Agribusiness and space: No limits to growth

Technological developments responding to world food needs are examined. It is noted that agribusiness technology has become more space-related in recent years. Although crops forecasting and improvements in yield (the green revolution) were developed prior to the space era, it would be unthinkable today to ignore the contributions of operational meteorological and communications satellites and experimental Earth observation satellites in agribusiness. Space-driven communications now permit national agribusiness database management networks, with a significant portion of the data being space-derived. In demonstration experiments, space communications were shown to improve those aspects of the food problem related to education and communications

Design of experiments for non-manufacturing processes : benefits, challenges and some examples

Design of Experiments (DoE) is a powerful technique for process optimization that has been widely deployed in almost all types of manufacturing processes and is used extensively in product and process design and development. There have not been as many efforts to apply powerful quality improvement techniques such as DoE to improve non-manufacturing processes. Factor levels often involve changing the way people work and so have to be handled carefully. It is even more important to get everyone working as a team. This paper explores the benefits and challenges in the application of DoE in non-manufacturing contexts. The viewpoints regarding the benefits and challenges of DoE in the non-manufacturing arena are gathered from a number of leading academics and practitioners in the field. The paper also makes an attempt to demystify the fact that DoE is not just applicable to manufacturing industries; rather it is equally applicable to non-manufacturing processes within manufacturing companies. The last part of the paper illustrates some case examples showing the power of the technique in non-manufacturing environments

A Self-Consistent Marginally Stable State for Parallel Ion Cyclotron Waves

We derive an equation whose solutions describe self-consistent states of marginal stability for a proton-electron plasma interacting with parallel-propagating ion cyclotron waves. Ion cyclotron waves propagating through this marginally stable plasma will neither grow nor damp. The dispersion relation of these waves, {\omega} (k), smoothly rises from the usual MHD behavior at small |k| to reach {\omega} = {\Omega}p as k \rightarrow \pm\infty. The proton distribution function has constant phase-space density along the characteristic resonant surfaces defined by this dispersion relation. Our equation contains a free function describing the variation of the proton phase-space density across these surfaces. Taking this free function to be a simple "box function", we obtain specific solutions of the marginally stable state for a range of proton parallel betas. The phase speeds of these waves are larger than those given by the cold plasma dispersion relation, and the characteristic surfaces are more sharply peaked in the v\bot direction. The threshold anisotropy for generation of ion cyclotron waves is also larger than that given by estimates which assume bi-Maxwellian proton distributions.Comment: in press in Physics of Plasma

Kinetic modelling and molecular dynamics simulation of ultracold neutral plasmas including ionic correlations

A kinetic approach for the evolution of ultracold neutral plasmas including interionic correlations and the treatment of ionization/excitation and recombination/deexcitation by rate equations is described in detail. To assess the reliability of the approximations inherent in the kinetic model, we have developed a hybrid molecular dynamics method. Comparison of the results reveals that the kinetic model describes the atomic and ionic observables of the ultracold plasma surprisingly well, confirming our earlier findings concerning the role of ion-ion correlations [Phys. Rev. A {\bf 68}, 010703]. In addition, the molecular dynamics approach allows one to study the relaxation of the ionic plasma component towards thermodynamical equilibrium

Optical processing for distributed sensors in control of flexible spacecraft

A recent potential of distributed image processing is discussed. Applications in the control of flexible spacecraft are emphasized. Devices are currently being developed at NASA and in universities and industries that allow the real-time processing of holographic images. Within 5 years, it is expected that, in real-time, one may add or subtract holographic images at optical accuracy. Images are stored and processed in crystal mediums. The accuracy of their storage and processing is dictated by the grating level of laser holograms. It is far greater than that achievable using current analog-to-digital, pixel oriented, image digitizing and computing techniques. Processors using image processing algebra can conceptually be designed to mechanize Fourier transforms, least square lattice filters, and other complex control system operations. Thus, actuator command inputs derived from complex control laws involving distributed holographic images can be generated by such an image processor. Plans are revealed for the development of a Conjugate Optics Processor for control of a flexible object

SCHEDULING INPUTS WITH PRODUCTION FUNCTIONS: OPTIMAL NITROGEN PROGRAMS FOR RICE

The problem of scheduling input applications can be examined by extending conventional production function analysis. Using appropriately designed agricultural experiments, it is possible to estimate production function parameters with alternative specifications for input timing (and amount). A study of nitrogen applications to rice is employed to illustrate scheduling via production functions. Alternative specifications and functional forms are simultaneously examined to determine the sensitivity of economic results to these factors. Sensitivity is found to be high, and this finding is hypothesized to be critical for other approaches to input scheduling as well.Crop Production/Industries,

Experimental Investigation of a 0.35 Hub-Tip Radius Ratio Transonic Axial Flow Rotor Designed for 40 Pounds per Second per Square Foot with a Design Tip Diffusion Factor of 0.20

In order to determine the effect of a low design diffusion factor on the performance of a transonic axial-flow compressor rotor, a high-specific-flow rotor with a 0.35 hub-tip radius ratio was designed, fabricated and tested. This rotor used a design tip diffusion factor of 0.20 with a design corrected specific weight flow of 40 pounds per second per square foot of frontal area, a total-pressure ratio of 1.27, and an adiabatic efficiency of 0.96. The design, rotor performance, and blade element performance are presented with a discussion on rotor shock losses and a comparison with a similarly designed rotor with a tip diffusion factor of 0.35. At the design corrected tip speed of 1100 feet per second, a peak rotor adiabatic efficiency of 0.88 was attained at a corrected specific weight flow of 39 pounds per second per square foot of frontal area with a mass-averaged total-pressure ratio of 1.27. The blade element tip diffusion factor was 0.281, which is 0.08 higher than the design value of 0.20. Peak efficiencies of 0.95, 0.91, 0.89, and 0.85 were obtained at 70, 80, 90, and 110 percent of design speed, respectively. Comparison of the performance of the rotor reported herein and a similarly designed rotor with increased blade loading indicates that higher blade loading results in a more desirable rotor because of a higher pressure ratio and equivalent efficiency. Computed values of shock losses at the rotor tip section indicate that the losses at peak efficiency are primarily a function of shock losses since the profile losses are only a small percentage of the total loss