Gateway deepening initially produced an eastward flow of relatively warm surface waters from the Australo-Antarctic Gulf into the southwestern Pacific Ocean. This “proto-Leeuwin” current fundamentally differs from previous regional reconstructions of eastward flowing cool water (e.g., a “proto-ACC”) during the early Oligocene and thereby represents an important new constraint for reconstructing regional- to global-scale dynamics for this major global change event.