Assessing Aquatic Insect Flight Behavior with Sticky Traps

A suspended sticky trap was designed to analyze flight behavior of aquatic insects, including both direction and vertical distribution of flight. Specifications of trap construction are detailed. Possible applications were explored and preliminary results from the study of a small Indiana stream demonstrated primary upstream migration of females, and indicated vertical partitioning of flight activity at the species level

A Color-Magnitude Diagram for a Globular Cluster In the Giant Elliptical Galaxy NGC 5128

The Hubble Space Telescope has been used to obtain WFPC2 (V,I) photometry for a large sample of stars in the outer halo of the giant elliptical NGC 5128 (d = 4 Mpc). The globular cluster N5128-C44, at the center of the Planetary Camera field, is well enough resolved to permit the construction of a color-magnitude diagram (CMD) for it which covers the brightest two magnitudes of the giant branch. The CMD is consistent with that of a normal old, moderately low-metallicity ([Fe/H] = -1.30 globular cluster, distinctly more metal-poor than most of the field halo stars at the same projected location (which average [Fe/H] ~ -0.5). This is the most distant globular cluster in which direct color-magnitude photometry has been achieved to date, and the first one belonging to a giant E galaxy.Comment: 12 pages, LaTeX, including 5 postscript figures; submitted to Astronomical Journa

Recurrence Formulas for Fully Exponentially Correlated Four-Body Wavefunctions

Formulas are presented for the recursive generation of four-body integrals in which the integrand consists of arbitrary integer powers (>= -1) of all the interparticle distances r_ij, multiplied by an exponential containing an arbitrary linear combination of all the r_ij. These integrals are generalizations of those encountered using Hylleraas basis functions, and include all that are needed to make energy computations on the Li atom and other four-body systems with a fully exponentially correlated Slater-type basis of arbitrary quantum numbers. The only quantities needed to start the recursion are the basic four-body integral first evaluated by Fromm and Hill, plus some easily evaluated three-body "boundary" integrals. The computational labor in constructing integral sets for practical computations is less than when the integrals are generated using explicit formulas obtained by differentiating the basic integral with respect to its parameters. Computations are facilitated by using a symbolic algebra program (MAPLE) to compute array index pointers and present syntactically correct FORTRAN source code as output; in this way it is possible to obtain error-free high-speed evaluations with minimal effort. The work can be checked by verifying sum rules the integrals must satisfy.Comment: 10 pages, no figures, accepted by Phys. Rev. A (January 2009

Prediction of low frequency and impulsive sound radiation from horizontal axis wind turbines

Theoretical models to predict the radiation of low frequency and impulsive sound from horizontal axis wind turbines due to three sources: (1) steady blade loads; (2) unsteady blade loads due to operation in a ground shear; (3) unsteady loads felt by the blades as they cross the tower wake. These models are then used to predict the acoustic output of MOD-1, the large wind turbine operated near Boone, N.C. Predicted acoustic time signals are compared to those actually measured near MOD-1 and good agreement is obtained

Instructor and student pilots' subjective evaluation of a general aviation simulator with a terrain visual system

Ten student pilots were given a 1 hour training session in the NASA Langley Research Center's General Aviation Simulator by a certified flight instructor and a follow-up flight evaluation was performed by the student's own flight instructor, who has also flown the simulator. The students and instructors generally felt that the simulator session had a positive effect on the students. They recommended that a simulator with a visual scene and a motion base would be useful in performing such maneuvers as: landing approaches, level flight, climbs, dives, turns, instrument work, and radio navigation, recommending that the simulator would be an efficient means of introducing the student to new maneuvers before doing them in flight. The students and instructors estimated that about 8 hours of simulator time could be profitably devoted to the private pilot training

Effects of curved approach paths and advanced displays on pilot scan patterns

The effect on pilot scan behavior of both advanced cockpit and advanced manuevers was assessed. A series of straight-in and curved landing approaches were performed in the Terminal Configured Vehicle (TCV) simulator. Two comparisons of pilot scan behavior were made: (1) pilot scan behavior for straight-in approaches compared with scan behavior previously obtained in a conventionally equipped simulator, and (2) pilot scan behavior for straight-in approaches compared with scan behavior for curved approaches. The results indicate very similar scanning patterns during the straight-in approaches in the conventional and advanced cockpits. However, for the curved approaches pilot attention shifted to the electronic horizontal situation display (moving map), and a new eye scan path appeared between the map and the airspeed indicator. The very high dwell percentage and dwell times on the electronic displays in the TCV simulator during the final portions of the approaches suggest that the electronic attitude direction indicator was well designed for these landing approaches

Dusty plasma cavities: probe-induced and natural

A comprehensive exploration of regional dust evacuation in complex plasma crystals is presented. Voids created in 3D crystals on the International Space Station have provided a rich foundation for experiments, but cavities in dust crystals formed in ground-based experiments have not received as much attention. Inside a modified GEC RF cell, a powered vertical probe was used to clear the central area of a dust crystal, producing a cavity with high cylindrical symmetry. Cavities generated by three mechanisms are examined. First, repulsion of micrometer-sized particles by a negatively charged probe is investigated. A model of this effect developed for a DC plasma is modified and applied to explain new experimental data in RF plasma. Second, the formation of natural cavities is surveyed; a radial ion drag proposed to occur due to a curved sheath is considered in conjunction with thermophoresis and a flattened confinement potential above the center of the electrode. Finally, cavity formation unexpectedly occurs upon increasing the probe potential above the plasma floating potential. The cavities produced by these methods appear similar, but each are shown to be facilitated by fundamentally different processes.Comment: 10 pages, 12 figure

Structural parameters for globular clusters in M31 and generalizations for the fundamental plane

The structures of globular clusters (GCs) reflect their dynamical states and past histories. High-resolution imaging allows the exploration of morphologies of clusters in other galaxies. Surface brightness profiles from new Hubble Space Telescope observations of 34 globular clusters in M31 are presented, together with fits of several different structural models to each cluster. M31 clusters appear to be adequately fit by standard King models, and do not obviously require alternate descriptions with relatively stronger halos, such as are needed to fit many GCs in other nearby galaxies. The derived structural parameters are combined with corrected versions of those measured in an earlier survey to construct a comprehensive catalog of structural and dynamical parameters for M31 GCs with a sample size similar to that for the Milky Way. Clusters in M31, the Milky Way, Magellanic Clouds, Fornax dwarf spheroidal and NGC 5128 define a very tight fundamental plane with identical slopes. The combined evidence for these widely different galaxies strongly reinforces the view that old globular clusters have near-universal structural properties regardless of host environment.Comment: AJ in press; 59 pages including 16 figure

Wind tunnel investigations of model rotor noise at low tip speeds

Experimental and related analytical results on model rotor rotational and broadband noise obtained in the anechoic wind tunnel and rotor facility are summarized. Factors studied include various noise sources, effects of helicopter performance parameters on noise generated by a model main rotor, appropriate scaling laws for the various types of main rotor noise, and the effects of intensity and size scales of injected turbulence on the intensity and spectra of broadband noise