In this study the capability of the co-polarized phase difference (CPD) for oil spill observation has been investigated. A simple and effective filtering technique, based on the standard deviation (σ) of the CPD Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) image, has been implemented. First experiment, accomplished over SIR-C/X-SAR C-Band data, have shown different sensitivity of the filtering technique with...

Global change is becoming increasingly evident, and human activities are also causing severe damage to natural resources and the environment. Therefore, it is increasingly important to study regional sustainability in order to guide human decisions and actions. The ecological footprint is a useful indicator with which to quantify the pressures imposed by humans on natural resources and regional...

This study was an attempt to produce bio-oil from empty fruit bunches (EFB) of oil palm waste using fast pyrolysis technology. A 150 g/h fluidised bed bench scale fast pyrolysis unit operating at atmospheric pressure was used to obtain the pyrolysis liquid. A comparison of the elemental composition of unwashed and washed feedstock was made in this study. With the five methods of treatment being...

Software specific problems have been handled in the software community through focusing on the software process, and continuous improvement of that software process. However, the contribution of software process improvement (SPI) to product quality has not been proven yet. The PROFES project customised successful approaches into one embedded systems specific SPI methodology focused on improving...

The direct, by-product-free conversion of basic feedstocks to products of medicinal and agricultural relevance is a broad goal of chemical research. Butadiene is a product of petroleum cracking and is produced on an enormous scale (about 12 × 10(6) metric tons annually). Here, with the use of a ruthenium catalyst modified by a chiral phosphate counterion, we report the direct redox-triggered ca...

Product distribution account for a significant portion of the logistical costs of a product. Distribution activities are repetitive in nature and they impact the delivery lead time to customers. A well designed supply chain network can substantially improve these costs and lead times. This paper presents a supply chain network design approach for distribution of petroleum products of a retailer...