Helical automatic approaches of helicopters with microwave landing systems

A program is under way to develop a data base for establishing navigation and guidance concepts for all-weather operation of rotorcraft. One of the objectives is to examine the feasibility of conducting simultaneous rotorcraft and conventional fixed-wing, noninterfering, landing operations in instrument meteorological conditions at airports equipped with microwave landing systems (MLSs) for fixed-wing traffic. An initial test program to investigate the feasibility of conducting automatic helical approaches was completed, using the MLS at Crows Landing near Ames. These tests were flown on board a UH-1H helicopter equipped with a digital automatic landing system. A total of 48 automatic approaches and landings were flown along a two-turn helical descent, tangent to the centerline of the MLS-equipped runway to determine helical light performance and to provide a data base for comparison with future flights for which the helical approach path will be located near the edge of the MLS coverage. In addition, 13 straight-in approaches were conducted. The performance with varying levels of state-estimation system sophistication was evaluated as part of the flight tests. The results indicate that helical approaches to MLS-equipped runways are feasible for rotorcraft and that the best position accuracy was obtained using the Kalman-filter state-estimation with inertial navigation systems sensors

Validation and Improvement of the Beef Production Sub-index in Ireland for Beef Cattle

End of project reportThe objectives of the following study were to: a. Quantify the effect of sire genetic merit for BCI on: 1. feed intake, growth and carcass traits of progeny managed under bull or steer beef production systems. 2. live animal scores, carcass composition and plasma hormone and metabolite concentrations in their progeny. b. Compare the progeny of : 1. Late-maturing beef with dairy breeds and 2. Charolais (CH), Limousin (LM), Simmental (SM) and Belgian Blue (BB) sires bred to beef suckler dams, for feed intake, blood hormones and metabolites, live animal measurements, carcass traits and carcass value in bull and steer production systems

CHEM2D-OPP: A new linearized gas-phase ozone photochemistry parameterization for high-altitude NWP and climate models

The new CHEM2D-Ozone Photochemistry Parameterization (CHEM2D-OPP) for high-altitude numerical weather prediction (NWP) systems and climate models specifies the net ozone photochemical tendency and its sensitivity to changes in ozone mixing ratio, temperature and overhead ozone column based on calculations from the CHEM2D interactive middle atmospheric photochemical transport model. We evaluate CHEM2D-OPP performance using both short-term (6-day) and long-term (1-year) stratospheric ozone simulations with the prototype high-altitude NOGAPS-ALPHA forecast model. An inter-comparison of NOGAPS-ALPHA 6-day ozone hindcasts for 7 February 2005 with ozone photochemistry parameterizations currently used in operational NWP systems shows that CHEM2D-OPP yields the best overall agreement with both individual Aura Microwave Limb Sounder ozone profile measurements and independent hemispheric (10°–90° N) ozone analysis fields. A 1-year free-running NOGAPS-ALPHA simulation using CHEM2D-OPP produces a realistic seasonal cycle in zonal mean ozone throughout the stratosphere. We find that the combination of a model cold temperature bias at high latitudes in winter and a warm bias in the CHEM2D-OPP temperature climatology can degrade the performance of the linearized ozone photochemistry parameterization over seasonal time scales despite the fact that the parameterized temperature dependence is weak in these regions

Charter School Funding Inequities: Rochester, New York

Public charter schools are increasingly becoming part of both the broader national conversation about education policy as well as the local urban scene in the United States. The latter is certainly true in Rochester, New York, where charter schools serve more than 18 percent of the students who attend school in the city. Given the important role that charter schools play in educating Rochester’s students, we sought to learn if students who attend the city’s charter schools are funded equitably when compared to students in Rochester City School District (RCSD) schools

NGC 3576 and NGC 3603: Two Luminous Southern HII Regions Observed at High Resolution with the Australia Telescope Compact Array

NGC 3576 (G291.28-0.71; l=291.3o, b=-0.7o) and NGC 3603 (G291.58-0.43; l=291.6o, b=-0.5o) are optically visible, luminous HII regions located at distances of 3.0 kpc and 6.1 kpc, respectively. We present 3.4 cm Australian Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) observations of these two sources in the continuum and the H90a, He90a, C90a and H113b recombination lines with an angular resolution of 7" and a velocity resolution of 2.6 km/s. All four recombination lines are detected in the integrated profiles of the two sources. Broad radio recombination lines are detected in both NGC 3576 (DV_{FWHM}>= 50 km/s) and NGC 3603 (DV_{FWHM}>=70 km/s). In NGC 3576 a prominent N-S velocity gradient (~30 km/s/pc) is observed, and a clear temperature gradient (6000 K to 8000 K) is found from east to west, consistent with a known IR color gradient in the source. In NGC 3603, the H90a, He90a and the H113b lines are detected from 13 individual sources. The Y^+ (He/H) ratios in the two sources range from 0.08+/-0.04 to 0.26+/-0.10. We compare the morphology and kinematics of the ionized gas at 3.4 cm with the distribution of stars, 10 micron emission and H_2O, OH, and CH_3OH maser emission. These comparisons suggest that both NGC 3576 and NGC 3603 have undergone sequential star formation.Comment: 24 pages, 12 Postscript figure

The Stellar Content of Obscured Galactic Giant H II Regions IV.: NGC3576

We present deep, high angular resolution near-infrared images of the obscured Galactic Giant H II region NGC3576. Our images reach objects to ~3M_sun. We collected high signal-to-noise K-band spectra of eight of the brightest objects, some of which are affected by excess emission and some which follow a normal interstellar reddening law. None of them displayed photospheric features typical of massive OB type stars. This indicates that they are still enshrouded in their natal cocoons. The K-band brightest source (NGC3576 #48) shows CO 2.3 micron bandhead emission, and three others have the same CO feature in absorption. Three sources display spatially unresolved H_2 emission, suggesting dense shocked regions close to the stars. We conclude that the remarkable object NGC3576 #48 is an early-B/late-O star surrounded by a thick circumstellar disk. A number of other relatively bright cluster members also display excess emission in the K-band, indicative of reprocessing disks around massive stars (YSOs). Such emission appears common in other Galactic Giant H II regions we have surveyed. The IMF slope of the cluster, Gamma = -1.51, is consistent with Salpeter's distribution and similar to what has been observed in the Magellanic Cloud clusters and in the periphery of our Galaxy.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in A