TY - JOUR A1 - Crisologo, Irene A1 - Heistermann, Maik T1 - Using ground radar overlaps to verify the retrieval of calibration bias estimates from spaceborne platforms JF - Atmospheric Measurement Techniques N2 - Many institutions struggle to tap into the potential of their large archives of radar reflectivity: these data are often affected by miscalibration, yet the bias is typically unknown and temporally volatile. Still, relative calibration techniques can be used to correct the measurements a posteriori. For that purpose, the usage of spaceborne reflectivity observations from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) and Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) platforms has become increasingly popular: the calibration bias of a ground radar (GR) is estimated from its average reflectivity difference to the spaceborne radar (SR). Recently, Crisologo et al. (2018) introduced a formal procedure to enhance the reliability of such estimates: each match between SR and GR observations is assigned a quality index, and the calibration bias is inferred as a quality-weighted average of the differences between SR and GR. The relevance of quality was exemplified for the Subic S-band radar in the Philippines, which is greatly affected by partial beam blockage. The present study extends the concept of quality-weighted averaging by accounting for path-integrated attenuation (PIA) in addition to beam blockage. This extension becomes vital for radars that operate at the C or X band. Correspondingly, the study setup includes a C-band radar that substantially overlaps with the S-band radar. Based on the extended quality-weighting approach, we retrieve, for each of the two ground radars, a time series of calibration bias estimates from suitable SR overpasses. As a result of applying these estimates to correct the ground radar observations, the consistency between the ground radars in the region of overlap increased substantially. Furthermore, we investigated if the bias estimates can be interpolated in time, so that ground radar observations can be corrected even in the absence of prompt SR overpasses. We found that a moving average approach was most suitable for that purpose, although limited by the absence of explicit records of radar maintenance operations. KW - Weather KW - Band KW - Reflectivity KW - Algorithm KW - Uncertainties KW - Methodology KW - Kwajalein Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-645-2020 SN - 1867-1381 SN - 1867-8548 VL - 13 IS - 2 SP - 645 EP - 659 PB - Copernicus Publications CY - Göttingen ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Brand, Ralf A1 - Heck, Philipp A1 - Ziegler, Matthias T1 - Illegal performance enhancing drugs and doping in sport: a picture-based JF - Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy N2 - Method: Following a known-group differences validation strategy, the doping attitudes of 43 athletes from bodybuilding (representative for a highly doping prone sport) and handball (as a contrast group) were compared using the picture-based doping-BIAT. The Performance Enhancement Attitude Scale (PEAS) was employed as a corresponding direct measure in order to additionally validate the results. Results: As expected, in the group of bodybuilders, indirectly measured doping attitudes as tested with the picture-based doping-BIAT were significantly less negative (eta(2) = .11). The doping-BIAT and PEAS scores correlated significantly at r = .50 for bodybuilders, and not significantly at r = .36 for handball players. There was a low error rate (7%) and a satisfactory internal consistency (r(dagger dagger) = .66) for the picture-based doping-BIAT. Conclusions: The picture-based doping-BIAT constitutes a psychometrically tested method, ready to be adopted by the international research community. The test can be administered via the internet. All test material is available "open source". The test might be implemented, for example, as a new effect-measure in the evaluation of prevention programs. KW - Doping attitude KW - Bodybuilding KW - Indirect test KW - Implicit attitude test (IAT) KW - Methodology Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/1747-597X-9-7 SN - 1747-597X VL - 9 PB - BioMed Central CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Meijering, Jurian V. A1 - Kern, Kristine A1 - Tobi, Hilde T1 - Identifying the methodological characteristics of European green city rankings JF - Ecological indicators : integrating monitoring, assessment and management N2 - City rankings that aim to measure the environmental sustainability of European cities may contribute to the evaluation and development of environmental policy of European cities. The objective of this study is to identify and evaluate the methodological characteristics of these city rankings. First, a methodology was developed to systematically identify methodological characteristics of city rankings within different steps of the ranking development process. Second, six city rankings (European Energy Award, European Green Capital Award, European Green City Index, European Soot-free City Ranking, RES Champions League, Urban Ecosystem Europe) were examined. Official websites and any methodological documents found on those websites were content analyzed using the developed methodology. Interviews with representatives of the city rankings were conducted to acquire any additional information. Results showed that the city rankings varied greatly with respect to their methodological characteristics and that all city rankings had methodological weaknesses. Developers of city rankings are advised to use the methodology developed in this study to find methodological weaknesses and improve their ranking. In addition, developers ought to be more transparent about the methodological characteristics of their city rankings. End-users of city rankings are advised to use the developed methodology to identify and evaluate the methodological characteristics of city rankings before deciding to act on ranking results. (c) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. KW - Methodology KW - Ranking KW - Index KW - Indicator KW - City KW - Environmental sustainability Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2014.02.026 SN - 1470-160X SN - 1872-7034 VL - 43 SP - 132 EP - 142 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER -