Winter Olympic Games Research Articles

Response of Runoff Yield to Land Use Changes in the Small Watershed of Core Area for 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Zhangjiakou City Based on SWAT Model

Based on an improved high-precision land use map, the SWAT model of the small watershed of the core area for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Zhangjiakou City was established. The model was set up, calibrated, and validated with data from 2017 to 2019. In comparison with the measured flow discharge, all the coefficient of determination values of the simulated results at the upstream, midstream, and downstream (outlet) points were larger than 0.80 in both calibration and validation periods, and the relevant Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency coefficient values were above 0.62. With the model, the response of runoff yield in the small watershed to the land use change before (2015) and after (2019) Olympic construction was simulated and analyzed. The runoff yield change was only −5.1% from 2015 to 2019, which was not statistically significant (p = 0.87 > 0.05). Through simulation of two extreme scenarios, two runoff yield change coefficients were introduced to explore the effects of land use change on runoff yield. The results revealed that the neutralization effects of the land use change from grassland to forest (with strong water conservation capacity) and residential and bare land (with poor water conservation capacity) were the main reasons for the insignificant change of runoff yield. The results of this research may provide some inspiration to the application of SWAT model in small watershed and some guidance to the vegetation restoration practices for water conservation. These results can promote understanding on the response of runoff yield to the land use changes towards two extreme directions of forest land and residential and barren land, and provide some guidance for the vegetation restoration practices in the small watersheds hosting major events.

Quality Assessment and Rehabilitation of Mountain Forest in the Chongli Winter Olympic Games Area, China

Spurred by the degraded forest in the 2022 Chongli Winter Olympic Games area, the Chinese government initiated a national program for mountain forest rehabilitation. We developed a method to assess the quality of mountain forests using an index system composed of stand structure, site conditions, and landscape aesthetics at three criteria levels. The method involves index weights determined by the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and entropy method. The results show that landscape aesthetics was the most important measure for the criterion layer. Slope aspect and naturalness were the most and second-most important indices, respectively, for the alternative layer. The quality of the mountain forest in the Chongli area was divided into four grades. The area had 7.8% with high quality, 46.7% with medium quality, 36.6% with low quality, and 8.9% with inferior quality. In total 76.6% of the damaged forest were distributed on sloping and steep sloping ground at 1700 to 2050 m altitude, and Betula platyphylla Sukaczev and Larix gmelinii var. principis-rupprechtii (Mayr) Pilg. were the predominating trees. The damaged forest was divided into over-dense, over-sparse, degraded, inappropriate tree species, and inferior landscape forest. For different types of damaged forest, corresponding modification measures were proposed. The methods developed in this study can be used for rehabilitation projects to improve the quality of degraded forests in mountainous temperate areas.

Multifactor Analysis and Intervention Study on Menstrual Disorders of Female Athletes in the Context of the Winter Olympic Games: A Case-Control Study Based on a Large Sample.

A case-control study was conducted to explore the multifactor analysis and intervention of menstrual disorders in female athletes under the background of the Winter Olympic Games, which is based on a large sample. For this purpose, from January 2020 to September 2021, 381 female athletes in long-term ice and snow sports were investigated by random sampling. All of them promoted gynecological examination and counted the incidence of menstrual disorders. The subjects were assigned into two groups according to their menstrual status: abnormal (n = 163) and normal menstrual state groups (n = 218). The basic and clinical data of the two groups were compared, and univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression analysis were employed to explore the risk factors of menstrual disorders in female athletes. According to the random number table method, the menstrual disorder group was again assigned into the intervention group and the control group. The intervention group received health education and glucose supplement intervention to correct EAMDs, while the control group only received health education. The improvement of patients' ability balance and the changes of reproductive hormones were compared after intervention. The results of univariate analysis indicated that there exhibited no significant differences in age, menarche age, smoking history, drinking history, grade, sexual life history, abortion history, BMI, and location of household registration, but there were significant differences in family history, sleep quality, diet regularity, and mental health status (P < 0.05). The results of univariate analysis indicated that there exhibited no significant differences in age, menarche, smoking, drinking, grade, sexual life history, abortion history, family history, sleep quality, diet regularity, and mental health status. Logistic regression analysis indicated that family history of menstrual disorders, poor sleep quality, irregular diet, and mental health status all affected women's menstrual disorders (OR: 1.411, 95% CI: 1.378∼1.444; OR: 1.501, 95% CI: 1.030∼2.187; OR: 1.554, 95% CI: 1.086∼2.225; OR: 1.383, 95% CI: 1.018∼1.877, respectively) independent risk factors. According to the comparison of menstrual cycle, in the intervention group, 12 patients had menstrual cycle 21–28 days, 12 patients had menstrual cycle 28–38 days, and 58 patients were irregular and had no amenorrhea, while in the control group, 36 patients had menstrual cycle 21–28 days, 24 patients had 28–38 days, 12 patients had amenorrhea, and 11 patients had irregular menstruation, and there exhibited no significant difference (P > 0.05). There exhibited no significant difference in energy balance before and after intervention (P > 0.05); after intervention, the ability balance of the two groups was significantly promoted, and the degree of improvement in the study group was better (P < 0.05). The indexes of reproductive hormones in the follicular phase were compared before and after glucose supplement intervention, and there exhibited no significant difference before intervention (P > 0.05); after intervention, the serum LH and GnRH of the two groups decreased, while FSH and P increased. The improvement degree of the intervention group was better than that of the control group, but there exhibited no significant difference (P > 0.05). Before intervention, there exhibited no significant difference in the serum E2 level in the follicular phase (P > 0.05); after the intervention, the serum E2 of the two groups increased significantly, and the improvement of the intervention group was better (P < 0.05). Before intervention, there exhibited no significant difference in the serum E2 level in the follicular phase (P > 0.05); after the intervention, the serum E2 of the two groups increased significantly, and the improvement of the intervention group was better (P < 0.05). Before intervention, there exhibited no significant difference in serum E2 and P levels in the luteal phase (P > 0.05); after intervention, the level of serum E2 decreased and the level of serum P increased in the two groups. There exhibited no significant difference in the level of serum E2 (P > 0.05). There exhibited significant difference in the serum P level (P < 0.05). Female athletes have a high rate of menstrual disorders. Family history of menstrual disorders, poor sleep quality, irregular diet, and poor mental health are the main risk factors of menstrual disorders. Health education and sugar supplement intervention measures for female athletes play a positive role in the improvement of their ability balance and the regulation of reproductive hormones.

Другий етап розвитку сучасного олімпійського руху відповідно до авторської комплексно-фактологічної періодизації

Другий етап розвитку сучасного олімпійського руху відповідно до авторської комплексно-фактологічної періодизації

Introduction: Race and the Olympic Games

Introduction: Race and the Olympic Games

China–ASEAN Relations January 2022 to March 2022: Chronology of Events

China–ASEAN Relations January 2022 to March 2022: Chronology of Events Chen Juan (bio) As a research institute based in Singapore, the EAI monitors developments in relations and interactions between China and the individual countries of Southeast Asia as well as the ASEAN grouping as a whole. This material is presented in the form of (i) a chronology of events and (ii) important documents. —the Editors JANUARY 2022 1st The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement enters into force for 10 of the participating countries (Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Japan, Laos, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam). For the remaining participating countries, the agreement will enter into force 60 days after they deposit their instrument of ratification with the RCEP Depositary. 10th Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin announces at a press conference China’s support for Cambodia to resolve the issue in Myanmar. The remark is a response to a question related to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen’s visit to Myanmar on 7 January 2022. Cambodia, the ASEAN Chair in 2022, has been making efforts to invite Myanmar’s military junta to engage with ASEAN. The announcement makes China the second country, after Japan, to back Cambodia’s decision. 11th Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks on the telephone with Indonesian President Joko Widodo. Xi has expressed readiness to foster new areas of collaboration such as new energy, low-carbon development, the digital economy and maritime cooperation. The Indonesian side welcomes investments from Chinese enterprises as well as cooperation in high technology and green areas. Both sides share updates on the construction of the Jakarta–Bandung High-Speed Railway which has progressed smoothly and is expected to enter operation as planned. 13th Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh holds a telephone conversation with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. Noting that bilateral trade has achieved encouraging progress in 2021, both sides agree to work together on improving the efficiency and convenience in the customs clearance of Vietnam’s exports of agricultural products to China. 17th The Fifth Manila Forum for China–Philippines Relations is held online with the theme “Hand in Hand for a Stronger and Reinforced China– Philippines Friendship”. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi delivers a keynote speech, promising to keep China’s door open to more agricultural products from the Philippines and to synergise the Belt and Road Initiative with the Philippines’ “Build, Build, Build” strategy. He also announces an additional grant of RMB100 million provided by the Chinese government to support the Philippines’ reconstruction of areas hit by typhoon Odette in December 2021. 19th The 21st Meeting of the ASEAN Plus Three (APT) Tourism Ministers held in Cambodia notes that the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect international travel to the APT region in 2021, as international visitors further declined by 39.4 per cent compared to 2020. Similarly, tourism receipts in 2021 dropped by 81.9 per cent compared to 2020. Ministers update each other on measures undertaken by their respective countries and discuss ways to collaboratively reopen the tourism sector. They welcome the endorsement of the ASEAN Guidelines for Hygiene and Safety for Professionals and the Communities in the Tourism Industry and the ASEAN Safe Travel Stamp, as efforts to enhance the trust of international travellers to Southeast Asia. FEBRUARY 2022 4th Thai Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn visits Beijing to attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. At a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, she shares her plan to publish a book in Thailand introducing the history of the Communist Party of China, and to visit various parts of China to conduct research. Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan meets Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing. They exchange views on the developments related to the South China Sea, US–China relations and the situation in the Asia Pacific region. Balakrishnan, together with two other ministers, accompanied Singaporean President Halimah Yacob for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. President Halimah is one of the 30 heads of state, governments and international organisations who attended the event. After the event, she meets respectively with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and President Xi Jinping, where both sides agree to expand...

The Perceived Sustainability of Sports and Social Legacy Goals of Beijing Summer and Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games

Inspired by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Legacy Strategic Approach, Beijing 2022 issued the Legacy Plan of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games as a continuing effort from the 2008 Beijing Olympics “to promote a positive legacy from the Olympic Games to the host cities, regions and countries” (IOC, 2020). Using a qualitative approach guided by Asper’s (2009) empirical phenomenology and Alase’s (2017) interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), the author interviewed the Olympic officials in legacy planning for the 2008 Summer Games and/or the 2022 Winter Games, the scholars in Olympic studies, and a journalist reporting the Olympic legacy related news in Beijing. The narratives presented the interviewees’ positive experiences and perceptions in most of the sustainability inquiries of the “soft” legacy goals. The results revealed that the Olympic and Paralympic ideals had been well appreciated by the mass public since Beijing hosted the 2008 Summer Games and the sports and social legacies from the Games had been carried forward to Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. At the same time, a gap existed between urban and rural, especially on the sustainability of the legacy goals concerning people with disabilities.

Developing an Indicator System to Monitor City’s Sustainability Integrated Local Governance: A Case Study in Zhangjiakou

Indicator-based evaluation systems are critical for guiding and monitoring cities’ sustainable development. Zhangjiakou city is the national renewable energy demonstration zone in China, and is gaining more attention (being the co-host city of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games). It needs to seize the opportunities for its long-term sustainable development. An indicator system was developed to monitor the city’s sustainability. Local governance was integrated into an extended three-pillar evaluation model as the fourth dimension through the involvement of over 30 local government departments. Based on the interpretation of local demands, 118 assessment tools were reviewed and an international indicator inventory of 224 indicators was established. By analyzing the local relevance, 95 indicators were selected and categorized into eight modules (energy and carbon emission, resources and environment, harmony and well-being, economics and inclusion, key industries, innovation and smart, governance and efficiency, and internationalization). However, only 67 indicators were confirmed for value assignments after applicability assessment. Basic performance values (BPVs) were given as achievable goals during the 14th Five-Year Plan (FYP), and the excellent performance values (EPVs) were given towards carbon neutrality. All of the values were peer-reviewed and agreed by the local government while discrepancy still exists on carbon emission.

Temporary Reversible Lane Design Based on Bi-Level Programming Model during the Winter Olympic Games

When the Winter Olympic Games were held, several roads were divided into exclusive lanes for the Winter Olympics to ensure the smooth passage of Winter Olympic vehicles. This reduced the number of lanes available for private vehicles, which caused a temporary tidal traffic phenomenon that led to traffic congestion and increased exhaust emissions. Temporary reversible lanes were added to the object lane to alleviate the temporary tide traffic phenomenon. A bi-level programming model was developed based on the principle of the minimum construction cost and the minimum total travel time of the road network. Meanwhile, three heuristics algorithms were used to solve the problem. The results show that the reasonable addition of temporary reversible lanes during the Olympic Games can reduce the total system travel cost, solve the temporary tidal traffic phenomenon, and alleviate traffic congestion.

Transport Patterns and Potential Sources of Atmospheric Pollution during the XXIV Olympic Winter Games Period

The attainment of suitable ambient air quality standards is a matter of great concern for successfully hosting the XXIV Olympic Winter Games (OWG). Transport patterns and potential sources of pollutants in Zhangjiakou (ZJK) were investigated using pollutant monitoring datasets and a dispersion model. The PM2.5 concentration during February in ZJK has increased slightly (28%) from 2018 to 2021, mostly owing to the shift of main potential source regions of west-central Inner Mongolia and Mongolian areas (2015–18) to the North China Plain and northern Shanxi Province (NCPS) after 2018. Using CO as an indicator, the relative contributions of the different regions to the receptor site (ZJK) were evaluated based on the source-receptor-relationship method (SRR) and an emission inventory. We found that the relative contribution of pollutants from NCPS increased from 33% to 68% during 2019–21. Central Inner Mongolia (CIM) also has an important impact on ZJK under unfavorable weather conditions. This study demonstrated that the effect of pollution control measures in the NCPS and CIM should be strengthened to ensure that the air quality meets the standard during the XXIV OWG.

Exploring volunteer engagement in a mega sport events: the role of functional attitudes

ABSTRACT Research Questions Primary research questions include: (1) What are the salient attitudes of volunteers that influence their engagement intention and (2) Do extra-role behaviors and emotional attachment mediate their relationship with the event? Methods We used a face-to-face survey design and collected 271 use cases from volunteers recruited during the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games. Results and Findings The results of structural equation modeling indicate that value-expressive and social adjustive attitudes were positively correlated with extra-role behavior. Value-expressive, utilitarian, and knowledge showed a significantly positive effect on emotional attachment. Furthermore, emotional attachment and extra-role behavior played a significant mediator role in explaining the relationships between functional attitudes and volunteer engagement. Implications The results shed light on volunteer literature through an extended understanding of functional attitude theory in the context of volunteer engagement. Sport managers could use the findings to clearly understand relevant volunteers’ attitudes to predict their extra-role behavior and future volunteering intention. Such efforts allow managers to carefully articulate promotional message when recruiting volunteers.

A numerical simulation of a strong windstorm event in the Taebaek Mountain Region in Korea during the ICE-POP 2018

During the International Collaborative Experiments for the Pyeongchang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic winter games (ICE-POP 2018), a strong windstorm occurred on the lee side of the Taebaek Mountains on 14 February 2018, when a low-pressure system passed through the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. At that time, a prevailing westerly wind with warm advection and an inversion layer at the top of the mountains provided favorable conditions for the downslope windstorm, resulting in structural damage at the Olympic Park. This led to the delay and cancellation of the ski jump and biathlon games. To investigate the generation mechanism responsible for the downslope windstorm during the ICE-POP 2018, we performed a numerical simulation using the Weather and Research Forecast model with the finest horizontal grid spacing of 333 m. The model effectively reproduced the multi-scale flows, such as the synoptic-scale low-pressure system, upstream sounding, and downslope winds, with slightly overestimated surface winds at some local sites on the lee side. Analysis of vertical cross-sections across the mountains showed a steep descent of potential temperature on the lee slope and a rapid recovery on the leeward side, showing the evidence of hydraulic jump with a Froude number of 0.9. During the windstorm event, mountain waves were generated with horizontal wavelengths that varied with time due to the change in background wind and stability along with movement of the low-pressure system. Using the dispersion relationship for internal gravity waves, the Scorer parameter for quasi-stationary mountain waves showed that the waves with horizontal wavelengths smaller than 10 km were trapped below the altitudes of 6–9 km. There were no signals of mountain wave breaking and wind reversal with height (wave-induced critical level), implying that the downslope windstorm event was generated by the mechanisms of hydraulic jump and partial reflection. Strengthened jet streams in the upstream and inversion layers at the top and gap winds in the valleys of the mountains also facilitated the downslope winds on the lee side.

The Impact of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games on China and the Olympic Movement: The Legacy

This paper aims to explore the impact of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games on Chinese sport and Chinese society as well as the international Olympic Movement and Games. It asks three questions: What have been the purported impacts of the Beijing Games on China’s sport culture and practice? Did the 2008 Beijing Games contribute to the development of the Olympic movement? What, if any, social progress has been achieved through the Beijing Games? In answer to the first question, the paper explores how the Games sought to bring Olympic ideals and spirit to China and the Chinese sports authority used the Games to popularize Olympic ideals within the country. Olympic education programmes played an important role in spreading and popularizing Olympic knowledge and culture during the Beijing Games as well as during the post-Beijing Olympics era. The Games also provided a platform for the development of a volunteer programme which gave direct support to the hosting of the Beijing Games, but also developed a voluntary workforce which has continued to serve China’s social and cultural development. In answer to the second question, China used the opportunity to help the world to understand China, its history, its people, its cultures, and its ambition, and future direction. China’s promotion of an Olympic slogan and the three themes: One World and One Dream, the Green Olympics, and the Technological Olympics and Humanistic Olympics took the Olympic Movement and the Games to foster an intercultural Olympism, of ‘One World’ a twenty-first century phenomenon. Thirdly, the Games reflected economic and cultural changes since the 1980s when China opened its door to the outside world. However, the Games did not bring changes to the political system or to social structures in Chinese society. Nevertheless, it did give China the confidence to join the international sports community and gain rich experience to host the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing. Beijing, therefore, will become the first city to have hosted Summer and Winter Games in Olympic history, but the hosting of the 2022 Games will take place with China having grown in confidence and strength since the 2008 Games. The country is sufficiently confident to stage a successful Games despite the context of dealing with the Covid pandemic, the diplomatic boycott instigated by the USA, the objections of the sporting world to the treatment of the Chinese tennis star, Peng Shuai, and the environmental problems resulting from having to manufacture artificial snow.

The Impact of Four High-Altitude Training Camps on the Aerobic Capacity of a Short Track PyeongChang 2018 Olympian: A Case Study.

This study characterizes high-altitude training camps and their effect on the aerobic capacity of a Polish national team member (M.W.), who was a participant in the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games (body weight: 59.6 kg, body height: 161.0 cm, fat mass: 10.9 kg and 18.3% of fat tissue, fat-free mass: 48.7 kg, muscle mass: 46.3 kg, and BMI = 23.0 kg/m2). The tests were conducted in the periods from April 2018 to September 2018 and April 2019 to September 2019 (period of general and special preparation). The study evaluated aerobic and anaerobic capacity determined by laboratory tests, a cardiopulmonary graded exercise test to exhaustion performed on a cycle ergometer (CPET), and the Wingate anaerobic test. Based on the research, training in hypobaric conditions translated into significant improvements in the skater’s exercise capacity recorded after participating in the Olympic Winter Games in Korea (February 2018). In the analyzed period (2018–2019), there was a significant increase in key parameters of aerobic fitness such as anaerobic threshold power output (AT-PO) [W]—223; power output POmax [W]—299 and AT-PO [W/kg]—3.50; (POmax) [W/kg]—4.69; and AT-VO2 [mL/kg/min]—51.3; VO2max [mL/kg/min]—61.0. The athlete showed high-exercise-induced adaptations and improvements in the aerobic metabolic potential after two seasons, in which four training camps were held in altitude conditions.

Examining Monetary Valuation Methods to Analyze Residents' Social Value From Hosting a Publicly-Funded Major Sport Event

Measuring residents' social value from hosting major sport events has become a popular practitioner and researcher focus. However, researchers have used a plethora of monetary valuation methods to measure social value on an equally diverse set of events. Rather than being applied to major sport events, the use of these methods in sport research has been limited to smaller events, programs, or facilities. Consequently, investigating monetary valuation methods for major sport events is necessary to inform practitioners and researchers of these types of events as to which tool(s) to use. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate various monetary valuation methods to determine which method(s) is(are) best to examine residents' social value in a post-event context and test the selected method(s) for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, Canada. After reviewing monetary valuation methods found in the sport management literature, two methods were deemed suitable avenues to pursue: the reverse contingent valuation method and the opportunity cost approach. This study employed an exploratory sequential mixed methods design to derive a conceptual and empirical analysis. Interviews were conducted with 14 Vancouver residents and supplemented with document analysis; as well, 525 Vancouver residents completed a self-administered online survey. Findings highlighted the importance of using both the reverse contingent valuation method and opportunity cost approach given their complementary nature. The reverse contingent valuation method allowed residents to select how much they valued their experience. This individual or micro-economic perspective is a necessary prerequisite for residents to adequately determine their value of hosting in relation to other options (e.g., building hospitals, having professional sport teams) when applying the opportunity cost approach, which asks residents to reflect at societal or macro-economic level. This synergistic approach demonstrates the importance of addressing both perspectives: the micro (i.e., individual exchange) and the macro (i.e., event exchange) aspect. In doing so, this approach offers researchers and practitioners avenues forward to examine the social value of publicly-funded major sport events exclusively through a direct, an indirect, and a synergistic method to advance the examination of major sport events' social value.

Rapid Inspection of Large Concrete Floor Flatness Using Wheeled Robot with Aided-INS

Flatness is an important parameter for the quality assessment of concrete floors. Traditional flatness inspection methods have problems with sparse sampling and low efficiency for large concrete floors. In this paper, a rapid flatness inspection method for large concrete floors based on a wheeled robot with an aided inertial navigation system (INS) is proposed. The robot realizes high precision relative to the three-dimensional profile measurement of concrete floors through fusion of INS, odometers and total station. The overall measurement of concrete floor flatness is realized through a certain density of profiles. The measurement performance of the proposed method has been tested in laboratory, and the effectivity is tested in the flatness inspection of the concrete base of an ice floor in the National Speed Skating Oval of 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games. The results demonstrate that the floor flatness inspection accuracy can meet the requirement of ±0.5 mm over 5 m and the efficiency is several times that of the traditional method. This technology is promising for high precision and rapid flatness inspection of large floors.

Snow microphysical retrieval from the NASA D3R radar during ICE-POP 2018

Abstract. A method is developed to use both polarimetric and dual-frequency radar measurements to retrieve microphysical properties of falling snow. It is applied to the Ku- and Ka-band measurements of the NASA dual-polarization, dual-frequency Doppler radar (D3R) obtained during the International Collaborative Experiments for PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic winter games (ICE-POP 2018) field campaign and incorporates the Atmospheric Radiative Transfer Simulator (ARTS) microwave single-scattering property database for oriented particles. The retrieval uses optimal estimation to solve for several parameters that describe the particle size distribution (PSD), relative contribution of pristine, aggregate, and rimed ice species, and the orientation distribution along an entire radial simultaneously. Examination of Jacobian matrices and averaging kernels shows that the dual-wavelength ratio (DWR) measurements provide information regarding the characteristic particle size, and to a lesser extent, the rime fraction and shape parameter of the size distribution, whereas the polarimetric measurements provide information regarding the mass fraction of pristine particles and their characteristic size and orientation distribution. Thus, by combining the dual-frequency and polarimetric measurements, some ambiguities can be resolved that should allow a better determination of the PSD and bulk microphysical properties (e.g., snowfall rate) than can be retrieved from single-frequency polarimetric measurements or dual-frequency, single-polarization measurements. The D3R ICE-POP retrievals were validated using Precipitation Imaging Package (PIP) and Pluvio weighing gauge measurements taken nearby at the May Hills ground site. The PIP measures the snow PSD directly, and its measurements can be used to derived the snowfall rate (volumetric and water equivalent), mean volume-weighted particle size, and effective density, as well as particle aspect ratio and orientation. Four retrieval experiments were performed to evaluate the utility of different measurement combinations: Ku-only, DWR-only, Ku-pol, and All-obs. In terms of correlation, the volumetric snowfall rate (r=0.95) and snow water equivalent rate (r=0.92) were best retrieved by the Ku-pol method, while the DWR-only method had the lowest magnitude bias for these parameters (−31 % and −8 %, respectively). The methods that incorporated DWR also had the best correlation to particle size (r=0.74 and r=0.71 for DWR-only and All-obs, respectively), although none of the methods retrieved density particularly well (r=0.43 for All-obs). The ability of the measurements to retrieve mean aspect ratio was also inconclusive, although the polarimetric methods (Ku-pol and All-obs) had reduced biases and mean absolute error (MAE) relative to the Ku-only and DWR-only methods. The significant biases in particle size and snowfall rate appeared to be related to biases in the measured DWR, emphasizing the need for accurate DWR measurements and frequent calibration in future D3R deployments.

Economic impacts of hosting the winter olympics on GDP per capita

The Winter Olympics have been held since 1924, and each time host countries spend billions on organization, so it is important for them to know if this pays off in the future. This paper examines whether hosting the Winter Olympic Games yields long-term economic benefits. To achieve this, the difference-in-difference model for relative changes in Gross Domestic Product per capita was estimated. A difference-in-difference estimator examines post-Olympic impacts for host countries between 1972 and 2014. Regression results provide no additional long term impacts of hosting the Winter Olympics on GDP per capita.

Gender Representation at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games From an Australian Broadcast Perspective

This study examined differences in the Seven Network’s primetime coverage of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games on all of its channels. Over 102 hr of total coverage was analyzed for clock time, name mentions, and the descriptions of athletes by announcers divided by gender. Results found that male athletes received the bulk of the clock time; 13 of the top 20 most-mentioned athletes were men. There were also gender differences in the word for word descriptors of success, failure, physicality, and personality. From a theoretical perspective, results found the framing of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games to favor male Olympians. The top three sports that were broadcast featuring women were ice hockey, freestyle skiing, and snowboarding, which differs from other studies in this line of scholarship, so differences in the sports covered in the Australian context provides a unique context to study the Winter Olympics. Theoretical and practical implications are provided.

The impact of winter Olympic games participation on NHL attendance

The impact of winter Olympic games participation on NHL attendance