Water utilization, evapotranspiration and soil moisture monitoring in the south east region of south Australia

There are no author-identified significant results in this report

A probabilistic prediction model for window opening during transition seasons in office building

Window operation of occupants in building has close relationship with indoor air quality, indoor thermal environment and building energy performance. The objective of this study was to understand occupants' interaction with window opening in transition seasons considering the influence of subject type (e.g. active and passive respondents) and to develop corresponding predictive models. An investigation was carried out in non-air-conditioned building in the UK covering the period from September to November. Outdoor temperature in this study was determined as good predictor for window operation. The differences in window opening probabilities between active and passive subjects were significant. Active occupants preferred to open window for fresh air or for indoor thermal condition adjustment, even though the outdoor air temperature sometimes were less than 12 °C. Proper utilization of windows in transition seasons contributed significantly to building energy saving and further improve energy efficiency in buildings

Anisotropic Small-Polaron Hopping In W:Bivo4 Single Crystals

DC electrical conductivity, Seebeck and Hall coefficients are measured between 300 and 450 K on single crystals of monoclinic bismuth vanadate that are doped n-type with 0.3% tungsten donors (W:BiVO4). Strongly activated small-polaron hopping is implied by the activation energies of the Arrhenius conductivities (about 300 meV) greatly exceeding the energies characterizing the falls of the Seebeck coefficients' magnitudes with increasing temperature (about 50 meV). Small-polaron hopping is further evidenced by the measured Hall mobility in the ab-plane (10(-1) cm(2) V-1 s(-1) at 300 K) being larger and much less strongly activated than the deduced drift mobility (about 5 x 10(-5) cm(2) V-1 s(-1) at 300 K). The conductivity and n-type Seebeck coefficient is found to be anisotropic with the conductivity larger and the Seebeck coefficient's magnitude smaller and less temperature dependent for motion within the ab-plane than that in the c-direction. These anisotropies are addressed by considering highly anisotropic next-nearest-neighbor (approximate to 5 angstrom) transfers in addition to the somewhat shorter (approximate to 4 angstrom), nearly isotropic nearest-neighbor transfers. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), DE-FG02-09ER16119Welch Foundation Grant F-1436Hemphill-Gilmore Endowed FellowshipNSF MIRT DMR 1122603Chemical EngineeringTexas Materials InstituteChemistr

Visualizing volcanic ash forecasts: scientist and stakeholder decisions using different graphical representations and conflicting forecasts

During volcanic eruptions, Volcanic Ash Advisory Centres issue ash advisories for aviation showing the forecasted outermost extent of the ash cloud. During the 2010 Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull eruption, the UK Met Office produced supplementary forecasts of quantitative ash concentration, due to demand from airlines. Additionally, satellite retrievals of estimated volcanic ash concentration are now available. To test how these additional graphical representations of volcanic ash affect flight decisions, whether users infer uncertainty in graphical forecasts of volcanic ash, and how decisions are made when given conflicting forecasts, a survey was conducted of 25 delegates representing UK research and airline operations dealing with volcanic ash. Respondents were more risk-seeking with safer flight paths and risk-averse with riskier flight paths when given location and concentration forecasts compared to when given only the outermost extent of the ash. Respondents representing operations were more risk-seeking than respondents representing research. Additionally, most respondents' hand-drawn no-fly zones were larger than the areas of unsafe ash concentrations in the forecasts. This conservatism implies that respondents inferred uncertainty from the volcanic ash concentration forecasts. When given conflicting forecasts, respondents became more conservative than when given a single forecast. The respondents were also more risk-seeking with high-risk flight paths and more risk-averse with low-risk flight paths when given conflicting forecasts than when given a single forecast. The results show that concentration forecasts seem to reduce flight cancellations while maintaining safety. Open discussion with the respondents suggested that definitions of "uncertainty" may differ between research and operations

Cu 2+ and Cu 3+ Acceptors in β-Ga 2 O 3 Crystals: A Magnetic Resonance and Optical Absorption Study

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and optical absorption are used to characterize Cu2+ (3d9) and Cu3+ (3d8) ions in Cu-doped β-Ga2O3. These Cu ions are singly ionized acceptors and neutral acceptors, respectively (in semiconductor notation, they are Cu− and Cu0 acceptors). Two distinct Cu2+ EPR spectra are observed in the as-grown crystals. We refer to them as Cu2+(A) and Cu2+(B). Spin-Hamiltonian parameters (a g matrix and a 63,65Cu hyperfine matrix) are obtained from the angular dependence of each spectrum. Additional electron-nuclear double resonance (ENDOR) experiments on Cu2+(A) ions give refined 63Cu and 65Cu hyperfine matrices and provide information about the nuclear electric quadrupole interactions. Our EPR results show that the Cu2+(A) ions occupy octahedral Ga sites with no nearby defect. The Cu2+(B) ions, also at octahedral Ga sites, have an adjacent defect, possibly an OH− ion, an oxygen vacancy, or an H− ion trapped within an oxygen vacancy. Exposing the crystals at room temperature to 275 nm light produces Cu3+ ions and reduces the number of Cu2+(A) and Cu2+(B) ions. The Cu3+ ions have an S = 1 EPR spectrum and are responsible for broad optical absorption bands peaking near 365, 422, 486, 599, and 696 nm. An analysis of loops observed in the Cu3+ EPR angular dependence gives 2.086 for the g value and 22.18, 3.31, and −25.49 GHz for the principal values of D (the fine-structure matrix). Thermal anneal studies above room temperature show that the Cu3+ ions decay and the Cu2+ ions recover between 75 and 375 °C