University of Hawaii at Manoa

About: University of Hawaii at Manoa is a education organization based out in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Sea surface temperature. The organization has 13693 authors who have published 25161 publications receiving 1023924 citations.

Low-density parity-check codes based on finite geometries: a rediscovery and new results

Abstract: This paper presents a geometric approach to the construction of low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes. Four classes of LDPC codes are constructed based on the lines and points of Euclidean and projective geometries over finite fields. Codes of these four classes have good minimum distances and their Tanner (1981) graphs have girth 6. Finite-geometry LDPC codes can be decoded in various ways, ranging from low to high decoding complexity and from reasonably good to very good performance. They perform very well with iterative decoding. Furthermore, they can be put in either cyclic or quasi-cyclic form. Consequently, their encoding can be achieved in linear time and implemented with simple feedback shift registers. This advantage is not shared by other LDPC codes in general and is important in practice. Finite-geometry LDPC codes can be extended and shortened in various ways to obtain other good LDPC codes. Several techniques of extension and shortening are presented. Long extended finite-geometry LDPC codes have been constructed and they achieve a performance only a few tenths of a decibel away from the Shannon theoretical limit with iterative decoding.

Indian Ocean Experiment: An integrated analysis of the climate forcing and effects of the great Indo-Asian haze

Abstract: Every year, from December to April, anthropogenic haze spreads over most of the North Indian Ocean, and South and Southeast Asia. The Indian Ocean Experiment (INDOEX) documented this Indo-Asian haze at scales ranging from individual particles to its contribution to the regional climate forcing. This study integrates the multiplatform observations (satellites, aircraft, ships, surface stations, and balloons) with one- and four-dimensional models to derive the regional aerosol forcing resulting from the direct, the semidirect and the two indirect effects. The haze particles consisted of several inorganic and carbonaceous species, including absorbing black carbon clusters, fly ash, and mineral dust. The most striking result was the large loading of aerosols over most of the South Asian region and the North Indian Ocean. The January to March 1999 visible optical depths were about 0.5 over most of the continent and reached values as large as 0.2 over the equatorial Indian ocean due to long-range transport. The aerosol layer extended as high as 3 km. Black carbon contributed about 14% to the fine particle mass and 11% to the visible optical depth. The single-scattering albedo estimated by several independent methods was consistently around 0.9 both inland and over the open ocean. Anthropogenic sources contributed as much as 80% (±10%) to the aerosol loading and the optical depth. The in situ data, which clearly support the existence of the first indirect effect (increased aerosol concentration producing more cloud drops with smaller effective radii), are used to develop a composite indirect effect scheme. The Indo-Asian aerosols impact the radiative forcing through a complex set of heating (positive forcing) and cooling (negative forcing) processes. Clouds and black carbon emerge as the major players. The dominant factor, however, is the large negative forcing (-20±4 W m^(−2)) at the surface and the comparably large atmospheric heating. Regionally, the absorbing haze decreased the surface solar radiation by an amount comparable to 50% of the total ocean heat flux and nearly doubled the lower tropospheric solar heating. We demonstrate with a general circulation model how this additional heating significantly perturbs the tropical rainfall patterns and the hydrological cycle with implications to global climate.

The development of anxiety: The role of control in the early environment.

Abstract: Current developments in cognitive and emotion theory suggest that anxiety plays a rather central role in negative emotions. This article reviews findings in the area of anxiety and depression, helplessness, locus of control, explanatory style, animal learning, biology, parenting, attachment theory, and childhood stress and resilience to articulate a model of the environmental influences on the development of anxiety. Evidence from a variety of sources suggests that early experience with diminished control may foster a cognitive style characterized by an increased probability of interpreting or processing subsequent events as out of one's control, which may represent a psychological vulnerability for anxiety. Implications for research are discussed.

An Equatorial Ocean Recharge Paradigm for ENSO. Part I: Conceptual Model

Abstract: A new conceptual model for ENSO has been constructed based upon the positive feedback of tropical ocean‐ atmosphere interaction proposed by Bjerknes as the growth mechanism and the recharge‐discharge of the equatorial heat content as the phase-transition mechanism suggested by Cane and Zebiak and by Wyrtki. This model combines SST dynamics and ocean adjustment dynamics into a coupled basinwide recharge oscillator that relies on the nonequilibrium between the zonal mean equatorial thermocline depth and wind stress. Over a wide range of the relative coupling coefficient, this recharge oscillator can be either self-excited or stochastically sustained. Its period is robust in the range of 3‐5 years. This recharge oscillator model clearly depicts the slow physics of ENSO and also embodies the delayed oscillator (Schopf and Suarez; Battisti and Hirst) without requiring an explicit wave delay. It can also be viewed as a mixed SST‐ocean dynamics oscillator due to the fact that it arises from the merging of two uncoupled modes, a decaying SST mode and a basinwide ocean adjustment mode, through the tropical ocean‐atmosphere coupling. The basic characteristics of this recharge oscillator, including the relationship between the equatorial western Pacific thermocline depth and the eastern Pacific SST anomalies, are in agreement with those of ENSO variability in the observations and simulations with the Zebiak‐Cane model.

A massive phytoplankton bloom induced by an ecosystem-scale iron fertilization experiment in the equatorial Pacific Ocean

Abstract: The seeding of an expanse of surface waters in the equatorial Pacific Ocean with low concentrations of dissolved iron triggered a massive phytoplankton bloom which consumed large quantities of carbon dioxide and nitrate that these microscopic plants cannot fully utilize under natural conditions. These and other observations provide unequivocal support for the hypothesis that phytoplankton growth in this oceanic region is limited by iron bioavailability.