Accuracy of vertical velocity determination

Typical wind spectra taken at Poker Flat, Alaska, using the vertically oriented antenna show velocities of 10's of cm to meters per second and spectral widths winds of 0.5 to 1 m/s. The potential errors in such measurements can be broken down into three categories: (1) those due to instrumental parameters and data processing, (2) those due to specular returns from non-horizontal surfaces, and (3) those due to other physical effects. Error analysis in vertical velocity measurement is further discussed

Parameterization of spectrum

Many radars used for wind sounding generate Doppler power spectra as output. For compact data archiving purposes, as well as for data analysis, several parameters were produced to characterize each spectrum. The parameters chosen were noise level, echo signal strength, velocity, and width. Because the derived parameters may be the only quantities available for future analysis, it was important that they did not contain biases imposed by the derivation techniques. This consideration led to a processing scheme in which the parameters were derived independently for each spectrum

Use of the Sun to determine pointing of ST radar beams

Verification of the beam pointing direction for ST (stratosphere troposphere) radars is a technically difficult problem. Consequently it is not usually done. For measurement of horizontal wind, the lack of precise knowledge of the beam pointing direction is usually of little consequence as any errors cause only a small uncertainty in the measured velocity. However, instantaneous vertical velocities are typically more than an order of magnitude less than horizontal velocities and average vertical velocities are more than two orders of magnitude less than average horizontal velocities. Hence small pointing errors for vertical beams can result in large errors due to contamination by horizontal winds. Experimental confirmation of pointing accuracy using the measured winds is difficult but has been achieved where horizontal and vertical winds are measured at the same site. Using the techniques described by Balsley and Riddle, 1984 and Riddle and Balsley, 1985, pointing accuracy was measured at Ponape, Federated States of Micronesia. The experiment is described in detail

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as Amended by the No Child Left Behind Act: A Primer

[Excerpt] The primary source of federal aid to K-12 education is the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), particularly its Title I, Part A program of Education for the Disadvantaged. The ESEA was initially enacted in 1965 (P.L. 89- 10), and was most recently amended and reauthorized by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLBA, P.L. 107-110). Virtually all ESEA programs are authorized through FY2008. During the current 110th Congress, congressional hearings are being conducted in anticipation of subsequent consideration of legislation to amend and extend the ESEA

Serendipitous Data Following a Severe Windstorm in an Old-Growth Pine Stand

Reliable dimensional data for old-growth pine-dominated forests in the Gulf Coastal Plain of Arkansas are hard to find, but sometimes unfortunate circumstances provide good opportunities to acquire this information. On July 11, 2013, a severe thunderstorm with high winds struck the Levi Wilcoxon Demonstration Forest (LWDF) near Hamburg, Arkansas. This storm uprooted or snapped dozens of large pines and hardwoods and provided an opportunity to more closely inspect these rare specimens. For instance, the largest tree killed in this event, a loblolly pine (Pinus taeda), was 105 cm in diameter at breast height, 39.3 m tall, and if the tree had been sound would have yielded 3,803 board feet (Doyle log rule) of lumber. Gross board foot volume yield was also estimated from two other recently toppled large pines, an 85-cm-DBH loblolly and an 86-cm-DBH shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata), which tallied 2,430 and 2,312 board feet Doyle, respectively. A number of the other wind thrown pines on the LWDF were sound enough to count their rings for a reasonable (± 2-5 years) estimate of their ages. The stump of the fallen national champion shortleaf pine had 168 rings, and counts from other pines toppled by this storm had from 68 to 198 rings. We also searched for a new champion shortleaf pine using a LiDAR canopy height model of the LWDF to narrow our search. This preliminary assessment produced a number of targets that exceeded 40 m in height; further field checking of the tallest of these trees found that these were loblolly pines up to about 44 m. We eventually found shortleaf pines between 37 and 41 m tall, with diameters of up to 85 cm, indicating that the LWDF could still contain the Arkansas state champion

Archival of Poker Flat MST radar data

The Poker Flat MST (mesosphere stratosphere troposphere) radar has operated from early 1979 to 1985. The data recorded during that time resides on some 1100 magnetic tapes. A second set containing only the derived parameters of velocity, width and signal to noise of the primary echo at each height, plus the noise spectra, occupies another 250 tapes. While processing to generate the compressed data set does correct some known errors, no attempt has been made to identify or remove spurious echoes. Because the Poker Flat data set is such a unique and valuable resource, a proposal is made to archive the data in forms more useful for analysis. The archived data set would contain only the parameters for significant echoes with contamination from airplanes, unwanted ionospheric returns, frequently aliased Doppler signals and other sources removed. The archived set should be as good or better than the example shown and may occupy only 25 to 50 tapes

Flight measured downwash of the QSRA

Several reports have been written on the performance of the Quiet Short-Haul Research Aircraft, which shows the advantages of upper-surface blowing or the propulsive-lift wing as it applies to lift, maneuverability, and short takeoff and landing. This high lift generation at low speeds results in substantial downwash, especially in the low-aft fuselage tail position. The high T-tail of the Quiet Short-Haul Research Aircraft minimizes the undesirable downwash effects from the propulsive-lift wing. Queries from Department of Defense agencies and industry for quantitative values prompted a series of flight-measured downwash tests at the high T-tail and the low aft fuselage position. The results are presented in a summarized format, showing downwash, Delta epsilon/Delta a, for both locations. As would be expected, downwash increases for increased power and USB flap settings. The downwash is greater in the low aft-fuselage position as compared to the high T-tail area

Observations of Hierarchical Solar-Type Multiple Star Systems

Twenty multiple stellar systems with solar-type primaries were observed at high angular resolution using the PALM-3000 adaptive optics system at the 5 m Hale telescope. The goal was to complement the knowledge of hierarchical multiplicity in the solar neighborhood by confirming recent discoveries by the visible Robo-AO system with new near-infrared observations with PALM-3000. The physical status of most, but not all, of the new pairs is confirmed by photometry in the Ks band and new positional measurements. In addition, we resolved for the first time five close sub-systems: the known astrometric binary in HIP 17129AB, companions to the primaries of HIP 33555, and HIP 118213, and the companions to the secondaries in HIP 25300 and HIP 101430. We place the components on a color-magnitude diagram and discuss each multiple system individually.Comment: Accepted to Astronomical Journa

Reorientation of the human body by means of arm motions

Arm motion effects on orientation of human body during free fall, and FORTRAN 4 program for solving equation

Direct measurements of the polarization of terrestrial kilometric radiation from Voyagers 1 and 2

Terrestrial radiation measurements obtained with planetary radio astronomy experiments on Voyager-1 and 2 during the early portions of each flight show the signals to be predominantly left-hand circularly polarized. Since these emissions were most probably generated above the Northern Hemisphere auroral zone, it is concluded that the radiation is emitted primarily in the extraordinary mode