The first products derived over France in 2010 from the L-band brightness temperatures (Tb) measured by the SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity) satellite, launched in November 2009, were compared with the surface soil moisture (SSM) estimates produced by the C-band Advanced Scatterometer, ASCAT, launched in 2006 on board METOP-A. SMOS and ASCAT SSM products were compared with the simulation...

This paper describes research into utilising a Group Support System (GSS) to enable the use of the Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) in distributed situations, which prohibit face-to-face application of SSM. The design goals, issues, major decisions, and initial pilot evaluation of a prototype GSS for SSM are described. 46 subjects and 2 facilitators participated in an experimental application to ...

Participative design is an effective tool for designing organizational systems where conflicting and diverse goals of users and clients from different organizations must be reconciled. This paper presents a methodology for participative design based on Soft Systems Methodology (SSM). A brief overview of SSM is first presented. The design methodology is then presented within the SSM framework. T...

1 Sex Differences in Accompaniment and Technology Usage in a Coffee Shop Margaret Diamond, Chloe Kingery, Jessica McAbee, and Jessica Thompson, Department of Psychology Gender differences in accompaniment and technology use were observe in a coffee shop close to a college campus. Young adults (N=232) were observed to see if there was a difference in having accompaniment or sitting along. They w...

SSM is a socio-technical system methodology offering tools for analysing complex situations. This modelling approach identifies differing worldviews of the system by encouraging discussion and debate. Academic ethical studies of moral philosophy have been extensively studied but rarely attributed to system modelling. We investigate the possibility of an ethical dimension to SSM comparing it to ...

Soil moisture, especially surface soil moisture (SSM), plays an important role in the development of various natural hazards that result from extreme weather events such as drought, flooding, and landslides. There have been many remote sensing methods for soil moisture retrieval based on microwave or optical thermal infrared (TIR) measurements. TIR remote sensing has been popular for SSM retrie...

Two new remotely sensed leaf area index (LAI) and surface soil moisture (SSM) satellite-derived products are compared with two sets of simulations of the ORganizing Carbon and Hydrology In Dynamic EcosystEms (ORCHIDEE) and Interactions between Soil, Biosphere and Atmosphere, CO2-reactive (ISBA-A-gs) land surface models. We analyse the interannual variability over the period 1991– 2008. The leaf...

BACKGROUND We aimed to investigate the early changes in liver and spleen stiffness measurement (LSM, SSM) in hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients with compensated advanced chronic liver disease (cACLD) treated with new antivirals (DAA) to elucidate factors determining the initial change in stiffness and its implications for the long-term follow up of HCV-cured patients. METHODS A total of 41 pati...

A method is proposed to increase the accuracy of satellite sensorderived near-surface humidity estimates. The method uses an operational atmospheric circulation model to correct the satellite sensor estimates of humidity from their regional bias. The method was applied to twelve orbits of the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) selected between 1997 and 1998. The SSM/I-derived humidity esti...

There has been a growing interest in the use of Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) in helping solve information systems problems. This paper applies the SSM methodology within the context of action research in solving a knowledge management problem in a real world situation. The level of success in implementation of knowledge management initiatives is significantly dependent on the right balance of...