Survey of Oyster Grounds in Virginia - Report of J.B. Baylor to the Governor of Virginia

Note: The full Baylor report referenced in this work is located at the Library of Virginia Special Collections (East Side SH365 .V7 1894a) in this document: Wilkins, John T. Oyster Records. Distance and Bearings of Numbered Corners of Public Grounds from Shore Stations, Depth of Water, Descriptions of Shore Stations, &c., &c. ... Richmond: N.p., 1894. Print

Numerical modelling in a multiscale ocean

Systematic improvement in ocean modelling and prediction systems over the past several decades has resulted from several concurrent factors. The first of these has been a sustained increase in computational power, as summarized in Moore\u27s Law, without which much of this recent progress would not have been possible. Despite the limits imposed by existing computer hardware, however, significant accruals in system performance over the years have been achieved through novel innovations in system software, specifically the equations used to represent the temporal evolution of the oceanic state as well as the numerical solution procedures employed to solve them. Here, we review several recent approaches to system design that extend our capability to deal accurately with the multiple time and space scales characteristic of oceanic motion. The first two are methods designed to allow flexible and affordable enhancement in spatial resolution within targeted regions, relying on either a set of nested structured grids or, alternatively, a single unstructured grid. Finally, spatial discretization of the continuous equations necessarily omits finer, subgrid-scale processes whose effects on the resolved scales of motion cannot be neglected. We conclude with a discussion of the possibility of introducing subgrid-scale parameterizations to reflect the influences of unresolved processes

Topological Signature of Stratospheric Poincare -- Gravity Waves

The rotation of the earth breaks time-reversal and reflection symmetries in an opposite sense north and south of the equator, leading to a topological origin for certain atmospheric and oceanic equatorial waves. Away from the equator the rotating shallow water and stably stratified primitive equations exhibit Poincare-gravity waves that have nontrivial topology as evidenced by their strict superinertial timescale and a phase singularity in frequency-wavevector space. This non-trivial topology then predicts, via the principle of bulk-interface correspondence, the existence of two equatorial waves along the equatorial interface, the Kelvin and Yanai waves. To directly test the nontrivial topology of Poincare-gravity waves in observations, we examine ERA5 reanalysis data and study cross-correlations between the wind velocity and geopotential height of the mid-latitude stratosphere at the 50 hPa height, and find the predicted vortex and anti-vortex in the phase of the correlations at the high frequencies of the waves. By contrast, lower-frequency planetary waves are found to have trivial topology. These results demonstrate a new way to understand stratospheric waves, and provide a new qualitative tool for the investigation of waves in other components of the climate system.Comment: 24 pages, 6 figure

Stress-corrosion cracking studies in coal-liquefaction systems

Coal liquefaction plants with 6000 ton/d capacity are currently being planned by DOE as a step toward commercial production of synthetic fossil fuels. These plants will demonstrate the large-scale viability of the Solvent Refined Coal (SRC) process, which has been used since 1974 in two operating pilot plants: a 50-ton/d unit at Fort Lewis, Washington, and a 6-ton/d plant in Wilsonville, Alabama. Experience in these plants has shown that austenitic stainless steels are susceptible to stress corrosion cracking associated with residual stresses from cold working or welding. The corrodants responsible for the cracking have not yet been positively identified but are suspected to include polythionic acids and chlorides. To screen candidate materials of construction for resistance to stress corrosion cracking, racks of stressed U-bend specimens in welded and as-wrought conditions have been exposed at the Wilsonville and Fort Lewis SRC pilot plants. These studies have identified alloys that are suitable for critical plant applications

Dynamics of the G-excess illusion

The G-excess illusion is increasingly recognized as a cause of aviation mishaps especially when pilots perform high-speed, steeply banked turns at low altitudes. Centrifuge studies of this illusion have examined the perception of subject orientation and/or target displacement during maintained hypergravity with the subject's head held stationary. The transient illusory perceptions produced by moving the head in hypergravity are difficult to study onboard centrifuges because the high angular velocity ensures the presence of strong Coriolis cross-coupled semicircular canal effects that mask immediate transient otolith-organ effects. The present study reports perceptions following head movements in hypergravity produced by high-speed aircraft maintaining a banked attitude with low angular velocity to minimize cross-coupled effects. Methods: Fourteen subjects flew on the NASA KC-135 and were exposed to resultant gravity forces of 1.3, 1.5, and 1.8 G for 3 minute periods. On command, seated subjects made controlled head movements in roll, pitch, and yaw at 30 second intervals both in the dark and with faint targets at a distance of 5 feet. Results: head movement produced transient perception of target displacement and velocity at levels as low as 1.3 G. Reports of target velocity without appropriate corresponding displacement were common. At 1.8 G when yaw head movements were made from a face down position, 4 subjects reported oscillatory rotational target displacement with fast and slow alternating components suggestive of torsional nystagmus. Head movements evoked symptoms of nausea in most subjects, with 2 subjects and 1 observer vomiting. Conclusions: The transient percepts present conflicting signals, which introduced confusion in target and subject orientation. Repeated head movements in hypergravity generate nausea by mechanisms distinct from cross-coupled Coriolis effects