Aerodynamic characteristics of the 40- by 80/80- by 120-foot wind tunnel at NASA Ames Research Center

The design and testing of vane sets and air-exchange inlet for the 40 x 80/80 x 120-ft wind tunnel at NASA Ames are reported. Boundary-layer analysis and 2D and 3D inviscid panel codes are employed in computer models of the system, and a 1/10-scale 2D facility and a 1/50-scale 3D model of the entire wind tunnel are used in experimental testing of the vane sets. The results are presented in graphs, photographs, drawings, and diagrams are discussed. Generally good agreement is found between the predicted and measured performance

Multiple-electron losses of highly charged ions colliding with neutral atoms

We present calculations of the total and m-fold electron-loss cross sections using the DEPOSIT code for highly charged U(q+) ions (q=10,31,33) colliding with Ne and Ar targets at projectile energies E=1.4 and 3.5 MeV/u. Typical examples of the deposited energy T(b) and m-fold ionization probabilities Pm(b) used for the cross-section calculations as a function of the impact parameter b are given. Calculated m-fold electron-loss cross sections are in a good agreement with available experimental data. Although the projectile charge is rather high, a contribution of multiple-electron loss cross sections to the total electron-loss cross sections is high: about 65% for the cases mentioned.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

A study of waves in the earth's bow shock

The perturbation vectors of waves up and downstream from the region of maximum compression in the bow shock were examined on OGO-5 under particularly steady solar wind conditions. The polarization of the upstream waves was RH, circular and of the downstream waves LH, elliptical in the spacecraft frame. By observing that the polarization of the waves remained unchanged as the shock motion swept the wave structure back and forth across the satellite three times in eight minutes, it was found that the waves were not stationary in the shock frame. A study of the methods of determining the shock normal indicates that the normal estimated from a shock model should be superior to one based upon magnetic coplanarity. The propagation vectors of the waves examined did not coincide with the shock model normal, the average magnetic field, or the plasma flow velocity. However, the major axis of the polarization ellipse of the downstream wave was nearly parallel to the upstream propagation vector

Tree Legumes as Sustainable Ecosystem Services in Livestock Systems

Arboreal legumes provide multiple uses in pastures and rangelands. Trees directly and indirectly feed, house, doctor, and warm humans at minimal environmental cost through forage (fodder), timber, biofuel, medicines, as well as edible leaves, pods, and seeds. Leguminous trees, because they foster biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) and acquire deep-soil nutrients and moisture, compete less with herbaceous plants for shallow-horizon soil moisture and nutrients. Their ecosystem services (ES) are generally less obvious and quantifiable. These include converting CO2 to sequestered C and released O2 in N-poor soils where trees without BNF do not thrive. Other ES include shade for animals (including humans), plants, and soil microorganisms that would not otherwise survive in direct sunlight, in dry seasons, or under human mismanagement (overgrazing). Arboreal legumes in semi-arid and arid environments also provide habitat and nutrition to insects (pollinators), mammals, and birds during crucial drought seasons and years, facilitating repopulation to the ecosystem when rainfall returns. Additional ES include crucial ecosystem biological diversity, climatic stability, as well as aesthetic and cultural values. Humans have long recognized their value in natural semi-arid and arid ecosystems such as rangelands but have been slower to incorporate them into cultivated pastures where herbaceous monocultures dominate. Incorporating arboreal legumes with greater regularity into restored rangelands or cultivated pastures would not only increase overall productivity by adding non-herbaceous aerial and deep-soil root biomass but also provide ES that herbaceous species cannot match

Selenium in Rocks, Soils, and Plants

The selenium which is found in the soils of the Great Plains has been derived from geological formations, especially those formations deposited during Cretaceous time. The sedimentary rocks which make up the Cretaceous formations are the most important selenium bearers. The selenium which was laid down in these sedimentary formations has been carrie3d through the soil-forming processes and is found in the soils of certain areas. Plants growing ion these soils absorb the selenium which further finds its way into the tissues of animals that happen to feed upon the plants

Efficient dynamical downscaling of general circulation models using continuous data assimilation

Continuous data assimilation (CDA) is successfully implemented for the first time for efficient dynamical downscaling of a global atmospheric reanalysis. A comparison of the performance of CDA with the standard grid and spectral nudging techniques for representing long- and short-scale features in the downscaled fields using the Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model is further presented and analyzed. The WRF model is configured at 25km horizontal resolution and is driven by 250km initial and boundary conditions from NCEP/NCAR reanalysis fields. Downscaling experiments are performed over a one-month period in January, 2016. The similarity metric is used to evaluate the performance of the downscaling methods for large and small scales. Similarity results are compared for the outputs of the WRF model with different downscaling techniques, NCEP reanalysis, and Final Analysis. Both spectral nudging and CDA describe better the small-scale features compared to grid nudging. The choice of the wave number is critical in spectral nudging; increasing the number of retained frequencies generally produced better small-scale features, but only up to a certain threshold after which its solution gradually became closer to grid nudging. CDA maintains the balance of the large- and small-scale features similar to that of the best simulation achieved by the best spectral nudging configuration, without the need of a spectral decomposition. The different downscaled atmospheric variables, including rainfall distribution, with CDA is most consistent with the observations. The Brier skill score values further indicate that the added value of CDA is distributed over the entire model domain. The overall results clearly suggest that CDA provides an efficient new approach for dynamical downscaling by maintaining better balance between the global model and the downscaled fields

Domain Walls Motion and Resistivity in a Fully-Frustrated Josephson Array

It is identified numerically that the resistivity of a fully-frustrated Josephson-junction array is due to motion of domain walls in vortex lattice rather than to motion of single vortices

Braided Rivers and Superconducting Vortex Avalanches

Magnetic vortices intermittently flow through preferred channels when they are forced in or out of a superconductor. We study this behavior using a cellular model, and find that the vortex flow can make braided rivers strikingly similar to aerial photographs of braided fluvial rivers, such as the Brahmaputra. By developing an analysis technique suitable for characterizing a self-affine (multi)fractal, the scaling properties of the braided vortex rivers in the model are compared with those of braided fluvial rivers. We suggest that avalanche dynamics leads to braiding in both cases.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures. To appear in PR

Theory of orientational ordering in colloidal molecular crystals

Freezing of charged colloids on square or triangular two-dimensional periodic substrates has been recently shown to realize a rich variety of orientational orders. We propose a theoretical framework to analyze the corresponding structures. A fundamental ingredient is that a non spherical charged object in an electrolyte creates a screened electrostatic potential that is anisotropic at any distance. Our approach is in excellent agreement with the known experimental and numerical results, and explains in simple terms the reentrant orientational melting observed in these so called colloidal molecular crystals. We also investigate the case of a rectangular periodic substrate and predict an unusual phase transition between orientationnaly ordered states, as the aspect ratio of the unit cell is changed.Comment: 4 pages, to appear in Phys. Rev. Let