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Although road surface friction is considered the most effective performance measure for maintenance operations, it is not commonly used due to the high cost of collection. As a result, most jurisdictions use subjective visual indicators that qualitatively describe the state of the road surface, even though they create measurement inconsistencies and offer less detailed maintenance tracking. For maintenance personnel to transition into using friction, the collection cost must be reduced. This paper attempts to do so by proposing a low-cost, machine learning-based method for predicting road surface friction using dash camera imagery and demonstrates its feasibility through a case study. The dataset used for this project was collected in the City of Edmonton, AB, Canada during its 2021/2022 winter season. Three models were developed using tree-based algorithms, where all three displayed high performance with an average root mean squared error of 0.0796 or 79.3% accuracy based on RMSPE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Ongoing legal and social discrimination, and stigmatization of people with lived experience of drug use (PWLE) continues to contribute to overdose-related deaths in Canada. The involvement of PWLE working in harm reduction services has proven effective in decreasing drug-related harms among PWLE; however, there exist unintended negative impacts. PWLE working in harm reduction services risk overextending themselves beyond employment parameters (e.g., emotional labor) with few systems in place (e.g., employment advocacy) for support. While meaningful participation of PWLE in harm reduction programs is critical to addressing the overdose crisis, their labor in Canada's overdose response commands further investigation and recognition. This paper examines some of the benefits and negative aspects of working in harm reduction among PWLE. Methods: Fifty qualitative surveys were completed by PWLE working in harm reduction services from across Canada at the National 2018 Stimulus conference held in Edmonton, Alberta. The surveys focused on the benefits and negatives of 'peer' employment and recommendations for organizational transformation through short answer written sections. Surveys were analyzed thematically using NVivo, informed by critical perspectives on substance use, with attention to key re-occurring themes on employment equity. Results: While participants described multiple benefits of working in harm reduction services, such as the valuing of their expertise by fellow 'peers,' growing skill sets, countering stigma, and preventing overdose deaths, issues of workplace equity were significantly identified. Stigma, tokenism, workplace discrimination, including power and pay inequities, as well as lack of worker compensation and benefits were identified as key factors persisting in the everyday experiences of participants. Conclusion: Continued exposure to stigma, workplace discrimination, and/or power imbalances, combined with the impact of high stakes employment (e.g., dealing with overdose deaths), can have significant consequences for PWLE working in harm reduction, including burn out. Policy recommendations include large-scale structural changes that address inequities of hierarchical 'peer' employment for PWLE, including increased leadership roles for diverse PWLE, pay equity and benefits, unionization, as well as more supportive working environments attentive to the intersecting social-structural factors (poverty, criminalization, racism, gendered violence) impacting the everyday lives of PWLE working in harm reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The driving forces controlling the long-term total ozone change are investigated using the total ozone data from Edmonton (53.55°N, 114.0°W), Canada, over 1958–2018. By using the slow feature analysis method, the driving force signal for monthly mean total ozone time series is extracted. It is found that the driving force has fluctuated at higher values since the mid-1980s, and the corresponding total ozone has varied at lower values. These variation patterns indicate that the ozone loss since the mid-1980s is correlated with the higher values of the driving force. It is also found that the driving force exhibits sharp values following some explosive volcanic events, indicating that explosive volcanic eruptions act as a driving factor for ozone depletion. In order to analyze the scale structure of the driving force, the wavelet analysis method is applied. The results show that the spectral scales of the driving force peak at 2.4, 7.0, 21.4, 28.5, and 42.8 years. Among them, the 21.4 year periodicity, which corresponds to the 22-year solar magnetic cycle, is the basic one, and it modulates other mode of oscillations. More importantly, the 21.4 year cycle is modulated in amplitude by a signal with a much longer time scale. This long-scale modulating signal represents the impacts of the ozone depleting substances (ODSs) in the stratosphere, and it controls the long-term evolution of total ozone. Since the turn of the century, as the ODSs decline, a slow recovery of total ozone is expected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the demand for hockey game trips among metropolitan and nonmetropolitan residents of Alberta, Canada. Using data on both revealed and stated preference game-trip behavior from a telephone survey conducted throughout Alberta, we estimate the effect of ticket prices, team quality, arena amenities, and capacity on the latent demand for National Hockey League hockey games. We find that lower ticket prices, higher team quality, and additional capacity encourage attendance. In the status quo scenario, consumer surplus per game is $50 for those who had attended hockey games and about 50% less for those who had not attended games. Exploiting the stated preference data, we develop a number of other consumer surplus estimates. We also include travel costs in the estimation of the demand function and estimate the full value of the game trip considering both ticket prices and travel costs. Sold-out arenas in Calgary and Edmonton generate annual consumption benefits of $40 and $35 million when only ticket prices are used to calculate consumer surplus (i.e., excluding travel costs). Considering the full-price consumer surplus for the Calgary Flames of $103 per game trip, the annual consumption benefits may be as high as $82 million. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Turning movements are one of the key inputs required for several traffic studies. Several methods have been developed to measure them. However, present techniques have high operational or capital costs, which motivate researchers to develop new techniques to estimate turning movements. However, there is neither a flexible technique available to make best use of different available information types, nor a framework that supports deciding additional data to achieve a target accuracy. This paper proposes a new methodology using all available data to identify the subspace containing all solutions and determine its centroid; thus, providing the most realistic and non-extreme solution. In addition, a framework, including scenarios with different data combinations, is developed with capability to evaluate the proposed solution and then locate further measurements to achieve the target accuracy. The framework is validated using a considerable set of intersections at Edmonton city, Canada. The results show that the proposed framework can achieve the target accuracy with minimum field measurements saving time, effort and cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that an analysis of the capitalized burdens and benefits of the local public sector offers a simple, straightforward and objective computational methodology to fiscal incidence at the local level. This capitalization approach represents a major departure from the highly discretionary and imprecise computational environment of the "reasonable assumptions" and Aaron and McGuire approaches. It is initially discussed both from conceptual and operational points of view and then implemented using alternate procedures. Major limitations of the approach are then noted. A comparative perspective on fiscal incidence results based on the capitalization approach and of earlier studies on this subject is provided in the concluding section of the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract. In our earlier studies of the supermarket industry in Edmonton, Alberta, we tested for predation in a spatial setting and found evidence which supported the predation hypothesis. In this paper we use data on the locations, entry, exit and market area populations of supermarkets in Edmonton to test whether the entry deterrence and timing-of-expansion implications of the reputation hypothesis are confirmed. We find that our time series data are consistent with entry's being deterred and with delayed opening of new supermarkets by the dominant established firm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a paper which is concerned with the relationship between skill level and left/right orientation toward worker-management relations. The paper begins with a description of a backcloth of contradictory hypotheses on this relationship in the literature. Then the relationship is explored for samples of craft and non-craft workers drawn from two different plants in Edmonton, Alberta. Relationships between skill level and left/right orientation showed different directions for workers from the different plants. Alternative interpretations of the results are discussed. Results showed that the relationship of skill level and left/right orientations did not seem to generalize across companies. The picture of workers' consciousness that emerges from this study of craft and non-craft workers is an extremely murky one and if results are consistent with any of the available theoretical perspectives on worker beliefs, it is the notion that workers, regardless of skill level, do not subscribe to highly consistent sets of beliefs of either a left or right orientation.

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Sociology is the property of Canadian Journal of Sociology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper reviews the factors and criteria for the design of new and the retrofitting of existing dry detention ponds to enhance removal of total suspended solids (TSS) from stormwater. Detention time is discussed as the most important factor affecting TSS removal. Two-stage facilities and multi-level outlet design are important means of enhancing TSS removal in dry ponds. Two dry ponds within the city of Edmonton were selected to evaluate their TSS removal. The level of expected TSS removal is low owing to the relatively short detention times for both ponds. Methods for retrofitting the dry ponds to enhance TSS removal are discussed.Key words: dry pond, stormwater, TSS removal, detention time, retrofitting.Cet article passe en revue les facteurs et critères de conception de nouveaux étangs de rétention, et de modification de ceux déjà existants, avec pour but d'améliorer la capacité d'enlèvement des substances solides totales en suspension (SST) contenues dans les eaux de ruissellement. Le temps de rétention est examiné en tant que facteur principal affectant l'enlèvement des SST. Les installations à deux étages et la conception de sorties multi-niveaux sont des procédés importants qui améliorent l'enlèvement des SST dans les étangs. Deux étangs de la Ville d'Edmonton ont été sélectionnés et leur capacité de rétention a été évaluée. Le niveau d'enlèvement des SST escompté est bas compte-tenu des temps de rétention relativement courts de ces deux étangs. Les méthodes de modification des étangs visant à améliorer l'enlèvement des SST sont examinées.Mots clés : étang, eaux de ruissellement, enlèvement des SST, temps de rétention, réajustement.[Traduit par la Rédaction] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents an innovative geostatistical approach, namely network regression kriging (NRK), for optimizing location–allocation of traffic counters within a road network. Long-term traffic observations for different road types are utilized by combining several semivariograms to better represent traffic behaviours. This location optimization problem minimizes the NRK estimation variance of traffic volumes via the simulated annealing algorithm. A real-world case study in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, was used to illustrate the distinct features of our proposed approach. The results suggest that the generated traffic counters' configurations can significantly improve the estimation accuracies. An effort was also made to reduce the number of traffic counters while maintaining the same estimation accuracies, and the result indicated potential equipment savings for up to 46.13%. The findings of this study imply that the proposed approach could be used as a decision-support and performance evaluation tool for transportation authorities to deploy traffic counters and assess alternative deployment strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Waste collection management plays a crucial role in controlling pandemic outbreaks. Electric waste collection systems and vehicles can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of sanitary processes in municipalities worldwide. The waste collection routing optimization involves designing routes to serve all customers with the least number of vehicles, total traveling distance, and time considering the vehicle capacity. This paper proposes a dynamic location-arc routing optimization model for electric waste collection vehicles. The proposed model suggests an optimal routing plan for the waste collection vehicles and determines the optimal locations of the charging stations, dynamic charging arcs, and waste collection centers. A genetic algorithm and grey wolf optimizer are used to solve the large-sized random generated NP-hard location-arc routing problems. We present a case study for the city of Edmonton in Canada and show the grey wolf optimizer outperforms the genetic algorithm. We further demonstrate the total number of waste collection centers, charging stations, and arcs for dynamic charging needed to ensure a minimum required service for electric vehicles throughout Edmonton's entire waste collection system. [Display omitted] • The waste collection routing optimization optimizes routes serving customers. • Optimized routes use minimum vehicles, distance, and time with capacitated vehicles. • A dynamic location-arc routing optimization is proposed for electric waste collection vehicles. • Genetic algorithms and grey wolf algorithms solve the large NP-hard problem. • A case study in Canada shows grey wolf algorithm outperforms the genetic algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Environmental Engineering & Science is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The City of Edmonton's Emergency Medical Services (EMS) department proposed to move to a 'single start station system' (SS system) in which all ambulances would begin and end their shifts at the same location. We developed a discrete event simulation model to estimate the impact of this change and subsequently used this model to explore other changes to Edmonton EMS operations, including the addition of stations, the addition of ambulances, different shifts, and a different redeployment system. We found that a SS system increased average unit availability and the fraction of calls reached within the department's response time standard, particularly during the current shift changeover periods. The paper describes the development and validation of the simulation model and summarizes the results of its application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

All of the pollutants found in stormwater runoff at airports, including surface and aircraft de-icing/anti-icing glycols, can be treated and removed to low levels in well-designed sub-surface flow (SSF) constructed wetland systems. There are two common forms of constructed wetlands used for pollution control: those where water flows over the surface among wetland plants (free water surface or marsh type wetlands); and SSF types where the wastewater flows below the normally dry surface of a gravel substrate in which the wetland plants grow. SSF wetlands have no open water to attract waterfowl and are particularly suitable for use at airports. Of the glycol used at Edmonton International Airport (EIA), 80 to 90% eventually entered surface runoff. Edmonton International Airport's operator, the Edmonton Regional Airports Authority (Edmonton Airports) evaluated a number of glycol management options, including constructed wetlands. As a result, a very large SSF wetland system was installed to handle glycol-contaminated stormwater. This paper reviews results of a feasibility study carried out to define design parameters and scale up kinetics for this wetland system, the detailed design that resulted, the SSF wetland's construction, and the start-up of the Edmonton facilities in August of 2000. It also compares the Edmonton wetland system with a similar facility at Heathrow Airport in the United Kingdom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Open-path measurements of methane (CH 4) with the use of GasFinder systems (Boreal Laser Inc, Edmonton Canada) have been frequently used for emission estimation with the inverse dispersion method (IDM), particularly from agricultural sources. It is common to many IDM applications that the concentration enhancement related to CH 4 sources is small, typically between 0.05 and 0.5 ppm, and accurate measurements of CH 4 concentrations are needed at concentrations close to ambient levels. The GasFinder3-OP (GF3) device for open-path CH 4 measurements is the latest version of the commercial GasFinder systems by Boreal Laser Inc. We investigated the uncertainty of six GF3 devices from side-by-side intercomparison measurements and comparisons to a closed-path quantum cascade laser device. The comparisons were made at near-ambient levels of CH 4 (85 % of measurements below 2.5 ppm) with occasional phases of elevated concentrations (max. 8.3 ppm). Relative biases as high as 8.3 % were found, and a precision for half-hourly data between 2.1 and 10.6 ppm-m (half width of the 95 % confidence interval) was estimated. These results deviate from the respective manufacturer specifications of 2 % and 0.5 ppm-m. Intercalibration of the GF3 devices by linear regression to remove measurement bias was shown to be of limited value due to drifts and step changes in the recorded GF3 concentrations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Announces the 95th annual meeting of the Poultry Science Association, Inc. slated in July 16 to 19, 2006 at Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. Program chairmen; Papers and Presentation; Participants.

Background: Adolescents and providers can benefit from practical tools targeting lifestyle modification for obesity prevention and management. We created Conversation Cards for Adolescents© (CCAs), a patient-centered communication and behavior change tool for adolescents and providers to use in clinical practice. The purpose of our study is to (i) assess the feasibility of CCAs in a real-world, practice setting to inform full-scale trial procedures, (ii) assess user experiences of CCAs, and (iii) determine the preliminary effect of CCAs on changing behavioral and affective-cognitive outcomes among adolescents. Methods: Starting in early 2019, this prospective study is a nested mixed-methods, theory-driven, and pragmatic pilot randomized controlled trial with a goal to enroll 50 adolescents (13–17 years old) and 9 physicians practicing at the Northeast Community Health Centre in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Adolescents will collaboratively set one S.M.A.R.T. (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, timely) goal with their physician to implement over a 3-week period; however, only those randomized to the experimental group will use CCAs to inform their goal. Outcome assessments at baseline and follow-up (3 weeks post-baseline) will include behavioral, affective-cognitive, and process-related outcomes. Discussion: In examining the feasibility, user experiences, and preliminary effect of CCAs, our study will add contributions to the obesity literature on lifestyle modifications among adolescents in a real-world, practice setting as well as inform the scalability of our approach for a full-scale effectiveness randomized controlled trial on behavior change. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03821896. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Short-term traffic speed prediction is a key component of proactive traffic control in the intelligent transportation systems. The objective of this study is to investigate the short-term traffic speed prediction under different data collection time intervals. Traffic speed data was collected from an urban freeway in Edmonton, Canada. A seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average plus seasonal discrete grey model structure (SARIMA-SDGM) was proposed to perform the traffic speed prediction. The model performance of SARIMA-SDGM model was compared with that of the seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (SARIMA) model, seasonal discrete grey model (SDGM), artificial neural network (ANN) model, and support vector regression (SVR) model. The results showed that SARIMA-SDGM model performs best with the lowest mean absolute error (MAE), mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), and the root mean square error (RMSE). The traffic speed prediction accuracy under different time intervals were compared based on the SARIMA-SDGM model. The results showed that the prediction accuracy improves with the increase in time interval. In addition, when the time interval is greater than 10 min, the prediction results yield stable prediction accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Environmental Engineering & Science is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Environmental Engineering & Science is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Environmental Engineering & Science is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The following carries on from an article on Brutinel's prewar life in Edmonton, Alberta that appeared in the previous issue of Canadian Military History. That account dealt with his arrival in Edmonton from France, the reasons for his immigration, and his adaptation to life in the newly-created Alberta capital. This included an initial involvement with the Edmonton French community, his editorship of the French language Le Courrier de l'Ouest, and his eventual breaking away from these pursuits into a career of business entrepreneurship. The following is specifically concerned with this latter phase of his career, in which, at the height of the 'Laurier boom,' he enjoyed great success. Included are his role as an agent for a syndicate of wealthy Montreal capitalists, his work as an explorer for coal deposits, and his promotion of numerous community development schemes, intended both to assist with community improvement and to earn money for his Montreal backers. These are recounted to clarify for the first time the kinds of activities that preoccupied Brutinel before the war and to help to illustrate his experiences and the capacities he developed and subsequently brought to his service as an officer with the Canadian Corps on the Western Front. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Presents news briefs on bioinformatics as of December 2002. Basic idea behind the third Bioinformatic Open Source Conference that took place in Edmonton, Canada on August 1-2, 2002; Primary goal of the Biological Collaborative Research Environment for Structural Biology, a web-based collection of tools; Features of the second annual Virtual Conference on Genomics and Bioinformatics on September 24-26, 2002.

The Lesueur landslide occurred on 3 September 1963 on the outside of a meander of the North Saskatchewan River in northeast Edmonton. The displaced volume was 0.76 Mm[sup 3] of Pleistocene deposits and underlying Upper Cretaceous mudstones. The trigger of the landslide is believed to be accelerated erosion of the slope toe caused by dumping of mine waste on the inside of the meander. Surveys in 1964, 1971, 1992, 1995, 1997, and 1998 have documented continued slope movements. The main scarp grew in height from 7.5 m on 4 September 1963 to 13.9 m in 1995 but retrogressed only 3 m. The displaced material extended up to 24 m into the North Saskatchewan River. When the forward motion of the passive block of the translational slide ceased to be driven by the sinking of the active block, river erosion caused rotational sliding of the displaced material on the surface of separation.Key words: landslide, Edmonton, Cretaceous, mudstone, erosion, North Saskatchewan River.Le glissement de Lesueur s'est produit le 3 septembre 1963 sur l'extérieur d'un méandre de la rivière North Saskatchewan au nord est de Edmonton. Le volume déplacé était de 0,76 Mm[sup 3] de dépôts du Pléistocène et d'argilites sous-jacents du Crétacée supérieur. On croit que le facteur déclencheur du glissement est l'érosion accélérée du talus causée par le déversement de résidus miniers à l'intérieur du méandre. Des relevés en 1964, 1971, 1992, 1995, 1997, et 1998 ont documenté des mouvements continuels du talus. La principale cicatrice s'est accrue en hauteur de 7,5 m le 4 septembre 1963 à 13,9 m en 1995, mais a rétrogressé de seulement 3 m. Lorsque le mouvement vers l'avant du bloc de butée du glissement de translation résultant de l'enfoncement du bloc de poussée a cessé de se produire, l'érosion de la rivière a causé un mouvement de glissement en rotation du matériau déplacé sur la surface de séparation.Mots clés : glissement, Edmonton, Crétacée, argilite, érosion, rivière North Saskatchewan.[Traduit par la Rédaction] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changes in temperature and precipitation are expected to alter the seasonal distribution of surface water supplies in snowmelt-dominated watersheds. A realistic assessment of future climate change and inter-annual variability is required to meet a growing demand for water supplies in all major use sectors. This study focuses on changes in climate and runoff in the North Saskatchewan River Basin (NSRB) above Edmonton, AB, Canada, using the MESH (Modélisation Environnementale communautaire—Surface Hydrology) model. The bias-corrected ensemble of Canadian Regional Climate Model (CanRCM4) data is used to drive MESH for two 60-year time periods, a historical baseline (1951–2010) and future projection (2041–2100), under Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 8.5. The precipitation is projected to increase in every season, there is significant trend in spring (0.62) and fall (0.41) and insignificant in summer (0.008). Winter extreme minimum temperature and summer extreme maximum temperature are increasing by 2–3 °C in the near future and 5–6 °C in the far future. Annual runoff increases by 19% compared to base period. The results reveal long-term hydrological variability enabling water resource managers to better prepare for climate change and extreme events to build more resilient systems for future water demand in the NSRB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information about the Canadian Airborne Regiment (CAR). The CAR was formed in 1968. The focus was to form a light highly mobile miniformation competent of small unit or light formation operations in any geographic region or climate in the world. From 1968 to 1977, the 900-man CAR was based in Edmonton, Alberta. In the early 1970s, the Airborne acquired a Francophone commando unit due to pressure for equal representation. As a result the CAR was constituted of men and officers sent from each of the three Canadian army regiments.

The challenges of accurately measuring in situ ammonia (NH3) losses from agricultural systems are well known. Using an open path laser coupled with a backward Lagrangian stochastic dispersion model is a promising approach for quantifying both point- and area-sources; however, this approach requires the open path laser to detect low NH3 concentrations and small concentration differences. In this study, we compared the new GasFinder3 open path laser (Boreal laser Inc., Edmonton, Canada) with the GasFinder2 sensor, the previous version. The study took place at two locations: an outdoor open-air manure compost site, and a field of wheat stubble which was fertilized with urea ammonium nitrate. Results showed the two lasers reported similar concentrations during three days of measurements at the compost site, but differed at the field site, where concentrations were close to the minimum detection limit. The GasFinder3 had a lower standard deviation under all conditions, especially with low wind speed and high relative humidity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]