Investigation of the sulphate-induced freezing inhibition effect from CloudSat and CALIPSO measurements

The hypothesis according to which higher sulphate concentrations favor ice clouds made of larger ice crystals is tested using data sets from the CloudSat and Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) satellites. This is a potential consequence of the sulphate-induced freezing inhibition (SIFI) effect, namely, the hypothesis that sulphates contribute to inhibit the onset of ice crystal formation by deactivating ice-forming nuclei during Arctic winter. A simple index based on the backscattering at 532 nm and the color ratio from the CALIPSO lidar measurements is compared against in situ sulphate concentration time series and used as a proxy for this variable. An algorithm using the lidar data and the CloudSat radar microphysical retrievals is also developed for identifying cloud types, focusing on those supposedly favored by the SIFI effect. The analysis includes the effect of the lidar off-nadir angle on the sulphate index and the cloud classification, the validation of the index, as well as the production of circum-Arctic maps of the sulphate index and of the SIFI-favored clouds fraction. The increase of the lidar off-nadir angle is shown to cause an increase in the measured depolarization ratio and hence in the ability to detect ice crystals. The index correlates positively with both sulphates and sea salt concentrations, with a Pearson correlation coefficient (equation image) varying from 0.10 to 0.42 for the different comparisons performed. Ultimate findings are the results of two correlation tests of the SIFI effect, which allow for a new outlook on its possible role in the Arctic troposphere during winter

Wood-Adhesive Interface Characterization And Modeling In Engineered Wood Flooring

Adhesive films used in layered wood-based composites have a significant impact on moisture movement and must be considered in models of such products. The objective of this study was to characterize the wood-adhesive interface and determine its impact on the hygromechanical behavior of engineered wood flooring (EWF). The radial water vapor diffusion coefficient and the coefficients of moisture expansion were determined for sugar maple wood, crosslinked polyviny1 acetate adhesive film (XPVAc), and the wood-adhesive interface. Sugar maple wood had the highest diffusion coefficient at 1.66 x 10-11 m2 · s-1 followed by the wood-adhesive interface at 5.73 x 10-12 m2 · s-1, and the free XPVAc film at 4.18 x 10-12 m2 · s-1. The coefficient of tangential moisture expansion of the sugar maple wood-adhesive interface was found to be 4 x 10-3 (%MC)-1 compared with 3 x 10-3 (%MC)-1 for sugar maple wood in the tangential direction, and 3 x 10-3 (%MC)-1 for the XPVAc film. Finite element modeling of EWF hygromechanical cupping did not show significant differences between hygromechanical cupping calculated with and without interface effects

Heat transfer behavior of green roof systems under fire condition : a numerical study

Currently, green roof fire risks are not clearly defined. This is because the problem is still not well understood, which raises concerns. The possibility of plants catching fire, especially during drought periods, is one of the reasons for necessary protection measures. The potential fire hazard for roof decks covered with vegetation has not yet been fully explored. The present study analyzes the performance of green roofs in extreme heat conditions by simulating a heat transfer process through the assembly. The main objective of this study was to determine the conditions and time required for the roof deck to reach a critical temperature. The effects of growing medium layer thickness (between 3 and 10 cm), porosity (0.5 to 0.7), and heating intensity (50, 100, 150, and 200 kW/m2 ) were examined. It was found that a green roof can protect a wooden roof deck from igniting with only 3 cm of soil coverage when exposed to severe heat fluxes for at least 25 minutes. The dependency of failure time on substrate thickness decreases with increasing heating load. It was also found that substrate porosity has a low impact on time to failure, and only at high heating loads

Flammability characteristics of green roofs

Assessing the fire risk of vegetated roofs includes the determination of their possible contribution to fire. Green roof components such as plants and growing media are organic materials and present a fuel that can catch and support the spread of fire. The flammability characteristics of these components were analyzed and compared to a typical roof covering. Growing media with 15% of organic matter were tested using cone calorimeter apparatus. The fuel load and heat release rate of the growing media were measured in both moist (30%) and dry conditions. It was observed that growing media in a moist condition do not present a fire risk, reaching a maximum heat release rate of 33 kW/m2. For dry substrates, a peak heat release rate of 95 kW/m2 was recorded in the first minute, which then rapidly decreased to 29 kW/m2 in the second minute. Compared to a typical bitumen roof membrane, the green roof showed a better fire performance. The literature data report more severe results for plant behavior, reaching peak heat release rates (HRRs) of 397 kW/m2 for dried and 176 kW/m2 for a green material. However, a rapid decrease in HRR to much lower values occurs in less than 2 min. The results also show that extensive and intensive types of green roofs present 22% and 95% of the additional fire load density when installed on a modified bitumen membrane, 19.7 and 85.8 MJ/m2, respectively

A unified probabilistic model for predicting occupancy, domestic hot water use and electricity use in residential buildings

A strategy to combine separate probabilistic models into a unified model for predicting schedules of active occupancy, domestic hot water (DHW) use, and non-HVAC electricity use in multiple residences at 10-minute resolution for every day of the year is described. In addition to combining the models, a variety of new model functions are introduced in order to to generate stochastic predictions for each of numerous residences at once, to enforce appropriate variability of behaviors from a dwelling to another and to ensure that domestic hot water and electricity use predictions are coincident with occupancy. The original separate models were developed for the US and the UK; several scaling factors were added in the model to adjust the predictions so as to better agree with national aggregated data for Canada since the model developed from the described strategy was validated with measured data from a social housing building in Quebec City, Canada. This validation was made by comparing predictions from the unified model to measurements of domestic hot water use and electricity consumption from the 40 residential units of the monitored building. The validation showed that the tool can produce realistic profiles since it is mostly in agreement with consumption patterns found in the monitored building. However, there remain discrepancies which suggest potential research ideas for future work in occupant behavior modelling

On the relationship between Arctic ice clouds and polluted air masses over the North Slope of Alaska in April 2008

Recently, two Types of Ice Clouds (TICs) properties have been characterized using ISDAC airborne measurements (Alaska, April 2008). TIC-2B were characterized by fewer (110 μm) ice crystals, a larger ice supersaturation (>15%) and a fewer ice nuclei (IN) concentration (<2 order of magnitude) when compared to TIC-1/2A. It has been hypothesized that emissions of SO2 may reduce the ice nucleating properties of IN through acidification, resulting to a smaller concentration of larger ice crystals and leading to precipitation (e.g. cloud regime TIC-2B) because of the reduced competition for the same available moisture. Here, the origin of air masses forming the ISDAC TIC-1/2A (1 April 2008) and TIC-2B (15 April 2008) is investigated using trajectory tools and satellite data. Results show that the synoptic conditions favor air masses transport from the three potentials SO2 emission areas to Alaska: eastern China and Siberia where anthropogenic and biomass burning emission respectively are produced and the volcanic region from the Kamchatka/Aleutians. Weather conditions allow the accumulation of pollutants from eastern China/Siberia over Alaska, most probably with the contribution of acid volcanic aerosol during the TIC-2B period. OMI observations reveal that SO2 concentrations in air masses forming the TIC-2B were larger than in air masses forming the TIC-1/2A. Airborne measurements show high acidity near the TIC-2B flight where humidity was low. These results strongly support the hypothesis that acidic coating on IN are at the origin of the formation of TIC-2B

UV-LED curing efficiency of wood coatings

Ultraviolet light emitting diodes (UV-LEDs) have attracted great interest in recent years. They can be used to polymerize coatings, such as those used for prefinished wood flooring. In this project, two lamps were compared for their suitability to be used on a wood flooring finishing line: a UV-microwave and a UV-LED lamp. Low heat emission was found for the UV-LED lamp compared to the UV-microwave one. This study also reveals that the 4 W/cm2 UV-LED lamp used is not powerful enough to cure UV high solids acrylate coatings while satisfactory results can be obtained for UV water-based formulations. In fact, conversion percentages were found to be low for the high solids coatings, leaving the coatings tacky. Higher conversion percentages were obtained for the UV water-based formulations. As a result, mass loss, hardness, and scratch resistance found for the samples cured by UV-LED were closed to the ones found for the samples cured using the UV microwave lamp

Both Retinoic Acid Receptors α (RARα) and γ (RARγ) Are Able to Initiate Mouse Upper-Lip Skin Glandular Metaplasia

Embryonic mouse upper-lip skin explants treated with 16.7 μM all-trans retinoic acid (tRA) give rise to a glandular metaplasia of hair vibrissa follicles; however, at this concentration, tRA can activate not only the three retinoic acid receptors (RARα, β, and γ), but also the retinoid X receptors (RXRα, β, and γ) as a consequence of its isomerization to 9-cis retinoic acid. We therefore studied the respective roles of the RXR and RAR by treating RARα–/–, β–/–, and γ–/– skin explants with tRA and wild-type explants with synthetic retinoids specific for RXR or for each of the RAR. The null mutation of the RARα, RARβ, and RARγ genes did not prevent tRA-induced hair glandular metaplasia, but RARγ inactivation dramatically reduced its ratio. As demonstrated by treating explants with a RAR- or a RXR-specific panagonist (CD367 and Ro25–7386, respectively), RAR are primarily responsible for this metaplasia. The use of two retinoids (Ro40–6055, 8 × 10–3μM, or CD437, 7.7 × 10–2μM) that are believed to act, respectively, as a RARα- or a RARγ-specific agonist showed that both these receptors can initiate a metaplasia. In contrast, BMS453, a RARβ-specific agonist, was unable to give rise to any metaplasia. Nevertheless, the highest degrees and ratios of metaplasia were only obtained after treatment with the CD367 RAR panagonist, or with either Ro40–6055 or CD437 at a concentration sufficient to allow the activation of the three RAR, suggesting that RARβ activation is required for a metaplasia of all vibrissæ