Advances in Systems Control and Information Engineering – serie

The ability to conduct measurements on living organisms and systems has developed at a momentous rate concurrent with changes in technology over recent years. Measurement plays a vital role in developing our understanding of biological processes and in furthering our ability to understand and then treat illnesses and injuries. However, in conducting measurements on living organisms the information we collect comes in many different guises, is variable and the measurand is often unstable. Understanding these complexities is fundamental to biological and biomedical measurement. This concise encyclopedia therefore contains more than a comprehensive survey of the measurement systems. It includes also descriptions of the biological systems and subsystems so that the way in which decisions are made on measurement for a given application can be understood more easily. The encyclopedia contains specially commissioned articles and updated and revised articles from the acclaimed Systems�and Control Encyclopedia. A vast array of disciplines are covered in this concise, comprehensive single volume, which will be a vital reference tool for practitioners in the area, measurement experts moving into the biological and biomedical field and beginners needing to understand methods of measurement and the complexities of the measurand.

The Concise Encyclopedia of Environmental Systems provides a concise overview of the current state of the art in the study of environmental systems. Contains specially commissioned articles and updated and revised articles from the acclaimed Systems & Control Encyclopedia. The subjects covered include: agricultural systems; atmospheric processes and air quality; ecosystems; environmental chemistry; geology, soil processes and geophysics; hydrology, fluid dynamics and water quality; marine processes; meteorology; and climatology. In addition, many of the articles cover the methodological procedures used in environmental systems analysis, with contributions on automatic control and management; computers in modelling and management; environmental planning; environmetric methods, including time-series analysis; mathematical modelling, including data-based, physically based and simulation modelling; remote sensing and image processing; uncertainty in environmental systems; and sensitivity analysis. The encyclopedia is extensively cross-referenced on two levels - to articles of direct relevance as well as to other articles which will provide the reader with more general background information.

The Concise Encyclopedia of Modelling & Simulation contains 172 alphabetically arranged articles describing the modelling and simulation of physical systems. The emphasis is on mathematical models and their various forms, although other types of models, such as knowledge-based, linguistics-based, graphical and data-based, are also discussed. The articles are revised from the Systems & Control Encyclopedia, and many newly commissioned articles are included describing recent developments in the field. Articles on identification cover all aspects of this problem, from the use and choice of specific test signals to problems of model order and the many algorithms and approaches to parameter estimation. Computational techniques, such as the finite-element method, that play an important role in analyzing nonlinear models are covered. Articles outline the development of simulation, consider currently available simulation languages, describe applications and cover current developments in the area. Where appropriate, illustrations and tables are included to clarify particular topics. This encyclopedia will be a valuable reference source for all practising engineers, researchers and postgraduate students in the field of modelling and simulation.

The vast expansion of transportation systems on land, sea and in the air throughout the twentieth century has allowed for the development of economic, social and political connections across the globe undreamed of by our ancestors. However, this expansion has brought with it familiar problems such as airport delays and gridlock in our major cities. Fortunately, parallel progress in system science and information technology can provide us with the appropriate tools for rational and efficient solutions to our exponentially increasing transportation demands. This encyclopedia addresses the analysis, modelling and control of today's and tomorrow's traffic and transportation systems in a concise, comprehensive single volume. Well over 100 articles have been specially commissioned, or revised from the acclaimed Systems & Control Encyclopedia, to provide an overview of and first reference to models, control methods and practical aspects of all forms of traffic and transportation systems with a particular emphasis on efficient utilization of available infrastructure, plus a consideration of their historical, organizational, economic and social impacts. The Concise Encyclopedia of Traffic & Transportation Systems will be essential for professional and academic scientists and engineers in any discipline concerned with the movement of people and materials.