Applications of remote sensing to stream discharge predictions

A feasibility study has been initiated on the use of remote earth observations for augmenting stream discharge prediction for the design and/or operation of major reservoir systems, pumping systems and irrigation systems. The near-term objectives are the interpolation of sparsely instrumented precipitation surveillance networks and the direct measurement of water loss by evaporation. The first steps of the study covered a survey of existing reservoir systems, stream discharge prediction methods, gage networks and the development of a self-adaptive variation of the Kentucky Watershed model, SNOPSET, that includes snowmelt. As a result of these studies, a special three channel scanner is being built for a small aircraft, which should provide snow, temperature and water vapor maps for the spatial and temporal interpolation of stream gages

Toroidal transformers procedure 902.66-01 Final report

Qualification tests of multi-secondary toroidal transformers and open-construction ratio toroidal transformer

SNOWMASS WHITE PAPER - SLHC Endcap 1.4<y<4 Hadron Optical Calorimetry Upgrades in CMS with Applications to NLC/T-LEP, Intensity Frontier, and Beyond

Radiation damage in the plastic scintillator and/or readout WLS fibers in the HE endcap calorimeter 1.4<y<4 in the CMS experiment at LHC and SLHC will require remediation after 2018. We describe one alternative using the existing brass absorber in the Endcap calorimeter, to replace the plastic scintillator tiles with BaF2 tiles, or quartz tiles coated with thin(1-5 micron) films of radiation-hard pTerphenyl(pTP) or the fast phosphor ZnO:Ga. These tiles would be read-out by easily replaceable arrays of straight, parallel WLS fibers coupled to clear plastic-cladded quartz fibers of proven radiation resistance. We describe a second alternative with a new absorber matrix extending to 1.4<y<4 in a novel Analog Particle Flow Cerenkov Compensated Calorimeter, using a dual readout of quartz tiles and scintillating (plastic, BaF2, or pTP/ ZnO:Ga thin film coated quartz, or liquid scintillator) tiles, also using easily replaceable arrays of parallel WLS fibers coupled to clear quartz transmitting fibers for readout. An Analog Particle Flow Scintillator-Cerenkov Compensated Calorimeter has application in NLC/T-LEP detectors and Intensity Frontier detectors

Assessment of geophysical flows for zero-gravity simulation

The results of research relating to the feasibility of using a low gravity environment to model geophysical flows are presented. Atmospheric and solid earth flows are considered. Possible experiments and their required apparatus are suggested

Orbital Orientations of Exoplanets: HAT-P-4b is Prograde and HAT-P-14b is Retrograde

We present observations of the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect for two exoplanetary systems, revealing the orientations of their orbits relative to the rotation axes of their parent stars. HAT-P-4b is prograde, with a sky-projected spin-orbit angle of lambda = -4.9 +/- 11.9 degrees. In contrast, HAT-P-14b is retrograde, with lambda = 189.1 +/- 5.1 degrees. These results conform with a previously noted pattern among the stellar hosts of close-in giant planets: hotter stars have a wide range of obliquities and cooler stars have low obliquities. This, in turn, suggests that three-body dynamics and tidal dissipation are responsible for the short-period orbits of many exoplanets. In addition, our data revealed a third body in the HAT-P-4 system, which could be a second planet or a companion star.Comment: AJ, in press [8 pages

A Prograde, Low-Inclination Orbit for the Very Hot Jupiter WASP-3b

We present new spectroscopic and photometric observations of the transiting exoplanetary system WASP-3. Spectra obtained during two separate transits exhibit the Rossiter-McLaughlin (RM) effect and allow us to estimate the sky-projected angle between the planetary orbital axis and the stellar rotation axis, lambda = 3.3^{+2.5}_{-4.4} degrees. This alignment between the axes suggests that WASP-3b has a low orbital inclination relative to the equatorial plane of its parent star. During our first night of spectroscopic measurements, we observed an unexpected redshift briefly exceeding the expected sum of the orbital and RM velocities by 140 m/s. This anomaly could represent the occultation of material erupting from the stellar photosphere, although it is more likely to be an artifact caused by moonlight scattered into the spectrograph.Comment: 23 pages, 4 figures, Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal, Replacement includes revised citation

Line-profile tomography of exoplanet transits I: The Doppler shadow of HD 189733b

We present a direct method for isolating the component of the starlight blocked by a planet as it transits its host star, and apply it to spectra of the bright transiting planet HD 189733b. We model the global shape of the stellar cross-correlation function as the convolution of a limb-darkened rotation profile and a gaussian representing the Doppler core of the average photospheric line profile. The light blocked by the planet during the transit is a gaussian of the same intrinsic width, whose trajectory across the line profile yields a precise measure of the misalignment angle and an independent measure of v sin I. We show that even when v sin I is less than the width of the intrinsic line profile, the travelling Doppler "shadow" cast by the planet creates an identifiable distortion in the line profiles which is amenable to direct modelling. Direct measurement of the trajectory of the missing starlight yields self-consistent measures of the projected stellar rotation rate, the intrinsic width of the mean local photospheric line profile, the projected spin-orbit misalignment angle, and the system's centre-of-mass velocity. Combined with the photometric rotation period, the results give a geometrical measure of the stellar radius which agrees closely with values obtained from high-precision transit photometry if a small amount of differential rotation is present in the stellar photosphere.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables; accepted by MNRA

Modern control concepts in hydrology

Two approaches to an identification problem in hydrology are presented based upon concepts from modern control and estimation theory. The first approach treats the identification of unknown parameters in a hydrologic system subject to noisy inputs as an adaptive linear stochastic control problem; the second approach alters the model equation to account for the random part in the inputs, and then uses a nonlinear estimation scheme to estimate the unknown parameters. Both approaches use state-space concepts. The identification schemes are sequential and adaptive and can handle either time invariant or time dependent parameters. They are used to identify parameters in the Prasad model of rainfall-runoff. The results obtained are encouraging and conform with results from two previous studies; the first using numerical integration of the model equation along with a trial-and-error procedure, and the second, by using a quasi-linearization technique. The proposed approaches offer a systematic way of analyzing the rainfall-runoff process when the input data are imbedded in noise

Snowmass White Paper CMS Upgrade: Forward Lepton-Photon System

This White Paper outlines a proposal for an upgraded forward region to extend CMS lepton (e, mu) and photon physics reach out to 2.2<eta<5 for LHC and SLHC, which also provides better performance for the existing or new forward hadron calorimetry for jet energy and (eta, phi) measurements, especially under pileup/overlaps at high lumi, as LHC luminosity, energy and radiation damage increases