Development and flight test of a helicopter compact, portable, precision landing system concept

An airborne, radar-based, precision approach concept is being developed and flight tested as a part of NASA's Rotorcraft All-Weather Operations Research Program. A transponder-based beacon landing system (BLS) applying state-of-the-art X-band radar technology and digital processing techniques, was built and is being flight tested to demonstrate the concept feasibility. The BLS airborne hardware consists of an add-on microprocessor, installed in conjunction with the aircraft weather/mapping radar, which analyzes the radar beacon receiver returns and determines range, localizer deviation, and glide-slope deviation. The ground station is an inexpensive, portable unit which can be quickly deployed at a landing site. Results from the flight test program show that the BLS concept has a significant potential for providing rotorcraft with low-cost, precision instrument approach capability in remote areas

Dairy wintering systems in southern New Zealand : quantification and modelling of nutrient transfers and losses from contrasting wintering systems : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Soil Science at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

Traditional dairy wintering practice in the lower South Island of New Zealand has been to graze brassica crops in situ. This practice has been under increasing scrutiny from local Regional Councils due to the relatively high nitrogen (N) leaching losses from this component of the whole farm system. Alternative wintering options to reduce N leaching losses that are currently available to farmers (such as barns and permanent wintering pads) are high cost and involve a large capital investment. In this work a new wintering system (termed a ‘portable pad’) was developed for use on support blocks (which can be located many kilometres from the milking platform) as an interim measure for reducing N leaching losses that is low cost and low input. This system is designed as a mitigation strategy that is available for use immediately while research investigates more permanent solutions. This system is a hybrid of the traditional crop grazing system and an off-paddock system, where effluent is captured. It makes use of the advantages of each of the original systems utilising the low cost feed source of the brassica crops, grazed in situ, while also utilising the benefits of duration controlled grazing with its associated effluent capture and irrigation at low rates. The aim of the research was to generate whole system N leaching loss values for each of the three farm systems investigated (crop wintering, deep-litter wintering barn, and portable pad). Field and laboratory research was conducted to fill identified knowledge gaps such that system N loss values could be estimated. OVERSEER Nutrient Budget software tool was used in conjunction with measured and modelled (APSIM) data to simulate whole farm N leaching loss values for the three farm systems investigated. Nitrogen leaching losses from the portable pad and barn systems were between 5 and 26 % and between 13 and 26 % lower, respectively, than the crop wintering system

Modeling energy flow and nutrient cycling in natural semiarid grassland ecosystems with the aid of thematic mapper data

Energy flow and nutrient cycling were modeled as affected by herbivory on selected intensive sites along gradients of precipitation and soils, validating the model output by monitoring selected parameters with data derived from the Thematic Mapper (TM). Herbivore production was modeled along the gradient of soils and herbivory, and validated with data derived from TM in a spatial data base

Field Guide to Antarctic Gravity Stations Visited During the 2004-2005 AGASEA Airborne Campaign

Field Guide to Antarctic gravity stations that were visited during the 2004-2005 AGASEA Airborne Campaign.National Science FoundationInstitute for Geophysic

The EnTrak system : supporting energy action planning via the Internet

Recent energy policy is designed to foster better energy efficiency and assist with the deployment of clean energy systems, especially those derived from renewable energy sources. To attain the envisaged targets will require action at all levels and effective collaboration between disparate groups (e.g. policy makers, developers, local authorities, energy managers, building designers, consumers etc) impacting on energy and environment. To support such actions and collaborations, an Internet-enabled energy information system called 'EnTrak' was developed. The aim was to provide decision-makers with information on energy demands, supplies and impacts by sector, time, fuel type and so on, in support of energy action plan formulation and enactment. This paper describes the system structure and capabilities of the EnTrak system

Precision Nitrogen Fertilization Technology with Micro Grids

Sensor-based precision fertilizer technologies are being developed and researched by production scientists. One such technology uses normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) reflectance measurements of growing winter wheat plants and a nitrogen fertilizer optimization algorithm (NFOA) to determine nitrogen requirement necessary for plants to reach their yield plateau. A number of precision fertilizer application systems that use this technology are considered in this paper. A linear response stochastic plateau wheat yield function conditional on NDVI reflectance measurements is estimated and used within an expected profit-maximization framework to estimate upper bounds on the returns from the precision nitrogen application systems. The on-the-go precision system that assumes perfect information was approximately $7 per acre more profitable than the convention of applying 80 pounds of nitrogen prior to planting in the fall. The whole-field precision system was break-even with conventional methods.Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Real-Time Embedded Control System for a Portable Meteorological Station

The aim of this work is to design and code an embedded system for a portable automatic weather station. The portable station includes high performance sensors to measure parameters such as: i) wind speed and direction, micro perturbations and wind gusts, ii) air temperature, iii) solar radiation, iv) relative humidity, and v) atmospheric pressure. The main contribution of this work is the development of an embedded control system operating in real time. This system is based on a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) device. The method developed guarantees high-resolution data acquisition of a number of samples in real time. The samples obtained are grouped and stored in a database, which will be used as a starting point for further analysis

Development and deployment of a microfluidic platform for water quality monitoring

There is an increasing demand for autonomous sensor devices which can provide reliable data on key water quality parameters at a higher temporal and geographical resolution than is achievable using current approaches to sampling and monitoring. Microfluidic technology, in combination with rapid and on-going developments in the area of wireless communications, has significant potential to address this demand due to a number of advantageous features which allow the development of compact, low-cost and low-powered analytical devices. Here we report on the development of a microfluidic platform for water quality monitoring. This system has been successfully applied to in-situ monitoring of phosphate in environmental and wastewater monitoring applications. We describe a number of the technical and practical issues encountered and addressed during these deployments and summarise the current status of the technology

Inhaled particle counts on bicycle commute routes of low and high proximity to motorised traffic

Frequent exposure to ultrafine particles (UFP) is associated with detrimental effects on cardiopulmonary function and health. UFP dose and therefore the associated health risk are a factor of exposure frequency, duration, and magnitude of (therefore also proximity to) a UFP emission source. Bicycle commuters using on-road routes during peak traffic times are sharing a microenvironment with high levels of motorised traffic, a major UFP emission source. Inhaled particle counts were measured along popular pre-identified bicycle commute route alterations of low (LOW) and high (HIGH) motorised traffic to the same inner-city destination at peak commute traffic times. During commute, real-time particle number concentration (PNC; mostly in the UFP range) and particle diameter (PD), heart and respiratory rate, geographical location, and meteorological variables were measured. To determine inhaled particle counts, ventilation rate was calculated from heart-rate-ventilation associations, produced from periodic exercise testing. Total mean PNC of LOW (compared to HIGH) was reduced (1.56 x e4 ± 0.38 x e4 versus 3.06 x e4 ± 0.53 x e4 ppcc; p = 0.012). Total estimated ventilation rate did not vary significantly between LOW and HIGH (43 ± 5 versus 46 ± 9 L•min; p = 0.136); however, due to total mean PNC, accumulated inhaled particle counts were 48% lower in LOW, compared to HIGH (7.6 x e8 ± 1.5 x e8 versus 14.6 x e8 ± 1.8 x e8; p = 0.003). For bicycle commuting at peak morning commute times, inhaled particle counts and therefore cardiopulmonary health risk may be substantially reduced by decreasing exposure to motorised traffic, which should be considered by both bicycle commuters and urban planners

NASA SBIR abstracts of 1990 phase 1 projects

The research objectives of the 280 projects placed under contract in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) 1990 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase 1 program are described. The basic document consists of edited, non-proprietary abstracts of the winning proposals submitted by small businesses in response to NASA's 1990 SBIR Phase 1 Program Solicitation. The abstracts are presented under the 15 technical topics within which Phase 1 proposals were solicited. Each project was assigned a sequential identifying number from 001 to 280, in order of its appearance in the body of the report. The document also includes Appendixes to provide additional information about the SBIR program and permit cross-reference in the 1990 Phase 1 projects by company name, location by state, principal investigator, NASA field center responsible for management of each project, and NASA contract number