Interest point detection is a fundamental approach to feature extraction in computer vision tasks. To handle the scale invariance, interest points usually work on the scale-space representation of an image. In this letter, we propose a novel block-wise scale-space representation to significantly reduce the computational complexity of an interest point detector. Laplacian of Gaussian (LoG) filtering is applied to implement the block-wise scale-space representation. Extensive comparison experiments have shown the block-wise scale-space representation enables the efficient and effective implementation of an interest point detector in terms of memory and time complexity reduction, as well as promising performance in visual search.
The removal of trace gases from the troposphere is, in most cases, initialized by reactions with hydroxyl radicals, and the products of these reactions are eventually deposited on the Earth's surface. The concentration of these hydroxyl radicals is therefore a measure of atmospheric self-cleansing. In theory, hydroxyl-radical concentrations can be enhanced by the recycling of some of the reaction products. The only known efficient recycling process involves nitrogen oxide and leads to production of ozone, yet observations in regions with high hydrocarbon and low nitrogen oxide concentrations show substantially elevated hydroxyl-radical concentrations, up to ten times higher than expected. If we normalize observed hydroxyl-radical concentrations to the maximum achievable in model calculations with variable nitrogen oxide concentrations, this photochemical coordinate system uncovers a common feature in almost all of these observations: even in the presence of inadequate amounts of nitrogen oxides, hydroxyl-radical concentrations are enhanced to the theoretical maximum obtainable at very much higher nitrogen oxide concentrations. This means that this important part of the self-cleansing capability of the atmosphere is working at maximum efficiency even in regions with a high burden of biogenic hydrocarbons and low nitrogen oxide concentration. Since these processes do not involve nitrogen oxides, tropospheric ozone production is greatly reduced compared with the expectation from current theory.
The removal of trace gases from the troposphere is, in most cases, initialized by reactions with hydroxyl radicals, and the products of these reactions are eventually deposited on the Earth's surface. The concentration of these hydroxyl radicals is therefore a measure of atmospheric self-cleansing. In theory, hydroxyl-radical concentrations can be enhanced by the recycling of some of the reaction products. The only known efficient recycling process involves nitrogen oxide and leads to production of ozone, yet observations in regions with high hydrocarbon and low nitrogen oxide concentrations show substantially elevated hydroxyl-radical concentrations, up to ten times higher than expected. If we normalize observed hydroxyl-radical concentrations to the maximum achievable in model calculations with variable nitrogen oxide concentrations, this photochemical coordinate system uncovers a common feature in almost all of these observations: even in the presence of inadequate amounts of nitrogen oxides, hydroxyl-radical concentrations are enhanced to the theoretical maximum obtainable at very much higher nitrogen oxide concentrations. This means that this important part of the self-cleansing capability of the atmosphere is working at maximum efficiency even in regions with a high burden of biogenic hydrocarbons and low nitrogen oxide concentration. Since these processes do not involve nitrogen oxides, tropospheric ozone production is greatly reduced compared with the expectation from current theory.
Nitryl chloride (ClNO2) is produced at night by reactions of dinitrogen pentoxide (N2O5) on chloride containing surfaces. ClNO2 is photolyzed during the morning hours after sunrise to liberate highly reactive chlorine atoms (Cl center dot). This chemistry takes place primarily in polluted environments where the concentrations of N2O5 precursors (nitrogen oxide radicals and ozone) are high, though it likely occurs in remote regions at lower intensities. Recent field measurements have illustrated the potential importance of ClNO2 as a daytime Cl center dot source and a nighttime NOx reservoir. However, the fate of the Cl center dot and the overall impact of ClNO2 on regional photochemistry remain poorly constrained by measurements and models. To this end, we have incorporated ClNO2 production, photolysis, and subsequent Cl center dot reactions into an existing master chemical mechanism (MCM version 3.2) box model framework using observational constraints from the CalNex 2010 field study. Cl center dot reactions with a set of alkenes and alcohols, and the simplified multiphase chemistry of N2O5, ClNO2, HOCl, ClONO2, and Cl-2, none of which are currently part of the MCM, have been added to the mechanism. The presence of ClNO2 produces significant changes to oxidants, ozone, and nitrogen oxide partitioning, relative to model runs excluding ClNO2 formation. From a nighttime maximum of 1.5 ppbv ClNO2, the daytime maximum Cl center dot concentration reaches 1x10(5) atoms cm(-3) at 07:00 model time, reacting mostly with a large suite of volatile organic compounds (VOC) to produce 2.2 times more organic peroxy radicals in the morning than in the absence of ClNO2. In the presence of several ppbv of nitrogen oxide radicals (NOx = NO+NO2), these perturbations lead to similar enhancements in hydrogen oxide radicals (HOx = OH+HO2). Neglecting contributions from HONO, the total integrated daytime radical source is 17% larger when including ClNO2, which leads to a similar enhancement in integrated ozone production of 15 %. Detectable levels (tens of pptv) of chlorine containing organic compounds are predicted to form as a result of Cl center dot addition to alkenes, which may be useful in identifying times of active Cl center dot chemistry.
Natural gas production is associated with emissions of several trace gases, some of them classified as air toxics. While volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have received much attention, hydrogen sulfide (H2S) can also be of concern due to the known health impacts of exposure to this hazardous air pollutant. Here, we present quantitative, fast time-response measurements of H2S using protontransfer-reaction mass-spectrometry (PTR-MS) instruments. An ultra-light-weight PTR-MS (ULW-PTR-MS) in a mobile laboratory was operated for measurements of VOCs and H2S in a gas and oil field during the Uintah Basin Winter Ozone Study (UBWOS) 2012 campaign. Measurements of VOCs and H2S by a PTR-MS were also made at the Horse Pool ground site in the Uintah Basin during UBWOS 2013. The H2S measurement by PTR-MS is strongly humidity dependent because the proton affinity of H2S is only slightly higher than that of water. The H2S sensitivity of PTR-MS ranged between 0.6-1.4 ncps ppbv-1 during UBWOS 2013. We compare the humidity dependence determined in the laboratory with in-field calibrations and determine the H2S mixing ratios for the mobile and ground measurements. The PTR-MS measurements at Horse Pool are evaluated by comparison with simultaneous H2S measurements using a PTR time-of-flight MS (PTR-ToF-MS) and a Picarro cavity ring down spectroscopy (CRDS) instrument for H2S/CH4. On average 0.6 +/- 0.3 ppbv H2S was present at Horse Pool during UBWOS 2013. The correlation between H2S and methane enhancements suggests that the source of H2S is associated with oil and gas extraction in the basin. Significant H2S mixing ratios of up to 9 ppmv downwind of storage tanks were observed during the mobile measurements. This study suggests that H2S emissions associated with oil and gas production can lead to short-term high levels close to point sources, and elevated background levels away from those sources. In addition, our work has demonstrated that PTR-MS can make reliable measurements of H2S at levels below 1 ppbv.