Electrodynamics of the middle atmosphere: Superpressure balloon program

In this experiment a comprehensive set of electrical parameters were measured during eight long duration flights in the southern hemisphere stratosphere. These flight resulted in the largest data set ever collected from the stratosphere. The stratosphere has never been electrodynamically sampled in the systematic manner before. New discoveries include short term variability in the planetary scale electric current system, the unexpected observation of stratospheric conductivity variations over thunderstorms and the observation of direct stratospheric conductivity variations following a relatively small solar flare. Major statistical studies were conducted of the large scale current systems, the stratospheric conductivity and the neutral gravity waves (from pressure and temperature data) using the entire data set

Hy-wire and fast electric field change measurements near an isolated thunderstorm, appendix C

Electric field measurements near an isolated thunderstorm at 6.4 km distance are presented from both a tethered balloon experiment called Hy-wire and also from ground based fast and slow electric field change systems. Simultaneous measurements were made of the electric fields during several lightning flashes at the beginning of the storm which the data clearly indicate were cloud-to-ground flashes. In addition to providing a comparison between the Hy-wire technique for measuring electric fields and more traditional methods, these data are interesting because the lightning flashes occurred prior to changes in the dc electric field, although Hy-wire measured changes in the dc field of up to 750 V/m in the direction opposite to the fair weather field a short time later. Also, the dc electric field was observed to decay back to its preflash value after each flash. The data suggest that Hy-wire was at the field reversal distance from this storm and suggest the charge realignment was taking place in the cloud with a time constant on the order of 20 seconds

“Better Than We Found It”: A Persuasive Narrative & Its Impact

This study examined Maren Morris’s music video for the country song “Better Than We Found It” and her audiences’ response in 672 comments left on her Instagram post of the music video. The study focused on narrative persuasion throughout the video in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, immigration reform/the DREAM Act, and the importance of being good stewards. A thematic analysis was conducted on the music video followed by qualitative and quantitative analysis of the Instagram comments. Results showed that overall commenters expressed support for Maren Morris as an artist and for her music video’s message. Results also indicated signs of a parasocial relationship between Maren Morris and her fans and support for her arguments about the Black Lives Matter movement and good stewardship. Future research should be done on how other musicians are able to use their music and social media platforms to promote social issues

The Fighting Governor: the Story of William Langer and the State of North Dakota by John Holzworth, 1938

John Holzworth, a classmate of William Langer\u27s at Columbia University, wrote this biography in 1938. The book examines Langer\u27s life and political history up until his second tenure as Governor of North Dakota, which began in 1937.https://commons.und.edu/langer-papers/1073/thumbnail.jp

Lightweight thermally efficient composite feedlines, preliminary design and evaluation

Six liquid hydrogen feedline design concepts were developed for the cryogenic space tug. The feedlines include composite and all-metal vacuum jacketed and non-vacuum jacketed concepts, and incorporate the latest technology developments in the areas of thermally efficient vacuum jacket end closures and standoffs, radiation shields in the vacuum annulus, thermal coatings, and lightweight dissimilar metal flanged joints. The feedline design concepts were evaluated on the basis of thermal performance, weight, cost, reliability, and reusability. It is shown that composite tubing provides improved thermal performance and reduced weight for each design concept considered. Approximately 12 kg (26 lb.) can be saved by the use of composite tubing for the LH2 feedline and the other propulsion lines in the space tug

The Effects of Deformation on Isovector Electromagnetic and Weak Transition Strengths

The summed strength for transitions from the ground state of $^{12}C$ via the operators $\vec{s}t, \vec{\ell}t, rY't, r[Y's]^{\lambda}t$ and $r[Y'\ell]^{\lambda}t$ are calculated using the $\Delta N = 0$ rotational model. If we choose the z component of the isospin operator $t_{z}$, the above operators are relevant to electromagnetic transitions; if we choose $t_{+}$ they are relevant to weak transitions such as neutrino capture. In going from the spherical limit to the asymptotic (oblate) limit the strength for the operator $\vec{s} t$ decreases steadily to zero; the strength for the operator $\vec{\ell}\tau$ (scissors mode) increases by a factor of three. For the last three operators - isovector dipole, spin dipole and orbital dipole (including the twist mode) it is shown that the summed strength is independant of deformation. The main difference in the behavior is that for the first two operators we have in-shell transitions whereas for the last three operators the transitions are out of shell.Comment: 14 pages, late

Electrodynamics of the Middle Atmosphere: Superpressure Balloon Program

This project called Electrodynamics of the Middle Atmosphere (EMA): Superpressure Balloon Program was begun by the PI at the Aerospace Corporation in Los Angeles under joint NSF and NASA funding originally combined in one grant ATM80-17071 and has continued at the University of Washington under grants ATM8212283, ATM84-11326 and ATM86-15628 and NASA grants NAGW-724 and NAGS-635. In the EMA experiment a comprehensive set of electrical parameters was measured during eight long-duration balloon flights in the Southern Hemisphere stratosphere. These flights resulted in the largest vector electric field data set ever collected from the stratosphere which has been a treasure-trove of new phenomena. Since the stratosphere has never been electrodynamically sampled in this systematic manner before, it is perhaps not surprising that several new discoveries have been made and reported. Another way to measure the success of this first EMA project is to note that all together the total data rate was about 1 bit/sec/payload amounting to 12 MBytes (1/3 of 1 standard 1600 BPI magnetic tape) which nevertheless has resulted in 14 papers and 2 masters theses (so far! . Ten of these papers and one masters thesis specifically acknowledge the support by NASA grant NAGS-635 are discussed herein

Plant Materials Centers Provide Vegetative Solutions

Current land management practices are highly complex involving holistic approaches to achieve land health and environmental quality. Plants can be used to address today’s environmental problems. The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) provides conservation planning, program administration, and technology transfer to private landowners. Plant Material Centers (PMCs), together with a multitude of partners, develop plant materials and provide technology regarding their use. To date, there are 484 cultivars and natural germplasms of improved plants that have been released by PMCs. A large number of these releases have been successfully incorporated into the commercial seed and plant production industry. Over 114 million dollars in revenue was generated in 1999 from commercial seed sales of material that originated from PMC releases. In 2000, more than 550 studies related to plant selection, propagation, and establishment are being conducted at the 26 PMCs nationwide, including Alaska and Hawaii. More than 90% of the plants being tested are native species. Current technology development provides information for many environmental concerns, such as revegetation of disturbed areas and critical habitats; buffer strips; soil bioengineering; waste management; wetland and riparian area enhancement; windbreaks; prairie ecosystem restoration; and noxious-invasive plant control. Native American tribes are assisted with the identification of culturally significant plants for use in traditional medicine and religious and spiritual ceremonies. In 1999, PMCs released 22 new grass, grass-like, forb, and shrub cultivars/germplasms including the technology for their use on disturbed lands of the United States and potential use in other areas of the world. Bridger Plant Materials Center RR2, Box 1189 Bridger, MT 59014 406.662.357

Low-frequency ionospheric sounding with Narrow Bipolar Event lightning radio emissions: energy-reflectivity spectrum

We analyze data on radio-reflection from the D-region of the lower ionosphere, retrieving the energy-reflection coefficient in the frequency range ~5–95 kHz. The data are the same as developed for a recent study of ionospheric-reflection height, and are based on recordings of powerful (multi-Gigawatt) radio emissions from a type of narrow (~10 μs) lightning discharge known as "Narrow Bipolar Events". The sequential appearance of first the groundwave signal, and then the ionospheric single-hop reflection signal, permits us to construct the energy-reflection ratio. We infer the energy reflection's statistical variation with solar zenith angle, angle-of-incidence, frequency, and propagation azimuth. There is also a marginally-significant response of the energy reflectivity to solar X-ray flux density. Finally, we review the relationship of our results to previous published reports