Estimating normal mixture parameters from the distribution of a reduced feature vector

A FORTRAN computer program was written and tested. The measurements consisted of 1000 randomly chosen vectors representing 1, 2, 3, 7, and 10 subclasses in equal portions. In the first experiment, the vectors are computed from the input means and covariances. In the second experiment, the vectors are 16 channel measurements. The starting covariances were constructed as if there were no correlation between separate passes. The biases obtained from each run are listed

Meteoritic ablation and fusion spherules in Antarctic ice

In the course of two Antarctic expeditions in 1980/1981 and 1982/1983 approximately 4 metric tons of documented ice samples were collected from the Atka Bay Ice Shelf, Antarctica, and subsequently shipped for cosmic dust studies. After filtration of the melt water, approximately 700 Antarctic spherules (AAS) in the size range of 5 to 500 microns were handpicked from the filter residue under optical microscopes. For the chemical investigation of single dust grains the following techniques were applied: scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray analysis (EDAX), instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA), laser microprobe mass analysis (LAMMA), and accelerator mass spectroscopy (AMS). For more than 95% of the total mass the bulk and trace elements were determined in single grain analyses using EDAX, INAA, and LAMMA. The element pattern of the dust particles was compared with that of typical terrestrial material and meteoritic matter. The majority of the spherules exhibited elemental compositions compatible with meteoritic element patterns

Measurement of spray combustion processes

A free jet configuration was chosen for measuring noncombusting spray fields and hydrocarbon-air spray flames in an effort to develop computational models of the dynamic interaction between droplets and the gas phase and to verify and refine numerical models of the entire spray combustion process. The development of a spray combustion facility is described including techniques for laser measurements in spray combustion environments and methods for data acquisition, processing, displaying, and interpretation

A critical assessment of the resource depletion potential of current and future lithium-ion batteries

Resource depletion aspects are repeatedly used as an argument for a shift towards new battery technologies. However, whether serious shortages due to the increased demand for traction and stationary batteries can actually be expected is subject to an ongoing discussion. In order to identify the principal drivers of resource depletion for battery production, we assess different lithium-ion battery types and a new lithium-free battery technology (sodium-ion) under this aspect, applying different assessment methodologies. The findings show that very different results are obtained with existing impact assessment methodologies, which hinders clear interpretation. While cobalt, nickel and copper can generally be considered as critical metals, the magnitude of their depletion impacts in comparison with that of other battery materials like lithium, aluminum or manganese differs substantially. A high importance is also found for indirect resource depletion effects caused by the co-extraction of metals from mixed ores. Remarkably, the resource depletion potential per kg of produced battery is driven only partially by the electrode materials and thus depends comparably little on the battery chemistry itself. One of the key drivers for resource depletion seems to be the metals (and co-products) in electronic parts required for the battery management system, a component rather independent from the actual battery chemistry. However, when assessing the batteries on a capacity basis (per kWh storage capacity), a high-energy density also turns out to be relevant, since it reduces the mass of battery required for providing one kWh, and thus the associated resource depletion impacts