Three-axis adjustable loading structure

A three axis adjustable loading structure for testing the movable surfaces of aircraft by applying pressure, is described. The device has three electric drives where the wall angle, horizontal position, and vertical position of the test device can be rapidly and accurately positioned

The environmental vegetation index: A tool potentially useful for arid land management

The NOAA-6 AVHRR data sets acquired over South Texas and Mexico during the spring of 1980 and after Hurricane Allen passed inland are analyzed. These data were processed to produce the Gray-McCrary Index (GMI's) for each pixel location over the selected area, which area contained rangeland and cropland, both irrigated and nonirrigated. The variations in the GMI's appear to reflect well the availability of water for vegetation. The GMI area maps are shown to delineate and to aid in defining the duration of drought; suggesting the possibility that time changes over a selected area could be useful for irrigation management

Characteristics, of TIROS, GOES, DMSP and LANDSAT Systems

The characteristics of the TIROS, GOES, DMSP and LANDSAT systems of satellites are described. The data listed for each system are altitude of orbit, inclination/position, orbit type, orbits per day, expected operational lifetime and the sensor systems. The sensor systems are described as to wavelength of each channel, resolution, field of view and other pertinent information. Data information such as availability rate, collection method, primary use/application and how to obtain additional information is also given

Beyond recurrent costs: an institutional analysis of the unsustainability of donor-supported reforms in agricultural extension

International donors have spent billions of dollars over the past four decades in developing and/or reforming the agricultural extension service delivery arrangements in developing countries. However, many of these reforms, supported through short-term projects, became unsustainable once aid funding had ceased. The unavailability of recurrent funding has predominantly been highlighted in the literature as the key reason for this undesirable outcome, while little has been written about institutional factors. The purpose of this article is to examine the usefulness of taking an institutional perspective in explaining the unsustainability of donor-supported extension reforms and derive lessons for improvement. Using a framework drawn from the school of institutionalism in a Bangladeshi case study, we have found that a reform becomes unsustainable because of poor demands for extension information and advice; missing, weak, incongruent, and perverse institutional frameworks governing the exchange of extension goods (services); and a lack of institutional learning and change during the reform process. Accordingly, we have argued that strategies for sustainable extension reforms should move beyond financial considerations and include such measures as making extension goods (services) more tangible and monetary in nature, commissioning in-depth studies to learn about local institutions, crafting new institutions and/or reforming the weak and perverse institutions prevailing in developing countries. We emphasize the need to address three categories of institutions – regulative, normative, and cultural-cognitive – and call for an alignment among them. We further argue that, in order to be sustainable, a reform should take a systemic approach in institutional capacity building and, for this to be possible, adopt a long-term program approach, as opposed to a short-term project approach

A quantum mechanical approach to establishing the magnetic field orientation from a maser Zeeman profile

Recent comparisons of magnetic field directions derived from maser Zeeman splitting with those derived from continuum source rotation measures have prompted new analysis of the propagation of the Zeeman split components, and the inferred field orientation. In order to do this, we first review differing electric field polarization conventions used in past studies. With these clearly and consistently defined, we then show that for a given Zeeman splitting spectrum, the magnetic field direction is fully determined and predictable on theoretical grounds: when a magnetic field is oriented away from the observer, the left-hand circular polarization is observed at higher frequency and the right-hand polarization at lower frequency. This is consistent with classical Lorentzian derivations. The consequent interpretation of recent measurements then raises the possibility of a reversal between the large-scale field (traced by rotation measures) and the small-scale field (traced by maser Zeeman splitting).Comment: 10 pages, 5 Figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) data evaluation for use in monitoring vegetation. Volume 1: Channels 1 and 2

Data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellite system (NOAA-6 satellite) were analyzed to study their nonmeteorological uses. A file of charts, graphs, and tables was created form the products generated. It was found that the most useful data lie between pixel numbers 400 and 2000 on a given scan line. The analysis of the generated products indicates that the Gray-McCrary Index can discern vegetation and associated daily and seasonal changes. The solar zenith-angle correction used in previous studies was found to be a useful adjustment to the index. The METSAT system seems best suited for providing large-area analyses of surface features on a daily basis

Spectroscopic measurements of temperature and plasma impurity concentration during magnetic reconnection at the Swarthmore Spheromak Experiment

Electron temperature measurements during counterhelicity spheromak merging studies at the Swarthmore Spheromak Experiment (SSX) [M. R. Brown, Phys. Plasmas 6, 1717 (1999)] are presented. VUV monochromator measurements of impurity emission lines are compared with model spectra produced by the non-LTE excitation kinematics code PRISMSPECT [J. J. MacFarlane et al., in Proceedings of the Third Conference on Inertial Fusion Science and Applications (2004)] to yield the electron temperature in the plasma with 1 µs time resolution. Average T_e is seen to increase from 12 to 19 eV during spheromak merging. Average C III ion temperature, measured with a new ion Doppler spectrometer (IDS) [C. D. Cothran et al., Rev. Sci. Instrum. 77, 063504 (2006)], likewise rises during spheromak merging, peaking at ~22 eV, but a similar increase in T_i is seen during single spheromak discharges with no merging. The VUV emission line measurements are also used to constrain the concentrations of various impurities in the SSX plasma, which are dominated by carbon, but include some oxygen and nitrogen. A burst of soft x-ray emission is seen during reconnection with a new four-channel detector (SXR). There is evidence for spectral changes in the soft x-ray emission as reconnection progresses, although our single-temperature equilibrium spectral models are not able to provide adequate fits to all the SXR data

Meteorological satellite data: A tool to describe the health of the world's agriculture

Local area coverage data acquired aboard the TIROS-N satellite family by the advanced very high resolution radiometer systems was examined to determine the agricultural information current. Albedo differences between channel 2 and channel 1 of the advanced very high resolution radiometer LAC (called EVI) are shown to be closely correlated to the Ashburn vegetative index produced from LANDSAT multispectral scanner data which have been shown to vary in response to "greenness", soil moisture, and crop production. The statistical correlation between the EVI and the Ashburn Vegetative Index (+ or - 1 deg) is 0.86

Orbital Characteristics of the Subdwarf-B and F V Star Binary EC~20117-4014(=V4640 Sgr)

Among the competing evolution theories for subdwarf-B (sdB) stars is the binary evolution scenario. EC~20117-4014 (=V4640~Sgr) is a spectroscopic binary system consisting of a pulsating sdB star and a late F main-sequence companion (O'Donoghue et al. 1997), however the period and the orbit semi-major axes have not been precisely determined. This paper presents orbital characteristics of the EC 20117-4014 binary system using 20 years of photometric data. Periodic Observed minus Calculated (O-C) variations were detected in the two highest amplitude pulsations identified in the EC 20117-4014 power spectrum, indicating the binary system's precise orbital period (P = 792.3 days) and the light-travel time amplitude (A = 468.9 s). This binary shows no significant orbital eccentricity and the upper limit of the eccentricity is 0.025 (using 3 $\sigma$ as an upper limit). This upper limit of the eccentricity is the lowest among all wide sdB binaries with known orbital parameters. This analysis indicated that the sdB is likely to have lost its hydrogen envelope through stable Roche lobe overflow, thus supporting hypotheses for the origin of sdB stars. In addition to those results, the underlying pulsation period change obtained from the photometric data was $\dot{P}$ = 5.4 ($\pm$0.7) $\times$ $10^{-14}$ d d$^{-1}$, which shows that the sdB is just before the end of the core helium-burning phase

FRESH VEGETABLE PRICE LINKAGE BETWEEN GROWER/SHIPPERS, WHOLESALERS AND RETAILERS

This study focused on the transmission of price adjustments between grower/shippers and wholesalers and between wholesale handlers and retailers of nine fresh vegetables (only the results associated with bell peppers are reported in this paper). Results among the nine vegetable products were not consistent with respect to the magnitude of adjustments or the time periods involved in the adjustments. In response to wholesale price changes, upward price adjustments at the retail level occur more quickly than do downward price adjustments. Price transmission relationships also varied among the vegetable products between the wholesaler and grower. Overall, the results indicate that factors in addition to changes in upstream prices are impacting retailers' and wholesalers' pricing decisions.Demand and Price Analysis,