Large antenna apertures and arrays for deep space communications

Effect of frequency on communications capability, single antennas and arrays, and economic balance between ground station and spacecraft developmen

Positive Youth Development Constructs: Conceptual Review and Application

Editorialpublished_or_final_versio

Benchmark Modeling of the Near-Field and Far-Field Wave Effects of Wave Energy Arrays

This project is an industry-led partnership between Columbia Power Technologies and Oregon State University that will perform benchmark laboratory experiments and numerical modeling of the near-field and far-field impacts of wave scattering from an array of wave energy devices. These benchmark experimental observations will help to fill a gaping hole in our present knowledge of the near-field effects of multiple, floating wave energy converters and are a critical requirement for estimating the potential far-field environmental effects of wave energy arrays. The experiments will be performed at the Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory (Oregon State University) and will utilize an array of newly developed BuoysÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ that are realistic, lab-scale floating power converters. The array of Buoys will be subjected to realistic, directional wave forcing (1:33 scale) that will approximate the expected conditions (waves and water depths) to be found off the Central Oregon Coast. Experimental observations will include comprehensive in-situ wave and current measurements as well as a suite of novel optical measurements. These new optical capabilities will include imaging of the 3D wave scattering using a binocular stereo camera system, as well as 3D device motion tracking using a newly acquired LED system. These observing systems will capture the 3D motion history of individual Buoys as well as resolve the 3D scattered wave field; thus resolving the constructive and destructive wave interference patterns produced by the array at high resolution. These data combined with the device motion tracking will provide necessary information for array design in order to balance array performance with the mitigation of far-field impacts. As a benchmark data set, these data will be an important resource for testing of models for wave/buoy interactions, buoy performance, and far-field effects on wave and current patterns due to the presence of arrays. Under the proposed project we will initiate high-resolution (fine scale, very near-field) fluid/structure interaction simulations of buoy motions, as well as array-scale, phase-resolving wave scattering simulations. These modeling efforts will utilize state-of-the-art research quality models, which have not yet been brought to bear on this complex problem of large array wave/structure interaction problem

Oblique internal hydraulic jumps at a stratified estuary mouth

Author Posting. © American Meteorological Society, 2017. This article is posted here by permission of American Meteorological Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Physical Oceanography 47 (2017): 85-100, doi:10.1175/JPO-D-15-0234.1.Observations and analyses of two tidally recurring, oblique, internal hydraulic jumps at a stratified estuary mouth (Columbia River, Oregon/Washington) are presented. These hydraulic features have not previously been studied due to the challenges of both horizontally resolving the sharp gradients and temporally resolving their evolution in numerical models and traditional observation platforms. The jumps, both of which recurred during ebb, formed adjacent to two engineered lateral channel constrictions and were identified in marine radar image time series. Jump occurrence was corroborated by (i) a collocated sharp gradient in the surface currents measured via airborne along-track interferometric synthetic aperture radar and (ii) the transition from supercritical to subcritical flow in the cross-jump direction via shipborne velocity and density measurements. Using a two-layer approximation, observed jump angles at both lateral constrictions are shown to lie within the theoretical bounds given by the critical internal long-wave (Froude) angle and the arrested maximum-amplitude internal bore angle, respectively. Also, intratidal and intertidal variability of the jump angles are shown to be consistent with that expected from the two-layer model, applied to varying stratification and current speed over a range of tidal and river discharge conditions. Intratidal variability of the upchannel jump angle is similar under all observed conditions, whereas the downchannel jump angle shows an additional association with stratification and ebb velocity during the low discharge periods. The observations additionally indicate that the upchannel jump achieves a stable position that is collocated with a similarly oblique bathymetric slope.We acknowledge the financial support of the Office of Naval Research under Awards N00014-10-1-0932 and N00014-13-1-0364.2017-07-0