Blockchain technology has the potential to provide public services directly to the public. This challenges the need for public organizations, who traditionally provided these services. Much of the current work is focused on the technology, whereas the influence on public administration structure has gained less attention. The goal of this paper is to investigate the impact of blockchain technology on the governance of public service provision. For this, we performed a case study of an EU-wide system that monitors the movement of excise goods under duty suspension. We developed two scenarios for blockchain technology’s use based on a permissionless blockchain architecture on the one hand and a permissioned one on the other. The scenarios were evaluated based on their impact on transaction validation, data quality and governance. The findings show that blockchain technology alone cannot be an alternative for the current data quality controls, equal access assurances and adaptations to legislation conducted by public administrations. As such, governments will remain playing a key role in registration of documents and assets, however, the governance will likely change depending on the type of blockchain architecture. ... Read more

After more than a decade of operation at Titan and Saturn, the Cassini RADAR instrument is considered well understood and calibrated. In light of the recent Juno mission which is exploring the inner magnetosphere and the atmosphere of Jupiter, it is worthwhile to reconsider the original measurements of Cassini at Jupiter. The better instrument knowledge in combination with a better understanding of the ammonia distribution of Jupiter has allowed for revising the synchrotron flux density to 1.10 ± 0.07 Jansky, a factor of 2.5 larger than the initial estimate (Bolton et al., 2002). The forward model reduced uncertainties pertaining to the spacecraft pointing using a Markov-Chain Monte Carlo algorithm and constrained simultaneously a brightness model of Jupiter with a disk-averaged brightness temperature of 158.6 ± 2.4 K and depletion of ammonia at the poles (limb darking coefficient, p = 0.05). The flux density spectrum for the 2001 measurement campaign reveals a depletion of energetic electrons (>30 MeV) in contrast to an undisturbed electron population at lower energies. Comparing the Cassini radio maps to Very Large Array maps revealed a redistribution of energetic particles to higher latitudes, indicating enhanced pitch angle scattering for energetic particles. This kind of behavior has been observed in the terrestrial Van Allen belts and could be caused by the resonance of energetic electrons with electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves. We used a simplified analytic expression to determine the feasibility of this process at Jupiter. Although this process is not feasible under nominal conditions, a 10-fold enhancement of the cold plasma density, caused for example by extreme UV events, or volcanic eruptions on Io, could lead to rapid pitch angle scattering of electrons, and the subsequent removal of these particles by the atmosphere. ... Read more

The land-sea interface is a very attractive location for humans to settle. In the case of low lying, sedimentary coastlines this can be a risky location, as these shorelines are inherently dynamic in nature. Accelerating rates of relative sea level rise will increase coastal erosion, creating world-wide growing demands for coastal protection along urbanized shores. Starting point of this project is that the key to sustainably adapt to this situation is to be found in smart, pro-active sediment management using ‘building-with-nature’ (BwN) approaches, rather than in traditional reactive approaches involving expansion of static, hard coastal defense structures. ... Read more