Major Corridors Research Articles

Performance monitoring and redesign of power system stabilizers based on system identification techniques

To maintain stable power system operation, damping control systems are used in conventional power plants, known as Power System Stabilizers (PSS). However, to derive suitable controller parameters, the current methods require dynamic models that are difficult to maintain and update, and in some cases, might not be available. This makes it challenging for grid operators to maintain system stability when the system is under stringent operating conditions or undergoes the loss of major transmission corridors, which would require a new stabilizer design to provide adequate damping.Leveraging the availability of real-time measurements and “probing” technologies, this paper provides a complementary approach that does not require power system simulation models, but is based on system identification techniques that allow to derive simple and accurate models based on data collected on the system. The proposed method allows to monitor the performance of damping controllers and even to perform redesign based on the models derived with system identification. The resulting redesign could be used to update PSS parameters and improve damping without the need of removing existing damping control systems from service.

Landslide susceptibility assessment along the major transport corridor using decision tree model: a case study of Kullu-Rohtang Pass

Landslide susceptibility assessment along the major transport corridor using decision tree model: a case study of Kullu-Rohtang Pass

Landslide Susceptibility Assessment along the Major Transport Corridor using Decision Tree Model: A Case Study of Kullu-Rohtang Pass

Landslide Susceptibility Assessment along the Major Transport Corridor using Decision Tree Model: A Case Study of Kullu-Rohtang Pass

Land suitability analysis in monocentric post-socialist city: Case of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

Urban expansion has been rapidly increasing and is projected to be tripled in 2030 in worldwide. The impact of urbanization has adverse effects on the environment and economic development. Residential lands consist of almost one-third of the urban area and heavily affect the city's inhabitants. The capital of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar, has been significantly expanded, particularly in the urban periphery where poor living conditions and a lack of essential urban services were identified. The paper aims to conduct a suitability analysis of residential areas in Ulaanbaatar city based on three main categories (livability, affordability, and accessibility) of fifteen criteria using the fuzzy logic. Through the study, we have identified some potential suitable residential areas for further development, such as apartment residential area located in the southern part of the city and four low-rise ger areas were distributed along major transport corridors. Moreover, the results indicated that the spatial structure of the whole town might be in transition to a polycentric pattern. However, a concentric ring pattern in the 'city's periphery displayed a concerning uncontrolled ger area expansion, which may increase low living conditions in the area. This study recommends better urban sprawl control policies and more property market investment in the ger area to ensure sustainable development goals in Ulaanbaatar.

Growing up in transit. Personal development and resistance of migrant adolescents travelling through Mexico unaccompanied

Mexico is a major global migration corridor. The last decade has seen an increase in adolescents travelling unaccompanied from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, mainly due to violence and natural disasters. This group of migrants is exposed to migration risks such as trafficking and exploitation, as well as multiple deportations and long waiting times without appropriate access to health and education services. These conditions have significant documented adverse impacts on health and mental health, but the impact on personal development has been less explored. Thus, this article aims to explore the impact of migration transit on identity and resilience of unaccompanied migrant youth, psychosocial mental health constructs that are important for wellbeing and personal development. Through 47 semi-structured interviews conducted with migrant youth and different migration workers in summer 2021 in two migrant shelters in Mexico City and Guadalajara, we found that possibilities for identity building for migrant youth were restricted in a context of curbed freedom. Violence and poverty led to loss of crucial formative years, pushing many to aspire only to work – regardless of the type of work. Resilience overlapped with resistance but was generally maintained with cultural narratives of goal achievement, faith and hope. Strong responsibility towards sending remittances to family made family one of the main goals of the migration journey. Workers highlighted how regional migration management, underlined by discriminatory policies which place profit and national security ideology before a recognition of common humanity, is a considerable barrier to funding services and advancing access to rights for youth. However, youth showed recognition of their own agency and humanity, which represents an important basis on which to build a counter-discriminatory vision and management of this migration. Results are reported according to COREQ guidelines.

Urban Parking Assessment along Major Corridor of Birendranagar Surkhet

Parking management is a critical concern in urban areas, and Birendranagar, serving as the capital of Karnali Province, faces numerous challenges related to parking. Extensive surveys have been conducted to assess parking conditions during peak traffic hours, collecting essential data for a comprehensive analysis. This paper focuses on a thorough examination of parking dynamics, including vehicular flow, composition, efficiency, and adequacy. The study places particular emphasis on Yari Chowk, currently the most bustling intersection in Birendranagar, and prioritizes it for a detailed evaluation. The research employs methodologies similar to established traffic studies, utilizing the gathered data to provide valuable insights into parking management and traffic flow optimization for the specified intersection.

Historical archives reveal record rainfall and severe flooding in December 1867 resulting from an atmospheric river and snowmelt, western Washington, USA

The flooding of 1861-1862 in California and Oregon is the most severe flood event documented in the far western USA and stands as a benchmark for a worst-case atmospheric-river flooding event. In western Washington, historical data are sparser, and 19th-century flood events have consequently not been well documented. We found that rainfall observations from five locations spanning western Washington had no detectable bias when compared to nearby 20th and 21st-century comparator stations. Time series of the four-day precipitation sum revealed an event in December 1867 that was greater than any of the last century at three locations, and in the top two events at the other two locations. Summing over all locations, the regional three-day or four-day peak precipitation in 1867 exceeded the 150-yr recurrence magnitude by nearly 150 mm, indicative of non-stationarity of precipitation extremes. Newspapers and historical accounts document flood damage to settlements, farms, and bridges from the Columbia River to central Puget Sound. Reported high water levels at two locations indicate floodplains under more than a meter of water. Reanalysis data (20CRv3) is poorly spatially constrained in 1867, and underestimates the magnitude of this event, but it clearly shows the atmospheric-river cause of the event and supports snowmelt as a significant contributor to flooding. Compared to the most recent extensive flooding in 1996, the 1867 floods were likely of a similar extent but centered further north, and with notably more precipitation and enhanced by snowmelt. The 1867 rainfall amounts were also greater than those produced by the 2006 atmospheric river, though flooding in 2006 was not enhanced by snowmelt and record stream discharges were limited to mountain catchments. The combined rainfall and flood evidence from 1867 shows the potential for events more extreme than have occurred in recent history in the major urban corridors of western Washington.

Mechanisms of Block Instability at the Toe of a Slowly Deforming Rock Slope

Steep alpine rock slopes undergoing deformation may give rise to concurrent landslide hazards of different type and magnitude. The underlying mechanisms of instability are often challenging to investigate due to their inherent complexity; furthermore, they can occur on poorly accessible terrain, preventing the collection of data by means of traditional field techniques or even inhibiting awareness of hazards. This paper focuses upon one such case, in which a major transportation corridor running along the floor of the Aosta Valley (Western Italian Alps) is affected by significant—and until recently unknown—rockfall hazards promoted by a previously collapsed rockslide still deforming slowly at elevations almost 600 m above the road. In particular, two large discrete blocks (volume > 103 m3) lie precariously at the toe of the slide and could fall downslope at extremely rapid velocity. The design of countermeasures for the stabilization or removal of these blocks would require the assessment of their mechanical interaction with the bedrock and degree of internal fracturing (i.e., possible pervasive damage within the blocks). We perform this task by first exploring potential kinematic styles and damage patterns at failure according to a series of preliminary finite-element models. We then use detailed displacement measurements from remote sensing and in situ monitoring, in conjunction with repeat topographic surveying from a terrestrial laser scanner (TLS) and a drone laser scanner (DLS), to reconstruct the actual kinematics of the blocks. The results substantiate the hypothesis that instability is primarily controlled by transient degradation of friction on a through-going basal rupture surface. Development of a large tensile fracture in one of the two blocks is inferred to be conditioned by increased non-planarity of the slipping joint in comparison with the other block. We highlight that optimized integration of cutting-edge rock slope investigation tools can help address otherwise unresolved key aspects of complex instabilities in steep mountainous areas.

Water Security Problems of Lake Tana and Its Possible Management Options: A Review

Lake Tana is the largest lake in Ethiopia and accounts for 50% of the country's freshwater resources. It provides a unique habitat for biodiversity and plays an economic role via tourism, electricity, agriculture, fishery, and, most importantly, it provides drinking water to the local inhabitants. Because of its immense water resource potential for socioeconomic development, Lake Tana has been identified as a major economic corridor in the country. Given the importance of the lake to the region and nation’s economy, human health, and livelihoods, assessing the water security problems of the lake in terms of water scarcity and quality is critical for its sustainable management. Doing so, studies on water level fluctuation and water scarcity, and physicochemical and related hydrological and biological features of the lake, which have been reported in the literature over more than a decade, were reviewed, and the studies showed that water level fluctuation was observed and resulted in water scarcity problems for surrounding communities. In addition to water scarcity and water fluctuation problems, the lake's trophic status has also gradually changed from oligotrophic to mesotrophic and eutrophic. In addition, faecal pollution, heavy metal pollution, and toxicogenic cyanobacteria are detected in the lake, especially on the shores and its tributary river mouths. Moreover, Lake Tana is infested by the ecologically dangerous and worst invasive weed, the so-called water hyacinth, with rapid area coverage and has resulted in dominant other important floras and posing a significant negative impact on water quality, biodiversity, fishing, water supply, water transportation, and other economic activities. There are options recommended to manage the lake. In this regard, different lake ecosystem management options like delineation of buffer zones, integrated watershed management, awareness creation about the lake and its associated wetlands, development of waste management practices, eradicating/reducing water hyacinth, and enforcement of environmental related policies and Strategies are recommended for sustainable management of Lake Tana.

Sources, spatial-distributions and fluxes of PAH-contaminated dusts in the Athabasca oil sands region

Atmospheric deposition of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) has increased in northern Alberta, Canada, due to industrial development in the Athabasca oil sands region (AOSR). However, the sources, summertime deposition fluxes and associated spatial patterns are poorly characterized, and the magnitude of contamination has not been directly contrasted with comparable measurements around large Canadian cities. PAHs were measured in Sphagnum moss collected from 30 bogs in the AOSR and compared with reference moss collected from various remote, rural and near-urban sites in Alberta and Ontario. At all 39 locations, strong correlations between depositional fluxes of PAHs and accumulation rates of ash (n = 117, r = 0.877, p < 0.001) implied that the main source of PAHs to moss was atmospheric deposition of particles. Average PAH concentrations at near-field AOSR sites (mean [SD], 62.4 [24.3] ng/g) were significantly higher than at far-field AOSR sites (44.9 [20.8] ng/g; p = 0.038) or the 7 reference sites in Alberta (20.6 [3.5] ng/g; p < 0.001). In fact, average PAH concentrations across the entire AOSR (7,850 km2) were approximately twice as high as in London, Ontario, or near petroleum upgrading and major traffic corridors in Edmonton, Alberta. A chemical mass balance model estimated that both delayed petcoke (33 % of PAHs) and fine tailings (38 % of PAHs) were the major sources of PAHs in the AOSR. Over the 2015 summer growing season, we estimate that 101–110 kg of PAHs (on 14,300–17,300 tonnes of PAH-containing dusts) were deposited to the AOSR within a 50 km radius of surface mining. Given that the highest PAH deposition was to the northern quadrant of the AOSR, which includes the First Nations community of Fort MacKay, further dust control measures should be considered to protect human and environmental health in the region.

The China -Pakistan Economic Corridor: A Critical Analysis of Gulf- Crisis

The Chino-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), initialed in 2013, is among China’s biggest foreign policy and investment commitments. It links China's Xinjiang Province with the Arabian Sea overland through Pakistan by three major new transportation corridors, supplemented by new power plants fueled by both renewables and coal, and establishing new industrial parks and trade zones. The project could transform Pakistan, but it also has clear implications for the Gulf States and after the outbreak of the Qatar crisis in 2017, CPEC became an arena of competition for the Gulf States. China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a part of a strategic geopolitical move that promises not only augment the strategic position of Pakistan but also unleashing socio-economic potentials of Qatar and China. The research is an effort to highlights the interest of china and Pakistan regarding CPEC. Keeping in view the geo-strategic location of Gwadar port It also provides an insight into the challenges regarding CPEC It also endorses why Qatar is keenly interested to join the CPEC and how its involvement boosts its economy? The proposed research is based on descriptive and analytical research methods where the researcher consults primary and secondary sources to support their argument. So, in this way, the results suggest that strategically CPEC would provide a supported system to Qatar to transform its move into a truly interconnected world. This project can potentially strengthen the macroeconomic cooperation connectivity peace, and growth among different countries through trade and business opportunities which will further generate revenues for Qatar.

Bidirectional movements of Nathusius’ pipistrelle bats (Pipistrellus nathusii) during autumn at a major migration corridor

Migration is well documented for many species throughout the animal kingdom. Although migration is also a common behaviour in bats, it is rarely studied due to the cryptic nature of the phenomenon. Recoveries of banded individuals have shown that Nathusius' pipistrelles (Pipistrellus nathusii) can fly more than 2000 km between their summer and winter ranges in Europe, but further details of how and where they move between the endpoints of their seasonal journeys remain elusive. Here, we used three-dimensional acoustic tracking at a coastal migration corridor to elucidate the flight behaviour of Nathusius' pipistrelles during late summer. Analyzing 432 recorded flight trajectories, we show that the majority of bats followed the expected southerly direction, parallel to the coastline, on all nights, and flying at the optimal speed for long-distance travel with minimal energy expenditure. However, on one day with stronger winds, about 20 % of the bats flew in the opposite, i.e. northerly, direction. The observation of a proportion of individuals flying antiparallel to the mass of migrating conspecifics within the same movement corridor highlights that individuals may follow contrasting movement strategies at the same time and place, presumably depending on environmental conditions. We argue that it is possible for Nathusius’ pipistrelles to fly back and forth (south and north) during autumn migration, spending more time on this migration corridor than required for a straight one-way flight. This highlights the urgent need to protect migration corridors along coastlines, particularly as wind energy development continues.

Displacement through the Commons: Community and Spatial Order in Bangkok

AbstractThis article investigates the relationship of discourses around community to larger urban processes of development and displacement in Bangkok, Thailand. It focuses on two sites located along a major commercial corridor. The first, undergoing a process of relocation that involves establishing collective land tenure, goes by the Thai term for community, chumchon, though architects and planners frequently refer to it as a “slum.” The second site, an upscale “community mall” called the Commons, is a newly constructed open‐air commercial space built to serve Bangkok's young, hip creative class. The eviction of the poor chumchon residents in favor of wealthy café‐goers may look like a prime example of larger structural forces of what is often called “gentrification” or “accumulation by dispossession.” However, these sweeping narratives around global capitalist processes miss critical aspects of how the discursive construction of community around these two sites has enabled their physical construction and deconstruction. We demonstrate that rhetorics, imagery, and practices of community serve to valorize the existence of one site while justifying the removal of the other. This analysis demonstrates this outcome was not just the inevitable result of impersonal structural forces. It was displacement through the commons, fueled by discourses around community.

Mapping hazardous locations on a road network due to extreme gross vehicle weights

This study investigates the application of hazard maps in identifying critical locations associated with extreme vehicle load events. Examining extreme vehicle loads can offer valuable insights into the reliability of road infrastructure. Weigh-In-Motion (WIM) systems are commonly employed for this purpose; however, their limited availability often necessitates the use of less-sophisticated traffic counters (LSTCs). Unfortunately, LSTCs are unable to measure vehicular axle loads, posing a significant drawback. To overcome this limitation, we propose a methodology that utilizes data from LSTCs to estimate axle loads and map extreme gross vehicle weights. To demonstrate the feasibility of this approach, we present a case study concentrating on the major highway corridors in Mexico. While WIM stations are absent, data from a network of 1,777 counting stations and origin–destination surveys are available. By quantifying Gaussian copula-based Bayesian networks using the existing information, we generate synthetic site-specific axle loads. Subsequently, we calculate gross vehicle weights for selected return periods. These study findings facilitate the identification of hazardous locations. Additionally, we provide an interactive web map and a graphical user interface to generate synthetic axle loads. These tools, along with the proposed methodology, can serve as the foundation for maintenance strategies for existing roads and bridges.

ПІДХІД ТА ВИМОГИ ДО СТВОРЕННЯ ЗАРЯДНОЇ ІНФРАСТРУКТУРИ В КИЄВІ ТА КИЇВСЬКІЙ ОБЛАСТІ

The article shows two different approaches to the development of charging infrastructure. The first ap-proach of expanding charging network proposes an average use of the charging point of about 5 percent. This approach focuses on the rapid creation of slow AC charging points (5-22 kW). However, low network utilization is not economically viable in the long term and limits investment by private companies. The second approach to network development is more usage-oriented, where charging points should be used with-in 15%. Also, the difference is fast charging with direct current (50-300 kW). Such a network develops more slowly, being restricted to major transport corridors; but in the future it looks more attractive, and this approach is currently domi-nant in the countries of the European Union. Methodology. The article uses the approach of comparing two ways of deploying the charging infrastructure at dif-ferent loads of one charging point and different power of the charging device. Goal. Possible creation of a charging network under the conditions of an acceptable load of one charging point. Originality. The article proposes an approach that allows using a charging station as a tool for increasing the de-mand for electric vehicles. Practical value. Existing legislation of the European Union on increasing environmental safety of vehicles, pro-vides possible background for installing chargers within the largest roads of the Kyiv region. It is necessary, because number of electric vehicles could stay low without charging infrastructure available. Keywords: motor vehicle, electric vehicle, charging point, charging infrastructure, location of charging station, power of charging point, the cost of connecting a charging station.

Improving Participation for Sustainable Transport: Testing CoAXs Amidst Controversy Around a BRT Project in Santiago, Chile

We examine to what extent Public Participation GIS (PPGIS) contributes to a successful participatory process and how context affects the tool’s role in both process and results. We tested a tool to visualize accessibility effects of transport projects, using it in participatory workshops related to a major bus corridor proposal in Santiago de Chile. We innovated in the tool itself, to visualize overcrowding effects as a way to include comfort issues. We found that the GIS encouraged a sincere and realistic conversation among participants. Perceptions of the project did not necessarily improve, but the tool did reduce polarization of opinions.

Detection of large-scale cloud microphysical changes within a major shipping corridor after implementation of the International Maritime Organization 2020 fuel sulfur regulations

Abstract. New regulations from the International Maritime Organization (IMO) limiting sulfur emissions from the shipping industry are expected to have large benefits in terms of public health but may come with an undesired side effect: acceleration of global warming as the climate-cooling effects of ship pollution on marine clouds are diminished. Previous work has found a substantial decrease in the detection of ship tracks in clouds after the IMO 2020 regulations went into effect, but changes in large-scale cloud properties have been more equivocal. Using a statistical technique that estimates counterfactual fields of what large-scale cloud and radiative properties within an isolated shipping corridor in the southeastern Atlantic would have been in the absence of shipping, we confidently detect a reduction in the magnitude of cloud droplet effective radius decreases within the shipping corridor and find evidence for a reduction in the magnitude of cloud brightening as well. The instantaneous radiative forcing due to aerosol–cloud interactions from the IMO 2020 regulations is estimated as O(1 W m−2) within the shipping corridor, lending credence to global estimates of O(0.1 W m−2). In addition to their geophysical significance, our results also provide independent evidence for general compliance with the IMO 2020 regulations.

Landscape changes in the Tombstone Territorial Park region (central Yukon, Canada) from multilevel remote sensing analysis

Northern ecosystems are vulnerable to surface disturbances caused by warming climate and human activities. The Ogilvie Mountains in central Yukon are an important region that should be monitored, as it is a major transportation corridor connecting northern communities. This study aims to characterize 35 years of landscape changes in the Tombstone Territorial Park and the surrounding region of the Ogilvie Mountains by detecting and interpreting landscape changes using a Landsat-derived trend analysis and multilevel image interpretation. Statistically significant spectral changes occurred in 24% of the study area between 1986 and 2021, and most of these changes are gradual and associated with vegetation succession and hydrological processes (i.e., erosion and deposition). Other landscape changes included wildfires, slumps, changes to riverbanks and lake shores, earlier melting of icings in the summer, degradation on the peripheries of some ice-wedge polygonal terrain, and potential insect damage to forests. Our investigation reveals that the extent and magnitude of landscape changes in the study area are influenced by climate, geomorphic setting, ecological succession, and glacial history of the region. Given a varied combination of ecotypes, spatial and temporal variations are to be expected in terms of the response of the landscape to climate and anthropogenic disturbances.

Regional Response As Indonesia's Coordination Effort To Maritime Violence In The Malacca Strait

As a maritime nation, Indonesia considers maritime governance important in all maritime areas. This includes not only vessels sailing in Indonesian territorial waters and routes in Indonesian waters, but also Indonesian-flagged vessels sailing abroad and Indonesian crew sailing abroad. The Strait of Malacca is one of the most dangerous sea lanes in the world and a target for transnational crime. Located between the coastal states of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, to the north of the Indonesian island of Sumatra and to the south of Malaysia, the Malacca Strait is 600 miles long and is a major transit corridor connecting the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea. In the maritime violence ecosystem, there are types of maritime crimes consisting of maritime terrorism, maritime armed crime, and other maritime crimes. Cooperation to combat maritime violence in the Malacca Strait can take the form of cooperation between states, cooperation between NGOs, or cooperation between security sector actors, such as border guards and police, with a focus on prevention and protection. There are several coordinated patrols between Indonesia and other countries to combat maritime violence in the Malacca Strait. For example, bilateral cooperation between Malacca Strait littoral states and user states, to establishing a cooperation framework between Indonesia and the International Maritime Organization that focuses on the issue of maritime threats.

Factors affecting the development of a healthy city in Suburban areas, Thailand

Pathum Thani Province is one of the provinces surrounding the Bangkok Metropolitan Area (BMA) that has received the spillover growth and expansion of the city of Bangkok. However, this has resulted in urban changes into sprawling characterized by clusters of peri-urbanization interspersed along major transportation corridors that has absorbed provincial municipal centers within almost a hundred-kilometer radius from the center. The results of this uncontrolled, unplanned sprawl with weak or ineffective land use or transportation planning have detrimental effects on the overall well-being of the residents and the quality of life in the metropolitan area. This study uses the healthy city concept to analyze the factors that affect the health of the population by using Pathum Thani Province as the case study of 1055 structured questionnaires in face-to-face interviews. After data collection, the data was used in a Structural Equation Model (SEM) to analyze the factors that affect the health of the population in this highly urbanized province. The result of the study showed that factors affecting urban health have components relative to health issues, social and economic, physical, and environmental factors. Finally, this approach could help to quantify the complex interactions involved in health and wellbeing in relation to the constantly changing urban environment of sprawling areas to help guide policy decisions for achieving the development of a healthy city.