LED instrument approach instruction display

A display employing light emitting diodes (LED's) was developed to demonstrate the feasibility of such displays for presenting landing and navigation information to reduce the workload of general aviation pilots during IFR flight. The display consists of a paper tape reader, digital memory, control electronics, digital latches, and LED alphanumeric displays. A presentable digital countdown clock-timer is included as part of the system to provide a convenient means of monitoring time intervals for precise flight navigation. The system is a limited capability prototype assembled to test pilot reaction to such a device under simulated IFR operation. Pilot opinion indicates that the display is helpful in reducing the IFR pilots workload when used with a runway approach plate. However, the development of a compact, low power second generation display was recommended which could present several instructions simultaneously and provide information update capability. A microprocessor-based display could fulfill these requirements

Modelling commuting catchments in Ireland: a hierarchical approach using GIS.

Over recent years there has emerged an increased awareness of the importance of strategic spatial planning and of the extent to which concepts such as place and space really matter (Faludi, 2000). An enhanced understanding of the geography of living and the economy requires not only a knowledge of where people and objects are but also of how those places relate to one another to create functional spaces. This requires fundamentally sound data on movement patterns, of which the most important is probably the daily journey to work (Horner, 1999, McCabe, 2006 Pers Comm). In this paper we examine spatial modelling approaches to commuting patterns using data from the CSO 2002 Census of Population (CSO 2003a, CSO 2003b. CSO 2004a). This is a particularly apposite time to undertake this research. A number of national strategic initiatives including the next Irish National Development Plan and the current National Spatial Strategy provide a clear policy context for the study (Morgenroth and Fitzgerald,2006). Additionally it is the specific intent of the CSO in providing this data set to stimulate geo-computational analysis and modelling. This research aims to map travel to work flows in 2002 from the 15% national anonymised individual sample (known as the POWSAR data set) and secondly to investigate the technical production of new Travel Catchments Areas (TCAs) for the state as a whole

Runtime Verification of Temporal Properties over Out-of-order Data Streams

We present a monitoring approach for verifying systems at runtime. Our approach targets systems whose components communicate with the monitors over unreliable channels, where messages can be delayed or lost. In contrast to prior works, whose property specification languages are limited to propositional temporal logics, our approach handles an extension of the real-time logic MTL with freeze quantifiers for reasoning about data values. We present its underlying theory based on a new three-valued semantics that is well suited to soundly and completely reason online about event streams in the presence of message delay or loss. We also evaluate our approach experimentally. Our prototype implementation processes hundreds of events per second in settings where messages are received out of order.Comment: long version of the CAV 2017 pape

Evolution user requirements for the restructured space station

Space Station Freedom (SSF) is designed to be an Earth orbiting multidisciplinary R&D facility capable of evolving to accommodate a variety of potential uses. In order to identify SSF evolution requirement and define potential growth configurations, NASA-Langley is analyzing user resource requirements for the post-PMC time frame. The analysis goal is to define resource levels, including crew, power, and volume, which allow full utilization of SSF capabilities commensurate with minimum essential user requirements. Multiple scenarios were studied including core R&D and combined SEI plus R&D utilization. An analysis is presented of a core R&D utilization scenario. Included are discussions of resource allocation assumptions for specific R&D disciplines, user requirements trends, and growth resource projections. These preliminary results show total resource requirements of 13 crew, 150 kW power, and additional lab volume equivalent to a second U.S. lab module. Additionally, orthogonal growth structure was identified as required to support SSF systems and users

US county-level agricultural crop production typology

Objectives: Crop production is an important variable in social, economic and environmental analyses. There is an abundance of crop data available for the United States, but we lack a typology of county-level crop production that accounts for production similarities in counties across the country. We fill this gap with a county-level classification of crop production with ten mutually exclusive categories across the contiguous United States. Data description: To create the typology we ran a cluster analysis on acreage data for 21 key crops from the United States Department of Agriculture\u27s 2012 Agricultural Census. Prior to clustering, we estimated undisclosed county acreage values, controlled for acreage in other crop types, and removed counties with low agricultural production to produce proportional scores for each crop type in each county. We used proportional scores to control for the influence of county size in the cluster analysis and used internal and stability measures to validate the analysis. The final dataset features 2922 counties. Future research can leverage this typology as an input for county- or regional-level analysis

The Use of Functional Traits to Identify Grasses and Fodder Shrubs for Domestication to Suit a Changing Climate

There is uncertainty about future climatic predictions; however there is little doubt amongst experts that the future will be warmer. Climate change and the associated elevation in atmospheric CO2 level and temperatures will provide novel challenges and potential opportunities for cultivated plant species. Plant breeding and domestication can contributed to improvements in both yield and quality of grasses and fodder shrubs. A range of key functional traits is required to cope with this changing climate. The main challenges that are discussed are new pests and pathogens; changes in the pattern of nutrient supply and forage quality; challenge associated with a shorter growing season; drought tolerance and persistence. With the domestication of any species, consideration needs to be given in terms of duty of care (weediness, anti-nutritional/toxic to animals, regulations) and the on farm adoption of new selections. Two case studies have been included in the paper, one on native grasses and the other on native shrub, old man saltbush