Capturing the WUnder: Using weather stations and WeatherUnderground to increase middle school students' understanding and interest in science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schild, K. M.; Dunne, P.

2014-12-01

New models of elementary- and middle-school level science education are emerging in response to the need for science literacy and the development of the Next Generation Science Standards. One of these models is fostered through the NSF's Graduate Teaching Fellows in K-12 Education (GK-12) program, which pairs a graduate fellow with a science teacher at a local school for an entire school year. In our project, a PhD Earth Sciences student was paired with a local middle school science teacher with the goal of installing a weather station, and incorporating the station data into the 8th grade science curriculum. Here we discuss how we were able to use a school weather station to introduce weather and climate material, engage and involve students in the creative process of science, and motivate students through inquiry-based lessons. In using a weather station as the starting point for material, we were able to make science tangible for students and provide an opportunity for each student to experience the entire process of scientific inquiry. This hands-on approach resulted in a more thorough understanding the system beyond a knowledge of the components, and was particularly effective in challenging prior weather and climate misconceptions. We were also able to expand the reach of the lessons by connecting with other weather stations in our region and even globally, enabling the students to become members of a larger system.

Very Portable Remote Automatic Weather Stations

Treesearch

John R. Warren

1987-01-01

Remote Automatic Weather Stations (RAWS) were introduced to Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management field units in 1978 following development, test, and evaluation activities conducted jointly by the two agencies. The original configuration was designed for semi-permanent installation. Subsequently, a need for a more portable RAWS was expressed, and one was...

Solar Weather Ice Monitoring Station (SWIMS). A low cost, extreme/harsh environment, solar powered, autonomous sensor data gathering and transmission system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chetty, S.; Field, L. A.

2013-12-01

The Arctic ocean's continuing decrease of summer-time ice is related to rapidly diminishing multi-year ice due to the effects of climate change. Ice911 Research aims to develop environmentally respectful materials that when deployed will increase the albedo, enhancing the formation and/preservation of multi-year ice. Small scale deployments using various materials have been done in Canada, California's Sierra Nevada Mountains and a pond in Minnesota to test the albedo performance and environmental characteristics of these materials. SWIMS is a sophisticated autonomous sensor system being developed to measure the albedo, weather, water temperature and other environmental parameters. The system (SWIMS) employs low cost, high accuracy/precision sensors, high resolution cameras, and an extreme environment command and data handling computer system using satellite and terrestrial wireless communication. The entire system is solar powered with redundant battery backup on a floating buoy platform engineered for low temperature (-40C) and high wind conditions. The system also incorporates tilt sensors, sonar based ice thickness sensors and a weather station. To keep the costs low, each SWIMS unit measures incoming and reflected radiation from the four quadrants around the buoy. This allows data from four sets of sensors, cameras, weather station, water temperature probe to be collected and transmitted by a single on-board solar powered computer. This presentation covers the technical, logistical and cost challenges in designing, developing and deploying these stations in remote, extreme environments. Image captured by camera #3 of setting sun on the SWIMS station One of the images captured by SWIMS Camera #4

A 31-day battery-operated recording weather station.

Treesearch

Richard J. Barney

1972-01-01

The battery-powered recording weather station measures and records wet bulb temperature, dry bulb temperature, wind travel, and rainfall for 31 days. Assembly procedures and cost of supplies and components are discussed.

An aid to streamlining fire-weather station networks

Treesearch

R. William Furman

1975-01-01

For reasons of economy it may be necessary to close one or several fire-weather stations in a protection area. Since it is logical to close those stations that will have the least impact on the ability of the fire manager to assess overall fire danger, it is desirable to know if there is duplication in monitoring fire climate, and to what degree. A method is proposed...

Development of an Open Source, Air-Deployable Weather Station

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krejci, A.; Lopez Alcala, J. M.; Nelke, M.; Wagner, J.; Udell, C.; Higgins, C. W.; Selker, J. S.

2017-12-01

We created a packaged weather station intended to be deployed in the air on tethered systems. The device incorporates lightweight sensors and parts and runs for up to 24 hours off of lithium polymer batteries, allowing the entire package to be supported by a thin fiber. As the fiber does not provide a stable platform, additional data (pitch and roll) from typical weather parameters (e.g. temperature, pressure, humidity, wind speed, and wind direction) are determined using an embedded inertial motion unit. All designs are open sourced including electronics, CAD drawings, and descriptions of assembly and can be found on the OPEnS lab website at http://www.open-sensing.org/lowcost-weather-station/. The Openly Published Environmental Sensing Lab (OPEnS: Open-Sensing.org) expands the possibilities of scientific observation of our Earth, transforming the technology, methods, and culture by combining open-source development and cutting-edge technology. New OPEnS labs are now being established in India, France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Ghana.

International Space Station (ISS)

NASA Image and Video Library

2007-08-01

As the construction continued on the International Space Station (ISS), STS-118 Astronaut Dave Williams, representing the Canadian Space Agency, participated in the fourth and final session of Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA). During the 5 hour space walk, Williams and Expedition 15 engineer Clay Anderson (out of frame) installed the External Wireless Instrumentation System Antenna, attached a stand for the shuttle robotic arm extension boom, and retrieved the two Materials International Space Station Experiments (MISSE) for return to Earth. MISSE collects information on how different materials weather in the environment of space.

Propagation Characteristics of International Space Station Wireless Local Area Network

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sham, Catherine C.; Hwn, Shian U.; Loh, Yin-Chung

2005-01-01

This paper describes the application of the Uniform Geometrical Theory of Diffraction (UTD) for Space Station Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) indoor propagation characteristics analysis. The verification results indicate good correlation between UTD computed and measured signal strength. It is observed that the propagation characteristics are quite different in the Space Station modules as compared with those in the typical indoor WLANs environment, such as an office building. The existing indoor propagation models are not readily applicable to the Space Station module environment. The Space Station modules can be regarded as oversized imperfect waveguides. Two distinct propagation regions separated by a breakpoint exist. The propagation exhibits the guided wave characteristics. The propagation loss in the Space Station, thus, is much smaller than that in the typical office building. The path loss model developed in this paper is applicable for Space Station WLAN RF coverage and link performance analysis.

Micro Weather Station

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hoenk, Michael E.

1999-01-01

Improved in situ meteorological measurements in the troposphere and stratosphere are needed for studies of weather and climate, both as a primary data source and as validation for remote sensing instruments. Following the initial development and successful flight validation of the surface acoustic wave (SAW) hygrometer, the micro weather station program was directed toward the development of an integrated instrument, capable of accurate, in situ profiling of the troposphere, and small enough to fly on a radiosonde balloon for direct comparison with standard radiosondes. On April 23, 1998, working with Frank Schmidlin and Bob Olson of Wallops Island Flight Facility, we flew our instrument in a dual payload experiment, for validation and direct comparison with a Vaisala radiosonde. During that flight, the SAW dewpoint hygrometer measured frostpoint down to -76T at 44,000 feet. Using a laptop computer in radio contact with the balloon, we monitored data in real time, issued the cutdown command, and recovered the payload less than an hour after landing in White Sands Missile Range, 50 miles from the launch site in Hatch, New Mexico. Future flights will extend the intercomparison, and attempt to obtain in situ meteorological profiles from the surface through the tropopause. The SAW hygrometer was successfully deployed on the NASA DC8 as part of NASA's Third Convection and Moisture Experiment (CAMEX-3) during August and September, 1998. This field campaign was devoted to the study of hurricane tracking and intensification using NASA-funded aircraft. In situ humidity data from the SAW hygrometer are currently being analyzed and compared with data from other instruments on the DC8 and ER2 aircraft. Additional information is contained in the original.

Meteorological Automatic Weather Station (MAWS) Instrument Handbook

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Holdridge, Donna J; Kyrouac, Jenni A

The Meteorological Automatic Weather Station (MAWS) is a surface meteorological station, manufactured by Vaisala, Inc., dedicated to the balloon-borne sounding system (BBSS), providing surface measurements of the thermodynamic state of the atmosphere and the wind speed and direction for each radiosonde profile. These data are automatically provided to the BBSS during the launch procedure and included in the radiosonde profile as the surface measurements of record for the sounding. The MAWS core set of measurements is: Barometric Pressure (hPa), Temperature (°C), Relative Humidity (%), Arithmetic-Averaged Wind Speed (m/s), and Vector-Averaged Wind Direction (deg). The sensors that collect the core variablesmore » are mounted at the standard heights defined for each variable.« less

Undergraduate Earth System Science Education: Project-Based Learning, Land-Atmosphere Interaction, and a Newly Established Student Weather Station

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baker, D.

2004-12-01

Undergraduate students conducted a semester-long research project as part of a special topics course that launched the Austin College Weather Station in spring 2001. The weather station is located on restored prairie roughly 100 km north of Dallas, Texas. In addition to standard meteorological observations, the Austin College Weather Station measures surface quantities such as soil moisture, soil temperature, solar radiation, infrared radiation, and soil heat flux. These additional quantities are used to calculate the surface energy balance using the Bowen ratio method. Thus, the Austin College Weather Station provides valuable information on land-atmosphere interaction in a prairie environment. This project provided a remarkable learning experience for the students. Each student supervised two instruments on the weather station. Students skillfully learned instrumentation details and the physical phenomena measured by the instruments. Team meetings were held each week to discuss issues such as station location, power requirements, telecommunication options, and data acquisition. Students made important decisions during the meetings. They would then work collaboratively on specific tasks that needed to be accomplished before the next meeting. Students also assessed the validity of their measurements after the weather station came on-line. With this approach, students became the experts. They utilized the scientific method to think critically and to solve problems. For at least a semester, students became Earth system scientists.

Optimal base station placement for wireless sensor networks with successive interference cancellation.

PubMed

Shi, Lei; Zhang, Jianjun; Shi, Yi; Ding, Xu; Wei, Zhenchun

2015-01-14

We consider the base station placement problem for wireless sensor networks with successive interference cancellation (SIC) to improve throughput. We build a mathematical model for SIC. Although this model cannot be solved directly, it enables us to identify a necessary condition for SIC on distances from sensor nodes to the base station. Based on this relationship, we propose to divide the feasible region of the base station into small pieces and choose a point within each piece for base station placement. The point with the largest throughput is identified as the solution. The complexity of this algorithm is polynomial. Simulation results show that this algorithm can achieve about 25% improvement compared with the case that the base station is placed at the center of the network coverage area when using SIC.

Optimal Base Station Placement for Wireless Sensor Networks with Successive Interference Cancellation

PubMed Central

Shi, Lei; Zhang, Jianjun; Shi, Yi; Ding, Xu; Wei, Zhenchun

2015-01-01

We consider the base station placement problem for wireless sensor networks with successive interference cancellation (SIC) to improve throughput. We build a mathematical model for SIC. Although this model cannot be solved directly, it enables us to identify a necessary condition for SIC on distances from sensor nodes to the base station. Based on this relationship, we propose to divide the feasible region of the base station into small pieces and choose a point within each piece for base station placement. The point with the largest throughput is identified as the solution. The complexity of this algorithm is polynomial. Simulation results show that this algorithm can achieve about 25% improvement compared with the case that the base station is placed at the center of the network coverage area when using SIC. PMID:25594600

Integrating Clarus weather station data and state crash data into a travel decision support tool.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2011-09-23

2009 crash data from the State of Michigan was combined with weather data from four Clarus weather stations in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Crashes were monitored within a 50 mile radius and associated with weather conditions at the Clarus statio...

Simple random sampling-based probe station selection for fault detection in wireless sensor networks.

PubMed

Huang, Rimao; Qiu, Xuesong; Rui, Lanlan

2011-01-01

Fault detection for wireless sensor networks (WSNs) has been studied intensively in recent years. Most existing works statically choose the manager nodes as probe stations and probe the network at a fixed frequency. This straightforward solution leads however to several deficiencies. Firstly, by only assigning the fault detection task to the manager node the whole network is out of balance, and this quickly overloads the already heavily burdened manager node, which in turn ultimately shortens the lifetime of the whole network. Secondly, probing with a fixed frequency often generates too much useless network traffic, which results in a waste of the limited network energy. Thirdly, the traditional algorithm for choosing a probing node is too complicated to be used in energy-critical wireless sensor networks. In this paper, we study the distribution characters of the fault nodes in wireless sensor networks, validate the Pareto principle that a small number of clusters contain most of the faults. We then present a Simple Random Sampling-based algorithm to dynamic choose sensor nodes as probe stations. A dynamic adjusting rule for probing frequency is also proposed to reduce the number of useless probing packets. The simulation experiments demonstrate that the algorithm and adjusting rule we present can effectively prolong the lifetime of a wireless sensor network without decreasing the fault detected rate.

Simple Random Sampling-Based Probe Station Selection for Fault Detection in Wireless Sensor Networks

PubMed Central

Huang, Rimao; Qiu, Xuesong; Rui, Lanlan

2011-01-01

Fault detection for wireless sensor networks (WSNs) has been studied intensively in recent years. Most existing works statically choose the manager nodes as probe stations and probe the network at a fixed frequency. This straightforward solution leads however to several deficiencies. Firstly, by only assigning the fault detection task to the manager node the whole network is out of balance, and this quickly overloads the already heavily burdened manager node, which in turn ultimately shortens the lifetime of the whole network. Secondly, probing with a fixed frequency often generates too much useless network traffic, which results in a waste of the limited network energy. Thirdly, the traditional algorithm for choosing a probing node is too complicated to be used in energy-critical wireless sensor networks. In this paper, we study the distribution characters of the fault nodes in wireless sensor networks, validate the Pareto principle that a small number of clusters contain most of the faults. We then present a Simple Random Sampling-based algorithm to dynamic choose sensor nodes as probe stations. A dynamic adjusting rule for probing frequency is also proposed to reduce the number of useless probing packets. The simulation experiments demonstrate that the algorithm and adjusting rule we present can effectively prolong the lifetime of a wireless sensor network without decreasing the fault detected rate. PMID:22163789

Design and realization of an automatic weather station at island

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Yong-hua; Li, Si-ren

2011-10-01

In this paper, the design and development of an automatic weather station monitoring is described. The proposed system consists of a set of sensors for measuring meteorological parameters (temperature, wind speed & direction, rain fall, visibility, etc.). To increase the reliability of the system, wind speed & direction are measured redundantly with duplicate sensors. The sensor signals are collected by the data logger CR1000 at several analog and digital inputs. The CR1000 and the sensors form a completely autonomous system which works with the other systems installed in the container. Communication with the master PC is accomplished over the method of Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) with the Compact Caimore6550P CDMA DTU. The data are finally stored in tables on the CPU as well as on the CF-Card. The weather station was built as an efficient autonomous system which operates with the other systems to provide the required data for a fully automatic measurement system.

The Optimization Based Dynamic and Cyclic Working Strategies for Rechargeable Wireless Sensor Networks with Multiple Base Stations and Wireless Energy Transfer Devices

PubMed Central

Ding, Xu; Han, Jianghong; Shi, Lei

2015-01-01

In this paper, the optimal working schemes for wireless sensor networks with multiple base stations and wireless energy transfer devices are proposed. The wireless energy transfer devices also work as data gatherers while charging sensor nodes. The wireless sensor network is firstly divided into sub networks according to the concept of Voronoi diagram. Then, the entire energy replenishing procedure is split into the pre-normal and normal energy replenishing stages. With the objective of maximizing the sojourn time ratio of the wireless energy transfer device, a continuous time optimization problem for the normal energy replenishing cycle is formed according to constraints with which sensor nodes and wireless energy transfer devices should comply. Later on, the continuous time optimization problem is reshaped into a discrete multi-phased optimization problem, which yields the identical optimality. After linearizing it, we obtain a linear programming problem that can be solved efficiently. The working strategies of both sensor nodes and wireless energy transfer devices in the pre-normal replenishing stage are also discussed in this paper. The intensive simulations exhibit the dynamic and cyclic working schemes for the entire energy replenishing procedure. Additionally, a way of eliminating “bottleneck” sensor nodes is also developed in this paper. PMID:25785305

The optimization based dynamic and cyclic working strategies for rechargeable wireless sensor networks with multiple base stations and wireless energy transfer devices.

PubMed

Ding, Xu; Han, Jianghong; Shi, Lei

2015-03-16

In this paper, the optimal working schemes for wireless sensor networks with multiple base stations and wireless energy transfer devices are proposed. The wireless energy transfer devices also work as data gatherers while charging sensor nodes. The wireless sensor network is firstly divided into sub networks according to the concept of Voronoi diagram. Then, the entire energy replenishing procedure is split into the pre-normal and normal energy replenishing stages. With the objective of maximizing the sojourn time ratio of the wireless energy transfer device, a continuous time optimization problem for the normal energy replenishing cycle is formed according to constraints with which sensor nodes and wireless energy transfer devices should comply. Later on, the continuous time optimization problem is reshaped into a discrete multi-phased optimization problem, which yields the identical optimality. After linearizing it, we obtain a linear programming problem that can be solved efficiently. The working strategies of both sensor nodes and wireless energy transfer devices in the pre-normal replenishing stage are also discussed in this paper. The intensive simulations exhibit the dynamic and cyclic working schemes for the entire energy replenishing procedure. Additionally, a way of eliminating "bottleneck" sensor nodes is also developed in this paper.

47 CFR 15.216 - Disclosure requirements for wireless microphones and other low power auxiliary stations capable...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... microphones and other low power auxiliary stations capable of operating in the core TV bands. 15.216 Section... wireless microphones and other low power auxiliary stations capable of operating in the core TV bands. (a... capable of operating in the core TV bands (channels 2-51, excluding channel 37) is subject to the...

Novel method for water vapour monitoring using wireless communication networks measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

David, N.; Alpert, P.; Messer, H.

2009-04-01

We propose a new technique for monitoring near-surface water vapour, by estimating humidity from data collected through existing wireless communication networks. Water vapour plays a crucial part in a variety of atmospheric processes. As the most influential of greenhouse gases, it absorbs long-wave terrestrial radiation. The water vapour cycle of evaporation and recondensation is a major energy redistributing mechanism transferring heat energy from the Earth's surface to the atmosphere. Additionally, humidity has an important role in weather forecasting as a key variable required for initialization of atmospheric models and hazard warning techniques. However, current methods of monitoring humidity suffer from low spatial resolution, high cost or a lack of precision when measuring near ground levels. Weather conditions and atmospheric phenomena affect the electromagnetic channel, causing attenuations to the radio signals. Thus, wireless communication networks are in effect built-in environmental monitoring facilities. The wireless microwave links, used in these networks, are widely deployed by cellular providers for backhaul communication between base stations, a few tens of meters above ground level. As a result, the proposed method can provide moisture observations at high temporal and spatial resolution. Further, the implementation cost is minimal, since the data used is already collected and saved by the cellular operators. In addition - many of these links are installed in areas where access is difficult such as orographic terrain and complex topography. As such, our method enables measurements in places that have been hard to measure in the past, or have never been measured before. The technique is restricted to weather conditions which include absence of rain, fog or clouds along the propagation path. We present results from real-data measurements taken from microwave links used in a backhaul cellular network that show very good agreement with surface

Estimation of Remote Microclimates from Weather Station Data with Applications to Landscape Architecture.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brown, Robert Douglas

Several components of a system for quantitative application of climatic statistics to landscape planning and design (CLIMACS) have been developed. One component model (MICROSIM) estimated the microclimate at the top of a remote crop using physically-based models and inputs of weather station data. Temperatures at the top of unstressed, uniform crops on flat terrain within 1600 m of a recording weather station were estimated within 1.0 C 96% of the time for a corn crop and 92% of the time for a soybean crop. Crop top winds were estimated within 0.4 m/s 92% of the time for corn and 100% of the time for soybean. This is of sufficient accuracy for application in landscape planning and design models. A physically-based model (COMFA) was developed for the determination of outdoor human thermal comfort from microclimate inputs. Estimated versus measured comfort levels in a wide range of environments agreed with a correlation coefficient of r = 0.91. Using these components, the CLIMACS concept has been applied to a typical planning example. Microclimate data were generated from weather station information using MICROSIM, then input to COMFA and to a house energy consumption model called HOTCAN to derive quantitative climatic justification for design decisions.

Novel method for water vapour monitoring using wireless communication networks measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

David, N.; Alpert, P.; Messer, H.

2010-09-01

We propose a new technique for monitoring near-surface water vapour, by estimating humidity from data collected through existing wireless communication networks. Weather conditions and atmospheric phenomena affect the electromagnetic channel, causing attenuations to the radio signals. Thus, wireless communication networks are in effect built-in environmental monitoring facilities. The wireless microwave links, used in these networks, are widely deployed by cellular providers for backhaul communication between base stations, a few tens of meters above ground level. As a result, if all available measurements are used, the proposed method can provide moisture observations with high spatial resolution and potentially high temporal resolution. Further, the implementation cost is minimal, since the data used are already collected and saved by the cellular operators. In addition - many of these links are installed in areas where access is difficult such as orographic terrain and complex topography. As such, our method enables measurements in places that have been hard to measure in the past, or have never been measured before. The technique is restricted to weather conditions which exclude rain, fog or clouds along the propagation path. Strong winds that may cause movement of the link transmitter or receiver (or both) may also interfere with the ability to conduct accurate measurements. We present results from real-data measurements taken from microwave links used in a backhaul cellular network that show very good correlation with surface station humidity measurements (comparisons were performed for several links, found at different locations, during different time periods, showing correlations in the range of 0.5-0.9).

Severe Weather Tool using 1500 UTC Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Soundings

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bauman, William H., III

2013-01-01

People and property at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) are at risk when severe weather occurs. Strong winds, hail and tornadoes can injure individuals and cause costly damage to structures if not properly protected. NASA's Launch Services Program and Ground Systems Development and Operations Program and other KSC programs use the daily and weekly severe weather forecasts issued by the 45th Weather Squadron (45 WS) to determine if they need to limit an activity such as working on gantries, or protect property such as a vehicle on a pad. The 45 WS requested the Applied Meteorology Unit (AMU) develop a warm season (May-September) severe weather tool for use in the Meteorological Interactive Data Display System (MIDDS) based on the late morning, 1500 UTC (1100 local time), CCAFS (XMR) sounding. The 45 WS frequently makes decisions to issue a severe weather watch and other severe weather warning support products to NASA and the 45th Space Wing in the late morning, after the 1500 UTC sounding. The results of this work indicate that certain stability indices based on the late morning XMR soundings can depict differences between days with reported severe weather and days with no reported severe weather. The AMU determined a frequency of reported severe weather for the stability indices and implemented an operational tool in MIDDS.

Vehicular-networking- and road-weather-related research in Sodankylä

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sukuvaara, Timo; Mäenpää, Kari; Ylitalo, Riika

2016-10-01

Vehicular-networking- and especially safety-related wireless vehicular services have been under intensive research for almost a decade now. Only in recent years has road weather information also been acknowledged to play an important role when aiming to reduce traffic accidents and fatalities via intelligent transport systems (ITSs). Part of the progress can be seen as a result of the Finnish Meteorological Institute's (FMI) long-term research work in Sodankylä within the topic, originally started in 2006. Within multiple research projects, the FMI Arctic Research Centre has been developing wireless vehicular networking and road weather services, in co-operation with the FMI meteorological services team in Helsinki. At the beginning the wireless communication was conducted with traditional Wi-Fi type local area networking, but during the development the system has evolved into a hybrid communication system of a combined vehicular ad hoc networking (VANET) system with special IEEE 802.11p protocol and supporting cellular networking based on a commercial 3G network, not forgetting support for Wi-Fi-based devices also. For piloting purposes and further research, we have established a special combined road weather station (RWS) and roadside unit (RSU), to interact with vehicles as a service hotspot. In the RWS-RSU we have chosen to build support to all major approaches, IEEE 802.11, traditional Wi-Fi and cellular 3G. We employ road weather systems of FMI, along with RWS and vehicle data gathered from vehicles, in the up-to-date localized weather data delivered in real time. IEEE 802.11p vehicular networking is supported with Wi-Fi and 3G communications. This paper briefly introduces the research work related to vehicular networking and road weather services conducted in Sodankylä, as well as the research project involved in this work. The current status of instrumentation, available services and capabilities are presented in order to formulate a clear general view of

Airborne wireless communication systems, airborne communication methods, and communication methods

DOEpatents

Deaton, Juan D [Menan, ID; Schmitt, Michael J [Idaho Falls, ID; Jones, Warren F [Idaho Falls, ID

2011-12-13

An airborne wireless communication system includes circuitry configured to access information describing a configuration of a terrestrial wireless communication base station that has become disabled. The terrestrial base station is configured to implement wireless communication between wireless devices located within a geographical area and a network when the terrestrial base station is not disabled. The circuitry is further configured, based on the information, to configure the airborne station to have the configuration of the terrestrial base station. An airborne communication method includes answering a 911 call from a terrestrial cellular wireless phone using an airborne wireless communication system.

Wireless Video System for Extra Vehicular Activity in the International Space Station and Space Shuttle Orbiter Environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Loh, Yin C.; Boster, John; Hwu, Shian; Watson, John C.; deSilva, Kanishka; Piatek, Irene (Technical Monitor)

1999-01-01

The Wireless Video System (WVS) provides real-time video coverage of astronaut extra vehicular activities during International Space Station (ISS) assembly. The ISS wireless environment is unique due to the nature of the ISS structure and multiple RF interference sources. This paper describes how the system was developed to combat multipath, blockage, and interference using an automatic antenna switching system. Critical to system performance is the selection of receiver antenna installation locations determined using Uniform Geometrical Theory of Diffraction (GTD) techniques.

Wireless remote weather monitoring system based on MEMS technologies.

PubMed

Ma, Rong-Hua; Wang, Yu-Hsiang; Lee, Chia-Yen

2011-01-01

This study proposes a wireless remote weather monitoring system based on Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) and wireless sensor network (WSN) technologies comprising sensors for the measurement of temperature, humidity, pressure, wind speed and direction, integrated on a single chip. The sensing signals are transmitted between the Octopus II-A sensor nodes using WSN technology, following amplification and analog/digital conversion (ADC). Experimental results show that the resistance of the micro temperature sensor increases linearly with input temperature, with an average TCR (temperature coefficient of resistance) value of 8.2 × 10(-4) (°C(-1)). The resistance of the pressure sensor also increases linearly with air pressure, with an average sensitivity value of 3.5 × 10(-2) (Ω/kPa). The sensitivity to humidity increases with ambient temperature due to the effect of temperature on the dielectric constant, which was determined to be 16.9, 21.4, 27.0, and 38.2 (pF/%RH) at 27 °C, 30 °C, 40 °C, and 50 °C, respectively. The velocity of airflow is obtained by summing the variations in resistor response as airflow passed over the sensors providing sensitivity of 4.2 × 10(-2), 9.2 × 10(-2), 9.7 × 10(-2) (Ω/ms(-1)) with power consumption by the heating resistor of 0.2, 0.3, and 0.5 W, respectively. The passage of air across the surface of the flow sensors prompts variations in temperature among each of the sensing resistors. Evaluating these variations in resistance caused by the temperature change enables the measurement of wind direction.

Using Arduinos and 3D-printers to Build Research-grade Weather Stations and Environmental Sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ham, J. M.

2013-12-01

Many plant, soil, and surface-boundary-layer processes in the geosphere are governed by the microclimate at the land-air interface. Environmental monitoring is needed at smaller scales and higher frequencies than provided by existing weather monitoring networks. The objective of this project was to design, prototype, and test a research-grade weather station that is based on open-source hardware/software and off-the-shelf components. The idea is that anyone could make these systems with only elementary skills in fabrication and electronics. The first prototypes included measurements of air temperature, humidity, pressure, global irradiance, wind speed, and wind direction. The best approach for measuring precipitation is still being investigated. The data acquisition system was deigned around the Arduino microcontroller and included an LCD-based user interface, SD card data storage, and solar power. Sensors were sampled at 5 s intervals and means, standard deviations, and maximum/minimums were stored at user-defined intervals (5, 30, or 60 min). Several of the sensor components were printed in plastic using a hobby-grade 3D printer (e.g., RepRap Project). Both passive and aspirated radiation shields for measuring air temperature were printed in white Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS). A housing for measuring solar irradiance using a photodiode-based pyranometer was printed in opaque ABS. The prototype weather station was co-deployed with commercial research-grade instruments at an agriculture research unit near Fort Collins, Colorado, USA. Excellent agreement was found between Arduino-based system and commercial weather instruments. The technology was also used to support air quality research and automated air sampling. The next step is to incorporate remote access and station-to-station networking using Wi-Fi, cellular phone, and radio communications (e.g., Xbee).

Sources of variation in multi-decadal water fluxes inferred from weather station data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rigden, Angela Jean

Terrestrial evapotranspiration (ET) is a significant component of the energy and water balances at the land surface. However, direct, continuous measurements of ET are spatially limited and only available since the 1990s. Due to this lack of observations, detecting and attributing long-term regional trends in ET remains difficult. This dissertation aims to alleviate the data limitation and detect long-term trends by developing a method to infer ET from data collected at common weather stations, which are spatially and temporally abundant. The methodology used to infer ET from historical meteorological data is based on an emergent relation between the land surface and atmospheric boundary layer. We refer to this methodology as the Evapotranspiration from Relative Humidity at Equilibrium method, or the "ETRHEQ method". In the first section of this dissertation, we develop the ETRHEQ method for use at common weather stations and demonstrate the utility of the method at twenty eddy covariance sites spanning a wide range of climate and plant functional types. Next, we apply the ETRHEQ method at historical weather stations across the continental U.S. and show that ET estimates obtained via the ETRHEQ method compare well with watershed scale ET, as well as ET estimates from land surface models. From 1961 to 1997, we find negligible or increasing trends in summertime ET over the central U.S. and the west coast and negative trends in the eastern and western U.S. From 1998 to 2014, we find a sharp decline in summertime ET across the entire U.S. We show that this decline is consistent with decreasing transpiration associated with declines in humidity. Lastly, we assess the sensitivity of ET to perturbations in soil moisture and humidity anticipated with climate change. We demonstrate that the response of ET to changing humidity and soil moisture is strongly dependent on the biological and hydrological state of the surface, particularly the degree of water stress and

Wireless Orbiter Hang-Angle Inclinometer System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lucena, Angel; Perotti, Jose; Green, Eric; Byon, Jonathan; Burns, Bradley; Mata, Carlos; Randazzo, John; Blalock, Norman

2011-01-01

A document describes a system to reliably gather the hang-angle inclination of the orbiter. The system comprises a wireless handheld master station (which contains the main station software) and a wireless remote station (which contains the inclinometer sensors, the RF transceivers, and the remote station software). The remote station is designed to provide redundancy to the system. It includes two RF transceivers, two power-management boards, and four inclinometer sensors.

Terrestrial photography as a complementary measurement in weather stations for snow monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pimentel, Rafael; José Pérez-Palazón, María; Herrero, Javier; José Polo, María

2015-04-01

Snow monitoring constitutes a basic key to know snow behaviour and evolution, which have particular features in semiarid regions (i.e. highly strong spatiotemporal variability, and the occurrence of several accumulation-melting cycles throughout the year). On one hand, traditional snow observation, such as snow surveys and snow pillows have the inconvenience of a limited accessibility during snow season and the impossibility to cover a vast extension. On the other hand, satellite remote sensing techniques, largely employed in medium to large scale regional studies, has the disadvantage of a fixed spatial and temporal resolutions which in some cases are not able to reproduce snow processes at small scale. An economic alternative is the use of terrestrial photography which scales are adapted to the study problem. At the microscale resolution permits the continuous monitoring of snow, adapting the resolution of the observation to the scales of the processes. Besides its use as raw observation datasets to calibrate and validate models' results, terrestrial photography constitutes valuable information to complement weather stations observations. It allows the discriminating possible mistakes in meteorological observations (i.e. overestimation on rain measurements) and a better understanding of snow behaviour against certain weather agents (i.e. blowing snow). Thus, terrestrial photography is a feasible and convenient technique to be included in weather monitoring stations in mountainous areas in semiarid regions.

Air Weather Service Master Station Catalog: USAFETAC Climatic Database Users Handbook No. 6

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-03-01

4) . ... .4 • FIELD NO. DESCRIPTION OF FIELD AND COMMENTS 01 STN NUM. A 6- digit number with the first 5 digits assigned to a particular weather...reporting location lAW WMO ,ules plus a sixth digit as follows: 0 = The first five digits are the actual block/station number (WMO number) assigned to...it is considered inactive for that hour. A digit (1-9) tells how many months it has been since a report was received from the station for that hour

REACH: a high-performance wireless base station front end

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nettleton, Ray W.

1996-01-01

The link budget determines the relationships between range, capacity and transmitted power for any wireless technology. In every case it is a key determinant of the system's performance from both an engineering and an economic point of view. Unfortunately, the new 1.9 GHz PCS systems will begin life with an inherent 7 dB disadvantage over the 800 MHz cellular due to propagation differences. Additionally, system wiring and electronics often degrade performance by a further 5 to 10 dB due to long coaxial runs and noisy front end amplification, both of which are harder issues to deal with at 1.9 GHz than at 800 MHz. SCT's REACHTM products address these shortcomings by packaging critical components--front end amplification, filtering, etc.--in a compact cryoelectronic package intended for mounting near the antennas of the base station. In a recent trial with Qualcomm in San Diego, this package improved the CDMA uplink budget by 6 dB--enough to halve the number of base stations that are needed in most areas. This paper examines the technical and economic ramifications of the REACHTM product.

Meteorological effects of the solar eclipse of 20 March 2015: analysis of UK Met Office automatic weather station data and comparison with automatic weather station data from the Faroes and Iceland

PubMed Central

Penman, John; Jónsson, Trausti; Bigg, Grant R.; Björnsson, Halldór; Sjúrðarson, Sølvi; Hansen, Mads A.; Cappelen, John; Bryant, Robert G.

2016-01-01

Here, we analyse high-frequency (1 min) surface air temperature, mean sea-level pressure (MSLP), wind speed and direction and cloud-cover data acquired during the solar eclipse of 20 March 2015 from 76 UK Met Office weather stations, and compare the results with those from 30 weather stations in the Faroe Islands and 148 stations in Iceland. There was a statistically significant mean UK temperature drop of 0.83±0.63°C, which occurred over 39 min on average, and the minimum temperature lagged the peak of the eclipse by about 10 min. For a subset of 14 (16) relatively clear (cloudy) stations, the mean temperature drop was 0.91±0.78 (0.31±0.40)°C but the mean temperature drops for relatively calm and windy stations were almost identical. Mean wind speed dropped significantly by 9% on average during the first half of the eclipse. There was no discernible effect of the eclipse on the wind-direction or MSLP time series, and therefore we can discount any localized eclipse cyclone effect over Britain during this event. Similar changes in air temperature and wind speed are observed for Iceland, where conditions were generally clearer, but here too there was no evidence of an eclipse cyclone; in the Faroes, there was a much more muted meteorological signature. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Atmospheric effects of solar eclipses stimulated by the 2015 UK eclipse’. PMID:27550769

Microclimate Exposures of Surface-Based Weather Stations: Implications For The Assessment of Long-Term Temperature Trends.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davey, Christopher A.; Pielke, Roger A., Sr.

2005-04-01

The U.S. Historical Climate Network is a subset of surface weather observation stations selected from the National Weather Service cooperative station network. The criteria used to select these stations do not sufficiently address station exposure characteristics. In addition, the current metadata available for cooperative network stations generally do not describe site exposure characteristics in sufficient detail. This paper focuses on site exposures with respect to air temperature measurements. A total of 57 stations were photographically surveyed in eastern Colorado, comparing existing exposures to the standards endorsed by the World Meteorological Organization. The exposures of most sites surveyed, including U.S. Historical Climate Network sites, were observed to fall short of these standards. This raises a critical question about the use of many Historical Climate Network sites in the development of long-term climate records and the detection of climate trends. Some of these sites clearly have poor exposures and therefore should be considered for removal from the Historical Climate Network. Candidate replacement sites do exist and should be considered for addition into the network to replace the removed sites. Documentation as performed for this study should be conducted worldwide in order to determine the extent of spatially nonrepresentative exposures and possible temperature biases.

Micro weather stations for in situ measurements in the Martian planetary boundary layer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Crisp, D.; Kaiser, W. J.; Kenny, T. W.; Vanzandt, T. R.; Tillman, J. E.

1992-01-01

Viking Lander meteorology measurements show that the Martian planetary boundary layer (PBL) has large diurnal and seasonal variations in pressure, wind velocity, relative humidity, and airborne dust loading. An even larger range of conditions was inferred from remote sensing observations acquired by the Mariner 9 and Viking orbiters. Numerical models indicate that these changes may be accompanied by dramatic vertical and horizontal wind shears (100 m/s/km) and rapid changes in the static stability. In-situ measurements from a relatively small number surface stations could yield global constraints on the Martian climate and atmospheric general circulation by providing ground truth for remote sensing instruments on orbiters. A more complete understanding of the meteorology of the PBL is an essential precursor to manned missions to Mars because this will be their working environment. In-situ measurements are needed for these studies because the spatial and temporal scales that characterize the important meteorological processes near the surface cannot be resolved from orbit. The Mars Environmental Survey (MESUR) Program will provide the first opportunity to deploy a network of surface weather stations for a comprehensive investigation of the Martian PBL. The feasibility and utility of a network of micro-weather stations for making in-situ meteorological measurements in the Martian PBL are assessed.

Building and Operating Weather Satellite Ground Stations for High School Science. Teachers Guide.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Summers, R. Joe; Gotwald, Timothy

Automatic Picture Transmission (APT) images are real-time weather pictures transmitted from satellites on a radio frequency in a video format. Amateur radio enthusiasts and electronic experimenters have for a number of years designed, built, and operated direct readout stations capable of receiving APT photographs. The equipment to receive weather…

The capacity of radar, crowdsourced personal weather stations and commercial microwave links to monitor small scale urban rainfall

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Uijlenhoet, R.; de Vos, L. W.; Leijnse, H.; Overeem, A.; Raupach, T. H.; Berne, A.

2017-12-01

For the purpose of urban rainfall monitoring high resolution rainfall measurements are desirable. Typically C-band radar can provide rainfall intensities at km grid cells every 5 minutes. Opportunistic sensing with commercial microwave links yields rainfall intensities over link paths within cities. Additionally, recent developments have made it possible to obtain large amounts of urban in situ measurements from weather amateurs in near real-time. With a known high resolution simulated rainfall event the accuracy of these three techniques is evaluated, taking into account their respective existing layouts and sampling methods. Under ideal measurement conditions, the weather station networks proves to be most promising. For accurate estimation with radar, an appropriate choice for Z-R relationship is vital. Though both the microwave links and the weather station networks are quite dense, both techniques will underestimate rainfall if not at least one link path / station captures the high intensity rainfall peak. The accuracy of each technique improves when considering rainfall at larger scales, especially by increasing time intervals, with the steepest improvements found in microwave links.

High-Speed Monitoring of Multiple Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Array Configurations and Supplementary Weather Station.

PubMed

Boyd, Matthew T

2017-06-01

Three grid-connected monocrystalline silicon photovoltaic arrays have been instrumented with research-grade sensors on the Gaithersburg, MD campus of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). These arrays range from 73 kW to 271 kW and have different tilts, orientations, and configurations. Irradiance, temperature, wind, and electrical measurements at the arrays are recorded, and images are taken of the arrays to monitor shading and capture any anomalies. A weather station has also been constructed that includes research-grade instrumentation to measure all standard meteorological quantities plus additional solar irradiance spectral bands, full spectrum curves, and directional components using multiple irradiance sensor technologies. Reference photovoltaic (PV) modules are also monitored to provide comprehensive baseline measurements for the PV arrays. Images of the whole sky are captured, along with images of the instrumentation and reference modules to document any obstructions or anomalies. Nearly, all measurements at the arrays and weather station are sampled and saved every 1s, with monitoring having started on Aug. 1, 2014. This report describes the instrumentation approach used to monitor the performance of these photovoltaic systems, measure the meteorological quantities, and acquire the images for use in PV performance and weather monitoring and computer model validation.

High-Speed Monitoring of Multiple Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Array Configurations and Supplementary Weather Station

PubMed Central

Boyd, Matthew T.

2017-01-01

Three grid-connected monocrystalline silicon photovoltaic arrays have been instrumented with research-grade sensors on the Gaithersburg, MD campus of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). These arrays range from 73 kW to 271 kW and have different tilts, orientations, and configurations. Irradiance, temperature, wind, and electrical measurements at the arrays are recorded, and images are taken of the arrays to monitor shading and capture any anomalies. A weather station has also been constructed that includes research-grade instrumentation to measure all standard meteorological quantities plus additional solar irradiance spectral bands, full spectrum curves, and directional components using multiple irradiance sensor technologies. Reference photovoltaic (PV) modules are also monitored to provide comprehensive baseline measurements for the PV arrays. Images of the whole sky are captured, along with images of the instrumentation and reference modules to document any obstructions or anomalies. Nearly, all measurements at the arrays and weather station are sampled and saved every 1s, with monitoring having started on Aug. 1, 2014. This report describes the instrumentation approach used to monitor the performance of these photovoltaic systems, measure the meteorological quantities, and acquire the images for use in PV performance and weather monitoring and computer model validation. PMID:28670044

Elevational species shifts in a warmer climate are overestimated when based on weather station data.

PubMed

Scherrer, Daniel; Schmid, Samuel; Körner, Christian

2011-07-01

Strong topographic variation interacting with low stature alpine vegetation creates a multitude of micro-habitats poorly represented by common 2 m above the ground meteorological measurements (weather station data). However, the extent to which the actual habitat temperatures in alpine landscapes deviate from meteorological data at different spatial scales has rarely been quantified. In this study, we assessed thermal surface and soil conditions across topographically rich alpine landscapes by thermal imagery and miniature data loggers from regional (2-km(2)) to plot (1-m(2)) scale. The data were used to quantify the effects of spatial sampling resolution on current micro-habitat distributions and habitat loss due to climate warming scenarios. Soil temperatures showed substantial variation among slopes (2-3 K) dependent on slope exposure, within slopes (3-4 K) due to micro-topography and within 1-m(2) plots (1 K) as a result of plant cover effects. A reduction of spatial sampling resolution from 1 × 1 m to 100 × 100 m leads to an underestimation of current habitat diversity by 25% and predicts a six-times higher habitat loss in a 2-K warming scenario. Our results demonstrate that weather station data are unable to reflect the complex thermal patterns of aerodynamically decoupled alpine vegetation at the investigated scales. Thus, the use of interpolated weather station data to describe alpine life conditions without considering the micro-topographically induced thermal mosaic might lead to misinterpretation and inaccurate prediction.

Analysis of biases from parallel observations of co-located manual and automatic weather stations in Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sopaheluwakan, Ardhasena; Fajariana, Yuaning; Satyaningsih, Ratna; Aprilina, Kharisma; Astuti Nuraini, Tri; Ummiyatul Badriyah, Imelda; Lukita Sari, Dyah; Haryoko, Urip

2017-04-01

Inhomogeneities are often found in long records of climate data. These can occur because of various reasons, among others such as relocation of observation site, changes in observation method, and the transition to automated instruments. Changes to these automated systems are inevitable, and it is taking place worldwide in many of the National Meteorological Services. However this shift of observational practice must be done cautiously and a sufficient period of parallel observation of co-located manual and automated systems should take place as suggested by the World Meteorological Organization. With a sufficient parallel observation period, biases between the two systems can be analyzed. In this study we analyze the biases of a yearlong parallel observation of manual and automatic weather stations in 30 locations in Indonesia. The location of the sites spans from east to west of approximately 45 longitudinal degrees covering different climate characteristics and geographical settings. We study measurements taken by both sensors for temperature and rainfall parameters. We found that the biases from both systems vary from place to place and are more dependent to the setting of the instrument rather than to the climatic and geographical factors. For instance, daytime observations of the automatic weather stations are found to be consistently higher than the manual observation, and vice versa night time observations of the automatic weather stations are lower than the manual observation.

Weather satellite picture receiving stations, APT digital scan converter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vermillion, C. H.; Kamowski, J. C.

1975-01-01

The automatic picture transmission digital scan converter is used at ground stations to convert signals received from scanning radiometers to data compatible with ground equipment designed to receive signals from vidicons aboard operational meteorological satellites. Information necessary to understand the circuit theory, functional operation, general construction and calibration of the converter is provided. Brief and detailed descriptions of each of the individual circuits are included, accompanied by a schematic diagram contained at the end of each circuit description. Listings of integral parts and testing equipment required as well as an overall wiring diagram are included. This unit will enable the user to readily accept and process weather photographs from the operational meteorological satellites.

Sensor web enablement in a network of low-energy, low-budget amateur weather stations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Herrnkind, S.; Klump, J.; Schmidt, G.

2009-04-01

Sensor Web Enablement (OGC SWE) has developed in into a powerful concept with many potential applications in environmental monitoring and in other fields. This has spurred development of software applications for Sensor Observation Services (SOS), while the development of client applications still lags behind. Furthermore, the deployment of sensors in the field often places tight constraints on energy and bandwidth available for data capture and transmission. As a „proof of concept" we equipped amateur weather stations with low-budget, standard components to read the data from its base station and feed the weather observation data into the sensor observation service using its standard web-service interface. We chose amateur weather station as an example because of the simplicity of measured phenomena and low data volume. As sensor observation service we chose the open source software package offered by the 52°North consortium. Furthermore, we investigated registry services for sensors and measured phenomena. When deploying a sensor platform in the field, power consumption can be an issue. Instead of common PCs we used Network Storage Link Units (NSLU2) with a Linux operating system, also known as "Debian SLUG". The power consumption of a "SLUG" is of the order of 1W, compared to 40W in a small PC. The "SLUG" provides one ethernet and two USB ports, one used by its external USB hard-drive. This modular set-up is open to modifications, for example the addition of a GSM modem for data transmission over a cellular telephone network. The simple set-up, low price, low power consumption, and the low technological entry-level allow many potential uses of a "SLUG" in environmental sensor networks in research, education and citizen science. The use of a mature sensor observation service software allows an easy integration of monitoring networks with other web services.

Workgroup report: base stations and wireless networks-radiofrequency (RF) exposures and health consequences.

PubMed

Valberg, Peter A; van Deventer, T Emilie; Repacholi, Michael H

2007-03-01

Radiofrequency (RF) waves have long been used for different types of information exchange via the air waves--wireless Morse code, radio, television, and wireless telephone (i.e., construction and operation of telephones or telephone systems). Increasingly larger numbers of people rely on mobile telephone technology, and health concerns about the associated RF exposure have been raised, particularly because the mobile phone handset operates in close proximity to the human body, and also because large numbers of base station antennas are required to provide widespread availability of service to large populations. The World Health Organization convened an expert workshop to discuss the current state of cellular-telephone health issues, and this article brings together several of the key points that were addressed. The possibility of RF health effects has been investigated in epidemiology studies of cellular telephone users and workers in RF occupations, in experiments with animals exposed to cell-phone RF, and via biophysical consideration of cell-phone RF electric-field intensity and the effect of RF modulation schemes. As summarized here, these separate avenues of scientific investigation provide little support for adverse health effects arising from RF exposure at levels below current international standards. Moreover, radio and television broadcast waves have exposed populations to RF for > 50 years with little evidence of deleterious health consequences. Despite unavoidable uncertainty, current scientific data are consistent with the conclusion that public exposures to permissible RF levels from mobile telephone and base stations are not likely to adversely affect human health.

Workgroup Report: Base Stations and Wireless Networks—Radiofrequency (RF) Exposures and Health Consequences

PubMed Central

Valberg, Peter A.; van Deventer, T. Emilie; Repacholi, Michael H.

2007-01-01

Radiofrequency (RF) waves have long been used for different types of information exchange via the airwaves—wireless Morse code, radio, television, and wireless telephony (i.e., construction and operation of telephones or telephonic systems). Increasingly larger numbers of people rely on mobile telephone technology, and health concerns about the associated RF exposure have been raised, particularly because the mobile phone handset operates in close proximity to the human body, and also because large numbers of base station antennas are required to provide widespread availability of service to large populations. The World Health Organization convened an expert workshop to discuss the current state of cellular-telephone health issues, and this article brings together several of the key points that were addressed. The possibility of RF health effects has been investigated in epidemiology studies of cellular telephone users and workers in RF occupations, in experiments with animals exposed to cell-phone RF, and via biophysical consideration of cell-phone RF electric-field intensity and the effect of RF modulation schemes. As summarized here, these separate avenues of scientific investigation provide little support for adverse health effects arising from RF exposure at levels below current international standards. Moreover, radio and television broadcast waves have exposed populations to RF for > 50 years with little evidence of deleterious health consequences. Despite unavoidable uncertainty, current scientific data are consistent with the conclusion that public exposures to permissible RF levels from mobile telephony and base stations are not likely to adversely affect human health. PMID:17431492

Trends and uncertainties in U.S. cloud cover from weather stations and satellite data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Free, M. P.; Sun, B.; Yoo, H. L.

2014-12-01

Cloud cover data from ground-based weather observers can be an important source of climate information, but the record of such observations in the U.S. is disrupted by the introduction of automated observing systems and other artificial shifts that interfere with our ability to assess changes in cloudiness at climate time scales. A new dataset using 54 National Weather Service (NWS) and 101 military stations that continued to make human-augmented cloud observations after the 1990s has been adjusted using statistical changepoint detection and visual scrutiny. The adjustments substantially reduce the trends in U.S. mean total cloud cover while increasing the agreement between the cloud cover time series and those of physically related climate variables such as diurnal temperature range and number of precipitation days. For 1949-2009, the adjusted time series give a trend in U.S. mean total cloud of 0.11 ± 0.22 %/decade for the military data, 0.55 ± 0.24 %/decade for the NWS data, and 0.31 ± 0.22 %/decade for the combined dataset. These trends are less than half those in the original data. For 1976-2004, the original data give a significant increase but the adjusted data show an insignificant trend of -0.17 (military stations) to 0.66 %/decade (NWS stations). The differences between the two sets of station data illustrate the uncertainties in the U.S. cloud cover record. We compare the adjusted station data to cloud cover time series extracted from several satellite datasets: ISCCP (International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project), PATMOS-x (AVHRR Pathfinder Atmospheres Extended) and CLARA-a1 (CM SAF cLoud Albedo and RAdiation), and the recently developed PATMOS-x diurnally corrected dataset. Like the station data, satellite cloud cover time series may contain inhomogeneities due to changes in the observing systems and problems with retrieval algorithms. Overall we find good agreement between interannual variability in most of the satellite data and that in our

Implementing wireless sensor networks for architectural heritage conservation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martínez-Garrido, M. I.; Aparicio, S.; Fort, R.; Izquierdo, M. A. G.; Anaya, J. J.

2012-04-01

active systems such as a forced-air heating system, the parishioners presence or feasts and other ventilation conditions. Finally weather conditions are registered through a weather station. Outside and inside conditions are compared to incorporate data to the network for a later decay modeling.

Wireless Instrumentation System and Power Management Scheme Therefore

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Perotti, Jose (Inventor); Lucena, Angel (Inventor); Eckhoff, Anthony (Inventor); Mata, Carlos T. (Inventor); Blalock, Norman N. (Inventor); Medelius, Pedro J. (Inventor)

2007-01-01

A wireless instrumentation system enables a plurality of low power wireless transceivers to transmit measurement data from a plurality of remote station sensors to a central data station accurately and reliably. The system employs a relay based communications scheme where remote stations that cannot communicate directly with the central station due to interference, poor signal strength, etc., are instructed to communicate with other of the remote stations that act as relays to the central station. A unique power management scheme is also employed to minimize power usage at each remote station and thereby maximize battery life. Each of the remote stations prefembly employs a modular design to facilitate easy reconfiguration of the stations as required.

Low-energy, low-budget sensor web enablement of an amateur weather station

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schmidt, G.; Herrnkind, S.; Klump, J.

2008-12-01

Sensor Web Enablement (OGC SWE) has developed in into a powerful concept with many potential applications in environmental monitoring and in other fields. This has spurred development of software applications for Sensor Observation Services (SOS), while the development of client applications still lags behind. Furthermore, the deployment of sensors in the field often places tight constraints on energy and bandwidth available for data capture and transmission. As a "proof of concept" we equipped an amateur weather station with low-budget, standard components to read the data from its base station and feed it into a sensor observation service using its standard web- service interface. We chose the weather station as an example because of its simple measured phenomena and its low data volume. As sensor observation service we chose the open source software package offered by the 52North consortium. Power consumption can be problematic when deploying a sensor platform in the field. Instead of a common PC we used a Network Storage Link Unit (NSLU2) with a Linux operating system, a configuration also known as "Debian SLUG". The power consumption of a "SLUG" is of the order of 2 to 5 Watt, compared to 40W in a small PC. The "SLUG" provides one ethernet and two USB ports, one used by its external USB hard-drive. This modular setup is open to modifications, for example the addition of a GSM modem for data transmission over a cellular telephone network. The simple setup, low price, low power consumption, and the low technological entry-level allow many potential uses of a "SLUG" in environmental sensor networks in research, education and citizen science. The use of a mature sensor observation service software allows an easy integration of monitoring networks with other web services.

Activities in Teaching Weather

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tonn, Martin

1977-01-01

Presented is a unit composed of activities for teaching weather. Topics include cloud types and formation, simple weather instruments, and the weather station. Illustrations include a weather chart and instruments. A bibliography is given. (MA)

Evaluating meteorological data from weather stations, and from satellites and global models for a multi-site epidemiological study.

PubMed

Colston, Josh M; Ahmed, Tahmeed; Mahopo, Cloupas; Kang, Gagandeep; Kosek, Margaret; de Sousa Junior, Francisco; Shrestha, Prakash Sunder; Svensen, Erling; Turab, Ali; Zaitchik, Benjamin

2018-04-21

Longitudinal and time series analyses are needed to characterize the associations between hydrometeorological parameters and health outcomes. Earth Observation (EO) climate data products derived from satellites and global model-based reanalysis have the potential to be used as surrogates in situations and locations where weather-station based observations are inadequate or incomplete. However, these products often lack direct evaluation at specific sites of epidemiological interest. Standard evaluation metrics of correlation, agreement, bias and error were applied to a set of ten hydrometeorological variables extracted from two quasi-global, commonly used climate data products - the Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) and Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Stations (CHIRPS) - to evaluate their performance relative to weather-station derived estimates at the specific geographic locations of the eight sites in a multi-site cohort study. These metrics were calculated for both daily estimates and 7-day averages and for a rotavirus-peak-season subset. Then the variables from the two sources were each used as predictors in longitudinal regression models to test their association with rotavirus infection in the cohort after adjusting for covariates. The availability and completeness of station-based validation data varied depending on the variable and study site. The performance of the two gridded climate models varied considerably within the same location and for the same variable across locations, according to different evaluation criteria and for the peak-season compared to the full dataset in ways that showed no obvious pattern. They also differed in the statistical significance of their association with the rotavirus outcome. For some variables, the station-based records showed a strong association while the EO-derived estimates showed none, while for others, the opposite was true. Researchers wishing to utilize publicly available climate data

UMTS Network Stations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hernandez, C.

2010-09-01

The weakness of small island electrical grids implies a handicap for the electrical generation with renewable energy sources. With the intention of maximizing the installation of photovoltaic generators in the Canary Islands, arises the need to develop a solar forecasting system that allows knowing in advance the amount of PV generated electricity that will be going into the grid, from the installed PV power plants installed in the island. The forecasting tools need to get feedback from real weather data in "real time" from remote weather stations. Nevertheless, the transference of this data to the calculation computer servers is very complicated with the old point to point telecommunication systems that, neither allow the transfer of data from several remote weather stations simultaneously nor high frequency of sampling of weather parameters due to slowness of the connection. This one project has developed a telecommunications infrastructure that allows sensorizadas remote stations, to send data of its sensors, once every minute and simultaneously, to the calculation server running the solar forecasting numerical models. For it, the Canary Islands Institute of Technology has added a sophisticated communications network to its 30 weather stations measuring irradiation at strategic sites, areas with high penetration of photovoltaic generation or that have potential to host in the future photovoltaic power plants connected to the grid. In each one of the stations, irradiance and temperature measurement instruments have been installed, over inclined silicon cell, global radiation on horizontal surface and room temperature. Mobile telephone devices have been installed and programmed in each one of the weather stations, which allow the transfer of their data taking advantage of the UMTS service offered by the local telephone operator. Every minute the computer server running the numerical weather forecasting models receives data inputs from 120 instruments distributed

Technical Note: Novel method for water vapour monitoring using wireless communication networks measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

David, N.; Alpert, P.; Messer, H.

2009-04-01

We propose a new technique that overcomes the obstacles of the existing methods for monitoring near-surface water vapour, by estimating humidity from data collected through existing wireless communication networks. Weather conditions and atmospheric phenomena affect the electromagnetic channel, causing attenuations to the radio signals. Thus, wireless communication networks are in effect built-in environmental monitoring facilities. The wireless microwave links, used in these networks, are widely deployed by cellular providers for backhaul communication between base stations, a few tens of meters above ground level. As a result, if all available measurements are used, the proposed method can provide moisture observations with high spatial resolution and potentially high temporal resolution. Further, the implementation cost is minimal, since the data used are already collected and saved by the cellular operators. In addition - many of these links are installed in areas where access is difficult such as orographic terrain and complex topography. As such, our method enables measurements in places that have been hard to measure in the past, or have never been measured before. The technique is restricted to weather conditions which exclude rain, fog or clouds along the propagation path. Strong winds that may cause movement of the link transmitter or receiver (or both) may also interfere with the ability to conduct accurate measurements. We present results from real-data measurements taken from two microwave links used in a backhaul cellular network that show convincing correlation to surface station humidity measurements. The measurements were taken daily in two sites, one in northern Israel (28 measurements), the other in central Israel (29 measurements). The correlation between the microwave link measurements and the humidity gauges were 0.9 and 0.82 for the north and central sites, respectively. The Root Mean Square Differences (RMSD) were 1.8 g/m3 and 3.4 g/m3 for

What is the weather like today

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jovic, Sladjana

2017-04-01

Meteorology is the study of all changes in the atmosphere that surround the Earth. In this project, students will design and build some of the instruments that meteorologists use and make two school Weather Stations and placed them in different school yards so that results of weather parameters date can be follow during three months and be compared. Poster will present a procedure and a preparation how to work with weather stations that contain 1. Barometer (Air pressure) 2. Rain Gauge (Precipitation) 3. Thermometer (Temperature ) 4. Wind Vane (Wind Direction) By collecting their own data, the students found out more about weather through a process similar to the one that professional meteorologists used. Finally students compared differences between two school weather station and used these results to presented how different places had different climate and how climate changed during the months in a year. This was opportunity for cooperation between students from different schools and different grades when older students from secondary school helped younger student to make their weather station and shared knowledge and experience while they followed weather condition during the project .

47 CFR 74.870 - Wireless video assist devices.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Wireless video assist devices. 74.870 Section... Stations § 74.870 Wireless video assist devices. Television broadcast auxiliary licensees and motion picture and television producers, as defined in § 74.801 may operate wireless video assist devices on a...

47 CFR 74.870 - Wireless video assist devices.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Wireless video assist devices. 74.870 Section... Stations § 74.870 Wireless video assist devices. Television broadcast auxiliary licensees and motion picture and television producers, as defined in § 74.801 may operate wireless video assist devices on a...

47 CFR 74.870 - Wireless video assist devices.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Wireless video assist devices. 74.870 Section... Stations § 74.870 Wireless video assist devices. Television broadcast auxiliary licensees and motion picture and television producers, as defined in § 74.801 may operate wireless video assist devices on a...

47 CFR 74.870 - Wireless video assist devices.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Wireless video assist devices. 74.870 Section... Stations § 74.870 Wireless video assist devices. Television broadcast auxiliary licensees and motion picture and television producers, as defined in § 74.801 may operate wireless video assist devices on a...

Using Satellite Imagery with ET Weather Station Networks to Map Crop Water Use for Irrigation Scheduling: TOPS-SIMS.

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Evapotranspiration estimates for scheduling irrigation must be field specific and real time. Weather station networks provide daily reference ET values, but users need to select crop coefficients for their particular crop and field. A prototype system has been developed that combines satellite image...

AIRS Observations of DomeC in Antarctica and Comparison with Automated Weather Stations (AWS)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Aumann, Hartmut H.; Gregorich, Dave; Broberg, Steve

2006-01-01

We compare the surface temperatures at Dome Concordia (DomeC) deduced from AIRS data and two Automatic Weather Stations at Concordia Station: AWS8989 , which has been in operation since December 1996, and AWS.it, for which data are available between January and November 2005. The AWS8989 readings are on average 3 K warmer than the AWS.it readings, with a warmer bias in the Antarctic summer than in the winter season. Although AIRS measures the skin brightness temperature, while the AWS reports the temperature of the air at 3 meter above the surface, the AIRS measurements agree well with the AWS.it readings for all data and separately for the summer and winter seasons, if data taken in the presence of strong surface inversions are filtered out. This can be done by deducing the vertical temperature gradient above the surface directly from the AIRS temperature sounding channels or indirectly by noting that extreme vertical gradients near the surface are unlikely if the wind speed is more than a few meters per second. Since the AIRS measurements are very well calibrated, the agreement with AWS.it is very encouraging. The warmer readings of AWS8989 are likely due to thermal contamination of the AWS8989 site by the increasing activity at Concordia Station. Data from an AWS.it quality station could be used for the evaluation of radiometric accuracy and stability of polar orbiting sounders at low temperatures. Unfortunately, data from AWS.it was available only for a limited time. The thermal contamination of the AWS8989 data makes long-term trends deduced from AWS8989 and possibly results about the rapid Antarctic warming deduced from other research stations on Antarctica suspect. AIRS is the first hyperspectral infrared sounder designed in support of weather forecasting and climate research. It was launched in May 2002 on the EOS Aqua spacecraft into a 704 km altitude polar sun-synchronous orbit. The lifetime of AIRS, estimated before launch to be at least 5 years is

Wireless autonomous device data transmission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sammel, Jr., David W. (Inventor); Mickle, Marlin H. (Inventor); Cain, James T. (Inventor); Mi, Minhong (Inventor)

2013-01-01

A method of communicating information from a wireless autonomous device (WAD) to a base station. The WAD has a data element having a predetermined profile having a total number of sequenced possible data element combinations. The method includes receiving at the WAD an RF profile transmitted by the base station that includes a triggering portion having a number of pulses, wherein the number is at least equal to the total number of possible data element combinations. The method further includes keeping a count of received pulses and wirelessly transmitting a piece of data, preferably one bit, to the base station when the count reaches a value equal to the stored data element's particular number in the sequence. Finally, the method includes receiving the piece of data at the base station and using the receipt thereof to determine which of the possible data element combinations the stored data element is.

Weather Instruments.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brantley, L. Reed, Sr.; Demanche, Edna L.; Klemm, E. Barbara; Kyselka, Will; Phillips, Edwin A.; Pottenger, Francis M.; Yamamoto, Karen N.; Young, Donald B.

This booklet presents some activities to measure various weather phenomena. Directions for constructing a weather station are included. Instruments including rain gauges, thermometers, wind vanes, wind speed devices, humidity devices, barometers, atmospheric observations, a dustfall jar, sticky-tape can, detection of gases in the air, and pH of…

Comparison between weather station data in south-eastern Italy and CRU precipitation datasets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miglietta, D.

2009-04-01

Monthly precipitation data in south-eastern Italy from 1920 to 2005 have been extensively analyzed. Data were collected in almost 200 weather stations located 10-20km apart from each other and almost uniformly distributed in Puglia and Basilicata regions. Apart from few years around world war II, time series are mostly complete and allow a reliable reconstruction of climate variability in the considered region. Statistically significant trends have been studied by applying the Mann-Kendall test to annual, seasonal and monthly values. A comparison has been made between observations and precipitation data given by the Climate Research Unit (CRU), University of East Anglia, with both low (30') and high (10') space resolution grid. In particular, rainfall records, time series behaviors and annual cycles at each station have been compared to the corresponding CRU data. CRU time series show a large negative trend for winter since 1970. Trend is not significant if the whole 20th century is considered (both for the whole year and for winter only). This might be considered as an evidence of recent acceleration towards increasingly dry conditions. However correlation between CRU data and observations is not very high and large percent errors are present mainly in the mountains regions, where observations show a large annual cycle, with intense precipitation in winter, which is not present in CRU data. To identify trends, therefore observed data are needed, even at monthly scale. In particular observations confirm the overall trend, but also indicate large spatial variability, with locations where precipitation has even increased since 1970. Daily precipitation data coming from a subset of weather stations have also been studied for the same time period. The distributions of maximum annual rainfalls, wet spells and dry spells were analyzed for each station, together with their time series. The tools of statistical analysis of extremes have been used in order to evaluate

Evaluating Precipitation Elevation Gradients in the Alaska Range using Ice Core and Alpine Weather Station Records

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McConnell, E.; Osterberg, E. C.; Winski, D.; Kreutz, K. J.; Wake, C. P.; Campbell, S. W.; Ferris, D. G.; Birkel, S. D.

2016-12-01

Precipitation in Alaska is sensitive to the Aleutian Low (ALow) pressure system and North Pacific sea-surface temperatures, as shown by the increase in Alaskan sub-Arctic precipitation associated with the 1976 shift to the positive phase of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). Precipitation in the high-elevation accumulation zones of Alaskan alpine glaciers provides critical mass input for glacial mass balance, which has been declining in recent decades from warmer summer temperatures despite the winter precipitation increase. Twin >1500-year ice cores collected from the summit plateau of Mount Hunter in Denali National Park, Alaska show a remarkable doubling of annual snow accumulation over the past 150 years, with most of the change observed in the winter. Other alpine ice cores collected from the Alaska and Saint Elias ranges show similar snowfall increases over recent decades. However, although Alaskan weather stations at low elevation recorded a 7-38% increase in winter precipitation across the 1976 PDO transition, this increase is not as substantial as that recorded in the Mt. Hunter ice core. Weather stations at high-elevation alpine sites are comparatively rare, and reasons for the enhanced precipitation trends at high elevation in Alaska remain unclear. Here we use Automatic Weather Station data from the Mt. Hunter drill site (3,900 m a.s.l) and from nearby Denali climber's Base Camp (2,195 m a.s.l.) to evaluate the relationships between alpine and lowland Alaskan precipitation on annual, seasonal, and storm-event temporal scales from 2008-2016. Both stations are located on snow and have sonic snow depth sounders to record daily precipitation. We focus on the role of variable ALow and North Pacific High strength in influencing Alaskan precipitation elevational gradients, particularly in association with the extreme 2015-2016 El Niño event, the 2009-2010 moderate El Niño event, and the 2010-2011 moderate La Niña event. Our analysis will improve our

Wireless sensor network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perotti, Jose M.; Lucena, Angel R.; Mullenix, Pamela A.; Mata, Carlos T.

2006-05-01

Current and future requirements of aerospace sensors and transducers demand the design and development of a new family of sensing devices, with emphasis on reduced weight, power consumption, and physical size. This new generation of sensors and transducers will possess a certain degree of intelligence in order to provide the end user with critical data in a more efficient manner. Communication between networks of traditional or next-generation sensors can be accomplished by a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) developed by NASA's Instrumentation Branch and ASRC Aerospace Corporation at Kennedy Space Center (KSC), consisting of at least one central station and several remote stations and their associated software. The central station is application-dependent and can be implemented on different computer hardware, including industrial, handheld, or PC-104 single-board computers, on a variety of operating systems: embedded Windows, Linux, VxWorks, etc. The central stations and remote stations share a similar radio frequency (RF) core module hardware that is modular in design. The main components of the remote stations are an RF core module, a sensor interface module, batteries, and a power management module. These modules are stackable, and a common bus provides the flexibility to stack other modules for additional memory, increased processing, etc. WSN can automatically reconfigure to an alternate frequency if interference is encountered during operation. In addition, the base station will autonomously search for a remote station that was perceived to be lost, using relay stations and alternate frequencies. Several wireless remote-station types were developed and tested in the laboratory to support different sensing technologies, such as resistive temperature devices, silicon diodes, strain gauges, pressure transducers, and hydrogen leak detectors.

Satellite Weather Watch.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Summers, R. Joe

1982-01-01

Describes an inexpensive (about $1,500) direct-readout ground station for use in secondary school science/mathematics programs. Includes suggested activities including, among others, developing map overlays, operating station equipment, interpreting satellite data, developing weather forecasts, and using microcomputers for data storage, orbit…

Simulating air temperature in an urban street canyon in all weather conditions using measured data at a reference meteorological station

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Erell, E.; Williamson, T.

2006-10-01

A model is proposed that adapts data from a standard meteorological station to provide realistic site-specific air temperature in a city street exposed to the same meso-scale environment. In addition to a rudimentary description of the two sites, the canyon air temperature (CAT) model requires only inputs measured at standard weather stations; yet it is capable of accurately predicting the evolution of air temperature in all weather conditions for extended periods. It simulates the effect of urban geometry on radiant exchange; the effect of moisture availability on latent heat flux; energy stored in the ground and in building surfaces; air flow in the street based on wind above roof height; and the sensible heat flux from individual surfaces and from the street canyon as a whole. The CAT model has been tested on field data measured in a monitoring program carried out in Adelaide, Australia, in 2000-2001. After calibrating the model, predicted air temperature correlated well with measured data in all weather conditions over extended periods. The experimental validation provides additional evidence in support of a number of parameterisation schemes incorporated in the model to account for sensible heat and storage flux.

EFRs in the Rocky Mountain Research Station: Understanding patterns of forest growth, weather and disturbance [Chapter 2.8

Treesearch

G. Sam Foster; Todd Mower; Russell Graham; Theresa B. Jain

2014-01-01

How does forest growth integrate weather, insect and disease attach, management actions, and natural disturbance? Which of these has the most impact on forest growth, composition, structure, and change? These questions have animated the activities of scientists of the Rocky Mountain Research Station (RMRS) since its earliest days, and continue to animate our research...

One-Dimensional Coupled Ecosystem-Carbon Flux Model for the Simulation of Biogeochemical Parameters at Ocean Weather Station P

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Signorini, S.; McClain, C.; Christian, J.; Wong, C. S.

2000-01-01

In this Technical Publication, we describe the model functionality and analyze its application to the seasonal and interannual variations of phytoplankton, nutrients, pCO2 and CO2 concentrations in the eastern subarctic Pacific at Ocean Weather Station P (OWSP, 50 deg. N 145 deg. W). We use a verified one-dimensional ecosystem model, coupled with newly incorporated carbon flux and carbon chemistry components, to simulate 22 years (1958-1980) of pCO2 and CO2 variability at Ocean Weather Station P (OWS P). This relatively long period of simulation verifies and extends the findings of previous studies using an explicit approach for the biological component and realistic coupling with the carbon flux dynamics. The slow currents and the horizontally homogeneous ocean in the subarctic Pacific make OWS P one of the best available candidates for modeling the chemistry of the upper ocean in one dimension. The chlorophyll and ocean currents composite for 1998 illustrates this premise. The chlorophyll concentration map was derived from SeaWiFS data and the currents are from an OGCM simulation (from R. Murtugudde).

A Sounding-based Severe Weather Tool to Support Daily Operations at Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bauman, William H.; Roeder, William P.

2014-01-01

People and property at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) are at risk when severe weather occurs. Strong winds, hail and tornadoes can injure individuals and cause costly damage to structures if not properly protected. NASA's Launch Services Program and Ground Systems Development and Operations Program and other KSC programs use the daily and weekly severe weather forecasts issued by the 45th Weather Squadron (45 WS) to determine if they need to limit an activity such as working on gantries, or protect property such as a vehicle on a pad. The 45 WS requested the Applied Meteorology Unit (AMU) develop a warm season (May-September) severe weather tool for use in the Meteorological Interactive Data Display System (MIDDS) based on the late morning, 1500 UTC (1100 local time), CCAFS (XMR) sounding. The 45 WS frequently makes decisions to issue a severe weather watch and other severe weather warning support products to NASA and the 45th Space Wing in the late morning, after the 1500 UTC sounding. The results of this work indicate that certain stability indices based on the late morning XMR soundings can depict differences between days with reported severe weather and days with no reported severe weather. The AMU determined a frequency of reported severe weather for the stability indices and implemented an operational tool in MIDDS.

Improvements to water use and water stress estimates with the addition of IR and net radiometers to weather stations

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Evapotranspiration (ET) is often estimated with the Penman-Monteith (P-M) equation. Net radiation (Rn) is a major component of the surface energy balance and an input to the P-M equation, but it is challenging and expensive to measure accurately. For these reasons, most weather stations do not inclu...

Weather and Climate Monitoring Protocol, Channel Islands National Park, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

McEachern, Kathryn; Power, Paula; Dye, Linda; Rudolph, Rocky

2008-01-01

Weather and climate are strong drivers of population dynamics, plant and animal spatial distributions, community interactions, and ecosystem states. Information on local weather and climate is crucial in interpreting trends and patterns in the natural environment for resource management, research, and visitor enjoyment. This document describes the weather and climate monitoring program at the Channel Islands National Park (fig. 1), initiated in the 1990s. Manual and automated stations, which continue to evolve as technology changes, are being used for this program. The document reviews the history of weather data collection on each of the five Channel Islands National Park islands, presents program administrative structure, and provides an overview of procedures for data collection, archival, retrieval, and reporting. This program overview is accompanied by the 'Channel Islands National Park Remote Automated Weather Station Field Handbook' and the 'Channel Islands National Park Ranger Weather Station Field Handbook'. These Handbooks are maintained separately at the Channel Island National Park as 'live documents' that are updated as needed to provide a current working manual of weather and climate monitoring procedures. They are available on request from the Weather Program Manager (Channel Islands National Park, 1901 Spinnaker Dr., Ventura, CA 93001; 805.658.5700). The two Field Handbooks describe in detail protocols for managing the four remote automated weather stations (RAWS) and the seven manual Ranger Weather Stations on the islands, including standard operating procedures for equipment maintenance and calibration; manufacturer operating manuals; data retrieval and archiving; metada collection and archival; and local, agency, and vendor contracts.

A video wireless capsule endoscopy system powered wirelessly: design, analysis and experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pan, Guobing; Xin, Wenhui; Yan, Guozheng; Chen, Jiaoliao

2011-06-01

Wireless capsule endoscopy (WCE), as a relatively new technology, has brought about a revolution in the diagnosis of gastrointestinal (GI) tract diseases. However, the existing WCE systems are not widely applied in clinic because of the low frame rate and low image resolution. A video WCE system based on a wireless power supply is developed in this paper. This WCE system consists of a video capsule endoscope (CE), a wireless power transmission device, a receiving box and an image processing station. Powered wirelessly, the video CE has the abilities of imaging the GI tract and transmitting the images wirelessly at a frame rate of 30 frames per second (f/s). A mathematical prototype was built to analyze the power transmission system, and some experiments were performed to test the capability of energy transferring. The results showed that the wireless electric power supply system had the ability to transfer more than 136 mW power, which was enough for the working of a video CE. In in vitro experiments, the video CE produced clear images of the small intestine of a pig with the resolution of 320 × 240, and transmitted NTSC format video outside the body. Because of the wireless power supply, the video WCE system with high frame rate and high resolution becomes feasible, and provides a novel solution for the diagnosis of the GI tract in clinic.

47 CFR 1.911 - Station files.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Station files. 1.911 Section 1.911 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION GENERAL PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE Wireless Radio Services Applications and Proceedings Application Requirements and Procedures § 1.911 Station files. Applications...

47 CFR 1.911 - Station files.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 1 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Station files. 1.911 Section 1.911 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION GENERAL PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE Wireless Radio Services Applications and Proceedings Application Requirements and Procedures § 1.911 Station files. Applications...

KSC Weather and Research

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Maier, Launa; Huddleston, Lisa; Smith, Kristin

2016-01-01

This briefing outlines the history of Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Weather organization, past research sponsored or performed, current organization, responsibilities, and activities, the evolution of weather support, future technologies, and an update on the status of the buoys located offshore of Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and KSC.

Urban rainfall monitoring with crowdsourced automatic weather stations in Amsterdam

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Vos, Lotte; Leijnse, Hidde; Overeem, Aart; Uijlenhoet, Remko

2017-04-01

The high density of built-up areas and resulting imperviousness of the land surface makes urban areas vulnerable to extreme rainfall, which can lead to considerable damage. In order to design and manage cities to be able to deal with the growing number of extreme rainfall events, rainfall data is required at higher temporal and spatial resolutions than those needed for rural catchments. However, the density of operational rainfall monitoring networks managed by local or national authorities is typically low in urban areas. A growing number of automatic personal weather stations (PWSs) link rainfall measurements to online platforms. Here, we examine the potential of such crowdsourced datasets for obtaining the desired resolution and quality of rainfall measurements for the capital of the Netherlands. Data from 63 stations in Amsterdam (˜575 km2}) that measure rainfall over at least 4 months in a 17-month period are evaluated. In addition, a detailed assessment is made of three Netatmo stations, the largest contributor to this dataset, in an experimental set-up. The sensor performance in the experimental set-up and the density of the PWS-network are promising. However, features in the online platforms, like rounding and thresholds, cause changes from the original time series, resulting in considerable errors in the datasets obtained. These errors are especially large during low intensity rainfall, although they can be reduced by accumulating rainfall over longer intervals. Accumulation improves the correlation coefficient with gauge-adjusted radar data from 0.48 at 5 min intervals to 0.60 at hourly intervals. Spatial rainfall correlation functions derived from PWS data show much more small-scale variability than those based on gauge-adjusted radar data and those found in similar research using dedicated rain gauge networks. This can largely be attributed to the noise in the PWS data resulting from both the measurement setup and the processes occurring in the data

Broadcast media and the dissemination of weather information

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Byrnes, J.

1973-01-01

Although television is the public's most preferred source of weather information, it fails to provide weather reports to those groups who seek the information early in the day and during the day. The result is that many people most often use radio as a source of information, yet preferring the medium of television. The public actively seeks weather information from both radio and TV stations, usually seeking information on current conditions and short range forecasts. forecasts. Nearly all broadcast stations surveyed were eager to air severe weather bulletins quickly and often. Interest in Nowcasting was high among radio and TV broadcasters, with a significant portion indicating a willingness to pay something for the service. However, interest among TV stations in increasing the number of daily reports was small.

A resampling procedure for generating conditioned daily weather sequences

USGS Publications Warehouse

Clark, Martyn P.; Gangopadhyay, Subhrendu; Brandon, David; Werner, Kevin; Hay, Lauren E.; Rajagopalan, Balaji; Yates, David

2004-01-01

A method is introduced to generate conditioned daily precipitation and temperature time series at multiple stations. The method resamples data from the historical record “nens” times for the period of interest (nens = number of ensemble members) and reorders the ensemble members to reconstruct the observed spatial (intersite) and temporal correlation statistics. The weather generator model is applied to 2307 stations in the contiguous United States and is shown to reproduce the observed spatial correlation between neighboring stations, the observed correlation between variables (e.g., between precipitation and temperature), and the observed temporal correlation between subsequent days in the generated weather sequence. The weather generator model is extended to produce sequences of weather that are conditioned on climate indices (in this case the Niño 3.4 index). Example illustrations of conditioned weather sequences are provided for a station in Arizona (Petrified Forest, 34.8°N, 109.9°W), where El Niño and La Niña conditions have a strong effect on winter precipitation. The conditioned weather sequences generated using the methods described in this paper are appropriate for use as input to hydrologic models to produce multiseason forecasts of streamflow.

Wireless Sensing Opportunities for Aerospace Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilson, William; Atkinson, Gary

2007-01-01

Wireless sensors and sensor networks is an emerging technology area with many applications within the aerospace industry. Integrated vehicle health monitoring (IVHM) of aerospace vehicles is needed to ensure the safety of the crew and the vehicle, yet often high costs, weight, size and other constraints prevent the incorporation of instrumentation onto spacecraft. This paper presents a few of the areas such as IVHM, where new wireless sensing technology is needed on both existing vehicles as well as future spacecraft. From ground tests to inflatable structures to the International Space Station, many applications could receive benefits from small, low power, wireless sensors. This paper also highlights some of the challenges that need to overcome when implementing wireless sensor networks for aerospace vehicles.

47 CFR 95.1127 - Station identification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 5 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Station identification. 95.1127 Section 95.1127 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) SAFETY AND SPECIAL RADIO SERVICES PERSONAL RADIO SERVICES Wireless Medical Telemetry Service (WMTS) General Provisions § 95.1127 Station identification. A...

47 CFR 95.1129 - Station inspection.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 5 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Station inspection. 95.1129 Section 95.1129 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) SAFETY AND SPECIAL RADIO SERVICES PERSONAL RADIO SERVICES Wireless Medical Telemetry Service (WMTS) General Provisions § 95.1129 Station inspection. All...

Wireless Headset Communication System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lau, Wilfred K.; Swanson, Richard; Christensen, Kurt K.

1995-01-01

System combines features of pagers, walkie-talkies, and cordless telephones. Wireless headset communication system uses digital modulation on spread spectrum to avoid interference among units. Consists of base station, 4 radio/antenna modules, and as many as 16 remote units with headsets. Base station serves as network controller, audio-mixing network, and interface to such outside services as computers, telephone networks, and other base stations. Developed for use at Kennedy Space Center, system also useful in industrial maintenance, emergency operations, construction, and airport operations. Also, digital capabilities exploited; by adding bar-code readers for use in taking inventories.

47 CFR 74.882 - Station identification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... transmission or intermittent transmissions pertaining to a single event. (b) Each wireless video assist device..., AUXILIARY, SPECIAL BROADCAST AND OTHER PROGRAM DISTRIBUTIONAL SERVICES Low Power Auxiliary Stations § 74.882 Station identification. (a) For transmitters used for voice transmissions and having a transmitter output...

Optical wireless communications for micromachines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'Brien, Dominic C.; Yuan, Wei Wen; Liu, Jing Jing; Faulkner, Grahame E.; Elston, Steve J.; Collins, Steve; Parry-Jones, Lesley A.

2006-08-01

A key challenge for wireless sensor networks is minimizing the energy required for network nodes to communicate with each other, and this becomes acute for self-powered devices such as 'smart dust'. Optical communications is a potentially attractive solution for such devices. The University of Oxford is currently involved in a project to build optical wireless links to smart dust. Retro-reflectors combined with liquid crystal modulators can be integrated with the micro-machine to create a low power transceiver. When illuminated from a base station a modulated beam is returned, transmitting data. Data from the base station can be transmitted using modulation of the illuminating beam and a receiver at the micro-machine. In this paper we outline the energy consumption and link budget considerations in the design of such micro-machines, and report preliminary experimental results.

Classification of rainfall events for weather forecasting purposes in andean region of Colombia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suárez Hincapié, Joan Nathalie; Romo Melo, Liliana; Vélez Upegui, Jorge Julian; Chang, Philippe

2016-04-01

This work presents a comparative analysis of the results of applying different methodologies for the identification and classification of rainfall events of different duration in meteorological records of the Colombian Andean region. In this study the work area is the urban and rural area of Manizales that counts with a monitoring hydro-meteorological network. This network is composed of forty-five (45) strategically located stations, this network is composed of forty-five (45) strategically located stations where automatic weather stations record seven climate variables: air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and direction, rainfall, solar radiation and barometric pressure. All this information is sent wirelessly every five (5) minutes to a data warehouse located at the Institute of Environmental Studies-IDEA. With obtaining the series of rainfall recorded by the hydrometeorological station Palogrande operated by the National University of Colombia in Manizales (http://froac.manizales.unal.edu.co/bodegaIdea/); it is with this information that we proceed to perform behavior analysis of other meteorological variables, monitored at surface level and that influence the occurrence of such rainfall events. To classify rainfall events different methodologies were used: The first according to Monjo (2009) where the index n of the heavy rainfall was calculated through which various types of precipitation are defined according to the intensity variability. A second methodology that permitted to produce a classification in terms of a parameter β introduced by Rice and Holmberg (1973) and adapted by Llasat and Puigcerver, (1985, 1997) and the last one where a rainfall classification is performed according to the value of its intensity following the issues raised by Linsley (1977) where the rains can be considered light, moderate and strong fall rates to 2.5 mm / h; from 2.5 to 7.6 mm / h and above this value respectively for the previous classifications. The main

Predicting the magnetospheric plasma of weather

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dawson, John M.

1986-01-01

The prediction of the plasma environment in time, the plasma weather, is discussed. It is important to be able to predict when large magnetic storms will produce auroras, which will affect the space station operating in low orbit, and what precautions to take both for personnel and sensitive control (computer) equipment onboard. It is also important to start to establish a set of plasma weather records and a record of the ability to predict this weather. A successful forecasting system requires a set of satellite weather stations to provide data from which predictions can be made and a set of plasma weather codes capable of accurately forecasting the status of the Earth's magnetosphere. A numerical magnetohydrodynamic fluid model which is used to model the flow in the magnetosphere, the currents flowing into and out of the auroral regions, the magnetopause, the bow shock location and the magnetotail of the Earth is discussed.

Pilot Weather Advisor System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lindamood, Glenn; Martzaklis, Konstantinos Gus; Hoffler, Keith; Hill, Damon; Mehrotra, Sudhir C.; White, E. Richard; Fisher, Bruce D.; Crabill, Norman L.; Tucholski, Allen D.

2006-01-01

The Pilot Weather Advisor (PWA) system is an automated satellite radio-broadcasting system that provides nearly real-time weather data to pilots of aircraft in flight anywhere in the continental United States. The system was designed to enhance safety in two distinct ways: First, the automated receipt of information would relieve the pilot of the time-consuming and distracting task of obtaining weather information via voice communication with ground stations. Second, the presentation of the information would be centered around a map format, thereby making the spatial and temporal relationships in the surrounding weather situation much easier to understand

RFIC's challenges for third-generation wireless systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boric-Lubecke, Olga; Lin, Jenshan; Gould, Penny; Kermalli, Munawar

2001-11-01

Third generation (3G) cellular wireless systems are envisioned to offer low cost, high-capacity mobile communications with data rates of up to 2 Mbit/s, with global roaming and advanced data services. Besides adding mobility to the internet, 3G systems will provide location-based services, as well as personalized information and entertainment. Low cost, high dynamic-range radios, both for base stations (BS) and for mobile stations (MS) are required to enable worldwide deployment of such networks. A receiver's reference sensitivity, intermodulation characteristics, and blocking characteristics, set by a wireless standard, define performance requirements of individual components of a receiver front end. Since base station handles multiple signals from various distances simultaneously, its radio specifications are significantly more demanding than those for mobile devices. While high level of integration has already been achieved for second generation hand-sets using low-cost silicon technologies, the cost and size reduction of base stations still remains a challenge and necessity. While silicon RFIC technology is steadily improving, it is still difficult to achieve noise figure (NF), linearity, and phase noise requirements with presently available devices. This paper will discuss base station specification for 2G (GSM) and 3G (UMTS) systems, as well as the feasibility of implementing base station radios in low-cost silicon processes.

Feasibility study of wireless power transmission systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Robinson, W. J., Jr.

1968-01-01

Wireless microwave or laser energy transfers power from a manned earth-orbiting central station to unmanned astronomical substations. More efficient systems are required for the microwave power transmission.

Weather adjustment using seemingly unrelated regression

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Noll, T.A.

1995-05-01

Seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) is a system estimation technique that accounts for time-contemporaneous correlation between individual equations within a system of equations. SUR is suited to weather adjustment estimations when the estimation is: (1) composed of a system of equations and (2) the system of equations represents either different weather stations, different sales sectors or a combination of different weather stations and different sales sectors. SUR utilizes the cross-equation error values to develop more accurate estimates of the system coefficients than are obtained using ordinary least-squares (OLS) estimation. SUR estimates can be generated using a variety of statistical software packagesmore » including MicroTSP and SAS.« less

NOAA Weather Radio - All Hazards

Science.gov Websites

Station Search Coverage Maps Outages View Outages Report Outages Information General Information Receiver Information Reception Problems NWR Alarms Automated Voices FIPS Codes NWR - Special Needs SAME USING SAME SAME Weather Service (NWS) warnings, watches, forecasts and other non-weather related hazard information 24

Weather impacts on space operations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Madura, J.; Boyd, B.; Bauman, W.; Wyse, N.; Adams, M.

The efforts of the 45th Weather Squadron of the USAF to provide weather support to Patrick Air Force Base, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Eastern Range, and the Kennedy Space Center are discussed. Its weather support to space vehicles, particularly the Space Shuttle, includes resource protection, ground processing, launch, and Ferry Flight, as well as consultations to the Spaceflight Meteorology Group for landing forecasts. Attention is given to prelaunch processing weather, launch support weather, Shuttle launch commit criteria, and range safety weather restrictions. Upper level wind requirements are examined. The frequency of hourly surface observations with thunderstorms at the Shuttle landing facility, and lightning downtime at the Titan launch complexes are illustrated.

Application of Emerging Open-source Embedded Systems for Enabling Low-cost Wireless Mini-observatory Nodes in the Coastal Zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Glazer, B. T.

2016-02-01

Here, we describe the development of novel, low-cost, open-source instrumentation to enable wireless data transfer of biogeochemical sensors in the coastal zone. The platform is centered upon the Beaglebone Black single board computer. Process-inquiry in environmental sciences suffers from undersampling; enabling sustained and unattended data collection typically involves expensive instrumentation and infrastructure deployed as cabled observatories with little flexibility in deployment location following initial installation. High cost of commercially-available or custom electronic packages have not only limited the number of sensor node sites that can be targeted by reasonably well-funded academic researchers, but have also entirely prohibited widespread engagement with K-12, public non-profit, and `citizen scientist' STEM audiences. The new platform under development represents a balanced blend of research-grade sensors and low-cost open-source electronics that are easily assembled. Custom, robust, open-source code that remains customizable for specific node configurations can match a specific deployment's measurement needs, depending on the scientific research priorities. We have demonstrated prototype capabilities and versatility through lab testing and field deployments of multiple sensor nodes with multiple sensor inputs, all of which are streaming near-real-time data over wireless RF links to a shore-based base station. On shore, first-pass data processing QA/QC takes place and near-real-time plots are made available on the World Wide Web. Specifically, we have worked closely with an environmental and cultural management and restoration non-profit organization, and middle and high school science classes, engaging their interest in STEM application to local watershed processes. Ultimately, continued successful development of this pilot project can lead to a coastal oceanographic analogue of the popular Weather Underground personal weather station model.

GPS Estimates of Integrated Precipitable Water Aid Weather Forecasters

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moore, Angelyn W.; Gutman, Seth I.; Holub, Kirk; Bock, Yehuda; Danielson, David; Laber, Jayme; Small, Ivory

2013-01-01

Global Positioning System (GPS) meteorology provides enhanced density, low-latency (30-min resolution), integrated precipitable water (IPW) estimates to NOAA NWS (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis tration Nat ional Weather Service) Weather Forecast Offices (WFOs) to provide improved model and satellite data verification capability and more accurate forecasts of extreme weather such as flooding. An early activity of this project was to increase the number of stations contributing to the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) GPS meteorology observing network in Southern California by about 27 stations. Following this, the Los Angeles/Oxnard and San Diego WFOs began using the enhanced GPS-based IPW measurements provided by ESRL in the 2012 and 2013 monsoon seasons. Forecasters found GPS IPW to be an effective tool in evaluating model performance, and in monitoring monsoon development between weather model runs for improved flood forecasting. GPS stations are multi-purpose, and routine processing for position solutions also yields estimates of tropospheric zenith delays, which can be converted into mm-accuracy PWV (precipitable water vapor) using in situ pressure and temperature measurements, the basis for GPS meteorology. NOAA ESRL has implemented this concept with a nationwide distribution of more than 300 "GPSMet" stations providing IPW estimates at sub-hourly resolution currently used in operational weather models in the U.S.

Improving the Traceability of Meteorological Measurements at Automatic Weather Stations in Thailand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keawprasert, T.; Sinhaneti, T.; Phuuntharo, P.; Phanakulwijit, S.; Nimsamer, A.

2017-08-01

A joint project between the National Institute of Metrology Thailand (NIMT) and the Thai Meteorology Department (TMD) was established for improving the traceability of meteorology measurements at automatic weather stations (AWSs) in Thailand. The project aimed to improve traceability of air temperature, relative humidity and atmospheric pressure by implementing on-site calibration facilities and developing of new calibration procedures. First, new portable calibration facilities for air temperature, humidity and pressure were set up as working standard of the TMD. A portable humidity calibrator was applied as a uniform and stable source for calibration of thermo-hygrometers. A dew-point hygrometer was employed as reference hygrometer and a platinum resistance thermometer (PRT) traceable to NIMT was used as reference thermometer. The uniformity and stability in both temperature and relative humidity were characterized at NIMT. A transportable pressure calibrator was used for calibration of air pressure sensor. The estimate overall uncertainty of the calibration setup is 0.2 K for air temperature, 1.0 % for relative humidity and 0.2 hPa for atmospheric pressure, respectively. Second, on-site calibration procedures were developed and four AWSs in the central part and the northern of Thailand were chosen as pilot stations for on-site calibration using the new calibration setups and developed calibration procedures. At each station, the calibration was done at the minimum temperature, average temperature and maximum temperature of the year, for air temperature, 20 %, 55 % and 90 % for relative humidity at the average air temperature of that station and at a one-year statistics pressure range for atmospheric pressure at ambient temperature. Additional in-field uncertainty contributions such as the temperature dependence on relative humidity measurement were evaluated and included in the overall uncertainty budget. Preliminary calibration results showed that using a

Arduino Based Weather Monitoring Telemetry System Using NRF24L01+

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sidqi, Rafi; Rio Rynaldo, Bagus; Hadi Suroso, Satya; Firmansyah, Rifqi

2018-04-01

Abstract-Weather is an important part of the natural environment, thus knowing weather information is needed before doing activity. The main purpose of this research was to develop a weather monitoring system which capable to transmit weather data via radio frequency by using nRF24L01+ 2,4GHz radio module. This research implement Arduino UNO as the main controller of the system which send data wirelessly using the radio module and received by a receiver system. Received data then logged and displayed using a Graphical User Interface on a personal computer. Test and experiment result show that the system was able to transmit weather data via radio wave with maximum transmitting range of 32 meters.

Development of a Global Fire Weather Database

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Field, R. D.; Spessa, A. C.; Aziz, N. A.; Camia, A.; Cantin, A.; Carr, R.; de Groot, W. J.; Dowdy, A. J.; Flannigan, M. D.; Manomaiphiboon, K.;

Introducing GFWED: The Global Fire Weather Database

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Field, R. D.; Spessa, A. C.; Aziz, N. A.; Camia, A.; Cantin, A.; Carr, R.; de Groot, W. J.; Dowdy, A. J.; Flannigan, M. D.; Manomaiphiboon, K.;

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARINE PRODUCTS VIA NOAA WEATHER RADIO

Science.gov Websites

! Boating Safety Beach Hazards Rip Currents Hypothermia Hurricanes Thunderstorms Lightning Coastal Flooding Radio network provides voice broadcasts of local and coastal marine forecasts on a continuous cycle. The forecasts are produced by local National Weather Service Forecast Offices. Coastal stations also broadcast

Wireless Power Transfer

ScienceCinema

None

2018-01-16

demand for EV rises. For vehicles that operate over a fixed route such as busses and shuttle vehicles, Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) means that a smaller battery pack can be used. In the traditional system, the battery pack is designed to accommodate the needs of the entire route or shift. With WPT the battery can be downsized because it can be charged when the vehicle stops on its route (a rental car shuttle bus, for example, can charge when it waits in the terminal and again when it waits at the rental car place. Thus the battery only needs enough charge to get to the next stop. This decrease in battery size means significant cost savings to electrify the vehicle. This technology enables efficient "opportunity charging stations" for predefined routes and planned stops reducing down time. Charging can occur in minutes. This improvement also eliminates the harmful emissions that occur in garages while buses are at idle during charging. In larger cities, dynamic charging offers an even greater impact utilizing existing infrastructure. As vehicles travel along busy freeways and interstate systems, wireless charging can occur while the vehicle is in motion. With this technology a vehicle essentially has unlimited electric range while using a relatively small battery pack. In-motion charging stations use vehicle sensors to alert the driver. Traveling at normal speeds, sensors establish in-motion charging. WPT transmit pads sequentially energize to the negotiated power level based on vehicle speed and its requested charging energy. Lower power when vehicle speed is slow and much higher power for faster moving vehicles. Vehicle to Infrastructure communications (V2I) coordinates WPT charging level according to on-board battery pack state-of-charge. V2I activates the roadway transmit pads placing them in standby mode and negotiates charging fee based on prevailing grid rate and vehicle energy demand. Dynamic charging would allow electricity to supply a very large fraction of the

Wireless Power Transfer

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None

2013-07-22

as the demand for EV rises. For vehicles that operate over a fixed route such as busses and shuttle vehicles, Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) means that a smaller battery pack can be used. In the traditional system, the battery pack is designed to accommodate the needs of the entire route or shift. With WPT the battery can be downsized because it can be charged when the vehicle stops on its route (a rental car shuttle bus, for example, can charge when it waits in the terminal and again when it waits at the rental car place. Thus the battery only needs enough charge to get to the next stop. This decrease in battery size means significant cost savings to electrify the vehicle. This technology enables efficient "opportunity charging stations" for predefined routes and planned stops reducing down time. Charging can occur in minutes. This improvement also eliminates the harmful emissions that occur in garages while buses are at idle during charging. In larger cities, dynamic charging offers an even greater impact utilizing existing infrastructure. As vehicles travel along busy freeways and interstate systems, wireless charging can occur while the vehicle is in motion. With this technology a vehicle essentially has unlimited electric range while using a relatively small battery pack. In-motion charging stations use vehicle sensors to alert the driver. Traveling at normal speeds, sensors establish in-motion charging. WPT transmit pads sequentially energize to the negotiated power level based on vehicle speed and its requested charging energy. Lower power when vehicle speed is slow and much higher power for faster moving vehicles. Vehicle to Infrastructure communications (V2I) coordinates WPT charging level according to on-board battery pack state-of-charge. V2I activates the roadway transmit pads placing them in standby mode and negotiates charging fee based on prevailing grid rate and vehicle energy demand. Dynamic charging would allow electricity to supply a very large

The Worldwide Interplanetary Scintillation (IPS) Stations (WIPSS) Network in support of Space-Weather Science and Forecasting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bisi, M. M.; Gonzalez-Esparza, A.; Jackson, B. V.; Aguilar-Rodriguez, E.; Tokumaru, M.; Chashei, I. V.; Tyul'bashev, S. A.; Manoharan, P. K.; Fallows, R. A.; Chang, O.; Mejia-Ambriz, J. C.; Yu, H. S.; Fujiki, K.; Shishov, V.

2016-12-01

The phenomenon of space weather - analogous to terrestrial weather which describes the changing low-altitude atmospheric conditions on Earth - is essentially a description of the changes in the plasma environment at and near the Earth. Some key parameters for space-weather purposes driving space weather at the Earth include velocity, density, magnetic field, high-energy particles, and radiation coming into and within the near-Earth space environment. Interplanetary scintillation (IPS) can be used to provide a global measure of velocity and density as well as indications of changes in the plasma and magnetic-field rotations along each observational line of sight. If the observations are formally inverted into a three-dimensional (3-D) tomographic reconstruction (such as using the University of California, San Diego - UCSD - kinematic model and reconstruction technique), then source-surface magnetic fields can also be propagated out to the Earth (and beyond) as well as in-situ data also being incorporated into the reconstruction. Currently, this has been done using IPS data only from the Institute for Space-Earth Environmental (ISEE) and has been scientifically since the 1990s, and in a forecast mode since around 2000. There is now a defined IPS Common Data Format (IPSCDFv1.0) which is being implemented by the majority of the IPS community (this also feeds into the tomography). The Worldwide IPS Stations (WIPSS) Network aims to bring together, using IPSCDFv1.0, the worldwide real-time capable IPS observatories with well-developed and tested analyses techniques being unified across all single-site systems (such as MEXART, Pushchino, and Ooty) and cross-calibrated to the multi-site ISEE system (as well as learning from the scientific-based systems such as EISCAT, LOFAR, and the MWA), into the UCSD 3-D tomography to improve the accuracy, spatial and temporal data coverage, and both the spatial and temporal resolution for improved space-weather science and forecast

The Worldwide Interplanetary Scintillation (IPS) Stations (WIPSS) Network in support of Space-Weather Science and Forecasting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bisi, Mario Mark; Americo Gonzalez-Esparza, J.; Jackson, Bernard; Aguilar-Rodriguez, Ernesto; Tokumaru, Munetoshi; Chashei, Igor; Tyul'bashev, Sergey; Manoharan, Periasamy; Fallows, Richard; Chang, Oyuki; Yu, Hsiu-Shan; Fujiki, Ken'ichi; Shishov, Vladimir; Barnes, David

2017-04-01

The phenomenon of space weather - analogous to terrestrial weather which describes the changing low-altitude atmospheric conditions on Earth - is essentially a description of the changes in the plasma environment at and near the Earth. Some key parameters for space-weather purposes driving space weather at the Earth include velocity, density, magnetic field, high-energy particles, and radiation coming into and within the near-Earth space environment. Interplanetary scintillation (IPS) can be used to provide a global measure of velocity and density as well as indications of changes in the plasma and magnetic-field rotations along each observational line of sight. If the observations are formally inverted into a three-dimensional (3-D) tomographic reconstruction (such as using the University of California, San Diego - UCSD - kinematic model and reconstruction technique), then source-surface magnetic fields can also be propagated out to the Earth (and beyond) as well as in-situ data also being incorporated into the reconstruction. Currently, this has been done using IPS data only from the Institute for Space-Earth Environmental (ISEE) and has been scientifically since the 1990s, and in a forecast mode since around 2000. There is now a defined (and updated) IPS Common Data Format (IPSCDFv1.1) which is being implemented by the majority of the IPS community (this also feeds into the UCSD tomography). The Worldwide IPS Stations (WIPSS) Network aims to bring together, using IPSCDFv1.1, the worldwide real-time capable IPS observatories with well-developed and tested analyses techniques being unified across all single-site systems (such as MEXART, Pushchino, and Ooty) and cross-calibrated to the multi-site ISEE system (as well as learning from the scientific-based systems such as EISCAT, LOFAR, and the MWA), into the UCSD 3-D tomography to improve the accuracy, spatial and temporal data coverage, and both the spatial and temporal resolution for improved space-weather science

NASA Lunar Base Wireless System Propagation Analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hwu, Shian U.; Upanavage, Matthew; Sham, Catherine C.

2007-01-01

There have been many radio wave propagation studies using both experimental and theoretical techniques over the recent years. However, most of studies have been in support of commercial cellular phone wireless applications. The signal frequencies are mostly at the commercial cellular and Personal Communications Service bands. The antenna configurations are mostly one on a high tower and one near the ground to simulate communications between a cellular base station and a mobile unit. There are great interests in wireless communication and sensor systems for NASA lunar missions because of the emerging importance of establishing permanent lunar human exploration bases. Because of the specific lunar terrain geometries and RF frequencies of interest to the NASA missions, much of the published literature for the commercial cellular and PCS bands of 900 and 1800 MHz may not be directly applicable to the lunar base wireless system and environment. There are various communication and sensor configurations required to support all elements of a lunar base. For example, the communications between astronauts, between astronauts and the lunar vehicles, between lunar vehicles and satellites on the lunar orbits. There are also various wireless sensor systems among scientific, experimental sensors and data collection ground stations. This presentation illustrates the propagation analysis of the lunar wireless communication and sensor systems taking into account the three dimensional terrain multipath effects. It is observed that the propagation characteristics are significantly affected by the presence of the lunar terrain. The obtained results indicate the lunar surface material, terrain geometry and antenna location are the important factors affecting the propagation characteristics of the lunar wireless systems. The path loss can be much more severe than the free space propagation and is greatly affected by the antenna height, surface material and operating frequency. The

Development of a Method for Selecting Optimum Sites for the Automatic Mountain Meteorology Observation Station (AMOS) to Improve Predictability of Forest Fires in Inaccessible Area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yoon, S.; Won, M.; Jang, K.; Lim, J.

2016-12-01

As there has been a recent increase in the case of forest fires in North Korea descending southward through the De-Militarized Zone (DMZ), ensuring proper response to such events has been a challenge. Therefore, in order to respond and manage these forest fires appropriately, an improvement in the forest fire predictability through integration of mountain weather information observed at the most optimal site is necessary. This study is a proactive case in which a spatial analysis and an on-site assessment method were developed for selecting an optimum site for a mountain weather observation in national forest. For spatial analysis, the class 1 and 2 forest fire danger areas for the past 10 years, accessibility maximum 100m, Automatic Weather Station (AWS) redundancy within 2.5km, and mountain terrains higher than 200m were analyzed. A final overlay analysis was performed to select the candidates for the field assessment. The sites selected through spatial analysis were quantitatively evaluated based on the optimal meteorological environment, forest and hiking trail accessibility, AWS redundancy, and supply of wireless communication and solar powered electricity. The sites with total score of 70 and higher were accepted as adequate. At the final selected sites, an AMOS was established, and integration of mountain and Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) weather data improved the forest fire predictability in South Korea by 10%. Given these study results, we expect that establishing an automatic mountain meteorology observation station at the optimal sites in inaccessible area and integrating mountain weather data will improve the predictability of forest fires.

Wireless Augmented Reality Prototype (WARP)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Devereaux, A. S.

1999-01-01

Initiated in January, 1997, under NASA's Office of Life and Microgravity Sciences and Applications, the Wireless Augmented Reality Prototype (WARP) is a means to leverage recent advances in communications, displays, imaging sensors, biosensors, voice recognition and microelectronics to develop a hands-free, tetherless system capable of real-time personal display and control of computer system resources. Using WARP, an astronaut may efficiently operate and monitor any computer-controllable activity inside or outside the vehicle or station. The WARP concept is a lightweight, unobtrusive heads-up display with a wireless wearable control unit. Connectivity to the external system is achieved through a high-rate radio link from the WARP personal unit to a base station unit installed into any system PC. The radio link has been specially engineered to operate within the high- interference, high-multipath environment of a space shuttle or space station module. Through this virtual terminal, the astronaut will be able to view and manipulate imagery, text or video, using voice commands to control the terminal operations. WARP's hands-free access to computer-based instruction texts, diagrams and checklists replaces juggling manuals and clipboards, and tetherless computer system access allows free motion throughout a cabin while monitoring and operating equipment.

Comparison of Weather Shows in Eastern Europe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Najman, M.

2009-09-01

Comparison of Weather Shows in Eastern Europe Television weather shows in Eastern Europe have in most cases in the high graphical standard. There is though a wast difference in duration and information content in the weather shows. There are few signs and regularities by which we can see the character of the weather show. The main differences are mainly caused by the income structure of the TV station. Either it is a fully privately funded TV relying on the TV commercials income. Or it is a public service TV station funded mainly by the national budget or fixed fee structure/tax. There are wast differences in duration and even a graphical presentation of the weather. Next important aspect is a supplier of the weather information and /or the processor. Shortly we can say, that when the TV show is produced by the national met office, the TV show consists of more scientific terms, synoptic maps, satellite imagery, etc. If the supplier is the private meteorological company, the weather show is more user-friendly, laical with less scientific terms. We are experiencing a massive shift in public weather knowledge and demand for information. In the past, weather shows consisted only of maps with weather icons. In todaýs world, even the laic weather shows consist partly of numerical weather model outputs - they are of course designed to be understandable and graphically attractive. Outputs of the numerical weather models used to be only a part of daily life of a professional meteorologist, today they are common part of life of regular people. Video samples are a part of this presentation.

Introducing the Global Fire WEather Database (GFWED)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Field, R. D.

2015-12-01

The Canadian Fire Weather Index (FWI) System is the mostly widely used fire danger rating system in the world. We have developed a global database of daily FWI System calculations beginning in 1980 called the Global Fire WEather Database (GFWED) gridded to a spatial resolution of 0.5° latitude by 2/3° longitude. Input weather data were obtained from the NASA Modern Era Retrospective-Analysis for Research (MERRA), and two different estimates of daily precipitation from rain gauges over land. FWI System Drought Code calculations from the gridded datasets were compared to calculations from individual weather station data for a representative set of 48 stations in North, Central and South America, Europe, Russia, Southeast Asia and Australia. Agreement between gridded calculations and the station-based calculations tended to be most different at low latitudes for strictly MERRA-based calculations. Strong biases could be seen in either direction: MERRA DC over the Mato Grosso in Brazil reached unrealistically high values exceeding DC=1500 during the dry season but was too low over Southeast Asia during the dry season. These biases are consistent with those previously-identified in MERRA's precipitation and reinforce the need to consider alternative sources of precipitation data. GFWED is being used by researchers around the world for analyzing historical relationships between fire weather and fire activity at large scales, in identifying large-scale atmosphere-ocean controls on fire weather, and calibration of FWI-based fire prediction models. These applications will be discussed. More information on GFWED can be found at http://data.giss.nasa.gov/impacts/gfwed/

International Polar Research and Space Weather

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lanzerotti, Louis J.

2009-02-01

The fiftieth anniversary of the International Geophysical Year (IGY), currently celebrated in the 2007-2009 International Polar Year (IPY), highlights space weather's heritage from polar research. The polar regions were still very much "terra incognito" 50 years ago. At the same time, communications technologies had significantly advanced since the time of the second IPY, in 1932-1933. Yet even before the second IPY, several directors of international meteorological services stated in a 1928 resolution that "increased knowledge [of the polar regions] will be of practical application to problems connected with terrestrial magnetism, marine and aerial navigation, wireless telegraphy and weather forecasting" (see http://scaa.usask.ca/gallery/northern/currie/en_polaryear.shtml).

Utilization of Live Localized Weather Information for Sustainable Agriculture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anderson, J.; Usher, J.

2010-09-01

Authors: Jim Anderson VP, Global Network and Business Development WeatherBug® Professional Jeremy Usher Managing Director, Europe WeatherBug® Professional Localized, real-time weather information is vital for day-to-day agronomic management of all crops. The challenge for agriculture is twofold in that local and timely weather data is not often available for producers and farmers, and it is not integrated into decision-support tools they require. Many of the traditional sources of weather information are not sufficient for agricultural applications because of the long distances between weather stations, meaning the data is not always applicable for on-farm decision making processes. The second constraint with traditional weather information is the timeliness of the data. Most delivery systems are designed on a one-hour time step, whereas many decisions in agriculture are based on minute-by-minute weather conditions. This is especially true for decisions surrounding chemical and fertilizer application and frost events. This presentation will outline how the creation of an agricultural mesonet (weather network) can enable producers and farmers with live, local weather information from weather stations installed in farm/field locations. The live weather information collected from each weather station is integrated into a web-enabled decision support tool, supporting numerous on-farm agronomic activities such as pest management, or dealing with heavy rainfall and frost events. Agronomic models can be used to assess the potential of disease pressure, enhance the farmer's abilities to time pesticide applications, or assess conditions contributing to yield and quality fluctuations. Farmers and industry stakeholders may also view quality-assured historical weather variables at any location. This serves as a record-management tool for viewing previously uncharted agronomic weather events in graph or table form. This set of weather tools is unique and provides a

Long-range wireless mesh network for weather monitoring in unfriendly geographic conditions.

PubMed

Toledano-Ayala, Manuel; Herrera-Ruiz, Gilberto; Soto-Zarazúa, Genaro M; Rivas-Araiza, Edgar A; Bazán Trujillo, Rey D; Porrás-Trejo, Rafael E

2011-01-01

In this paper a long-range wireless mesh network system is presented. It consists of three main parts: Remote Terminal Units (RTUs), Base Terminal Units (BTUs) and a Central Server (CS). The RTUs share a wireless network transmitting in the industrial, scientific and medical applications ISM band, which reaches up to 64 Km in a single point-to-point communication. A BTU controls the traffic within the network and has as its main task interconnecting it to a Ku-band satellite link using an embedded microcontroller-based gateway. Collected data is stored in a CS and presented to the final user in a numerical and a graphical form in a web portal.

Air Temperature Error Correction Based on Solar Radiation in an Economical Meteorological Wireless Sensor Network

PubMed Central

Sun, Xingming; Yan, Shuangshuang; Wang, Baowei; Xia, Li; Liu, Qi; Zhang, Hui

2015-01-01

Air temperature (AT) is an extremely vital factor in meteorology, agriculture, military, etc., being used for the prediction of weather disasters, such as drought, flood, frost, etc. Many efforts have been made to monitor the temperature of the atmosphere, like automatic weather stations (AWS). Nevertheless, due to the high cost of specialized AT sensors, they cannot be deployed within a large spatial density. A novel method named the meteorology wireless sensor network relying on a sensing node has been proposed for the purpose of reducing the cost of AT monitoring. However, the temperature sensor on the sensing node can be easily influenced by environmental factors. Previous research has confirmed that there is a close relation between AT and solar radiation (SR). Therefore, this paper presents a method to decrease the error of sensed AT, taking SR into consideration. In this work, we analyzed all of the collected data of AT and SR in May 2014 and found the numerical correspondence between AT error (ATE) and SR. This corresponding relation was used to calculate real-time ATE according to real-time SR and to correct the error of AT in other months. PMID:26213941

Air Temperature Error Correction Based on Solar Radiation in an Economical Meteorological Wireless Sensor Network.

PubMed

Sun, Xingming; Yan, Shuangshuang; Wang, Baowei; Xia, Li; Liu, Qi; Zhang, Hui

2015-07-24

Air temperature (AT) is an extremely vital factor in meteorology, agriculture, military, etc., being used for the prediction of weather disasters, such as drought, flood, frost, etc. Many efforts have been made to monitor the temperature of the atmosphere, like automatic weather stations (AWS). Nevertheless, due to the high cost of specialized AT sensors, they cannot be deployed within a large spatial density. A novel method named the meteorology wireless sensor network relying on a sensing node has been proposed for the purpose of reducing the cost of AT monitoring. However, the temperature sensor on the sensing node can be easily influenced by environmental factors. Previous research has confirmed that there is a close relation between AT and solar radiation (SR). Therefore, this paper presents a method to decrease the error of sensed AT, taking SR into consideration. In this work, we analyzed all of the collected data of AT and SR in May 2014 and found the numerical correspondence between AT error (ATE) and SR. This corresponding relation was used to calculate real-time ATE according to real-time SR and to correct the error of AT in other months.

Lifting Scheme DWT Implementation in a Wireless Vision Sensor Network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ong, Jia Jan; Ang, L.-M.; Seng, K. P.

This paper presents the practical implementation of a Wireless Visual Sensor Network (WVSN) with DWT processing on the visual nodes. WVSN consists of visual nodes that capture video and transmit to the base-station without processing. Limitation of network bandwidth restrains the implementation of real time video streaming from remote visual nodes through wireless communication. Three layers of DWT filters are implemented to process the captured image from the camera. With having all the wavelet coefficients produced, it is possible just to transmit the low frequency band coefficients and obtain an approximate image at the base-station. This will reduce the amount of power required in transmission. When necessary, transmitting all the wavelet coefficients will produce the full detail of image, which is similar to the image captured at the visual nodes. The visual node combines the CMOS camera, Xilinx Spartan-3L FPGA and wireless ZigBee® network that uses the Ember EM250 chip.

Washington's "free" 300-station microscale weather network

Treesearch

Thomas Blackburn

1977-01-01

This article is intended to encourage those planning to conduct meso- or microscale weather studies to supplement their sophisticated observing techniques and equipment- with low-cost observations taken by volunteers. Such observations can often show high benefits per unit costs in expanding the geographical area of study, increasing the density of observations, or in...

International Space Station (ISS)

NASA Image and Video Library

2007-08-13

Back dropped by the blue and white Earth is a Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) on the exterior of the Station. The photograph was taken during the second bout of STS-118 Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA). MISSE collects information on how different materials weather in the environment of space.

Design and implementation of wireless dose logger network for radiological emergency decision support system.

PubMed

Gopalakrishnan, V; Baskaran, R; Venkatraman, B

2016-08-01

A decision support system (DSS) is implemented in Radiological Safety Division, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research for providing guidance for emergency decision making in case of an inadvertent nuclear accident. Real time gamma dose rate measurement around the stack is used for estimating the radioactive release rate (source term) by using inverse calculation. Wireless gamma dose logging network is designed, implemented, and installed around the Madras Atomic Power Station reactor stack to continuously acquire the environmental gamma dose rate and the details are presented in the paper. The network uses XBee-Pro wireless modules and PSoC controller for wireless interfacing, and the data are logged at the base station. A LabView based program is developed to receive the data, display it on the Google Map, plot the data over the time scale, and register the data in a file to share with DSS software. The DSS at the base station evaluates the real time source term to assess radiation impact.

Generation of Multivariate Surface Weather Series with Use of the Stochastic Weather Generator Linked to Regional Climate Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dubrovsky, M.; Farda, A.; Huth, R.

2012-12-01

The regional-scale simulations of weather-sensitive processes (e.g. hydrology, agriculture and forestry) for the present and/or future climate often require high resolution meteorological inputs in terms of the time series of selected surface weather characteristics (typically temperature, precipitation, solar radiation, humidity, wind) for a set of stations or on a regular grid. As even the latest Global and Regional Climate Models (GCMs and RCMs) do not provide realistic representation of statistical structure of the surface weather, the model outputs must be postprocessed (downscaled) to achieve the desired statistical structure of the weather data before being used as an input to the follow-up simulation models. One of the downscaling approaches, which is employed also here, is based on a weather generator (WG), which is calibrated using the observed weather series and then modified (in case of simulations for the future climate) according to the GCM- or RCM-based climate change scenarios. The present contribution uses the parametric daily weather generator M&Rfi to follow two aims: (1) Validation of the new simulations of the present climate (1961-1990) made by the ALADIN-Climate/CZ (v.2) Regional Climate Model at 25 km resolution. The WG parameters will be derived from the RCM-simulated surface weather series and compared to those derived from observational data in the Czech meteorological stations. The set of WG parameters will include selected statistics of the surface temperature and precipitation (characteristics of the mean, variability, interdiurnal variability and extremes). (2) Testing a potential of RCM output for calibration of the WG for the ungauged locations. The methodology being examined will consist in using the WG, whose parameters are interpolated from the surrounding stations and then corrected based on a RCM-simulated spatial variability. The quality of the weather series produced by the WG calibrated in this way will be assessed in terms

Evaluation of radar and automatic weather station data assimilation for a heavy rainfall event in southern China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hou, Tuanjie; Kong, Fanyou; Chen, Xunlai; Lei, Hengchi; Hu, Zhaoxia

2015-07-01

To improve the accuracy of short-term (0-12 h) forecasts of severe weather in southern China, a real-time storm-scale forecasting system, the Hourly Assimilation and Prediction System (HAPS), has been implemented in Shenzhen, China. The forecasting system is characterized by combining the Advanced Research Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF-ARW) model and the Advanced Regional Prediction System (ARPS) three-dimensional variational data assimilation (3DVAR) package. It is capable of assimilating radar reflectivity and radial velocity data from multiple Doppler radars as well as surface automatic weather station (AWS) data. Experiments are designed to evaluate the impacts of data assimilation on quantitative precipitation forecasting (QPF) by studying a heavy rainfall event in southern China. The forecasts from these experiments are verified against radar, surface, and precipitation observations. Comparison of echo structure and accumulated precipitation suggests that radar data assimilation is useful in improving the short-term forecast by capturing the location and orientation of the band of accumulated rainfall. The assimilation of radar data improves the short-term precipitation forecast skill by up to 9 hours by producing more convection. The slight but generally positive impact that surface AWS data has on the forecast of near-surface variables can last up to 6-9 hours. The assimilation of AWS observations alone has some benefit for improving the Fractions Skill Score (FSS) and bias scores; when radar data are assimilated, the additional AWS data may increase the degree of rainfall overprediction.

Modular Wireless Data-Acquisition and Control System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Perotti, Jose; Lucena, Angel; Medelius, Pedro; Mata, Carlos; Eckhoff, Anthony; Blalock, Norman

2004-01-01

A modular wireless data-acquisition and control system, now in operation at Kennedy Space Center, offers high performance at relatively low cost. The system includes a central station and a finite number of remote stations that communicate with each other through low-power radio frequency (RF) links. Designed to satisfy stringent requirements for reliability, integrity of data, and low power consumption, this system could be reproduced and adapted to use in a broad range of settings.

Weather summaries for Coram Experimental Forest, northwestern Montana-an International Biosphere Reserve

Treesearch

Roger D. Hungerford; Joyce A. Schlieter

1984-01-01

Presents weather data summaries (1934-82) for most of the weather stations within the Coram Experimental Forest (a Biosphere Reserve) in northwestern Montana and for three stations adjacent to the Forest. These data aid in the interpretation of silvicultural and other biological research, particularly the relationships of climatological variations to forest growth and...

NOAA Weather Radio - Station Listing

Science.gov Websites

Programación Español Listado de estación Explicacion de SAME Coverage Station Listing County Listing Outages FAQ NWR - Special Needs ESPAÑOL Español Condado de cobertura Listado de estación Lista de Emisora y Cobertura Acerca de NWR ESTACIONES NACIONAL Información General Información Para el consumidor

NOAA Weather Radio - Station Search

Science.gov Websites

Programación Español Listado de estación Explicacion de SAME Coverage Station Listing County Listing estación Lista de Emisora y Cobertura Acerca de NWR ESTACIONES NACIONAL Información General Información Para el consumidor receptor NWR Recepción Explicacion de NWR SAME Programación en Español NOAA

NextGen Weather Plan, Version 1.1

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-09-17

values of weather parameters at a station or over an area. In this paper, we often refer to aeronautical climatology, which is the application of the data...Joint Planning and Development Office NEXTGEN Weather Plan Version 1.1 Version 1.1 i September 17, 2009 Report Documentation Page Form...COVERED 00-00-2009 to 00-00-2009 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE NextGen Weather Plan 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6

Using fire-weather forecasts and local weather observations in predicting burning index for individual fire-danger stations.

Treesearch

Owen P. Cramer

1958-01-01

Any agency engaged in forest-fire control needs accurate weather forecasts and systematic procedures for making the best use of predicted and reported weather information. This study explores the practicability of using several tabular and graphical aids for converting area forecasts and local observations of relative humidity and wind speed into predicted values for...

Magnetically coupled resonance wireless charging technology principles and transfer mechanisms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Jiehua; Wan, Jian; Ma, Yinping

2017-05-01

With the tenure of Electric-Vehicle rising around the world, the charging methods have been paid more and more attention, the current charging mode mainly has the charging posts and battery swapping station. The construction of the charging pile or battery swapping station not only require lots of manpower, material costs but the bare conductor is also easy to generate electric spark hidden safety problems, still occupies large space. Compared with the wired charging, wireless charging mode is flexible, unlimited space and location factors and charging for vehicle safety and quickly. It complements the traditional charging methods in adaptability and the independent charge deficiencies. So the researching the wireless charging system have an important practical significance and application value. In this paper, wireless charging system designed is divided into three parts: the primary side, secondary side and resonant coupling. The main function of the primary side is to generate high-frequency alternating current, so selecting CLASS-E amplifier inverter structure through the research on full bridge, half-bridge and power amplification circuit. Addition, the wireless charging system is susceptible to outside interference, frequency drift phenomenon. Combined with the wireless energy transmission characteristics, resonant parts adopt resonant coupling energy transmission scheme and the Series-Series coupling compensation structure. For the electric vehicle charging power and voltage requirements, the main circuit is a full bridge inverter and Boost circuit used as the secondary side.

Two-Step Fair Scheduling of Continuous Media Streams over Error-Prone Wireless Channels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oh, Soohyun; Lee, Jin Wook; Park, Taejoon; Jo, Tae-Chang

In wireless cellular networks, streaming of continuous media (with strict QoS requirements) over wireless links is challenging due to their inherent unreliability characterized by location-dependent, bursty errors. To address this challenge, we present a two-step scheduling algorithm for a base station to provide streaming of continuous media to wireless clients over the error-prone wireless links. The proposed algorithm is capable of minimizing the packet loss rate of individual clients in the presence of error bursts, by transmitting packets in the round-robin manner and also adopting a mechanism for channel prediction and swapping.

Wireless optical network for a home network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bouchet, Olivier; Porcon, Pascal; Walewski, Joachim W.; Nerreter, Stefan; Langer, Klaus-Dieter; Fernández, Luz; Vucic, Jelena; Kamalakis, Thomas; Ntogari, Georgia; Neokosmidis, Ioannis; Gueutier, Eric

2010-08-01

During the European collaborative project OMEGA, two optical-wireless prototypes have been developed. The first prototype operates in the near-infrared spectral region and features Giga Ethernet connectivity, a simple transceiver architecture due to the use of on-off keying, a multi-sector transceiver, and an ultra-fast switch for sector-to-sector hand over. This full-duplex system, composed by one base station and one module, transmits data on three meters. The second prototype is a visible-light-communications system based on DMT signal processing and an adapted MAC sublayer. Data rates around to 100 Mb/s at the physical layer are achieved. This broadcast system, composed also by one base station and one module, transmits data up to two meters. In this paper we present the adapted optical wireless media-access-control sublayer protocol for visible-light communications. This protocol accommodates link adaptation from 128 Mb/s to 1024 Mb/s with multi-sector coverage, and half-duplex or full-duplex transmission.

46 CFR 154.320 - Cargo control stations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... Arrangements § 154.320 Cargo control stations. (a) Cargo control stations must be above the weather deck. (b) If a cargo control station is in accommodation, service, or control spaces or has access to such a space, the station must: (1) Be a gas safe space; (2) Have an access to the space that meets § 154.330...

46 CFR 154.320 - Cargo control stations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... Arrangements § 154.320 Cargo control stations. (a) Cargo control stations must be above the weather deck. (b) If a cargo control station is in accommodation, service, or control spaces or has access to such a space, the station must: (1) Be a gas safe space; (2) Have an access to the space that meets § 154.330...

46 CFR 154.320 - Cargo control stations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... Arrangements § 154.320 Cargo control stations. (a) Cargo control stations must be above the weather deck. (b) If a cargo control station is in accommodation, service, or control spaces or has access to such a space, the station must: (1) Be a gas safe space; (2) Have an access to the space that meets § 154.330...

NASA Bluetooth Wireless Communications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miller, Robert D.

2007-01-01

NASA has been interested in wireless communications for many years, especially when the crew size of the International Space Station (ISS) was reduced to two members. NASA began a study to find ways to improve crew efficiency to make sure the ISS could be maintained with limited crew capacity and still be a valuable research testbed in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO). Currently the ISS audio system requires astronauts to be tethered to the audio system, specifically a device called the Audio Terminal Unit (ATU). Wireless communications would remove the tether and allow astronauts to freely float from experiment to experiment without having to worry about moving and reconnecting the associated cabling or finding the space equivalent of an extension cord. A wireless communication system would also improve safety and reduce system susceptibility to Electromagnetic Interference (EMI). Safety would be improved because a crewmember could quickly escape a fire while maintaining communications with the ground and other crewmembers at any location. In addition, it would allow the crew to overcome the volume limitations of the ISS ATU. This is especially important to the Portable Breathing Apparatus (PBA). The next generation of space vehicles and habitats also demand wireless attention. Orion will carry up to six crewmembers in a relatively small cabin. Yet, wireless could become a driving factor to reduce launch weight and increase habitable volume. Six crewmembers, each tethered to a panel, could result in a wiring mess even in nominal operations. In addition to Orion, research is being conducted to determine if Bluetooth is appropriate for Lunar Habitat applications.

Real-Time Wireless Data Acquisition System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Valencia, Emilio J.; Perotti, Jose; Lucena, Angel; Mata, Carlos

2007-01-01

Current and future aerospace requirements demand the creation of a new breed of sensing devices, with emphasis on reduced weight, power consumption, and physical size. This new generation of sensors must possess a high degree of intelligence to provide critical data efficiently and in real-time. Intelligence will include self-calibration, self-health assessment, and pre-processing of raw data at the sensor level. Most of these features are already incorporated in the Wireless Sensors Network (SensorNet(TradeMark)), developed by the Instrumentation Group at Kennedy Space Center (KSC). A system based on the SensorNet(TradeMark) architecture consists of data collection point(s) called Central Stations (CS) and intelligent sensors called Remote Stations (RS) where one or more CSs can be accommodated depending on the specific application. The CS's major function is to establish communications with the Remote Stations and to poll each RS for data and health information. The CS also collects, stores and distributes these data to the appropriate systems requiring the information. The system has the ability to perform point-to-point, multi-point and relay mode communications with an autonomous self-diagnosis of each communications link. Upon detection of a communication failure, the system automatically reconfigures to establish new communication paths. These communication paths are automatically and autonomously selected as the best paths by the system based on the existing operating environment. The data acquisition system currently under development at KSC consists of the SensorNet(TradeMark) wireless sensors as the remote stations and the central station called the Radio Frequency Health Node (RFHN). The RFF1N is the central station which remotely communicates with the SensorNet(TradeMark) sensors to control them and to receive data. The system's salient feature is the ability to provide deterministic sensor data with accurate time stamps for both time critical and non

Assessing reference evapotranspiration at regional scale based on remote sensing, weather forecast and GIS tools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramírez-Cuesta, J. M.; Cruz-Blanco, M.; Santos, C.; Lorite, I. J.

2017-03-01

Reference evapotranspiration (ETo) is a key component in efficient water management, especially in arid and semi-arid environments. However, accurate ETo assessment at the regional scale is complicated by the limited number of weather stations and the strict requirements in terms of their location and surrounding physical conditions for the collection of valid weather data. In an attempt to overcome this limitation, new approaches based on the use of remote sensing techniques and weather forecast tools have been proposed. Use of the Land Surface Analysis Satellite Application Facility (LSA SAF) tool and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have allowed the design and development of innovative approaches for ETo assessment, which are especially useful for areas lacking available weather data from weather stations. Thus, by identifying the best-performing interpolation approaches (such as the Thin Plate Splines, TPS) and by developing new approaches (such as the use of data from the most similar weather station, TS, or spatially distributed correction factors, CITS), errors as low as 1.1% were achieved for ETo assessment. Spatial and temporal analyses reveal that the generated errors were smaller during spring and summer as well as in homogenous topographic areas. The proposed approaches not only enabled accurate calculations of seasonal and daily ETo values, but also contributed to the development of a useful methodology for evaluating the optimum number of weather stations to be integrated into a weather station network and the appropriateness of their locations. In addition to ETo, other variables included in weather forecast datasets (such as temperature or rainfall) could be evaluated using the same innovative methodology proposed in this study.

Fire weather and large fire potential in the northern Sierra Nevada

Treesearch

Brandon M. Collins

2014-01-01

Fuels, weather, and topography all contribute to observed fire behavior. Of these, weather is not only the most dynamic factor, it is the most likely to be directly influenced by climate change. In this study 40 years of daily fire weather observations from five weather stations across the northern Sierra Nevada were analyzed to investigate potential changes or trends...

47 CFR 1.911 - Station files.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 1 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Station files. 1.911 Section 1.911 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION GENERAL PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE Grants by Random Selection Wireless Radio Services Applications and Proceedings Application Requirements and Procedures § 1.911...

47 CFR 1.911 - Station files.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 1 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Station files. 1.911 Section 1.911 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION GENERAL PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE Grants by Random Selection Wireless Radio Services Applications and Proceedings Application Requirements and Procedures § 1.911...

47 CFR 1.911 - Station files.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 1 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Station files. 1.911 Section 1.911 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION GENERAL PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE Grants by Random Selection Wireless Radio Services Applications and Proceedings Application Requirements and Procedures § 1.911...

Mars Weather-Station Tools on Rover Mast

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-04-13

The Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover includes temperature and humidity sensors mounted on the rover's mast. One of the REMS booms extends to the left from the mast in this view. Spain provided REMS to NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Project. The monitoring station has provided information about air pressure, relative humidity, air temperature, ground temperature, wind and ultraviolet radiation in all Martian seasons and at all times of day or night. This view is a detail from a January 2015 Curiosity self-portrait. The self-portrait, at PIA19142, was assembled from images taken by Curiosity's Mars Hand Lens Imager. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19164

The potential of urban rainfall monitoring with crowdsourced automatic weather stations in Amsterdam

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Vos, Lotte; Leijnse, Hidde; Overeem, Aart; Uijlenhoet, Remko

2017-02-01

The high density of built-up areas and resulting imperviousness of the land surface makes urban areas vulnerable to extreme rainfall, which can lead to considerable damage. In order to design and manage cities to be able to deal with the growing number of extreme rainfall events, rainfall data are required at higher temporal and spatial resolutions than those needed for rural catchments. However, the density of operational rainfall monitoring networks managed by local or national authorities is typically low in urban areas. A growing number of automatic personal weather stations (PWSs) link rainfall measurements to online platforms. Here, we examine the potential of such crowdsourced datasets for obtaining the desired resolution and quality of rainfall measurements for the capital of the Netherlands. Data from 63 stations in Amsterdam (˜ 575 km2) that measure rainfall over at least 4 months in a 17-month period are evaluated. In addition, a detailed assessment is made of three Netatmo stations, the largest contributor to this dataset, in an experimental setup. The sensor performance in the experimental setup and the density of the PWS network are promising. However, features in the online platforms, like rounding and thresholds, cause changes from the original time series, resulting in considerable errors in the datasets obtained. These errors are especially large during low-intensity rainfall, although they can be reduced by accumulating rainfall over longer intervals. Accumulation improves the correlation coefficient with gauge-adjusted radar data from 0.48 at 5 min intervals to 0.60 at hourly intervals. Spatial rainfall correlation functions derived from PWS data show much more small-scale variability than those based on gauge-adjusted radar data and those found in similar research using dedicated rain gauge networks. This can largely be attributed to the noise in the PWS data resulting from both the measurement setup and the processes occurring in the data

LoRa Mobile-To-Base-Station Channel Characterization in the Antarctic.

PubMed

Gaelens, Johnny; Van Torre, Patrick; Verhaevert, Jo; Rogier, Hendrik

2017-08-18

Antarctic conditions demand that wireless sensor nodes are operational all year round and that they provide a large communication range of several tens of kilometers. LoRa technology operating in sub-GHz frequency bands implements these wireless links with minimal power consumption. The employed chirp spread spectrum modulation provides a large link budget, combined with the excellent radio-wave propagation characteristics in these bands. In this paper, an experimental wireless link from a mobile vehicle which transmits sensor data to a base station is measured and analyzed in terms of signal-to-noise ratio and packet loss. These measurements confirm the usefulness of LoRa technology for wireless sensor systems in polar regions. By deploying directional antennas at the base station, a range of up to 30 km is covered in case of Line-of-Sight radio propagation in both the 434 and 868 MHz bands. Varying terrain elevation is shown to be the dominating factor influencing the propagation, sometimes causing the Line-of-Sight path to be obstructed. Tropospheric radio propagation effects were not apparent in the measurements.

LoRa Mobile-To-Base-Station Channel Characterization in the Antarctic

PubMed Central

Gaelens, Johnny; Van Torre, Patrick; Verhaevert, Jo

2017-01-01

Antarctic conditions demand that wireless sensor nodes are operational all year round and that they provide a large communication range of several tens of kilometers. LoRa technology operating in sub-GHz frequency bands implements these wireless links with minimal power consumption. The employed chirp spread spectrum modulation provides a large link budget, combined with the excellent radio-wave propagation characteristics in these bands. In this paper, an experimental wireless link from a mobile vehicle which transmits sensor data to a base station is measured and analyzed in terms of signal-to-noise ratio and packet loss. These measurements confirm the usefulness of LoRa technology for wireless sensor systems in polar regions. By deploying directional antennas at the base station, a range of up to 30 km is covered in case of Line-of-Sight radio propagation in both the 434 and 868 MHz bands. Varying terrain elevation is shown to be the dominating factor influencing the propagation, sometimes causing the Line-of-Sight path to be obstructed. Tropospheric radio propagation effects were not apparent in the measurements. PMID:28820477

Design and implementation of wireless dose logger network for radiological emergency decision support system

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gopalakrishnan, V.; Baskaran, R.; Venkatraman, B.

A decision support system (DSS) is implemented in Radiological Safety Division, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research for providing guidance for emergency decision making in case of an inadvertent nuclear accident. Real time gamma dose rate measurement around the stack is used for estimating the radioactive release rate (source term) by using inverse calculation. Wireless gamma dose logging network is designed, implemented, and installed around the Madras Atomic Power Station reactor stack to continuously acquire the environmental gamma dose rate and the details are presented in the paper. The network uses XBee–Pro wireless modules and PSoC controller for wireless interfacing,more » and the data are logged at the base station. A LabView based program is developed to receive the data, display it on the Google Map, plot the data over the time scale, and register the data in a file to share with DSS software. The DSS at the base station evaluates the real time source term to assess radiation impact.« less

Using stochastic activity networks to study the energy feasibility of automatic weather stations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cassano, Luca; Cesarini, Daniel; Avvenuti, Marco

Automatic Weather Stations (AWSs) are systems equipped with a number of environmental sensors and communication interfaces used to monitor harsh environments, such as glaciers and deserts. Designing such systems is challenging, since designers have to maximize the amount of sampled and transmitted data while considering the energy needs of the system that, in most cases, is powered by rechargeable batteries and exploits energy harvesting, e.g., solar cells and wind turbines. To support designers of AWSs in the definition of the software tasks and of the hardware configuration of the AWS we designed and implemented an energy-aware simulator of such systems.more » The simulator relies on the Stochastic Activity Networks (SANs) formalism and has been developed using the Möbius tool. In this paper we first show how we used the SAN formalism to model the various components of an AWS, we then report results from an experiment carried out to validate the simulator against a real-world AWS and we finally show some examples of usage of the proposed simulator.« less

A comparison of methods for calculating population exposure estimates of daily weather for health research.

PubMed

Hanigan, Ivan; Hall, Gillian; Dear, Keith B G

2006-09-13

To explain the possible effects of exposure to weather conditions on population health outcomes, weather data need to be calculated at a level in space and time that is appropriate for the health data. There are various ways of estimating exposure values from raw data collected at weather stations but the rationale for using one technique rather than another; the significance of the difference in the values obtained; and the effect these have on a research question are factors often not explicitly considered. In this study we compare different techniques for allocating weather data observations to small geographical areas and different options for weighting averages of these observations when calculating estimates of daily precipitation and temperature for Australian Postal Areas. Options that weight observations based on distance from population centroids and population size are more computationally intensive but give estimates that conceptually are more closely related to the experience of the population. Options based on values derived from sites internal to postal areas, or from nearest neighbour sites--that is, using proximity polygons around weather stations intersected with postal areas--tended to include fewer stations' observations in their estimates, and missing values were common. Options based on observations from stations within 50 kilometres radius of centroids and weighting of data by distance from centroids gave more complete estimates. Using the geographic centroid of the postal area gave estimates that differed slightly from the population weighted centroids and the population weighted average of sub-unit estimates. To calculate daily weather exposure values for analysis of health outcome data for small areas, the use of data from weather stations internal to the area only, or from neighbouring weather stations (allocated by the use of proximity polygons), is too limited. The most appropriate method conceptually is the use of weather data from

Wireless remote monitoring of toxic gases in shipbuilding.

PubMed

Pérez-Garrido, Carlos; González-Castaño, Francisco J; Chaves-Díeguez, David; Rodríguez-Hernández, Pedro S

2014-02-14

Large-scale wireless sensor networks have not achieved market impact, so far. Nevertheless, this technology may be applied successfully to small-scale niche markets. Shipyards are hazardous working environments with many potential risks to worker safety. Toxic gases generated in soldering processes in enclosed spaces (e.g., cargo holds) are one such risk. The dynamic environment of a ship under construction makes it very difficult to plan gas detection fixed infrastructures connected to external monitoring stations via wired links. While portable devices with gas level indicators exist, they require workers to monitor measurements, often in situations where they are focused on other tasks for relatively long periods. In this work, we present a wireless multihop remote gas monitoring system for shipyard environments that has been tested in a real ship under construction. Using this system, we validate IEEE 802.15.4/Zigbee wireless networks as a suitable technology to connect gas detectors to control stations outside the ships. These networks have the added benefit that they reconfigure themselves dynamically in case of network failure or redeployment, for example when a relay is moved to a new location. Performance measurements include round trip time (which determines the alert response time for safety teams) and link quality indicator and packet error rate (which determine communication robustness).

Weather applications and products enabled through vehicle infrastructure integration (VII) : feasibility and concept development study

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2007-01-01

Vehicle Infrastructure Integration (VII) involves the two-way wireless transmission of data from vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure utilizing Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC). VII will enable the development of weather-relate...

Development of Arduino based wireless control system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Zhuoxiong; Dyke, Shirley J.; Pena, Francisco; Wilbee, Alana

2015-03-01

Over the past few decades, considerable attention has been given to structural control systems to mitigate structural vibration under natural hazards such as earthquakes and extreme weather conditions. Traditional wired structural control systems often employ a large amount of cables for communication among sensors, controllers and actuators. In such systems, implementation of wired sensors is usually quite complicated and expensive, especially on large scale structures such as bridges and buildings. To reduce the laborious installation and maintenance cost, wireless control systems (WCSs) are considered as a novel approach for structural vibration control. In this work, a WCS is developed based on the open source Arduino platform. Low cost, low power wireless sensing and communication components are built on the Arduino platform. Structural control algorithms are embedded within the wireless sensor board for feedback control. The developed WCS is first validated through a series of tests. Next, numerical simulations are performed simulating wireless control of a 3-story shear structure equipped with a semi-active control device (MR damper). Finally, experimental studies are carried out implementing the WCS on the 3-story shear structure in the Intelligent Infrastructure Systems Lab (IISL). A hydraulic shake table is used to generate seismic ground motions. The control performance is evaluated with the impact of modeling uncertainties, measurement noises as well as time delay and data loss induced by the wireless network. The developed WCS is shown to be effective in controlling structural vibrations under several historical earthquake ground motions.

Performance Evaluation of Hyperbolic Position Location Technique in Cellular Wireless Networks

DTIC Science & Technology

2002-03-13

number of applications called location - based services which can be defined as value added services that utilize the knowledge of the mobile user’s... Location based services “4-1-1”, location specific information such as local weather, mobile yellow pages, etc. and • Mobile e-commerce, wireless

Using crowdsourced data from citizen weather stations to analyse air temperature in 'local climate zones' in Berlin, Germany

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fenner, Daniel; Meier, Fred; Bechtel, Benjamin; Otto, Marco; Scherer, Dieter

2017-04-01

Provision of observational data with high spatial coverage over extended time periods still remains as one of the biggest challenges in urban climate research. Classical meteorological networks are seldomly designed to monitor atmospheric conditions in a broad variety of urban environments, though the heterogeneity of urban structures leads to distinct thermal characteristics on local scales, i.e., hundreds of metres to several kilometres. One approach to overcome the aforementioned challenges of observation networks is to use data from weather stations that are maintained by citizens. The private company 'netatmo' (www.netatmo.com) produces and distributes such citizen weather stations (CWS) around the world. The stations automatically send their data to the netatmo server, and the user decides if data are publicly shared. Shared data can freely be retrieved via an application programming interface. We collected air temperature (T) data for the year 2015 for the city of Berlin, Germany, and surroundings with more than 1500 'netatmo' CWS in the study area. The entire data set was thoroughly quality checked, and filter techniques, involving data from a reference network, were developed to address different types of errors associated with CWS data. Additionally, the accuracy of 'netatmo' CWS was checked in a climate chamber and in a long-term field experiment. Since the terms 'urban' and 'rural' are ambiguous in urban climate studies, Stewart and Oke (2012) developed the 'local climate zone' (LCZ) concept to enhance understanding and interpretation of air temperature differences in urban regions. LCZ classification for the study region was conducted using the 'WUDAPT' approach by Bechtel et al. (2015). The quality-checked CWS data were used to analyse T characteristics of LCZ classes in Berlin and surroundings. Specifically, we analysed how LCZ classes are represented by CWS in 2015, how T varies within each LCZ class ('intra-LCZ variability'), and if significant

Analysis of mobile fronthaul bandwidth and wireless transmission performance in split-PHY processing architecture.

PubMed

Miyamoto, Kenji; Kuwano, Shigeru; Terada, Jun; Otaka, Akihiro

2016-01-25

We analyze the mobile fronthaul (MFH) bandwidth and the wireless transmission performance in the split-PHY processing (SPP) architecture, which redefines the functional split of centralized/cloud RAN (C-RAN) while preserving high wireless coordinated multi-point (CoMP) transmission/reception performance. The SPP architecture splits the base stations (BS) functions between wireless channel coding/decoding and wireless modulation/demodulation, and employs its own CoMP joint transmission and reception schemes. Simulation results show that the SPP architecture reduces the MFH bandwidth by up to 97% from conventional C-RAN while matching the wireless bit error rate (BER) performance of conventional C-RAN in uplink joint reception with only 2-dB signal to noise ratio (SNR) penalty.

78 FR 28749 - Private Land Mobile Radio Stations Below 800 MHz

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-05-16

... private land mobile radio (PLMR) licensing, including increasing the power limit for end-of-train devices, modifying trunking rules for PLMR stations below 800 MHz, and permitting digital transmission of station... provide clear and concise rules that facilitate new wireless technologies, devices and services, and are...

Final report on the portable weather station.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2010-03-01

This station was required to have air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and direction, and : pavement temperature sensors of similar quality to the traditional RWIS sensors, have an integrated solar : powered battery system, and be trailer...

Validation of Remote Sensing Retrieval Products using Data from a Wireless Sensor-Based Online Monitoring in Antarctica.

PubMed

Li, Xiuhong; Cheng, Xiao; Yang, Rongjin; Liu, Qiang; Qiu, Yubao; Zhang, Jialin; Cai, Erli; Zhao, Long

2016-11-17

Of the modern technologies in polar-region monitoring, the remote sensing technology that can instantaneously form large-scale images has become much more important in helping acquire parameters such as the freezing and melting of ice as well as the surface temperature, which can be used in the research of global climate change, Antarctic ice sheet responses, and cap formation and evolution. However, the acquirement of those parameters is impacted remarkably by the climate and satellite transit time which makes it almost impossible to have timely and continuous observation data. In this research, a wireless sensor-based online monitoring platform (WSOOP) for the extreme polar environment is applied to obtain a long-term series of data which is site-specific and continuous in time. Those data are compared and validated with the data from a weather station at Zhongshan Station Antarctica and the result shows an obvious correlation. Then those data are used to validate the remote sensing products of the freezing and melting of ice and the surface temperature and the result also indicated a similar correlation. The experiment in Antarctica has proven that WSOOP is an effective system to validate remotely sensed data in the polar region.

Forecast and virtual weather driven plant disease risk modeling system

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

We describe a system in use and development that leverages public weather station data, several spatialized weather forecast types, leaf wetness estimation, generic plant disease models, and online statistical evaluation. Convergent technological developments in all these areas allow, with funding f...

Weather records at lookout stations in northern Idaho

Treesearch

J. A. Larsen

1922-01-01

Records which furnish information regarding weather conditions on mountains have alwavs been of interest to the public and to scientists. To the United States Forest Service these are of great use in constructing the ground work for better forest fire protection. Students of climate, botany, ecology, and animal life are always eager for such data.

Impact of derived global weather data on simulated crop yields

PubMed Central

van Wart, Justin; Grassini, Patricio; Cassman, Kenneth G

2013-01-01

Crop simulation models can be used to estimate impact of current and future climates on crop yields and food security, but require long-term historical daily weather data to obtain robust simulations. In many regions where crops are grown, daily weather data are not available. Alternatively, gridded weather databases (GWD) with complete terrestrial coverage are available, typically derived from: (i) global circulation computer models; (ii) interpolated weather station data; or (iii) remotely sensed surface data from satellites. The present study's objective is to evaluate capacity of GWDs to simulate crop yield potential (Yp) or water-limited yield potential (Yw), which can serve as benchmarks to assess impact of climate change scenarios on crop productivity and land use change. Three GWDs (CRU, NCEP/DOE, and NASA POWER data) were evaluated for their ability to simulate Yp and Yw of rice in China, USA maize, and wheat in Germany. Simulations of Yp and Yw based on recorded daily data from well-maintained weather stations were taken as the control weather data (CWD). Agreement between simulations of Yp or Yw based on CWD and those based on GWD was poor with the latter having strong bias and large root mean square errors (RMSEs) that were 26–72% of absolute mean yield across locations and years. In contrast, simulated Yp or Yw using observed daily weather data from stations in the NOAA database combined with solar radiation from the NASA-POWER database were in much better agreement with Yp and Yw simulated with CWD (i.e. little bias and an RMSE of 12–19% of the absolute mean). We conclude that results from studies that rely on GWD to simulate agricultural productivity in current and future climates are highly uncertain. An alternative approach would impose a climate scenario on location-specific observed daily weather databases combined with an appropriate upscaling method. PMID:23801639

Earth Observation Services Weather Imaging

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1992-01-01

Microprocessor-based systems for processing satellite data offer mariners real-time images of weather systems, day and night, of large areas or allow them to zoom in on a few square miles. Systems West markets these commercial image processing systems, which have significantly decreased the cost of satellite weather stations. The company was assisted by the EOCAP program, which provides government co-funding to encourage private investment in, and to broaden the use of, NASA-developed technology for analyzing information about Earth and ocean resources.

Web Information Systems for Monitoring and Control of Indoor Air Quality at Subway Stations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choi, Gi Heung; Choi, Gi Sang; Jang, Joo Hyoung

In crowded subway stations indoor air quality (IAQ) is a key factor for ensuring the safety, health and comfort of passengers. In this study, a framework for web-based information system in VDN environment for monitoring and control of IAQ in subway stations is suggested. Since physical variables that describing IAQ need to be closely monitored and controlled in multiple locations in subway stations, concept of distributed monitoring and control network using wireless media needs to be implemented. Connecting remote wireless sensor network and device (LonWorks) networks to the IP network based on the concept of VDN can provide a powerful, integrated, distributed monitoring and control performance, making a web-based information system possible.

STA Flying Weather Reconnaissance / STS-134 Mission

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-06-01

STS134-S-067 (1 June 2011) --- Astronaut Rick Sturckow flies weather reconnaissance in a Shuttle Training Aircraft over NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to assess conditions before space shuttle Endeavour returns to Earth for the final time. Weather was observed "go" and Endeavour glided to a stop on the Shuttle Landing Facility's Runway 15 at 2:35 a.m. EDT, bringing an end to the STS-134 mission. STS-134 delivered the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2 (AMS) and the Express Logistics Carrier-3 (ELC-3) to the International Space Station. AMS will help researchers understand the origin of the universe and search for evidence of dark matter, strange matter and antimatter from the station. ELC-3 carried spare parts that will sustain station operations once the shuttles are retired from service. STS-134 was the 25th and final flight for Endeavour, which has spent 299 days in space, orbited Earth 4,671 times and traveled 122,883,151 miles. Photo credit: NASA

Characterizing Multiple Wireless Sensor Networks for Large-Scale Radio Tomography

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-03-01

with other transceivers over a wireless frequency. A base station transceiver collects the information and processes the information into something...or most other obstructions in between the two links [4]. A base station transceiver is connected to a processing computer to collect the RSS of each... transceivers at four different heights to create a Three-Dimensional (3-D) RTI network. Using shadowing- based RTI, this research demonstrated that RTI

Thermoelectric generator installation at Divide Road Weather Information Systems (RWIS).

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-04-13

The Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT&PF) has a network of Road Weather Information System (RWIS) environmental sensor stations (ESS) deployed along the road network. Six of the stations do not have access to commercial power an...

An Automatic Weather Station Network for Low-Altitude Wind Shear Investigations

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-09-18

information exchange. The United States Government assumes no liability for its contents or use thereof. 4 . ... . . . . . . . . . . . ... ° TECHNICAL REPORT...technical issues asso- ciated with unique FAA needs for weather information used by pilots, air traffic controllers and meteorologists. The weather radar...warnings be free of false alarms and be issued in a timely manner. During the summer of 1983, Lincoln began a long term study that places emphasis on

WegenerNet climate station network region Feldbach/Austria: From local measurements to weather and climate data products at 1 km-scale resolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kabas, T.; Leuprecht, A.; Bichler, C.; Kirchengast, G.

2010-12-01

South-eastern Austria is characteristic for experiencing a rich variety of weather and climate patterns. For this reason, the county of Feldbach was selected by the Wegener Center as a focus area for a pioneering observation experiment at very high resolution: The WegenerNet climate station network (in brief WegenerNet) comprises 151 meteorological stations within an area of about 20 km × 15 km (~ 1.4 km × 1.4 km station grid). All stations measure the main parameters temperature, humidity and precipitation with 5 minute sampling. Selected further stations include measurements of wind speed and direction completed by soil parameters as well as air pressure and net radiation. The collected data is integrated in an automatic processing system including data transfer, quality control, product generation, and visualization. Each station is equipped with an internet-attached data logger and the measurements are transferred as binary files via GPRS to the WegenerNet server in 1 hour intervals. The incoming raw data files of measured parameters as well as several operating values of the data logger are stored in a relational database (PostgreSQL). Next, the raw data pass the Quality Control System (QCS) in which the data are checked for its technical and physical plausibility (e.g., sensor specifications, temporal and spatial variability). In consideration of the data quality (quality flag), the Data Product Generator (DPG) results in weather and climate data products on various temporal scales (from 5 min to annual) for single stations and regular grids. Gridded data are derived by vertical scaling and squared inverse distance interpolation (1 km × 1 km and 0.01° × 0.01° grids). Both subsystems (QCS and DPG) are realized by the programming language Python. For application purposes the resulting data products are available via the bi-lingual (dt, en) WegenerNet data portal (www.wegenernet.org). At this time, the main interface is still online in a system in which

Wireless Remote Monitoring of Toxic Gases in Shipbuilding

PubMed Central

Pérez-Garrido, Carlos; González-Castaño, Francisco J.; Chaves-Diéguez, David; Rodríguez-Hernández, Pedro S.

2014-01-01

Large-scale wireless sensor networks have not achieved market impact, so far. Nevertheless, this technology may be applied successfully to small-scale niche markets. Shipyards are hazardous working environments with many potential risks to worker safety. Toxic gases generated in soldering processes in enclosed spaces (e.g., cargo holds) are one such risk. The dynamic environment of a ship under construction makes it very difficult to plan gas detection fixed infrastructures connected to external monitoring stations via wired links. While portable devices with gas level indicators exist, they require workers to monitor measurements, often in situations where they are focused on other tasks for relatively long periods. In this work, we present a wireless multihop remote gas monitoring system for shipyard environments that has been tested in a real ship under construction. Using this system, we validate IEEE 802.15.4/Zigbee wireless networks as a suitable technology to connect gas detectors to control stations outside the ships. These networks have the added benefit that they reconfigure themselves dynamically in case of network failure or redeployment, for example when a relay is moved to a new location. Performance measurements include round trip time (which determines the alert response time for safety teams) and link quality indicator and packet error rate (which determine communication robustness). PMID:24534919

Emulation Platform for Cyber Analysis of Wireless Communication Network Protocols

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Van Leeuwen, Brian P.; Eldridge, John M.

Wireless networking and mobile communications is increasing around the world and in all sectors of our lives. With increasing use, the density and complexity of the systems increase with more base stations and advanced protocols to enable higher data throughputs. The security of data transported over wireless networks must also evolve with the advances in technologies enabling more capable wireless networks. However, means for analysis of the effectiveness of security approaches and implementations used on wireless networks are lacking. More specifically a capability to analyze the lower-layer protocols (i.e., Link and Physical layers) is a major challenge. An analysis approachmore » that incorporates protocol implementations without the need for RF emissions is necessary. In this research paper several emulation tools and custom extensions that enable an analysis platform to perform cyber security analysis of lower layer wireless networks is presented. A use case of a published exploit in the 802.11 (i.e., WiFi) protocol family is provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the described emulation platform.« less

Linking Space Weather Science and Decision Making (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fisher, G. M.

2009-12-01

Linking scientific knowledge to decision making is a challenge for both the science and policy communities. In particular, in the field of space weather, there are unique challenges such as decision makers may not know that space has weather that poses risks to our technologically-dependent economy. Additionally, in an era of limited funds for scientific research, hazards posed by other natural disasters such as flooding and earthquakes are by contrast well known to policy makers, further making the importance of space weather research and monitoring a tough sell. Today, with industries and individuals more dependent on the Global Positioning System, wireless technology, and satellites than ever before, any disruption or inaccuracy can result in severe economic impacts. Therefore, it is highly important to understand how space weather science can most benefit society. The key to connecting research to decision making is to ensure that the information is salient, credible, and legitimate. To achieve this, scientists need to understand the decision makers' perspectives, including their language and culture, and recognize that their needs may evolve. This presentation will take a closer look at the steps required to make space weather research, models, and forecasts useful to decision makers and ultimately, benefit society.

WEB - A Wireless Experiment Box for the Dextre Pointing Package ELC Payload

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bleier, Leor Z.; Marrero-Fontanez, Victor J.; Sparacino, Pietro A.; Moreau, Michael C.; Mitchell, Jason William

2012-01-01

The Wireless Experiment Box (WEB) was proposed to work with the International Space Station (ISS) External Wireless Communication (EWC) system to support high-definition video from the Dextre Pointing Package (DPP). DPP/WEB was a NASA GSFC proposed ExPRESS Logistics Carrier (ELC) payload designed to flight test an integrated suite of Autonomous Rendezvous and Docking (AR&D) technologies to enable a wide spectrum of future missions across NASA and other US Government agencies. The ISS EWC uses COTS Wireless Access Points (WAPs) to provide high-rate bi-directional communications to ISS. In this paper, we discuss WEB s packaging, operation, antenna development, and performance testing.

Web: A Wireless Experiment Box for the Dextre Pointing Package ELC Payload

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bleier, Leor Z.; Marrero-Fontanez, Victor J.; Sparacino, Pietro A.; Moreau, Michael C.; Mitchell, Jason W.

2012-01-01

The Wireless Experiment Box (WEB) was proposed to work with the International Space Station (ISS) External Wireless Communication (EWC) system to support high-definition video from the Dextre Pointing Package (DPP). DPP/WEB was a NASA GSFC proposed ExPRESS Logistics Carrier (ELC) payload designed to flight test an integrated suite of Autonomous Rendezvous and Docking (AR&D) technologies to enable a wide spectrum of future missions across NASA and other US Government agencies. The ISS EWC uses COTS Wireless Access Points (WAPs) to provide high-rate bi-directional communications to ISS. In this paper, we discuss WEB s packaging, operation, antenna development, and performance testing.

A synchronization method for wireless acquisition systems, application to brain computer interfaces.

PubMed

Foerster, M; Bonnet, S; van Langhenhove, A; Porcherot, J; Charvet, G

2013-01-01

A synchronization method for wireless acquisition systems has been developed and implemented on a wireless ECoG recording implant and on a wireless EEG recording helmet. The presented algorithm and hardware implementation allow the precise synchronization of several data streams from several sensor nodes for applications where timing is critical like in event-related potential (ERP) studies. The proposed method has been successfully applied to obtain visual evoked potentials and compared with a reference biosignal amplifier. The control over the exact sampling frequency allows reducing synchronization errors that will otherwise accumulate during a recording. The method is scalable to several sensor nodes communicating with a shared base station.

International Space Station Future Correlation Analysis Improvements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Laible, Michael R.; Pinnamaneni, Murthy; Sugavanam, Sujatha; Grygier, Michael

2018-01-01

Ongoing modal analyses and model correlation are performed on different configurations of the International Space Station (ISS). These analyses utilize on-orbit dynamic measurements collected using four main ISS instrumentation systems: External Wireless Instrumentation System (EWIS), Internal Wireless Instrumentation System (IWIS), Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS), and Structural Dynamic Measurement System (SDMS). Remote Sensor Units (RSUs) are network relay stations that acquire flight data from sensors. Measured data is stored in the Remote Sensor Unit (RSU) until it receives a command to download data via RF to the Network Control Unit (NCU). Since each RSU has its own clock, it is necessary to synchronize measurements before analysis. Imprecise synchronization impacts analysis results. A study was performed to evaluate three different synchronization techniques: (i) measurements visually aligned to analytical time-response data using model comparison, (ii) Frequency Domain Decomposition (FDD), and (iii) lag from cross-correlation to align measurements. This paper presents the results of this study.

Exploitation of Multi-beam Directional Antennas for a Wireless TDMA/FDD MAC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Atmaca, Sedat; Ceken, Celal; Erturk, Ismail

2008-05-01

The effects of the multi-beam directional antennas on the performance of a new wireless TDMA/FDD MAC system are presented. Directional antennas intrinsically enable development of the SDMA systems and allow transmitting and receiving signals simultaneously at the same time slot. Employing a dynamic slot allocation table at a base station with 4 or 8 sector directional antennas and holding the wireless terminals' location information, a new SDMA/TDMA/FDD frame structure has been developed for wireless communications. The simulation studies realized using OPNET Modeler show that the proposed SDMA/TDMA/FDD system has substantially increased the traditional TDMA/FDD system capacity and provides 1.37 to 4 times better mean delay results when the number of users is increased from 4 to 32 under the same load in the wireless network models.

Interactive computation of coverage regions for indoor wireless communication

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abbott, A. Lynn; Bhat, Nitin; Rappaport, Theodore S.

1995-12-01

This paper describes a system which assists in the strategic placement of rf base stations within buildings. Known as the site modeling tool (SMT), this system allows the user to display graphical floor plans and to select base station transceiver parameters, including location and orientation, interactively. The system then computes and highlights estimated coverage regions for each transceiver, enabling the user to assess the total coverage within the building. For single-floor operation, the user can choose between distance-dependent and partition- dependent path-loss models. Similar path-loss models are also available for the case of multiple floors. This paper describes the method used by the system to estimate coverage for both directional and omnidirectional antennas. The site modeling tool is intended to be simple to use by individuals who are not experts at wireless communication system design, and is expected to be very useful in the specification of indoor wireless systems.

Wireless Phone Threat Assessment for Aircraft Communication and Navigation Radios

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nguyens, T. X.; Koppen, S. V.; Smith, L. J.; Williams, R. A.; Salud, M. T.

2005-01-01

Emissions in aircraft communication and navigation bands are measured for the latest generation of wireless phones. The two wireless technologies considered, GSM/GPRS and CDMA2000, are the latest available to general consumers in the U.S. A base-station simulator is used to control the phones. The measurements are conducted using reverberation chambers, and the results are compared against FCC and aircraft installed equipment emission limits. The results are also compared against baseline emissions from laptop computers and personal digital assistant devices that are currently allowed to operate on aircraft.

Ecosystem behavior at Bermuda Station [open quotes]S[close quotes] and ocean weather station [open quotes]India[close quotes]: A general circulation model and observational analysis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fasham, M.J.R.; Sarmiento, J.L.; Slater, R.D.

1993-06-01

One important theme of modern biological oceanography has been the attempt to develop models of how the marine ecosystem responds to variations in the physical forcing functions such as solar radiation and the wind field. The authors have addressed the problem by embedding simple ecosystem models into a seasonally forced three-dimensional general circulation model of the North Atlantic ocean. In this paper first, some of the underlying biological assumptions of the ecosystem model are presented, followed by an analysis of how well the model predicts the seasonal cycle of the biological variables at Bermuda Station s' and Ocean Weather Stationmore » India. The model gives a good overall fit to the observations but does not faithfully model the whole seasonal ecosystem model. 57 refs., 25 figs., 5 tabs.« less

Study of Spatial Variability of Air Temperature by Means of Remote Sensing Data and Weather Stations in Urban Areas: A Case Study for Campinas - São Paulo, Brazil.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bezerra, L. M.; Avila, A. M. H. D.; Pereira, V. R.; Gonçalves, R. R. D. V.; Coltri, P. P.

2016-12-01

The surface meteorological and satellite Landsat8 data time series the city of Campinas, southeastern Brazil, has shown the rising temperatures in recent decades. According to scientific studies, part of this increase may be related to the urban sprawl of the city that currently has degree urbanization 98.28% and 1,164,098 inhabitants. Thus, the thermal images can represent reliable information of the surface temperature and this varies according to the land use and land cover. Therefore, were used 17 images of TIRS sensor (Thermal Infrared Sensor), band 10 and spatial resolution of 100 meters aboard satellite Landsat8 between 2013 and 2015 and temperature data from three meteorological stations of the city in different locations. After, was used the Pearson correlation between the measured weather data under 1.5 meters above ground level and surface temperature data estimated by satellite with a real difference 1 hour to less between stations and the satellite. The results indicated the 49% correlation in University of Campinas / Cepagri station, 86% in the Agronomic Institute of Campinas station and 90% in the Viracopos International Airport. This fact can be explained by the different degrees of urbanization where the weather stations are located and the heterogeneous characteristics of the local surface, as its roughness, impermeability, vegetation cover and concentration of buildings. Although these factors contribute to that there is a distortion of the surface temperature values detected by the satellite, the satellite was Landsat8 efficient to represent the spatial variability of temperature. In future studies, new techniques to obtain more accurate data through remote sensing will be studied.

Impact of derived global weather data on simulated crop yields.

PubMed

van Wart, Justin; Grassini, Patricio; Cassman, Kenneth G

2013-12-01

Crop simulation models can be used to estimate impact of current and future climates on crop yields and food security, but require long-term historical daily weather data to obtain robust simulations. In many regions where crops are grown, daily weather data are not available. Alternatively, gridded weather databases (GWD) with complete terrestrial coverage are available, typically derived from: (i) global circulation computer models; (ii) interpolated weather station data; or (iii) remotely sensed surface data from satellites. The present study's objective is to evaluate capacity of GWDs to simulate crop yield potential (Yp) or water-limited yield potential (Yw), which can serve as benchmarks to assess impact of climate change scenarios on crop productivity and land use change. Three GWDs (CRU, NCEP/DOE, and NASA POWER data) were evaluated for their ability to simulate Yp and Yw of rice in China, USA maize, and wheat in Germany. Simulations of Yp and Yw based on recorded daily data from well-maintained weather stations were taken as the control weather data (CWD). Agreement between simulations of Yp or Yw based on CWD and those based on GWD was poor with the latter having strong bias and large root mean square errors (RMSEs) that were 26-72% of absolute mean yield across locations and years. In contrast, simulated Yp or Yw using observed daily weather data from stations in the NOAA database combined with solar radiation from the NASA-POWER database were in much better agreement with Yp and Yw simulated with CWD (i.e. little bias and an RMSE of 12-19% of the absolute mean). We conclude that results from studies that rely on GWD to simulate agricultural productivity in current and future climates are highly uncertain. An alternative approach would impose a climate scenario on location-specific observed daily weather databases combined with an appropriate upscaling method. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Lessons in weather data interoperability: the National Mesonet Program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Evans, J. D.; Werner, B.; Cogar, C.; Heppner, P.

2015-12-01

The National Mesonet Program (NMP) links local, state, and regional surface weather observation networks (a.k.a. mesonets) to enhance the prediction of high-impact, local-scale weather events. A consortium of 23 (and counting) private firms, state agencies, and universities provides near-real-time observations from over 7,000 fixed weather stations, and over 1,000 vehicle-mounted sensors, every 15 minutes or less, together with the detailed sensor and station metadata required for effective forecasts and decision-making. In order to integrate these weather observations across the United States, and to provide full details about sensors, stations, and observations, the NMP has defined a set of conventions for observational data and sensor metadata. These conventions address the needs of users with limited bandwidth and computing resources, while also anticipating a growing variety of sensors and observations. For disseminating weather observation data, the NMP currently employs a simple ASCII format derived from the Integrated Ocean Observing System. This simplifies data ingest into common desktop software, and parsing by simple scripts; and it directly supports basic readings of temperature, pressure, etc. By extending the format to vector-valued observations, it can also convey readings taken at different altitudes (e.g. windspeed) or depths (e.g., soil moisture). Extending beyond these observations to fit a greater variety of sensors (solar irradiation, sodar, radar, lidar) may require further extensions, or a move to more complex formats (e.g., based on XML or JSON). We will discuss the tradeoffs of various conventions for different users and use cases. To convey sensor and station metadata, the NMP uses a convention known as Starfish Fungus Language (*FL), derived from the Open Geospatial Consortium's SensorML standard. *FL separates static and dynamic elements of a sensor description, allowing for relatively compact expressions that reference a library of

Severe Weather Forecast Decision Aid

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bauman, William H., III; Wheeler, Mark

2005-01-01

The Applied Meteorology Unit developed a forecast tool that provides an assessment of the likelihood of local convective severe weather for the day in order to enhance protection of personnel and material assets of the 45th Space Wing Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS), and Kennedy Space Center (KSC).

Test of wind predictions for peak fire-danger stations in Oregon and Washington.

Treesearch

Owen P. Cramer

1957-01-01

Relative accuracy of several wind-speed forecasting methods was tested during the forest fire seasons of 1950 and 1951. For the study, three fire-weather forecast centers of the U. S. Weather Bureau prepared individual station forecasts for 11 peak stations within the national. forests of Oregon and Washington. These spot forecasts were considered...

Comparison between AVHRR surface temperature data and in-situ weather station temperatures over the Greenland Ice Sheet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rezvanbehbahani, S.; Csatho, B. M.; Comiso, J. C.; Babonis, G. S.

2011-12-01

Advanced Very-High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) images have been exhaustively used to measure surface temperature time series of the Greenland Ice sheet. The purpose of this study is to assess the accuracy of monthly average ice sheet surface temperatures, derived from thermal infrared AVHRR satellite imagery on a 6.25 km grid. In-situ temperature data sets are from the Greenland Collection Network (GC-Net). GC-Net stations comprise sensors monitoring air temperature at 1 and 2 meter above the snow surface, gathered at every 60 seconds and monthly averaged to match the AVHRR temporal resolution. Our preliminary results confirm the good agreement between satellite and in-situ temperature measurements reported by previous studies. However, some large discrepancies still exist. While AVHRR provides ice surface temperature, in-situ stations measure air temperatures at different elevations above the snow surface. Since most in-situ data on ice sheets are collected by Automatic Weather Station (AWS) instruments, it is important to characterize the difference between surface and air temperatures. Therefore, we compared and analyzed average monthly AVHRR ice surface temperatures using data collected in 2002. Differences between these temperatures correlate with in-situ temperatures and GC-Net station elevations, with increasing differences at lower elevations and higher temperatures. The Summit Station (3199 m above sea level) and the Swiss Camp (1176 m above sea level) results were compared as high altitude and low altitude stations for 2002, respectively. Our results show that AVHRR derived temperatures were 0.5°K warmer than AWS temperature at the Summit Station, while this difference was 2.8°K in the opposite direction for the Swiss Camp with surface temperatures being lower than air temperatures. The positive bias of 0.5°K at the high altitude Summit Station (surface warmer than air) is within the retrieval error of AVHRR temperatures and might be in part due to

Identifying crash-prone traffic conditions under different weather on freeways.

PubMed

Xu, Chengcheng; Wang, Wei; Liu, Pan

2013-09-01

Understanding the relationships between traffic flow characteristics and crash risk under adverse weather conditions will help highway agencies develop proactive safety management strategies to improve traffic safety in adverse weather conditions. The primary objective is to develop separate crash risk prediction models for different weather conditions. The crash data, weather data, and traffic data used in this study were collected on the I-880N freeway in California in 2008 and 2010. This study considered three different weather conditions: clear weather, rainy weather, and reduced visibility weather. The preliminary analysis showed that there was some heterogeneity in the risk estimates for traffic flow characteristics by weather conditions, and that the crash risk prediction model for all weather conditions cannot capture the impacts of the traffic flow variables on crash risk under adverse weather conditions. The Bayesian random intercept logistic regression models were applied to link the likelihood of crash occurrence with various traffic flow characteristics under different weather conditions. The crash risk prediction models were compared to their corresponding logistic regression model. It was found that the random intercept model improved the goodness-of-fit of the crash risk prediction models. The model estimation results showed that the traffic flow characteristics contributing to crash risk were different across different weather conditions. The speed difference between upstream and downstream stations was found to be significant in each crash risk prediction model. Speed difference between upstream and downstream stations had the largest impact on crash risk in reduced visibility weather, followed by that in rainy weather. The ROC curves were further developed to evaluate the predictive performance of the crash risk prediction models under different weather conditions. The predictive performance of the crash risk model for clear weather was better

Detection test of wireless network signal strength and GPS positioning signal in underground pipeline

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Li; Zhang, Yunwei; Chen, Ling

2018-03-01

In order to solve the problem of selecting positioning technology for inspection robot in underground pipeline environment, the wireless network signal strength and GPS positioning signal testing are carried out in the actual underground pipeline environment. Firstly, the strength variation of the 3G wireless network signal and Wi-Fi wireless signal provided by China Telecom and China Unicom ground base stations are tested, and the attenuation law of these wireless signals along the pipeline is analyzed quantitatively and described. Then, the receiving data of the GPS satellite signal in the pipeline are tested, and the attenuation of GPS satellite signal under underground pipeline is analyzed. The testing results may be reference for other related research which need to consider positioning in pipeline.

Validation of Remote Sensing Retrieval Products using Data from a Wireless Sensor-Based Online Monitoring in Antarctica

PubMed Central

Li, Xiuhong; Cheng, Xiao; Yang, Rongjin; Liu, Qiang; Qiu, Yubao; Zhang, Jialin; Cai, Erli; Zhao, Long

2016-01-01

Of the modern technologies in polar-region monitoring, the remote sensing technology that can instantaneously form large-scale images has become much more important in helping acquire parameters such as the freezing and melting of ice as well as the surface temperature, which can be used in the research of global climate change, Antarctic ice sheet responses, and cap formation and evolution. However, the acquirement of those parameters is impacted remarkably by the climate and satellite transit time which makes it almost impossible to have timely and continuous observation data. In this research, a wireless sensor-based online monitoring platform (WSOOP) for the extreme polar environment is applied to obtain a long-term series of data which is site-specific and continuous in time. Those data are compared and validated with the data from a weather station at Zhongshan Station Antarctica and the result shows an obvious correlation. Then those data are used to validate the remote sensing products of the freezing and melting of ice and the surface temperature and the result also indicated a similar correlation. The experiment in Antarctica has proven that WSOOP is an effective system to validate remotely sensed data in the polar region. PMID:27869668

Wireless data transmission from inside electromagnetic fields.

PubMed

Huertas, José Ignacio; Barraza, Roberto; Echeverry, Julian Mauricio

2010-01-01

This paper describes analytical and experimental work developed to evaluate the effects of the electromagnetic fields produced by high-voltage lines (400 kV) on wireless data transmission at the 900MHz band. In this work the source of the data transmission is located inside the electromagnetic field and the reception station is located at different distances from the power lines. Different atmospheric conditions are considered.

Comparison of kinetic and air temperatures in Budapest aiming applications in weather forecasting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mika, Janos; Nemeth, Akos; Bela Olah, Andras; Dezso, Zsuzsanna

2010-05-01

Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) based kinetic temperature data are compared with the surface air temperature data at the four weather stations in Budapest, Hun-gary. Dependence of these temperature characteristics on weather conditions, characterised by macrosynoptic types and by objective weather types, is in the focus of the study. Day- and night-time kinetic temperature series are used from the period 2001-2008. Four automatic stations are also used as the surface-based control variables. The four MODIS-pixels, covering one station, each, are the sites of our comparison. One of the four stations has strictly urban situation at the roof level in a strongly built-in region of Budapest. Another one, used as background rural station is at the east-west edge of the town with gar-dened environment. Two other stations are positioned near the river Danube at the northern and southern edges of Budapest, still under mezo-scale effect of the city. The number of elaborated hourly values is 4300-4400 above each pixel, depending on the cloudiness. At the four station automatic observations on air temperature, cloudiness (=0), relative humidity and wind-speed are observed in the hours of the MODIS observations. From these elements air temperature is used for comparison with the satellite-based kinetic temperature, and also as the main components of the Physiologically Equivalent Temperature (PET), de-rived to characterise usefulness of the kinetic temperature. Our first aim is to specify detailed relationship between the two temperatures consider-ing the seasonal and diurnal cycles and synoptic situation. This comparison is also performed by using the PET to establish which kind of temperature reminds this human bioclimatic in-dex better. If we could establish effective relationships with the synoptic situations (or weather types) we could use them in two further applications. The first one is the everyday forecasting of dangerous situations within the

Joint Cross-Layer Design for Wireless QoS Content Delivery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Jie; Lv, Tiejun; Zheng, Haitao

2005-12-01

In this paper, we propose a joint cross-layer design for wireless quality-of-service (QoS) content delivery. Central to our proposed cross-layer design is the concept of adaptation. Adaptation represents the ability to adjust protocol stacks and applications to respond to channel variations. We focus our cross-layer design especially on the application, media access control (MAC), and physical layers. The network is designed based on our proposed fast frequency-hopping orthogonal frequency division multiplex (OFDM) technique. We also propose a QoS-awareness scheduler and a power adaptation transmission scheme operating at both the base station and mobile sides. The proposed MAC scheduler coordinates the transmissions of an IP base station and mobile nodes. The scheduler also selects appropriate transmission formats and packet priorities for individual users based on current channel conditions and the users' QoS requirements. The test results show that our cross-layer design provides an excellent framework for wireless QoS content delivery.

The state of broadcast meteorology in the United States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trobec, J.

2010-09-01

According to a 2010 study by the Radio, Television Digital News Association, there are 762 television stations in the U.S. producing local news (and presumably weather) content. Those stations reported staff reductions of 400 news department jobs in 2009, following a cut of 1,200 local news jobs in 2008. Even as the number of news employees declined, local stations increased the amount of local news programming from an average of 4.7 hours to 5.0 hours per weekday in the past year. The phrase "doing more with less" has become a common theme in television newsrooms. Broadcasting economics have also impacted the approximately 2,200 weather presenters on local television stations. Several high-profile, on-air meteorologists have lost their jobs. The workload of weather presenters is evolving as television stations extend their reach beyond broadcasting — to the internet, and wireless (e.g. cellular telephone) delivery of information. Technological advancements have improved televised severe weather coverage. The number of amateur storm chasers possessing video streaming equipment has grown signicantly, and social networks such as Twitter have become a useful source of weather reports from the public.

What will be the weather like tomorrow?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Christelle, Guilloux

2014-05-01

Since June 2010, our school is part of the network '"météo à l'école'": it hosts an autonomous weather station, approved by Météo France , which measures continuously the temperature and precipitation. The data is transmitted by a GSM module to a computer server. After its validation by Météo France, it is send online every day on a public accessible website : http://www.edumeteo.org/ The MPS Education ( Scientific Methods and Practices) in junior high school classes (one hour and half per week throughout the school year ) makes full use of data from the networks '"météo à l'école'" data and Météo France. Three scientific disciplines :; Mathematics, Life and Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Chemistry are part of a schedule defined after consultation and educational coherence to enable students to: - Discovering and understanding the operation of the sensors station, weather satellites ... - Operating satellite images, studying of the atmosphere and weather phenomena (formation of a storm, for example) - Operating collected data (networks 'météo à l'école' and Météo France) to identify climatic differences between regions, seasons, and their effects on living beings (study of the greenhouse effect and climate warming among others). The ultimate goal is to discover used tools and data to produce a weather forecast. We work for these purposes with the Cité de l'Espace in Toulouse (weather Pole) and the head forecaster Meteo France Merignac.

An energy-efficient data gathering protocol in large wireless sensor network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Yamin; Zhang, Ruihua; Tao, Shizhong

2006-11-01

Wireless sensor network consisting of a large number of small sensors with low-power transceiver can be an effective tool for gathering data in a variety of environment. The collected data must be transmitted to the base station for further processing. Since a network consists of sensors with limited battery energy, the method for data gathering and routing must be energy efficient in order to prolong the lifetime of the network. In this paper, we presented an energy-efficient data gathering protocol in wireless sensor network. The new protocol used data fusion technology clusters nodes into groups and builds a chain among the cluster heads according to a hybrid of the residual energy and distance to the base station. Results in stochastic geometry are used to derive the optimum parameter of our algorithm that minimizes the total energy spent in the network. Simulation results show performance superiority of the new protocol.

Comparative ratings of 1951 forest fire weather in western Oregon.

Treesearch

Owen P. Cramer; Robert Kirkpatrick

1951-01-01

The 1951 forest fire weather in western Oregon is generally conceded to have been unusually severe. In order to compare this season with others, this report uses a scheme for rating fire seasons recently developed by the Fire Research section of the Experiment Station, The rating is based on indices of three weather characteristics which generally control burning...

Evaporation over a Heterogeneous Mixed Savanna-Agricultural Catchment using a Distributed Wireless Sensor Network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ceperley, N. C.; Mande, T.; Barrenetxea, G.; Vetterli, M.; Yacouba, H.; Repetti, A.; Parlange, M. B.

2010-12-01

Small scale rain fed agriculture is the primary livelihood for a large part of the population of Burkina Faso. Regional climate change means that this population is becoming increasingly vulnerable. Additionally, as natural savanna is converted for agriculture, hydrological systems are observed to become less stable as infiltration is decreased and rapid runoff is increased to the detriment of crop productivity, downstream populations and local water sources. The majority of the Singou River Basin, located in South East Burkina Faso is managed by hunting reserves, geared to maintaining high populations of wild game; however, residents surrounding the protected areas have been forced to intensify agriculture that has resulted in soil degradation as well as increases in the frequency and severity of flooding and droughts. Agroforestry, or planting trees in cultivated fields, has been proposed as a solution to help buffer these negative consequences, however the specific hydrologic behavior of the watershed land cover is unknown. We have installed a distributed sensor network of 17 Sensorscope wireless meteorological stations. These stations are dispersed across cultivated rice and millet fields, natural savanna, fallow fields, and around agroforestry fields. Sensorscope routes data through the network of stations to be delivered by a GPRS connection to a main server. This multi hop network allows data to be gathered over a large area and quickly adapts to changes in station performance. Data are available in real time via a website that can be accessed by a mobile phone. The stations are powered autonomously by small photovoltaic panels. This deployment is the first time that these meteorological stations have been used on the African continent. Initial calibration with measures from 2 eddy covariance stations allows us to calculate the energy balance at each of the Sensorscope stations. Thus, we can observe variation in evaporation over the various land cover in the

Road Weather and Connected Vehicles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pisano, P.; Boyce, B. C.

2015-12-01

On average, there are over 5.8 M vehicle crashes each year of which 23% are weather-related. Weather-related crashes are defined as those crashes that occur in adverse weather or on slick pavement. The vast majority of weather-related crashes happen on wet pavement (74%) and during rainfall (46%). Connected vehicle technologies hold the promise to transform road-weather management by providing improved road weather data in real time with greater temporal and geographic accuracy. This will dramatically expand the amount of data that can be used to assess, forecast, and address the impacts that weather has on roads, vehicles, and travelers. The use of vehicle-based measurements of the road and surrounding atmosphere with other, more traditional weather data sources, and create road and atmospheric hazard products for a variety of users. The broad availability of road weather data from mobile sources will vastly improve the ability to detect and forecast weather and road conditions, and will provide the capability to manage road-weather response on specific roadway links. The RWMP is currently demonstrating how weather, road conditions, and related vehicle data can be used for decision making through an innovative Integrated Mobile Observations project. FHWA is partnering with 3 DOTs (MN, MI, & NV) to pilot these applications. One is a mobile alerts application called the Motorists Advisories and Warnings (MAW) and a maintenance decision support application. These applications blend traditional weather information (e.g., radar, surface stations) with mobile vehicle data (e.g., temperature, brake status, wiper status) to determine current weather conditions. These weather conditions, and other road-travel-relevant information, are provided to users via web and phone applications. The MAW provides nowcasts and short-term forecasts out to 24 hours while the EMDSS application can provide forecasts up to 72 hours in advance. The three DOTs have placed readers and external

Weather impacts on single-vehicle truck crash injury severity.

PubMed

Naik, Bhaven; Tung, Li-Wei; Zhao, Shanshan; Khattak, Aemal J

2016-09-01

The focus of this paper is on illustrating the feasibility of aggregating data from disparate sources to investigate the relationship between single-vehicle truck crash injury severity and detailed weather conditions. Specifically, this paper presents: (a) a methodology that combines detailed 15-min weather station data with crash and roadway data, and (b) an empirical investigation of the effects of weather on crash-related injury severities of single-vehicle truck crashes. Random parameters ordinal and multinomial regression models were used to investigate crash injury severity under different weather conditions, taking into account the individual unobserved heterogeneity. The adopted methodology allowed consideration of environmental, roadway, and climate-related variables in single-vehicle truck crash injury severity. Results showed that wind speed, rain, humidity, and air temperature were linked with single-vehicle truck crash injury severity. Greater recorded wind speed added to the severity of injuries in single-vehicle truck crashes in general. Rain and warmer air temperatures were linked to more severe crash injuries in single-vehicle truck crashes while higher levels of humidity were linked to less severe injuries. Random parameters ordered logit and multinomial logit, respectively, revealed some individual heterogeneity in the data and showed that integrating comprehensive weather data with crash data provided useful insights into factors associated with single-vehicle truck crash injury severity. The research provided a practical method that combined comprehensive 15-min weather station data with crash and roadway data, thereby providing useful insights into crash injury severity of single-vehicle trucks. Those insights are useful for future truck driver educational programs and for truck safety in different weather conditions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd and National Safety Council. All rights reserved.

A wireless sensor enabled by wireless power.

PubMed

Lee, Da-Sheng; Liu, Yu-Hong; Lin, Chii-Ruey

2012-11-22

Through harvesting energy by wireless charging and delivering data by wireless communication, this study proposes the concept of a wireless sensor enabled by wireless power (WPWS) and reports the fabrication of a prototype for functional tests. One WPWS node consists of wireless power module and sensor module with different chip-type sensors. Its main feature is the dual antenna structure. Following RFID system architecture, a power harvesting antenna was designed to gather power from a standard reader working in the 915 MHz band. Referring to the Modbus protocol, the other wireless communication antenna was integrated on a node to send sensor data in parallel. The dual antenna structure integrates both the advantages of an RFID system and a wireless sensor. Using a standard UHF RFID reader, WPWS can be enabled in a distributed area with a diameter up to 4 m. Working status is similar to that of a passive tag, except that a tag can only be queried statically, while the WPWS can send dynamic data from the sensors. The function is the same as a wireless sensor node. Different WPWSs equipped with temperature and humidity, optical and airflow velocity sensors are tested in this study. All sensors can send back detection data within 8 s. The accuracy is within 8% deviation compared with laboratory equipment. A wireless sensor network enabled by wireless power should be a totally wireless sensor network using WPWS. However, distributed WPWSs only can form a star topology, the simplest topology for constructing a sensor network. Because of shielding effects, it is difficult to apply other complex topologies. Despite this limitation, WPWS still can be used to extend sensor network applications in hazardous environments. Further research is needed to improve WPWS to realize a totally wireless sensor network.

A Wireless Sensor Enabled by Wireless Power

PubMed Central

Lee, Da-Sheng; Liu, Yu-Hong; Lin, Chii-Ruey

2012-01-01

Through harvesting energy by wireless charging and delivering data by wireless communication, this study proposes the concept of a wireless sensor enabled by wireless power (WPWS) and reports the fabrication of a prototype for functional tests. One WPWS node consists of wireless power module and sensor module with different chip-type sensors. Its main feature is the dual antenna structure. Following RFID system architecture, a power harvesting antenna was designed to gather power from a standard reader working in the 915 MHz band. Referring to the Modbus protocol, the other wireless communication antenna was integrated on a node to send sensor data in parallel. The dual antenna structure integrates both the advantages of an RFID system and a wireless sensor. Using a standard UHF RFID reader, WPWS can be enabled in a distributed area with a diameter up to 4 m. Working status is similar to that of a passive tag, except that a tag can only be queried statically, while the WPWS can send dynamic data from the sensors. The function is the same as a wireless sensor node. Different WPWSs equipped with temperature and humidity, optical and airflow velocity sensors are tested in this study. All sensors can send back detection data within 8 s. The accuracy is within 8% deviation compared with laboratory equipment. A wireless sensor network enabled by wireless power should be a totally wireless sensor network using WPWS. However, distributed WPWSs only can form a star topology, the simplest topology for constructing a sensor network. Because of shielding effects, it is difficult to apply other complex topologies. Despite this limitation, WPWS still can be used to extend sensor network applications in hazardous environments. Further research is needed to improve WPWS to realize a totally wireless sensor network. PMID:23443370

Pipelining in structural health monitoring wireless sensor network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Xu; Dorvash, Siavash; Cheng, Liang; Pakzad, Shamim

2010-04-01

Application of wireless sensor network (WSN) for structural health monitoring (SHM), is becoming widespread due to its implementation ease and economic advantage over traditional sensor networks. Beside advantages that have made wireless network preferable, there are some concerns regarding their performance in some applications. In long-span Bridge monitoring the need to transfer data over long distance causes some challenges in design of WSN platforms. Due to the geometry of bridge structures, using multi-hop data transfer between remote nodes and base station is essential. This paper focuses on the performances of pipelining algorithms. We summarize several prevent pipelining approaches, discuss their performances, and propose a new pipelining algorithm, which gives consideration to both boosting of channel usage and the simplicity in deployment.

Convergence of broadband optical and wireless access networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chang, Gee-Kung; Jia, Zhensheng; Chien, Hung-Chang; Chowdhury, Arshad; Hsueh, Yu-Ting; Yu, Jianjun

2009-01-01

This paper describes convergence of optical and wireless access networks for delivering high-bandwidth integrated services over optical fiber and air links. Several key system technologies are proposed and experimentally demonstrated. We report here, for the first ever, a campus-wide field trial demonstration of radio-over-fiber (RoF) system transmitting uncompressed standard-definition (SD) high-definition (HD) real-time video contents, carried by 2.4-GHz radio and 60- GHz millimeter-wave signals, respectively, over 2.5-km standard single mode fiber (SMF-28) through the campus fiber network at Georgia Institute of Technology (GT). In addition, subsystem technologies of Base Station and wireless tranceivers operated at 60 GHz for real-time video distribution have been developed and tested.

Incorporating the Campus Radio Station into Your Emergency Communications Plan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Thomas C.

2008-01-01

Radio stations have been a mainstay of American life since the 1920s. Broadcasting primarily over AM and FM frequencies, American radio stations have been used to provide entertainment, news, weather, and advertising to the public. Beginning in 1963 and continuing until 1997, local radio stations were part of the Emergency Broadcast System (EBS)…

Ultra-low power wireless sensing for long-term structural health monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bilbao, Argenis; Hoover, Davis; Rice, Jennifer; Chapman, Jamie

2011-04-01

Researchers have made significant progress in recent years towards realizing long-term structural health monitoring (SHM) utilizing wireless smart sensor networks (WSSNs). These efforts have focused on improving the performance and robustness of such networks to achieve high quality data acquisition and in-network processing. One of the primary challenges still facing the use of smart sensors for long-term monitoring deployments is their limited power resources. Periodically accessing the sensor nodes to change batteries is not feasible or economical in many deployment cases. While energy harvesting techniques show promise for prolonging unattended network life, low-power design and operation are still critically important. This research presents a new, fully integrated ultra-low power wireless smart sensor node and a flexible base station, both designed for long-term SHM applications. The power consumption of the sensor nodes and base station has been minimized through careful hardware selection and the implementation of power-aware network software, without sacrificing flexibility and functionality.

Creating an Atmosphere for STEM Literacy in the Rural South through Student-Collected Weather Data

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clark, Lynn; Majumdar, Saswati; Bhattacharjee, Joydeep; Hanks, Anne Case

2015-01-01

This paper is an examination of a teacher professional development program in northeast Louisiana, that provided 30 teachers and their students with the technology, skills, and content knowledge to collect data and explore weather trends. Data were collected from both continuous monitoring weather stations and simple school-based weather stations…

A Review on Climate Change in Weather Stations of Guilan Province Using Mann-Kendal Methodand GIS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Behzadi, Jalal

2016-07-01

Climate has always been changing during the life time of the earth, and has appeared in the form of ice age, hurricanes, severe and sudden temperature changes, precipitation and other climatic elements, and has dramatically influenced the environment, and in some cases has caused severe changes and even destructions. Some of the most important aspects of climate changes can be found in precipitation types of different regions in the world and especially Guilan, which is influenced by drastic land conversions and greenhouse gases. Also, agriculture division, industrial activities and unnecessary land conversions are thought to have a huge influence on climate change. Climate change is a result of abnormalcies of metorologyl parameters. Generally, the element of precipitation is somehow included in most theories about climate change. The present study aims to reveal precipitation abnormalcies in Guilan which lead to climate change, and possible deviations of precipitation parameter based on annual, seasonal and monthly series have been evaluated. The Mann-Kendal test has been used to reveal likely deviations leading to climate change. The trend of precipitation changes in long-term has been identifiedusing this method. Also, the beginning and end of these changes have been studied in five stations as representatives of all the thirteen weather stations. Then,the areas which have experienced climate change have been identified using the GIS software along with the severity of the changes with an emphasis on drought. These results can be used in planning and identifying the effects of these changes on the environment. Keywords: Climate Change, Guilan, Mann-Kendal, GIS

Energy Autonomous Wireless Sensing System Enabled by Energy Generated during Human Walking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuang, Yang; Ruan, Tingwen; Chew, Zheng Jun; Zhu, Meiling

2016-11-01

Recently, there has been a huge amount of work devoted to wearable energy harvesting (WEH) in a bid to establish energy autonomous wireless sensing systems for a range of health monitoring applications. However, limited work has been performed to implement and test such systems in real-world settings. This paper reports the development and real-world characterisation of a magnetically plucked wearable knee-joint energy harvester (Mag-WKEH) powered wireless sensing system, which integrates our latest research progresses in WEH, power conditioning and wireless sensing to achieve high energy efficiency. Experimental results demonstrate that with walking speeds of 3∼7 km/h, the Mag-WKEH generates average power of 1.9∼4.5 mW with unnoticeable impact on the wearer and is able to power the wireless sensor node (WSN) with three sensors to work at duty cycles of 6.6%∼13%. In each active period of 2 s, the WSN is able to measure and transmit 482 readings to the base station.

Mexican Space Weather Service (SCiESMEX)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gonzalez-Esparza, J. A.; De la Luz, V.; Corona-Romero, P.; Mejia-Ambriz, J. C.; Gonzalez, L. X.; Sergeeva, M. A.; Romero-Hernandez, E.; Aguilar-Rodriguez, E.

2017-01-01

Legislative modifications of the General Civil Protection Law in Mexico in 2014 included specific references to space hazards and space weather phenomena. The legislation is consistent with United Nations promotion of international engagement and cooperation on space weather awareness, studies, and monitoring. These internal and external conditions motivated the creation of a space weather service in Mexico. The Mexican Space Weather Service (SCiESMEX in Spanish) (www.sciesmex.unam.mx) was initiated in October 2014 and is operated by the Institute of Geophysics at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM). SCiESMEX became a Regional Warning Center of the International Space Environment Services (ISES) in June 2015. We present the characteristics of the service, some products, and the initial actions for developing a space weather strategy in Mexico. The service operates a computing infrastructure including a web application, data repository, and a high-performance computing server to run numerical models. SCiESMEX uses data of the ground-based instrumental network of the National Space Weather Laboratory (LANCE), covering solar radio burst emissions, solar wind and interplanetary disturbances (by interplanetary scintillation observations), geomagnetic measurements, and analysis of the total electron content (TEC) of the ionosphere (by employing data from local networks of GPS receiver stations).

Project report : road weather information system phase I

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2004-11-01

The Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities (ADOT&PF) initiated the first eight environmental sensor stations (ESS) in the Anchorage area, called the Road Weather Information System (RWIS) Phase I. The ESS are used to detect road weat...

Pilot's Desk Flight Station

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sexton, G. A.

1984-01-01

Aircraft flight station designs have generally evolved through the incorporation of improved or modernized controls and displays. In connection with a continuing increase in the amount of information displayed, this process has produced a complex and cluttered conglomeration of knobs, switches, and electromechanical displays. The result was often high crew workload, missed signals, and misinterpreted information. Advances in electronic technology have now, however, led to new concepts in flight station design. An American aerospace company in cooperation with NASA has utilized these concepts to develop a candidate conceptual design for a 1995 flight station. The obtained Pilot's Desk Flight Station is a unique design which resembles more an operator's console than today's cockpit. Attention is given to configuration, primary flight controllers, front panel displays, flight/navigation display, approach charts and weather display, head-up display, and voice command and response systems.

Efficacy of wax matrix bait stations for Mediterranean Fruit Flies (Diptera: Tephritidae)

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Tests were conducted that evaluated efficacy of wax matrix bait stations for Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) adults in Guatemala. Bait stations were exposed to outdoor conditions to determine effect of weathering on longevity as indicated by bait station age. Results of laboratory tests found that ba...

Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations (RUSSWO) Monterey FAA, Monterey, California

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-07-24

OF WEATHER CONDITIONS FROM HOUPLY OBSERVATIONS ( RAIN____ I____ _____$NW__FMOEm_%o ls TOA m T"uNDER., o SOWNG I OST JW% OUTS NO. OFMWSTR AND 0 ERAIN...AIR ZXTHED SE VICE/HAC WEATHER CONDITIONS M -ZNT--PY FAA CA 73-7; A STATION STATION NAME MONTH PERCENTAGE FREQUEN4CY OF OCCURRENCE OF iWEATHEP...CONDITIONS FRCM HOURLY OBSERVATIONS . M RO-UTH: I A,-,OB £l1. ., . OW4G ANO’ wi, NSt 0 R SAIN/O FRUZIN SH W %OFf SM OUST I %O OfICS TOTAL _ _LS T. STOMSI,, SNOW

Space Weather Monitoring for ISS Space Environments Engineering and Crew Auroral Observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Minow, Joseph; Pettit, Donald R.; Hartman, William A.

2012-01-01

Today s presentation describes how real time space weather data is used by the International Space Station (ISS) space environments team to obtain data on auroral charging of the ISS vehicle and support ISS crew efforts to obtain auroral images from orbit. Topics covered include: Floating Potential Measurement Unit (FPMU), . Auroral charging of ISS, . Real ]time space weather monitoring resources, . Examples of ISS auroral charging captured from space weather events, . ISS crew observations of aurora.

1980 Weather summary

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bell, Peter M.

The weather in the United States during 1980 was bad. A 3-month heat wave in the southwest caused about $20 billion in ruined crops, an increase in power consumption, and damage to roads and highways. Nationwide, the heat killed 1320 people. Floods caused more than $1 billion in losses. Hurricane Allen caused about $500 million in property losses and took two lives.The highest temperature reading during 1980, 51°C (124°F), was reached five times. Locations were at Bull Head, Arizona; Death Valley, California; and three times at Baker, California. Preliminary figures also show that the lowest temperature for the year was recorded at Tok weather station, 150 miles southeast of Fairbanks, Alaska. There the mercury plummeted to -56°C (-68°F). In the lower 48 states the minimum thermometer reading was -44°C at Wisdom, Montana.

Systems Study of an Automated Fire Weather Data System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nishioka, K.

1974-01-01

A sensor system applicable to an automated weather station was developed. The sensor provides automated fire weather data which correlates with manual readings. The equipment and methods are applied as an aid to the surveillance and protection of wildlands from fire damage. The continuous readings provided by the sensor system make it possible to determine the periods of time that the wilderness areas should be closed to the public to minimize the possibilities of fire.

Wireless physiological monitoring system for psychiatric patients.

PubMed

Rademeyer, A J; Blanckenberg, M M; Scheffer, C

2009-01-01

Patients in psychiatric hospitals that are sedated or secluded are at risk of death or injury if they are not continuously monitored. Some psychiatric patients are restless and aggressive, and hence the monitoring device should be robust and must transmit the data wirelessly. Two devices, a glove that measures oxygen saturation and a dorsally-mounted device that measures heart rate, skin temperature and respiratory rate were designed and tested. Both devices connect to one central monitoring station using two separate Bluetooth connections, ensuring a completely wireless setup. A Matlab graphical user interface (GUI) was developed for signal processing and monitoring of the vital signs of the psychiatric patient. Detection algorithms were implemented to detect ECG arrhythmias such as premature ventricular contraction and atrial fibrillation. The prototypes were manufactured and tested in a laboratory setting on healthy volunteers.

Paper birch decline in the Niobrara River Valley, Nebraska: Weather, microclimate, and birch stand conditions

USGS Publications Warehouse

Stroh, Esther D.; Miller, Joel P.

2009-01-01

The Niobrara River Valley in north-central Nebraska supports scattered stands of paper birch (Betula papyrifera Marsh), a species more typical of boreal forests. These birch stands are considered to be relictual populations that have persisted since the end of the Wisconsin glaciation, when regional flora was more boreal in nature (Wright 1970, Kaul and others, 1988). Dieback of canopy-sized birch has been observed throughout the Niobrara Valley in recent years, although no onset dates are documented. The current dieback event probably started around or after the early 1980’s. The study objectives were to understand microclimatic conditions in birch stands relative to nearby weather stations and historic weather conditions, and to assess current health conditions of individual birch trees. Temperature was measured every half-hour from June 2005 through October 2007 in 12 birch stands and individual birch tree health was measured as expressed by percent living canopy in these and 13 additional stands in spring 2006 and 2007. Birch site microclimate was compared to data from a National Weather Service station in Valentine, Nebraska, and to an automated weather station at The Nature Conservancy Niobrara Valley Preserve 24 kilometers north of Johnstown, Nebraska. Historic weather data from the Valentine station and another National Weather Service Station at Ainsworth, Nebraska, were used to reconstruct minimum and maximum temperature at The Nature Conservancy and one microclimate monitoring station using Kalman filtering and smoothing algorithms. Birch stand microclimate differed from local weather stations as well as among stands. Birch health was associated with annual minimum temperature regimes; those stands whose annual daily minimum temperature regimes were most like The Nature Conservancy station contained smaller proportions of living trees. Frequency of freeze/thaw conditions capable of inducing rootlet injury and subsequent crown dieback significantly have

NOAA Weather Radio - Voice of NWS

Science.gov Websites

Station Search Coverage Maps Outages View Outages Report Outages Information General Information Receiver Information Reception Problems NWR Alarms Automated Voices FIPS Codes NWR - Special Needs SAME USING SAME SAME information 24 hours a day. Known as the "voice of the National Weather Service," NWR is provided as

78 FR 13895 - Certain Wireless Communications Base Stations and Components Thereof; Institution of...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-03-01

... INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION [Investigation No. 337-TA-871] Certain Wireless Communications Base.... International Trade Commission. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that a complaint was filed with the U.S. International Trade Commission on January 24, 2013, under section 337 of the Tariff Act of...

A Network Selection Algorithm Considering Power Consumption in Hybrid Wireless Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Joe, Inwhee; Kim, Won-Tae; Hong, Seokjoon

In this paper, we propose a novel network selection algorithm considering power consumption in hybrid wireless networks for vertical handover. CDMA, WiBro, WLAN networks are candidate networks for this selection algorithm. This algorithm is composed of the power consumption prediction algorithm and the final network selection algorithm. The power consumption prediction algorithm estimates the expected lifetime of the mobile station based on the current battery level, traffic class and power consumption for each network interface card of the mobile station. If the expected lifetime of the mobile station in a certain network is not long enough compared the handover delay, this particular network will be removed from the candidate network list, thereby preventing unnecessary handovers in the preprocessing procedure. On the other hand, the final network selection algorithm consists of AHP (Analytic Hierarchical Process) and GRA (Grey Relational Analysis). The global factors of the network selection structure are QoS, cost and lifetime. If user preference is lifetime, our selection algorithm selects the network that offers longest service duration due to low power consumption. Also, we conduct some simulations using the OPNET simulation tool. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm provides longer lifetime in the hybrid wireless network environment.

Measuring fire weather and forest inflammability

Treesearch

H. T. Gisborne

1936-01-01

In the measurement of fire weather and forest inflammability, now practiced regularly at more than 90 forest stations in northern Idaho and western Montana, it is necessary to use many methods that are peculiar to this work. Some of these methods are familiar to meteorologists, but few foresters have had any appreciable training in meteorology. Others are of such,...

Workstation-Based Real-Time Mesoscale Modeling Designed for Weather Support to Operations at the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Station

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Manobianco, John; Zack, John W.; Taylor, Gregory E.

1996-01-01

This paper describes the capabilities and operational utility of a version of the Mesoscale Atmospheric Simulation System (MASS) that has been developed to support operational weather forecasting at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and Cape Canaveral Air Station (CCAS). The implementation of local, mesoscale modeling systems at KSC/CCAS is designed to provide detailed short-range (less than 24 h) forecasts of winds, clouds, and hazardous weather such as thunderstorms. Short-range forecasting is a challenge for daily operations, and manned and unmanned launches since KSC/CCAS is located in central Florida where the weather during the warm season is dominated by mesoscale circulations like the sea breeze. For this application, MASS has been modified to run on a Stardent 3000 workstation. Workstation-based, real-time numerical modeling requires a compromise between the requirement to run the system fast enough so that the output can be used before expiration balanced against the desire to improve the simulations by increasing resolution and using more detailed physical parameterizations. It is now feasible to run high-resolution mesoscale models such as MASS on local workstations to provide timely forecasts at a fraction of the cost required to run these models on mainframe supercomputers. MASS has been running in the Applied Meteorology Unit (AMU) at KSC/CCAS since January 1994 for the purpose of system evaluation. In March 1995, the AMU began sending real-time MASS output to the forecasters and meteorologists at CCAS, Spaceflight Meteorology Group (Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas), and the National Weather Service (Melbourne, Florida). However, MASS is not yet an operational system. The final decision whether to transition MASS for operational use will depend on a combination of forecaster feedback, the AMU's final evaluation results, and the life-cycle costs of the operational system.

A Model for QoS - Aware Wireless Communication in Hospitals.

PubMed

Alavikia, Zahra; Khadivi, Pejman; Hashemi, Masoud Reza

2012-01-01

In the recent decade, research regarding wireless applications in electronic health (e-Health) services has been increasing. The main benefits of using wireless technologies in e-Health applications are simple communications, fast delivery of medical information, reducing treatment cost and also reducing the medical workers' error rate. However, using wireless communications in sensitive healthcare environment raises electromagnetic interference (EMI). One of the most effective methods to avoid the EMI problem is power management. To this end, some of methods have been proposed in the literature to reduce EMI effects in health care environments. However, using these methods may result in nonaccurate interference avoidance and also may increase network complexity. To overcome these problems, we introduce two approaches based on per-user location and hospital sectoring for power management in sensitive healthcare environments. Although reducing transmission power could avoid EMI, it causes a number of successful message deliveries to the access point to decrease and, hence, the quality of service requirements cannot be meet. In this paper, we propose the use of relays for decreasing the probability of outage in the aforementioned scenario. Relay placement is the main factor to enjoy the usefulness of relay station benefits in the network and, therefore, we use the genetic algorithm to compute the optimum positions of a fixed number of relays. We have considered delay and maximum blind point coverage as two main criteria in relay station problem. The performance of the proposed method in outage reduction is investigated through simulations.

Examination of wireless technology to improve nurse communication, response time to bed alarms, and patient safety.

PubMed

Guarascio-Howard, Linda

2011-01-01

A medical-surgical unit in a southwestern United States hospital examined the results of adding wireless communication technology to assist nurses in identifying patient bed status changes and enhancing team communication. Following the addition of wireless communication, response time to patient calls and the number of nurse-initiated communications were compared to pre-wireless calls and response time sampling period. In the baseline study, nurse-initiated communications and response time to patient calls were investigated for a team nursing model (Guarascio-Howard & Malloch, 2007). At this time, technology consisted of a nurse call system and telephones located at each decentralized nurse station and health unit coordinator (HUC) station. For this follow-up study, a wireless device was given to nurses and their team members following training on device use and privacy issues. Four registered nurses (RNs) were shadowed for 8 hours (32 hours total) before and after the introduction of the wireless devices. Data were collected regarding patient room visits, number of patient calls, bed status calls, response time to calls, and the initiator of the communication episodes. Follow-up study response time to calls significantly decreased (t-test p = .03). RNs and licensed practical nurses responded to bed status calls in less than 1 minute-62% of the 37 calls. Communication results indicated a significant shift (One Proportion Z Test) in RN-initiated communications, suggesting an enhanced ability to communicate with team members and to assist in monitoring patient status. Patient falls trended downward, although not significantly (p > .05), for a 6-month period of wireless technology use compared to the same period the previous year. The addition of a wireless device has advantages in team nursing, namely increasing communication with staff members and decreasing response time to patient and bed status calls. Limitations of the study included a change in caregiver team

Wireless Command-and-Control of UAV-Based Imaging LANs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Herwitz, Stanley; Dunagan, S. E.; Sullivan, D. V.; Slye, R. E.; Leung, J. G.; Johnson, L. F.

2006-01-01

Dual airborne imaging system networks were operated using a wireless line-of-sight telemetry system developed as part of a 2002 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imaging mission over the USA s largest coffee plantation on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. A primary mission objective was the evaluation of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) 802.11b wireless technology for reduction of payload telemetry costs associated with UAV remote sensing missions. Predeployment tests with a conventional aircraft demonstrated successful wireless broadband connectivity between a rapidly moving airborne imaging local area network (LAN) and a fixed ground station LAN. Subsequently, two separate LANs with imaging payloads, packaged in exterior-mounted pressure pods attached to the underwing of NASA's Pathfinder-Plus UAV, were operated wirelessly by ground-based LANs over independent Ethernet bridges. Digital images were downlinked from the solar-powered aircraft at data rates of 2-6 megabits per second (Mbps) over a range of 6.5 9.5 km. An integrated wide area network enabled payload monitoring and control through the Internet from a range of ca. 4000 km during parts of the mission. The recent advent of 802.11g technology is expected to boost the system data rate by about a factor of five.

Uncertainty in User-contributed Weather Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bell, S.; Cornford, D.; Bastin, L.; Molyneux, M.

2012-04-01

Websites such as Weather Underground and the Met Office's recently launched Weather Observations Website encourage members of the public to not only record meteorological observations for personal use but to upload them to a free online community to be shared and compared with data from hundreds of other weather stations in the UK alone. With such a concentration of freely available surface observations the question is whether it would be beneficial to incorporate this data into existing data assimilation schemes for constructing the initial conditions in Numerical Weather Prediction models. This question ultimately relates to how closely the amateur data represents reality, and how to quantify this uncertainty such that it may be accounted for when using the data. We will highlight factors that can lead to increased uncertainty. For instance as amateur data often comes with limited metadata it is difficult to assess whether an amateur station conforms to the strict guidelines and quality procedures that professional sites do. These guidelines relate to factors such as siting, exposure and calibration and in many cases it is practically impossible for amateur sites to conform to the guidelines due to a tendency for amateur sites to be located in enclosed urbanised areas. We will present exploratory research comparing amateur data from Weather Observations Website and Weather Underground against the Met Office's meteorological monitoring system which will be taken to represent the 'truth'. We are particularly aiming to identify bias in the amateur data and residual variances which will help to quantify our degree of uncertainty. The research will focus on 3 case periods, each with different synoptic conditions (clear skies, overcast, a frontal progression) and on observations of surface air temperature, precipitation, humidity. Future plans of the project will also be introduced such as further investigations into which factors lead to increased uncertainty

Calibration of Smartphone-Based Weather Measurements Using Pairwise Gossip.

PubMed

Zamora, Jane Louie Fresco; Kashihara, Shigeru; Yamaguchi, Suguru

2015-01-01

Accurate and reliable daily global weather reports are necessary for weather forecasting and climate analysis. However, the availability of these reports continues to decline due to the lack of economic support and policies in maintaining ground weather measurement systems from where these reports are obtained. Thus, to mitigate data scarcity, it is required to utilize weather information from existing sensors and built-in smartphone sensors. However, as smartphone usage often varies according to human activity, it is difficult to obtain accurate measurement data. In this paper, we present a heuristic-based pairwise gossip algorithm that will calibrate smartphone-based pressure sensors with respect to fixed weather stations as our referential ground truth. Based on actual measurements, we have verified that smartphone-based readings are unstable when observed during movement. Using our calibration algorithm on actual smartphone-based pressure readings, the updated values were significantly closer to the ground truth values.

a Low-Power Wireless Sensor Network for Monitoring the Microcrack Initiations in Aerospace Composites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Jian; Plotnikov, Yuri; Lin, Wendy W.

2008-02-01

A low power wireless sensor network was developed to monitor the microcrack events in aerospace composites. The microcracks in the composites mostly result from a stress loading or temperature and/or humidity cycles. Generally, a single microcrack is too small to be detected by conventional techniques such as X-ray or ultrasonic C-scan. The whole developed sensor network is aimed to capture the released acoustic signals by the microcracking events in real time. It comprises of a receiving station as well as a series of sensor nodes. Each sensor node includes two acoustic emission transducers as well as two signal amplification and data acquisition channels. Much of our development effort has been focused on reducing the power consumption of each node and improving the detection reliability for each event. Each sensor node is battery-powered and works in a sleep mode most of time. Once a microcrack is initiated in the composite, the acoustic signal triggers the node and wakes it up. The node will then react in several microseconds and digitize the signal. The digitized data is sent to the station wirelessly. The developed wireless sensor network system has been validated with microscopy of microcracked samples after temperature and humidity cycling and has proved to be an effective tool for microcracking detection. Furthermore, our low power consumption design and sophisticated wireless transmission mechanism enables a system with great potential for field structural health monitoring applications.

GIS management system of power plant staff based on wireless fidelity indoor location technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Ting

2017-05-01

The labor conditions and environment of electric power production are quite complicated. It is very difficult to realize the real-time supervision of the employees' working conditions and safety. Using the existing base stations in the power plant, the wireless fidelity network is established to realize the wireless coverage of the work site. We can use mobile phone to communicate and achieve positioning. The main content of this project is based on the special environment of the power plant, designed a suitable for ordinary Android mobile phone indoor wireless fidelity positioning system, real-time positioning and record the scene of each employee's movement trajectory, has achieved real-time staff check Gang, Staff in place, and for the safety of employees to provide a guarantee.

LP instrument for "Obstanovka" experiment: use of wireless communication in complex space-borne experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kirov, Boian; Batchvarov, Ditchko; Krasteva, Rumiana; Boneva, Ani; Nedkov, Rumen; Klimov, Stanislav; Stainov, Gencho

The advance of the new wireless communications provides additional opportunities for spaceborne experiments. It is now possible to have one basic instrument collecting information from several sensors without burdensome harnessing among them. Besides, the wireless connection among various elements inside the instrument allows the hardware upgrading to be realized without changing globally the whole instrument. In complex experiments consisting of several instruments, the possibility is provided for continuous communication among the instruments, and for optimal choice of the appropriate mode of operation by the central processor. In the present paper, the LP instrument (electrostatic Langmuir probe) is described - an element of "Obstanovka" experiment designed to operate aboard the International Space Station, emphasizing on the use of wireless communication between the sensors and the main instrument.

Quantifying the spatio-temporal pattern of the ground impact of space weather events using dynamical networks formed from the SuperMAG database of ground based magnetometer stations.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dods, Joe; Chapman, Sandra; Gjerloev, Jesper

2016-04-01

Quantitative understanding of the full spatial-temporal pattern of space weather is important in order to estimate the ground impact. Geomagnetic indices such as AE track the peak of a geomagnetic storm or substorm, but cannot capture the full spatial-temporal pattern. Observations by the ~100 ground based magnetometers in the northern hemisphere have the potential to capture the detailed evolution of a given space weather event. We present the first analysis of the full available set of ground based magnetometer observations of substorms using dynamical networks. SuperMAG offers a database containing ground station magnetometer data at a cadence of 1min from 100s stations situated across the globe. We use this data to form dynamic networks which capture spatial dynamics on timescales from the fast reconfiguration seen in the aurora, to that of the substorm cycle. Windowed linear cross-correlation between pairs of magnetometer time series along with a threshold is used to determine which stations are correlated and hence connected in the network. Variations in ground conductivity and differences in the response functions of magnetometers at individual stations are overcome by normalizing to long term averages of the cross-correlation. These results are tested against surrogate data in which phases have been randomised. The network is then a collection of connected points (ground stations); the structure of the network and its variation as a function of time quantify the detailed dynamical processes of the substorm. The network properties can be captured quantitatively in time dependent dimensionless network parameters and we will discuss their behaviour for examples of 'typical' substorms and storms. The network parameters provide a detailed benchmark to compare data with models of substorm dynamics, and can provide new insights on the similarities and differences between substorms and how they correlate with external driving and the internal state of the

47 CFR 27.1209 - Conversion of incumbent EBS and BRS stations to geographic area licensing.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... (CONTINUED) COMMON CARRIER SERVICES MISCELLANEOUS WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES Broadband Radio Service... Environmental Assessment is required under § 1.1307 of this chapter; (iii) The station would affect the radio...

47 CFR 27.1209 - Conversion of incumbent EBS and BRS stations to geographic area licensing.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... (CONTINUED) COMMON CARRIER SERVICES MISCELLANEOUS WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES Broadband Radio Service... Environmental Assessment is required under § 1.1307 of this chapter; (iii) The station would affect the radio...

47 CFR 27.1209 - Conversion of incumbent EBS and BRS stations to geographic area licensing.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... (CONTINUED) COMMON CARRIER SERVICES MISCELLANEOUS WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES Broadband Radio Service... Environmental Assessment is required under § 1.1307 of this chapter; (iii) The station would affect the radio...

47 CFR 27.1209 - Conversion of incumbent EBS and BRS stations to geographic area licensing.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... (CONTINUED) COMMON CARRIER SERVICES MISCELLANEOUS WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES Broadband Radio Service... Environmental Assessment is required under § 1.1307 of this chapter; (iii) The station would affect the radio...

47 CFR 27.1209 - Conversion of incumbent EBS and BRS stations to geographic area licensing.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... (CONTINUED) COMMON CARRIER SERVICES MISCELLANEOUS WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES Broadband Radio Service... Environmental Assessment is required under § 1.1307 of this chapter; (iii) The station would affect the radio...

Implementation of Phased Array Antenna Technology Providing a Wireless Local Area Network to Enhance Port Security and Maritime Interdiction Operations

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-09-01

boarding team, COTS, WLAN, smart antenna, OpenVPN application, wireless base station, OFDM, latency, point-to-point wireless link. 16. PRICE CODE 17...16 c. SSL/TLS .................................17 2. OpenVPN ......................................17 III. EXPERIMENT METHODOLOGY...network frame at Layer 2 has already been secured by encryption at a higher level. 2. OpenVPN OpenVPN is open source software that provides a VPN

Calibration of Smartphone-Based Weather Measurements Using Pairwise Gossip

PubMed Central

Yamaguchi, Suguru

2015-01-01

Accurate and reliable daily global weather reports are necessary for weather forecasting and climate analysis. However, the availability of these reports continues to decline due to the lack of economic support and policies in maintaining ground weather measurement systems from where these reports are obtained. Thus, to mitigate data scarcity, it is required to utilize weather information from existing sensors and built-in smartphone sensors. However, as smartphone usage often varies according to human activity, it is difficult to obtain accurate measurement data. In this paper, we present a heuristic-based pairwise gossip algorithm that will calibrate smartphone-based pressure sensors with respect to fixed weather stations as our referential ground truth. Based on actual measurements, we have verified that smartphone-based readings are unstable when observed during movement. Using our calibration algorithm on actual smartphone-based pressure readings, the updated values were significantly closer to the ground truth values. PMID:26421312

International Space Station (ISS)

NASA Image and Video Library

2001-08-18

Astronaut Patrick G. Forrester works with the the Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) during extravehicular activity (EVA). MISSE would expose 750 material samples for about 18 months and collect information on how different materials weather the space environment The objective of MISSE is to develop early, low-cost, non-intrusive opportunities to conduct critical space exposure tests of space materials and components plarned for use on future spacecraft. The experiment was the first externally mounted experiment conducted on the International Space Station (ISS) and was installed on the outside of the ISS Quest Airlock. MISSE was launched on August 10, 2001 aboard the Space Shuttle Orbiter Discovery.

Asian Dust Weather Categorization with Satellite and Surface Observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lin, Tang-Huang; Hsu, N. Christina; Tsay, Si-Chee; Huang, Shih-Jen

2011-01-01

This study categorizes various dust weather types by means of satellite remote sensing over central Asia. Airborne dust particles can be identified by satellite remote sensing because of the different optical properties exhibited by coarse and fine particles (i.e. varying particle sizes). If a correlation can be established between the retrieved aerosol optical properties and surface visibility, the intensity of dust weather can be more effectively and consistently discerned using satellite rather than surface observations. In this article, datasets consisting of collocated products from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer Aqua and surface measurements are analysed. The results indicate an exponential relationship between the surface visibility and the satellite-retrieved aerosol optical depth, which is subsequently used to categorize the dust weather. The satellite-derived spatial frequency distributions in the dust weather types are consistent with China s weather station reports during 2003, indicating that dust weather classification using satellite data is highly feasible. Although the period during the springtime from 2004 to 2007 may be not sufficient for statistical significance, our results reveal an increasing tendency in both intensity and frequency of dust weather over central Asia during this time period.

Site evaluation for laser satellite-tracking stations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mao, N. H.; Mohr, P. A.

1976-01-01

Twenty-six locations for potential laser satellite-tracking stations, four of them actually already occupied in this role, are reviewed in terms of their known local and regional geology and geophysics. The sites are also considered briefly in terms of weather and operational factors. Fifteen of the sites qualify as suitable for a stable station whose motions are likely to reflect only gross plate motion. The others, including two of the present laser station sites (Arequipa and Athens), fail to qualify unless extra monitoring schemes can be included, such as precise geodetic surveying of ground deformation.

Energy-efficient digital and wireless IC design for wireless smart sensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Jun; Huang, Xiongchuan; Wang, Chao; Tae-Hyoung Kim, Tony; Lian, Yong

2017-10-01

Wireless smart sensing is now widely used in various applications such as health monitoring and structural monitoring. In conventional wireless sensor nodes, significant power is consumed in wirelessly transmitting the raw data. Smart sensing adds local intelligence to the sensor node and reduces the amount of wireless data transmission via on-node digital signal processing. While the total power consumption is reduced compared to conventional wireless sensing, the power consumption of the digital processing becomes as dominant as wireless data transmission. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art energy-efficient digital and wireless IC design techniques for reducing the power consumption of the wireless smart sensor node to prolong battery life and enable self-powered applications.

Development of Innovative Technology to Provide Low-Cost Surface Atmospheric Observations in Data Sparse Regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kucera, Paul; Steinson, Martin

2017-04-01

Accurate and reliable real-time monitoring and dissemination of observations of surface weather conditions is critical for a variety of societal applications. Applications that provide local and regional information about temperature, precipitation, moisture, and winds, for example, are important for agriculture, water resource monitoring, health, and monitoring of hazard weather conditions. In many regions of the World, surface weather stations are sparsely located and/or of poor quality. Existing stations have often been sited incorrectly, not well-maintained, and have limited communications established at the site for real-time monitoring. The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR)/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), with support from USAID, has started an initiative to develop and deploy low-cost weather instrumentation in sparsely observed regions of the world. The project is focused on improving weather observations for environmental monitoring and early warning alert systems on a regional to global scale. Instrumentation that has been developed use innovative new technologies such as 3D printers, Raspberry Pi computing systems, and wireless communications. The goal of the project is to make the weather station designs, software, and processing tools an open community resource. The weather stations can be built locally by agencies, through educational institutions, and residential communities as a citizen effort to augment existing networks to improve detection of natural hazards for disaster risk reduction. The presentation will provide an overview of the open source weather station technology and evaluation of sensor observations for the initial networks that have been deployed in Africa.

Exposure assessment procedures in presence of wideband digital wireless networks.

PubMed

Trinchero, D

2009-12-01

The article analyses the applicability of traditional methods, as well as recently proposed techniques, to the exposure assessment of electromagnetic field generated by wireless transmitters. As is well known, a correct measurement of the electromagnetic field is conditioned by the complexity of the signal, which requires dedicated instruments or specifically developed extrapolation techniques. Nevertheless, it is also influenced by the typology of the deployment of the transmitting and receiving stations, which varies from network to network. These aspects have been intensively analysed in the literature and several cases of study are available for review. The present article collects the most recent analyses and discusses their applicability to different scenarios, typical of the main wireless networking applications: broadcasting services, mobile cellular networks and data access provisioning infrastructures.

Characterizing Space Weather Effects in the Post-DMSP Era

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Groves, K. M.

2015-12-01

Space weather generally refers to heliophysical phenomena or events that produce a negative impact on manmade systems. While many space weather events originate with impulsive disturbances on the sun, others result from complex internal interactions in the ionosphere-thermosphere system. The reliance of mankind on satellite-based services continues to increase rapidly, yet the global capacity for sensing space weather in the ionosphere seems headed towards decline. A number of recent ionospheric-focused space-based missions are either presently, or soon-to-be, no longer available, and the end of the multi-decade Defense Meteorological Satellite Program is now in sight. The challenge facing the space weather community is how to maintain or increase sensing capabilities in an operational environment constrained by a decreasing numbers of sensors. The upcoming launch of COSMIC-2 in 2016/2018 represents the most significant new capability planned for the future. GNSS RO data has some benefit for background ionospheric models, particularly over regions where ground-based GNSS TEC measurements are unavailable, but the space weather community has a dire need to leverage such missions for far more knowledge of the ionosphere, and specifically for information related to space weather impacts. Meanwhile, the number of ground-based GNSS sensors worldwide has increased substantially, yet progress instrumenting some vastly undersampled regions, such as Africa, remains slow. In fact, the recent loss of support for many existing ground stations in such areas under the former Scintillation Network Decision Aid (SCINDA) program may actually result in a decrease in such sensing sites over the next 1-2 years, abruptly reversing a positive trend established over the last decade. Here we present potential solutions to the challenges these developments pose to the space weather enterprise. Specific topics include modeling advances required to detect and accurately characterize

Fritzsche AAF, Fort Ord, Salinas, California. Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations (RUSSWO). Parts A-F.

DTIC Science & Technology

1972-02-17

OBSERVATIONS) 93217 FORT u-;v %.’,Ll/r i%. A s .-7 _ -_ STATION STATION MARC YEARS NORTH CLASS MOURS (L S.T.) CONITIONU PEDI MEAN (KNS) 1 -3 4 6 7 10...m .. . . . ’S - ,S: -’.. _ _ { MOM "" S USAF ETAC PSYCHROMETRIC SUMMARY AIR WEATHER SER,/XCc’/’. STATION STATION NAME YIEARS MONTH ) [PAGE 1 2100

Wireless Roadside Inspection Proof of Concept Test Final Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Capps, Gary J; Franzese, Oscar; Knee, Helmut E

2009-03-01

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) FMCSA commissioned the Wireless Roadside Inspection (WRI) Program to validate technologies and methodologies that can improve safety through inspections using wireless technologies that convey real-time identification of commercial vehicles, drivers, and carriers, as well as information about the condition of the vehicles and their drivers. It is hypothesized that these inspections will: -- Increase safety -- Decrease the number of unsafe commercial vehicles on the road; -- Increase efficiency -- Speed up the inspection process, enabling more inspections to occur, at least on par with the number of weight inspections; -- Improve effectiveness --more » Reduce the probability of drivers bypassing CMV inspection stations and increase the likelihood that fleets will attempt to meet the safety regulations; and -- Benefit industry -- Reduce fleet costs, provide good return-on-investment, minimize wait times, and level the playing field. The WRI Program is defined in three phases which are: Phase 1: Proof of Concept Test (POC) Testing of commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) or near-COTS technology to validate the wireless inspection concept. Phase 2: Pilot Test Safety technology maturation and back office system integration Phase 3: Field Operational Test Multi-vehicle testing over a multi-state instrumented corridor This report focuses on Phase 1 efforts that were initiated in March, 2006. Technical efforts dealt with the ability of a Universal Wireless Inspection System (UWIS) to collect driver, vehicle, and carrier information; format a Safety Data Message Set from this information; and wirelessly transmit a Safety Data Message Set to a roadside receiver unit or mobile enforcement vehicle.« less

A Wireless Monitoring System for Cracks on the Surface of Reactor Containment Buildings.

PubMed

Zhou, Jianguo; Xu, Yaming; Zhang, Tao

2016-06-14

Structural health monitoring with wireless sensor networks has been increasingly popular in recent years because of the convenience. In this paper, a real-time monitoring system for cracks on the surface of reactor containment buildings is presented. Customized wireless sensor networks platforms are designed and implemented with sensors especially for crack monitoring, which include crackmeters and temperature detectors. Software protocols like route discovery, time synchronization and data transfer are developed to satisfy the requirements of the monitoring system and stay simple at the same time. Simulation tests have been made to evaluate the performance of the system before full scale deployment. The real-life deployment of the crack monitoring system is carried out on the surface of reactor containment building in Daya Bay Nuclear Power Station during the in-service pressure test with 30 wireless sensor nodes.

A Wireless Monitoring System for Cracks on the Surface of Reactor Containment Buildings

PubMed Central

Zhou, Jianguo; Xu, Yaming; Zhang, Tao

2016-01-01

Structural health monitoring with wireless sensor networks has been increasingly popular in recent years because of the convenience. In this paper, a real-time monitoring system for cracks on the surface of reactor containment buildings is presented. Customized wireless sensor networks platforms are designed and implemented with sensors especially for crack monitoring, which include crackmeters and temperature detectors. Software protocols like route discovery, time synchronization and data transfer are developed to satisfy the requirements of the monitoring system and stay simple at the same time. Simulation tests have been made to evaluate the performance of the system before full scale deployment. The real-life deployment of the crack monitoring system is carried out on the surface of reactor containment building in Daya Bay Nuclear Power Station during the in-service pressure test with 30 wireless sensor nodes. PMID:27314357

A hybrid modulation for the dissemination of weather data to aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Akos, Dennis M.

1991-01-01

Ohio University is continuing to conduct research to improve its system for weather data dissemination to aircraft. The current experimental system transmit compressed weather radar reflectivity patterns from a ground based station to aircraft. Although an effective system, the limited frequency spectrum does not provide a channel for transmission. This introduces the idea of a hybrid modulation. The hybrid technique encodes weather data using phase modulation (PM) onto an existing aeronautical channel which employs amplitude modulation (AM) for voice signal transmission. Ideally, the two modulations are independent of one another. The planned implementation and basis of the system are the reviewed.

Wireless device monitoring methods, wireless device monitoring systems, and articles of manufacture

DOEpatents

McCown, Steven H [Rigby, ID; Derr, Kurt W [Idaho Falls, ID; Rohde, Kenneth W [Idaho Falls, ID

2012-05-08

Wireless device monitoring methods, wireless device monitoring systems, and articles of manufacture are described. According to one embodiment, a wireless device monitoring method includes accessing device configuration information of a wireless device present at a secure area, wherein the device configuration information comprises information regarding a configuration of the wireless device, accessing stored information corresponding to the wireless device, wherein the stored information comprises information regarding the configuration of the wireless device, comparing the device configuration information with the stored information, and indicating the wireless device as one of authorized and unauthorized for presence at the secure area using the comparing.

Decreasing trend in severe weather occurrence over China during the past 50 years.

PubMed

Zhang, Qinghong; Ni, Xiang; Zhang, Fuqing

2017-02-17

Understanding the trend of localized severe weather under the changing climate is of great significance but remains challenging which is at least partially due to the lack of persistent and homogeneous severe weather observations at climate scales while the detailed physical processes of severe weather cannot be resolved in global climate models. Based on continuous and coherent severe weather reports from over 500 manned stations, for the first time, this study shows a significant decreasing trend in severe weather occurrence across China during the past five decades. The total number of severe weather days that have either thunderstorm, hail and/or damaging wind decrease about 50% from 1961 to 2010. It is further shown that the reduction in severe weather occurrences correlates strongly with the weakening of East Asian summer monsoon which is the primary source of moisture and dynamic forcing conducive for warm-season severe weather over China.

Decreasing trend in severe weather occurrence over China during the past 50 years

PubMed Central

Zhang, Qinghong; Ni, Xiang; Zhang, Fuqing

2017-01-01

Understanding the trend of localized severe weather under the changing climate is of great significance but remains challenging which is at least partially due to the lack of persistent and homogeneous severe weather observations at climate scales while the detailed physical processes of severe weather cannot be resolved in global climate models. Based on continuous and coherent severe weather reports from over 500 manned stations, for the first time, this study shows a significant decreasing trend in severe weather occurrence across China during the past five decades. The total number of severe weather days that have either thunderstorm, hail and/or damaging wind decrease about 50% from 1961 to 2010. It is further shown that the reduction in severe weather occurrences correlates strongly with the weakening of East Asian summer monsoon which is the primary source of moisture and dynamic forcing conducive for warm-season severe weather over China. PMID:28211465

Decreasing trend in severe weather occurrence over China during the past 50 years

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Qinghong; Ni, Xiang; Zhang, Fuqing

2017-04-01

Understanding the trend of localized severe weather under the changing climate is of great significance but remains challenging which is at least partially due to the lack of persistent and homogeneous severe weather observations at climate scales while the detailed physical processes of severe weather cannot be resolved in global climate models. Based on continuous and coherent severe weather reports from over 500 manned stations, for the first time, this study shows a significant decreasing trend in severe weather occurrence across China during the past five decades. The total number of severe weather days that have either thunderstorm, hail and/or damaging wind decrease about 50% from 1961 to 2010. It is further shown that the reduction in severe weather occurrences correlates strongly with the weakening of East Asian summer monsoon which is the primary source of moisture and dynamic forcing conducive for warm-season severe weather over China.

Decreasing trend in severe weather occurrence over China during the past 50 years

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Qinghong; Ni, Xiang; Zhang, Fuqing

2017-02-01

Understanding the trend of localized severe weather under the changing climate is of great significance but remains challenging which is at least partially due to the lack of persistent and homogeneous severe weather observations at climate scales while the detailed physical processes of severe weather cannot be resolved in global climate models. Based on continuous and coherent severe weather reports from over 500 manned stations, for the first time, this study shows a significant decreasing trend in severe weather occurrence across China during the past five decades. The total number of severe weather days that have either thunderstorm, hail and/or damaging wind decrease about 50% from 1961 to 2010. It is further shown that the reduction in severe weather occurrences correlates strongly with the weakening of East Asian summer monsoon which is the primary source of moisture and dynamic forcing conducive for warm-season severe weather over China.

Wireless mesh networks.

PubMed

Wang, Xinheng

2008-01-01

Wireless telemedicine using GSM and GPRS technologies can only provide low bandwidth connections, which makes it difficult to transmit images and video. Satellite or 3G wireless transmission provides greater bandwidth, but the running costs are high. Wireless networks (WLANs) appear promising, since they can supply high bandwidth at low cost. However, the WLAN technology has limitations, such as coverage. A new wireless networking technology named the wireless mesh network (WMN) overcomes some of the limitations of the WLAN. A WMN combines the characteristics of both a WLAN and ad hoc networks, thus forming an intelligent, large scale and broadband wireless network. These features are attractive for telemedicine and telecare because of the ability to provide data, voice and video communications over a large area. One successful wireless telemedicine project which uses wireless mesh technology is the Emergency Room Link (ER-LINK) in Tucson, Arizona, USA. There are three key characteristics of a WMN: self-organization, including self-management and self-healing; dynamic changes in network topology; and scalability. What we may now see is a shift from mobile communication and satellite systems for wireless telemedicine to the use of wireless networks based on mesh technology, since the latter are very attractive in terms of cost, reliability and speed.

Epidemiological evidence for a health risk from mobile phone base stations.

PubMed

Khurana, Vini G; Hardell, Lennart; Everaert, Joris; Bortkiewicz, Alicja; Carlberg, Michael; Ahonen, Mikko

2010-01-01

Human populations are increasingly exposed to microwave/radiofrequency (RF) emissions from wireless communication technology, including mobile phones and their base stations. By searching PubMed, we identified a total of 10 epidemiological studies that assessed for putative health effects of mobile phone base stations. Seven of these studies explored the association between base station proximity and neurobehavioral effects and three investigated cancer. We found that eight of the 10 studies reported increased prevalence of adverse neurobehavioral symptoms or cancer in populations living at distances < 500 meters from base stations. None of the studies reported exposure above accepted international guidelines, suggesting that current guidelines may be inadequate in protecting the health of human populations. We believe that comprehensive epidemiological studies of long-term mobile phone base station exposure are urgently required to more definitively understand its health impact.

International Space Station (ISS)

NASA Image and Video Library

2001-08-17

Backdropped by a sunrise, the newly installed Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) is visible on this image. MISSE would expose 750 material samples for about 18 months and collect information on how different materials weather the space environment. The objective of MISSE is to develop early, low-cost, non-intrusive opportunities to conduct critical space exposure tests of space materials and components plarned for use on future spacecraft. The experiment was the first externally mounted experiment conducted on the International Space Station (ISS) and was installed on the outside of the ISS Quest Airlock during extravehicular activity (EVA) of the STS-105 mission. MISSE was launched on August 10, 2001 aboard the Space Shuttle Orbiter Discovery.

Research on an estimation method of DOA for wireless location based on TD-SCDMA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yi; Luo, Yuan; Cheng, Shi-xin

2004-03-01

To meet the urgent need of personal communication and hign-speed data services,the standardization and products development for International Mobile Telecommunication-2000 (IMT-2000) have become a hot point in wordwide. The wireless location for mobile terminals has been an important research project. Unlike GPS which is located by 24 artificial satellities, it is based on the base-station of wireless cell network, and the research and development of it are correlative with IMT-2000. While the standard for the third generation mobile telecommunication (3G)-TD-SCDMA, which is proposed by China and the intellective property right of which is possessed by Chinese, is adopted by ITU-T at the first time, the research for wireless location based on TD-SCDMA has theoretic meaning, applied value and marketable foreground. First,the basic principle and method for wireless location, i.e. Direction of Angle(DOA), Time of Arrival(TOA) or Time Difference of Arrival(TDOA), hybridized location(TOA/DOA,TDOA/DOA,TDOA/DOA),etc. is introduced in the paper. So the research of DOA is very important in wireless location. Next, Main estimation methods of DOA for wireless location, i.e. ESPRIT, MUSIC, WSF, Min-norm, etc. are researched in the paper. In the end, the performances of DOA estimation for wireless location based on mobile telecommunication network are analyzed by the research of theory and simulation experiment and the contrast algorithms between and Cramer-Rao Bound. Its research results aren't only propitious to the choice of algorithms for wireless location, but also to the realization of new service of wireless location .

A HIERARCHIAL STOCHASTIC MODEL OF LARGE SCALE ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION PATTERNS AND MULTIPLE STATION DAILY PRECIPITATION

EPA Science Inventory

A stochastic model of weather states and concurrent daily precipitation at multiple precipitation stations is described. our algorithms are invested for classification of daily weather states; k means, fuzzy clustering, principal components, and principal components coupled with ...

A Model for QoS – Aware Wireless Communication in Hospitals

PubMed Central

Alavikia, Zahra; Khadivi, Pejman; Hashemi, Masoud Reza

2012-01-01

In the recent decade, research regarding wireless applications in electronic health (e-Health) services has been increasing. The main benefits of using wireless technologies in e-Health applications are simple communications, fast delivery of medical information, reducing treatment cost and also reducing the medical workers’ error rate. However, using wireless communications in sensitive healthcare environment raises electromagnetic interference (EMI). One of the most effective methods to avoid the EMI problem is power management. To this end, some of methods have been proposed in the literature to reduce EMI effects in health care environments. However, using these methods may result in nonaccurate interference avoidance and also may increase network complexity. To overcome these problems, we introduce two approaches based on per-user location and hospital sectoring for power management in sensitive healthcare environments. Although reducing transmission power could avoid EMI, it causes a number of successful message deliveries to the access point to decrease and, hence, the quality of service requirements cannot be meet. In this paper, we propose the use of relays for decreasing the probability of outage in the aforementioned scenario. Relay placement is the main factor to enjoy the usefulness of relay station benefits in the network and, therefore, we use the genetic algorithm to compute the optimum positions of a fixed number of relays. We have considered delay and maximum blind point coverage as two main criteria in relay station problem. The performance of the proposed method in outage reduction is investigated through simulations. PMID:23493832

Weather Safety - NOAA's National Weather Service

Science.gov Websites

Statistical Models... MOS Prod GFS-LAMP Prod Climate Past Weather Predictions Weather Safety Weather Radio National Weather Service on FaceBook NWS on Facebook NWS Director Home > Safety Weather Safety This page weather safety. StormReady NOAA Weather Radio Emergency Managers Information Network U.S. Hazard Assmt

2007 Weather and Aeolian Sand-Transport Data from the Colorado River Corridor, Grand Canyon, Arizona

USGS Publications Warehouse

Draut, Amy E.; Andrews, Timothy; Fairley, Helen C.; Brown, Christopher R.

2009-01-01

Weather data constitute an integral part of ecosystem monitoring in the Colorado River corridor and are particularly valuable for understanding processes of landscape change that contribute to the stability of archeological sites. Data collected in 2007 are reported from nine weather stations in the Colorado River corridor through Grand Canyon, Ariz. The stations were deployed in February and March 2007 to measure wind speed and direction, rainfall, air temperature, relative humidity, and barometric pressure. Sand traps near each weather station collect windblown sand, from which daily aeolian sand-transport rates are calculated. The data reported here were collected as part of an ongoing study to test and evaluate methods for quantifying processes that affect the physical integrity of archeological sites along the river corridor; as such, these data can be used to identify rainfall events capable of causing gully incision and to predict likely transport pathways for aeolian sand, two landscape processes integral to the preservation of archeological sites. Weather data also have widespread applications to other studies of physical, cultural, and biological resources in Grand Canyon. Aeolian sand-transport data reported here, collected in the year before the March 2008 High-Flow Experiment (HFE) at Glen Canyon Dam, represent baseline data against which the effects of the 2008 HFE on windblown sand will be compared in future reports.

Wireless Biological Electronic Sensors.

PubMed

Cui, Yue

2017-10-09

The development of wireless biological electronic sensors could open up significant advances for both fundamental studies and practical applications in a variety of areas, including medical diagnosis, environmental monitoring, and defense applications. One of the major challenges in the development of wireless bioelectronic sensors is the successful integration of biosensing units and wireless signal transducers. In recent years, there are a few types of wireless communication systems that have been integrated with biosensing systems to construct wireless bioelectronic sensors. To successfully construct wireless biological electronic sensors, there are several interesting questions: What types of biosensing transducers can be used in wireless bioelectronic sensors? What types of wireless systems can be integrated with biosensing transducers to construct wireless bioelectronic sensors? How are the electrical sensing signals generated and transmitted? This review will highlight the early attempts to address these questions in the development of wireless biological electronic sensors.

Wireless Biological Electronic Sensors

PubMed Central

Cui, Yue

2017-01-01

The development of wireless biological electronic sensors could open up significant advances for both fundamental studies and practical applications in a variety of areas, including medical diagnosis, environmental monitoring, and defense applications. One of the major challenges in the development of wireless bioelectronic sensors is the successful integration of biosensing units and wireless signal transducers. In recent years, there are a few types of wireless communication systems that have been integrated with biosensing systems to construct wireless bioelectronic sensors. To successfully construct wireless biological electronic sensors, there are several interesting questions: What types of biosensing transducers can be used in wireless bioelectronic sensors? What types of wireless systems can be integrated with biosensing transducers to construct wireless bioelectronic sensors? How are the electrical sensing signals generated and transmitted? This review will highlight the early attempts to address these questions in the development of wireless biological electronic sensors. PMID:28991220

47 CFR 90.1333 - Restrictions on the operation of mobile and portable stations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 5 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Restrictions on the operation of mobile and portable stations. 90.1333 Section 90.1333 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) SAFETY AND SPECIAL RADIO SERVICES PRIVATE LAND MOBILE RADIO SERVICES Wireless Broadband Services in the...

47 CFR 90.1333 - Restrictions on the operation of mobile and portable stations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 5 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Restrictions on the operation of mobile and portable stations. 90.1333 Section 90.1333 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) SAFETY AND SPECIAL RADIO SERVICES PRIVATE LAND MOBILE RADIO SERVICES Wireless Broadband Services in the...

Opportunities and challenges for optical wireless: the competitive advantage of free space telecommunications links in today's crowded marketplace

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carbonneau, Theresa H.; Wisely, David R.

1998-01-01

Never before has the opportunity for terrestrial optical wireless communications links been so great. The high data rates attainable, up to OC-24, make it a very attractive and cost effective alternative to traditional fiber optic and microwave links. With today's demand for interactive multimedia-based applications, such as video conferencing and telemedicine, optical wireless products are the only ones that can provide the needed bandwidth in situations when it is too costly or impossible to install fiber optic cable. Recent developments in laser and optics technologies, in addition to auto beam tracking, permit transmission units to achieve excellent performance rates in all weather conditions.

Heterogeneous wireless/wireline optical access networks with the R-EAT as backend component

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hagedorn, Klaus; Gindera, Ralf; Stohr, Andreas; Jager, Dieter

2004-09-01

A heterogeneous wireless/wireline optical transmission link using a reflection type electroabsorption transceiver (R-EAT) is presented. Simultaneous transmission of full-duplex broadband wireless LAN (WLAN) channels and 1Gb/s base band data is experimentally demonstrated. The system link employs sub-carrier multiplexing (SCM) and two optical channels for full duplex transmission of various analog WLAN channels and downlink digital base band data. The developed link architecture is suitable for simultaneous transmission of broadband wireline and wireless signals, it enables the coexistence and interoperability between wireline and wireless access technologies. The developed R-EAT component employed in this wireline/wireless access system, features "single-chip-component" base stations in access networks with star type topology where only a single optical fiber is used for bidirectional optical transmission. The R-EAT can be used within the optical C-band (1530- 1560nm) and is suitable for (D)WDM networks. Bit error rate measurements demonstrate the capabilities of the R-EAT for 1Gb/s base band transmission. The analog performance for WLAN transmission is characterised by a spurious free dynamic range (SFDR) of more than 75dB and 90dB for uplink and downlink transmission, respectively. The link gain for uplink and downlink transmission is -42dB and -37dB, respectively. The demonstrates the analog performances of the R-EAT for being used in wireless access networks such as W-LAN.

A Game Theoretic Optimization Method for Energy Efficient Global Connectivity in Hybrid Wireless Sensor Networks

PubMed Central

Lee, JongHyup; Pak, Dohyun

2016-01-01

For practical deployment of wireless sensor networks (WSN), WSNs construct clusters, where a sensor node communicates with other nodes in its cluster, and a cluster head support connectivity between the sensor nodes and a sink node. In hybrid WSNs, cluster heads have cellular network interfaces for global connectivity. However, when WSNs are active and the load of cellular networks is high, the optimal assignment of cluster heads to base stations becomes critical. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a game theoretic model to find the optimal assignment of base stations for hybrid WSNs. Since the communication and energy cost is different according to cellular systems, we devise two game models for TDMA/FDMA and CDMA systems employing power prices to adapt to the varying efficiency of recent wireless technologies. The proposed model is defined on the assumptions of the ideal sensing field, but our evaluation shows that the proposed model is more adaptive and energy efficient than local selections. PMID:27589743

Wireless pilot monitoring system for extreme race conditions.

PubMed

Pino, Esteban J; Arias, Diego E; Aqueveque, Pablo; Melin, Pedro; Curtis, Dorothy W

2012-01-01

This paper presents the design and implementation of an assistive device to monitor car drivers under extreme conditions. In particular, this system is designed in preparation for the 2012 Atacama Solar Challenge to be held in the Chilean desert. Actual preliminary results show the feasibility of such a project including physiological and ambient sensors, real-time processing algorithms, wireless data transmission and a remote monitoring station. Implementation details and field results are shown along with a discussion of the main problems found in real-life telemetry monitoring.

Performance evaluation of multi-channel wireless mesh networks with embedded systems.

PubMed

Lam, Jun Huy; Lee, Sang-Gon; Tan, Whye Kit

2012-01-01

Many commercial wireless mesh network (WMN) products are available in the marketplace with their own proprietary standards, but interoperability among the different vendors is not possible. Open source communities have their own WMN implementation in accordance with the IEEE 802.11s draft standard, Linux open80211s project and FreeBSD WMN implementation. While some studies have focused on the test bed of WMNs based on the open80211s project, none are based on the FreeBSD. In this paper, we built an embedded system using the FreeBSD WMN implementation that utilizes two channels and evaluated its performance. This implementation allows the legacy system to connect to the WMN independent of the type of platform and distributes the load between the two non-overlapping channels. One channel is used for the backhaul connection and the other one is used to connect to the stations to wireless mesh network. By using the power efficient 802.11 technology, this device can also be used as a gateway for the wireless sensor network (WSN).

Reviews Book: Marie Curie and Her Daughters Resource: Cumulus Equipment: Alpha Particle Scattering Apparatus Equipment: 3D Magnetic Tube Equipment: National Grid Transmission Model Book: Einstein's Physics Equipment: Barton's Pendulums Equipment: Weather Station Web Watch

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2013-09-01

WE RECOMMEND Marie Curie and Her Daughters An insightful study of a resilient and ingenious family and their achievements Cumulus Simple to install and operate and with obvious teaching applications, this weather station 'donationware' is as easy to recommend as it is to use Alpha Particle Scattering Apparatus Good design and construction make for good results National Grid Transmission Model Despite its expense, this resource offers excellent value Einstein's Physics A vivid, accurate, compelling and rigorous treatment, but requiring an investment of time and thought WORTH A LOOK 3D Magnetic Tube Magnetic fields in three dimensions at a low cost Barton's Pendulums A neat, well-made and handy variant, but not a replacement for the more traditional version Weather Station Though not as robust or substantial as hoped for, this can be put to good use with the right software WEB WATCH An online experiment and worksheet are useful for teaching motor efficiency, a glance at CERN, and NASA's interesting information on the alpha-magnetic spectrometer and climate change

Dynamical Networks Characterization of Space Weather Events

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Orr, L.; Chapman, S. C.; Dods, J.; Gjerloev, J. W.

2017-12-01

Space weather can cause disturbances to satellite systems, impacting navigation technology and telecommunications; it can cause power loss and aviation disruption. A central aspect of the earth's magnetospheric response to space weather events are large scale and rapid changes in ionospheric current patterns. Space weather is highly dynamic and there are still many controversies about how the current system evolves in time. The recent SuperMAG initiative, collates ground-based vector magnetic field time series from over 200 magnetometers with 1-minute temporal resolution. In principle this combined dataset is an ideal candidate for quantification using dynamical networks. Network properties and parameters allow us to characterize the time dynamics of the full spatiotemporal pattern of the ionospheric current system. However, applying network methodologies to physical data presents new challenges. We establish whether a given pair of magnetometers are connected in the network by calculating their canonical cross correlation. The magnetometers are connected if their cross correlation exceeds a threshold. In our physical time series this threshold needs to be both station specific, as it varies with (non-linear) individual station sensitivity and location, and able to vary with season, which affects ground conductivity. Additionally, the earth rotates and therefore the ground stations move significantly on the timescales of geomagnetic disturbances. The magnetometers are non-uniformly spatially distributed. We will present new methodology which addresses these problems and in particular achieves dynamic normalization of the physical time series in order to form the network. Correlated disturbances across the magnetometers capture transient currents. Once the dynamical network has been obtained [1][2] from the full magnetometer data set it can be used to directly identify detailed inferred transient ionospheric current patterns and track their dynamics. We will show

47 CFR 87.171 - Class of station symbols.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) SAFETY AND SPECIAL RADIO SERVICES AVIATION SERVICES... the aviation services are: Symbol and class of station AX—Aeronautical fixed AXO—Aeronautical...—Aeronautical search and rescue FAS—Aviation support FAT—Flight test FAW—Automatic weather observation GCO...

Cloud Compute for Global Climate Station Summaries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baldwin, R.; May, B.; Cogbill, P.

2017-12-01

Global Climate Station Summaries are simple indicators of observational normals which include climatic data summarizations and frequency distributions. These typically are statistical analyses of station data over 5-, 10-, 20-, 30-year or longer time periods. The summaries are computed from the global surface hourly dataset. This dataset totaling over 500 gigabytes is comprised of 40 different types of weather observations with 20,000 stations worldwide. NCEI and the U.S. Navy developed these value added products in the form of hourly summaries from many of these observations. Enabling this compute functionality in the cloud is the focus of the project. An overview of approach and challenges associated with application transition to the cloud will be presented.

Biodegradability of commercial and weathered diesel oils

PubMed Central

Mariano, Adriano Pinto; Bonotto, Daniel Marcos; de Franceschi de Angelis, Dejanira; Pirôllo, Maria Paula Santos; Contiero, Jonas

2008-01-01

This work aimed to evaluate the capability of different microorganisms to degrade commercial diesel oil in comparison to a weathered diesel oil collected from the groundwater at a petrol station. Two microbiological methods were used for the biodegradability assessment: the technique based on the redox indicator 2,6 -dichlorophenol indophenol (DCPIP) and soil respirometric experiments using biometer flasks. In the former we tested the bacterial cultures Staphylococcus hominis, Kocuria palustris, Pseudomonas aeruginosa LBI, Ochrobactrum anthropi and Bacillus cereus, a commercial inoculum, consortia obtained from soil and groundwater contaminated with hydrocarbons and a consortium from an uncontaminated area. In the respirometric experiments it was evaluated the capability of the native microorganisms present in the soil from a petrol station to biodegrade the diesel oils. The redox indicator experiments showed that only the consortia, even that from an uncontaminated area, were able to biodegrade the weathered diesel. In 48 days, the removal of the total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) in the respirometric experiments was approximately 2.5 times greater when the commercial diesel oil was used. This difference was caused by the consumption of labile hydrocarbons, present in greater quantities in the commercial diesel oil, as demonstrated by gas chromatographic analyses. Thus, results indicate that biodegradability studies that do not consider the weathering effect of the pollutants may over estimate biodegradation rates and when the bioaugmentation is necessary, the best strategy would be that one based on injection of consortia, because even cultures with recognised capability of biodegrading hydrocarbons may fail when applied isolated. PMID:24031193

Traffic handling capability of a broadband indoor wireless network using CDMA multiple access

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Chang G.; Hafez, H. M.; Falconer, David D.

1994-05-01

CDMA (code division multiple access) may be an attractive technique for wireless access to broadband services because of its multiple access simplicity and other appealing features. In order to investigate traffic handling capabilities of a future network providing a variety of integrated services, this paper presents a study of a broadband indoor wireless network supporting high-speed traffic using CDMA multiple access. The results are obtained through the simulation of an indoor environment and the traffic capabilities of the wireless access to broadband 155.5 MHz ATM-SONET networks using the mm-wave band. A distributed system architecture is employed and the system performance is measured in terms of call blocking probability and dropping probability. The impacts of the base station density, traffic load, average holding time, and variable traffic sources on the system performance are examined. The improvement of system performance by implementing various techniques such as handoff, admission control, power control and sectorization are also investigated.

Wireless nanosensors for monitoring concussion of football players

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramasamy, Mouli; Harbaugh, Robert E.; Varadan, Vijay K.

2015-04-01

Football players are more to violent impacts and injuries more than any athlete in any other sport. Concussion or mild traumatic brain injuries were one of the lesser known sports injuries until the last decade. With the advent of modern technologies in medical and engineering disciplines, people are now more aware of concussion detection and prevention. These concussions are often overlooked by football players themselves. The cumulative effect of these mild traumatic brain injuries can cause long-term residual brain dysfunctions. The principle of concussion is based the movement of the brain in the neurocranium and viscerocranium. The brain is encapsulated by the cerebrospinal fluid which acts as a protective layer for the brain. This fluid can protect the brain against minor movements, however, any rapid movements of the brain may mitigate the protective capability of the cerebrospinal fluid. In this paper, we propose a wireless health monitoring helmet that addresses the concerns of the current monitoring methods - it is non-invasive for a football player as helmet is not an additional gear, it is efficient in performance as it is equipped with EEG nanosensors and 3D accelerometer, it does not restrict the movement of the user as it wirelessly communicates to the remote monitoring station, requirement of individual monitoring stations are not required for each player as the ZigBee protocol can couple multiple transmitters with one receiver. A helmet was developed and validated according to the above mentioned parameters.

NASA Space Environments Technical Discipline Team Space Weather Activities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Minow, J. I.; Nicholas, A. C.; Parker, L. N.; Xapsos, M.; Walker, P. W.; Stauffer, C.

2017-12-01

The Space Environment Technical Discipline Team (TDT) is a technical organization led by NASA's Technical Fellow for Space Environments that supports NASA's Office of the Chief Engineer through the NASA Engineering and Safety Center. The Space Environments TDT conducts independent technical assessments related to the space environment and space weather impacts on spacecraft for NASA programs and provides technical expertise to NASA management and programs where required. This presentation will highlight the status of applied space weather activities within the Space Environment TDT that support development of operational space weather applications and a better understanding of the impacts of space weather on space systems. We will first discuss a tool that has been developed for evaluating space weather launch constraints that are used to protect launch vehicles from hazardous space weather. We then describe an effort to better characterize three-dimensional radiation transport for CubeSat spacecraft and processing of micro-dosimeter data from the International Space Station which the team plans to make available to the space science community. Finally, we will conclude with a quick description of an effort to maintain access to the real-time solar wind data provided by the Advanced Composition Explorer satellite at the Sun-Earth L1 point.

Recent Research applications at the Athens Neutron Monitor Station

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mavromichalaki, H.; Gerontidou, M.; Paschalis, P.; Papaioannou, A.; Paouris, E.; Papailiou, M.; Souvatzoglou, G.

2015-08-01

The ground based neutron monitor measurements play a key role in the field of space physics, solar-terrestrial relations, and space weather applications. The Athens cosmic ray group has developed several research applications such as an optimized automated Ground Level Enhancement Alert (GLE Alert Plus) and a web interface, providing data from multiple Neutron Monitor stations (Multi-Station tool). These services are actually available via the Space Weather Portal operated by the European Space Agency (http://swe.ssa.esa.int). In addition, two simulation tools, based on Geant4, have also been implemented. The first one is for the simulation of the cosmic ray showers in the atmosphere (DYASTIMA) and the second one is for the simulation of the 6NM-64 neutron monitor. The contribution of the simulation tools to the calculations of the radiation dose received by air crews and passengers within the Earth's atmosphere and to the neutron monitor study is presented as well. Furthermore, the accurate calculation of the barometric coefficient and the primary data processing by filtering algorithms, such as the well known Median Editor and the developed by the Athens group ANN Algorithm and Edge Editor which contribute to the provision of high quality neutron monitor data are also discussed. Finally, a Space Weather Forecasting Center which provides a three day geomagnetic activity report on a daily basis has been set up and has been operating for the last two years at the Athens Neutron Monitor Station.

Environmental Suitability of Weathering Steel Structures in Florida - Material Selection, Phase 2.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2017-08-01

For the purpose of establishing guidelines for selection of weathering steel material for bridges in Florida, data were collected to help establish appropriate guidelines. There were 30 monitoring stations set up for direct (weight loss) measurements...

Performance improvement of optical wireless communication through fog with a decision feedback equalizer.

PubMed

Aharonovich, Marius; Arnon, Shlomi

2005-08-01

Optical wireless communication (OWC) systems use the atmosphere as a propagation medium. However, a common problem is that from time to time moderate cloud and fog emerge between the receiver and the transmitter. These adverse weather conditions impose temporal broadening and power loss on the optical signal, which reduces the digital signal-to-noise ratio (DSNR), produces significant intersymbol interference (ISI), and degrades the communication system's bit error rate (BER) and throughput. We propose and investigate the use of a combined adaptive bandwidth mechanism and decision feedback equalizer (DFE) to mitigate these atmospheric multipath effects. Based on theoretical analysis and simulations of DSNR penalties, BER, and optimum system bandwidths, we show that a DFE improves the outdoor OWC system immunity to ISI in foggy weather while maintaining high throughput and desired low BER.

NEXRAD and the Broadcast Weather Industry: Preparing to Share the Technology.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Robertson, Michele M.; Droegemeier, Kelvin K.

1990-01-01

This paper describes results from a survey designed to establish the current level of radar and computer technology of the television weather industry, and to assess the awareness and attitudes of television weather forecasters toward the Next Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD) program and its potential impact on the field of broadcast meteorology. The survey was distributed to one affiliate station in each of the 213 national television markets, and a 46% response rate was achieved over a 4-week period. The survey results indicate substantial awareness of and interest in NEXRAD, along with a willingness to learn more about its capabilities and potential for use in the private sector. Survey participants suggested that potential private NEXRAD users work directly with the National Weather Service (NWS) and its affiliates so as to fully utilize the capabilities of the new radar system.

Note: Design and development of wireless controlled aerosol sampling network for large scale aerosol dispersion experiments.

PubMed

Gopalakrishnan, V; Subramanian, V; Baskaran, R; Venkatraman, B

2015-07-01

Wireless based custom built aerosol sampling network is designed, developed, and implemented for environmental aerosol sampling. These aerosol sampling systems are used in field measurement campaign, in which sodium aerosol dispersion experiments have been conducted as a part of environmental impact studies related to sodium cooled fast reactor. The sampling network contains 40 aerosol sampling units and each contains custom built sampling head and the wireless control networking designed with Programmable System on Chip (PSoC™) and Xbee Pro RF modules. The base station control is designed using graphical programming language LabView. The sampling network is programmed to operate in a preset time and the running status of the samplers in the network is visualized from the base station. The system is developed in such a way that it can be used for any other environment sampling system deployed in wide area and uneven terrain where manual operation is difficult due to the requirement of simultaneous operation and status logging.

Note: Design and development of wireless controlled aerosol sampling network for large scale aerosol dispersion experiments

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gopalakrishnan, V.; Subramanian, V.; Baskaran, R.

2015-07-15

Wireless based custom built aerosol sampling network is designed, developed, and implemented for environmental aerosol sampling. These aerosol sampling systems are used in field measurement campaign, in which sodium aerosol dispersion experiments have been conducted as a part of environmental impact studies related to sodium cooled fast reactor. The sampling network contains 40 aerosol sampling units and each contains custom built sampling head and the wireless control networking designed with Programmable System on Chip (PSoC™) and Xbee Pro RF modules. The base station control is designed using graphical programming language LabView. The sampling network is programmed to operate in amore » preset time and the running status of the samplers in the network is visualized from the base station. The system is developed in such a way that it can be used for any other environment sampling system deployed in wide area and uneven terrain where manual operation is difficult due to the requirement of simultaneous operation and status logging.« less

Broadcast of four HD videos with LED ceiling lighting: optical-wireless MAC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bouchet, Olivier; Porcon, Pascal; Gueutier, Eric

2011-09-01

The European project "hOME Gigabit Access Network" (OMEGA) targeted various wireless and wired solutions for 1 Gbit/s connectivity in Home Area Networks (HANs). One objective was to evaluate the suitability of optical wireless technologies in two spectral regions: visible light (visible-light communications - VLC) and near infrared (infrared communications - IRC). Several demonstrators have been built, all of them largely relying on overthe- shelf components. The demonstrators included a "wide-area" VLC broadcast link based on LED ceiling lighting and a laser-based high-data-rate "wide-area" IRC prototype. In this paper we discuss an adapted optical-wireless media-access-control (OWMAC) sublayer, which was developed and implemented during the project. It is suitable for both IRC and VLC. The VLC prototype is based on DMT signal processing and provides broadcasting at { 100 Mbit/s over an area of approximately 5 m2. The IRC prototype provides {300 Mbit/s half-duplex communication over an area of approximately 30 m2. The IRC mesh network, composed of one base station and two terminals, is based on OOK modulation, multi-sector transceivers, and an ultra-fast sector switch. After a brief discussion about the design of the optical-wireless data link layer and the optical-wireless switch (OWS) card, we address the card development and implementation. We also present applications for the VLC and IRC prototypes and measurement results regarding the MAC layer.

Enhanced Fair-Weather Electric Fields Soon After Sunrise

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Marshall, T. C.; Rust, W. D.; Stolzenburg, M.; Roeder, W.; Krehbiel, P. R.

1999-01-01

The typical fair weather electric field at the ground is between -100 and -300 V/m. At the NASA Kennedy Space Center and US Air Force Cape Canaveral Air Station (KSC) the electric field at the ground sometimes reaches -400 to -1200 V/m within an hour or two after sunrise on days that otherwise seem to be fair weather. We refer to the enhanced negative electric fields as the "sunrise enhancement." To investigate the sunrise enhancement at KSC we measured the electric field (E) in the first few hundred meters above the ground before and during several sunrise enhancements. From these E soundings we can infer the presence of charge layers and determine their thickness and charge density.

Weather conditions and voter turnout in Dutch national parliament elections, 1971-2010.

PubMed

Eisinga, Rob; Te Grotenhuis, Manfred; Pelzer, Ben

2012-07-01

While conventional wisdom assumes that inclement weather on election day reduces voter turnout, there is remarkably little evidence available to support truth to such belief. This paper examines the effects of temperature, sunshine duration and rainfall on voter turnout in 13 Dutch national parliament elections held from 1971 to 2010. It merges the election results from over 400 municipalities with election-day weather data drawn from the nearest weather station. We find that the weather parameters indeed affect voter turnout. Election-day rainfall of roughly 25 mm (1 inch) reduces turnout by a rate of one percent, whereas a 10-degree-Celsius increase in temperature correlates with an increase of almost one percent in overall turnout. One hundred percent sunshine corresponds to a one and a half percent greater voter turnout compared to zero sunshine.

Linking the Weather Generator with Regional Climate Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dubrovsky, Martin; Farda, Ales; Skalak, Petr; Huth, Radan

2013-04-01

One of the downscaling approaches, which transform the raw outputs from the climate models (GCMs or RCMs) into data with more realistic structure, is based on linking the stochastic weather generator with the climate model output. The present contribution, in which the parametric daily surface weather generator (WG) M&Rfi is linked to the RCM output, follows two aims: (1) Validation of the new simulations of the present climate (1961-1990) made by the ALADIN-Climate Regional Climate Model at 25 km resolution. The WG parameters are derived from the RCM-simulated surface weather series and compared to those derived from weather series observed in 125 Czech meteorological stations. The set of WG parameters will include statistics of the surface temperature and precipitation series (including probability of wet day occurrence). (2) Presenting a methodology for linking the WG with RCM output. This methodology, which is based on merging information from observations and RCM, may be interpreted as a downscaling procedure, whose product is a gridded WG capable of producing realistic synthetic multivariate weather series for weather-ungauged locations. In this procedure, WG is calibrated with RCM-simulated multi-variate weather series in the first step, and the grid specific WG parameters are then de-biased by spatially interpolated correction factors based on comparison of WG parameters calibrated with gridded RCM weather series and spatially scarcer observations. The quality of the weather series produced by the resultant gridded WG will be assessed in terms of selected climatic characteristics (focusing on characteristics related to variability and extremes of surface temperature and precipitation). Acknowledgements: The present experiment is made within the frame of projects ALARO-Climate (project P209/11/2405 sponsored by the Czech Science Foundation), WG4VALUE (project LD12029 sponsored by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of CR) and VALUE (COST ES 1102

Sustainable Arctic observing network for predicting weather extremes in mid-latitudes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Inoue, J.; Sato, K.; Yamazaki, A.

2016-12-01

Routine atmospheric observations within and over the Arctic Ocean are very expensive and difficult to conduct because of factors such as logistics and the harsh environment. Nevertheless, the great benefit of such observations is their contribution to an improvement of skills of weather predictions over the Arctic and mid-latitudes. The Year of Polar Prediction (YOPP) from mid-2017 to mid-2019 proposed by the World Weather Research Programme - Polar Prediction Project (WWRP-PPP) would be the best opportunity to address the issues. The combination of observations and data assimilation is an effective way to understand the predictability of weather extremes in mid-latitudes. This talk presents the current activities related to PPP based on international special radiosonde observing network in the Arctic, and challenges toward YOPP. Comparing with summer and winter cases, the additional observations over the Arctic during winter were more effective for improving the predicting skills of weather extremes because the impact of the observations would be carried toward the mid-latitudes by the stronger jet stream and its frequent meanderings. During summer, on the other hand, the impact of extra observations was localized over the Arctic region but still important for precise weather forecasts over the Arctic Ocean, contributing to safe navigation along the Northern Sea Route. To consolidate the sustainable Arctic radiosonde observing network, increasing the frequency of observations at Arctic coastal stations, instead of commissioning special observations from ships and ice camps, would be a feasible way. In fact, several existing stations facing the Arctic Ocean have already increased the frequency of observations during winter and/or summer.

A monitoring system for vegetable greenhouses based on a wireless sensor network.

PubMed

Li, Xiu-hong; Cheng, Xiao; Yan, Ke; Gong, Peng

2010-01-01

A wireless sensor network-based automatic monitoring system is designed for monitoring the life conditions of greenhouse vegetables. The complete system architecture includes a group of sensor nodes, a base station, and an internet data center. For the design of wireless sensor node, the JN5139 micro-processor is adopted as the core component and the Zigbee protocol is used for wireless communication between nodes. With an ARM7 microprocessor and embedded ZKOS operating system, a proprietary gateway node is developed to achieve data influx, screen display, system configuration and GPRS based remote data forwarding. Through a Client/Server mode the management software for remote data center achieves real-time data distribution and time-series analysis. Besides, a GSM-short-message-based interface is developed for sending real-time environmental measurements, and for alarming when a measurement is beyond some pre-defined threshold. The whole system has been tested for over one year and satisfactory results have been observed, which indicate that this system is very useful for greenhouse environment monitoring.

A Monitoring System for Vegetable Greenhouses based on a Wireless Sensor Network

PubMed Central

Li, Xiu-hong; Cheng, Xiao; Yan, Ke; Gong, Peng

2010-01-01

A wireless sensor network-based automatic monitoring system is designed for monitoring the life conditions of greenhouse vegetatables. The complete system architecture includes a group of sensor nodes, a base station, and an internet data center. For the design of wireless sensor node, the JN5139 micro-processor is adopted as the core component and the Zigbee protocol is used for wireless communication between nodes. With an ARM7 microprocessor and embedded ZKOS operating system, a proprietary gateway node is developed to achieve data influx, screen display, system configuration and GPRS based remote data forwarding. Through a Client/Server mode the management software for remote data center achieves real-time data distribution and time-series analysis. Besides, a GSM-short-message-based interface is developed for sending real-time environmental measurements, and for alarming when a measurement is beyond some pre-defined threshold. The whole system has been tested for over one year and satisfactory results have been observed, which indicate that this system is very useful for greenhouse environment monitoring. PMID:22163391

Observations by Mid-continent Magnetoseismic Chain (McMAC) and their use in space weather research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chi, P. J.; McMac Team

The Mid-continent Magnetoseismic Chain McMAC consists of nine magnetometer stations that line up across the U S and Mexico along the 330th magnetic meridian These systems sample at 2 Hz and monitor the fluctuations of the geomagnetic field caused by space weather phenomena and they are always on the Internet to allow rapid access of data The McMAC stations can connect to the Fort Churchill Line of the CARISMA Array and two IGPP-LANL stations at the same longitude and form a long magnetometer chain that spans the L-value range from 1 3 to 11 7 the greatest latitudinal coverage in all meridians One of the main advantages of this magnetometer chain is its close separation between adjacent stations enabling the use of the gradient technique to identify field line resonance FLR frequencies and to further estimate the plasma mass density in the magnetosphere The observations of FLR and the derived density can always be collected in the daytime and occasionally in the nighttime as well In this paper we present the observations by the newly completed McMAC and jointly by the CARISMA and IGPP-LANL Arrays The observed plasma density and its wide coverage in L-value can benefit space weather studies such as on magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling and on the wave-particle interaction for modeling the radiation belts Also discussed are other applications of the McMAC observations in space weather research including possible joint observations with satellite missions

Hybrid evolutionary computing model for mobile agents of wireless Internet multimedia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hortos, William S.

2001-03-01

The ecosystem is used as an evolutionary paradigm of natural laws for the distributed information retrieval via mobile agents to allow the computational load to be added to server nodes of wireless networks, while reducing the traffic on communication links. Based on the Food Web model, a set of computational rules of natural balance form the outer stage to control the evolution of mobile agents providing multimedia services with a wireless Internet protocol WIP. The evolutionary model shows how mobile agents should behave with the WIP, in particular, how mobile agents can cooperate, compete and learn from each other, based on an underlying competition for radio network resources to establish the wireless connections to support the quality of service QoS of user requests. Mobile agents are also allowed to clone themselves, propagate and communicate with other agents. A two-layer model is proposed for agent evolution: the outer layer is based on the law of natural balancing, the inner layer is based on a discrete version of a Kohonen self-organizing feature map SOFM to distribute network resources to meet QoS requirements. The former is embedded in the higher OSI layers of the WIP, while the latter is used in the resource management procedures of Layer 2 and 3 of the protocol. Algorithms for the distributed computation of mobile agent evolutionary behavior are developed by adding a learning state to the agent evolution state diagram. When an agent is in an indeterminate state, it can communicate to other agents. Computing models can be replicated from other agents. Then the agents transitions to the mutating state to wait for a new information-retrieval goal. When a wireless terminal or station lacks a network resource, an agent in the suspending state can change its policy to submit to the environment before it transitions to the searching state. The agents learn the facts of agent state information entered into an external database. In the cloning process, two

A Wireless World: Charles County Public Schools Makes Wireless Universal

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hoffman, Richard

2007-01-01

Wireless connectivity in schools is all the rage, and many school systems have at least gotten their feet wet with a wireless lab or a few portable laptop carts. But Bijaya Devkota, the chief information officer of Charles County Public Schools, has done what many school systems only dream of--implemented universal wireless access throughout his…

Wireless on Campus.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dominick, Jay

2000-01-01

Discussion of wireless technology focuses on whether there is enough value in a wireless infrastructure for schools to justify the cost. Considers issues campuses must face, including access to the Internet, telecommunications, and networking; explains technical details; and describes wireless initiatives at Wake Forest University. (LRW)

Establishment of Karadeniz Technical University Permanent GNSS Station as Reactivated of TRAB IGS Station

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kazancı, Selma Zengin; Kayıkçı, Emine Tanır

2017-12-01

In recent years, Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) have gained great importance in terms of the benefi ts it provides such as precise geodetic point positioning, determining crustal deformations, navigation, vehicle monitoring systems and meteorological applications etc. As in Turkey, for this purpose, each country has set up its own GNSS station networks like Turkish National Permanent RTK Network analyzed precise station coordinates and velocities together with the International GNSS Service, Turkish National Fundamental GPS Network and Turkish National Permanent GNSS Network (TNPGN) stations not only are utilized as precise positioning but also GNSS meteorology studies so total number of stations are increased. This work is related to the reactivated of the TRAB IGS station which was established in Karadeniz Technical University, Department of Geomatics Engineering. Within the COST ES1206 Action (GNSS4SWEC) KTU analysis center was established and Trop-NET system developed by Geodetic Observatory Pecny (GOP, RIGTC) in order to troposphere monitoring. The project titled "Using Regional GNSS Networks to Strengthen Severe Weather Prediction" was accepted to the scientifi c and technological research council of Turkey (TUBITAK). With this project, we will design 2 new constructed GNSS reference station network. Using observation data of network, we will compare water vapor distribution derived by GNSS Meteorology and GNSS Tomography. At this time, KTU AC was accepted as E-GVAP Analysis Centre in December 2016. KTU reference station is aimed to be a member of the EUREF network with these studies.

Performance evaluation of power control algorithms in wireless cellular networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Temaneh-Nyah, C.; Iita, V.

2014-10-01

Power control in a mobile communication network intents to control the transmission power levels in such a way that the required quality of service (QoS) for the users is guaranteed with lowest possible transmission powers. Most of the studies of power control algorithms in the literature are based on some kind of simplified assumptions which leads to compromise in the validity of the results when applied in a real environment. In this paper, a CDMA network was simulated. The real environment was accounted for by defining the analysis area and the network base stations and mobile stations are defined by their geographical coordinates, the mobility of the mobile stations is accounted for. The simulation also allowed for a number of network parameters including the network traffic, and the wireless channel models to be modified. Finally, we present the simulation results of a convergence speed based comparative analysis of three uplink power control algorithms.

Linking the Weather Generator with Regional Climate Model: Effect of Higher Resolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dubrovsky, Martin; Huth, Radan; Farda, Ales; Skalak, Petr

2014-05-01

This contribution builds on our last year EGU contribution, which followed two aims: (i) validation of the simulations of the present climate made by the ALADIN-Climate Regional Climate Model (RCM) at 25 km resolution, and (ii) presenting a methodology for linking the parametric weather generator (WG) with RCM output (aiming to calibrate a gridded WG capable of producing realistic synthetic multivariate weather series for weather-ungauged locations). Now we have available new higher-resolution (6.25 km) simulations with the same RCM. The main topic of this contribution is an anser to a following question: What is an effect of using a higher spatial resolution on a quality of simulating the surface weather characteristics? In the first part, the high resolution RCM simulation of the present climate will be validated in terms of selected WG parameters, which are derived from the RCM-simulated surface weather series and compared to those derived from weather series observed in 125 Czech meteorological stations. The set of WG parameters will include statistics of the surface temperature and precipitation series. When comparing the WG parameters from the two sources (RCM vs observations), we interpolate the RCM-based parameters into the station locations while accounting for the effect of altitude. In the second part, we will discuss an effect of using the higher resolution: the results of the validation tests will be compared with those obtained with the lower-resolution RCM. Acknowledgements: The present experiment is made within the frame of projects ALARO-Climate (project P209/11/2405 sponsored by the Czech Science Foundation), WG4VALUE (project LD12029 sponsored by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of CR) and VALUE (COST ES 1102 action).

Intelligent Local Avoided Collision (iLAC) MAC Protocol for Very High Speed Wireless Network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hieu, Dinh Chi; Masuda, Akeo; Rabarijaona, Verotiana Hanitriniala; Shimamoto, Shigeru

Future wireless communication systems aim at very high data rates. As the medium access control (MAC) protocol plays the central role in determining the overall performance of the wireless system, designing a suitable MAC protocol is critical to fully exploit the benefit of high speed transmission that the physical layer (PHY) offers. In the latest 802.11n standard [2], the problem of long overhead has been addressed adequately but the issue of excessive colliding transmissions, especially in congested situation, remains untouched. The procedure of setting the backoff value is the heart of the 802.11 distributed coordination function (DCF) to avoid collision in which each station makes its own decision on how to avoid collision in the next transmission. However, collision avoidance is a problem that can not be solved by a single station. In this paper, we introduce a new MAC protocol called Intelligent Local Avoided Collision (iLAC) that redefines individual rationality in choosing the backoff counter value to avoid a colliding transmission. The distinguishing feature of iLAC is that it fundamentally changes this decision making process from collision avoidance to collaborative collision prevention. As a result, stations can avoid colliding transmissions with much greater precision. Analytical solution confirms the validity of this proposal and simulation results show that the proposed algorithm outperforms the conventional algorithms by a large margin.

Wireless security in mobile health.

PubMed

Osunmuyiwa, Olufolabi; Ulusoy, Ali Hakan

2012-12-01

Mobile health (m-health) is an extremely broad term that embraces mobile communication in the health sector and data packaging. The four broad categories of wireless networks are wireless personal area network, wireless metropolitan area network, wireless wide area network, and wireless local area network. Wireless local area network is the most notable of the wireless networking tools obtainable in the health sector. Transfer of delicate and critical information on radio frequencies should be secure, and the right to use must be meticulous. This article covers the business opportunities in m-health, threats faced by wireless networks in hospitals, and methods of mitigating these threats.

Community Wireless Networks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Feld, Harold

2005-01-01

With increasing frequency, communities are seeing the arrival of a new class of noncommercial broadband providers: community wireless networks (CWNs). Utilizing the same wireless technologies that many colleges and universities have used to create wireless networks on campus, CWNs are creating broadband access for free or at costs well below…

Design and Implementation of a Secure Wireless Mote-Based Medical Sensor Network

PubMed Central

Malasri, Kriangsiri; Wang, Lan

2009-01-01

A medical sensor network can wirelessly monitor vital signs of humans, making it useful for long-term health care without sacrificing patient comfort and mobility. For such a network to be viable, its design must protect data privacy and authenticity given that medical data are highly sensitive. We identify the unique security challenges of such a sensor network and propose a set of resource-efficient mechanisms to address these challenges. Our solution includes (1) a novel two-tier scheme for verifying the authenticity of patient data, (2) a secure key agreement protocol to set up shared keys between sensor nodes and base stations, and (3) symmetric encryption/decryption for protecting data confidentiality and integrity. We have implemented the proposed mechanisms on a wireless mote platform, and our results confirm their feasibility. PMID:22454585

Design and implementation of a secure wireless mote-based medical sensor network.

PubMed

Malasri, Kriangsiri; Wang, Lan

2009-01-01

A medical sensor network can wirelessly monitor vital signs of humans, making it useful for long-term health care without sacrificing patient comfort and mobility. For such a network to be viable, its design must protect data privacy and authenticity given that medical data are highly sensitive. We identify the unique security challenges of such a sensor network and propose a set of resource-efficient mechanisms to address these challenges. Our solution includes (1) a novel two-tier scheme for verifying the authenticity of patient data, (2) a secure key agreement protocol to set up shared keys between sensor nodes and base stations, and (3) symmetric encryption/decryption for protecting data confidentiality and integrity. We have implemented the proposed mechanisms on a wireless mote platform, and our results confirm their feasibility.

New Approach To Hour-By-Hour Weather Forecast

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liao, Q. Q.; Wang, B.

2017-12-01

Fine hourly forecast in single station weather forecast is required in many human production and life application situations. Most previous MOS (Model Output Statistics) which used a linear regression model are hard to solve nonlinear natures of the weather prediction and forecast accuracy has not been sufficient at high temporal resolution. This study is to predict the future meteorological elements including temperature, precipitation, relative humidity and wind speed in a local region over a relatively short period of time at hourly level. By means of hour-to-hour NWP (Numeral Weather Prediction)meteorological field from Forcastio (https://darksky.net/dev/docs/forecast) and real-time instrumental observation including 29 stations in Yunnan and 3 stations in Tianjin of China from June to October 2016, predictions are made of the 24-hour hour-by-hour ahead. This study presents an ensemble approach to combine the information of instrumental observation itself and NWP. Use autoregressive-moving-average (ARMA) model to predict future values of the observation time series. Put newest NWP products into the equations derived from the multiple linear regression MOS technique. Handle residual series of MOS outputs with autoregressive (AR) model for the linear property presented in time series. Due to the complexity of non-linear property of atmospheric flow, support vector machine (SVM) is also introduced . Therefore basic data quality control and cross validation makes it able to optimize the model function parameters , and do 24 hours ahead residual reduction with AR/SVM model. Results show that AR model technique is better than corresponding multi-variant MOS regression method especially at the early 4 hours when the predictor is temperature. MOS-AR combined model which is comparable to MOS-SVM model outperform than MOS. Both of their root mean square error and correlation coefficients for 2 m temperature are reduced to 1.6 degree Celsius and 0.91 respectively. The

Impacts and societal benefits of research activities at Summit Station, Greenland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hawley, R. L.; Burkhart, J. F.; Courville, Z.; Dibb, J. E.; Koenig, L.; Vaughn, B. H.

2017-12-01

Summit Station began as the site for the Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2 ice core in 1989. Since then, it has hosted both summer campaign science, and since 1997, year-round observations of atmospheric and cryospheric processes. The station has been continuously occupied since 2003. While most of the science activities at the station are supported by the US NSF Office of Polar Programs, the station also hosts many interagency and international investigations in physical glaciology, atmospheric chemistry, satellite validation, astrophysics and other disciplines. Summit is the only high elevation observatory north of the Arctic circle that can provide clean air or snow sites. The station is part of the INTER-ACT consortium of Arctic research stations with the main objective to identify, understand, predict and respond to diverse environmental changes, and part of the International Arctic Systems for Observing the Atmosphere (IASOA) that coordinates Arctic research activities and provides a networked, observations-based view of the Arctic. The Summit Station Science Summit, sponsored by NSF, assembled a multidisciplinary group of scientists to review Summit Station science, define the leading research questions for Summit, and make community-based recommendations for future science goals and governance for Summit. The impact of several on-going observation records was summarized in the report "Sustaining the Science Impact of Summit Station, Greenland," including the use of station data in weather forecasts and climate models. Observations made at the station as part of long-term, year-round research or during shorter summer-only campaign seasons contribute to several of the identified Social Benefit Areas (SBAs) outlined in the International Arctic Observations Assessment Framework published by the IDA Science and Technology Policy Institute and Sustaining Arctic Observing Networks as an outcome of the 2016 Arctic Science Ministerial. The SBAs supported by research

On Deployment of Multiple Base Stations for Energy-Efficient Communication in Wireless Sensor Networks

DOE PAGES

Lin, Yunyue; Wu, Qishi; Cai, Xiaoshan; ...

2010-01-01

Data transmission from sensor nodes to a base station or a sink node often incurs significant energy consumption, which critically affects network lifetime. We generalize and solve the problem of deploying multiple base stations to maximize network lifetime in terms of two different metrics under one-hop and multihop communication models. In the one-hop communication model, the sensors far away from base stations always deplete their energy much faster than others. We propose an optimal solution and a heuristic approach based on the minimal enclosing circle algorithm to deploy a base station at the geometric center of each cluster. In themore » multihop communication model, both base station location and data routing mechanism need to be considered in maximizing network lifetime. We propose an iterative algorithm based on rigorous mathematical derivations and use linear programming to compute the optimal routing paths for data transmission. Simulation results show the distinguished performance of the proposed deployment algorithms in maximizing network lifetime.« less

A smartphone-based platform to test the performance of wireless mobile networks and preliminary findings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Geng, Xinli; Xu, Hao; Qin, Xiaowei

2016-10-01

During the last several years, the amount of wireless network traffic data increased fast and relative technologies evolved rapidly. In order to improve the performance and Quality of Experience (QoE) of wireless network services, the analysis of field network data and existing delivery mechanisms comes to be a promising research topic. In order to achieve this goal, a smartphone based platform named Monitor and Diagnosis of Mobile Applications (MDMA) was developed to collect field data. Based on this tool, the web browsing service of High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) network was tested. The top 200 popular websites in China were selected and loaded on smartphone for thousands times automatically. Communication packets between the smartphone and the cell station were captured for various scenarios (e.g. residential area, urban roads, bus station etc.) in the selected city. A cross-layer database was constructed to support the off-line analysis. Based on the results of client-side experiments and analysis, the usability of proposed portable tool was verified. The preliminary findings and results for existing web browsing service were also presented.

A review of the Forest Service Remote Automated Weather Station (RAWS) network

Treesearch

John Zachariassen; Karl F. Zeller; Ned Nikolov; Tom McClelland

2003-01-01

The RAWS network and RAWS data-use systems are closely reviewed and summarized in this report. RAWS is an active program created by the many land-management agencies that share a common need for accurate and timely weather data from remote locations for vital operational and program decisions specific to wildland and prescribed fires. A RAWS measures basic observable...

Generating daily weather data for ecosystem modelling in the Congo River Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Petritsch, Richard; Pietsch, Stephan A.

2010-05-01

Daily weather data are an important constraint for diverse applications in ecosystem research. In particular, temperature and precipitation are the main drivers for forest ecosystem productivity. Mechanistic modelling theory heavily relies on daily values for minimum and maximum temperatures, precipitation, incident solar radiation and vapour pressure deficit. Although the number of climate measurement stations increased during the last centuries, there are still regions with limited climate data. For example, in the WMO database there are only 16 stations located in Gabon with daily weather measurements. Additionally, the available time series are heavily affected by measurement errors or missing values. In the WMO record for Gabon, on average every second day is missing. Monthly means are more robust and may be estimated over larger areas. Therefore, a good alternative is to interpolate monthly mean values using a sparse network of measurement stations, and based on these monthly data generate daily weather data with defined characteristics. The weather generator MarkSim was developed to produce climatological time series for crop modelling in the tropics. It provides daily values for maximum and minimum temperature, precipitation and solar radiation. The monthly means can either be derived from the internal climate surfaces or prescribed as additional inputs. We compared the generated outputs observations from three climate stations in Gabon (Lastourville, Moanda and Mouilla) and found that maximum temperature and solar radiation were heavily overestimated during the long dry season. This is due to the internal dependency of the solar radiation estimates to precipitation. With no precipitation a cloudless sky is assumed and thus high incident solar radiation and a large diurnal temperature range. However, in reality it is cloudy in the Congo River Basin during the long dry season. Therefore, we applied a correction factor to solar radiation and temperature range

Objective local weather types with applications on urban air pollution and on mortality with chronicle illnesses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mika, Janos; Ivady, Anett; Fulop, Andrea; Makra, László

2010-05-01

Synoptic climatology i.e. classification of the endless variability of the everyday weather states according to the pressure configuration and frontal systems relative to the point, or region of interest has long history in meteorology. Its logical alternative, i.e. classification of weather according to the observed local weather elements was less popular until the recent times when the numerical weather forecasts became able to outline not only the synoptic situation, but the near-surface meteorological variables, as well. Nowadays the computer-based statistical facilities are able to operate with matrices of multivariate diurnal samples, as well. The paper presents an attempt to define a set of local weather types using point-wise series at five rural stations, Szombathely, Pécs, Budapest, Szeged és Debrecen in the 1961-1990 reference period. Ten local variables are used, i.e. the diurnal mean temperature, the diurnal temperature range; the cloudiness, the sunshine duration, the water vapour pressure, the precipitation in a logarithmic scale, also differing trace (below 0.1 mm) and no precipitation, the relative humidity and wind speed, including the more extremity indicators of the two latter parameters, i.e. number of hours with over 80 % relative humidity and over 15 m/s wind gusts. Factor analysis of these ten variables was performed leading to 5 fairly independent variables retained for cluster analysis to obtain the local weather types. Hierarchical cluster analysis was performed to classify the 840-930 days within each month of the 30 years period. Furthers neighbour approach was preferred based on Euclidean metrics to establish optimum number of types. The 12 months and the 5 stations exhibited slightly different results but the optimum number of the types was always between 4 and 12 which is a quite reasonable number from practical considerations. According to a further reasonable compromise, the common number of the types not too bad in either

Observations and Impact Assessments of Extreme Space Weather Events

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baker, D. N.

2007-05-01

"Space weather" refers to conditions on the Sun, in the solar wind, and in Earth`s magnetosphere, ionosphere, and thermosphere. Activity on the Sun such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections can lead to high levels of radiation in space and can cause major magnetic storms at the Earth. Space radiation can come as energetic particles or as electromagnetic emissions. Adverse conditions in the near-Earth space environment can cause disruption of satellite operations, communications, navigation, and electric power distribution grids. This can lead to a variety of socioeconomic losses. Astronauts and airline passengers exposed to high levels of radiation are also at risk. Society`s vulnerability to space weather effects is an issue of increasing concern. We are dependent on technological systems that are becoming more susceptible to space weather disturbances. We also have a permanent human presence in space with the International Space Station and the President and NASA have expressed a desire to expand our human space activities with missions to the moon and Mars. This will make space weather of even greater concern in the future. In this talk I will describe many space weather effects and will describe some of the societal and economic impacts that extreme events have had.

Low Power Wireless Smoke Alarm System in Home Fires

PubMed Central

Luis, Juan Aponte; Galán, Juan Antonio Gómez; Espigado, Javier Alcina

2015-01-01

A novel sensing device for fire detection in domestic environments is presented. The fire detector uses a combination of several sensors that not only detect smoke, but discriminate between different types of smoke. This feature avoids false alarms and warns of different situations. Power consumption is optimized both in terms of hardware and software, providing a high degree of autonomy of almost five years. Data gathered from the device are transmitted through a wireless communication to a base station. The low cost and compact design provides wide application prospects. PMID:26307994

Low Power Wireless Smoke Alarm System in Home Fires.

PubMed

Aponte Luis, Juan; Gómez Galán, Juan Antonio; Alcina Espigado, Javier

2015-08-21

A novel sensing device for fire detection in domestic environments is presented. The fire detector uses a combination of several sensors that not only detect smoke, but discriminate between different types of smoke. This feature avoids false alarms and warns of different situations. Power consumption is optimized both in terms of hardware and software, providing a high degree of autonomy of almost five years. Data gathered from the device are transmitted through a wireless communication to a base station. The low cost and compact design provides wide application prospects.

Recent Applications of Space Weather Research to NASA Space Missions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Willis, Emily M.; Howard, James W., Jr.; Miller, J. Scott; Minow, Joseph I.; NeergardParker, L.; Suggs, Robert M.

2013-01-01

Marshall Space Flight Center s Space Environments Team is committed to applying the latest research in space weather to NASA programs. We analyze data from an extensive set of space weather satellites in order to define the space environments for some of NASA s highest profile programs. Our goal is to ensure that spacecraft are designed to be successful in all environments encountered during their missions. We also collaborate with universities, industry, and other federal agencies to provide analysis of anomalies and operational impacts to current missions. This presentation is a summary of some of our most recent applications of space weather data, including the definition of the space environments for the initial phases of the Space Launch System (SLS), acquisition of International Space Station (ISS) frame potential variations during geomagnetic storms, and Nascap-2K charging analyses.

Catalog of Air Force Weather Technical Publications 1992-1993

DTIC Science & Technology

1994-01-01

3-2 of DESERT STORM .................................... 3-2 of Eastern Europe ....................................... 3-3 electrooptical...for 640 Pacific (10 sets), and Europe (36 sets). EOCLIMO stations taken from Navy PC-SMOS, USAFETAC version 1.0 data files are NOT compatible with SOCS...Executive Separate chapters describe the weather during Summary, by Kenneth R. Walters, Sr., and Capt Operations DESERT SHIELD, DESERT STORM , Richard D

Potential climate change impacts on fire weather in the United States

Treesearch

Warren E. Heilman; Ying Tang; Lifeng Luo; Shiyuan Zhong; Julie Winkler; Xindi. Bian

2015-01-01

Researchers at Michigan State University and the Forest Service's Northern Research Station worked on a joint study to examine the possible effects of future global and regional climate change on the occurrence of fire-weather patterns often associated with extreme and erratic wildfire behavior in the United States.

Wireless Telemetry and Command (T and C) Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jiang, Hui; Horan, Stephen

2000-01-01

The Wireless Telemetry and Command (T&C) program is to investigate methods of using commercial telecommunications service providers to support command and telemetry services between a remote user and a base station. While the initial development is based on ground networks, the development is being done with an eye towards future space communications needs. Both NASA and the Air Force have indicated a plan to consider the use of commercial telecommunications providers to support their space missions. To do this, there will need to be an understanding of the requirements and limitations of interfacing with the commercial providers. The eventual payoff will be the reduced operations cost and the ability to tap into commercial services being developed by the commercial networks. This should enable easier realization of EP services to the end points, commercial routing of data, and quicker integration of new services into the space mission operations. Therefore, the ultimate goal of this program is not just to provide wireless radio communications for T&C services but to enhance those services through wireless networking and provider enhancements that come with the networks. In the following chapters, the detailed technical procedure will be showed step by step. Chapter 2 will talk about the general idea of simulation as well as the implementation of data acquisition including sensor array data and GPS data. Chapter 3 will talk about how to use LabVEEW and Component Works to do wireless communication simulation and how to distribute the real-time information over the Internet by using Visual Basic and ActiveX controls. Also talk about the test configuration and validation. Chapter 4 will show the test results both from In-Lab test and Networking Test. Chapter 5 will summarize the whole procedure and give the perspective for the future consideration.

Merging weather data with materials response data during outdoor exposure

Treesearch

R. Sam Williams; Anand Sanadi; Corey Halpin; Christopher White

2002-01-01

As part of an outdoor exposure protocol for a study of sealants, a full weather station was installed at the Forest Products Laboratory field test site near Madison, Wisconsin. Tem-perature, relative humidity, rainfall, ultraviolet (UV) radiation at 18 different wavelengths, and wind speed and direction are continuously measured. Using a specially designed apparatus,...

Weather monitoring and forecasting over eastern Attica (Greece) in the frame of FLIRE project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kotroni, Vassiliki; Lagouvardos, Konstantinos; Chrysoulakis, Nektarios; Makropoulos, Christtos; Mimikou, Maria; Papathanasiou, Chrysoula; Poursanidis, Dimitris

2015-04-01

In the frame of FLIRE project a Decision Support System has been built with the aim to support decision making of Civil Protection Agencies and local stakeholders in the area of east Attica (Greece), in the cases of forest fires and floods. In this presentation we focus on a specific action that focuses on the provision of high resolution short-term weather forecasting data as well as of dense meteorological observations over the study area. Both weather forecasts and observations serve as an input in the Weather Information Management Tool (WIMT) of the Decision Support System. We focus on: (a) the description of the adopted strategy for setting-up the operational weather forecasting chain that provides the weather forecasts for the FLIRE project needs, (b) the presentation of the surface network station that provides real-time weather monitoring of the study area and (c) the strategy adopted for issuing smart alerts for thunderstorm forecasting based of real-time lightning observations as well as satellite observations.

Demonstration of UAV deployment and control of mobile wireless sensing networks for modal analysis of structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Hao; Hirose, Mitsuhito; Greenwood, William; Xiao, Yong; Lynch, Jerome; Zekkos, Dimitrios; Kamat, Vineet

2016-04-01

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can serve as a powerful mobile sensing platform for assessing the health of civil infrastructure systems. To date, the majority of their uses have been dedicated to vision and laser-based spatial imaging using on-board cameras and LiDAR units, respectively. Comparatively less work has focused on integration of other sensing modalities relevant to structural monitoring applications. The overarching goal of this study is to explore the ability for UAVs to deploy a network of wireless sensors on structures for controlled vibration testing. The study develops a UAV platform with an integrated robotic gripper that can be used to install wireless sensors in structures, drop a heavy weight for the introduction of impact loads, and to uninstall wireless sensors for reinstallation elsewhere. A pose estimation algorithm is embedded in the UAV to estimate the location of the UAV during sensor placement and impact load introduction. The Martlet wireless sensor network architecture is integrated with the UAV to provide the UAV a mobile sensing capability. The UAV is programmed to command field deployed Martlets, aggregate and temporarily store data from the wireless sensor network, and to communicate data to a fixed base station on site. This study demonstrates the integrated UAV system using a simply supported beam in the lab with Martlet wireless sensors placed by the UAV and impact load testing performed. The study verifies the feasibility of the integrated UAV-wireless monitoring system architecture with accurate modal characteristics of the beam estimated by modal analysis.

The association of trail use with weather-related factors on an urban greenway.

PubMed

Burchfield, Ryan A; Fitzhugh, Eugene C; Bassett, David R

2012-02-01

To study the association between weather-related measures and objectively measured trail use across 3 seasons. Weather has been reported as a barrier to outdoor physical activity (PA), but previous studies have explained only a small amount of the variance in PA using weather-related measures. The dependent variable of this study was trail use measured as mean hourly trail counts by an infrared trail counter located on a greenway. Each trail count represents 1 person breaking the infrared beam of the trail counter. Two sources of weather-related measures were obtained by a site-specific weather station and a public domain weather source. Temperature, relative humidity, and precipitation were significantly correlated with trail counts recorded during daylight hours. More precise hourly weather-related measures explained 42% of the variance in trail counts, regardless of the weather data source with temperature alone explaining 18% of the variance in trail counts. After controlling for all seasonal and weekly factors, every 1°F increase in temperature was associated with an increase of 1.1 trail counts/hr up to 76°F, at which point trail use began to slightly decrease. Weather-related factors have a moderate association with trail use along an urban greenway.

Synchronous wearable wireless body sensor network composed of autonomous textile nodes.

PubMed

Vanveerdeghem, Peter; Van Torre, Patrick; Stevens, Christiaan; Knockaert, Jos; Rogier, Hendrik

2014-10-09

A novel, fully-autonomous, wearable, wireless sensor network is presented, where each flexible textile node performs cooperative synchronous acquisition and distributed event detection. Computationally efficient situational-awareness algorithms are implemented on the low-power microcontroller present on each flexible node. The detected events are wirelessly transmitted to a base station, directly, as well as forwarded by other on-body nodes. For each node, a dual-polarized textile patch antenna serves as a platform for the flexible electronic circuitry. Therefore, the system is particularly suitable for comfortable and unobtrusive integration into garments. In the meantime, polarization diversity can be exploited to improve the reliability and energy-efficiency of the wireless transmission. Extensive experiments in realistic conditions have demonstrated that this new autonomous, body-centric, textile-antenna, wireless sensor network is able to correctly detect different operating conditions of a firefighter during an intervention. By relying on four network nodes integrated into the protective garment, this functionality is implemented locally, on the body, and in real time. In addition, the received sensor data are reliably transferred to a central access point at the command post, for more detailed and more comprehensive real-time visualization. This information provides coordinators and commanders with situational awareness of the entire rescue operation. A statistical analysis of measured on-body node-to-node, as well as off-body person-to-person channels is included, confirming the reliability of the communication system.

Synchronous Wearable Wireless Body Sensor Network Composed of Autonomous Textile Nodes

PubMed Central

Vanveerdeghem, Peter; Van Torre, Patrick; Stevens, Christiaan; Knockaert, Jos; Rogier, Hendrik

2014-01-01

A novel, fully-autonomous, wearable, wireless sensor network is presented, where each flexible textile node performs cooperative synchronous acquisition and distributed event detection. Computationally efficient situational-awareness algorithms are implemented on the low-power microcontroller present on each flexible node. The detected events are wirelessly transmitted to a base station, directly, as well as forwarded by other on-body nodes. For each node, a dual-polarized textile patch antenna serves as a platform for the flexible electronic circuitry. Therefore, the system is particularly suitable for comfortable and unobtrusive integration into garments. In the meantime, polarization diversity can be exploited to improve the reliability and energy-efficiency of the wireless transmission. Extensive experiments in realistic conditions have demonstrated that this new autonomous, body-centric, textile-antenna, wireless sensor network is able to correctly detect different operating conditions of a firefighter during an intervention. By relying on four network nodes integrated into the protective garment, this functionality is implemented locally, on the body, and in real time. In addition, the received sensor data are reliably transferred to a central access point at the command post, for more detailed and more comprehensive real-time visualization. This information provides coordinators and commanders with situational awareness of the entire rescue operation. A statistical analysis of measured on-body node-to-node, as well as off-body person-to-person channels is included, confirming the reliability of the communication system. PMID:25302808

Parametric vs. non-parametric daily weather generator: validation and comparison

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dubrovsky, Martin

2016-04-01

As the climate models (GCMs and RCMs) fail to satisfactorily reproduce the real-world surface weather regime, various statistical methods are applied to downscale GCM/RCM outputs into site-specific weather series. The stochastic weather generators are among the most favourite downscaling methods capable to produce realistic (observed like) meteorological inputs for agrological, hydrological and other impact models used in assessing sensitivity of various ecosystems to climate change/variability. To name their advantages, the generators may (i) produce arbitrarily long multi-variate synthetic weather series representing both present and changed climates (in the latter case, the generators are commonly modified by GCM/RCM-based climate change scenarios), (ii) be run in various time steps and for multiple weather variables (the generators reproduce the correlations among variables), (iii) be interpolated (and run also for sites where no weather data are available to calibrate the generator). This contribution will compare two stochastic daily weather generators in terms of their ability to reproduce various features of the daily weather series. M&Rfi is a parametric generator: Markov chain model is used to model precipitation occurrence, precipitation amount is modelled by the Gamma distribution, and the 1st order autoregressive model is used to generate non-precipitation surface weather variables. The non-parametric GoMeZ generator is based on the nearest neighbours resampling technique making no assumption on the distribution of the variables being generated. Various settings of both weather generators will be assumed in the present validation tests. The generators will be validated in terms of (a) extreme temperature and precipitation characteristics (annual and 30 years extremes and maxima of duration of hot/cold/dry/wet spells); (b) selected validation statistics developed within the frame of VALUE project. The tests will be based on observational weather series

National Scale Rainfall Map Based on Linearly Interpolated Data from Automated Weather Stations and Rain Gauges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alconis, Jenalyn; Eco, Rodrigo; Mahar Francisco Lagmay, Alfredo; Lester Saddi, Ivan; Mongaya, Candeze; Figueroa, Kathleen Gay

2014-05-01

In response to the slew of disasters that devastates the Philippines on a regular basis, the national government put in place a program to address this problem. The Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards, or Project NOAH, consolidates the diverse scientific research being done and pushes the knowledge gained to the forefront of disaster risk reduction and management. Current activities of the project include installing rain gauges and water level sensors, conducting LIDAR surveys of critical river basins, geo-hazard mapping, and running information education campaigns. Approximately 700 automated weather stations and rain gauges installed in strategic locations in the Philippines hold the groundwork for the rainfall visualization system in the Project NOAH web portal at http://noah.dost.gov.ph. The system uses near real-time data from these stations installed in critical river basins. The sensors record the amount of rainfall in a particular area as point data updated every 10 to 15 minutes. The sensor sends the data to a central server either via GSM network or satellite data transfer for redundancy. The web portal displays the sensors as a placemarks layer on a map. When a placemark is clicked, it displays a graph of the rainfall data for the past 24 hours. The rainfall data is harvested by batch determined by a one-hour time frame. The program uses linear interpolation as the methodology implemented to visually represent a near real-time rainfall map. The algorithm allows very fast processing which is essential in near real-time systems. As more sensors are installed, precision is improved. This visualized dataset enables users to quickly discern where heavy rainfall is concentrated. It has proven invaluable on numerous occasions, such as last August 2013 when intense to torrential rains brought about by the enhanced Southwest Monsoon caused massive flooding in Metro Manila. Coupled with observations from Doppler imagery and water level sensors along the

STS-118 Astronaut Williams and Expedition 15 Engineer Anderson Perform EVA

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2007-01-01

As the construction continued on the International Space Station (ISS), STS-118 Astronaut Dave Williams, representing the Canadian Space Agency, participated in the fourth and final session of Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA). During the 5 hour space walk, Williams and Expedition 15 engineer Clay Anderson (out of frame) installed the External Wireless Instrumentation System Antenna, attached a stand for the shuttle robotic arm extension boom, and retrieved the two Materials International Space Station Experiments (MISSE) for return to Earth. MISSE collects information on how different materials weather in the environment of space.

An Efficient Wireless Sensor Network for Industrial Monitoring and Control.

PubMed

Aponte-Luis, Juan; Gómez-Galán, Juan Antonio; Gómez-Bravo, Fernando; Sánchez-Raya, Manuel; Alcina-Espigado, Javier; Teixido-Rovira, Pedro Miguel

2018-01-10

This paper presents the design of a wireless sensor network particularly designed for remote monitoring and control of industrial parameters. The article describes the network components, protocol and sensor deployment, aimed to accomplish industrial constraint and to assure reliability and low power consumption. A particular case of study is presented. The system consists of a base station, gas sensing nodes, a tree-based routing scheme for the wireless sensor nodes and a real-time monitoring application that operates from a remote computer and a mobile phone. The system assures that the industrial safety quality and the measurement and monitoring system achieves an efficient industrial monitoring operations. The robustness of the developed system and the security in the communications have been guaranteed both in hardware and software level. The system is flexible and can be adapted to different environments. The testing of the system confirms the feasibility of the proposed implementation and validates the functional requirements of the developed devices, the networking solution and the power consumption management.

Development of a System to Generate Near Real Time Tropospheric Delay and Precipitable Water Vapor in situ at Geodetic GPS Stations, to Improve Forecasting of Severe Weather Events

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moore, A. W.; Bock, Y.; Geng, J.; Gutman, S. I.; Laber, J. L.; Morris, T.; Offield, D. G.; Small, I.; Squibb, M. B.

2012-12-01

We describe a system under development for generating ultra-low latency tropospheric delay and precipitable water vapor (PWV) estimates in situ at a prototype network of geodetic GPS sites in southern California, and demonstrating their utility in forecasting severe storms commonly associated with flooding and debris flow events along the west coast of North America through infusion of this meteorological data at NOAA National Weather Service (NWS) Forecast Offices and the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL). The first continuous geodetic GPS network was established in southern California in the early 1990s and much of it was converted to real-time (latency <1s) high-rate (1Hz) mode over the following decades. GPS stations are multi-purpose and can also provide estimates of tropospheric zenith delays, which can be converted into mm-accuracy PWV using collocated pressure and temperature measurements, the basis for GPS meteorology (Bevis et al. 1992, 1994; Duan et al. 1996) as implemented by NOAA with a nationwide distribution of about 300 GPS-Met stations providing PW estimates at subhourly resolution currently used in operational weather forecasting in the U.S. We improve upon the current paradigm of transmitting large quantities of raw data back to a central facility for processing into higher-order products. By operating semi-autonomously, each station will provide low-latency, high-fidelity and compact data products within the constraints of the narrow communications bandwidth that often occurs in the aftermath of natural disasters. The onsite ambiguity-resolved precise point positioning solutions are enabled by a power-efficient, low-cost, plug-in Geodetic Module for fusion of data from in situ sensors including GPS and a low-cost MEMS meteorological sensor package. The decreased latency (~5 minutes) PW estimates will provide the detailed knowledge of the distribution and magnitude of PW that NWS forecasters require to monitor and predict severe winter

Hurlburt Field, Florida. Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations (RUSSWO). Parts A-F.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-09-20

SURFACE WEATHER OBSERVATIONS 2 2 SEP W ISJRLSURT FLD FL MSC #747770 E 30 26 w o86 41 FLU ELEV 38 FT FRT PARTS A-F POR FROM HOURLY OBS: JAN 67 - DEC 70...amounts and extreme valuesl; C) Surface winds; (D) Ceiling versus Visibility; Sky Cover; ( E )-Psychrometric Summaries (daily maximum and minimum...for this station: PART A WEATHER CONDITIONS PART E DAILY MAX, MIN, & MEAN TEMP ATMOSPHERIC PHENOMENA EXTREME MAX & MIN TEMP PART I PRECIPITATION

An Electronic-Nose Sensor Node Based on a Polymer-Coated Surface Acoustic Wave Array for Wireless Sensor Network Applications

PubMed Central

Tang, Kea-Tiong; Li, Cheng-Han; Chiu, Shih-Wen

2011-01-01

This study developed an electronic-nose sensor node based on a polymer-coated surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensor array. The sensor node comprised an SAW sensor array, a frequency readout circuit, and an Octopus II wireless module. The sensor array was fabricated on a large K2 128° YX LiNbO3 sensing substrate. On the surface of this substrate, an interdigital transducer (IDT) was produced with a Cr/Au film as its metallic structure. A mixed-mode frequency readout application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) was fabricated using a TSMC 0.18 μm process. The ASIC output was connected to a wireless module to transmit sensor data to a base station for data storage and analysis. This sensor node is applicable for wireless sensor network (WSN) applications. PMID:22163865

An electronic-nose sensor node based on a polymer-coated surface acoustic wave array for wireless sensor network applications.

PubMed

Tang, Kea-Tiong; Li, Cheng-Han; Chiu, Shih-Wen

2011-01-01

This study developed an electronic-nose sensor node based on a polymer-coated surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensor array. The sensor node comprised an SAW sensor array, a frequency readout circuit, and an Octopus II wireless module. The sensor array was fabricated on a large K(2) 128° YX LiNbO3 sensing substrate. On the surface of this substrate, an interdigital transducer (IDT) was produced with a Cr/Au film as its metallic structure. A mixed-mode frequency readout application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) was fabricated using a TSMC 0.18 μm process. The ASIC output was connected to a wireless module to transmit sensor data to a base station for data storage and analysis. This sensor node is applicable for wireless sensor network (WSN) applications.

Weather.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ruth, Amy, Ed.

1996-01-01

This theme issue of "The Goldfinch" focuses on weather in Iowa and weather lore. The bulletin contains historical articles, fiction, activities, and maps. The table of contents lists: (1) "Wild Rosie's Map"; (2) "History Mystery"; (3) "Iowa's Weather History"; (4) "Weather Wonders"; (6)…

Communications device identification methods, communications methods, wireless communications readers, wireless communications systems, and articles of manufacture

DOEpatents

Steele, Kerry D [Kennewick, WA; Anderson, Gordon A [Benton City, WA; Gilbert, Ronald W [Morgan Hill, CA

2011-02-01

Communications device identification methods, communications methods, wireless communications readers, wireless communications systems, and articles of manufacture are described. In one aspect, a communications device identification method includes providing identification information regarding a group of wireless identification devices within a wireless communications range of a reader, using the provided identification information, selecting one of a plurality of different search procedures for identifying unidentified ones of the wireless identification devices within the wireless communications range, and identifying at least some of the unidentified ones of the wireless identification devices using the selected one of the search procedures.

Surface Landing Site Weather Analysis for NASA's Constellation Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Altino, Karen M.; Burns, K. L.

2008-01-01

Weather information is an important asset for NASA's Constellation Program in developing the next generation space transportation system to fly to the International Space Station, the Moon and, eventually, to Mars. Weather conditions can affect vehicle safety and performance during multiple mission phases ranging from pre-launch ground processing of the Ares vehicles to landing and recovery operations, including all potential abort scenarios. Meteorological analysis is art important contributor, not only to the development and verification of system design requirements but also to mission planning and active ground operations. Of particular interest are the surface weather conditions at both nominal and abort landing sites for the manned Orion capsule. Weather parameters such as wind, rain, and fog all play critical roles in the safe landing of the vehicle and subsequent crew and vehicle recovery. The Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Natural Environments Branch has been tasked by the Constellation Program with defining the natural environments at potential landing zones. This paper wiI1 describe the methodology used for data collection and quality control, detail the types of analyses performed, and provide a sample of the results that cab be obtained.

Design of a Controllable Weather Balloon to Fly on Mars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ivie, Benjamin

As the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) moves closer towards placing humans on Mars, prediction of the weather on the planet becomes more vital to ensure the safety of the astronauts. Currently on Mars NASA has land based weather stations on the rovers and a few satellites orbiting the planet that help to predict the weather. They also use Earth based telescopes to look at the Martian atmosphere similar to what an orbiting satellite would [1]. These resources provide information about what the weather is like on the surface and what the weather looks like from space but there is little information from inside the atmosphere. Having a device that can fly through the atmosphere and collect data would enable scientists to generate more accurate models of the weather on Mars. Another use for these devices could be to get aerial photographs of the planet, which could help to determine possible sites for future exploration. Also the Martian air could be collected and analyzed to determine its composition and whether there could be any airborne signs of life. The research presented in this thesis is a first step towards designing a device to fly on Mars and take weather data. A lifting type is selected and through test flights on Earth the design is modified until a workable platform for flight testing is achieved. Once it is determined, the design is scaled to be able to fly in the Martian atmosphere.

Evaluating weather factors and material response during outdoor exposure to determine accelerated test protocols for predicting service life

Treesearch

R. Sam Williams; Steven Lacher; Corey Halpin; Christopher White

2005-01-01

To develop service life prediction methods for the study of sealants, a fully instrumented weather station was installed at an outdoor test site near Madison, WI. Temperature, relative humidiy, rainfall, ultraviolet (UV) radiation at 18 wavelengths, and wind speed and direction are being continuously measured and stored. The weather data can be integrated over time to...

Lessons Learned JSC Micro-Wireless Instrumentation Systems on Space Shuttle and International Space Station CANEUS 2006

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Studor, George

2007-01-01

A viewgraph presentation on lessons learned from NASA Johnson Space Center's micro-wireless instrumentation is shown. The topics include: 1) Background, Rationale and Vision; 2) NASA JSC/Structural Engineering Approach & History; 3) Orbiter Wing Leading Edge Impact Detection System; 4) WLEIDS Confidence and Micro-WIS Lessons Learned; and 5) Current Projects and Recommendations.

Weather-based forecasts of California crop yields

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lobell, D B; Cahill, K N; Field, C B

2005-09-26

Crop yield forecasts provide useful information to a range of users. Yields for several crops in California are currently forecast based on field surveys and farmer interviews, while for many crops official forecasts do not exist. As broad-scale crop yields are largely dependent on weather, measurements from existing meteorological stations have the potential to provide a reliable, timely, and cost-effective means to anticipate crop yields. We developed weather-based models of state-wide yields for 12 major California crops (wine grapes, lettuce, almonds, strawberries, table grapes, hay, oranges, cotton, tomatoes, walnuts, avocados, and pistachios), and tested their accuracy using cross-validation over themore » 1980-2003 period. Many crops were forecast with high accuracy, as judged by the percent of yield variation explained by the forecast, the number of yields with correctly predicted direction of yield change, or the number of yields with correctly predicted extreme yields. The most successfully modeled crop was almonds, with 81% of yield variance captured by the forecast. Predictions for most crops relied on weather measurements well before harvest time, allowing for lead times that were longer than existing procedures in many cases.« less

Selection for the best ETS (error, trend, seasonal) model to forecast weather in the Aceh Besar District

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amora Jofipasi, Chesilia; Miftahuddin; Hizir

2018-05-01

Weather is a phenomenon that occurs in certain areas that indicate a change in natural activity. Weather can be predicted using data in previous periods over a period. The purpose of this study is to get the best ETS model to predict the weather in Aceh Besar. The ETS model is a time series univariate forecasting method; its use focuses on trend and seasonal components. The data used are air temperature, dew point, sea level pressure, station pressure, visibility, wind speed, and sea surface temperature from January 2006 to December 2016. Based on AIC, AICc and BIC the smallest values obtained the conclusion that the ETS (M, N, A) is used to predict air temperature, and sea surface temperature, ETS (A, N, A) is used to predict dew point, sea level pressure and station pressure, ETS (A, A, N) is used to predict visibility, and ETS (A, N, N) is used to predict wind speed.

75 FR 8400 - In the Matter of Certain Wireless Communications System Server Software, Wireless Handheld...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-02-24

... Communications System Server Software, Wireless Handheld Devices and Battery Packs; Notice of Investigation..., wireless handheld devices and battery packs by reason of infringement of certain claims of U.S. Patent Nos... certain wireless communications system server software, wireless handheld devices or battery packs that...

Verification of National Weather Service spot forecasts using surface observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lammers, Matthew Robert

Software has been developed to evaluate National Weather Service spot forecasts issued to support prescribed burns and early-stage wildfires. Fire management officials request spot forecasts from National Weather Service Weather Forecast Offices to provide detailed guidance as to atmospheric conditions in the vicinity of planned prescribed burns as well as wildfires that do not have incident meteorologists on site. This open source software with online display capabilities is used to examine an extensive set of spot forecasts of maximum temperature, minimum relative humidity, and maximum wind speed from April 2009 through November 2013 nationwide. The forecast values are compared to the closest available surface observations at stations installed primarily for fire weather and aviation applications. The accuracy of the spot forecasts is compared to those available from the National Digital Forecast Database (NDFD). Spot forecasts for selected prescribed burns and wildfires are used to illustrate issues associated with the verification procedures. Cumulative statistics for National Weather Service County Warning Areas and for the nation are presented. Basic error and accuracy metrics for all available spot forecasts and the entire nation indicate that the skill of the spot forecasts is higher than that available from the NDFD, with the greatest improvement for maximum temperature and the least improvement for maximum wind speed.

Optimal Time Allocation in Backscatter Assisted Wireless Powered Communication Networks.

PubMed

Lyu, Bin; Yang, Zhen; Gui, Guan; Sari, Hikmet

2017-06-01

This paper proposes a wireless powered communication network (WPCN) assisted by backscatter communication (BackCom). This model consists of a power station, an information receiver and multiple users that can work in either BackCom mode or harvest-then-transmit (HTT) mode. The time block is mainly divided into two parts corresponding to the data backscattering and transmission periods, respectively. The users first backscatter data to the information receiver in time division multiple access (TDMA) during the data backscattering period. When one user works in the BackCom mode, the other users harvest energy from the power station. During the data transmission period, two schemes, i.e., non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) and TDMA, are considered. To maximize the system throughput, the optimal time allocation policies are obtained. Simulation results demonstrate the superiority of the proposed model.

Optimal Time Allocation in Backscatter Assisted Wireless Powered Communication Networks

PubMed Central

Lyu, Bin; Yang, Zhen; Gui, Guan; Sari, Hikmet

2017-01-01

This paper proposes a wireless powered communication network (WPCN) assisted by backscatter communication (BackCom). This model consists of a power station, an information receiver and multiple users that can work in either BackCom mode or harvest-then-transmit (HTT) mode. The time block is mainly divided into two parts corresponding to the data backscattering and transmission periods, respectively. The users first backscatter data to the information receiver in time division multiple access (TDMA) during the data backscattering period. When one user works in the BackCom mode, the other users harvest energy from the power station. During the data transmission period, two schemes, i.e., non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) and TDMA, are considered. To maximize the system throughput, the optimal time allocation policies are obtained. Simulation results demonstrate the superiority of the proposed model. PMID:28587171

Validation of two (parametric vs non-parametric) daily weather generators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dubrovsky, M.; Skalak, P.

2015-12-01

from several European stations available from the ECA&D database. Acknowledgements: The weather generator is developed and validated within the frame of projects WG4VALUE (sponsored by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of CR), and VALUE (COST ES 1102 action).

Fingerprint and weathering characteristics of stranded oils after the Hebei Spirit oil spill.

PubMed

Yim, Un Hyuk; Ha, Sung Yong; An, Joon Geon; Won, Jong Ho; Han, Gi Myung; Hong, Sang Hee; Kim, Moonkoo; Jung, Jee-Hyun; Shim, Won Joon

2011-12-15

After the Hebei Spirit oil spill in December 2007, mixtures of three types of Middle East crude oil were stranded along 375 km of coastline in Western Korea. Stranded oils were monitored for their identity and weathering status in 19 stations in three provinces. The results obtained using a weathering model indicated that evaporation would be a dominant weathering process immediately after the spill and the sequential changes of chemical composition in the field verified this prediction positively. In the early stages of weathering, the half-life of spilled oil was calculated to be 2.6 months. Tiered fingerprinting approaches identified background contamination and confirmed the identity of the stranded oils with the spill source. Double ratios using alkylated phenanthrenes and dibenzothiophenes in samples after the spill clearly reveal the impact of weathering on oil. However, to derive defensible fingerprinting for source identification and allocation, recalcitrant biomarkers are extremely useful. Weathering status of the stranded oils was evaluated using composition profiles of saturated hydrocarbons, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and various weathering indices. Most samples collected 8 months after the spill were categorized in either the advanced or extreme weathering states. Gradual increase in toxic components in the residual oil through weathering emphasizes the need for adaptive ecotoxicological approaches. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Development and Application of a Wireless Sensor for Space Charge Density Measurement in an Ultra-High-Voltage, Direct-Current Environment.

PubMed

Xin, Encheng; Ju, Yong; Yuan, Haiwen

2016-10-20

A space charge density wireless measurement system based on the idea of distributed measurement is proposed for collecting and monitoring the space charge density in an ultra-high-voltage direct-current (UHVDC) environment. The proposed system architecture is composed of a number of wireless nodes connected with space charge density sensors and a base station. The space charge density sensor based on atmospheric ion counter method is elaborated and developed, and the ARM microprocessor and Zigbee radio frequency module are applied. The wireless network communication quality and the relationship between energy consumption and transmission distance in the complicated electromagnetic environment is tested. Based on the experimental results, the proposed measurement system demonstrates that it can adapt to the complex electromagnetic environment under the UHVDC transmission lines and can accurately measure the space charge density.

Internal model control for industrial wireless plant using WirelessHART hardware-in-the-loop simulator.

PubMed

Tran, Chung Duc; Ibrahim, Rosdiazli; Asirvadam, Vijanth Sagayan; Saad, Nordin; Sabo Miya, Hassan

2018-04-01

The emergence of wireless technologies such as WirelessHART and ISA100 Wireless for deployment at industrial process plants has urged the need for research and development in wireless control. This is in view of the fact that the recent application is mainly in monitoring domain due to lack of confidence in control aspect. WirelessHART has an edge over its counterpart as it is based on the successful Wired HART protocol with over 30 million devices as of 2009. Recent works on control have primarily focused on maintaining the traditional PID control structure which is proven not adequate for the wireless environment. In contrast, Internal Model Control (IMC), a promising technique for delay compensation, disturbance rejection and setpoint tracking has not been investigated in the context of WirelessHART. Therefore, this paper discusses the control design using IMC approach with a focus on wireless processes. The simulation and experimental results using real-time WirelessHART hardware-in-the-loop simulator (WH-HILS) indicate that the proposed approach is more robust to delay variation of the network than the PID. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

An Analytical Approach for Performance Enhancement of FSO Communication System Using Array of Receivers in Adverse Weather Conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nagpal, Shaina; Gupta, Amit

2017-08-01

Free Space Optics (FSO) link exploits the tremendous network capacity and is capable of offering wireless communications similar to communications through optical fibres. However, FSO link is extremely weather dependent and the major effect on FSO links is due to adverse weather conditions like fog and snow. In this paper, an FSO link is designed using an array of receivers. The disparity of the link for very high attenuation conditions due to fog and snow is analysed using aperture averaging technique. Further effect of aperture averaging technique is investigated by comparing the systems using aperture averaging technique with systems not using aperture averaging technique. The performance of proposed model of FSO link has been evaluated in terms of Q factor, bit error rate (BER) and eye diagram.

Launching a Weather Balloon to check conditions for the THEMIS L

NASA Image and Video Library

2002-01-01

A worker releases a weather balloon at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station weather station. The balloon is equipped with a radiosonde, an instrument that transmits measurements on atmospheric pressure, humidity, temperature and winds as it ascends. The data will be used to determine if conditions are acceptable for the launch of NASA's THEMIS mission. THEMIS, an acronym for Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms, consists of five identical probes that will track violent, colorful eruptions near the North Pole. This will be the largest number of scientific satellites NASA has ever launched into orbit aboard a single rocket. The THEMIS mission aims to unravel the mystery behind auroral substorms, an avalanche of magnetic energy powered by the solar wind that intensifies the northern and southern lights. The mission will investigate what causes auroras in the Earth’s atmosphere to dramatically change from slowly shimmering waves of light to wildly shifting streaks of bright color. Launch is planned from Pad 17-B in a window that extends from 6:01 to 6:19 p.m. EST.

Launching a Weather Balloon to check conditions for the THEMIS L

NASA Image and Video Library

2002-01-01

A radiosonde, an instrument that transmits measurements on atmospheric pressure, humidity, temperature and winds, is prepared for use on a weather balloon at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station weather station. The data it returns will be used to determine if conditions are acceptable for the launch of NASA's THEMIS mission. THEMIS, an acronym for Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms, consists of five identical probes that will track violent, colorful eruptions near the North Pole. This will be the largest number of scientific satellites NASA has ever launched into orbit aboard a single rocket. The THEMIS mission aims to unravel the mystery behind auroral substorms, an avalanche of magnetic energy powered by the solar wind that intensifies the northern and southern lights. The mission will investigate what causes auroras in the Earth’s atmosphere to dramatically change from slowly shimmering waves of light to wildly shifting streaks of bright color. Launch is planned from Pad 17-B in a window that extends from 6:01 to 6:19 p.m. EST.

Launching a Weather Balloon to check conditions for the THEMIS L

NASA Image and Video Library

2002-01-01

A weather balloon takes flight from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station weather station. The balloon is equipped with a radiosonde, an instrument that transmits measurements on atmospheric pressure, humidity, temperature and winds as it ascends. The data will be used to determine if conditions are acceptable for the launch of NASA's THEMIS mission. THEMIS, an acronym for Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms, consists of five identical probes that will track violent, colorful eruptions near the North Pole. This will be the largest number of scientific satellites NASA has ever launched into orbit aboard a single rocket. The THEMIS mission aims to unravel the mystery behind auroral substorms, an avalanche of magnetic energy powered by the solar wind that intensifies the northern and southern lights. The mission will investigate what causes auroras in the Earth’s atmosphere to dramatically change from slowly shimmering waves of light to wildly shifting streaks of bright color. Launch is planned from Pad 17-B in a window that extends from 6:01 to 6:19 p.m. EST.

Launching a Weather Balloon to check conditions for the THEMIS L

NASA Image and Video Library

2002-01-01

A weather balloon is prepared for release at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station weather station. The balloon is equipped with a radiosonde, an instrument that transmits measurements on atmospheric pressure, humidity, temperature and winds as it ascends. The data will be used to determine if conditions are acceptable for the launch of NASA's THEMIS mission. THEMIS, an acronym for Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms, consists of five identical probes that will track violent, colorful eruptions near the North Pole. This will be the largest number of scientific satellites NASA has ever launched into orbit aboard a single rocket. The THEMIS mission aims to unravel the mystery behind auroral substorms, an avalanche of magnetic energy powered by the solar wind that intensifies the northern and southern lights. The mission will investigate what causes auroras in the Earth’s atmosphere to dramatically change from slowly shimmering waves of light to wildly shifting streaks of bright color. Launch is planned from Pad 17-B in a window that extends from 6:01 to 6:19 p.m. EST.

Development of a wireless displacement measurement system using acceleration responses.

PubMed

Park, Jong-Woong; Sim, Sung-Han; Jung, Hyung-Jo; Spencer, Billie F

2013-07-01

Displacement measurements are useful information for various engineering applications such as structural health monitoring (SHM), earthquake engineering and system identification. Most existing displacement measurement methods are costly, labor-intensive, and have difficulties particularly when applying to full-scale civil structures because the methods require stationary reference points. Indirect estimation methods converting acceleration to displacement can be a good alternative as acceleration transducers are generally cost-effective, easy to install, and have low noise. However, the application of acceleration-based methods to full-scale civil structures such as long span bridges is challenging due to the need to install cables to connect the sensors to a base station. This article proposes a low-cost wireless displacement measurement system using acceleration. Developed with smart sensors that are low-cost, wireless, and capable of on-board computation, the wireless displacement measurement system has significant potential to impact many applications that need displacement information at multiple locations of a structure. The system implements an FIR-filter type displacement estimation algorithm that can remove low frequency drifts typically caused by numerical integration of discrete acceleration signals. To verify the accuracy and feasibility of the proposed system, laboratory tests are carried out using a shaking table and on a three storey shear building model, experimentally confirming the effectiveness of the proposed system.

Development of a Wireless Displacement Measurement System Using Acceleration Responses

PubMed Central

Park, Jong-Woong; Sim, Sung-Han; Jung, Hyung-Jo; Spencer, Billie F.

2013-01-01

Displacement measurements are useful information for various engineering applications such as structural health monitoring (SHM), earthquake engineering and system identification. Most existing displacement measurement methods are costly, labor-intensive, and have difficulties particularly when applying to full-scale civil structures because the methods require stationary reference points. Indirect estimation methods converting acceleration to displacement can be a good alternative as acceleration transducers are generally cost-effective, easy to install, and have low noise. However, the application of acceleration-based methods to full-scale civil structures such as long span bridges is challenging due to the need to install cables to connect the sensors to a base station. This article proposes a low-cost wireless displacement measurement system using acceleration. Developed with smart sensors that are low-cost, wireless, and capable of on-board computation, the wireless displacement measurement system has significant potential to impact many applications that need displacement information at multiple locations of a structure. The system implements an FIR-filter type displacement estimation algorithm that can remove low frequency drifts typically caused by numerical integration of discrete acceleration signals. To verify the accuracy and feasibility of the proposed system, laboratory tests are carried out using a shaking table and on a three storey shear building model, experimentally confirming the effectiveness of the proposed system. PMID:23881123

Unpowered wireless generation and sensing of ultrasound

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Haiying

2013-04-01

This paper presents a wireless ultrasound pitch-catch system that demonstrates the wireless generation and sensing of ultrasounds based on the principle of frequency conversion. The wireless ultrasound pitch-catch system consists of a wireless interrogator and two wireless ultrasound transducers. The wireless interrogator generates an ultrasound-modulated signal and a carrier signal, both at the microwave frequency, and transmits these two signals to the wireless ultrasound actuator using a pair of antennas. Upon receiving these two signals, the wireless ultrasound actuator recovers the ultrasound excitation signal using a passive mixer and then supplies it to a piezoelectric wafer sensor for ultrasound generation in the structure. For wireless ultrasound sensing, the frequency conversion process is reversed. The ultrasound sensing signal is up-converted to a microwave signal by the wireless ultrasound sensor and is recovered at the wireless interrogator using a homodyne receiver. To differentiate the wireless actuator from the wireless sensor, each wireless transducer is equipped with a narrowband microwave filter so that it only responds to the carrier frequency that matches the filter's operation bandwidth. The principle of operation of the wireless pitch-catch system, the hardware implementation, and the associated data processing algorithm to recover the ultrasound signal from the wirelessly received signal are described. The wirelessly acquired ultrasound signal is compared with those acquired using wired connection in both time and frequency domain.

Weather conditions and political party vote share in Dutch national parliament elections, 1971-2010.

PubMed

Eisinga, Rob; Te Grotenhuis, Manfred; Pelzer, Ben

2012-11-01

Inclement weather on election day is widely seen to benefit certain political parties at the expense of others. Empirical evidence for this weather-vote share hypothesis is sparse however. We examine the effects of rainfall and temperature on share of the votes of eight political parties that participated in 13 national parliament elections, held in the Netherlands from 1971 to 2010. This paper merges the election results for all Dutch municipalities with election-day weather observations drawn from all official weather stations well distributed over the country. We find that the weather parameters affect the election results in a statistically and politically significant way. Whereas the Christian Democratic party benefits from substantial rain (10 mm) on voting day by gaining one extra seat in the 150-seat Dutch national parliament, the left-wing Social Democratic (Labor) and the Socialist parties are found to suffer from cold and wet conditions. Cold (5°C) and rainy (10 mm) election day weather causes the latter parties to lose one or two parliamentary seats.

Weather conditions and political party vote share in Dutch national parliament elections, 1971-2010

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eisinga, Rob; Te Grotenhuis, Manfred; Pelzer, Ben

2012-11-01

Inclement weather on election day is widely seen to benefit certain political parties at the expense of others. Empirical evidence for this weather-vote share hypothesis is sparse however. We examine the effects of rainfall and temperature on share of the votes of eight political parties that participated in 13 national parliament elections, held in the Netherlands from 1971 to 2010. This paper merges the election results for all Dutch municipalities with election-day weather observations drawn from all official weather stations well distributed over the country. We find that the weather parameters affect the election results in a statistically and politically significant way. Whereas the Christian Democratic party benefits from substantial rain (10 mm) on voting day by gaining one extra seat in the 150-seat Dutch national parliament, the left-wing Social Democratic (Labor) and the Socialist parties are found to suffer from cold and wet conditions. Cold (5°C) and rainy (10 mm) election day weather causes the latter parties to lose one or two parliamentary seats.

Weathering phases recorded by gnammas developed since last glaciation at Serra da Estrela, Portugal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Domínguez-Villar, David; Razola, Laura; Carrasco, Rosa M.; Jennings, Carrie E.; Pedraza, Javier

2009-09-01

The morphometrical analysis of gnammas (weathering pits) in granite landscapes has been used to establish the relative chronology of recent erosive surfaces and to provide the weathering history in a region. To test the validity of gnammas as relative chronometer indicators, and the reliability of the obtained weathering record, two sites have been studied in Serra da Estrela, Portugal. The first site is within the limits of the glacier that existed in these mountains during the last glaciation, whereas the second site is located in an unglaciated sector of the mountains, which preserves a longer record of weathering in the bedrock surface. The number of gnamma weathering phases recorded in the latter site (8) is larger than those from the former (6). Correlation between both measurement stations based on morphometrical criteria is excellent for the younger six weathering phases (1 to 6). Consequently, the parameter used for relative chronology ( δ-value) has been verified to be age dependent, although absolute values are modulated by microclimate due to altitude variations. The weathering record was essentially duplicated once the surfaces at both sites were exposed, demonstrating the reliability of gnamma evolution as a post-glacial environmental indicator for the region.

Activities of NICT space weather project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murata, Ken T.; Nagatsuma, Tsutomu; Watari, Shinichi; Shinagawa, Hiroyuki; Ishii, Mamoru

NICT (National Institute of Information and Communications Technology) has been in charge of space weather forecast service in Japan for more than 20 years. The main target region of the space weather is the geo-space in the vicinity of the Earth where human activities are dominant. In the geo-space, serious damages of satellites, international space stations and astronauts take place caused by energetic particles or electromagnetic disturbances: the origin of the causes is dynamically changing of solar activities. Positioning systems via GPS satellites are also im-portant recently. Since the most significant effect of positioning error comes from disturbances of the ionosphere, it is crucial to estimate time-dependent modulation of the electron density profiles in the ionosphere. NICT is one of the 13 members of the ISES (International Space Environment Service), which is an international assembly of space weather forecast centers under the UNESCO. With help of geo-space environment data exchanging among the member nations, NICT operates daily space weather forecast service every day to provide informa-tion on forecasts of solar flare, geomagnetic disturbances, solar proton event, and radio-wave propagation conditions in the ionosphere. The space weather forecast at NICT is conducted based on the three methodologies: observations, simulations and informatics (OSI model). For real-time or quasi real-time reporting of space weather, we conduct our original observations: Hiraiso solar observatory to monitor the solar activity (solar flare, coronal mass ejection, and so on), domestic ionosonde network, magnetometer HF radar observations in far-east Siberia, and south-east Asia low-latitude ionosonde network (SEALION). Real-time observation data to monitor solar and solar-wind activities are obtained through antennae at NICT from ACE and STEREO satellites. We have a middle-class super-computer (NEC SX-8R) to maintain real-time computer simulations for solar and solar

Forecasting Space Weather-Induced GPS Performance Degradation Using Random Forest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Filjar, R.; Filic, M.; Milinkovic, F.

2017-12-01

Space weather and ionospheric dynamics have a profound effect on positioning performance of the Global Satellite Navigation System (GNSS). However, the quantification of that effect is still the subject of scientific activities around the world. In the latest contribution to the understanding of the space weather and ionospheric effects on satellite-based positioning performance, we conducted a study of several candidates for forecasting method for space weather-induced GPS positioning performance deterioration. First, a 5-days set of experimentally collected data was established, encompassing the space weather and ionospheric activity indices (including: the readings of the Sudden Ionospheric Disturbance (SID) monitors, components of geomagnetic field strength, global Kp index, Dst index, GPS-derived Total Electron Content (TEC) samples, standard deviation of TEC samples, and sunspot number) and observations of GPS positioning error components (northing, easting, and height positioning error) derived from the Adriatic Sea IGS reference stations' RINEX raw pseudorange files in quiet space weather periods. This data set was split into the training and test sub-sets. Then, a selected set of supervised machine learning methods based on Random Forest was applied to the experimentally collected data set in order to establish the appropriate regional (the Adriatic Sea) forecasting models for space weather-induced GPS positioning performance deterioration. The forecasting models were developed in the R/rattle statistical programming environment. The forecasting quality of the regional forecasting models developed was assessed, and the conclusions drawn on the advantages and shortcomings of the regional forecasting models for space weather-caused GNSS positioning performance deterioration.

International Collaboration in Space Weather Situational Awareness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boteler, David; Trichtchenko, Larisa; Danskin, Donald

Space weather is a global phenomena so interntional collaboration is necessary to maintain awareness of potentially dangerous conditions. The Regional Warning Centres (RWCs) of the International Space Environment Service were set up during the International Geophysical Year to alert the scientific community to conditions requiring special measurements. The information sharing continues to this day with URSIGRAM messages exchanged between RWCs to help them produce space weather forecasts. Venturing into space, especially with manned missions, created a need to know about the space environment and particularly radiation dangers to man in space. Responding to this need led to the creation of a network of stations around the world to provide continuous monitoring of solar activity. Solar wind monitoring is now provided by the ACE satellite, operated by one country, but involving international collaborators to bring the information down in real time. Disturbances in the Earth's magnetic field are monitored by many magnetic observatories that are collaborating through INTERMAGNET to provide reliable data. Space weather produces effects on the ionosphere that can interfere with a variety of systems: the International GNSS Service provides information about effects on positioning systems, and the International Space Environment Service is providing information about iono-spheric absorption, particularly for trans-polar airline operations. The increasing availability of internet access, even at remote locations, is making it easier to obtain the raw information. The challenge now is how to integrate that information to provide effective international situational awareness of space weather.

Photovoltaic-system evaluation at the Northeast Residential Experiment Station

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Russell, M. C.

1983-01-01

Five residential photovoltaic systems were tested and the systems' performance and cost was evaluated. The five systems each consist of an unoccupied structure employing a roof mounted photovoltaic array and a utility connected power inverter capable of sending excess PV generated energy to the local utility system. The photovoltaic systems are designed to meet at least 50% of the total annual electrical demand of residences in the cold climate regions of the country. The following specific issues were investigated: photovoltaic array and inverter system power rating and performance characterization, system energy production, reliability and system cost/worth. Summary load data from five houses in the vicinity of the Northeast Residential Experiment Station, and meteorological data from the station's weather station are also presented.

Extended Edited Synoptic Cloud Reports from Ships and Land Stations Over the Globe, 1952-2009 (NDP-026C)

DOE Data Explorer

Hahn, C. J. [University of Arizona; Warren, S. G. [University of Washington; Eastman, R.

1999-08-01

This database contains surface synoptic weather reports for the entire globe, gathered from various available data sets. The reports were processed, edited, and rewritten to provide a single dataset of individual observations of clouds, spanning the 57 years 1952-2008 for ship data and the 39 years 1971-2009 for land station data. In addition to the cloud portion of the synoptic report, each edited report also includes the associated pressure, present weather, wind, air temperature, and dew point (and sea surface temperature over oceans). This data set is called the "Extended Edited Cloud Report Archive" (EECRA). The EECRA is based solely on visual cloud observations from weather stations, reported in the WMO synoptic code (WMO, 1974). Reports must contain cloud-type information to be included in the archive. Past data sources include those from the Fleet Numerical Oceanographic Center (FNOC, 1971-1976) and the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP, 1977-1996). This update uses data from a new source, the 'Integrated Surface Database' (ISD, 1997-2009; Smith et al., 2011). Our past analyses of the EECRA identified a subset of 5388 weather stations that were determined to produce reliable day and night observations of cloud amount and type. The update contains observations only from this subset of stations. Details concerning processing, previous problems, contents, and comments are available in the archive's original documentation . The EECRA contains about 81 million cloud observations from ships and 380 million from land stations. The data files have been compressed using unix. Unix/linux users can "uncompress" or "gunzip" the files after downloading. If you're interested in the NDP-026C database, then you'll also want to explore its related data products, NDP-026D and NDP-026E.

Wireless Networks: New Meaning to Ubiquitous Computing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Drew, Wilfred, Jr.

2003-01-01

Discusses the use of wireless technology in academic libraries. Topics include wireless networks; standards (IEEE 802.11); wired versus wireless; why libraries implement wireless technology; wireless local area networks (WLANs); WLAN security; examples of wireless use at Indiana State University and Morrisville College (New York); and useful…

Bird migration flight altitudes studied by a network of operational weather radars.

PubMed

Dokter, Adriaan M; Liechti, Felix; Stark, Herbert; Delobbe, Laurent; Tabary, Pierre; Holleman, Iwan

2011-01-06

A fully automated method for the detection and quantification of bird migration was developed for operational C-band weather radar, measuring bird density, speed and direction as a function of altitude. These weather radar bird observations have been validated with data from a high-accuracy dedicated bird radar, which was stationed in the measurement volume of weather radar sites in The Netherlands, Belgium and France for a full migration season during autumn 2007 and spring 2008. We show that weather radar can extract near real-time bird density altitude profiles that closely correspond to the density profiles measured by dedicated bird radar. Doppler weather radar can thus be used as a reliable sensor for quantifying bird densities aloft in an operational setting, which--when extended to multiple radars--enables the mapping and continuous monitoring of bird migration flyways. By applying the automated method to a network of weather radars, we observed how mesoscale variability in weather conditions structured the timing and altitude profile of bird migration within single nights. Bird density altitude profiles were observed that consisted of multiple layers, which could be explained from the distinct wind conditions at different take-off sites. Consistently lower bird densities are recorded in The Netherlands compared with sites in France and eastern Belgium, which reveals some of the spatial extent of the dominant Scandinavian flyway over continental Europe.

Bird migration flight altitudes studied by a network of operational weather radars

PubMed Central

Dokter, Adriaan M.; Liechti, Felix; Stark, Herbert; Delobbe, Laurent; Tabary, Pierre; Holleman, Iwan

2011-01-01

A fully automated method for the detection and quantification of bird migration was developed for operational C-band weather radar, measuring bird density, speed and direction as a function of altitude. These weather radar bird observations have been validated with data from a high-accuracy dedicated bird radar, which was stationed in the measurement volume of weather radar sites in The Netherlands, Belgium and France for a full migration season during autumn 2007 and spring 2008. We show that weather radar can extract near real-time bird density altitude profiles that closely correspond to the density profiles measured by dedicated bird radar. Doppler weather radar can thus be used as a reliable sensor for quantifying bird densities aloft in an operational setting, which—when extended to multiple radars—enables the mapping and continuous monitoring of bird migration flyways. By applying the automated method to a network of weather radars, we observed how mesoscale variability in weather conditions structured the timing and altitude profile of bird migration within single nights. Bird density altitude profiles were observed that consisted of multiple layers, which could be explained from the distinct wind conditions at different take-off sites. Consistently lower bird densities are recorded in The Netherlands compared with sites in France and eastern Belgium, which reveals some of the spatial extent of the dominant Scandinavian flyway over continental Europe. PMID:20519212

Development of a wireless nonlinear wave modulation spectroscopy (NWMS) sensor node for fatigue crack detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Peipei; Yang, Suyoung; Lim, Hyung Jin; Park, Hyung Chul; Ko, In Chang; Sohn, Hoon

2014-03-01

Fatigue crack is one of the main culprits for the failure of metallic structures. Recently, it has been shown that nonlinear wave modulation spectroscopy (NWMS) is effective in detecting nonlinear mechanisms produced by fatigue crack. In this study, an active wireless sensor node for fatigue crack detection is developed based on NWMS. Using PZT transducers attached to a target structure, ultrasonic waves at two distinctive frequencies are generated, and their modulation due to fatigue crack formation is detected using another PZT transducer. Furthermore, a reference-free NWMS algorithm is developed so that fatigue crack can be detected without relying on history data of the structure with minimal parameter adjustment by the end users. The algorithm is embedded into FPGA, and the diagnosis is transmitted to a base station using a commercial wireless communication system. The whole design of the sensor node is fulfilled in a low power working strategy. Finally, an experimental verification has been performed using aluminum plate specimens to show the feasibility of the developed active wireless NWMS sensor node.

A Synoptic Weather Typing Approach and Its application to Assess Climate Change Impacts on Extreme Weather Events at Local Scale in South-Central Canada

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shouquan Cheng, Chad; Li, Qian; Li, Guilong

2010-05-01

The synoptic weather typing approach has become popular in evaluating the impacts of climate change on a variety of environmental problems. One of the reasons is its ability to categorize a complex set of meteorological variables as a coherent index, which can facilitate analyses of local climate change impacts. The weather typing method has been successfully applied in Environment Canada for several research projects to analyze climatic change impacts on a number of extreme weather events, such as freezing rain, heavy rainfall, high-/low-flow events, air pollution, and human health. These studies comprise of three major parts: (1) historical simulation modeling to verify the extreme weather events, (2) statistical downscaling to provide station-scale future hourly/daily climate data, and (3) projections of changes in frequency and intensity of future extreme weather events in this century. To achieve these goals, in addition to synoptic weather typing, the modeling conceptualizations in meteorology and hydrology and a number of linear/nonlinear regression techniques were applied. Furthermore, a formal model result verification process has been built into each of the three parts of the projects. The results of the verification, based on historical observations of the outcome variables predicted by the models, showed very good agreement. The modeled results from these projects found that the frequency and intensity of future extreme weather events are projected to significantly increase under a changing climate in this century. This talk will introduce these research projects and outline the modeling exercise and result verification process. The major findings on future projections from the studies will be summarized in the presentation as well. One of the major conclusions from the studies is that the procedures (including synoptic weather typing) used in the studies are useful for climate change impact analysis on future extreme weather events. The implication of

Wireless Sensor Network With Geolocation

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-11-01

WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORK WITH GEOLOCATION James Silverstrim and Roderick Passmore Innovative Wireless Technologies Forest, VA 24551 Dr...TYPE N/A 3. DATES COVERED - 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Wireless Sensor Network With Geolocation 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM...Locationing in distributed ad-hoc wireless sensor networks ”, IEEE ICASSP, May 2001. D. W. Hanson, Fundamentals of Two-Way Time Transfer by Satellite

AMS-02 as a Space Weather Observatory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Whitman, K.; Bindi, V.; Chati, M.; Consolandi, C.; Corti, C.

2013-12-01

The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS-02) is a state-of-the-art space detector that measures particles in the energy range of hundreds of MeV to a few TeV. AMS-02 has been installed onboard of the International Space Station (ISS) since May 2011 where it will operate for the duration of the station. To date, there is an abundance of space-based solar data collected in the low energy regimes, whereas there are very few direct measurements of higher energy particles available. AMS-02 is capable of measuring arrival time and composition of the highest energy SEPs in space. It is crucial to build a better knowledge base regarding the most energetic and potentially harmful events. We are currently developing a program to employ AMS-02 as a real-time space weather observatory. SEPs with higher energies are usually accelerated during a short period of time and they are the first particles to reach the Earth. AMS-02, measuring these highest energy SEPs, can alert the onset of an SEP event. During the past two years of operation, we have identified two main quantities in AMS-02 that are particularly sensitive to the arrival of SEPs: the detector livetime and the transition radiation detector (TRD) event size. By monitoring the detector livetime and the TRD event size, AMS-02 can pinpoint in real-time the arrival of SEPs inside the Earth's magnetosphere operating as a space weather detector.

Shenandoah National Park Phenology Project-Weather data collection, description, and processing

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jones, John W.; Aiello, Danielle P.; Osborne, Jesse D.

2010-01-01

The weather data described in this document are being collected as part of a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) study of changes in Shenandoah National Park (SNP) landscape phenology (Jones and Osbourne, 2008). Phenology is the study of the timing of biological events, such as annual plant flowering and seasonal bird migration. These events are partially driven by changes in temperature and precipitation; therefore, phenology studies how these events may reflect changes in climate. Landscape phenology is the study of changes in biological events over broad areas and assemblages of vegetation. To study climate-change relations over broad areas (at landscape scale), the timing and amount of annual tree leaf emergence, maximum foliage, and leaf fall for forested areas are of interest. To better link vegetation changes with climate, weather data are necessary. This report documents weather-station data collection and processing procedures used in the Shenandoah National Park Phenology Project.

A decentralized fuzzy C-means-based energy-efficient routing protocol for wireless sensor networks.

PubMed

Alia, Osama Moh'd

2014-01-01

Energy conservation in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) is a vital consideration when designing wireless networking protocols. In this paper, we propose a Decentralized Fuzzy Clustering Protocol, named DCFP, which minimizes total network energy dissipation to promote maximum network lifetime. The process of constructing the infrastructure for a given WSN is performed only once at the beginning of the protocol at a base station, which remains unchanged throughout the network's lifetime. In this initial construction step, a fuzzy C-means algorithm is adopted to allocate sensor nodes into their most appropriate clusters. Subsequently, the protocol runs its rounds where each round is divided into a CH-Election phase and a Data Transmission phase. In the CH-Election phase, the election of new cluster heads is done locally in each cluster where a new multicriteria objective function is proposed to enhance the quality of elected cluster heads. In the Data Transmission phase, the sensing and data transmission from each sensor node to their respective cluster head is performed and cluster heads in turn aggregate and send the sensed data to the base station. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed protocol improves network lifetime, data delivery, and energy consumption compared to other well-known energy-efficient protocols.

A Decentralized Fuzzy C-Means-Based Energy-Efficient Routing Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Energy conservation in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) is a vital consideration when designing wireless networking protocols. In this paper, we propose a Decentralized Fuzzy Clustering Protocol, named DCFP, which minimizes total network energy dissipation to promote maximum network lifetime. The process of constructing the infrastructure for a given WSN is performed only once at the beginning of the protocol at a base station, which remains unchanged throughout the network's lifetime. In this initial construction step, a fuzzy C-means algorithm is adopted to allocate sensor nodes into their most appropriate clusters. Subsequently, the protocol runs its rounds where each round is divided into a CH-Election phase and a Data Transmission phase. In the CH-Election phase, the election of new cluster heads is done locally in each cluster where a new multicriteria objective function is proposed to enhance the quality of elected cluster heads. In the Data Transmission phase, the sensing and data transmission from each sensor node to their respective cluster head is performed and cluster heads in turn aggregate and send the sensed data to the base station. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed protocol improves network lifetime, data delivery, and energy consumption compared to other well-known energy-efficient protocols. PMID:25162060

Wireless Laser Range Finder System for Vertical Displacement Monitoring of Mega-Trusses during Construction

PubMed Central

Park, Hyo Seon; Son, Sewook; Choi, Se Woon; Kim, Yousok

2013-01-01

As buildings become increasingly complex, construction monitoring using various sensors is urgently needed for both more systematic and accurate safety management and high-quality productivity in construction. In this study, a monitoring system that is composed of a laser displacement sensor (LDS) and a wireless sensor node was proposed and applied to an irregular building under construction. The subject building consists of large cross-sectional members, such as mega-columns, mega-trusses, and edge truss, which secured the large spaces. The mega-trusses and edge truss that support this large space are of the cantilever type. The vertical displacement occurring at the free end of these members was directly measured using an LDS. To validate the accuracy and reliability of the deflection data measured from the LDS, a total station was also employed as a sensor for comparison with the LDS. In addition, the numerical simulation result was compared with the deflection obtained from the LDS and total station. Based on these investigations, the proposed wireless displacement monitoring system was able to improve the construction quality by monitoring the real-time behavior of the structure, and the applicability of the proposed system to buildings under construction for the evaluation of structural safety was confirmed. PMID:23648650

DAWN: Dynamic Ad-hoc Wireless Network

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-06-19

DAWN: Dynamic Ad-hoc Wireless Network The DAWN (Dynamic Ad-hoc Wireless Networks) project is developing a general theory of complex and dynamic... wireless communication networks. To accomplish this, DAWN adopts a very different approach than those followed in the past and summarized above. DAWN... wireless communication networks. The members of DAWN investigated difference aspects of wireless mobile ad hoc networks (MANET). The views, opinions and/or

Wireless Sensor Networks: Monitoring and Control

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hastbacka, Mildred; Ponoum, Ratcharit; Bouza, Antonio

2013-05-31

The article discusses wireless sensor technologies for building energy monitoring and control. This article, also, addresses wireless sensor networks as well as benefits and challenges of using wireless sensors. The energy savings and market potential of wireless sensors are reviewed.

Analysis of Numerical Weather Predictions of Reference Evapotranspiration and Precipitation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bughici, Theodor; Lazarovitch, Naftali; Fredj, Erick; Tas, Eran

2017-04-01

This study attempts to improve the forecast skill of the evapotranspiration (ET0) and Precipitation for the purpose of crop irrigation management over Israel using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model. Optimized crop irrigation, in term of timing and quantities, decreases water and agrochemicals demand. Crop water demands depend on evapotranspiration and precipitation. The common method for computing reference evapotranspiration, for agricultural needs, ET0, is according to the FAO Penman-Monteith equation. The weather variables required for ET0 calculation (air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and solar irradiance) are estimated by the WRF model. The WRF Model with two-way interacting domains at horizontal resolutions of 27, 9 and 3 km is used in the study. The model prediction was performed in an hourly time resolution and a 3 km spatial resolution, with forecast lead-time of up to four days. The WRF prediction of these variables have been compared against measurements from 29 meteorological stations across Israel for the year 2013. The studied area is small but with strong climatic gradient, diverse topography and variety of synoptic conditions. The forecast skill that was used for forecast validation takes into account the prediction bias, mean absolute error and root mean squared error. The forecast skill of the variables was almost robust to lead time, except for precipitation. The forecast skill was tested across stations with respect to topography and geographic location and for all stations with respect to seasonality and synoptic weather system determined by employing a semi-objective synoptic systems classification to the forecasted days. It was noticeable that forecast skill of some of the variables was deteriorated by seasonality and topography. However, larger impacts in the ET0 skill scores on the forecasted day are achieved by a synoptic based forecast. These results set the basis for increasing the robustness of ET0 to

Pyroelectric Energy Scavenging Techniques for Self-Powered Nuclear Reactor Wireless Sensor Networks

DOE PAGES

Hunter, Scott Robert; Lavrik, Nickolay V; Datskos, Panos G; ...

2014-11-01

Recent advances in technologies for harvesting waste thermal energy from ambient environments present an opportunity to implement truly wireless sensor nodes in nuclear power plants. These sensors could continue to operate during extended station blackouts and during periods when operation of the plant s internal power distribution system has been disrupted. The energy required to power the wireless sensors must be generated using energy harvesting techniques from locally available energy sources, and the energy consumption within the sensor circuitry must therefore be low to minimize power and hence the size requirements of the energy harvester. Harvesting electrical energy from thermalmore » energy sources can be achieved using pyroelectric or thermoelectric conversion techniques. Recent modeling and experimental studies have shown that pyroelectric techniques can be cost competitive with thermoelectrics in self powered wireless sensor applications and, using new temperature cycling techniques, has the potential to be several times as efficient as thermoelectrics under comparable operating conditions. The development of a new thermal energy harvester concept, based on temperature cycled pyroelectric thermal-to-electrical energy conversion, is outlined. This paper outlines the modeling of cantilever and pyroelectric structures and single element devices that demonstrate the potential of this technology for the development of high efficiency thermal-to-electrical energy conversion devices.« less

Pyroelectric Energy Scavenging Techniques for Self-Powered Nuclear Reactor Wireless Sensor Networks

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hunter, Scott Robert; Lavrik, Nickolay V; Datskos, Panos G

Recent advances in technologies for harvesting waste thermal energy from ambient environments present an opportunity to implement truly wireless sensor nodes in nuclear power plants. These sensors could continue to operate during extended station blackouts and during periods when operation of the plant s internal power distribution system has been disrupted. The energy required to power the wireless sensors must be generated using energy harvesting techniques from locally available energy sources, and the energy consumption within the sensor circuitry must therefore be low to minimize power and hence the size requirements of the energy harvester. Harvesting electrical energy from thermalmore » energy sources can be achieved using pyroelectric or thermoelectric conversion techniques. Recent modeling and experimental studies have shown that pyroelectric techniques can be cost competitive with thermoelectrics in self powered wireless sensor applications and, using new temperature cycling techniques, has the potential to be several times as efficient as thermoelectrics under comparable operating conditions. The development of a new thermal energy harvester concept, based on temperature cycled pyroelectric thermal-to-electrical energy conversion, is outlined. This paper outlines the modeling of cantilever and pyroelectric structures and single element devices that demonstrate the potential of this technology for the development of high efficiency thermal-to-electrical energy conversion devices.« less

Development and Application of a Wireless Sensor for Space Charge Density Measurement in an Ultra-High-Voltage, Direct-Current Environment

PubMed Central

Xin, Encheng; Ju, Yong; Yuan, Haiwen

2016-01-01

A space charge density wireless measurement system based on the idea of distributed measurement is proposed for collecting and monitoring the space charge density in an ultra-high-voltage direct-current (UHVDC) environment. The proposed system architecture is composed of a number of wireless nodes connected with space charge density sensors and a base station. The space charge density sensor based on atmospheric ion counter method is elaborated and developed, and the ARM microprocessor and Zigbee radio frequency module are applied. The wireless network communication quality and the relationship between energy consumption and transmission distance in the complicated electromagnetic environment is tested. Based on the experimental results, the proposed measurement system demonstrates that it can adapt to the complex electromagnetic environment under the UHVDC transmission lines and can accurately measure the space charge density. PMID:27775627

A Hole in the Weather Warning System.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wood, Vincent T.; Weisman, Robert A.

2003-02-01

lack of text information. These problems had forced deaf and hard of hearing people to rely on looking at the sky or having hearing people alert them as their primary methods of receiving emergency information. These problems are documented through the use of a survey of 277 deaf and hard of hearing people in Minnesota and Oklahoma as well as specific examples.During the last two years, some progress has been made to "close this hole" in the weather warning system. The Federal Communications Commission has approved new rules, requiring that all audio emergency information provided by television stations, satellite, and cable operators must also be provided visually. In addition, the use of new technology such as pager systems, weather radios adapted for use by those with special needs, the Internet, and satellite warning systems have allowed deaf and hard of hearing people to have more access to emergency information.In this article, these improvements are documented but continuing problems and possible solutions are also listed.

Optimisation Issues of High Throughput Medical Data and Video Streaming Traffic in 3G Wireless Environments.

PubMed

Istepanian, R S H; Philip, N

2005-01-01

In this paper we describe some of the optimisation issues relevant to the requirements of high throughput of medical data and video streaming traffic in 3G wireless environments. In particular we present a challenging 3G mobile health care application that requires a demanding 3G medical data throughput. We also describe the 3G QoS requirement of mObile Tele-Echography ultra-Light rObot system (OTELO that is designed to provide seamless 3G connectivity for real-time ultrasound medical video streams and diagnosis from a remote site (robotic and patient station) manipulated by an expert side (specialists) that is controlling the robotic scanning operation and presenting a real-time feedback diagnosis using 3G wireless communication links.

Friendship IAP, Maryland. Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations (RUSSWO). Parts A-F.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-05-04

USAFETAC PSYCHROMETRIC SUMMARY’k A1 dEATHER SERVXCE/MAC STATIO STATION 041A vt LS MONT. PAGE I1 - i(Fl WI~III~i~i1IIi ET SUL& TESIPEXATUnE DEPRESION (F...WEATHER SERVICE/MAC L2AD0. FRIENDOSHIP IAP MD 74-S1orf STATION STATION *464 VtAAS M. PAGE 2 -nn-nn Th.~.WIT SUL$ TEMPERATURE DEPRESION (F) ITOTAL TOTAL () 0...Alte WEAT.4ER SERVICE/IAC 776ff F7hnSHTP Ti A mn-t ER STAION NWA YA PAGE 1 WE? BULB TEMPERATURE DEPRESION (F) TOTAL 1 TOTAL (I 0 1.2 j3-43. 7. 9. . 1o 1

An Efficient Wireless Sensor Network for Industrial Monitoring and Control

PubMed Central

Aponte-Luis, Juan; Gómez-Bravo, Fernando; Sánchez-Raya, Manuel; Alcina-Espigado, Javier; Teixido-Rovira, Pedro Miguel

2018-01-01

This paper presents the design of a wireless sensor network particularly designed for remote monitoring and control of industrial parameters. The article describes the network components, protocol and sensor deployment, aimed to accomplish industrial constraint and to assure reliability and low power consumption. A particular case of study is presented. The system consists of a base station, gas sensing nodes, a tree-based routing scheme for the wireless sensor nodes and a real-time monitoring application that operates from a remote computer and a mobile phone. The system assures that the industrial safety quality and the measurement and monitoring system achieves an efficient industrial monitoring operations. The robustness of the developed system and the security in the communications have been guaranteed both in hardware and software level. The system is flexible and can be adapted to different environments. The testing of the system confirms the feasibility of the proposed implementation and validates the functional requirements of the developed devices, the networking solution and the power consumption management. PMID:29320466

The influence of weather on Golden Eagle migration in northwestern Montana

USGS Publications Warehouse

Yates, R.E.; McClelland, B.R.; Mcclelland, P.T.; Key, C.H.; Bennetts, R.E.

2001-01-01

We analyzed the influence of 17 weather factors on migrating Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) near the Continental Divide in Glacier National Park, Montana, U.S.A. Local weather measurements were recorded at automated stations on the flanks of two peaks within the migration path. During a total of 506 hr of observation, the yearly number of Golden Eagles in autumn counts (1994-96) averaged 1973; spring counts (1995 and 1996) averaged 605 eagles. Mean passage rates (eagles/hr) were 16.5 in autumn and 8.2 in spring. Maximum rates were 137 in autumn and 67 in spring. Using generalized linear modeling, we tested for the effects of weather factors on the number of eagles counted. In the autumn model, the number of eagles increased with increasing air temperature, rising barometric pressure, decreasing relative humidity, and interactions among those factors. In the spring model, the number of eagles increased with increasing wind speed, barometric pressure, and the interaction between these factors. Our data suggest that a complex interaction among weather factors influenced the number of eagles passing on a given day. We hypothesize that in complex landscapes with high topographic relief, such as Glacier National Park, numerous weather factors produce different daily combinations to which migrating eagles respond opportunistically. ?? 2001 The Raptor Research Foundation, Inc.

Potential Interference from Wireless Water Tank Transmitters at Goldstone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ho, C.

2008-02-01

The Deep Space Network (DSN) facility in the Goldstone, California, area is considering installation of a new type of wireless transmitter (M2400S) within the facility. The transmitters will be used to monitor the water levels in several water tanks. Then these water-level signals will be transmitted to the nearby DSN facilities using transmitters operating in the UHF band (900-MHz) or S-band (2.4-GHz). This study is to evaluate the interference effects from the transmitters in adjacent DSN receiving stations. First we perform a terrain profile analysis to identify if there is a line of sight between each transmitter and the nearby DSN stations. After taking into account terrain shielding using high-resolution data, total propagation losses are calculated along each path. Then we perform the link analysis for each site to identify if the interference power exceeds the protection threshold of DSN receiving stations. As a result, we find that, because there is no bandpass filter installed in the transmitter system, interference power from the new transmitter at S-band will greatly exceed the protection criteria of broadband radio astronomy services (RAS) at S-band, such as Deep Space Station (DSS) 12 and DSS 28, by about 50 dB. The interference may also cause problems on all deep-space research stations at S-band, such as the Mars, Apollo, Venus, and Gemini sites. Without a sharp bandpass filter to suppress the out-of-band emissions in the frequency bands that the DSN station and RAS use, the author recommends not installing this type of transmitter within the Goldstone DSN facility area.

A framework for standardized calculation of weather indices in Germany

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Möller, Markus; Doms, Juliane; Gerstmann, Henning; Feike, Til

2018-05-01

Climate change has been recognized as a main driver in the increasing occurrence of extreme weather. Weather indices (WIs) are used to assess extreme weather conditions regarding its impact on crop yields. Designing WIs is challenging, since complex and dynamic crop-climate relationships have to be considered. As a consequence, geodata for WI calculations have to represent both the spatio-temporal dynamic of crop development and corresponding weather conditions. In this study, we introduce a WI design framework for Germany, which is based on public and open raster data of long-term spatio-temporal availability. The operational process chain enables the dynamic and automatic definition of relevant phenological phases for the main cultivated crops in Germany. Within the temporal bounds, WIs can be calculated for any year and test site in Germany in a reproducible and transparent manner. The workflow is demonstrated on the example of a simple cumulative rainfall index for the phenological phase shooting of winter wheat using 16 test sites and the period between 1994 and 2014. Compared to station-based approaches, the major advantage of our approach is the possibility to design spatial WIs based on raster data characterized by accuracy metrics. Raster data and WIs, which fulfill data quality standards, can contribute to an increased acceptance and farmers' trust in WI products for crop yield modeling or weather index-based insurances (WIIs).

Mineral Wells FAA, Texas. Ft. Wolters Mineral Wells/Texas. Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations. Part A-F

DTIC Science & Technology

1972-05-18

DIRECTION AND SPEED (FROM HOURLY OBSERVATIONS) 0394,3 FT WIILTF.R’ AAF TEX/ MINERAI . WELLS 49-65,67-70 JUI) STATION STATION AM TRANS MONTM ALL WtI4THEk...DAIA PROCESSING DIVISCJN .~USAF ETAC PSYCHROMET(RICSU M R4 ’ AIR WEATHER SERYICE/MAC 03943 FT WO1LTER$ AAF TEX/ MINERAI . WELL$ 49*63#67-70 MAR____...AAF TEX/ MINERAI . WELLS 49-65b67-70 APRI STATION STATION NAME YEARS MONTH PAGE 2 0900-1100 HOURS (L. S. T.) Temp. WET BULB TEMPERATURE DEPRESSION (F

Formation and dynamics of hazardous convective weather events in Ukraine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balabukh, Vera; Malytska, Liudmyla; Bazalieieva, Iuliana

2013-04-01

Atmospheric circulation change observed from the middle of the 70s of the twentieth century in the Northern Hemisphere resulted in changes of weather events formation conditions in different regions. The degree of influence of various factors on the formation of weather events also has changed. This eventually led to an increase in number and intensity of weather events and their variations in time and space. Destructions and damages associated with these events have increased recently and the biggest damages are mainly results of complex convective weather events: showers, hail, squall. Therefore, one of the main tasks of climatology is to study the mechanisms of change repeatability and intensity of these events. The paper considers the conditions of formation of hazardous convective weather phenomena (strong showers, hail, squalls, tornadoes) in Ukraine and their spatial and temporal variability during 1981 - 2010. Research of convection processes was based on daily radiosonde data for the warm season (May-September 1981 - 2010s), reanalysis ERA-Interim ECMWF data for 1989 - 2010 years , daily observations at 187 meteorological stations in Ukraine, as well as observations of the natural phenomena in other regions (different from the meteorological stations). Indices of atmospheric instability, the magnitude of the Convective Available Potential Energy (CAPE), the moisture, the height of the condensation and equilibrium level was used to quantify the intensity of convection. The criteria for the intensity of convection for Ukrainian territory were refined on the basis of these data. Features of the development of convection for various hazardous convective weather events were investigated and identified the necessary conditions for the occurrence of showers, hail, tornadoes and squall in Ukraine. Spatio-temporal variability of convection intensity in Ukraine, its regional characteristics and dynamics for the past 30 year was analyzed. Significant tendency to an

Tags, wireless communication systems, tag communication methods, and wireless communications methods

DOEpatents

Scott,; Jeff W. , Pratt; Richard, M [Richland, WA

2006-09-12

Tags, wireless communication systems, tag communication methods, and wireless communications methods are described. In one aspect, a tag includes a plurality of antennas configured to receive a plurality of first wireless communication signals comprising data from a reader, a plurality of rectifying circuits coupled with. respective individual ones of the antennas and configured to provide rectified signals corresponding to the first wireless communication signals, wherein the rectified signals are combined to produce a composite signal, an adaptive reference circuit configured to vary a reference signal responsive to the composite signal, a comparator coupled with the adaptive reference circuit and the rectifying circuits and configured to compare the composite signal with respect to the reference signal and to output the data responsive to the comparison, and processing circuitry configured to receive the data from the comparator and to process the data.

Use of weather data and remote sensing to predict the geographic and seasonal distribution of Phlebotomus papatasi in southwest Asia.

PubMed

Cross, E R; Newcomb, W W; Tucker, C J

1996-05-01

Sandfly fever and leishmaniasis were major causes of infectious disease morbidity among military personnel deployed to the Middle East during World War II. Recently, leishmaniasis has been reported in the United Nations Multinational Forces and Observers in the Sinai. Despite these indications of endemicity, no cases of sandfly fever and only 31 cases of leishmaniasis have been identified among U.S. veterans of the Persian Gulf War. The distribution in the Persian Gulf of the vector, Phlebotomus papatasi, is thought to be highly dependent on environmental conditions, especially temperature and relative humidity. A computer model was developed using the occurrence of P. papatasi as the dependent variable and weather data as the independent variables. The results of this model indicated that the greatest sand fly activity and thus the highest risk of sandfly fever and leishmania infections occurred during the spring/summer months before U.S. troops were deployed to the Persian Gulf. Because the weather model produced probability of occurrence information for locations of the weather stations only, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) levels from remotely sensed Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer satellites were determined for each weather station. From the results of the frequency of NDVI levels by probability of occurrence, the range of NDVI levels for presence of the vector was determined. The computer then identified all pixels within the NDVI range indicated and produced a computer-generated map of the probable distribution of P. papatasi. The resulting map expanded the analysis to areas where there were no weather stations and from which no information was reported in the literature, identifying these areas as having either a high or low probability of vector occurrence.

An energy-efficient and secure hybrid algorithm for wireless sensor networks using a mobile data collector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dayananda, Karanam Ravichandran; Straub, Jeremy

2017-05-01

This paper proposes a new hybrid algorithm for security, which incorporates both distributed and hierarchal approaches. It uses a mobile data collector (MDC) to collect information in order to save energy of sensor nodes in a wireless sensor network (WSN) as, in most networks, these sensor nodes have limited energy. Wireless sensor networks are prone to security problems because, among other things, it is possible to use a rogue sensor node to eavesdrop on or alter the information being transmitted. To prevent this, this paper introduces a security algorithm for MDC-based WSNs. A key use of this algorithm is to protect the confidentiality of the information sent by the sensor nodes. The sensor nodes are deployed in a random fashion and form group structures called clusters. Each cluster has a cluster head. The cluster head collects data from the other nodes using the time-division multiple access protocol. The sensor nodes send their data to the cluster head for transmission to the base station node for further processing. The MDC acts as an intermediate node between the cluster head and base station. The MDC, using its dynamic acyclic graph path, collects the data from the cluster head and sends it to base station. This approach is useful for applications including warfighting, intelligent building and medicine. To assess the proposed system, the paper presents a comparison of its performance with other approaches and algorithms that can be used for similar purposes.

Space weather activities in Australia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cole, D.

Space Weather Plan Australia has a draft space weather plan to drive and focus appropriate research into services that meet future industry and social needs. The Plan has three main platforms, space weather monitoring and service delivery, support for priority research, and outreach to the community. The details of monitoring, service, research and outreach activities are summarised. A ground-based network of 14 monitoring stations from Antarctica to Papua New Guinea is operated by IPS, a government agency. These sites monitor ionospheric and geomagnetic characteristics, while two of them also monitor the sun at radio and optical wavelengths. Services provided through the Australian Space Forecast Centre (ASFC) include real-time information on the solar, space, ionospheric and geomagnetic environments. Data are gathered automatically from monitoring sites and integrated with data exchanged internationally to create snapshots of current space weather conditions and forecasts of conditions up to several days ahead. IPS also hosts the WDC for Solar-Terrestrial Science and specialises in ground-based solar, ionospheric, and geomagnetic data sets, although recent in-situ magnetospheric measurements are also included. Space weather activities A research consortium operates the Tasman International Geospace Environment Radar (TIGER), an HF southward pointing auroral radar operating from Hobart (Tasmania). A second cooperative radar (Unwin radar) is being constructed in the South Island of New Zealand. This will intersect with TIGER over the auroral zone and enhance the ability of the radar to image the surge of currents that herald space environment changes entering the Polar Regions. Launched in November 2002, the micro satellite FEDSAT, operated by the Cooperative Research Centre for Satellite Systems, has led to successful space science programs and data streams. FEDSAT is making measurements of the magnetic field over Australia and higher latitudes. It also carries a

A Heterogeneous Wireless Identification Network for the Localization of Animals Based on Stochastic Movements

PubMed Central

Gutiérrez, Álvaro; González, Carlos; Jiménez-Leube, Javier; Zazo, Santiago; Dopico, Nelson; Raos, Ivana

2009-01-01

The improvement in the transmission range in wireless applications without the use of batteries remains a significant challenge in identification applications. In this paper, we describe a heterogeneous wireless identification network mostly powered by kinetic energy, which allows the localization of animals in open environments. The system relies on radio communications and a global positioning system. It is made up of primary and secondary nodes. Secondary nodes are kinetic-powered and take advantage of animal movements to activate the node and transmit a specific identifier, reducing the number of batteries of the system. Primary nodes are battery-powered and gather secondary-node transmitted information to provide it, along with position and time data, to a final base station in charge of the animal monitoring. The system allows tracking based on contextual information obtained from statistical data. PMID:22412344

Operational Numerical Weather Prediction at the Met Office and potential ways forward for operational space weather prediction systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jackson, David

NICT (National Institute of Information and Communications Technology) has been in charge of space weather forecast service in Japan for more than 20 years. The main target region of the space weather is the geo-space in the vicinity of the Earth where human activities are dominant. In the geo-space, serious damages of satellites, international space stations and astronauts take place caused by energetic particles or electromagnetic disturbances: the origin of the causes is dynamically changing of solar activities. Positioning systems via GPS satellites are also im-portant recently. Since the most significant effect of positioning error comes from disturbances of the ionosphere, it is crucial to estimate time-dependent modulation of the electron density profiles in the ionosphere. NICT is one of the 13 members of the ISES (International Space Environment Service), which is an international assembly of space weather forecast centers under the UNESCO. With help of geo-space environment data exchanging among the member nations, NICT operates daily space weather forecast service every day to provide informa-tion on forecasts of solar flare, geomagnetic disturbances, solar proton event, and radio-wave propagation conditions in the ionosphere. The space weather forecast at NICT is conducted based on the three methodologies: observations, simulations and informatics (OSI model). For real-time or quasi real-time reporting of space weather, we conduct our original observations: Hiraiso solar observatory to monitor the solar activity (solar flare, coronal mass ejection, and so on), domestic ionosonde network, magnetometer HF radar observations in far-east Siberia, and south-east Asia low-latitude ionosonde network (SEALION). Real-time observation data to monitor solar and solar-wind activities are obtained through antennae at NICT from ACE and STEREO satellites. We have a middle-class super-computer (NEC SX-8R) to maintain real-time computer simulations for solar and solar

The wireless Web and patient care.

PubMed

Bergeron, B P

2001-01-01

Wireless computing, when integrated with the Web, is poised to revolutionize the practice and teaching of medicine. As vendors introduce wireless Web technologies in the medical community that have been used successfully in the business and consumer markets, clinicians can expect profound increases in the amount of patient data, as well as the ease with which those data are acquired, analyzed, and disseminated. The enabling technologies involved in this transformation to the wireless Web range from the new generation of wireless PDAs, eBooks, and wireless data acquisition peripherals to new wireless network protocols. The rate-limiting step in the application of this technology in medicine is not technology per se but rather how quickly clinicians and their patients come to accept and appreciate the benefits and limitations of the application of wireless Web technology.

Schneefernerhaus as a mountain research station for clouds and turbulence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Risius, S.; Xu, H.; Di Lorenzo, F.; Xi, H.; Siebert, H.; Shaw, R. A.; Bodenschatz, E.

2015-08-01

Cloud measurements are usually carried out with airborne campaigns, which are expensive and are limited by temporal duration and weather conditions. Ground-based measurements at high-altitude research stations therefore play a complementary role in cloud study. Using the meteorological data (wind speed, direction, temperature, humidity, visibility, etc.) collected by the German Weather Service (DWD) from 2000 to 2012 and turbulence measurements recorded by multiple ultrasonic sensors (sampled at 10 Hz) in 2010, we show that the Umweltforschungsstation Schneefernerhaus (UFS) located just below the peak of Zugspitze in the German Alps, at a height of 2650 m, is a well-suited station for cloud-turbulence research. The wind at UFS is dominantly in the east-west direction and nearly horizontal. During the summertime (July and August) the UFS is immersed in warm clouds about 25 % of the time. The clouds are either from convection originating in the valley in the east, or associated with synoptic-scale weather systems typically advected from the west. Air turbulence, as measured from the second- and third-order velocity structure functions that exhibit well-developed inertial ranges, possesses Taylor microscale Reynolds numbers up to 104, with the most probable value at ~ 3000. In spite of the complex topography, the turbulence appears to be nearly as isotropic as many laboratory flows when evaluated on the "Lumley triangle".

Wireless Instrumentation Use on Launch Vehicles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sherman, Aaron

2010-01-01

This slide presentation reviews the results of a study on the use of wireless instrumentation and sensors on future launch vehicles. The use of wireless technologies would if feasible would allow for fewer wires, and allow for more flexibility. However, it was generally concluded that wireless solutions are not currently ready to replace wired technologies for launch vehicles. The recommendations of the study were to continue to use wired sensors as the primary choice for vehicle instrumentation, and to continue to assess needs and use wireless instrumentation where appropriate. The future work includes support efforts for wireless technologies, and continue to monitor the development of wireless solutions.

Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations (RUSSWO) for Wheeler AFB, Wahiawa, Hawaii. Parts A-F

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-01-11

OBSERVATIONS) 225 :1 LIEELER AFB HI 68-70,73-79 JUL STATION STI* k-t 11Ot- ALL wEAT,4ER 1530-1700 CLASS ko ~z7 ILS i.- CONDITION rI 1’E 1.1 . SPEED .MEAN...AND SPEED (FROM HOURLY OBSERVATIONS) 225f_8 ,HEELER AFB HI 67-70,73-76 NOV MSATION STATION vults IZARS lONth ALL WEATHER 1800-2000 chit , mo02s (L 5

Estimating the fuel moisture content of indicator sticks from selected weather variables

Treesearch

Theodore G. Storey

1965-01-01

Equations were developed to predict the fuel moisture content of indicator sticks from the controlling weather variables. Moisture content of ⅛-inch thick basswood slats used in the South and East could be determined with about equal precision by equation in the critical low moisture range or by weighing at fire danger stations. The most useful equation...

Unpowered wireless ultrasound tomography system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zahedi, Farshad; Huang, Haiying

2016-04-01

In this paper, an unpowered wireless ultrasound tomography system is presented. The system consists of two subsystems; the wireless interrogation unit (WIU) and three wireless nodes installed on the structure. Each node is designed to work in generation and sensing modes, but operates at a specific microwave frequency. Wireless transmission of the ultrasound signals between the WIU and the wireless nodes is achieved by converting ultrasound signals to microwave signals and vice versa, using a microwave carrier signal. In the generation mode, both a carrier signal and an ultrasound modulated microwave signal are transmitted to the sensor nodes. Only the node whose operating frequency matches the carrier signal will receive these signals and demodulate them to recover the original ultrasound signal. In the sensing mode, a microwave carrier signal with two different frequency components matching the operating frequencies of the sensor nodes is broadcasted by the WIU. The sensor nodes, in turn, receive the corresponding carrier signals, modulate it with the ultrasound sensing signal, and wirelessly transmit the modulated signal back to the WIU. The demodulation of the sensing signals is performed in the WIU using a digital signal processing. Implementing a software receiver significantly reduces the complexity and the cost of the WIU. A wireless ultrasound tomography system is realized by interchanging the carrier frequencies so that the wireless transducers can take turn to serve as the actuator and sensors.

Real-time assessment of fog-related crashes using airport weather data: a feasibility analysis.

PubMed

Ahmed, Mohamed M; Abdel-Aty, Mohamed; Lee, Jaeyoung; Yu, Rongjie

2014-11-01

The effect of reduction of visibility on crash occurrence has recently been a major concern. Although visibility detection systems can help to mitigate the increased hazard of limited-visibility, such systems are not widely implemented and many locations with no systems are experiencing considerable number of fatal crashes due to reduction in visibility caused by fog and inclement weather. On the other hand, airports' weather stations continuously monitor all climate parameters in real-time, and the gathered data may be utilized to mitigate the increased risk for the adjacent roadways. This study aims to examine the viability of using airport weather information in real-time road crash risk assessment in locations with recurrent fog problems. Bayesian logistic regression was utilized to link six years (2005-2010) of historical crash data to real-time weather information collected from eight airports in the State of Florida, roadway characteristics and aggregate traffic parameters. The results from this research indicate that real-time weather data collected from adjacent airports are good predictors to assess increased risk on highways. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Meteorological Supersite for Aviation and Cold Weather Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gultepe, Ismail; Agelin-Chaab, M.; Komar, J.; Elfstrom, G.; Boudala, F.; Zhou, B.

2018-05-01

The goal of this study is to better understand atmospheric boundary layer processes and parameters, and to evaluate physical processes for aviation applications using data from a supersite observing site. Various meteorological sensors, including a weather and environmental unmanned aerial vehicle (WE-UAV), and a fog and snow tower (FSOS) observations are part of the project. The PanAm University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) Meteorological Supersite (PUMS) observations are being collected from April 2015 to date. The FSOS tower gathers observations related to rain, snow, fog, and visibility, aerosols, solar radiation, and wind and turbulence, as well as surface and sky temperature. The FSOSs are located at three locations at about 450-800 m away from the PUMS supersite. The WE-UAV measurements representing aerosol, wind speed and direction, as well as temperature (T) and relative humidity (RH) are provided during clear weather conditions. Other measurements at the PUMS site include cloud backscattering profiles from CL51 ceilometer, MWR observations of liquid water content (LWC), T, and RH, and Microwave Rain Radar (MRR) reflectivity profile, as well as the present weather type, snow water depth, icing rate, 3D-ultrasonic wind and turbulence, and conventional meteorological observations from compact weather stations, e.g., WXTs. The results based on important weather event studies, representing fog, snow, rain, blowing snow, wind gust, planetary boundary layer (PBL) wind research for UAV, and icing conditions are given. The microphysical parameterizations and analysis processes for each event are provided, but the results should not be generalized for all weather events and be used cautiously. Results suggested that integrated observing systems based on data from a supersite as well as satellite sites can provide better information applicable to aviation meteorology, including PBL weather research, validation of numerical weather model predictions, and

Langmuir probe measurements aboard the International Space Station

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kirov, B.; Asenovski, S.; Bachvarov, D.; Boneva, A.; Grushin, V.; Georgieva, K.; Klimov, S. I.

2016-12-01

In the current work we describe the Langmuir Probe (LP) and its operation on board the International Space Station. This instrument is a part of the scientific complex "Ostonovka". The main goal of the complex is to establish, on one hand how such big body as the International Space Station affects the ambient plasma and on the other how Space Weather factors influence the Station. The LP was designed and developed at BAS-SRTI. With this instrument we measure the thermal plasma parameters-electron temperature Te, electron and ion concentration, respectively Ne and Ni, and also the potential at the Station's surface. The instrument is positioned at around 1.5 meters from the surface of the Station, at the Russian module "Zvezda", located at the farthermost point of the Space Station, considering the velocity vector. The Multi- Purpose Laboratory (MLM) module is providing additional shielding for our instrument, from the oncoming plasma flow (with respect to the velocity vector). Measurements show that in this area, the plasma concentration is two orders of magnitude lower, in comparison with the unperturbed areas. The surface potential fluctuates between-3 and-25 volts with respect to the ambient plasma. Fast upsurges in the surface potential are detected when passing over the twilight zone and the Equatorial anomaly.

Wireless Cybersecurity

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-04-01

completely change the entire landscape. For example, under the quantum computing regime, factoring prime numbers requires only polynomial time (i.e., Shor’s...AFRL-OSR-VA-TR-2013-0206 Wireless Cybersecurity Biao Chen Syracuse University April 2013 Final Report DISTRIBUTION A...19a. NAME OF RESPONSIBLE PERSON 19b. TELEPHONE NUMBER (Include area code) 21-02-2013 FINAL REPORT 01-04-2009 TO 30-11-2012 Wireless Cybersecurity

Moderate to heavy cold-weather precipitation occurrences in Tehran and the associated circulation types

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khansalari, Sakineh; Raziei, Tayeb; Mohebalhojeh, Ali Reza; Ahmadi-Givi, Farhang

2018-02-01

Large-scale atmospheric circulations associated with 133 moderate to heavy cold-weather precipitation events recorded at Mehrabad station in Tehran, Iran, during the period 1951-2013 are analysed. To this end, the performance of un-rotated, orthogonally rotated and obliquely rotated solutions of T-mode principal component analysis (PCA) is examined in classifying the atmospheric circulations into a few representative circulation types (CTs). The T-mode PCAs were applied to the 500-hPa geopotential height for the events in a domain from 10∘E to 70∘E and from 20∘N to 50∘N. The first six leading principal components were retained and then orthogonally and obliquely rotated using varimax and promax solutions, respectively. Statistical inter-comparison of the CTs obtained using the three solutions suggests that the obliquely rotated solution is the better choice for circulation classification in the present study. The six CTs obtained using the oblique rotation were then linked to the daily total precipitation and daily mean temperature variability at Tehran station as well as to the standardized anomalies of the daily total precipitation and mean daily temperature of a dense network of stations distributed across Iran. It is found that the CTs identified, though generally comparable in producing significant precipitation in Tehran, vary in their potential to bring cold weather and generate snowfall in Tehran specifically and in the country in general. While the first three CTs give rise to regional patterns of standardized precipitation anomalies centred in Tehran, the next three CTs leave a pronounced precipitation signature almost across the whole country. As regards the standardized temperature anomalies, with the exception of one CT that causes deep and widespread negative standardized anomalies over most parts of the country, the other CTs are characterized with a dipolar structure of a deep intrusion of cold weather to the west and prevailing warm weather

Crowdsourcing of weather observations at national meteorological and hydrological services in Europe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krennert, Thomas; Pistotnik, Georg; Kaltenberger, Rainer; Csekits, Christian

2018-05-01

National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) increase their efforts to deliver impact-based weather forecasts and warnings. At the same time, a desired increase in cost-efficiency prompts these services to automatize their weather station networks and to reduce the number of human observers, which leads to a lack of ground truth information about weather phenomena and their impact. A possible alternative is to encourage the general public to submit weather observations, which may include crucial information especially in high-impact situations. We wish to provide an overview of the state and properties of existing collaborations between NMHSs and voluntary weather observers or storm spotters across Europe. For that purpose, we performed a survey among 30 European NMHSs, from which 22 NMHSs returned our questionnaire. This study summarizes the most important findings and evaluates the use of crowdsourced information. 86 % of the surveyed NMHSs utilize information provided by the general public, 50 % have established official collaborations with spotter groups, and 18 % have formalized them. The observations are most commonly used for a real-time improvement of severe weather warnings, their verification, and an establishment of a climatology of severe weather events. The importance of these volunteered weather and impact observations has strongly risen over the past decade. We expect that this trend will continue and that storm spotters will become an essential part in severe weather warning, like they have been for decades in the United States of America. A rising number of incoming reports implies that quality management will become an increasing issue, and we finally discuss an idea how to handle this challenge.

Evaluating impacts of different longitudinal driver assistance systems on reducing multi-vehicle rear-end crashes during small-scale inclement weather.

PubMed

Li, Ye; Xing, Lu; Wang, Wei; Wang, Hao; Dong, Changyin; Liu, Shanwen

2017-10-01

Multi-vehicle rear-end (MVRE) crashes during small-scale inclement (SSI) weather cause high fatality rates on freeways, which cannot be solved by traditional speed limit strategies. This study aimed to reduce MVRE crash risks during SSI weather using different longitudinal driver assistance systems (LDAS). The impact factors on MVRE crashes during SSI weather were firstly analyzed. Then, four LDAS, including Forward collision warning (FCW), Autonomous emergency braking (AEB), Adaptive cruise control (ACC) and Cooperative ACC (CACC), were modeled based on a unified platform, the Intelligent Driver Model (IDM). Simulation experiments were designed and a large number of simulations were then conducted to evaluate safety effects of different LDAS. Results indicate that the FCW and ACC system have poor performance on reducing MVRE crashes during SSI weather. The slight improvement of sight distance of FCW and the limitation of perception-reaction time of ACC lead the failure of avoiding MVRE crashes in most scenarios. The AEB system has the better effect due to automatic perception and reaction, as well as performing the full brake when encountering SSI weather. The CACC system has the best performance because wireless communication provides a larger sight distance and a shorter time delay at the sub-second level. Sensitivity analyses also indicated that the larger number of vehicles and speed changes after encountering SSI weather have negative impacts on safety performances. Results of this study provide useful information for accident prevention during SSI weather. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

International Space Station Model Correlation Analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Laible, Michael R.; Fitzpatrick, Kristin; Hodge, Jennifer; Grygier, Michael

2018-01-01

This paper summarizes the on-orbit structural dynamic data and the related modal analysis, model validation and correlation performed for the International Space Station (ISS) configuration ISS Stage ULF7, 2015 Dedicated Thruster Firing (DTF). The objective of this analysis is to validate and correlate the analytical models used to calculate the ISS internal dynamic loads and compare the 2015 DTF with previous tests. During the ISS configurations under consideration, on-orbit dynamic measurements were collected using the three main ISS instrumentation systems; Internal Wireless Instrumentation System (IWIS), External Wireless Instrumentation System (EWIS) and the Structural Dynamic Measurement System (SDMS). The measurements were recorded during several nominal on-orbit DTF tests on August 18, 2015. Experimental modal analyses were performed on the measured data to extract modal parameters including frequency, damping, and mode shape information. Correlation and comparisons between test and analytical frequencies and mode shapes were performed to assess the accuracy of the analytical models for the configurations under consideration. These mode shapes were also compared to earlier tests. Based on the frequency comparisons, the accuracy of the mathematical models is assessed and model refinement recommendations are given. In particular, results of the first fundamental mode will be discussed, nonlinear results will be shown, and accelerometer placement will be assessed.

Surface Landing Site Weather Analysis for Constellation Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Altino, Karen M.; Burns, K. Lee

2008-01-01

Weather information is an important asset for NASA's Constellation Program in developing the next generation space transportation system to fly to the International Space Station, the Moon and, eventually, to Mars. Weather conditions can affect vehicle safety and performance during multiple mission phases ranging from pre-launch ground processing to landing and recovery operations, including all potential abort scenarios. Meteorological analysis is an important contributor, not only to the development and verification of system design requirements but also to mission planning and active ground operations. Of particular interest are the surface atmospheric conditions at both nominal and abort landing sites for the manned Orion capsule. Weather parameters such as wind, rain, and fog all play critical roles in the safe landing of the vehicle and subsequent crew and vehicle recovery. The Marshall Space Flight Center Natural Environments Branch has been tasked by the Constellation Program with defining the natural environments at potential landing zones. Climatological time series of operational surface weather observations are used to calculate probabilities of occurrence of various sets of hypothetical vehicle constraint thresholds, Data are available for numerous geographical locations such that statistical analysis can be performed for single sites as well as multiple-site network configurations. Results provide statistical descriptions of how often certain weather conditions are observed at the site(s) and the percentage that specified criteria thresholds are matched or exceeded. Outputs are tabulated by month and hour of day to show both seasonal and diurnal variation. This paper will describe the methodology used for data collection and quality control, detail the types of analyses performed, and provide a sample of the results that can be obtained,

Convective Weather Avoidance with Uncertain Weather Forecasts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Karahan, Sinan; Windhorst, Robert D.

2009-01-01

Convective weather events have a disruptive impact on air traffic both in terminal area and in en-route airspaces. In order to make sure that the national air transportation system is safe and efficient, it is essential to respond to convective weather events effectively. Traffic flow control initiatives in response to convective weather include ground delay, airborne delay, miles-in-trail restrictions as well as tactical and strategic rerouting. The rerouting initiatives can potentially increase traffic density and complexity in regions neighboring the convective weather activity. There is a need to perform rerouting in an intelligent and efficient way such that the disruptive effects of rerouting are minimized. An important area of research is to study the interaction of in-flight rerouting with traffic congestion or complexity and developing methods that quantitatively measure this interaction. Furthermore, it is necessary to find rerouting solutions that account for uncertainties in weather forecasts. These are important steps toward managing complexity during rerouting operations, and the paper is motivated by these research questions. An automated system is developed for rerouting air traffic in order to avoid convective weather regions during the 20- minute - 2-hour time horizon. Such a system is envisioned to work in concert with separation assurance (0 - 20-minute time horizon), and longer term air traffic management (2-hours and beyond) to provide a more comprehensive solution to complexity and safety management. In this study, weather is dynamic and uncertain; it is represented as regions of airspace that pilots are likely to avoid. Algorithms are implemented in an air traffic simulation environment to support the research study. The algorithms used are deterministic but periodically revise reroutes to account for weather forecast updates. In contrast to previous studies, in this study convective weather is represented as regions of airspace that pilots

Wireless Technology in K-12 Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walery, Darrell

2004-01-01

Many schools begin implementing wireless technology slowly by creating wireless "hotspots" on the fly. This is accomplished by putting a wireless access point on a cart along with a set of wireless laptop computers. A teacher can then wheel the cart anywhere in the school that has a network drop, plug the access point in and have an…

Space Station Crew Returns Safely on This Week @NASA – March 5, 2018

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-03-05

A safe return from the International Space Station, a new weather satellite launched into orbit, and our next mission to Mars moves closer to launch … a few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA!

Multi-site precipitation downscaling using a stochastic weather generator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Jie; Chen, Hua; Guo, Shenglian

2018-03-01

Statistical downscaling is an efficient way to solve the spatiotemporal mismatch between climate model outputs and the data requirements of hydrological models. However, the most commonly-used downscaling method only produces climate change scenarios for a specific site or watershed average, which is unable to drive distributed hydrological models to study the spatial variability of climate change impacts. By coupling a single-site downscaling method and a multi-site weather generator, this study proposes a multi-site downscaling approach for hydrological climate change impact studies. Multi-site downscaling is done in two stages. The first stage involves spatially downscaling climate model-simulated monthly precipitation from grid scale to a specific site using a quantile mapping method, and the second stage involves the temporal disaggregating of monthly precipitation to daily values by adjusting the parameters of a multi-site weather generator. The inter-station correlation is specifically considered using a distribution-free approach along with an iterative algorithm. The performance of the downscaling approach is illustrated using a 10-station watershed as an example. The precipitation time series derived from the National Centers for Environment Prediction (NCEP) reanalysis dataset is used as the climate model simulation. The precipitation time series of each station is divided into 30 odd years for calibration and 29 even years for validation. Several metrics, including the frequencies of wet and dry spells and statistics of the daily, monthly and annual precipitation are used as criteria to evaluate the multi-site downscaling approach. The results show that the frequencies of wet and dry spells are well reproduced for all stations. In addition, the multi-site downscaling approach performs well with respect to reproducing precipitation statistics, especially at monthly and annual timescales. The remaining biases mainly result from the non-stationarity of

How accurate are the weather forecasts for Bierun (southern Poland)?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gawor, J.

2012-04-01

Weather forecast accuracy has increased in recent times mainly thanks to significant development of numerical weather prediction models. Despite the improvements, the forecasts should be verified to control their quality. The evaluation of forecast accuracy can also be an interesting learning activity for students. It joins natural curiosity about everyday weather and scientific process skills: problem solving, database technologies, graph construction and graphical analysis. The examination of the weather forecasts has been taken by a group of 14-year-old students from Bierun (southern Poland). They participate in the GLOBE program to develop inquiry-based investigations of the local environment. For the atmospheric research the automatic weather station is used. The observed data were compared with corresponding forecasts produced by two numerical weather prediction models, i.e. COAMPS (Coupled Ocean/Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System) developed by Naval Research Laboratory Monterey, USA; it runs operationally at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Mathematical and Computational Modelling in Warsaw, Poland and COSMO (The Consortium for Small-scale Modelling) used by the Polish Institute of Meteorology and Water Management. The analysed data included air temperature, precipitation, wind speed, wind chill and sea level pressure. The prediction periods from 0 to 24 hours (Day 1) and from 24 to 48 hours (Day 2) were considered. The verification statistics that are commonly used in meteorology have been applied: mean error, also known as bias, for continuous data and a 2x2 contingency table to get the hit rate and false alarm ratio for a few precipitation thresholds. The results of the aforementioned activity became an interesting basis for discussion. The most important topics are: 1) to what extent can we rely on the weather forecasts? 2) How accurate are the forecasts for two considered time ranges? 3) Which precipitation threshold is the most predictable? 4) Why

Investigation of interference in multiple-input multiple-output wireless transmission at W band for an optical wireless integration system.

PubMed

Li, Xinying; Yu, Jianjun; Dong, Ze; Zhang, Junwen; Chi, Nan; Yu, Jianguo

2013-03-01

We experimentally investigate the interference in multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wireless transmission by adjusting the relative locations of horn antennas (HAs) in a 100 GHz optical wireless integration system, which can deliver a 50 Gb/s polarization-division-multiplexing quadrature-phase-shift-keying signal over 80 km single-mode fiber-28 and a 2×2 MIMO wireless link. For the parallel 2×2 MIMO wireless link, each receiver HA can only get wireless power from the corresponding transmitter HA, while for the crossover ones, the receiver HA can get wireless power from two transmitter HAs. At the wireless receiver, polarization demultiplexing is realized by the constant modulus algorithm (CMA) in the digital-signal-processing part. Compared to the parallel case, wireless interference causes about 2 dB optical signal-to-noise ratio penalty at a bit-error ratio (BER) of 3.8×10(-3) for the crossover cases if similar CMA taps are employed. The increase in CMA tap length can reduce wireless interference and improve BER performance. Furthermore, more CMA taps should be adopted to overcome the severe wireless interference when two pairs of transmitter and receiver HAs have different wireless distances.

A novel wireless local positioning system for airport (indoor) security

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zekavat, Seyed A.; Tong, Hui; Tan, Jindong

2004-09-01

A novel wireless local positioning system (WLPS) for airport (or indoor) security is introduced. This system is used by airport (indoor) security guards to locate all of, or a group of airport employees or passengers within the airport area. WLPS consists of two main parts: (1) a base station that is carried by security personnel; hence, introducing dynamic base station (DBS), and (2) a transponder (TRX) that is mounted on all people (including security personnel) present at the airport; thus, introducing them as active targets. In this paper, we (a) draw a futuristic view of the airport security systems, and the flow of information at the airports, (b) investigate the techniques of extending WLPS coverage area beyond the line-of-sight (LoS), and (c) study the performance of this system via standard transceivers, and direct sequence code division multiple access (DS-CDMA) systems with and without antenna arrays and conventional beamforming (BF).

Severe Weather

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Forde, Evan B.

2004-01-01

Educating the public about safety issues related to severe weather is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) mission. This month's insert, Severe Weather, has been created by NOAA to help educate the public about hazardous weather conditions. The four types of severe weather highlighted in this poster are hurricanes,…

Severe Weather

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Forde, Evan B.

2004-01-01

Educating the public about safety issues related to severe weather is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) mission. This article deals with a poster entitled, "Severe Weather," that has been created by NOAA to help educate the public about hazardous weather conditions. The four types of severe weather highlighted in…

A Time Tree Medium Access Control for Energy Efficiency and Collision Avoidance in Wireless Sensor Networks

PubMed Central

Lee, Kilhung

2010-01-01

This paper presents a medium access control and scheduling scheme for wireless sensor networks. It uses time trees for sending data from the sensor node to the base station. For an energy efficient operation of the sensor networks in a distributed manner, time trees are built in order to reduce the collision probability and to minimize the total energy required to send data to the base station. A time tree is a data gathering tree where the base station is the root and each sensor node is either a relaying or a leaf node of the tree. Each tree operates in a different time schedule with possibly different activation rates. Through the simulation, the proposed scheme that uses time trees shows better characteristics toward burst traffic than the previous energy and data arrival rate scheme. PMID:22319270

Energy Efficient In-network RFID Data Filtering Scheme in Wireless Sensor Networks

PubMed Central

Bashir, Ali Kashif; Lim, Se-Jung; Hussain, Chauhdary Sajjad; Park, Myong-Soon

2011-01-01

RFID (Radio frequency identification) and wireless sensor networks are backbone technologies for pervasive environments. In integration of RFID and WSN, RFID data uses WSN protocols for multi-hop communications. Energy is a critical issue in WSNs; however, RFID data contains a lot of duplication. These duplications can be eliminated at the base station, but unnecessary transmissions of duplicate data within the network still occurs, which consumes nodes’ energy and affects network lifetime. In this paper, we propose an in-network RFID data filtering scheme that efficiently eliminates the duplicate data. For this we use a clustering mechanism where cluster heads eliminate duplicate data and forward filtered data towards the base station. Simulation results prove that our approach saves considerable amounts of energy in terms of communication and computational cost, compared to existing filtering schemes. PMID:22163999

Evaluation of wireless Local Area Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McBee, Charles L.

1993-09-01

This thesis is an in-depth evaluation of the current wireless Local Area Network (LAN) technologies. Wireless LAN's consist of three technologies: they are infrared light, microwave, and spread spectrum. When the first wireless LAN's were introduced, they were unfavorably labeled slow, expensive, and unreliable. The wireless LAN's of today are competitively priced, more secure, easier to install, and provide equal to or greater than the data throughput of unshielded twisted pair cable. Wireless LAN's are best suited for organizations that move office staff frequently, buildings that have historical significance, or buildings that have asbestos. Additionally, an organization may realize a cost savings of between $300 to $1,200 each time a node is moved. Current wireless LAN technologies have a positive effect on LAN standards being developed by the Defense Information System Agency (DISA). DoD as a whole is beginning to focus on wireless LAN's and mobile communications. If system managers want to remain successful, they need to stay abreast of this technology.

A Sensible Approach to Wireless Networking.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ahmed, S. Faruq

2002-01-01

Discusses radio frequency (R.F.) wireless technology, including industry standards, range (coverage) and throughput (data rate), wireless compared to wired networks, and considerations before embarking on a large-scale wireless project. (EV)

Providing end-to-end QoS for multimedia applications in 3G wireless networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Katherine; Rangarajan, Samapth; Siddiqui, M. A.; Paul, Sanjoy