The Effects of Municipal Pumping from a Shallow Glacial Aquifer at Bryan, Northwestern Ohio

Author Institution: Department of Geology, Indiana University ; Department of Geology, University of ToledoThe city of Bryan in northwestern Ohio has been recognized as the Fountain City because of its location within a well-known belt of flowing wells. Municipal pumping, however, has lowered the water table so that few wells in the vicinity of the city now flow naturally. The city plans to locate a new well field in its vicinity as the limits of its existing fields are approached. These plans have generated concern among local rural well owners who fear that a further decline in ground-water levels will necessitate deepening their shallow domestic wells or will require deeper pump installation. Some residents have offered alternatives to a new well field outside of Bryan including: (1) restricting the city to wells within its limits, (2) increasing the volume of ground-water withdrawn from existing wells, and (3) constructing a surface reservoir to meet future water requirements. As an alteranative, it is recommended that future well-field development focus upon a sparsely-populated area north of Bryan where significant thicknesses of sand and gravel are known to exist

US domestic and international regulatory issues

The U.S. domestic and international regulatory and policy milestones since 1982, when NASA filed its petition with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to establish the U.S. domestic Mobile Satellite Service (MSS), are described. In 1985, the FCC proposed to establish MSS services and allocate spectrum for such service. In 1986, the FCC allocated L-band spectrum for MSS. In 1987, at the Mobile World Administrative Radio Conference (MOB WARC-87), despite U.S., Canadian, and Mexican efforts, the WARC did not adopt a multi-service, generic MSS allocation. In 1989, the FCC licensed the first MSS system. After two decisions by the U.S. Court of Appeals, the FCC's licensing actions remain intact. The FCC also has permitted Comsat to provide international aeronautical and land MSS via the Inmarsat system. Inmarsat, however, may not serve the domestic U.S. market. In 1991, the FCC accepted applications for MSS systems, most of which were non-geostationary proposals, for operation in the Radiodetermination Satellite Service (RDSS) bands, and the VHF and UHF bands. In 1992, the FCC proposed rules for non-geostationary MSS systems and applied a negotiated rulemaking procedure to each. Also in 1992, the U.S. position for flexibility in existing MSS bands and for additional worldwide MSS allocations was adopted in large part at the 1992 World Administrative Radio Conference (WARC-92)

Geology of Seneca Caverns, Seneca County, Ohio

Author Institution: Department of Geology, University of Toledo and Seneca CavernsSeneca Caverns were formed along a major fracture which trends N68°W and dips 40°NE in the Columbus and Lucas Formations (Middle Devonian) and possibly the underlying strata. This cavern is a collapse or breakdown-type cavern, probably resulting from deep-seated solution of gypsum in the Bass Islands Group (Upper Silurian). Seven of the 12 known levels or rooms were surveyed and mapped to delineate the elevations, dimensions and unique features of each level. Cavern stratigraphy and paleontology correlated with the stratigraphy of north-central and central Ohio. Fluctuations in the level of the cavern stream (Old Mist'ry River), commonly found in the seventh level approximately 30 m (100 ft) below the surface, appear to be the direct result of rate and duration of precipitation and soil moisture content. Lag times range from five hours to five days, 15 hours, and 10 minutes. Geochemical parameters exhibited by the cavern stream were very similar to those of Castalia Blue Hole. The 1988 drought eliminated a selected dye trace to evaluate the possible connection of these two features

Target of Opportunity Multipoint in Situ Measurements with Falconsat-2

This paper describes the FalconSAT-2 mission objectives to take advantage of targets of opportunity to make multipoint in situ measurements of ionospheric plasma depletions simultaneously with other spacecraft. Because these plasma depletions are known to interfere with radio transmissions over a broad range of frequencies, including 100-1000 MHz, the international space weather community is investigating the instigation, temporal evolution, and spatial propagation of these structures in the hopes that a prediction tool may be developed to warn operators of outages in communications or navigation. FalconSAT-2 will be launched into a low altitude (360 km), medium inclination (52 degrees) orbit with sensors designed to measure in situ suprathermal plasma spectra at a rate of 10 samples per second. The primary mission objectives are to 1) investigate F region ionospheric plasma depletion morphology relative to geomagnetic activity, and 2) demonstrate the utility of the Miniature Electrostatic Analyzer (MESA) in measuring energy-resolved spectra of ionospheric electrons over a dynamic range such that plasma density depletions down to 0.1% of the background may be resolved at a rate of 10 Hz. Simultaneous in situ multipoint observations of ionospheric plasma depletions are designated as a secondary objective since FalconSAT-2 consists of a single spacecraft, and opportunities to make these simultaneous measurements with other spacecraft in compatible orbits are not in our control. Both deep and shallow bubbles, frequently observed in the pre- and post-midnight sectors, respectively [Singh at al., 1997], are known to exhibit magnetic field-aligned behavior [Fagundes et al., 1997]; thus, there is the expectation (to first order) that multiple spacecraft entering a magnetic flux tube simultaneously have the opportunity to observe a depletion structure at different points within the structure. This observation would provide insight into the plasma depletion extent along the field line. Other conjunction types, such as non-simultaneous intersection of a flux tube or crossing of orbital paths simultaneously in different magnetic flux tubes, provide insight into other aspects of depletion structure, such as constraining the plasma depletion extent and propagation speed along the magnetic field line, or plasma depletion vertical extent. With this paper, a statistical analysis of the probability that FalconSAT-2 will intersect a magnetic flux tube during eclipse simultaneously with other spacecraft capable of measuring thermal electrons is presented

Evaluating Effectiveness of Modeling Motion System Feedback in the Enhanced Hess Structural Model of the Human Operator

In order to use the Hess Structural Model to predict the need for certain cueing systems, George and Cardullo significantly expanded it by adding motion feedback to the model and incorporating models of the motion system dynamics, motion cueing algorithm and a vestibular system. This paper proposes a methodology to evaluate effectiveness of these innovations by performing a comparison analysis of the model performance with and without the expanded motion feedback. The proposed methodology is composed of two stages. The first stage involves fine-tuning parameters of the original Hess structural model in order to match the actual control behavior recorded during the experiments at NASA Visual Motion Simulator (VMS) facility. The parameter tuning procedure utilizes a new automated parameter identification technique, which was developed at the Man-Machine Systems Lab at SUNY Binghamton. In the second stage of the proposed methodology, an expanded motion feedback is added to the structural model. The resulting performance of the model is then compared to that of the original one. As proposed by Hess, metrics to evaluate the performance of the models include comparison against the crossover models standards imposed on the crossover frequency and phase margin of the overall man-machine system. Preliminary results indicate the advantage of having the model of the motion system and motion cueing incorporated into the model of the human operator. It is also demonstrated that the crossover frequency and the phase margin of the expanded model are well within the limits imposed by the crossover model

Advanced Control Algorithms for Compensating the Phase Distortion Due to Transport Delay in Human-Machine Systems

The desire to create more complex visual scenes in modern flight simulators outpaces recent increases in processor speed. As a result, simulation transport delay remains a problem. New approaches for compensating the transport delay in a flight simulator have been developed and are presented in this report. The lead/lag filter, the McFarland compensator and the Sobiski/Cardullo state space filter are three prominent compensators. The lead/lag filter provides some phase lead, while introducing significant gain distortion in the same frequency interval. The McFarland predictor can compensate for much longer delay and cause smaller gain error in low frequencies than the lead/lag filter, but the gain distortion beyond the design frequency interval is still significant, and it also causes large spikes in prediction. Though, theoretically, the Sobiski/Cardullo predictor, a state space filter, can compensate the longest delay with the least gain distortion among the three, it has remained in laboratory use due to several limitations. The first novel compensator is an adaptive predictor that makes use of the Kalman filter algorithm in a unique manner. In this manner the predictor can accurately provide the desired amount of prediction, while significantly reducing the large spikes caused by the McFarland predictor. Among several simplified online adaptive predictors, this report illustrates mathematically why the stochastic approximation algorithm achieves the best compensation results. A second novel approach employed a reference aircraft dynamics model to implement a state space predictor on a flight simulator. The practical implementation formed the filter state vector from the operator s control input and the aircraft states. The relationship between the reference model and the compensator performance was investigated in great detail, and the best performing reference model was selected for implementation in the final tests. Theoretical analyses of data from offline simulations with time delay compensation show that both novel predictors effectively suppress the large spikes caused by the McFarland compensator. The phase errors of the three predictors are not significant. The adaptive predictor yields greater gain errors than the McFarland predictor for short delays (96 and 138 ms), but shows smaller errors for long delays (186 and 282 ms). The advantage of the adaptive predictor becomes more obvious for a longer time delay. Conversely, the state space predictor results in substantially smaller gain error than the other two predictors for all four delay cases

Advanced Transport Delay Compensation Algorithms: Results of Delay Measurement and Piloted Performance Tests

This report summarizes the results of delay measurement and piloted performance tests that were conducted to assess the effectiveness of the adaptive compensator and the state space compensator for alleviating the phase distortion of transport delay in the visual system in the VMS at the NASA Langley Research Center. Piloted simulation tests were conducted to assess the effectiveness of two novel compensators in comparison to the McFarland predictor and the baseline system with no compensation. Thirteen pilots with heterogeneous flight experience executed straight-in and offset approaches, at various delay configurations, on a flight simulator where different predictors were applied to compensate for transport delay. The glideslope and touchdown errors, power spectral density of the pilot control inputs, NASA Task Load Index, and Cooper-Harper rating of the handling qualities were employed for the analyses. The overall analyses show that the adaptive predictor results in slightly poorer compensation for short added delay (up to 48 ms) and better compensation for long added delay (up to 192 ms) than the McFarland compensator. The analyses also show that the state space predictor is fairly superior for short delay and significantly superior for long delay than the McFarland compensator

Antibacterial Fluoromicas: A Novel Delivery Medium

Antibacterial fluoromicas were prepared by ion-exchanging fluoromicas with different antibacterial agents including various quaternary ammonium compounds, AgNO3, and norfloxacin. Antibacterial activities of the ion-exchanged fluoromicas were determined against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and zone of inhibition (ZOI) tests were performed to determine both antibacterial effectiveness and mode of action associated with the fluoromicas. All treated fluoromicas showed excellent antibacterial activities against both types of bacteria. The antibacterial activities of treated fluoromicas were found to be either better than or the same as those of neat antibacterial agents. The repeated antibacterial activity tests demonstrated the extended activity of these systems. © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

A Transfer of Training Study of Control Loader Dynamics

The control inceptor used in a simulated vehicle is an important part in maintaining the fidelity of a simulation. The force feedback provided by the control inceptor gives the operator important cues to maintain adequate performance. The dynamics of a control inceptor are typically based on a second order spring mass damper system with damping, force gradient, breakout force, and natural frequency parameters. Changing these parameters can have a great effect on pilot or driver control of the vehicle. The neuromuscular system has a very important role in manipulating the control inceptor within a vehicle. Many studies by McRuer, Aponso, and Hess have dealt with modeling the neuromuscular system and quantifying the effects of a high fidelity control loader as compared to a low fidelity control loader. Humans are adaptive in nature and their control behavior changes based on different control loader dynamics. Humans will change their control behavior to maintain tracking bandwidth and minimize tracking error. This paper reports on a quasi-transfer of training experiment which was performed at the NASA Langley Research Center. The quasi transfer of training study used a high fidelity control loader and a low fidelity control loader. Subjects trained in both simulations and then were transferred to the high fidelity control loader simulation. The parameters for the high fidelity control loader were determined from the literature. The low fidelity control loader parameters were found through testing of a simple computer joystick. A disturbance compensatory task is employed. The compensatory task involves implementing a simple horizon out the window display. A disturbance consisting of a sum of sines is used. The task consists of the subject compensating for the disturbance on the roll angle of the aircraft. The vehicle dynamics are represented as 1/s and 1/s2. The subject will try to maintain level flight throughout the experiment. The subjects consist of non-pilots to remove any effects of pilot experience. First, this paper discusses the implementation of the disturbance compensation task. Second, the high and low fidelity parameters used within the experiment are presented. Finally, an explanation of results from the experiments is presented

Motion Cueing Algorithm Modification for Improved Turbulence Simulation

Atmospheric turbulence cueing produced by flight simulator motion systems has been less than satisfactory because the turbulence profiles have been attenuated by the motion cueing algorithms. Cardullo and Ellor initially addressed this problem by directly porting the turbulence model output to the motion system. Reid and Robinson addressed the problem by employing a parallel aircraft model, which is only stimulated by the turbulence inputs and adding a filter specially designed to pass the higher turbulence frequencies. There have been advances in motion cueing algorithm development at the Man-Machine Systems Laboratory, at SUNY Binghamton. In particular, the system used to generate turbulence cues has been studied. The Reid approach, implemented by Telban and Cardullo, was employed to augment the optimal motion cueing algorithm installed at the NASA LaRC Simulation Laboratory, driving the Visual Motion Simulator. In this implementation, the output of the primary flight channel was added to the output of the turbulence channel and then sent through a non-linear cueing filter. The cueing filter is an adaptive filter; therefore, it is not desirable for the output of the turbulence channel to be augmented by this type of filter. The likelihood of the signal becoming divergent was also an issue in this design. After testing on-site it became apparent that the architecture of the turbulence algorithm was generating unacceptable cues. As mentioned above, this cueing algorithm comprised a filter that was designed to operate at low bandwidth. Therefore, the turbulence was also filtered, augmenting the cues generated by the model. If any filtering is to be done to the turbulence, it will utilize a filter with a much higher bandwidth, above the frequencies produced by the aircraft response to turbulence. The authors have developed an implementation wherein only the signal from the primary flight channel passes through the nonlinear cueing filter. This paper discusses three new algorithms. Testing shows that the new methods provide the pilot with a more realistic sensation of turbulence; the cues are not attenuated by algorithm. Results of offline testing show the credibility of the models. Offline test verification was based primarily on the evaluation of the power spectral density of the outputs and the time response