1,676 research outputs found
Hypersonic vehicle simulation model: Winged-cone configuration
Aerodynamic, propulsion, and mass models for a generic, horizontal-takeoff, single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) configuration are presented which are suitable for use in point mass as well as batch and real-time six degree-of-freedom simulations. The simulations can be used to investigate ascent performance issues and to allow research, refinement, and evaluation of integrated guidance/flight/propulsion/thermal control systems, design concepts, and methodologies for SSTO missions. Aerodynamic force and moment coefficients are given as functions of angle of attack, Mach number, and control surface deflections. The model data were estimated by using a subsonic/supersonic panel code and a hypersonic local surface inclination code. Thrust coefficient and engine specific impulse were estimated using a two-dimensional forebody, inlet, nozzle code and a one-dimensional combustor code and are given as functions of Mach number, dynamic pressure, and fuel equivalence ratio. Rigid-body mass moments of inertia and center of gravity location are functions of vehicle weight which is in turn a function of fuel flow
AFFORDABLE WATER QUALITY ANALYSIS: A PROPOSED FRAMEWORK FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND REGULATION OF LOW-COST WATER QUALITY MONITORING DEVICES
Access to adequate supplies of potable water is a key driver of human health. Physical and chemical treatment processes are frequently necessary to make water safe to drink. Monitoring of water before, during, and after treatment is an essential component of the provision of potable water, and most aspects of water quality monitoring require electronic devices to augment human senses. Every nation sets rules governing the treatment and monitoring of drinking water, in an attempt to continuously ensure potability of drinking water supplies. Presently, however, the regulations governing the design of common electronic devices for water quality monitoring are developed and published by just two organizations – the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The implications of this regulatory situation on drinking water quality monitoring, particularly in low-resource settings, are largely (perhaps completely) unaddressed in existing literature.
Turbidity, which may be summarized as cloudiness in a body of liquid due to the scattering of light by particles suspended in that body, is internationally recognized as a simple and useful monitoring parameter for drinking water treatment. Using turbidity as an exemplar, this dissertation examines the structure of regulations governing the design of water quality monitoring devices, and the potential impact that regulatory structure has on the design, fabrication, and marketing of water quality monitoring devices, including both closed-source and open-source technology. National turbidity monitoring requirements for several nations, and the turbidity guidelines promulgated by the World Health Organization, are compared. The EPA and ISO turbidimeter regulations are also examined in relation to these national and international turbidity monitoring requirements. Design variables and requirements are identified which are generally necessary to ensure a properly functioning turbidimeter, but which are not explicitly stated in EPA and ISO turbidimeter regulations.
Aspects of the commercial turbidimeter market, and EPA and ISO turbidimeter regulations, which are likely burdensome for water quality monitoring efforts in low-resource settings (such as rural communities in developing countries), are explored – perhaps chief among these being cost. While production of open-source turbidimeter designs provides a potential solution for turbidity monitoring in low-resource settings, open-source turbidimeter design efforts are currently far from able to meet global needs.
To provide supplementary regulatory requirements for EPA and ISO turbidimeter standards, and to spur the development of market-ready open-source turbidimeter designs, a framework titled the Affordable Water Quality Analysis (AWQUA) device development is proposed. It consists of a turbidity-specific regulatory section, and a general water quality monitoring device development guidance section. Proper use of this guidance section is intended to strengthen open-source water quality monitoring device development efforts and encourage the production of device documentation suitable to demonstrate compliance with the regulatory section.
An important contribution of this dissertation effort is the development and detailed description of four different examples of novel, low-cost, open-source water quality monitoring devices that motivated the proposed supplementary framework, informed its design, and serve to illustrate its application. First, a low-cost, open-source handheld turbidimeter based on a simple digital light detection sensor is detailed and discussed. The design, fabrication, and testing of this device served as a motivator for the development of the proposed supplementary turbidimeter development guidelines proposed. The turbidimeter nearly meets international regulatory guidelines, was fully described in a peer-reviewed publication, and is believed to be the most detailed open-source design of a digital turbidimeter publicly available (at the time of this writing) and yet contains several subtle but critical design flaws that are unaddressed in current national and international turbidimeter regulations. This prototype thus motivated and informed the design of the proposed new regulatory framework. Subsequently, three other promising open-source water quality monitoring designs were developed, fabricated, and evaluated under the AWQUA Framework: (1) a second low-cost open-source handheld turbidimeter, based on a highly precise light-to-voltage analog sensing setup; (2) a highly compact low-cost open-source inline turbidimeter, designed for continuous immersive monitoring of turbidity in surface waters; and (3) a low-cost open-source jar tester – a device used to evaluate certain physical and chemical treatments employed in drinking water treatment to reduce turbidity. These designs and the associated framework that grew from them are contributions toward the provision of “Affordable Water Quality Analysis” (AWQUA) capabilities for communities in low-resource settings
Strategic Resource Allocation: Selecting Vessels to Support Maritime Irregular Warfare
The article of record as published may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.5711/1082598318321The US Navy is at a critical juncture in
determining the types and numbers
of ships it will acquire, retire, and
sustain to support an evolving US military
strategy. In addition to determining how
many aircraft carriers, cruisers, amphibious
assault craft, fighters, and helicopters it will
need, the Navy must determine how it will
confront maritime irregular warfare. Assuming
an environment of resource scarcity,
where new vessel acquisition to support
maritime irregular warfare may be increasingly
difficult or unlikely, we introduce a
method for evaluating the capability and
costs of candidate vessels that are in the
current Department of Defense inventory, or
widely available from the commercial sector
to conduct such a mission. Our method
combines wargaming with cost analysis to
aid Navy leadership in developing maritime
irregular warfare concepts of operation as
well as resource allocation decisions.RAND CorporationAcquisition Research ProgramRAND CorporationAcquisition Research Progra
The Radio Evolution of SN 2001gd
We present the results of observations of the radio emission from Supernova
2001gd in NGC 5033 from 2002 February 8 through 2006 September 25. The data
were obtained using the Very Large Array at wavelengths of 1.3 cm (22.4 GHz), 2
cm (14.9 GHz), 3.6 cm (8.4 GHz), 6 cm (4.9 GHz), and 20 cm (1.5 GHz), with one
upper limit at 90 cm (0.3 GHz). In addition, one detection has been provided by
the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope at 21 cm (1.4 GHz). SN 2001gd was
discovered in the optical well past maximum light, so that it was not possible
to obtain many of the early radio "turn-on" measurements which are important
for estimating the local circumstellar medium (CSM) properties. Only at 20 cm
were turn-on data available. However, our analysis and fitting of the radio
light curves, and the assumption that the Type IIb SN 2001gd resembles the much
better studied Type IIb SN 1993J, enables us to describe the radio evolution as
being very regular through day ~550 and consistent with a nonthermal-emitting
model with a thermal absorbing CSM. The presence of synchrotron-self absorption
(SSA) at early times is implied by the data, but determination of the exact
relationship between the SSA component from the emitting region and the
free-free absorption component from the CSM is not possible as there are
insufficient early measurements to distinguish between models. After day ~550,
the radio emission exhibits a dramatically steeper decline rate which, assuming
similarity to SN 1993J, can be described as an exponential decrease with an
e-folding time of 500 days. We interpret this abrupt change in the radio flux
density decline rate as implying a transition of the shock front into a more
tenuous region of circumstellar material. A similar change in radio evolution
has been seen earlier in other SNe such as SN 1988Z, SN 1980K, and SN 1993J.Comment: 3 tables, 2 figures, To appear in the Astrophysical Journa
Learning Agility: Many Questions, a Few Answers, and a Path Forward
Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/92383/1/j.1754-9434.2012.01465.x.pd
Long Term Radio Monitoring of SN 1993J
We present our observations of the radio emission from supernova (SN) 1993J,
in M 81 (NGC 3031), made with the VLA, from 90 to 0.7 cm, as well as numerous
measurements from other telescopes. The combined data set constitutes probably
the most detailed set of measurements ever established for any SN outside of
the Local Group in any wavelength range. Only SN 1987A in the LMC has been the
subject of such an intensive observational program. The radio emission evolves
regularly in both time and frequency, and the usual interpretation in terms of
shock interaction with a circumstellar medium (CSM) formed by a pre-SN stellar
wind describes the observations rather well considering the complexity of the
phenomenon. However: 1) The 85 - 110 GHz measurements at early times are not
well fitted by the parameterization, unlike the cm wavelength measurements. 2)
At mid-cm wavelengths there is some deviation from the fitted radio light
curves. 3) At a time ~3100 days after shock breakout, the decline rate of the
radio emission steepens without change in the spectral index. This decline is
best described as an exponential decay starting at day 3100 with an e-folding
time of ~1100 days. 4) The best overall fit to all of the data is a model
including both non-thermal synchrotron self-absorption (SSA) and a thermal
free-free absorbing (FFA) components at early times, evolving to a constant
spectral index, optically thin decline rate, until the break in that decline
rate. Moreover, neither a purely SSA nor a purely FFA absorbing models can
provide a fit that simultaneously reproduces the light curves, the spectral
index evolution, and the brightness temperature evolution. 5) The radio and
X-ray light curves exhibit similar behavior and suggest a sudden drop in the SN
progenitor mass-loss rate at ~8000 years prior to shock breakout.Comment: 45 pages, 13 figures, accepted for Ap
Metagenetic analysis of patterns of distribution and diversity of marine meiobenthic eukaryotes
AimMeiofaunal communities that inhabit the marine benthos offer unique opportunities to simultaneously study the macroecology of numerous phyla that exhibit different life-history strategies. Here, we ask: (1) if the macroecology of meiobenthic communities is explained mainly by dispersal constraints or by environmental conditions; and (2) if levels of meiofaunal diversity surpass existing estimates based on morphological taxonomy. LocationUK and mainland European coast. MethodsNext-generation sequencing techniques (NGS; Roche 454 FLX platform) using 18S nuclear small subunit ribosomal DNA (rDNA) gene. Pyrosequences were analysed using AmpliconNoise followed by chimera removal using Perseus. ResultsRarefaction curves revealed that sampling saturation was only reached at 15% of sites, highlighting that the bulk of meiofaunal diversity is yet to be discovered. Overall, 1353 OTUs were recovered and assigned to 23 different phyla. The majority of sampled sites had c. 60-70 unique operational taxonomic units (OTUs) per site, indicating high levels of beta diversity. The environmental parameters that best explained community structure were seawater temperature, geographical distance and sediment size, but most of the variability (R-2=70%-80%) remains unexplained. Main conclusionsHigh percentages of endemic OTUs suggest that meiobenthic community composition is partly niche-driven, as observed in larger organisms, but also shares macroecological features of microorganisms by showing high levels of cosmopolitanism (albeit on a much smaller scale). Meiobenthic communities exhibited patterns of isolation by distance as well as associations between niche, latitude and temperature, indicating that meiobenthic communities result from a combination of niche assembly and dispersal processes. Conversely, isolation-by-distance patterns were not identified in the featured protists, suggesting that animals and protists adhere to radically different macroecological processes, linked to life-history strategies.Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) [NE/E001505/1, NE/F001266/1, MGF-167]; Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) [SFRH/BD/27413/2006, SFRH/BPD/80447/2014]; EPSRC [EP/H003851/1]; BBSRC CASE studentship; Unilever; Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council [987347]; Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council [EP/H003851/1]; Natural Environment Research Council [NE/F001290/1, NE/F001266/1, NE/E001505/1, NBAF010002]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Radio Emission from Supernovae
Study of radio supernovae over the past 27 years includes more than three dozen detected objects and more than 150 upper limits. From this work it is possible to identify classes of radio properties, demonstrate conformance to and deviations from existing models, estimate the density
and structure of the circumstellar material and, by inference, the evolution of the presupemova
stellar wind, and reveal the last stages of stellar evolution before explosion. It is also possible to
detect ionized hydrogen along the line of sight, to demonstrate binary properties of the presupemova
stellar system, and to detect dumpiness of the circumstellar material.
Along with reviewing these general properties of the radio emission from supernovae, we present
our extensive observations of the radio emission from supemova (SN) 1993J in M 81 (NGC 3031)
made with the Very Large Array and other radio telescopes. The SN 1993J radio emission evolves
regularly in both time and frequency, and the usual interpretation in terms of shock interaction with
a circumstellar medium (CSM) formed by a pre-supernova stellar wind describes the observations
rather well considering the complexity of the phenomenon. However: 1) The highest frequency
measurements at 85 - 110 GHz at early times (< 40 days) are not well fitted by the parameterization
which describes the cm wavelength measurements rather well. 2) At mid-cm wavelengths there is
often deviation from the fitted radio light curves, particularly near the peak flux density, and considerable
shorter term deviations in the declining portion when the emission has become optically thin.
3) At a time ~3100 days after shock breakout, the decline rate of the radio emission steepens from
(t^(+β))β ~ 0.7 to β ~ —2.7 without change in the spectral index (v^(+α); α ~ -0.81). However, this
decline is best described not as a power-law, but as an exponential decay starting at day ~3100
with an e-folding time of ~1100 days. 4) The best overall fit to all of the data is a model including
both non-thermal synchrotron self-absorption (SSA) and a thermal free-free absorbing (FFA) components
at early times, evolving to a constant spectral index, optically thin decline rate, until a break
in that decline rate at day ~3100, as mentioned above. Moreover, neither a purely SSA nor a purely
FFA absorbing model can provide a fit that simultaneously reproduces the light curves, the spectral
index evolution, and the brightness temperature evolution
Eleven years of radio monitoring of the Type IIn supernova SN 1995N
We present radio observations of the optically bright Type IIn supernova SN
1995N. We observed the SN at radio wavelengths with the Very Large Array (VLA)
for 11 years. We also observed it at low radio frequencies with the Giant
Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) at various epochs within years since
explosion. Although there are indications of an early optically thick phase,
most of the data are in the optically thin regime so it is difficult to
distinguish between synchrotron self absorption (SSA) and free-free absorption
(FFA) mechanisms. However, the information from other wavelengths indicates
that the FFA is the dominant absorption process. Model fits of radio emission
with the FFA give reasonable physical parameters. Making use of X-ray and
optical observations, we derive the physical conditions of the shocked ejecta
and the shocked CSM.Comment: 22 pages, 2 tables, 13 figures, Accepted for publication in
Astrophysical Journa
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