A documentation of two- and three-dimensional shock-separated turbulent boundary layers

A shock-related separation of a turbulent boundary layer has been studied and documented. The flow was that of an axisymmetric turbulent boundary layer over a 5.02-cm-diam cylinder that was aligned with the wind tunnel axis. The boundary layer was compressed by a 30 deg half-angle conical flare, with the cone axis inclined at an angle alpha to the cylinder axis. Nominal test conditions were P sub tau equals 1.7 atm and M sub infinity equals 2.85. Measurements were confined to the upper-symmetry, phi equals 0 deg, plane. Data are presented for the cases of alpha equal to 0. 5. and 10 deg and include mean surface pressures, streamwise and normal mean velocities, kinematic turbulent stresses and kinetic energies, as well as reverse-flow intermittencies. All data are given in tabular form; pressures, streamwise velocities, turbulent shear stresses, and kinetic energies are also presented graphically

The evolution and star formation of dwarf galaxies in the Fornax Cluster

We present the results of a spectroscopic survey of 675 bright (16.5<Bj<18) galaxies in a 6 degree field centred on the Fornax cluster with the FLAIR-II spectrograph on the UK Schmidt Telescope. We measured redshifts for 516 galaxies of which 108 were members of the Fornax Cluster. Nine of these are new cluster members previously misidentified as background galaxies. The cluster dynamics show that the dwarf galaxies are still falling into the cluster whereas the giants are virialised. Our spectral data reveal a higher rate of star formation among the dwarf galaxies than suggested by morphological classification: 35 per cent have H-alpha emission indicative of star formation but only 19 per cent were morphologically classified as late-types. The distribution of scale sizes is consistent with evolutionary processes which transform late-type dwarfs to early-type dwarfs. The fraction of dwarfs with active star formation drops rapidly towards the cluster centre. The star-forming dwarfs are concentrated in the outer regions of the cluster, the most extreme in an infalling subcluster. We estimate gas depletion time scales for 5 dwarfs with detected HI emission: these are long (of order 10 Gyr), indicating that active gas removal must be involved if they are transformed into gas-poor dwarfs as they fall further into the cluster. In agreement with our previous results, we find no compact dwarf elliptical (M32-like) galaxies in the Fornax Cluster.Comment: To appear in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Societ

Recalibrating the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) W4 Filter

We present a revised effective wavelength and photometric calibration for the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) W4 band, including tests of empirically motivated modifications to its pre-launch laboratory-measured relative system response curve. We derived these by comparing measured W4 photometry with photometry synthesised from spectra of galaxies and planetary nebulae. The difference between measured and synthesised photometry using the pre-launch laboratory-measured W4 relative system response can be as large as 0.3 mag for galaxies and 1 mag for planetary nebulae. We find the W4 effective wavelength should be revised upward by 3.3%, from 22.1 micron to 22.8 micron, and the W4 AB magnitude of Vega should be revised from m = 6.59 to m = 6.66. In an attempt to reproduce the observed W4 photometry, we tested three modifications to the pre-launch laboratory-measured W4 relative system response curve, all of which have an effective wavelength of 22.8 micron. Of the three relative system response curve models tested, a model that matches the laboratory-measured relative system response curve, but has the wavelengths increased by 3.3% (or 0.73 micron) achieves reasonable agreement between the measured and synthesised photometry.Comment: Accepted for publication in Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia, 6 pages, 4 figures, 1 tabl

Prometheus unbound: A study of the Dallas/Fort Worth Regional Airport

The history of the controversies in the development of the Dallas/Fort Worth Regional Airport is detailed. Present technological and organizational management problems are outlined. Maps and illustrations are included

Zonal Jets as Transport Barriers in Planetary Atmospheres

The connection between transport barriers and potential vorticity (PV) barriers in PV-conserving flows is investigated with a focus on zonal jets in planetary atmospheres. A perturbed PV-staircase model is used to illustrate important concepts. This flow consists of a sequence of narrow eastward and broad westward zonal jets with a staircase PV structure; the PV-steps are at the latitudes of the cores of the eastward jets. Numerically simulated solutions to the quasigeostrophic PV conservation equation in a perturbed PV-staircase flow are presented. These simulations reveal that both eastward and westward zonal jets serve as robust meridional transport barriers. The surprise is that westward jets, across which the background PV gradient vanishes, serve as robust transport barriers. A theoretical explanation of the underlying barrier mechanism is provided. It is argued that transport barriers near the cores of westward zonal jets, across which the background PV gradient is small, are found in Jupiter's midlatitude weather layer and in the Earth's summer hemisphere subtropical stratosphere.Comment: Accepted for publication in JA

Technology and politics: The regional airport experience

The findings of a comparative study of the following six regional airports were presented: Dallas/Fort Worth, Kansas City, Washington, D.C., Montreal, Tampa, and St. Louis. Each case was approached as a unique historical entity, in order to investigate common elements such as: the use of predictive models in planning, the role of symbolism to heighten dramatic effects, the roles of community and professional elites, and design flexibility. Some of the factors considered were: site selection, consolidation of airline service, accessibility, land availability and cost, safety, nuisance, and pollution constraints, economic growth, expectation of regional growth, the demand forecasting conundrum, and design decisions. The hypotheses developed include the following: the effect of political, social, and economic conflicts, the stress on large capacity and dramatic, high-technology design, projections of rapid growth to explain the need for large capital outlays

Fluctuations and massive separation in three-dimensional shock-wave/boundary-layer interactions

Shock-wave unsteadiness was observed in rapidly compressed supersonic turbulent boundary layer flows with significant separation. A Mach 2.85 shock-wave/turbulent boundary layer flow was set up over a series of cylinder-flare bodies in the High Reynolds Number Channel 1. The transition from fully attached to fully separated flow was studied using axisymmetric flares with increasing compression angles. In the second phase, the 30 deg flare was inclined relative to the cylinder axis, so that the effect on a separated flow of increasing 3 dimensionality could be observed. Two 3-D separated cases are examined. A simple conditional sampling technique is applied to the data to group them according to an associated shock position. Mean velocities and turbulent kinetic energies, computed from the conditionally samples data, are compared to those from the unsorted data and to computed values. Three basic questions were addressed: can conditional sampling be used to provide snapshots of the flow; are averaged turbulence quantities dominated by the bimodal nature of the interaction; and is the shock unsteadiness really important to computational accuracy