City Of Long Beach Research Articles

DEPLATFORMING THE SMART CITY: GIVING RESIDENTS CONTROL OVER THEIR PERSONAL DATA

Smart city platforms–encompassing mobile apps, cameras, sensors, algorithms, and predictive analytics—function as surveillance tools. Specifically, these Internet-connected devices and services generate troves of data on residents, including real-time geolocation, energy consumption habits, travel patterns, mobile device identifiers, Internet browsing history, phone contacts, credit card numbers, and much more. The proposed project is focused on the City of Long Beach’s vision to use data in ethical ways that avoid reinforcing existing racial biases and discriminatory decision-making. When fully implemented, this digital rights platform will operationalize both privacy and racial equity as priorities for all deployments of smart city technology. First, the platform will feature text and the open-source iconography that visually conveys how the City of Long Beach uses specific technologies, what data the devices collect and how the City utilizes that data. We plan to strategically deploy these information points across Long Beach, physically adjacent to or digitally embedded within civic technologies, e.g., sensors, cameras, small cells, mobile payment kiosks, and a 311 app. The platform will include a feedback application consisting of access (via QR code or hyperlink) to an online dashboard where users may learn additional details, update data collection preferences, and share comments/concerns with local government officials. The ultimate goal is to develop a backend solution that enables residents to opt-out of data collection. The platform will provide residents with a clear understanding of how local government applies predictive and diagnostic analytics to personal data, and will also empower community members by granting them agency.

Synopsis

Colloquy| August 01 2021 Synopsis: Housing Policies in the Real World (or at least in unincorporated Los Angeles County) Amy J. Bodek, AICP Amy J. Bodek, AICP Amy J. Bodek, AICP, is Director of Regional Planning, County of Los Angeles. She oversees all planning and development for unincorporated areas of the county, serving more than one million residents and encompassing approximately one-fifth of its land area. She previously served 24 years with the City of Long Beach. Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Southern California Quarterly (2021) 103 (3): 330–332. https://doi.org/10.1525/scq.2021.103.3.330 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Tools Icon Tools Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Amy J. Bodek; Synopsis: Housing Policies in the Real World (or at least in unincorporated Los Angeles County). Southern California Quarterly 1 August 2021; 103 (3): 330–332. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/scq.2021.103.3.330 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentSouthern California Quarterly Search This content is only available via PDF. © 2021 by The Historical Society of Southern California. All rights reserved.2021 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

A detailed image of the continent-borderland transition beneath Long Beach, California

SUMMARYNew crustal images beneath Long Beach, California show the region of the Inner Borderland to continent transition. The cross-sections are obtained from stacked autocorrelations of virtual sources generated from oil-industry data recorded in the city of Long Beach, CA. They show that the Moho is dipping at 65° and obliquely truncates an ∼10 km thick flat-lying lower crustal fabric. The Moho appears to be fault controlled and an integral part of the extrusion of the Catalina Schist that underlays the Inner Borderland. The basement interface has significant offsets of up to 2 km, none of which correspond to the mapped trace of the Newport–Inglewood Fault.

Graph clustering for localization within a sensor array

We develop a model-free technique to identify weak sources within dense sensor arrays using graph clustering. No knowledge about the propagation medium is needed except that signal strengths decay to insignificant levels within a scale that is shorter than the aperture. We then reinterpret the spatial coherence matrix of a wave field as a matrix whose support is a connectivity matrix of a graph with sensors as vertices. In a dense network, well-separated sources induce clusters in this graph. The support of the covariance matrix is estimated from limited-time data using a hypothesis test with a robust phase-only coherence test statistic combined with a physical distance criterion. The method is applied to a dense 5200 element geophone array that blanketed 7 km ×10 km of the city of Long Beach (CA). The analysis exposes a helicopter traversing the array.

Real V. City of Long Beach

Commentary on a facial challenge, an as-applied challenge, and a prior restraint challenge to a municipal zoning ordinance regulating tattoo parlors contending that it was an unlawful time, place & manner restrictions on speech.

The Role of Destination’s Built Environment on Nonmotorized Travel Behavior: A Case of Long Beach, California

This study examines how built environment factors at trip destinations influence nonmotorized travel behavior in the City of Long Beach, California. Using 2008–2009 National Household Travel Survey with California Add-Ons, we found that nonmotorized users tend to choose more clustered destinations than motorized users, and that density, diversity, and design at destinations significantly affect mode choice decisions. Transportation networks and nonmotorized facilities at trip destinations are especially important factors for nonmotorized mode choice. Future policy and research need to consider built environment factors at trip destinations to effectively accommodate nonmotorized travel within a city.

Using graph clustering to locate sources within a dense sensor array

We develop a model-free technique to identify weak sources within dense sensor arrays using graph clustering. No knowledge about the propagation medium is needed except that signal strengths decay to insignificant levels within a scale that is shorter than the aperture. We then reinterpret the spatial coherence matrix of a wave field as a matrix whose support is a connectivity matrix of a graph with sensors as vertices. In a dense network, well-separated sources induce clusters in this graph. The geographic spread of these clusters can serve to localize the sources. The support of the covariance matrix is estimated from limited-time data using a hypothesis test with a robust phase-only coherence test statistic combined with a physical distance criterion. The latter criterion ensures graph sparsity and thus prevents clusters from forming by chance. We verify the approach and quantify its reliability on a simulated dataset. The method is then applied to data from a dense 5200 element geophone array that blanketed 7km×10km of the city of Long Beach (CA). The analysis exposes a helicopter traversing the array and oil production facilities.

Outbreak of Serogroup C Meningococcal Disease Primarily Affecting Men Who Have Sex with Men - Southern California, 2016.

During March 4-August 11, 2016, 25 outbreak-associated cases of meningococcal disease, including two deaths (8% case-fatality ratio), were reported in Southern California. Twenty-four of the cases were caused by serogroup C Neisseria meningitidis (NmC) and one by N. meningitidis with an undetermined serogroup (Figure). On June 24, 2016, in response to this increase in NmC cases, primarily among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Los Angeles County, the city of Long Beach, and Orange County, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) issued a press release and health advisory, declaring an outbreak of NmC in Southern California (1).

A Simulation-based Evaluation of Connected Vehicle Technology for Emissions and Fuel Consumption

Connected vehicle technology (CVT) is being tested at various research laboratories across the United States for its real-world applications. The aim is to properly know its benefits in order to make travel safe, reliable and environment-friendly. Although, with time, vehicles are becoming eco-friendlier and resourceful in energy consumption and utilization, majority of vehicles today still operate on fossil fuels and the resulting emissions are a by-product. Thus, most affordable cars and even trucks in future will continue to run on fossil fuels and might simultaneously be equipped with CVT features. Fossil-fuel dependent vehicles when fully equipped with CVT would need to accelerate or decelerate appropriately around critical junctions and locations of a network to avoid collisions. CVT in vehicles will be most appreciated for safety reasons at least at the roadway merge locations of the network. However, frequent accelerations and decelerations of the vehicles at merge points such as from ramp to freeway will also lead to increase in emissions and fuel consumption. This is precisely what this paper explores and investigates. A computer-based simulation exercise is carried out using an example of a ramp to Interstate 405 freeway merge location in Long Beach, California. Based on some basic but realistic assumptions for vehicular motion made in his paper, it is found that benefit from CVT in emission reduction is marginal for the three traffic conditions of free-flow, transitional period and rush-hour congestion. These findings will help engineers to prepare vehicles with a more sophisticated CVT that can provide better emission reductions and fuel savings at several ramp-to-freeway merge locations that exist across the city of Long Beach.

Resolving small events within a dense urban array

We use data from a large 5200 element geophone array that blanketed 70 km2 of the city of Long Beach (CA) to characterize very localized urban seismic and acoustic phenomena. Such small events are hard to detect and localize with conventional array processing techniques because they are only sensed by a tiny fraction of the array sensors. To circumvent this issue, we first identify significant entries in the large coherence matrix of the array (5200 × 5200 entries) and then use graph analysis to reveal spatially small and contiguous clusters of receivers with correlated signals. This procedure allows us to track local events over time and also characterize their frequency content. The analysis requires no prior medium information and can therefore be applied under conditions of relatively high scattering. We show how the technique exposes a helicopter traversing the array, several oil production facilities, and late night activity on a golf course.

After Citizens United

Rick Garnett, Allison Hayward, Craig Holman, Lloyd Mayer, Mike Pitts, and Robert Schapiro for their comments on earlier drafts. 1. 130 S. Ct. 876 (2010). 2. Id. at 913. 3. See id. 4. See, e.g., McConnell v. Fed. Election Comm’n, 540 U.S. 93 (2003), overruled in part by Citizens United, 130 S. Ct. 876; Fed. Election Comm’n v. Colo. Republican Fed. Campaign Comm., 533 U.S. 431 (2001); Nixon v. Shrink Missouri Gov’t PAC, 528 U.S. 377 (2000); Austin v. Mich. Chamber of Commerce, 494 U.S. 652 (1990). 5. Citizens United, 130 U.S. at 908. 6. Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce v. City of Long Beach, 603 F.3d 684, 699 (9th Cir. 2010); SpeechNow.org v. Fed. Election Comm’n, 599 F.3d 686, 689 (D.C. Cir. 2010), petition for cert. filed; Emily’s List v. Fed. Election Comm’n, 581 F.3d 1, 8 (D.C. Cir. 2009). AFTER CITIZENS UNITED

Sociocultural determinants of tobacco use among Cambodian Americans

The objectives of this study included the following: obtaining qualitative information on tobacco use among Cambodian Americans, identifying cultural factors that influence tobacco use and acquiring information for the development of effective smoking prevention and cessation strategies. Data were collected by using demographic and behavioral questionnaires and focus group interviews. A total of 14 focus group interviews that covered cultural practices associated with smoking were administered. Statistical analyses included univariate frequency distributions and cross-tabulations. The subjects (n = 119) were Cambodian American volunteers who participated in social services programs offered by a community service organization. All subjects were 18 years of age or older and resided in the city of Long Beach. The principal outcomes measured were cigarette smoking and tobacco use. Other variables included reasons for smoking, traditional uses of tobacco, stress factors related to smoking and the perceived health effects of smoking. Predisposing, reinforcing and enabling factors associated with tobacco-use behaviors included peer group influences, smoking adopted as a coping method, tobacco used for medicinal purposes and smoking practiced within cultural traditions. The frequency of smoking was four times higher among males than among females. Smokers (n = 29) in comparison with non-smokers (n = 90) tended to be men (79% versus 33%), not married (68% versus 49%) and unemployed (79% versus 54%), and had attained somewhat lower levels of education. The role of cultural factors needs to be considered when designing appropriate smoking cessation strategies for Cambodian Americans.

Reservoir Compaction

Reservoir Compaction

A geographic analysis of motor vehicle collisions with child pedestrians in Long Beach, California: comparing intersection and midblock incident locations

Objectives—The purpose of this study was to use geographic information system (GIS) software to locate areas of high risk for child pedestrian-motor vehicle collisions in the city of Long Beach...

Assessment of hospital and police ascertainment of automobile versus childhood pedestrian and bicyclist collisions

Information about automobile versus pedestrian or bicyclist collisions differ according to the source of collision ascertainment. Hospital records and police reports focus on different characteristics of a collision, which reflects differences in case finding as well as information regarding risk factors. Pedestrians and bicyclists 0–14 years of age who were involved in a motor vehicle collision in the city of Long Beach, CA, between January 1, 1992 and June 30, 1995, were included in the study. Police reports and medical records were used to identify cases. Police reports were found for 1015 cases, and medical records identified 474 cases; 379 cases were common to both sources. A capture–recapture model was used to evaluate the degree of overlap between the two sources and to derive “ascertainment corrected” injury rates. The injury rate from combined sources was 333.5/100 000 children per year, the pedestrian injury rate was 210.6/100 000 children per year and the bicyclist injury rate was 122.9/100 000 children per year. The “ascertainment corrected” injury rate overall was 381.3/100 000 children per year, 233.0/100 000 for pedestrians and 153.9/100 000 children per year for bicyclists. Eighty percent of hospital-reported cases were captured in the police database, whereas only 37% of police-reported cases were captured by the hospital database. We found that hospital sources identified younger children, fewer bicyclists, more Asian and Hispanic children, and fewer African-American children when compared to police sources. For more comprehensive surveillance resulting in more accurate incidence rates and more complete information, it is better to use multiple sources of data.

Strategic planning for a joint venture

A critical issue confronting business management of contract companies that are formed as joint ventures, or are created by consortia, is how to successfully manage strategic planning and budget preparation, especially when government agencies regulate and approve the planning process. This article describes the development and implementation of a strategic planning and budgeting process used by the Thums Long Beach Company, an oil producing enterprise, formed as the agent for five major oil companies, and under contract with the City of Long Beach, California. The article illustrates how Thums successfully used strategic planning to meet management challenges that resulted from 1. the different objectives set by the State, the City, and the Company, 2. anticipated expiration of its contract within the next decade, and 3. the changes in oil market prices.

Application of Advanced Reservoir Characterization to Increase the Efficiency of a Thermal Steam Drive in the Wilmington Oil Field, California: ABSTRACT

A reservoir characterization project is in progress to increase heavy oil reserves in the Tar Zone, Fault Block II, Wilmington Oil Field, California. The goal is to economically and efficiently expand the existing steamflood to the southern portion of Fault Block II. The problems to be addressed include: inadequate characterization of the heterogenous turbidite geology, high permeability thief zones, low gravity oil and non-uniform distributions of the remaining oil. These problems have contributed to poor sweep efficiency, high steam oil ratios and early steam breakthrough. Traditional, detailed reservoir characterization work has been performed on over 600 wells within the Tar Zone, Fault Block II. Vertical and lateral extent has been defined for 16 horizons. The scattered data from these wells has been compiled and incorporated into a three-dimensional visualization software package. The layered model will be used as a {open_quotes}framework{close_quotes} for the generation of a number of stochastic geological models. New data will be acquired to further define the southern area. These models and their analyses will be integrated into thermal reservoir simulations. Project expansion will be dependent on this work. The project partners are the City of Long Beach, Tidelands Oil Production Company, the University of Southern California andmore » David K. Davies and Associates. The Department of Energy has agreed to co-fund the work.« less

Testing New Submersible Pumps for Proper Sizing and Reduced Costs

Summary This paper describes an ongoing program to improve overall submersible pump performance by Thums Long Beach Co., acting as contractor for the City of Long Beach, operator of the Long Beach Unit. Thums Long Beach Co. currently operates 700 submersible pump installations located on four manmade islands and one landfill pier location. The program began with spot testing of submersible pumps for Thums' use. It has evolved to 100% pump testing and the stipulation that only pumps with newly manufactured parts are acceptable. The primary goals of this program are to increase well production and to lower lifting costs. Critical to these goals is increasing the average length of run by using accurate pump-performance data to design equipment and by rejecting defective pumps pump-performance data to design equipment and by rejecting defective pumps before they are run. Increased production is realized from better designs. Lower lifting costs result from using more efficient pumps and a reduced frequency of pulling submersible equipment. Introduction Thums currently produces 65,000 BOPD [10.3 × 10(3) m3/d oil] and 375,000 BWPD [59.6 × 10(3) m3/d water] from the offshore portion of the Wilmington oil field. This production is obtained from nearly 750 wells, of which approximately 700 are produced by the downhole electrical submersible pump. Because of this large use of submersible pumps, a closer look at the performance of submersible pump equipment was initiated. Thums designed its own submersible pump installations and routinely adjusted the designs upward from those generated from vendor-supplied performance curves. Fig. 1 represents a typical submersible pump installation. Even with this adjustment, many designs fell short of reducing the producing bottomhole pressure (BHP) to the desired levels. Coupled with this, many instances of electrical or mechanical failures on startup and high motor loading during the pump run have occurred. These problems traditionally have been attributed to well conditions, but that explanation was considered to he unsatisfactory in many cases. Post failure equipment inspections indicated that a large proportion of submersible motor and cable pothead failures appeared to be pump-related. Besides the obvious pump conditions that resulted pump-related. Besides the obvious pump conditions that resulted in electrical failure, such as a locked pump, radial wear was often found in the hub area of the impeller and diffuser (see Fig. 2), as well as in the pump end bearings. The resulting shaft vibration from this wear was then believed to cause seal failure and eventual electrical failure in the motor or motor pothead. Because of these concerns and the unpact any improvement would have on pump performance and run life, a pilot test program was initiated in June 1984 to test 40 pumps before they were run in wells. What originally was intended as a short-term experiment has resulted in an ongoing project. Test Method Two basic testing methods are currently available to the industry. They involve orienting the pump on a horizontal test bench or in a vertical test well. Besides the orientation difference, other differences exist between individual test configurations, with the major variation being the use of either a speed/torque cell or power-consumption conversion to measure brake horsepower. The speed/torque cell is commonly used in a variety of industries and consists of a strain gauge and toothed-gear impulse counter that together measure the revolutions per minute and front-end torque load. The power-consumption technique uses a plot of a prime-mover's voltage and amperage as generated from calibrated brake-horsepower loads. The resulting plot allows a comparison between the calibrated loads and test loads by measuring kilowatt draw. The speed/torque cell is used in the horizontal test method; both techniques are used in the vertical method.

Subzone Redevelopment of the Long Beach Unit, Wilmington Oil Field: A Case Study

SPE Members Abstract A Major program of infill subzone re-development to improve vertical waterflood conformance has been successful in materially improving oil recovery performance in the Long Beach Unit of the Wilmington Oil Field California. The well completions in individual subzones or layers will result in greatly improved future reservoir management opportunities through individual subzone or layer monitoring and control. Introduction The Wilmington Oil Field comprises the largest oil producing feature of the Redondo Beach - Wilmington trend, which is one of the numerous such fault oriented oil field trends in the Los Angeles Basin of Southern California (Figure 1). Although production began as early as the late 1930's in the western portion of the field, the majority of the eastern portion, which now comprises the Long Beach Unit (Figure 1), was left undeveloped because it underlayed both the recreational offshore harbor area and the downtown townlot area of the City of Long Beach. An earlier pronounced surface subsidence problem in the western portion of the field was major factor in the environmental concern. In the early 1960's, legislative and other legal actions cleared the way for unitization and development of the eastern area under highly controlled conditions designed to protect the surface environment. These conditions included requirements for unitization of the entire area, major development being restricted to no more than four environmentally enhanced man-made offshore islands, and replacement of all reservoir fluid withdrawals and maintenance of original reservoir pressures through water injection. Other features of the actions referred to above resulted in rather unique administrative and operational responsibilities. In summary, the City of Long Beach functions as Unit Operator through its Department of Oil Properties and is the majority Unit Participant through its trusteeship for the State owned tidelands tract. The State of California, through the State lands Commission and its staff, must approve the Plan of Operations and Budget, the bottom-hole location of all new wells and redrills, and certain other specific well details. The State also receives the major portion of the net profit revenue from the Unit through its ownership of the tidelands tract, and as a result of the highly competitive net profits retention type bidding on the several contractors agreements. The THUMS Long Beach Company became the Field Contractor for the Unit Operator as a result of this bidding. INITIAL DEVELOPMENT Initial development of the Long Beach Unit began in 1965 and continued into mid-1970 with some 590 wells being completed, roughly one-fourth of those being injectors. The restriction to five drilling sites required highly deviated wells with kick-off depths as shallow as 100 to 200 feet and maximum hole angles of 70 to 75 degrees not uncommon. Figures 2 and 3 illustrate the resulting individual well plan view which developed the area and a section view of typical well courses. Because of the necessity for sand control in all but the deepest two reservoirs; gravel packed, slotted liners were the common completion method. With the environmental and space limitations on surface pumping equipment, and the ultimate expectation of large fluid lifting requirements as a result of waterflooding, electric submersible pumping was selected as the major lift method. P. 83^

Developments in Precision Casing Joint and Radioactive Measurements for Compaction Monitoring

Summary A method has been developed in Wilmington field, CA, for measuring oil zone compaction and expansion by the deformation in well casing. Possible formation compaction is also directly investigated by locating radioactive bullets previously placed in the formation. Early logging techniques were described fully in 1969. The addition of a downhole odometer and different recording techniques have improved measurement accuracy. Random joint lengths have been repeatedly measured and remeasured under field conditions with a standard deviation of 0.0159 ft [4.8 mm]. An alternative system, developed by Ruedrich et al., utilized multiple collar locators and specially milled casing joints. Both systems can be applied to field situations where random joint lengths are found; however, the odometer system should be more accurate under these conditions. Introduction The basic problems of surface subsidence and related formation compaction in Wilmington field are well known. Field investigations have shown that when the formation rocks are unconsolidated, formation compaction and expansion are approximately reflected by casing length changes. Formation compaction is not reflected exactly by casing deformation because of slippage between the formation and pipe. However, in Wilmington field correlation has been good, perhaps as great as 95%. These problems, along with logging tools for detecting and measuring casing-length deformations within a few hundredths of a foot per joint [+/ –9 mm/ +/–13 m] were described by Allen in 1969. At that time the system used two or three collar locators (and/or radioactive bullet locators for direct measurement of formation compaction) spaced about one joint length apart. Calculations were made from film recordings made at a scale of 50 to 60 in./100 ft [1.27 to 1.52 m/30.48 m] of hole logged. Subsequently, this equipment has been improved and other investigators have developed at least one alternative system. Statement of the Problem Measurement of subsurface compaction has been a problem in Wilmington field for a number of years and all the older in-situ casing-joint-length investigations were related to this problem. Recently, data requirements for environmental impact reports and studies in both oil and geothermal fields have revived interest in these measurements. In-situ baserun casing-length measurements on new wells have been required in certain instances. Investigations of potential formation compaction in geothermal areas are under way, including government grants for development of measurement systems. Current state-of-the-art tools will be used as a base for developing similar tools that can be used effectively at geothermal reservoir temperatures. To detect small amounts of compaction, by either casing deformation or radioactive bullet displacement, downhole measurements accurate to a few hundredths of a foot [9 mm] or less are necessary. A major problem in this type of logging has always been tool "bounce." Bounce is defined as an erratic tool speed in the hole, caused by drag and cable stretch, while the footage recording device at the surface is recording-at a uniform scale. Obviously, erroneous measurements will be made when this happens. This problem is accentuated when logging older wells wherein scale, corrosion, and tubing wear marks have roughened the pipe interior. Deviated holes, which are common in Wilmington field, also increase bounce. Several other instrument systems have been used in very shallow water wells and in engineering geology applications, but these systems generally are not applicable in a deepwell environment. Tool Development To overcome the bounce problem, a downhole tracking system with small odometer wheels was devised by the City of Long Beach and built by Dresser-Atlas. The tool body is ex-centered by springs that push the wheels into a firm contact with the casing. Two tracking wheels are used, each having five magnets spaced around its periphery. These magnets trigger a reed switch each time passed and a "blip" is recorded at the surface. Each blip records that the tool has traveled about 2 in. [5.1 cm], regardless of the amount of cable that may have emerged from the hole during this same interval. Two wheels are used to provide a redundancy factor; if both are in contact with the hole wall, they should record about the same amount of tool travel (they are not synchronized). Because of occasional lift-off of the casing wall by the upper wheel, resulting from varying cable pull, the lower wheel has proved the most reliable. JPT P. 805^