The WMO SPICE snow-on-ground intercomparison: an overview of sensor assessment and recommendations on best practices

Comunicación presentada en: TECO-2016 (Technical Conference on Meteorological and Environmental Instruments and Methods of Observation) celebrada en Madrid, del 27 al 30 de septiembre de 2016.One of the objectives of the WMO Solid Precipitation Intercomparison Experiment (SPICE) was to assess the performance and capabilities of automated sensors for measuring snow on the ground (SoG), including sensors that measure snow depth and snow water equivalent (SWE). The intercomparison focused on five snow depth sensors (models SHM30, SL300, SR50A, FLS-CH 10 and USH-8) and two SWE sensors (models CS725 and SSG1000) over two winter seasons (2013/2014 and 2014/2015). A brief discussion of the measurement reference(s) and an example of the intercomparisons are included. Generally, each of the sensors under test operated according to the manufacturer’s specifications and compared well with the site references, exhibiting high correlations with both the manual and automated reference measurements. The use of natural and artificial surface targets under snow depth sensors were examined in the context of providing a stable and representative surface for snow depth measurements. An assessment of sensor derived measurement quality and sensor return signal strength, where available as an output option, were analysed to help explain measurement outliers and sources of uncertainty with the goal of improving data quality and maximizing the sensor capabilities. Finally, where possible, relationships are established between the gauge measurement of solid precipitation and the measurement of snow on the ground. This paper will provide a brief summary of these results with more detail included in the WMO SPICE Final Report

Sunroof

Climate change is an omnipresent problem that grows worse every day. There are many things that contribute to climate change, such as cutting down trees, using fossil fuels, and carbon emissions, all of which occur daily. As more people realize the effects of businesses on the environment, it is important that companies switch to green energy in a cost effective way. For our LEAD project, we aim to provide that service by paying companies to install solar panels on their warehouse roofs. This will create mass amounts of solar energy to sell back to the energy grid, generate money for businesses, and help lower reliance on power plants that burn fossil fuels. While new warehouses often have solar panels already installed, our hope is to target the many businesses that have large, empty roof spaces without solar panels

OHB initiatives in development of additive manufacturing technology for opto-mechanical and mechatronic space systems

Additive Manufacturing (AM) technology has shown impressive new opportunities and convincing results over the last years, mainly in terrestrial applications. Today, it has proven to represent a completely new approach to shape complex mechanical parts, with enormous potential for optimization of dedicated parameters. Numerous possibilities shine up for the aerospace industry, among others, and let engineers dream of mechanical parts which only some years ago looked like science fiction. OHB System has been involved in the development of Additive Manufacturing since more than five years via several ESA studies, DLR-funded projects and by significant internal R&D activities. These projects and studies have convinced us of the potential of AM for future satellite platforms, instruments and payloads. A new dimension of freedom in generating shapes and geometries is opened, offering more flexibility for optimizing the parts and components according to functional and performance requirements. On the other hand, the efforts of qualifying an AM part to flight worthiness are significantly higher than for conventional manufacturing technologies, taking into account all the required aspects of material and production process control, inspection and testing. A concise trade-off has to be performed for each potential use case to find out whether these high efforts and resulting costs are justified by the benefits of the new technology in terms of e.g. light weighting, ease of integration and performance improvement. The paper will introduce the OHB AM roadmap, which has been developed jointly by OHB experts from both sites in Bremen and Oberpfaffenhofen, following in-depth analysis of the potential impact of the technology on space systems. It will furthermore provide an overview of applications where AM is expected to offer extraordinary opportunities. Among these 'high-potential' applications are the two following topics: • opto-mechanical assemblies (isostatic structures, optical mounts) and • mechatronic systems (compliant mechanisms or integrated smart structures). The paper will report on the objectives and work logic of ongoing studies in these specific topics and provide intermediate results

WMO Solid Precipitation Intercomparison Experiment (SPICE) (2012 - 2015)

The Solid Precipitation Intercomparison Experiment (SPICE) was conducted as an internationally coordinated project, initiated and guided by the Commission for Instruments and Methods of Observation (CIMO) of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The SPICE field experiments took place between 2013 and 2015, with a preparatory stage during the winter of 2012/13. SPICE was carried out as a major international effort, and has been remarkable for the diversity of organizations which hosted SPICE tests, contributed with instruments, and were engaged in the data analysis and the derivation of results. In addition to National Meteorological and Hydrological Services, research organizations, academia, and the private sector played active roles and made unique contributions. Field experiments were conducted at twenty sites located in fifteen countries, on all continents except Africa and Antarctica, as outlined in Section 2 of this report. The instrument manufacturing community made a significant contribution to SPICE, as more than twenty instrument manufacturers provided instruments measuring precipitation amount, snow depth, and snow water equivalent. Each instrument model was tested on one or more sites in different climate regimes and over a large range of environmental conditions, providing a solid foundation for the results presented in this report

Additional file 4 of Worldwide clinical practices in perioperative antibiotic therapy for lung transplantation

Additional file 4. Answers to Case 2