Finland

World Renown Photographer and Polish Prince, Alexi Lubomirski|

An alternative methodology for diagnosing soil moisture (SM) exploits observations of land surface temperature (LST) in the thermal infrared (TIR) atmospheric window (10 to 12 microns). It has been shown that the evolution of LST in the morning hours is strongly dependent on current SM conditions, as wet soil or well-watered vegetation will heat up more slowly while dry soil or stressed vegetation will heat up more rapidly [Anderson et al. 2007a; Hain et al. 2009]. A number of past studies have attempted to develop strategies to exploit TIR LST for monitoring SM [Carlson et al. 1981; Price 1983; Carlson 1986; Taconet et al. 1986; Carlson et al. 1994; McNider et al. 1994; Gilles and Carlson 1995; van den Hurk et al. 1995; Jones et al. 1998]. Although, several of these studies showed some success in the diagnosis of SM, very few of these techniques have transitioned to either an “operational framework” or have been attempted on a large spatial (regional to global) or temporal scale. One of the more promising TIR SM monitoring techniques exploits surface flux predictions retrieved from the Atmosphere Land Exchange Inverse (ALEXI) model, a two-source energy balance algorithm [Anderson et al. 1997; Anderson et al. 2007; Hain et al. 2009]. ALEXI uses a time-differential measurement of morning LST rise to diagnose the partitioning of net radiation into fluxes of , and soil heat flux (). As stated above, surface flux partitioning of and heat from ALEXI contains meaningful information about SM as shown by Anderson et al. [2007a; 2010] and Hain et al. [2009]. The TIR-based methodology is advantageous it provides because surface SM (surface stress) information over sparsely vegetated pixels and, importantly, root-zone SM information over pixels with moderate to dense vegetation through the detection of vegetation stress. Additionally, geostationary-based TIR sensors operate at spatial resolutions that are significantly higher than that of current microwave sensors, (on the order of 3 km [Meteosat Second Generation (MSG)] to 10 km [GOES Sounder]).|

Alexi watched Jake in her little kitchen while he made them sandwiches. He worked silently, but Alexi could tell that something was wrong.|

A temporal correlation analysis showed that Noah and AMSR-E time-series were better correlated in sparsely vegetated ( < 0.5) regions (western and central CONUS), while ALEXI was better correlated with the Noah reference under moderate to dense vegetation ( > 0.5), primarily in eastern CONUS. Analysis of variations with ALEXI / Noah time series anomaly correlation with repeat cycle suggest that sampling errors may play a larger role in degrading ALEXI retrieval composites.|

Once Orix took over, Alexi's father became a general with Orix. At age 22 his sister was killed in a freak accident but Alexi believed that the Hutts had her assainated and so he took vengence upon them by helping Orix in the slaughter of Nar Shadda (I believe) It was then that Orix noticed how strong the dark side was within Alexi.|

Republican Sen.-elect Mark Kirk celebrates as he speaks to his supporters after defeating Democrat Alexi Giannoulias Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2010, in Wheeling, Ill. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)|

I believe that’s because Alexi Giannoulias was making donations to Tony Rezko.|

“I don't know why he feels the need to embellish the record and not tell the truth,” Alexi Giannoulias recently said of his opponent Mark Kirk. But now it would be fitting for Giannoulias to ask himself the same question he posed to his opponent, both of whom are vying for the Illinois Senate seat now held by Roland Burris.|

He asked Alexi to become his apprentice and be known as Lynx and he promised him a chance at revenge. Alexi accepted and for some time Orix trained him in the ways of the dark side. Once Orix was captured Lynx went into hiding on Tund and when things settled he emerged as the heir to Orix. He took what was once Orix's and made it his.|

By 2003, Giannoulias, then at his family’s , began to raise big money for Obama’s Senate run. In a 2005 story, Obama said, “Alexi was a strong and early supporter. If someone has stepped out on my behalf, I think it’s important to reciprocate.” (The story is available online to subscribers.) And did he ever. In 2006, Giannoulias was elected state treasurer with help from a TV ad appearance by Obama. The mutual admiration society kept meeting. In 2007, Giannoulias helped Obama raise money among Chicago’s Greek community, and in 2008, the two traveled the primary/caucus circuit together in the presidential race. From the day of the first Iowa caucus in January through the general election in November, Alexi repeatedly joined Barack to play basketball. “We found a gym in Iowa during the caucuses to kind of relax him and get his mind off all the craziness,” Alexi recalled. In one game, Giannoulias drove his shoulder into Obama, knocking the future president down and bruising his ribs. “[Obama] is an incredibly competitive guy—as am I—and the game got kind of heated,” he said.|

Alexi was from a family of wealthy merchants. They had ruled Tund for a very long time before Orix took over. He had a sister named Laurena. At age 4 his mother was raped and killed by pirates. Alexi avenged his mother by slaughtering them all with his bare hands. He was bullied all through school and the only thing keeping him from going insane was his father's guidance.|

Beauty arrives at the Prince's castle and is ordered once again to her hands and knees. The Queen greets her son and agrees with the Prince that Beauty is exquisite. Her Majesty summons Lord Gregory, who has Beauty mounted on the table for display. Numerous other Princesses and Princes are in the Great Hall. Also nude, they attend to the Lords and Ladies as supper is served. Beauty watches their actions as Lord Gregory speaks to her at her side. Beauty sees Prince Alexi for the first time when he drops a wine pitcher to get her attention. A Page swiftly takes Alexi up by the ankles and paddles him.|

The two-source energy balance (TSEB) component of ALEXI partitions the total system flux into soil evaporation () and canopy transpiration () sub-components. These fluxes in turn are largely controlled by SM in the surface layer and the root-zone layer, respectively. In general, wet SM conditions lead to increased (decreased ) and a depressed morning surface temperature amplitude, while dry SM conditions lead to decreased (increased ) and an increased morning surface temperature amplitude. Anderson et al. [2007a] and Hain et al. [2009] outline a technique for simulating the effects of SM on estimates from ALEXI using a SM stress function, relating the value of the fraction of actual to potential evapotranspiration () to the fraction of available water () in the soil profile. In many prognostic-modeling frameworks, a semi-empirical linear or non-linear relationship is defined between and , to account for effects of SM depletion on the surface evaporative fluxes [Anderson et al. 2007a; Hain et al., 2009.] Here, we assume a linear relationship (Hain et al. 2011), and in the computation of standardized anomalies in , soil texture-specific values of and are not necessary as standardized anomalies in are equivalent to standardized anomalies in . This retrieval of SM from diagnosed evaporative fluxes (the inverse of the prognostic approach) should be reasonable when SM is between field capacity and the permanent wilting point, but will lose sensitivity as SM exceeds and approaches saturation.|

When Illinois Democrats nominated Tony Rezko’s banker, Alexi Giannoulias, for the senate seat once held by Barack Obama, some thought they might have made a mistake. It seems to have, at the very least, complicated the Democrats’ efforts to hold what in normal years would be a safe Blue seat. The reports:|