With the shift from mechanical value delivery to mechatronic value delivery, development environments are becoming more complex. Intuitive decision-making in development management is becoming increasingly challenging. Meanwhile, the use project management software is spreading, bringing about a new level of project data for development projects, holding to potential to enhance human decision making. To this end, the paper presents an extension to factor analysis of mixed data, which can facilitate usage of exploratory data analysis to improve decision-making in development project planning.

For estimation of the mass balance of an unmeasured glacier, its area distribution with altitude, s (h), generally is the only available quantitative information. The appropriate specific balance profile, b (h), needs to be transferred from a measured glacier, where transfer means modification and adaptation to the topographic and climatic situation of the unmeasured glacier, such as altitude, exposure to sun and wind, or temperature. This study proposes the area median elevation, M, as a parameter of prime importance for the transfer. Using as an example ten Alpine glaciers, the similarity of M and equilibrium-line altitude is quantified and the effect of aspect and surrounding topography is qualitatively suggested. The transfer of b (h) between well-measured glaciers yielded differences in the mean specific balance of 150 mm in the mean of a 10 year period, which corresponds to a change in median altitude by 30 m. Transfer of b (h) with a shift according to median glacier elevation to a basin with 27 glaciers and 23 km2 ice cover agreed to within 10% with elevation changes converted from digital elevation models of 1969 and 1997.

A hydrometeorological model designed for climatological applications with monthly time-steps and 100 m altitude intervals was calibrated with runoff and climate data on five small, glacierized basins in the Silvretta mountains, Austria (46°55’ N, 10° 10’ E). These basins are exposed to similar synoptic weather conditions but differ in their altitude ranges and glacier covers, enabling the model to be tested for a variety of physical conditions. The structure of the model, the data input and the calibration and tuning procedures are described. Sensitivities of the model to temperature and precipitation changes are derived and applied to annual and decadal values of T and P, respectively. Judged by the difference between observed and calculated sums of runoff, simulation of decadal values is satisfactory, while annual simulations and measurements have rms differences of the order of 200 mm.

In this study, long-term series of winter mass balances from two neighbouring glaciers in the southern Oetztal Alps, Austria, i.e. Hintereisferner and Vernagtferner, are analyzed with respect to the methods used in their determination. For this purpose, (1) some basic data of field surveys are presented, (2) the influence of different temporal systems is discussed, and (3) the profile, contour and a ‘model’ method based on energy-balance ablation modelling and measured net mass balance are discussed with respect to the reliability of the resulting series. The main findings of the investigations are: (1) The winter mass-balance series for Hintereisferner and Vernagtferner as determined with all applied methods result in a reliable climatologic average of 1000±100mmw.e. (2) When using the profile method, different spatial integration approaches are quite sensitive to the altitudinal coverage and the spatial pattern of observations. (3) The error of the model method occurs randomly, whereas contour as well as profile-method errors are more systematic. (4) Filtered time series from the two glaciers show similar tendencies for the last three decades.

The ongoing retreat of mountain glaciers necessitates the development of future scenarios of glacier runoff. These scenarios are not only governed by future climate scenarios influencing glacier mass balance but also by the glacier volumes, which are subject to melt. Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) is a valuable tool for measuring the thickness of mountain glaciers, although ground-based measurements are labour-intensive, so not all glaciers can be surveyed. This study presents the results of GPR surveys on 64 Alpine glaciers, carried out between 1995 and 2010. The glacier areas range from 0.001 to 18.4 km2, and their ice thickness was surveyed with an average density of 36 points km-2. The point measurements were extrapolated manually to derive volume maps. The mean ice thickness varies between 10 and 92 m; the maximum ice thickness is about three times the mean thickness. According to the glacier state recorded in the second glacier inventory, the 64 glaciers cover an area of 223.3 ± 3.6 km2, with a mean thickness of 50 ± 3 m and a glacier volume of 11.9 ± 1.1 km3. The mean maximum ice thickness is 119 ± 5m.

Knowledge of the spatial snow distribution and its interannual persistence is of interest for a broad spectrum of issues in cryospheric sciences. In this study, snow depths derived from airborne laser scanning are analyzed for interannual persistence of the seasonal snow cover in a partly glacierized mountain area (~36 km2). At the end of five accumulation periods, the snow-covered area varied by 16% of its temporal mean. Mean snow depth of the total area ranged by a factor of two (1.31–2.58 m), with a standard deviation of 0.42 m. Interannual correlation coefficients of snow depth distribution were in the range 0.68–0.84. Of the investigated area, 75% was found to be interannually persistent. The remaining area showed variable snow cover from year to year, caused by occasional avalanches and changes in surface topography as a result of glacier retreat. Snow cover underwent a change from a homogeneous distribution on the former glacier surface to a more heterogeneous snow cover in the recently deglaciated terrain. A geostatistical analysis shows interannual persistence in scaling behavior of snow depth in ice-free terrain with scale break distances at 20 m. Scale-invariant behavior of snow depth is indicated over >100 m on smooth glacier surfaces.

We assess Africa's prospects for enjoying a demographic dividend. While fertility rates and dependency ratios in Africa remain high, they have started to decline. According to UN projections, they will fall further in the coming decades such that by the mid-21st century, the ratio of the working age to dependent population will be greater than in Asia, Europe, and Northern America. This projection suggests Africa has considerable potential to enjoy a demographic dividend. Whether and when it actually materializes, and also its magnitude, hinges on policies and institutions in key realms that include macroeconomic management, human capital, trade, governance, and labor and capital markets. Given strong complementarities among these areas, coordinated policies will likely be most effective in generating the momentum needed to pull Africa's economies out of a development trap.

The turbulent flux of sensible heat in the energy balance of a glacier surface is assumed to be proportional to the temperature difference between the glacier surface and the atmosphere at the same level but outside the thermal influence of the glacier. The factor of proportionality between them is first explained in terms of friction velocity, roughness height, and stability function of the logarithmic wind and temperature profile. It is then derived from climatological records and measurements of the energy balance and its altitudinal gradients at Hintereisferner. Examples of the energy-balance components and their change with altitude are given for the entire ablation season as well as for short periods. The heat transfer coefficients derived have a mean value of 1.7±0.2 MJ m−2 d−1 K−1 (40 ± 5 ly d−1 K−1).

The highest, nearly stationary crevasse that occurs on most alpine glaciers is commonly called a bergschrund. It has often been believed to form when the main ice body below slides downward and thus separates from the thin, steep ice above, which is supposed to remain frozen to its bed. In order to verify or refute this assumption, temperatures and ice motion were recorded at several points in and around a bergschrund on Daunferner, a glacier in the Stubai Alps in Tyrol, Austria. Both measurements and observations indicated that the ice above the bergschrund was sliding as well and that the crevasse formed at a place where ice thickness, deformation and sliding velocity were markedly increasing.

At the same time a randkluft, i.e. a deep crevasse between the headwall and the glacier, was observed to open, clearly the result of ice flow and not due to melting as previously believed.

Investigations of the stratigraphy and facies within a 2.69 m long gravity core (PS1423–2) from the southwestern Weddell Sea, Antarctica, indicate a significant change in the character of glaciomarine sedimentation since grounded ice withdrew from the continental shelf. Based on visual description, X-radiography, clast shape, particle-size analysis, physical properties and geochemical data, the core used in this analysis comprises five distinct units, from top to bottom: (i) massive diamicton, (ii) weakly to well-stratified diamicton, (iii) millimetre-scale laminated muds, with little or on coarse-clastic input, (iv) well- to weakly stratified diamicton, (v) massive diamicton. This succession is attributed to the variation in sedimentation associated with the recession of the grounding line of a previously advanced glacier. Grounded ice decoupled from the continental shelf to form an ice shelf, probably initiated by a rise in sea level in response to global climatic changes. Following disintegration of the ice shelf, sedimentation was influenced by marked variations in iceberg production. AMS-derived 14C ages from the upper 46 cm of the core indicate that the succession has been deposited since the end of the most recent glacial maximum (late Pleistocene), a conclusion supported by published data.

Our position in the Milky Way (MW) is both a blessing and a curse. We are nearby to many star clusters, but the dust that is a product of their very existence obscures them. Also, many massive young clusters are expected to be located near, or across the Galactic Center, where the dust extinction is extreme (AV > 15 mag) and can be better penetrated by infrared photons. This paper reviews the discoveries and the study of new MW massive stars and massive clusters made possible by near infrared observations that are part of the VISTA Variables in the Vía Láctea (VVV) survey. It discusses what the studies of their fundamental parameters have taught us.

The retention and release of liquid water in glacierized basins was modelled with a conceptual, semi-distributed model of the water and ice balance designed for long-term averages with monthly resolution for 100 m elevation bands. Here we present the components of the liquid water balance of 86 mostly glacierized basins on either side of the main Alpine divide between 10 and 13°E in the period 1998–2006 and compare them with the records of 30 basins monitored from 1970 to 1997. Basin average of liquid water retention has maxima in excess of 100 mm per month in May, often followed by maximum release when the retaining snow matrix melts. Glacier storage peaks in August partly due to ice melt and the ensuing filling of the englacial reservoirs and partly on account of a precipitation maximum. These two components combined to a common maximum of storage in summer in the first period 1970–97 and developed two distinct maxima in the warmer period 1998–2006. A further maximum of liquid water storage that was often found in October is most likely due to a peak in precipitation in the southern part of the study region.

The reliability of InAlGaN multiple quantum well LEDs emitting around 308 nm has been investigated. The UV-B LEDs were stressed at constant current and current density, while the heat sink temperature was varied between 15°C and 80°C. The results reveal two different modes of the decrease of the optical power during aging. First, a fast reduction of the optical power within the first 100 h (mode 1) can be observed, followed by a slower degradation for operation times >100 h (mode 2). Mode 1 can be described as an initial degradation activation process which saturates after a certain time, whereas the second degradation mode can be described by a square-root time dependence of the optical power, suggesting a diffusion process to be involved. Both degradation modes are accompanied by changes of the I-V characteristic, particularly the reverse-bias leakage current and the drive voltage. Furthermore, the degradation behavior is strongly influenced by the temperature. Both, the maximum reduction of the optical power and the increase of the leakage current become stronger at higher temperatures.