The application of satellite data in the determination of ocean temperatures and cloud characteristics and statistics

The author has identified the following significant results. The major shortcoming of the data was the loss of the infrared radiances from the S191 spectrometer. The cloud thermodynamic phase determination procedure was derived and tested with the data collected by the S192 multispectral scanner. Results of the test indicate a large fraction of the data could be classified thermodynamically. An added bonus was the inclusion of snow in the classification approach. The conclusion to be drawn from this portion of the effort is that in most cases considered ice clouds, liquid water droplet clouds, and snow fields can be spectroscopically separated to a high degree of accuracy

Predicting tropical cyclone intensity using satellite measured equivalent blackbody temperatures of cloud tops

A regression technique was developed to forecast 24 hour changes of the maximum winds for weak (maximum winds less than or equal to 65 Kt) and strong (maximum winds greater than 65 Kt) tropical cyclones by utilizing satellite measured equivalent blackbody temperatures around the storm alone and together with the changes in maximum winds during the preceding 24 hours and the current maximum winds. Independent testing of these regression equations shows that the mean errors made by the equations are lower than the errors in forecasts made by the peristence techniques

Stereographic cloud heights from the imagery of two scan-synchronized geostationary satellites

Scan synchronization of the sensors of two SMS-GOES satellites yields imagery from which cloud heights can be derived stereographically with a theoretical two-sigma random uncertainty of + or - 0.25 km for pairs of satellites separated by 60 degrees of longitude. Systematic height errors due to cloud motion can be kept below 100 m for all clouds with east-west components of speed below hurricane speed, provided the scan synchronization is within 40 seconds at the mid-point latitude, and the spin axis of each satellite is parallel to that of the earth

The rationale and suggested approaches for research geosynchronous satellite measurements for severe storm and mesoscale investigations

The measurements from current and planned geosynchronous satellites provide quantitative estimates of temperature and moisture profiles, surface temperature, wind, cloud properties, and precipitation. A number of significant observation characteristics remain, they include: (1) temperature and moisture profiles in cloudy areas; (2) high vertical profile resolution; (3) definitive precipitation area mapping and precipitation rate estimates on the convective cloud scale; (4) winds from low level cloud motions at night; (5) the determination of convective cloud structure; and (6) high resolution surface temperature determination. Four major new observing capabilities are proposed to overcome these deficiencies: a microwave sounder/imager, a high resolution visible and infrared imager, a high spectral resolution infrared sounder, and a total ozone mapper. It is suggested that the four sensors are flown together and used to support major mesoscale and short range forecasting field experiments

Meteorological satellite accomplishments

The various types of meteorological satellites are enumerated. Vertical sounding, parameter extraction technique, and both macroscale and mesoscale meteorological phenomena are discussed. The heat budget of the earth-atmosphere system is considered, along with ocean surface and hydrology

Ursinus College Bulletin Vol. 15, No. 1, October 1, 1898

A digitized copy of the October 1, 1898 Ursinus College Bulletin.https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/ucbulletin/1146/thumbnail.jp

Providing Job Embedded Professional Learning for Mathematics Specialists

We know that if professional learning opportunities are to be meaningful and create long-lasting and systemic change, they must be ongoing and job-embedded. One of the most beneficial aspects of having mathematics specialists in schools is that they can provide job-embedded professional learning directly to teachers. Perhaps due to the strong impact mathematics specialists have on teaching and learning, we may overlook the need to provide professional learning to support the growth of mathematics specialists themselves. Just as we provide coaching to teachers to affect their professional growth, we must identify similar opportunities to affect the growth of mathematics specialists. This paper will identify the purposes of these opportunities to include supporting growth in content knowledge, pedagogical expertise, coaching skills, and professionalism and leadership. We recognize that sustained efforts must be undertaken to see significant growth in these areas. Through interviews with individuals from Virginia school divisions and professional organizations, we identify models that can be replicated to provide the recommended professional learning for mathematics specialists

Church attendance and alloparenting: an analysis of fertility, social support and child development among English mothers

Many aspects of religious rituals suggest they provide adaptive benefits. Studies across societies consistently find that investments in ritual behaviour return high levels of cooperation. Another line of research finds that alloparental support to mothers increases maternal fertility and improves child outcomes. Although plausible, whether religious cooperation extends to alloparenting and/or affects child development remains unclear. Using 10 years of data collected from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), we test the predictions that church attendance is positively associated with social support and fertility (n = 8207 to n = 8209), and that social support is positively associated with fertility and child development (n = 1766 to n = 6561). Results show that: (i) relative to not attending, church attendance is positively related to a woman's social network support and aid from co-religionists, (ii) aid from co-religionists is associated with increased family size, while (iii) fertility declines with extra-religious social network support. Moreover, while extra-religious social network support decreased over time, co-religionist aid remained constant. These findings suggest that religious and secular networks differ in their longevity and have divergent influences on a woman's fertility. We find some suggestive evidence that support to mothers and aid from co-religionists is positively associated with a child's cognitive ability at later stages of development. Findings provide mixed support for the premise that ritual, such as church attendance, is part of a strategy that returns high levels of support, fertility and improved child outcomes. Identifying the diversity and scope of cooperative breeding strategies across global religions presents an intriguing new horizon in the evolutionary study of religious systems. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Ritual renaissance: new insights into the most human of behaviours'.1. Introduction (a) Cooperative support to mothers: from foragers to modern nation states 2. Methods (a) Sample and participants (b) Variables and data processing 3. Results (a) Is frequency of maternal church attendance positively associated with a mother's social network support, and/or aid from co-religionists? (b) Is the frequency of maternal church attendance positively associated with fertility? (c) Is a mother's social network support, and/or aid from co-religionists positively related to her fertility? (d) Is a mother's social network support and/or aid from co-religionists positively associated with child physiological and cognitive development? 4. Discussion (a) Limitations of the present study 5. Conclusio

Discriminant Analysis of Geographical Origin of Cork Planks and Stoppers by Near Infrared Spectroscopy

The objective of this study was to assess the potential of visible and near infrared spectroscopy (VIS+NIRS) combined with multivariate analysis for identifying the geographical origin of cork. The study was carried out on cork planks and natural cork stoppers from the most representative cork-producing areas in the world. Two training sets of international and national cork planks were studied. The first set comprised a total of 479 samples from Morocco, Portugal, and Spain, while the second set comprised a total of 179 samples from the Spanish regions of Andalusia, Catalonia, and Extremadura. A training set of 90 cork stoppers from Andalusia and Catalonia was also studied. Original spectroscopic data were obtained for the transverse sections of the cork planks and for the body and top of the cork stoppers by means of a 6500 Foss-NIRSystems SY II spectrophotometer using a fiber optic probe. Remote reflectance was employed in the wavelength range of 400 to 2500 nm. After analyzing the spectroscopic data, discriminant models were obtained by means of partial least square (PLS) with 70% of the samples. The best models were then validated using 30% of the remaining samples. At least 98% of the international cork plank samples and 95% of the national samples were correctly classified in the calibration and validation stage. The best model for the cork stoppers was obtained for the top of the stoppers, with at least 90% of the samples being correctly classified. The results demonstrate the potential of VIS + NIRS technology as a rapid and accurate method for predicting the geographical origin of cork plank and stopper