Development Of Instruments For Use Research Articles

Breakdown of a Nocturnal Inversion Measured with a Low-Cost Tethersonde System: A High School Student Experiment

Abstract For the past 4 years, four different cohorts of students from the Science and Technology program at Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, Maryland, have performed their senior research projects at the Howard University Beltsville Research Campus in Beltsville, Maryland. The projects have focused generally on the testing and correction of low-cost sensors and development of instrumentation for use in profiling the lower atmosphere. Specifically, we have developed a low-cost tethersonde system and used it to carry aloft a low-cost instrument that measures particulate matter (PM) as well as a standard radiosonde measuring temperature, pressure, and relative humidity. The low-cost PM sensor was found to provide artificially high values of PM under conditions of elevated relative humidity, likely due to the presence of hygroscopic aerosols. Reference measurements of PM were used to develop a correction technique for the low-cost PM sensor. Profiling measurements of temperature and PM during the breakdown of a nocturnal inversion were performed using the tethersonde system on 30 August 2019. The evolution of temperature during the breakdown of the inversion was studied and compared with model forecasts. The attempt to measure PM during the tethersonde experiment was not successful, we believe, due to the packaging of the low-cost sensor. Future cohorts of students from Eleanor Roosevelt High School students will work on improving the instrumentation and measurements shown here as we continue the collaboration between the Howard University Beltsville Campus and the local school system.

An improved forward modeling method for two-dimensional electromagnetic induction problems with bathymetry

Recently, electromagnetic observations have become common not only on land but also on the seafloor. In particular, thanks to the development of instruments for use in shallow seas, one can conduct observations along land-sea arrays. However, since there is a large contrast in conductivity between sea water and rocks in the crust and the mantle, we have to pay more attention to the accuracy of forward solvers used for electromagnetic induction problems, including bathymetry. In this paper, we develop a two-dimensional forward code using triangular finite elements, and confirm the accuracy of the new code by TM mode responses. The accuracy of the improved solver was tested by comparison with an analytical solution in a hemi-cylindrical geometry. We also show that triangular elements are more reliable than rectangular elements in determining conductivity structures beneath land-sea arrays. Our results indicate the importance of precisely discretized bathymetry and the accuracy of spatial derivatives of electromagnetic field components, especially in the vicinity of coastlines.

High-Definition Television System Onboard Lunar Explorer Kaguya (SELENE) and Imaging of the Moon and the Earth

The High-Definition television (HDTV) system onboard the Japanese lunar explorer Kaguya (SELENE) consists of a telephotographic camera and a wide-angle camera that each have 2.2 M-pixel IT-CCDs (interline transfer charge-coupled devices) and LSIs (large-scale integrated circuits) of the several-million-gates class. One minute-long motion pictures acquired by the HDTV system at 30 fps (frames per second) are recorded in a 1 GB semiconductor memory after compression, and then transmitted to a ground station. In the development of the space-going HDTV system, a commercial ground-model HDTV system was extensively modified and evaluated for its suitability to withstand the harsh environment of space through environmental tests. The HDTV acquired a total of 6.3 TB of movies and still images of the Earth and the Moon over the mission period that started on September 29, 2007, and ended on June 11, 2009. Footage of an “Earth-rise” and an “Earth-set” on the lunar horizon were captured for the first time by the HDTV system. During a lunar eclipse, images of the Earth’s “diamond ring” were acquired for the first time. The CCDs and the instruments used in the system remained in good working order throughout the mission period, despite the harsh space environment, which suggests a potential new approach to the development of instruments for use in space.

From the outside Looking in: A Researcher's View of Current Policing Practice in the Netherlands

The paper examines how far policing practices in the Netherlands have adopted a structured analytic approach. Attention is paid to developments in community-oriented, prevention and problem-oriented approaches. The role that research has played in the past and should play in the future is discussed. It is argued that, although community policing is an accepted concept among many police officers, various problems have hindered the development of the approach and, in the main, projects do not meet very high methodological standards. Suggestions for well-designed evaluation studies as well as the development of new research instruments for use by the police are presented. Prevention projects are described as being well structured, theoretically based and carefully evaluated. They have, however, focused on a narrow range of offences (eg burglary and car theft) and need to be extended to other areas of crime. The adoption of a carefully structured and evaluated problem-oriented approach is currently being implemented in many Dutch police regions. Clear goals have been set and the progress that is being made is described. The role that researchers can play in furthering the adoption of such a structured approach is discussed, with particular emphasis being given to analytic techniques.

Paul S. Veneklasen, contributions to electroacoustic system and design

Paul Veneklasen’s interest in acoustics was wide ranging. Research and development in electroacoustics occupied his endeavors in the early years. This paper will present a survey of his work. Topics to be presented include development of a series of condenser microphones and loud- speaker systems at the Altec Lansing Corporation, and development of instrumentation to measure the sound pressure level using the Western Electric 640 AA condenser microphone. Projects of a more unusual nature included the development of a Fabric Acoustimeter or ‘‘Fuzz Feeler’’ to measure by acoustic means the ‘‘handle’’ of a fabric, development of the tooth and forehead microphones for detecting and transmitting voice signals in very high-level noise enviroments and research and development of the electronic stethoscope. This instrument extended the frequency range of heart sound analysis. Paul’s interest and pioneering work in auditorium acoustics led to contributions to the development of instrumentation for use in acoustical scale modeling research.

Proliferating hospital testing devices: Too much monitoring could be hazardous to a patient's health

The rapid development of instruments for use in hospitals and clinics has created problems in various areas of the medical field. The majority of these problems are caused by the large number of instruments used. Physically, the mass or mess of cables and tubes can be confusing, be hard to untangle, and require patience. The number of alarms that could ring at any time are very intimidating and difficult to distinguish from one another. The overlapping of information given by the instruments often seems to waste time and also adds to the confusion.

Design and Development of Instrumentation for Use in Ultrasonic Studies of Tympanate Insects

Design and Development of Instrumentation for Use in Ultrasonic Studies of Tympanate Insects

The deeper structure of the ocean floor

For 25 years those interested in the geology of the oceans have stressed our ignorance, and the importance of an understanding of marine geology. Perhaps the time has come to admit that we now do know a great deal and can see where the uncertainties and problems for the next few years probably lie. Many of the questions that were asked in the 1930’s (Field 1938; Bullard 1939, 1940) have been answered. We now know in some detail what lies beneath the continental shelf, we know the thickness of the sediments in the deep oceans and we can classify the major forms of oceanic topography. The gear used in the study of the sea floor has also greatly improved. Kuhlenberg’s piston corer enables more-or-less undisturbed cores to be collected, whose length is limited only by the length of the coring tube that can be handled; Graf and La Coste have devised gravimeters that can be used on a surface ship and there are several types of magnetometers that can be towed behind a ship. Along with the development of instruments for use at sea there has been a parallel development of laboratory facilities on shore for the chemical, physical and palaeontological study of the specimens obtained.

Development of Instrumentation for Use in Nuclear Environments

The nuclear enviroment to be encountered in testing and operating nuclear rocket engines makes the development of reliable instrumentation imperative. A limited program of testing various types of transducers has been undertaken at LASL. A description of the methods and facilities used is followed by detailed descriptions of tests carried out at LASL on various types of pressure-actuated devices. Techniques which may prove effective in improving instrmuent reliability are mentioned, and plans for further research and development in this area are discussed. In conclusion, the nature and scope of the problem are again referred to, with emphasis being made on the need for a better definition of the problem and a greater effort toward its solution.

Work carried on in the past year by the Bureau of Standards in the development of instruments for use in oceanographic investigations

An informal talk on a few items of interest in the work of the Bureau of Standards, and a few suggestions as to possibilities for the future in the development of oceanographic instruments.