text:
Sky radiometer
Retrieval error
Comparison with data from independent sources
Special issue statement
Special issue: SKYNET – the international network for aerosol, clouds,...
Retrieval of cloud properties from spectral zenith radiances observed by sky radiometers
Retrieval of cloud properties from spectral zenith radiances observed by sky radiometers Retrieval of cloud properties from spectral zenith radiances observed by sky radiometers Pradeep Khatri et al.
Pradeep Khatri1, Hironobu Iwabuchi1, Tadahiro Hayasaka1, Hitoshi Irie2, Tamio Takamura2, Akihiro Yamazaki3, Alessandro Damiani2, Husi Letu4, and Qin Kai5 Pradeep Khatri et al. Pradeep Khatri1, Hironobu Iwabuchi1, Tadahiro Hayasaka1, Hitoshi Irie2, Tamio Takamura2, Akihiro Yamazaki3, Alessandro Damiani2, Husi Letu4, and Qin Kai5
1Center for Atmospheric and Oceanic Studies, Graduate School of Science, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
2Center for Environmental Remote Sensing, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan
3Climate Research Department, Meteorological Research Institute, Tsukuba, Japan
4Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
5School of Environment Science and Spatial Informatics, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, China
Correspondence: Pradeep Khatri (pradeep.khatri.a3@tohoku.ac.jp)
Received: 12 Jul 2019 – Discussion started: 24 Jul 2019 – Revised: 30 Sep 2019 – Accepted: 19 Oct 2019 – Published: 21 Nov 2019
An optimal estimation algorithm to retrieve the cloud optical depth (COD) and cloud particle effective radius (CER) from spectral zenith radiances observed by narrow field-of-view (FOV) ground-based sky radiometers was developed. To further address the filter degradation problem while analyzing long-term observation data, an on-site calibration procedure is proposed, which has good accuracy compared with the standard calibration transfer method. An error evaluation study conducted by assuming errors in observed transmittances and ancillary data for water vapor concentration and surface albedo suggests that the errors in input data affect retrieved CER more than COD. Except for some narrow domains that fall within a COD of < 15, the retrieval errors are small for both COD and CER. The retrieved cloud properties reproduce the broadband radiances observed by a narrow FOV radiometer more precisely than broadband irradiances observed by a wide-FOV pyranometer, justifying the quality of the retrieved product (at least of COD) and indicating the important effect of the instrument FOV in cloud remote sensing. Furthermore, CODs (CERs) from sky radiometer and satellite observations show good (poor) agreement.
Khatri, P., Iwabuchi, H., Hayasaka, T., Irie, H., Takamura, T., Yamazaki, A., Damiani, A., Letu, H., and Kai, Q.: Retrieval of cloud properties from spectral zenith radiances observed by sky radiometers, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 6037–6047, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-6037-2019, 2019.
Clouds play an important role in driving the climate system and hydrological cycle (Rosenfeld et al., 2014). The accurate representation of clouds in the global climate model remains one of the largest uncertainties (Forster et al., 2007). Clouds are observed from space with various sensors onboard satellites, and the observations are vital in understanding more about cloud characteristics and their roles in the climate system and hydrological cycle. The quality assurance of cloud properties from satellite observations is an important task in cloud remote sensing, although it is challenging, primarily due to the lack of standard data representing different atmospheric conditions. Compared with the routine observation of aerosols through surface networks, such as AERONET (Aerosol Robotic Network; https://aeronet.gsfc.nasa.gov/, last access: 15 November 2019) and SKYNET (http://atmos3.cr.chiba-u.jp/skynet/, last access: 15 November 2019), the observation of clouds from the surface is performed at a limited number of stations, and most of the observation data are not easily accessible. As the recent instruments belonging to AERONET and SKYNET can be used for cloud remote sensing along with aerosol remote sensing, it is important to develop innovative techniques to retrieve cloud properties by using data observed by those instruments. This can help the satellite remote-sensing community to validate cloud products and help the whole cloud research community to study clouds in more detail by using high-resolution surface data.
Clouds have been studied from the surface by using zenith radiances observed by radiometers belonging to AERONET (e.g., Chiu et al., 2010, 2012) and SKYNET (e.g., Kikuchi et al., 2006). In accordance with the literature, the AERONET and SKYNET radiometers are referred to as sun photometers and sky radiometers, respectively. Similar to space-based cloud remote sensing using reflected signals (e.g., Nakajima and King, 1990), studies using sun photometer and sky radiometer data use a lookup table (LUT). The fundamental idea is to compare the observed signals with LUT data corresponding to priorly known cloud optical depths (CODs) and cloud particle effective radii (CERs) while finding a plausible solution for the COD and CER combination. This signal can be the zenith radiance or transmittance. Chiu et al. (2010) retrieved COD from a LUT of zenith radiances of non-water-absorbing wavelengths constructed by assuming a fixed CER, and Chiu et al. (2012) and Kikuchi et al. (2006) used a LUT of transmittances of non-water-absorbing and water-absorbing wavelengths to infer COD and CER simultaneously. The reflected signals for non-water-absorbing and water-absorbing wavelengths can have nearly one-to-one relationships with COD and CER, respectively. On the other hand, transmitted signals do not behave in this manner, making the retrieval process difficult for a LUT approach using transmitted signals. In addition, unlike reflected signals, transmitted signals are weakly sensitive to changes in CER. This makes retrieval using transmitted signals more complex. Furthermore, the shape of the LUT can change depending on the solar position, making the retrieval process even more cumbersome if LUTs developed for a limited number of specific solar positions are used. To overcome these difficulties, some innovative techniques have been proposed. For example, McBride et al. (2011) developed a spectral method by using the slope of the transmittances of 13 wavelengths between 1565 and 1634 nm and the transmittance at the visible wavelength of 515 nm to retrieve COD and CER simultaneously. LeBlanc et al. (2015) derived 15 parameters to quantify the spectral variations in shortwave transmittances due to the absorption and scattering of liquid water and ice clouds, manifested by shifts in spectral slopes, curvatures, maxima, and minima, to discriminate the cloud phase and retrieve COD and CER. However, these techniques were developed for radiometers with a high spectral resolution and are less suitable for sun photometers and sky radiometers because they have a limited number of channels.
Here, we develop a retrieval algorithm based on an optimal estimation method, namely, a maximum a posteriori method (Rodgers, 2000). We use three carefully selected wavelengths to retrieve COD and CER simultaneously. An on-site calibration method is proposed to address the filter degradation problem while analyzing long-term observation data. Although the algorithm is developed using sky radiometer data, it is equally applicable for sun photometer data. The paper begins with a brief description of the sky radiometer in Sect. 2. The methodology, retrieval error, and quality assessment of retrieved products are discussed in Sects. 3–5, respectively. Finally, the conclusion is presented in Sect. 6.
2 Sky radiometer
The sky radiometer (POM-02, PREDE Co. Ltd., Japan) can make observations of direct intensity, angular sky radiance (both almucantar and principle plane scans), and zenith sky radiance at 11 wavelengths at specified time intervals. The field of view (FOV) is 1∘. The most commonly used wavelengths by SKYNET are 0.315, 0.34, 0.38, 0.4, 0.5, 0.675, 0.87, 0.94, 1.02, 1.627, and 2.2 µm. The direct and angular sky radiances at the wavelengths of 0.34, 0.38, 0.4, 0.5, 0.675, 0.87, and 1.02 µm, at which the absorptions by atmospheric gases and water and/or ice are negligible, are used for aerosol remote sensing (Nakajima et al., 1996; Hashimoto et al., 2012). The direct intensities observed at the wavelengths of 0.315 and 0.94 µm are used for the remote sensing of ozone (Khatri et al., 2014) and water vapor (e.g., Campanelli et al., 2014), respectively. The zenith sky radiances have different potential applications. The zenith sky radiances of cloudy skies have been used for cloud remote sensing (e.g., Kikuchi et al., 2006). The calibration constant terms for sky radiance (angular and zenith) and direct intensity are required while deriving physical data from observation signals via retrieval algorithms. One of the largest benefits of the PREDE sky radiometer is that these calibration constants can be obtained from field observation data, as outlined by Nakajima et al. (1996). In brief, an improved Langley (IL) method (Nakajima et al., 1996; Campanelli et al., 2004), which is an alternative to the normal Langley (NL) method, can be used to obtain calibration constants for direct intensities. Similarly, the solar disk scan method, which is an alternative to integrating the sphere method, can be used to determine the calibration constant for sky radiances. A more detailed study about sky radiometers and their calibrations can be found in Khatri et al. (2016).
Figure 1Schematic of the study method.
3 Methodology
A schematic of the study method is shown in Fig. 1. We use sky radiances (E) observed at three longer wavelengths (0.87, 1.02, and 1.627 µm), excluding 2.2 µm, which is not used for two main reasons. First, our statistical analysis suggests that the number of unphysical data (observation data recorded as 0) for 2.2 µm is high; thus, 2.2 µm is excluded to increase the retrieval number. Second, the longest wavelength used by AERONET is 1.64 µm; so the proposed algorithm could be easily used for sun-photometer-observed data as well. Wavelengths shorter than 0.87 µm are not used to avoid the effect of aerosols as far as possible. Observed E can be converted to the transmittance (T) by
(1)Tλ=πE(λ)μ0ΔΩλF0(λ),
where μ0 is the cosine of the solar zenith angle, ΔΩ is the calibration constant for sky radiance, which is also called the solid view angle by the SKYNET community, F0 is the calibration constant for direct intensity, and λ is the wavelength. ΔΩ for 0.87, 1.02, and 1.627 µm can be determined from the solar disk scan during very-clear-sky days (Nakajima et al., 1996). Although the current IL method can be used to determine temporal F0 for the first two wavelengths (0.87 and 1.02 µm), it is less suitable for water-absorbing wavelengths, such as 1.627 µm. For 1.627 µm, F0 derived from the NL method can be used, but the NL is less practical to implement routinely in short time intervals (e.g., each month) to derive temporal F0. We prefer to use temporal F0 for all wavelengths to include filter degradation with time (e.g., Khatri et al., 2014). To derive temporal F0 at 1.627 µm, we use an alternative IL method, as proposed by Khatri et al. (2014). In brief, aerosol data (refractive index and volume size distribution) and the direct intensity observed at 1.627 µm (F1.627) are used. The aerosol optical thickness (τaer) depends primarily on the aerosol size distribution, and the refractive index makes a small contribution to τaer (King et al., 1978; Khatri and Ishizaka, 2007). Thus, the refractive index at 1.02 µm, which is the highest wavelength for routine aerosol retrieval, is assumed to be the same as for 1.627 µm while calculating τaer at 1.627 µm from the volume size distribution using a Mie calculation. The optical air mass (m) and sun–earth distance (R) are calculated from the latitude and longitude of the observation site and time. Similarly, the Rayleigh scattering optical depth at 1.627 µm (τRay,1.627), though small in magnitude, is calculated from the atmospheric pressure of the observation site. Finally, the Beer–Lambert law, ln(F1.627R2)=lnF0,1.627-(τaer+τRayleigh)m is used to determine ln F0,1.627, which is the natural logarithm of the calibration constant of the direct intensity at 1.627 µm. This is calculated using data for all clear-sky periods of each month to correlate ln (F1.627R2) with (τaer+τRayleigh)m. The outlier that decreases the correlation most is detected and removed in each iteration until the condition of the correlation coefficient (r≥0.997) is satisfied. To understand the quality of the ln F0,1.627 values calculated with this method, we compare them with data from an independent standard method. In the standard method, a calibration constant is derived by performing collocated observations with field and master instruments. Figure 2 compares ln F0,1.627 for three different sky radiometers at the observation sites of Hedo-misaki (26.87∘ N, 128.25∘ E), Fukue-jima (32.75∘ N, 128.68∘ E), and Sendai (38.26∘ N,140.84∘ E). There is good agreement between our method and the standard method for all three sky radiometers. The relative difference (as a percentage), defined as the difference between our method and the standard method normalized by the value of the standard method and then multiplied by 100, is also shown and is less than 0.05 % for all sky radiometers. This confirms the validity of our proposed method, which is inexpensive and easy. Thus, the proposed method can be used to determine the temporal variation of ln F0,1.627, which is useful for analyzing long-term observation data by mitigating the filter degradation problem. By using the volume size distribution and refractive indices of the wavelengths, the proposed method can be used for 0.87 and 1.02 µm as well. There is a negligible difference in the values obtained by the IL method and this method for the first two wavelengths. This study uses the values obtained from the proposed method for all wavelengths to avoid the difficulty of reading ln F0 from different files.
Figure 2Comparison of the direct intensity calibration constant (ln F0) values at the water-absorbing wavelength of 1.627 µm for the standard method (calibration using the master instrument) and our on-site method for sky radiometers at Hedo-misaki (26.87∘ N, 128.25∘ E), Fukue-jima (32.75∘ N, 128.68∘ E), and Sendai (38.26∘ N, 140.84∘ E). The difference is also shown, which is the difference (as a percentage) between the proposed method and the standard method normalized by the value of the standard method and multiplied by 100.
Along with the T values of three wavelengths obtained from Eq. (1), we use precipitable water content (PWC) and spectral surface albedo data, which are obtained from radiosonde observations (http://weather.uwyo.edu/upperair/sounding.html, last access: 15 November 2019) and MODIS observations (product MCD43A4), respectively. Finally, COD and CER are retrieved simultaneously by minimizing the cost function (J).
(2)J=x-xaTSa-1x-xa+y-Fx,bTSy-1(y-Fx,b],
where x is a state vector, xa is an a priori vector, Sa and Sy are error covariance matrices for the a priori and measurement, respectively, y is the measurement vector, F is the forward model, and b is the model parameter vector (ancillary data). The terms x, y, and b are defined as
x=lnτlnre,y=lnT1.627lnT1.02lnT0.87,andb=WA1.627A1.02A0.87,
where τ and re are COD and CER, respectively, and W and Aλ are the PWC and surface albedo at wavelength λ, respectively. Both Sa and Sy are assumed to be diagonal matrices. xa and the diagonal elements of Sa are determined from 1-year data for water cloud properties observed over Japanese SKYNET sites by the Advanced Himawari Imager (AHI) sensor onboard Himawari-8, a Japanese geostationary satellite. The diagonal terms for Sy are determined based on a simulation of perturbations in T(λ) generated from 300 random Gaussian noises of error sources, as discussed in Sect. 4. SBDART (Santa Barbara DISORT Atmospheric Radiative Transfer model; Ricchiazzi et al., 1998) is used for forward modeling, and the Levenberg–Marquardt method is used to minimize the cost function. The total number of iterations is set as 50. If the solution does not converge within 50 iterations, the analysis is discarded. As highlighted in Sects. 1 and 4, transmittance signals may not always be characterized by unique COD or CER values. Consequently, the initial values of COD and CER used for iteration can be important when searching the plausible set of COD and CER values. To address this important issue, we first approximate the initial COD and CER values to start the iteration. The approximation is done by searching a set of COD and CER values by comparing observed T1.627∕T1.02 and T1.02 with the LUT of corresponding values modeled for COD values of 1–64 and CER values of 2–32 µm in steps of 1 µm. T1.627∕T1.02 generally decreases with the increase of COD; whereas when COD increases, T1.02 increases first until reaching the peak value, and then it starts to decrease. Thus, T1.627∕T1.02 and T1.02 can be used simultaneously to determine the range of COD and CER values in which the true values are likely to fall. A set of COD and CER values that generate the smallest root mean square difference between the observed and modeled values is used for the initial values in the iteration.
Figure 3Mean bias error (MBE) values for the retrieved (a) cloud optical depth (COD) and (b) cloud particle effective radius (CER) and (c) the total number of successful retrievals for the assumed error in transmittance; (d)–(f) same as (a)–(c) but for the assumed error in surface albedo; (g)–(i) same as (a)–(c) but for the assumed error in precipitable water content; (j)–(l) same as (a)–(c) but for all error sources. The 100 % unsuccessful retrieval is shown in black.
4 Retrieval error
To understand the performance of the proposed algorithm for different types of input data (transmittance and ancillary data), retrieval errors are calculated by assuming errors on them. The retrieval errors are calculated for COD and CER values in the ranges of 1–64 and 2–32 µm, respectively, in steps of 1 µm. The simulations are performed for solar zenith and azimuth angles of 30 and 0∘, respectively, by assuming that the cloud phase is a water cloud. We assume 1 % error in ln F0(λ), which is significantly larger than the maximum error in ln F0(λ) shown in Fig. 2 and discussed in Sect. 3. This large error in ln F0(λ) is assumed to incorporate errors in T(λ) generated from other possible sources, such as radiance measurement and ΔΩ(λ) estimation. Similarly, we assume a surface albedo of 0.15 for all three wavelengths and a PWC of 1.5 cm by assuming errors of ±0.025 and ±1.0 cm, respectively. F0(λ) in an actual data analysis is the instrument signal equivalent to the measurement performed at the top of the atmosphere (TOA); however, the incident irradiance at TOA (W m−2 nm−1) calculated from the radiative transfer model is used as F0(λ) for error evaluation simulations discussed in this section. For each set of known COD and CER values, 100 random Gaussian noises for each error source are added in the retrieval to simulate 300 sets of COD and CER values. The successful retrievals (J≤3) are used to calculate the mean bias error (MBE) as
(3)MBE=∑i=1nSiTr-1n,
Si and Tr are the ith simulated and true values, respectively, and n is the total sample number. Only the MBE is discussed here because the error map evaluated in other forms, such as the root mean square error (RMSE), contains the same qualitative information. Figure 3 shows the MBE for COD (first column), MBE for CER (second column), and total number of successful retrievals (third column) for each type of error separately and in combination. Figure 3a–c, d–f, g–i, and j–l correspond to the errors in the transmittance, surface albedo, PWC, and all sources, respectively. The 100 % unsuccessful retrieval is shown in black. The retrieval is more uncertain mainly when COD is less than ∼15. Regardless of the error source, the retrieval error is high, especially for small (CER < ∼7 µm) and large (CER > ∼13 µm) cloud droplets. In general, the error domains of CER are expanded by overlapping the error domains of COD. This suggests that the error in input data affects CER retrieval more than COD retrieval. Among the three error sources, the error in transmittance can dominate the effect of the remaining two error sources. The successful retrieval number corresponding to each error source suggests that in the domains of ∼8 < COD < ∼16 with CER > ∼13 and CER < ∼7 µm, the algorithm has difficulty fitting the measured transmittances with modeled values. These domains have high retrieval errors (first and second columns). The high errors in COD and CER are extended further for COD < ∼8 despite the sufficient number of successful retrievals. The contour lines for T(λ) in Fig. 4a, b, and c for wavelengths of 0.87, 1.02, and 1.627 µm, respectively, can help to understand these domains. The T(λ) values in Fig. 4a–c correspond to no error in the input data.
Figure 4Contour plots of transmittances at the wavelengths of (a) 0.87, (b) 1.02, and (c) 1.627 µm for the solar zenith and azimuth angles of 30 and 0∘, respectively. The transmittance values are given within the contour lines. Different colors are used for 1.627 µm to make it easy to distinguish. COD is the cloud optical depth; CER is the cloud particle effective radius.
First talking about unsuccessful retrievals noted for the ∼8 < COD < ∼16 and CER > ∼13 µm domain, the T(λ) values hardly change as CER increases above ∼13 µm (Fig. 4a–c). As a result, the CER retrieval above ∼13 µm is uncertain, and the retrieved CER is generally underestimated. T(λ) contour lines falling within ∼8 < COD < ∼16 appear again for COD < ∼2. Therefore, to search for the best set of COD and CER values by trying to fit the inputted T(λ) values with the modeled values, the algorithm can mistakenly search for a plausible solution in this small COD domain. If this happens, the retrieval may not be confined within J≤3. The algorithm is likely to compensate for such underestimated CERs by overestimating CODs (Fig. 3a and b and j and k).
Similarly, for failed retrievals for CER < ∼7 µm, a non-uniform change in T(1.627 µm) associated with the change in CER (Fig. 4c) can be an important factor. The non-uniform response of CER to the change of T(1.627 µm) can mislead the algorithm, while searching for the best set of COD and CER may force the algorithm to shift wrongly to the COD < ∼2 domain to search for a plausible solution. Both CER and COD may be overestimated for CER > ∼7 µm. Despite a sufficient number of successful retrievals, there are high errors in the retrieved values for COD < ∼8. Similar to the error domains discussed above, the retrieval errors are mainly confined to large and small values of CER. The peak values of T(λ) generally fall within ∼3≤ COD ≤∼6. Both the forward scattering and absorption can increase with the increase of COD along with the increase in multiple scattering; the increase in T(λ) before the peak value is due to the dominance of forward scattering over absorption, and the opposite is true for the decrease in T(λ) after the peak value. In other words, the competition between forward scattering and absorption is at its maximum to increase or decrease T(λ) within this COD range. CER is as important as COD in the increase or decrease of T(λ), and the algorithm must consider changes in COD and CER while searching for a plausible set of COD and CER. Thus, there is a high probability for the ambiguous solution of COD and CER within this COD range. Therefore, even a small degree of error in input data can change both COD and CER considerably from their true values. Though weak, this phenomenon can be still active in the vicinity of this COD range to bring error in retrieved values, even for COD < ∼3. The weak CER response towards T(λ) for large CERs plays an important role in introducing errors in retrieved values for large CERs. A very complicated distribution of T(1.627 µm) for CER < ∼7 µm, as discussed above, can be an important factor for errors noted for relatively small CERs. Further, the appearance of same T(λ) values for larger CODs, as discussed above, can be the next important factor for errors noted within COD < ∼2.
Overall, the retrieval error in COD is smaller than that in CER, suggesting that the transmittance-based cloud remote sensing is better for COD retrieval than for CER retrieval. Except for those error domains, the magnitudes of the retrieval errors are small. For example, for COD > 15 and all types of errors, the 5th, 50th, and 95th percentile values of the MBE for retrieved COD values are −2.0 %, −0.6 %, and 0.82 %, respectively, and for retrieved CER values they are −4.1 %, −0.51 %, and 7.2 %, respectively. For reference, the maximum (minimum) retrieval errors for COD ≥20 and CER =10 µm for a spectral method proposed by McBride et al. (2011) are ∼7 % (∼2 %) and ∼52 % (∼14 %) for COD and CER, respectively. In Sect. 5, we examine the quality of the retrieved cloud properties based on a comparison with standard data obtained from independent sources.
Figure 5Comparison of modeled and observed broadband (a) radiances and (b) irradiances for modeled values using sky radiometer cloud proprieties for the observation site at Chiba (35.62∘ N, 140.10∘ E) for 2016. Comparison results for broadband radiances (c) and (d) the irradiance for modeled cloud properties corresponding to the Advanced Himawari Imager.
5 Comparison with data from independent sources
5.1 Solar radiation data
The broadband radiance and irradiance of the shortwave spectral range (0.3–2.8 µm) observed using a narrow-angle radiometer (EKO Instruments Co., Ltd., Japan; FOV of 5∘) and a pyranometer (Kipp & Zonen, Netherlands; FOV of 180∘), respectively, at Chiba (35.62∘ N, 140.10∘ E) every 20 s from December 2015 to December 2016 are used to evaluate the cloud properties observed by the sky radiometer. The narrow-angle radiometer observes the downwelling irradiance signals as voltage in a narrow FOV. The instrument was calibrated by the manufacturer in the laboratory, and the observed signals are converted into radiance (W m−2 sr−1) by using the company-provided calibration constant value. Because the narrow-angle radiometer faces upward, obtained radiance is from the zenith. The cloud properties from the sky radiometer are combined with the surface albedo observed by MODIS and the PWC observed by radiosonde to calculate the corresponding observations. A comparison is performed for an average of 5 min observations of solar radiation that center the sky radiometer observation time. Figure 5a and b compare the broadband radiance and irradiance, respectively. For reference, a comparison is also performed for modeled values using cloud properties from the AHI instead of the sky radiometer for broadband radiance and irradiance (Fig. 5c and d).
For cloud properties from the sky radiometer, there is a strong (weak) correlation between modeled and observed values for broadband radiance (irradiance). In contrast, for AHI cloud properties, the correlation between the modeled and observed values for broadband radiance (irradiance) is weak (strong). Compared with data from the pyranometer, the observed data from the narrow-angle radiometer best describe the quality of the sky radiometer cloud properties because of the narrow FOV. The good agreement in Fig. 5a with a correlation coefficient (r) of up to 0.93 suggests that sky radiometer cloud properties (at least for COD) are qualitative enough. Because the contribution of COD is greater than that of CER to broadband solar radiation (Khatri et al., 2018), Fig. 5a alone cannot explain the quality of the retrieved CER. The poor agreement for irradiance comparison in Fig. 5b can be explained by the large difference in FOV of the sky radiometer and pyranometer; the surface-observed solar radiation varies drastically depending on the instrument FOV. For example, in the scatter plot for broadband irradiance observed by the pyranometer and radiance observed by a narrow-angle radiometer at Chiba during January–March 2016, the correlation is poor (Fig. 6). An important factor in decreasing the correlation between these measurements is the cloud horizontal inhomogeneity, which can explain the poor agreement in Fig. 5b plausibly, despite the accurate retrieval from the sky radiometer (Fig. 5a). In contrast, the AHI cloud properties are an average or representative values of specific coverage, for instance, a pixel (e.g., 1×1 km). As a result, the irradiances modeled with the AHI cloud properties are closer to the observed irradiance than those modeled with the sky radiometer cloud properties. This is because the cloud observed by the sky radiometer can be a small portion of a pixel containing horizontally inhomogeneous clouds.
5.2 Satellite cloud products
As part of validating the water cloud products of MODIS and the AHI using surface radiation data, Khatri et al. (2018) compared water cloud properties retrieved from sky radiometers at the SKYNET observation sites of Chiba, Hedo-misaki, and Fukue-jima with those of MODIS and AHI observations for October 2016 to December 2017. They used surface irradiance data, and the validation results using sky radiometer and surface irradiance data were qualitatively similar. A good (poor) agreement was shown for COD (CER) between sky radiometer and satellite products in Khatri et al. (2018). They compared sky radiometer results with results of collocated satellite pixels by selecting samples with a time difference of less than 1.25 min, which is half the temporal resolution of the AHI observations over Japan. The distance between the pixel center and the observation site was less than 1 km, and they performed parallax correction for satellite products.
Figure 6Scatterplot of broadband radiances and irradiances observed with a narrow-angle radiometer and a wide-angle pyranometer at Chiba (35.62∘ N, 140.10∘ E) during January–March 2016. The solid line represents y=2πx.
Figure 7Comparison of sky radiometer cloud optical depths (CODs) with the (a) MODIS and (b) Advanced Himawari Imager CODs for observation sites at Chiba (35.62∘ N, 140.10∘ E), Hedo-misaki (26.87∘ N, 128.25∘ E), and Fukue-jima (32.75∘ N, 128.68∘ E) from October 2015 to December 2016.
Figure 8Same as Fig. 7 but for a comparison of cloud particle effective radii (CERs).
In Sect. 5.1, we identified inhomogeneous clouds and broken clouds in the satellite pixels as major obstacles in assessing the quality of satellite products using the sky radiometer results and vice versa. Here, we examine the quality of sky radiometer products by using satellite products. We prepare samples for comparison by addressing the cloud inhomogeneity problem in a logical way with the available information. If the surface irradiance calculated from the sky radiometer cloud properties agrees well with that observed at the surface, the effective COD of the actual inhomogeneous clouds may be represented by a sky radiometer COD. The effective COD refers to the COD of the assumed plane-parallel homogenous cloud layers, which can produce irradiance equivalent to that produced by actual inhomogeneous clouds, that is, the measured irradiance. The satellite cloud properties retrieved from reflected signals assume clouds are plane-parallel homogenous layers. The sky radiometer cloud properties that generate surface irradiances equivalent to observed values by differing by not more than 1 % are compared with the satellite cloud properties. Figure 7a and b compare the sky radiometer CODs with MODIS and AHI values, respectively, for the same sites and period as Khatri et al. (2018). The COD agreement is good. The results are qualitatively the same for both MODIS and the AHI, with r values of ∼0.6 and ∼0.7 and RMSE values of ∼13 and ∼10 for MODIS and AHI, respectively. Despite several differences between the sky radiometer and satellite products from observation and retrieval, their good agreement indicates that they have a similar response towards thin and thick clouds. Similarly, Fig. 8a and b compare the sky radiometer CERs with MODIS and AHI values, respectively. The water-absorbing wavelengths corresponding to MODIS and the AHI are 2.1 and 3.79 µm, respectively. The CERs between the sky radiometer and satellite sensors are poorly correlated, with r values less than 0.12 and an RMSE of ∼7 µm for both satellite sensors. This poor correlation may be mainly due to the high sensitivity toward cloud top layers of the satellite sensors using reflected signals (Platnick, 2000), whereas sky radiometers are sensitive to all the cloud layers.
Although the qualitative information reported by Khatri et al. (2018) and the comparisons in Figs. 7 and 8 of this study are similar, there are differences in Figs. 7 and 8 compared to the comparison plots shown in Khatri et al. (2018). The application of data screening criteria in this study generally screened out data with large differences between the sky radiometer and satellite sensors. These large differences in the previous comparison probably arose from the different FOVs of the satellite sensor and sky radiometer while observing inhomogeneous clouds. Thus, the comparison results presented in this study by addressing the cloud inhomogeneity problem more logically should give more accurate and refined information than those presented in Khatri et al. (2018).
To make cloud observations from the surface more common and convenient, we developed an algorithm to retrieve cloud properties (COD and CER) from spectral zenith radiances measured by a sky radiometer. By considering a priori information of the state vector and errors related to observed transmittance and using ancillary data (PWC and surface albedo), an optimal estimation approach was proposed by fitting the observed transmittances at the wavelengths of 0.87, 1.02, and 1.627 µm with modeled values. To ease data analysis of long-term observations further by overcoming the filter degradation problem, an on-site method of calibrating for direct intensity was proposed by using aerosol data for clear-sky days. The calibration constants derived from the proposed method agree well with values determined by collocating the field instruments with the master instrument. The retrieval error analyses performed by considering known ranges of errors in the observed transmittances and ancillary data suggested that the algorithm performed well, except for in narrow bands of small COD and CER values. In general, the errors in input information affected CER retrieval more strongly than COD retrieval, and the retrieved CER had large errors when clouds were optically thin (COD < ∼15) and cloud droplets were small (CER < ∼7 µm) or large (CER > ∼13 µm). As part of the quality assessment, cloud properties retrieved from the proposed algorithm were compared indirectly with surface-observed radiance and irradiance data and directly with observed cloud properties from MODIS and the AHI. The retrieved cloud properties produced broadband shortwave radiances similar to those observed by a narrow-angle radiometer, confirming the good quality of the retrieved products (at least of COD) from the sky radiometer. However, the agreement was poor when broadband shortwave irradiances observed by a pyranometer with a wide FOV were compared with the modeled values. This discrepancy was probably caused by the large difference in FOVs between the sky radiometer and pyranometer, suggesting that the instrument's FOV has a large effect on cloud remote sensing. COD agreed well between the sky radiometer and satellite sensors; however, the agreement was poor for CER.
Data and retrieval code are available from the corresponding author upon request.
PK, HI, and TH developed the study framework and code. HI, TT, AY, and AD generated data. HL and QK helped in advancing the study's framework and writing the paper. All co-authors read the paper and provided suggestions and comments.
Special issue statement.
This article is part of the special issue "SKYNET – the international network for aerosol, clouds, and solar radiation studies and their applications (AMT/ACP inter-journal SI)". It is not associated with a conference.
This research is supported by the 2nd Research Announcement on the Earth Observations of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) (PI no. ER2GCF211, contract no. 19RT000370), a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) (no. 17K05650) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), the "virtual laboratory for diagnosing the earth's climate system" program of MEXT, Japan, and the CREST/JST research fund (grant no. JPMJCR15K4).
This research has been supported by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (PI no. ER2GCF211, contract no. 19RT000370), the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) (grant no. 17K05650), and the CREST/JST (grant no. JPMJCR15K4).
This paper was edited by Teruyuki Nakajima and reviewed by two anonymous referees.
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SKYNET – the international network for aerosol, clouds,...
In an attempt to make cloud retrievals from the surface more common and convenient, we developed a cloud retrieval algorithm applicable for sky radiometers. It is based on an optimum method by fitting measured transmittances with modeled values. Further, a cost-effective and easy-to-use calibration procedure is proposed and validated using data obtained from the standard method. A detailed error analysis and quality assessment are also performed.
In an attempt to make cloud retrievals from the surface more common and convenient, we developed...


text:
Mazedonien nahm an den Olympischen Winterspielen 2006 im italienischen Turin mit einer Delegation von drei Athleten teil.

Flaggenträger
Der alpine Skirennläufer Gjorgi Markovski trug die Flagge Mazedoniens sowohl während der Eröffnungs- als auch bei der Schlussfeier.

Teilnehmer nach Sportarten

Ski Alpin
 Ivana Ivcevska
 Gjorgi Markovski

Ski Nordisch
 Darko Damjanovski

Weblinks
 Mazedonisches Olympisches Komitee

Mazedonien
Winterspiele 2006
Wintersport (Nordmazedonien)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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With new urgency, Biden makes his case to the American people for Covid-19 relief
Analysis by Maeve Reston, CNN
Updated 6:12 PM EST, Sat January 30, 2021
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President Joe Biden came to Washington with big dreams of bipartisanship, but the practicalities are now setting in.
With Congress still deeply polarized following former President Donald Trump's acrimonious exit, and with dangerous variants of the coronavirus circulating in the US, the President signaled a new sense of urgency Friday about the need to get his $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief package passed – even if he is not able to bring Republicans along.
Meeting with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in the Oval Office, the President warned of the "cost of inaction," pointing to alarming new job losses, the hunger that some 30 million Americans are facing every day, as well as the possibility that "an entire cohort of kids" could face "lower lifetime earnings because they're deprived of another semester of school."
"We have to act now; there's no time for delay," Biden said.
US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, speaks during a press conference at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, January 6, 2021. - Donald Trump faced one of the darkest days of his presidency Wednesday with the US Congress poised to certify Joe Biden's White House victory and Democrats on track to take control of the Senate with a pair of stunning upset victories in Georgia. (Photo by Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)
Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
Democrats face their first big challenge to stay united with massive Covid-19 relief bill
He punctuated that point less than two hours later on his way to visit Walter Reed National Military Medical Center when a reporter asked him whether he was willing to achieve his goals by using reconciliation – an arcane procedural tactic that would allow Democrats to pass the relief bill on a party-line vote.
"I support passing Covid relief with support from Republicans if we can get it," Biden replied. "But the Covid relief has to pass. There's no ifs, ands or buts."
Biden has been firm about his efforts to reach across the aisle, but he is making it evident that he does not intend to wait forever before pressing ahead with his agenda. Administration officials are expected to continue their outreach to Republican senators through this weekend and into next week, and Biden has personally reached out to more moderate GOP senators like Susan Collins of Maine and Rob Portman of Ohio.
But his team is also increasingly making their case to the American people, as the administration faces resistance to the size and scope of the bill from the GOP. In all of Friday's White House events, the underlying message was clear, and aimed squarely at the American people: your daily lives will not change without a substantial relief package to reinvigorate the economy and give schools and health care providers the resources they need to speed up vaccinations.
Doug Mills/Pool/Getty Images
Biden seeks to intensify public lobbying for Covid-19 relief bill amid the pandemic
Persuading that broader audience could be an effective tool as frustration grows across America about the slow pace of vaccinations and the anemic economy – one that could nudge wavering Democrats and some Republicans to get on board.
It was no coincidence that Vice President Kamala Harris popped up this week in the backyards of moderate Democratic senators like Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Joe Manchin of West Virginia, to press for swift passage of Biden's proposal. Speaking to editors and executives from the Charleston Gazette-Mail and Herald-Dispatch in West Virginia, Harris made the case that lives are on the line.
"If we don't pass this bill, it is our sincere belief that more people will die who should not, more people will lose their jobs who should not and more children will miss critical days in class," Harris said to her audience in Manchin's home state, according to the report in the Charleston Gazette-Mail.
Manchin, however, appeared to express frustration Friday over a television interview Harris did with CNN affiliate WSAZ to promote the administration's Covid-19 relief proposal.
"I saw it. I couldn't believe it. No one called me," the Democratic senator said in an interview with the same West Virginia station. "We're going to try to find a bipartisan pathway forward. I think we need to, but we need to work together. That's not a way of working together, what was done."
Harris' office did not respond to a request for comment. Manchin's office also has not responded to questions about recent outreach between the senator and the White House.
'We need to act now'
The administration's sense of urgency was plain on Friday in the comments from Biden's coronavirus advisers in their press briefing; from Yellen, moments before she briefed the President on the economy; and from White House press secretary Jen Psaki at the podium in the White House briefing room.
Talking about the current threats that the virus poses to the economic recovery, the millions of children who are being deprived of in-person education – and the unpredictability of the virus itself through the lens of the administration's scientists – they were all making the case that Biden's proposal would get normal life back on track.
During a briefing by the White House Covid response team — where Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to the President, warned about the dangers of the emerging virus variants from countries like South Africa and Brazil – both stressed the importance of speeding up the pace of vaccinations, a key goal of Biden's legislative package.
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Now that it is clear that the US will continue to see "the evolution of mutants," Fauci said Friday, the government and vaccine makers must become more "nimble" and "adjust readily" to make versions of the vaccines that can handle the mutations.
He said it was likely that some mutations of the virus, like the variant found in the UK, could become more dominant in this country by March or early April, underscoring the need to quicken the pace of vaccinating as many Americans as possible before then: "The fundamental principle of getting people vaccinated as quickly and as efficiently as you possibly can will always be the best way to prevent the further evolution of any mutant," he said. "Because when you do that, you prevent replication, and replication is essential for mutation."
Walensky noted that reopening schools remains a top priority for the administration, along with millions of parents across America, and argued that "accumulating data" has shown that school settings don't result in the rapid spread of the virus when proper precautions are taken, like masking, distancing and ventilation.
"But we recognize many communities lack sufficient capacity to do all that is needed," she said, alluding to cash-strapped school districts that have not been able to reduce student density and put those safety measures in place. "That is why it is essential that the guidance, tools and resources called for in the national strategy for the Covid-19 response and the American Rescue Plan are provided to communities," she said referring to Biden's proposed legislation.
The White House is seen at dusk on the eve of a possible government shutdown as Congress battles out the budget in Washington, DC, September 30, 2013. AFP PHOTO / Saul LOEB (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)
White House to release state coronavirus reports previously kept out of public view in Trump administration
In comments to reporters before her meeting with Biden on the current economic data, Yellen noted that over a million people applied for unemployment insurance just last week – "that's far more than in the worst week of the Great Recession," she said.
"Economists agree that if there's not more help, many more people will lose their small businesses, the roofs over their heads, and the ability to feed their families. And we need to help those people before the virus is brought under control," Yellen said. "The President is absolutely right: The price of doing nothing is much higher than the price of doing something, and doing something big. We need to act now, and the benefits of acting now and acting big will far outweigh the costs in the long run."
'Creative steps'
In her briefing, Psaki hinted that the President will be taking "creative steps" in the coming weeks to build support for his proposal that will include more local interviews like the ones Harris did this week, as well as engaging state and local leaders to build consensus.
"He fully recognizes, as do we, the importance of speaking directly to the American people about the components of this package, whether it's the importance of funding to get schools open or get vaccines in the arms of Americans, or just ensure that people know they can put food on the table," Psaki said.
And as they make that case, there's no doubt the administration hopes they'll be able to change the minds of some key lawmakers in the process.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
books, Images, videos	Dennis Wheatley, fiction, horror, occult, vintage
admin ⋅ April 22, 2017
Dennis Wheatley probably did more to sell black magic and the occult to the masses than any other writer. During his lifetime, Wheatley wrote over 60 books, which sold more than 50 million copies. His best-sellers included such classics as The Devil Rides Out, To the Devil a Daughter, and The Haunting of Toby Jugg. Wheatley actually hoped these occult novels would alert readers to the growing "forces of darkness," which he believed were destroying Britain and the world. He considered these dark forces to be communism, socialism, multiculturalism, and to an extent sexual liberation and personal freedom of expression. Actually, anyone whose politics he didn't like, the old crumudgeon lumped in with "Satanism" and he once famously said:
"Is it possible that riots, wildcat strikes, anti-apartheid demonstrations and the appalling increase in crime have any connection with magic and Satanism?"
It was after the Second World War, that Wheatley first indulged his nutty belief that a war between what he described as "good" and "evil" was inevitable, and became firmly convinced people (i.e. those to the right) should be prepared to form private militias to fight against the rise of "Satanism." Cue thunder and lightning flash.
So, that's the background to this brief interview, which Wheatley gave to the BBC in 1970, where he discussed his views on "good" and "evil," "light" and "dark," and why he believed civilization was disintegrating.
Reprinted from Dangerous Minds.
« 3-D Stereoscopic Pictures of Satan and His Underworld from 1875	» Satanic Strippers


text:
Political bias cripples human rights advocacy
Thread starter BLACKEAGLE
BLACKEAGLE
Foreign and Defense Policy
About two weeks ago, I criticized cherry picking in Human Rights Watch (HRW) advocacy with regard to Nasser bin Ghaith, an Emirati academic arrested on a number of charges and imprisoned for the last eight months. The organization subsequently corrected its English press release by noting elements in the UAE charges that went beyond issues of free speech.
If the problem ended there, it would be great but the reaction of some human rights activists in the aftermath (Amnesty International and others) perfectly illustrateS how so many human rights groups mix advocacy with personal politics.
The inability to separate political agendas from human rights advocacy and, in some cases, the willingness to use human rights advocacy as a means to advance an agenda that goes far beyond the protection of freedom of conscience, has become an increasing problem that erodes the moral authority of so many groups.
A session of the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva March 17, 2014. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse.
On a national level, the United Nations Human Rights Council, the successor to the UN Human Rights Commission, has become a self-parody, serving less to advance human rights than to launder states who are among the worst offenders. It has focused singularly on Israel and, while human rights violations happen there, both Israelis and Palestinians are better protected than many in, for example, Saudi Arabia, China, Russia, Venezuela, and Cuba – members of the Council.
But it's not just the UN, or infamous pro-Communist groups like the American Friends Service Committee. Bias and sloppiness have led groups like HRW and Amnesty International to be too credulous with information provided to them by others with a less noble agenda. I have long criticized HRW and Amnesty International for accepting at face value the work of Al-Karama, a self-described human rights organization founded by a man subsequently designated by the US Treasury Department as a terror financier. Indeed, Nicholas McGeehan, a researcher at HRW, emailed after my first post to object to the idea that HRW incorporates research from organizations like Al Karama. Yet here's a HRW report that does exactly that. Simply put, it should astound that a group like Al Karama managed to get its reporting taken at face value by HRW and Amnesty International.
After I wrote my blog post in May raising questions about some HRW work in the United Arab Emirates, Amnesty International's Mansoureh Mills suggested to journalists that "Rubin had been paid by the UAE to write the piece on Ghaith." This is false and it is libel. Yet, official twitter accounts for Amnesty International both "liked" and retweeted such accusations, or an equally baseless accusation that a public relations firm had briefed me on Ghaith. Mills and her colleagues may disagree with my analysis, but they should draw the line at outright fabulism.
But forget Michael Rubin. Human rights work is a vital cause, and should not be in the service of politics. The fact that it so clearly is only harms those who need this advocacy most. Shame on HRW and Amnesty.
https://www.aei.org/publication/political-bias-cripples-human-rights-advocacy/
Its disturbing that human rights advocacy groups should be partial with regard to some states. When political allegiance and indebtness is mixed with human rights issues, it becomes just another propaganda tool to clean after the injustices of the so called free world and their allies. The most unfortunate thing is that its the weak who have no voice in the whole charade. Its time for people of goodwill and conviction to create alternative avenues to create a more just global dispensation.
I think that politicians claim to be doing something for the people but in, the end they are doing things for themselves and trying to make money and a name for themselves while people are suffering and also it is sad when there are sides in the political world and causes problems. I reckon that it can be shocking to see advocate groups face problems when they are speaking out and freedom of speech is affected and think it will be a long time before this is sorted due to corruption and greed and people scared to speak out due to fear. It is sad to see politics get misused for selfish reasons even though the world has been modern and politicians are the problems in the issues facing human rights and not fully understood by people which happens around the world.


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'That's Never Stopped You Before': Wallace Presses Conway on Nations Excluded from Exec Order
By Josh FeldmanJan 29th, 2017, 10:03 am
Chris Wallace confronted Kellyanne Conway over President Trump's immigration executive order that led to massive outcry and a judge issuing a stay yesterday.
Conway said it's "nonsense" to call it a Muslim ban and told Wallace that inconvenience to passengers is a "small price to pay" for greater protection of America's borders.
She said if people are deemed not to be threats, "they can expect to be released in due course."
Wallace asked her why nations like Saudi Arabia (where 9/11 hijackers came from) are not on the list. Conway correctly noted that the list of seven nations came from the Obama administration.
But Wallace countered, "That's never stopped you before."
Conway pointed to the Orlando shooting, San Bernardino, and the Boston bombing to say that even when people are born in the U.S., them traveling overseas and returning after becoming radicalized is a serious problem.
Watch above, via Fox.
Chris WallaceDonald TrumpKellyanne Conway


This hands-on day session explores the ways in which the unique chemistry of the Polaroid photograph can be manipulated to become a unique piece of art. Rhiannon will take you through the different types of films and cameras, from the cameras of the 70s through to the latest digital/analogue hybrids. We will then move on to manipulation methods like emulsion lifting, roller obstruction, masks, filters, multiple exposures, hand development, pod injection, and more!
Rhiannon will be on hand to answer any technical and creative queries. Whether you are a seasoned Polaroid shooter, or completely new to the medium, this workshop allows you the creative space and support to hone your existing skills and learn new ones.
No experience necessary, all materials provided. If you have a camera of your own, do bring it along. All participants will leave with a piece of work to take home.


The 2011 International Museum and Cultural Forum, themed "Museums: Connecting the Historic Art with Contemporary Culture," was held at the China Imperial Springs International Convention Center, Guangzhou, on November 7, 2011. Mr. Cai Wu, Minister of of Culture, sent a message of felicitations.
Among more than 200 renowned cultural scholars, historians, and experts in art and museums at the forum were Mr. Yang Zhijin, Vice Minister of Culture; Mr. Lv Zhangshen, Director of the National Museum of China; Mme. Lei Yulan and Mr. Song Hai, Vice Governors of Guangdong Province; Mr. John Howard, former Prime Minister of Australia; Dr. Philip, Head of the Expert Group for the Protection of Archaeological Heritage of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); and directors of the Sao Paulo Art Museum, Victoria National Museum of Australia, Russia Museum, Berlin National Museum, Shaanxi History Museum, Henan Museum and dozens of other museums from home and abroad.
This forum was jointly hosted by the Bureau of Guangdong Cultural Relics and Guangdong Province Museums Association, organized by the Imperial Springs International Summit and KINGOLD Museum.
In the opening ceremony, Vice Minister Yang Zhi read the message of felicitations from Minister Cai Wu. Vice Governor Lei Yulan and Dr. Jose Teixeira Coelho Netto, Director of Sao Paulo Art Museum, delivered keynote speeches. During the interaction session of the forum, Mr. Lv Zhangshen, Director of the National Museum of China and Honorary Chairman of Chinese Museums Association; Dr. Gerard Vaughan, Director of Victoria National Museum; and Dr. Philip, Head of the Expert Group for the Protection of Archaeological Heritage of UNESCO; and Mr. Xiao Qialong, Director of Guangdong Museum shared their insightful views as to how to better leverage the role of museums for the harmonious development of mankind and how to further advance the cause of museum development through the concerted efforts of the governmental and non-governmental sectors.
During the interaction, many speakers commended the efforts and determination of the Chinese people in furthering the cultural program on the basis of the impressive economic achievement they have made over the past 30 plus years. They saw this forum as a great success in that it provided a premium platform for exchanges between Chinese and foreign museums and successfully generated wide attention in culture, art and museum circles around the world.
While speaking highly of the efforts of the organizers, including Imperial Springs International Summit, KINGOLD Museum and KINGOLD Group, they also noted that Dr. Chau Chak Wing, Chairman of KINGOLD Group and a leader of patriotic overseas Chinese, is truly an enthusiastic supporter of Chinese national cultural programs who cherishes an ardent aspiration to reinvigorate Chinese culture. The Imperial Springs International Convention Center and the KINGOLD Museum, built with an investment of RMB8 billion, are commendable manifestations of this aspiration. The speakers also expressed their hope to see more support from the government for private investment in the cultural sector, so as to energize the cultural life of people through developing the culture industry and creating a more enabling environment for raising the international status of the Chinese culture.


Process work is tricky enough, but now professionals must address disruptions and opportunities caused by technologies—predictive analytics, process automation, and AI. To further complicate things we must also find a balance between using analytics to drive organizational improvements with the need to incorporate human elements in problem identification, solution development, and implementation.
This year's conference theme was kicked off by APQC's John Tesmer, director of Open Standards Benchmarking®, with a conversation on process management's challenges—in the words of the conference participants—and stage setting on shifts in our work caused by the early adopters of AI, machine learning, and robotic process automation coming for all of us.
In the weeks leading up to the conference APQC reached out to conference registrants and speakers alike and identified their top challenges, which APQC converted the responses into a wordle.
Improving how we improve through technology and human-centric design.
Though these three themes seem disconnected at first, they parallel sentiments found earlier this year in our annual priorities survey. That though process work is on the brink of a much-needed change, there are great opportunities for organizations that get these three challenges right to provide strategic value through organizations' digital and customer-focused initiatives.
Speakers throughout the conference built on these themes of digital or technology savvy and human engagement—to deliver organizational value.
Eric Siegel, founder of Predictive Analytics World, author, and speaker; introduced conference participants to the foundation of technical competencies—namely the marriage of analytics with technology—predictive analytics. "The bottom line is, you don't have to predict accurately. Predicting is better than guessing—which this technology does—and is generally sufficient to drive value by rendering mass-scale operations more effective," said Siegel. Adeeb Barqawi, founder of ProUnitas, also explored the connection between digital expertise and process improvement. Barqawi outlined his personal journey and the development of a platform that helps schools identify at-risk students, connect them with resources, and track their progress to ensure they receive the care they need to achieve success in and beyond the classroom.
Roy Barnes, author and consultant, explored the human components, namely the need to deliberately engineer the internal customer experience in our process work. As Barnes explained, "the only sustainable competitive advantage we have moving forward is the relationship you have with your internal and external customers." Jamie Capehart, manager of organizational development at the Goodway Group, brought the theme of human engagement around to our role in developing our teams' unique skills and strengths. Capehart discussed her own pilgrimage for identity and how her experiences with mentorship and a strengths-based approach to building teams changed her life and resulted in recognition by the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award committee for her process improvement teams' client focus and ability to carry the organization forward into the future.
Finally, APQC's John Tesmer and Jeff Varney, joined me in the closing session to tie the themes together to discuss the three key skillsets process professionals need moving forward—technical literacy, exemplary change management skills, and human-centric design.
With over 200 people gathered to share ideas and problem solve, this year's conference was a nexus of best practices and lessons learned from organizations focused on excellence and continuous improvement. The topics addressed in the sessions and ensuing conversations ranged from the building blocks of developing frameworks and business rules to identifying skillsets for the digital workspace.
To learn more about these sessions and conversations at the conference and the experiences shared, check out the presentation slides and written overviews from the sessions. The overviews, which summarize key points and takeaways from each speaker, are available to nonmembers for a limited time.
And if you don't want to miss out on next year's event, you can already register for the 2019 Process and Performance Management Conference.


Simon Leach is a very, very sick man. Thriving on despair, pain, and panic, he unites a group of broken and desperate people in the middle of the desert. He showers them with the love and affection they're so desperate for, but Simon has a much greater plan for his followers.
When another Mega Shark returns from the depths of the sea, world militaries go on high alert. Ocean traffic grinds to a standstill as everyone lives in fear of the insatiable beast. Out of options, the US government unleashes the top secret Mecha Shark project — a mechanical shark built to have the same exact characteristics as Mega. A pair of scientists pilot the mechanical creature as they fight Mega in a pitched battle to save the planet. But when faulty mechanics cause the Mecha to go after humans, the scientists must somehow guide Mega to Mecha in hopes that the two titans will kill each other – or risk untold worldwide destruction.
Two brothers fulfill their murderous fantasies, but doing so derails their relationship.


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Girl Guides: Leo Burnett chief creative officer Susan Credle on creating equity for the next generation
By Katie McQuater - October 1, 2014
In a world where we are constantly looking for the next big thing, the longevity of an idea is rarely afforded the approbation it deserves. Continuing our Girl Guides series where we catch up with the women trailblazing a path to the top of our industry, proving role models for young girls along the way, Leo Burnett's Susan Credle tells The Drum's Katie McQuater we are missing a trick if we're not creating equity for future generations to build upon.
Equity is a word you don't hear very often in advertising, and yet it's what Susan Credle, chief creative officer at Leo Burnett USA, wants creatives to deliver – creative equity that can be gifted to the next generation, put out into the world and built upon in years to come. Longevity, she says, isn't valued or considered as much as it should be in advertising.
"We flip around with messaging so much that it feels like the thing you put your soul into, the longevity of that idea, lasts as long as it's out there, and we don't support the bigger idea for very long. I wish everyone in this business could create something that becomes an equity for the next generation, and that you watch somebody take your thinking, your line, your character or your story, and start to make it relevant to the next generation."
Credle began her career at BBDO in New York, where she spent the next 24 years. When she got into the business in the 1980s, she says she was given "so many gifts" from the previous generations; creativity that she was then able to "play, twist on and take to the next level".
Flying to New York on a one-way plane ticket and $400 – a graduation present – in her pocket, perhaps it was with this sense of wanting to make a mark on the world that saw her climb the ranks from secretary to the role of executive creative director, though her "Southern politeness", in her own words, has been a personal challenge when it comes to pushing her hands out first.
The move to Leo Burnett in Chicago in 2009 was a "crazy" jump for Credle, who "loved" New York City, her clients and her accounts at BBDO. Yet a twist of fate prompted her to change her creative path after she discovered she and her husband were unable to conceive.
Credle decided there and then she would make the "crazy decisions" that if she had been able to have a family, wouldn't be possible. In her mind, it was the only way she could "forgive the universe" for pushing her down a path she didn't think she was going to go on. And so when she was offered the job at Leo Burnett, she accepted, which she admits was like "jumping off the high dive" after almost a quarter of a century at the same agency.
Moments after landing in Chicago, and before she had even begun her first day at Leo, she had a rocky start in the form of a voicemail from a client threatening to pull their business. So did she regret the move in that moment? "I felt sucker punched," she laughs. "I kept waiting for the cameras to come out and go 'you've been punked'. But it's kind of like jumping off the high dive and halfway through you lose your stomach. Did I regret jumping? Well, I thought, I've already jumped, I'm not taking it back – and I don't regret it.
"It's been almost five years and I have been stimulated and pushed to do things I didn't know I was capable of. I've continued to learn; if I can look back every three to five weeks and say I feel like I grew or learned or failed and stood up again, that's stimulating to me."
Her belief in equity as a gift means Credle is most proud of the work that has lasted the distance – one example of which is the redesign of the M&M's characters she undertook with her partner in 1995.
"We did it very mindfully, not putting them in ads but thinking about how long they could exist in this world long-term," she says. "It's been almost 20 years and I see new creatives at BBDO writing for them, I see them around the world existing in the way that we meant them to, and that's exciting."
She admits getting "giddy" when she walks past an M&M's store and sees the work she has created. "When I think that we started that – that's crazy! Do I wish maybe that I had discovered a vaccine that had cured something? That would be awesome too, but I chose advertising."
Credle says she's been privileged in her partnerships with "some amazing" CMOs over the years because of the confidence they gave her to share her opinions, but she says not all clients want to have a real dialogue with their agencies – something she believes is worrying for the industry.
"When a company doesn't want to have a dialogue with its agency, and if there's no mutual respect, you won't go far. The biggest barrier to this relationship is fear, but if leaders are feeling they don't have enough brave people working for them, they need to look directly at themselves. It is not the people they employ, it is the culture they have created that creates bravery or fear."
The fragmented media space has almost placed the CMO in the position of the ECD, according to Credle. While this can work for a certain type of CMO, "who absolutely gets creativity down to the bone", working project-by-project with lots of smaller agencies can be "painful, confusing and disastrous" for others. And according to Credle, that's where the bigger agency comes in. "Another type of CMO is going to want a partner that will go on a longer journey that's more consistent and doesn't become fragmented."
Going back to the idea of equity, she believes that a project-by-project, fragmented approach can create "a lot of noise and distraction" for the brand. "The next thing is, you have a lot of boyfriends but you don't have that great relationship with one, which is the advantage of a longer term relationship with an agency.
"I wouldn't say that's in vogue right now, but I have to believe that some brands are going to start to say wow, sticking with somebody who doesn't want to reinvent me every two years and someone who's envisioning where we go three or four years from now creatively – that's an exciting idea for people. I hope it comes back."
She's excited for young women entering the business, but wishes sometimes that the industry would just "shut up and start celebrating women", and that it needs to be careful not to make the male-female divide a bigger issue than it is. "I came into this business because I thought this was where women could kick ass. I was looking around in the 80s at choices where women were dominating in leadership positions in America, and I couldn't find any, except in advertising. They were everywhere.
"I don't want us to say 'where are the women in advertising?', I just want us to say 'here are the women in advertising'. Just start declaring it."
This article was first published in The Drum's 1 October issue, guest-edited by Cindy Gallop.
This article is about: World, Girl Guides, Susan Credle, Creativity, M&Ms, Marketing & The Marginalized, Advertising, Marketing Services
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Collecting 1 per cent TCS would make operating a spot exchange unfeasible.
IBJA argues that being bracketed together with a Web marketplace would make the proposed exchange, expected to help India emerge as a gold price-setter instead of a price-taker, operationally unviable.
MUMBAI: The India Bullion & Jewellers' Association (IBJA), which is seeking to set up a spot gold exchange, wants the GST Council to keep the platform out of the definitional ambit of Web marketplaces to make the proposed bourse economically and operationally viable.
The law requires ecommerce operators, such as Amazon or Flipkart, to collect 1 per cent TCS (tax collected at source) and deposit the levy with a particular state for in-state transactions, and with the Centre for interstate deals. Experts believe that unless the council were to clarify otherwise, the proposed exchange and other commodity derivatives platforms qualify to be treated as ecommerce operators.
"Collecting 1 per cent TCS would make operating a spot exchange unfeasible," said Surendra Mehta, IBJA national secretary and a chartered accountant himself. Mehta said the council needed to "clarify whether commodity spot electronic exchanges and, by that token, commodity derivatives segments run by the likes of NSE, BSE, MCX, NCDEX and ICEX could be termed e-commerce operators" under the central goods and services tax act, 2017.
The council should exempt "commodity exchanges" from the definition of e-commerce operator, Mehta said, adding that he would seek clarity on this subject from the GST Council later this week. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had proposed the exchange in this year's budget speech as part of a comprehensive gold policy.
Under Section 52 of the CGST Act, an ecommerce operator, not being an agent, is required to collect 1 per cent TCS from a buyer of goods, said CA Manish Gadia of GMJ & Co.


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Home>New Mixtapes>Quentin Miller Mixtapes> Quentin Miller's Latest Album "Q.M." Features Hit-Boy, Soundz, & More
Quentin Miller's Latest Album "Q.M." Features Hit-Boy, Soundz, & More
Q.M.
Quentin Miller
Quentin Miller is stepping out of the shadows with "Q.M."
Quentin Miller is done being in the background. The man most famous for being Drake's alleged ghostwriter is making waves by himself and while he might still "make a mil off a reference," Quentin is working to grow his name through his own releases. While he makes plenty of references to his writing prowess getting him far in the industry, he also flexes his skills as an artist. Quentin has dropped a few singles this year, including the "Destiny Freestyle" where he promised to address "everything." That track does not appear here but plenty of others, including appearances from Hit-Boy, Soundz, and others do.
Ironically, a couple of songs sound like they would be perfect for Drizzy Drake. Notably, "Arkham Asylum..." sounds like it could fit on any of the superstar's recent albums. How is the infamous Quentin Miller's album sounding so far?
1. Cold Day In Hell...
2. High Speed Chase...
3. Hot N' Cold
4. Wwtd Interlude...
5. _A_ (feat. Pe$o)
6. Arkham Asylum... (feat. Hit-Boy)
7. Values... (feat. Soundz)
8. The Source...
9. Bank!!!
10. Scenic Route... (feat. TheCoolisMac)
11. Closing Statements...
Quentin Miller Q.M. album albums new album new albums peso Hit-Boy Soundz thecoolismac
Stream Demrick's "Came A Long Way" Project
Yung Gleesh Comes Through With The Semi-Eponymous "Gleesh"
MIXTAPES Quentin Miller's Latest Album "Q.M." Features Hit-Boy, Soundz, & More


I have a new desk at work. It's located right outside the kitchen. To some that might sound convenient and amazing, but to me, close proximity means my olfactory senses are working overtime. At any given time, a battery of scents are permeating from the kitchen. The lingering smell of microwaved bacon from breakfast, mixed with the scent of someone's reheated Chinese takeout for lunch, as well as the inescapable odor of burnt popcorn, leaves me gasping for fresh air. It's not often that I catch a whiff of something pleasant that leads me into the kitchen to stalk the origin of the aroma. When this occurred last week, my coworker's Southwestern Stuffed Peppers proved to be the source. It was the traces of corn, onions, chilies, ground beef and melty cheese that brought me to my feet. I needed that recipe. Turns out, the stuffed peppers taste just as good as they looked and smelled.
Cook rice according to the package directions.
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the scallion whites and beef and cook, breaking the beef up with a spoon, until no longer pink, 3-5 minutes. Stir in corn, chilies, cumin, cooked rice, 1/2 cup Monterey Jack, 1/2 teaspoon, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper.
Arrange the bell peppers, cut-side up, in a 9x13 inch baking dish or pan. Divide the beef mixture among the bell peppers, add 1/2 cup water to the dish, tightly cover the dish with foil, and bake until the bell peppers are soft, 30-40 minutes. Uncover, sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup Monterey Jack and bake until browned, 5-7 minutes more.
In a small bowl, whisk together the yogurt and 1/4 cup water. Drizzle over the bell peppers and top with salsa and scallion greens.